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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of When London Burned, by G. A. Henty
+
+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: When London Burned
+
+Author: G. A. Henty
+
+Posting Date: June 2, 2012 [EBook #7831]
+Release Date: April, 2005
+First Posted: May 20, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN LONDON BURNED ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, S.R. Ellison,
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+WHEN LONDON BURNED
+
+BY G. A. HENTY
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+We are accustomed to regard the Reign of Charles II. as one of the
+most inglorious periods of English History; but this was far from
+being the case. It is true that the extravagance and profligacy of
+the Court were carried to a point unknown before or since,
+forming,--by the indignation they excited among the people at
+large,--the main cause of the overthrow of the House of Stuart. But,
+on the other hand, the nation made extraordinary advances in commerce
+and wealth, while the valour of our sailors was as conspicuous under
+the Dukes of York and Albemarle, Prince Rupert and the Earl of
+Sandwich, as it had been under Blake himself, and their victories
+resulted in transferring the commercial as well as the naval
+supremacy of Holland to this country. In spite of the cruel blows
+inflicted on the well-being of the country, alike by the extravagance
+of the Court, the badness of the Government, the Great Plague, and
+the destruction of London by fire, an extraordinary extension of our
+trade occurred during the reign of Charles II. Such a period,
+therefore, although its brilliancy was marred by dark shadows, cannot
+be considered as an inglorious epoch. It was ennobled by the bravery
+of our sailors, by the fearlessness with which the coalition of
+France with Holland was faced, and by the spirit of enterprise with
+which our merchants and traders seized the opportunity, and, in spite
+of national misfortunes, raised England in the course of a few years
+to the rank of the greatest commercial power in the world.
+
+                                  G. A. HENTY.
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+     I. FATHERLESS
+
+    II. A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
+
+   III. A THIEF SOMEWHERE
+
+    IV. CAPTURED
+
+     V. KIDNAPPED
+
+    VI. A NARROW ESCAPE
+
+   VII. SAVED FROM A VILLAIN
+
+  VIII. THE CAPTAIN'S YARN
+
+    IX. THE FIRE IN THE SAVOY
+
+     X. HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE DUTCH
+
+    XI. PRINCE RUPERT
+
+   XII. NEW FRIENDS
+
+  XIII. THE BATTLE OF LOWESTOFT
+
+   XIV. HONOURABLE SCARS
+
+    XV. THE PLAGUE
+
+   XVI. FATHER AND SON
+
+  XVII. SMITTEN DOWN
+
+ XVIII. A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE
+
+   XIX. TAKING POSSESSION
+
+    XX. THE FIGHT OFF DUNKIRK
+
+   XXI. LONDON IN FLAMES
+
+  XXII. AFTER THE FIRE
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+"WITH GREAT RAPIDITY THE FLAMES SPREAD FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE"
+
+"DON'T CRY, LAD; YOU WILL GET ON BETTER WITHOUT ME"
+
+"THIS IS MY PRINCE OF SCRIVENERS, MARY"
+
+"ROBERT ASHFORD, KNIFE IN HAND, ATTACKED JOHN WILKES WITH FURY"
+
+"CYRIL SAT UP AND DRANK OFF THE CONTENTS OF THE PANNIKIN"
+
+"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, SIR, DO NOT CAUSE TROUBLE"
+
+"TAKE HER DOWN QUICK, JOHN, THERE ARE THREE OTHERS"
+
+"CYRIL RAISED THE KING'S HAND TO HIS LIPS"
+
+"A DUTCH MAN-OF-WAR RAN ALONGSIDE AND FIRED A BROADSIDE"
+
+"FOR THE LAST TIME: WILL YOU SIGN THE DEED?"
+
+"WELCOME BACK TO YOUR OWN AGAIN, SIR CYRIL!"
+
+"WHAT NEWS, JAMES?" THE KING ASKED EAGERLY
+
+
+
+
+WHEN LONDON BURNED
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+FATHERLESS
+
+
+Lad stood looking out of the dormer window in a scantily furnished
+attic in the high-pitched roof of a house in Holborn, in September
+1664. Numbers of persons were traversing the street below, many of
+them going out through the bars, fifty yards away, into the fields
+beyond, where some sports were being held that morning, while country
+people were coming in with their baskets from the villages of
+Highgate and Hampstead, Tyburn and Bayswater. But the lad noted
+nothing that was going on; his eyes were filled with tears, and his
+thoughts were in the little room behind him; for here, coffined in
+readiness for burial, lay the body of his father.
+
+Sir Aubrey Shenstone had not been a good father in any sense of the
+word. He had not been harsh or cruel, but he had altogether neglected
+his son. Beyond the virtues of loyalty and courage, he possessed few
+others. He had fought, as a young man, for Charles, and even among
+the Cavaliers who rode behind Prince Rupert was noted for reckless
+bravery. When, on the fatal field of Worcester, the last hopes of the
+Royalists were crushed, he had effected his escape to France and
+taken up his abode at Dunkirk. His estates had been forfeited; and
+after spending the proceeds of his wife's jewels and those he had
+carried about with him in case fortune went against the cause for
+which he fought, he sank lower and lower, and had for years lived on
+the scanty pension allowed by Louis to the King and his adherents.
+
+Sir Aubrey had been one of the wild, reckless spirits whose conduct
+did much towards setting the people of England against the cause of
+Charles. He gambled and drank, interlarded his conversation with
+oaths, and despised as well as hated the Puritans against whom he
+fought. Misfortune did not improve him; he still drank when he had
+money to do so, gambled for small sums in low taverns with men of his
+own kind, and quarrelled and fought on the smallest provocation. Had
+it not been for his son he would have taken service in the army of
+some foreign Power; but he could not take the child about with him,
+nor could he leave it behind.
+
+Sir Aubrey was not altogether without good points. He would divide
+his last crown with a comrade poorer than himself. In the worst of
+times he was as cheerful as when money was plentiful, making a joke
+of his necessities and keeping a brave face to the world.
+
+Wholly neglected by his father, who spent the greater portion of his
+time abroad, Cyril would have fared badly indeed had it not been for
+the kindness of Lady Parton, the wife of a Cavalier of very different
+type to Sir Aubrey. He had been an intimate friend of Lord Falkland,
+and, like that nobleman, had drawn his sword with the greatest
+reluctance, and only when he saw that Parliament was bent upon
+overthrowing the other two estates in the realm and constituting
+itself the sole authority in England. After the execution of Charles
+he had retired to France, and did not take part in the later risings,
+but lived a secluded life with his wife and children. The eldest of
+these was of the same age as Cyril; and as the latter's mother had
+been a neighbour of hers before marriage, Lady Parton promised her,
+on her death-bed, to look after the child, a promise that she
+faithfully kept.
+
+Sir John Parton had always been adverse to the association of his boy
+with the son of Sir Aubrey Shenstone; but he had reluctantly yielded
+to his wife's wishes, and Cyril passed the greater portion of his
+time at their house, sharing the lessons Harry received from an
+English clergyman who had been expelled from his living by the
+fanatics of Parliament. He was a good and pious man, as well as an
+excellent scholar, and under his teaching, aided by the gentle
+precepts of Lady Parton, and the strict but kindly rule of her
+husband, Cyril received a training of a far better kind than he would
+ever have been likely to obtain had he been brought up in his
+father's house near Norfolk. Sir Aubrey exclaimed sometimes that the
+boy was growing up a little Puritan, and had he taken more interest
+in his welfare would undoubtedly have withdrawn him from the healthy
+influences that were benefiting him so greatly; but, with the usual
+acuteness of children, Cyril soon learnt that any allusion to his
+studies or his life at Sir John Parton's was disagreeable to his
+father, and therefore seldom spoke of them.
+
+Sir Aubrey was never, even when under the influence of his potations,
+unkind to Cyril. The boy bore a strong likeness to his mother, whom
+his father had, in his rough way, really loved passionately. He
+seldom spoke even a harsh word to him, and although he occasionally
+expressed his disapproval of the teaching he was receiving, was at
+heart not sorry to see the boy growing up so different from himself;
+and Cyril, in spite of his father's faults, loved him. When Sir
+Aubrey came back with unsteady step, late at night, and threw himself
+on his pallet, Cyril would say to himself, "Poor father! How
+different he would have been had it not been for his misfortunes! He
+is to be pitied rather than blamed!" And so, as years went on, in
+spite of the difference between their natures, there had grown up a
+sort of fellowship between the two; and of an evening sometimes, when
+his father's purse was so low that he could not indulge in his usual
+stoup of wine at the tavern, they would sit together while Sir Aubrey
+talked of his fights and adventures.
+
+"As to the estates, Cyril," he said one day, "I don't know that
+Cromwell and his Roundheads have done you much harm. I should have
+run through them, lad--I should have diced them away years ago--and I
+am not sure but that their forfeiture has been a benefit to you. If
+the King ever gets his own, you may come to the estates; while, if I
+had had the handling of them, the usurers would have had such a grip
+on them that you would never have had a penny of the income."
+
+"It doesn't matter, father," the boy replied. "I mean to be a soldier
+some day, as you have been, and I shall take service with some of the
+Protestant Princes of Germany; or, if I can't do that, I shall be
+able to work my way somehow."
+
+"What can you work at, lad?" his father said, contemptuously.
+
+"I don't know yet, father; but I shall find some work to do."
+
+Sir Aubrey was about to burst into a tirade against work, but he
+checked himself. If Cyril never came into the estates he would have
+to earn his living somehow.
+
+"All right, my boy. But do you stick to your idea of earning your
+living by your sword; it is a gentleman's profession, and I would
+rather see you eating dry bread as a soldier of fortune than
+prospering in some vile trading business."
+
+Cyril never argued with his father, and he simply nodded an assent
+and then asked some question that turned Sir Aubrey's thoughts on
+other matters.
+
+The news that Monk had declared for the King, and that Charles would
+speedily return to take his place on his father's throne, caused
+great excitement among the Cavaliers scattered over the Continent;
+and as soon as the matter was settled, all prepared to return to
+England, in the full belief that their evil days were over, and that
+they would speedily be restored to their former estates, with honours
+and rewards for their many sacrifices.
+
+"I must leave you behind for a short time, Cyril," his father said to
+the boy, when he came in one afternoon. "I must be in London before
+the King arrives there, to join in his welcome home, and for the
+moment I cannot take you; I shall be busy from morning till night. Of
+course, in the pressure of things at first it will be impossible for
+the King to do everything at once, and it may be a few weeks before
+all these Roundheads can be turned out of the snug nests they have
+made for themselves, and the rightful owners come to their own again.
+As I have no friends in London, I should have nowhere to bestow you,
+until I can take you down with me to Norfolk to present you to our
+tenants, and you would be grievously in my way; but as soon as things
+are settled I will write to you or come over myself to fetch you. In
+the meantime I must think over where I had best place you. It will
+not matter for so short a time, but I would that you should be as
+comfortable as possible. Think it over yourself, and let me know if
+you have any wishes in the matter. Sir John Parton leaves at the end
+of the week, and ere another fortnight there will be scarce another
+Englishman left at Dunkirk."
+
+"Don't you think you can take me with you, father?"
+
+"Impossible," Sir Aubrey said shortly. "Lodgings will be at a great
+price in London, for the city will be full of people from all parts
+coming up to welcome the King home. I can bestow myself in a garret
+anywhere, but I could not leave you there all day. Besides, I shall
+have to get more fitting clothes, and shall have many expenses. You
+are at home here, and will not feel it dull for the short time you
+have to remain behind."
+
+Cyril said no more, but went up, with a heavy heart, for his last
+day's lessons at the Partons'. Young as he was, he was accustomed to
+think for himself, for it was but little guidance he received from
+his father; and after his studies were over he laid the case before
+his master, Mr. Felton, and asked if he could advise him. Mr. Felton
+was himself in high spirits, and was hoping to be speedily reinstated
+in his living. He looked grave when Cyril told his story.
+
+"I think it is a pity that your father, Sir Aubrey, does not take you
+over with him, for it will assuredly take longer to bring all these
+matters into order than he seems to think. However, that is his
+affair. I should think he could not do better for you than place you
+with the people where I lodge. You know them, and they are a worthy
+couple; the husband is, as you know, a fisherman, and you and Harry
+Parton have often been out with him in his boat, so it would not be
+like going among strangers. Continue your studies. I should be sorry
+to think that you were forgetting all that you have learnt. I will
+take you this afternoon, if you like, to my friend, the Curé of St.
+Ursula. Although we differ on religion we are good friends, and
+should you need advice on any matters he will give it to you, and may
+be of use in arranging for a passage for you to England, should your
+father not be able himself to come and fetch you."
+
+Sir Aubrey at once assented to the plan when Cyril mentioned it to
+him, and a week later sailed for England; Cyril moving, with his few
+belongings, to the house of Jean Baudoin, who was the owner and
+master of one of the largest fishing-boats in Dunkirk. Sir Aubrey had
+paid for his board and lodgings for two months.
+
+"I expect to be over to fetch you long before that, Cyril," he had
+said, "but it is as well to be on the safe side. Here are four
+crowns, which will furnish you with ample pocket-money. And I have
+arranged with your fencing-master for you to have lessons regularly,
+as before; it will not do for you to neglect so important an
+accomplishment, for which, as he tells me, you show great aptitude."
+
+The two months passed. Cyril had received but one letter from his
+father. Although it expressed hopes of his speedy restoration to his
+estates, Cyril could see, by its tone, that his father was far from
+satisfied with the progress he had made in the matter. Madame Baudoin
+was a good and pious woman, and was very kind to the forlorn English
+boy; but when a fortnight over the two months had passed, Cyril could
+see that the fisherman was becoming anxious. Regularly, on his return
+from the fishing, he inquired if letters had arrived, and seemed much
+put out when he heard that there was no news. One day, when Cyril was
+in the garden that surrounded the cottage, he heard him say to his
+wife,--
+
+"Well, I will say nothing about it until after the next voyage, and
+then if we don't hear, the boy must do something for his living. I
+can take him in the boat with me; he can earn his victuals in that
+way. If he won't do that, I shall wash my hands of him altogether,
+and he must shift for himself. I believe his father has left him with
+us for good. We were wrong in taking him only on the recommendation
+of Mr. Felton. I have been inquiring about his father, and hear
+little good of him."
+
+Cyril, as soon as the fisherman had gone, stole up to his little
+room. He was but twelve years old, and he threw himself down on his
+bed and cried bitterly. Then a thought struck him; he went to his
+box, and took out from it a sealed parcel; on it was written, "To my
+son. This parcel is only to be opened should you find yourself in
+great need, Your Loving Mother." He remembered how she had placed it
+in his hands a few hours before her death, and had said to him,--
+
+"Put this away, Cyril. I charge you let no one see it. Do not speak
+of it to anyone--not even to your father. Keep it as a sacred gift,
+and do not open it unless you are in sore need. It is for you, and
+you alone. It is the sole thing that I have to leave you; use it with
+discretion. I fear that hard times will come upon you."
+
+Cyril felt that his need could hardly be sorer than it was now, and
+without hesitation he broke the seals, and opened the packet. He
+found first a letter directed to himself. It began,--
+
+"MY DARLING CYRIL,--I trust that it will be many years before you
+open this parcel and read these words. I have left the enclosed as a
+parting gift to you. I know not how long this exile may last, or
+whether you will ever be able to return to England. But whether you
+do or not, it may well be that the time will arrive when you may find
+yourself in sore need. Your father has been a loving husband to me,
+and will, I am sure, do what he can for you; but he is not provident
+in his habits, and may not, after he is left alone, be as careful in
+his expenditure as I have tried to be. I fear then that the time will
+come when you will be in need of money, possibly even in want of the
+necessaries of life. All my other trinkets I have given to him; but
+the one enclosed, which belonged to my mother, I leave to you. It is
+worth a good deal of money, and this it is my desire that you shall
+spend upon yourself. Use it wisely, my son. If, when you open this,
+you are of age to enter the service of a foreign Prince, as is, I
+know, the intention of your father, it will provide you with a
+suitable outfit. If, as is possible, you may lose your father by
+death or otherwise while you are still young, spend it on your
+education, which is the best of all heritages. Should your father be
+alive when you open this, I pray you not to inform him of it. The
+money, in his hands, would last but a short time, and might, I fear,
+be wasted. Think not that I am speaking or thinking hardly of him.
+All men, even the best, have their faults, and his is a carelessness
+as to money matters, and a certain recklessness concerning them;
+therefore, I pray you to keep it secret from him, though I do not say
+that you should not use the money for your common good, if it be
+needful; only, in that case, I beg you will not inform him as to what
+money you have in your possession, but use it carefully and prudently
+for the household wants, and make it last as long as may be. My good
+friend, Lady Parton, if still near you, will doubtless aid you in
+disposing of the jewels to the best advantage. God bless you, my son!
+This is the only secret I ever had from your father, but for your
+good I have hidden this one thing from him, and I pray that this
+deceit, which is practised for your advantage, may be forgiven me.
+YOUR LOVING MOTHER."
+
+It was some time before Cyril opened the parcel; it contained a
+jewel-box in which was a necklace of pearls. After some consideration
+he took this to the Curé of St. Ursula, and, giving him his mother's
+letter to read, asked him for his advice as to its disposal.
+
+"Your mother was a thoughtful and pious woman," the good priest said,
+after he had read the letter, "and has acted wisely in your behalf.
+The need she foresaw might come, has arisen, and you are surely
+justified in using her gift. I will dispose of this trinket for you;
+it is doubtless of considerable value. If it should be that your
+father speedily sends for you, you ought to lay aside the money for
+some future necessity. If he does not come for some time, as may well
+be--for, from the news that comes from England, it is like to be many
+months before affairs are settled--then draw from it only such
+amounts as are needed for your living and education. Study hard, my
+son, for so will you best be fulfilling the intentions of your
+mother. If you like, I will keep the money in my hands, serving it
+out to you as you need it; and in order that you may keep the matter
+a secret, I will myself go to Baudoin, and tell him that he need not
+be disquieted as to the cost of your maintenance, for that I have
+money in hand with which to discharge your expenses, so long as you
+may remain with him."
+
+The next day the Curé informed Cyril that he had disposed of the
+necklace for fifty louis. Upon this sum Cyril lived for two years.
+
+Things had gone very hardly with Sir Aubrey Shenstone. The King had a
+difficult course to steer. To have evicted all those who had obtained
+possession of the forfeited estates of the Cavaliers would have been
+to excite a deep feeling of resentment among the Nonconformists. In
+vain Sir Aubrey pressed his claims, in season and out of season. He
+had no powerful friends to aid him; his conduct had alienated the men
+who could have assisted him, and, like so many other Cavaliers who
+had fought and suffered for Charles I., Sir Aubrey Shenstone found
+himself left altogether in the cold. For a time he was able to keep
+up a fair appearance, as he obtained loans from Prince Rupert and
+other Royalists whom he had known in the old days, and who had been
+more fortunate than himself; but the money so obtained lasted but a
+short time, and it was not long before he was again in dire straits.
+
+Cyril had from the first but little hope that his father would
+recover his estates. He had, shortly before his father left France,
+heard a conversation between Sir John Parton and a gentleman who was
+in the inner circle of Charles's advisers. The latter had said,--
+
+"One of the King's great difficulties will be to satisfy the exiles.
+Undoubtedly, could he consult his own inclinations only, he would on
+his return at once reinstate all those who have suffered in their
+estates from their loyalty to his father and himself. But this will
+be impossible. It was absolutely necessary for him, in his
+proclamation at Breda, to promise an amnesty for all offences,
+liberty of conscience and an oblivion as to the past, and he
+specially says that all questions of grants, sales and purchases of
+land, and titles, shall be referred to Parliament. The Nonconformists
+are at present in a majority, and although it seems that all parties
+are willing to welcome the King back, you may be sure that no
+Parliament will consent to anything like a general disturbance of the
+possessors of estates formerly owned by Royalists. In a vast number
+of cases, the persons to whom such grants were made disposed of them
+by sale to others, and it would be as hard on them to be ousted as it
+is upon the original proprietors to be kept out of their possession.
+Truly it is a most difficult position, and one that will have to be
+approached with great judgment, the more so since most of those to
+whom the lands were granted were generals, officers, and soldiers of
+the Parliament, and Monk would naturally oppose any steps to the
+detriment of his old comrades.
+
+"I fear there will be much bitter disappointment among the exiles,
+and that the King will be charged with ingratitude by those who think
+that he has only to sign an order for their reinstatement, whereas
+Charles will have himself a most difficult course to steer, and will
+have to govern himself most circumspectly, so as to give offence to
+none of the governing parties. As to his granting estates, or
+dispossessing their holders, he will have no more power to do so than
+you or I. Doubtless some of the exiles will be restored to their
+estates; but I fear that the great bulk are doomed to disappointment.
+At any rate, for a time no extensive changes can be made, though it
+may be that in the distance, when the temper of the nation at large
+is better understood, the King will be able to do something for those
+who suffered in the cause.
+
+"It was all very well for Cromwell, who leant solely on the Army, to
+dispense with a Parliament, and to govern far more autocratically
+than James or Charles even dreamt of doing; but the Army that
+supported Cromwell would certainly not support Charles. It is
+composed for the most part of stern fanatics, and will be the first
+to oppose any attempt of the King to override the law. No doubt it
+will erelong be disbanded; but you will see that Parliament will then
+recover the authority of which Cromwell deprived it; and Charles is a
+far wiser man than his father, and will never set himself against the
+feeling of the country. Certainly, anything like a general
+reinstatement of the men who have been for the last ten years
+haunting the taverns of the Continent is out of the question; they
+would speedily create such a revulsion of public opinion as might
+bring about another rebellion. Hyde, staunch Royalist as he is, would
+never suffer the King to make so grievous an error; nor do I think
+for a moment that Charles, who is shrewd and politic, and above all
+things a lover of ease and quiet, would think of bringing such a nest
+of hornets about his ears."
+
+When, after his return to England, it became evident that Sir Aubrey
+had but small chance of reinstatement in his lands, his former
+friends began to close their purses and to refuse to grant further
+loans, and he was presently reduced to straits as severe as those he
+had suffered during his exile. The good spirits that had borne him up
+so long failed now, and he grew morose and petulant. His loyalty to
+the King was unshaken; Charles had several times granted him
+audiences, and had assured him that, did it rest with him, justice
+should be at once dealt to him, but that he was practically powerless
+in the matter, and the knight's resentment was concentrated upon
+Hyde, now Lord Clarendon, and the rest of the King's advisers. He
+wrote but seldom to Cyril; he had no wish to have the boy with him
+until he could take him down with him in triumph to Norfolk, and show
+him to the tenants as his heir. Living from hand to mouth as he did,
+he worried but little as to how Cyril was getting on.
+
+"The lad has fallen on his feet somehow," he said, "and he is better
+where he is than he would be with me. I suppose when he wants money
+he will write and say so, though where I should get any to send to
+him I know not. Anyhow, I need not worry about him at present."
+
+Cyril, indeed, had written to him soon after the sale of the
+necklace, telling him that he need not distress himself about his
+condition, for that he had obtained sufficient money for his present
+necessities from the sale of a small trinket his mother had given him
+before her death, and that when this was spent he should doubtless
+find some means of earning his living until he could rejoin him. His
+father never inquired into the matter, though he made a casual
+reference to it in his next letter, saying that he was glad Cyril had
+obtained some money, as it would, at the moment, have been
+inconvenient to him to send any over.
+
+Cyril worked assiduously at the school that had been recommended to
+him by the Curé, and at the end of two years he had still twenty
+louis left. He had several conversations with his adviser as to the
+best way of earning his living.
+
+"I do not wish to spend any more, Father," he said, "and would fain
+keep this for some future necessity."
+
+The Curé agreed with him as to this, and, learning from his master
+that he was extremely quick at figures and wrote an excellent hand,
+he obtained a place for him with one of the principal traders of the
+town. He was to receive no salary for a year, but was to learn
+book-keeping and accounts. Although but fourteen, the boy was so
+intelligent and zealous that his employer told the Curé that he found
+him of real service, and that he was able to entrust some of his
+books entirely to his charge.
+
+Six months after entering his service, however, Cyril received a
+letter from his father, saying that he believed his affairs were on
+the point of settlement, and therefore wished him to come over in the
+first ship sailing. He enclosed an order on a house at Dunkirk for
+fifty francs, to pay his passage. His employer parted with him with
+regret, and the kind Curé bade him farewell in terms of real
+affection, for he had come to take a great interest in him.
+
+"At any rate, Cyril," he said, "your time here has not been wasted,
+and your mother's gift has been turned to as much advantage as even
+she can have hoped that it would be. Should your father's hopes be
+again disappointed, and fresh delays arise, you may, with the
+practice you have had, be able to earn your living in London. There
+must be there, as in France, many persons in trade who have had but
+little education, and you may be able to obtain employment in keeping
+the books of such people, who are, I believe, more common in England
+than here. Here are the sixteen louis that still remain; put them
+aside, Cyril, and use them only for urgent necessity."
+
+Cyril, on arriving in London, was heartily welcomed by his father,
+who had, for the moment, high hopes of recovering his estates. These,
+however, soon faded, and although Sir Aubrey would not allow it, even
+to himself, no chance remained of those Royalists, who had, like him,
+parted with their estates for trifling sums, to be spent in the
+King's service, ever regaining possession of them.
+
+It was not long before Cyril perceived that unless he himself
+obtained work of some sort they would soon be face to face with
+actual starvation. He said nothing to his father, but started out one
+morning on a round of visits among the smaller class of shopkeepers,
+offering to make up their books and write out their bills and
+accounts for a small remuneration. As he had a frank and pleasant
+face, and his foreign bringing up had given him an ease and
+politeness of manner rare among English lads of the day, it was not
+long before he obtained several clients. To some of the smaller class
+of traders he went only for an hour or two, once a week, while others
+required their bills and accounts to be made out daily. The pay was
+very small, but it sufficed to keep absolute want from the door. When
+he told his father of the arrangements he had made, Sir Aubrey at
+first raged and stormed; but he had come, during the last year or
+two, to recognise the good sense and strong will of his son, and
+although he never verbally acquiesced in what he considered a
+degradation, he offered no actual opposition to a plan that at least
+enabled them to live, and furnished him occasionally with a few
+groats with which he could visit a tavern.
+
+So things had gone on for more than a year. Cyril was now sixteen,
+and his punctuality, and the neatness of his work, had been so
+appreciated by the tradesmen who first employed him, that his time
+was now fully occupied, and that at rates more remunerative than
+those he had at first obtained. He kept the state of his resources to
+himself, and had no difficulty in doing this, as his father never
+alluded to the subject of his work. Cyril knew that, did he hand over
+to him all the money he made, it would be wasted in drink or at
+cards; consequently, he kept the table furnished as modestly as at
+first, and regularly placed after dinner on the corner of the mantel
+a few coins, which his father as regularly dropped into his pocket.
+
+A few days before the story opens, Sir Aubrey had, late one evening,
+been carried upstairs, mortally wounded in a brawl; he only recovered
+consciousness a few minutes before his death.
+
+"You have been a good lad, Cyril," he said faintly, as he feebly
+pressed the boy's hand; "far better than I deserve to have had. Don't
+cry, lad; you will get on better without me, and things are just as
+well as they are. I hope you will come to your estates some day; you
+will make a better master than I should ever have done. I hope that
+in time you will carry out your plan of entering some foreign
+service; there is no chance here. I don't want you to settle down as
+a city scrivener. Still, do as you like, lad, and unless your wishes
+go with mine, think no further of service."
+
+"I would rather be a soldier, father. I only undertook this work
+because I could see nothing else."
+
+"That is right, my boy, that is right. I know you won't forget that
+you come of a race of gentlemen."
+
+He spoke but little after that. A few broken words came from his lips
+that showed that his thoughts had gone back to old times. "Boot and
+saddle," he murmured. "That is right. Now we are ready for them. Down
+with the prick-eared knaves! God and King Charles!" These were the
+last words he spoke.
+
+Cyril had done all that was necessary. He had laid by more than half
+his earnings for the last eight or nine months. One of his clients,
+an undertaker, had made all the necessary preparations for the
+funeral, and in a few hours his father would be borne to his last
+resting-place. As he stood at the open window he thought sadly over
+the past, and of his father's wasted life. Had it not been for the
+war he might have lived and died a country gentleman. It was the war,
+with its wild excitements, that had ruined him. What was there for
+him to do in a foreign country, without resource or employment,
+having no love for reading, but to waste his life as he had done? Had
+his wife lived it might have been different. Cyril had still a vivid
+remembrance of his mother, and, though his father had but seldom
+spoken to him of her, he knew that he had loved her, and that, had
+she lived, he would never have given way to drink as he had done of
+late years.
+
+To his father's faults he could not be blind; but they stood for
+nothing now. He had been his only friend, and of late they had been
+drawn closer to each other in their loneliness; and although scarce a
+word of endearment had passed between them, he knew that his father
+had cared for him more than was apparent in his manner.
+
+A few hours later, Sir Aubrey Shenstone was laid to rest in a little
+graveyard outside the city walls. Cyril was the only mourner; and
+when it was over, instead of going back to his lonely room, he turned
+away and wandered far out through the fields towards Hampstead, and
+then sat himself down to think what he had best do. Another three or
+four years must pass before he could try to get service abroad. When
+the time came he should find Sir John Parton, and beg him to procure
+for him some letter of introduction to the many British gentlemen
+serving abroad. He had not seen him since he came to England. His
+father had met him, but had quarrelled with him upon Sir John
+declining to interest himself actively to push his claims, and had
+forbidden Cyril to go near those who had been so kind to him.
+
+The boy had felt it greatly at first, but he came, after a time, to
+see that it was best so. It seemed to him that he had fallen
+altogether out of their station in life when the hope of his father's
+recovering his estates vanished, and although he was sure of a kindly
+reception from Lady Parton, he shrank from going there in his present
+position. They had done so much for him already, that the thought
+that his visit might seem to them a sort of petition for further
+benefits was intolerable to him.
+
+For the present, the question in his mind was whether he should
+continue at his present work, which at any rate sufficed to keep him,
+or should seek other employment. He would greatly have preferred some
+life of action,--something that would fit him better to bear the
+fatigues and hardships of war,--but he saw no prospect of obtaining
+any such position.
+
+"I should be a fool to throw up what I have," he said to himself at
+last. "I will stick to it anyhow until some opportunity offers; but
+the sooner I leave it the better. It was bad enough before; it will
+be worse now. If I had but a friend or two it would not be so hard;
+but to have no one to speak to, and no one to think about, when work
+is done, will be lonely indeed."
+
+At any rate, he determined to change his room as soon as possible. It
+mattered little where he went so that it was a change. He thought
+over various tradesmen for whom he worked. Some of them might have an
+attic, he cared not how small, that they might let him have in lieu
+of paying him for his work. Even if they never spoke to him, it would
+be better to be in a house where he knew something of those
+downstairs, than to lodge in one where he was an utter stranger to
+all. He had gone round to the shops where he worked, on the day after
+his father's death, to explain that he could not come again until
+after the funeral, and he resolved that next morning he would ask
+each in turn whether he could obtain a lodging with them.
+
+The sun was already setting when he rose from the bank on which he
+had seated himself, and returned to the city. The room did not feel
+so lonely to him as it would have done had he not been accustomed to
+spending the evenings alone. He took out his little hoard and counted
+it. After paying the expenses of the funeral there would still remain
+sufficient to keep him for three or four months should he fall ill,
+or, from any cause, lose his work. He had one good suit of clothes
+that had been bought on his return to England,--when his father
+thought that they would assuredly be going down almost immediately to
+take possession of the old Hall,--and the rest were all in fair
+condition.
+
+The next day he began his work again; he had two visits to pay of an
+hour each, and one of two hours, and the spare time between these he
+filled up by calling at two or three other shops to make up for the
+arrears of work during the last few days.
+
+The last place he had to visit was that at which he had the longest
+task to perform. It was at a ship-chandler's in Tower Street, a large
+and dingy house, the lower portion being filled with canvas, cordage,
+barrels of pitch and tar, candles, oil, and matters of all sorts
+needed by ship-masters, including many cannon of different sizes,
+piles of balls, anchors, and other heavy work, all of which were
+stowed away in a yard behind it. The owner of this store was a
+one-armed man. His father had kept it before him, but he himself,
+after working there long enough to become a citizen and a member of
+the Ironmongers' Guild, had quarrelled with his father and had taken
+to the sea. For twenty years he had voyaged to many lands,
+principally in ships trading in the Levant, and had passed through a
+great many adventures, including several fights with the Moorish
+corsairs. In the last voyage he took, he had had his arm shot off by
+a ball from a Greek pirate among the Islands. He had long before made
+up his differences with his father, but had resisted the latter's
+entreaties that he should give up the sea and settle down at the
+shop; on his return after this unfortunate voyage he told him that he
+had come home to stay.
+
+"I shall be able to help about the stores after a while," he said,
+"but I shall never be the man I was on board ship. It will be hard
+work to take to measuring out canvas and to weighing iron, after a
+free life on the sea, but I don't so much mind now I have had my
+share of adventures; though I dare say I should have gone on for a
+few more years if that rascally ball had not carried away my arm. I
+don't know but that it is best as it is, for the older I got the
+harder I should find it to fall into new ways and to settle down
+here."
+
+"Anyhow, I am glad you are back, David," his father said.
+
+"You are forty-five, and though I don't say it would not have been
+better if you had remained here from the first, you have learnt many
+things you would not have learnt here. You know just the sort of
+things that masters of ships require, and what canvas and cables and
+cordage will suit their wants. Besides, customers like to talk with
+men of their own way of thinking, and sailors more, I think, than
+other men. You know, too, most of the captains who sail up the
+Mediterranean, and may be able to bring fresh custom into the shop.
+Therefore, do not think that you will be of no use to me. As to your
+wife and child, there is plenty of room for them as well as for you,
+and it will be better for them here, with you always at hand, than it
+would be for them to remain over at Rotherhithe and only to see you
+after the shutters are up."
+
+Eight years later Captain Dave, as he was always called, became sole
+owner of the house and business. A year after he did so he was
+lamenting to a friend the trouble that he had with his accounts.
+
+"My father always kept that part of the business in his own hands,"
+he said, "and I find it a mighty heavy burden. Beyond checking a bill
+of lading, or reading the marks on the bales and boxes, I never had
+occasion to read or write for twenty years, and there has not been
+much more of it for the last fifteen; and although I was a smart
+scholar enough in my young days, my fingers are stiff with hauling at
+ropes and using the marling-spike, and my eyes are not so clear as
+they used to be, and it is no slight toil and labour to me to make up
+an account for goods sold. John Wilkes, my head shopman, is a handy
+fellow; he was my boatswain in the _Kate_, and I took him on when we
+found that the man who had been my father's right hand for twenty
+years had been cheating him all along. We got on well enough as long
+as I could give all my time in the shop; but he is no good with the
+pen--all he can do is to enter receipts and sales.
+
+"He has a man under him, who helps him in measuring out the right
+length of canvas and cables or for weighing a chain or an anchor, and
+knows enough to put down the figures; but that is all. Then there are
+the two smiths and the two apprentices; they don't count in the
+matter. Robert Ashford, the eldest apprentice, could do the work, but
+I have no fancy for him; he does not look one straight in the face as
+one who is honest and above board should do. I shall have to keep a
+clerk, and I know what it will be--he will be setting me right, and I
+shall not feel my own master; he will be out of place in my crew
+altogether. I never liked pursers; most of them are rogues. Still, I
+suppose it must come to that."
+
+"I have a boy come in to write my bills and to make up my accounts,
+who would be just the lad for you, Captain Dave. He is the son of a
+broken-down Cavalier, but he is a steady, honest young fellow, and I
+fancy his pen keeps his father, who is a roystering blade, and spends
+most of his time at the taverns. The boy comes to me for an hour,
+twice a week; he writes as good a hand as any clerk and can reckon as
+quickly, and I pay him but a groat a week, which was all he asked."
+
+"Tell him to come to me, then. I should want him every day, if he
+could manage it, and it would be the very thing for me."
+
+"I am sure you would like him," the other said; "he is a good-looking
+young fellow, and his face speaks for him without any recommendation.
+I was afraid at first that he would not do for me; I thought there
+was too much of the gentleman about him. He has good manners, and a
+gentle sort of way. He has been living in France all his life, and
+though he has never said anything about his family--indeed he talks
+but little, he just comes in and does his work and goes away--I fancy
+his father was one of King Charles's men and of good blood."
+
+"Well, that doesn't sound so well," the sailor said, "but anyhow I
+should like to have a look at him."
+
+"He comes to me to-morrow at eleven and goes at twelve," the man
+said, "and I will send him round to you when he has done."
+
+Cyril had gone round the next morning to the ships' store.
+
+"So you are the lad that works for my neighbour Anderson?" Captain
+Dave said, as he surveyed him closely. "I like your looks, lad, but I
+doubt whether we shall get on together. I am an old sailor, you know,
+and I am quick of speech and don't stop to choose my words, so if you
+are quick to take offence it would be of no use your coming to me."
+
+"I don't think I am likely to take offence," Cyril said quietly; "and
+if we don't get on well together, sir, you will only have to tell me
+that you don't want me any longer; but I trust you will not have
+often the occasion to use hard words, for at any rate I will do my
+best to please you."
+
+"You can't say more, lad. Well, let us have a taste of your quality.
+Come in here," and he led him into a little room partitioned off from
+the shop. "There, you see," and he opened a book, "is the account of
+the sales and orders yesterday; the ready-money sales have got to be
+entered in that ledger with the red cover; the sales where no money
+passed have to be entered to the various customers or ships in the
+ledger. I have made out a list--here it is--of twelve accounts that
+have to be drawn out from that ledger and sent in to customers. You
+will find some of them are of somewhat long standing, for I have been
+putting off that job. Sit you down here. When you have done one or
+two of them I will have a look at your work, and if that is
+satisfactory we will have a talk as to what hours you have got
+disengaged, and what days in the week will suit you best."
+
+It was two hours before Captain Dave came in again. Cyril had just
+finished the work; some of the accounts were long ones, and the
+writing was so crabbed that it took him some time to decipher it.
+
+"Well, how are you getting on, lad?" the Captain asked.
+
+"I have this moment finished the last account."
+
+"What! Do you mean to say that you have done them all! Why, it would
+have taken me all my evenings for a week. Now, hand me the books; it
+is best to do things ship-shape."
+
+He first compared the list of the sales with the entries, and then
+Cyril handed him the twelve accounts he had drawn up. Captain David
+did not speak until he had finished looking through them.
+
+"I would not have believed all that work could have been done in two
+hours," he said, getting up from his chair. "Orderly and well
+written, and without a blot. The King's secretary could not have done
+better! Well, now you have seen the list of sales for a day, and I
+take it that be about the average, so if you come three times a week
+you will always have two days' sales to enter in the ledger. There
+are a lot of other books my father used to keep, but I have never had
+time to bother myself about them, and as I have got on very well so
+far, I do not see any occasion for you to do so, for my part it seems
+to me that all these books are only invented by clerks to give
+themselves something to do to fill up their time. Of course, there
+won't be accounts to send out every day. Do you think with two hours,
+three times a week, you could keep things straight?"
+
+"I should certainly think so, sir, but I can hardly say until I try,
+because it seems to me that there must be a great many items, and I
+can't say how long it will take entering all the goods received under
+their proper headings; but if the books are thoroughly made up now, I
+should think I could keep them all going."
+
+"That they are not," Captain David said ruefully; "they are all
+horribly in arrears. I took charge of them myself three years ago,
+and though I spend three hours every evening worrying over them, they
+get further and further in arrears. Look at those files over there,"
+and he pointed to three long wires, on each of which was strung a
+large bundle of papers; "I am afraid you will have to enter them all
+up before you can get matters into ship-shape order. The daily sale
+book is the only one that has been kept up regularly."
+
+"But these accounts I have made up, sir? Probably in those files
+there are many other goods supplied to the same people."
+
+"Of course there are, lad, though I did not think of it before. Well,
+we must wait, then, until you can make up the arrears a bit, though I
+really want to get some money in."
+
+"Well, sir, I might write at the bottom of each bill 'Account made up
+to,' and then put in the date of the latest entry charged."
+
+"That would do capitally, lad--I did not think of that. I see you
+will be of great use to me. I can buy and sell, for I know the value
+of the goods I deal in; but as to accounts, they are altogether out
+of my way. And now, lad, what do you charge?"
+
+"I charge a groat for two hours' work, sir; but if I came to you
+three times a week, I would do it for a little less."
+
+"No, lad, I don't want to beat you down; indeed, I don't think you
+charge enough. However, let us say, to begin with, three groats a
+week."
+
+This had been six weeks before Sir Aubrey Shenstone's death; and in
+the interval Cyril had gradually wiped off all the arrears, and had
+all the books in order up to date, to the astonishment of his
+employer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
+
+
+"I am glad to see you again, lad," Captain David said, when Cyril
+entered his shop. "I have been thinking of the news you gave me last
+week, and the mistress and I have been talking it over. Where are you
+lodging?"
+
+"I have been lodging until now in Holborn," Cyril replied; "but I am
+going to move."
+
+"Yes; that is what we thought you would be doing. It is always better
+to make a change after a loss. I don't want to interfere in your
+business, lad, but have you any friends you are thinking of going
+to?"
+
+"No, sir; I do not know a soul in London save those I work for."
+
+"That is bad, lad--very bad. I was talking it over with my wife, and
+I said that maybe you were lonely. I am sure, lad, you are one of the
+right sort. I don't mean only in your work, for as for that I would
+back you against any scrivener in London, but I mean about yourself.
+It don't need half an eye to see that you have not been brought up to
+this sort of thing, though you have taken to it so kindly, but there
+is not one in a thousand boys of your age who would have settled down
+to work and made their way without a friend to help them as you have
+done; it shows that there is right good stuff in you. There, I am so
+long getting under weigh that I shall never get into port if I don't
+steer a straight course. Now, my ideas and my wife's come to this: if
+you have got no friends you will have to take a lodging somewhere
+among strangers, and then it would be one of two things--you would
+either stop at home and mope by yourself, or you would go out, and
+maybe get into bad company. If I had not come across you I should
+have had to employ a clerk, and he would either have lived here with
+us or I should have had to pay him enough to keep house for himself.
+Now in fact you are a clerk; for though you are only here for six
+hours a week--you do all the work there is to do, and no clerk could
+do more. Well, we have got an attic upstairs which is not used, and
+if you like to come here and live with us, my wife and I will make
+you heartily welcome."
+
+"Thank you, indeed," Cyril said warmly. "It is of all things what I
+should like; but of course I should wish to pay you for my board. I
+can afford to do so if you will employ me for the same hours as at
+present."
+
+"No, I would not have that, lad; but if you like we can reckon your
+board against what I now pay you. We feed John Wilkes and the two
+apprentices, and one mouth extra will make but little difference. I
+don't want it to be a matter of obligation, so we will put your board
+against the work you do for me. I shall consider that we are making a
+good bargain."
+
+"It is your pleasure to say so, sir, but I cannot tell you what a
+load your kind offer takes off my mind. The future has seemed very
+dark to me."
+
+"Very well. That matter is settled, then. Come upstairs with me and I
+will present you to my wife and daughter; they have heard me speak of
+you so often that they will be glad to see you. In the first place,
+though, I must ask you your name. Since you first signed articles and
+entered the crew I have never thought of asking you."
+
+"My name is Cyril, sir--Cyril Shenstone."
+
+His employer nodded and at once led the way upstairs. A motherly
+looking woman rose from the seat where she was sitting at work, as
+they entered the living-room.
+
+"This is my Prince of Scriveners, Mary, the lad I have often spoken
+to you about. His name is Cyril; he has accepted the proposal we
+talked over last night, and is going to become one of the crew on
+board our ship."
+
+"I am glad to see you," she said to Cyril, holding out her hand to
+him. "I have not met you before, but I feel very grateful to you.
+Till you came, my husband was bothered nearly out of his wits; he
+used to sit here worrying over his books, and writing from the time
+the shop closed till the hour for bed, and Nellie and I dared not to
+say as much as a word. Now we see no more of his books, and he is
+able to go out for a walk in the fields with us as he used to do
+before."
+
+"It is very kind of you to say so, Mistress," Cyril said earnestly;
+"but it is I, on the contrary, who am deeply grateful to you for the
+offer Captain Dave has been good enough to make me. You cannot tell
+the pleasure it has given me, for you cannot understand how lonely
+and friendless I have been feeling. Believe me, I will strive to give
+you as little trouble as possible, and to conform myself in all ways
+to your wishes."
+
+At this moment Nellie Dowsett came into the room. She was a pretty
+girl some eighteen years of age.
+
+"This is Cyril, your father's assistant, Nellie," her mother said.
+
+"You are welcome, Master Cyril. I have been wanting to see you.
+Father has been praising you up to the skies so often that I have had
+quite a curiosity to see what you could be like."
+
+"Your father is altogether too good, Mistress Nellie, and makes far
+more of my poor ability than it deserves."
+
+"And is he going to live with us, mother?" Nellie asked.
+
+"Yes, child; he has accepted your father's offer."
+
+Nellie clapped her hands.
+
+"That is good," she said. "I shall expect you to escort me out
+sometimes, Cyril. Father always wants me to go down to the wharf to
+look at the ships or to go into the fields; but I want to go
+sometimes to see the fashions, and there is no one to take me, for
+John Wilkes always goes off to smoke a pipe with some sailor or
+other, and the apprentices are stupid and have nothing to say for
+themselves; and besides, one can't walk alongside a boy in an
+apprentice cap."
+
+"I shall be very happy to, Mistress, when my work is done, though I
+fear that I shall make but a poor escort, for indeed I have had no
+practice whatever in the esquiring of dames."
+
+"I am sure you will do very well," Nellie said, nodding approvingly.
+"Is it true that you have been in France? Father said he was told
+so."
+
+"Yes; I have lived almost all my life in France."
+
+"And do you speak French?"
+
+"Yes; I speak it as well as English."
+
+"It must have been very hard to learn?"
+
+"Not at all. It came to me naturally, just as English did."
+
+"You must not keep him any longer now, Nellie; he has other
+appointments to keep, and when he has done that, to go and pack up
+his things and see that they are brought here by a porter. He can
+answer some more of your questions when he comes here this evening."
+
+Cyril returned to Holborn with a lighter heart than he had felt for a
+long time. His preparations for the move took him but a short time,
+and two hours later he was installed in a little attic in the
+ship-chandler's house. He spent half-an-hour in unpacking his things,
+and then heard a stentorian shout from below,--
+
+"Masthead, ahoy! Supper's waiting."
+
+Supposing that this hail was intended for himself, he at once went
+downstairs. The table was laid. Mistress Dowsett took her seat at the
+head; her husband sat on one side of her, and Nellie on the other.
+John Wilkes sat next to his master, and beyond him the elder of the
+two apprentices. A seat was left between Nellie and the other
+apprentice for Cyril.
+
+"Now our crew is complete, John," Captain Dave said. "We have been
+wanting a supercargo badly."
+
+"Ay, ay, Captain Dave, there is no doubt we have been short-handed in
+that respect; but things have been more ship-shape lately."
+
+"That is so, John. I can make a shift to keep the vessel on her
+course, but when it comes to writing up the log, and keeping the
+reckoning, I make but a poor hand at it. It was getting to be as bad
+as that voyage of the _Jane_ in the Levant, when the supercargo had
+got himself stabbed at Lemnos."
+
+"I mind it, Captain--I mind it well. And what a trouble there was
+with the owners when we got back again!"
+
+"Yes, yes," the Captain said; "it was worse work than having a brush
+with a Barbary corsair. I shall never forget that day. When I went to
+the office to report, the three owners were all in.
+
+"'Well, Captain Dave, back from your voyage?' said the littlest of
+the three. 'Made a good voyage, I hope?'
+
+"First-rate, says I, except that the supercargo got killed at Lemnos
+by one of them rascally Greeks.
+
+"'Dear, dear,' said another of them--he was a prim, sanctimonious
+sort--'Has our brother Jenkins left us?'
+
+"I don't know about his leaving us, says I, but we left him sure
+enough in a burying-place there.
+
+"'And how did you manage without him?'
+
+"I made as good a shift as I could, I said. I have sold all the
+cargo, and I have brought back a freight of six tons of Turkey figs,
+and four hundred boxes of currants. And these two bags hold the
+difference.
+
+"'Have you brought the books with you, Captain?'
+
+"Never a book, said I. I have had to navigate the ship and to look
+after the crew, and do the best I could at each port. The books are
+on board, made out up to the day before the supercargo was killed,
+three months ago; but I have never had time to make an entry since.
+
+"They looked at each other like owls for a minute or two, and then
+they all began to talk at once. How had I sold the goods? had I
+charged the prices mentioned in the invoice? what percentage had I
+put on for profit? and a lot of other things. I waited until they
+were all out of breath, and then I said I had not bothered about
+invoices. I knew pretty well the prices such things cost in England.
+I clapped on so much more for the expenses of the voyage and a fair
+profit. I could tell them what I had paid for the figs and the
+currants, and for some bags of Smyrna sponges I had bought, but as to
+the prices I had charged, it was too much to expect that I could
+carry them in my head. All I knew was I had paid for the things I had
+bought, I had paid all the port dues and other charges, I had
+advanced the men one-fourth of their wages each month, and I had
+brought them back the balance.
+
+"Such a hubbub you never heard. One would have thought they would
+have gone raving mad. The sanctimonious partner was the worst of the
+lot. He threatened me with the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen, and went
+on till I thought he would have had a fit.
+
+"Look here, says I, at last, I'll tell you what I will do. You tell
+me what the cargo cost you altogether, and put on so much for the
+hire of the ship. I will pay you for them and settle up with the
+crew, and take the cargo and sell it. That is a fair offer. And I
+advise you to keep civil tongues in your heads, or I will knock them
+off and take my chance before the Lord Mayor for assault and battery.
+
+"With that I took off my coat and laid it on a bench. I reckon they
+saw that I was in earnest, and they just sat as mum as mice. Then the
+little man said, in a quieter sort of voice,--
+
+"'You are too hasty, Captain Dowsett. We know you to be an honest man
+and a good sailor, and had no suspicion that you would wrong us; but
+no merchant in the City of London could hear that his business had
+been conducted in such a way as you have carried it through without
+for a time losing countenance. Let us talk the matter over reasonably
+and quietly.'
+
+"That is just what I am wanting, I said; and if there hasn't been
+reason and quiet it is from no fault of mine.
+
+"'Well, please to put your coat on again, Captain, and let us see how
+matters stand!'
+
+"Then they took their ink-horns and pens, and, on finding out what I
+had paid for the figs and other matters, they reckoned them up; then
+they put down what I said was due to the sailors and the mate and
+myself; then they got out some books, and for an hour they were busy
+reckoning up figures; then they opened the bags and counted up the
+gold we had brought home. Well, when they had done, you would hardly
+have known them for the same men. First of all, they went through all
+their calculations again to be sure they had made no mistake about
+them; then they laid down their pens, and the sanctimonious man
+mopped the perspiration from his face, and the others smiled at each
+other. Then the biggest of the three, who had scarcely spoken before,
+said,--
+
+"'Well, Captain Dowsett, I must own that my partners were a little
+hasty. The result of our calculations is that the voyage has been a
+satisfactory one, I may almost say very satisfactory, and that you
+must have disposed of the goods to much advantage. It has been a new
+and somewhat extraordinary way of doing business, but I am bound to
+say that the result has exceeded our expectations, and we trust that
+you will command the _Jane_ for many more voyages.'
+
+"Not for me, says I. You can hand me over the wages due to me, and
+you will find the _Jane_ moored in the stream just above the Tower.
+You will find her in order and shipshape; but never again do I set my
+foot on board her or on any other vessel belonging to men who have
+doubted my honesty.
+
+"Nor did I. I had a pretty good name among traders, and ten days
+later I started for the Levant again in command of a far smarter
+vessel than the _Jane_ had ever been."
+
+"And we all went with you, Captain," John Wilkes said, "every man
+jack of us. And on her very next voyage the _Jane_ was captured by
+the Algerines, and I reckon there are some of the poor fellows
+working as slaves there now; for though Blake did blow the place
+pretty nigh out of water a few years afterwards, it is certain that
+the Christian slaves handed over to him were not half those the Moors
+had in their hands."
+
+"It would seem, Captain Dowsett, from your story, that you can manage
+very well without a supercargo?" Cyril said quietly.
+
+"Ay, lad; but you see that was a ready-money business. I handed over
+the goods and took the cash; there was no accounts to be kept. It was
+all clear and above board. But it is a different thing in this ship
+altogether, when, instead of paying down on the nail for what they
+get, you have got to keep an account of everything and send in all
+their items jotted down in order. Why, Nellie, your tongue seems
+quieter than usual."
+
+"You have not given me a chance, father. You have been talking ever
+since we sat down to table."
+
+Supper was now over. The two apprentices at once retired. Cyril would
+have done the same, but Mistress Dowsett said,--
+
+"Sit you still, Cyril. The Captain says that you are to be considered
+as one of the officers of the ship, and we shall be always glad to
+have you here, though of course you can always go up to your own
+room, or go out, when you feel inclined."
+
+"I have to go out three times a week to work," Cyril said; "but all
+the other evenings I shall be glad indeed to sit here, Mistress
+Dowsett. You cannot tell what a pleasure it is to me to be in an
+English home like this."
+
+It was not long before John Wilkes went out.
+
+"He is off to smoke his pipe," the Captain said. "I never light mine
+till he goes. I can't persuade him to take his with me; he insists it
+would not be manners to smoke in the cabin."
+
+"He is quite right, father," Nellie said. "It is bad enough having
+you smoke here. When mother's friends or mine come in they are
+well-nigh choked; they are not accustomed to it as we are, for a
+respectable London citizen does not think of taking tobacco."
+
+"I am a London citizen, Nellie, but I don't set up any special claim
+to respectability. I am a sea-captain, though that rascally Greek
+cannon-ball and other circumstances have made a trader of me, sorely
+against my will; and if I could not have my pipe and my glass of grog
+here I would go and sit with John Wilkes in the tavern at the corner
+of the street, and I suppose that would not be even as respectable as
+smoking here."
+
+"Nellie doesn't mean, David, that she wants you to give up smoking;
+only she thinks that John is quite right to go out to take his pipe.
+And I must say I think so too. You know that when you have
+sea-captains of your acquaintance here, you always send the maid off
+to bed and smoke in the kitchen."
+
+"Ay, ay, my dear, I don't want to turn your room into a fo'castle.
+There is reason in all things. I suppose you don't smoke, Master
+Cyril?"
+
+"No, Captain Dave, I have never so much as thought of such a thing.
+In France it is the fashion to take snuff, but the habit seemed to me
+a useless one, and I don't think that I should ever have taken to
+it."
+
+"I wonder," Captain Dave said, after they had talked for some time,
+"that after living in sight of the sea for so long your thoughts
+never turned that way."
+
+"I cannot say that I have never thought of it," Cyril said. "I have
+thought that I should greatly like to take foreign voyages, but I
+should not have cared to go as a ship's boy, and to live with men so
+ignorant that they could not even write their own names. My thoughts
+have turned rather to the Army; and when I get older I think of
+entering some foreign service, either that of Sweden or of one of the
+Protestant German princes. I could obtain introductions through which
+I might enter as a cadet, or gentleman volunteer. I have learnt
+German, and though I cannot speak it as I can French or English, I
+know enough to make my way in it."
+
+"Can you use your sword, Cyril?" Nellie Dowsett asked.
+
+"I have had very good teaching," Cyril replied, "and hope to be able
+to hold my own."
+
+"Then you are not satisfied with this mode of life?" Mistress Dowsett
+said.
+
+"I am satisfied with it, Mistress, inasmuch as I can earn money
+sufficient to keep me. But rather than settle down for life as a city
+scrivener, I would go down to the river and ship on board the first
+vessel that would take me, no matter where she sailed for."
+
+"I think you are wrong," Mistress Dowsett said gravely. "My husband
+tells me how clever you are at figures, and you might some day get a
+good post in the house of one of our great merchants."
+
+"Maybe it would be so," Cyril said; "but such a life would ill suit
+me. I have truly a great desire to earn money: but it must be in some
+way to suit my taste."
+
+"And why do you want to earn a great deal of money, Cyril?" Nellie
+laughed, while her mother shook her head disapprovingly.
+
+"I wish to have enough to buy my father's estate back again," he
+said, "and though I know well enough that it is not likely I shall
+ever do it, I shall fight none the worse that I have such a hope in
+my mind."
+
+"Bravo, lad!" Captain Dave said. "I knew not that there was an estate
+in the case, though I did hear that you were the son of a Royalist.
+It is a worthy ambition, boy, though if it is a large one 'tis scarce
+like that you will get enough to buy it back again."
+
+"It is not a very large one," Cyril said. "'Tis down in Norfolk, but
+it was a grand old house--at least, so I have heard my father say,
+though I have but little remembrance of it, as I was but three years
+old when I left it. My father, who was Sir Aubrey Shenstone, had
+hoped to recover it; but he was one of the many who sold their
+estates for far less than their value in order to raise money in the
+King's service, and, as you are aware, none of those who did so have
+been reinstated, but only those who, having had their land taken from
+them by Parliament, recovered them because their owners had no
+title-deeds to show, save the grant of Parliament that was of no
+effect in the Courts. Thus the most loyal men--those who sold their
+estates to aid the King--have lost all, while those that did not so
+dispossess themselves in his service are now replaced on their land."
+
+"It seems very unfair," Nellie said indignantly.
+
+"It is unfair to them, assuredly, Mistress Nellie. And yet it would
+be unfair to the men who bought, though often they gave but a tenth
+of their value, to be turned out again unless they received their
+money back. It is not easy to see where that money could come from,
+for assuredly the King's privy purse would not suffice to pay all the
+money, and equally certain is it that Parliament would not vote a
+great sum for that purpose."
+
+"It is a hard case, lad--a hard case," Captain Dave said, as he
+puffed the smoke from his pipe. "Now I know how you stand, I blame,
+you in no way that you long more for a life of adventure than to
+settle down as a city scrivener. I don't think even my wife, much as
+she thinks of the city, could say otherwise."
+
+"It alters the case much," Mistress Dowsett said. "I did not know
+that Cyril was the son of a Knight, though it was easy enough to see
+that his manners accord not with his present position. Still there
+are fortunes made in the city, and no honest work is dishonouring
+even to a gentleman's son."
+
+"Not at all, Mistress," Cyril said warmly. "'Tis assuredly not on
+that account that I would fain seek more stirring employment; but it
+was always my father's wish and intention that, should there be no
+chance of his ever regaining the estate, I should enter foreign
+service, and I have always looked forward to that career."
+
+"Well, I will wager that you will do credit to it, lad," Captain Dave
+said. "You have proved that you are ready to turn your hand to any
+work that may come to you. You have shown a manly spirit, my boy, and
+I honour you for it; and by St. Anthony I believe that some day,
+unless a musket-ball or a pike-thrust brings you up with a round
+turn, you will live to get your own back again."
+
+Cyril remained talking for another two hours, and then betook himself
+to bed. After he had gone, Mistress Dowsett said, after a pause,--
+
+"Do you not think, David, that, seeing that Cyril is the son of a
+Knight, it would be more becoming to give him the room downstairs
+instead of the attic where he is now lodged?"
+
+The old sailor laughed.
+
+"That is woman-kind all over," he said. "It was good enough for him
+before, and now forsooth, because the lad mentioned, and assuredly in
+no boasting way, that his father had been a Knight, he is to be
+treated differently. He would not thank you himself for making the
+change, dame. In the first place, it would make him uncomfortable,
+and he might make an excuse to leave us altogether; and in the
+second, you may be sure that he has been used to no better quarters
+than those he has got. The Royalists in France were put to sore
+shifts to live, and I fancy that he has fared no better since he came
+home. His father would never have consented to his going out to earn
+money by keeping the accounts of little city traders like myself had
+it not been that he was driven to it by want. No, no, wife; let the
+boy go on as he is, and make no difference in any way. I liked him
+before, and I like him all the better now, for putting his
+gentlemanship in his pocket and setting manfully to work instead of
+hanging on the skirts of some Royalist who has fared better than his
+father did. He is grateful as it is--that is easy to see--for our
+taking him in here. We did that partly because he proved a good
+worker and has taken a lot of care off my shoulders, partly because
+he was fatherless and alone. I would not have him think that we are
+ready to do more because he is a Knight's son. Let the boy be, and
+suffer him to steer his ship his own course. If, when the time comes,
+we can further his objects in any way we will do it with right good
+will. What do you think of him, Nellie?" he asked, changing the
+subject.
+
+"He is a proper young fellow, father, and I shall be well content to
+go abroad escorted by him instead of having your apprentice, Robert
+Ashford, in attendance on me. He has not a word to say for himself,
+and truly I like him not in anyway."
+
+"He is not a bad apprentice, Nellie, and John Wilkes has but seldom
+cause to find fault with him, though I own that I have no great
+liking myself for him; he never seems to look one well in the face,
+which, I take it, is always a bad sign. I know no harm of him; but
+when his apprenticeship is out, which it will be in another year, I
+shall let him go his own way, for I should not care to have him on
+the premises."
+
+"Methinks you are very unjust, David. The lad is quiet and regular in
+his ways; he goes twice every Sunday to the Church of St. Alphage,
+and always tells me the texts of the sermons."
+
+The Captain grunted.
+
+"Maybe so, wife; but it is easy to get hold of the text of a sermon
+without having heard it. I have my doubts whether he goes as
+regularly to St. Alphage's as he says he does. Why could he not go
+with us to St. Bennet's?"
+
+"He says he likes the administrations of Mr. Catlin better, David.
+And, in truth, our parson is not one of the stirring kind."
+
+"So much the better," Captain Dave said bluntly. "I like not these
+men that thump the pulpit and make as if they were about to jump out
+head foremost. However, I don't suppose there is much harm in the
+lad, and it may be that his failure to look one in the face is not so
+much his fault as that of nature, which endowed him with a villainous
+squint. Well, let us turn in; it is past nine o'clock, and high time
+to be a-bed."
+
+Cyril seemed to himself to have entered upon a new life when he
+stepped across the threshold of David Dowsett's store. All his cares
+and anxieties had dropped from him. For the past two years he had
+lived the life of an automaton, starting early to his work, returning
+in the middle of the day to his dinner,--to which as often as not he
+sat down alone,--and spending his evenings in utter loneliness in the
+bare garret, where he was generally in bed long before his father
+returned. He blamed himself sometimes during the first fortnight of
+his stay here for the feeling of light-heartedness that at times came
+over him. He had loved his father in spite of his faults, and should,
+he told himself, have felt deeply depressed at his loss; but nature
+was too strong for him. The pleasant evenings with Captain Dave and
+his family were to him delightful; he was like a traveller who, after
+a cold and cheerless journey, comes in to the warmth of a fire, and
+feels a glow of comfort as the blood circulates briskly through his
+veins. Sometimes, when he had no other engagements, he went out with
+Nellie Dowsett, whose lively chatter was new and very amusing to him.
+Sometimes they went up into Cheapside, and into St. Paul's, but more
+often sallied out of the city at Aldgate, and walked into the fields.
+On these occasions he carried a stout cane that had been his
+father's, for Nellie tried in vain to persuade him to gird on a
+sword.
+
+"You are a gentleman, Cyril," she would argue, "and have a right to
+carry one."
+
+"I am for the present a sober citizen, Mistress Nellie, and do not
+wish to assume to be of any other condition. Those one sees with
+swords are either gentlemen of the Court, or common bullies, or maybe
+highwaymen. After nightfall it is different; for then many citizens
+carry their swords, which indeed are necessary to protect them from
+the ruffians who, in spite of the city watch, oftentimes attack quiet
+passers-by; and if at any time I escort you to the house of one of
+your friends, I shall be ready to take my sword with me. But in the
+daytime there is no occasion for a weapon, and, moreover, I am full
+young to carry one, and this stout cane would, were it necessary, do
+me good service, for I learned in France the exercise that they call
+the _bâton_, which differs little from our English singlestick."
+
+While Cyril was received almost as a member of the family by Captain
+Dave and his wife, and found himself on excellent terms with John
+Wilkes, he saw that he was viewed with dislike by the two
+apprentices. He was scarcely surprised at this. Before his coming,
+Robert Ashford had been in the habit of escorting his young mistress
+when she went out, and had no doubt liked these expeditions, as a
+change from the measuring out of ropes and weighing of iron in the
+store. Then, again, the apprentices did not join in the conversation
+at table unless a remark was specially addressed to them; and as
+Captain Dave was by no means fond of his elder apprentice, it was but
+seldom that he spoke to him. Robert Ashford was between eighteen and
+nineteen. He was no taller than Cyril, but it would have been
+difficult to judge his age by his face, which had a wizened look;
+and, as Nellie said one day, in his absence, he might pass very well
+for sixty.
+
+It was easy enough for Cyril to see that Robert Ashford heartily
+disliked him; the covert scowls that he threw across the table at
+meal-time, and the way in which he turned his head and feigned to be
+too busy to notice him as he passed through the shop, were sufficient
+indications of ill-will. The younger apprentice, Tom Frost, was but a
+boy of fifteen; he gave Cyril the idea of being a timid lad. He did
+not appear to share his comrade's hostility to him, but once or
+twice, when Cyril came out from the office after making up the
+accounts of the day, he fancied that the boy glanced at him with an
+expression of anxiety, if not of terror.
+
+"If it were not," Cyril said to himself, "that Tom is clearly too
+nervous and timid to venture upon an act of dishonesty, I should say
+that he had been pilfering something; but I feel sure that he would
+not attempt such a thing as that, though I am by no means certain
+that Robert Ashford, with his foxy face and cross eyes, would not
+steal his master's goods or any one else's did he get the chance.
+Unless he were caught in the act, he could do it with impunity, for
+everything here is carried on in such a free-and-easy fashion that
+any amount of goods might be carried off without their being missed."
+
+After thinking the matter over, he said, one afternoon when his
+employer came in while he was occupied at the accounts,--
+
+"I have not seen anything of a stock-book, Captain Dave. Everything
+else is now straight, and balanced up to to-day. Here is the book of
+goods sold, the book of goods received, and the ledger with the
+accounts; but there is no stock-book such as I find in almost all the
+other places where I work."
+
+"What do I want with a stock-book?" Captain Dave asked.
+
+"You cannot know how you stand without it," Cyril replied. "You know
+how much you have paid, and how much you have received during the
+year; but unless you have a stock-book you do not know whether the
+difference between the receipts and expenditure represents profit,
+for the stock may have so fallen in value during the year that you
+may really have made a loss while seeming to make a profit."
+
+"How can that be?" Captain Dave asked. "I get a fair profit on every
+article."
+
+"There ought to be a profit, of course," Cyril said; "but sometimes
+it is found not to be so. Moreover, if there is a stock-book you can
+tell at any time, without the trouble of opening bins and weighing
+metal, how much stock you have of each article you sell, and can
+order your goods accordingly."
+
+"How would you do that?"
+
+"It is very simple, Captain Dave," Cyril said. "After taking stock of
+the whole of the goods, I should have a ledger in which each article
+would have a page or more to itself, and every day I should enter
+from John Wilkes's sales-book a list of the goods that have gone out,
+each under its own heading. Thus, at any moment, if you were to ask
+how much chain you had got in stock I could tell you within a fathom.
+When did you take stock last?"
+
+"I should say it was about fifteen months since. It was only
+yesterday John Wilkes was saying we had better have a thorough
+overhauling."
+
+"Quite time, too, I should think, Captain Dave. I suppose you have
+got the account of your last stock-taking, with the date of it?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I have got that;" and the Captain unlocked his desk and
+took out an account-book. "It has been lying there ever since. It
+took a wonderful lot of trouble to do, and I had a clerk and two men
+in for a fortnight, for of course John and the boys were attending to
+their usual duties. I have often wondered since why I should have had
+all that trouble over a matter that has never been of the slightest
+use to me."
+
+"Well, I hope you will take it again, sir; it is a trouble, no doubt,
+but you will find it a great advantage."
+
+"Are you sure you think it needful, Cyril?"
+
+"Most needful, Captain Dave. You will see the advantage of it
+afterwards."
+
+"Well, if you think so, I suppose it must be done," the Captain said,
+with a sigh; "but it will be giving you a lot of trouble to keep this
+new book of yours."
+
+"That is nothing, sir. Now that I have got all the back work up it
+will be a simple matter to keep the daily work straight. I shall find
+ample time to do it without any need of lengthening my hours."
+
+Cyril now set to work in earnest, and telling Mrs. Dowsett he had
+some books that he wanted to make up in his room before going to bed,
+he asked her to allow him to keep his light burning.
+
+Mrs. Dowsett consented, but shook her head and said he would
+assuredly injure his health if he worked by candle light.
+
+Fortunately, John Wilkes had just opened a fresh sales-book, and
+Cyril told him that he wished to refer to some particulars in the
+back books. He first opened the ledger by inscribing under their
+different heads the amount of each description of goods kept in stock
+at the last stock-taking, and then entered under their respective
+heads all the sales that had been made, while on an opposite page he
+entered the amount purchased. It took him a month's hard work, and he
+finished it on the very day that the new stock-taking concluded.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A THIEF SOMEWHERE
+
+
+Two days after the conclusion of the stock-taking, Cyril said, after
+breakfast was over,--
+
+"Would it trouble you, Captain Dave, to give me an hour up here
+before you go downstairs to the counting-house. I am free for two
+hours now, and there is a matter upon which I should like to speak to
+you privately."
+
+"Certainly, lad," the old sailor said, somewhat surprised. "We shall
+be quiet enough here, as soon as the table is cleared. My dame and
+Nellie will be helping the maid do up the cabins, and will then be
+sallying out marketing."
+
+When the maid had cleared the table, Cyril went up to his room and
+returned with a large ledger and several smaller books.
+
+"I have, for the last month, Captain Dave, been making up this
+stock-book for my own satisfaction."
+
+"Bless me, lad, why have you taken all that trouble? This accounts,
+then, for your writing so long at night, for which my dame has been
+quarrelling with you!"
+
+"It was interesting work," Cyril said quietly. "Now, you see, sir,"
+he went on, opening the big ledger, "here are the separate accounts
+under each head. These pages, you see, are for heavy cables for
+hawsers; of these, at the date of the last stock-taking, there were,
+according to the book you handed to me, five hundred fathoms in
+stock. These are the amounts you have purchased since. Now, upon the
+other side are all the sales of this cable entered in the sales-book.
+Adding them together, and deducting them from the other side, you
+will see there should remain in stock four hundred and fifty fathoms.
+According to the new stock-taking there are four hundred and
+thirty-eight. That is, I take it, as near as you could expect to get,
+for, in the measuring out of so many thousand fathoms of cable during
+the fifteen months between the two stock-takings, there may well have
+been a loss of the twelve fathoms in giving good measurement."
+
+"That is so," Captain Dave said. "I always say to John Wilkes, 'Give
+good measurement, John--better a little over than a little under.'
+Nothing can be clearer or more satisfactory."
+
+Cyril closed the book.
+
+"I am sorry to say, Captain Dave, all the items are not so
+satisfactory, and that I greatly fear that you have been robbed to a
+considerable amount."
+
+"Robbed, lad!" the Captain said, starting up from his chair. "Who
+should rob me? Not John Wilkes, I can be sworn! Not the two
+apprentices for a surety, for they never go out during the day, and
+John keeps a sharp look-out upon them, and the entrance to the shop
+is always locked and barred after work is over, so that none can
+enter without getting the key, which, as you know, John always brings
+up and hands to me as soon as he has fastened the door! You are
+mistaken, lad, and although I know that your intentions are good, you
+should be careful how you make a charge that might bring ruin to
+innocent men. Carelessness there may be; but robbery! No; assuredly
+not."
+
+"I have not brought the charge without warrant, Captain Dave," Cyril
+said gravely, "and if you will bear with me for a few minutes, I
+think you will see that there is at least something that wants
+looking into."
+
+"Well, it is only fair after the trouble you have taken, lad, that I
+should hear what you have to say; but it will need strong evidence
+indeed to make me believe that there has been foul play."
+
+"Well, sir," Cyril said, opening the ledger again, "in the first
+place, I would point out that in all the heavy articles, such as
+could not conveniently be carried away, the tally of the stock-takers
+corresponds closely with the figures in this book. In best bower
+anchors the figures are absolutely the same and, as you have seen, in
+heavy cables they closely correspond. In the large ship's compasses,
+the ship's boilers, and ship's galleys, the numbers tally exactly. So
+it is with all the heavy articles; the main blocks are correct, and
+all other heavy gear. This shows that John Wilkes's book is carefully
+kept, and it would be strange indeed if heavy goods had all been
+properly entered, and light ones omitted; but yet when we turn to
+small articles, we find that there is a great discrepancy between the
+figures. Here is the account, for instance, of the half-inch rope.
+According to my ledger, there should be eighteen hundred fathoms in
+stock, whereas the stock-takers found but three hundred and eighty.
+In two-inch rope there is a deficiency of two hundred and thirty
+fathoms, in one-inch rope of six hundred and twenty. These sizes, as
+you know, are always in requisition, and a thief would find ready
+purchasers for a coil of any of them. But, as might be expected, it
+is in copper that the deficiency is most serious. Of fourteen-inch
+bolts, eighty-two are short, of twelve-inch bolts a hundred and
+thirty, of eight-inch three hundred and nine; and so on throughout
+almost all the copper stores. According to your expenditure and
+receipt-book, Captain Dave, you have made, in the last fifteen
+months, twelve hundred and thirty pounds; but according to this book
+your stock is less in value, by two thousand and thirty-four pounds,
+than it should have been. You are, therefore, a poorer man than you
+were at the beginning of this fifteen months' trading, by eight
+hundred and four pounds."
+
+Captain Dave sat down in his chair, breathing hard. He took out his
+handkerchief and wiped the drops of perspiration from his forehead.
+
+"Are you sure of this, boy?" he said hoarsely. "Are you sure that you
+have made no mistake in your figures?"
+
+"Quite sure," Cyril said firmly. "In all cases in which I have found
+deficiencies I have gone through the books three times and compared
+the figures, and I am sure that if you put the books into the hands
+of any city accountant, he will bear out my figures."
+
+For a time Captain Dave sat silent.
+
+"Hast any idea," he said at last, "how this has come about?"
+
+"I have none," Cyril replied. "That John Wilkes is not concerned in
+it I am as sure as you are; and, thinking the matter over, I see not
+how the apprentices could have carried off so many articles, some
+heavy and some bulky, when they left the shop in the evening, without
+John Wilkes noticing them. So sure am I, that my advice would be that
+you should take John Wilkes into your confidence, and tell him how
+matters stand. My only objection to that is that he is a hasty man,
+and that I fear he would not be able to keep his countenance, so that
+the apprentices would remark that something was wrong. I am far from
+saying that they have any hand in it; it would be a grievous wrong to
+them to have suspicions when there is no shadow of evidence against
+them; but at any rate, if this matter is to be stopped and the
+thieves detected, it is most important that they should have, if they
+are guilty, no suspicion that they are in any way being watched, or
+that these deficiencies have been discovered. If they have had a hand
+in the matter they most assuredly had accomplices, for such goods
+could not be disposed of by an apprentice to any dealer without his
+being sure that they must have been stolen."
+
+"You are right there, lad--quite right. Did John Wilkes know that I
+had been robbed in this way he would get into a fury, and no words
+could restrain him from falling upon the apprentices and beating them
+till he got some of the truth out of them."
+
+"They may be quite innocent," Cyril said. "It may be that the thieves
+have discovered some mode of entry into the store either by opening
+the shutters at the back, or by loosening a board, or even by delving
+up under the ground. It is surely easier to believe this than that
+the boys can have contrived to carry off so large a quantity of goods
+under John Wilkes's eye."
+
+"That is so, lad. I have never liked Robert Ashford, but God forbid
+that I should suspect him of such crime only because his forehead is
+as wrinkled as an ape's, and Providence has set his eyes crossways in
+his head. You cannot always judge a ship by her upper works; she may
+be ugly to the eye and yet have a clear run under water. Still, you
+can't help going by what you see. I agree with you that if we tell
+John Wilkes about this, those boys will know five minutes afterwards
+that the ship is on fire; but if we don't tell him, how are we to get
+to the bottom of what is going on?"
+
+"That is a difficult question, but a few days will not make much
+difference, when we know that it has been going on for over a year,
+and may, for aught we know, have been going on much longer. The first
+thing, Captain Dave, is to send these books to an accountant, for him
+to go through them and check my figures."
+
+"There is no need for that, lad. I know how careful you are, and you
+cannot have gone so far wrong as all this."
+
+"No, sir, I am sure that there is no mistake; but, for your own sake
+as well as mine, it were well that you should have the signature of
+an accountant to the correctness of the books. If you have to lay the
+matter before the magistrates, they would not take my testimony as to
+your losses, and might even say that you were rash in acting upon the
+word of a boy like myself, and you might then be obliged to have the
+accounts made up anew, which would cost you more, and cause much
+delay in the process; whereas, if you put in your books and say that
+their correctness is vouched for by an accountant, no question would
+arise on it; nor would there be any delay now, for while the books
+are being gone into, we can be trying to get to the bottom of the
+matter here."
+
+"Ay, ay, it shall be done, Master Cyril, as you say. But for the life
+of me I don't see how we are to get at the bottom of the ship to find
+out where she is leaking!"
+
+"It seems to me that the first thing, Captain Dave, is to see to the
+warehouse. As we agreed that the apprentices cannot have carried out
+all these goods under John Wilkes's eye, and cannot have come down
+night after night through the house, the warehouse must have been
+entered from without. As I never go in there, it would be best that
+you should see to this matter yourself. There are the fastenings of
+the shutters in the first place, then the boardings all round. As for
+me, I will look round outside. The window of my room looks into the
+street, but if you will take me to one of the rooms at the back we
+can look at the surroundings of the yard, and may gather some idea
+whether the goods can have been passed over into any of the houses
+abutting on it, or, as is more likely, into the lane that runs up by
+its side."
+
+The Captain led the way into one of the rooms at the back of the
+house, and opening the casement, he and Cyril leaned out. The store
+occupied fully half the yard, the rest being occupied by anchors,
+piles of iron, ballast, etc. There were two or three score of guns of
+various sizes piled on each other. A large store of cannon-ball was
+ranged in a great pyramid close by. A wall some ten feet high
+separated the yard from the lane Cyril had spoken of. On the left,
+adjoining the warehouse, was the yard of the next shop, which
+belonged to a wool-stapler. Behind were the backs of a number of
+small houses crowded in between Tower Street and Leadenhall Street.
+
+"I suppose you do not know who lives in those houses, Captain Dave?"
+
+"No, indeed. The land is not like the sea. Afloat, when one sees a
+sail, one wonders what is her nationality, and whither she is bound,
+and still more whether she is an honest trader or a rascally pirate;
+but here on land, one scarcely gives a thought as to who may dwell in
+the houses round."
+
+"I will walk round presently," Cyril said, "and gather, as far as I
+can, who they are that live there; but, as I have said, I fancy it is
+over that wall and into the alley that your goods have departed. The
+apprentices' room is this side of the house, is it not?"
+
+"Yes; John Wilkes sleeps in the room next to yours, and the door
+opposite to his is that of the lads' room."
+
+"Do the windows of any of the rooms look into that lane?"
+
+"No; it is a blank wall on that side."
+
+"There is the clock striking nine," Cyril said, starting. "It is time
+for me to be off. Then you will take the books to-day, Captain Dave?"
+
+"I will carry them off at once, and when I return will look narrowly
+into the fastenings of the two windows and door from the warehouse
+into the yard; and will take care to do so when the boys are engaged
+in the front shop."
+
+When his work was done, Cyril went round to the houses behind the
+yard, and he found that they stood in a small court, with three or
+four trees growing in the centre, and were evidently inhabited by
+respectable citizens. Over the door of one was painted, "Joshua
+Heddings, Attorney"; next to him was Gilbert Gushing, who dealt in
+jewels, silks, and other precious commodities from the East; next to
+him was a doctor, and beyond a dealer in spices. This was enough to
+assure him that it was not through such houses as these that the
+goods had been carried.
+
+Cyril had not been back at the mid-day meal, for his work that day
+lay up by Holborn Bar, where he had two customers whom he attended
+with but half an hour's interval between the visits, and on the days
+on which he went there he was accustomed to get something to eat at a
+tavern hard by.
+
+Supper was an unusually quiet meal. Captain Dave now and then asked
+John Wilkes a question as to the business matters of the day, but
+evidently spoke with an effort. Nellie rattled on as usual; but the
+burden of keeping up the conversation lay entirely on her shoulders
+and those of Cyril. After the apprentices had left, and John Wilkes
+had started for his usual resort, the Captain lit his pipe. Nellie
+signed to Cyril to come and seat himself by her in the window that
+projected out over the street, and enabled the occupants of the seats
+at either side to have a view up and down it.
+
+"What have you been doing to father, Cyril?" she asked, in low tones;
+"he has been quite unlike himself all day. Generally when he is out
+of temper he rates everyone heartily, as if we were a mutinous crew,
+but to-day he has gone about scarcely speaking; he hasn't said a
+cross word to any of us, but several times when I spoke to him I got
+no answer, and it is easy to see that he is terribly put out about
+something. He was in his usual spirits at breakfast; then, you know,
+he was talking with you for an hour, and it does not take much
+guessing to see that it must have been something that passed between
+you that has put him out. Now what was it?"
+
+"I don't see why you should say that, Mistress Nellie. It is true we
+did have a talk together, and he examined some fresh books I have
+been making out and said that he was mightily pleased with my work. I
+went away at nine o'clock, and something may have occurred to upset
+him between that and dinner."
+
+"All which means that you don't mean to tell me anything about it,
+Master Cyril. Well, then, you may consider yourself in my black books
+altogether," she said petulantly.
+
+"I am sorry that you should say so," he said. "If it were true that
+anything that I had said to him had ruffled him, it would be for him
+to tell you, and not for me."
+
+"Methinks I have treated Robert Ashford scurvily, and I shall take
+him for my escort to see His Majesty attend service at St. Paul's
+to-morrow."
+
+Cyril smiled.
+
+"I think it would be fair to give him a turn, Mistress, and I am glad
+to see that you have such a kind thought."
+
+Nellie rose indignantly, and taking her work sat down by the side of
+her mother.
+
+"It is a fine evening," Cyril said to Captain Dave, "and I think I
+shall take a walk round. I shall return in an hour."
+
+The Captain understood, by a glance Cyril gave him, that he was going
+out for some purpose connected with the matter they had in hand.
+
+"Ay, ay, lad," he said. "It is not good for you to be sitting moping
+at home every evening. I have often wondered before that you did not
+take a walk on deck before you turned in. I always used to do so
+myself."
+
+"I don't think there is any moping in it, Captain Dave," Cyril said,
+with a laugh. "If you knew how pleasant the evenings have been to me
+after the life I lived before, you would not say so."
+
+Cyril's only object in going out, however, was to avoid the necessity
+of having to talk with Dame Dowsett and Nellie. His thoughts were
+running on nothing but the robbery, and he had found it very
+difficult to talk in his usual manner, and to answer Nellie's
+sprightly sallies. It was dark already. A few oil lamps gave a feeble
+light here and there. At present he had formed no plan whatever of
+detecting the thieves; he was as much puzzled as the Captain himself
+as to how the goods could have been removed. It would be necessary,
+of course, to watch the apprentices, but he did not think that
+anything was likely to come out of this. It was the warehouse itself
+that must be watched, in order to discover how the thieves made an
+entry. His own idea was that they got over the wall by means of a
+rope, and in some way managed to effect an entry into the warehouse.
+The apprentices could hardly aid them unless they came down through
+the house.
+
+If they had managed to get a duplicate key of the door leading from
+the bottom of the stairs to the shop, they could, of course, unbar
+the windows, and pass things out--that part of the business would be
+easy; but he could not believe that they would venture frequently to
+pass down through the house. It was an old one, and the stairs
+creaked. He himself was a light sleeper; he had got into the way of
+waking at the slightest sound, from the long watches he had had for
+his father's return, and felt sure that he should have heard them
+open their door and steal along the passage past his room, however
+quietly they might do it. He walked up the Exchange, then along
+Cheapside as far as St. Paul's, and back. Quiet as it was in Thames
+Street there was no lack of animation elsewhere. Apprentices were
+generally allowed to go out for an hour after supper, the regulation
+being that they returned to their homes by eight o'clock. Numbers of
+these were about. A good many citizens were on their way home after
+supping with friends. The city watch, with lanterns, patrolled the
+streets, and not infrequently interfered in quarrels which broke out
+among the apprentices. Cyril felt more solitary among the knots of
+laughing, noisy lads than in the quiet streets, and was glad to be
+home again. Captain Dave himself came down to open the door.
+
+"I have just sent the women to bed," he said. "The two boys came in
+five minutes ago. I thought you would not be long."
+
+"I did not go out for anything particular," Cyril said; "but Mistress
+Nellie insisted that there was something wrong with you, and that I
+must know what it was about, so, feeling indeed indisposed to talk, I
+thought it best to go out for a short time."
+
+"Yes, yes. Women always want to know, lad. I have been long enough at
+sea, you may be sure, to know that when anything is wrong, it is the
+best thing to keep it from the passengers as long as you can."
+
+"You took the books away this morning, Captain Dave?" Cyril asked as
+they sat down.
+
+"Ay, lad, I took them to Master Skinner, who bears as good a
+reputation as any accountant in the city, and he promised to take
+them in hand without loss of time; but I have been able to do nothing
+here. John, or one or other of the boys, was always in the warehouse,
+and I have had no opportunity of examining the door and shutters
+closely. When the house is sound asleep we will take a lantern and go
+down to look at them. I have been thinking that we must let John
+Wilkes into this matter; it is too much to bear on my mind by myself.
+He is my first mate, you see, and in time of danger, the first mate,
+if he is worth anything, is the man the captain relies on for help."
+
+"By all means tell him, then," Cyril said. "I can keep books, but I
+have no experience in matters like this, and shall be very glad to
+have his opinion and advice."
+
+"There he is--half-past eight. He is as punctual as clockwork."
+
+Cyril ran down and let John in.
+
+"The Captain wants to speak to you," he said, "before you go up to
+bed."
+
+John, after carefully bolting the door, followed him upstairs.
+
+"I have got some bad news for you, John. There, light your pipe
+again, and sit down. My good dame has gone off to bed, and we have
+got the cabin to ourselves."
+
+John touched an imaginary hat and obeyed orders.
+
+"The ship has sprung a bad leak, John. This lad here has found it
+out, and it is well he did, for unless he had done so we should have
+had her foundering under our feet without so much as suspecting
+anything was going wrong."
+
+The sailor took his newly-lighted pipe from between his lips and
+stared at the Captain in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, it is hard to believe, mate, but, by the Lord Harry, it is as I
+say. There is a pirate about somewhere, and the books show that,
+since the stock-taking fifteen months ago, he has eased the craft of
+her goods to the tune of two thousand pounds and odd."
+
+John Wilkes flung his pipe on to the table with such force that it
+shivered into fragments.
+
+"Dash my timbers!" he exclaimed. "Who is the man? You only give me
+the orders, sir, and I am ready to range alongside and board him."
+
+"That is what we have got to find out, John. That the goods have gone
+is certain, but how they can have gone beats us altogether."
+
+"Do you mean to say, Captain, that they have stolen them out of the
+place under my eyes and me know nothing about it? It can't be, sir.
+There must be some mistake. I know naught about figures, save enough
+to put down the things I sell, but I don't believe as a thing has
+gone out of the shop unbeknown to me. That yarn won't do for me,
+sir," and he looked angrily at Cyril.
+
+"It is true enough, John, for all that. The books have been balanced
+up. We knew what was in stock fifteen months ago, and we knew from
+your sale-book what has passed out of the shop, and from your
+entry-book what has come in. We know now what there is remaining. We
+find that in bulky goods, such as cables and anchors and ships'
+boilers and suchlike, the accounts tally exactly, but in the small
+rope, and above all in the copper, there is a big shrinkage. I will
+read you the figures of some of them."
+
+John's face grew longer and longer as he heard the totals read.
+
+"Well, I'm jiggered!" he said, when the list was concluded. "I could
+have sworn that the cargo was right according to the manifest. Well,
+Captain, all I can say is, if that 'ere list be correct, the best
+thing you can do is to send me adrift as a blind fool. I have kept my
+tallies as correct as I could, and I thought I had marked down every
+package that has left the ship, and here they must have been passing
+out pretty nigh in cart-loads under my very eyes, and I knew nothing
+about it."
+
+"I don't blame you, John, more than I blame myself. I am generally
+about on deck, and had no more idea that the cargo was being meddled
+with than you had. I have been wrong in letting matters go on so long
+without taking stock of them and seeing that it was all right; but I
+never saw the need for it. This is what comes of taking to a trade
+you know nothing about; we have just been like two children, thinking
+that it was all plain and above board, and that we had nothing to do
+but to sell our goods and to fill up again when the hold got empty.
+Well, it is of no use talking over that part of the business. What we
+have got to do is to find out this leak and stop it. We are pretty
+well agreed, Cyril and me, that the things don't go out of the shop
+by daylight. The question is, how do they go out at night?"
+
+"I always lock up the hatches according to orders, Captain."
+
+"Yes, I have no doubt you do, John; but maybe the fastenings have
+been tampered with. The only way in which we see it can have been
+managed is that someone has been in the habit of getting over the
+wall between the yard and the lane, and then getting into the
+warehouse somehow. It must have been done very often, for if the
+things had been taken in considerable quantities you would have
+noticed that the stock was short directly the next order came in. Now
+I propose we light these two lanterns I have got here, and that we go
+down and have a look round the hold."
+
+Lighting the candles, they went downstairs. The Captain took out the
+key and turned the lock. It grated loudly as he did so.
+
+"That is a noisy lock," Cyril said.
+
+"It wants oiling," John replied. "I have been thinking of doing it
+for the last month, but it has always slipped out of my mind."
+
+"At any rate," Cyril said, "it is certain that thieves could not have
+got into the shop this way, for the noise would have been heard all
+over the house."
+
+The door between the shop and the warehouse was next unlocked. The
+fastenings of the shutters and doors were first examined; there was
+no sign of their having been tampered with. Each bolt and hasp was
+tried, and the screws examined. Then they went round trying every one
+of the stout planks that formed the side; all were firm and in good
+condition.
+
+"It beats me altogether," the Captain said, when they had finished
+their examination. "The things cannot walk out of themselves; they
+have got to be carried. But how the fellows who carry them get in is
+more than I can say. There is nowhere else to look, is there, John?"
+
+"Not that I can see, Captain."
+
+They went to the door into the shop, and were about to close it, when
+Cyril said,--
+
+"Some of the things that are gone are generally kept in here,
+Captain--the rope up to two inch, for example, and a good deal of
+canvas, and most of the smaller copper fittings; so that, whoever the
+thief is, he must have been in the habit of coming in here as well as
+into the warehouse."
+
+"That is so, lad. Perhaps they entered from this side."
+
+"Will you hold the lantern here, John?" Cyril said.
+
+The sailor held the lantern to the lock.
+
+"There are no scratches nor signs of tools having been used here,"
+Cyril said, examining both the lock and the door-post. "Whether the
+thief came into the warehouse first, or not, he must have had a key."
+
+The Captain nodded.
+
+"Thieves generally carry a lot of keys with them, Cyril; and if one
+does not quite fit they can file it until it does."
+
+The shutters of the shop window and its fastenings, and those of the
+door, were as secure as those of the warehouse, and, completely
+puzzled, the party went upstairs again.
+
+"There must be some way of getting in and out, although we can't find
+it," Captain Dave said. "Things can't have gone off by themselves."
+
+"It may be, Captain," John Wilkes said, "that some of the planks may
+be loose."
+
+"But we tried them all, John."
+
+"Ay, they seem firm enough, but it may be that one of them is wedged
+in, and that when the wedges are taken out it could be pulled off."
+
+"I think you would have noticed it, John. If there was anything of
+that sort it must be outside. However, we will take a good look round
+the yard to-morrow. The warehouse is strongly built, and I don't
+believe that any plank could be taken off and put back again, time
+after time, without making a noise that would be heard in the house.
+What do you think, Cyril?"
+
+"I agree with you, Captain Dave. How the thieves make an entry I
+can't imagine, but I don't believe that it is through the wall of the
+warehouse. I am convinced that the robberies must have been very
+frequent. Had a large amount been taken at a time, John Wilkes would
+have been sure to notice it. Then, again, the thieves would not come
+so often, and each time for a comparatively small amount of booty,
+unless it could be managed without any serious risk or trouble.
+However, now that we do know that they come, we shall have, I should
+think, very little difficulty in finding out how it is done."
+
+"You may warrant we will keep a sharp look-out," John Wilkes said
+savagely. "If the Captain will give me the use of a room at the back
+of the house, you may be sure I shan't close an eye till I have got
+to the bottom of the matter. I am responsible for the cargo below,
+and if I had kept as sharp an eye on the stores as I ought to have
+done, this would not have happened. Only let me catch them trying to
+board, and I will give them such a reception that I warrant me they
+will sheer off with a bullet or two in them. I have got that pair of
+boarding pistols, and a cutlass, hung up over my bed."
+
+"You must not do that, John," the Captain said. "It isn't a matter of
+beating off the pirates by pouring a broadside into them. Maybe you
+might cripple them, more likely they would make off, and we want to
+capture them. Therefore, I say, let us watch, and find out how they
+do it. When we once know that, we can lay our plans for capturing
+them the next time they come. I will take watch and watch with you."
+
+"Well, if it goes on long, Captain, I won't say no to that; but for
+to-night anyhow I will sit up alone."
+
+"Very well, let it be so, John. But mind, whatever you see, you keep
+as still as a mouse. Just steal to my room in your stockinged feet
+directly you see anything moving. Open the door and say, 'Strange
+sail in sight!' and I will be over at your window in no time. And
+now, Cyril, you and I may as well turn in."
+
+The night passed quietly.
+
+"You saw nothing, I suppose, John?" the Captain said next morning,
+after the apprentices had gone down from breakfast.
+
+"Not a thing, Captain."
+
+"Now we will go and have a look in the yard. Will you come, Cyril?"
+
+"I should like to come," Cyril replied, "but, as I have never been
+out there before, had you not better make some pretext for me to do
+so. You might say, in the hearing of the apprentices, 'We may as well
+take the measurements for that new shed we were talking about, and
+see how much boarding it will require.' Then you can call to me out
+from the office to come and help you to measure."
+
+"Then you still think the apprentices are in it?" John Wilkes asked
+sharply.
+
+"I don't say I think so, John. I have nothing against them. I don't
+believe they could come down at night without being heard; I feel
+sure they could not get into the shop without that stiff bolt making
+a noise. Still, as it is possible they may be concerned in the
+matter, I think that, now we have it in good train for getting to the
+bottom of it, it would be well to keep the matter altogether to
+ourselves."
+
+"Quite right," Captain Dave said approvingly. "When you suspect
+treachery, don't let a soul think that you have got such a matter in
+your mind, until you are in a position to take the traitor by the
+collar and put a pistol to his ear. That idea of yours is a very good
+one; I will say something about the shed to John this morning, and
+then when you go down to the counting-house after dinner I will call
+to you to come out to the yard with us."
+
+After dinner, Captain Dave went with Cyril into the counting-house.
+
+"We had an order in this morning for a set of ship's anchors, and
+John and I have been in the yard looking them out; we looked over the
+place pretty sharply, as you may be sure, but as far as we could see
+the place is as solid as when it was built, fifty years ago, by my
+father."
+
+The Captain went out into the store, and ten minutes afterwards
+re-entered the shop and shouted,--
+
+"Come out here, Cyril, and lend a hand. We are going to take those
+measurements. Bring out your ink-horn, and a bit of paper to put them
+down as we take them."
+
+The yard was some sixty feet long by twenty-five broad, exclusive of
+the space occupied by the warehouse. This, as Cyril had observed from
+the window above, did not extend as far as the back wall; but on
+walking round there with the two men, he found that the distance was
+greater than he had expected, and that there was a space of some
+twenty feet clear.
+
+"This is where we are thinking of putting the shed," the Captain said
+in a loud voice.
+
+"But I see that you have a crane and door into the loft over the
+warehouse there," Cyril said, looking up.
+
+"We never use that now. When my father first began business, he used
+to buy up old junk and such-like stores, and store them up there, but
+it didn't pay for the trouble; and, besides, as you see, he wanted
+every foot of the yard room, and of course at that time they had to
+leave a space clear for the carts to come up from the gate round
+here, so it was given up, and the loft is empty now."
+
+Cyril looked up at the crane. It was swung round so as to lie flat
+against the wooden shutters. The rope was still through the block,
+and passed into the loft through a hole cut at the junction of the
+shutters.
+
+They now measured the space between the warehouse and the wall, the
+Captain repeating the figures, still in a loud voice; then they
+discussed the height of the walls, and after some argument between
+the Captain and John Wilkes agreed that this should be the same as
+the rest of the building. Still talking on the subject, they returned
+through the warehouse, Cyril on the way taking a look at the massive
+gate that opened into the lane. In addition to a heavy bar it had a
+strong hasp, fastened by a great padlock. The apprentices were busy
+at work coiling up some rope when they passed by.
+
+"When we have knocked a door through the end there, John," Captain
+Dave said, "it will give you a deal more room, and you will be able
+to get rid of all these cables and heavy dunnage, and to have matters
+more ship-shape here."
+
+While they had been taking the measurements, all three had carefully
+examined the wall of the warehouse.
+
+"There is nothing wrong there, Cyril," his employer said, as, leaving
+John Wilkes in the warehouse, they went through the shop into the
+little office.
+
+"Certainly nothing that I could see, Captain Dave. I did not before
+know the loft had any opening to the outside. Of course I have seen
+the ladder going up from the warehouse to that trap-door; but as it
+was closed I thought no more of it."
+
+"I don't suppose anyone has been up there for years, lad. What, are
+you thinking that someone might get in through those shutters? Why,
+they are twenty feet from the ground, so that you would want a long
+ladder, and when you got up there you would find that you could not
+open the shutters. I said nobody had been up there, but I did go up
+myself to have a look round when I first settled down here, and there
+is a big bar with a padlock."
+
+Cyril thought no more about it, and after supper it was arranged that
+he and Captain Dave should keep watch by turns at the window of the
+room that had been now given to John Wilkes, and that the latter
+should have a night in his berth, as the Captain expressed it. John
+Wilkes had made some opposition, saying that he would be quite
+willing to take his watch.
+
+"You will just obey orders, John," the Captain said. "You have had
+thirty-six hours off the reel on duty, and you have got to be at work
+all day to-morrow again. You shall take the middle watch to-morrow
+night if you like, but one can see with half an eye that you are not
+fit to be on the lookout to-night. I doubt if any of us could see as
+far as the length of the bowsprit. It is pretty nearly pitch dark;
+there is not a star to be seen, and it looked to me, when I turned
+out before supper, as if we were going to have a storm."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+CAPTURED
+
+
+It was settled that Cyril was to take the first watch, and that the
+Captain should relieve him at one o'clock. At nine, the family went
+to bed. A quarter of an hour later, Cyril stole noiselessly from his
+attic down to John Wilkes's room. The door had been left ajar, and
+the candle was still burning.
+
+"I put a chair by the window," the sailor said, from his bed, "and
+left the light, for you might run foul of something or other in the
+dark, though I have left a pretty clear gangway for you."
+
+Cyril blew out the candle, and seated himself at the window. For a
+time he could see nothing, and told himself that the whole contents
+of the warehouse might be carried off without his being any the
+wiser.
+
+"I shall certainly see nothing," he said to himself; "but, at least,
+I may hear something."
+
+So saying, he turned the fastening of the casement and opened it
+about half an inch. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he
+was able to make out the line of the roof of the warehouse, which was
+some three or four feet below the level of his eyes, and some twenty
+feet away on his left. The time passed slowly. He kept himself awake
+by thinking over the old days in France, the lessons he had learnt
+with his friend, Harry Parton, and the teaching of the old clergyman.
+
+He heard the bell of St. Paul's strike ten and eleven. The last
+stroke had scarcely ceased to vibrate when he rose to his feet
+suddenly. He heard, on his left, a scraping noise. A moment later it
+ceased, and then was renewed again. It lasted but a few seconds; then
+he heard an irregular, shuffling noise, that seemed to him upon the
+roof of the warehouse. Pressing his face to the casement, he suddenly
+became aware that the straight line of the ridge was broken by
+something moving along it, and a moment later he made out a second
+object, just behind the first. Moving with the greatest care, he made
+his way out of the room, half closed the door behind him, crossed the
+passage, and pushed at a door opposite.
+
+"Captain Dave," he said, in a low voice, "get up at once, and please
+don't make a noise."
+
+"Ay, ay, lad."
+
+There was a movement from the bed, and a moment later the Captain
+stood beside him.
+
+"What is it, lad?" he whispered.
+
+"There are two figures moving along on the ridge of the roof of the
+warehouse. I think it is the apprentices. I heard a slight noise, as
+if they were letting themselves down from their window by a rope. It
+is just over that roof, you know."
+
+There was a rustling sound as the Captain slipped his doublet on.
+
+"That is so. The young scoundrels! What can they be doing on the
+roof?"
+
+They went to the window behind. Just as they reached it there was a
+vivid flash of lightning. It sufficed to show them a figure lying at
+full length at the farther end of the roof; then all was dark again,
+and a second or two later came a sharp, crashing roar of thunder.
+
+"We had better stand well back from the window," Cyril whispered.
+"Another flash might show us to anyone looking this way."
+
+"What does it mean, lad? What on earth is that boy doing there? I
+could not see which it was."
+
+"I think it is Ashford," Cyril said. "The figure in front seemed the
+smaller of the two."
+
+"But where on earth can Tom have got to?"
+
+"I should fancy, sir, that Robert has lowered him so that he can get
+his feet on the crane and swing it outwards; then he might sit down
+on it and swing himself by the rope into the loft if the doors are
+not fastened inside. Robert, being taller, would have no difficulty
+in lowering himself--There!" he broke off, as another flash of
+lightning lit up the sky. "He has gone, now; there is no one on the
+roof."
+
+John Wilkes was by this time standing beside them, having started up
+at the first flash of lightning.
+
+"Do you go up, John, into their room," the Captain said. "I think
+there can be no doubt that these fellows on the roof are Ashford and
+Frost, but it is as well to be able to swear to it."
+
+The foreman returned in a minute or two.
+
+"The room is empty, Captain; the window is open, and there is a rope
+hanging down from it. Shall I cast it adrift?"
+
+"Certainly not, John. We do not mean to take them tonight, and they
+must be allowed to go back to their beds without a suspicion that
+they have been watched. I hope and trust that it is not so bad as it
+looks, and that the boys have only broken out from devilry. You know,
+boys will do things of that sort just because it is forbidden."
+
+"There must be more than that," John Wilkes said. "If it had been
+just after they went to their rooms, it might be that they went to
+some tavern or other low resort, but the town is all asleep now."
+
+They again went close to the window, pushed the casement a little
+more open, and stood listening there. In two or three minutes there
+was a very slight sound heard.
+
+"They are unbolting the door into the yard," John Wilkes whispered.
+"I would give a month's pay to be behind them with a rope's end."
+
+Half a minute later there was a sudden gleam of light below, and they
+could see the door open. The light disappeared again, but they heard
+footsteps; then they saw the light thrown on the fastening to the
+outer gate, and could make out that two figures below were applying a
+key to the padlock. This was taken off and laid down; then the heavy
+wooden bar was lifted, and also laid on the ground. The gate opened
+as if pushed from the other side. The two figures went out; the sound
+of a low murmur of conversation could be heard; then they returned,
+the gate was closed and fastened again, they entered the warehouse,
+the light disappeared, and the door was closed.
+
+"That's how the things went, John."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," the foreman growled.
+
+"As they were undoing the gate, the light fell on a coil of rope they
+had set down there, and a bag which I guess had copper of some kind
+in it. They have done us cleverly, the young villains! There was not
+noise enough to wake a cat. They must have had every bolt and hinge
+well oiled."
+
+"We had better close the casement now, sir, for as they come back
+along the ridge they will be facing it, and if a flash of lightning
+came they would see that it was half open, and even if they did not
+catch sight of our faces they would think it suspicious that the
+window should be open, and it might put them on their guard."
+
+"Yes; and we may as well turn in at once, John. Like enough when they
+get back they will listen for a bit at their door, so as to make sure
+that everything is quiet before they turn in. There is nothing more
+to see now. Of course they will get in as they got out. You had
+better turn in as you are, Cyril; they may listen at your door."
+
+Cyril at once went up to his room, closed the door, placed a chair
+against it, and then lay down on his bed. He listened intently, and
+four or five minutes later thought that he heard a door open; but he
+could not be sure, for just at that moment heavy drops began to
+patter down upon the tiles. The noise rose louder and louder until he
+could scarce have heard himself speak. Then there was a bright flash
+and the deep rumble of the thunder mingled with the sharp rattle of
+the raindrops overhead. He listened for a time to the storm, and then
+dropped off to sleep.
+
+Things went on as usual at breakfast the next morning. During the
+meal, Captain Dave gave the foreman several instructions as to the
+morning's work.
+
+"I am going on board the _Royalist_," he said. "John Browning wants
+me to overhaul all the gear, and see what will do for another voyage
+or two, and what must be new. His skipper asked for new running
+rigging all over, but he thinks that there can't be any occasion for
+its all being renewed. I don't expect I shall be in till dinner-time,
+so anyone that wants to see me must come again in the afternoon."
+
+Ten minutes later, Cyril went out, on his way to his work. Captain
+Dave was standing a few doors away.
+
+"Before I go on board the brig, lad, I am going up to the Chief
+Constable's to arrange about this business. I want to get four men of
+the watch. Of course, it may be some nights before this is tried
+again, so I shall have the men stowed away in the kitchen. Then we
+must keep watch, and as soon as we see those young villains on the
+roof, we will let the men out at the front door. Two will post
+themselves this end of the lane, and two go round into Leadenhall
+Street and station themselves at the other end. When the boys go out
+after supper we will unlock the door at the bottom of the stairs into
+the shop, and the door into the warehouse. Then we will steal down
+into the shop and listen there until we hear them open the door into
+the yard, and then go into the warehouse and be ready to make a rush
+out as soon as they get the gate open. John will have his boatswain's
+whistle ready, and will give the signal. That will bring the watch
+up, so they will be caught in a trap."
+
+"I should think that would be a very good plan, Captain Dave, though
+I wish that it could have been done without Tom Frost being taken. He
+is a timid sort of boy, and I have no doubt that he has been entirely
+under the thumb of Robert."
+
+"Well, if he has he will get off lightly," the Captain said. "Even if
+a boy is a timid boy, he knows what will be the consequences if he is
+caught robbing his master. Cowardice is no excuse for crime, lad. The
+boys have always been well treated, and though I dare say Ashford is
+the worst of the two, if the other had been honest he would not have
+seen him robbing me without letting me know."
+
+For six nights watch was kept without success. Every evening, when
+the family and apprentices had retired to rest, John Wilkes went
+quietly downstairs and admitted the four constables, letting them out
+in the morning before anyone was astir. Mrs. Dowsett had been taken
+into her husband's confidence so far as to know that he had
+discovered he had been robbed, and was keeping a watch for the
+thieves. She was not told that the apprentices were concerned in the
+matter, for Captain Dave felt sure that, however much she might try
+to conceal it, Robert Ashford would perceive, by her looks, that
+something was wrong.
+
+Nellie was told a day or two later, for, although ignorant of her
+father's nightly watchings, she was conscious from his manner, and
+that of her mother, that something was amiss, and was so persistent
+in her inquiries, that the Captain consented to her mother telling
+her that he had a suspicion he was being robbed, and warning her that
+it was essential that the subject must not be in any way alluded to.
+
+"Your father is worrying over it a good deal, Nellie, and it is
+better that he should not perceive that you are aware of it. Just let
+things go on as they were."
+
+"Is the loss serious, mother?"
+
+"Yes; he thinks that a good deal of money has gone. I don't think he
+minds that so much as the fact that, so far, he doesn't know who the
+people most concerned in it may be. He has some sort of suspicion in
+one quarter, but has no clue whatever to the men most to blame."
+
+"Does Cyril know anything about it?" Nellie asked suddenly.
+
+"Yes, he knows, my dear; indeed, it was owing to his cleverness that
+your father first came to have suspicions."
+
+"Oh! that explains it," Nellie said. "He had been talking to father,
+and I asked what it was about and he would not tell me, and I have
+been very angry with him ever since."
+
+"I have noticed that you have been behaving very foolishly," Mrs.
+Dowsett said quietly, "and that for the last week you have been
+taking Robert with you as an escort when you went out of an evening.
+I suppose you did that to annoy Cyril, but I don't think that he
+minded much."
+
+"I don't think he did, mother," Nellie agreed, with a laugh which
+betrayed a certain amount of irritation. "I saw that he smiled, two
+or three evenings back, when I told Robert at supper that I wanted
+him to go out with me, and I was rarely angry, I can tell you."
+
+Cyril had indeed troubled himself in no way about Nellie's coolness;
+but when she had so pointedly asked Robert to go with her, he had
+been amused at the thought of how greatly she would be mortified,
+when Robert was haled up to the Guildhall for robbing her father, at
+the thought that he had been accompanying her as an escort.
+
+"I rather hope this will be our last watch, Captain Dave," he said,
+on the seventh evening.
+
+"Why do you hope so specially to-night, lad?"
+
+"Of course I have been hoping so every night. But I think it is
+likely that the men who take the goods come regularly once a week;
+for in that case there would be no occasion for them to meet at other
+times to arrange on what night they should be in the lane."
+
+"Yes, that is like enough, Cyril; and the hour will probably be the
+same, too. John and I will share your watch to-night, so as to be
+ready to get the men off without loss of time."
+
+Cyril had always taken the first watch, which was from half-past nine
+till twelve. The Captain and Wilkes had taken the other watches by
+turns.
+
+As before, just as the bell finished striking eleven, the three
+watchers again heard through the slightly open casement the scraping
+noise on the left. It had been agreed that they should not move, lest
+the sound should be heard outside. Each grasped the stout cudgel he
+held in his hand, and gazed at the roof of the warehouse, which could
+now be plainly seen, for the moon was half full and the sky was
+clear. As before, the two figures went along, and this time they
+could clearly recognise them. They were both sitting astride of the
+ridge tiles, and moved themselves along by means of their hands. They
+waited until they saw one after the other disappear at the end of the
+roof, and then John Wilkes quietly stole downstairs. The four
+constables had been warned to be specially wakeful.
+
+"They are at it again to-night," John said to them, as he entered.
+"Now, do you two who go round into Leadenhall Street start at once,
+but don't take your post at the end of the lane for another five or
+six minutes. The thieves outside may not have come up at present. As
+you go out, leave the door ajar; in five minutes you others should
+stand ready. Don't go to the corner, but wait in the doorway below
+until you hear the whistle. They will be only fifteen or twenty yards
+up the lane, and would see you if you took up your station at the
+corner; but the moment you hear the whistle, rush out and have at
+them. We shall be there before you will."
+
+John went down with the last two men, entered the shop, and stood
+there waiting until he should be joined by his master. The latter and
+Cyril remained at the window until they saw the door of the warehouse
+open, and then hurried downstairs. Both were in their stockinged
+feet, so that their movements should be noiseless.
+
+"Come on, John; they are in the yard," the Captain whispered; and
+they entered the warehouse and went noiselessly on, until they stood
+at the door. The process of unbarring the gate was nearly
+accomplished. As it swung open, John Wilkes put his whistle to his
+lips and blew a loud, shrill call, and the three rushed forward.
+There was a shout of alarm, a fierce imprecation, and three of the
+four figures at the gate sprang at them. Scarce a blow had been
+struck when the two constables ran up and joined in the fray. Two men
+fought stoutly, but were soon overpowered. Robert Ashford, knife in
+hand, had attacked John Wilkes with fury, and would have stabbed him,
+as his attention was engaged upon one of the men outside, had not
+Cyril brought his cudgel down sharply on his knuckles, when, with a
+yell of pain, he dropped the knife and fled up the lane. He had gone
+but a short distance, however, when he fell into the hands of the two
+constables, who were running towards him. One of them promptly
+knocked him down with his cudgel, and then proceeded to bind his
+hands behind him, while the other ran on to join in the fray. It was
+over before he got there, and his comrades were engaged in binding
+the two robbers. Tom Frost had taken no part in the fight. He stood
+looking on, paralysed with terror, and when the two men were
+overpowered he fell on his knees beseeching his master to have mercy
+on him.
+
+"It is too late, Tom," the Captain said. "You have been robbing me
+for months, and now you have been caught in the act you will have to
+take your share in the punishment. You are a prisoner of the
+constables here, and not of mine, and even if I were willing to let
+you go, they would have their say in the matter. Still, if you make a
+clean breast of what you know about it, I will do all I can to get
+you off lightly; and seeing that you are but a boy, and have been,
+perhaps, led into this, they will not be disposed to be hard on you.
+Pick up that lantern and bring it here, John; let us see what
+plunder, they were making off with."
+
+There was no rope this time, but a bag containing some fifty pounds'
+weight of brass and copper fittings. One of the constables took
+possession of this.
+
+"You had better come along with us to the Bridewell, Master Dowsett,
+to sign the charge sheet, though I don't know whether it is
+altogether needful, seeing that we have caught them in the act; and
+you will all three have to be at the Court to-morrow at ten o'clock."
+
+"I will go with you," the Captain said; "but I will first slip in and
+put my shoes on; I brought them down in my hand and shall be ready in
+a minute. You may as well lock up this gate again, John. I will go
+out through the front door and join them in the lane." As he went
+into the house, John Wilkes closed the gate and put up the bar, then
+took up the lantern and said to Cyril,--
+
+"Well, Master Cyril, this has been a good night's work, and mighty
+thankful I am that we have caught the pirates. It was a good day for
+us all when you came to the Captain, or they might have gone on
+robbing him till the time came that there was nothing more to rob;
+and I should never have held up my head again, for though the Captain
+would never believe that I had had a hand in bringing him to ruin,
+other people would not have thought so, and I might never have got a
+chance of proving my innocence. Now we will just go to the end of the
+yard and see if they did manage to get into the warehouse by means of
+that crane, as you thought they did."
+
+They found that the crane had been swung out just far enough to
+afford a foot-hold to those lowering themselves on to it from the
+roof. The door of the loft stood open.
+
+"Just as you said. You could not have been righter, not if you had
+seen them at it. And now I reckon we may as well lock up the place
+again, and turn in. The Captain has got the key of the front door,
+and we will leave the lantern burning at the bottom of the stairs."
+
+Cyril got up as soon as he heard a movement in the house, and went
+down to the shop, which had been already opened by John Wilkes.
+
+"It seems quiet here, without the apprentices, John. Is there any way
+in which I can help?"
+
+"No, thank you, sir. We shan't be moving the goods about till after
+breakfast, and then, no doubt, the Captain will get an extra man in
+to help me. I reckon he will have to get a neighbour in to give an
+eye to the place while we are all away at the Court."
+
+"I see there is the rope still hanging from their window," Cyril
+said, as he went out into the yard.
+
+"I thought it best to leave it there," John Wilkes replied, "and I
+ain't been up into the loft either. It is best to leave matters just
+as they were. Like enough, they will send an officer down from the
+Court to look at them."
+
+When the family assembled at breakfast, Mrs. Dowsett was looking very
+grave. The Captain, on the other hand, was in capital spirits.
+Nellie, as usual, was somewhat late.
+
+"Where is everybody?" she asked in surprise, seeing that Cyril alone
+was in his place with her father and mother.
+
+"John Wilkes is downstairs, looking after the shop, and will come up
+and have his breakfast when we have done," her father replied.
+
+"Are both the apprentices out, then?" she asked.
+
+"The apprentices are in limbo," the Captain said grimly.
+
+"In limbo, father! What does that mean?"
+
+"It means that they are in gaol, my dear."
+
+Nellie put down the knife and fork that she had just taken up.
+
+"Are you joking, father?"
+
+"Very far from it, my dear; it is no joke to any of us--certainly not
+to me, and not to Robert Ashford, or Tom Frost. They have been
+robbing me for the last year, and, for aught I know, before that. If
+it had not been for Master Cyril it would not have been very long
+before I should have had to put my shutters up."
+
+"But how could they rob you, father?"
+
+"By stealing my goods, and selling them, Nellie. The way they did it
+was to lower themselves by a rope from their window on to the roof of
+the warehouse, and to get down at the other end on to the crane, and
+then into the loft. Then they went down and took what they had a
+fancy to, undid the door, and went into the yard, and then handed
+over their booty to the fellows waiting at the gate for it. Last
+night we caught them at it, after having been on the watch for ten
+days."
+
+"That is what I heard last night, then," she said. "I was woke by a
+loud whistle, and then I heard a sound of quarrelling and fighting in
+the lane. I thought it was some roysterers going home late. Oh,
+father, it is dreadful to think of! And what will they do to them?"
+
+"It is a hanging matter," the Captain said; "it is not only theft,
+but mutiny. No doubt the judges will take a lenient view of Tom
+Frost's case, both on the ground of his youth, and because, no doubt,
+he was influenced by Ashford; but I would not give much for Robert's
+chances. No doubt it will be a blow to you, Nellie, for you seem to
+have taken to him mightily of late."
+
+Nellie was about to give an emphatic contradiction, but as she
+remembered how pointedly she had asked for his escort during the last
+few days, she flushed up, and was silent.
+
+"It is terrible to think of," she said, after a pause. "I suppose
+this is what you and Cyril were consulting about, father. I have to
+ask your pardon, Master Cyril, for my rudeness to you; but of course
+I did not think it was anything of consequence, or that you could not
+have told me if you had wished to do so."
+
+"You need not beg my pardon, Mistress Nellie. No doubt you thought it
+churlish on my part to refuse to gratify your curiosity, and I am not
+surprised that you took offence. I knew that when you learned how
+important it was to keep silence over the matter, that you would
+acquit me of the intention of making a mystery about nothing."
+
+"I suppose you knew, mother?" Nellie asked.
+
+"I knew that your father believed that he was being robbed, Nellie,
+and that he was keeping watch for some hours every night, but I did
+not know that he suspected the apprentices. I am glad that we did
+not, for assuredly we should have found it very hard to school our
+faces so that they should not guess that aught was wrong."
+
+"That was why we said nothing about it, Nellie. It has been as much
+as I have been able to do to sit at table, and talk in the shop as
+usual, with boys I knew were robbing me; and I know honest John
+Wilkes must have felt it still more. But till a week ago we would not
+believe that they had a hand in the matter. It is seven nights since
+Cyril caught them creeping along the roof, and called me to the
+window in John Wilkes's room, whence he was watching the yard, not
+thinking the enemy was in the house."
+
+"And how did you come to suspect that robbery was going on, Cyril?"
+
+"Simply because, on making up the books, I found there was a great
+deficiency in the stores."
+
+"That is what he was doing when he was sitting up at night, after you
+were in bed, Miss Nellie," her father said. "You may thank your stars
+that he took a berth in this ship, for the scoundrels would have
+foundered her to a certainty, if he had not done so. I tell you,
+child, he has saved this craft from going to the bottom. I have not
+said much to him about it, but he knows that I don't feel it any the
+less."
+
+"And who were the other men who were taken, father?"
+
+"That I can't tell you, Nellie. I went to the Bridewell with them,
+and as soon as I saw them safely lodged there I came home. They will
+be had up before the Lord Mayor this morning, and then I dare say I
+shall know all about them. Now I must go and take my watch below, and
+let John Wilkes come off duty."
+
+"Why, John, what is the matter?" Mrs. Dowsett said, when the foreman
+entered.
+
+"Nothing worth speaking of, Mistress. I got a clip over the eye from
+one of the pirates we were capturing. The thing mattered nothing, one
+way or the other, but it might have cost me my life, because, for a
+moment, it pretty well dazed me. That young villain, Bob, was just
+coming at me with his knife, and I reckon it would have gone hard
+with me if Master Cyril here hadn't, just in the nick of time,
+brought his stick down on Robert's knuckles, and that so sharply that
+the fellow dropped his knife with a yell, and took to his heels, only
+to fall into the hands of two of the watch coming from the other end
+of the lane. You did me a good turn, lad, and if ever I get the
+chance of ranging up alongside of you in a fray, you may trust me to
+return it."
+
+He held out his hand to Cyril, and gave a warm grip to the hand the
+latter laid in it.
+
+"It is a rum start, Mistress," John went on, as he sat down to his
+meal, "that two old hands like the Captain and I were sailing on, not
+dreaming of hidden rocks or sand-banks, when this lad, who I used to
+look upon as a young cockerel who was rather above his position,
+should come forward and have saved us all from shipwreck."
+
+"It is indeed, John," his mistress said earnestly, "and I thank God
+indeed that He put the thought into the minds of Captain Dave and
+myself to ask him to take up his abode with us. It seemed to us then
+that we were doing a little kindness that would cost us nothing,
+whereas it has turned out the saving of us."
+
+"Dear, dear!" Nellie, who had been sitting with a frown on her pretty
+face, said pettishly. "What a talk there will be about it all, and
+how Jane Greenwood and Martha Stebbings and the rest of them will
+laugh at me! They used to say they wondered how I could go about with
+such an ugly wretch behind me, and of course I spoke up for him and
+said that he was an honest knave and faithful; and now it turns out
+that he is a villain and a robber. I shall never hear the last of
+him."
+
+"You will get over that, Nellie," her mother said severely. "It would
+be much better if, instead of thinking of such trifles, you would
+consider how sad a thing it is that two lads should lose their
+character, and perhaps their lives, simply for their greed of other
+people's goods. I could cry when I think of it. I know that Robert
+Ashford has neither father nor mother to grieve about him, for my
+husband's father took him out of sheer charity; but Tom's parents are
+living, and it will be heart-breaking indeed to them when they hear
+of their son's misdoings."
+
+"I trust that Captain Dave will get him off," Cyril said. "As he is
+so young he may turn King's evidence, and I feel sure that he did not
+go willingly into the affair. I have noticed many times that he had a
+frightened look, as if he had something on his mind. I believe that
+he acted under fear of the other."
+
+As soon as John Wilkes had finished his breakfast he went with
+Captain Dave and Cyril to the Magistrates' Court at the Guildhall.
+Some other cases were first heard, and then the apprentices, with the
+two men who had been captured in the lane, were brought in and placed
+in the dock. The men bore marks that showed they had been engaged in
+a severe struggle, and that the watch had used their staves with
+effect. One was an elderly man with shaggy grey eyebrows; the other
+was a very powerfully built fellow, who seemed, from his attire, to
+follow the profession of a sailor. Tom Frost was sobbing bitterly.
+One of Robert Ashford's hands was bandaged up. As he was placed in
+the dock he cast furtive glances round with his shifty eyes, and as
+they fell upon Cyril an expression of deadly hate came over his face.
+The men of the watch who had captured them first gave their evidence
+as to finding them in the act of robbery, and testified to the
+desperate resistance they had offered to capture. Captain Dave then
+entered the witness-box, and swore first to the goods that were found
+on them being his property, and then related how, it having come to
+his knowledge that he was being robbed, he had set a watch, and had,
+eight days previously, seen his two apprentices getting along the
+roof, and how they had come out from the warehouse door, had opened
+the outer gate, and had handed over some goods they had brought out
+to persons unknown waiting to receive them.
+
+"Why did you not stop them in their commission of the theft?" the
+Alderman in the Chair asked.
+
+"Because, sir, had I done so, the men I considered to be the chief
+criminals, and who had doubtless tempted my apprentices to rob me,
+would then have made off. Therefore, I thought it better to wait
+until I could lay hands on them also, and so got four men of the
+watch to remain in the house at night."
+
+Then he went on to relate how, after watching seven nights, he had
+again seen the apprentices make their way along the roof, and how
+they and the receivers of their booty were taken by the watch, aided
+by himself, his foreman, and Master Cyril Shenstone, who was dwelling
+in his house.
+
+After John Wilkes had given his evidence, Cyril went into the box and
+related how, being engaged by Captain David Dowsett to make up his
+books, he found, upon stock being taken, that there was a deficiency
+to the amount of many hundreds of pounds in certain stores, notably
+such as were valuable without being bulky.
+
+"Is anything known as to the prisoners?" the magistrate asked the
+officer of the city watch in charge of the case.
+
+"Nothing is known of the two boys, your honour; but the men are well
+known. The elder, who gave the name of Peter Johnson, is one Joseph
+Marner; he keeps a marine shop close to the Tower. For a long time he
+has been suspected of being a receiver of stolen goods, but we have
+never been able to lay finger on him before. The other man has, for
+the last year, acted as his assistant in the shop; he answers closely
+to the description of a man, Ephraim Fowler, who has long been
+wanted. This man was a seaman in a brig trading to Yarmouth. After an
+altercation with the captain he stabbed him, and then slew the mate
+who was coming to his assistance; then with threats he compelled the
+other two men on board to let him take the boat. When they were off
+Brightlingsea he rowed away, and has not been heard of since. If you
+will remand them, before he comes up again I hope to find the men who
+were on board, and see if they identify him. We are in possession of
+Joseph Marner's shop, and have found large quantities of goods that
+we have reason to believe are the proceeds of these and other
+robberies."
+
+After the prisoners had left the dock, Captain Dave went up to the
+officer.
+
+"I believe," he said, "that the boy has not voluntarily taken part in
+these robberies, but has been led away, or perhaps obliged by threats
+to take part in them; he may be able to give you some assistance, for
+maybe these men are not the only persons to whom the stolen goods
+have been sold, and he may be able to put you on the track of other
+receivers."
+
+"The matter is out of my hands now," the officer said, "but I will
+represent what you say in the proper quarter; and now you had better
+come round with me; you may be able to pick out some of your
+property. We only made a seizure of the place an hour ago. I had all
+the men who came in on duty this morning to take a look at the
+prisoners. Fortunately two or three of them recognised Marner, and
+you may guess we lost no time in getting a search warrant and going
+down to his place. It is the most important capture we have made for
+some time, and may lead to the discovery of other robberies that have
+been puzzling us for months past. There is a gang known as the Black
+Gang, but we have never been able to lay hands on any of their
+leaders, and such fellows as have been captured have refused to say a
+word, and have denied all knowledge of it. There have been a number
+of robberies of a mysterious kind, none of which have we been able to
+trace, and they have been put down to the same gang. The Chief
+Constable is waiting for me there, and we shall make a thorough
+search of the premises, and it is like enough we shall come across
+some clue of importance. At any rate, if we can find some of the
+articles stolen in the robberies I am speaking of, it will be a
+strong proof that Marner is one of the chiefs of the gang, and that
+may lead to further discoveries."
+
+"You had better come with us, John," Captain Dave said. "You know our
+goods better than I do myself. Will you come, Cyril?"
+
+"I should be of no use in identifying the goods, sir, and I am due in
+half an hour at one of my shops."
+
+The search was an exhaustive one. There was no appearance of an
+underground cellar, but on some of the boards of the shop being taken
+up, it was found that there was a large one extending over the whole
+house. This contained an immense variety of goods. In one corner was
+a pile of copper bolts that Captain Dave and John were able to claim
+at once, as they bore the brand of the maker from whom they obtained
+their stock. There were boxes of copper and brass ship and house
+fittings, and a very large quantity of rope, principally of the sizes
+in which the stock had been found deficient; but to these Captain
+Dave was unable to swear. In addition to these articles the cellar
+contained a number of chests, all of which were found to be filled
+with miscellaneous articles of wearing apparel--rolls of silk,
+velvet, cloth, and other materials--curtains, watches, clocks,
+ornaments of all kinds, and a considerable amount of plate. As among
+these were many articles which answered to the descriptions given of
+goods that had been stolen from country houses, the whole were
+impounded by the Chief Constable, and carried away in carts. The
+upper part of the house was carefully searched, the walls tapped,
+wainscotting pulled down, and the floors carefully examined. Several
+hiding-places were found, but nothing of any importance discovered in
+them.
+
+"I should advise you," the Chief Constable said to Captain Dave, "to
+put in a claim for every article corresponding with those you have
+lost. Of course, if anyone else comes forward and also puts in a
+claim, the matter will have to be gone into, and if neither of you
+can absolutely swear to the things, I suppose you will have to settle
+it somehow between you. If no one else claims them, you will get them
+all without question, for you can swear that, to the best of your
+knowledge and belief, they are yours, and bring samples of your own
+goods to show that they exactly correspond with them. I have no doubt
+that a good deal of the readily saleable stuff, such as ropes, brass
+sheaves for blocks, and things of that sort, will have been sold, but
+as it is clear that there is a good deal of your stuff in the stock
+found below, I hope your loss will not be very great. There is no
+doubt it has been a splendid find for us. It is likely enough that we
+shall discover among those boxes goods that have been obtained from a
+score of robberies in London, and likely enough in the country. We
+have arrested three men we found in the place, and two women, and may
+get from some of them information that will enable us to lay hands on
+some of the others concerned in these robberies."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+KIDNAPPED
+
+
+That afternoon Captain Dave went down to the Bridewell, and had an
+interview with Tom Frost, in the presence of the Master of the
+prison.
+
+"Well, Tom, I never expected to have to come to see you in a place
+like this."
+
+"I am glad I am here, master," the boy said earnestly, with tears in
+his eyes. "I don't mind if they hang me; I would rather anything than
+go on as I have been doing. I knew it must come, and whenever I heard
+anyone walk into the shop I made sure it was a constable. I am ready
+to tell everything, master; I know I deserve whatever I shall get,
+but that won't hurt me half as much as it has done, having to go on
+living in the house with you, and knowing I was helping to rob you
+all along."
+
+"Anything that you say must be taken down," the officer said; "and I
+can't promise that it will make any difference in your sentence."
+
+"I do not care anything about that; I am going to tell the truth."
+
+"Very well, then, I will take down anything you say. But wait a
+minute."
+
+He went to the door of the room and called.
+
+"Is the Chief Constable in?" he asked a man who came up. "If he is,
+ask him to step here."
+
+A minute later the Chief Constable came in.
+
+"This prisoner wishes to make a confession, Master Holmes. I thought
+it best that you should be here. You can hear what he says then, and
+it may help you in your inquiry. Besides, you may think of questions
+on points he may not mention; he understands that he is speaking
+entirely of his own free will, and that I have given him no promise
+whatever that his so doing will alter his sentence, although no doubt
+it will be taken into consideration."
+
+"Quite so," the constable said. "This is not a case where one
+prisoner would be ordinarily permitted to turn King's evidence
+against the others, because, as they were caught in the act, no such
+evidence is necessary. We know all about how the thing was done, and
+who did it."
+
+"I want to tell how I first came to rob my master," the boy said. "I
+never thought of robbing him. When I came up to London, my father
+said to me, 'Whatever you do, Tom, be honest. They say there are
+rogues up in London; don't you have anything to do with them.' One
+evening, about a year ago I went out with Robert, and we went to a
+shop near the wall at Aldgate. I had never been there before, but
+Robert knew the master, who was the old man that was taken in the
+lane. Robert said the man was a relation of his father's, and had
+been kind to him. We sat down and talked for a time, and then Robert,
+who was sitting close to me, moved for something, and put his hand
+against my pocket.
+
+"'Hullo!' he said; 'what have you got there?'
+
+"'Nothing,' I said.
+
+"'Oh, haven't you?' and he put his hand in my pocket, and brought out
+ten guineas. 'Hullo!' he said; 'where did you get these? You told me
+yesterday you had not got a groat. Why, you young villain, you must
+have been robbing the till!'
+
+"I was so frightened that I could not say anything, except that I did
+not know how they came there and I could swear that I had not touched
+the till. I was too frightened to think then, but I have since
+thought that the guineas were never in my pocket at all, but were in
+Robert's hand.
+
+"'That won't do, boy,' the man said. 'It is clear that you are a
+thief. I saw Robert take them from your pocket, and, as an honest
+man, it is my duty to take you to your master and tell him what sort
+of an apprentice he has. You are young, and you will get off with a
+whipping at the pillory, and that will teach you that honesty is the
+best policy.'
+
+"So he got his hat and put it on, and took me by the collar as if to
+haul me out into the street. I went down on my knees to beg for
+mercy, and at last he said that he would keep the matter quiet if I
+would swear to do everything that Robert told me; and I was so
+frightened that I swore to do so.
+
+"For a bit there wasn't any stealing, but Robert used to take me out
+over the roof, and we used to go out together and go to places where
+there were two or three men, and they gave us wine. Then Robert
+proposed that we should have a look through the warehouse. I did not
+know what he meant, but as we went through he filled his pockets with
+things and told me to take some too. I said I would not. Then he
+threatened to raise the alarm, and said that when Captain Dave came
+down he should say he heard me get up to come down by the rope on to
+the warehouse, and that he had followed me to see what I was doing,
+and had found me in the act of taking goods, and that, as he had
+before caught me with money stolen from the till, as a friend of his
+could testify, he felt that it was his duty to summon you at once. I
+know I ought to have refused, and to have let him call you down, but
+I was too frightened. At last I agreed to do what he told me, and
+ever since then we have been robbing you."
+
+"What have you done with the money you got for the things?" the
+constable asked.
+
+"I had a groat sometimes," the boy said, "but that is all. Robert
+said first that I should have a share, but I said I would have
+nothing to do with it. I did as he ordered me because I could not
+help it. Though I have taken a groat or two sometimes, that is all I
+have had."
+
+"Do you know anything about how much Robert had?"
+
+"No, sir; I never saw him paid any money. I supposed that he had some
+because he has said sometimes he should set up a shop for himself,
+down at some seaport town, when he was out of his apprenticeship; but
+I have never seen him with any money beyond a little silver. I don't
+know what he used to do when we had given the things to the men that
+met us in the lane. I used always to come straight back to bed, but
+generally he went out with them. I used to fasten the gate after him,
+and he got back over the wall by a rope. Most times he didn't come in
+till a little before daybreak."
+
+"Were they always the same men that met you in the lane?"
+
+"No, sir. The master of the shop was very seldom there. The big man
+has come for the last three or four months, and there were two other
+men. They used to be waiting for us together until the big man came,
+but since then one or other of them came with him, except when the
+master of the shop was there himself."
+
+"Describe them to me."
+
+The boy described them as well as he could.
+
+"Could you swear to them if you saw them?"
+
+"I think so. Of course, sometimes it was moonlight, and I could see
+their faces well; and besides, the light of the lantern often fell
+upon their faces."
+
+The constable nodded.
+
+"The descriptions answer exactly," he said to Captain Dave, "to the
+two men we found in the shop. The place was evidently the
+headquarters of a gang of thieves."
+
+"Please, sir," the boy said, "would you have me shut up in another
+place? I am afraid of being with the others. They have sworn they
+will kill me if I say a word, and when I get back they will ask me
+who I have seen and what I have said."
+
+Captain Dave took the other two men aside.
+
+"Could you not let the boy come home with me?" he said. "I believe
+his story is a true one. He has been terrified into helping that
+rascal, Robert Ashford. Of course he himself was of no good to them,
+but they were obliged to force him into it, as otherwise he would
+have found out Robert's absences and might have reported them to me.
+I will give what bail you like, and will undertake to produce him
+whenever he is required."
+
+"I could not do that myself," the constable said, "but I will go
+round to the Court now with the boy's confession, and I have no doubt
+the Alderman will let him go. But let me give you a word of advice:
+don't let him stir out of the house after dark. We have no doubt that
+there is a big gang concerned in this robbery, and the others of
+which we found the booty at the receiver's. They would not know how
+much this boy could tell about them, but if he went back to you they
+would guess that he had peached. If he went out after dark, the
+chances would be against his ever coming back again. No, now I think
+of it, I am sure you had better let him stay where he is. The Master
+will put him apart from the others, and make him comfortable. You
+see, at present we have no clue as to the men concerned in the
+robberies. You may be sure that they are watching every move on our
+part, and if they knew that this boy was out, they might take the
+alarm and make off."
+
+"Well, if you think so, I will leave him here."
+
+"I am sure that it would be the best plan."
+
+"You will make him comfortable, Master Holroyd?"
+
+"Yes; you need not worry about him, Captain Dowsett."
+
+They then turned to the boy.
+
+"You will be moved away from the others, Tom," Captain Dave said,
+"and Mr. Holroyd has promised to make you comfortable."
+
+"Oh, Captain Dave," the boy burst out, "will you forgive me? I don't
+mind being punished, but if you knew how awfully miserable I have
+been all this time, knowing that I was robbing you while you were so
+kind to me, I think you would forgive me."
+
+"I forgive you, Tom," Captain Dave said, putting his hand on the
+boy's shoulder. "I hope that this will be a lesson to you, all your
+life. You see all this has come upon you because you were a coward.
+If you had been a brave lad you would have said, 'Take me to my
+master.' You might have been sure that I would have heard your story
+as well as theirs, and I don't think I should have decided against
+you under the circumstances. It was only your word against Robert's;
+and his taking you to this man's, and finding the money in your
+pocket in so unlikely a way, would certainly have caused me to have
+suspicions. There is nothing so bad as cowardice; it is the father of
+all faults. A coward is certain to be a liar, for he will not
+hesitate to tell any falsehood to shelter him from the consequences
+of a fault. In your case, you see, cowardice has made you a thief;
+and in some cases it might drive a man to commit a murder. However,
+lad, I forgive you freely. You have been weak, and your weakness has
+made you a criminal; but it has been against your own will. When all
+this is over, I will see what can be done for you. You may live to be
+an honest man and a good citizen yet."
+
+Two days later Cyril was returning home late in the evening after
+being engaged longer than usual in making up a number of accounts for
+one of his customers. He had come through Leadenhall Street, and had
+entered the lane where the capture of the thieves had been made, when
+he heard a footstep behind him. He turned half round to see who was
+following him, when he received a tremendous blow on the head which
+struck him senseless to the ground.
+
+After a time he was dimly conscious that he was being carried along.
+He was unable to move; there was something in his mouth that
+prevented him from calling out, and his head was muffled in a cloak.
+He felt too weak and confused to struggle. A minute later he heard a
+voice, that sounded below him, say,--
+
+"Have you got him?"
+
+"I have got him all right," was the answer of the man who was
+carrying him.
+
+Then he felt that he was being carried down some stairs.
+
+Someone took him, and he was thrown roughly down; then there was a
+slight rattling noise, followed by a regular sound. He wondered
+vaguely what it was, but as his senses came back it flashed upon him;
+it was the sound of oars; he was in a boat. It was some time before
+he could think why he should be in a boat. He had doubtless been
+carried off by some of the friends of the prisoners', partly,
+perhaps, to prevent his giving evidence against them, partly from
+revenge for the part he had played in the discovery of the crime.
+
+In a few minutes the sound of oars ceased, and there was a bump as
+the boat struck against something hard. Then he was lifted up, and
+someone took hold of him from above. He was carried a few steps and
+roughly thrust in somewhere. There was a sound of something heavy
+being thrown down above him, and then for a long time he knew nothing
+more.
+
+When he became conscious again, he was able, as he lay there, to come
+to a distinct conclusion as to where he was. He had been kidnapped,
+carried off, taken out in a boat to some craft anchored in the river,
+and was now in the hold. He felt almost suffocated. The wrap round
+his head prevented his breathing freely, the gag in his mouth pressed
+on his tongue, and gave him severe pain, while his head ached acutely
+from the effects of the blow.
+
+The first thing to do was, if possible, to free his hands, so as to
+relieve himself from the gag and muffling. An effort or two soon
+showed him that he was but loosely bound. Doubtless the man who had
+attacked him had not wasted much time in securing his arms, believing
+that the blow would be sufficient to keep him quiet until he was safe
+on board ship. It was, therefore, without much difficulty that he
+managed to free one of his hands, and it was then an easy task to get
+rid of the rope altogether. The cloak was pulled from his face, and,
+feeling for his knife, he cut the lashings of the gag and removed it
+from his mouth. He lay quiet for a few minutes, panting from his
+exhaustion. Putting up his hand he felt a beam about a foot above his
+body. He was, then, in a hold already stored with cargo. The next
+thing was to shift his position among the barrels and bales upon
+which he was lying, until he found a comparatively level spot. He was
+in too great pain to think of sleep; his head throbbed fiercely, and
+he suffered from intense thirst.
+
+From time to time heavy footsteps passed overhead. Presently he heard
+a sudden rattling of blocks, and the flapping of a sail. Then he
+noticed that there was a slight change in the level of his position,
+and knew that the craft was under way on her voyage down the river.
+
+It seemed an immense time to him before he saw a faint gleam of
+light, and edging himself along, found himself again under the
+hatchway, through a crack in which the light was shining. It was some
+hours before the hatch was lifted off, and he saw two men looking
+down.
+
+"Water!" he said. "I am dying of thirst."
+
+"Bring a pannikin of water," one of the men said, "but first give us
+a hand, and we will have him on deck."
+
+Stooping down, they took Cyril by the shoulders and hoisted him out.
+
+"He is a decent-looking young chap," the speaker went on. "I would
+have seen to him before, if I had known him to be so bad. Those
+fellows didn't tell us they had hurt him. Here is the water, young
+fellow. Can you sit up to drink it?"
+
+Cyril sat up and drank off the contents of the pannikin.
+
+"Why, the back of your head is all covered with blood!" the man who
+had before spoken said. "You must have had an ugly knock?"
+
+"I don't care so much for that," Cyril replied. "It's the gag that
+hurt me. My tongue is so much swollen I can hardly speak."
+
+"Well, you can stay here on deck if you will give me your promise not
+to hail any craft we may pass. If you won't do that I must put you
+down under hatches again."
+
+"I will promise that willingly," Cyril said; "the more so that I can
+scarce speak above a whisper."
+
+"Mind, if you as much as wave a hand, or do anything to bring an eye
+on us, down you go into the hold again, and when you come up next
+time it will be to go overboard. Now just put your head over the
+rail, and I will pour a few buckets of water over it. I agreed to get
+you out of the way, but I have got no grudge against you, and don't
+want to do you harm."
+
+Getting a bucket with a rope tied to the handle, he dipped it into
+the river, and poured half-a-dozen pailfuls over Cyril's head. The
+lad felt greatly refreshed, and, sitting down on the deck, was able
+to look round. The craft was a coaster of about twenty tons burden.
+There were three men on deck besides the man who had spoken to him,
+and who was evidently the skipper. Besides these a boy occasionally
+put up his head from a hatchway forward. There was a pile of barrels
+and empty baskets amidship, and the men presently began to wash down
+the decks and to tidy up the ropes and gear lying about. The shore on
+both sides was flat, and Cyril was surprised at the width of the
+river. Behind them was a small town, standing on higher ground.
+
+"What place is that?" he asked a sailor who passed near him.
+
+"That is Gravesend."
+
+A few minutes afterwards the boy again put his head out of the
+hatchway and shouted,--
+
+"Breakfast!"
+
+"Can you eat anything, youngster?" the skipper asked Cyril.
+
+"No, thank you, my head aches too much; and my mouth is so sore I am
+sure I could not get anything down."
+
+"Well, you had best lie down, then, with your head on that coil of
+rope; I allow you did not sleep much last night."
+
+In a few minutes Cyril was sound asleep, and when he awoke the sun
+was setting.
+
+"You have had a good bout of it, lad," the skipper said, as he raised
+himself on his elbow and looked round. "How are you feeling now?"
+
+"A great deal better," Cyril said, as he rose to his feet.
+
+"Supper will be ready in a few minutes, and if you can manage to get
+a bit down it will do you good."
+
+"I will try, anyhow," Cyril said. "I think that I feel hungry."
+
+The land was now but a faint line on either hand. A gentle breeze was
+blowing from the south-west, and the craft was running along over the
+smooth water at the rate of three or four miles an hour. Cyril
+wondered where he was being taken to, and what was going to be done
+with him, but determined to ask no questions. The skipper was
+evidently a kind-hearted man, although he might be engaged in lawless
+business, but it was as well to wait until he chose to open the
+subject.
+
+As soon as the boy hailed, the captain led the way to the hatchway.
+They descended a short ladder into the fo'castle, which was low, but
+roomy. Supper consisted of boiled skate--a fish Cyril had never
+tasted before--oaten bread, and beer. His mouth was still sore, but
+he managed to make a hearty meal of fish, though he could not manage
+the hard bread. One of the men was engaged at the helm, but the other
+two shared the meal, all being seated on lockers that ran round the
+cabin. The fish were placed on an earthenware dish, each man cutting
+off slices with his jack-knife, and using his bread as a platter.
+Little was said while the meal went on; but when they went on deck
+again, the skipper, having put another man at the tiller, while the
+man released went forward to get his supper, said,--
+
+"Well, I think you are in luck, lad."
+
+Cyril opened his eyes in surprise.
+
+"You don't think so?" the man went on. "I don't mean that you are in
+luck in being knocked about and carried off, but that you are not
+floating down the river at present instead of walking the deck here.
+I can only suppose that they thought your body might be picked up,
+and that it would go all the harder with the prisoners, if it were
+proved that you had been put out of the way. You don't look like an
+informer either!"
+
+"I am not an informer," Cyril said indignantly. "I found that my
+employer was being robbed, and I aided him to catch the thieves. I
+don't call that informing. That is when a man betrays others engaged
+in the same work as himself."
+
+"Well, well, it makes no difference to me," the skipper said. "I was
+engaged by a man, with whom I do business sometimes, to take a fellow
+who had been troublesome out of the way, and to see that he did not
+come back again for some time. I bargained that there was to be no
+foul play; I don't hold with things of that sort. As to carrying down
+a bale of goods sometimes, or taking a few kegs of spirits from a
+French lugger, I see no harm in it; but when it comes to cutting
+throats, I wash my hands of it. I am sorry now I brought you off,
+though maybe if I had refused they would have put a knife into you,
+and chucked you into the river. However, now that I have got you I
+must go through with it. I ain't a man to go back from my word, and
+what I says I always sticks to. Still, I am sorry I had anything to
+do with the business. You look to me a decent young gentleman, though
+your looks and your clothes have not been improved by what you have
+gone through. Well, at any rate, I promise you that no harm shall
+come to you as long as you are in my hands."
+
+"And how long is that likely to be, captain?"
+
+"Ah! that is more than I can tell you. I don't want to do you harm,
+lad, and more than that, I will prevent other people from doing you
+harm as long as you are on board this craft. But more than that I
+can't say. It is likely enough I shall have trouble in keeping that
+promise, and I can't go a step farther. There is many a man who would
+have chucked you overboard, and so have got rid of the trouble
+altogether, and of the risk of its being afterwards proved that he
+had a hand in getting you out of the way."
+
+"I feel that, captain," Cyril said, "and I thank you heartily for
+your kind treatment of me. I promise you that if at any time I am set
+ashore and find my way back to London, I will say no word which can
+get you into trouble."
+
+"There is Tom coming upon deck. You had better turn in. You have had
+a good sleep, but I have no doubt you can do with some more, and a
+night's rest will set you up. You take the left-hand locker. The boy
+sleeps on the right hand, and we have bunks overhead."
+
+Cyril was soon soundly asleep, and did not wake when the others
+turned in. He was alone in the cabin when he opened his eyes, but the
+sun was shining brightly through the open hatchway. He sprang up and
+went on deck. The craft was at anchor. No land could be seen to the
+south, but to the north a low shore stretched away three or four
+miles distant. There was scarcely a breath of wind.
+
+"Well, you have had a good sleep, lad," the captain said. "You had
+best dip that bucket overboard and have a wash; you will feel better
+after it. Now, boy, slip down and get your fire going; we shall be
+ready for breakfast as soon as it is ready for us."
+
+Cyril soused his head with the cold water, and felt, as the captain
+had said, all the better for it, for the air in the little cabin was
+close and stuffy, and he had felt hot and feverish before his wash.
+
+"The wind died out, you see," the captain said, "and we had to anchor
+when tide turned at two o'clock. There is a dark line behind us, and
+as soon as the wind reaches us, we will up anchor. The force of the
+tide is spent."
+
+The wind, however, continued very light, and the vessel did little
+more than drift with the tide, and when it turned at two o'clock they
+had to drop anchor again close under some high land, on the top of
+which stood a lofty tower.
+
+"That is a land-mark," the captain said. "There are some bad sands
+outside us, and that stands as a mark for vessels coming through."
+
+Cyril had enjoyed the quiet passage much. The wound at the back of
+his head still smarted, and he had felt disinclined for any exertion.
+More than once, in spite of the good allowance of sleep he had had,
+he dozed off as he sat on the deck with his back against the bulwark,
+watching the shore as they drifted slowly past it, and wondering
+vaguely, how it would all end. They had been anchored but half an
+hour when the captain ordered the men to the windlass.
+
+"There is a breeze coming, lads," he said; "and even if it only lasts
+for an hour, it will take us round the head and far enough into the
+bay to get into the tide running up the rivers."
+
+The breeze, however, when it came, held steadily, and in two hours
+they were off Harwich; but on coming opposite the town they turned
+off up the Orwell, and anchored, after dark, at a small village some
+six miles up the river.
+
+"If you will give me your word, lad, that you will not try to escape,
+and will not communicate with anyone who may come off from the shore,
+I will continue to treat you as a passenger; but if not, I must
+fasten you up in the cabin, and keep a watch over you."
+
+"I will promise, captain. I should not know where to go if I landed.
+I heard you say, 'There is Harwich steeple,' when we first came in
+sight of it, but where that is I have no idea, nor how far we are
+from London. As I have not a penny in my pocket, I should find it
+well-nigh impossible to make my way to town, which may, for aught I
+know, be a hundred miles away; for, in truth, I know but little of
+the geography of England, having been brought up in France, and not
+having been out of sight of London since I came over."
+
+Just as he was speaking, the splash of an oar was heard close by.
+
+"Up, men," the captain said in a low tone to those in the fo'castle.
+"Bring up the cutlasses. Who is that?" he called, hailing the boat.
+
+"Merry men all," was the reply.
+
+"All right. Come alongside. You saw our signal, then?"
+
+"Ay, ay, we saw it; but there is an officer with a boat-load of
+sailors ashore from the King's ship at Harwich. He is spending the
+evening with the revenue captain here, and we had to wait until the
+two men left in charge of the boat went up to join their comrades at
+the tavern. What have you got for us?"
+
+"Six boxes and a lot of dunnage, such as cables, chains, and some
+small anchors."
+
+"Well, you had better wait for an hour before you take the hatches
+off. You will hear the gig with the sailors row past soon. The tide
+has begun to run down strong, and I expect the officer won't be long
+before he moves. As soon as he has gone we will come out again. We
+shall take the goods up half a mile farther. The revenue man on that
+beat has been paid to keep his eyes shut, and we shall get them all
+stored in a hut, a mile away in the woods, before daybreak. You know
+the landing-place; there will be water enough for us to row in there
+for another two hours."
+
+The boat rowed away to the shore, which was not more than a hundred
+yards distant. A little later they heard a stir on the strand, then
+came the sound of oars, and two minutes later a boat shot past close
+to them, and then, bearing away, rowed down the river.
+
+"Now, lads," the captain said, "get the hatches off. The wind is
+coming more offshore, which is all the better for us, but do not make
+more noise than you can help."
+
+The hatches were taken off, and the men proceeded to get up a number
+of barrels and bales, some sail-cloth being thrown on the deck to
+deaden the sound. Lanterns, passed down into the hold, gave them
+light for their operations.
+
+"This is the lot," one of the sailors said presently.
+
+Six large boxes were then passed up and put apart from the others.
+Then followed eight or ten coils of rope, a quantity of chain, some
+kedge anchors, a number of blocks, five rolls of canvas, and some
+heavy bags that, by the sound they made when they were laid down,
+Cyril judged to contain metal articles of some sort. Then the other
+goods were lowered into the hold and the hatches replaced. The work
+had scarcely concluded when the boat again came alongside, this time
+with four men on board. Scarcely a word was spoken as the goods were
+transferred to the boat.
+
+"You will be going to-morrow?" one of the men in the boat asked.
+
+"Yes, I shall get up to Ipswich on the top of the tide--that is, if I
+don't stick fast in this crooked channel. My cargo is all either for
+Ipswich or Aldborough. Now let us turn in," as the boatmen made their
+way up the river. "We must be under way before daylight, or else we
+shall not save the tide down to-morrow evening. I am glad we have got
+that lot safely off. I always feel uncomfortable until we get rid of
+that part of the cargo. If it wasn't that it paid better than all the
+rest together I would not have anything to do with it."
+
+Cyril was very glad to lie down on the locker, while the men turned
+into their berths overhead. He had not yet fully recovered from the
+effects of the blow he had received, but in spite of the aching of
+his head he was soon sound asleep. It seemed to him that he had
+scarcely closed his eyes when he was roused by the captain's voice,--
+
+"Tumble up, lads. The light is beginning to show."
+
+Ten minutes later they were under way. The breeze had almost died
+out, and after sailing for some two miles in nearly a straight
+course, the boat was thrown over, two men got into it, and, fastening
+a rope to the ketch's bow, proceeded to tow her along, the captain
+taking the helm.
+
+To Cyril's surprise, they turned off almost at right angles to the
+course they had before been following, and made straight for the
+opposite shore. They approached it so closely that Cyril expected
+that in another moment the craft would take ground, when, at a shout
+from the captain, the men in the boat started off parallel with the
+shore, taking the craft's head round. For the next three-quarters of
+an hour they pursued a serpentine course, the boy standing in the
+chains and heaving the lead continually. At last the captain
+shouted,--"You can come on board now, lads. We are in the straight
+channel at last." Twenty minutes later they again dropped their
+anchor opposite a town of considerable size.
+
+"That is Ipswich, lad," the captain said. "It is as nasty a place to
+get into as there is in England, unless you have got the wind due
+aft."
+
+The work of unloading began at once, and was carried on until after
+dark.
+
+"That is the last of them," the captain said, to Cyril's
+satisfaction. "We can be off now when the tide turns, and if we
+hadn't got clear to-night we might have lost hours, for there is no
+getting these people on shore to understand that the loss of a tide
+means the loss of a day, and that it is no harder to get up and do
+your work at one hour than it is at another. I shall have a clean up,
+now, and go ashore. I have got your promise, lad, that you won't try
+to escape?"
+
+Cyril assented. Standing on the deck there, with the river bank but
+twenty yards away, it seemed hard that he should not be able to
+escape. But, as he told himself, he would not have been standing
+there if it had not been for that promise, but would have been lying,
+tightly bound, down in the hold.
+
+Cyril and the men were asleep when the captain came aboard, the boy
+alone remaining up to fetch him off in the boat when he hailed.
+
+"There is no wind, captain," Cyril said, as the anchor was got up.
+
+"No, lad, I am glad there is not. We can drop down with the tide and
+the boat towing us, but if there was a head wind we might have to
+stop here till it either dropped or shifted. I have been here three
+weeks at a spell. I got some news ashore," he went on, as he took his
+place at the helm, while the three men rowed the boat ahead. "A man I
+sometimes bring things to told me that he heard there had been an
+attempt to rescue the men concerned in that robbery. I heard, before
+I left London, it was likely that it would be attempted."
+
+There were a lot of people concerned in that affair, one way and
+another, and I knew they would move heaven and earth to get them out,
+for if any of them peached there would be such a haul as the
+constables never made in the city before. Word was passed to the
+prisoners to be ready, and as they were being taken from the
+Guildhall to Newgate there was a sudden rush made. The constables
+were not caught napping, and there was a tough fight, till the
+citizens ran out of their shops and took part with them, and the men,
+who were sailors, watermen, 'longshore-men, and rascals of all sorts,
+bolted.
+
+"But two of the prisoners were missing. One was, I heard, an
+apprentice who was mixed up in the affair, and no one saw him go.
+They say he must have stooped down and wriggled away into the crowd.
+The other was a man they called Black Dick; he struck down two
+constables, broke through the crowd, and got clean away. There is a
+great hue and cry, but so far nothing has been heard of them. They
+will be kept in hiding somewhere till there is a chance of getting
+them through the gates or on board a craft lying in the river. Our
+men made a mess of it, or they would have got them all off. I hear
+that they are all in a fine taking that Marner is safely lodged in
+Newgate with the others taken in his house; he knows so much that if
+he chose to peach he could hang a score of men. Black Dick could tell
+a good deal, but he wasn't in all the secrets, and they say Marner is
+really the head of the band and had a finger in pretty nigh every
+robbery through the country. All those taken in his place are also in
+Newgate, and they say the constables are searching the city like
+ferrets in a rabbit-warren, and that several other arrests have been
+made."
+
+"I am not sorry the apprentice got away," Cyril said. "He is a bad
+fellow, there is no doubt, and, by the look he gave me, he would do
+me harm if he got a chance, but I suppose that is only natural. As to
+the other man, he looked to me to be a desperate villain, and he also
+gave me so evil a look that, though he was in the dock with a
+constable on either side of him, I felt horribly uncomfortable,
+especially when I heard what sort of man he was."
+
+"What did they say of him?"
+
+"They said they believed he was a man named Ephraim Fowler, who had
+murdered the skipper and mate of a coaster and then went off in the
+boat."
+
+"Is that the man? Then truly do I regret that he has escaped. I knew
+both John Moore, the master, and George Monson, the mate, and many a
+flagon of beer we have emptied together. If I had known the fellow's
+whereabouts, I would have put the constables on his track. I am
+heartily sorry now, boy, that I had a hand in carrying you off,
+though maybe it is best for you that it has been so. If I hadn't
+taken you someone else would, and more than likely you would not have
+fared so well as you have done, for some of them would have saved
+themselves all further trouble and risk, by chucking you overboard as
+soon as they were well out of the Pool."
+
+"Can't you put me ashore now, captain?"
+
+"No, boy; I have given my word and taken my money, and I am not one
+to fail to carry out a bargain because I find that I have made a bad
+one. They have trusted me with thousands of pounds' worth of goods,
+and I have no reason to complain of their pay, and am not going to
+turn my back on them now they have got into trouble; besides, though
+I would trust you not to round upon me, I would not trust them. If
+you were to turn up in London they would know that I had sold them,
+and Marner would soon hear of it. There is a way of getting messages
+to a man even in prison. Then you may be sure that, if he said
+nothing else, he would take good care to let out that I was the man
+who used to carry their booty away, sometimes to quiet places on the
+coast, and sometimes across to Holland, and the first time I dropped
+anchor in the Pool I should find myself seized and thrown into limbo.
+No, lad; I must carry out my agreement--which is that I am not to
+land you in England, but that I am to take you across to Holland or
+elsewhere--the elsewhere meaning that if you fall overboard by the
+way there will be no complaints as to the breach of the agreement.
+That is, in fact, what they really meant, though they did not
+actually put it into words. They said, 'We have a boy who is an
+informer, and has been the means of Marner being seized and his place
+broken up, and there is no saying that a score of us may not get a
+rope round our necks. In consequence, we want him carried away. What
+you do with him is nothing to us so long as he don't set foot in
+England again.' 'Will Holland suit you? I am going across there,' I
+said, 'after touching at Ipswich and Aldborough.' 'It would be much
+safer for you and everyone else if it happen that he falls over
+before he gets there. However, we will call it Holland.'"
+
+"Then if I were to fall overboard," Cyril said, with a smile, "you
+would not be breaking your agreement, captain? I might fall overboard
+to-night, you know."
+
+"I would not advise it, lad. You had much better stay where you are.
+I don't say I mightn't anchor off Harwich, and that if you fell
+overboard you couldn't manage to swim ashore, but I tell you I would
+not give twopence for your life when you got back to London. It is to
+the interest of a score of men to keep Marner's mouth shut. They have
+shown their willingness to help him as far as they could, by getting
+you out of the way, and if you got back they would have your life the
+first time you ventured out of doors after dark; they would be afraid
+Marner would suppose they had sold him if you were to turn up at his
+trial, and as like as not he would round on the whole lot. Besides, I
+don't think it would be over safe for me the first time I showed
+myself in London afterwards, for, though I never said that I would do
+it, I have no doubt they reckoned that I should chuck you overboard,
+and if you were to make your appearance in London they would
+certainly put it down that I had sold them. You keep yourself quiet,
+and I will land you in Holland, but not as they would expect, without
+a penny or a friend; I will put you into good hands, and arrange that
+you shall be sent back again as soon as the trial is over."
+
+"Thank you very much, captain. I have no relations in London, and no
+friends, except my employer, Captain David Dowsett, and by this time
+he will have made up his mind that I am dead, and it won't make much
+difference whether I return in four or five days or as many weeks."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A NARROW ESCAPE
+
+
+The _Eliza_, for this Cyril, after leaving Ipswich, learnt was her
+name, unloaded the rest of her cargo at Aldborough, and then sailed
+across to Rotterdam. The skipper fulfilled his promise by taking
+Cyril to the house of one of the men with whom he did business, and
+arranging with him to board the boy until word came that he could
+safely return to England. The man was a diamond-cutter, and to him
+packets of jewellery and gems that could not be disposed of in
+England had often been brought over by the captain. The latter had
+nothing to do with the pecuniary arrangements, which were made direct
+by Marner, and he had only to hand over the packets and take back
+sums of money to England.
+
+"You understand," the captain said to Cyril, "that I have not said a
+word touching the matter for which you are here. I have only told him
+that it had been thought it was as well you should be out of England
+for a time. Of course, he understood that you were wanted for an
+affair in which you had taken part; but it matters not what he
+thinks. I have paid him for a month's board for you, and here are
+three pounds, which will be enough to pay for your passage back if I
+myself should not return. If you do not hear from me, or see the
+_Eliza_, within four weeks, there is no reason why you should not
+take passage back. The trial will be over by that time, and as the
+members of the gang have done their part in preventing you from
+appearing, I see not why they should have further grudge against
+you."
+
+"I cannot thank you too much for your kindness, captain. I trust that
+when I get back you will call at Captain Dowsett's store in Tower
+Street, so that I may see you and again thank you; I know that the
+Captain himself will welcome you heartily when I tell him how kindly
+you have treated me. He will be almost as glad as I shall myself to
+see you. I suppose you could not take him a message or letter from me
+now?"
+
+"I think not, lad. It would never do for him to be able to say at the
+trial that he had learnt you had been kidnapped. They might write
+over here to the Dutch authorities about you. There is one thing
+further. From what I heard when I landed yesterday, it seems that
+there is likely to be war between Holland and England."
+
+"I heard a talk of it in London," Cyril said, "but I do not rightly
+understand the cause, nor did I inquire much about the matter."
+
+"It is something about the colonies, and our taxing their goods, but
+I don't rightly understand the quarrel, except that the Dutch think,
+now that Blake is gone and our ships for the most part laid up, they
+may be able to take their revenge for the lickings we have given
+them. Should there be war, as you say you speak French as well as
+English, I should think you had best make your way to Dunkirk as a
+young Frenchman, and from there you would find no difficulty in
+crossing to England."
+
+"I know Dunkirk well, captain, having indeed lived there all my life.
+I should have no difficulty in travelling through Holland as a French
+boy."
+
+"If there is a war," the captain said, "I shall, of course, come here
+no more; but it may be that you will see me at Dunkirk. French brandy
+sells as well as Dutch Schiedam, and if I cannot get the one I may
+perhaps get the other; and there is less danger in coming to Dunkirk
+and making across to Harwich than there is in landing from Calais or
+Nantes on the south coast, where the revenue men are much more on the
+alert than they are at Harwich."
+
+"Are you not afraid of getting your boat captured? You said it was
+your own."
+
+"Not much, lad. I bring over a regular cargo, and the kegs are stowed
+away under the floor of the cabin, and I run them at Pin-mill--that
+is the place we anchored the night before we got to Ipswich. I have
+been overhauled a good many times, but the cargo always looks right,
+and after searching it for a bit, they conclude it is all regular.
+You see, I don't bring over a great quantity--fifteen or twenty kegs
+is as much as I can stow away--and it is a long way safer being
+content with a small profit than trying to make a big one."
+
+Cyril parted with regret from the captain, whose departure had been
+hastened by a report that war might be declared at any moment, in
+which case the _Eliza_ might have been detained for a considerable
+time. He had, therefore, been working almost night and day to get in
+his cargo, and Cyril had remained on board until the last moment. He
+had seen the diamond dealer but once, and hoped that he should not
+meet him often, for he felt certain that awkward questions would be
+asked him. This man was in the habit of having dealings with Marner,
+and had doubtless understood from the captain that he was in some way
+connected with his gang; and were he to find out the truth he would
+view him with the reverse of a friendly eye. He had told him that he
+was to take his meals with his clerk, and Cyril hoped, therefore,
+that he should seldom see him.
+
+He wandered about the wharf until it became dark. Then he went in and
+took supper with the clerk. As the latter spoke Dutch only, there was
+no possibility of conversation. Cyril was thinking of going up to his
+bed when there was a ring at the bell. The clerk went to answer it,
+leaving the door open as he went out, and Cyril heard a voice ask, in
+English, if Herr Schweindorf was in. The clerk said something in
+Dutch.
+
+"The fool does not understand English, Robert," the man said.
+
+"Tell him," he said, in a louder voice, to the clerk, "that two
+persons from England--England, you understand--who have only just
+arrived, want to see him on particular business. There, don't be
+blocking up the door; just go and tell your master what I told you."
+
+He pushed his way into the passage, and the clerk, seeing that there
+was nothing else to do, went upstairs.
+
+A minute later he came down again, and made a sign for them to follow
+him. As they went up Cyril stole out and looked after them. The fact
+that they had come from England, and that one of them was named
+Robert, and that they had business with this man, who was in
+connection with Marner, had excited his suspicions, but he felt a
+shiver of fear run through him as he recognised the figures of Robert
+Ashford and the man who was called Black Dick. He remembered the
+expression of hatred with which they had regarded him in the Court,
+and felt that his danger would be great indeed did they hear that he
+was in Rotterdam. A moment's thought convinced him that they would
+almost certainly learn this at once from his host. The letter would
+naturally mention that the captain had left a lad in his charge who
+was, as he believed, connected with them. They would denounce him as
+an enemy instead of a friend. The diamond merchant would expel him
+from his house, terrified at the thought that he possessed
+information as to his dealings with this band in England; and once
+beyond the door he would, in this strange town, be at the mercy of
+his enemies. Cyril's first impulse was to run back into the room,
+seize his cap, and fly. He waited, however, until the clerk came down
+again; then he put his cap carelessly on his head.
+
+"I am going for a walk," he said, waving his hand vaguely.
+
+The man nodded, went with him to the door, and Cyril heard him put up
+the bar after he had gone out. He walked quietly away, for there was
+no fear of immediate pursuit.
+
+Black Dick had probably brought over some more jewels to dispose of,
+and that business would be transacted, before there would be any talk
+of other matters. It might be a quarter of an hour before they heard
+that he was an inmate of the house; then, when they went downstairs
+with the dealer, they would hear that he had gone out for a walk and
+would await his return, so that he had two or three hours at least
+before there would be any search.
+
+It was early yet. Some of the boats might be discharging by
+torchlight. At any rate, he might hear of a ship starting in the
+morning. He went down to the wharf. There was plenty of bustle here;
+boats were landing fish, and larger craft were discharging or taking
+in cargo; but his inability to speak Dutch prevented his asking
+questions. He crossed to the other side of the road. The houses here
+were principally stores or drinking taverns. In the window of one was
+stuck up, "English and French Spoken Here." He went inside, walked up
+to the bar, and called for a glass of beer in English.
+
+"You speak English, landlord?" he asked, as the mug was placed before
+him.
+
+The latter nodded.
+
+"I want to take passage either to England or to France," he said. "I
+came out here but a few days ago, and I hear that there is going to
+be trouble between the two countries. It will therefore be of no use
+my going on to Amsterdam. I wish to get back again, for I am told
+that if I delay I may be too late. I cannot speak Dutch, and
+therefore cannot inquire if any boat will be sailing in the morning
+for England or Dunkirk. I have acquaintances in Dunkirk, and speak
+French, so it makes no difference to me whether I go there or to
+England."
+
+"My boy speaks French," the landlord said, "and if you like he can go
+along the port with you. Of course, you will give him something for
+his trouble?"
+
+"Willingly," Cyril said, "and be much obliged to you into the
+bargain."
+
+The landlord left the bar and returned in a minute with a boy twelve
+years old.
+
+"He does not speak French very well," he said, "but I dare say it
+will be enough for your purpose. I have told him that you want to
+take ship to England, or that, if you cannot find one, to Dunkirk. If
+that will not do, Ostend might suit you. They speak French there, and
+there are boats always going between there and England."
+
+"That would do; though I should prefer the other."
+
+"There would be no difficulty at any other time in getting a boat for
+England, but I don't know whether you will do so now. They have been
+clearing off for some days, and I doubt if you will find an English
+ship in port now, though of course there may be those who have been
+delayed for their cargo."
+
+Cyril went out with the boy, and after making many inquiries learnt
+that there was but one English vessel still in port. However, Cyril
+told his guide that he would prefer one for Dunkirk if they could
+find one, for if war were declared before the boat sailed, she might
+be detained. After some search they found a coasting scow that would
+sail in the morning.
+
+"They will touch at two or three places," the boy said to Cyril,
+after a talk with the captain; "but if you are not in a hurry, he
+will take you and land you at Dunkirk for a pound--that is, if he
+finds food; if you find food he will take you for eight shillings. He
+will start at daybreak."
+
+"Tell him that I agree to his price. I don't want the trouble of
+getting food. As he will be going so early, I will come on board at
+once. I will get my bundle, and will be back in half an hour."
+
+He went with the boy to one of the sailors' shops near, bought a
+rough coat and a thick blanket, had them wrapped up into a parcel,
+and then, after paying the boy, went on board.
+
+As he expected, he found there were no beds or accommodation for
+passengers, so he stretched himself on a locker in the cabin, covered
+himself with his blanket, and put the coat under his head for a
+pillow. His real reason for choosing this craft in preference to the
+English ship was that he thought it probable that, when he did not
+return to the house, it would at once be suspected that he had
+recognised the visitors, and was not going to return at all. In that
+case, they might suspect that he would try to take passage to
+England, and would, the first thing in the morning, make a search for
+him on board any English vessels that might be in the port.
+
+It would be easy then for them to get him ashore, for the diamond
+merchant might accuse him of theft, and so get him handed over to
+him. Rather than run that risk, he would have started on foot had he
+not been able to find a native craft sailing early in the morning.
+Failing Dunkirk and Ostend, he would have taken a passage to any
+other Dutch port, and run his chance of getting a ship from there.
+The great point was to get away from Rotterdam.
+
+The four men forming the crew of the scow returned late, and by their
+loud talk Cyril, who kept his eyes closed, judged that they were in
+liquor. In a short time they climbed up into their berths, and all
+was quiet. At daybreak they were called up by the captain. Cyril lay
+quiet until, by the rippling of the water against the side, he knew
+that the craft was under way. He waited a few minutes, and then went
+up on deck. The scow, clumsy as she looked, was running along fast
+before a brisk wind, and in an hour Rotterdam lay far behind them.
+
+The voyage was a pleasant one. They touched at Dordrecht, at
+Steenbergen on the mainland, and Flushing, staying a few hours in
+each place to take in or discharge cargo. After this, they made out
+from the Islands, and ran along the coast, putting into Ostend and
+Nieuport, and, four days after starting, entered the port of Dunkirk.
+
+Cyril did not go ashore at any of the places at which they stopped.
+It was possible that war might have been declared with England, and
+as it might be noticed that he was a foreigner he would in that case
+be questioned and arrested. As soon, therefore, as they neared a
+quay, he went down to the cabin and slept until they got under way
+again. The food was rough, but wholesome; it consisted entirely of
+fish and black bread; but the sea air gave him a good appetite, and
+he was in high spirits at the thought that he had escaped from danger
+and was on his way back again. At Dunkirk he was under the French
+flag, and half an hour after landing had engaged a passage to London
+on a brig that was to sail on the following day. The voyage was a
+stormy one, and he rejoiced in the possession of his great-coat,
+which he had only bought in order that he might have a packet to
+bring on board the scow, and so avoid exciting any suspicion or
+question as to his being entirely unprovided with luggage.
+
+It was three days before the brig dropped anchor in the Pool. As soon
+as she did so, Cyril hailed a waterman, and spent almost his last
+remaining coin in being taken to shore. He was glad that it was late
+in the afternoon and so dark that his attire would not be noticed.
+His clothes had suffered considerably from his capture and
+confinement on board the _Eliza_, and his great-coat was of a rough
+appearance that was very much out of character in the streets of
+London. He had, however, but a short distance to traverse before he
+reached the door of the house. He rang at the bell, and the door was
+opened by John Wilkes.
+
+"What is it?" the latter asked. "The shop is shut for the night, and
+I ain't going to open for anyone. At half-past seven in the morning
+you can get what you want, but not before."
+
+"Don't you know me, John?" Cyril laughed. The old sailor stepped back
+as if struck with a blow.
+
+"Eh, what?" he exclaimed. "Is it you, Cyril? Why, we had all thought
+you dead! I did not know you in this dim light and in that big coat
+you have got on. Come upstairs, master. Captain Dave and the ladies
+will be glad indeed to see you. They have been mourning for you
+sadly, I can tell you."
+
+Cyril took off his wrap and hung it on a peg, and then followed John
+upstairs.
+
+"There, Captain Dave," the sailor said, as he opened the door of the
+sitting-room. "There is a sight for sore eyes!--a sight you never
+thought you would look on again."
+
+For a moment Captain Dave, his wife, and daughter stared at Cyril as
+if scarce believing their eyes. Then the Captain sprang to his feet.
+
+"It's the lad, sure enough. Why, Cyril," he went on, seizing him by
+the hand, and shaking it violently, "we had never thought to see you
+alive again; we made sure that those pirates had knocked you on the
+head, and that you were food for fishes by this time. There has been
+no comforting my good wife; and as to Nellie, if it had been a
+brother she had lost, she could not have taken it more hardly."
+
+"They did knock me on the head, and very hard too, Captain Dave. If
+my skull hadn't been quite so thick, I should, as you say, have been
+food for fishes before now, for that is what they meant me for, and
+there is no thanks to them that I am here at present. I am sorry that
+you have all been made so uncomfortable about me."
+
+"We should have been an ungrateful lot indeed if we had not,
+considering that in the first place you saved us from being ruined by
+those pirates, and that it was, as we thought, owing to the services
+you had done us that you had come to your end."
+
+ "But where have you been, Master Cyril?" Nellie broke in. "What has
+happened to you? We have been picturing all sorts of horrors, mother
+and I. That evil had befallen you we were sure, for we knew that you
+would not go away of a sudden, in this fashion, without so much as
+saying goodbye. We feared all the more when, two days afterwards, the
+wretches were so bold as to attack the constables, and to rescue
+Robert Ashford and another from their hands. Men who would do this in
+broad daylight would surely hesitate at nothing."
+
+"Let him eat his supper without asking further questions, Nellie,"
+her father said. "It is ill asking one with victuals before him to
+begin a tale that may, for aught I know, last an hour. Let him have
+his food, lass, and then I will light my pipe, and John Wilkes shall
+light his here instead of going out for it, and we will have the yarn
+in peace and comfort. It spoils a good story to hurry it through.
+Cyril is here, alive and well; let that content you for a few
+minutes."
+
+"If I must, I must," Nellie said, with a little pout. "But you should
+remember, father, that, while you have been all your life having
+adventures of some sort, this is the very first that I have had; for
+though Cyril is the one to whom it befell, it is all a parcel with
+the robbery of the house and the capture of the thieves."
+
+"When does the trial come off, Captain Dave?"
+
+"It came off yesterday. Marner is to be hung at the end of the week.
+He declared that he was but in the lane by accident when two lads
+opened the gate. He and the man with him, seeing that they were laden
+with goods, would have seized them, when they themselves were
+attacked and beaten down. But this ingenuity did not save him. Tom
+Frost had been admitted as King's evidence, and testified that Marner
+had been several times at the gate with the fellow that escaped, to
+receive the stolen goods. Moreover, there were many articles among
+those found at his place that I was able to swear to, besides the
+proceeds of over a score of burglaries. The two men taken in his
+house will have fifteen years in gaol. The women got off scot-free;
+there was no proof that they had taken part in the robberies, though
+there is little doubt they knew all about them."
+
+"But how did they prove the men were concerned?"
+
+"They got all the people whose property had been found there, and
+four of these, on seeing the men in the yard at Newgate, were able to
+swear to them as having been among those who came into their rooms
+and frightened them well-nigh to death. It was just a question
+whether they should be hung or not, and there was some wonder that
+the Judge let them escape the gallows."
+
+"And what has become of Tom?"
+
+"They kept Tom in the prison till last night. I saw him yesterday,
+and I am sure the boy is mighty sorry for having been concerned in
+the matter, being, as I truly believe, terrified into it. I had
+written down to an old friend of mine who has set up in the same way
+as myself at Plymouth. Of course I told him all the circumstances,
+but assured him, that according to my belief, the boy was not so much
+to blame, and that I was sure the lesson he had had, would last him
+for life; so I asked him to give Tom another chance, and if he did
+so, to keep the knowledge of this affair from everyone. I got his
+answer yesterday morning, telling me to send him down to him; he
+would give him a fair trial, and if he wasn't altogether satisfied
+with him, would then get him a berth as ship's boy. So, last night
+after dark, he was taken down by John Wilkes, and put on board a
+coaster bound for Plymouth. I would have taken him back here, but
+after your disappearance I feared that his life would not be safe;
+for although they had plenty of other cases they could have proved
+against Marner, Tom's evidence brought this business home to him."
+
+Captain Dave would not allow Cyril to begin his story until the table
+had been cleared and he and John Wilkes had lighted their pipes. Then
+Cyril told his adventure, the earlier part of which elicited many
+exclamations of pity from Dame Dowsett and Mistress Nellie, and some
+angry ejaculations from the Captain when he heard that Black Dick and
+Robert Ashford had got safely off to Holland.
+
+"By St. Anthony, lad," he broke out, when the story was finished,
+"you had a narrow escape from those villains at Rotterdam. Had it
+chanced that you were out at the time they came, I would not have
+given a groat for your life. By all accounts, that fellow Black Dick
+is a desperate villain. They say that they had got hold of evidence
+enough against him to hang a dozen men, and it seems that there is
+little doubt that he was concerned in several cases, where, not
+content with robbing, the villain had murdered the inmates of lonely
+houses round London. He had good cause for hating you. It was through
+you that he had been captured, and had lost his share in all that
+plunder at Marner's. Well, I trust the villain will never venture to
+show his face in London again; but there is never any saying. I
+should like to meet that captain who behaved so well to you, and I
+will meet him too, and shake him by the hand and tell him that any
+gear he may want for that ketch of his, he is free to come in here to
+help himself. There is another thing to be thought of. I must go
+round in the morning to the Guildhall and notify the authorities that
+you have come back. There has been a great hue and cry for you. They
+have searched the thieves' dens of London from attic to cellar; there
+have been boats out looking for your body; and on the day after you
+were missing they overhauled all the ships in the port. Of course the
+search has died out now, but I must go and tell them, and you will
+have to give them the story of the affair."
+
+"I shan't say a word that will give them a clue that will help them
+to lay hands on the captain. He saved my life, and no one could have
+been kinder than he was. I would rather go away for a time
+altogether, for I don't see how I am to tell the story without
+injuring him."
+
+"No; it is awkward, lad. I see that, even if you would not give them
+the name of the craft, they might find out what vessels went into
+Ipswich on that morning, and also the names of those that sailed from
+Rotterdam on the day she left."
+
+"It seems to me, Captain, that the only way will be for me to say the
+exact truth, namely, that I gave my word to the captain that I would
+say naught of the matter. I could tell how I was struck down, and how
+I did not recover consciousness until I found myself in a boat, and
+was lifted on board a vessel and put down into the hold, and was
+there kept until morning. I could say that when I was let out I found
+we were far down the river, that the captain expressed great regret
+when he found that I had been hurt so badly, that he did everything
+in his power for me, and that after I had been some days on board the
+ship he offered to land me in Holland, and to give me money to pay my
+fare back here if I would give him my word of honour not to divulge
+his name or the name of the ship, or that of the port at which he
+landed me. Of course, they can imprison me for a time if I refuse to
+tell, but I would rather stay in gaol for a year than say aught that
+might set them upon the track of Captain Madden. It was not until the
+day he left me in Holland that I knew his name, for of course the men
+always called him captain, and so did I."
+
+"That is the only way I can see out of it, lad. I don't think they
+will imprison you after the service you have done in enabling them to
+break up this gang, bring the head of it to justice, and recover a
+large amount of property."
+
+So indeed, on their going to the Guildhall next morning, it turned
+out. The sitting Alderman threatened Cyril with committal to prison
+unless he gave a full account of all that had happened to him, but
+Captain Dowsett spoke up for him, and said boldly that instead of
+punishment he deserved honour for the great service he had done to
+justice, and that, moreover, if he were punished for refusing to keep
+the promise of secrecy he had made, there was little chance in the
+future of desperate men sparing the lives of those who fell into
+their hands. They would assuredly murder them in self-defence if they
+knew that the law would force them to break any promise of silence
+they might have made. The Magistrate, after a consultation with the
+Chief Constable, finally came round to this view, and permitted Cyril
+to leave the Court, after praising him warmly for the vigilance he
+had shown in the protection of his employer's interests. He regretted
+that he had not been able to furnish them with the name of a man who
+had certainly been, to some extent, an accomplice of those who had
+assaulted him, but this was not, however, so much to be regretted,
+since the man had done all in his power to atone for his actions.
+
+"There is no further information you can give us, Master Cyril?"
+
+"Only this, your worship: that on the day before I left Holland, I
+caught sight of the two persons who had escaped from the constables.
+They had just landed."
+
+"I am sorry to hear it," the Alderman said. "I had hoped that they
+were still in hiding somewhere in the City, and that the constables
+might yet be able to lay hands on them. However, I expect they will
+be back again erelong. Your ill-doer is sure to return here sooner or
+later, either with the hope of further gain, or because he cannot
+keep away from his old haunts and companions. If they fall into the
+hands of the City Constables, I will warrant they won't escape
+again."
+
+He nodded to Cyril, who understood that his business was over and
+left the Court with Captain Dave.
+
+"I am not so anxious as the Alderman seemed to be that Black Dick and
+Robert Ashford should return to London, Captain Dave."
+
+"No; I can understand that, Cyril. And even now that you know they
+are abroad, it would be well to take every precaution, for the others
+whose business has been sorely interrupted by the capture of that
+villain Marner may again try to do you harm. No doubt other receivers
+will fill his place in time, but the loss of a ready market must
+incommode them much. Plate they can melt down themselves, and I
+reckon they would have but little difficulty in finding knaves ready
+to purchase the products of the melting-pot; but it is only a man
+with premises specially prepared for it who will buy goods of all
+kinds, however bulky, without asking questions about them."
+
+Cyril was now in high favour with Mistress Nellie, and whenever he
+was not engaged when she went out he was invited to escort her.
+
+One day he went with her to hear a famous preacher hold forth at St.
+Paul's. Only a portion of the cathedral was used for religious
+services; the rest was utilised as a sort of public promenade, and
+here people of all classes met--gallants of the Court, citizens,
+their wives and daughters, idlers and loungers, thieves and
+mendicants.
+
+As Nellie walked forward to join the throng gathered near the pulpit,
+Cyril noticed a young man in a Court suit, standing among a group who
+were talking and laughing much louder than was seemly, take off his
+plumed hat, and make a deep bow, to which she replied by a slight
+inclination of the head, and passed on with somewhat heightened
+colour.
+
+Cyril waited until the service was over, when, as he left the
+cathedral with her, he asked,--
+
+"Who was that ruffler in gay clothes, who bowed so deeply to you,
+Mistress Nellie?--that is, if there is no indiscretion in my asking."
+
+"I met him in a throng while you were away," she said, with an
+attempt at carelessness which he at once detected. "There was a great
+press, and I well-nigh fainted, but he very courteously came to my
+assistance, and brought me safely out of the crowd."
+
+"And doubtless you have seen him since, Mistress?"
+
+Nellie tossed her head.
+
+"I don't see what right you have to question me, Master Cyril?"
+
+"No right at all," Cyril replied good-temperedly, "save that I am an
+inmate of your father's house, and have received great kindness from
+him, and I doubt if he would be pleased if he knew that you bowed to
+a person unknown to him and unknown, I presume, to yourself, save
+that he has rendered you a passing service."
+
+"He is a gentleman of the Court, I would have you know," she said
+angrily.
+
+"I do not know that that is any great recommendation if the tales one
+hears about the Court are true," Cyril replied calmly. "I cannot say
+I admire either his companions or his manners, and if he is a
+gentleman he should know that if he wishes to speak to an honest
+citizen's daughter it were only right that he should first address
+himself to her father."
+
+"Heigh ho!" Nellie exclaimed, with her face flushed with indignation.
+"Who made you my censor, I should like to know? I will thank you to
+attend to your own affairs, and to leave mine alone."
+
+"The affairs of Captain Dave's daughter are mine so long as I am
+abroad with her," Cyril said firmly. "I am sorry to displease you,
+but I am only doing what I feel to be my duty. Methinks that, were
+John Wilkes here in charge of you, he would say the same, only
+probably he would express his opinion as to yonder gallant more
+strongly than I do;" he nodded in the direction of the man, who had
+followed them out of the cathedral, and was now walking on the other
+side of the street and evidently trying to attract Nellie's
+attention.
+
+Nellie bit her lips. She was about to answer him passionately, but
+restrained herself with a great effort.
+
+"You are mistaken in the gentleman, Cyril," she said, after a pause;
+"he is of a good family, and heir to a fine estate."
+
+"Oh, he has told you as much as that, has he? Well, Mistress Nellie,
+it may be as he says, but surely it is for your father to inquire
+into that, when the gentleman comes forward in due course and
+presents himself as a suitor. Fine feathers do not always make fine
+birds, and a man may ruffle it at King Charles's Court without ten
+guineas to shake in his purse."
+
+At this moment the young man crossed the street, and, bowing deeply
+to Nellie, was about to address her when Cyril said gravely,--
+
+"Sir, I am not acquainted with your name, nor do I know more about
+you save that you are a stranger to this lady's family. That being
+so, and as she is at present under my escort, I must ask you to
+abstain from addressing her."
+
+"You insolent young varlet!" the man said furiously. "Had I a cane
+instead of a sword I would chastise you for your insolence."
+
+"That is as it may be," Cyril said quietly. "That sort of thing may
+do down at Whitehall, but if you attempt to make trouble here in
+Cheapside you will very speedily find yourself in the hands of the
+watch."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, sir," Nellie said anxiously, as several
+passers-by paused to see what was the matter, "do not cause trouble.
+For my sake, if not for your own, pray leave me."
+
+"I obey you, Mistress," the man said again, lifting his hat and
+bowing deeply. "I regret that the officiousness of this blundering
+varlet should have mistaken my intentions, which were but to salute
+you courteously."
+
+So saying, he replaced his hat, and, with a threatening scowl at
+Cyril, pushed his way roughly through those standing round, and
+walked rapidly away.
+
+Nellie was very pale, and trembled from head to foot.
+
+"Take me home, Cyril," she murmured.
+
+He offered her his arm, and he made his way along the street, while
+his face flushed with anger at some jeering remarks he heard from one
+or two of those who looked on at the scene. It was not long before
+Nellie's anger gained the upper hand of her fears.
+
+"A pretty position you have placed me in, with your interference!"
+
+"You mean, I suppose, Mistress Nellie, a pretty position that man
+placed you in, by his insolence. What would Captain Dave say if he
+heard that his daughter had been accosted by a Court gallant in the
+streets?"
+
+"Are you going to tell him?" she asked, removing her hand sharply
+from his arm.
+
+"I have no doubt I ought to do so, and if you will take my advice you
+will tell him yourself as soon as you reach home, for it may be that
+among those standing round was someone who is acquainted with both
+you and your father; and you know as well as I do what Captain Dave
+would say if it came to his ears in such fashion."
+
+Nellie walked for some time in silence. Her anger rose still higher
+against Cyril at the position in which his interference had placed
+her, but she could not help seeing that his advice was sound. She had
+indeed met this man several times, and had listened without chiding
+to his protestations of admiration and love. Nellie was ambitious.
+She had been allowed to have her own way by her mother, whose sole
+companion she had been during her father's absence at sea. She knew
+that she was remarkably pretty, and saw no reason why she, like many
+another citizen's daughter, should not make a good match. She had
+readily given the man her promise to say nothing at home until he
+gave her leave to do so, and she had been weak, enough to take all
+that he said for gospel. Now she felt that, at any rate, she must
+smooth matters over and put it so that as few questions as possible
+should be asked. After a long pause, then, she said,--
+
+"Perhaps you are right, Cyril. I will myself tell my father and
+mother. I can assure you that I had no idea I should meet him
+to-day."
+
+This Cyril could readily believe, for certainly she would not have
+asked him to accompany her if she had known. However, he only replied
+gravely,--
+
+"I am glad to hear that you will tell them, Mistress Nellie, and
+trust that you will take them entirely into your confidence."
+
+This Nellie had no idea of doing; but she said no further word until
+they reached home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+SAVED FROM A VILLAIN
+
+
+"I find that I have to give you thanks for yet another service,
+Cyril," Captain Dave said heartily, when they met the next morning.
+"Nellie tells me a young Court gallant had the insolence to try to
+address her yesterday in Cheapside, on her way back from St. Paul's,
+that you prevented his doing so, and that there was quite a scene in
+the street. If I knew who he was I would break his sconce for him,
+were he Rochester himself. A pretty pass things have come to, when a
+citizen's daughter cannot walk home from St. Paul's without one of
+these impudent vagabonds of the Court venturing to address her! Know
+you who he was?"
+
+"No; I have never seen the fellow before, Captain Dave. I do know
+many of the courtiers by sight, having, when we first came over,
+often gone down to Whitehall with my father when he was seeking to
+obtain an audience with the King; but this man's face is altogether
+strange to me."
+
+"Well, well! I will take care that Nellie shall not go abroad again
+except under her mother's escort or mine. I know, Cyril, that she
+would be as safe under your charge as in ours, but it is better that
+she should have the presence of an older person. It is not that I
+doubt your courage or your address, lad, but a ruffling gallant of
+this sort would know naught of you, save that you are young, and
+besides, did you interfere, there might be a scene that would do
+serious harm to Nellie's reputation."
+
+"I agree with you thoroughly, Captain Dave," Cyril said warmly. "It
+will be far better that you or Mrs. Dowsett should be by her side as
+long as there is any fear of further annoyance from this fellow. I
+should ask nothing better than to try a bout with him myself, for I
+have been right well taught how to use my sword; but, as you say, a
+brawl in the street is of all things to be avoided."
+
+Three or four weeks passed quietly. Nellie seldom went abroad; when
+she did so her mother always accompanied her if it were in the
+daytime, and her father whenever she went to the house of any friend
+after dusk.
+
+Cyril one day caught sight of the gallant in Tower Street, and
+although he was on his way to one of his customers, he at once
+determined to break his appointment and to find out who the fellow
+was. The man sauntered about looking into the shops for full half an
+hour, but it was apparent to Cyril that he paid little attention to
+their contents, and was really waiting for someone. When the clock
+struck three he started, stamped his foot angrily on the ground, and,
+walking away rapidly to the stairs of London Bridge, took a seat in a
+boat, and was rowed up the river.
+
+Cyril waited until he had gone a short distance, and then hailed a
+wherry rowing two oars.
+
+"You see that boat over there?" he said. "I don't wish to overtake it
+at present. Keep a hundred yards or so behind it, but row inshore so
+that it shall not seem that you are following them."
+
+The men obeyed his instructions until they had passed the Temple;
+then, as the other boat still kept in the middle of the stream, Cyril
+had no doubt that it would continue its course to Westminster.
+
+"Now stretch to your oars," he said to the watermen. "I want to get
+to Westminster before the other boat, and to be well away from the
+stairs before it comes up."
+
+The rest of the journey was performed at much greater speed, and
+Cyril alighted at Westminster while the other boat was some three or
+four hundred yards behind. Paying the watermen, he went up the
+stairs, walked away fifty or sixty yards, and waited until he saw the
+man he was following appear. The latter walked quietly up towards
+Whitehall and entered a tavern frequented by young bloods of the
+Court. Cyril pressed his hat down over his eyes. His dress was not
+the same as that in which he had escorted Nellie to the cathedral,
+and he had but small fear of being recognised.
+
+When he entered he sat down at a vacant table, and, having ordered a
+stoup of wine, looked round. The man had joined a knot of young
+fellows like himself, seated at a table. They were dissipated-looking
+blades, and were talking loudly and boisterously.
+
+"Well, Harvey, how goes it? Is the lovely maiden we saw when we were
+with you at St. Paul's ready to drop into your arms?"
+
+"Things are going on all right," Harvey said, with an air of
+consciousness; "but she is watched by two griffins, her father and
+mother. 'Tis fortunate they do not know me by sight, and I have thus
+chances of slipping a note in her hand when I pass her. I think it
+will not be long before you will have to congratulate me."
+
+"She is an heiress and only daughter, is she not, honest John?"
+another asked.
+
+"She is an only child, and her father bears the reputation of doing a
+good business; but as to what I shall finally do, I shall not yet
+determine. As to that, I shall be guided by circumstances."
+
+"Of course, of course," the one who had first spoken said.
+
+Cyril had gained the information he required. The man's name was John
+Harvey, and Nellie was keeping up a clandestine correspondence with
+him. Cyril felt that were he to listen longer he could not restrain
+his indignation, and, without touching the wine he had paid for, he
+hastily left the tavern.
+
+As he walked towards the city, he was unable to decide what he had
+better do. Were he to inform Captain Dave of what he had heard there
+would be a terrible scene, and there was no saying what might happen.
+Still, Nellie must be saved from falling into the hands of this
+fellow, and if he abstained from telling her father he must himself
+take steps to prevent the possibility of such a thing taking place.
+The more he thought of it the more he felt of the heavy
+responsibility it would be. Anxious as he was to save Nellie from the
+anger of her father, it was of far greater consequence to save her
+from the consequences of her own folly. At last he resolved to take
+John Wilkes into his counsels. John was devoted to his master, and
+even if his advice were not of much value, his aid in keeping watch
+would be of immense service. Accordingly, that evening, when John
+went out for his usual pipe after supper, Cyril, who had to go to a
+trader in Holborn, followed him out quickly and overtook him a few
+yards from the door.
+
+"I want to have a talk with you, John."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir. Where shall it be? Nothing wrong, I hope? That new
+apprentice looks to me an honest sort of chap, and the man we have
+got in the yard now is an old mate of mine. He was a ship's boy on
+board the _Dolphin_ twenty-five years back, and he sailed under the
+Captain till he left the sea. I would trust that chap just as I would
+myself."
+
+"It is nothing of that sort, John. It is another sort of business
+altogether, and yet it is quite as serious as the last. I have got
+half an hour before I have to start to do those books at Master
+Hopkins'. Where can we have a talk in a quiet place where there is no
+chance of our being overheard?"
+
+"There is a little room behind the bar at the place I go to, and I
+have no doubt the landlord will let us have it, seeing as I am a
+regular customer."
+
+"At any rate we can see, John. It is too cold for walking about
+talking here; and, besides, I think one can look at a matter in all
+lights much better sitting down than one can walking about."
+
+"That is according to what you are accustomed to," John said, shaking
+his head. "It seems to me that I can look further into the innards of
+a question when I am walking up and down the deck on night watch with
+just enough wind aloft to take her along cheerful, and not too much
+of it, than I can at any other time; but then, you see, that is just
+what one is accustomed to. This is the place."
+
+He entered a quiet tavern, and, nodding to five or six
+weather-beaten-looking men, who were sitting smoking long pipes, each
+with a glass of grog before him, went up to the landlord, who formed
+one of the party. He had been formerly the master of a trader, and
+had come into the possession of the tavern by marriage with its
+mistress, who was still the acting head of the establishment.
+
+"We have got a piece of business we want to overhaul, Peter. I
+suppose we can have that cabin in yonder for a bit?"
+
+"Ay, ay. There is a good fire burning. You will find pipes on the
+table. You will want a couple of glasses of grog, of course?"
+
+John nodded, and then led the way into the little snuggery at the end
+of the room. It had a glass door, so that, if desired, a view could
+be obtained of the general room, but there was a curtain to draw
+across this. There was a large oak settle on either side of the fire,
+and there was a table, with pipes and a jar of tobacco standing
+between them.
+
+"This is a tidy little crib," John said, as he seated himself and
+began to fill a pipe. "There is no fear of being disturbed here.
+There has been many a voyage talked over and arranged in this 'ere
+room. They say that Blake himself, when the Fleet was in the river,
+would drop in here sometimes, with one of his captains, for a quiet
+talk."
+
+A minute later a boy entered and placed two steaming glasses of grog
+on the table. The door closed after him, and John said,--
+
+"Now you can get under way, Master Cyril. You have got a fair course
+now, and nothing to bring you up."
+
+"It is a serious matter, John. And before I begin, I must tell you
+that I rely on your keeping absolute silence as to what I am going to
+tell you."
+
+"That in course," John said, as he lifted his glass to his lips. "You
+showed yourself a first-rate pilot in that last job, and I am content
+to sail under you this time without asking any questions as to the
+ship's course, and to steer according to orders."
+
+Cyril told the story, interrupted frequently by angry ejaculations on
+the part of the old bo'swain.
+
+"Dash my wig!" he exclaimed, when Cyril came to an end. "But this is
+a bad business altogether, Master Cyril. One can engage a pirate and
+beat him off if the crew is staunch, but when there is treason on
+board ship, it makes it an awkward job for those in command."
+
+"The question is this, John: ought we to tell the Captain, or shall
+we try to take the affair into our own hands, and so to manage it
+that he shall never know anything about it?"
+
+The sailor was silent for a minute or two, puffing his pipe
+meditatively.
+
+"I see it is an awkward business to decide," he said. "On one side,
+it would pretty nigh kill Captain Dave to know that Mistress Nellie
+has been steering wild and has got out of hand. She is just the apple
+of his eye. Then, on the other hand, if we undertook the job without
+telling him, and one fine morning we was to find out she was gone, we
+should be in a mighty bad fix, for the Captain would turn round and
+say, 'Why didn't you tell me? If you had done so, I would have locked
+her up under hatches, and there she would be, safe now.'"
+
+"That is just what I see, and it is for that reason I come to you. I
+could not be always on the watch, but I think that you and I together
+would keep so sharp a look-out that we might feel pretty sure that
+she could not get away without our knowledge."
+
+"We could watch sharply enough at night, Master Cyril. There would be
+no fear of her getting away then without our knowing it. But how
+would it be during the day? There am I in the shop or store from
+seven in the morning until we lock up before supper-time. You are out
+most of your time, and when you are not away, you are in the office
+at the books, and she is free to go in and out of the front door
+without either of us being any the wiser."
+
+"I don't think he would venture to carry her off by daylight," Cyril
+said. "She never goes out alone now, and could scarcely steal away
+unnoticed. Besides, she would know that she would be missed directly,
+and a hue and cry set up. I should think she would certainly choose
+the evening, when we are all supposed to be in bed. He would have a
+chair waiting somewhere near; and there are so often chairs going
+about late, after city entertainments, that they would get off
+unnoticed. I should say the most dangerous time is between nine
+o'clock and midnight. She generally goes off to bed at nine or soon
+after, and she might very well put on her hood and cloak and steal
+downstairs at once, knowing that she would not be missed till
+morning. Another dangerous time would be when she goes out to a
+neighbour's. The Captain always takes her, and goes to fetch her at
+nine o'clock, but she might make some excuse to leave quite early,
+and go off in that way."
+
+"That would be awkward, Mr. Cyril, for neither you nor I could be
+away at supper-time without questions being asked. It seems to me
+that I had better take Matthew into the secret. As he don't live in
+the house he could very well watch wherever she is, till I slip round
+after supper to relieve him, and he could watch outside here in the
+evening till either you or I could steal downstairs and take his
+place. You can count on him keeping his mouth shut just as you can on
+me. The only thing is, how is he to stop her if he finds her coming
+out from a neighbour's before the Captain has come for her?"
+
+"If he saw her coming straight home he could follow her to the door
+without being noticed, John, but if he found her going some other way
+he must follow her till he sees someone speak to her, and must then
+go straight up and say, 'Mistress Dowsett, I am ready to escort you
+home.' If she orders him off, or the man she meets threatens him, as
+is like enough, he must say, 'Unless you come I shall shout for aid,
+and call upon passers-by to assist me'; and, rather than risk the
+exposure, she would most likely return with him. Of course, he would
+carry with him a good heavy cudgel, and choose a thoroughfare where
+there are people about to speak to her, and not an unfrequented
+passage, for you may be sure the fellow would have no hesitation in
+running him through if he could do so without being observed."
+
+"Matthew is a stout fellow," John Wilkes said, "and was as smart a
+sailor as any on board till he had his foot smashed by being jammed
+by a spare spar that got adrift in a gale, so that the doctors had to
+cut off the leg under the knee, and leave him to stump about on a
+timber toe for the rest of his life. I tell you what, Master Cyril:
+we might make the thing safer still if I spin the Captain a yarn as
+how Matthew has strained his back and ain't fit to work for a bit;
+then I can take on another hand to work in the yard, and we can put
+him on watch all day. He might come on duty at nine o'clock in the
+morning, and stop until I relieve him as soon as supper is over. Of
+course, he would not keep opposite the house, but might post himself
+a bit up or down the street, so that he could manage to keep an eye
+on the door."
+
+"That would be excellent," Cyril said. "Of course, at the supper-hour
+he could go off duty, as she could not possibly leave the house
+between that time and nine o'clock. You always come in about that
+hour, and I hear you go up to bed. When you get there, you should at
+once take off your boots, slip downstairs again with them, and go
+quietly out. I often sit talking with Captain Dave till half-past
+nine or ten, but directly I can get away I will come down and join
+you. I think in that way we need feel no uneasiness as to harm coming
+from our not telling Captain Dave, for it would be impossible for her
+to get off unnoticed. Now that is all arranged I must be going, for I
+shall be late at my appointment unless I hurry."
+
+"Shall I go round and begin my watch at once, Master Cyril?".
+
+"No, there is no occasion for that. We know that he missed her
+to-day, and therefore can have made no appointment; and I am
+convinced by what he said to the fellows he met, that matters are not
+settled yet. However, we will begin to-morrow. You can take an
+opportunity during the day to tell Matthew about it, and he can
+pretend to strain his back in the afternoon, and you can send him
+away. He can come round again next morning early, and when the
+Captain comes down you can tell him that you find that Matthew will
+not be able to work for the present, and ask him to let you take
+another man on until he can come back again."
+
+Cyril watched Nellie closely at meal-times and in the evening for the
+next few days. He thought that he should be certain to detect some
+slight change in her manner, however well she might play her part,
+directly she decided on going off with this man. She would not dream
+that she was suspected in any way, and would therefore be the less
+cautious. Matthew kept watch during the day, and followed if she went
+out with her father to a neighbour's, remaining on guard outside the
+house until John Wilkes relieved him as soon as he had finished his
+supper. If she remained at home in the evening John went out
+silently, after his return at his usual hour, and was joined by Cyril
+as soon as Captain Dave said good-night and went in to his bedroom.
+At midnight they re-entered the house and stole up to their rooms,
+leaving their doors open and listening attentively for another hour
+before they tried to get to sleep.
+
+On the sixth morning Cyril noticed that Nellie was silent and
+abstracted at breakfast-time. She went out marketing with her mother
+afterwards, and at dinner her mood had changed. She talked and
+laughed more than usual. There was a flush of excitement on her
+cheeks, and he drew the conclusion that in the morning she had not
+come to an absolute decision, but had probably given an answer to the
+man during the time she was out with her mother, and that she felt
+the die was now cast.
+
+"Pass the word to Matthew to keep an extra sharp watch this afternoon
+and to-morrow, John. I think the time is close at hand," he said, as
+they went downstairs together after dinner.
+
+"Do you think so? Well, the sooner the better. It is trying work,
+this here spying, and I don't care how soon it is over. I only hope
+it will end by our running down this pirate and engaging him."
+
+"I hope so too, John. I feel it very hard to be sitting at table with
+her and Captain Dave and her mother, and to know that she is
+deceiving them."
+
+"I can't say a word for her," the old sailor said, shaking his head.
+"She has as good parents as a girl could want to have. They would
+give their lives for her, either of them, cheerful, and there she is
+thinking of running away from them with a scamp she knows nothing of
+and has probably never spoken with for an hour. I knew her head was a
+bit turned with young fellows dangling after her, and by being
+noticed by some of the Court gallants at the last City ball, and by
+being made the toast by many a young fellow in City taverns--'Pretty
+Mistress Nellie Dowsett'; but I did not think her head was so turned
+that she would act as she is doing. Well, well, we must hope that
+this will be a lesson, Master Cyril, that she will remember all her
+life."
+
+"I hope so, John, and I trust that we shall be able to manage it all
+so that the matter will never come to her parents' ears."
+
+"I hope so, and I don't see why it should. The fellow may bluster,
+but he will say nothing about it because he would get into trouble
+for trying to carry off a citizen's daughter."
+
+"And besides that, John,--which would be quite as serious in the eyes
+of a fellow of this sort,--he would have the laugh against him among
+all his companions for having been outwitted in the City. So I think
+when he finds the game is up he will be glad enough to make off
+without causing trouble."
+
+"Don't you think we might give him a sound thrashing? It would do him
+a world of good."
+
+"I don't think it would do a man of that sort much good, John, and he
+would be sure to shout, and then there would be trouble, and the
+watch might come up, and we should all get hauled off together. In
+the morning the whole story would be known, and Mistress Nellie's
+name in the mouth of every apprentice in the City. No, no; if he is
+disposed to go off quietly, by all means let him go."
+
+"I have no doubt that you are right, Master Cyril, but it goes
+mightily against the grain to think that a fellow like that is to get
+off with a whole skin. However, if one should fall foul of him some
+other time, one might take it out of him."
+
+Captain Dave found Cyril but a bad listener to his stories that
+evening, and, soon after nine, said he should turn in.
+
+"I don't know what ails you to-night, Cyril," he said. "Your wits are
+wool-gathering, somewhere. I don't believe that you heard half that
+last story I was telling you."
+
+"I heard it all, sir; but I do feel a little out of sorts this
+evening."
+
+"You do too much writing, lad. My head would be like to go to pieces
+if I were to sit half the hours that you do at a desk."
+
+When Captain Dave went into his room, Cyril walked upstairs and
+closed his bedroom door with a bang, himself remaining outside. Then
+he took off his boots, and, holding them in his hand, went
+noiselessly downstairs to the front door. The lock had been carefully
+oiled, and, after putting on his boots again, he went out.
+
+"You are right, Master Cyril, sure enough," John Wilkes said when he
+joined him, fifty yards away from the house. "It is to-night she is
+going to try to make off. I thought I had best keep Matthew at hand,
+so I bid him stop till I came out, then sent him round to have a pint
+of ale at the tavern, and when he came back told him he had best
+cruise about, and look for signs of pirates. He came back ten minutes
+ago, and told me that a sedan chair had just been brought to the
+other end of the lane. It was set down some thirty yards from
+Fenchurch Street. There were the two chairmen and three fellows
+wrapped up in cloaks."
+
+"That certainly looks like action, John. Well, I should say that
+Matthew had better take up his station at the other end of the lane,
+there to remain quiet until he hears an uproar at the chair; then he
+can run up to our help if we need it. We will post ourselves near the
+door. No doubt Harvey, and perhaps one of his friends, will come and
+wait for her. We can't interfere with them here, but must follow and
+come up with her just before they reach the chair. The further they
+are away from the house the better. Then if there is any trouble
+Captain Dave will not hear anything of it."
+
+"That will be a good plan of operations," John agreed. "Matthew is
+just round the next corner. I will send him to Fenchurch Street at
+once."
+
+He went away, and rejoined Cyril in two or three minutes. They then
+went along towards the house, and took post in a doorway on the other
+side of the street, some thirty yards from the shop. They had
+scarcely done so, when they heard footsteps, and presently saw two
+men come along in the middle of the street. They stopped and looked
+round.
+
+"There is not a soul stirring," one said. "We can give the signal."
+
+So saying, he sang a bar or two of a song popular at the time, and
+they then drew back from the road into a doorway and waited.
+
+Five minutes later, Cyril and his fellow-watcher heard a very slight
+sound, and a figure stepped out from Captain Dowsett's door. The two
+men crossed at once and joined her. A few low words were spoken, and
+they moved away together, and turned up the lane.
+
+As soon as they disappeared from sight, Cyril and John Wilkes issued
+out. The latter had produced some long strips of cloth, which he
+wound round both their boots, so as, he said, to muffle the oars.
+Their steps, therefore, as they followed, were almost noiseless.
+Walking fast, they came up to the three persons ahead of them just as
+they reached the sedan chair. The two chairmen were standing at the
+poles, and a third man was holding the door open with his hat in his
+hand.
+
+"Avast heaving, mates!" John Wilkes said. "It seems to me as you are
+running this cargo without proper permits."
+
+Nellie gave a slight scream on hearing the voice, while the man
+beside her stepped forward, exclaiming furiously:
+
+"S" death, sir! who are you, and what are you interfering about?"
+
+"I am an honest man I hope, master. My name is John Wilkes, and, as
+that young lady will tell you, I am in the employ of her father."
+
+"Then I tell you, John Wilkes, or John the Devil, or whatever your
+name maybe, that if you don't at once take yourself off, I will let
+daylight into you," and he drew his sword, as did his two companions.
+
+John gave a whistle, and the wooden-legged man was heard hurrying up
+from Fenchurch Street.
+
+"Cut the scoundrel down, Penrose," Harvey exclaimed, "while I put the
+lady into the chair."
+
+The man addressed sprang at Wilkes, but in a moment his Court sword
+was shivered by a blow from the latter's cudgel, which a moment later
+fell again on his head, sending him reeling back several paces.
+
+"Stay, sir, or I will run you through," Cyril said, pricking Harvey
+sharply in the arm as he was urging Nellie to enter the chair.
+
+"Oh, it's you, is it?" the other exclaimed, in a tone of fury. "My
+boy of Cheapside! Well, I can spare a moment to punish you."
+
+"Oh, do not fight with him, my lord!" Nellie exclaimed.
+
+"My lord!" Cyril laughed. "So he has become a lord, eh?"
+
+Then he changed his tone.
+
+"Mistress Nellie, you have been deceived. This fellow is no lord. He
+is a hanger-on of the Court, one John Harvey, a disreputable
+blackguard whom I heard boasting to his boon-companions of his
+conquest. I implore you to return home as quietly as you went. None
+will know of this."
+
+He broke off suddenly, for, with an oath, Harvey rushed at him. Their
+swords clashed, there was a quick thrust and parry, and then Harvey
+staggered back with a sword-wound through the shoulder, dropping his
+sword to the ground.
+
+"Your game is up, John Harvey," Cyril said. "Did you have your
+deserts I would pass my sword through your body. Now call your
+fellows off, or it will be worse for them."
+
+"Oh, it is not true? Surely it cannot be true?" Nellie cried,
+addressing Harvey. "You cannot have deceived me?"
+
+The fellow, smarting with pain, and seeing that the game was up,
+replied with a savage curse.
+
+"You may think yourself lucky that you are only disabled, you
+villain!" Cyril said, taking a step towards him with his sword
+menacingly raised. "Begone, sir, before my patience is exhausted, or,
+by heaven! it will be your dead body that the chairmen will have to
+carry away."
+
+"Disabled or not," John Wilkes exclaimed, "I will have a say in the
+matter;" and, with a blow with his cudgel, he stretched Harvey on the
+ground, and belaboured him furiously until Cyril dragged him away by
+force. Harvey rose slowly to his feet.
+
+"Take yourself off, sir," Cyril said. "One of your brave companions
+has long ago bolted; the other is disarmed, and has his head broken.
+You may thank your stars that you have escaped with nothing worse
+than a sword-thrust through your shoulder, and a sound drubbing.
+Hanging would be a fit punishment for knaves like you. I warn you, if
+you ever address or in any way molest this lady again, you won't get
+off so easily."
+
+Then he turned and offered his arm to Nellie, who was leaning against
+the wall in a half-fainting state. Not a word was spoken until they
+emerged from the lane.
+
+"No one knows of this but ourselves, Mistress Nellie, and you will
+never hear of it from us. Glad indeed I am that I have saved you from
+the misery and ruin that must have resulted from your listening to
+that plausible scoundrel. Go quietly upstairs. We will wait here till
+we are sure that you have gone safely into your room; then we will
+follow. I doubt not that you are angry with me now, but in time you
+will feel that you have been saved from a great danger."
+
+The door was not locked. He lifted the latch silently, and held the
+door open for her to pass in. Then he closed it again, and turned to
+the two men who followed them.
+
+"This has been a good night's work, John."
+
+"That has it. I don't think that young spark will be coming after
+City maidens again. Well, it has been a narrow escape for her. It
+would have broken the Captain's heart if she had gone in that way.
+What strange things women are! I have always thought Mistress Nellie
+as sensible a girl as one would want to see. Given a little
+over-much, perhaps, to thinking of the fashion of her dress, but that
+was natural enough, seeing how pretty she is and how much she is made
+of; and yet she is led, by a few soft speeches from a man she knows
+nothing of, to run away from home, and leave father, and mother, and
+all. Well, Matthew, lad, we sha'n't want any more watching. You have
+done a big service to the master, though he will never know it. I
+know I can trust you to keep a stopper on your jaws. Don't you let a
+soul know of this--not even your wife."
+
+"You trust me, mate," the man replied. "My wife is a good soul, but
+her tongue runs nineteen to the dozen, and you might as well shout a
+thing out at Paul's Cross as drop it into her ear. I think my back
+will be well enough for me to come to work again to-morrow," he
+added, with a laugh.
+
+"All right, mate. I shall be glad to have you again, for the chap who
+has been in your place is a landsman, and he don't know a
+marling-spike from an anchor. Good-night, mate."
+
+"Well, Master Cyril," he went on, as the sailor walked away, "I don't
+think there ever was such a good wind as that which blew you here.
+First of all you saved Captain Dave's fortune, and now you save his
+daughter. I look on Captain Dave as being pretty nigh the same as
+myself, seeing as I have been with him man and boy for over thirty
+years, and I feel what you have done for him just as if you had done
+it for me. I am only a rough sailor-man, and I don't know how to put
+it in words, but I feel just full up with a cargo of thankfulness."
+
+"That is all right," Cyril said, holding out his hand, which John
+Wilkes shook with a heartiness that was almost painful. "Captain Dave
+offered me a home when I was alone without a friend in London, and I
+am glad indeed that I have been able to render him service in return.
+I myself have done little enough, though I do not say that the
+consequences have not been important. It has been just taking a
+little trouble and keeping a few watches--a thing not worth talking
+about one way or the other. I hope this will do Mistress Nellie good.
+She is a nice girl, but too fond of admiration, and inclined to think
+that she is meant for higher things than to marry a London citizen. I
+think to-night's work will cure her of that. This fellow evidently
+made himself out to her to be a nobleman of the Court. Now she sees
+that he is neither a nobleman nor a gentleman, but a ruffian who took
+advantage of her vanity and inexperience, and that she would have
+done better to have jumped down the well in the yard than to have put
+herself in his power. Now we can go up to bed. There is no more
+probability of our waking the Captain than there has been on other
+nights; but mind, if we should do so, you stick to the story we
+agreed on, that you thought there was someone by the gate in the lane
+again, and so called me to go down with you to investigate, not
+thinking it worth while to rouse up the Captain on what might be a
+false alarm."
+
+Everything remained perfectly quiet as they made their way upstairs
+to their rooms as silently as possible.
+
+"Where is Nellie?" Captain Dave asked, when they assembled at
+breakfast.
+
+"She is not well," his wife replied, "I went to her room just now and
+found that she was still a-bed. She said that she had a bad headache,
+and I fear that she is going to have a fever, for her face is pale
+and her eyes red and swollen, just as if she had been well-nigh
+crying them out of her head; her hands are hot and her pulse fast.
+Directly I have had breakfast I shall make her some camomile tea, and
+if that does not do her good I shall send for the doctor."
+
+"Do so, wife, without delay. Why, the girl has never ailed a day for
+years! What can have come to her?"
+
+"She says it is only a bad headache--that all she wants is to be left
+alone."
+
+"Yes, yes; that is all very well, but if she does not get better soon
+she must be seen to. They say that there were several cases last week
+of that plague that has been doing so much harm in foreign parts, and
+if that is so it behoves us to be very careful, and see that any
+illness is attended to without delay."
+
+"I don't think that there is any cause for alarm," his wife said
+quietly. "The child has got a headache and is a little feverish, but
+there is no occasion whatever for thinking that it is anything more.
+There is nothing unusual in a girl having a headache, but Nellie has
+had such good health that if she had a prick in the finger you would
+think it was serious."
+
+"By the way, John," Captain Dave said suddenly, "did you hear any
+noise in the lane last night? Your room is at the back of the house,
+and you were more likely to have heard it than I was. I have just
+seen one of the watch, and he tells me that there was a fray there
+last night, for there is a patch of blood and marks of a scuffle. It
+was up at the other end. There is some mystery about it, he thinks,
+for he says that one of his mates last night saw a sedan chair
+escorted by three men turn into the lane from Fenchurch Street just
+before ten o'clock, and one of the neighbours says that just after
+that hour he heard a disturbance and a clashing of swords there. On
+looking out, he saw something dark that might have been a chair
+standing there, and several men engaged in a scuffle. It seemed soon
+over, and directly afterwards three people came down the lane this
+way. Then he fancied that someone got into the chair, which was
+afterwards carried out into Fenchurch Street."
+
+"I did hear something that sounded like a quarrel or a fray," John
+Wilkes said, "but there is nothing unusual about that. As everything
+was soon quiet again, I gave no further thought to it."
+
+"Well, it seems a curious affair, John. However, it is the business
+of the City watch and not mine, so we need not bother ourselves about
+it. I am glad to see you have got Matthew at work again this morning.
+He tells me that he thinks he has fairly got over that sprain in his
+back."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S YARN
+
+
+Mindful of the fact that this affair had added a new enemy to those
+he had acquired by the break-up of the Black Gang, Cyril thought it
+as well to go round and give notice to the two traders whose books he
+attended to in the evening, that unless they could arrange for him to
+do them in the daytime he must give up the work altogether. Both
+preferred the former alternative, for they recognised the advantage
+they had derived from his work, and that at a rate of pay for which
+they could not have obtained the services of any scrivener in the
+City.
+
+It was three or four days before Nellie Dowsett made her appearance
+at the general table.
+
+"I can't make out what ails the girl," her mother said, on the
+previous evening. "The fever speedily left her, as I told you, but
+she is weak and languid, and seems indisposed to talk."
+
+"She will soon get over that, my dear," Captain Dave said. "Girls are
+not like men. I have seen them on board ship. One day they are
+laughing and fidgeting about like wild things, the next day they are
+poor, woebegone creatures. If she gets no better in a few days, I
+will see when my old friend, Jim Carroll, is starting in his brig for
+Yarmouth, and will run down with her myself--and of course with you,
+wife, if you will go--and stay there a few days while he is unloading
+and filling up again. The sea-air will set her up again, I warrant."
+
+"Not at this time of year," Dame Dowsett said firmly. "With these
+bitter winds it is no time for a lass to go a-sailing; and they say
+that Yarmouth is a great deal colder than we are here, being exposed
+to the east winds."
+
+"Well, well, Dame, then we will content ourselves with a run in the
+hoy down to Margate. If we choose well the wind and tide we can start
+from here in the morning and maybe reach there late in the evening,
+or, if not, the next morning to breakfast. Or if you think that too
+far we will stop at Sheerness, where we can get in two tides easily
+enough if the wind be fair."
+
+"That would be better, David; but it were best to see how she goes
+on. It may be, as you say, that she will shortly gain her strength
+and spirits again."
+
+It was evident, when Nellie entered the room at breakfast-time the
+next morning, that her mother's reports had not been exaggerated. She
+looked, indeed, as if recovering from a severe illness, and when she
+said good-morning to her father her voice trembled and her eyes
+filled with tears.
+
+"Tut, tut, lass! This will never do. I shall soon hardly own you for
+my Nellie. We shall have to feed you up on capons and wine, child, or
+send you down to one of the baths for a course of strengthening
+waters."
+
+She smiled faintly, and then turning, gave her hand to Cyril. As she
+did so, a slight flush of colour came into her cheeks.
+
+"I am heartily glad to see you down again, Mistress Nellie," he said,
+"and wish you a fair and speedy recovery."
+
+"I shall be better presently," she replied, with an effort.
+"Good-morning, John."
+
+"Good-morning, Mistress Nellie. Right glad are we to see you down
+again, for it makes but a dull table without your merry laugh to give
+an edge to our appetites."
+
+She sat down now, and the others, seeing that it was best to let her
+alone for a while, chatted gaily together.
+
+"There is no talk in the City but of the war, Cyril," the Captain
+said presently. "They say that the Dutch make sure of eating us up,
+but they won't find it as easy a job as they fancy. The Duke of York
+is to command the Fleet. They say that Prince Rupert will be second.
+To my mind they ought to have entrusted the whole matter to him. He
+proved himself as brave a captain at sea as he was on land, and I
+will warrant he would lead his ships into action as gallantly as he
+rode at the head of his Cavaliers on many a stricken field. The ships
+are fitting out in all haste, and they are gathering men at every
+sea-port. I should say they will have no lack of hands, for there are
+many ships laid up, that at other times trade with Holland, and
+Dantzic, and Dunkirk, and many a bold young sailor who will be glad
+to try whether he can fight as stoutly against the Dutch under York
+and Rupert as his father did under Blake."
+
+"For my part," Cyril said, "I cannot understand it; for it seems to
+me that the English and Dutch have been fighting for the last year. I
+have been too busy to read the Journal, and have not been in the way
+of hearing the talk of the coffeehouses and taverns; but, beyond that
+it is some dispute about the colonies, I know little of the matter."
+
+"I am not greatly versed in it myself, lad. Nellie here reads the
+Journal, and goes abroad more than any of us, and should be able to
+tell us something about it. Now, girl, can't you do something to set
+us right in this matter, for I like not to be behind my neighbours,
+though I am such a stay-at-home, having, as I thank the Lord, much
+happiness here, and no occasion to go out to seek it."
+
+"There was much discourse about it, father, the evening I went to
+Dame King's. There were several gentlemen there who had trade with
+the East, and one of them held shares in the English Company trading
+thither. After supper was over, they discoursed more fully on the
+matter than was altogether pleasing to some of us, who would much
+rather that, as we had hoped, we might have dancing or singing. I
+could see that Dame King herself was somewhat put out that her
+husband should have, without her knowing of his intention, brought in
+these gentlemen. Still, the matter of their conversation was new to
+us, and we became at last so mightily interested in it that we
+listened to the discourse without bemoaning ourselves that we had
+lost the amusement we looked for. I know I wished at the time that
+you had been there. I say not that I can repeat all that I heard, but
+as I had before read some of the matters spoken of in the Journal, I
+could follow what the gentlemen said more closely. Soon after the
+coming of the King to the throne the friendship between us and the
+Spaniards, that had been weakened during the mastership of Cromwell,
+was renewed, and they gave our ships many advantages at their ports,
+while, on the other hand, they took away the privileges the Dutch had
+enjoyed there, and thus our commerce with Spain increased, while that
+of the Dutch diminished."
+
+"That is certainly true, Nellie," her father said. "We have three
+ships sailing through the Mediterranean now to one that sailed there
+ten years ago, and doubtless the Dutch must have suffered by the
+increase in our trade."
+
+"Then he said that, as we had obtained the Island of Bombay in the
+East Indies and the City of Tangier in Africa as the dowry of the
+Queen, and had received the Island of Poleron for our East India
+Company by the treaty with Holland, our commerce everywhere
+increased, and raised their jealousy higher and higher. There was
+nothing in this of which complaint could be made by the Dutch
+Government, but nevertheless they gave encouragement to their East
+and West India Companies to raise trouble. Their East India Company
+refused to hand over the Island, and laid great limitations as to the
+places at which our merchants might trade in India. The other Company
+acted in the same manner, and lawlessly took possession of Cape Coast
+Castle, belonging to our English Company.
+
+"The Duke of York, who was patron and governor of our African
+Company, sent Sir Robert Holmes with four frigates to Guinea to make
+reprisals. He captured a place from the Dutch and named it James's
+Fort, and then, proceeding to the river Gambia, he turned out the
+Dutch traders there and built a fort. A year ago, as the Dutch still
+held Cape Coast Castle, Sir Robert was sent out again with orders to
+take it by force, and on the way he overhauled a Dutch ship and found
+she carried a letter of secret instructions from the Dutch Government
+to the West India Company to take the English Fort at Cormantin.
+Seeing that the Hollanders, although professing friendship, were thus
+treacherously inclined, he judged himself justified in exceeding the
+commission he had received, and on his way south he touched at Cape
+Verde. There he first captured two Dutch ships and then attacked
+their forts on the Island of Gorse and captured them, together with a
+ship lying under their guns.
+
+"In the fort he found a great quantity of goods ready to be shipped.
+He loaded his own vessels, and those that he had captured, with the
+merchandise, and carried it to Sierra Leone. Then he attacked the
+Dutch fort of St. George del Mena, the strongest on the coast, but
+failed there; but he soon afterwards captured Cape Coast Castle,
+though, as the gentlemen said, a mightily strong place. Then he
+sailed across to America, and, as you know, captured the Dutch
+Settlements of New Netherlands, and changed the name into that of New
+York. He did this not so much out of reprisal for the misconduct of
+the Dutch in Africa, but because the land was ours by right, having
+been discovered by the Cabots and taken possession of in the name of
+King Henry VII., and our title always maintained until the Dutch
+seized it thirty years ago.
+
+"Then the Dutch sent orders to De Ruyter, who commanded the fleet
+which was in the Mediterranean, to sail away privately and to make
+reprisals on the Coast of Guinea and elsewhere. He first captured
+several of our trading forts, among them that of Cormantin, taking
+great quantities of goods belonging to our Company; he then sailed to
+Barbadoes, where he was beaten off by the forts. Then he captured
+twenty of our ships off Newfoundland, and so returned to Holland,
+altogether doing damage, as the House of Commons told His Majesty, to
+the extent of eight hundred thousand pounds. All this time the Dutch
+had been secretly preparing for war, which they declared in January,
+which has forced us to do the same, although we delayed a month in
+hopes that some accommodation might be arrived at. I think, father,
+that is all that he told us, though there were many details that I do
+not remember."
+
+"And very well told, lass, truly. I wonder that your giddy head
+should have taken in so much matter. Of course, now you tell them
+over, I have heard these things before--the wrong that the Dutch did
+our Company by seizing their post at Cape Coast, and the reprisals
+that Sir Robert Holmes took upon them with our Company's ships--but
+they made no great mark on my memory, for I was just taking over my
+father's work when the first expedition took place. At any rate, none
+can say that we have gone into this war unjustly, seeing that the
+Dutch began it, altogether without cause, by first attacking our
+trading posts."
+
+"It seems to me, Captain Dave," John Wilkes said, "that it has been
+mighty like the war that our English buccaneers waged against the
+Spaniards in the West Indies, while the two nations were at peace at
+home."
+
+"It is curious," Cyril said, "that the trouble begun in Africa should
+have shifted to the other side of the Atlantic."
+
+"Ay, lad; just as that first trouble was at last fought out in the
+English Channel, off the coast of France, so this is likely to be
+decided in well-nigh the same waters."
+
+"The gentlemen, the other night, were all of opinion," Nellie said,
+"that the matter would never have come to such a head had it not been
+that De Witt, who is now the chief man in Holland, belongs to the
+French party there, and has been urged on by King Louis, for his own
+interest, to make war with us."
+
+"That may well be, Nellie. In all our English wars France has ever
+had a part either openly or by intrigues. France never seems to be
+content with attending to her own business, but is ever meddling with
+her neighbours', and, if not fighting herself, trying to set them by
+the ears against each other. If I were a bit younger, and had not
+lost my left flipper, I would myself volunteer for the service. As
+for Master Cyril here, I know he is burning to lay aside the pen and
+take to the sword."
+
+"That is so, Captain Dave. As you know, I only took up the pen to
+keep me until I was old enough to use a sword. I have been two years
+at it now, and I suppose it will be as much longer before I can think
+of entering the service of one of the Protestant princes; but as soon
+as I am fit to do so, I shall get an introduction and be off; but I
+would tenfold rather fight for my own country, and would gladly sail
+in the Fleet, though I went but as a ship's boy."
+
+"That is the right spirit, Master Cyril," John Wilkes exclaimed. "I
+would go myself if the Captain could spare me and they would take
+such a battered old hulk."
+
+"I couldn't spare you, John," Captain Dave said. "I have been mighty
+near making a mess of it, even with you as chief mate, and I might as
+well shut up shop altogether if you were to leave me. I should miss
+you, too, Cyril," he went on, stretching his arm across the table to
+shake hands with the lad. "You have proved a real friend and a true;
+but were there a chance of your going as an officer, I would not balk
+you, even if I could do so. It is but natural that a lad of spirit
+should speak and think as you do; besides, the war may not last for
+long, and when you come back, and the ships are paid off, you would
+soon wipe off the arrears of work, and get the books into ship-shape
+order. But, work or no work, that room of yours will always stand
+ready for you while I live, and there will always be a plate for you
+on this table."
+
+"Thank you, Captain Dave. You always overrate my services, and forget
+that they are but the consequence of the kindness that you have shown
+to me. But I have no intention of going. It was but a passing
+thought. I have but one friend who could procure me a berth as a
+volunteer, and as it is to him I must look for an introduction to
+some foreign prince, I would not go to him twice for a favour,
+especially as I have no sort of claim on his kindness. To go as a
+cabin boy would be to go with men under my own condition, and
+although I do not shirk hard work and rough usage, I should not care
+for them in such fashion. Moreover, I am doing work which, even
+without your hospitality, would suffice to keep me comfortably, and
+if I went away, though but for a month, I might find that those for
+whom I work had engaged other assistance. Spending naught, I am
+laying by money for the time when I shall have to travel at my own
+expense and to provide myself necessaries, and, maybe, to keep myself
+for a while until I can procure employment. I have the prospect that,
+by the end of another two years, I shall have gathered a sufficient
+store for all my needs, and I should be wrong to throw myself out of
+employment merely to embark on an adventure, and so to make a break,
+perhaps a long one, in my plans."
+
+"Don't you worry yourself on that score," Captain Dave said warmly,
+and then checked himself. "It will be time to talk about that when
+the time comes. But you are right, lad. I like a man who steadfastly
+holds on the way he has chosen, and will not turn to the right or
+left. There is not much that a man cannot achieve if he keeps his aim
+steadily in view. Why, Cyril, if you said you had made up your mind
+to be Lord Mayor of London, I would wager that you would some day be
+elected."
+
+Cyril laughed.
+
+"I shall never set my eyes in that direction, nor do I think the
+thing I have set myself to do will ever be in my power--that is, to
+buy back my father's estate; but so long as I live I shall keep that
+in view."
+
+"More unlikely things have happened, lad. You have got first to rise
+to be a General; then, what with your pay and your share in the sack
+of a city or two, and in other ways, you may come home with a purse
+full enough even for that. But it is time for us to be going down
+below. Matthew will think that we have forgotten him altogether."
+
+Another fortnight passed. Nellie had, to a considerable extent,
+recovered from the shock that she had suffered, but her manner was
+still quiet and subdued, her sallies were less lively, and her father
+noticed, with some surprise, that she no longer took any great
+interest in the gossip he retailed of the gay doings of the Court.
+
+"I can't think what has come over the girl," he said to his wife.
+"She seems well in health again, but she is changed a good deal,
+somehow. She is gentler and softer. I think she is all the better for
+it, but I miss her merry laugh and her way of ordering things about,
+as if her pleasure only were to be consulted."
+
+"I think she is very much improved," Mrs. Dowsett said decidedly;
+"though I can no more account for it than you can. She never used to
+have any care about the household, and now she assists me in my work,
+and is in all respects dutiful and obedient, and is not for ever bent
+upon gadding about as she was before. I only hope it will continue
+so, for, in truth, I have often sighed over the thought that she
+would make but a poor wife for an honest citizen."
+
+"Tut, tut, wife. It has never been as bad as that. Girls will be
+girls, and if they are a little vain of their good looks, that will
+soften down in time, when they get to have the charge of a household.
+You yourself, dame, were not so staid when I first wooed you, as you
+are now; and I think you had your own little share of vanity, as was
+natural enough in the prettiest girl in Plymouth."
+
+When Nellie was in the room Cyril did his best to save her from being
+obliged to take part in the conversation, by inducing Captain Dave to
+tell him stories of some of his adventures at sea.
+
+"You were saying, Captain Dave, that you had had several engagements
+with the Tunis Rovers," he said one evening. "Were they ever near
+taking you?"
+
+"They did take me once, lad, and that without an engagement; but,
+fortunately, I was not very long a prisoner. It was not a pleasant
+time though, John, was it?"
+
+"It was not, Captain Dave. I have been in sore danger of wreck
+several times, and in three big sea-fights; but never did I feel so
+out of heart as when I was lying, bound hand and foot, on the ballast
+in the hold of that corsair. No true sailor is afraid of being
+killed; but the thought that one might be all one's life a slave
+among the cruel heathen was enough to take the stiffness out of any
+man's courage."
+
+"But how was it that you were taken without an engagement, Captain
+Dave? And how did you make your escape?"
+
+"Well, lad, it was the carelessness of my first mate that did it; but
+as he paid for his fault with his life let us say naught against him.
+He was a handsome, merry young fellow, and had shipped as second
+mate, but my first had died of fever in the Levant, and of course he
+got the step, though all too young for the responsibility. We had met
+with some bad weather when south of Malta, and had had a heavy gale
+for three days, during which time we lost our main topmast, and badly
+strained the mizzen. The weather abated when we were off Pantellaria,
+which is a bare rock rising like a mountain peak out of the sea, and
+with only one place where a landing can be safely effected. As the
+gale had blown itself out, and it was likely we should have a spell
+of settled weather, I decided to anchor close in to the Island, and
+to repair damages.
+
+"We were hard at work for two days. All hands had had a stiff time of
+it, and the second night, having fairly repaired damages, I thought
+to give the crew a bit of a rest, and, not dreaming of danger,
+ordered that half each watch might remain below. John Wilkes was
+acting as my second mate. Pettigrew took the first watch; John had
+the middle watch; and then the other came up again. I turned out once
+or twice, but everything was quiet--we had not seen a sail all day.
+There was a light breeze blowing, but no chance of its increasing,
+and as we were well sheltered in the only spot where the anchorage
+was good, I own that I did not impress upon Pettigrew the necessity
+for any particular vigilance. Anyhow, just as morning was breaking I
+was woke by a shout. I ran out on deck, but as I did so there was a
+rush of dark figures, and I was knocked down and bound before I knew
+what had happened. As soon as I could think it over, it was clear
+enough. The Moor had been coming into the anchorage, and, catching
+sight of us in the early light, had run alongside and boarded us.
+
+"The watch, of course, must have been asleep. There was not a shot
+fired nor a drop of blood shed, for those on deck had been seized and
+bound before they could spring to their feet, and the crew had all
+been caught in their bunks. It was bitter enough. There was the
+vessel gone, and the cargo, and with them my savings of twenty years'
+hard work, and the prospect of slavery for life. The men were all
+brought aft and laid down side by side. Young Pettigrew was laid next
+to me.
+
+"'I wish to heaven, captain,' he said, 'you had got a pistol and your
+hand free, and would blow out my brains for me. It is all my fault,
+and hanging at the yard-arm is what I deserve. I never thought there
+was the slightest risk--not a shadow of it--and feeling a bit dozy,
+sat down for five minutes' caulk. Seeing that, no doubt the men
+thought they might do the same; and this is what has come of it. I
+must have slept half an hour at least, for there was no sail in sight
+when I went off, and this Moor must have come round the point and
+made us out after that.'
+
+"The corsair was lying alongside of us, her shrouds lashed to ours.
+There was a long jabbering among the Moors when they had taken off
+our hatches and seen that we were pretty well full up with cargo;
+then, after a bit, we were kicked, and they made signs for us to get
+on our feet and to cross over into their ship. The crew were sent
+down into the forward hold, and some men went down with them to tie
+them up securely. John Wilkes, Pettigrew, and myself were shoved down
+into a bit of a place below the stern cabin. Our legs were tied, as
+well as our arms. The trap was shut, and there we were in the dark.
+Of course I told Pettigrew that, though he had failed in his duty,
+and it had turned out badly, he wasn't to be blamed as if he had gone
+to sleep in sight of an enemy.
+
+"'I had never given the Moors a thought myself,' I said, 'and it was
+not to be expected that you would. But no sailor, still less an
+officer, ought to sleep on his watch, even if his ship is anchored in
+a friendly harbour, and you are to blame that you gave way to
+drowsiness. Still, even if you hadn't, it might have come to the same
+thing in the long run, for the corsair is a large one, and might have
+taken us even if you had made her out as she rounded the point.'
+
+"But, in spite of all I could say to cheer him, he took it to heart
+badly, and was groaning and muttering to himself when they left us in
+the dark, so I said to him,--
+
+"'Look here, lad, the best way to retrieve the fault you have
+committed is to try and get us out of the scrape. Set your brains to
+work, and let us talk over what had best be done. There is no time to
+be lost, for with a fair wind they can run from here to Tunis in
+four-and-twenty hours, and once there one may give up all hope. There
+are all our crew on board this ship. The Moor carried twice as many
+men as we do, but we may reckon they will have put more than half of
+them on board our barque; they don't understand her sails as well as
+they do their own, and will therefore want a strong prize crew on
+board.'
+
+"'I am ready to do anything, captain,' the young fellow said firmly.
+'If you were to give me the word, I would get into their magazine if
+I could, and blow the ship into the air.'
+
+"'Well, I don't know that I will give you that order, Pettigrew. To
+be a heathen's slave is bad, but, at any rate, I would rather try
+that life for a bit than strike my colours at once. Now let us think
+it over. In the first place we have to get rid of these ropes; then
+we have to work our way forward to the crew; and then to get on deck
+and fight for it. It is a stiff job, look at it which way one will,
+but at any rate it will be better to be doing something--even if we
+find at last that we can't get out of this dog-kennel--than to lie
+here doing nothing.'
+
+"After some talk, we agreed that it was not likely the Moors would
+come down to us for a long time, for they might reckon that we could
+hold on without food or water easy enough until they got to Tunis;
+having agreed as to that point, we set to work to get our ropes
+loose. Wriggling wouldn't do it, though we tried until the cords cut
+into our flesh.
+
+"At last Pettigrew said,--
+
+"'What a fool I am! I have got my knife hanging from a lanyard round
+my neck. It is under my blouse, so they did not notice it when they
+turned my pockets out.'
+
+"It was a long job to get at that knife. At last I found the string
+behind his neck, and, getting hold of it with my teeth, pulled till
+the knife came up to his throat. Then John got it in his teeth, and
+the first part of the job was done. The next was easy enough. John
+held the handle of the knife in his teeth and Pettigrew got hold of
+the blade in his, and between them they made a shift to open it;
+then, after a good deal of trouble, Pettigrew shifted himself till he
+managed to get the knife in his hands. I lay across him and worked
+myself backwards and forwards till the blade cut through the rope at
+my wrist; then, in two more minutes, we were free. Then we felt
+about, and found that the boarding between us and the main hold was
+old and shaky, and, with the aid of the knife and of our three
+shoulders, we made a shift at last to wrench one of the boards from
+its place.
+
+"Pettigrew, who was slightest, crawled through, and we soon got
+another plank down. The hold was half full of cargo, which, no doubt,
+they had taken out of some ship or other. We made our way forward
+till we got to the bulkhead, which, like the one we had got through,
+was but a make-shift sort of affair, with room to put your fingers
+between the planks. So we hailed the men and told them how we had got
+free, and that if they didn't want to work all their lives as slaves
+they had best do the same. They were ready enough, you may be sure,
+and, finding a passage between the planks wider in one place than the
+rest, we passed the knife through to them, and told them how to set
+about cutting the rope. They were a deal quicker over it than we had
+been, for in our place there had been no height where we could stand
+upright, but they were able to do so. Two men, standing back to back
+and one holding the knife, made quick work of cutting the rope.
+
+"We had plenty of strength now, and were not long in getting down a
+couple of planks. The first thing was to make a regular overhaul of
+the cargo--as well as we could do it, without shifting things and
+making a noise--to look for weapons or for anything that would come
+in handy for the fight. Not a thing could we find, but we came upon a
+lot of kegs that we knew, by their feel, were powder. If there had
+been arms and we could have got up, we should have done it at once,
+trusting to seize the ship before the other could come up to her
+help. But without arms it would be madness to try in broad daylight,
+and we agreed to wait till night, and to lie down again where we were
+before, putting the ropes round our legs again and our hands behind
+our backs, so that, if they did look in, everything should seem
+secure.
+
+"'We shall have plenty of time,' one of the sailors said, 'for they
+have coiled a big hawser down on the hatch.'
+
+"When we got back to our lazaret, we tried the hatch by which we had
+been shoved down, but the three of us couldn't move it any more than
+if it had been solid stone. We had a goodish talk over it, and it was
+clear that the hatchway of the main hold was our only chance of
+getting out; and we might find that a tough job.
+
+"'If we can't do it in any other way,' Pettigrew said, 'I should say
+we had best bring enough bales and things to fill this place up to
+within a foot of the top; then on that we might put a keg of powder,
+bore a hole in it, and make a slow match that would blow the cabin
+overhead into splinters, while the bales underneath it would prevent
+the force of the explosion blowing her bottom out.'
+
+"We agreed that, if the worst came to the worst, we would try this,
+and having settled that, went back to have a look at the main hatch.
+Feeling about round it, we found the points of the staple on which
+the hatchway bar worked above; they were not fastened with nuts as
+they would have been with us, but were simply turned over and
+clinched. We had no means of straightening them out, but we could cut
+through the woodwork round them. Setting to work at that, we took it
+by turns till we could see the light through the wood; then we left
+it to finish after dark. All this time we knew we were under sail by
+the rippling of the water along the sides. The men on board were
+evidently in high delight at their easy capture, and kicked up so
+much noise that there was no fear of their hearing any slight stir we
+made below.
+
+"Very carefully we brought packages and bales under the hatchway,
+till we built up a sort of platform about four feet below it. We
+reckoned that, standing as thick as we could there, and all lifting
+together, we could make sure of hoisting the hatchway up, and could
+then spring out in a moment.
+
+"Pettigrew still stuck to his plan, and talked us into carrying it
+out, both under the fore and aft hatches, pointing out that the two
+explosions would scare the crew out of their wits, that some would be
+killed, and many jump overboard in their fright. We came to see that
+the scheme was really a good one, so set all the crew to carry out
+the business, and they, working with stockinged feet, built up a
+platform under their hatch, as well as in our den aft. Then we made
+holes in two of the kegs of powder, and, shaking a little out, damped
+it, and rubbed it into two strips of cotton. Putting an end of a slow
+match into each of the holes, we laid the kegs in their places and
+waited.
+
+"We made two other fuses, so that a man could go forward, and another
+aft, to fire them both together. Two of the men were told off for
+this job, and the rest of us gathered under the main hatch, for we
+had settled now that if we heard them making any move to open the
+hatches we would fire the powder at once, whatever hour it was. In
+order to be ready, we cut deeper into the woodwork round the staple
+till there was but the thickness of a card remaining, and we could
+tell by this how light it was above.
+
+"It don't take long to tell you, but all this had taken us a good
+many hours; and so baked were we by the heat down below, and parched
+by thirst, that it was as much as I could do to persuade the men to
+wait until nightfall. At last we saw the light in the cut fade and
+darken. Again the men wanted to be at work, but I pointed out that if
+we waited till the crew had laid down on the deck, we might carry it
+through without losing a life, but if they were all awake, some of
+them would be sure to come at us with their weapons, and, unarmed as
+we were, might do us much harm. Still, though I succeeded in keeping
+the men quiet, I felt it was hard work to put a stopper on my own
+impatience.
+
+"At last even John here spoke up for action.
+
+"'I expect those who mean to sleep are off by this time,' he said.
+'As to reckoning upon them all going off, there ain't no hope of it;
+they will sit and jabber all night. They have made a good haul, and
+have taken a stout ship with a full hold, and five-and-twenty stout
+slaves, and that without losing a man. There won't be any sleep for
+most of them. I reckon it is two bells now. I do think, Captain, we
+might as well begin, for human nature can't stand this heat and
+thirst much longer.'
+
+"'All right, John,' I said. 'Now, lads, remember that when the first
+explosion comes--for we can't reckon on the two slow matches burning
+just the same time--we all heave together till we find the hatch
+lifts; then, when the second comes, we chuck it over and leap out. If
+you see a weapon, catch it up, but don't waste time looking about,
+but go at them with your fists. They will be scared pretty well out
+of their senses, and you will not be long before you all get hold of
+weapons of some sort. Now, Pettigrew, shove your blade up through the
+wood and cut round the staple. Now, Jack Brown, get out that
+tinder-box you said you had about you, and get a spark going.'
+
+"Three or four clicks were heard as the sailor struck his flint
+against the steel lid of the tinder-box.
+
+"'All right, yer honour,' he said, 'I have got the spark.'
+
+"Then the two hands we had given the slow matches to, lit them at the
+tinder-box, and went fore and aft, while as many of the rest of us as
+could crowded under the hatch.
+
+"'Are you ready, fore and aft?' I asked.
+
+"The two men hailed in reply.
+
+"'Light the matches, then, and come here.'
+
+"I suppose it was not above a minute, but it seemed ten before there
+was a tremendous explosion aft. The ship shook from stem to stern.
+There was a moment's silence, and then came yells and screams mixed
+with the sound of timbers and wreckage falling on the deck.
+
+"'Now lift,' I said. 'But not too high. That is enough--she is free.
+Wait for the other.'
+
+"There was a rush of feet overhead as the Moors ran forward. Then
+came the other explosion.
+
+"'Off with her, lads!' I shouted, and in a moment we flung the hatch
+off and leapt out with a cheer. There was no fighting to speak of.
+The officers had been killed by the first explosion under their
+cabin, and many of the men had either been blown overboard or lay
+crushed under the timber and wreckage.
+
+"The second explosion had been even more destructive, for it happened
+just as the crew, in their terror, had rushed forward. Many of those
+unhurt had sprung overboard at once, and as we rushed up most of the
+others did the same. There was no difficulty about arms, for the deck
+was strewn with weapons. Few of us, however, stopped to pick one up,
+but, half mad with rage and thirst, rushed forward at the Moors. That
+finished them; and before we got to them the last had sprung
+overboard. There was a rush on the part of the men to the scuttle
+butt.
+
+"'Take one drink, lads,' I shouted, 'and then to the buckets.'
+
+"It took us a quarter of an hour's hard work to put out the flames,
+and it was lucky the powder had blown so much of the decks up that we
+were enabled to get at the fire without difficulty, and so extinguish
+it before it got any great hold.
+
+"As soon as we had got it out I called a muster. There was only one
+missing;--it was Pettigrew, he being the first to leap out and rush
+aft. There had been but one shot fired by the Moors. One fellow, as
+he leapt on to the rail, drew his pistol from his belt and fired
+before he sprang overboard. In the excitement and confusion no one
+had noticed whether the shot took effect, for two or three men had
+stumbled and fallen over fragments of timber or bodies as we rushed
+aft. But now we searched, and soon came on the poor young fellow. The
+ball had struck him fair on the forehead, and he had fallen dead
+without a word or a cry.
+
+"There was, however, no time to grieve. We had got to re-capture the
+barque, which had been but a cable's length away when we rushed on
+deck; while we had been fighting the fire she had sailed on,
+regardless of the shrieks and shouts of the wretches who had sprung
+overboard from us. But she was still near us; both vessels had been
+running before the wind, for I had sent John Wilkes to the tiller the
+moment that we got possession of the corsair, and the barque was but
+about a quarter of a mile ahead.
+
+"The wind was light, and we were running along at four knots an hour.
+The Moors on board the _Kate_ had, luckily, been too scared by the
+explosion to think of getting one of the guns aft and peppering us
+while we were engaged in putting out the fire; and indeed, they could
+not have done us much harm if they had, for the high fo'castle hid us
+from their view.
+
+"As soon as we had found Pettigrew's body and laid it on the hatch we
+had thrown off, I went aft to John.
+
+"'Are we gaining on her, John?'
+
+"'No; she has drawn away a little. But this craft is not doing her
+best. I expect they wanted to keep close to the barque, and so kept
+her sheets in. If you square the sails, captain, we shall soon be
+upon her.'
+
+"That was quickly done, and then the first thing was to see that the
+men were all armed. We could have got a gun forward, but I did not
+want to damage the _Kate_, and we could soon see that we were
+closing on her. We shoved a bag of musket-balls into each cannon, so
+as to sweep her decks as we came alongside, for we knew that her crew
+was a good deal stronger than we were. Still, no one had any doubt as
+to the result, and it was soon evident that the Moors had got such a
+scare from the fate of their comrades that they had no stomach for
+fighting.
+
+"'They are lowering the boats,' John shouted.
+
+"'All the better,' I said. 'They would fight like rats caught in a
+trap if we came up to them, and though we are men enough to capture
+her, we might lose half our number.'
+
+"As soon as the boats reached the water they were all pulled up to
+the starboard side, and then the helm was put down, and the barque
+came round till she was broadside on to us.
+
+"'Down with your helm, John Wilkes!' I shouted. 'Hard down, man!'
+
+"John hesitated, for he had thought that I should have gone round to
+the other side of her and so have caught all the boats; but, in
+truth, I was so pleased at the thought of getting the craft back
+again that I was willing to let the poor villains go, since they were
+of a mind to do so without giving us trouble. We had punished them
+enough, and the shrieks and cries of those left behind to drown were
+ringing in my ears then. So we brought the corsair up quietly by the
+side of the _Kate_, lashed her there, and then, with a shout of
+triumph, sprang on board the old barky.
+
+"Not a Moor was left on board. The boats were four or five hundred
+yards away, rowing at the top of their speed. The men would have run
+to the guns, but I shouted,--
+
+"'Let them go, lads. We have punished them heavily enough; we have
+taken their ship, and sent half of them to Eternity. Let them take
+the tale back to Tunis how a British merchantman re-captured their
+ship. Now set to work to get some of the sail off both craft, and
+then, when we have got things snug, we will splice the main brace and
+have a meal.'
+
+"There is no more to tell. We carried the rover into Gibraltar and
+sold her and her cargo there. It brought in a good round sum, and,
+except for the death of Pettigrew, we had no cause to regret the
+corsair having taken us by surprise that night off Pantellaria."
+
+"That was an exciting business, indeed, Captain Dave," Cyril said,
+when the Captain brought his story to a conclusion. "If it had not
+been for your good fortune in finding those kegs of powder, and
+Pettigrew's idea of using them as he did, you and John might now, if
+you had been alive, have been working as slaves among the Moors."
+
+"Yes, lad. And not the least lucky thing was that Pettigrew's knife
+and Jack Brown's tinder-box had escaped the notice of the Moors. Jack
+had it in an inside pocket sewn into his shirt so as to keep it dry.
+It was a lesson to me, and for the rest of the time I was at sea I
+always carried a knife, with a lanyard round my neck, and stowed away
+in an inside pocket of my shirt, together with a tinder-box. They are
+two as useful things as a sailor can have about him, for, if cast
+upon a desert shore after a wreck, a man with a knife and tinder-box
+may make shift to live, when, without them, he and his comrades might
+freeze to death."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE FIRE IN THE SAVOY
+
+
+The next evening John Wilkes returned after an absence of but half an
+hour.
+
+"Why, John, you can but have smoked a single pipe! Did you not find
+your cronies there?"
+
+"I hurried back, Captain, because a man from one of the ships in the
+Pool landed and said there was a great light in the sky, and that it
+seemed to him it was either a big fire in the Temple, or in one of
+the mansions beyond the walls; so methought I would come in and ask
+Cyril if he would like to go with me to see what was happening."
+
+"I should like it much, John. I saw a great fire in Holborn just
+after I came over from France, and a brave sight it was, though very
+terrible; and I would willingly see one again."
+
+He took his hat and cloak and was about to be off, when Captain Dave
+called after him,--
+
+"Buckle on your sword, lad, and leave your purse behind you. A fire
+ever attracts thieves and cut-throats, who flock round in hopes of
+stealing something in the confusion. Besides, as I have told you
+before, you should never go out after dark without your sword, even
+were it but to cross the road."
+
+Cyril ran upstairs to his room, buckled on his weapon, and ran down
+again.
+
+"The Captain is right," John Wilkes said, as he joined him at the
+door. "After your two adventures, it would be folly for you to go out
+unarmed."
+
+"Oh, I expect they have forgotten about me long ago," Cyril laughed
+lightly.
+
+"I don't know," John Wilkes said seriously. "As to Marner's gang, I
+think that there is not much fear from them, unless that young rascal
+Robert and the scoundrel who was with him have returned from Holland;
+and that they are not likely to do for some time to come. But it
+would not be in human nature if the man you call John Harvey should
+take his defeat without trying to pay you back for that wound you
+gave him, for getting Mistress Nellie out of his hands, and for
+making him the laughing-stock of his comrades. I tell you that there
+is scarce an evening that I have gone out but some fellow passes me
+before I have gone twenty yards, and, as he brushes my sleeve, turns
+his head to look at me. But yesternight I said to one who so behaved,
+'Look here, mate, this is not the first time you have run against me.
+I warn you that if it happens again I will crack your head with my
+cudgel.' The fellow went off, muttering and grumbling, but I have no
+doubt that he and the others, for it certainly was not always the
+same man, were watching for you. To-night there was no one about, or,
+if there was, he did not come near me, and it may be that, finding
+you never leave the house after nightfall, they have decided to give
+it up for the present. But I thought I heard a footfall lower down
+the street, just as we came out of the house, and it is like enough
+that we are followed now."
+
+"At any rate, they would scarce attack two of us, John, and I should
+not mind if they did. It is a stab in the back that I am afraid of
+more than an open quarrel."
+
+"You may have a better swordsman to deal with next time. The fellow
+himself would scarcely care to cross swords with you again, but he
+would have no difficulty in getting half-a-dozen cut-throats from the
+purlieus of the Temple or Westminster, professional bullies, who are
+ready to use their swords to those who care to purchase them, and who
+would cut a throat for a few crowns, without caring a jot whose
+throat it was. Some of these fellows are disbanded soldiers. Some are
+men who were ruined in the wars. Some are tavern bullies--broken men,
+reckless and quarrelsome gamblers so long as they have a shilling in
+their pockets, but equally ready to take to the road or to rob a
+house when their pockets are empty."
+
+By this time they had passed the Exchange into Cheapside. Many people
+were hurrying in the same direction and wondering where the fire was.
+Presently one of the Fire Companies, with buckets, ladders, and axes,
+passed them at a run. Even in Cheapside the glow in the sky ahead
+could be plainly seen, but it was not until they passed St. Paul's
+and stood at the top of Ludgate Hill that the flames, shooting up
+high in the air, were visible. They were almost straight ahead.
+
+"It must be at the other end of Fleet Street," Cyril said, as they
+broke into a run.
+
+"Farther than that, lad. It must be one of the mansions along the
+Strand. A fire always looks closer than it is. I have seen a ship in
+flames that looked scarce a mile away, and yet, sailing with a brisk
+wind, it took us over an hour to come up to it."
+
+The crowd became thicker as they approached Temple Bar. The upper
+windows of the houses were all open, and women were leaning out
+looking at the sight. From every lane and alley men poured into the
+street and swelled the hurrying current. They passed through the Bar,
+expecting to find that the fire was close at hand. They had, however,
+some distance farther to go, for the fire was at a mansion in the
+Savoy. Another Fire Company came along when they were within a
+hundred yards of the spot.
+
+"Join in with them," Cyril said; and he and John Wilkes managed to
+push their way into the ranks, joining in the shout, "Way there, way!
+Make room for the buckets!"
+
+Aided by some of the City watch the Company made its way through the
+crowd, and hurried down the hill from the Strand into the Savoy. A
+party of the King's Guard, who had just marched up, kept back the
+crowd, and, when once in the open space, Cyril and his companion
+stepped out from the ranks and joined a group of people who had
+arrived before the constables and soldiers had come up.
+
+The mansion from which the fire had originated was in flames from top
+to bottom. The roof had fallen in. Volumes of flame and sparks shot
+high into the air, threatening the safety of several other houses
+standing near. The Fire Companies were working their hand-pumps,
+throwing water on to the doors and woodwork of these houses. Long
+lines of men were extended down to the edge of the river and passed
+the buckets backwards and forwards. City officials, gentlemen of the
+Court, and officers of the troops, moved to and fro shouting
+directions and superintending the work. From many of the houses the
+inhabitants were bringing out their furniture and goods, aided by the
+constables and spectators.
+
+"It is a grand sight," Cyril said, as, with his companion, he took
+his place in a quiet corner where a projecting portico threw a deep
+shadow.
+
+"It will soon be grander still. The wind is taking the sparks and
+flames westwards, and nothing can save that house over there. Do you
+see the little jets of flame already bursting through the roof?"
+
+"The house seems empty. There is not a window open."
+
+"It looks so, Cyril, but there may be people asleep at the back. Let
+us work round and have a look from behind."
+
+They turned down an alley, and in a minute or two came out behind the
+house. There was a garden and some high trees, but it was surrounded
+by a wall, and they could not see the windows.
+
+"Here, Cyril, I will give you a hoist up. If you stand on my
+shoulders, you can reach to the top of the wall and pull yourself up.
+Come along here to where that branch projects over. That's it. Now
+drop your cloak, and jump on to my back. That is right. Now get on to
+my shoulders."
+
+Cyril managed to get up.
+
+"I can just touch the top, but I can't get my fingers on to it."
+
+"Put your foot on my head. I will warrant it is strong enough to bear
+your weight."
+
+Cyril did as he was told, grasped the top of the wall, and, after a
+sharp struggle, seated himself astride on it. Just as he did so, a
+window in a wing projecting into the garden was thrown open, and a
+female voice uttered a loud scream for help. There was light enough
+for Cyril to see that the lower windows were all barred. He shouted
+back,--
+
+"Can't you get down the staircase?"
+
+"No; the house is full of smoke. There are some children here. Help!
+Help!" and the voice rose in a loud scream again.
+
+Cyril dropped down into the roadway by the side of John Wilkes.
+
+"There are some women and children in there, John. They can't get
+out. We must go round to the other side and get some axes and break
+down the door."
+
+Snatching up his cloak, he ran at full speed to his former position,
+followed by Wilkes. The roof of the house was now in flames. Many of
+the shutters and window-frames had also caught fire, from the heat.
+He ran up to two gentlemen who seemed to be directing the operations.
+
+"There are some women and children in a room at the back of that
+house," he said. "I have just been round there to see. They are in
+the second storey, and are crying for help."
+
+"I fear the ladders are too short."
+
+"I can tie two or three of them together," Wilkes said. "I am an old
+sailor and can answer for the knots."
+
+The firemen were already dashing water on the lower windows of the
+front of the house. A party with axes were cutting at the door, but
+this was so massive and solid that it resisted their efforts. One of
+the gentlemen went down to them. At his orders eight or ten men
+seized ladders. Cyril snatched some ropes from a heap that had been
+thrown down by the firemen, and the party, with one of the gentlemen,
+ran round to the back of the house. Two ladders were placed against
+the wall. John Wilkes, running up one of them, hauled several of the
+others up, and lowered them into the garden.
+
+The flames were now issuing from some of the upper windows. Cyril
+dropped from the wall into the garden, and, running close up to the
+house, shouted to three or four women, who were screaming loudly, and
+hanging so far out that he thought they would fall, that help was at
+hand, and that they would be speedily rescued. John Wilkes rapidly
+tied three of the short ladders together. These were speedily raised,
+but it was found that they just reached the window. One of the
+firemen ran up, while John set to work to prepare another long
+ladder. As there was no sign of life at any other window he laid it
+down on the grass when finished.
+
+"If you will put it up at the next window," Cyril said, "I will mount
+it. The woman said there were children in the house, and possibly I
+may find them. Those women are so frightened that they don't know
+what they are doing."
+
+One woman had already been got on to the other ladder, but instead of
+coming down, she held on tightly, screaming at the top of her voice,
+until the fireman with great difficulty got up by her side, wrenched
+her hands from their hold, threw her across his shoulder, and carried
+her down.
+
+The room was full of smoke as Cyril leapt into it, but he found that
+it was not, as he had supposed, the one in which the women at the
+next window were standing. Near the window, however, an elderly woman
+was lying on the floor insensible, and three girls of from eight to
+fourteen lay across her. Cyril thrust his head out of the window.
+
+"Come up, John," he shouted. "I want help."
+
+He lifted the youngest of the girls, and as he got her out of the
+window, John's head appeared above the sill.
+
+"Take her down quick, John," he said, as he handed the child to him.
+"There are three others. They are all insensible from the smoke."
+
+Filling his lungs with fresh air, he turned into the blinding smoke
+again, and speedily reappeared at the window with another of the
+girls. John was not yet at the bottom; he placed her with her head
+outside the window, and was back with the eldest girl by the time
+Wilkes was up again. He handed her to him, and then, taking the
+other, stepped out on to the ladder and followed Wilkes down.
+
+"Brave lad!" the gentleman said, patting him on the shoulder. "Are
+there any more of them?"
+
+"One more--a woman, sir. Do you go up, John. I will follow, for I
+doubt whether I can lift her by myself."
+
+He followed Wilkes closely up the ladder. There was a red glow now in
+the smoke. Flames were bursting through the door. John was waiting at
+the window.
+
+"Which way, lad? There is no seeing one's hand in the smoke."
+
+"Just in front, John, not six feet away. Hold your breath."
+
+They dashed forward together, seized the woman between them, and,
+dragging her to the window, placed her head and shoulders on the
+sill.
+
+"You go first, John. She is too heavy for me," Cyril gasped.
+
+John stumbled out, half suffocated, while Cyril thrust his head as
+far as he could outside the window.
+
+"That is it, John; you take hold of her shoulder, and I will help you
+get her on to your back."
+
+Between them they pushed her nearly out, and then, with Cyril's
+assistance, John got her across his shoulders. She was a heavy woman,
+and the old sailor had great difficulty in carrying her down. Cyril
+hung far out of the window till he saw him put his foot on the
+ground; then he seized a rung of the ladder, swung himself out on to
+it, and was soon down.
+
+For a time he felt confused and bewildered, and was conscious that if
+he let go the ladder he should fall. He heard a voice say, "Bring one
+of those buckets of water," and directly afterwards, "Here, lad, put
+your head into this," and a handful of water was dashed into his
+face. It revived him, and, turning round, he plunged his head into a
+bucket that a man held up for him. Then he took a long breath or two,
+pressed the water from his hair, and felt himself again. The women at
+the other window had by this time been brought down. A door in the
+garden wall had been broken down with axes, and the women and girls
+were taken away to a neighbouring house.
+
+"There is nothing more to do here," the gentlemen said. "Now, men,
+you are to enter the houses round about. Wherever a door is fastened,
+break it in. Go out on to the roofs with buckets, put out the sparks
+as fast as they fall. I will send some more men to help you at once."
+He then put his hand on Cyril's shoulder, and walked back with him to
+the open space.
+
+"We have saved them all," he said to the other gentleman who had now
+come up, "but it has been a close touch, and it was only by the
+gallantry of this young gentleman and another with him that the lives
+of three girls and a woman were rescued. I think all the men that can
+be spared had better go round to the houses in that direction. You
+see, the wind is setting that way, and the only hope of stopping the
+progress of the fire is to get plenty of men with buckets out on the
+roofs and at all the upper windows."
+
+The other gentleman gave the necessary orders to an officer.
+
+"Now, young sir, may I ask your name?" the other said to Cyril.
+
+"Cyril Shenstone, sir," he replied respectfully; for he saw that the
+two men before him were persons of rank.
+
+"Shenstone? I know the name well. Are you any relation of Sir Aubrey
+Shenstone?"
+
+"He was my father, sir."
+
+"A brave soldier, and a hearty companion," the other said warmly. "He
+rode behind me scores of times into the thick of the fight. I am
+Prince Rupert, lad."
+
+Cyril doffed his hat in deep respect. His father had always spoken of
+the Prince in terms of boundless admiration, and had over and over
+again lamented that he had not been able to join the Prince in his
+exploits at sea.
+
+"What has become of my old friend?" the Prince asked.
+
+"He died six months ago, Prince."
+
+"I am sorry to hear it. I did hear that, while I was away, he had
+been suing at Court. I asked for him, but could get no tidings of his
+whereabouts. But we cannot speak here. Ask for me to-morrow at
+Whitehall. Do you know this gentleman?"
+
+"No, sir, I have not the honour."
+
+"This is the Duke of Albemarle, my former enemy, but now my good
+friend. You will like the lad no worse, my Lord, because his father
+more than once rode with me into the heart of your ranks."
+
+"Certainly not," the Duke said. "It is clear that the son will be as
+gallant a gentleman as his father was before him, and, thank God! it
+is not against Englishmen that he will draw his sword. You may count
+me as your friend, sir, henceforth."
+
+Cyril bowed deeply and retired, while Prince Rupert and the Duke
+hurried away again to see that the operations they had directed were
+properly carried out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE DUTCH
+
+
+After leaving Prince Rupert, Cyril returned to John Wilkes, who was
+standing a short distance away.
+
+"John! John!" he said eagerly, as he joined him. "Who do you think
+those gentlemen are?"
+
+"I don't know, lad. It is easy to see that they are men of importance
+by the way they order everyone about."
+
+"The one who went with us to the garden is Prince Rupert; the other
+is the Duke of Albemarle. And the Prince has told me to call upon him
+to-morrow at Whitehall."
+
+"That is a stroke of luck, indeed, lad, and right glad am I that I
+took it into my head to fetch you out to see the fire. But more than
+that, you have to thank yourself, for, indeed, you behaved right
+gallantly. You nearly had the Prince for your helper, for just before
+I went up the ladder the last time he stepped forward and said to me,
+'You must be well-nigh spent, man. I will go up this time.' However,
+I said that I would finish the work, and so, without more ado, I
+shook off the hand he had placed on my arm, and ran up after you.
+Well, it is a stroke of good fortune to you, lad, that you should
+have shown your courage under his eye--no one is more able to
+appreciate a gallant action. This may help you a long way towards
+bringing about the aim you were talking about the other night, and I
+may live to see you Sir Cyril Shenstone yet."
+
+"You can see me that now," Cyril said, laughing. "My father was a
+baronet, and therefore at his death I came into the title, though I
+am not silly enough to go about the City as Sir Cyril Shenstone when
+I am but a poor clerk. It will be time enough to call myself 'Sir'
+when I see some chance of buying back our estate, though, indeed, I
+have thought of taking the title again when I embark on foreign
+service, as it may help me somewhat in obtaining promotion. But do
+not say anything about it at home. I am Cyril Shenstone, and have
+been fortunate enough to win the friendship of Captain Dave, and I
+should not be so comfortable were there any change made in my
+position in the family. A title is an empty thing, John, unless there
+are means to support it, and plain Cyril Shenstone suits my position
+far better than a title without a guinea in my purse. Indeed, till
+you spoke just now, I had well-nigh forgotten that I have the right
+to call myself 'Sir.'"
+
+They waited for two hours longer. At the end of that time four
+mansions had been burnt to the ground, but the further progress of
+the flames had been effectually stayed. The crowd had already begun
+to scatter, and as they walked eastward the streets were full of
+people making their way homeward. The bell of St. Paul's was striking
+midnight as they entered. The Captain and his family had long since
+gone off to bed.
+
+"This reminds one of that last business," John whispered, as they
+went quietly upstairs.
+
+"It does, John. But it has been a pleasanter evening in every way
+than those fruitless watches we kept in the street below."
+
+The next morning the story of the fire was told, and excited great
+interest.
+
+"Who were the girls you saved, Cyril?" Nellie asked.
+
+"I don't know. I did not think of asking to whom the house belonged,
+nor, indeed, was there anyone to ask. Most of the people were too
+busy to talk to, and the rest were spectators who had, like
+ourselves, managed to make their way in through the lines of the
+soldiers and watch."
+
+"Were they ladies?"
+
+"I really don't know," Cyril laughed. "The smoke was too thick to see
+anything about them, and I should not know them if I met them to-day;
+and, besides, when you only see a young person in her nightdress, it
+is hard to form any opinion as to her rank."
+
+Nellie joined in the laugh.
+
+"I suppose not, Cyril. It might make a difference to you, though.
+Those houses in the Savoy are almost all the property of noblemen,
+and you might have gained another powerful friend if they had been
+the daughters of one."
+
+"I should not think they were so," Cyril said. "There seemed to be no
+one else in the house but three maid servants and the woman who was
+in the room with them. I should say the family were all away and the
+house left in charge of servants. The woman may have been a
+housekeeper, and the girls her children; besides, even had it been
+otherwise, it was merely by chance that I helped them out. It was
+John who tied the ladders together and who carried the girls down,
+one by one. If I had been alone I should only have had time to save
+the youngest, for I am not accustomed to running up and down ladders,
+as he is, and by the time I had got her down it would have been too
+late to have saved the others. Indeed, I am not sure that we did save
+them; they were all insensible, and, for aught I know, may not have
+recovered from the effects of the smoke. My eyes are smarting even
+now."
+
+"And so you are to see Prince Rupert to-day, Cyril?" Captain Dave
+said. "I am afraid we shall be losing you, for he will, I should say,
+assuredly appoint you to one of his ships if you ask him."
+
+"That would be good fortune indeed," Cyril said. "I cannot but think
+myself that he may do so, though it would be almost too good to be
+true. Certainly he spoke very warmly, and, although he may not
+himself have the appointment of his officers, a word from him at the
+Admiralty would, no doubt, be sufficient. At any rate, it is a great
+thing indeed to have so powerful a friend at Court. It may be that,
+at the end of another two years, we may be at war with some other
+foreign power, and that I may be able to enter our own army instead
+of seeking service abroad. If not, much as I should like to go to sea
+to fight against the Dutch, service in this Fleet would be of no real
+advantage to me, for the war may last but for a short time, and as
+soon as it is over the ships will be laid up again and the crews
+disbanded."
+
+"Ay, but if you find the life of a sailor to your liking, Cyril, you
+might do worse than go into the merchant service. I could help you
+there, and you might soon get the command of a trader. And, let me
+tell you, it is a deal better to walk the decks as captain than it is
+to be serving on shore with twenty masters over you; and there is
+money to be made, too. A captain is always allowed to take in a
+certain amount of cargo on his own account; that was the way I
+scraped together money enough to buy my own ship at last, and to be
+master as well as owner, and there is no reason why you should not do
+the same."
+
+"Thank you, Captain Dave. I will think it over when I find out
+whether I like a sea life, but at present it seems to me that my
+inclinations turn rather towards the plan that my father recommended,
+and that, for the last two years, I have always had before me. You
+said, the other day, you had fought the Dutch, John?"
+
+"Ay, ay, Master Cyril; but, in truth, it was from no wish or desire
+on my part that I did so. I had come ashore from Captain Dave's ship
+here in the Pool, and had been with some of my messmates who had
+friends in Wapping and had got three days' leave ashore, as the cargo
+we expected had not come on board the ship. We had kept it up a bit,
+and it was latish when I was making my way down to the stairs. I
+expect that I was more intent on making a straight course down the
+street than in looking about for pirates, when suddenly I found
+myself among a lot of men. One of them seized me by the arm.
+
+"'Hands off, mate!' says I, and I lifted my fist to let fly at him,
+when I got a knock at the back of the head. The next thing I knew
+was, I was lying in the hold of a ship, and, as I made out presently,
+with a score of others, some of whom were groaning, and some cursing.
+
+"'Hullo, mates!' says I. 'What port is this we are brought up in?'
+
+"'We are on board the _Tartar_,' one said.
+
+"I knew what that meant, for the _Tartar_ was the receiving hulk
+where they took the pressed men.
+
+"The next morning, without question asked, we were brought up on
+deck, tumbled into a small sloop, and taken down to Gravesend, and
+there put, in batches of four or five, into the ships of war lying
+there. It chanced that I was put on board Monk's flagship the
+_Resolution_. And that is how it was I came to fight the Dutch."
+
+"What year was that in, John?"
+
+"'53--in May it was. Van Tromp, at that time, with ninety-eight ships
+of war, and six fire-ships, was in the Downs, and felt so much Master
+of the Sea that he sailed in and battered Dover Castle."
+
+"Then you were in the fight of the 2nd of June?"
+
+"Ay; and in that of the 31st of July, which was harder still."
+
+"Tell me all about it, John."
+
+"Lor' bless you, sir, there is nothing to tell as far as I was
+concerned. I was at one of the guns on the upper deck, but I might as
+well have been down below for anything I saw of it. It was just load
+and fire, load and fire. Sometimes, through the clouds of smoke, one
+caught a sight of the Dutchman one was firing at; more often one
+didn't. There was no time for looking about, I can tell you, and if
+there had been time there was nothing to see. It was like being in a
+big thunderstorm, with thunderbolts falling all round you, and a
+smashing and a grinding and a ripping that would have made your hair
+stand on end if you had only had time to think of it. But we hadn't
+time. It was 'Now then, my hearties, blaze away! Keep it up, lads!
+The Dutchmen have pretty near had enough of it!' And then, at last,
+'They are running, lads. Run in your guns, and tend the sails.' And
+then a cheer as loud as we could give--which wasn't much, I can tell
+you, for we were spent with labour, and half choked with powder, and
+our tongues parched up with thirst."
+
+"How many ships had you?"
+
+"We had ninety-five war-ships, and five fire-ships, so the game was
+an equal one. They had Tromp and De Ruyter to command them, and we
+had Monk and Deane. Both Admirals were on board our ship, and in the
+very first broadside the Dutch fired a chain-shot, and pretty well
+cut Admiral Deane in two. I was close to him at the time. Monk, who
+was standing by his side, undid his own cloak in a moment, threw it
+over his comrade, and held up his hand to the few of us that had seen
+what had happened, to take no notice of it.
+
+"It was a good thing that Deane and Monk were on board the same ship.
+If it had not been so, Deane's flag would have been hauled down and
+all the Fleet would have known of his death, which, at the
+commencement of the fight, would have greatly discouraged the men.
+
+"They told me, though I know naught about it, that Rear-Admiral
+Lawson charged with the Blue Squadron right through the Dutch line,
+and so threw them into confusion. However, about three o'clock, the
+fight having begun at eleven, Van Tromp began to draw off, and we got
+more sail on the _Resolution_ and followed them for some hours, they
+making a sort of running fight of it, till one of their big ships
+blew up, about nine in the evening, when they laid in for shore.
+Blake came up in the night with eighteen ships. The Dutch tried to
+draw off, but at eight o'clock we came up to them, and, after
+fighting for four hours, they hauled off and ran, in great confusion,
+for the flats, where we could not follow them, and so they escaped to
+Zeeland. We heard that they had six of their best ships sunk, two
+blown up and eleven taken, but whether it was so or not I knew not,
+for, in truth, I saw nothing whatever of the matter.
+
+"We sailed to the Texel, and there blocked in De Ruyter's squadron of
+twenty-five large ships, and we thought that there would be no more
+fighting, for the Dutch had sent to England to ask for terms of
+peace. However, we were wrong, and, to give the Dutchmen their due,
+they showed resolution greater than we gave them credit for, for we
+were astonished indeed to hear, towards the end of July, that Van
+Tromp had sailed out again with upwards of ninety ships.
+
+"On the 29th they came in view, and we sailed out to engage them, but
+they would not come to close quarters, and it was seven at night
+before the _Resolution_, with some thirty other ships, came up to
+them and charged through their line. By the time we had done that it
+was quite dark, and we missed them altogether and sailed south,
+thinking Van Tromp had gone that way; but, instead, he had sailed
+north, and in the morning we found he had picked up De Ruyter's
+fleet, and was ready to fight. But we had other things to think of
+besides fighting that day, for the wind blew so hard that it was as
+much as we could do to keep off the shore, and if the gale had
+continued a good part of the ships would have left their bones there.
+However, by nightfall the gale abated somewhat, and by the next
+morning the sea had gone down sufficient for the main deck ports to
+be opened. So the Dutch, having the weather gauge, sailed down to
+engage us.
+
+"I thought it rough work in the fight two months before, but it was
+as nothing to this. To begin with, the Dutch fire-ships came down
+before the wind, and it was as much as we could do to avoid them.
+They did, indeed, set the _Triumph_ on fire, and most of the crew
+jumped overboard; but those that remained managed to put out the
+flames.
+
+"Lawson, with the Blue Squadron, began the fighting, and that so
+briskly, that De Ruyter's flagship was completely disabled and towed
+out of the fight. However, after I had seen that, our turn began, and
+I had no more time to look about. I only know that ship after ship
+came up to engage us, seeming bent upon lowering Monk's flag. Three
+Dutch Admirals, Tromp, Evertson, and De Ruyter, as I heard
+afterwards, came up in turn. We did not know who they were, but we
+knew they were Admirals by their flags, and pounded them with all our
+hearts; and so good was our aim that I myself saw two of the
+Admirals' flags brought down, and they say that all three of them
+were lowered. But you may guess the pounding was not all on our side,
+and we suffered very heavily.
+
+"Four men were hurt at the gun I worked, and nigh half the crew were
+killed or wounded. Two of our masts were shot away, many of our guns
+disabled, and towards the end of the fight we were towed out of the
+line. How the day would have gone if Van Tromp had continued in
+command of the Dutch, I cannot say, but about noon he was shot
+through the body by a musket-ball, and this misfortune greatly
+discouraged the Dutchmen, who fight well as long as things seem to be
+going their way, but lose heart very easily when they think the
+matter is going against them.
+
+"By about two o'clock the officers shouted to us that the Dutch were
+beginning to draw off, and it was not long before they began to fly,
+each for himself, and in no sort of order. Some of our light
+frigates, that had suffered less than the line-of-battle ships,
+followed them until the one Dutch Admiral whose flag was left flying,
+turned and fought them till two or three of our heavier ships came up
+and he was sunk.
+
+"We could see but little of the chase, having plenty of work, for,
+had a gale come on, our ship, and a good many others, would assuredly
+have been driven ashore, in the plight we were in. Anyhow, at night
+their ships got into the Texel, and our vessels, which had been
+following them, anchored five or six leagues out, being afraid of the
+sands. Altogether we had burnt or sunk twenty-six of their ships of
+war, while we lost only two frigates, both of which were burnt by
+their fire-ships.
+
+"As it was certain that they would not come out for some time again,
+and many of our ships being unfit for further contention until
+repaired, we returned to England, and I got my discharge and joined
+Captain Dave again a fortnight later, when his ship came up the
+river.
+
+"Monk is a good fighter, Master Cyril, and should have the command of
+the Fleet instead of, as they say, the Duke of York. Although he is
+called General, and not Admiral, he is as good a sea-dog as any of
+them, and he can think as well as fight.
+
+"Among our ships that day were several merchantmen that had been
+taken up for the service at the last moment and had guns slapped on
+board, with gunners to work them. Some of them had still their
+cargoes in the hold, and Monk, thinking that it was likely the
+captains would think more of saving their ships and goods than of
+fighting the Dutch, changed the captains all round, so that no man
+commanded his own vessel. And the consequence was that, as all
+admitted, the merchantmen were as willing to fight as any, and bore
+themselves right stoutly.
+
+"Don't you think, Master Cyril, if you go with the Fleet, that you
+are going to see much of what goes on. It will be worse for you than
+it was for me, for there was I, labouring and toiling like a dumb
+beast, with my mind intent upon working the gun, and paying no heed
+to the roar and confusion around, scarce even noticing when one
+beside me was struck down. You will be up on the poop, having naught
+to do but to stand with your hand on your sword hilt, and waiting to
+board an enemy or to drive back one who tries to board you. You will
+find that you will be well-nigh dazed and stupid with the din and
+uproar."
+
+"It does not sound a very pleasant outlook, John," Cyril laughed.
+"However, if I ever do get into an engagement, I will think of what
+you have said, and will try and prevent myself from getting either
+dazed or stupid; though, in truth, I can well imagine that it is
+enough to shake anyone's nerves to stand inactive in so terrible a
+scene."
+
+"You will have to take great care of yourself, Cyril," Nellie said
+gravely.
+
+Captain Dave and John Wilkes both burst into a laugh.
+
+"How is he to take care of himself, Nellie?" her father said. "Do you
+suppose that a man on deck would be any the safer were he to stoop
+down with his head below the rail, or to screw himself up on the
+leeward side of a mast? No, no, lass; each man has to take his share
+of danger, and the most cowardly runs just as great a risk as the man
+who fearlessly exposes himself."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+PRINCE RUPERT
+
+
+The next day Cyril went down to breakfast in what he had often
+called, laughingly, his Court suit. This suit he had had made for him
+a short time before his father's death, to replace the one he had
+when he came over, that being altogether outgrown. He had done so to
+please Sir Aubrey, who had repeatedly expressed his anxiety that
+Cyril should always be prepared to take advantage of any good fortune
+that might befall him. This was the first time he had put it on.
+
+"Well, truly you look a pretty fellow, Cyril," the Captain said, as
+he entered. "Don't you think so, Nellie?"
+
+The girl nodded.
+
+"I don't know that I like him better than in his black suit, father.
+But he looks very well."
+
+"Hullo, lass! This is a change of opinion, truly! For myself I care
+not one jot for the fashion of a man's clothes, but I had thought
+that you always inclined to gay attire, and Cyril now would seem
+rather to belong to the Court than to the City."
+
+"If it had been any other morning, father, I might have thought more
+of Cyril's appearance; but what you were telling us but now of the
+continuance of the Plague is so sad, that mourning, rather than Court
+attire, would seem to be the proper wear."
+
+"Is the Plague spreading fast, then, Captain Dave?"
+
+"No; but it is not decreasing, as we had hoped it would do. From the
+beginning of December the deaths rose steadily until the end of
+January. While our usual death-rate is under three hundred it went to
+four hundred and seventy-four. Then the weather setting in very
+severe checked it till the end of February, and we all hoped that the
+danger was over, and that we should be rid of the distemper before
+the warm weather set in; but for the last fortnight there has been a
+rise rather than a fall--not a large one, but sufficient to cause
+great alarm that it will continue until warm weather sets in, and may
+then grow into terrible proportions. So far, there has been no case
+in the City, and it is only in the West that it has any hold, the
+deaths being altogether in the parishes of St. Giles's, St. Andrew's,
+St. Bride's, and St. James's, Clerkenwell. Of course, there have been
+cases now and then for many years past, and nine years ago it spread
+to a greater extent than now, and were we at the beginning of winter
+instead of nearing summer there would be no occasion to think much of
+the matter; but, with the hot weather approaching, and the tales we
+hear of the badness of the Plague in foreign parts one cannot but
+feel anxious."
+
+"And they say, too, that there have been prophecies of grievous evils
+in London," Nellie put in.
+
+"We need not trouble about that," her father replied. "The
+Anabaptists prophesied all sorts of evils in Elizabeth's time, but
+naught came of it. There are always men and women with disordered
+minds, who think that they are prophets, and have power to see
+further into the future than other people, but no one minds them or
+thinks aught of their wild words save at a time like the present,
+when there is a danger of war or pestilence. You remember Bill Vokes,
+John?"
+
+"I mind him, yer honour. A poor, half-crazed fellow he was, and yet a
+good seaman, who would do his duty blow high or blow low. He sailed
+six voyages with us, Captain."
+
+"And never one of them without telling the crew that the ship would
+never return to port. He had had dreams about it, and the black cat
+had mewed when he left home, and he saw the three magpies in a tree
+hard by when he stepped from the door, and many other portents of
+that kind. The first time he well-nigh scared some of the crew, but
+after the first voyage--from which we came back safely, of
+course--they did but laugh at him; and as in all other respects he
+was a good sailor, and a willing fellow, I did not like to discharge
+him, for, once the men found out that his prophecies came to naught,
+they did no harm, and, indeed, they afforded them much amusement.
+Just as it is on board a ship, so it is elsewhere. If our vessel had
+gone down that first voyage, any man who escaped drowning would have
+said that Bill Vokes had not been without reason in his warnings, and
+that it was nothing less than flying in the face of Providence, to
+put to sea when the loss of the ship had been so surely foretold. So,
+on shore, the fools or madmen who have dreams and visions are not
+heeded when times are good, and men's senses sound, whereas, in
+troubled times, men take their ravings to heart. If all the
+scatterbrains had a good whipping at the pillory it would be well,
+both for them and for the silly people who pay attention to their
+ravings."
+
+A few minutes later, Cyril took a boat to the Whitehall steps, and
+after some delay was shown up to Prince Rupert's room.
+
+"None the worse for your exertions yester-even, young gentleman, I
+hope?" the Prince said, shaking hands with him warmly.
+
+"None, sir. The exertion was not great, and it was but the
+inconvenience of the smoke that troubled me in any way."
+
+"Have you been to inquire after the young ladies who owe their lives
+to you?"
+
+"No, sir; I know neither their names nor their condition, nor, had I
+wished it, could I have made inquiries, for I know not whither they
+were taken."
+
+"I sent round early this morning," the Prince said, "and heard that
+they were as well as might be expected after the adventure they went
+through. And now tell me about yourself, and what you have been
+doing. 'Tis one of the saddest things to me, since I returned to
+England, that so many good men who fought by my side have been made
+beggars in the King's service, and that I could do naught for them.
+'Tis a grievous business, and yet I see not how it is to be mended.
+The hardest thing is, that those who did most for the King's service
+are those who have suffered most deeply. None of those who were
+driven to sell their estates at a fraction of their value, in order
+to raise money for the King's treasury or to put men into the field,
+have received any redress. It would need a vast sum to buy back all
+their lands, and Parliament would not vote money for that purpose;
+nor would it be fair to turn men out of the estates that they bought
+and paid for. Do you not think so?" he asked suddenly, seeing, by the
+lad's face, that he was not in agreement with him.
+
+"No, sir; it does not seem to me that it would be unfair. These men
+bought the lands for, as you say, but a fraction of their value; they
+did so in the belief that Parliament would triumph, and their
+purchase was but a speculation grounded on that belief. They have had
+the enjoyment of the estates for years, and have drawn from them an
+income which has, by this time, brought them in a sum much exceeding
+that which they have adventured, and it does not seem to me that
+there would be any hardship whatever were they now called upon to
+restore them to their owners. 'Tis as when a man risks his money in a
+venture at sea. If all goes as he hopes he will make a great profit
+on his money. If the ship is cast away or taken by pirates, it is
+unfortunate, but he has no reason to curse his ill-luck if the ship
+had already made several voyages which have more than recouped the
+money he ventured."
+
+"Well and stoutly argued!" the Prince said approvingly. "But you must
+remember, young sir, that the King, on his return, was by no means
+strongly seated on the throne. There was the Army most evilly
+affected towards him; there were the Puritans, who lamented the upset
+of the work they or their fathers had done. All those men who had
+purchased the estates of the Royalists had families and friends, and,
+had these estates been restored to their rightful owners, there might
+have been an outbreak that would have shaken the throne again. Many
+would have refused to give up possession, save to force; and where
+was the force to come from? Even had the King had troops willing to
+carry out such a measure, they might have been met by force, and had
+blood once been shed, none can say how the trouble might have spread,
+or what might have been the end of it. And now, lad, come to your own
+fortunes."
+
+Cyril briefly related the story of his life since his return to
+London, stating his father's plan that he should some day take
+foreign service.
+
+"You have shown that you have a stout heart, young sir, as well as a
+brave one, and have done well, indeed, in turning your mind to earn
+your living by such talents as you have, rather than in wasting your
+time in vain hopes and in ceaseless importunities for justice. It may
+be that you have acted wisely in thinking of taking service on the
+Continent, seeing that we have no Army; and when the time comes, I
+will further your wishes to the utmost of my power. But in the
+meantime there is opportunity for service at home, and I will gladly
+appoint you as a Volunteer in my own ship. There are many gentlemen
+going with me in that capacity, and it would be of advantage to you,
+if, when I write to some foreign prince on your behalf, I can say
+that you have fought under my eye."
+
+"Thank you greatly, Prince. I have been wishing, above all things,
+that I could join the Fleet, and it would be, indeed, an honour to
+begin my career under the Prince of whom I heard so often from my
+father."
+
+Prince Rupert looked at his watch.
+
+"The King will be in the Mall now," he said. "I will take you across
+and present you to him. It is useful to have the _entrée_ at Court,
+though perhaps the less you avail yourself of it the better."
+
+So saying, he rose, put on his hat, and, throwing his cloak over his
+shoulder, went across to the Mall, asking questions of Cyril as he
+went, and extracting from him a sketch of the adventure of his being
+kidnapped and taken to Holland.
+
+Presently they arrived at the spot where the King, with three or four
+nobles and gentlemen, had been playing. Charles was in a good humour,
+for he had just won a match with the Earl of Rochester.
+
+"Well, my grave cousin," he said merrily, "what brings you out of
+your office so early? No fresh demands for money, I hope?"
+
+"Not at present. And indeed, it is not to you that I should come on
+such a quest, but to the Duke of York."
+
+"And he would come to me," said the King; "so it is the same thing."
+
+"I have come across to present to your Majesty a very gallant young
+gentleman, who yesterday evening, at the risk of his life, saved the
+three daughters of the Earl of Wisbech from being burned at the fire
+in the Savoy, where his Lordship's mansion was among those that were
+destroyed. I beg to present to your Majesty Sir Cyril Shenstone, the
+son of the late Sir Aubrey Shenstone, a most gallant gentleman, who
+rode under my banner in many a stern fight in the service of your
+royal father."
+
+"I knew him well," the King said graciously, "but had not heard of
+his death. I am glad to hear that his son inherits his bravery. I
+have often regretted deeply that it was out of my power to requite,
+in any way, the services Sir Aubrey rendered, and the sacrifices he
+made for our House."
+
+His brow clouded a little, and he looked appealingly at Prince
+Rupert.
+
+"Sir Cyril Shenstone has no more intention of asking for favours than
+I have, Charles," the latter said. "He is going to accompany me as a
+Volunteer against the Dutch, and if the war lasts I shall ask for a
+better appointment for him."
+
+"That he shall have," the King said warmly. "None have a better claim
+to commissions in the Navy and Army than sons of gentlemen who fought
+and suffered in the cause of our royal father. My Lords," he said to
+the little group of gentlemen, who had been standing a few paces away
+while this conversation had been going on, "I would have you know Sir
+Cyril Shenstone, the son of a faithful adherent of my father, and
+who, yesterday evening, saved the lives of the three daughters of My
+Lord of Wisbech in the fire at the Savoy. He is going as a Volunteer
+with my cousin Rupert when he sails against the Dutch."
+
+The gentlemen all returned Cyril's salute courteously.
+
+"He will be fortunate in beginning his career under the eyes of so
+brave a Prince," the Earl of Rochester said, bowing to Prince Rupert.
+
+"It would be well if you all," the latter replied bluntly, "were to
+ship in the Fleet for a few months instead of wasting your time in
+empty pleasures."
+
+The Earl smiled. Prince Rupert's extreme disapproval of the life at
+Court was well known.
+
+"We cannot all be Bayards, Prince, and most of us would, methinks, be
+too sick at sea to be of much assistance, were we to go. But if the
+Dutchmen come here, which is not likely--for I doubt not, Prince,
+that you will soon send them flying back to their own ports--we shall
+all be glad to do our best to meet them when they land."
+
+The Prince made no reply, but, turning to the King, said,--
+
+"We will not detain you longer from your game, Cousin Charles. I have
+plenty to do, with all the complaints as to the state of the ships,
+and the lack of stores and necessaries."
+
+"Remember, I shall be glad to see you at my _levées_, Sir Cyril,"
+the King said, holding out his hand. "Do not wait for the Prince to
+bring you, for if you do you will wait long."
+
+Cyril doffed his hat, raised the King's hand to his lips, then, with
+a deep bow and an expression of thanks, followed Prince Rupert, who
+was already striding away.
+
+"You might have been better introduced," the Prince said when he
+overtook him. "Still it is better to be badly introduced than to have
+no introduction at all. I am too old for the flippancies of the
+Court. You had better show yourself there sometimes; you will make
+friends that may be useful. By the way, I have not your address, and
+it may be a fortnight or more before the _Henrietta_ is ready to
+take her crew on board." He took out his tablet and wrote down the
+address. "Come and see me if there is anything you want to ask me. Do
+not let the clerks keep you out with the pretence that I am busy, but
+send up your name to me, and tell them that I have ordered it shall
+be taken up, however I may be engaged."
+
+Having no occasion for haste, Cyril walked back to the City after
+leaving Prince Rupert. A great change had taken place in his fortunes
+in the last twenty-four hours. Then he had no prospects save
+continuing his work in the City for another two years, and even after
+that time he foresaw grave difficulties in the way of his obtaining a
+commission in a foreign army; for Sir John Parton, even if ready to
+carry out the promise he had formerly made him, might not have
+sufficient influence to do so. Now he was to embark in Prince
+Rupert's own ship. He would be the companion of many other gentlemen
+going out as Volunteers, and, at a bound, spring from the position of
+a writer in the City to that occupied by his father before he became
+involved in the trouble between King and Parliament. He was already
+admitted to Court, and Prince Rupert himself had promised to push his
+fortunes abroad.
+
+And yet he felt less elated than he would have expected from his
+sudden change. The question of money was the cloud that dulled the
+brightness of his prospects. As a Volunteer he would receive no pay,
+and yet he must make a fair show among the young noblemen and
+gentlemen who would be his companions. Doubtless they would be
+victualled on board, but he would have to dress well and probably pay
+a share in the expenses that would be incurred for wine and other
+things on board. Had it not been for the future he would have been
+inclined to regret that he had not refused the tempting offer; but
+the advantages to be gained by Prince Rupert's patronage were so
+large that he felt no sacrifice would be too great to that end--even
+that of accepting the assistance that Captain Dave had more than once
+hinted he should give him. It was just the dinner-hour when he
+arrived home.
+
+"Well, Cyril, I see by your face that the Prince has said nothing in
+the direction of your wishes," Captain Dave said, as he entered.
+
+"Then my face is a false witness, Captain Dave, for Prince Rupert has
+appointed me a Volunteer on board his own ship."
+
+"I am glad, indeed, lad, heartily glad, though your going will be a
+heavy loss to us all. But why were you looking so grave over it?"
+
+"I have been wondering whether I have acted wisely in accepting it,"
+Cyril said. "I am very happy here, I am earning my living, I have no
+cares of any sort, and I feel that it is a very serious matter to
+make a change. The Prince has a number of noblemen and gentlemen
+going with him as Volunteers, and I feel that I shall be out of my
+element in such company. At the same time I have every reason to be
+thankful, for Prince Rupert has promised that he will, after the war
+is over, give me introductions which will procure me a commission
+abroad."
+
+"Well, then, it seems to me that things could not look better,"
+Captain Dave said heartily. "When do you go on board?"
+
+"The Prince says it may be another fortnight; so that I shall have
+time to make my preparations, and warn the citizens I work for, that
+I am going to leave them."
+
+"I should say the sooner the better, lad. You will have to get your
+outfit and other matters seen to. Moreover, now that you have been
+taken under Prince Rupert's protection, and have become, as it were,
+an officer on his ship--for gentlemen Volunteers, although they have
+no duties in regard to working the ship, are yet officers--it is
+hardly seemly that you should be making up the accounts of bakers and
+butchers, ironmongers, and ship's storekeepers."
+
+"The work is honest, and I am in no way ashamed of it," Cyril said;
+"but as I have many things to see about, I suppose I had better give
+them notice at once. Prince Rupert presented me to the King to-day,
+and His Majesty requested me to attend at Court, which I should be
+loath to do, were it not that the Prince urged upon me that it was of
+advantage that I should make myself known."
+
+"One would think, Master Cyril, that this honour which has suddenly
+befallen you is regarded by you as a misfortune," Mrs. Dowsett said,
+laughing. "Most youths would be overjoyed at such a change in their
+fortune."
+
+"It would be all very pleasant," Cyril said, "had I the income of my
+father's estate at my back; but I feel that I shall be in a false
+position, thus thrusting myself among men who have more guineas in
+their pockets than I have pennies. However, it seems that the matter
+has been taken out of my own hands, and that, as things have turned
+out, so I must travel. Who would have thought, when John Wilkes
+fetched me out last night to go to the fire, it would make an
+alteration in my whole life, and that such a little thing as climbing
+up a ladder and helping to get three girls out of a room full of
+smoke--and John Wilkes did the most difficult part of the work--was
+to change all my prospects?"
+
+"There was a Providence in it, Cyril," Mrs. Dowsett said gently.
+"Why, else, should you have gone up that ladder, when, to all
+seeming, there was no one there. The maids were so frightened, John
+says, that they would never have said a word about there being anyone
+in that room, and the girls would have perished had you not gone up.
+Now as, owing to that, everything has turned out according to your
+wishes, it would be a sin not to take advantage of it, for you may be
+sure that, as the way has thus been suddenly opened to you, so will
+all other things follow in due course."
+
+"Thank you, madam," Cyril said simply. "I had not thought of it in
+that light, but assuredly you are right, and I will not suffer myself
+to be daunted by the difficulties there may be in my way."
+
+John Wilkes now came in and sat down to the meal. He was vastly
+pleased when he heard of the good fortune that had befallen Cyril.
+
+"It seems to me," Cyril said, "that I am but an impostor, and that at
+least some share in the good luck ought to have fallen to you, John,
+seeing that you carried them all down the ladder."
+
+"I have carried heavier bales, many a time, much longer distances
+than that--though I do not say that the woman was not a tidy weight,
+for, indeed, she was; but I would have carried down ten of them for
+the honour I had in being shaken by the hand by Prince Rupert, as
+gallant a sailor as ever sailed a ship. No, no; what I did was all in
+a day's work, and no more than lifting anchors and chains about in
+the storehouse. As for honours, I want none of them. I am moored in a
+snug port here, and would not leave Captain Dave if they would make a
+Duke of me."
+
+Nellie had said no word of congratulation to Cyril, but as they rose
+from dinner, she said, in low tones,--
+
+"You know I am pleased, and hope that you will have all the good
+fortune you deserve."
+
+Cyril set out at once to make a round of the shops where he worked.
+The announcement that he must at once terminate his connection with
+them, as he was going on board the Fleet, was everywhere received
+with great regret.
+
+"I would gladly pay double," one said, "rather than that you should
+go, for, indeed, it has taken a heavy load off my shoulders, and I
+know not how I shall get on in the future."
+
+"I should think there would be no difficulty in getting some other
+young clerk to do the work," Cyril said.
+
+"Not so easy," the man replied. "I had tried one or two before, and
+found they were more trouble than they were worth. There are not many
+who write as neatly as you do, and you do as much in an hour as some
+would take a day over. However, I wish you good luck, and if you
+should come back, and take up the work again, or start as a scrivener
+in the City, I can promise you that you shall have my books again,
+and that among my friends I can find you as much work as you can get
+through."
+
+Something similar was said to him at each of the houses where he
+called, and he felt much gratified at finding that his work had given
+such satisfaction.
+
+When he came in to supper, Cyril was conscious that something had
+occurred of an unusual nature. Nellie's eyes were swollen with
+crying; Mrs. Dowsett had also evidently been in tears; while Captain
+Dave was walking up and down the room restlessly.
+
+The servant was placing the things upon the table, and, just as they
+were about to take their seats, the bell of the front door rang
+loudly.
+
+"See who it is, John," Captain Dave said. "Whoever it is seems to be
+in a mighty hurry."
+
+In a minute or two John returned, followed by a gentleman. The latter
+paused at the door, and then said, bowing courteously, as he
+advanced, to Mrs. Dowsett,--
+
+"I must ask pardon for intruding on your meal, madam, but my business
+is urgent. I am the Earl of Wisbech, and I have called to see Sir
+Cyril Shenstone, to offer him my heartfelt thanks for the service he
+has rendered me by saving the lives of my daughters."
+
+All had risen to their feet as he entered, and there was a slight
+exclamation of surprise from the Captain, his wife, and daughter, as
+the Earl said "Sir Cyril Shenstone."
+
+Cyril stepped forward.
+
+"I am Cyril Shenstone, my Lord," he said, "and had the good fortune
+to be able, with the assistance of my friend here, John Wilkes, to
+rescue your daughters, though, at the time, indeed, I was altogether
+ignorant of their rank. It was a fortunate occurrence, but I must
+disclaim any merit in the action, for it was by mere accident that,
+mounting to the window by a ladder, I saw them lying insensible on
+the ground."
+
+"Your modesty does you credit, sir," the Earl said, shaking him
+warmly by the hand. "But such is not the opinion of Prince Rupert,
+who described it to me as a very gallant action; and, moreover, he
+said that it was you who first brought him the news that there were
+females in the house, which he and others had supposed to be empty,
+and that it was solely owing to you that the ladders were taken
+round."
+
+"Will you allow me, my Lord, to introduce to you Captain Dowsett, his
+wife, and daughter, who have been to me the kindest of friends?"
+
+"A kindness, my Lord," Captain Dave said earnestly, "that has been
+repaid a thousandfold by this good youth, of whose rank we were
+indeed ignorant until you named it. May I ask you to honour us by
+joining in our meal?"
+
+"That will I right gladly, sir," the Earl said, "for, in truth, I
+have scarce broke my fast to-day. I was down at my place in Kent when
+I was awoke this morning by one of my grooms, who had ridden down
+with the news that my mansion in the Savoy had been burned, and that
+my daughters had had a most narrow escape of their lives. Of course,
+I mounted at once and rode to town, where I was happy in finding that
+they had well-nigh recovered from the effects of their fright and the
+smoke. Neither they nor the nurse who was with them could give me any
+account of what had happened, save that they had, as they supposed,
+become insensible from the smoke. When they recovered, they found
+themselves in the Earl of Surrey's house, to which it seems they had
+been carried. After inquiry, I learned that the Duke of Albemarle and
+Prince Rupert had both been on the scene directing operations. I went
+to the latter, with whom I have the honour of being well acquainted,
+and he told me the whole story, saying that had it not been for Sir
+Cyril Shenstone, my daughters would certainly have perished. He gave
+credit, too, to Sir Cyril's companion, who, he said, carried them
+down the ladder, and himself entered the burning room the last time,
+to aid in bringing out the nurse, who was too heavy for the rescuer
+of my daughters to lift. Save a cup of wine and a piece of bread,
+that I took on my first arrival, I have not broken my fast to-day."
+
+Then he seated himself on a chair that Cyril had placed for him
+between Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie.
+
+Captain Dave whispered to John Wilkes, who went out, and returned in
+two or three minutes with three or four flasks of rare Spanish wine
+which the Captain had brought back on his last voyage, and kept for
+drinking on special occasions. The dame always kept an excellent
+table, and although she made many apologies to the Earl, he assured
+her that none were needed, for that he could have supped no better in
+his own house.
+
+"I hear," he said presently to Cyril, "that you are going out as a
+Volunteer in Prince Rupert's ship. My son is also going with him, and
+I hope, in a day or two, to introduce him to you. He is at present at
+Cambridge, but, having set his mind on sailing with the Prince, I
+have been fain to allow him to give up his studies. I heard from
+Prince Rupert that you had recently been kidnapped and taken to
+Holland. He gave me no particulars, nor did I ask them, being
+desirous of hurrying off at once to express my gratitude to you. How
+was it that such an adventure befell you--for it would hardly seem
+likely that you could have provoked the enmity of persons capable of
+such an outrage?"
+
+"It was the result of his services to me, my Lord," Captain Dave
+said. "Having been a sea-captain, I am but a poor hand at accounts;
+but, having fallen into this business at the death of my father, it
+seemed simple enough for me to get on without much book-learning. I
+made but a bad shape at it; and when Master Shenstone, as he then
+called himself, offered to keep my books for me, it seemed to me an
+excellent mode of saving myself worry and trouble. However, when he
+set himself to making up the accounts of my stock, he found that I
+was nigh eight hundred pounds short; and, setting himself to watch,
+discovered that my apprentices were in alliance with a band of
+thieves, and were nightly robbing me. We caught them and two of the
+thieves in the act. One of the latter was the receiver, and on his
+premises the proceeds of a great number of robberies were found, and
+there was no doubt that he was the chief of a notorious gang, called
+the 'Black Gang,' which had for a long time infested the City and the
+surrounding country. It was to prevent Sir Cyril from giving evidence
+at the trial that he was kidnapped and sent away. He was placed in
+the house of a diamond merchant, to whom the thieves were in the
+habit of consigning jewels; and this might well have turned out fatal
+to him, for to the same house came my elder apprentice and one of the
+men captured with him--a notorious ruffian--who had been rescued from
+the constables by a gang of their fellows, in open daylight, in the
+City. These, doubtless, would have compassed his death had he not
+happily seen them enter the house, and made his escape, taking
+passage in a coaster bound for Dunkirk, from which place he took
+another ship to England. Thus you see, my Lord, that I am indebted to
+him for saving me from a further loss that might well have ruined
+me."
+
+He paused, and glanced at Nellie, who rose at once, saying to the
+Earl,--
+
+"I trust that your Lordship will excuse my mother and myself. My
+father has more to tell you; at least, I should wish him to do so."
+
+Then, taking her mother's hand, she curtsied deeply, and they left
+the room together.
+
+"Such, my Lord, as I have told you, is the service, so far as I knew
+till this afternoon, Sir Cyril Shenstone has rendered me. That was no
+small thing, but it is very little to what I know now that I am
+indebted to him. After he went out I was speaking with my wife on
+money matters, desiring much to be of assistance to him in the matter
+of the expedition on which he is going. Suddenly my daughter burst
+into tears and left the room. I naturally bade my wife follow her and
+learn what ailed her. Then, with many sobs and tears, she told her
+mother that we little knew how much we were indebted to him. She said
+she had been a wicked girl, having permitted herself to be accosted
+several times by a well-dressed gallant, who told her that he was the
+Earl of Harwich, who had professed great love for her, and urged her
+to marry him privately.
+
+"He was about to speak to her one day when she was out under Master
+Cyril's escort. The latter interfered, and there was well-nigh a
+_fracas_ between them. Being afraid that some of the lookers-on
+might know her, and bring the matter to our ears, she mentioned so
+much to us, and, in consequence, we did not allow her to go out
+afterwards, save in the company of her mother. Nevertheless, the man
+continued to meet her, and, as he was unknown to her mother, passed
+notes into her hand. To these she similarly replied, and at last
+consented to fly with him. She did so at night, and was about to
+enter a sedan chair in the lane near this house when they were
+interrupted by the arrival of Master Shenstone and my friend John
+Wilkes. The former, it seems, had his suspicions, and setting himself
+to watch, had discovered that she was corresponding with this
+man--whom he had found was not the personage he pretended to be, but
+a disreputable hanger-on of the Court, one John Harvey--and had then
+kept up an incessant watch, with the aid of John Wilkes, outside the
+house at night, until he saw her come out and join the fellow with
+two associates, when he followed her to the chair they had in
+readiness for her.
+
+"There was, she says, a terrible scene. Swords were drawn. John
+Wilkes knocked down one of the men, and Master Shenstone ran John
+Harvey through the shoulder. Appalled now at seeing how she had been
+deceived, and how narrowly she had escaped destruction, she returned
+with her rescuers to the house, and no word was ever said on the
+subject until she spoke this afternoon. We had noticed that a great
+change had come over her, and that she seemed to have lost all her
+tastes for shows and finery, but little did we dream of the cause.
+She said that she could not have kept the secret much longer in any
+case, being utterly miserable at the thought of how she had degraded
+herself and deceived us.
+
+"It was a sad story to have to hear, my Lord, but we have fully
+forgiven her, having, indeed, cause to thank God both for her
+preservation and for the good that this seems to have wrought in her.
+She had been a spoilt child, and, being well-favoured, her head had
+been turned by flattery, and she indulged in all sorts of foolish
+dreams. Now she is truly penitent for her folly. Had you not arrived,
+my Lord, I should, when we had finished our supper, have told Master
+Shenstone that I knew of this vast service he has rendered us--a
+service to which the other was as nothing. That touched my pocket
+only; this my only child's happiness. I have told you the story, my
+Lord, by her consent, in order that you might know what sort of a
+young fellow this gentleman who has rescued your daughter is. John, I
+thank you for your share in this matter," and, with tears in his
+eyes, he held out his hand to his faithful companion.
+
+"I thank you deeply, Captain Dowsett, for having told me this story,"
+the Earl said gravely. "It was a painful one to tell, and I feel sure
+that the circumstance will, as you say, be of lasting benefit to your
+daughter. It shows that her heart is a true and loyal one, or she
+would not have had so painful a story told to a stranger, simply that
+the true character of her preserver should be known. I need not say
+that it has had the effect she desired of raising Sir Cyril Shenstone
+highly in my esteem. Prince Rupert spoke of him very highly and told
+me how he had been honourably supporting himself and his father,
+until the death of the latter. Now I see that he possesses unusual
+discretion and acuteness, as well as bravery. Now I will take my
+leave, thanking you for the good entertainment that you have given
+me. I am staying at the house of the Earl of Surrey, Sir Cyril, and I
+hope that you will call to-morrow morning, in order that my daughters
+may thank you in person."
+
+Captain Dave and Cyril escorted the Earl to the door and then
+returned to the chamber above.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+NEW FRIENDS
+
+
+On arriving at the room upstairs, Captain Dave placed his hand on
+Cyril's shoulder and said:
+
+"How can I thank you, lad, for what you have done for us?"
+
+"By saying nothing further about it, Captain Dave. I had hoped that
+the matter would never have come to your ears, and yet I rejoice, for
+her own sake, that Mistress Nellie has told you all. I thought that
+she would do so some day, for I, too, have seen how much she has been
+changed since then, and though it becomes me not to speak of one
+older than myself, I think that the experience has been for her good,
+and, above all, I am rejoiced to find that you have fully forgiven
+her, for indeed I am sure that she has been grievously punished."
+
+"Well, well, lad, it shall be as you say, for indeed I am but a poor
+hand at talking, but believe me that I feel as grateful as if I could
+express myself rightly, and that the Earl of Wisbech cannot feel one
+whit more thankful to you for having saved the lives of his three
+children than I do for your having saved my Nellie from the
+consequences of her own folly. There is one thing that you must let
+me do--it is but a small thing, but at present I have no other way of
+showing what I feel: you must let me take upon myself, as if you had
+been my son, the expenses of this outfit of yours. I was talking of
+the matter, as you may have guessed by what I said to the Earl, when
+Nellie burst into tears; and if I contemplated this when I knew only
+you had saved me from ruin, how much more do I feel it now that you
+have done this greater thing? I trust that you will not refuse me and
+my wife this small opportunity of showing our gratitude. What say
+you, John Wilkes?"
+
+"I say, Captain Dave, that it is well spoken, and I am sure Master
+Cyril will not refuse your offer."
+
+"I will not, Captain Dave, providing that you let it be as a loan
+that I may perhaps some day be enabled to repay you. I feel that it
+would be churlish to refuse so kind an offer, and it will relieve me
+of the one difficulty that troubled me when the prospects in all
+other respects seemed so fair."
+
+"That is right, lad, and you have taken a load off my mind. You have
+not acted quite fairly by us in one respect, Master Cyril!"
+
+"How is that?" Cyril asked in surprise.
+
+"In not telling us that you were Sir Cyril Shenstone, and in letting
+us put you up in an attic, and letting you go about as Nellie's
+escort, as if you had been but an apprentice."
+
+Cyril laughed.
+
+"I said that my father was Sir Aubrey Shenstone, though I own that I
+did not say so until I had been here some time; but the fact that he
+was a Baronet and not a Knight made little difference. It was a
+friendless lad whom you took in and gave shelter to, Captain Dave,
+and--it mattered not whether he was plain Cyril or Sir Cyril. I had
+certainly no thought of taking my title again until I entered a
+foreign army, and indeed it would have been a disservice to me here
+in London. I should have cut but a poor figure asking for work and
+calling myself Sir Cyril Shenstone. I should have had to enter into
+all sorts of explanations before anyone would have believed me, and I
+don't think that, even with you, I should have been so comfortable as
+I have been."
+
+"Well, at any rate, no harm has been done," Captain Dave said; "but I
+think you might have told me."
+
+"If I had, Captain Dave, you would assuredly have told your wife and
+Mistress Nellie; and it was much more pleasant for me that things
+should be as they were."
+
+"Well, perhaps you were right, lad. And I own that I might not have
+let you work at my books, and worry over that robbery, had I known
+that you were of a station above me."
+
+"That you could never have known," Cyril said warmly. "We have been
+poor ever since I can remember. I owed my education to the kindness
+of friends of my mother, and in no way has my station been equal to
+that of a London trader like yourself. As to the title, it was but a
+matter of birth, and went but ill with an empty purse and a shabby
+doublet. In the future it may be useful, but until now, it has been
+naught, and indeed worse than naught, to me."
+
+The next morning when Cyril went into the parlour he found that
+Nellie was busy assisting the maid to lay the table. When the latter
+had left the room, the girl went up to Cyril and took his hand.
+
+"I have never thanked you yet," she said. "I could not bring myself
+to speak of it, but now that I have told them I can do so. Ever since
+that dreadful night I have prayed for you, morning and evening, and
+thanked God for sending you to my rescue. What a wicked girl you must
+have thought me--and with reason! But you could not think of me worse
+than I thought of myself. Now that my father and mother have forgiven
+me I shall be different altogether. I had before made up my mind to
+tell them. Still, it did not seem to me that I should ever be happy
+again. But now that I have had the courage to speak out, and they
+have been so good to me, a great weight is lifted off my mind, and I
+mean to learn to be a good housewife like my mother, and to try to be
+worthy, some day, of an honest man's love."
+
+"I am sure you will be," Cyril said warmly. "And so, Mistress Nellie,
+it has all turned out for the best, though it did not seem so at one
+time."
+
+At this moment Captain Dave came in. "I am glad to see you two
+talking together as of old," he said. "We had thought that there must
+be some quarrel between you, for you had given up rating him, Nellie.
+Give her a kiss, Cyril; she is a good lass, though she has been a
+foolish one. Nay, Nellie, do not offer him your cheek--it is the
+fashion to do that to every idle acquaintance. Kiss him heartily, as
+if you loved him. That is right, lass. Now let us to breakfast. Where
+is your mother? She is late."
+
+"I told her that I would see after the breakfast in future, father,
+and I have begun this morning--partly because it is my duty to take
+the work off her hands, and partly because I wanted a private talk
+with Sir Cyril."
+
+"I won't be called Sir Cyril under this roof," the lad said,
+laughing. "And I warn you that if anyone calls me so I will not
+answer. I have always been Cyril with you all, and I intend to remain
+so to the end, and you must remember that it is but a few months that
+I have had the right to the title, and was never addressed by it
+until by Prince Rupert. I was for the moment well nigh as much
+surprised as you were last night."
+
+An hour later Cyril again donned his best suit, and started to pay
+his visit to the Earl. Had he not seen him over-night, he would have
+felt very uncomfortable at the thought of the visit; but he had found
+him so pleasant and friendly, and so entirely free from any air of
+pride or condescension, that it seemed as if he were going to meet a
+friend. He was particularly struck with the manner in which he had
+placed Captain Dave and his family at their ease, and got them to
+talk as freely and naturally with him as if he had been an
+acquaintance of long standing. It seemed strange to him to give his
+name as Sir Cyril Shenstone to the lackeys at the door, and he almost
+expected to see an expression of amusement on their faces. They had,
+however, evidently received instructions respecting him, for he was
+without question at once ushered into the room in which the Earl of
+Wisbech and his daughters were sitting.
+
+The Earl shook him warmly by the hand, and then, turning to his
+daughters, said,--
+
+"This is the gentleman to whom you owe your lives, girls. Sir Cyril,
+these are my daughters--Lady Dorothy, Lady Bertha, and Lady Beatrice.
+It seems somewhat strange to have to introduce you, who have saved
+their lives, to them; but you have the advantage of them, for you
+have seen them before, but they have not until now seen your face."
+
+Each of the girls as she was named made a deep curtsey, and then
+presented her cheek to be kissed, as was the custom of the times.
+
+"They are somewhat tongue-tied," the Earl said, smiling, as the
+eldest of the three cast an appealing glance to him, "and have begged
+me to thank you in their names, which I do with all my heart, and beg
+you to believe that their gratitude is none the less deep because
+they have no words to express it. They generally have plenty to say,
+I can assure you, and will find their tongues when you are a little
+better acquainted."
+
+"I am most happy to have been of service to you, ladies," Cyril said,
+bowing deeply to them. "I can hardly say that I have the advantage
+your father speaks of, for in truth the smoke was so thick, and my
+eyes smarted so with it, that I could scarce see your faces."
+
+"Their attire, too, in no way helped you," the Earl said, with a
+laugh, "for, as I hear, their costume was of the slightest. I believe
+that Dorothy's chief concern is that she did not have time to attire
+herself in a more becoming toilette before the smoke overpowered
+her."
+
+"Now, father," the girl protested, with a pretty colour in her
+cheeks, "you know I have never said anything of the sort, though I
+did say that I wished I had thrown a cloak round me. It is not
+pleasant, whatever you may think, to know that one was handed down a
+ladder in one's nightdress."
+
+"I don't care about that a bit," Beatrice said; "but you did not say,
+father, that it was a young gentleman, no older than Sydney, who
+found us and carried us out. I had expected to see a great big man."
+
+"I don't think I said anything about his age, Beatrice, but simply
+told you that I had found out that it was Sir Cyril Shenstone that
+had saved you."
+
+"Is the nurse recovering, my Lord?"
+
+"She is still in bed, and the doctor says she will be some time
+before she quite recovers from the fright and shock. They were all
+sleeping in the storey above. It was Dorothy who first woke, and,
+after waking her sisters, ran into the nurse's room, which was next
+door, and roused her. The silly woman was so frightened that she
+could do nothing but stand at the window and scream until the girls
+almost dragged her away, and forced her to come downstairs. The
+smoke, however, was so thick that they could get no farther than the
+next floor; then, guided by the screams of the other servants, they
+opened a door and ran in, but, as you know, it was not the room into
+which the women had gone. The nurse fell down in a faint as soon as
+she got in. The girls, as it seems, dragged her as far as they could
+towards the window, but she was too heavy for them; and as they had
+not shut the door, the smoke poured in and overpowered them, and they
+fell beside her. The rest you know. She is a silly woman, and she has
+quite lost my confidence by her folly and cowardice, but she has been
+a good servant, and the girls, all of whom she nursed, were fond of
+her. Still, it is evident that she is not to be trusted in an
+emergency, and it was only because the girls' governess is away on a
+visit to her mother that she happened to be left in charge of them.
+Now, young ladies, you can leave us, as I have other matters to talk
+over with Sir Cyril."
+
+The three girls curtsied deeply, first to their father, and then to
+Cyril, who held the door for them to pass out.
+
+"Now, Sir Cyril," the Earl said, as the door closed behind them, "we
+must have a talk together. You may well believe that, after what has
+happened, I look upon you almost as part of my family, and that I
+consider you have given me the right to look after your welfare as if
+you were a near relation of my own; and glad I am to have learned
+yesterday evening that you are, in all respects, one whom I might be
+proud indeed to call a kinsman. Had you been a cousin of mine, with
+parents but indifferently off in worldly goods, it would have been my
+duty, of course, to push you forward and to aid you in every way to
+make a proper figure on this expedition. I think that, after what has
+happened, I have equally the right to do so, and what would have been
+my duty, had you been a relation, is no less a duty, and will
+certainly be a great gratification to me to do now. You understand
+me, do you not? I wish to take upon myself all the charges connected
+with your outfit, and to make you an allowance, similar to that which
+I shall give to my son, for your expenses on board ship. All this is
+of course but a slight thing, but, believe me, that when the
+expedition is over it will be my pleasure to help you forward to
+advancement in any course which you may choose."
+
+"I thank you most heartily, my Lord," Cyril said, "and would not
+hesitate to accept your help in the present matter, did I need it.
+However, I have saved some little money during the past two years,
+and Captain Dowsett has most generously offered me any sum I may
+require for my expenses, and has consented to allow me to take it as
+a loan to be repaid at some future time, should it be in my power to
+do so. Your offer, however, to aid me in my career afterwards, I most
+thankfully accept. My idea has always been to take service under some
+foreign prince, and Prince Rupert has most kindly promised to aid me
+in that respect; but after serving for a time at sea I shall be
+better enabled to judge than at present as to whether that course is
+indeed the best, and I shall be most thankful for your counsel in
+this and all other matters, and feel myself fortunate indeed to have
+obtained your good will and patronage."
+
+"Well, if it must be so, it must," the Earl said. "Your friend
+Captain Dowsett seems to me a very worthy man. You have placed him
+under an obligation as heavy as my own, and he has the first claim to
+do you service. In this matter, then, I must be content to stand
+aside, but on your return from sea it will be my turn, and I shall be
+hurt and grieved indeed if you do not allow me an opportunity of
+proving my gratitude to you. As to the career you speak of, it is a
+precarious one. There are indeed many English and Scotch officers who
+have risen to high rank and honour in foreign service; but to every
+one that so succeeds, how many fall unnoticed, and lie in unmarked
+graves, in well-nigh every country in Europe? Were you like so many
+of your age, bent merely on adventure and pleasure, the case would be
+different, but it is evident that you have a clear head for business,
+that you are steady and persevering, and such being the case, there
+are many offices under the Crown in which you might distinguish
+yourself and do far better than the vast majority of those who sell
+their swords to foreign princes, and become mere soldiers of fortune,
+fighting for a cause in which they have no interest, and risking
+their lives in quarrels that are neither their own nor their
+country's.
+
+"However, all this we can talk over when you come back after having,
+as I hope, aided in destroying the Dutch Fleet. I expect my son up
+to-morrow, and trust that you will accompany him to the King's
+_levée_, next Monday. Prince Rupert tells me that he has already
+presented you to the King, and that you were well received by him, as
+indeed you had a right to be, as the son of a gentleman who had
+suffered and sacrificed much in the Royal cause. But I will take the
+opportunity of introducing you to several other gentlemen who will
+sail with you. On the following day I shall be going down into Kent,
+and shall remain there until it is time for Sydney to embark. If you
+can get your preparations finished by that time, I trust that you
+will give us the pleasure of your company, and will stay with me
+until you embark with Sydney. In this way you will come to know us
+better, and to feel, as I wish you to feel, as one of the family."
+
+Cyril gratefully accepted the invitation, and then took his leave.
+
+Captain Dave was delighted when he heard the issue of his visit to
+the Earl.
+
+"I should never have forgiven you, lad, if you had accepted the
+Earl's offer to help you in the matter of this expedition. It is no
+great thing, and comes well within my compass, and I should have been
+sorely hurt had you let him come between us; but in the future I can
+do little, and he much. I have spoken to several friends who are
+better acquainted with public affairs than I am, and they all speak
+highly of him. He holds, for the most part, aloof from Court, which
+is to his credit seeing how matters go on there; but he is spoken of
+as a very worthy gentleman and one of merit, who might take a
+prominent part in affairs were he so minded. He has broad estates in
+Kent and Norfolk, and spends the greater part of his life at one or
+other of his country seats. Doubtless, he will be able to assist you
+greatly in the future."
+
+"I did not like to refuse his offer to go down with him to Kent,"
+Cyril said, "though I would far rather have remained here with you
+until we sail."
+
+"You did perfectly right, lad. It will cut short your stay here but a
+week, and it would be madness to refuse the opportunity of getting to
+know him and his family better. The Countess died three years ago, I
+hear, and he has shown no disposition to take another wife, as he
+might well do, seeing he is but a year or two past forty, and has as
+pleasant a face and manner as I have ever seen. He is not the sort of
+man to promise what he will not perform, Cyril, and more than ever do
+I think that it was a fortunate thing for you that John Wilkes
+fetched you to that fire in the Savoy. And now, lad, you have no time
+to lose. You must come with me at once to Master Woods, the tailor,
+in Eastcheap, who makes clothes not only for the citizens but for
+many of the nobles and gallants of the Court. In the first place, you
+will need a fitting dress for the King's _levée_; then you will need
+at least one more suit similar to that you now wear, and three for on
+board ship and for ordinary occasions, made of stout cloth, but in
+the fashion; then you must have helmet, and breast- and back-pieces
+for the fighting, and for these we will go to Master Lawrence, the
+armourer, in Cheapside. All these we will order to-day in my name,
+and put them down in your account to me. As to arms, you have your
+sword, and there is but a brace of pistols to be bought. You will
+want a few things such as thick cloaks for sea service; for though I
+suppose that Volunteers do not keep their watch, you may meet with
+rains and heavy weather, and you will need something to keep you
+dry."
+
+They sallied out at once. So the clothes were ordered, and the Court
+suit, with the best of the others promised by the end of the week;
+the armour was fitted on and bought, and a stock of fine shirts with
+ruffles, hose, and shoes, was also purchased. The next day Sydney
+Oliphant, the Earl's son, called upon Cyril. He was a frank, pleasant
+young fellow, about a year older than Cyril. He was very fond of his
+sisters, and expressed in lively terms his gratitude for their
+rescue.
+
+"This expedition has happened in the nick of time for me," he said,
+when, in accordance with his invitation, Cyril and he embarked in the
+Earl's boat in which he had been rowed to the City, "for I was in bad
+odour with the authorities, and was like, erelong, to have been sent
+home far less pleasantly; and although the Earl, my father, is very
+indulgent, he would have been terribly angry with me had it been so.
+To tell you the truth, at the University we are divided into two
+sets--those who read and those who don't--and on joining I found
+myself very soon among the latter. I don't think it was quite my
+fault, for I naturally fell in with companions whom I had known
+before, and it chanced that some of these were among the wildest
+spirits in the University.
+
+"Of course I had my horses, and, being fond of riding, I was more
+often in the saddle than in my seat in the college schools. Then
+there were constant complaints against us for sitting up late and
+disturbing the college with our melodies, and altogether we stood in
+bad odour with the Dons; and when they punished us we took our
+revenge by playing them pranks, until lately it became almost open
+war, and would certainly have ended before long in a score or more of
+us being sent down. I should not have minded that myself, but it
+would have grieved the Earl, and I am not one of the new-fashioned
+ones who care naught for what their fathers may say. He has been
+praising you up to the skies this morning, I can tell you--I don't
+mean only as to the fire but about other things--and says he hopes we
+shall be great friends, and I am sure I hope so too, and think so. He
+had been telling me about your finding out about their robbing that
+good old sea-captain you live with, and how you were kidnapped
+afterwards, and sent to Holland; and how, in another adventure,
+although he did not tell me how that came about, you pricked a
+ruffling gallant through the shoulder; so that you have had a larger
+share of adventure, by a great deal, than I have. I had expected to
+see you rather a solemn personage, for the Earl told me you had more
+sense in your little finger than I had in my whole body, which was
+not complimentary to me, though I dare say it is true."
+
+"Now, as a rule, they say that sensible people are very disagreeable;
+but I hope I shall not be disagreeable," Cyril laughed, "and I am
+certainly not aware that I am particularly sensible."
+
+"No, I am sure you won't be disagreeable, but I should have been
+quite nervous about coming to see you if it had not been for the
+girls. Little Beatrice told me she thought you were a prince in
+disguise, and had evidently a private idea that the good fairies had
+sent you to her rescue. Bertha said that you were a very proper young
+gentleman, and that she was sure you were nice. Dorothy didn't say
+much, but she evidently approved of the younger girls' sentiments, so
+I felt that you must be all right, for the girls are generally pretty
+severe critics, and very few of my friends stand at all high in their
+good graces. What amusement are you most fond of?"
+
+"I am afraid I have had very little time for amusements," Cyril said.
+"I was very fond of fencing when I was in France, but have had no
+opportunity of practising since I came to England. I went to a
+bull-bait once, but thought it a cruel sport."
+
+"I suppose you go to a play-house sometimes?"
+
+"No; I have never been inside one. A good deal of my work has been
+done in the evening, and I don't know that the thought ever occurred
+to me to go. I know nothing of your English sports, and neither ride
+nor shoot, except with a pistol, with which I used to be a good shot
+when I was in France."
+
+They rowed down as low as Greenwich, then, as the tide turned, made
+their way back; and by the time Cyril alighted from the boat at
+London Bridge stairs the two young fellows had become quite intimate
+with each other.
+
+Nellie looked with great approval at Cyril as he came downstairs in a
+full Court dress. Since the avowal she had made of her fault she had
+recovered much of her brightness. She bustled about the house, intent
+upon the duties she had newly taken up, to the gratification of Mrs.
+Dowsett, who protested that her occupation was gone.
+
+"Not at all, mother. It is only that you are now captain of the ship,
+and have got to give your orders instead of carrying them out
+yourself. Father did not pull up the ropes or go aloft to furl the
+sails, while I have no doubt he had plenty to do in seeing that his
+orders were carried out. You will be worse off than he was, for he
+had John Wilkes, and others, who knew their duty, while I have got
+almost everything to learn."
+
+Although her cheerfulness had returned, and she could again be heard
+singing snatches of song about the house, her voice and manner were
+gentler and softer, and Captain Dave said to Cyril,--
+
+"It has all turned out for the best, lad. The ship was very near
+wrecked, but the lesson has been a useful one, and there is no fear
+of her being lost from want of care or good seamanship in future. I
+feel, too, that I have been largely to blame in the matter. I spoilt
+her as a child, and I spoilt her all along. Her mother would have
+kept a firmer hand upon the helm if I had not always spoken up for
+the lass, and said, 'Let her have her head; don't check the sheets in
+too tautly.' I see I was wrong now. Why, lad, what a blessing it is
+to us all that it happened when it did! for if that fire had been but
+a month earlier, you would probably have gone away with the Earl, and
+we should have known nothing of Nellie's peril until we found that
+she was gone."
+
+"Sir Cyril--no, I really cannot call you Cyril now," Nellie said,
+curtseying almost to the ground after taking a survey of the lad,
+"your costume becomes you rarely; and I am filled with wonder at the
+thought of my own stupidity in not seeing all along that you were a
+prince in disguise. It is like the fairy tales my old nurse used to
+tell me of the king's son who went out to look for a beautiful wife,
+and who worked as a scullion in the king's palace without anyone
+suspecting his rank. I think fortune has been very hard upon me, in
+that I was born five years too soon. Had I been but fourteen instead
+of nineteen, your Royal Highness might have cast favourable eyes upon
+me."
+
+"But then, Mistress Nellie," Cyril said, laughing, "you would be
+filled with grief now at the thought that I am going away to the
+wars."
+
+The girl's face changed. She dropped her saucy manner and said
+earnestly,--
+
+"I am grieved, Cyril; and if it would do any good I would sit down
+and have a hearty cry. The Dutchmen are brave fighters, and their
+fleet will be stronger than ours; and there will be many who sail
+away to sea who will never come back again. I have never had a
+brother; but it seems to me that if I had had one who was wise, and
+thoughtful, and brave, I should have loved him as I love you. I think
+the princess must always have felt somehow that the scullion was not
+what he seemed; and though I have always laughed at you and scolded
+you, I have known all along that you were not really a clerk. I don't
+know that I thought you were a prince; but I somehow felt a little
+afraid of you. You never said that you thought me vain and giddy, but
+I knew you did think so, and I used to feel a little malice against
+you; and yet, somehow, I respected and liked you all the more, and
+now it seems to me that you are still in disguise, and that, though
+you seem to be but a boy, you are really a man to whom some good
+fairy has given a boy's face. Methinks no boy could be as thoughtful
+and considerate, and as kind as you are."
+
+"You are exaggerating altogether," Cyril said; "and yet, in what you
+say about my age, I think you are partly right. I have lived most of
+my life alone; I have had much care always on my shoulders, and grave
+responsibility; thus it is that I am older in many ways than I should
+be at my years. I would it were not so. I have not had any boyhood,
+as other boys have, and I think it has been a great misfortune for
+me."
+
+"It has not been a misfortune for us, Cyril; it has been a blessing
+indeed to us all that you have not been quite like other boys, and I
+think that all your life it will be a satisfaction for you to know
+that you have saved one house from ruin, one woman from misery, and
+disgrace. Now it is time for you to be going; but although you are
+leaving us tomorrow, Cyril, I hope that you are not going quite out
+of our lives."
+
+"That you may be sure I am not, Nellie. If you have reason to be
+grateful to me, truly I have much reason to be grateful to your
+father. I have never been so happy as since I have been in this
+house, and I shall always return to it as to a home where I am sure
+of a welcome--as the place to which I chiefly owe any good fortune
+that may ever befall me."
+
+The _levée_ was a brilliant one, and was attended, in addition to
+the usual throng of courtiers, by most of the officers and gentlemen
+who were going with the Fleet. Cyril was glad indeed that he was with
+the Earl of Wisbech and his son, for he would have felt lonely and
+out of place in the brilliant throng, in which Prince Rupert's face
+would have been the only one with which he was familiar. The Earl
+introduced him to several of the gentlemen who would be his
+shipmates, and by all he was cordially received when the Earl named
+him as the gentleman who had rescued his daughters from death.
+
+At times, when the Earl was chatting with his friends, Cyril moved
+about through the rooms with Sydney, who knew by appearance a great
+number of those present, and was able to point out all the
+distinguished persons of the Court to him.
+
+"There is the Prince," he said, "talking with the Earl of Rochester.
+What a grave face he has now! It is difficult to believe that he is
+the Rupert of the wars, and the headstrong prince whose very bravery
+helped to lose well-nigh as many battles as he won. We may be sure
+that he will take us into the very thick of the fight, Cyril. Even
+now his wrist is as firm, and, I doubt not, his arm as strong as when
+he led the Cavaliers. I have seen him in the tennis-court; there is
+not one at the Court, though many are well-nigh young enough to be
+his sons, who is his match at tennis. There is the Duke of York. They
+say he is a Catholic, but I own that makes no difference to me. He is
+fond of the sea, and is never so happy as when he is on board ship,
+though you would hardly think it by his grave face. The King is fond
+of it, too. He has a pleasure vessel that is called a yacht, and so
+has the Duke of York, and they have races one against the other; but
+the King generally wins. He is making it a fashionable pastime. Some
+day I will have one myself--that is, if I find I like the sea; for it
+must be pleasant to sail about in your own vessel, and to go
+wheresoever one may fancy without asking leave from any man."
+
+When it came to his turn Cyril passed before the King with the Earl
+and his son. The Earl presented Sydney, who had not before been at
+Court, to the King, mentioning that he was going out as a Volunteer
+in Prince Rupert's vessel.
+
+"That is as it should be, my Lord," the King said. "England need
+never fear so long as her nobles and gentlemen are ready themselves
+to go out to fight her battles, and to set an example to the seamen.
+You need not present this young gentleman to me; my cousin Rupert has
+already done so, and told me of the service he has rendered to your
+daughters. He, too, sails with the Prince, and after what happened
+there can be no doubt that he can stand fire well. I would that this
+tiresome dignity did not prevent my being of the party. I would
+gladly, for once, lay my kingship down and go out as one of the
+company to help give the Dutchmen a lesson that will teach them that,
+even if caught unexpectedly, the sea-dogs of England can well hold
+their own, though they have no longer a Blake to command them."
+
+"I wonder that the King ventures to use Blake's name," Sydney
+whispered, as they moved away, "considering the indignities that he
+allowed the judges to inflict on the body of the grand old sailor."
+
+"It was scandalous!" Cyril said warmly; "and I burned with
+indignation when I heard of it in France. They may call him a traitor
+because he sided with the Parliament, but even Royalists should never
+have forgotten what great deeds he did for England. However, though
+they might have dishonoured his body, they could not touch his fame,
+and his name will be known and honoured as long as England is a
+nation and when the names of the men who condemned him have been long
+forgotten."
+
+After leaving the _levée_, Cyril went back to the City, and the next
+morning started on horseback, with the Earl and his son, to the
+latter's seat, near Sevenoaks, the ladies having gone down in the
+Earl's coach on the previous day. Wholly unaccustomed as Cyril was to
+riding, he was so stiff that he had difficulty in dismounting when
+they rode up to the mansion. The Earl had provided a quiet and
+well-trained horse for his use, and he had therefore found no
+difficulty in retaining his seat.
+
+"You must ride every day while you are down here," the Earl said,
+"and by the end of the week you will begin to be fairly at home in
+the saddle. A good seat is one of the prime necessities of a
+gentleman's education, and if it should be that you ever carry out
+your idea of taking service abroad it will be essential for you,
+because, in most cases, the officers are mounted. You can hardly
+expect ever to become a brilliant rider. For that it is necessary to
+begin young; but if you can keep your seat under all circumstances,
+and be able to use your sword on horseback, as well as on foot, it
+will be all that is needful."
+
+The week passed very pleasantly. Cyril rode and fenced daily with
+Sydney, who was surprised to find that he was fully his match with
+the sword. He walked in the gardens with the girls, who had now quite
+recovered from the effects of the fire. Bertha and Beatrice, being
+still children, chatted with him as freely and familiarly as they did
+with Sydney. Of Lady Dorothy he saw less, as she was in charge of her
+_gouvernante_, who always walked beside her, and was occupied in
+training her into the habits of preciseness and decorum in vogue at
+the time.
+
+"I do believe, Dorothy," Sydney said, one day, "that you are
+forgetting how to laugh. You walk like a machine, and seem afraid to
+move your hands or your feet except according to rule. I like you
+very much better as you were a year ago, when you did not think
+yourself too fine for a romp, and could laugh when you were pleased.
+That dragon of yours is spoiling you altogether."
+
+"That is a matter of opinion, Sydney," Dorothy said, with a deep
+curtsey. "When you first began to fence, I have no doubt you were
+stiff and awkward, and I am sure if you had always had someone by
+your side, saying, 'Keep your head up!' 'Don't poke your chin
+forward!' 'Pray do not swing your arms!' and that sort of thing, you
+would be just as awkward as I feel. I am sure I would rather run
+about with the others; the process of being turned into a young lady
+is not a pleasant one. But perhaps some day, when you see the
+finished article, you will be pleased to give your Lordship's august
+approval," and she ended with a merry laugh that would have shocked
+her _gouvernante_ if she had heard it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE BATTLE OF LOWESTOFT
+
+
+The Earl returned with his son and Cyril to town, and the latter
+spent the night in the City.
+
+"I do not know, Cyril," Captain Dave said, as they talked over his
+departure, "that you run much greater risk in going than do we in
+staying here. The Plague makes progress, and although it has not
+invaded the City, we can hardly hope that it will be long before it
+appears here. There are many evil prophecies abroad, and it is the
+general opinion that a great misfortune hangs over us, and they say
+that many have prepared to leave London. I have talked the matter
+over with my wife. We have not as yet thought of going, but should
+the Plague come heavily, it may be that we shall for a time go away.
+There will be no business to be done, for vessels will not come up
+the Thames and risk infection, nor, indeed, would they be admitted
+into ports, either in England or abroad, after coming from an
+infected place. Therefore I could leave without any loss in the way
+of trade. It will, of course, depend upon the heaviness of the
+malady, but if it becomes widespread we shall perhaps go for a visit
+to my wife's cousin, who lives near Gloucester, and who has many
+times written to us urging us to go down with Nellie for a visit to
+her. Hitherto, business has prevented my going, but if all trade
+ceases, it would be a good occasion for us, and such as may never
+occur again. Still, I earnestly desire that it may not arise, for it
+cannot do so without sore trouble and pain alighting on the City. Did
+the Earl tell you, Cyril, what he has done with regard to John?"
+
+"No; he did not speak to me on the subject."
+
+"His steward came here three days since with a gold watch and chain,
+as a gift from the Earl. The watch has an inscription on the case,
+saying that it is presented to John Wilkes from the Earl of Wisbech,
+as a memorial of his gratitude for the great services rendered to his
+daughters. Moreover, he brought a letter from the Earl saying that if
+John should at any time leave my service, owing to my death or
+retirement from business, or from John himself wishing, either from
+age or other reason, to leave me, he would place at his service a
+cottage and garden on his estate, and a pension of twenty pounds a
+year, to enable him to live in comfort for the remainder of his days.
+John is, as you may suppose, mightily pleased, for though I would
+assuredly never part with him as long as I live, and have by my will
+made provision that will keep him from want in case I die before him,
+it was mighty pleasant to receive so handsome a letter and offer of
+service from the Earl. Nellie wrote for him a letter in which he
+thanked the Earl for the kindness of his offer, for which, although
+he hoped he should never be forced to benefit from it, he was none
+the less obliged and grateful, seeing that he had done nothing that
+any other bystander would not have done, to deserve it."
+
+Early the next morning Sydney Oliphant rode up to the door, followed
+by two grooms, one of whom had a led horse, and the other a
+sumpter-mule, which was partly laden. Captain Dave went down with
+Cyril to the door.
+
+"I pray you to enter, my Lord," he said. "My wife will not be happy
+unless you take a cup of posset before you start. Moreover, she and
+my daughter desire much to see you, as you are going to sail with Sir
+Cyril, whom we regard as a member of our family."
+
+"I will come up right willingly," the young noble said, leaping
+lightly from his horse. "If your good dame's posset is as good as the
+wine the Earl, my father, tells me you gave him, it must be good
+indeed; for he told me he believed he had none in his cellar equal to
+it."
+
+He remained for a few minutes upstairs, chatting gaily, vowing that
+the posset was the best he had ever drank, and declaring to Nellie
+that he regarded as a favourable omen for his expedition that he
+should have seen so fair a face the last thing before starting. He
+shook hands with John Wilkes heartily when he came up to say that
+Cyril's valises were all securely packed on the horses, and then went
+off, promising to send Captain Dave a runnet of the finest schiedam
+from the Dutch Admiral's ship.
+
+"Truly, I am thankful you came up," Cyril said, as they mounted and
+rode off. "Before you came we were all dull, and the Dame and
+Mistress Nellie somewhat tearful; Now we have gone off amidst smiles,
+which is vastly more pleasant."
+
+Crossing London Bridge, they rode through Southwark, and then out
+into the open country. Each had a light valise strapped behind the
+saddle, and the servants had saddle-bags containing the smaller
+articles of luggage, while the sumpter-mule carried two trunks with
+their clothes and sea necessaries. It was late in the evening when
+they arrived at Chatham. Here they put up at an hotel which was
+crowded with officers of the Fleet, and with Volunteers like
+themselves.
+
+"I should grumble at these quarters, Cyril," Sydney said, as the
+landlord, with many apologies, showed them into a tiny attic, which
+was the only place he had unoccupied, "were it not that we are going
+to sea to-morrow, and I suppose that our quarters will be even
+rougher there. However, we may have elbow-room for a time, for most
+of the Volunteers will not join, I hear, until the last thing before
+the Fleet sails, and it may be a fortnight yet before all the ships
+are collected. I begged my father to let me do the same, but he goes
+back again to-day to Sevenoaks, and he liked not the idea of my
+staying in town, seeing that the Plague is spreading so rapidly. I
+would even have stayed in the country had he let me, but he was of
+opinion that I was best on board--in the first place, because I may
+not get news down there in time to join the Fleet before it sails,
+and in the second, that I might come to get over this sickness of the
+sea, and so be fit and able to do my part when we meet the Dutch.
+This was so reasonable that I could urge nothing against it; for, in
+truth, it would be a horrible business if I were lying like a sick
+dog, unable to lift my head, while our men were fighting the Dutch. I
+have never been to sea, and know not how I shall bear it. Are you a
+good sailor?"
+
+"Yes; I used to go out very often in a fishing-boat at Dunkirk, and
+never was ill from the first. Many people are not ill at all, and it
+will certainly be of an advantage to you to be on board for a short
+time in quiet waters before setting out for sea."
+
+On going downstairs, Lord Oliphant found several young men of his
+acquaintance among those staying in the house. He introduced Cyril to
+them. But the room was crowded and noisy; many of those present had
+drunk more than was good for them, and it was not long before Cyril
+told his friend that he should go up to bed.
+
+"I am not accustomed to noisy parties, Sydney, and feel quite
+confused with all this talk."
+
+"You will soon get accustomed to it, Cyril. Still, do as you like. I
+dare say I shall not be very long before I follow you."
+
+The next morning after breakfast they went down to the quay, and took
+a boat to the ship, which was lying abreast of the dockyard. The
+captain, on their giving their names, consulted the list.
+
+"That is right, gentlemen, though indeed I know not why you should
+have come down until we are ready to sail, which may not be for a
+week or more, though we shall go out from here to-morrow and join
+those lying in the Hope; for indeed you can be of no use while we are
+fitting, and would but do damage to your clothes and be in the way of
+the sailors. It is but little accommodation you will find on board
+here, though we will do the best we can for you."
+
+"We do not come about accommodation, captain," Lord Oliphant laughed,
+"and we have brought down gear with us that will not soil, or rather,
+that cannot be the worse for soiling. There are three or four others
+at the inn where we stopped last night who are coming on board, but I
+hear that the rest of the Volunteers will probably join when the
+Fleet assembles in Yarmouth roads."
+
+"Then they must be fonder of journeying on horseback than I am," the
+captain said. "While we are in the Hope, where, indeed, for aught I
+know, we may tarry but a day or two, they could come down by boat
+conveniently without trouble, whereas to Yarmouth it is a very long
+ride, with the risk of losing their purses to the gentlemen of the
+road. Moreover, though the orders are at present that the Fleet
+gather at Yarmouth, and many are already there 'tis like that it may
+be changed in a day for Harwich or the Downs. I pray you get your
+meals at your inn to-day, for we are, as you see, full of work taking
+on board stores. If it please you to stay and watch what is doing
+here you are heartily welcome, but please tell the others that they
+had best not come off until late in the evening, by which time I will
+do what I can to have a place ready for them to sleep. We shall sail
+at the turn of the tide, which will be at three o'clock in the
+morning."
+
+Oliphant wrote a few lines to the gentlemen on shore, telling them
+that the captain desired that none should come on board until the
+evening, and having sent it off by their boatmen, telling them to
+return in time to take them back to dinner, he and Cyril mounted to
+the poop and surveyed the scene round them. The ship was surrounded
+with lighters and boats from the dockyards, and from these casks and
+barrels, boxes and cases, were being swung on board by blocks from
+the yards, or rolled in at the port-holes. A large number of men were
+engaged at the work, and as fast as the stores came on board they
+were seized by the sailors and carried down into the hold, the
+provisions piled in tiers of barrels, the powder-kegs packed in the
+magazine.
+
+"'Tis like an ant-hill," Cyril said. "'Tis just as I have seen when a
+nest has been disturbed. Every ant seizes a white egg as big as
+itself, and rushes off with it to the passage below."
+
+"They work bravely," his companion said. "Every man seems to know
+that it is important that the ship should be filled up by to-night.
+See! the other four vessels lying above us are all alike at work, and
+may, perhaps, start with us in the morning. The other ships are busy,
+too, but not as we are. I suppose they will take them in hand when
+they have got rid of us."
+
+"I am not surprised that the captain does not want idlers here, for,
+except ourselves, every man seems to have his appointed work."
+
+"I feel half inclined to take off my doublet and to go and help to
+roll those big casks up the planks."
+
+"I fancy, Sydney, we should be much more in the way there than here.
+There is certainly no lack of men, and your strength and mine
+together would not equal that of one of those strong fellows;
+besides, we are learning something here. It is good to see how
+orderly the work is being carried on, for, in spite of the number
+employed, there is no confusion. You see there are three barges on
+each side; the upper tiers of barrels and bales are being got on
+board through the portholes, while the lower ones are fished up from
+the bottom by the ropes from the yards and swung into the waist, and
+so passed below; and as fast as one barge is unloaded another drops
+alongside to take its place."
+
+They returned to the inn to dinner, after which they paid a visit to
+the victualling yard and dockyard, where work was everywhere going
+on. After supper they, with the other gentlemen for Prince Rupert's
+ship, took boat and went off together. They had learned that, while
+they would be victualled on board, they must take with them wine and
+other matters they required over and above the ship's fare. They had
+had a consultation with the other gentlemen after dinner, and
+concluded that it would be best to take but a small quantity of
+things, as they knew not how they would be able to stow them away,
+and would have opportunities of getting, at Gravesend or at Yarmouth,
+further stores, when they saw what things were required. They
+therefore took only a cheese, some butter, and a case of wine. As
+soon as they got on board they were taken below. They found that a
+curtain of sail-cloth had been hung across the main deck, and
+hammocks slung between the guns. Three or four lanterns were hung
+along the middle.
+
+"This is all we can do for you, gentlemen," the officer who conducted
+them down said. "Had we been going on a pleasure trip we could have
+knocked up separate cabins, but as we must have room to work the
+guns, this cannot be done. In the morning the sailors will take down
+these hammocks, and will erect a table along the middle, where you
+will take your meals. At present, as you see, we have only slung
+hammocks for you, but when you all come on board there will be
+twenty. We have, so far, only a list of sixteen, but as the Prince
+said that two or three more might come at the last moment we have
+railed off space enough for ten hammocks on each side. We will get
+the place cleaned for you to-morrow, but the last barge was emptied
+but a few minutes since, and we could do naught but just sweep the
+deck down. To-morrow everything shall be scrubbed and put in order."
+
+"It will do excellently well," one of the gentlemen said. "We have
+not come on board ship to get luxuries, and had we to sleep on the
+bare boards you would hear no grumbling."
+
+"Now, gentlemen, as I have shown you your quarters, will you come up
+with me to the captain's cabin? He has bade me say that he will be
+glad if you will spend an hour with him there before you retire to
+rest."
+
+On their entering, the captain shook hands with Lord Oliphant and
+Cyril.
+
+"I must apologise, gentlemen, for being short with you when you came
+on board this morning; but my hands were full, and I had no time to
+be polite. They say you can never get a civil answer from a housewife
+on her washing-day, and it is the same thing with an officer on board
+a ship when she is taking in her stores. However, that business is
+over, and now I am glad to see you all, and will do my best to make
+you as comfortable as I can, which indeed will not be much; for as we
+shall, I hope, be going into action in the course of another ten
+days, the decks must all be kept clear, and as we have the Prince on
+board, we have less cabin room than we should have were we not an
+admiral's flagship."
+
+Wine was placed on the table, and they had a pleasant chat. They
+learnt that the Fleet was now ready for sea.
+
+"Four ships will sail with ours to-morrow," the captain said, "and
+the other five will be off the next morning. They have all their
+munitions on board, and will take in the rest of their provisions
+to-morrow. The Dutch had thought to take us by surprise, but from
+what we hear they are not so forward as we, for things have been
+pushed on with great zeal at all our ports, the war being generally
+popular with the nation, and especially with the merchants, whose
+commerce has been greatly injured by the pretensions and violence of
+the Dutch. The Portsmouth ships, and those from Plymouth, are already
+on their way round to the mouth of the Thames, and in a week we may
+be at sea. I only hope the Dutch will not be long before they come
+out to fight us. However, we are likely to pick up a great many
+prizes, and, next to fighting, you know, sailors like prize-money."
+
+After an hour's talk the five gentlemen went below to their hammocks,
+and then to bed, with much laughter at the difficulty they had in
+mounting into their swinging cots.
+
+It was scarce daylight when they were aroused by a great stir on
+board the ship, and, hastily putting on their clothes, went on deck.
+Already a crowd of men were aloft loosening the sails. Others had
+taken their places in boats in readiness to tow the ship, for the
+wind was, as yet, so light that it was like she would scarce have
+steerage way, and there were many sharp angles in the course down the
+river to be rounded, and shallows to be avoided. A few minutes later
+the moorings were cast off, the sails sheeted home, and the crew gave
+a great cheer, which was answered from the dockyard, and from boats
+alongside, full of the relations and friends of the sailors, who
+stood up and waved their hats and shouted good bye.
+
+The sails still hung idly, but the tide swept the ship along, and the
+men in the boats ahead simply lay on their oars until the time should
+come to pull her head round in one direction or another. They had not
+long to wait, for, as they reached the sharp corner at the end of the
+reach, orders were shouted, the men bent to their oars, and the
+vessel was taken round the curve until her head pointed east.
+Scarcely had they got under way when they heard the cheer from the
+ship astern of them, and by the time they had reached the next curve,
+off the village of Gillingham, the other four ships had rounded the
+point behind them, and were following at a distance of about a
+hundred yards apart. Soon afterwards the wind sprang up and the sails
+bellied out, and the men in the boats had to row briskly to keep
+ahead of the ship. The breeze continued until they passed Sheerness,
+and presently they dropped anchor inside the Nore sands. There they
+remained until the tide turned, and then sailed up the Thames to the
+Hope, where some forty men-of-war were already at anchor.
+
+The next morning some barges arrived from Tilbury, laden with
+soldiers, of whom a hundred and fifty came on board, their quarters
+being on the main deck on the other side of the canvas division. A
+cutter also brought down a number of impressed men, twenty of whom
+were put on board the _Henrietta_ to complete her crew. Cyril was
+standing on the poop watching them come on board, when he started as
+his eye fell on two of their number. One was Robert Ashford; the
+other was Black Dick. They had doubtless returned from Holland when
+war was declared. Robert Ashford had assumed the dress of a sailor
+the better to disguise himself, and the two had been carried off
+together from some haunt of sailors at Wapping. He pointed them out
+to his friend Sydney.
+
+"So those are the two scamps? The big one looks a truculent ruffian.
+Well, they can do you no harm here, Cyril. I should let them stay and
+do their share of the fighting, and then, when the voyage is over, if
+they have not met with a better death than they deserve at the hands
+of the Dutch, you can, if you like, denounce them, and have them
+handed over to the City authorities."
+
+"That I will do, as far as the big ruffian they call Black Dick is
+concerned. He is a desperate villain, and for aught I know may have
+committed many a murder, and if allowed to go free might commit many
+more. Besides, I shall never feel quite safe as long as he is at
+large. As to Robert Ashford, he is a knave, but I know no worse of
+him, and will therefore let him go his way."
+
+In the evening the other ships from Chatham came up, and the captain
+told them later that the Earl of Sandwich, who was in command, would
+weigh anchor in the morning, as the contingent from London, Chatham,
+and Sheerness was now complete. Cyril thought that he had never seen
+a prettier sight, as the Fleet, consisting of fifty men-of-war, of
+various sizes, and eight merchant vessels that had been bought and
+converted into fire-ships, got under way and sailed down the river.
+That night they anchored off Felixstowe, and the next day proceeded,
+with a favourable wind, to Yarmouth, where already a great number of
+ships were at anchor. So far the five Volunteers had taken their
+meals with the captain, but as the others would be coming on board,
+they were now to mess below, getting fresh meat and vegetables from
+the shore as they required them. As to other stores, they resolved to
+do nothing till the whole party arrived.
+
+They had not long to wait, for, on the third day after their arrival,
+the Duke of York and Prince Rupert, with a great train of gentlemen,
+arrived in the town, and early the next morning embarked on board
+their respective ships. A council was held by the Volunteers in their
+quarters, three of their number were chosen as caterers, and, a
+contribution of three pounds a head being agreed upon, these went
+ashore in one of the ship's boats, and returned presently with a
+barrel or two of good biscuits, the carcasses of five sheep, two or
+three score of ducks and chickens, and several casks of wine,
+together with a large quantity of vegetables. The following morning
+the signal was hoisted on the mast-head of the _Royal Charles_, the
+Duke of York's flagship, for the Fleet to prepare to weigh anchor,
+and they presently got under way in three squadrons, the red under
+the special orders of the Duke, the white under Prince Rupert, and
+the blue under the Earl of Sandwich.
+
+The Fleet consisted of one hundred and nine men-of-war and frigates,
+and twenty-eight fire-ships and ketches, manned by 21,006 seamen and
+soldiers. They sailed across to the coast of Holland, and cruised,
+for a few days, off Texel, capturing ten or twelve merchant vessels
+that tried to run in. So far, the weather had been very fine, but
+there were now signs of a change of weather. The sky became overcast,
+the wind rose rapidly, and the signal was made for the Fleet to
+scatter, so that each vessel should have more sea-room, and the
+chance of collision be avoided. By nightfall the wind had increased
+to the force of a gale, and the vessels were soon labouring heavily.
+Cyril and two or three of his comrades who, like himself, did not
+suffer from sickness, remained on deck; the rest were prostrate
+below.
+
+For forty-eight hours the gale continued, and when it abated and the
+ships gradually closed up round the three admirals' flags, it was
+found that many had suffered sorely in the gale. Some had lost their
+upper spars, others had had their sails blown away, some their
+bulwarks smashed in, and two or three had lost their bowsprits. There
+was a consultation between the admirals and the principal captains,
+and it was agreed that it was best to sail back to England for
+repairs, as many of the ships were unfitted to take their place in
+line of battle, and as the Dutch Fleet was known to be fully equal to
+their own in strength, it would have been hazardous to risk an
+engagement. So the ketches and some of the light frigates were at
+once sent off to find the ships that had not yet joined, and give
+them orders to make for Yarmouth, Lowestoft, or Harwich. All vessels
+uninjured were to gather off Lowestoft, while the others were to make
+for the other ports, repair their damages as speedily as possible,
+and then rejoin at Lowestoft.
+
+No sooner did the Dutch know that the English Fleet had sailed away
+than they put their fleet to sea. It consisted of one hundred and
+twelve men-of-war, and thirty fire-ships, and small craft manned by
+22,365 soldiers and sailors. It was commanded by Admiral Obdam,
+having under him Tromp, Evertson, and other Dutch admirals. On their
+nearing England they fell in with nine ships from Hamburg, with rich
+cargoes, and a convoy of a thirty-four gun frigate. These they
+captured, to the great loss of the merchants of London.
+
+The _Henrietta_ had suffered but little in the storm, and speedily
+repaired her damages without going into port. With so much haste and
+energy did the crews of the injured ships set to work at refitting
+them, that in four days after the main body had anchored off
+Lowestoft, they were rejoined by all the ships that had made for
+Harwich and Yarmouth.
+
+At midnight on June 2nd, a fast-sailing fishing-boat brought in the
+news that the Dutch Fleet were but a few miles away, sailing in that
+direction, having apparently learnt the position of the English from
+some ship or fishing-boat they had captured.
+
+The trumpets on the admiral's ship at once sounded, and Prince Rupert
+and the Earl of Sandwich immediately rowed to her. They remained but
+a few minutes, and on their return to their respective vessels made
+the signals for their captains to come on board. The order, at such
+an hour, was sufficient to notify all that news must have been
+received of the whereabouts of the Dutch Fleet, and by the time the
+captains returned to their ships the crews were all up and ready to
+execute any order. At two o'clock day had begun to break, and soon
+from the mastheads of several of the vessels the look-out shouted
+that they could perceive the Dutch Fleet but four miles away. A
+mighty cheer rose throughout the Fleet, and as it subsided a gun from
+the _Royal Charles_ gave the order to weigh anchor, and a few
+minutes later the three squadrons, in excellent order, sailed out to
+meet the enemy.
+
+They did not, however, advance directly towards them, but bore up
+closely into the wind until they had gained the weather gauge of the
+enemy. Having obtained this advantage, the Duke flew the signal to
+engage. The Volunteers were all in their places on the poop, being
+posted near the rail forward, that they might be able either to run
+down the ladder to the waist and aid to repel boarders, or to spring
+on to a Dutch ship should one come alongside, and also that the
+afterpart of the poop, where Prince Rupert and the captain had taken
+their places near the wheel, should be free. The Prince himself had
+requested them so to station themselves.
+
+"At other times, gentlemen, you are my good friends and comrades," he
+said, "but, from the moment that the first gun fires, you are
+soldiers under my orders; and I pray you take your station and remain
+there until I call upon you for action, for my whole attention must
+be given to the manoeuvring of the ship, and any movement or talking
+near me might distract my thoughts. I shall strive to lay her
+alongside of the biggest Dutchman I can pick out, and as soon as the
+grapnels are thrown, and their sides grind together, you will have
+the post of honour, and will lead the soldiers aboard her. Once among
+the Dutchmen, you will know what to do without my telling you."
+
+"'Tis a grand sight, truly, Cyril," Sydney said, in a low tone, as
+the great fleets met each other.
+
+"A grand sight, truly, Sydney, but a terrible one. I do not think I
+shall mind when I am once at it, but at present I feel that, despite
+my efforts, I am in a tremor, and that my knees shake as I never felt
+them before."
+
+"I am glad you feel like that, Cyril, for I feel much like it myself,
+and began to be afraid that I had, without knowing it, been born a
+coward. There goes the first gun."
+
+As he spoke, a puff of white smoke spouted out from the bows of one
+of the Dutch ships, and a moment later the whole of their leading
+vessels opened fire. There was a rushing sound overhead, and a ball
+passed through the main topsail of the _Henrietta_. No reply was
+made by the English ships until they passed in between the Dutchmen;
+then the _Henrietta_ poured her broadsides into the enemy on either
+side of her, receiving theirs in return. There was a rending of wood,
+and a quiver through the ship. One of the upper-deck-guns was knocked
+off its carriage, crushing two of the men working it as it fell.
+Several others were hurt with splinters, and the sails pierced with
+holes. Again and again as she passed, did the _Henrietta_ exchange
+broadsides with the Dutch vessels, until--the two fleets having
+passed through each other--she bore up, and prepared to repeat the
+manoeuvre.
+
+"I feel all right now," Cyril said, "but I do wish I had something to
+do instead of standing here useless. I quite envy the men there,
+stripped to the waist, working the guns. There is that fellow Black
+Dick, by the gun forward; he is a scoundrel, no doubt, but what
+strength and power he has! I saw him put his shoulder under that gun
+just now, and slew it across by sheer strength, so as to bear upon
+the stern of the Dutchman. I noticed him and Robert looking up at me
+just before the first gun was fired, and speaking together. I have no
+doubt he would gladly have pointed the gun at me instead of at the
+enemy, for he knows that, if I denounce him, he will get the due
+reward of his crimes."
+
+As soon as the ships were headed round they passed through the Dutch
+as before, and this manoeuvre was several times repeated. Up to one
+o'clock in the day no great advantage had been gained on either side.
+Spars had been carried away; there were yawning gaps in the bulwarks;
+portholes had been knocked into one, guns dismounted, and many
+killed; but as yet no vessel on either side had been damaged to an
+extent that obliged her to strike her flag, or to fall out of the
+fighting line. There had been a pause after each encounter, in which
+both fleets had occupied themselves in repairing damages, as far as
+possible, reeving fresh ropes in place of those that had been shot
+away, clearing the wreckage of fallen spars and yards, and carrying
+the wounded below. Four of the Volunteers had been struck down--two
+of them mortally wounded, but after the first passage through the
+enemy's fleet, Prince Rupert had ordered them to arm themselves with
+muskets from the racks, and to keep up a fire at the Dutch ships as
+they passed, aiming specially at the man at the wheel. The order had
+been a very welcome one, for, like Cyril, they had all felt
+inactivity in such a scene to be a sore trial. They were now ranged
+along on both sides of the poop.
+
+At one o'clock Lord Sandwich signalled to the Blue Squadron to close
+up together as they advanced, as before, against the enemy's line.
+His position at the time was in the centre, and his squadron, sailing
+close together, burst into the Dutch line before their ships could
+make any similar disposition. Having thus broken it asunder, instead
+of passing through it, the squadron separated, and the ships, turning
+to port and starboard, each engaged an enemy. The other two squadrons
+similarly ranged up among the Dutch, and the battle now became
+furious all along the line. Fire-ships played an important part in
+the battles of the time, and the thoughts of the captain of a ship
+were not confined to struggles with a foe of equal size, but were
+still more engrossed by the need for avoiding any fire-ship that
+might direct its course towards him.
+
+Cyril had now no time to give a thought as to what was passing
+elsewhere. The _Henrietta_ had ranged up alongside a Dutch vessel of
+equal size, and was exchanging broadsides with her. All round were
+vessels engaged in an equally furious encounter. The roar of the guns
+and the shouts of the seamen on both sides were deafening. One moment
+the vessel reeled from the recoil of her own guns, the next she
+quivered as the balls of the enemy crashed through her sides.
+
+Suddenly, above the din, Cyril heard the voice of Prince Rupert sound
+like a trumpet.
+
+"Hatchets and pikes on the starboard quarter! Draw in the guns and
+keep off this fire-ship."
+
+Laying their muskets against the bulwarks, he and Sydney sprang to
+the mizzen-mast, and each seized a hatchet from those ranged against
+it. They then rushed to the starboard side, just as a small ship came
+out through the cloud of smoke that hung thickly around them.
+
+There was a shock as she struck the _Henrietta_, and then, as she
+glided alongside, a dozen grapnels were thrown by men on her yards.
+The instant they had done so, the men disappeared, sliding down the
+ropes and running aft to their boat. Before the last leaped in he
+stooped. A flash of fire ran along the deck, there was a series of
+sharp explosions, and then a bright flame sprang up from the
+hatchways, ran up the shrouds and ropes, that had been soaked with
+oil and tar, and in a moment the sails were on fire. In spite of the
+flames, a score of men sprang on to the rigging of the _Henrietta_
+and cut the ropes of the grapnels, which, as yet--so quickly had the
+explosion followed their throwing--had scarce begun to check the way
+the fire-ship had on her as she came up.
+
+Cyril, having cast over a grapnel that had fallen on the poop, looked
+down on the fire-ship as she drifted along. The deck, which, like
+everything else, had been smeared with tar, was in a blaze, but the
+combustible had not been carried as far as the helm, where doubtless
+the captain had stood to direct her course. A sudden thought struck
+him. He ran along the poop until opposite the stern of the fire-ship,
+climbed over the bulwark and leapt down on to the deck, some fifteen
+feet below him. Then he seized the helm and jammed it hard down. The
+fire-ship had still steerage way on her, and he saw her head at once
+begin to turn away from the _Henrietta_; the movement was aided by
+the latter's crew, who, with poles and oars, pushed her off.
+
+The heat was terrific, but Cyril's helmet and breast-piece sheltered
+him somewhat; yet though he shielded his face with his arm, he felt
+that it would speedily become unbearable. His eye fell upon a coil of
+rope at his feet. Snatching it up, he fastened it to the tiller and
+then round a belaying-pin in the bulwark, caught up a bucket with a
+rope attached, threw it over the side and soused its contents over
+the tiller-rope, then, unbuckling the straps of his breast- and
+back-pieces, he threw them off, cast his helmet on the deck,
+blistering his hands as he did so, and leapt overboard. It was with a
+delicious sense of coolness that he rose to the surface and looked
+round. Hitherto he had been so scorched by the flame and smothered by
+the smoke that it was with difficulty he had kept his attention upon
+what he was doing, and would doubtless, in another minute, have
+fallen senseless. The plunge into the sea seemed to restore his
+faculties, and as he came up he looked eagerly to see how far success
+had attended his efforts.
+
+He saw with delight that the bow of the fire-ship was thirty or forty
+feet distant from the side of the _Henrietta_ and her stern half
+that distance. Two or three of the sails of the man-of-war had caught
+fire, but a crowd of seamen were beating the flames out of two of
+them while another, upon which the fire had got a better hold, was
+being cut away from its yard. As he turned to swim to the side of the
+_Henrietta_, three or four ropes fell close to him. He twisted one
+of these round his body, and, a minute later, was hauled up into the
+waist. He was saluted with a tremendous cheer, and was caught up by
+three or four strong fellows, who, in spite of his remonstrances,
+carried him up on to the poop. Prince Rupert was standing on the top
+of the ladder.
+
+"Nobly done, Sir Cyril!" he exclaimed. "You have assuredly saved the
+_Henrietta_ and all our lives. A minute later, and we should have
+been on fire beyond remedy. But I will speak more to you when we have
+finished with the Dutchman on the other side."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+HONOURABLE SCARS
+
+
+During the time that the greater part of the crew of the _Henrietta_
+had been occupied with the fire-ship, the enemy had redoubled their
+efforts, and as the sailors returned to their guns, the mizzen-mast
+fell with a crash. A minute later, a Dutch man-of-war ran alongside,
+fired a broadside, and grappled. Then her crew, springing over the
+bulwarks, poured on to the deck of the _Henrietta_. They were met
+boldly by the soldiers, who had hitherto borne no part in the fight,
+and who, enraged at the loss they had been compelled to suffer, fell
+upon the enemy with fury. For a moment, however, the weight of
+numbers of the Dutchmen bore them back, but the sailors, who had at
+first been taken by surprise, snatched up their boarding pikes and
+axes.
+
+Prince Rupert, with the other officers and Volunteers, dashed into
+the thick of the fray, and, step by step, the Dutchmen were driven
+back, until they suddenly gave way and rushed back to their own ship.
+The English would have followed them, but the Dutch who remained on
+board their ship, seeing that the fight was going against their
+friends, cut the ropes of the grapnels, and the ships drifted apart,
+some of the last to leave the deck of the _Henrietta_ being forced
+to jump into the sea. The cannonade was at once renewed on both
+sides, but the Dutch had had enough of it--having lost very heavily
+in men--and drew off from the action.
+
+Cyril had joined in the fray. He had risen to his feet and drawn his
+sword, but he found himself strangely weak. His hands were blistered
+and swollen, his face was already so puffed that he could scarce see
+out of his eyes; still, he had staggered down the steps to the waist,
+and, recovering his strength from the excitement, threw himself into
+the fray.
+
+Scarce had he done so, when a sailor next to him fell heavily against
+him, shot through the head by one of the Dutch soldiers. Cyril
+staggered, and before he could recover himself, a Dutch sailor struck
+at his head. He threw up his sword to guard the blow, but the guard
+was beaten down as if it had been a reed. It sufficed, however,
+slightly to turn the blow, which fell first on the side of the head,
+and then, glancing down, inflicted a terrible wound on the shoulder.
+
+He fell at once, unconscious, and, when he recovered his senses,
+found himself laid out on the poop, where Sydney, assisted by two of
+the other gentlemen, had carried him. His head and shoulder had
+already been bandaged, the Prince having sent for his doctor to come
+up from below to attend upon him.
+
+The battle was raging with undiminished fury all round, but, for the
+moment, the _Henrietta_ was not engaged, and her crew were occupied
+in cutting away the wreckage of the mizzen-mast, and trying to repair
+the more important of the damages that she had suffered. Carpenters
+were lowered over the side, and were nailing pieces of wood over the
+shot-holes near the water-line. Men swarmed aloft knotting and
+splicing ropes and fishing damaged spars.
+
+Sydney, who was standing a short distance away, at once came up to
+him.
+
+"How are you, Cyril?"
+
+"My head sings, and my shoulder aches, but I shall do well enough.
+Please get me lifted up on to that seat by the bulwark, so that I can
+look over and see what is going on."
+
+"I don't think you are strong enough to sit up, Cyril."
+
+"Oh, yes I am; besides, I can lean against the bulwark."
+
+Cyril was placed in the position he wanted, and, leaning his arm on
+the bulwark and resting his head on it, was able to see what was
+passing.
+
+Suddenly a tremendous explosion was heard a quarter of a mile away.
+
+"The Dutch admiral's ship has blown up," one of the men aloft
+shouted, and a loud cheer broke from the crew.
+
+It was true. The Duke of York in the _Royal Charles_, of eighty
+guns, and the _Eendracht_, of eighty-four, the flagship of Admiral
+Obdam, had met and engaged each other fiercely. For a time the
+Dutchmen had the best of it. A single shot killed the Earl of
+Falmouth, Lord Muskerry, and Mr. Boyle, three gentlemen Volunteers,
+who at the moment were standing close to the Duke, and the _Royal
+Charles_ suffered heavily until a shot from one of her guns struck
+the Dutchman's magazine, and the _Eendracht_ blew up, only five men
+being rescued out of the five hundred that were on board of her.
+
+This accident in no small degree decided the issue of the engagement,
+for the Dutch at once fell into confusion. Four of their ships, a few
+hundred yards from the _Henrietta_, fell foul of each other, and
+while the crews were engaged in trying to separate them an English
+fire-ship sailed boldly up and laid herself alongside. A moment later
+the flames shot up high, and the boat with the crew of the fire-ship
+rowed to the _Henrietta_. The flames instantly spread to the Dutch
+men-of-war, and the sailors were seen jumping over in great numbers.
+Prince Rupert ordered the boats to be lowered, but only one was found
+to be uninjured. This was manned and pushed off at once, and, with
+others from British vessels near, rescued a good many of the Dutch
+sailors.
+
+Still the fight was raging all round; but a short time afterwards
+three other of the finest ships in the Dutch Fleet ran into each
+other. Another of the English fire-ships hovering near observed the
+opportunity, and was laid alongside, with the same success as her
+consort, the three men-of-war being all destroyed.
+
+This took place at some distance from the _Henrietta_, but the
+English vessels near them succeeded in saving, in their boats, a
+portion of the crews. The Dutch ship _Orange_, of seventy-five guns,
+was disabled after a sharp fight with the _Mary_, and was likewise
+burnt. Two Dutch vice-admirals were killed, and a panic spread
+through the Dutch Fleet. About eight o'clock in the evening between
+thirty and forty of their ships made off in a body, and the rest
+speedily followed. During the fight and the chase eighteen Dutch
+ships were taken, though some of these afterwards escaped, as the
+vessels to which they had struck joined the rest in the chase.
+Fourteen were sunk, besides those burnt and blown up. Only one
+English ship, the _Charity_, had struck, having, at the beginning of
+the fight been attacked by three Dutch vessels, and lost the greater
+part of her men, and was then compelled to surrender to a Dutch
+vessel of considerably greater strength that came up and joined the
+others. The English loss was, considering the duration of the fight,
+extremely small, amounting to but 250 killed, and 340 wounded. Among
+the killed were the Earl of Marlborough, the Earl of Portland, who
+was present as a Volunteer, Rear-Admiral Sampson, and Vice-Admiral
+Lawson, the latter of whom died after the fight, from his wounds.
+
+The pursuit of the Dutch was continued for some hours, and then
+terminated abruptly, owing to a Member of Parliament named Brounker,
+who was in the suite of the Duke of York, giving the captain of the
+_Royal Charles_ orders, which he falsely stated emanated from the
+Duke, for the pursuit to be abandoned. For this he was afterwards
+expelled the House of Commons, and was ordered to be impeached, but
+after a time the matter was suffered to drop.
+
+As soon as the battle was over Cyril was taken down to a hammock
+below. He was just dozing off to sleep when Sydney came to him.
+
+"I am sorry to disturb you, Cyril, but an officer tells me that a man
+who is mortally wounded wishes to speak to you; and from his
+description I think it is the fellow you call Black Dick. I thought
+it right to tell you, but I don't think you are fit to go to see
+him."
+
+"I will go," Cyril said, "if you will lend me your arm. I should like
+to hear what the poor wretch has to say."
+
+"He lies just below; the hatchway is but a few yards distant."
+
+There had been no attempt to remove Cyril's clothes, and, by the aid
+of Lord Oliphant and of a sailor he called to his aid, he made his
+way below, and was led through the line of wounded, until a doctor,
+turning round, said,--
+
+"This is the man who wishes to see you, Sir Cyril."
+
+Although a line of lanterns hung from the beams, so nearly blind was
+he that Cyril could scarce distinguish the man's features.
+
+"I have sent for you," the latter said faintly, "to tell you that if
+it hadn't been for your jumping down on to that fire-ship you would
+not have lived through this day's fight. I saw that you recognised
+me, and knew that, as soon as we went back, you would hand us over to
+the constables. So I made up my mind that I would run you through in
+the _mêlée_ if we got hand to hand with the Dutchmen, or would put a
+musket-ball into you while the firing was going on. But when I saw
+you standing there with the flames round you, giving your life, as it
+seemed, to save the ship, I felt that, even if I must be hung for it,
+I could not bring myself to hurt so brave a lad; so there is an end
+of that business. Robert Ashford was killed by a gun that was knocked
+from its carriage, so you have got rid of us both. I thought I should
+like to tell you before I went that the brave action you did saved
+your life, and that, bad as I am, I had yet heart enough to feel that
+I would rather take hanging than kill you."
+
+The last words had been spoken in a scarcely audible whisper. The man
+closed his eyes; and the doctor, laying his hand on Cyril's arm,
+said,--
+
+"You had better go back to your hammock now, Sir Cyril. He will never
+speak again. In a few minutes the end will come."
+
+Cyril spent a restless night. The wind was blowing strongly from the
+north, and the crews had hard work to keep the vessels off the shore.
+His wounds did not pain him much, but his hands, arms, face, and legs
+smarted intolerably, for his clothes had been almost burnt off him,
+and, refreshing as the sea-bath had been at the moment, it now added
+to the smarting of the wounds.
+
+In the morning Prince Rupert came down to see him.
+
+"It was madness of you to have joined in that _mêlée_, lad, in the
+state in which you were. I take the blame on myself in not ordering
+you to remain behind; but when the Dutchmen poured on board I had no
+thought of aught but driving them back again. It would have marred
+our pleasure in the victory we have won had you fallen, for to you we
+all owe our lives and the safety of the ship. No braver deed was
+performed yesterday than yours. I fear it will be some time before
+you are able to fight by my side again; but, at least, you have done
+your share, and more, were the war to last a lifetime."
+
+Cyril was in less pain now, for the doctor had poured oil over his
+burns, and had wrapped up his hands in soft bandages.
+
+"It was the thought of a moment, Prince," he said. "I saw the
+fire-ship had steerage way on her, and if the helm were put down she
+would drive away from our side, so without stopping to think about it
+one way or the other, I ran along to the stern, and jumped down to
+her tiller."
+
+"Yes, lad, it was but a moment's thought, no doubt, but it is one
+thing to think, and another to execute, and none but the bravest
+would have ventured that leap on to the fire-ship. By to-morrow
+morning we shall be anchored in the river. Would you like to be
+placed in the hospital at Sheerness, or to be taken up to London?"
+
+"I would rather go to London, if I may," Cyril said. "I know that I
+shall be well nursed at Captain Dave's, and hope, erelong, to be able
+to rejoin."
+
+"Not for some time, lad--not for some time. Your burns will doubtless
+heal apace, but the wound in your shoulder is serious. The doctor
+says that the Dutchman's sword has cleft right through your
+shoulder-bone. 'Tis well that it is your left, for it may be that you
+will never have its full use again. You are not afraid of the Plague,
+are you? for on the day we left town there was a rumour that it had
+at last entered the City."
+
+"I am not afraid of it," Cyril said; "and if it should come to
+Captain Dowsett's house, I would rather be there, that I may do what
+I can to help those who were so kind to me."
+
+"Just as you like, lad. Do not hurry to rejoin. It is not likely
+there will be any fighting for some time, for it will be long before
+the Dutch are ready to take the sea again after the hammering we have
+given them, and all there will be to do will be to blockade their
+coast and to pick up their ships from foreign ports as prizes."
+
+The next morning Cyril was placed on board a little yacht, called the
+_Fan Fan_, belonging to the Prince, and sailed up the river, the
+ship's company mustering at the side and giving him a hearty cheer.
+The wind was favourable, and they arrived that afternoon in town.
+According to the Prince's instructions, the sailors at once placed
+Cyril on a litter that had been brought for the purpose, and carried
+him up to Captain Dowsett's.
+
+The City was in a state of agitation. The news of the victory had
+arrived but a few hours before, and the church bells were all
+ringing, flags were flying, the shops closed, and the people in the
+streets. John Wilkes came down in answer to the summons of the bell.
+
+"Hullo!" he said; "whom have we here?"
+
+"Don't you know me, John?" Cyril said.
+
+John gave a start of astonishment.
+
+"By St. Anthony, it is Master Cyril! At least, it is his voice,
+though it is little I can see of him, and what I see in no way
+resembles him."
+
+"It is Sir Cyril Shenstone," the captain of the _Fan Fan_, who had
+come with the party, said sternly, feeling ruffled at the familiarity
+with which this rough-looking servitor of a City trader spoke of the
+gentleman in his charge. "It is Sir Cyril Shenstone, as brave a
+gentleman as ever drew sword, and who, as I hear, saved Prince
+Rupert's ship from being burnt by the Dutchmen."
+
+"He knows me," John Wilkes said bluntly, "and he knows no offence is
+meant. The Captain and his dame, and Mistress Nellie are all out, Sir
+Cyril, but I will look after you till they return. Bring him up,
+lads. I am an old sailor myself, and fought the Dutch under Blake and
+Monk more than once."
+
+He led the way upstairs into the best of the spare rooms. Here Cyril
+was laid on a bed. He thanked the sailors heartily for the care they
+had taken of him, and the captain handed a letter to John, saying,--
+
+"The young Lord Oliphant asked me to give this to Captain Dowsett,
+but as he is not at home I pray you to give it him when he returns."
+
+As soon as they had gone, John returned to the bed.
+
+"This is terrible, Master Cyril. What have they been doing to you? I
+can see but little of your face for those bandages, but your eyes
+look mere slits, your flesh is all red and swollen, your eyebrows
+have gone, your arms and legs are all swathed up in bandages--Have
+you been blown up with gunpowder?--for surely no wound could have so
+disfigured you."
+
+"I have not been blown up, John, but I was burnt by the flames of a
+Dutch fire-ship that came alongside. It is a matter that a fortnight
+will set right, though I doubt not that I am an unpleasant-looking
+object at present, and it will be some time before my hair grows
+again."
+
+"And you are not hurt otherwise, Master?" John asked anxiously.
+
+"Yes; I am hurt gravely enough, though not so as to imperil my life.
+I have a wound on the side of my head, and the same blow, as the
+doctor says, cleft through my shoulder-bone."
+
+"I had best go and get a surgeon at once," John said; "though it will
+be no easy matter, for all the world is agog in the streets."
+
+"Leave it for the present, John. There is no need whatever for haste.
+In that trunk of mine is a bottle of oils for the burns, though most
+of the sore places are already beginning to heal over, and the doctor
+said that I need not apply it any more, unless I found that they
+smarted too much for bearing. As for the other wounds, they are
+strapped up and bandaged, and he said that unless they inflamed
+badly, they would be best let alone for a time. So sit down quietly,
+and let me hear the news."
+
+"The news is bad enough, though the Plague has not yet entered the
+City."
+
+"The Prince told me that there was a report, before he came on board
+at Lowestoft, that it had done so."
+
+"No, it is not yet come; but people are as frightened as if it was
+raging here. For the last fortnight they have been leaving in crowds
+from the West End, and many of the citizens are also beginning to
+move. They frighten themselves like a parcel of children. The comet
+seemed to many a sign of great disaster."
+
+Cyril laughed.
+
+"If it could be seen only in London there might be something in it,
+but as it can be seen all over Europe, it is hard to say why it
+should augur evil to London especially. It was shining in the sky
+three nights ago when we were chasing the Dutch, and they had quite
+as good reason for thinking it was a sign of misfortune to them as
+have the Londoners."
+
+"That is true enough," John Wilkes agreed; "though, in truth, I like
+not to see the' thing in the sky myself. Then people have troubled
+their heads greatly because, in Master Lilly's Almanack, and other
+books of prediction, a great pestilence is foretold."
+
+"It needed no great wisdom for that," Cyril said, "seeing that the
+Plague has been for some time busy in foreign parts, and that it was
+here, though not so very bad, in the winter, when these books would
+have been written."
+
+"Then," John Wilkes went on, "there is a man going through the
+streets, night and day. He speaks to no one, but cries out
+continually, 'Oh! the great and dreadful God!' This troubles many
+men's hearts greatly."
+
+"It is a pity, John, that the poor fellow is not taken and shut up in
+some place where madmen are kept. Doubtless, it is some poor coward
+whose brain has been turned by fright. People who are frightened by
+such a thing as that must be poor-witted creatures indeed."
+
+"That may be, Master Cyril, but methinks it is as they say, one fool
+makes many. People get together and bemoan themselves till their
+hearts fail them altogether. And yet, methinks they are not
+altogether without reason, for if the pestilence is so heavy without
+the walls, where the streets are wider and the people less crowded
+than here, it may well be that we shall have a terrible time of it in
+the City when it once passes the walls."
+
+"That may well be, John, but cowardly fear will not make things any
+better. We knew, when we sailed out against the Dutch the other day,
+that very many would not see the setting sun, yet I believe there was
+not one man throughout the Fleet who behaved like a coward."
+
+"No doubt, Master Cyril; but there is a difference. One can fight
+against men, but one cannot fight against the pestilence, and I do
+not believe that if the citizens knew that a great Dutch army was
+marching on London, and that they would have to withstand a dreadful
+siege, they would be moved with fear as they are now."
+
+"That may be so," Cyril agreed. "Now, John, I think that I could
+sleep for a bit."
+
+"Do so, Master, and I will go into the kitchen and see what I can do
+to make you a basin of broth when you awake; for the girl has gone
+out too. She wanted to see what was going on in the streets; and as I
+had sooner stay quietly at home I offered to take her place, as the
+shop was shut and I had nothing to do. Maybe by the time you wake
+again Captain Dave and the others will be back from their cruise."
+
+It was dark when Cyril woke at the sound of the bell. He heard voices
+and movements without, and then the door was quietly opened.
+
+"I am awake," he said. "You see I have taken you at your word, and
+come back to be patched up."
+
+"You are heartily welcome," Mrs. Dowsett said. "Nellie, bring the
+light. Cyril is awake. We were sorry indeed when John told us that
+you had come in our absence. It was but a cold welcome for you to
+find that we were all out."
+
+"There was nothing I needed, madam. Had there been, John would have
+done it for me."
+
+Nellie now appeared at the door with the light, and gave an
+exclamation of horror as she approached the bedside.
+
+"It is not so bad as it looks, Nellie," Cyril said. "Not that I know
+how it looks, for I have not seen myself in a glass since I left
+here; but I can guess that I am an unpleasant object to look at."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett made a sign to Nellie to be silent.
+
+"John told us that you were badly burned and were all wrapped up in
+bandages, but we did not expect to find you so changed. However, that
+will soon pass off, I hope."
+
+"I expect I shall be all right in another week, save for this wound
+in my shoulder. As for that on my head, it is but of slight
+consequence. My skull was thick enough to save my brain."
+
+"Well, Master Cyril," Captain Dave said heartily, as he entered the
+room with a basin of broth in his hand, and then stopped abruptly.
+
+"Well, Captain Dave, here I am, battered out of all shape, you see,
+but not seriously damaged in my timbers. There, you see, though I
+have only been a fortnight at sea, I am getting quite nautical."
+
+"That is right, lad--that is right," Captain Dave said, a little
+unsteadily. "My dame and Nellie will soon put you into ship-shape
+trim again. So you got burnt, I hear, by one of those rascally Dutch
+fire-ships? and John tells me that the captain of the sailors who
+carried you here said that you had gained mighty credit for
+yourself."
+
+"I did my best, as everyone did, Captain Dave. There was not a man on
+board the Fleet who did not do his duty, or we should never have
+beaten the Dutchmen so soundly."
+
+"You had better not talk any more," Mrs. Dowsett said. "You are in my
+charge now, and my first order is that you must keep very quiet, or
+else you will be having fever come on. You had best take a little of
+this broth now. Nellie will sit with you while I go out to prepare
+you a cooling drink."
+
+"I will take a few spoonfuls of the soup since John has taken the
+trouble to prepare it for me," Cyril said; "though, indeed, my lips
+are so parched and swollen that the cooling drink will be much more
+to my taste."
+
+"I think it were best first, dame," the Captain said, "that John and
+I should get him comfortably into bed, instead of lying there wrapped
+up in the blanket in which they brought him ashore. The broth will be
+none the worse for cooling a bit."
+
+"That will be best," his wife agreed. "I will fetch some more
+pillows, so that we can prop him up. He can swallow more comfortably
+so, and will sleep all the better when he lies down again."
+
+As soon as Cyril was comfortably settled John Wilkes was sent to call
+in a doctor, who, after examining him, said that the burns were doing
+well, and that he would send in some cooling lotion to be applied to
+them frequently. As to the wounds, he said they had been so skilfully
+bandaged that it were best to leave them alone, unless great pain set
+in.
+
+Another four days, and Cyril's face had so far recovered its usual
+condition that the swelling was almost abated, and the bandages could
+be removed. The peak of the helmet had sheltered it a good deal, and
+it had suffered less than his hands and arms. Captain Dave and John
+had sat up with him by turns at night, while the Dame and her
+daughter had taken care of him during the day. He had slept a great
+deal, and had not been allowed to talk at all. This prohibition was
+now removed, as the doctor said that the burns were now all healing
+fast, and that he no longer had any fear of fever setting in.
+
+"By the way, Captain," John Wilkes said, that day, at dinner, "I have
+just bethought me of this letter, that was given me by the sailor who
+brought Cyril here. It is for you, from young Lord Oliphant. It has
+clean gone out of my mind till now. I put it in the pocket of my
+doublet, and have forgotten it ever since."
+
+"No harm can have come of the delay, John," Captain Dave said. "It
+was thoughtful of the lad. He must have been sure that Cyril would
+not be in a condition to tell us aught of the battle, and he may have
+sent us some details of it, for the Gazette tells us little enough,
+beyond the ships taken and the names of gentlemen and officers
+killed. Here, Nellie, do you read it. It seems a long epistle, and my
+eyes are not as good as they were."
+
+Nellie took the letter and read aloud:--
+
+"'DEAR AND WORTHY SIR,--I did not think when I was so pleasantly
+entertained at your house that it would befall me to become your
+correspondent, but so it has happened, for, Sir Cyril being sorely
+hurt, and in no state to tell you how the matter befell him--if
+indeed his modesty would allow him, which I greatly doubt--it is
+right that you should know how the business came about, and what
+great credit Sir Cyril has gained for himself. In the heat of the
+fight, when we were briskly engaged in exchanging broadsides with a
+Dutchman of our own size, one of their fire-ships, coming unnoticed
+through the smoke, slipped alongside of us, and, the flames breaking
+out, would speedily have destroyed us, as indeed they went near
+doing. The grapnels were briskly thrown over, but she had already
+touched our sides, and the flames were blowing across us when Sir
+Cyril, perceiving that she had still some way on her, sprang down on
+to her deck and put over the helm. She was then a pillar of flame,
+and the decks, which were plentifully besmeared with pitch, were all
+in a blaze, save just round the tiller where her captain had stood to
+steer her. It was verily a furnace, and it seemed impossible that one
+could stand there for only half a minute and live. Everyone on board
+was filled with astonishment, and the Prince called out loudly that
+he had never seen a braver deed. As the fire-ship drew away from us,
+we saw Sir Cyril fasten the helm down with a rope, and then, lowering
+a bucket over, throw water on to it; then he threw off his helmet and
+armour--his clothes being, by this time, all in a flame--and sprang
+into the sea, the fire-ship being now well nigh her own length from
+us. She had sheered off none too soon, for some of our sails were on
+fire, and it was with great difficulty that we succeeded in cutting
+them from the yards and so saving the ship.
+
+"'All, from the Prince down, say that no finer action was ever
+performed, and acknowledge that we all owe our lives, and His Majesty
+owes his ship, to it. Then, soon after we had hauled Sir Cyril on
+board, the Dutchmen boarded us, and there was a stiff fight, all
+hands doing their best to beat them back, in which we succeeded.
+
+"'Sir Cyril, though scarce able to stand, joined in the fray,
+unnoticed by us all, who in the confusion had not thought of him, and
+being, indeed, scarce able to hold his sword, received a heavy wound,
+of which, however, the doctor has all hopes that he will make a good
+recovery.
+
+"'It would have done you good to hear how the whole crew cheered Sir
+Cyril as we dragged him on board. The Prince is mightily taken with
+him, and is sending him to London in his own yacht, where I feel sure
+that your good dame and fair daughter will do all that they can to
+restore him to health. As soon as I get leave--though I do not know
+when that will be, for we cannot say as yet how matters will turn
+out, or what ships will keep the sea--I shall do myself the honour of
+waiting upon you. I pray you give my respectful compliments to Mrs.
+Dowsett and Mistress Nellie, who are, I hope, enjoying good health.
+
+     "'Your servant to command,
+
+         "'SYDNEY OLIPHANT.'"
+
+The tears were standing in Nellie's eyes, and her voice trembled as
+she read. When she finished she burst out crying.
+
+"There!" John Wilkes exclaimed, bringing his fist down upon the
+table. "I knew, by what that skipper said, the lad had been doing
+something quite out of the way, but when I spoke to him about it
+before you came in he only said that he had tried his best to do his
+duty, just as every other man in the Fleet had done. Who would have
+thought, Captain Dave, that that quiet young chap, who used to sit
+down below making out your accounts, was going to turn out a hero?"
+
+"Who, indeed?" the Captain said, wiping his eyes with the back of his
+hands. "Why, he wasn't more than fifteen then, and, as you say, such
+a quiet fellow. He used to sit there and write, and never speak
+unless I spoke to him. 'Tis scarce two years ago, and look what he
+has done! Who would have thought it? I can't finish my breakfast," he
+went on, getting up from his seat, "till I have gone in and shaken
+him by the hand."
+
+"You had better not, David," Mrs. Dowsett said gently. "We had best
+say but little to him about it now. We can let him know we have heard
+how he came by his burns from Lord Oliphant, but do not let us make
+much of it. Had he wished it he would have told us himself."
+
+Captain Dave sat down again.
+
+"Perhaps you are right, my dear. At any rate, till he is getting
+strong we will not tell him what we think of him. Anyhow, it can't do
+any harm to tell him we know it, and may do him good, for it is clear
+he does not like telling it himself, and may be dreading our
+questioning about the affair."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie went into Cyril's room as soon as they had
+finished breakfast. Captain Dave followed them a few minutes later.
+
+"We have been hearing how you got burnt," he began. "Your friend,
+Lord Oliphant, sent a letter about it by the skipper of his yacht.
+That stupid fellow, John, has been carrying it about ever since, and
+only remembered it just now, when we were at breakfast. It was a
+plucky thing to do, lad."
+
+"It turned out a very lucky one," Cyril said hastily, "for it was the
+means of saving my life."
+
+"Saving your life, lad! What do you mean?"
+
+Cyril then told how Robert Ashford and Black Dick had been brought on
+board as impressed men, how the former had been killed, and the
+confession that Black Dick had made to him before dying.
+
+"He said he had made up his mind to kill me during the fight, but
+that, after I had risked my life to save the _Henrietta_, he was
+ashamed to kill me, and that, rather than do so, he had resolved to
+take his chance of my denouncing him when he returned to land."
+
+ "There was some good in the knave, then," Captain Dave said. "Yes,
+it was a fortunate as well as a brave action, as it turned out."
+
+"Fortunate in one respect, but not in another," Cyril put in, anxious
+to prevent the conversation reverting to the question of his bravery.
+"I put down this wound in my shoulder to it, for if I had been myself
+I don't think I should have got hurt. I guarded the blow, but I was
+so shaky that he broke my guard down as if I had been a child, though
+I think that it did turn the blow a little, and saved it from falling
+fair on my skull. Besides, I should have had my helmet and armour on
+if it had not been for my having to take a swim. So, you see, Captain
+Dave, things were pretty equally balanced, and there is no occasion
+to say anything more about them."
+
+"We have one piece of bad news to tell you, Cyril," Mrs. Dowsett
+remarked, in order to give the conversation the turn which she saw he
+wished for. "We heard this morning that the Plague has come at last
+into the City. Dr. Burnet was attacked yesterday."
+
+"That is bad news indeed, Dame, though it was not to be expected that
+it would spare the City. If you will take my advice, you will go away
+at once, before matters get worse, for if the Plague gets a hold here
+the country people will have nothing to do with Londoners, fearing
+that they will bring the infection among them."
+
+"We shall not go until you are fit to go with us, Cyril," Nellie said
+indignantly.
+
+"Then you will worry me into a fever," Cyril replied. "I am getting
+on well now, and as you said, when you were talking of it before, you
+should leave John in charge of the house and shop, he will be able to
+do everything that is necessary for me. If you stay here, and the
+Plague increases, I shall keep on worrying myself at the thought that
+you are risking your lives needlessly for me, and if it should come
+into the house, and any of you die, I shall charge myself all my life
+with having been the cause of your death. I pray you, for my sake as
+well as your own, to lose no time in going to the sister Captain Dave
+spoke of, down near Gloucester."
+
+"Do not agitate yourself," Mrs. Dowsett said gently, pressing him
+quietly back on to the pillows from which he had risen in his
+excitement. "We will talk it over, and see what is for the best. It
+is but a solitary case yet, and may spread no further. In a few days
+we shall see how matters go. Things have not come to a bad pass yet."
+
+Cyril, however, was not to be consoled. Hitherto he had given
+comparatively small thought to the Plague, but now that it was in the
+City, and he felt that his presence alone prevented the family from
+leaving, he worried incessantly over it.
+
+"Your patient is not so well," the doctor said to Mrs. Dowsett, next
+morning. "Yesterday he was quite free from fever--his hands were
+cool; now they are dry and hard. If this goes on, I fear that we
+shall have great trouble."
+
+"He is worrying himself because we do not go out of town. We had,
+indeed, made up our minds to do so, but we could not leave him here."
+
+"Your nursing would be valuable certainly, but if he goes on as he is
+he will soon be in a high fever; his wounds will grow angry and
+fester. While yesterday he seemed in a fair way to recovery, I should
+be sorry to give any favourable opinion as to what may happen if this
+goes on. Is there no one who could take care of him if you went?"
+
+"John Wilkes will remain behind, and could certainly be trusted to do
+everything that you directed; but that is not like women, doctor."
+
+"No, I am well aware of that; but if things go on well he will really
+not need nursing, while, if fever sets in badly, the best nursing may
+not save him. Moreover, wounds and all other ailments of this sort do
+badly at present; the Plague in the air seems to affect all other
+maladies. If you will take my advice, Dame, you will carry out your
+intention, and leave at once. I hear there are several new cases of
+the Plague today in the City, and those who can go should lose no
+time in doing so; but, even if not for your own sakes, I should say
+go for that of your patient."
+
+"Will you speak to my husband, doctor? I am ready to do whatever is
+best for your patient, whom we love dearly, and regard almost as a
+son."
+
+"If he were a son I should give the same advice. Yes, I will see
+Captain Dowsett."
+
+Half an hour later, Cyril was told what the doctor's advice had been,
+and, seeing that he was bent on it, and that if they stayed they
+would do him more harm than good, they resolved to start the next day
+for Gloucestershire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE PLAGUE
+
+
+Reluctant as they were to leave Cyril, Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter
+speedily saw that the doctor's advice was good. Cyril did not say
+much, but an expression of restful satisfaction came over his face,
+and it was not long before he fell into a quiet sleep that contrasted
+strongly with the restless and fretful state in which he had passed
+the night.
+
+"You see I was right, madam," the doctor said that evening. "The
+fever has not quite left him, but he is a different man to what he
+was this morning; another quiet night's rest, and he will regain the
+ground he has lost. I think you can go in perfect comfort so far as
+he is concerned. Another week and he will be up, if nothing occurs to
+throw him back again; but of course it will be weeks before he can
+use his arm."
+
+John Wilkes had been sent off as soon as it was settled that they
+would go, and had bought, at Epping, a waggon and a pair of strong
+horses. It had a tilt, and the ladies were to sleep in it on the
+journey, as it was certain that, until they were far away from
+London, they would be unable to obtain lodgings. A man was engaged to
+drive them down, and a sail and two or three poles were packed in the
+waggon to make a tent for him and Captain Dowsett. A store of
+provisions was cooked, and a cask of beer, another of water, and a
+case of wine were also placed in. Mattresses were laid down for the
+ladies to sit on during the day and to sleep on at night; so they
+would be practically independent during the journey. Early next
+morning they started.
+
+"It seems heartless to leave you, Cyril," Nellie said, as they came
+in to say good-bye.
+
+"Not heartless at all," Cyril replied. "I know that you are going
+because I wish it."
+
+"It is more than wishing, you tiresome boy. We are going because you
+have made up your mind that you will be ill if we don't. You are too
+weak to quarrel with now, but when we meet again, tremble, for I warn
+you I shall scold you terribly then."
+
+"You shall scold me as much as you please, Nellie; I shall take it
+all quite patiently."
+
+Nellie and her mother went away in tears, and Captain Dave himself
+was a good deal upset. They had thought the going away from home on
+such a long journey would be a great trial, but this was now quite
+lost sight of in their regret at what they considered deserting
+Cyril, and many were the injunctions that were given to John Wilkes
+before the waggon drove off. They were somewhat consoled by seeing
+that Cyril was undoubtedly better and brighter. He had slept all
+night without waking, his hands were cool, and the flush had entirely
+left his cheek.
+
+"If they were starting on a voyage to the Indies they could not be in
+a greater taking," John Wilkes said, on returning to Cyril's bedside.
+"Why, I have seen the Captain go off on a six months' voyage and less
+said about it."
+
+"I am heartily glad they are gone, John. If the Plague grows there
+will be a terrible time here. Is the shop shut?"
+
+"Ay; the man went away two days ago, and we sent off the two
+'prentices yesterday. There is naught doing. Yesterday half the
+vessels in the Pool cleared out on the news of the Plague having got
+into the City, and I reckon that, before long, there won't be a ship
+in the port. We shall have a quiet time of it, you and I; we shall be
+like men in charge of an old hulk."
+
+Another week, and Cyril was up. All his bandages, except those on the
+shoulder and head, had been thrown aside, and the doctor said that,
+erelong, the former would be dispensed with. John had wanted to sit
+up with him, but as Cyril would not hear of this he had moved his bed
+into the same room, so that he could be up in a moment if anything
+was wanted. He went out every day to bring in the news.
+
+"There is little enough to tell, Master Cyril," he said one day. "So
+far, the Plague grows but slowly in the City, though, indeed, it is
+no fault of the people that it does not spread rapidly. Most of them
+seem scared out of their wits; they gather together and talk, with
+white faces, and one man tells of a dream that his wife has had, and
+another of a voice that he says he has heard; and some have seen
+ghosts. Yesterday I came upon a woman with a crowd round her; she was
+staring up at a white cloud, and swore that she could plainly see an
+angel with a white sword, and some of the others cried that they saw
+it too. I should like to have been a gunner's mate with a stout
+rattan, and to have laid it over their shoulders, to give them
+something else to think about for a few hours. It is downright
+pitiful to see such cowards. At the corner of one street there was a
+quack, vending pills and perfumes that he warranted to keep away the
+Plague, and the people ran up and bought his nostrums by the score; I
+hear there are a dozen such in the City, making a fortune out of the
+people's fears. I went into the tavern I always use, and had a glass
+of Hollands and a talk with the landlord. He says that he does as
+good a trade as ever, though in a different way. There are no sailors
+there now, but neighbours come in and drink down a glass of strong
+waters, which many think is the best thing against the Plague, and
+then hurry off again. I saw the Gazette there, and it was half full
+of advertisements of people who said they were doctors from foreign
+parts, and all well accustomed to cure the Plague. They say the
+magistrates are going to issue notices about shutting up houses, as
+they do at St. Giles's, and to have watchmen at the doors to see none
+come in or go out, and that they are going to appoint examiners in
+every parish to go from house to house to search for infected
+persons."
+
+"I suppose these are proper steps to take," Cyril said, "but it will
+be a difficult thing to keep people shut up in houses where one is
+infected. No doubt it would be a good thing at the commencement of
+the illness, but when it has once spread itself, and the very air
+become infected, it seems to me that it will do but little good,
+while it will assuredly cause great distress and trouble. I long to
+be able to get up myself, and to see about things."
+
+"The streets have quite an empty aspect, so many have gone away; and
+what with that, and most of the shops being closed, and the dismal
+aspect of the people, there is little pleasure in being out, Master
+Cyril."
+
+"I dare say, John. Still, it will be a change, and, as soon as I am
+strong enough, I shall sally out with you."
+
+Another fortnight, and Cyril was able to do so. The Plague had still
+spread, but so slowly that people began to hope that the City would
+be spared any great calamity, for they were well on in July, and in
+another six weeks the heat of summer would be passed. Some of those
+who had gone into the country returned, more shops had been opened,
+and the panic had somewhat subsided.
+
+"What do you mean to do, Master Cyril?" John Wilkes asked that
+evening. "Of course you cannot join the Fleet again, for it will be,
+as the doctor says, another two months before your shoulder-bone will
+have knit strongly enough for you to use your arm, and at sea it is a
+matter of more consequence than on land for a man to have the use of
+both arms. The ship may give a sudden lurch, and one may have to make
+a clutch at whatever is nearest to prevent one from rolling into the
+lee scuppers; and such a wrench as that would take from a weak arm
+all the good a three months' nursing had done it, and might spoil the
+job of getting the bone to grow straight again altogether. I don't
+say you are fit to travel yet, but you should be able before long to
+start on a journey, and might travel down into Gloucestershire,
+where, be sure, you will be gladly welcomed by the Captain, his dame,
+and Mistress Nellie. Or, should you not care for that, you might go
+aboard a ship. There are hundreds of them lying idle in the river,
+and many families have taken up their homes there, so as to be free
+from all risks of meeting infected persons in the streets."
+
+"I think I shall stay here, John, and keep you company. If the Plague
+dies away, well and good. If it gets bad, we can shut ourselves up.
+You say that the Captain has laid in a great store of provisions, so
+that you could live without laying out a penny for a year, and it is
+as sure as anything can be, that when the cold weather comes on it
+will die out. Besides, John, neither you nor I are afraid of the
+Plague, and it is certain that it is fear that makes most people take
+it. If it becomes bad, there will be terrible need for help, and
+maybe we shall be able to do some good. If we are not afraid of
+facing death in battle, why should we fear it by the Plague. It is as
+noble a death to die helping one's fellow-countrymen in their sore
+distress as in fighting for one's country."
+
+"That is true enough, Master Cyril, if folks did but see it so. I do
+not see what we could do, but if there be aught, you can depend on
+me. I was in a ship in the Levant when we had a fever, which, it
+seems to me, was akin to this Plague, though not like it in all its
+symptoms. Half the crew died, and, as you say, I verily believe that
+it was partly from the lowness of spirits into which they fell from
+fear. I used to help nurse the sick, and throw overboard the dead,
+and it never touched me. I don't say that I was braver than others,
+but it seemed to me as it was just as easy to take things comfortable
+as it was to fret over them."
+
+Towards the end of the month the Plague spread rapidly, and all work
+ceased in the parishes most affected. But, just as it had raged for
+weeks in the Western parishes outside the City, so it seemed
+restricted by certain invisible lines, after it had made its entry
+within the walls, and while it raged in some parts others were
+entirely unaffected, and here shops were open, and the streets still
+retained something of their usual appearance. There had been great
+want among the poorer classes, owing to the cessation of work,
+especially along the riverside. The Lord Mayor, some of the Aldermen,
+and most other rich citizens had hastened to leave the City. While
+many of the clergy were deserting their flocks, and many doctors
+their patients, others remained firmly at their posts, and worked
+incessantly, and did all that was possible in order to check the
+spread of the Plague and to relieve the distress of the poor.
+
+Numbers of the women were engaged as nurses. Examiners were appointed
+in each parish, and these, with their assistants, paid house-to-house
+visitations, in order to discover any who were infected; and as soon
+as the case was discovered the house was closed, and none suffered to
+go in or out, a watchman being placed before the door day and night.
+Two men therefore were needed to each infected house, and this
+afforded employment for numbers of poor. Others were engaged in
+digging graves, or in going round at night, with carts, collecting
+the dead.
+
+So great was the dread of the people at the thought of being shut up
+in their houses, without communication with the world, that every
+means was used for concealing the fact that one of the inmates was
+smitten down. This was the more easy because the early stages of the
+disease were without pain, and people were generally ignorant that
+they had been attacked until within a few hours, and sometimes within
+a few minutes, of their death; consequently, when the Plague had once
+spread, all the precautions taken to prevent its increase were
+useless, while they caused great misery and suffering, and doubtless
+very much greater loss of life. For, owing to so many being shut up
+in the houses with those affected, and there being no escape from the
+infection, whole families, with the servants and apprentices, sickened
+and died together.
+
+Cyril frequently went up to view the infected districts. He was not
+moved by curiosity, but by a desire to see if there were no way of
+being of use. There was not a street but many of the houses were
+marked with the red cross. In front of these the watchmen sat on
+stools or chairs lent by the inmates, or borrowed from some house
+whence the inhabitants had all fled. The air rang with pitiful cries.
+Sometimes women, distraught with terror or grief, screamed wildly
+through open windows. Sometimes people talked from the upper stories
+to their neighbours on either hand, or opposite, prisoners like
+themselves, each telling their lamentable tale of misery, of how many
+had died and how many remained.
+
+It was by no means uncommon to see on the pavement men and women who,
+in the excess of despair or pain, had thrown themselves headlong
+down. While such sounds and sights filled Cyril with horror, they
+aroused still more his feelings of pity and desire to be of some use.
+Very frequently he went on errands for people who called down from
+above to him. Money was lowered in a tin dish, or other vessel, in
+which it lay covered with vinegar as a disinfectant. Taking it out,
+he would go and buy the required articles, generally food or
+medicine, and, returning, place them in a basket that was again
+lowered.
+
+The watchmen mostly executed these commissions, but many of them were
+surly fellows, and, as they were often abused and cursed by those
+whom they held prisoners, would do but little for them. They had,
+moreover, an excuse for refusing to leave the door, because, as often
+happened, it might be opened in their absence and the inmates escape.
+It was true that the watchmen had the keys, but the screws were often
+drawn from the locks inside; and so frequently was this done that at
+last chains with padlocks were fastened to all the doors as soon as
+the watch was set over them. But even this did not avail. Many of the
+houses had communications at the backs into other streets, and so
+eluded the vigilance of the watch; while, in other cases,
+communications were broken through the walls into other houses, empty
+either by desertion or death, and the escape could thus be made under
+the very eye of the watchman.
+
+Very frequently Cyril went into a church when he saw the door open.
+Here very small congregations would be gathered, for there was a fear
+on the part of all of meeting with strangers, for these might,
+unknown to themselves, be already stricken with the pest, and all
+public meetings of any kind were, for this reason, strictly
+forbidden. One day, he was passing a church that had hitherto been
+always closed, its incumbent being one of those who had fled at the
+outbreak of the Plague. Upon entering he saw a larger congregation
+than usual, some twenty or thirty people being present.
+
+The minister had just mounted the pulpit, and was beginning his
+address as Cyril entered. The latter was struck with his appearance.
+He was a man of some thirty years of age, with a strangely earnest
+face. His voice was deep, but soft and flexible, and in the stillness
+of the almost empty church its lowest tones seemed to come with
+impressive power, and Cyril thought that he had never heard such
+preaching before. The very text seemed strange at such a time:
+_"Rejoice ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."_ From most of
+the discourses he had heard Cyril had gone out depressed rather than
+inspirited. They had been pitched in one tone. The terrible scourge
+that raged round them was held up as a punishment sent by the wrath
+of God upon a sinful people, and the congregation were warned to
+prepare themselves for the fate, that might at any moment be theirs,
+by repentance and humiliation. The preacher to whom Cyril was now
+listening spoke in an altogether different strain.
+
+"You are all soldiers of Christ," he said, "and now is an opportunity
+given to you to show that you are worthy soldiers. When the troops of
+a worldly monarch go into battle they do so with head erect, with
+proud and resolute bearing, with flashing eye, and with high courage,
+determined to bear aloft his banner and to crown it with victory,
+even though it cost them their lives. Such is the mien that soldiers
+of Christ should bear in the mortal strife now raging round us. Let
+them show the same fearlessness of death, the same high courage, the
+same unlimited confidence in their Leader. What matter if they die in
+His service? He has told them what their work should be. He has
+bidden them visit the sick and comfort the sorrowing. What if there
+be danger in the work? Did He shrink from the Cross which was to end
+His work of love, and is it for His followers to do so? 'Though you
+go down into the pit,' He has said, 'I am there also'; and with His
+companionship one must be craven indeed to tremble. This is a noble
+opportunity for holding high the banner of Christ. There is work to
+be done for all, and as the work is done, men should see by the calm
+courage, the cheerfulness, and the patience of those that do it, that
+they know that they are doing His work, and that they are content to
+leave the issue, whatever it be, in His hands."
+
+Such was the tone in which, for half an hour, he spoke. When he had
+finished he offered up a prayer, gave the blessing, and then came
+down from the pulpit and spoke to several of the congregation. He was
+evidently personally known to most of them. One by one, after a few
+words, they left the church. Cyril remained to the last.
+
+"I am willing to work, sir," he said, as the preacher came up, "but,
+so far, no work has come in my way."
+
+"Have you father or mother, or any dependent on you?"
+
+"No one, sir."
+
+"Then come along with me; I lodge close by. I have eaten nothing
+to-day, and must keep up my strength, and I have a long round of
+calls to make."
+
+"This is the first time I have seen the church open," Cyril said, as
+they went out.
+
+"It is not my church, sir, nor do I belong to the Church of England;
+I am an Independent. But as many of the pastors have fled and left
+their sheep untended, so have we--for there are others besides myself
+who have done so--taken possession of their empty pulpits, none
+gainsaying us, and are doing what good we can. You have been in the
+war, I see," he went on, glancing at Cyril's arm, which was carried
+in a sling.
+
+"Yes; I was at the battle of Lowestoft, and having been wounded
+there, came to London to stay in a friend's house till I was cured.
+He and his family have left, but I am living with a trusty foreman
+who is in charge of the house. I have a great desire to be useful. I
+myself have little fear of the Plague."
+
+"That is the best of all preservatives from its ravages, although not
+a sure one; for many doctors who have laboured fearlessly have yet
+died. Have you thought of any way of being useful?"
+
+"No, sir; that is what is troubling me. As you see, I have but the
+use of one arm, and I have not got back my full strength by a long
+way."
+
+"Everyone can be useful if he chooses," the minister said. "There is
+need everywhere among this stricken, frightened, helpless people, of
+men of calm courage and cool heads. Nine out of ten are so scared out
+of their senses, when once the Plague enters the houses, as to be
+well-nigh useless, and yet the law hinders those who would help if
+they could. I am compelled to labour, not among those who are sick,
+but among those who are well. When one enters a house with the red
+cross on the door, he may leave it no more until he is either borne
+out to the dead-cart, or the Plague has wholly disappeared within it,
+and a month has elapsed. The sole exception are the doctors; they are
+no more exempt from spreading the infection than other men, but as
+they must do their work so far as they can they have free passage;
+and yet, so few is their number and so heavy already their losses,
+that not one in a hundred of those that are smitten can have their
+aid. Here is one coming now, one of the best--Dr. Hodges. If you are
+indeed willing so to risk your life, I will speak to him. But I know
+not your name?"
+
+"My name is Cyril Shenstone."
+
+The clergyman looked at him suddenly, and would have spoken, but the
+doctor was now close to them.
+
+"Ah! Mr. Wallace," he said, "I am glad to see you, and to know that,
+so far, you have not taken the disease, although constantly going
+into the worst neighbourhoods."
+
+"Like yourself, Dr. Hodges, I have no fear of it."
+
+"I do not say I have no fear," the doctor replied. "I do my duty so
+far as I can, but I do not doubt that, sooner or later, I shall catch
+the malady, as many of us have done already. I take such precautions
+as I can, but the distemper seems to baffle all precautions. My only
+grief is that our skill avails so little. So far we have found
+nothing that seems to be of any real use. Perhaps if we could attack
+it in the earlier stages we might be more successful. The strange
+nature of the disease, and the way in which it does its work
+well-nigh to the end, before the patient is himself aware of it, puts
+it out of our power to combat it. In many cases I am not sent for
+until the patient is at the point of death, and by the time I reach
+his door I am met with the news that he is dead. But I must be
+going."
+
+"One moment, Dr. Hodges. This young gentleman has been expressing to
+me his desire to be of use. I know nothing of him save that he was
+one of my congregation this morning, but, as he fears not the Plague,
+and is moved by a desire to help his fellows in distress, I take it
+that he is a good youth. He was wounded in the battle of Lowestoft,
+and, being as ready to encounter the Plague as he was the Dutch,
+would now fight in the cause of humanity. Would you take him as an
+assistant? I doubt if he knows anything of medicine, but I think he
+is one that would see your orders carried out. He has no relations or
+friends, and therefore considers himself free to venture his life."
+
+The doctor looked earnestly at Cyril and then raised his hat.
+
+"Young sir," he said, "since you are willing so to venture your life,
+I will gladly accept your help. There are few enough clear heads in
+this city, God knows. As for the nurses, they are Jezebels. They have
+the choice of starving or nursing, and they nurse; but they neglect
+their patients, they rob them, and there is little doubt that in many
+cases they murder them, so that at the end of their first nursing
+they may have enough money to live on without going to another house.
+But I am pressed for time. Here is my card. Call on me this evening
+at six, and we will talk further on the matter."
+
+Shaking hands with the minister he hurried away.
+
+"Come as far as my lodgings," Mr. Wallace said to Cyril, "and stay
+with me while I eat my meal. 'Tis a diversion to one's mind to turn
+for a moment from the one topic that all men are speaking of.
+
+"Your name is Shenstone. I come from Norfolk. There was a family of
+that name formerly had estates near my native place. One Sir Aubrey
+Shenstone was at its head--a brave gentleman. I well remember seeing
+him when I was a boy, but he took the side of the King against the
+Parliament, and, as we heard, passed over with Charles to France when
+his cause was lost. I have not heard of him since."
+
+"Sir Aubrey was my father," Cyril said quietly; "he died a year ago.
+I am his only son."
+
+"And therefore Sir Cyril," the minister said, "though you did not so
+name yourself."
+
+"It was needless," Cyril said. "I have no estates to support my
+title, and though it is true that, when at sea with Prince Rupert, I
+was called Sir Cyril, it was because the Prince had known my father,
+and knew that I, at his death, inherited the title, though I
+inherited nothing else."
+
+They now reached the door of Mr. Wallace's lodging, and went up to
+his room on the first floor.
+
+"Neglect no precaution," the minister said. "No one should throw away
+his life. I myself, although not a smoker, nor accustomed to take
+snuff, use it now, and would, as the doctors advise, chew a piece of
+tobacco, but 'tis too nasty, and when I tried it, I was so ill that I
+thought even the risk of the Plague preferable. But I carry camphor
+in my pockets, and when I return from preaching among people of whom
+some may well have the infection, I bathe my face and hands with
+vinegar, and, pouring some on to a hot iron, fill the room with its
+vapour. My life is useful, I hope, and I would fain keep it, as long
+as it is the Lord's will, to work in His service. As a rule, I take
+wine and bread before I go out in the morning, though to-day I was
+pressed for time, and neglected it. I should advise you always to do
+so. I am convinced that a full man has less chance of catching the
+infection than a fasting one, and that it is the weakness many men
+suffer from their fears, and from their loss of appetite from grief,
+that causes them to take it so easily. When the fever was so bad in
+St. Giles's, I heard that in many instances, where whole families
+were carried away, the nurses shut up with them were untouched with
+the infection, and I believe that this was because they had become
+hardened to the work, and ate and drank heartily, and troubled not
+themselves at all at the grief of those around them. They say that
+many of these harpies have grown, wealthy, loading themselves with
+everything valuable they could lay hands on in the houses of those
+they attended."
+
+After the meal, in which he insisted upon Cyril joining him, was
+concluded, Mr. Wallace uttered a short prayer that Cyril might safely
+pass through the work he had undertaken.
+
+"I trust," he said, "that you will come here frequently? I generally
+have a few friends here of an evening. We try to be cheerful, and to
+strengthen each other, and I am sure we all have comfort at these
+meetings."
+
+"Thank you, I will come sometimes, sir; but as a rule I must return
+home, for my friend, John Wilkes, would sorely miss my company, and
+is so good and faithful a fellow that I would not seem to desert him
+on any account."
+
+"Do as you think right, lad, but remember there will always be a
+welcome for you here when you choose to come."
+
+John Wilkes was dismayed when he heard of Cyril's intention.
+
+"Well, Master Cyril," he said, after smoking his pipe in silence for
+some time, "it is not for me to hinder you in what you have made up
+your mind to do. I don't say that if I wasn't on duty here that I
+mightn't go and do what I could for these poor creatures. But I don't
+know. It is one thing to face a deadly fever like this Plague if it
+comes on board your own ship, for there is no getting out of it; and
+as you have got to face it, why, says I, do it as a man; but as for
+going out of your way to put yourself in the middle of it, that is
+going a bit beyond me."
+
+"Well, John, you didn't think it foolish when I went as a Volunteer
+to fight the Dutch. It was just the same thing, you know."
+
+"I suppose it was," John said reluctantly, after a pause. "But then,
+you see, you were fighting for your country."
+
+"Well, but in the present case I shall be fighting for my countrymen
+and countrywomen, John. It is awful to think of the misery that
+people are suffering, and it seems to me that, having nothing else to
+do here, it is specially my duty to put my hand to the work of
+helping as far as I can. The risk may, at present, be greater than it
+would be if I stayed at home, but if the Plague spreads--and it looks
+as if all the City would presently be affected--all will have to run
+the risk of contagion. There are thousands of women now who
+voluntarily enter the houses as nurses for a small rate of pay. Even
+robbers, they say, will enter and ransack the houses of the dead in
+search of plunder. It will be a shame indeed then if one should
+shrink from doing so when possibly one might do good."
+
+"I will say nothing more against it, Master Cyril. Still, I do not
+see exactly what you are going to do; with one arm you could scarce
+hold down a raving man."
+
+"I am not going to be a nurse, certainly, John," Cyril said, with a
+laugh. "I expect that the doctor wants certain cases watched. Either
+he may doubt the nurses, or he may want to see how some particular
+drug works. Nothing, so far, seems of use, but that may be partly
+because the doctors are all so busy that they cannot watch the
+patients and see, from hour to hour, how medicines act."
+
+"When I was in the Levant, and the pest was bad there," John Wilkes
+said, "I heard that the Turks, when seized with the distemper,
+sometimes wrapped themselves up in a great number of clothes, so that
+they sweated heavily, and that this seemed, in some cases, to draw
+off the fever, and so the patient recovered."
+
+"That seems a sensible sort of treatment, John, and worth trying with
+this Plague."
+
+On calling on Dr. Hodges that afternoon, Cyril found that he had
+rightly guessed the nature of the work that the doctor wished him to
+perform.
+
+"I can never rely upon the nurses," he said. "I give instructions
+with medicines, but in most cases I am sure that the instructions are
+never carried out. The relations and friends are too frightened to
+think or act calmly, too full of grief for the sick, and anxiety for
+those who have not yet taken the illness, to watch the changes in the
+patient. As to the nurses, they are often drunk the whole time they
+are in the house. Sometimes they fear to go near the sick man or
+woman; sometimes, undoubtedly, they hasten death. In most cases it
+matters little, for we are generally called in too late to be of any
+service. The poor people view us almost as enemies; they hide their
+malady from us in every way. Half our time, too, is wasted uselessly,
+for many are there who frighten themselves into the belief that they
+are ill, and send for us in all haste. So far, we feel that we are
+working altogether in the dark; none of us can see that any sort of
+drug avails even in the slightest degree when the malady has once got
+a hold. One in twenty cases may live, but why we know not. Still the
+fact that some do live shows that the illness is not necessarily
+mortal, and that, could the right remedy befound, we might yet
+overcome it. The first thing, however, is to try to prevent its
+spread. Here we have ten or more people shut up in a house with one
+sick person. It is a terrible necessity, for it is a sentence of
+death to many, if not to all. We give the nurses instructions to
+fumigate the room by evaporating vinegar upon hot irons, by burning
+spices and drugs, by sprinkling perfumes. So far, I cannot see that
+these measures have been of any service, but I cannot say how
+thoroughly they have been carried out, and I sorely need an assistant
+to see that the system is fairly tried. It is not necessary that he
+should be a doctor, but he must have influence and power over those
+in the house. He must be calm and firm, and he must be regarded by
+the people as a doctor. If you will undertake this, you must put on a
+wig, for you know that that is looked upon as a necessary part of a
+doctor's outfit by people in general. I shall introduce you as my
+assistant, and say that you are to be obeyed as implicitly as if I
+myself were present. There is another reason why you must pass as a
+doctor, for you would otherwise be a prisoner and unable to pass in
+and out. You had best wear a black suit. I will lend you one of my
+canes and a snuff-box, and should advise you to take snuff, even if
+it is not your habit, for I believe that it is good against
+infection, and one of the experiments I wish to try is as to what its
+result may be if burnt freely in the house. Are you ready to
+undertake this work?"
+
+"Quite ready, sir."
+
+"Then come round here at eight in the morning. I shall have heard by
+that hour from the examiners of this parish of any fresh case they
+have found. They begin their rounds at five o'clock."
+
+The next day Cyril presented himself at the doctor's, dressed in
+black, with white ruffles to his shirt, and a flowing wig he had
+purchased the night before.
+
+"Here are the cane and snuff-box," Dr. Hodges said. "Now you will
+pass muster very well as my assistant. Let us be off at once; for I
+have a long list of cases."
+
+Cyril remained outside while Dr. Hodges went into three or four
+houses. Presently he came down to the door, and said to him,--
+
+"This is a case where things are favourable for a first trial. It is
+a boy who is taken ill, and the parents, though in deep grief, seem
+to have some sense left."
+
+He turned to the watchman, who had already been placed at the door.
+The man, who evidently knew him, had saluted respectfully when he
+entered the house.
+
+"This gentleman is my assistant," he said, "and you will allow him to
+pass in and out just as you would myself. He is going to take this
+case entirely in hand, and you will regard him as being in charge
+here."
+
+He then re-entered the house with Cyril, and led him to the room
+where the parents of the boy, and two elder sisters, were assembled.
+
+"This is my assistant," he said, "and he has consented to take entire
+charge of the case, though I myself shall look in and consult with
+him every morning. In the first place, your son must be taken to the
+top storey of the house. You say that you are ready to nurse him
+yourselves, and do not wish that a paid nurse should be had in. I
+commend your determination, for the nurses are, for the most part,
+worse than useless, and carry the infection all over the house. But
+only one of you must go into the room, and whoever goes in must stay
+there. It is madness for all to be going in and out and exposing
+themselves to the infection when no good can be done. When this is
+the case, one or other is sure to take the malady, and then it
+spreads to all. Which of you will undertake the duty?"
+
+All four at once offered themselves, and there was an earnest contest
+between them for the dangerous post. Dr. Hodges listened for a minute
+or two, and then decided upon the elder of the two sisters--a quiet,
+resolute-looking girl with a healthy face.
+
+"This young lady shall be nurse," he said. "I feel that I can have
+confidence in her. She looks healthy and strong, and would, methinks,
+best resist the malady, should she take it. I am leaving my assistant
+here for a time to see to the fumigation of the house. You will
+please see that his orders are carried out in every respect. I have
+every hope that if this is done the Plague will not spread further;
+but much must depend upon yourselves. Do not give way to grief, but
+encourage each other, and go about with calm minds. I see," he said,
+pointing to a Bible on the table, "that you know where to go for
+comfort and strength. The first thing is to carry the boy up to the
+room that we chose for him."
+
+"I will do that," the father said.
+
+"He had better be left in the blankets in which he is lying. Cover
+him completely over with them, for, above all, it is necessary that
+you should not inhale his breath. You had better take the head and
+your daughter the feet. But first see that the room upstairs is
+prepared."
+
+In a few minutes the lad was transferred to the upper room, the
+doctor warning the others not to enter that from which he had been
+carried until it had been fumigated and sprinkled with vinegar.
+
+"Now," he said to the girl who was to remain with the patient, "keep
+the window wide open; as there is no fireplace, keep a brazier of
+charcoal burning near the window. Keep the door shut, and open it
+only when you have need for something. Give him a portion of this
+medicine every half hour. Do not lean over him--remember that his
+breath is a fatal poison. Put a pinch of these powdered spices into
+the fire every few minutes. Pour this perfume over your handkerchief,
+and put it over your mouth and nose whenever you approach the bed. He
+is in a stupor now, poor lad, and I fear that his chance of recovery
+is very slight; but you must remember that your own life is of value
+to your parents, and that it behoves you to do all in your power to
+preserve it, and that if you take the contagion it may spread through
+the house. We shall hang a sheet, soaked in vinegar, outside the
+door."
+
+"We could not have a better case for a trial," he said, as he went
+downstairs and joined Cyril, whom he had bidden wait below. "The
+people are all calm and sensible, and if we succeed not here, there
+is small chance of our succeeding elsewhere."
+
+The doctor then gave detailed orders as to fumigating the house, and
+left. Cyril saw at once that a brazier of charcoal was lighted and
+carried upstairs, and he called to the girl to come out and fetch it
+in. As soon as she had done so the sheet was hung over the door. Then
+he took another brazier, placed it in the room from which the boy had
+been carried, laid several lumps of sulphur upon it, and then left
+the room. All the doors of the other rooms were then thrown open, and
+a quantity of tobacco, spices, and herbs, were burnt on a red-hot
+iron at the foot of the stairs, until the house was filled with a
+dense smoke. Half an hour later all the windows were opened.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+FATHER AND SON
+
+
+The process of fumigation had well-nigh suffocated the wife and
+daughter of the trader, but, as soon as the smoke cleared away, Cyril
+set them all to work to carry up articles of furniture to another
+bedroom on the top floor.
+
+"When your daughter is released from nursing, madam," he said, "she
+must at once come into this room, and remain there secluded for a few
+days. Therefore, it will be well to make it as comfortable as
+possible for her. Her food must be taken up and put outside the door,
+so that she can take it in there without any of you going near her."
+
+The occupation was a useful one, as it distracted the thoughts of
+those engaged in it from the sick room.
+
+Cyril did not enter there. He had told the girl to call him should
+there be any necessity, but said,--
+
+"Do not call me unless absolutely needful, if, for instance, he
+becomes violent, in which case we must fasten the sheets across him
+so as to restrain him. But it is of no use your remaining shut up
+there if I go in and out of the room to carry the infection to the
+others."
+
+"You have hurt your arm, doctor?" the mother said, when the
+arrangements were all made, and they had returned to the room below.
+
+"Yes," he said; "I met with an accident, and must, for a short time,
+keep my arm in a sling."
+
+"You look young, sir, to be running these fearful perils."
+
+"I am young," Cyril said, "and have not yet completed all my studies;
+but Dr. Hodges judged that I was sufficiently advanced to be able to
+be of service to him, not so much in prescribing as by seeing that
+his orders were carried out."
+
+Every half hour he went upstairs, and inquired, through the door, as
+to the state of the boy.
+
+Late in the afternoon he heard the girl crying bitterly within. He
+knocked, and she cried out,--
+
+"He is dead, sir; he has just expired."
+
+"Then you must think of yourself and the others," he said. "The small
+packet I placed on the chair contains sulphur. Close the window, then
+place the packet on the fire, and leave the room at once and go into
+the next room, which is all ready for you. There, I pray you,
+undress, and sponge yourself with vinegar, then make your clothes
+into a bundle and put them outside the door. There will be a bowl of
+hot broth in readiness for you there; drink that, and then go to bed
+at once, and keep the blankets over you and try to sleep."
+
+He went part of the way downstairs, and, in a minute or two, heard a
+door open and shut, then another door shut. Knowing that the order
+had been carried out, he went downstairs.
+
+"Madam," he said, "God has taken your boy. The doctor had but little
+hope for him. For the sake of yourself and those around you, I pray
+you all to bear up against the sorrow."
+
+The mother burst into tears, and, leaving her with her husband and
+daughter, Cyril went into the kitchen, where the maid and an
+apprentice were sitting with pale faces, and bade the servant at once
+warm up the broth, that had already been prepared. As soon as it was
+ready, he carried a basin upstairs. The bundle of clothes had already
+been placed outside the girl's room. He took this down and put it on
+the kitchen fire.
+
+"Now," he said, "take four basins up to the parlour, and do you and
+the boy each make a hearty meal. I think there is little fear of the
+Plague spreading, and your best chance of avoiding it is by keeping
+up your spirits and not fretting about it."
+
+As soon as the broth had been taken into the parlour, he went in and
+persuaded them to eat and to take a glass of wine with it, while he
+himself sat down with them.
+
+"You are all weak," he said, "for, doubtless, you have eaten nothing
+to-day, and you need strength as well as courage. I trust that your
+daughter will presently go off into a sound sleep. The last thing
+before you go to bed, take up with you a basin of good posset with a
+glass of wine in it; knock gently at her door; if she is awake, tell
+her to come out and take it in as soon as you have gone, but if she
+does not reply, do not rouse her. I can be of no further use
+to-night, but will return in the morning, when I hope to find all is
+well."
+
+The father accompanied him to the door.
+
+"You will of course bring the poor boy down to-night. It were best
+that you made some excuse to sleep in another room. Let your daughter
+sleep with her mother. When you go in to fetch him, be careful that
+you do not enter at once, for the fumes of the sulphur will scarcely
+have abated. As you go in, place a wet handkerchief to your mouth,
+and make to the window and throw it open, closing the door behind
+you. Sit at the window till the air is tolerable, then wrap the
+blankets round him and carry him downstairs when you hear the bell.
+After he has gone tell the servant to have a brazier lighted, and to
+keep up the kitchen fire. As soon as he is gone, burn on the brazier
+at the foot of the stairs, tobacco and spices, as we did before; then
+take off your clothes and burn them on the kitchen fire, and then go
+up to bed. You can leave the doors and windows of the rooms that are
+not in use open, so that the smoke may escape."
+
+"God bless you, sir!" the man said. "You have been a comfort indeed
+to us, and I have good hopes that the Plague will spread no further
+among us."
+
+Cyril went first to the doctor's, and reported what had taken place.
+
+"I will go round in the morning and see how they are," he concluded,
+"and bring you round word before you start on your rounds."
+
+"You have done very well indeed," the doctor said. "If people
+everywhere would be as calm, and obey orders as well as those you
+have been with, I should have good hopes that we might check the
+spread of the Plague; but you will find that they are quite the
+exception."
+
+This, indeed, proved to be the case. In many instances, the people
+were so distracted with grief and fear that they ran about the house
+like mad persons, crying and screaming, running in and out of the
+sick chamber, or sitting there crying helplessly, and refusing to
+leave the body until it was carried out to the dead-cart. But with
+such cases Cyril had nothing to do, as the doctor would only send him
+to the houses where he saw that his instructions would be carried
+out.
+
+To his great satisfaction, Cyril found that the precautions taken in
+the first case proved successful. Regularly, every morning, he
+inquired at the door, and received the answer, "All are well."
+
+In August the Plague greatly increased in violence, the deaths rising
+to ten thousand a week. A dull despair had now seized the population.
+It seemed that all were to be swept away. Many went out of their
+minds. The quacks no longer drove a flourishing trade in their
+pretended nostrums; these were now utterly discredited, for nothing
+seemed of the slightest avail. Some went to the opposite extreme, and
+affected to defy fate. The taverns were filled again, and boisterous
+shouts and songs seemed to mock the dismal cries from the houses with
+the red cross on the door. Robberies were rife. Regardless of the
+danger of the pest, robbers broke into the houses where all the
+inmates had perished by the Plague, and rifled them of their
+valuables. The nurses plundered the dying. All natural affection
+seemed at an end.
+
+Those stricken were often deserted by all their relatives, and left
+alone to perish.
+
+Bands of reckless young fellows went through the streets singing,
+and, dressing up in masks, performed the dance of death. The dead
+were too many to be carried away in carts at night to the great pits
+prepared for them, but the dismal tones of the bell, and the cries of
+"Bring out your dead!" sounded in the streets all day. It was no
+longer possible to watch the whole of the infected houses. Sometimes
+Plague-stricken men would escape from their beds and run through the
+streets until they dropped dead. One such man, in the height of his
+delirium, sprang into the river, and, after swimming about for some
+time, returned to the shore, marvellously cured of his malady by the
+shock.
+
+Cyril went occasionally in the evening to the lodgings of Mr.
+Wallace. At first he met several people gathered there, but the
+number became fewer every time he went. He had told the minister that
+he thought that it would be better for him to stay away, exposed as
+he was to infection, but Mr. Wallace would take no excuses on this
+score.
+
+"We are all in the hands of God," he said. "The streets are full of
+infected people, and I myself frequently go to pray with my friends
+in the earliest stages of the malady. There is no longer any use in
+precautions. We can but all go on doing our duty until we are called
+away, and even among the few who gather here of an evening there may
+be one or more who are already smitten, though unconscious yet that
+their summons has come."
+
+Among others Cyril was introduced to a Mr. and Mrs. Harvey, who were,
+the minister told him, from the country, but were staying in town on
+account of a painful family business.
+
+"I have tried to persuade them to return home and to stay there until
+the Plague ceases, but they conceive it their duty to remain. They
+are, like myself, Independents, and are not easily to be turned from
+a resolution they have taken."
+
+Cyril could easily understand that Mr. Harvey was exactly what he,
+from the description he had heard of them, had pictured to himself
+that a Roundhead soldier would be. He had a stern face, eyes deeply
+sunk in his head, high cheekbones, a firm mouth, and a square jaw. He
+wore his hair cut close. His figure was bony, and he must, as a young
+man, have been very powerful. He spoke in a slow, deliberate way,
+that struck Cyril as being the result of long effort, for a certain
+restless action of the fingers and the quick movement of the eye,
+told of a naturally impulsive and fiery disposition. He constantly
+used scriptural texts in the course of his speech. His wife was
+gentle and quiet, but it was evident that there was a very strong
+sympathy between them, and Cyril found, after meeting them once or
+twice, that he liked them far better than he thought he should do on
+their first introduction. This was, no doubt, partly due to the fact
+that Mr. Harvey frequently entered into conversation with him, and
+appeared to interest himself in him. He was, too, a type that was
+altogether new to the lad. From his father, and his father's
+companions, he had heard nothing good of the Puritans, but the
+evident earnestness of this man's nature was, to some extent, in
+accordance with his own disposition, and he felt that, widely as he
+might differ from him on all points of politics, he could not but
+respect him. The evenings were pleasant. As if by common consent, the
+conversation never turned on the Plague, but they talked of other
+passing events, of the trials of their friends, and of the laws that
+were being put in force against Nonconformists.
+
+"What think you of these persecutions, young sir?" Mr. Harvey
+abruptly asked Cyril, one evening, breaking off in the midst of a
+general conversation.
+
+Cyril was a little confused at the unexpected question.
+
+"I think all persecutions for conscience' sake are wrong," he said,
+after a moment's pause, "and generally recoil upon the persecutors.
+Spain lost Holland owing to her persecution of the people. France
+lost great numbers of her best citizens by her laws against the
+Protestants. I agree with you thoroughly, that the persecution of the
+Nonconformists at present is a grievous error, and a cruel injustice;
+but, at the same time, if you will excuse my saying so, it is the
+natural consequence of the persecution by the Nonconformists, when
+they were in power, of the ministers of the Church of England. My
+tutor in France was an English clergyman, who had been driven from
+his living, like thousands of other ministers, because he would not
+give up his opinions. Therefore, you see, I very early was imbued
+with a hatred of persecution in any form. I trust that I have not
+spoken too boldly; but you asked for my opinion, and I was forced to
+give it."
+
+"At any rate, young sir, you have spoken manfully, and I like you
+none the worse for it. Nor can I altogether gainsay your words. But
+you must remember that we had before been oppressed, and that we have
+been engaged in a desperate struggle for liberty of conscience."
+
+"Which, having won for ourselves, we proceeded to deny to others,"
+Mr. Wallace said, with a smile. "Cyril has us fairly, Mr. Harvey. We
+are reaping what our fathers sowed. They thought that the power they
+had gained was to be theirs to hold always, and they used it
+tyrannously, being thereby false to all their principles. It is ever
+the persecuted, when he attains power, who becomes the persecutor,
+and, hard as is the pressure of the laws now, we should never forget
+that we have, in our time, been persecutors, and that in defiance of
+the rights of conscience we had fought to achieve. Man's nature is, I
+fear, unchangeable. The slave longs, above all things, for freedom,
+but when he rises successfully against his master he, in turn,
+becomes a tyrant, and not infrequently a cruel and bloodthirsty one.
+Still, we must hope. It may be in the good days that are to come, we
+may reach a point when each will be free to worship in his own
+fashion, without any fear or hindrance, recognising the fact that
+each has a right to follow his own path to Heaven, without its being
+a subject of offence to those who walk in other ways."
+
+One or two of the other visitors were on the point of speaking, when
+Mr. Wallace put a stop to further argument by fetching a Bible from
+his closet, and preparing for the short service of prayer with which
+the evening always closed.
+
+One evening, Mr. Harvey and his wife were absent from the usual
+gathering.
+
+"I feel anxious about them," Mr. Wallace said; "they have never,
+since they arrived in town, missed coming here at seven o'clock. The
+bells are usually striking the hour as they come. I fear that one or
+other of them may have been seized by the Plague."
+
+"With your permission, sir, I will run round and see," Cyril said. "I
+know their lodging, for I have accompanied them to the door several
+times. It is but five minutes' walk from here. If one or other is ill
+I will run round to Dr. Hodges, and I am sure, at my request, he will
+go round at once to see them."
+
+Cyril walked fast towards the lodging occupied by the Harveys. It was
+at the house of a mercer, but he and his family had, three weeks
+before, gone away, having gladly permitted his lodgers to remain, as
+their presence acted as a guard to the house. They had brought up an
+old servant with them, and were therefore able to dispense with other
+attendants. Cyril hurried along, trying, as usual, to pay as little
+heed as he could to the doleful cries that arose from many of the
+houses. Although it was still broad daylight there was scarce a soul
+in the streets, and those he met were, like himself, walking fast,
+keeping as far as possible from any one they met, so as to avoid
+contact.
+
+As he neared the house he heard a woman scream. A moment later a
+casement was thrown open, and Mrs. Harvey's head appeared. She gave
+another piercing cry for help, and was then suddenly dragged back,
+and the casement was violently closed. Cyril had so frequently heard
+similar cries that he would have paid no attention to it had it come
+from a stranger, but he felt that Mrs. Harvey was not one to give way
+to wild despair, even had her husband been suddenly attacked with the
+Plague. Her sudden disappearance, and the closing of the casement,
+too, were unaccountable, unless, indeed, her husband were in a state
+of violent delirium. He ran to the door and flung himself against it.
+
+"Help me to force it down," he cried to a man who was passing.
+
+"You are mad," the man replied. "Do you not see that they have got
+the Plague? You may hear hundreds of such cries every day."
+
+Cyril drew his sword, which he always carried when he went out of an
+evening--for, owing to the deaths among the City watch, deeds of
+lawlessness and violence were constantly perpetrated--and struck,
+with all his strength, with the hilt upon the fastening of the
+casement next the door. Several of the small panes of glass fell in,
+and the whole window shook. Again and again he struck upon the same
+spot, when the fastening gave way, and the window flew open. He
+sprang in at once, ran through the shop into the passage, and then
+upstairs. The door was open, and he nearly fell over the body of a
+man. As he ran into the room he heard the words,--
+
+"For the last time: Will you sign the deed? You think I will not do
+this, but I am desperate."
+
+As the words left his mouth, Cyril sprang forward between the man and
+Mr. Harvey, who was standing with his arms folded, looking
+steadfastly at his opponent, who was menacing him with a drawn sword.
+The man, with a terrible oath, turned to defend himself, repeating
+the oath when he saw who was his assailant.
+
+"I let you off last time lightly, you scoundrel!" Cyril exclaimed.
+"This time it is your life or mine."
+
+The man made a furious lunge at him. Cyril parried it, and would at
+the next moment have run him through had not Mr. Harvey suddenly
+thrown himself between them, hurling Cyril's antagonist to the
+ground.
+
+"Put up your sword," he said to Cyril. "This man is my son; scoundrel
+and villain, yet still my son, even though he has raised his hand
+against me. Leave him to God."
+
+Cyril had stepped a pace back in his surprise. At first he thought
+that Mr. Harvey's trouble had turned his brain; then it flashed
+across him that this ruffian's name was indeed John Harvey. The man
+was about to rise from the floor when Cyril again sprang forward.
+
+"Drop that sword," he exclaimed, "or I will run you through. Now,
+sir," he said to Mr. Harvey, "will you draw out that pistol, whose
+butt projects from his pocket, or your son may do one of us mischief
+yet?"
+
+That such had been the man's intention was evident from the glance of
+baffled rage he threw at Cyril.
+
+"Now, sir, go," his father said sternly. "Remember that, henceforth,
+you are no son of mine. Did I do my duty I should hand you over to
+the watch--not for your threats to me, but for the sword-thrust you
+have given to Joseph Edmonds, who has many times carried you on his
+shoulder when a child. You may compass my death, but be assured that
+not one farthing will you gain thereby. 'Vengeance is mine, saith the
+Lord.' I leave it to Him to pay it. Now go."
+
+John Harvey rose to his feet, and walked to the door. Then he turned
+and shook his fist at Cyril.
+
+"Curse you!" he said. "I will be even with you yet."
+
+Cyril now had time to look round. His eye fell upon the figure of
+Mrs. Harvey, who had fallen insensible. He made a step towards her,
+but her husband said, "She has but fainted. This is more pressing,"
+and he turned to the old servant. Cyril aided him in lifting the old
+man up and laying him on the couch.
+
+"He breathes," said he.
+
+"He is wounded to death," Mr. Harvey said sadly; "and my son hath
+done it."
+
+Cyril opened the servant's coat.
+
+"Here is the wound, high up on the left side. It may not touch a
+vital part. It bleeds freely, and I have heard that that is a good
+sign."
+
+"It is so," Mr. Harvey said excitedly. "Perhaps he may yet recover. I
+would give all that I am worth that it might be so, and that, bad as
+he may be, the sin of this murder should not rest on my son's soul."
+
+"I will run for the doctor, sir, but before I go let me help you to
+lift your wife. She will doubtless come round shortly, and will aid
+you to stanch the wound till the doctor comes."
+
+Mrs. Harvey was indeed already showing signs of returning animation.
+She was placed on a couch, and water sprinkled on her face. As soon
+as he saw her eyes open Cyril caught up his hat and ran to Dr.
+Hodges. The doctor had just finished his supper, and was on the point
+of going out again to see some of his patients. On hearing from Cyril
+that a servant of some friends of his had been wounded by a robber,
+he put some lint and bandages in his pocket, and started with him.
+
+"These robberies are becoming more and more frequent," he said; "and
+so bold and reckless are the criminals that they seem to care not a
+jot whether they add murder to their other crimes. Where do you say
+the wound is?"
+
+Cyril pointed below his own shoulder.
+
+"It is just about there, doctor."
+
+"Then it may be above the upper edge of the lung. If so, we may save
+the man. Half an inch higher or lower will make all the difference
+between life and death. As you say that it was bleeding freely, it is
+probable that the sword has missed the lung, for had it pierced it,
+the bleeding would have been chiefly internal, and the hope of saving
+him would have been slight indeed."
+
+When they reached the house Cyril found that Mrs. Harvey had quite
+recovered. They had cut open the man's clothes and her husband was
+pressing a handkerchief, closely folded, upon the wound.
+
+"It is serious, but, I think, not vital," Dr. Hodges said, after
+examining it. "I feel sure that the sword has missed the lung."
+
+After cutting off the rest of the man's upper garments, he poured,
+from a phial he had brought with him, a few drops of a powerful
+styptic into the wound, placed a thick pad of lint over it, and
+bandaged it securely. Then, giving directions that a small quantity
+of spirits and water should be given to the patient from time to
+time, and, above all things, that he should be kept perfectly quiet,
+he hurried away.
+
+"Is there anything more I can do, sir?" Cyril asked Mr. Harvey.
+
+"Nothing more. You will understand, sir, what our feelings are, and
+that our hearts are too full of grief and emotion for us to speak. We
+shall watch together to-night, and lay our case before the Lord."
+
+"Then I will come early in the morning and see if there is aught I
+can do, sir. I am going back now to Mr. Wallace, who was uneasy at
+your absence. I suppose you would wish me to say only that I found
+that there was a robber in the place who, having wounded your
+servant, was on the point of attacking you when I entered, and that
+he fled almost immediately."
+
+"That will do. Say to him that for to-night we shall be busy nursing,
+and that my wife is greatly shaken; therefore I would not that he
+should come round, but I pray him to call here in the morning."
+
+"I will do so, sir."
+
+Cyril went downstairs, closed the shutters of the window into which
+he had broken, and put up the bars, and then went out at the door,
+taking special pains to close it firmly behind him.
+
+He was glad to be out of the house. He had seen many sad scenes
+during the last few weeks, but it seemed to him that this was the
+saddest of all. Better, a thousand times, to see a son stricken by
+the Plague than this. He walked slowly back to the minister's. He met
+Mr. Wallace at the door of his house.
+
+"I was coming round," the latter said. "Of course one or other of
+them are stricken?"
+
+"No, sir; it was another cause that prevented their coming. Just as I
+reached the house I heard a scream, and Mrs. Harvey appeared at the
+casement calling for help. I forced open a window and ran up. I found
+that a robber had entered the house. He had seriously wounded the old
+servant, and was on the point of attacking Mr. Harvey when I entered.
+Taken by surprise, the man fled almost immediately. Mrs. Harvey had
+fainted. At first, we thought the servant was killed, but, finding
+that he lived, I ran off and fetched Dr. Hodges, who has dressed the
+wound, and thinks that the man has a good chance of recovery. As Mrs.
+Harvey had now come round, and was capable of assisting her husband,
+they did not accept my offer to stay and do anything I could. I said
+I was coming to you, and Mr. Harvey asked me to say that, although
+they were too much shaken to see you this evening, they should be
+glad if you would go round to them the first thing in the morning."
+
+"Then the robber got away unharmed?" Mr. Wallace asked.
+
+"He was unharmed, sir. I would rather that you did not question me on
+the subject. Mr. Harvey will doubtless enter fully into the matter
+with you in the morning. We did not exchange many words, for he was
+greatly disturbed in spirit at the wounding of his old servant, and
+the scene he had gone through; and, seeing that he and his wife would
+rather be alone with their patient, I left almost directly after Dr.
+Hodges went away. However, I may say that I believe that there are
+private matters in the affair, which he will probably himself
+communicate to you."
+
+"Then I will ask no more questions, Cyril. I am well content to know
+that it is not as I feared, and that the Plague had not attacked
+them."
+
+"I said that I would call round in the morning, sir; but I have been
+thinking of it as I came along, and consider that, as you will be
+there, it is as well that I should not do so. I will come round here
+at ten o'clock, and should you not have returned, will wait until you
+do. I do not know that I can be of any use whatever, and do not wish
+to intrude there. Will you kindly say this to them, but add that
+should they really wish me to go, I will of course do so?"
+
+Mr. Wallace looked a little puzzled.
+
+"I will do as you ask me, but it seems to me that they will naturally
+wish to see you, seeing that, had it not been for your arrival, they
+might have been robbed and perhaps murdered."
+
+"You will understand better when you have seen Mr. Harvey, sir. Now I
+will be making for home; it is about my usual hour, and John Wilkes
+will be beginning to wonder and worry about me."
+
+To John, Cyril told the same story as to Mr. Wallace.
+
+"But, how was it that you let the villain escape, Master Cyril? Why
+did you not run him through the body?"
+
+"I had other things to think of, John. There was Mrs. Harvey lying
+insensible, and the servant desperately wounded, and I thought more
+of these than of the robber, and was glad enough, when he ran out, to
+be able to turn my attention to them."
+
+"Ay, ay, that was natural enough, lad; but 'tis a pity the villain
+got off scot-free. Truly it is not safe for two old people to be in
+an empty house by themselves in these times, specially as, maybe, the
+houses on either side are also untenanted, and robbers can get into
+them and make their way along the roof, and so enter any house they
+like by the windows there. It was a mercy you chanced to come along.
+Men are so accustomed now to hear screams and calls for aid, that
+none trouble themselves as to such sounds. And you still feel quite
+well?"
+
+"Never better, John, except for occasional twitches in my shoulder."
+
+"It does not knit so fast as it should do," John said. "In the first
+place, you are always on the move; then no one can go about into
+infected houses without his spirits being disturbed, and of all
+things a calm and easy disposition is essential for the proper
+healing of wounds. Lastly, it is certain that when there is poison in
+the air wounds do not heal so quickly as at other times."
+
+"It is going on well enough, John; indeed, I could not desire it to
+do better. As soon as it is fairly healed I ought to join Prince
+Rupert again; but in truth I do not wish to go, for I would fain see
+this terrible Plague come to an end before I leave; for never since
+the days of the Black Death, hundreds of years ago, was there so
+strange and terrible a malady in this country."
+
+Mr. Wallace had returned to his house when Cyril called the next
+morning.
+
+"Thinking over what you said last night, Cyril, I arrived at a pretty
+correct conclusion as to what had happened, though I thought not that
+it could be as bad as it was. I knew the object with which Mr. Harvey
+and his wife had come up to London, at a time when most men were
+fleeing from it. Their son has, ever since he came up three years
+ago, been a source of grievous trouble to them, as he was, indeed,
+for a long time previously. Some natures seem naturally to turn to
+evil, and this boy's was one of them. It may be that the life at home
+was too rigid and severe, and that he revolted against it. Certain it
+is that he took to evil courses and consorted with bad companions.
+Severity was unavailing. He would break out of the house at night and
+be away for days. He was drunken and dissolute.
+
+"At last, just after a considerable sum of money had come into the
+house from the tenants' rents, he stole it, and went up to London.
+His name was not mentioned at home, though his father learnt from
+correspondents here that he had become a hanger-on of the Court,
+where, his father being a man of condition, he found friends without
+difficulty. He was a gambler and a brawler, and bore a bad reputation
+even among the riff-raff of the Court. His father learnt that he had
+disappeared from sight at the time the Court went to Oxford early in
+June, and his correspondent found that he was reported to have joined
+a band of abandoned ruffians, whose least crimes were those of
+robbery.
+
+"When the Plague spread rapidly, Mr. Harvey and his wife determined
+to come up to London, to make one more effort to draw him from his
+evil courses. The only thing that they have been able to learn for
+certain was, that he was one of the performers in that wicked mockery
+the dance of death, but their efforts to trace him have otherwise
+failed.
+
+"They had intended, if they had found him, and he would have made
+promises of amendment, to have given him money that would have
+enabled him to go over to America and begin a new life there,
+promising him a regular allowance to maintain him in comfort. As they
+have many friends over there, some of whom went abroad to settle
+before the Civil War broke out here, they would be able to have news
+how he was going on; and if they found he was living a decent life,
+and truly repented his past course, they would in five years have had
+him back again, and reinstated him as their heir.
+
+"I knew their intentions in the matter, and have done my best to gain
+them news of him. I did not believe in the reformation of one who had
+shown himself to be of such evil spirit; but God is all-powerful, and
+might have led him out from the slough into which he had fallen.
+
+"Yesterday evening, half an hour before you went there, his father
+and mother were astonished at his suddenly entering. He saluted them
+at first with ironical politeness, and said that having heard from
+one from the same part of the country that he had seen them in
+London, he had had the streets thereabouts watched, and having found
+where they lodged, had come to pay his respects.
+
+"There was a reckless bravado in his manner that alarmed his mother,
+and it was not long before the purpose of his visit came out. He
+demanded that his father should at once sign a deed which he had
+brought drawn out in readiness, assigning to him at once half his
+property.
+
+"'You have,' he said, 'far more than you can require. Living as you
+do, you must save three-quarters of your income, and it would be at
+once an act of charity, and save you the trouble of dealing with
+money that is of no use to you.'
+
+"His father indignantly refused to take any such step, and then told
+him the plans he had himself formed for him. At this he laughed
+scoffingly.
+
+"'You have the choice,' he said, 'of giving me half, or of my taking
+everything.' And then he swore with terrible oaths that unless his
+father signed the paper, that day should be his last. 'You are in my
+power,' he said, 'and I am desperate. Do you think that if three dead
+bodies are found in a house now any will trouble to inquire how they
+came to their end? They will be tossed into the plague-cart, and none
+will make inquiry about them.'
+
+"Hearing voices raised in anger, the old servant ran in. At once the
+villain drew and ran at him, passing his sword through his body.
+Then, as if transported at the sight of the blood he had shed, he
+turned upon his father. It was at this moment that his mother ran to
+the window and called for help. He dragged her back, and as she fell
+fainting with horror and fear he again turned upon his father; his
+passion grew hotter and hotter as the latter, upbraiding him with the
+deed he had done, refused to sign; and there is no doubt that he
+would have taken his life had you not luckily ran in at this moment.
+
+"It has truly been a terrible night for them. They have passed it in
+prayer, and when I went this morning were both calm and composed,
+though it was easy to see by their faces how they had suffered, and
+how much the blow has told upon them. They have determined to save
+their son from any further temptation to enrich himself by their
+deaths. I fetched a lawyer for them; and when I left Mr. Harvey was
+giving him instructions for drawing up his will, by which every
+farthing is left away from him. They request me to go to them this
+evening with two or three of our friends to witness it, as it is
+necessary in a time like this that a will should be witnessed by as
+many as possible, as some may be carried off by the Plague; and
+should all the witnesses be dead, the will might be disputed as a
+forgery. So the lawyer will bring his clerks with him, and I shall
+take four or five of our friends.
+
+"They will return to the country as soon as their servant can be
+moved. Dr. Hodges came when I was there, and gives hopes that the
+cure will be a speedy one. We are going to place some men in the
+house. I have among my poorer friends two men who will be glad to
+establish themselves there with their wives, seeing that they will
+pay no rent, and will receive wages as long as Mr. Harvey remains
+there. There will thus be no fear of any repetition of the attempt.
+Mr. Harvey, on my advice, will also draw up and sign a paper giving a
+full account of the occurrence of last evening, and will leave this
+in the hands of the lawyer.
+
+"This will be a protection to him should his son follow him into the
+country, as he will then be able to assure him that if he proceeds to
+violence suspicion will at once fall upon him, and he will be
+arrested for his murder. But, indeed, the poor gentleman holds but
+little to his life; and it was only on my representing to him that
+this document might be the means of averting the commission of the
+most terrible of all sins from the head of his son, that he agreed to
+sign it. I gave him your message, and he prays me to say that, deeply
+grateful as he and his wife are to you, not so much for the saving of
+their lives, as for preventing their son's soul being stained by the
+crime, they would indeed rather that you did not call for a time, for
+they are so sorely shaken that they do not feel equal to seeing you.
+You will not, I hope, take this amiss."
+
+"By no means," Cyril replied; "it is but a natural feeling; and, in
+truth, I myself am relieved that such is their decision, for it would
+be well-nigh as painful to me as to them to see them again, and to
+talk over the subject."
+
+"By the way, Cyril, Mr. Harvey said that when you saw his son you
+cried out his name, and that by the manner in which he turned upon
+you it was clear that he had some cause for hating you. Is this so,
+or was it merely his fancy?"
+
+"It was no fancy, sir. It is not long since I thwarted his attempt to
+carry off the daughter of a city merchant, to whom he had represented
+himself as a nobleman. He was in the act of doing so, with the aid of
+some friends, when, accompanied by John Wilkes, I came up. There was
+a fray, in the course of which I ran him through the shoulder. The
+young lady returned home with us, and has since heartily repented of
+her folly. I had not seen the man since that time till I met him
+yesterday; but certainly the house was watched for some time, as I
+believe, by his associates who would probably have done me an ill
+turn had I gone out after nightfall."
+
+"That explains it, Cyril. I will tell Mr. Harvey, whose mind has been
+much puzzled by your recognition of his son."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+SMITTEN DOWN
+
+
+Two days later, Cyril started at his usual hour to go to Dr. Hodges';
+but he had proceeded but a few yards when a man, who was leaning
+against the wall, suddenly lurched forward and caught him round the
+neck. Thinking that the fellow had been drinking, Cyril angrily tried
+to shake him off. As he did so the man's hat, which had been pressed
+down over his eyes, fell off, and, to his astonishment, Cyril
+recognised John Harvey.
+
+"You villain! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, as he freed
+himself from the embrace, sending his assailant staggering back
+against the wall.
+
+The man's face lit up with a look of savage exultation..
+
+"I told you you should hear from me again," he said, "and I have kept
+my word. I knew the hour you went out, and I have been waiting for
+you. You are a doomed man. I have the Plague, and I have breathed in
+your face. Before twenty-four hours have passed you will be, as I am,
+a dying man. That is a good piece of vengeance. You may be a better
+swordsman than I am, but you can't fight with the Plague."
+
+Cyril drew back in horror. As he did so, a change came over John
+Harvey's face, he muttered a few words incoherently, swayed backwards
+and forwards, and then slid to the ground in a heap. A rush of blood
+poured from his mouth, and he fell over dead.
+
+Cyril had seen more than one similar death in the streets, but the
+horrible malignity of this man, and his sudden death, gave him a
+terrible shock. He felt for the moment completely unmanned, and,
+conscious that he was too unhinged for work, he turned and went back
+to the house.
+
+"You look pale, lad," John Wilkes said, as Cyril went upstairs. "What
+brings you back so soon?"
+
+"I have had rather a shock, John." And he told him of what had
+happened.
+
+"That was enough to startle you, lad. I should say the best thing you
+could do would be to take a good strong tumbler of grog, and then lay
+down."
+
+"That I will do, and will take a dose of the medicine Dr. Hodges
+makes everyone take when the infection first shows itself in a house.
+As you know, I have never had any fear of the Plague hitherto. I
+don't say that I am afraid of it now, but I have run a far greater
+risk of catching it than I have ever done before, for until now I
+have never been in actual contact with anyone with the disease."
+
+After a sleep Cyril rose, and feeling himself again, went to call
+upon Mr. Wallace.
+
+"I shall not come again for a few days," he said, after telling him
+what had happened, but without mentioning the name of John Harvey,
+"but I will send you a note every other day by John Wilkes. If he
+does not come, you will know that I have taken the malady, and in
+that case, Mr. Wallace, I know that I shall have your prayers for my
+recovery. I am sure that I shall be well cared for by John Wilkes."
+
+"Of my prayers you maybe sure, Cyril; and, indeed, I have every faith
+that, should you catch the malady, you will recover from it. You have
+neither well-nigh frightened yourself to death, nor have you dosed
+yourself with drugs until nature was exhausted before the struggle
+began. You will, I am sure, be calm and composed, and above all you
+have faith in God, and the knowledge that you have done your part to
+carry out His orders, and to visit the sick and aid those in sorrow."
+
+The next day Cyril was conscious of no change except that he felt a
+disinclination to exert himself. The next morning he had a feeling of
+nausea.
+
+"I think that I am in for it, John," he said. "But at any rate it can
+do no harm to try that remedy you spoke of that is used in the East.
+First of all, let us fumigate the room. As far as I have seen, the
+smoke of tobacco is the best preservative against the Plague. Now do
+you, John, keep a bit of tobacco in your mouth."
+
+"That I mostly do, lad."
+
+"Well, keep a bigger bit than usual, John, and smoke steadily. Still,
+that will not be enough. Keep the fire burning, and an iron plate
+heated to redness over it. Bring that into my room from time to time,
+and burn tobacco on it. Keep the room full of smoke."
+
+"I will do that," John said, "but you must not have too much of it. I
+am an old hand, and have many times sat in a fo'castle so full of
+smoke that one could scarce see one's hands, but you are not
+accustomed to it, and it may like enough make you sick."
+
+"There will be no harm in that, John, so that one does not push it
+too far. Now, how are you going to set about this sweating process?"
+
+"While you undress and get into bed I will get a blanket ready. It is
+to be dipped in boiling water, and then wrung out until it is as dry
+as we can get it. Then you are wrapped in that, and then rolled in
+five or six dry blankets to keep in the heat. You will keep in that
+until you feel almost weak with sweating; then I take you out and
+sponge you with warmish water, and then wrap you in another dry
+blanket."
+
+"You had better sponge me with vinegar, John."
+
+Cyril undressed. When he had done so he carefully examined himself,
+and his eye soon fell on a black spot on the inside of his leg, just
+above the knee. It was the well-known sign of the Plague.
+
+"I have got it, John," he said, when the latter entered with a pile
+of blankets.
+
+"Well, then, we have got to fight it, Master Cyril, and we will beat
+it if it is to be beaten. Now, lad, for the hot blanket."
+
+"Lay it down on the bed, and I will wrap myself in it, and the same
+with the others. Now I warn you, you are not to come nearer to me
+than you can help, and above all you are not to lean over me. If you
+do, I will turn you out of the room and lock the door, and fight it
+out by myself. Now puff away at that pipe, and the moment you wrap me
+up get the room full of smoke."
+
+John nodded.
+
+"Don't you bother about me," he growled. "I reckon the Plague ain't
+going to touch such a tough old bit of seasoned mahogany as I am.
+Still, I will do as you tell me."
+
+In a few minutes Cyril was in a profuse perspiration, in which even
+his head, which was above the blankets, shared.
+
+"That is grand," John said complacently.
+
+The cloud of tobacco, with which the room was soon filled, was not
+long in having the effect that John had predicted, and Cyril was soon
+violently sick, which had the effect of further increasing the
+perspiration.
+
+"You must open the window and let the smoke out a bit, John," he
+gasped. "I can't stand any more of it."
+
+This was done, and for another hour Cyril lay between the blankets.
+
+"I shall faint if I lie here any longer," he said at last. "Now,
+John, do you go out of the room, and don't come back again until I
+call you. I see you have put the vinegar handy. It is certain that if
+this is doing me any good the blankets will be infected. You say you
+have got a big fire in the kitchen. Well, I shall take them myself,
+and hang them up in front of it, and you are not to go into the room
+till they are perfectly dry again. You had better light another fire
+at once in the parlour, and you can do any cooking there. I will keep
+the kitchen for my blankets."
+
+John nodded and left the room, and Cyril at once proceeded to unroll
+the blankets. As he came to the last he was conscious of a strong
+fetid odour, similar to that he had more than once perceived in
+houses infected by the Plague.
+
+"I believe it is drawing it out of me," he said to himself. "I will
+give it another trial presently."
+
+He first sponged himself with vinegar, and felt much refreshed. He
+then wrapped himself up and lay down for a few minutes, for he felt
+strangely weak. Then he got up and carried the blankets into the
+kitchen, where a huge fire had been made up by John. He threw the one
+that had been next to him into a tub, and poured boiling water on it,
+and the others he hung on chairs round it. Then he went back to his
+room, and lay down and slept for half an hour. He returned to the
+kitchen and rearranged the blankets. When John saw him go back to his
+room he followed him.
+
+"I have got some strong broth ready," he said. "Do you think that you
+could take a cupful?"
+
+"Ay, and a good-sized one, John. I feel sure that the sweating has
+done me good, and I will have another turn at it soon. You must go at
+once and report that I have got it, or when the examiners come round,
+and find that the Plague is in the house, you will be fined, or
+perhaps imprisoned. Before you go there, please leave word at Dr.
+Hodges' that I am ill, and you might also call at Mr. Wallace's and
+leave the same message. Tell them, in both cases, that I have
+everything that I want, and trust that I shall make a good recovery."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir; I will be off as soon as I have brought you in your
+broth, and will be back here in half an hour."
+
+Cyril drank the broth, and then dozed again until John returned. When
+he heard his step he called out to him to bring the hot iron, and he
+filled the room with tobacco smoke before allowing him to enter.
+
+"Now, John, the blankets are dry, and can be handled again, and I am
+ready for another cooking."
+
+Four times that day did Cyril undergo the sweating process. By the
+evening he was as weak as a child, but his skin was soft and cool,
+and he was free from all feeling of pain or uneasiness. Dr. Hodges
+called half an hour after he had taken it for the last time, having
+only received his message when he returned late from a terrible day's
+work. Cyril had just turned in for the night.
+
+"Well, lad, how are you feeling? I am so sorry that I did not get
+your message before."
+
+"I am feeling very well, doctor."
+
+"Your hand is moist and cool," Dr. Hodges said in surprise. "You must
+have been mistaken. I see no signs whatever of the Plague."
+
+"There was no mistake, doctor; there were the black marks on my
+thighs, but I think I have pretty well sweated it out of me."
+
+He then described the process he had followed, and said that John
+Wilkes had told him that it was practised in the Levant.
+
+"Sweating is greatly used here, and I have tried it very repeatedly
+among my patients, and in some cases, where I had notice of the
+disease early, have saved them. Some bleed before sweating, but I
+have not heard of one who did so who recovered. In many cases the
+patient, from terror or from weakness of body, cannot get up the heat
+required, and even if they arrive at it, have not the strength to
+support it. In your case you lost no time; you had vital heat in
+plenty, and you had strength to keep up the heat in full force until
+you washed, as it were, the malady out of you. Henceforth I shall
+order that treatment with confidence when patients come to me whom I
+suspect to have the Plague, although it may not have as yet fully
+declared itself. What have you done with the blankets?"
+
+"I would not suffer John to touch them, but carried them myself into
+the kitchen. The blankets next to me I throw into a tub and pour
+boiling water over them; the others I hang up before a huge fire, so
+as to be dry for the next operation. I take care that John does not
+enter the kitchen."
+
+"How often have you done this?"
+
+"Four times, and lay each time for an hour in the blankets. I feel
+very weak, and must have lost very many pounds in weight, but my head
+is clear, and I suffer no pain whatever. The marks on my legs have
+not spread, and seem to me less dark in colour than they were."
+
+"Your case is the most hopeful that I have seen," Dr. Hodges said.
+"The system has had every advantage, and to this it owes its success.
+In the first place, you began it as soon as you felt unwell. Most
+people would have gone on for another twelve hours before they paid
+much attention to the first symptoms, and might not have noticed the
+Plague marks even when they went to bed. In the second place, you are
+cool and collected, and voluntarily delivered yourself to the
+treatment. And in the third place, which is the most important
+perhaps of all, you were in good health generally. You had not
+weakened yourself by swallowing every nostrum advertised, or wearing
+yourself out by vain terrors. Ninety-nine cases out of a hundred
+would be probably beyond the reach of help before they were conscious
+of illness, and be too weak to stand so severe a strain on the system
+as that you have undergone. Another thing is that the remedy could
+hardly be attempted in a house full of frightened people. There would
+be sure to be carelessness in the matter of the blankets, which,
+unless treated as you have done, would be a certain means of
+spreading the infection over the house. At any rate, I would continue
+the sweating as long as you can possibly stand it. Take nourishment
+in the shape of broth frequently, but in small quantity. I would do
+it again at midnight; 'tis well not to let the virus have time to
+gather strength again. I see you have faith in tobacco."
+
+"Yes, doctor. I never let John Wilkes into the room after I have
+taken a bath until it is full of tobacco smoke. I have twice made
+myself ill with it to-day."
+
+"Don't carry it too far, lad; for although I also believe in the
+virtue of the weed, 'tis a powerful poison, and you do not want to
+weaken yourself. Well, I see I can do nothing for you. You and your
+man seem to me to have treated the attack far more successfully than
+I should have done; for, indeed, this month very few of those
+attacked have recovered, whatever the treatment has been. I shall
+come round early tomorrow morning to see how you are going on. At
+present nothing can be better. Since the first outbreak, I have not
+seen a single case in which the patient was in so fair a way towards
+recovery in so short a time after the discovery of the infection."
+
+John Wilkes at this moment came in with a basin of broth.
+
+"This is my good friend, John Wilkes, doctor."
+
+"You ought to be called Dr. John Wilkes," the doctor, who was one of
+the most famous of his time, said, with a smile, as he shook hands
+with him. "Your treatment seems to be doing wonders."
+
+"It seems to me he is doing well, doctor, but I am afraid he is
+carrying it too far; he is so weak he can hardly stand."
+
+"Never mind that," the doctor said; "it will be easy enough to build
+him up when we have once got the Plague out of him. I have told him
+to have another turn in the blankets at twelve o'clock to-night; it
+will not do to let the malady get a fresh hold of him. But don't push
+it too far, lad. If you begin to feel faint, stop it, even if you
+have not been a quarter of an hour in the blankets. Do not cover
+yourself up too warmly when you have done; let nature have a rest. I
+shall be round between eight and nine, and no doubt you will have had
+another bath before I come. Do not sleep in the room, Wilkes; he is
+sure to go off soundly to sleep, and there is no use your running any
+needless risk. Let his window stand open; indeed, it should always be
+open, except when he gets out of his blankets, or is fumigating the
+room. Let him have a chair by the open window, so as to get as much
+fresh air as possible; but be sure that he is warmly wrapped up with
+blankets, so as to avoid getting a chill. You might place a hand-bell
+by the side of his bed to-night, so that he can summons you should he
+have occasion."
+
+When the doctor came next morning he nodded approvingly as soon as he
+felt Cyril's hand.
+
+"Nothing could be better," he said; "your pulse is even quieter than
+last night. Now let me look at those spots."
+
+"They are fainter," Cyril said.
+
+"A great deal," Dr. Hodges said, in a tone of the greatest pleasure.
+"Thank God, my lad, it is dying out. Not above three or four times
+since the Plague began have I been able to say so. I shall go about
+my work with a lighter heart today, and shall order your treatment in
+every case where I see the least chance of its being carried out, but
+I cannot hope that it will often prove as successful as it has with
+you. You have had everything in your favour--youth, a good
+constitution, a tranquil mind, an absence of fear, and a faith in
+God."
+
+"And a good attendant, doctor--don't forget that."
+
+"No, that goes for a great deal, lad--for a great deal. Not one nurse
+out of a hundred would carry out my instructions carefully; not one
+patient in a thousand would be able to see that they were carried
+out. Of course you will keep on with the treatment, but do not push
+it to extremes; you have pulled yourself down prodigiously, and must
+not go too far. Do you perceive any change in the odour when you take
+off the blankets?"
+
+"Yes, doctor, a great change; I could scarcely distinguish it this
+morning, and indeed allowed John Wilkes to carry them out, as I don't
+think I myself could have walked as far as the kitchen, though it is
+but ten or twelve paces away. I told him to smoke furiously all the
+time, and to come out of the kitchen as soon as he had hung them up."
+
+Cyril took three more baths in the course of the day, but was only
+able to sustain them for twenty minutes each, as by the end of that
+time he nearly fainted. The doctor came in late in the evening.
+
+"The spots are gone, doctor," Cyril said.
+
+"Then I think you may consider yourself cured, lad. Do not take the
+treatment again to-night; you can take it once in the morning; and
+then if I find the spots have not reappeared by the time I come, I
+shall pronounce the cure as complete, and shall begin to build you up
+again."
+
+The doctor was able to give this opinion in the morning.
+
+"I shall not come again, lad, unless you send for me, for every
+moment of my time is very precious, and I shall leave you in the
+hands of Dr. Wilkes. All you want now is nourishment; but take it
+carefully at first, and not too much at a time; stick to broths for
+the next two or three days, and when you do begin with solids do so
+very sparingly."
+
+"There was a gentleman here yesterday asking about you," John Wilkes
+said, as Cyril, propped up in bed, sipped his broth. "It was Mr.
+Harvey. He rang at the bell, and I went down to the lower window and
+talked to him through that, for of course the watchman would not let
+me go out and speak to him. I had heard you speak of him as one of
+the gentlemen you met at the minister's, and he seemed muchly
+interested in you. He said that you had done him a great service, and
+of course I knew it was by frightening that robber away. I never saw
+a man more pleased than he was when I told him that the doctor
+thought you were as good as cured, and he thanked God very piously
+for the same. After he had done that, he asked me first whether you
+had said anything to me about him. I said that you had told me you
+had met him and his wife at the minister's, and that you said you had
+disturbed a robber you found at his house. He said, quite sharp,
+'Nothing more?' 'No, not as I can think of. He is always doing good
+to somebody,' says I, 'and never a word would he say about it, if it
+did not get found out somehow. Why, he saved Prince Rupert's ship
+from being blown up by a fire-vessel, and never should we have known
+of it if young Lord Oliphant had not written to the Captain telling
+him all about it, and saying that it was the gallantest feat done in
+the battle. Then there were other things, but they were of the nature
+of private affairs.' 'You can tell me about them, my good man,' he
+said; 'I am no vain babbler; and as you may well believe, from what
+he did for me, and for other reasons, I would fain know as much as I
+can of him.' So then I told him about how you found out about the
+robbery and saved master from being ruined, and how you prevented
+Miss Nellie from going off with a rascal who pretended he was an
+earl."
+
+"Then you did very wrong, John," Cyril said angrily. "I say naught
+about your speaking about the robbery, for that was told in open
+Court, but you ought not, on any account, to have said a word about
+Mistress Nellie's affairs."
+
+"Well, your honour, I doubt not Mistress Nellie herself would have
+told the gentleman had she been in my place. I am sure he can be
+trusted not to let it go further. I took care to tell him what good
+it had done Mistress Nellie, and that good had come out of evil."
+
+"Well, you ought not to have said anything about it, John. It may be
+that Mistress Nellie out of her goodness of heart might herself have
+told, but that is no reason why anyone else should do so. I charge
+you in future never to open your lips about that to anyone, no matter
+who. I say not that any harm will come of it in this case, for Mr.
+Harvey is indeed a sober and God-fearing man, and assuredly asked
+only because he felt an interest in me, and from no idle curiosity.
+Still, I would rather that he had not known of a matter touching the
+honour of Mistress Nellie."
+
+"Mum's the word in future, Master Cyril. I will keep the hatches fast
+down on my tongue. Now I will push your bed up near the window as the
+doctor ordered, and then I hope you will get a good long sleep."
+
+The Plague and the process by which it had been expelled had left
+Cyril so weak that it was some days before he could walk across the
+room. Every morning he inquired anxiously of John how he felt, and
+the answer was always satisfactory. John had never been better in his
+life; therefore, by the time Cyril was able to walk to his easy-chair
+by the window, he began to hope that John had escaped the infection,
+which generally declared itself within a day or two, and often within
+a few hours, of the first outbreak in a house.
+
+A week later the doctor, who paid him a flying visit every two or
+three days, gave him the welcome news that he had ordered the red
+cross to be removed from the door, and the watchmen to cease their
+attendance, as the house might now be considered altogether free from
+infection.
+
+The Plague continued its ravages with but slight abatement, moving
+gradually eastward, and Aldgate and the district lying east of the
+walls were now suffering terribly. It was nearly the end of September
+before Cyril was strong enough to go out for his first walk. Since
+the beginning of August some fifty thousand people had been carried
+off, so that the streets were now almost entirely deserted, and in
+many places the grass was shooting up thickly in the road. In some
+streets every house bore the sign of a red cross, and the tolling of
+the bells of the dead-carts and piteous cries and lamentations were
+the only sounds that broke the strange silence.
+
+The scene was so disheartening that Cyril did not leave the house
+again for another fortnight. His first visit was to Mr. Wallace. The
+sight of a watchman at the door gave him quite a shock, and he was
+grieved indeed when he heard from the man that the brave minister had
+died a fortnight before. Then he went to Mr. Harvey's. There was no
+mark on the door, but his repeated knockings met with no response,
+and a woman, looking out from a window opposite, called to him that
+the house had been empty for well-nigh a month, and the people that
+were in it had gone off in a cart, she supposed into the country.
+
+"There was a gentleman and lady," she said, "who seemed well enough,
+and their servant, who was carried down and placed in the cart. It
+could not have been the Plague, though the man looked as if he had
+been sorely ill."
+
+The next day he called on Dr. Hodges, who had not been near him for
+the last month. There was no watchman at the door, and his man opened
+it.
+
+"Can I see the doctor?"
+
+"Ay, you can see him," he said; "he is cured now, and will soon be
+about again."
+
+"Has he had the Plague, then?"
+
+"That he has, but it is a week now since the watchman left."
+
+Cyril went upstairs. The doctor was sitting, looking pale and thin,
+by the window.
+
+"I am grieved indeed to hear that you have been ill, doctor," Cyril
+said; "had I known it I should have come a fortnight since, for I was
+strong enough to walk this distance then. I did indeed go out, but
+the streets had so sad an aspect that I shrank from stirring out
+again."
+
+"Yes, I have had it," the doctor said. "Directly I felt it come on I
+followed your system exactly, but it had gone further with me than it
+had with you, and it was a week before I fairly drove the enemy out.
+I ordered sweating in every case, but, as you know, they seldom sent
+for me until too late, and it is rare that the system got a fair
+chance. However, in my case it was a complete success. Two of my
+servants died; they were taken when I was at my worst. Both were dead
+before I was told of it. The man you saw was the one who waited on
+me, and as I adopted all the same precautions you had taken with your
+man, he did not catch it, and it was only when he went downstairs one
+day and found the other two servants lying dead in the kitchen that
+he knew they had been ill."
+
+"Mr. Wallace has gone, you will be sorry to hear, sir."
+
+"I am sorry," the doctor said; "but no one was more fitted to die. He
+was a brave man and a true Christian, but he ran too many risks, and
+your news does not surprise me."
+
+"The only other friends I have, Mr. Harvey and his wife, went out of
+town a month ago, taking with them their servant."
+
+"Yes; I saw them the day before I was taken ill," the doctor said,
+"and told them that the man was so far out of danger that he might
+safely be moved. They seemed very interested in you, and were very
+pleased when I told them that I had now given up attending you, and
+that you were able to walk across the room, and would, erelong, be
+yourself again. I hope we are getting to the end of it now, lad. As
+the Plague travels East it abates in the West, and the returns for
+the last week show a distinct fall in the rate of mortality. There is
+no further East for it to go now, and I hope that in another few
+weeks it will have worn itself out. We are half through October, and
+may look for cold weather before long."
+
+"I should think that I am strong enough to be useful again now, sir."
+
+"I don't think you are strong enough, and I am sure I shall not give
+you leave to do so," the doctor said. "I can hardly say how far a
+first attack is a protection against a second, for the recoveries
+have been so few that we have scarce means of knowing, but there
+certainly have been cases where persons have recovered from a first
+attack and died from a second. Your treatment is too severe to be
+gone through twice, and it is, therefore, more essential that you
+should run no risk of infection than it was before. I can see that
+you are still very far from strong, and your duty now is, in the
+first place, to regain your health. I should say get on board a hoy
+and go to Yarmouth. A week in the bracing air there would do you more
+good than six months here. But it is useless to give you that advice,
+because, in the first place, no shipping comes up the river, and,
+even if you could get down to Yarmouth by road, no one would receive
+you. Still, that is what I should do myself as soon as I could get
+away, were it not that, in my case, I have my duties here."
+
+"But, doctor, what you said to me surely applies to yourself also?"
+Cyril said, with a smile.
+
+"I know that," the doctor said good-humouredly, "and expected it, but
+it is not for a doctor to choose. He is not free, like other men; he
+has adopted a vocation in which it is his first duty to go among the
+sick, whatever their ailment may be, to do all that he can for them,
+and if, as in the present case, he can do practically nothing else,
+to set them an example of calmness and fearlessness. Still, for a
+time, at any rate, I shall be able to go no more into houses where
+the Plague is raging. 'Tis more than a month since you were cured,
+yet you are still a mere shadow of what you were. I had a much harder
+fight with the enemy, and cannot walk across the room yet without
+William's help. Therefore, it will be a fortnight or three weeks yet
+before I can see patients, and much longer before I shall have
+strength to visit them in their houses. By that time I trust that the
+Plague will have very greatly abated. Thus, you see, I shall not be
+called upon to stand face to face with it for some time. Those who
+call upon me here are seldom Plague-stricken. They come for other
+ailments, or because they feel unwell, and are nervous lest it should
+be the beginning of an attack; but of late I have had very few come
+here. My patients are mostly of the middle class, and these have
+either fled or fallen victims to the Plague, or have shut themselves
+up in their houses like fortresses, and nothing would tempt them to
+issue abroad. Therefore, I expect that I shall have naught to do but
+to gain strength again. Come here when you will, lad, and the oftener
+the better. Conversation is the best medicine for both of us, and as
+soon as I can I will visit you. I doubt not that John Wilkes has many
+a story of the sea that will take our thoughts away from this sad
+city. Bring him with you sometimes; he is an honest fellow, and the
+talk of sailors so smacks of the sea that it seems almost to act as a
+tonic."
+
+Cyril stayed for an hour, and promised to return on the following
+evening. He said, however, that he was sure John Wilkes would not
+accompany him.
+
+"He never leaves the house unless I am in it. He considers himself on
+duty; and although, as I tell him, there is little fear of anyone
+breaking in, seeing how many houses with much more valuable and more
+portable goods are empty and deserted, he holds to his purpose,
+saying that, even with the house altogether empty, it would be just
+as much his duty to remain in charge."
+
+"Well, come yourself, Cyril. If we cannot get this old watch-dog out
+I must wait until I can go to him."
+
+"I shall be very glad to come, doctor, for time hangs heavily on my
+hands. John Wilkes spends hours every day in washing and scrubbing
+decks, as he calls it, and there are but few books in the house."
+
+"As to that, I can furnish you, and will do so gladly. Go across to
+the shelves there, and choose for yourself."
+
+"Thank you very much indeed, sir. But will you kindly choose for me?
+I have read but few English books, for of course in France my reading
+was entirely French."
+
+"Then take Shakespeare. I hold his writings to be the finest in our
+tongue. I know them nearly by heart, for there is scarce an evening
+when I do not take him down for an hour, and reading him I forget the
+worries and cares of my day's work, which would otherwise often keep
+me from sleep. 'Tis a bulky volume, but do not let that discourage
+you; it is full of wit and wisdom, and of such romance that you will
+often find it hard to lay it down. Stay--I have two editions, and can
+well spare one of them, so take the one on that upper shelf, and keep
+it when you have read it. There is but little difference between
+them, but I generally use the other, and have come to look upon it as
+a friend."
+
+"Nay, sir, I will take it as a loan."
+
+"You will do nothing of the sort. I owe you a fee, and a bumping
+one."
+
+Henceforth Cyril did not find his time hang heavy on his hands. It
+seemed to him, as he sat at the window and read, that a new world
+opened to him. His life had been an eminently practical one. He had
+studied hard in France, and when he laid his books aside his time had
+been spent in the open air. It was only since he had been with
+Captain Dave that he had ever read for amusement, and the Captain's
+library consisted only of a few books of travels and voyages. He had
+never so much as dreamt of a book like this, and for the next few
+days he devoured its pages.
+
+"You are not looking so well, Cyril," Dr. Hodges said to him abruptly
+one day.
+
+"I am doing nothing but reading Shakespeare, doctor."
+
+"Then you are doing wrong, lad. You will never build yourself up
+unless you take exercise."
+
+"The streets are so melancholy, doctor, and whenever I go out I
+return sick at heart and in low spirits."
+
+"That I can understand, lad. But we must think of something," and he
+sat for a minute or two in silence. Then he said suddenly, "Do you
+understand the management of a boat?"
+
+"Yes, doctor; it was my greatest pleasure at Dunkirk to be out with
+the fishermen."
+
+"That will do, then. Go down at once to the riverside. There are
+hundreds of boats lying idle there, for there are no passengers and
+no trade, and half of their owners are dead. You are sure to see some
+men there; having nothing else to do, some will be hanging about. Say
+you want to hire a boat for a couple of months or to buy one. You
+will probably get one for a few shillings. Get one with a sail as
+well as oars. Go out the first thing after breakfast, and go up or
+down the river as the tide or wind may suit. Take some bread and meat
+with you, and don't return till supper-time. Then you can spend your
+evenings with Shakespeare. Maybe I myself will come down and take a
+sail with you sometimes. That will bring the colour back into your
+cheeks, and make a new man of you. Would that I had thought of it
+before!"
+
+Cyril was delighted with the idea, and, going down to Blackfriars,
+bought a wherry with a sail for a pound. Its owner was dead, but he
+learned where the widow lived, and effected the bargain without
+difficulty, for she was almost starving.
+
+"I have bought it," he said, "because it may be that I may get it
+damaged or sunk; but I only need it for six weeks or two months, and
+at the end of that time I will give it you back again. As soon as the
+Plague is over there will be work for boats, and you will be able to
+let it, or to sell it at a fair price."
+
+John Wilkes was greatly pleased when Cyril came back and told him
+what he had done.
+
+"That is the very thing for you," he said. "I have been a thick-head
+not to think of it. I have been worrying for the last week at seeing
+you sit there and do nothing but read, and yet there seemed nothing
+else for you to do, for ten minutes out in the streets is enough to
+give one the heartache. Maybe I will go out for a sail with you
+myself sometimes, for there is no fear of the house being broken into
+by daylight."
+
+"Not in the slightest, John. I hope that you will come out with me
+always. I should soon find it dull by myself, and besides, I don't
+think that I am strong enough yet to manage a pair of sculls for
+long, and one must reckon occasionally on having to row against the
+tide. Even if the worst happened, and anyone did break in and carry
+off a few things, I am sure Captain Dave would not grumble at the
+loss when he knew that I had wanted you to come out and help me to
+manage the boat, which I was ordered to use for my health's sake."
+
+"That he wouldn't," John said heartily; "not if they stripped the
+house and shop of everything there was in them."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE
+
+
+Having finally disposed of John Wilkes's scruples as to leaving the
+house during the daytime, Cyril thenceforth went out with him every
+day. If the tide was in flood they rowed far up the river, and came
+down on the ebb. If it was running out they went down as far as it
+would take them. Whenever the wind was favourable they hoisted the
+sail; at other times, they rowed. The fresh air, and the exercise,
+soon did their work. Cyril at first could only take one scull, and
+that only for a short time, but at the end of a fortnight was able to
+manage both for a time, or to row with one for hours. The feeling of
+lassitude which had oppressed him passed away speedily, the colour
+came back to his cheeks, his muscles strengthened, and he began to
+put on flesh.
+
+They were now in November, and needed warm garments when on the
+water, and John insisted on completely muffling him up whenever they
+hoisted the sail; but the colder weather braced him up, and he was
+often inclined to shout with pleasure as the wind drove the boat
+along before it.
+
+It was cheering to know that others were benefiting by the change. In
+the week ending October 3rd the deaths officially given were 4,328,
+though at least another thousand must be added to this, for great
+numbers of deaths from the Plague were put down to other causes, and
+very many, especially those of infants, were never counted at all. It
+was said that as many people were infected as ever, but that the
+virulence of the disease was abated, and that, whereas in August
+scarce one of those attacked recovered, in October but one out of
+every three died of the malady.
+
+In the second week of October, the number of deaths by the Plague was
+but 2,665, and only 1,250 in the third week, though great numbers
+were still attacked. People, however, grew careless, and ran
+unnecessary risks, and, in consequence, in the first week of November
+the number of deaths rose by 400. After this it decreased rapidly,
+and the people who had fled began to come back again--the more so
+because it had now spread to other large cities, and it seemed that
+there was less danger in London, where it had spent its force, than
+in places where it had but lately broken out. The shops began to open
+again, and the streets to reassume their former appearance.
+
+Cyril had written several times to Captain Dowsett, telling him how
+matters were going on, and in November, hearing that they were
+thinking of returning, he wrote begging them not to do so.
+
+"Many of those who have returned have fallen sick, and died," he
+said. "It seems to me but a useless risk of life, after taking so
+much pains to avoid infection, to hurry back before the danger has
+altogether passed. In your case, Captain Dave, there is the less
+reason for it, since there is no likelihood of the shipping trade
+being renewed for the present. All the ports of Europe are closed to
+our ships, and it is like to be a long time before they lose fear of
+us. Even the coasting trade is lost for the present. Therefore, my
+advice is very strongly against your returning for some weeks. All is
+going on well here. I am getting quite strong again, and, by the
+orders of the doctor, go out with John daily for a long row, and have
+gained much benefit from it. John sends his respects. He says that
+everything is ship-shape above and below, and the craft holding well
+on her way. He also prays you not to think of returning at present,
+and says that it would be as bad seamanship, as for a captain who has
+made a good offing in a gale, and has plenty of sea-room, to run down
+close to a rocky shore under the lee, before the storm has altogether
+blown itself out."
+
+Captain Dave took the advice, and only returned with his wife and
+Nellie a week before Christmas.
+
+"I am glad indeed to be back," he said, after the first greetings
+were over. "'Twas well enough for the women, who used to help in the
+dairy, and to feed the fowls, and gather the eggs, and make the
+butter, but for me there was nothing to do, and it seemed as if the
+days would never come to an end."
+
+"It was not so bad as that, father," Nellie said. "First of all, you
+had your pipe to smoke. Then, once a week you used to go over with
+the market-cart to Gloucester and to look at the shipping there, and
+talk with the masters and sailors. Then, on a Sunday, of course,
+there was church. So there were only five days each week to get
+through; and you know you took a good deal of interest in the horses
+and cows and pigs."
+
+"I tried to take an interest in them, Nellie; but it was very hard
+work."
+
+"Well, father, that is just what you were saying you wanted, and I am
+sure you spent hours every day walking about with the children, or
+telling them stories."
+
+"Well, perhaps, when I think of it, it was not so very bad after
+all," Captain Dave admitted. "At any rate, I am heartily glad I am
+back here again. We will open the shop to-morrow morning, John."
+
+"That we will, master. We sha'n't do much trade at present. Still, a
+few coasters have come in, and I hope that every day things will get
+better. Besides, all the vessels that have been lying in the Pool
+since June will want painting up and getting into trim again before
+they sail out of the river, so things may not be so slack after all.
+You will find everything in order in the store. I have had little to
+do but to polish up brass work and keep the metal from rusting. When
+do the apprentices come back again?"
+
+"I shall write for them as soon as I find that there is something for
+them to do. You are not thinking of running away as soon as we come
+back I hope, Cyril? You said, when you last wrote, that you were fit
+for sea again."
+
+"I am not thinking of going for some little time, if you will keep
+me, Captain Dave. There is no news of the Fleet fitting out at
+present, and they will not want us on board till they are just ready
+to start. They say that Albemarle is to command this time instead of
+the Duke, at which I am right glad, for he has fought the Dutch at
+sea many times, and although not bred up to the trade, he has shown
+that he can fight as steadily on sea as on land. All say the Duke
+showed courage and kept a firm countenance at Lowestoft, but there
+was certainly great slackness in the pursuit, though this, 'tis said,
+was not so much his fault as that of those who were over-careful of
+his safety. Still, as he is the heir to the throne, it is but right
+that he should be kept out of the fighting."
+
+"It is like to be stern work next time, Cyril, if what I hear be
+true. Owing partly to all men's minds being occupied by the Plague,
+and partly to the great sums wasted by the King in his pleasures,
+nothing whatever has been done for the Fleet. Of course, the squadron
+at sea has taken great numbers of prizes; but the rest of the Fleet
+is laid up, and no new ships are being built, while they say that the
+Dutch are busy in all their ship-yards, and will send out a much
+stronger fleet this spring than that which fought us at Lowestoft. I
+suppose you have not heard of any of your grand friends?"
+
+"No. I should have written to Sydney Oliphant, but I knew not whether
+he was at sea or at home, and, moreover, I read that most folks in
+the country are afraid of letters from London, thinking that they
+might carry contagion. Many noblemen have now returned to the West
+End, and when I hear that the Earl has also come back with his family
+it will, of course, be my duty to wait upon him, and on Prince Rupert
+also. But I hope the Prince will not be back yet, for he will be
+wanting me to go to Court again, and for this, in truth, I have no
+inclination, and, moreover, it cannot be done without much expense
+for clothes, and I have no intention to go into expenses on follies
+or gew-gaws, or to trench upon the store of money that I had from
+you, Captain Dave."
+
+They had just finished breakfast on the day before Christmas, when
+one of the apprentices came up from the shop and said that one Master
+Goldsworthy, a lawyer in the Temple, desired to speak to Sir Cyril
+Shenstone. Cyril was about to go down when Captain Dave said,--
+
+"Show the gentleman up, Susan. We will leave you here to him, Cyril."
+
+"By no means," Cyril said. "I do not know him, and he can assuredly
+have no private business with me that you may not hear."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter, however, left the room. The lawyer, a
+grave-looking gentleman of some fifty years of age, glanced at Cyril
+and the Captain as he entered the room, and then advanced towards the
+former.
+
+"My name is unknown to you, Sir Cyril," he said, "but it has been
+said that a bearer of good news needs no introduction, and I come in
+that capacity. I bring you, sir, a Christmas-box," and he took from a
+bag he carried a bundle of some size, and a letter. "Before you open
+it, sir, I will explain the character of its contents, which would
+take you some time to decipher and understand, while I can explain
+them in a very few words. I may tell you that I am the legal adviser
+of Mr. Ebenezer Harvey, of Upmead Court, Norfolk. You are, I presume,
+familiar with the name?"
+
+Cyril started. Upmead Court was the name of his father's place, but
+with the name of its present owner he was not familiar. Doubtless, he
+might sometimes have heard it from his father, but the latter, when
+he spoke of the present possessor of the Court, generally did so as
+"that Roundhead dog," or "that canting Puritan."
+
+"The Court I know, sir," he said gravely, "as having once been my
+father's, but I do not recall the name of its present owner, though
+it may be that in my childhood my father mentioned it in my hearing."
+
+"Nevertheless, sir, you know the gentleman himself, having met him,
+as he tells me, frequently at the house of Mr. Wallace, who was
+minister of the chapel at which he worshipped, and who came up to
+London to minister to those sorely afflicted and needing comfort. Not
+only did you meet with Mr. Harvey and his wife, but you rendered to
+them very material service."
+
+"I was certainly unaware," Cyril said, "that Mr. Harvey was the
+possessor of what had been my father's estate, but, had I known it,
+it would have made no difference in my feeling towards him. I found
+him a kind and godly gentleman whom, more than others there, was good
+enough to converse frequently with me, and to whom I was pleased to
+be of service."
+
+"The service was of a most important nature," the lawyer said, "being
+nothing less than the saving of his life, and probably that of his
+wife. He sent for me the next morning, and then drew out his will. By
+that will he left to you the estates which he had purchased from your
+father."
+
+Cyril gave a start of surprise, and would have spoken, but Master
+Goldsworthy held up his hand, and said,--
+
+"Please let me continue my story to the end. This act was not the
+consequence of the service that you had rendered him. He had
+previously consulted me on the subject, and stated his intentions to
+me. He had met you at Mr. Wallace's, and at once recognised your
+name, and learnt from Mr. Wallace that you were the son of Sir Aubrey
+Shenstone. He studied your character, had an interview with Dr.
+Hodges, and learnt how fearlessly you were devoting yourself to the
+work of aiding those stricken with the Plague. With his own son he
+had reason for being profoundly dissatisfied. The young man had
+thrown off his authority, had become a notorious reprobate, and had,
+he believed, sunk down to become a companion of thieves and
+highwaymen. He had come up to London solely to make a last effort to
+save him from his evil courses and to give him a chance of
+reformation by sending him out to New England.
+
+"Mr. Harvey is possessed of considerable property in addition to the
+estates purchased of your father, for, previous to that purchase he
+had been the owner of large tanneries at Norwich, which he has ever
+since maintained, not so much for the sake of the income he derived
+from them as because they afforded a livelihood to a large number of
+workmen. He had, therefore, ample means to leave to his son, should
+the latter accept his offer and reform his life, without the estates
+of Upmead. When he saw you, he told me his conscience was moved. He
+had, of course, a legal right to the estates, but he had purchased
+them for a sum not exceeding a fifth of their value, and he
+considered that in the twenty years he had held them he had drawn
+from them sums amply sufficient to repay him for the price he had
+given for them, and had received a large interest on the money in
+addition. He questioned, therefore, strongly whether he had any right
+longer to retain them.
+
+"When he consulted me on the subject, he alluded to the fact that, by
+the laws of the Bible, persons who bought lands were bound to return
+the land to its former possessors, at the end of seven times seven
+years. He had already, then, made up his mind to leave that portion
+of his property to you, when you rendered him that great service, and
+at the same time it became, alas! but too evident to him that his son
+was hopelessly bad, and that any money whatever left to him would
+assuredly be spent in evil courses, and would do evil rather than
+good. Therefore, when I came in the morning to him he said,--
+
+"'My will must be made immediately. Not one penny is to go to my son.
+I may be carried off to-morrow by the Plague, or my son may renew his
+attempt with success. So I must will it away from him at once. For
+the moment, therefore, make a short will bequeathing the estate of
+Upmead to Sir Cyril Shenstone, all my other possessions to my wife
+for her lifetime, and at her death also to Sir Cyril Shenstone.
+
+"'I may alter this later on,' he said, 'but for the present I desire
+chiefly to place them beyond my son's reach. Please draw up the
+document at once, for no one can say what half an hour may bring
+forth to either of us. Get the document in form by this evening, when
+some friends will be here to witness it. Pray bring your two clerks
+also!'
+
+"A few days later he called upon me again.
+
+"'I have been making further inquiries about Sir Cyril Shenstone,' he
+said, 'and have learnt much concerning him from a man who is in the
+employment of the trader with whom he lives. What I have learnt more
+than confirms me in my impression of him. He came over from France,
+three years ago, a boy of scarce fourteen. He was clever at figures,
+and supported his reprobate father for the last two years of his life
+by keeping the books of small traders in the City. So much was he
+esteemed that, at his father's death, Captain Dowsett offered him a
+home in his house. He rewarded the kindness by making the discovery
+that the trader was being foully robbed, and brought about the arrest
+of the thieves, which incidentally led to the breaking-up of one of
+the worst gangs of robbers in London. Later on he found that his
+employer's daughter was in communication with a hanger-on of the
+Court, who told her that he was a nobleman. The young fellow set a
+watch upon her, came upon her at the moment she was about to elope
+with this villain, ran him through the shoulder, and took her back to
+her home, and so far respected her secret that her parents would
+never have known of it had she not, some time afterwards, confessed
+it to them. That villain, Mr. Goldsworthy,' he said, 'was my son!
+Just after that Sir Cyril obtained the good will of the Earl of
+Wisbech, whose three daughters he saved from being burnt to death at
+a fire in the Savoy. Thus, you see, this youth is in every way worthy
+of good fortune, and can be trusted to administer the estate of his
+fathers worthily and well. I wish you to draw out, at once, a deed
+conveying to him these estates, and rehearsing that, having obtained
+them at a small price, and having enjoyed them for a time long enough
+to return to me the money I paid for them with ample interest
+thereon, I now return them to him, confident that they will be in
+good hands, and that their revenues will be worthily spent.'
+
+"In this parcel is the deed in question, duly signed and witnessed,
+together with the parchments, deeds, and titles of which he became
+possessed at his purchase of the estate. I may say, Sir Cyril, that I
+have never carried out a legal transfer with greater pleasure to
+myself, considering, as I do, that the transaction is alike just and
+honourable on his part and most creditable to yourself. He begged me
+to hand the deeds to you myself. They were completed two months
+since, but he himself suggested that I should bring them to you on
+Christmas Eve, when it is the custom for many to give to their
+friends tokens of their regard and good will. I congratulate you
+heartily, sir, and rejoice that, for once, merit has met with a due
+reward."
+
+"I do not know, sir," Cyril replied, "how I can express my feelings
+of deep pleasure and gratitude at the wonderful tidings you have
+brought me. I had set it before me as the great object of my life,
+that, some day, should I live to be an old man, I might be enabled to
+repurchase the estate of my father's. I knew how improbable it was
+that I should ever be able to do so, and I can scarce credit that
+what seemed presumptuous even as a hope should have thus been so
+strangely and unexpectedly realised. I certainly do not feel that it
+is in any way due to what you are good enough to call my merits, for
+in all these matters that you have spoken of there has been nothing
+out of the way, or, so far as I can see, in any way praiseworthy, in
+what I have done. It would seem, indeed, that in all these matters,
+and in the saving of my life from the Plague, things have arranged
+themselves so as to fall out for my benefit."
+
+"That is what Mr. Harvey feels very strongly, Sir Cyril. He has told
+me, over and over again, that it seemed to him that the finger of God
+was specially manifest in thus bringing you together, and in placing
+you in a position to save his life. And now I will take my leave. I
+may say that in all legal matters connected with the estate I have
+acted for Mr. Harvey, and should be naturally glad if you will
+continue to entrust such matters to me. I have some special
+facilities in the matter, as Mr. Popham, a lawyer of Norwich, is
+married to my daughter, and we therefore act together in all business
+connected with the estate, he performing what may be called the local
+business, while I am advised by him as to matters requiring attention
+here in London."
+
+"I shall be glad indeed if you and Mr. Popham will continue to act in
+the same capacity for me," Cyril said warmly. "I am, as you see, very
+young, and know nothing of the management of an estate, and shall be
+grateful if you will, in all matters, act for me until I am of an age
+to assume the duties of the owner of Upmead."
+
+"I thank you, Sir Cyril, and we shall, I trust, afford you
+satisfaction. The deed, you will observe, is dated the 29th of
+September, the day on which it was signed, though there have been
+other matters to settle. The tenants have already been notified that
+from that date they are to regard you as their landlord. Now that you
+authorise us to act for you, my son-in-law will at once proceed to
+collect the rents for this quarter. I may say that, roughly, they
+amount to seventeen hundred pounds a year, and as it may be a
+convenience to you to draw at once, if it so please you I will place,
+on Monday next, the sum of four hundred pounds to your credit with
+Messrs. Murchison and Graham, who are my bankers, or with any other
+firm you may prefer."
+
+"With the bankers you name, by all means," Cyril said; "and I thank
+you heartily for so doing, for as I shall shortly rejoin the Fleet, a
+portion, at least, of the money will be very useful to me."
+
+Mr. Goldsworthy took his hat.
+
+"There is one thing further I have forgotten. Mr. Harvey requested me
+to say that he wished for no thanks in this matter. He regards it as
+an act of rightful restitution, and, although you will doubtless
+write to him, he would be pleased if you will abstain altogether from
+treating it as a gift."
+
+"I will try to obey his wishes," Cyril said, "but it does not seem to
+me that it will be possible for me to abstain from any expression of
+gratitude for his noble act."
+
+Cyril accompanied the lawyer to the door, and then returned upstairs.
+
+"Now I can speak," Captain Dowsett said. "I have had hard work to
+keep a stopper on my tongue all this time, for I have been well-nigh
+bursting to congratulate you. I wish you joy, my lad," and he wrung
+Cyril's hand heartily, "and a pleasant voyage through life. I am as
+glad, ay, and a deal more glad than if such a fortune had come in my
+way, for it would have been of little use to me, seeing I have all
+that the heart of man could desire."
+
+He ran to the door and shouted loudly for his wife and daughter.
+
+"I have news for you both," he said, as they came in. "What do you
+think? Cyril, like the King, has come to his own again, and he is now
+Sir Cyril Shenstone, the owner of the estate of Upmead."
+
+Both broke into exclamations of surprise and pleasure.
+
+"How has the wonder come about?" Nellie asked, after the first
+congratulations were over. "What good fairy has brought this round?"
+
+"The good fairy was the Mr. Harvey whose name Cyril once mentioned
+casually, and whose life, as it now appears, he saved, though he has
+said nothing to us about it. That gentleman was, most strangely, the
+man who bought the estate from his father. He, it seems, is a wealthy
+man, and his conscience has for some time been pricked with the
+thought that he had benefited too largely from the necessities of Sir
+Aubrey, and that, having received back from the rents all the money
+he paid, and goodly interest thereon, he ought to restore the estate
+to its former owner. Possibly he might never have acted on this
+thought, but he considered the circumstance that he had so strangely
+met Cyril here at the time of the Plague, and still more strangely
+that Cyril had saved his life, was a matter of more than chance, and
+was a direct and manifest interposition of Providence; and he has
+therefore made restitution, and that parcel on the table contains a
+deed of gift to Cyril of all his father's estates."
+
+"He has done quite rightly," Mrs. Dowsett said warmly, "though,
+indeed, it is not everyone who would see matters in that light. If
+men always acted in that spirit it would be a better world."
+
+"Ay, ay, wife. There are not many men who, having got the best of a
+bargain, voluntarily resign the profits they have made. It is
+pleasant to come across one who so acts, more especially when one's
+best friend is the gainer. Ah! Nellie, what a pity some good fairy
+did not tell you of what was coming! What a chance you have lost,
+girl! See what might have happened if you had set your cap at Cyril!"
+
+"Indeed, it is terrible to think of," Nellie laughed. "It was hard on
+me that he was not five or six years older. Then I might have done
+it, even if my good fairy had not whispered in my ear about this
+fortune. Never mind. I shall console myself by looking forward to
+dance at his wedding--that is, if he will send me an invitation."
+
+"Like as not you will be getting past your dancing days by the time
+that comes off, Nellie. I hope that, years before then, I shall have
+danced at your wedding--that is to say," he said, imitating her, "if
+you will send me an invitation."
+
+"What are you going to do next, Cyril?" Captain Dave asked, when the
+laugh had subsided.
+
+"I don't know, I am sure," Cyril replied. "I have not really woke up
+to it all yet. It will be some time before I realise that I am not a
+penniless young baronet, and that I can spend a pound without looking
+at it a dozen times. I shall have to get accustomed to the thought
+before I can make any plans. I suppose that one of the first things
+to do will be to go down to Oxford to see Prince Rupert--who, I
+suppose, is with the Court, though this I can doubtless learn at the
+offices of the Admiralty--and to tell him that I am ready to rejoin
+his ship as soon as he puts to sea again. Then I shall find out where
+Sydney Oliphant is, and how his family have fared in the Plague. I
+would fain find out what has become of the Partons, to whom, and
+especially to Lady Parton, I owe much. I suppose, too, I shall have
+to go down to Norfolk, but that I shall put off as long as I can, for
+it will be strange and very unpleasant at first to go down as master
+to a place I have never seen. I shall have to get you to come down
+with me, Captain Dave, to keep me in countenance."
+
+"Not I, my lad. You will want a better introducer. I expect that the
+lawyer who was here will give you a letter to his son-in-law, who
+will, of course, place himself at your service, establishing you in
+your house and taking you round to your tenants."
+
+"Oh, yes," Nellie said, clapping her hands. "And there will be fine
+doings, and bonfires, and arches, and all sorts of festivities. I do
+begin to feel how much I have missed the want of that good fairy."
+
+"It will be all very disagreeable," Cyril said seriously; whereat the
+others laughed.
+
+Cyril then went downstairs with Captain Dave, and told John Wilkes of
+the good fortune that had befallen him, at which he was as much
+delighted as the others had been.
+
+Ten days later Cyril rode to Oxford, and found that Prince Rupert was
+at present there. The Prince received him with much warmth.
+
+"I have wondered many times what had become of you, Sir Cyril," he
+said. "From the hour when I saw you leave us in the _Fan Fan_ I have
+lost sight of you altogether. I have not been in London since, for
+the Plague had set in badly before the ships were laid up, and as I
+had naught particular to do there I kept away from it. Albemarle has
+stayed through it, and he and Mr. Pepys were able to do all there was
+to do, but I have thought of you often and wondered how you fared,
+and hoped to see you here, seeing that there was, as it seemed to me,
+nothing to keep you in London after your wounds had healed. I have
+spoken often to the King of the brave deed by which you saved us all,
+and he declared that, had it not been that you were already a
+baronet, he would knight you as soon as you appeared, as many of the
+captains and others have already received that honour; and he agreed
+with me that none deserved it better than yourself. Now, what has
+become of you all this time?"
+
+Cyril related how he had stayed in London, had had the Plague, and
+had recovered from it.
+
+"I must see about getting you a commission at once in the Navy," the
+Prince said, "though I fear you will have to wait until we fit out
+again. There will be no difficulty then, for of course there were
+many officers killed in the action."
+
+Cyril expressed his thanks, adding,--
+
+"There is no further occasion for me to take a commission, Prince,
+for, strangely enough, the owner of my father's property has just
+made it over to me. He is a good man, and, considering that he has
+already reaped large benefits by his purchase, and has been repaid
+his money with good interest, his conscience will no longer suffer
+him to retain it."
+
+"Then he is a Prince of Roundheads," the Prince said, "and I most
+heartily congratulate you; and I believe that the King will be as
+pleased as I am. He said but the other day, when I was speaking to
+him of you, that it grieved him sorely that he was powerless to do
+anything for so many that had suffered in his cause, and that, after
+the bravery you had shown, he was determined to do something, and
+would insist with his ministers that some office should be found for
+you,--though it is not an easy matter, when each of them has special
+friends of his own among whom to divide any good things that fall
+vacant. He holds a Court this evening, and I will take you with me."
+
+The King was most gracious when the Prince again presented Cyril to
+him and told him of the good fortune that had befallen him.
+
+"By my faith, Sir Cyril, you were born under a lucky star. First of
+all you saved my Lord of Wisbech's daughters; then, as Prince Rupert
+tells me, you saved him and all on board his ship from being burned;
+and now a miracle has well-nigh happened in your favour. I see, too,
+that you have the use of your arm, which the Prince doubted would
+ever altogether recover."
+
+"More still, Your Majesty," the Prince said. "He had the Plague in
+August and recovered from it."
+
+"I shall have to keep you about me, Sir Cyril," the King said, "as a
+sort of amulet to guard me against ill luck."
+
+"I am going to take him to sea first," Prince Rupert broke in, seeing
+that Cyril was about to disclaim the idea of coming to Court. "I may
+want him to save my ship again, and I suppose he will be going down
+to visit his estate till I want him. You have never seen it, have
+you, Sir Cyril?"
+
+"No, sir; at least not to have any remembrance of it. I naturally
+long to see Upmead, of which I have heard much from my father. I
+should have gone down at once, but I thought it my duty to come
+hither and report myself to you as being ready to sail again as soon
+as you put to sea."
+
+"Duty first and pleasure afterwards," the King said. "I am afraid
+that is a little beyond me--eh, Rupert?"
+
+"Very much so, I should say, Cousin Charles," the Prince replied,
+with a smile. "However, I have no doubt Sir Cyril will not grudge us
+a few days before he leaves. There are several of the gentlemen who
+were his comrades on the _Henrietta_ here, and they will be glad to
+renew their acquaintance with him, knowing, as they all do, that they
+owe their lives to him."
+
+As Cyril was walking down the High Street, he saw a student coming
+along whose face seemed familiar to him. He looked hard at him.
+
+"Surely you must be Harry Parton?" he said.
+
+"That is my name, sir; though I cannot recall where I have met you.
+Yet there seems something familiar in your face, and still more in
+your voice."
+
+"I am Cyril Shenstone."
+
+"Why, what has become of you, Cyril?" Harry said, shaking him warmly
+by the hand. "I searched for you a year ago when I was in London, but
+could obtain no tidings whatever of you, save that you had lost your
+father. We are alike there, for my father died a few months after
+yours did."
+
+"I am sorry indeed, Harry. I had not heard of it before. I was not,
+indeed, in the way of doing so, as I was working in the City and knew
+nothing of what was passing elsewhere."
+
+"This is my college, Cyril. Come up to my room; there we can talk
+comfortably, and we have much to tell each other. How is it that you
+have never been near us?" he went on, when they were seated in front
+of a blazing fire in his room. "I know that there was some quarrel
+between our fathers, but when we heard of Sir Aubrey's death, both my
+father and mother thought that you would come to see us or would have
+written--for indeed it was not until after my father's death that we
+paid a visit to London. It was then my mother asked me to search for
+you; and after great difficulty I found the quarter in which you had
+lived, and then from the parish register learned where your father
+had died. Going there, I learned that you had left the lodging
+directly after his death, but more than that the people could not
+tell me."
+
+"I should have come to see your mother and Sir John, Harry. I know
+how deeply I am indebted to them, and as long as I live shall never
+cease to be grateful for Lady Parton's kindness to me. But I had
+received so much kindness that I shrank from seeming to wish to
+presume upon it further. I had, of course, to work for my living, and
+I wanted, before I recalled myself to them, to be able to say that I
+had not come as a beggar for further favours, but that I was making
+my way independently. Sooner or later I should have come, for your
+father once promised me that if I followed out what you remember was
+my plan, of entering foreign service, he would give me letters of
+introduction that would be useful to me. Had I that favour still to
+ask I could do it without shame. But more than that I would not have
+asked, even had I wanted bread, which, thank God! was never the
+case."
+
+"I can understand your feeling, Cyril, but my mother assuredly would
+always have been pleased to see you. You know you were a favourite of
+hers."
+
+"Had you been near town, Harry, I should certainly have come to see
+her and you as soon as I had fairly established myself, but I heard
+from my father that you had all gone away into the country soon after
+the unfortunate quarrel he had with Sir John, and therefore delayed
+taking any step for the time, and indeed did not know in what part of
+the country your father's estates lay. I know that he recovered them
+as soon as he returned."
+
+"They had never been forfeited," Harry said. "My father retired from
+the struggle after Naseby, and as he had influential friends among
+the Puritans, there was no forfeiture of his estates, and we were
+therefore able, as you know, to live in comfort at Dunkirk, his
+steward sending over such monies as were required. And now about
+yourself. Your brains must have served you rarely somehow, for you
+are dressed in the latest fashion, and indeed I took you for a Court
+gallant when you accosted me."
+
+"I have been truly fortunate, Harry, and indeed everything has turned
+out as if specially designed for my good, and, in a most strange and
+unlooked-for manner, I have just come into my father's estates
+again."
+
+"I am glad indeed to hear it, Cyril. Tell me how it has all come
+about."
+
+Cyril told the story of his life since he had come to London.
+
+"You have, indeed, had strange adventures, Cyril, and, though you say
+little about it, you must have done something special to have gained
+Prince Rupert's patronage and introduction to Court; but I shall worm
+all that out of you some day, or get it from other lips. What a
+contrast your life has been to mine! Here have you been earning your
+living bravely, fighting in the great battle against the Dutch, going
+through that terrible Plague, and winning your way back to fortune,
+while I have been living the life of a school-boy. Our estates lie in
+Shropshire, and as soon as we went down there my father placed me at
+a school at Shrewsbury. There I remained till his death, and then, as
+was his special wish, entered here. I have still a year of my course
+to complete. I only came up into residence last week. When the summer
+comes I hope that you will come down to Ardleigh and stay with us; it
+will give my mother great pleasure to see you again, for I never see
+her but she speaks of you, and wonders what has become of you, and if
+you are still alive."
+
+"Assuredly I will come, and that with the greatest pleasure," Cyril
+said, "providing only that I am not then at sea, which is, I fear,
+likely, as I rejoin the ship as soon as Prince Rupert takes the sea
+against the Dutch. However, directly we return I will write to you."
+
+"If you do so, let it be to Ardleigh, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
+Should I be here when your letter arrives, my mother will forward it
+to me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+TAKING POSSESSION
+
+
+Cyril stayed a week at Oxford. He greatly enjoyed the visit; and not
+only was he most warmly received by his former comrades on board the
+_Henrietta_, but Prince Rupert spoke so strongly in his favour to
+other gentlemen to whom he introduced him that he no longer felt a
+stranger at Court. Much of his spare time he spent with Harry Parton,
+and in his rooms saw something of college life, which seemed to him a
+very pleasant and merry one. He had ascertained, as soon as he
+arrived, that the Earl of Wisbech and his family were down at his
+estate, near the place from which he took his title, and had at once
+written to Sydney, from whom he received an answer on the last day of
+his stay at Oxford. It contained a warm invitation for him to come
+down to Wisbech.
+
+"You say you will be going to Norwich to take possession of your
+estate. If you ride direct from Oxford, our place will be but little
+out of your way, therefore we shall take no excuse for your not
+coming to see us, and shall look for you within a week or so from the
+date of this. We were all delighted to get your missive, for although
+what you say about infection carried by letters is true enough, and,
+indeed there was no post out of London for months, we had begun to
+fear that the worst must have befallen you when no letter arrived
+from you in December. Still, we thought that you might not know where
+we were, and so hoped that you might be waiting until you could find
+that out. My father bids me say that he will take no refusal. Since
+my return he more than ever regards you as being the good genius of
+the family, and it is certainly passing strange that, after saving my
+sisters' lives from fire you should, though in so different a way,
+have saved me from a similar death. So set off as soon as you get
+this--that is, if you can tear yourself away from the gaieties of
+Oxford."
+
+Cyril had, indeed, been specially waiting for Sydney's answer, having
+told him that he should remain at Oxford until he received it, and on
+the following morning he packed his valise and rode for Wisbech,
+where he arrived three days' later. His welcome at the Earl's was a
+most cordial one. He spent a week there, at the end of which time
+Sydney, at his earnest request, started for Norwich with him. The
+Earl had insisted on Cyril's accepting a splendid horse, and behind
+him, on his other animal, rode a young fellow, the son of a small
+tenant on the Earl's estate, whom he had engaged as a servant. He had
+written, three days before, to Mr. Popham, telling him that he would
+shortly arrive, and begging him to order the two old servants of his
+father, whom he had, at his request, engaged to take care of the
+house to get two or three chambers in readiness for him, which could
+doubtless be easily done, as he had learnt from the deed that the
+furniture and all contents of the house had been included in the
+gift. After putting up at the inn, he went to the lawyer's. Mr.
+Popham, he found, had had a room prepared in readiness for him at his
+house, but Cyril, while thanking him for so doing, said that, as Lord
+Oliphant was with him, he would stay at the inn for the night.
+
+The next morning they rode over with Mr. Popham to Upmead, which was
+six miles distant from the town.
+
+"That is the house," the lawyer said, as a fine old mansion came in
+sight. "There are larger residences in the county, but few more
+handsome. Indeed, it is almost too large for the estate, but, as
+perhaps you know, that was at one time a good deal larger than it is
+at present, for it was diminished by one of your ancestors in the
+days of Elizabeth."
+
+At the gate where they turned into the Park an arch of evergreens had
+been erected.
+
+"You don't mean to say you let them know that I was coming home?"
+Cyril said, in a tone of such alarm that Lord Oliphant laughed and
+Mr. Popham said apologetically,--
+
+"I certainly wrote to the tenants, sir, when I received your letter,
+and sent off a message saying that you would be here this morning.
+Most of them or their fathers were here in the old time, for Mr.
+Harvey made no changes, and I am sure they would have been very
+disappointed if they had not had notice that Sir Aubrey's son was
+coming home."
+
+"Of course it was quite right for you to do so, Mr. Popham, but you
+see I am quite unaccustomed to such things, and would personally have
+been much more pleased to have come home quietly. Still, as you say,
+it is only right that the tenants should have been informed, and at
+any rate it will be a satisfaction to get it all over at once."
+
+There were indeed quite a large number of men and women assembled in
+front of the house--all the tenants, with their wives and families,
+having gathered to greet their young landlord--and loud bursts of
+cheering arose as he rode up, Sydney and Mr. Popham reining back
+their horses a little to allow him to precede them. Cyril took off
+his hat, and bowed repeatedly in reply to the acclamations that
+greeted him. The tenants crowded round, many of the older men
+pressing forward to shake him by the hand.
+
+"Welcome back to your own again, Sir Cyril!"
+
+"I fought under your father, sir, and a good landlord he was to us
+all."
+
+Such were the exclamations that rose round him until he reached the
+door of the mansion, and, dismounting, took his place at the top of
+the steps. Then he took off his hat again, and when there was silence
+he said,--
+
+"I thank you heartily, one and all, good friends, for the welcome
+that you have given me. Glad indeed I am to come down to my father's
+home, and to be so greeted by those who knew him, and especially by
+those who followed him in the field in the evil days which have, we
+may hope, passed away for ever. You all know, perhaps, that I owe my
+return here as master to the noble generosity of Mr. Harvey, your
+late landlord, who restored me the estates, not being bound in any
+way to do so, but solely because he considered that he had already
+been repaid the money he gave for them. This may be true, but,
+nevertheless, there is not one man in a hundred thousand who would so
+despoil himself of the benefits of a bargain lawfully made, and I beg
+you therefore to give three cheers, as hearty as those with which you
+greeted me, for Mr. Harvey."
+
+Three cheers, as long and loud as those that had before risen,
+responded to the appeal.
+
+"Such a man," Cyril went on, when they subsided, "must have been a
+just and good landlord to you all, and I shall do my best to give you
+no cause for regret at the change that has come about."
+
+He paused for a moment to speak to Mr. Popham, who stood beside him,
+and then went on,--
+
+"I did not know whether I could ask you to drink to my health, but I
+learn from Mr. Popham that the cellars have been left well filled;
+therefore, my first orders on coming to the house of my fathers will
+be that a cask of wine shall be speedily broached, and that you shall
+be enabled to drink my health. While that is being done, Mr. Popham
+will introduce you to me one by one."
+
+Another loud cheer arose, and then the tenants came forward with
+their wives and families.
+
+Cyril shook hands with them all, and said a few words to each. The
+elder men had all ridden by his father in battle, and most of the
+younger ones said, as he shook hands with them,--
+
+"My father fell, under Sir Aubrey, at Naseby," or "at Worcester," or
+in other battles.
+
+By the time all had been introduced, a great cask of wine had been
+broached, and after the tenants had drunk to his health, and he had,
+in turn, pledged them, Cyril entered the house with Sydney and Mr.
+Popham, and proceeded to examine it under the guidance of the old man
+who had been his father's butler, and whose wife had also been a
+servant in Sir Aubrey's time.
+
+"Everything is just as it was then, Sir Cyril. A few fresh articles
+of furniture have been added, but Mr. Harvey would have no general
+change made. The family pictures hang just where they did, and your
+father himself would scarce notice the changes."
+
+"It is indeed a fine old mansion, Cyril," Lord Oliphant said, when
+they had made a tour of the house; "and now that I see it and its
+furniture I am even more inclined than before to admire the man who
+could voluntarily resign them. I shall have to modify my ideas of the
+Puritans. They have shown themselves ready to leave the country and
+cross the ocean to America, and begin life anew for conscience'
+sake--that is to say, to escape persecution--and they fought very
+doughtily, and we must own, very successfully, for the same reason,
+but this is the first time I have ever heard of one of them
+relinquishing a fine estate for conscience' sake."
+
+"Mr. Harvey is indeed a most worthy gentleman," Mr. Popham said, "and
+has the esteem and respect of all, even of those who are of wholly
+different politics. Still, it may be that although he would in any
+case, I believe, have left this property to Sir Cyril, he might not
+have handed it over to him in his lifetime, had not he received so
+great a service at his hands."
+
+"Why, what is this, Cyril?" Sydney said, turning upon him. "You have
+told us nothing whatever of any services rendered. I never saw such a
+fellow as you are for helping other people."
+
+"There was nothing worth speaking of," Cyril said, much vexed.
+
+Mr. Popham smiled.
+
+"Most people would think it was a very great service, Lord Oliphant.
+However, I may not tell you what it was, although I have heard all
+the details from my father-in-law, Mr. Goldsworthy. They were told in
+confidence, and in order to enlighten me as to the relations between
+Mr. Harvey and Sir Cyril, and as they relate to painful family
+matters I am bound to preserve an absolute silence."
+
+"I will be content to wait, Cyril, till I get you to myself. It is a
+peculiarity of Sir Cyril Shenstone, Mr. Popham, that he goes through
+life doing all sorts of services for all sorts of people. You may not
+know that he saved the lives of my three sisters in a fire at our
+mansion in the Savoy; he also performed the trifling service of
+saving Prince Rupert's ship and the lives of all on board, among whom
+was myself, from a Dutch fire-ship, in the battle of Lowestoft. These
+are insignificant affairs, that he would not think it worth while to
+allude to, even if you knew him for twenty years."
+
+"You do not know Lord Oliphant, Mr. Popham," Cyril laughed, "or you
+would be aware that his custom is to make mountains out of molehills.
+But let us sit down to dinner. I suppose it is your forethought, Mr.
+Popham, that I have to thank for having warned them to make this
+provision? I had thought that we should be lucky if the resources of
+the establishment sufficed to furnish us with a meal of bread and
+cheese."
+
+"I sent on a few things with my messenger yesterday evening, Sir
+Cyril, but for the hare and those wild ducks methinks you have to
+thank your tenants, who doubtless guessed that an addition to the
+larder would be welcome. I have no doubt that, good landlord as Mr.
+Harvey was, they are really delighted to have you among them again.
+As you know, these eastern counties were the stronghold of
+Puritanism, and that feeling is still held by the majority. It is
+only among the tenants of many gentlemen who, like your father, were
+devoted Royalists, that there is any very strong feeling the other
+way. As you heard from their lips, most of your older tenants fought
+under Sir Aubrey, while the fathers of the younger ones fell under
+his banner. Consequently, it was galling to them that one of
+altogether opposite politics should be their landlord, and although
+in every other respect they had reason to like him, he was, as it
+were, a symbol of their defeat, and I suppose they viewed him a good
+deal as the Saxons of old times regarded their Norman lords."
+
+"I can quite understand that, Mr. Popham."
+
+"Another feeling has worked in your favour, Sir Cyril," the lawyer
+went on. "It may perhaps be a relic of feudalism, but there can be no
+doubt that there exists, in the minds of English country folks, a
+feeling of respect and of something like affection for their
+landlords when men of old family, and that feeling is never
+transferred to new men who may take their place. Mr. Harvey was, in
+their eyes, a new man--a wealthy one, no doubt, but owing his wealth
+to his own exertions--and he would never have excited among them the
+same feeling as they gave to the family who had, for several hundred
+years, been owners of the soil."
+
+Cyril remained for a fortnight at Upmead, calling on all the tenants,
+and interesting himself in them and their families. The day after his
+arrival he rode into Norwich, and paid a visit to Mr. Harvey. He had,
+in compliance to his wishes, written but a short letter of
+acknowledgment of the restitution of the estate, but he now expressed
+the deep feeling of gratitude that he entertained.
+
+"I have only done what is right," Mr. Harvey said quietly, "and would
+rather not be thanked for it; but your feelings are natural, and I
+have therefore not checked your words. It was assuredly God's doing
+in so strangely bringing us together, and making you an instrument in
+saving our lives, and so awakening an uneasy conscience into
+activity. I have had but small pleasure from Upmead. I have a house
+here which is more than sufficient for all my wants, and I have, I
+hope, the respect of my townsfellows, and the affection of my
+workmen. At Upmead I was always uncomfortable. Such of the county
+gentlemen who retained their estates looked askance at me. The
+tenants, I knew, though they doffed their hats as I passed them,
+regarded me as a usurper. I had no taste for the sports and pleasures
+of country life, being born and bred a townsman. The ill-doing of my
+son cast a gloom over my life of late. I have lived chiefly here with
+the society of friends of my own religious and political feeling.
+Therefore, I have made no sacrifice in resigning my tenancy of
+Upmead, and I pray you say no further word of your gratitude. I have
+heard, from one who was there yesterday, how generously you spoke of
+me to your tenants, and I thank you for so doing, for it is pleasant
+for me to stand well in the thoughts of those whose welfare I have
+had at heart."
+
+"I trust that Mrs. Harvey is in good health?" Cyril said.
+
+"She is far from well, Cyril. The events of that night in London have
+told heavily upon her, as is not wonderful, for she has suffered much
+sorrow for years, and this last blow has broken her sorely. She
+mourns, as David mourned over the death of Absalom, over the
+wickedness of her son, but she is quite as one with me in the
+measures that I have taken concerning him, save that, at her earnest
+prayer, I have made a provision for him which will keep him from
+absolute want, and will leave him no excuse to urge that he was
+driven by poverty into crime. Mr. Goldsworthy has not yet discovered
+means of communicating with him, but when he does so he will notify
+him that he has my instructions to pay to him fifteen pounds on the
+first of every month, and that the offer of assistance to pay his
+passage to America is still open to him, and that on arriving there
+he will receive for three years the same allowance as here. Then if a
+favourable report of his conduct is forthcoming from the magistrates
+and deacons of the town where he takes up his residence, a
+correspondent of Mr. Goldsworthy's will be authorised to expend four
+thousand pounds on the purchase of an estate for him, and to hand to
+him another thousand for the due working and maintenance of the same.
+For these purposes I have already made provisions in my will, with
+proviso that if, at the end of five years after my death, no news of
+him shall be obtained, the money set aside for these purposes shall
+revert to the main provisions of the will. It may be that he died of
+the Plague. It may be that he has fallen, or will fall, a victim to
+his own evil courses and evil passions. But I am convinced that,
+should he be alive, Mr. Goldsworthy will be able to obtain tidings of
+him long before the five years have expired. And now," he said,
+abruptly changing the subject, "what are you thinking of doing, Sir
+Cyril?"
+
+"In the first place, sir, I am going to sea again with the Fleet very
+shortly. I entered as a Volunteer for the war, and could not well,
+even if I wished it, draw back."
+
+"They are a stiff-necked people," Mr. Harvey said. "That the
+Sovereigns of Europe should have viewed with displeasure the
+overthrow of the monarchy here was natural enough; but in Holland, if
+anywhere, we might have looked for sympathy, seeing that as they had
+battled for freedom of conscience, so had we done here; and yet they
+were our worst enemies, and again and again had Blake to sail forth
+to chastise them. They say that Monk is to command this time?"
+
+"I believe so, sir."
+
+"Monk is the bruised reed that pierced our hand, but he is a good
+fighter. And after the war is over, Sir Cyril, you will not, I trust,
+waste your life in the Court of the profligate King?"
+
+"Certainly not," Cyril said earnestly. "As soon as the war is over I
+shall return to Upmead and take up my residence there. I have lived
+too hard a life to care for the gaieties of Court, still less of a
+Court like that of King Charles. I shall travel for a while in Europe
+if there is a genuine peace. I have lost the opportunity of
+completing my education, and am too old now to go to either of the
+Universities. Not too old perhaps; but I have seen too much of the
+hard side of life to care to pass three years among those who, no
+older than myself, are still as boys in their feelings. The next best
+thing, therefore, as it seems to me, would be to travel, and perhaps
+to spend a year or two in one of the great Universities abroad."
+
+"The matter is worth thinking over," Mr. Harvey said. "You are
+assuredly young yet to settle down alone at Upmead, and will reap
+much advantage from speaking French which is everywhere current, and
+may greatly aid you in making your travels useful to you. I have no
+fear of your falling into Popish error, Sir Cyril; but if my wishes
+have any weight with you I would pray you to choose the schools of
+Leyden or Haarlem, should you enter a foreign University, for they
+turn out learned men and good divines."
+
+"Certainly your wishes have weight with me, Mr. Harvey, and should
+events so turn out that I can enter one of the foreign Universities,
+it shall be one of those you name--that is, should we, after this war
+is ended, come into peaceful relations with the Dutch."
+
+Before leaving the Earl's, Cyril had promised faithfully that he
+would return thither with Sydney, and accordingly, at the end of the
+fortnight, he rode back with him there, and, three weeks later,
+journeyed up to London with the Earl and his family.
+
+It was the middle of March when they reached London. The Court had
+come up a day or two before, and the Fleet was, as Cyril learnt,
+being fitted out in great haste. The French had now, after hesitating
+all through the winter, declared war against us, and it was certain
+that we should have their fleet as well as that of the Dutch to cope
+with. Calling upon Prince Rupert on the day he arrived, Cyril learnt
+that the Fleet would assuredly put to sea in a month's time.
+
+"Would you rather join at once, or wait until I go on board?" the
+Prince asked.
+
+"I would rather join at once, sir. I have no business to do in
+London, and it would be of no use for me to take an apartment when I
+am to leave so soon; therefore, if I can be of any use, I would
+gladly join at once."
+
+"You would be of no use on board," the Prince said, "but assuredly
+you could be of use in carrying messages, and letting me know
+frequently, from your own report, how matters are going on. I heard
+yesterday that the _Fan Fan_ is now fitted out. You shall take the
+command of her. I will give you a letter to the boatswain, who is at
+present in charge, saying that I have placed her wholly under your
+orders. You will, of course, live on board. You will be chiefly at
+Chatham and Sheerness. If you call early to-morrow I will have a
+letter prepared for you, addressed to all captains holding commands
+in the White Squadron, bidding them to acquaint you, whensoever you
+go on board, with all particulars of how matters have been pushed
+forward, and to give you a list of all things lacking. Then, twice a
+week you will sail up to town, and report to me, or, should there be
+any special news at other times, send it to me by a mounted
+messenger. Mr. Pepys, the secretary, is a diligent and hard-working
+man, but he cannot see to everything, and Albemarle so pushes him
+that I think the White Squadron does not get a fair share of
+attention; but if I can go to him with your reports in hand, I may
+succeed in getting what is necessary done."
+
+Bidding farewell to the Earl and his family, and thanking him for his
+kindness, Cyril stopped that night at Captain Dave's, and told him of
+all that had happened since they met. The next morning he went early
+to Prince Rupert's, received the two letters, and rode down to
+Chatham. Then, sending the horses back by his servant, who was to
+take them to the Earl's stable, where they would be cared for until
+his return, Cyril went on board the _Fan Fan_. For the next month he
+was occupied early and late with his duties. The cabin was small, but
+very comfortable. The crew was a strong one, for the yacht rowed
+twelve oars, with which she could make good progress even without her
+sails. He was waited on by his servant, who returned as soon as he
+had left the horses in the Earl's stables; his cooking was done for
+him in the yacht's galley. On occasions, as the tide suited, he
+either sailed up to London in the afternoon, gave his report to the
+Prince late in the evening, and was back at Sheerness by daybreak, or
+he sailed up at night, saw the Prince as soon as he rose, and
+returned at once.
+
+The Prince highly commended his diligence, and told him that his
+reports were of great use to him, as, with them in his hand, he could
+not be put off at the Admiralty with vague assurances. Every day one
+or more ships went out to join the Fleet that was gathering in the
+Downs, and on April 20th Cyril sailed in the _Fan Fan_, in company
+with the last vessel of the White Squadron, and there again took up
+his quarters on board the _Henrietta_, the _Fan Fan_ being anchored
+hard by in charge of the boatswain.
+
+On the 23rd, the Prince, with the Duke of Albemarle, and a great
+company of noblemen and gentlemen, arrived at Deal, and came on board
+the Fleet, which, on May 1st, weighed anchor.
+
+Lord Oliphant was among the volunteers who came down with the Prince,
+and, as many of the other gentlemen had also been on board during the
+first voyage, Cyril felt that he was among friends, and had none of
+the feeling of strangeness and isolation he had before experienced.
+
+The party was indeed a merry one. For upwards of a year the fear of
+the Plague had weighed on all England. At the time it increased so
+terribly in London, that all thought it would, like the Black Death,
+spread over England, and that, once again, half the population of the
+country might be swept away. Great as the mortality had been, it had
+been confined almost entirely to London and some of the great towns,
+and now that it had died away even in these, there was great relief
+in men's minds, and all felt that they had personally escaped from a
+terrible and imminent danger. That they were about to face peril even
+greater than that from which they had escaped did not weigh on the
+spirits of the gentlemen on board Prince Rupert's ship. To be killed
+fighting for their country was an honourable death that none feared,
+while there had been, in the minds of even the bravest, a horror of
+death by the Plague, with all its ghastly accompaniments. Sailing out
+to sea to the Downs, then, they felt that the past year's events lay
+behind them as an evil dream, and laughed and jested and sang with
+light-hearted mirth.
+
+As yet, the Dutch had not put out from port, and for three weeks the
+Fleet cruised off their coast. Then, finding that the enemy could not
+be tempted to come out, they sailed back to the Downs. The day after
+they arrived there, a messenger came down from London with orders to
+Prince Rupert to sail at once with the White Squadron to engage the
+French Fleet, which was reported to be on the point of putting to
+sea. The Prince had very little belief that the French really
+intended to fight. Hitherto, although they had been liberal in their
+promises to the Dutch, they had done nothing whatever to aid them,
+and the general opinion was that France rejoiced at seeing her rivals
+damage each other, but had no idea of risking her ships or men in the
+struggle.
+
+"I believe, gentlemen," Prince Rupert said to his officers, "that
+this is but a ruse on the part of Louis to aid his Dutch allies by
+getting part of our fleet out of the way. Still, I have nothing to do
+but to obey orders, though I fear it is but a fool's errand on which
+we are sent."
+
+The wind was from the north-east, and was blowing a fresh gale. The
+Prince prepared to put to sea. While the men were heaving at the
+anchors a message came to Cyril that Prince Rupert wished to speak to
+him in his cabin.
+
+"Sir Cyril, I am going to restore you to your command. The wind is so
+strong and the sea will be so heavy that I would not risk my yacht
+and the lives of the men by sending her down the Channel. I do not
+think there is any chance of our meeting the French, and believe that
+it is here that the battle will be fought, for with this wind the
+Dutch can be here in a few hours, and I doubt not that as soon as
+they learn that one of our squadrons has sailed away they will be
+out. The _Fan Fan_ will sail with us, but will run into Dover as we
+pass. Here is a letter that I have written ordering you to do so, and
+authorising you to put out and join the Admiral's Fleet, should the
+Dutch attack before my return. If you like to have young Lord
+Oliphant with you he can go, but he must go as a Volunteer under you.
+You are the captain of the _Fan Fan_, and have been so for the last
+two months; therefore, although your friend is older than you are, he
+must, if he choose to go, be content to serve under you. Stay, I will
+put it to him myself."
+
+He touched the bell, and ordered Sydney to be sent for.
+
+"Lord Oliphant," he said, "I know that you and Sir Cyril are great
+friends. I do not consider that the _Fan Fan_, of which he has for
+some time been commander, is fit to keep the sea in a gale like this,
+and I have therefore ordered him to take her into Dover. If the Dutch
+come out to fight the Admiral, as I think they will, he will join the
+Fleet, and although the _Fan Fan_ can take but small share in the
+fighting, she may be useful in carrying messages from the Duke while
+the battle is going on. It seems to me that, as the _Fan Fan_ is
+more likely to see fighting than my ships, you, as a Volunteer, might
+prefer to transfer yourself to her until she again joins us. Sir
+Cyril is younger than you are, but if you go, you must necessarily be
+under his command seeing that he is captain of the yacht. It is for
+you to choose whether you will remain here or go with him."
+
+"I should like to go with him, sir. He has had a good deal of
+experience of the sea, while I have never set foot on board ship till
+last year. And after what he did at Lowestoft I should say that any
+gentleman would be glad to serve under him."
+
+"That is the right feeling," Prince Rupert said warmly. "Then get
+your things transferred to the yacht. If you join Albemarle's Fleet,
+Sir Cyril, you will of course report yourself to him, and say that I
+directed you to place yourself under his orders."
+
+Five minutes later Cyril and his friend were on board the _Fan Fan._
+Scarcely had they reached her, when a gun was fired from Prince
+Rupert's ship as a signal, and the ships of the White Squadron shook
+out their sails, and, with the wind free, raced down towards the
+South Foreland.
+
+"We are to put into Dover," Cyril said to the boatswain, a
+weatherbeaten old sailor.
+
+"The Lord be praised for that, sir! She is a tight little craft, but
+there will be a heavy sea on as soon we are beyond shelter of the
+sands, and with these two guns on board of her she will make bad
+weather. Besides, in a wind like this, it ain't pleasant being in a
+little craft in the middle of a lot of big ones, for if we were not
+swamped by the sea, we might very well be run down. We had better
+keep her close to the Point, yer honour, and then run along, under
+shelter of the cliffs, into Dover. The water will be pretty smooth in
+there, though we had best carry as little sail as we can, for the
+gusts will come down from above fit to take the mast out of her."
+
+"I am awfully glad you came with me, Sydney," Cyril said, as he took
+his place with his friend near the helmsman, "but I wish the Prince
+had put you in command. Of course, it is only a nominal thing, for
+the boatswain is really the captain in everything that concerns
+making sail and giving orders to the crew. Still, it would have been
+much nicer the other way."
+
+"I don't see that it would, Cyril," Sydney laughed, "for you know as
+much more about handling a boat like this than I do, as the boatswain
+does than yourself. You have been on board her night and day for more
+than a month, and even if you knew nothing about her at all, Prince
+Rupert would have been right to choose you as a recognition of your
+great services last time. Don't think anything about it. We are
+friends, and it does not matter a fig which is the nominal commander.
+I was delighted to come, not only to be with you, but because it will
+be a very great deal pleasanter being our own masters on board this
+pretty little yacht than being officers on board the _Henrietta_
+where we would have been only in the way except when we went into
+action."
+
+As soon as they rounded the Point most of the sail was taken off the
+_Fan Fan,_ but even under the small canvas she carried she lay over
+until her lee rail was almost under water when the heavy squalls
+swooped down on her from the cliffs. The rest of the squadron was
+keeping some distance out, presenting a fine sight as the ships lay
+over, sending the spray flying high into the air from their bluff
+bows, and plunging deeply into the waves.
+
+"Yes, it is very distinctly better being where we are," Lord Oliphant
+said, as he gazed at them. "I was beginning to feel qualmish before
+we got under shelter of the Point, and by this time, if I had been on
+board the _Henrietta,_ I should have been prostrate, and should have
+had I know not how long misery before me."
+
+A quarter of an hour later they were snugly moored in Dover Harbour.
+For twenty-four hours the gale continued; the wind then fell
+somewhat, but continued to blow strongly from the same quarter. Two
+days later it veered round to the south-west, and shortly afterwards
+the English Fleet could be seen coming out past the Point. As soon as
+they did so they headed eastward.
+
+"They are going out to meet the Dutch," Sydney said, as they watched
+the ships from the cliffs, "The news must have arrived that their
+fleet has put out to sea."
+
+"Then we may as well be off after them, Sydney; they will sail faster
+than we shall in this wind, for it is blowing too strongly for us to
+carry much sail."
+
+They hurried on board. A quarter of an hour later the _Fan Fan_ put
+out from the harbour. The change of wind had caused an ugly cross sea
+and the yacht made bad weather of it, the waves constantly washing
+over her decks, but before they were off Calais she had overtaken
+some of the slower sailers of the Fleet. The sea was less violent as
+they held on, for they were now, to some extent, sheltered by the
+coast.
+
+In a short time Cyril ran down into the cabin where Sydney was lying
+ill.
+
+"The Admiral has given the signal to anchor, and the leading ships
+are already bringing up. We will choose a berth as near the shore as
+we can; with our light draught we can lie well inside of the others,
+and shall be in comparatively smooth water."
+
+Before dusk the Fleet was at anchor, with the exception of two or
+three of the fastest frigates, which were sent on to endeavour to
+obtain some news of the enemy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE FIGHT OFF DUNKIRK
+
+
+As soon as the _Fan Fan_ had been brought to an anchor the boat was
+lowered, and Cyril was rowed on board the Admiral's ship.
+
+Albemarle was on the poop, and Cyril made his report to him.
+
+"Very well, sir," the Duke said, "I dare say I shall be able to make
+you of some use. Keep your craft close to us when we sail. I seem to
+know your face."
+
+"I am Sir Cyril Shenstone, my Lord Duke. I had the honour of meeting
+you first at the fire in the Savoy, and Prince Rupert afterwards was
+good enough to present me to you."
+
+"Yes, yes, I remember. And it was you who saved the _Henrietta_ from
+the fire-ship at Lowestoft. You have begun well indeed, young sir,
+and are like to have further opportunities of showing your bravery."
+
+Cyril bowed, and then, going down the side to his boat, returned to
+the _Fan Fan._ She was lying in almost smooth water, and Sydney had
+come up on deck again.
+
+"You heard no news of the Dutch, I suppose, Cyril?"
+
+"No; I asked a young officer as I left the ship, and he said that, so
+far as he knew, nothing had been heard of them, but news had come in,
+before the Admiral sailed from the Downs, that everything was ready
+for sea, and that orders were expected every hour for them to put
+out."
+
+"It is rather to be hoped that they won't put out for another two
+days," Sydney said. "That will give the Prince time to rejoin with
+his squadron. The wind is favourable now for his return, and I should
+think, as soon as they hear in London that the Dutch are on the point
+of putting out, and Albemarle has sailed, they will send him orders
+to join us at once. We have only about sixty sail, while they say
+that the Dutch have over ninety, which is too heavy odds against us
+to be pleasant."
+
+"I should think the Duke will not fight till the Prince comes up."
+
+"I don't think he will wait for him if he finds the Dutch near. All
+say that he is over-confident, and apt to despise the Dutch too much.
+Anyhow, he is as brave as a lion, and, though he might not attack
+unless the Dutch begin it, I feel sure he will not run away from
+them."
+
+The next morning early, the _Bristol_ frigate was seen returning
+from the east. She had to beat her way back in the teeth of the wind,
+but, when still some miles away, a puff of white smoke was seen to
+dart out from her side, and presently the boom of a heavy gun was
+heard. Again and again she fired, and the signal was understood to be
+a notification that she had seen the Dutch. The signal for the
+captains of the men-of-war to come on board was at once run up to the
+mast-head of the flagship, followed by another for the Fleet to be
+prepared to weigh anchor. Captain Bacon, of the _Bristol_, went on
+board as soon as his ship came up. In a short time the boats were
+seen to put off, and as the captains reached their respective ships
+the signal to weigh anchor was hoisted.
+
+This was hailed with a burst of cheering throughout the Fleet, and
+all felt that it signified that they would soon meet the Dutch. The
+_Fan Fan_ was under sail long before the men-of-war had got up their
+heavy anchors, and, sailing out, tacked backwards and forwards until
+the Fleet were under sail, when Cyril told the boatswain to place her
+within a few cables' length of the flagship on her weather quarter.
+After two hours' sail the Dutch Fleet were made out, anchored off
+Dunkirk. The Blue Squadron, under Sir William Berkley, led the way,
+the Red Squadron, under the Duke, following.
+
+"I will put a man in the chains with the lead," the boatswain said to
+Cyril. "There are very bad sands off Dunkirk, and though we might get
+over them in safety, the big ships would take ground, and if they did
+so we should be in a bad plight indeed."
+
+"In that case, we had best slack out the sheet a little, and take up
+our post on the weather bow of the Admiral, so that we can signal to
+him if we find water failing."
+
+The topsail was hoisted, and the _Fan Fan,_ which was a very fast
+craft in comparatively smooth water, ran past the Admiral's flagship.
+
+"Shall I order him back, your Grace?" the Captain asked angrily.
+
+Albemarle looked at the _Fan Fan_ attentively.
+
+"They have got a man sounding," he said. "It is a wise precaution.
+The young fellow in command knows what he is doing. We ought to have
+been taking the same care. See! he is taking down his topsail again.
+Set an officer to watch the yacht, and if they signal, go about at
+once."
+
+The soundings continued for a short time at six fathoms, when
+suddenly the man at the lead called out sharply,--
+
+"Three fathoms!"
+
+Cyril ran to the flagstaff, and as the next cry came--"Two
+fathoms!"--hauled down the flag and stood waving his cap, while the
+boatswain, who had gone to the tiller, at once pushed it over to
+starboard, and brought the yacht up into the wind. Cyril heard orders
+shouted on board the flagship, and saw her stern sweeping round. A
+moment later her sails were aback, but the men, who already clustered
+round the guns, were not quick enough in hauling the yards across,
+and, to his dismay, he saw the main topmast bend, and then go over
+the side with a crash. All was confusion on board, and for a time it
+seemed as if the other topmast would also go.
+
+"Run her alongside within hailing distance," Cyril said to the
+boatswain. "They will want to question us."
+
+As they came alongside the flagship the Duke himself leant over the
+side.
+
+"What water had you when you came about, sir?"
+
+"We went suddenly from six fathoms to three, your Grace," Cyril
+shouted, "and a moment after we found but two."
+
+"Very well, sir," the Duke called back. "In that case you have
+certainly saved our ship. I thought perhaps that you had been
+over-hasty, and had thus cost us our topmast, but I see it was not
+so, and thank you. Our pilot assured us there was plenty of water on
+the course we were taking."
+
+The ships of the Red Squadron had all changed their course on seeing
+the flagship come about so suddenly, and considerable delay and
+confusion was caused before they again formed in order, and, in
+obedience to the Duke's signal, followed in support of the Blue
+Squadron. This had already dashed into the midst of the Dutch Fleet,
+who were themselves in some confusion; for, so sudden had been the
+attack, that they had been forced to cut their cables, having no time
+to get up their anchors.
+
+The British ships poured in their broadsides as they approached,
+while the Dutch opened a tremendous cannonade. Besides their great
+inferiority in numbers, the British were under a serious
+disadvantage. They had the weather gauge, and the wind was so strong
+that it heeled them over, so that they were unable to open their
+lower ports, and were therefore deprived of the use of their heaviest
+guns.
+
+Four of the ships of the Red Squadron remained by the flagship, to
+protect her if attacked, and to keep off fire-ships, while her crew
+laboured to get up another topmast. More than three hours were
+occupied in this operation, but so busily did the rest of the Fleet
+keep the Dutch at work that they were unable to detach sufficient
+ships to attack her.
+
+As soon as the topmast was in place and the sails hoisted, the
+flagship and her consorts hastened to join their hard-pressed
+comrades.
+
+The fight was indeed a desperate one. Sir William Berkley and his
+ship, the _Swiftsure,_ a second-rate, was taken, as was the
+_Essex,_ a third-rate.
+
+The _Henry,_ commanded by Sir John Harman, was surrounded by foes.
+Her sails and rigging were shot to pieces, so she was completely
+disabled, and the Dutch Admiral, Cornelius Evertz, summoned Sir John
+Harman to surrender.
+
+"It has not come to that yet," Sir John shouted back, and continued
+to pour such heavy broadsides into the Dutch that several of their
+ships were greatly damaged, and Evertz himself killed.
+
+The Dutch captains drew off their vessels, and launched three
+fire-ships at the _Henry._ The first one, coming up on her starboard
+quarter, grappled with her. The dense volumes of smoke rising from
+her prevented the sailors from discovering where the grapnels were
+fixed, and the flames were spreading to her when her boatswain
+gallantly leapt on board the fire-ship, and, by the light of its
+flames, discovered the grapnels and threw them overboard, and
+succeeded in regaining his ship.
+
+A moment later, the second fire-ship came up on the port side, and so
+great a body of flames swept across the _Henry_ that her chaplain
+and fifty men sprang overboard. Sir John, however, drew his sword,
+and threatened to cut down the first man who refused to obey orders,
+and the rest of the crew, setting manfully to work, succeeded in
+extinguishing the flames, and in getting free of the fire-ship. The
+halliards of the main yard were, however, burnt through, and the spar
+fell, striking Sir John Harman to the deck and breaking his leg.
+
+The third fire-ship was received with the fire of four cannon loaded
+with chain shot. These brought her mast down, and she drifted by,
+clear of the _Henry,_ which was brought safely into Harwich.
+
+The fight continued the whole day, and did not terminate until ten
+o'clock in the evening. The night was spent in repairing damages, and
+in the morning the English recommenced the battle. It was again
+obstinately contested. Admiral Van Tromp threw himself into the midst
+of the British line, and suffered so heavily that he was only saved
+by the arrival of Admiral de Ruyter. He, in his turn, was in a most
+perilous position, and his ship disabled, when fresh reinforcements
+arrived. And so the battle raged, until, in the afternoon, as if by
+mutual consent, the Fleets drew off from each other, and the battle
+ceased. The fighting had been extraordinarily obstinate and
+determined on both sides, many ships had been sunk, several burnt,
+and some captured. The sea was dotted with wreckage, masts, and
+spars, fragments of boats and _débris_ of all kinds. Both fleets
+presented a pitiable appearance; the hulls, but forty-eight hours ago
+so trim and smooth, were splintered and jagged, port-holes were
+knocked into one, bulwarks carried away, and stern galleries gone.
+The sails were riddled with shot-holes, many of the ships had lost
+one or more masts, while the light spars had been, in most cases,
+carried away, and many of the yards had come down owing to the
+destruction of the running gear.
+
+In so tremendous a conflict the little _Fan Fan_ could bear but a
+small part. Cyril and Lord Oliphant agreed, at the commencement of
+the first day's fight, that it would be useless for them to attempt
+to fire their two little guns, but that their efforts should be
+entirely directed against the enemy's fire-ships. During each day's
+battle, then, they hovered round the flagship, getting out of the way
+whenever she was engaged, as she often was, on both broadsides, and
+although once or twice struck by stray shots, the _Fan Fan_ received
+no serious damage. In this encounter of giants, the little yacht was
+entirely overlooked, and none of the great ships wasted a shot upon
+her. Two or three times each day, when the Admiral's ship had beaten
+off her foes, a fire-ship directed its course against her. Then came
+the _Fan Fan's_ turn for action. Under the pressure of her twelve
+oars she sped towards the fire-ship, and on reaching her a grapnel
+was thrown over the end of the bowsprit, and by the efforts of the
+rowers her course was changed, so that she swept harmlessly past the
+flagship.
+
+Twice when the vessels were coming down before the wind at a rate of
+speed that rendered it evident that the efforts of the men at the
+oars would be insufficient to turn her course, the _Fan Fan_ was
+steered alongside, grapnels were thrown, and, headed by Lord Oliphant
+and Cyril, the crew sprang on board, cut down or drove overboard the
+few men who were in charge of her. Then, taking the helm and trimming
+the sails, they directed her against one of the Dutch men-of-war,
+threw the grapnels on board, lighted the train, leapt back into the
+_Fan Fan_, rowed away, and took up their place near the Admiral, the
+little craft being greeted with hearty cheers by the whole ship's
+company.
+
+The afternoon was spent in repairing damages as far as practicable,
+but even the Duke saw it was impossible to continue the fight. The
+Dutch had received a reinforcement while the fighting was going on
+that morning, and although the English had inflicted terrible damage
+upon the Dutch Fleet, their own loss in ships was greater than that
+which they had caused their adversaries. A considerable portion of
+their vessels were not in a condition to renew the battle, and the
+carpenters had hard work to save them from sinking outright.
+Albemarle himself embarked on the _Fan Fan_, and sailed from ship to
+ship, ascertaining the condition of each, and the losses its crew had
+suffered. As soon as night fell, the vessels most disabled were
+ordered to sail for England as they best could. The crew of three
+which were totally dismasted and could hardly be kept afloat, were
+taken out and divided between the twenty-eight vessels which alone
+remained in a condition to renew the fight.
+
+These three battered hulks were, early the next morning, set on fire,
+and the rest of the Fleet, in good order and prepared to give battle,
+followed their companions that had sailed on the previous evening.
+The Dutch followed, but at a distance, thinking to repair their
+damages still farther before they again engaged. In the afternoon the
+sails of a squadron were seen ahead, and a loud cheer ran from ship
+to ship, for all knew that this was Prince Rupert coming up with the
+White Squadron. A serious loss, however, occurred a few minutes
+afterwards. The _Royal Prince_, the largest and most powerful vessel
+in the Fleet, which was somewhat in rear of the line, struck on the
+sands. The tide being with them and the wind light, the rest of the
+Fleet tried in vain to return to her assistance, and as the Dutch
+Fleet were fast coming up, and some of the fire-ships making for the
+_Royal Prince_, they were forced to give up the attempt to succour
+her, and Sir George Ayscue, her captain, was obliged to haul down his
+flag and surrender.
+
+As soon as the White Squadron joined the remnant of the Fleet the
+whole advanced against the Dutch, drums beating and trumpets
+sounding, and twice made their way through the enemy's line. But it
+was now growing dark, and the third day's battle came to an end. The
+next morning it was seen that the Dutch, although considerably
+stronger than the English, were almost out of sight. The latter at
+once hoisted sail and pursued, and, at eight o'clock, came up with
+them.
+
+The Dutch finding the combat inevitable, the terrible fight was
+renewed, and raged, without intermission, until seven in the evening.
+Five times the British passed through the line of the Dutch. On both
+sides many ships fell out of the fighting line wholly disabled.
+Several were sunk, and some on both sides forced to surrender, being
+so battered as to be unable to withdraw from the struggle. Prince
+Rupert's ship was wholly disabled, and that of Albemarle almost as
+severely damaged, and the battle, like those of the preceding days,
+ended without any decided advantage on either side. Both nations
+claimed the victory, but equally without reason. The Dutch historians
+compute our loss at sixteen men-of-war, of which ten were sunk and
+six taken, while we admitted only a loss of nine ships, and claimed
+that the Dutch lost fifteen men-of-war. Both parties acknowledged
+that it was the most terrible battle fought in this, or any other
+modern war.
+
+De Witte, who at that time was at the head of the Dutch Republic, and
+who was a bitter enemy of the English, owned, some time afterwards,
+to Sir William Temple, "that the English got more glory to their
+nation through the invincible courage of their seamen during those
+engagements than by the two victories of this war, and that he was
+sure that his own fleet could not have been brought on to fight the
+fifth day, after the disadvantages of the fourth, and he believed
+that no other nation was capable of it but the English."
+
+Cyril took no part in the last day's engagement, for Prince Rupert,
+when the _Fan Fan_ came near him on his arrival on the previous
+evening, returned his salute from the poop, and shouted to him that
+on no account was he to adventure into the fight with the _Fan Fan_.
+
+On the morning after the battle ended, Lord Oliphant and Cyril rowed
+on board Prince Rupert's ship, where every unwounded man was hard at
+work getting up a jury-mast or patching up the holes in the hull.
+
+"Well, Sir Cyril, I see that you have been getting my yacht knocked
+about," he said, as they came up to him.
+
+"There is not much damage done, sir. She has but two shot-holes in
+her hull."
+
+"And my new mainsail spoiled. Do you know, sir, that I got a severe
+rating from the Duke yesterday evening, on your account?"
+
+Cyril looked surprised.
+
+"I trust, sir, that I have not in any way disobeyed orders?"
+
+"No, it was not that. He asked after the _Fan Fan_, and said that he
+had seen nothing of her during the day's fighting, and I said I had
+strictly ordered you not to come into the battle. He replied, 'Then
+you did wrong, Prince, for that little yacht of yours did yeomen's
+service during the first two days' fighting. I told Sir Cyril to keep
+her near me, thinking that she would be useful in carrying orders,
+and during those two days she kept close to us, save when we were
+surrounded by the enemy. Five times in those three days did she avert
+fire-ships from us. We were so damaged that we could sail but slowly,
+and, thinking us altogether unmanageable, the Dutch launched their
+fire-ships. The _Fan Fan_ rowed to meet them. Three of them were
+diverted from their course by a rope being thrown over the bowsprit,
+and the crew rowing so as to turn her head. On the second day there
+was more wind, and the fire-ships could have held on their course in
+spite of the efforts of the men on board the _Fan Fan_. Twice during
+the day the little boat was boldly laid alongside them, while the
+crew boarded and captured them, and then, directing them towards the
+Dutch ships, grappled and set them on fire. One of the Dutchmen was
+burned, the other managed to throw off the grapnels. It was all done
+under our eyes, and five times in the two days did my crew cheer your
+little yacht as she came alongside. So you see, Prince, by ordering
+her out of the fight you deprived us of the assistance of as boldly
+handled a little craft as ever sailed.'
+
+"'I am quite proud of my little yacht, gentlemen, and I thank you for
+having given her so good a christening under fire. But I must stay no
+longer talking. Here is the despatch I have written of my share of
+the engagement. You, Sir Cyril, will deliver this. You will now row
+to the Duke's ship, and he will give you his despatches, which you,
+Lord Oliphant, will deliver. I need not say that you are to make all
+haste to the Thames. We have no ship to spare except the _Fan Fan_,
+for we must keep the few that are still able to manoeuvre, in case
+the Dutch should come out again before we have got the crippled ones
+in a state to make sail. '"
+
+Taking leave of the Prince, they were at once rowed to the Duke's
+flagship. They had a short interview with the Admiral, who praised
+them highly for the service they had rendered.
+
+"You will have to tell the story of the fighting," he said, "for the
+Prince and myself have written but few lines; we have too many
+matters on our minds to do scribe's work. They will have heard, ere
+now, of the first two days' fighting, for some of the ships that were
+sent back will have arrived at Harwich before this. By to-morrow
+morning I hope to have the Fleet so far refitted as to be able to
+follow you."
+
+Five minutes later, the _Fan Fan_, with every stitch of sail set,
+was on her way to the Thames. As a brisk wind was blowing, they
+arrived in London twenty-four hours later, and at once proceeded to
+the Admiralty, the despatches being addressed to the Duke of York.
+They were immediately ushered in to him. Without a word he seized the
+despatches, tore them open, and ran his eye down them.
+
+"God be praised!" he exclaimed, when he finished them. "We had feared
+even worse intelligence, and have been in a terrible state of anxiety
+since yesterday, when we heard from Harwich that one of the ships had
+come in with the news that more than half the Fleet was crippled or
+destroyed, and that twenty-eight only remained capable of continuing
+the battle. The only hope was that the White Squadron might arrive in
+time, and it seems that it has done so. The account of our losses is
+indeed a terrible one, but at least we have suffered no defeat, and
+as the Dutch have retreated, they must have suffered well-nigh as
+much as we have done. Come along with me at once, gentlemen; I must
+go to the King to inform him of this great news, which is vastly
+beyond what we could have hoped for. The Duke, in his despatch, tells
+me that the bearers of it, Lord Oliphant and Sir Cyril Shenstone,
+have done very great service, having, in Prince Rupert's little
+yacht, saved his flagship no less than five times from the attacks of
+the Dutch fire-ships."
+
+The Duke had ordered his carriage to be in readiness as soon as he
+learnt that the bearers of despatches from the Fleet had arrived. It
+was already at the door, and, taking his seat in it, with Lord
+Oliphant and Cyril opposite to him, he was driven to the Palace,
+learning by the way such details as they could give him of the last
+two days' fighting. He led them at once to the King's dressing-room.
+Charles was already attired, for he had passed a sleepless night, and
+had risen early.
+
+"What news, James?" he asked eagerly.
+
+"Good news, brother. After two more days' fighting--and terrible
+fighting, on both sides--the Dutch Fleet has returned to its ports."
+
+"A victory!" the King exclaimed, in delight.
+
+"A dearly-bought one with the lives of so many brave men, but a
+victory nevertheless. Here are the despatches from Albemarle and
+Rupert. They have been brought by these gentlemen, with whom you are
+already acquainted, in Rupert's yacht. Albemarle speaks very highly
+of their conduct."
+
+The King took the despatches, and read them eagerly.
+
+"It has indeed been a dearly-bought victory," he said, "but it is
+marvellous indeed how our captains and men bore themselves. Never
+have they shown greater courage and endurance. Well may Monk say
+that, after four days of incessant fighting and four nights spent in
+the labour of repairing damages, the strength of all has well-nigh
+come to an end, and that he himself can write but a few lines to tell
+me of what has happened, leaving all details for further occasion. I
+thank you both, gentlemen, for the speed with which you have brought
+me this welcome news, and for the services of which the Duke of
+Albemarle speaks so warmly. This is the second time, Sir Cyril, that
+my admirals have had occasion to speak of great and honourable
+service rendered by you. Lord Oliphant, the Earl, your father, will
+have reason to be proud when he hears you so highly praised. Now,
+gentlemen, tell me more fully than is done in these despatches as to
+the incidents of the fighting. I have heard something of what took
+place in the first two days from an officer who posted up from
+Harwich yesterday."
+
+Lord Oliphant related the events of the first two days, and then went
+on.
+
+"Of the last two I can say less, Your Majesty, for we took no part
+in, having Prince Rupert's orders, given as he came up, that we
+should not adventure into the fight. Therefore, we were but
+spectators, though we kept on the edge of the fight and, if
+opportunity had offered, and we had seen one of our ships too hard
+pressed, and threatened by fire-ships, we should have ventured so far
+to transgress orders as to bear in and do what we could on her
+behalf; but indeed, the smoke was so great that we could see but
+little.
+
+"It was a strange sight, when, on the Prince's arrival, his ships and
+those of the Duke's, battered as they were, bore down on the Dutch
+line; the drums beating, the trumpets sounding, and the crews
+cheering loudly. We saw them disappear into the Dutch line; then the
+smoke shut all out from view, and for hours there was but a thick
+cloud of smoke and a continuous roar of the guns. Sometimes a vessel
+would come out from the curtain of smoke torn and disabled. Sometimes
+it was a Dutchman, sometimes one of our own ships. If the latter, we
+rowed up to them and did our best with planks and nails to stop the
+yawning holes close to the water-line, while the crew knotted ropes
+and got up the spars and yards, and then sailed back into the fight.
+
+"The first day's fighting was comparatively slight, for the Dutch
+seemed to be afraid to close with the Duke's ships, and hung behind
+at a distance. It was not till the White Squadron came up, and the
+Duke turned, with Prince Rupert, and fell upon his pursuers like a
+wounded boar upon the dogs, that the battle commenced in earnest; but
+the last day it went on for nigh twelve hours without intermission;
+and when at last the roar of the guns ceased, and the smoke slowly
+cleared off, it was truly a pitiful sight, so torn and disabled were
+the ships.
+
+"As the two fleets separated, drifting apart as it would almost seem,
+so few were the sails now set, we rowed up among them, and for hours
+were occupied in picking up men clinging to broken spars and
+wreckage, for but few of the ships had so much as a single boat left.
+We were fortunate enough to save well-nigh a hundred, of whom more
+than seventy were our own men, the remainder Dutch. From these last
+we learnt that the ships of Van Tromp and Ruyter had both been so
+disabled that they had been forced to fall out of battle, and had
+been towed away to port. They said that their Admirals Cornelius
+Evertz and Van der Hulst had both been killed, while on our side we
+learnt that Admiral Sir Christopher Mings had fallen."
+
+"Did the Dutch Fleet appear to be as much injured as our own?"
+
+"No, Your Majesty. Judging by the sail set when the battle was over,
+theirs must have been in better condition than ours, which is not
+surprising, seeing how superior they were in force, and for the most
+part bigger ships, and carrying more guns."
+
+"Then you will have your hands full, James, or they will be ready to
+take to sea again before we are. Next time I hope that we shall meet
+them with more equal numbers."
+
+"I will do the best I can, brother," the Duke replied. "Though we
+have so many ships sorely disabled there have been but few lost, and
+we can supply their places with the vessels that have been building
+with all haste. If the Dutch will give us but two months' time I
+warrant that we shall be able to meet them in good force."
+
+As soon as the audience was over, Cyril and his friend returned to
+the _Fan Fan_, and after giving the crew a few hours for sleep,
+sailed down to Sheerness, where, shortly afterwards, Prince Rupert
+arrived with a portion of the Fleet, the rest having been ordered to
+Harwich, Portsmouth, and other ports, so that they could be more
+speedily refitted.
+
+Although the work went on almost without intermission day and night,
+the repairs were not completed before the news arrived that the Dutch
+Fleet had again put to sea. Two days later they arrived off our
+coast, where, finding no fleet ready to meet them, they sailed away
+to France, where they hoped to be joined by their French allies.
+
+Two days later, however, our ships began to assemble at the mouth of
+the Thames, and on June 24th the whole Fleet was ready to take to
+sea. It consisted of eighty men-of-war, large and small, and nineteen
+fire-ships. Prince Rupert was in command of the Red Squadron, and the
+Duke of Albemarle sailed with him, on board the same ship. Sir Thomas
+Allen was Admiral of the White, and Sir Jeremiah Smith of the Blue
+Squadron. Cyril remained on board the _Fan Fan_, Lord Oliphant
+returning to his duties on board the flagship. Marvels had been
+effected by the zeal and energy of the crews and dockyard men. But
+three weeks back, the English ships had, for the most part, been
+crippled seemingly almost beyond repair, but now, with their holes
+patched, with new spars, and in the glory of fresh paint and new
+canvas, they made as brave a show as when they had sailed out from
+the Downs a month previously.
+
+They were anchored off the Nore when, late in the evening, the news
+came out from Sheerness that a mounted messenger had just ridden in
+from Dover, and that the Dutch Fleet had, in the afternoon, passed
+the town, and had rounded the South Foreland, steering north.
+
+Orders were at once issued that the Fleet should sail at daybreak,
+and at three o'clock the next morning they were on their way down the
+river. At ten o'clock the Dutch Fleet was seen off the North
+Foreland. According to their own accounts they numbered eighty-eight
+men-of-war, with twenty-five fire-ships, and were also divided into
+three squadrons, under De Ruyter, John Evertz, and Van Tromp.
+
+The engagement began at noon by an attack by the White Squadron upon
+that commanded by Evertz. An hour later, Prince Rupert and the Duke,
+with the Red Squadron, fell upon De Ruyter, while that of Van Tromp,
+which was at some distance from the others, was engaged by Sir
+Jeremiah Smith with the Blue Squadron. Sir Thomas Allen completely
+defeated his opponents, killing Evertz, his vice- and rear-admirals,
+capturing the vice-admiral of Zeeland, who was with him, and burning
+a ship of fifty guns.
+
+The Red Squadron was evenly matched by that of De Ruyter, and each
+vessel laid itself alongside an adversary. Although De Ruyter himself
+and his vice-admiral, Van Ness, fought obstinately, their ships in
+general, commanded, for the most part, by men chosen for their family
+influence rather than for either seamanship or courage, behaved but
+badly, and all but seven gradually withdrew from the fight, and went
+off under all sail; and De Ruyter, finding himself thus deserted, was
+forced also to draw off. During this time, Van Tromp, whose squadron
+was the strongest of the three Dutch divisions, was so furiously
+engaged by the Blue Squadron, which was the weakest of the English
+divisions, that he was unable to come to the assistance of his
+consorts; when, however, he saw the defeat of the rest of the Dutch
+Fleet, he, too, was obliged to draw off, lest he should have the
+whole of the English down upon him, and was able the more easily to
+do so as darkness was closing in when the battle ended.
+
+The Dutch continued their retreat during the night, followed at a
+distance by the Red Squadron, which was, next morning, on the point
+of overtaking them, when the Dutch sought refuge by steering into the
+shallows, which their light draught enabled them to cross, while the
+deeper English ships were unable to follow. Great was the wrath and
+disappointment of the English when they saw themselves thus baulked
+of reaping the full benefit of the victory. Prince Rupert shouted to
+Cyril, who, in the _Fan Fan_, had taken but small share in the
+engagement, as the fire-ships had not played any conspicuous part in
+it.
+
+"Sir Cyril, we can go no farther, but do you pursue De Ruyter and
+show him in what contempt we hold him."
+
+Cyril lifted his hat to show that he heard and understood the order.
+Then he ordered his men to get out their oars, for the wind was very
+light, and, amidst loud cheering, mingled with laughter, from the
+crews of the vessels that were near enough to hear Prince Rupert's
+order, the _Fan Fan_ rowed out from the English line in pursuit of
+the Dutch.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+LONDON IN FLAMES
+
+
+The sailors laughed and joked as they rowed away from the Fleet, but
+the old boatswain shook his head.
+
+"We shall have to be careful, Sir Cyril," he said. "It is like a
+small cur barking at the heels of a bull--it is good fun enough for a
+bit, but when the bull turns, perchance the dog will find himself
+thrown high in the air."
+
+Cyril nodded. He himself considered Prince Rupert's order to be
+beyond all reason, and given only in the heat of his anger at De
+Ruyter having thus escaped him, and felt that it was very likely to
+cost the lives of all on board the _Fan Fan_. However, there was
+nothing to do but to carry it out. It seemed to him that the
+boatswain's simile was a very apt one, and that, although the
+spectacle of the _Fan Fan_ worrying the great Dutch battle-ship
+might be an amusing one to the English spectators, it was likely to
+be a very serious adventure for her.
+
+De Ruyter's ship, which was in the rear of all the other Dutch
+vessels, was but a mile distant when the _Fan Fan_ started, and as
+the wind was so light that it scarce filled her sails, the yacht
+approached her rapidly.
+
+"We are within half a mile now, your honour," the boatswain said. "I
+should say we had better go no nearer if we don't want to be blown
+out of the water."
+
+"Yes; I think we may as well stop rowing now, and get the guns to
+work. There are only those two cannon in her stern ports which can
+touch us here. She will scarcely come up in the wind to give us a
+broadside. She is moving so slowly through the water that it would
+take her a long time to come round, and De Ruyter would feel ashamed
+to bring his great flag-ship round to crush such a tiny foe."
+
+The boatswain went forward to the guns, round which the men, after
+laying in their oars, clustered in great glee.
+
+"Now," he said, "you have got to make those two guns in the stern
+your mark. Try and send your shots through the port-holes. It will be
+a waste to fire them at the hull, for the balls would not penetrate
+the thick timber that she is built of. Remember, the straighter you
+aim the more chance there is that the Dutch won't hit us. Men don't
+stop to aim very straight when they are expecting a shot among them
+every second. We will fire alternately, and one gun is not to fire
+until the other is loaded again. I will lay the first gun myself."
+
+It was a good shot, and the crew cheered as they saw the splinters
+fly at the edge of the port-hole. Shot after shot was fired with
+varying success.
+
+The Dutch made no reply, and seemed to ignore the presence of their
+tiny foe. The crew were, for the most part, busy aloft repairing
+damages, and after half an hour's firing, without eliciting a reply,
+the boatswain went aft to Cyril, and suggested that they should now
+aim at the spars.
+
+"A lucky shot might do a good deal of damage, sir," he said. "The
+weather is fine enough at present, but there is no saying when a
+change may come, and if we could weaken one of the main spars it
+might be the means of her being blown ashore, should the wind spring
+up in the right direction."
+
+Cyril assented, and fire was now directed at the masts. A few ropes
+were cut away, but no serious damage was effected until a shot struck
+one of the halliard blocks of the spanker, and the sail at once ran
+down.
+
+"It has taken a big bit out of the mast, too," the boatswain called
+exultingly to Cyril. "I think that will rouse the Dutchmen up."
+
+A minute later it was evident that the shot had at least had that
+effect. Two puffs of smoke spirted out from the stern of the Dutch
+flagship, and, simultaneously with the roar of the guns, came the hum
+of two heavy shot flying overhead. Delighted at having excited the
+Dutchmen's wrath at last, the crew of the _Fan Fan_ took off their
+hats and gave a loud cheer, and then, more earnestly than before,
+settled down to work; their guns aimed now, as at first, at the
+port-holes. Four or five shots were discharged from each of the
+little guns before the Dutch were ready again. Then came the
+thundering reports. The _Fan Fan's_ topmast was carried away by one
+of the shot, but the other went wide. Two or three men were told to
+cut away the wreckage, and the rest continued their fire. One of the
+next shots of the enemy was better directed. It struck the deck close
+to the foot of the mast, committed great havoc in Cyril's cabin, and
+passed out through the stern below the water-line. Cyril leapt down
+the companion as he heard the crash, shouting to the boatswain to
+follow him. The water was coming through the hole in a great jet.
+Cyril seized a pillow and--stuffed it into the shot-hole, being
+drenched from head to foot in the operation. One of the sailors had
+followed the boatswain, and Cyril called him to his assistance.
+
+"Get out the oars at once," he said to the boatswain. "Another shot
+like this and she will go down. Get a piece cut off a spar and make a
+plug. There is no holding this pillow in its place, and the water
+comes in fast still."
+
+The sailor took Cyril's post while he ran up on deck and assisted in
+cutting the plug; this was roughly shaped to the size of the hole,
+and then driven in. It stopped the rush of the water, but a good deal
+still leaked through.
+
+By the time this was done the _Fan Fan_ had considerably increased
+her distance from De Ruyter. Four or five more shots were fired from
+the Dutch ship. The last of these struck the mast ten feet above the
+deck, bringing it down with a crash. Fortunately, none of the crew
+were hurt, and, dropping the oars, they hauled the mast alongside,
+cut the sail from its fastening to the hoops and gaff, and then
+severed the shrouds and allowed the mast to drift away, while they
+again settled themselves to the oars. Although every man rowed his
+hardest, the _Fan Fan_ was half full of water before she reached the
+Fleet, which was two miles astern of them when they first began to
+row.
+
+"Well done, _Fan Fan_!" Prince Rupert shouted, as the little craft
+came alongside. "Have you suffered any damage besides your spars? I
+see you are low in the water."
+
+"We were shot through our stern, sir; we put in a plug, but the water
+comes in still. Will you send a carpenter on board? For I don't think
+she will float many minutes longer unless we get the hole better
+stopped."
+
+The Prince gave some orders to an officer standing by him. The latter
+called two or three sailors and bade them bring some short lengths of
+thick hawser, while a strong party were set to reeve tackle to the
+mainyard. As soon as the hawsers, each thirty feet in length, were
+brought, they were dropped on to the deck of the _Fan Fan_, and the
+officer told the crew to pass them under her, one near each end, and
+to knot the hawsers. By the time this was done, two strong tackles
+were lowered and fixed to the hawsers, and the crew ordered to come
+up on to the ship. The tackles were then manned and hauled on by
+strong parties, and the _Fan Fan_ was gradually raised. The
+boatswain went below again and knocked out the plug, and, as the
+little yacht was hoisted up, the water ran out of it. As soon as the
+hole was above the water-level, the tackle at the bow was gradually
+slackened off until she lay with her fore-part in the water, which
+came some distance up her deck. The carpenter then slung himself over
+the stern, and nailed, first a piece of tarred canvas, and then a
+square of plank, over the hole. Then the stern tackle was eased off,
+and the _Fan Fan_ floated on a level keel. Her crew went down to her
+again, and, in half an hour, pumped her free of water.
+
+By this time, the results of the victory were known. On the English
+side, the _Resolution_ was the only ship lost, she having been burnt
+by a Dutch fire-ship; three English captains, and about three hundred
+men were killed. On the other hand, the Dutch lost twenty ships, four
+admirals, a great many of their captains, and some four thousand men.
+It was, indeed, the greatest and most complete victory gained
+throughout the war. Many of the British ships had suffered a good
+deal, that which carried the Duke's flag most of all, for it had been
+so battered in the fight with De Ruyter that the Duke and Prince
+Rupert had been obliged to leave her, and to hoist their flags upon
+another man-of-war.
+
+The next morning the Fleet sailed to Schonevelt, which was the usual
+_rendezvous_ of the Dutch Fleet, and there remained some time,
+altogether undisturbed by the enemy. The _Fan Fan_ was here
+thoroughly repaired.
+
+On July 29th they sailed for Ulic, where they arrived on August 7th,
+the wind being contrary.
+
+Learning that there was a large fleet of merchantmen lying between
+the islands of Ulic and Schelling, guarded by but two men-of-war, and
+that there were rich magazines of goods on these islands, it was
+determined to attack them. Four small frigates, of a slight draught
+of water, and five fire-ships, were selected for the attack, together
+with the boats of the Fleet, manned by nine hundred men.
+
+On the evening of the 8th, Cyril was ordered to go, in the _Fan
+Fan_, to reconnoitre the position of the Dutch. He did not sail
+until after nightfall, and, on reaching the passage between the
+islands, he lowered his sails, got out his oars, and drifted with the
+tide silently down through the Dutch merchant fleet, where no watch
+seemed to be kept, and in the morning carried the news to Sir Robert
+Holmes, the commander of the expedition, who had anchored a league
+from the entrance.
+
+Cyril had sounded the passage as he went through, and it was found
+that two of the frigates could not enter it. These were left at the
+anchorage, and, on arriving at the mouth of the harbour, the
+_Tiger_, Sir Robert Holmes's flagship, was also obliged to anchor,
+and he came on board the _Fan Fan_, on which he hoisted his flag.
+The captains of the other ships came on board, and it was arranged
+that the _Pembroke_, which had but a small draught of water, should
+enter at once with the five fire-ships.
+
+The attack was completely successful. Two of the fire-ships grappled
+with the men-of-war and burnt them, while three great merchantmen
+were destroyed by the others. Then the boats dashed into the fleet,
+and, with the exception of four or five merchantmen and four
+privateers, who took refuge in a creek, defended by a battery, the
+whole of the hundred and seventy merchantmen, the smallest of which
+was not less than 200 tons burden, and all heavily laden, were
+burned.
+
+The next day, Sir Robert Holmes landed eleven companies of troops on
+the Island of Schonevelt and burnt Bandaris, its principal town, with
+its magazines and store-houses, causing a loss to the Dutch,
+according to their own admission, of six million guilders. This, and
+the loss of the great Fleet, inflicted a very heavy blow upon the
+commerce of Holland. The _Fan Fan_ had been hit again by a shot from
+one of the batteries, and, on her rejoining the Fleet, Prince Rupert
+determined to send her to England so that she could be thoroughly
+repaired and fitted out again. Cyril's orders were to take her to
+Chatham, and to hand her over to the dockyard authorities.
+
+"I do not think the Dutch will come out and fight us again this
+autumn, Sir Cyril, so you can take your ease in London as it pleases
+you. We are now halfway through August, and it will probably be at
+least a month after your arrival before the _Fan Fan_ is fit for sea
+again. It may be a good deal longer than that, for they are busy upon
+the repairs of the ships sent home after the battle, and will hardly
+take any hands off these to put on to the _Fan Fan_. In October we
+shall all be coming home again, so that, until next spring, it is
+hardly likely that there will be aught doing."
+
+Cyril accordingly returned to London. The wind was contrary, and it
+was not until the last day of August that he dropped anchor in the
+Medway. After spending a night at Chatham, he posted up to London the
+next morning, and, finding convenient chambers in the Savoy, he
+installed himself there, and then proceeded to the house of the Earl
+of Wisbech, to whom he was the bearer of a letter from his son.
+Finding that the Earl and his family were down at his place near
+Sevenoaks, he went into the City, and spent the evening at Captain
+Dave's, having ordered his servant to pack a small valise, and bring
+it with the two horses in the morning. He had gone to bed but an hour
+when he was awoke by John Wilkes knocking at his door.
+
+"There is a great fire burning not far off, Sir Cyril. A man who ran
+past told me it was in Pudding Lane, at the top of Fish Street. The
+Captain is getting up, and is going out to see it; for, with such dry
+weather as we have been having, there is no saying how far it may
+go."
+
+Cyril sprang out of his bed and dressed. Captain Dave, accustomed to
+slip on his clothes in a hurry, was waiting for him, and, with John
+Wilkes, they sallied out. There was a broad glare of light in the
+sky, and the bells of many of the churches were ringing out the
+fire-alarm. As they passed, many people put their heads out from
+windows and asked where the fire was. In five minutes they approached
+the scene. A dozen houses were blazing fiercely, while, from those
+near, the inhabitants were busily removing their valuables. The Fire
+Companies, with their buckets, were already at work, and lines of men
+were formed down to the river and were passing along buckets from
+hand to hand. Well-nigh half the water was spilt, however, before it
+arrived at the fire, and, in the face of such a body of flame, it
+seemed to make no impression whatever.
+
+"They might as well attempt to pump out a leaky ship with a child's
+squirt," the Captain said. "The fire will burn itself out, and we
+must pray heaven that the wind drops altogether; 'tis not strong, but
+it will suffice to carry the flames across these narrow streets. 'Tis
+lucky that it is from the east, so there is little fear that it will
+travel in our direction."
+
+They learnt that the fire had begun in the house of Faryner, the
+King's baker, though none knew how it had got alight. It was not long
+before the flames leapt across the lane, five or six houses catching
+fire almost at the same moment. A cry of dismay broke from the crowd,
+and the fright of the neighbours increased. Half-clad women hurried
+from their houses, carrying their babes, and dragging their younger
+children out. Men staggered along with trunks of clothing and
+valuables. Many wrung their hands helplessly, while the City Watch
+guarded the streets leading to Pudding Lane, so as to prevent thieves
+and vagabonds from taking advantage of the confusion to plunder.
+
+With great rapidity the flames spread from house to house. A portion
+of Fish Street was already invaded, and the Church of St. Magnus in
+danger. The fears of the people increased in proportion to the
+advance of the conflagration. The whole neighbourhood was now
+alarmed, and, in all the streets round, people were beginning to
+remove their goods. The river seemed to be regarded by all as the
+safest place of refuge. The boats from the various landing-places had
+already come up, and these were doing a thriving trade by taking the
+frightened people, with what goods they carried, to lighters and
+ships moored in the river.
+
+The lines of men passing buckets had long since broken up, it being
+too evident that their efforts were not of the slightest avail. The
+wind had, in the last two hours, rapidly increased in strength, and
+was carrying the burning embers far and wide.
+
+Cyril and his companions had, after satisfying their first curiosity,
+set to work to assist the fugitives, by aiding them to carry down
+their goods to the waterside. Cyril was now between eighteen and
+nineteen, and had grown into a powerful, young fellow, having, since
+he recovered from the Plague, grown fast and widened out greatly. He
+was able to shoulder heavy trunks, and to carry them down without
+difficulty.
+
+By six o'clock, however, all were exhausted by their labours, and
+Captain Dave's proposal, that they should go back and get breakfast
+and have a wash, was at once agreed to.
+
+At this time the greater part of Fish Street was in flames, the
+Church of St. Magnus had fallen, and the flames had spread to many of
+the streets and alleys running west. The houses on the Bridge were
+blazing.
+
+"Well, father, what is the news?" Nellie exclaimed, as they entered.
+"What have you been doing? You are all blackened, like the men who
+carry out the coals from the ships. I never saw such figures."
+
+"We have been helping people to carry their goods down to the water,
+Nellie. The news is bad. The fire is a terrible one."
+
+"That we can see, father. Mother and I were at the window for hours
+after you left, and the whole sky seemed ablaze. Do you think that
+there is any danger of its coming here?"
+
+"The wind is taking the flames the other way, Nellie, but in spite of
+that I think that there is danger. The heat is so great that the
+houses catch on this side, and we saw, as we came back, that it had
+travelled eastwards. Truly, I believe that if the wind keeps on as it
+is at present, the whole City will be destroyed. However, we will
+have a wash first and then some breakfast, of which we are sorely in
+need. Then we can talk over what had best be done."
+
+Little was said during breakfast. The apprentices had already been
+out, and so excited were they at the scenes they had witnessed that
+they had difficulty in preserving their usual quiet and submissive
+demeanour. Captain Dave was wearied with his unwonted exertions. Mrs.
+Dowsett and Nellie both looked pale and anxious, and Cyril and John
+Wilkes were oppressed by the terrible scene of destruction and the
+widespread misery they had witnessed.
+
+When breakfast was over, Captain Dave ordered the apprentices on no
+account to leave the premises. They were to put up the shutters at
+once, and then to await orders.
+
+"What do you think we had better do, Cyril?" he said, when the boys
+had left the room.
+
+"I should say that you had certainly better go on board a ship,
+Captain Dave. There is time to move now quietly, and to get many
+things taken on board, but if there were a swift change of wind the
+flames would come down so suddenly that you would have no time to
+save anything. Do you know of a captain who would receive you?"
+
+"Certainly; I know of half a dozen."
+
+"Then the first thing is to secure a boat before they are all taken
+up."
+
+"I will go down to the stairs at once."
+
+"Then I should say, John, you had better go off with Captain Dave,
+and, as soon as he has arranged with one of the captains, come back
+to shore. Let the waterman lie off in the stream, for if the flames
+come this way there will be a rush for boats, and people will not
+stop to ask to whom they belong. It will be better still to take one
+of the apprentices with you, leave him at the stairs till you return,
+and then tie up to a ship till we hail him."
+
+"That will be the best plan," Captain Dave said. "Now, wife, you and
+Nellie and the maid had best set to work at once packing up all your
+best clothes and such other things as you may think most valuable. We
+shall have time, I hope, to make many trips."
+
+"While you are away, I will go along the street and see whether the
+fire is making any way in this direction," Cyril said. "Of course if
+it's coming slowly you will have time to take away a great many
+things. And we may even hope that it may not come here at all."
+
+Taking one of the apprentices, Captain Dave and John at once started
+for the waterside, while Cyril made his way westward.
+
+Already, people were bringing down their goods from most of the
+houses. Some acted as if they believed that if they took the goods
+out of the houses they would be safe, and great piles of articles of
+all kinds almost blocked the road. Weeping women and frightened
+children sat on these piles as if to guard them. Some stood at their
+doors wringing their hands helplessly; others were already starting
+eastward laden with bundles and boxes, occasionally looking round as
+if to bid farewell to their homes. Many of the men seemed even more
+confused and frightened than the women, running hither and thither
+without purpose, shouting, gesticulating, and seeming almost
+distraught with fear and grief.
+
+Cyril had not gone far when he saw that the houses on both sides of
+the street, at the further end, were already in flames. He was
+obliged to advance with great caution, for many people were
+recklessly throwing goods of all kinds from the windows, regardless
+of whom they might fall upon, and without thought of how they were to
+be carried away. He went on until close to the fire, and stood for a
+time watching. The noise was bewildering. Mingled with the roar of
+the flames, the crackling of woodwork, and the heavy crashes that
+told of the fall of roofs or walls, was the clang of the alarm-bells,
+shouts, cries, and screams. The fire spread steadily, but with none
+of the rapidity with which he had seen it fly along from house to
+house on the other side of the conflagration. The houses, however,
+were largely composed of wood. The balconies generally caught first,
+and the fire crept along under the roofs, and sometimes a shower of
+tiles, and a burst of flames, showed that it had advanced there,
+while the lower portion of the house was still intact.
+
+"Is it coming, Cyril?" Mrs. Dowsett asked, when he returned.
+
+"It is coming steadily," he said, "and can be stopped by nothing
+short of a miracle. Can I help you in any way?"
+
+"No," she said; "we have packed as many things as can possibly be
+carried. It is well that your things are all at your lodging, Cyril,
+and beyond the risk of this danger."
+
+"It would have mattered little about them," he said. "I could have
+replaced them easily enough. That is but a question of money. And
+now, in the first place, I will get the trunks and bundles you have
+packed downstairs. That will save time."
+
+Assisted by the apprentice and Nellie, Cyril got all the things
+downstairs.
+
+"How long have we, do you think?" Nellie asked.
+
+"I should say that in three hours the fire will be here," he said.
+"It may be checked a little at the cross lanes; but I fear that three
+hours is all we can hope for."
+
+Just as they had finished taking down the trunks, Captain Dave and
+John Wilkes arrived.
+
+"I have arranged the affair," the former said. "My old friend, Dick
+Watson, will take us in his ship; she lies but a hundred yards from
+the stairs. Now, get on your mantle and hood, Nellie, and bring your
+mother and maid down."
+
+The three women were soon at the foot of the stairs, and Mrs.
+Dowsett's face showed signs of tears; but, though pale, she was quiet
+and calm, and the servant, a stout wench, had gained confidence from
+her mistress's example. As soon as they were ready, the three men
+each shouldered a trunk. The servant and the apprentice carried one
+between them. Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter took as many bundles as
+they could carry. It was but five minutes' walk down to the stairs.
+The boat was lying twenty yards out in the stream, fastened up to a
+lighter, with the apprentice and waterman on board. It came at once
+alongside, and in five minutes they reached the _Good Venture_. As
+soon as the women had ascended the accommodation ladder, some sailors
+ran down and helped to carry up the trunks.
+
+"Empty them all out in the cabin," Captain Dave said to his wife; "we
+will take them back with us."
+
+As soon as he had seen the ladies into the cabin, Captain Watson
+called his son Frank, who was his chief mate, and half a dozen of his
+men. These carried the boxes, as fast as they were emptied, down into
+the boat.
+
+"We will all go ashore together," he said to Captain Dave. "I was a
+fool not to think of it before. We will soon make light work of it."
+
+As soon as they reached the house, some of the sailors were sent off
+with the remaining trunks and bundles, while the others carried
+upstairs those they had brought, and quickly emptied into them the
+remaining contents of the drawers and linen press. So quickly and
+steadily did the work go on, that no less than six trips were made to
+the _Good Venture_ in the next three hours, and at the end of that
+time almost everything portable had been carried away, including
+several pieces of valuable furniture, and a large number of objects
+brought home by Captain Dave from his various voyages. The last
+journey, indeed, was devoted to saving some of the most valuable
+contents of the store. Captain Dave, delighted at having saved so
+much, would not have thought of taking more, but Captain Watson would
+not hear of this.
+
+"There is time for one more trip, old friend," he said, "and there
+are many things in your store that are worth more than their weight
+in silver. I will take my other two hands this time, and, with the
+eight men and our five selves, we shall be able to bring a good
+load."
+
+The trunks were therefore this time packed with ship's instruments,
+and brass fittings of all kinds, to the full weight that could be
+carried. All hands then set to work, and, in a very short time, a
+great proportion of the portable goods were carried from the
+store-house into an arched cellar beneath it. By the time that they
+were ready to start there were but six houses between them and the
+fire.
+
+"I wish we had another three hours before us," Captain Watson said.
+"It goes to one's heart to leave all this new rope and sail cloth,
+good blocks, and other things, to be burnt."
+
+"There have been better things than that burnt to-day, Watson. Few
+men have saved as much as I have, thanks to your assistance and that
+of these stout sailors of yours. Why, the contents of these twelve
+boxes are worth as much as the whole of the goods remaining."
+
+The sailors' loads were so heavy that they had to help each other to
+get them upon their shoulders, and the other five were scarcely less
+weighted; and, short as was the distance, all had to rest several
+times on the way to the stairs, setting their burdens upon
+window-sills, or upon boxes scattered in the streets. One of the
+ship's boats had, after the first trip, taken the place of the light
+wherry, but even this was weighted down to the gunwale when the men
+and the goods were all on board. After the first two trips, the
+contents of the boxes had been emptied on deck, and by the time the
+last arrived the three women had packed away in the empty cabins all
+the clothing, linen, and other articles, that had been taken below.
+Captain Watson ordered a stiff glass of grog to be given to each of
+the sailors, and then went down with the others into the main cabin,
+where the steward had already laid the table for a meal, and poured
+out five tumblers of wine.
+
+"I have not had so tough a job since I was before the mast," he said.
+"What say you, Captain Dave?"
+
+"It has been a hard morning's work, indeed, Watson, and, in truth, I
+feel fairly spent. But though weary in body I am cheerful in heart.
+It seemed to me at breakfast-time that we should save little beyond
+what we stood in, and now I have rescued well-nigh everything
+valuable that I have. I should have grieved greatly had I lost all
+those mementos that it took me nigh thirty years to gather, and those
+pieces of furniture that belonged to my father I would not have lost
+for any money. Truly, it has been a noble salvage."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie now joined them. They had quite recovered
+their spirits, and were delighted at the unexpected rescue of so many
+things precious to them, and Captain Watson was overwhelmed by their
+thanks for what he had done.
+
+After the meal was over they sat quietly talking for a time, and then
+Cyril proposed that they should row up the river and see what
+progress the fire was making above the Bridge. Mrs. Dowsett, however,
+was too much fatigued by her sleepless night and the troubles and
+emotions of the morning to care about going. Captain Dave said that
+he was too stiff to do anything but sit quiet and smoke a pipe, and
+that he would superintend the getting of their things on deck a
+little ship-shape. Nellie embraced the offer eagerly, and young
+Watson, who was a well-built and handsome fellow, with a pleasant
+face and manner, said that he would go, and would take a couple of
+hands to row. The tide had just turned to run up when they set out.
+Cyril asked the first mate to steer, and he sat on one side of him
+and Nellie on the other.
+
+"You will have to mind your oars, lads," Frank Watson said. "The
+river is crowded with boats."
+
+They crossed over to the Southwark side, as it would have been
+dangerous to pass under the arches above which the houses were
+burning. The flames, however, had not spread right across the bridge,
+for the houses were built only over the piers, and the openings at
+the arches had checked the flames, and at these points numbers of men
+were drawing water in buckets and throwing it over the fronts of the
+houses, or passing them, by ropes, to other men on the roofs, which
+were kept deluged with water. Hundreds of willing hands were engaged
+in the work, for the sight of the tremendous fire on the opposite
+bank filled people with terror lest the flames should cross the
+bridge and spread to the south side of the river. The warehouses and
+wharves on the bank were black with spectators, who looked with
+astonishment and awe at the terrible scene of destruction.
+
+It was not until they passed under the bridge that the full extent of
+the conflagration was visible. The fire had made its way some
+distance along Thames Street, and had spread far up into the City.
+Gracechurch Street and Lombard Street were in flames, and indeed the
+fire seemed to have extended a long distance further; but the smoke
+was so dense, that it was difficult to make out the precise point
+that it had reached. The river was a wonderful sight. It was crowded
+with boats and lighters, all piled up with goods, while along the
+quays from Dowgate to the Temple, crowds of people were engaged in
+placing what goods they had saved on board lighters and other craft.
+Many of those in the boats seemed altogether helpless and undecided
+as to what had best be done, and drifted along with the tide, but the
+best part were making either for the marshes at Lambeth or the fields
+at Millbank, there to land their goods, the owners of the boats
+refusing to keep them long on board, as they desired to return by the
+next tide to fetch away other cargoes, being able to obtain any price
+they chose to demand for their services.
+
+Among the boats were floating goods and wreckage of all kinds,
+charred timber that had fallen from the houses on the bridge, and
+from the warehouses by the quays, bales of goods, articles of
+furniture, bedding, and other matters. At times, a sudden change of
+wind drove a dense smoke across the water, flakes of burning embers
+and papers causing great confusion among the boats, and threatening
+to set the piles of goods on fire.
+
+At Frank Watson's suggestion, they landed at the Temple, after having
+been some two hours on the river. Going up into Fleet Street, they
+found a stream of carts and other vehicles proceeding westward, all
+piled with furniture and goods, mostly of a valuable kind. The
+pavements were well-nigh blocked with people, all journeying in the
+same direction, laden with their belongings. With difficulty they
+made their way East as far as St. Paul's. The farther end of
+Cheapside was already in flames, and they learnt that the fire had
+extended as far as Moorfields. It was said that efforts had been made
+to pull down houses and so check its progress, but that there was no
+order or method, and that no benefit was gained by the work.
+
+After looking on at the scene for some time, they returned to Fleet
+Street. Frank Watson went down with Nellie to the boat, while Cyril
+went to his lodgings in the Savoy. Here he found his servant
+anxiously awaiting him.
+
+"I did not bring the horses this morning, sir," he said. "I heard
+that there was a great fire, and went on foot as far as I could get,
+but, finding that I could not pass, I thought it best to come back
+here and await your return."
+
+"Quite right, Reuben; you could not have got the horses to me unless
+you had ridden round the walls and come in at Aldgate, and they would
+have been useless had you brought them. The house at which I stayed
+last night is already burnt to the ground. You had better stay here
+for the present, I think. There is no fear of the fire extending
+beyond the City. Should you find that it does so, pack my clothes in
+the valises, take the horses down to Sevenoaks, and remain at the
+Earl's until you hear from me."
+
+Having arranged this, Cyril went down to the Savoy stairs, where he
+found the boat waiting for him, and then they rowed back to London
+Bridge, where, the force of the tide being now abated, they were able
+to row through and get to the _Good Venture_.
+
+They had but little sleep that night. Gradually the fire worked its
+way eastward until it was abreast of them. The roaring and crackling
+of the flames was prodigious. Here and there the glare was
+diversified by columns of a deeper red glow, showing where
+warehouses, filled with pitch, tar, and oil, were in flames. The
+heavy crashes of falling buildings were almost incessant.
+Occasionally they saw a church tower or steeple, that had stood for a
+time black against the glowing sky, become suddenly wreathed in
+flames, and, after burning for a time, fall with a crash that could
+be plainly heard above the general roar.
+
+"Surely such a fire was never seen before!" Captain Dave said.
+
+"Not since Rome was burnt, I should think," Cyril replied.
+
+"How long was that ago, Cyril? I don't remember hearing about it."
+
+"'Tis fifteen hundred years or so since then, Captain Dave; but the
+greater part of the city was destroyed, and Rome was then many times
+bigger than London. It burnt for three days."
+
+"Well, this is bad enough," Captain Watson said. "Even here the heat
+is well-nigh too great to face. Frank, you had better call the crew
+up and get all the sails off the yards. Were a burning flake to fall
+on them we might find it difficult to extinguish them. When they have
+done that, let the men get all the buckets filled with water and
+ranged on the deck; and it will be as well to get a couple of hands
+in the boat and let them chuck water against this side. We shall have
+all the paint blistered off before morning."
+
+So the night passed. Occasionally they went below for a short time,
+but they found it impossible to sleep, and were soon up again, and
+felt it a relief when the morning began to break.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+AFTER THE FIRE
+
+
+Daylight brought little alleviation to the horrors of the scene. The
+flames were less vivid, but a dense pall of smoke overhung the sky.
+As soon as they had breakfasted, Captain Watson, his son, Captain
+Dowsett, Nellie, and Cyril took their places in the boat, and were
+rowed up the river. An exclamation burst from them all as they saw
+how fast the flames had travelled since the previous evening.
+
+"St. Paul's is on fire!" Cyril exclaimed. "See! there are flames
+bursting through its roof. I think, Captain Watson, if you will put
+me ashore at the Temple, I will make my way to Whitehall, and report
+myself there. I may be of use."
+
+"I will do that," Captain Watson said. "Then I will row back to the
+ship again. We must leave a couple of hands on board, in case some of
+these burning flakes should set anything alight. We will land with
+the rest, and do what we can to help these poor women and children."
+
+"I will stay on board and take command, if you like, Watson," Captain
+Dave said. "You ought to have some one there, and I have not
+recovered from yesterday's work, and should be of little use ashore."
+
+"Very well, Dowsett. That will certainly be best; but I think it will
+be prudent, before we leave, to run out a kedge with forty or fifty
+fathoms of cable towards the middle of the stream, and then veer out
+the cable on her anchor so as to let her ride thirty fathoms or so
+farther out. We left six men sluicing her side and deck, but it
+certainly would be prudent to get her out a bit farther. Even here,
+the heat is as much as we can stand."
+
+As soon as Cyril had landed, he hurried up into Fleet Street. He had
+just reached Temple Bar when he saw a party of horsemen making their
+way through the carts. A hearty cheer greeted them from the crowd,
+who hoped that the presence of the King--for it was Charles who rode
+in front--was a sign that vigorous steps were about to be taken to
+check the progress of the flames. Beside the King rode the Duke of
+Albemarle, and following were a number of other gentlemen and
+officers. Cyril made his way through the crowd to the side of the
+Duke's horse.
+
+"Can I be of any possible use, my Lord Duke?" he asked, doffing his
+hat.
+
+"Ah, Sir Cyril, it is you, is it? I have not seen you since you
+bearded De Ruyter in the _Fan Fan_. Yes, you can be of use. We have
+five hundred sailors and dockyard men behind; they have just arrived
+from Chatham, and a thousand more have landed below the Bridge to
+fight the flames on that side. Keep by me now, and, when we decide
+where to set to work, I will put you under the orders of Captain
+Warncliffe, who has charge of them."
+
+When they reached the bottom of Fleet Street, the fire was halfway
+down Ludgate Hill, and it was decided to begin operations along the
+bottom of the Fleet Valley. The dockyard men and sailors were brought
+up, and following them were some carts laden with kegs of powder.
+
+"Warncliffe," Lord Albemarle said, as the officer came up at the head
+of them, "Sir Cyril Shenstone is anxious to help. You know him by
+repute, and you can trust him in any dangerous business. You had
+better tell off twenty men under him. You have only to tell him what
+you want done, and you can rely upon its being done thoroughly."
+
+The sailors were soon at work along the line of the Fleet Ditch. All
+carried axes, and with these they chopped down the principal beams of
+the small houses clustered by the Ditch, and so weakened them that a
+small charge of powder easily brought them down. In many places they
+met with fierce opposition from the owners, who, still clinging to
+the faint hope that something might occur to stop the progress of the
+fire before it reached their abodes, raised vain protestations
+against the destruction of their houses. All day the men worked
+unceasingly, but in vain. Driven by the fierce wind, the flames swept
+down the opposite slope, leapt over the space strewn with rubbish and
+beams, and began to climb Fleet Street and Holborn Hill and the dense
+mass of houses between them.
+
+The fight was renewed higher up. Beer and bread and cheese were
+obtained from the taverns, and served out to the workmen, and these
+kept at their task all night. Towards morning the wind had fallen
+somewhat. The open spaces of the Temple favoured the defenders; the
+houses to east of it were blown up, and, late in the afternoon, the
+progress of the flames at this spot was checked. As soon as it was
+felt that there was no longer any fear of its further advance here,
+the exhausted men, who had, for twenty-four hours, laboured, half
+suffocated by the blinding smoke and by the dust made by their own
+work, threw themselves down on the grass of the Temple Gardens and
+slept. At midnight they were roused by their officers, and proceeded
+to assist their comrades, who had been battling with the flames on
+the other side of Fleet Street. They found that these too had been
+successful; the flames had swept up to Fetter Lane, but the houses on
+the west side had been demolished, and although, at one or two
+points, the fallen beams caught fire, they were speedily
+extinguished. Halfway up Fetter Lane the houses stood on both sides
+uninjured, for a large open space round St. Andrew's, Holborn, had
+aided the defenders in their efforts to check the flames. North of
+Holborn the fire had spread but little, and that only among the
+poorer houses in Fleet Valley.
+
+Ascending the hill, they found that, while the flames had overleapt
+the City wall from Ludgate to Newgate in its progress west, the wall
+had proved an effective barrier from the sharp corner behind
+Christchurch up to Aldersgate and thence up to Cripplegate, which was
+the farthest limit reached by the fire to the north. To the east, the
+City had fared better. By the river, indeed, the destruction was
+complete as far as the Tower. Mark Lane, however, stood, and north of
+this the line of destruction swept westward to Leaden Hall, a massive
+structure at the entrance to the street that took its name from it,
+and proved a bulwark against the flames. From this point, the line of
+devastated ground swept round by the eastern end of Throgmorton
+Street to the northern end of Basinghall Street.
+
+Cyril remained with the sailors for two days longer, during which
+time they were kept at work beating out the embers of the fire. In
+this they were aided by a heavy fall of rain, which put an end to all
+fear of the flames springing up again.
+
+"There can be no need for you to remain longer with us, Sir Cyril,"
+Captain Warncliffe said, at the end of the second day. "I shall have
+pleasure in reporting to the Duke of Albemarle the good services that
+you have rendered. Doubtless we shall remain on duty here for some
+time, for we may have, for aught I know, to aid in the clearing away
+of some of the ruins; but, at any rate, there can be no occasion for
+you to stay longer with us."
+
+Cyril afterwards learnt that the sailors and dockyard men were, on
+the following day, sent back to Chatham. The fire had rendered so
+great a number of men homeless and without means of subsistence, that
+there was an abundant force on hand for the clearing away of ruins.
+Great numbers were employed by the authorities, while many of the
+merchants and traders engaged parties to clear away the ruins of
+their dwellings, in order to get at the cellars below, in which they
+had, as soon as the danger from fire was perceived, stowed away the
+main bulk of their goods. As soon as he was released from duty, Cyril
+made his way to the Tower, and, hiring a boat, was rowed to the _Good
+Venture_.
+
+The shipping presented a singular appearance, their sides being
+blistered, and in many places completely stripped of their paint,
+while in some cases the spars were scorched, and the sails burnt
+away. There was lively satisfaction at his appearance, as he stepped
+on to the deck of the _Good Venture_, for, until he did so, he had
+been unrecognised, so begrimed with smoke and dust was he.
+
+"We have been wondering about you," Captain Dave said, as he shook
+him by the hand, "but I can scarce say we had become uneasy. We
+learnt that a large body of seamen and others were at work blowing up
+houses, and as you had gone to offer your services we doubted not
+that you were employed with them. Truly you must have been having a
+rough time of it, for not only are you dirtier than any scavenger,
+but you look utterly worn out and fatigued."
+
+"It was up-hill work the first twenty-four hours, for we worked
+unceasingly, and worked hard, too, I can assure you, and that
+well-nigh smothered with smoke and dust. Since then, our work has
+been more easy, but no less dirty. In the three days I have not had
+twelve hours' sleep altogether."
+
+"I will get a tub of hot water placed in your cabin," Captain Watson
+said, "and should advise you, when you get out from it, to turn into
+your bunk at once. No one shall go near you in the morning until you
+wake of your own accord."
+
+Cyril was, however, down to breakfast.
+
+"Now tell us all about the fire," Nellie said, when they had finished
+the meal.
+
+"I have nothing to tell you, for I know nothing," Cyril replied. "Our
+work was simply pulling down and blowing up houses. I had scarce time
+so much as to look at the fire. However, as I have since been working
+all round its course, I can tell you exactly how far it spread."
+
+When he brought his story to a conclusion, he said,--
+
+"And now, Captain Dave, what are you thinking of doing?"
+
+"In the first place, I am going ashore to look at the old house. As
+soon as I can get men, I shall clear the ground, and begin to rebuild
+it. I have enough laid by to start me again. I should be like a fish
+out of water with nothing to see to. I have the most valuable part of
+my stock still on hand here on deck, and if the cellar has proved
+staunch my loss in goods will be small indeed, for the anchors and
+chains in the yard will have suffered no damage. But even if the
+cellar has caved in, and its contents are destroyed, and if, when I
+have rebuilt my house, I find I have not enough left to replenish my
+stock, I am sure that I can get credit from the rope- and sail-makers,
+and iron-masters with whom I deal."
+
+"Do not trouble yourself about that, Captain Dave," Cyril said. "You
+came to my help last time, and it will be my turn this time. I am
+sure that I shall have no difficulty in getting any monies that may
+be required from Mr. Goldsworthy, and there is nothing that will give
+me more pleasure than to see you established again in the place that
+was the first where I ever felt I had a home."
+
+"I hope that it will not be needed, lad," Captain Dave said, shaking
+his hand warmly, "but if it should, I will not hesitate to accept
+your offer in the spirit in which it is made, and thus add one more
+to the obligations that I am under to you."
+
+Cyril went ashore with Captain Dave and John Wilkes. The wall of the
+yard was, of course, uninjured, but the gate was burnt down. The
+store-house, which was of wood, had entirely disappeared, and the
+back wall of the house had fallen over it and the yard. The entrance
+to the cellar, therefore, could not be seen, and, as yet, the heat
+from the fallen bricks was too great to attempt to clear them away to
+get at it.
+
+That night, however, it rained heavily, and in the morning Captain
+Watson took a party of sailors ashore, and these succeeded in
+clearing away the rubbish sufficiently to get to the entrance of the
+cellar. The door was covered by an iron plate, and although the wood
+behind this was charred it had not caught fire, and on getting it
+open it was found that the contents of the cellar were uninjured.
+
+In order to prevent marauders from getting at it before preparations
+could be made for rebuilding, the rubbish was again thrown in so as
+to completely conceal the entrance. On returning on board there was a
+consultation on the future, held in the cabin. Captain Dave at once
+said that he and John Wilkes must remain in town to make arrangements
+for the rebuilding and to watch the performance of the work. Cyril
+warmly pressed Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie to come down with him to
+Norfolk until the house was ready to receive them, but both were in
+favour of remaining in London, and it was settled that, next day,
+they should go down to Stepney, hire a house and store-room there,
+and remove thither their goods on board the ship, and the contents of
+the cellar.
+
+There was some little difficulty in getting a house, as so many were
+seeking for lodgings, but at last they came upon a widow who was
+willing to let a house, upon the proviso that she was allowed to
+retain one room for her own occupation. This being settled, Cyril
+that evening returned to his lodging, and the next day rode down to
+Norfolk. There he remained until the middle of May, when he received
+a letter from Captain Dave, saying that his house was finished, and
+that they should move into it in a fortnight, and that they all
+earnestly hoped he would be present. As he had already been thinking
+of going up to London for a time, he decided to accept the
+invitation.
+
+By this time he had made the acquaintance of all the surrounding
+gentry, and felt perfectly at home at Upmead. He rode frequently into
+Norwich, and, whenever he did so, paid a visit to Mr. Harvey, whose
+wife had died in January, never having completely recovered from the
+shock that she had received in London. Mr. Harvey himself had aged
+much; he still took a great interest in the welfare of the tenants of
+Upmead, and in Cyril's proposals for the improvement of their homes,
+and was pleased to see how earnestly he had taken up the duties of
+his new life. He spoke occasionally of his son, of whose death he
+felt convinced.
+
+"I have never been able to obtain any news of him," he often said,
+"and assuredly I should have heard of him had he been alive.
+
+"It would ease my mind to know the truth," he said, one day. "It
+troubles me to think that, if alive, he is assuredly pursuing evil
+courses, and that he will probably end his days on a gallows. That he
+will repent, and turn to better courses, I have now no hope whatever.
+Unless he be living by roguery, he would, long ere this, have
+written, professing repentance, even if he did not feel it, and
+begging for assistance. It troubles me much that I can find out
+nothing for certain of him."
+
+"Would it be a relief to you to know surely that he was dead?" Cyril
+asked.
+
+"I would rather know that he was dead than feel, as I do, that if
+alive, he is going on sinning. One can mourn for the dead as David
+mourned for Absalom, and trust that their sins may be forgiven them;
+but, uncertain as I am of his death, I cannot so mourn, since it may
+be that he still lives."
+
+"Then, sir, I am in a position to set your mind at rest. I have known
+for a long time that he died of the Plague, but I have kept it from
+you, thinking that it was best you should still think that he might
+be living. He fell dead beside me on the very day that I sickened of
+the Plague, and, indeed, it was from him that I took it."
+
+Mr. Harvey remained silent for a minute or two.
+
+"'Tis better so," he said solemnly. "The sins of youth may be
+forgiven, but, had he lived, his whole course might have been wicked.
+How know you that it was he who gave you the Plague?"
+
+"I met him in the street. He was tottering in his walk, and, as he
+came up, he stumbled, and grasped me to save himself. I held him for
+a moment, and then he slipped from my arms and fell on the pavement,
+and died."
+
+Mr. Harvey looked keenly at Cyril, and was about to ask a question,
+but checked himself.
+
+"He is dead," he said. "God rest his soul, and forgive him his sins!
+Henceforth I shall strive to forget that he ever lived to manhood,
+and seek to remember him as he was when a child."
+
+Then he held out his hand to Cyril, to signify that he would fain be
+alone.
+
+On arriving in London, Cyril took up his abode at his former
+lodgings, and the next day at twelve o'clock, the hour appointed in a
+letter he found awaiting him on his arrival, he arrived in Tower
+Street, having ridden through the City. An army of workmen, who had
+come up from all parts of the country, were engaged in rebuilding the
+town. In the main thoroughfares many of the houses were already
+finished, and the shops re-opened. In other parts less progress had
+been made, as the traders were naturally most anxious to resume their
+business, and most able to pay for speed.
+
+Captain Dave's was one of the first houses completed in Tower Street,
+but there were many others far advanced in progress. The front
+differed materially from that of the old house, in which each story
+had projected beyond the one below it. Inside, however, there was but
+little change in its appearance, except that the rooms were somewhat
+more lofty, and that there were no heavy beams across the ceilings.
+Captain Dave and his family had moved in that morning.
+
+"It does not look quite like the old place," Mrs. Dowsett said, after
+the first greetings.
+
+"Not quite," Cyril agreed. "The new furniture, of course, gives it a
+different appearance as yet; but one will soon get accustomed to
+that, and you will quickly make it home-like again. I see you have
+the bits of furniture you saved in their old corners."
+
+"Yes; and it will make a great difference when they get all my
+curiosities up in their places again," Captain Dave put in. "We
+pulled them down anyhow, and some of them will want glueing up a bit.
+And so your fighting is over, Cyril?"
+
+"Yes, it looks like it. The Dutch have evidently had enough of it.
+They asked for peace, and as both parties consented to the King of
+Sweden being mediator, and our representatives and those of Holland
+are now settling affairs at Breda, peace may be considered as finally
+settled. We have only two small squadrons now afloat; the rest are
+all snugly laid up. I trust that there is no chance of another war
+between the two nations for years to come."
+
+"I hope not, Cyril. But De Witte is a crafty knave, and is ever in
+close alliance with Louis. Were it not for French influence the
+Prince of Orange would soon oust him from the head of affairs."
+
+"I should think he would not have any power for mischief in the
+future," Cyril said. "It was he who brought on the last war, and,
+although it has cost us much, it has cost the Dutch very much more,
+and the loss of her commerce has well-nigh brought Holland to ruin.
+Besides, the last victory we won must have lowered their national
+pride greatly."
+
+"You have not heard the reports that are about, then?"
+
+"No, I have heard no news whatever. It takes a long time for it to
+travel down to Norwich, and I have seen no one since I came up to
+town last night."
+
+"Well, there is a report that a Dutch Fleet of eighty sail has put to
+sea. It may be that 'tis but bravado to show that, though they have
+begged for peace, 'tis not because they are in no condition to fight.
+I know not how this may be, but it is certain that for the last three
+days the Naval people have been very busy, and that powder is being
+sent down to Chatham. As for the Fleet, small as it is, it is
+doubtful whether it would fight, for the men are in a veritable state
+of mutiny, having received no pay for many months. Moreover, several
+ships were but yesterday bought by Government, for what purpose it is
+not known, but it is conjectured they are meant for fire-ships."
+
+"I cannot but think that it is, as you say, a mere piece of bravado
+on the part of the Dutch, Captain Dave. They could never be so
+treacherous as to attack us when peace is well-nigh concluded, but,
+hurt as their pride must be by the defeat we gave them, it is not
+unnatural they should wish to show that they can still put a brave
+fleet on the seas, and are not driven to make peace because they
+could not, if need be, continue the war."
+
+"And now I have a piece of news for you. We are going to have a
+wedding here before long."
+
+"I am right glad to hear it," Cyril said heartily. "And who is the
+happy man, Nellie?" he asked, turning towards where she had been
+standing the moment before. But Nellie had fled the moment her father
+had opened his lips.
+
+"It is Frank Watson," her father said. "A right good lad; and her
+mother and I are well pleased with her choice."
+
+"I thought that he was very attentive the few days we were on board
+his father's ship," Cyril said. "I am not surprised to hear the
+news."
+
+"They have been two voyages since then, and while the _Good Venture_
+was in the Pool, Master Frank spent most of his time down at Stepney,
+and it was settled a fortnight since. My old friend Watson is as
+pleased as I am. And the best part of the business is that Frank is
+going to give up the sea and become my partner. His father owns the
+_Good Venture_, and, being a careful man, has laid by a round sum,
+and he settled to give him fifteen hundred pounds, which he will put
+into the business."
+
+"That is a capital plan, Captain Dave. It will be an excellent thing
+for you to have so young and active a partner."
+
+"Watson has bought the house down at Stepney that we have been living
+in, and Frank and Nellie are going to settle there, and Watson will
+make it his headquarters when his ship is in port, and will, I have
+no doubt, take up his moorings there, when he gives up the sea. The
+wedding is to be in a fortnight's time, for Watson has set his heart
+on seeing them spliced before he sails again, and I see no reason for
+delay. You must come to the wedding, of course, Cyril. Indeed, I
+don't think Nellie would consent to be married if you were not there.
+The girl has often spoken of you lately. You see, now that she really
+knows what love is, and has a quiet, happy life to look forward to,
+she feels more than ever the service you did her, and the escape she
+had. She told the whole story to Frank before she said yes, when he
+asked her to be his wife, and, of course, he liked her no less for
+it, though I think it would go hard with that fellow if he ever met
+him."
+
+"The fellow died of the Plague, Captain Dave. His last action was to
+try and revenge himself on me by giving me the infection, for,
+meeting me in the streets, he threw his arms round me and exclaimed,
+'I have given you the Plague!' They were the last words he ever
+spoke, for he gave a hideous laugh, and then dropped down dead.
+However, he spoke truly, for that night I sickened of it."
+
+"Then your kindness to Nellie well-nigh cost you your life," Mrs.
+Dowsett said, laying her hand on his shoulder, while the tears stood
+in her eyes. "And you never told us this before!"
+
+"There was nothing to tell," Cyril replied. "If I had not caught it
+from him, I should have, doubtless, taken it from someone else, for I
+was constantly in the way of it, and could hardly have hoped to
+escape an attack. Now, Captain Dave, let us go downstairs, and see
+the store."
+
+"John Wilkes and the two boys are at work there," the Captain said,
+as he went downstairs, "and we open our doors tomorrow. I have
+hurried on the house as fast as possible, and as no others in my
+business have yet opened, I look to do a thriving trade at once.
+Watson will send all his friends here, and as there is scarce a
+captain who goes in or out of port but knows Frank, I consider that
+our new partner will greatly extend the business."
+
+Captain Watson and Frank came in at supper-time, and, after spending
+a pleasant evening, Cyril returned to his lodgings in the Strand. The
+next day he was walking near Whitehall when a carriage dashed out at
+full speed, and, as it came along, he caught sight of the Duke of
+Albemarle, who looked in a state of strange confusion. His wig was
+awry, his coat was off, and his face was flushed and excited. As his
+eye fell on Cyril, he shouted out to the postillions to stop. As they
+pulled up, he shouted,--
+
+"Jump in, Sir Cyril! Jump in, for your life."
+
+Astonished at this address, Cyril ran to the door, opened it, and
+jumped in, and the Duke shouted to the postillions to go on.
+
+"What do you think, sir?--what do you think?" roared the Duke. "Those
+treacherous scoundrels, the Dutch, have appeared with a great Fleet
+of seventy men-of-war, besides fire-ships, off Sheerness, this
+morning at daybreak, and have taken the place, and Chatham lies open
+to them. We have been bamboozled and tricked. While the villains were
+pretending they were all for peace, they have been secretly fitting
+out, and there they are at Sheerness. A mounted messenger brought in
+the news, but ten minutes ago."
+
+"Have they taken Sheerness, sir?"
+
+"Yes; there were but six guns mounted on the fort, and no
+preparations made. The ships that were there did nothing. The rascals
+are in mutiny--and small wonder, when they can get no pay; the money
+voted for them being wasted by the Court. It is enough to drive one
+wild with vexation, and, had I my will, there are a dozen men, whose
+names are the foremost in the country, whom I would hang up with my
+own hands. The wind is from the east, and if they go straight up the
+Medway they may be there this afternoon, and have the whole of our
+ships at their mercy. It is enough to make Blake turn in his grave
+that such an indignity should be offered us, though it be but the
+outcome of treachery on the part of the Dutch, and of gross
+negligence on ours. But if they give us a day or two to prepare, we
+will, at least, give them something to do before they can carry out
+their design, and, if one could but rely on the sailors, we might
+even beat them off; but it is doubtful whether the knaves will fight.
+The forts are unfinished, though the money was voted for them three
+years since. And all this is not the worst of it, for, after they
+have taken Chatham, there is naught to prevent their coming up to
+London. We have had plague and we have had fire, and to be bombarded
+by the Dutchmen would be the crowning blow, and it would be like to
+bring about another revolution in England."
+
+They posted down to Chatham as fast as the horses could gallop. The
+instant the news had arrived, the Duke had sent off a man, on
+horseback, to order horses to be in readiness to change at each
+posting station. Not a minute, therefore, was lost. In a little over
+two hours from the time of leaving Whitehall, they drove into the
+dockyard.
+
+"Where is Sir Edward Spragge?" the Duke shouted, as he leapt from the
+carriage.
+
+"He has gone down to the new forts, your Grace," an officer replied.
+
+"Have a gig prepared at once, without the loss of a moment," the Duke
+said. "What is being done?" he asked another officer, as the first
+ran off.
+
+"Sir Edward has taken four frigates down to the narrow part of the
+river, sir, and preparations have been made for placing a great chain
+there. Several of the ships are being towed out into the river, and
+are to be sunk in the passage."
+
+"Any news of the Dutch having left Sheerness?"
+
+"No, sir; a shallop rowed up at noon, but was chased back again by
+one of our pinnaces."
+
+"That is better than I had hoped. Come, come, we shall make a fight
+for it yet," and he strode away towards the landing.
+
+"Shall I accompany you, sir?" Cyril asked.
+
+"Yes. There is nothing for you to do until we see exactly how things
+stand. I shall use you as my staff officer--that is, if you are
+willing, Sir Cyril. I have carried you off without asking whether you
+consented or no; but, knowing your spirit and quickness, I felt sure
+you would be of use."
+
+"I am at your service altogether," Cyril said, "and am glad indeed
+that your Grace encountered me, for I should have been truly sorry to
+have been idle at such a time."
+
+An eight-oared gig was already at the stairs, and they were rowed
+rapidly down the river. They stopped at Upnor Castle, and found that
+Major Scott, who was in command there, was hard at work mounting
+cannon and putting the place in a posture of defence.
+
+"You will have more men from London by to-morrow night, at the
+latest," the Duke said, "and powder and shot in abundance was sent
+off yesterday. We passed a train on our way down, and I told them to
+push on with all speed. As the Dutch have not moved yet, they cannot
+be here until the afternoon of to-morrow, and, like enough, will not
+attack until next day, for they must come slowly, or they will lose
+some of their ships on the sands. We will try to get up a battery
+opposite, so as to aid you with a cross fire. I am going down to see
+Sir Edward Spragge now."
+
+Taking their places in the boat again, they rowed round the horseshoe
+curve down to Gillingham, and then along to the spot where the
+frigates were moored. At the sharp bend lower down here the Duke
+found the Admiral, and they held a long consultation together. It was
+agreed that the chain should be placed somewhat higher up, where a
+lightly-armed battery on either side would afford some assistance,
+that behind the chain the three ships, the _Matthias_, the _Unity_,
+and the _Charles V._, all prizes taken from the Dutch, should be
+moored, and that the _Jonathan_ and _Fort of Honinggen_--also a
+Dutch prize--should be also posted there.
+
+Having arranged this, the Duke was rowed back to Chatham, there to
+see about getting some of the great ships removed from their moorings
+off Gillingham, up the river. To his fury, he found that, of all the
+eighteen hundred men employed in the yard, not more than half a dozen
+had remained at their work, the rest being, like all the townsmen,
+occupied in removing their goods in great haste. Even the frigates
+that were armed had but a third, at most, of their crews on board, so
+many having deserted owing to the backwardness of their pay.
+
+That night, Sir W. Coventry, Sir W. Penn, Lord Brounker, and other
+officers and officials of the Admiralty, came down from London. Some
+of these, especially Lord Brounker, had a hot time of it with the
+Duke, who rated them roundly for the state of things which prevailed,
+telling the latter that he was the main cause of all the misfortunes
+that might occur, owing to his having dismantled and disarmed all the
+great ships. In spite of the efforts of all these officers, but
+little could be done, owing to the want of hands, and to the refusal
+of the dockyard men, and most of the sailors, to do anything. A small
+battery of sandbags was, however, erected opposite Upnor, and a few
+guns placed in position there.
+
+Several ships were sunk in the channel above Upnor, and a few of
+those lying off Gillingham were towed up. Little help was sent down
+from London, for the efforts of the authorities were directed wholly
+to the defence of the Thames. The train-bands were all under arms,
+fire-ships were being fitted out and sent down to Gravesend, and
+batteries erected there and at Tilbury, while several ships were sunk
+in the channel.
+
+The Dutch remained at Sheerness from the 7th to the 12th, and had it
+not been for the misconduct of the men, Chatham could have been put
+into a good state for defence. As it was, but little could be
+effected; and when, on the 12th, the Dutch Fleet were seen coming up
+the river, the chances of successful resistance were small.
+
+The fight commenced by a Dutch frigate, commanded by Captain Brakell,
+advancing against the chain. Carried up by a strong tide and east
+wind the ship struck it with such force that it at once gave way. The
+English frigates, but weakly manned, could offer but slight
+resistance, and the _Jonathan_ was boarded and captured by Brakell.
+Following his frigate were a host of fire-ships, which at once
+grappled with the defenders. The _Matthias, Unity, Charles V._, and
+_Fort of Honinggen_ were speedily in flames. The light batteries on
+the shore were silenced by the guns of the Fleet, which then
+anchored. The next day, six of their men-of-war, with five
+fire-ships, advanced, exchanged broadsides, as they went along, with
+the _Royal Oak_ and presently engaged Upnor. They were received with
+so hot a fire from the Castle, and from the battery opposite, where
+Sir Edward Spragge had stationed himself, that, after a time, they
+gave up the design of ascending to the dockyard, which at that time
+occupied a position higher up the river than at present.
+
+The tide was beginning to slacken, and they doubtless feared that a
+number of fire-barges might be launched at them did they venture
+higher up. On the way back, they launched a fire-ship at the _Royal
+Oak_, which was commanded by Captain Douglas. The flames speedily
+communicated to the ship, and the crew took to the boats and rowed
+ashore. Captain Douglas refused to leave his vessel, and perished in
+the flames. The report given by the six men-of-war decided the Dutch
+not to attempt anything further against Chatham. On the 14th, they
+set fire to the hulks, the _Loyal London_ and the _Great James_,
+and carried off the hulk of the _Royal Charles_, after the English
+had twice tried to destroy her by fire. As this was the ship in which
+the Duke of Albemarle, then General Monk, had brought the King over
+to England from Holland, her capture was considered a special triumph
+for the Dutch and a special dishonour to us.
+
+The Duke of Albemarle had left Chatham before the Dutch came up. As
+the want of crews prevented his being of any use there, and he saw
+that Sir Edward Spragge would do all that was possible in defence of
+the place, he posted back to London, where his presence was urgently
+required, a complete panic reigning. Crowds assembled at Whitehall,
+and insulted the King and his ministers as the cause of the present
+misfortunes, while at Deptford and Wapping, the sailors and their
+wives paraded the streets, shouting that the ill-treatment of our
+sailors had brought these things about, and so hostile were their
+manifestations that the officials of the Admiralty scarce dared show
+themselves in the streets.
+
+Cyril had remained at Chatham, the Duke having recommended him to Sir
+Edward Spragge, and he, with some other gentlemen and a few sailors,
+had manned the battery opposite Upnor.
+
+The great proportion of the Dutch ships were still at the Nore, as it
+would have been dangerous to have hazarded so great a fleet in the
+narrow water of the Medway. As it was, two of their men-of-war, on
+the way back from Chatham, ran ashore, and had to be burnt. They had
+also six fire-ships burnt, and lost over a hundred and fifty men.
+
+Leaving Admiral Van Ness with part of the Fleet in the mouth of the
+Thames, De Ruyter sailed first for Harwich, where he attempted to
+land with sixteen hundred men in boats, supported by the guns of the
+Fleet. The boats, however, failed to effect a landing, being beaten
+off, with considerable loss, by the county Militia; and Ruyter then
+sailed for Portsmouth, where he also failed. He then went west to
+Torbay, where he was likewise repulsed, and then returned to the
+mouth of the Thames.
+
+On July 23rd, Van Ness, with twenty-five men-of-war, sailed up the
+Hope, where Sir Edward Spragge had now hoisted his flag on board a
+squadron of eighteen ships, of whom five were frigates and the rest
+fire-ships. A sharp engagement ensued, but the wind was very light,
+and the English, by towing their fire-ships, managed to lay them
+alongside the Dutch fire-ships, and destroyed twelve of these with a
+loss of only six English ships. But, the wind then rising, Sir Edward
+retired from the Hope to Gravesend, where he was protected by the
+guns at Tilbury.
+
+The next day, being joined by Sir Joseph Jordan, with a few small
+ships, he took the offensive, and destroyed the last fire-ship that
+the Dutch had left, and compelled the men-of-war to retire. Sir
+Edward followed them with his little squadron, and Van Ness, as he
+retired down the river, was met by five frigates and fourteen
+fire-ships from Harwich. These boldly attacked him. Two of the Dutch
+men-of-war narrowly escaped being burnt, another was forced ashore
+and greatly damaged, and the whole of the Dutch Fleet was compelled
+to bear away.
+
+While these events had been happening in the Thames, the negotiations
+at Breda had continued, and, just as the Dutch retreated, the news
+came that Peace had been signed. The Dutch, on their side, were
+satisfied with the success with which they had closed the war, while
+England was, at the moment, unable to continue it, and the King,
+seeing the intense unpopularity that had been excited against him by
+the affair at Chatham, was glad to ratify the Peace, especially as we
+thereby retained possession of several islands we had taken in the
+West Indies from the Dutch, and it was manifest that Spain was
+preparing to join the coalition of France and Holland against us.
+
+A Peace concluded under such circumstances was naturally but a short
+one. When the war was renewed, three years later, the French were in
+alliance with us, and, after several more desperate battles, in which
+no great advantages were gained on either side, the Dutch were so
+exhausted and impoverished by the loss of trade, that a final Peace
+was arranged on terms far more advantageous to us than those secured
+by the Treaty of 1667. The De Wittes, the authors of the previous
+wars, had both been killed in a popular tumult. The Prince of Orange
+was at the head of the State, and the fact that France and Spain were
+both hostile to Holland had reawakened the feeling of England in
+favour of the Protestant Republic, and the friendship between the two
+nations has never since been broken.
+
+Cyril took no part in the last war against the Dutch. He, like the
+majority of the nation, was opposed to it, and, although willing to
+give his life in defence of his country when attacked, felt it by no
+means his duty to do so when we were aiding the designs of France in
+crushing a brave enemy. Such was in fact the result of the war; for
+although peace was made on even terms, the wars of Holland with
+England and the ruin caused to her trade thereby, inflicted a blow
+upon the Republic from which she never recovered. From being the
+great rival of England, both on the sea and in her foreign commerce,
+her prosperity and power dwindled until she ceased altogether to be a
+factor in European affairs.
+
+After the Peace of Breda was signed, Cyril went down to Upmead,
+where, for the next four years, he devoted himself to the management
+of his estate. His friendship with Mr. Harvey grew closer and warmer,
+until the latter came to consider him in really the light of a son;
+and when he died, in 1681, it was found that his will was unaltered,
+and that, with the exception of legacies to many of his old employés
+at his factory, the whole of his property was left to Cyril. The
+latter received a good offer for the tanyard, and, upon an estate
+next to his own coming shortly afterwards into the market, he
+purchased it, and thus the Upmead estates became as extensive as they
+had been before the time of his ancestor, who had so seriously
+diminished them during the reign of Elizabeth.
+
+His friendship with the family of the Earl of Wisbech had remained
+unaltered, and he had every year paid them a visit, either at Wisbech
+or at Sevenoaks. A year after Mr. Harvey's death, he married Dorothy,
+who had previously refused several flattering offers.
+
+Captain Dave and his wife lived to a good old age. The business had
+largely increased, owing to the energy of their son-in-law, who had,
+with his wife and children, taken up his abode in the next house to
+theirs, which had been bought to meet the extension of their
+business. John Wilkes, at the death of Captain Dave, declined Cyril's
+pressing offer to make his home with him.
+
+"It would never do, Sir Cyril," he said. "I should be miserable out
+of the sight of ships, and without a place where I could meet
+seafaring men, and smoke my pipe, and listen to their yarns."
+
+He therefore remained with Frank Watson, nominally in charge of the
+stores, but doing, in fact, as little as he chose until, long past
+the allotted age of man, he passed quietly away.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of When London Burned, by G. A. Henty
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN LONDON BURNED ***
+
+***** This file should be named 7831-8.txt or 7831-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/7/8/3/7831/
+
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+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta content="pg2html (binary v0.17)" name="linkgenerator" />
+    <title>
+      When London Burned, by G. A. Henty
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .75em; margin-bottom: .75em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
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+    .foot { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-align: justify; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic;}
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+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    .xx-small {font-size: 60%;}
+    .x-small {font-size: 75%;}
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+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of When London Burned, by G. A. Henty
+
+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: When London Burned
+
+Author: G. A. Henty
+
+Release Date: April, 2005 [EBook #7831]
+First Posted: May 20, 2003
+Last Updated: April 12, 2019
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN LONDON BURNED ***
+
+
+
+
+Etext produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, S.R. Ellison,
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+HTML file produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <div style="height: 8em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h1>
+      WHEN LONDON BURNED
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      By G. A. Henty
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <b>CONTENTS</b>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>WHEN LONDON BURNED</b> </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I &mdash; FATHERLESS </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II &mdash; A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III &mdash; A THIEF SOMEWHERE </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV &mdash; CAPTURED </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V &mdash; KIDNAPPED </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI &mdash; A NARROW ESCAPE </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII &mdash; SAVED FROM A VILLAIN </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII &mdash; THE CAPTAIN'S YARN </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX &mdash; THE FIRE IN THE SAVOY </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X &mdash; HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE
+      DUTCH </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI &mdash; PRINCE RUPERT </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII &mdash; NEW FRIENDS </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII &mdash; THE BATTLE OF LOWESTOFT </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV &mdash; HONOURABLE SCARS </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV &mdash; THE PLAGUE </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI &mdash; FATHER AND SON </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII &mdash; SMITTEN DOWN </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII &mdash; A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE
+      </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX &mdash; TAKING POSSESSION </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX &mdash; THE FIGHT OFF DUNKIRK </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI &mdash; LONDON IN FLAMES </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII &mdash; AFTER THE FIRE </a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PREFACE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      We are accustomed to regard the Reign of Charles II. as one of the most
+      inglorious periods of English History; but this was far from being the
+      case. It is true that the extravagance and profligacy of the Court were
+      carried to a point unknown before or since, forming,&mdash;by the
+      indignation they excited among the people at large,&mdash;the main cause
+      of the overthrow of the House of Stuart. But, on the other hand, the
+      nation made extraordinary advances in commerce and wealth, while the
+      valour of our sailors was as conspicuous under the Dukes of York and
+      Albemarle, Prince Rupert and the Earl of Sandwich, as it had been under
+      Blake himself, and their victories resulted in transferring the commercial
+      as well as the naval supremacy of Holland to this country. In spite of the
+      cruel blows inflicted on the well-being of the country, alike by the
+      extravagance of the Court, the badness of the Government, the Great
+      Plague, and the destruction of London by fire, an extraordinary extension
+      of our trade occurred during the reign of Charles II. Such a period,
+      therefore, although its brilliancy was marred by dark shadows, cannot be
+      considered as an inglorious epoch. It was ennobled by the bravery of our
+      sailors, by the fearlessness with which the coalition of France with
+      Holland was faced, and by the spirit of enterprise with which our
+      merchants and traders seized the opportunity, and, in spite of national
+      misfortunes, raised England in the course of a few years to the rank of
+      the greatest commercial power in the world.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      G. A. HENTY.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h1>
+      WHEN LONDON BURNED
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I &mdash; FATHERLESS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lad stood looking out of the dormer window in a scantily furnished attic
+      in the high-pitched roof of a house in Holborn, in September 1664. Numbers
+      of persons were traversing the street below, many of them going out
+      through the bars, fifty yards away, into the fields beyond, where some
+      sports were being held that morning, while country people were coming in
+      with their baskets from the villages of Highgate and Hampstead, Tyburn and
+      Bayswater. But the lad noted nothing that was going on; his eyes were
+      filled with tears, and his thoughts were in the little room behind him;
+      for here, coffined in readiness for burial, lay the body of his father.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sir Aubrey Shenstone had not been a good father in any sense of the word.
+      He had not been harsh or cruel, but he had altogether neglected his son.
+      Beyond the virtues of loyalty and courage, he possessed few others. He had
+      fought, as a young man, for Charles, and even among the Cavaliers who rode
+      behind Prince Rupert was noted for reckless bravery. When, on the fatal
+      field of Worcester, the last hopes of the Royalists were crushed, he had
+      effected his escape to France and taken up his abode at Dunkirk. His
+      estates had been forfeited; and after spending the proceeds of his wife's
+      jewels and those he had carried about with him in case fortune went
+      against the cause for which he fought, he sank lower and lower, and had
+      for years lived on the scanty pension allowed by Louis to the King and his
+      adherents.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sir Aubrey had been one of the wild, reckless spirits whose conduct did
+      much towards setting the people of England against the cause of Charles.
+      He gambled and drank, interlarded his conversation with oaths, and
+      despised as well as hated the Puritans against whom he fought. Misfortune
+      did not improve him; he still drank when he had money to do so, gambled
+      for small sums in low taverns with men of his own kind, and quarrelled and
+      fought on the smallest provocation. Had it not been for his son he would
+      have taken service in the army of some foreign Power; but he could not
+      take the child about with him, nor could he leave it behind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sir Aubrey was not altogether without good points. He would divide his
+      last crown with a comrade poorer than himself. In the worst of times he
+      was as cheerful as when money was plentiful, making a joke of his
+      necessities and keeping a brave face to the world.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wholly neglected by his father, who spent the greater portion of his time
+      abroad, Cyril would have fared badly indeed had it not been for the
+      kindness of Lady Parton, the wife of a Cavalier of very different type to
+      Sir Aubrey. He had been an intimate friend of Lord Falkland, and, like
+      that nobleman, had drawn his sword with the greatest reluctance, and only
+      when he saw that Parliament was bent upon overthrowing the other two
+      estates in the realm and constituting itself the sole authority in
+      England. After the execution of Charles he had retired to France, and did
+      not take part in the later risings, but lived a secluded life with his
+      wife and children. The eldest of these was of the same age as Cyril; and
+      as the latter's mother had been a neighbour of hers before marriage, Lady
+      Parton promised her, on her death-bed, to look after the child, a promise
+      that she faithfully kept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sir John Parton had always been adverse to the association of his boy with
+      the son of Sir Aubrey Shenstone; but he had reluctantly yielded to his
+      wife's wishes, and Cyril passed the greater portion of his time at their
+      house, sharing the lessons Harry received from an English clergyman who
+      had been expelled from his living by the fanatics of Parliament. He was a
+      good and pious man, as well as an excellent scholar, and under his
+      teaching, aided by the gentle precepts of Lady Parton, and the strict but
+      kindly rule of her husband, Cyril received a training of a far better kind
+      than he would ever have been likely to obtain had he been brought up in
+      his father's house near Norfolk. Sir Aubrey exclaimed sometimes that the
+      boy was growing up a little Puritan, and had he taken more interest in his
+      welfare would undoubtedly have withdrawn him from the healthy influences
+      that were benefiting him so greatly; but, with the usual acuteness of
+      children, Cyril soon learnt that any allusion to his studies or his life
+      at Sir John Parton's was disagreeable to his father, and therefore seldom
+      spoke of them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sir Aubrey was never, even when under the influence of his potations,
+      unkind to Cyril. The boy bore a strong likeness to his mother, whom his
+      father had, in his rough way, really loved passionately. He seldom spoke
+      even a harsh word to him, and although he occasionally expressed his
+      disapproval of the teaching he was receiving, was at heart not sorry to
+      see the boy growing up so different from himself; and Cyril, in spite of
+      his father's faults, loved him. When Sir Aubrey came back with unsteady
+      step, late at night, and threw himself on his pallet, Cyril would say to
+      himself, "Poor father! How different he would have been had it not been
+      for his misfortunes! He is to be pitied rather than blamed!" And so, as
+      years went on, in spite of the difference between their natures, there had
+      grown up a sort of fellowship between the two; and of an evening
+      sometimes, when his father's purse was so low that he could not indulge in
+      his usual stoup of wine at the tavern, they would sit together while Sir
+      Aubrey talked of his fights and adventures.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "As to the estates, Cyril," he said one day, "I don't know that Cromwell
+      and his Roundheads have done you much harm. I should have run through
+      them, lad&mdash;I should have diced them away years ago&mdash;and I am not
+      sure but that their forfeiture has been a benefit to you. If the King ever
+      gets his own, you may come to the estates; while, if I had had the
+      handling of them, the usurers would have had such a grip on them that you
+      would never have had a penny of the income."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It doesn't matter, father," the boy replied. "I mean to be a soldier some
+      day, as you have been, and I shall take service with some of the
+      Protestant Princes of Germany; or, if I can't do that, I shall be able to
+      work my way somehow."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What can you work at, lad?" his father said, contemptuously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't know yet, father; but I shall find some work to do."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sir Aubrey was about to burst into a tirade against work, but he checked
+      himself. If Cyril never came into the estates he would have to earn his
+      living somehow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "All right, my boy. But do you stick to your idea of earning your living
+      by your sword; it is a gentleman's profession, and I would rather see you
+      eating dry bread as a soldier of fortune than prospering in some vile
+      trading business."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril never argued with his father, and he simply nodded an assent and
+      then asked some question that turned Sir Aubrey's thoughts on other
+      matters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The news that Monk had declared for the King, and that Charles would
+      speedily return to take his place on his father's throne, caused great
+      excitement among the Cavaliers scattered over the Continent; and as soon
+      as the matter was settled, all prepared to return to England, in the full
+      belief that their evil days were over, and that they would speedily be
+      restored to their former estates, with honours and rewards for their many
+      sacrifices.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I must leave you behind for a short time, Cyril," his father said to the
+      boy, when he came in one afternoon. "I must be in London before the King
+      arrives there, to join in his welcome home, and for the moment I cannot
+      take you; I shall be busy from morning till night. Of course, in the
+      pressure of things at first it will be impossible for the King to do
+      everything at once, and it may be a few weeks before all these Roundheads
+      can be turned out of the snug nests they have made for themselves, and the
+      rightful owners come to their own again. As I have no friends in London, I
+      should have nowhere to bestow you, until I can take you down with me to
+      Norfolk to present you to our tenants, and you would be grievously in my
+      way; but as soon as things are settled I will write to you or come over
+      myself to fetch you. In the meantime I must think over where I had best
+      place you. It will not matter for so short a time, but I would that you
+      should be as comfortable as possible. Think it over yourself, and let me
+      know if you have any wishes in the matter. Sir John Parton leaves at the
+      end of the week, and ere another fortnight there will be scarce another
+      Englishman left at Dunkirk."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Don't you think you can take me with you, father?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Impossible," Sir Aubrey said shortly. "Lodgings will be at a great price
+      in London, for the city will be full of people from all parts coming up to
+      welcome the King home. I can bestow myself in a garret anywhere, but I
+      could not leave you there all day. Besides, I shall have to get more
+      fitting clothes, and shall have many expenses. You are at home here, and
+      will not feel it dull for the short time you have to remain behind."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril said no more, but went up, with a heavy heart, for his last day's
+      lessons at the Partons'. Young as he was, he was accustomed to think for
+      himself, for it was but little guidance he received from his father; and
+      after his studies were over he laid the case before his master, Mr.
+      Felton, and asked if he could advise him. Mr. Felton was himself in high
+      spirits, and was hoping to be speedily reinstated in his living. He looked
+      grave when Cyril told his story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I think it is a pity that your father, Sir Aubrey, does not take you over
+      with him, for it will assuredly take longer to bring all these matters
+      into order than he seems to think. However, that is his affair. I should
+      think he could not do better for you than place you with the people where
+      I lodge. You know them, and they are a worthy couple; the husband is, as
+      you know, a fisherman, and you and Harry Parton have often been out with
+      him in his boat, so it would not be like going among strangers. Continue
+      your studies. I should be sorry to think that you were forgetting all that
+      you have learnt. I will take you this afternoon, if you like, to my
+      friend, the Curé of St. Ursula. Although we differ on religion we are good
+      friends, and should you need advice on any matters he will give it to you,
+      and may be of use in arranging for a passage for you to England, should
+      your father not be able himself to come and fetch you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sir Aubrey at once assented to the plan when Cyril mentioned it to him,
+      and a week later sailed for England; Cyril moving, with his few
+      belongings, to the house of Jean Baudoin, who was the owner and master of
+      one of the largest fishing-boats in Dunkirk. Sir Aubrey had paid for his
+      board and lodgings for two months.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I expect to be over to fetch you long before that, Cyril," he had said,
+      "but it is as well to be on the safe side. Here are four crowns, which
+      will furnish you with ample pocket-money. And I have arranged with your
+      fencing-master for you to have lessons regularly, as before; it will not
+      do for you to neglect so important an accomplishment, for which, as he
+      tells me, you show great aptitude."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The two months passed. Cyril had received but one letter from his father.
+      Although it expressed hopes of his speedy restoration to his estates,
+      Cyril could see, by its tone, that his father was far from satisfied with
+      the progress he had made in the matter. Madame Baudoin was a good and
+      pious woman, and was very kind to the forlorn English boy; but when a
+      fortnight over the two months had passed, Cyril could see that the
+      fisherman was becoming anxious. Regularly, on his return from the fishing,
+      he inquired if letters had arrived, and seemed much put out when he heard
+      that there was no news. One day, when Cyril was in the garden that
+      surrounded the cottage, he heard him say to his wife,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, I will say nothing about it until after the next voyage, and then
+      if we don't hear, the boy must do something for his living. I can take him
+      in the boat with me; he can earn his victuals in that way. If he won't do
+      that, I shall wash my hands of him altogether, and he must shift for
+      himself. I believe his father has left him with us for good. We were wrong
+      in taking him only on the recommendation of Mr. Felton. I have been
+      inquiring about his father, and hear little good of him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril, as soon as the fisherman had gone, stole up to his little room. He
+      was but twelve years old, and he threw himself down on his bed and cried
+      bitterly. Then a thought struck him; he went to his box, and took out from
+      it a sealed parcel; on it was written, "To my son. This parcel is only to
+      be opened should you find yourself in great need, Your Loving Mother." He
+      remembered how she had placed it in his hands a few hours before her
+      death, and had said to him,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Put this away, Cyril. I charge you let no one see it. Do not speak of it
+      to anyone&mdash;not even to your father. Keep it as a sacred gift, and do
+      not open it unless you are in sore need. It is for you, and you alone. It
+      is the sole thing that I have to leave you; use it with discretion. I fear
+      that hard times will come upon you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril felt that his need could hardly be sorer than it was now, and
+      without hesitation he broke the seals, and opened the packet. He found
+      first a letter directed to himself. It began,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "MY DARLING CYRIL,&mdash;I trust that it will be many years before you
+      open this parcel and read these words. I have left the enclosed as a
+      parting gift to you. I know not how long this exile may last, or whether
+      you will ever be able to return to England. But whether you do or not, it
+      may well be that the time will arrive when you may find yourself in sore
+      need. Your father has been a loving husband to me, and will, I am sure, do
+      what he can for you; but he is not provident in his habits, and may not,
+      after he is left alone, be as careful in his expenditure as I have tried
+      to be. I fear then that the time will come when you will be in need of
+      money, possibly even in want of the necessaries of life. All my other
+      trinkets I have given to him; but the one enclosed, which belonged to my
+      mother, I leave to you. It is worth a good deal of money, and this it is
+      my desire that you shall spend upon yourself. Use it wisely, my son. If,
+      when you open this, you are of age to enter the service of a foreign
+      Prince, as is, I know, the intention of your father, it will provide you
+      with a suitable outfit. If, as is possible, you may lose your father by
+      death or otherwise while you are still young, spend it on your education,
+      which is the best of all heritages. Should your father be alive when you
+      open this, I pray you not to inform him of it. The money, in his hands,
+      would last but a short time, and might, I fear, be wasted. Think not that
+      I am speaking or thinking hardly of him. All men, even the best, have
+      their faults, and his is a carelessness as to money matters, and a certain
+      recklessness concerning them; therefore, I pray you to keep it secret from
+      him, though I do not say that you should not use the money for your common
+      good, if it be needful; only, in that case, I beg you will not inform him
+      as to what money you have in your possession, but use it carefully and
+      prudently for the household wants, and make it last as long as may be. My
+      good friend, Lady Parton, if still near you, will doubtless aid you in
+      disposing of the jewels to the best advantage. God bless you, my son! This
+      is the only secret I ever had from your father, but for your good I have
+      hidden this one thing from him, and I pray that this deceit, which is
+      practised for your advantage, may be forgiven me. YOUR LOVING MOTHER."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was some time before Cyril opened the parcel; it contained a jewel-box
+      in which was a necklace of pearls. After some consideration he took this
+      to the Curé of St. Ursula, and, giving him his mother's letter to read,
+      asked him for his advice as to its disposal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Your mother was a thoughtful and pious woman," the good priest said,
+      after he had read the letter, "and has acted wisely in your behalf. The
+      need she foresaw might come, has arisen, and you are surely justified in
+      using her gift. I will dispose of this trinket for you; it is doubtless of
+      considerable value. If it should be that your father speedily sends for
+      you, you ought to lay aside the money for some future necessity. If he
+      does not come for some time, as may well be&mdash;for, from the news that
+      comes from England, it is like to be many months before affairs are
+      settled&mdash;then draw from it only such amounts as are needed for your
+      living and education. Study hard, my son, for so will you best be
+      fulfilling the intentions of your mother. If you like, I will keep the
+      money in my hands, serving it out to you as you need it; and in order that
+      you may keep the matter a secret, I will myself go to Baudoin, and tell
+      him that he need not be disquieted as to the cost of your maintenance, for
+      that I have money in hand with which to discharge your expenses, so long
+      as you may remain with him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next day the Curé informed Cyril that he had disposed of the necklace
+      for fifty louis. Upon this sum Cyril lived for two years.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Things had gone very hardly with Sir Aubrey Shenstone. The King had a
+      difficult course to steer. To have evicted all those who had obtained
+      possession of the forfeited estates of the Cavaliers would have been to
+      excite a deep feeling of resentment among the Nonconformists. In vain Sir
+      Aubrey pressed his claims, in season and out of season. He had no powerful
+      friends to aid him; his conduct had alienated the men who could have
+      assisted him, and, like so many other Cavaliers who had fought and
+      suffered for Charles I., Sir Aubrey Shenstone found himself left
+      altogether in the cold. For a time he was able to keep up a fair
+      appearance, as he obtained loans from Prince Rupert and other Royalists
+      whom he had known in the old days, and who had been more fortunate than
+      himself; but the money so obtained lasted but a short time, and it was not
+      long before he was again in dire straits.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had from the first but little hope that his father would recover his
+      estates. He had, shortly before his father left France, heard a
+      conversation between Sir John Parton and a gentleman who was in the inner
+      circle of Charles's advisers. The latter had said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "One of the King's great difficulties will be to satisfy the exiles.
+      Undoubtedly, could he consult his own inclinations only, he would on his
+      return at once reinstate all those who have suffered in their estates from
+      their loyalty to his father and himself. But this will be impossible. It
+      was absolutely necessary for him, in his proclamation at Breda, to promise
+      an amnesty for all offences, liberty of conscience and an oblivion as to
+      the past, and he specially says that all questions of grants, sales and
+      purchases of land, and titles, shall be referred to Parliament. The
+      Nonconformists are at present in a majority, and although it seems that
+      all parties are willing to welcome the King back, you may be sure that no
+      Parliament will consent to anything like a general disturbance of the
+      possessors of estates formerly owned by Royalists. In a vast number of
+      cases, the persons to whom such grants were made disposed of them by sale
+      to others, and it would be as hard on them to be ousted as it is upon the
+      original proprietors to be kept out of their possession. Truly it is a
+      most difficult position, and one that will have to be approached with
+      great judgment, the more so since most of those to whom the lands were
+      granted were generals, officers, and soldiers of the Parliament, and Monk
+      would naturally oppose any steps to the detriment of his old comrades.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I fear there will be much bitter disappointment among the exiles, and
+      that the King will be charged with ingratitude by those who think that he
+      has only to sign an order for their reinstatement, whereas Charles will
+      have himself a most difficult course to steer, and will have to govern
+      himself most circumspectly, so as to give offence to none of the governing
+      parties. As to his granting estates, or dispossessing their holders, he
+      will have no more power to do so than you or I. Doubtless some of the
+      exiles will be restored to their estates; but I fear that the great bulk
+      are doomed to disappointment. At any rate, for a time no extensive changes
+      can be made, though it may be that in the distance, when the temper of the
+      nation at large is better understood, the King will be able to do
+      something for those who suffered in the cause.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was all very well for Cromwell, who leant solely on the Army, to
+      dispense with a Parliament, and to govern far more autocratically than
+      James or Charles even dreamt of doing; but the Army that supported
+      Cromwell would certainly not support Charles. It is composed for the most
+      part of stern fanatics, and will be the first to oppose any attempt of the
+      King to override the law. No doubt it will erelong be disbanded; but you
+      will see that Parliament will then recover the authority of which Cromwell
+      deprived it; and Charles is a far wiser man than his father, and will
+      never set himself against the feeling of the country. Certainly, anything
+      like a general reinstatement of the men who have been for the last ten
+      years haunting the taverns of the Continent is out of the question; they
+      would speedily create such a revulsion of public opinion as might bring
+      about another rebellion. Hyde, staunch Royalist as he is, would never
+      suffer the King to make so grievous an error; nor do I think for a moment
+      that Charles, who is shrewd and politic, and above all things a lover of
+      ease and quiet, would think of bringing such a nest of hornets about his
+      ears."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When, after his return to England, it became evident that Sir Aubrey had
+      but small chance of reinstatement in his lands, his former friends began
+      to close their purses and to refuse to grant further loans, and he was
+      presently reduced to straits as severe as those he had suffered during his
+      exile. The good spirits that had borne him up so long failed now, and he
+      grew morose and petulant. His loyalty to the King was unshaken; Charles
+      had several times granted him audiences, and had assured him that, did it
+      rest with him, justice should be at once dealt to him, but that he was
+      practically powerless in the matter, and the knight's resentment was
+      concentrated upon Hyde, now Lord Clarendon, and the rest of the King's
+      advisers. He wrote but seldom to Cyril; he had no wish to have the boy
+      with him until he could take him down with him in triumph to Norfolk, and
+      show him to the tenants as his heir. Living from hand to mouth as he did,
+      he worried but little as to how Cyril was getting on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The lad has fallen on his feet somehow," he said, "and he is better where
+      he is than he would be with me. I suppose when he wants money he will
+      write and say so, though where I should get any to send to him I know not.
+      Anyhow, I need not worry about him at present."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril, indeed, had written to him soon after the sale of the necklace,
+      telling him that he need not distress himself about his condition, for
+      that he had obtained sufficient money for his present necessities from the
+      sale of a small trinket his mother had given him before her death, and
+      that when this was spent he should doubtless find some means of earning
+      his living until he could rejoin him. His father never inquired into the
+      matter, though he made a casual reference to it in his next letter, saying
+      that he was glad Cyril had obtained some money, as it would, at the
+      moment, have been inconvenient to him to send any over.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril worked assiduously at the school that had been recommended to him by
+      the Curé, and at the end of two years he had still twenty louis left. He
+      had several conversations with his adviser as to the best way of earning
+      his living.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I do not wish to spend any more, Father," he said, "and would fain keep
+      this for some future necessity."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Curé agreed with him as to this, and, learning from his master that he
+      was extremely quick at figures and wrote an excellent hand, he obtained a
+      place for him with one of the principal traders of the town. He was to
+      receive no salary for a year, but was to learn book-keeping and accounts.
+      Although but fourteen, the boy was so intelligent and zealous that his
+      employer told the Curé that he found him of real service, and that he was
+      able to entrust some of his books entirely to his charge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Six months after entering his service, however, Cyril received a letter
+      from his father, saying that he believed his affairs were on the point of
+      settlement, and therefore wished him to come over in the first ship
+      sailing. He enclosed an order on a house at Dunkirk for fifty francs, to
+      pay his passage. His employer parted with him with regret, and the kind
+      Curé bade him farewell in terms of real affection, for he had come to take
+      a great interest in him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "At any rate, Cyril," he said, "your time here has not been wasted, and
+      your mother's gift has been turned to as much advantage as even she can
+      have hoped that it would be. Should your father's hopes be again
+      disappointed, and fresh delays arise, you may, with the practice you have
+      had, be able to earn your living in London. There must be there, as in
+      France, many persons in trade who have had but little education, and you
+      may be able to obtain employment in keeping the books of such people, who
+      are, I believe, more common in England than here. Here are the sixteen
+      louis that still remain; put them aside, Cyril, and use them only for
+      urgent necessity."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril, on arriving in London, was heartily welcomed by his father, who
+      had, for the moment, high hopes of recovering his estates. These, however,
+      soon faded, and although Sir Aubrey would not allow it, even to himself,
+      no chance remained of those Royalists, who had, like him, parted with
+      their estates for trifling sums, to be spent in the King's service, ever
+      regaining possession of them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was not long before Cyril perceived that unless he himself obtained
+      work of some sort they would soon be face to face with actual starvation.
+      He said nothing to his father, but started out one morning on a round of
+      visits among the smaller class of shopkeepers, offering to make up their
+      books and write out their bills and accounts for a small remuneration. As
+      he had a frank and pleasant face, and his foreign bringing up had given
+      him an ease and politeness of manner rare among English lads of the day,
+      it was not long before he obtained several clients. To some of the smaller
+      class of traders he went only for an hour or two, once a week, while
+      others required their bills and accounts to be made out daily. The pay was
+      very small, but it sufficed to keep absolute want from the door. When he
+      told his father of the arrangements he had made, Sir Aubrey at first raged
+      and stormed; but he had come, during the last year or two, to recognise
+      the good sense and strong will of his son, and although he never verbally
+      acquiesced in what he considered a degradation, he offered no actual
+      opposition to a plan that at least enabled them to live, and furnished him
+      occasionally with a few groats with which he could visit a tavern.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So things had gone on for more than a year. Cyril was now sixteen, and his
+      punctuality, and the neatness of his work, had been so appreciated by the
+      tradesmen who first employed him, that his time was now fully occupied,
+      and that at rates more remunerative than those he had at first obtained.
+      He kept the state of his resources to himself, and had no difficulty in
+      doing this, as his father never alluded to the subject of his work. Cyril
+      knew that, did he hand over to him all the money he made, it would be
+      wasted in drink or at cards; consequently, he kept the table furnished as
+      modestly as at first, and regularly placed after dinner on the corner of
+      the mantel a few coins, which his father as regularly dropped into his
+      pocket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few days before the story opens, Sir Aubrey had, late one evening, been
+      carried upstairs, mortally wounded in a brawl; he only recovered
+      consciousness a few minutes before his death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You have been a good lad, Cyril," he said faintly, as he feebly pressed
+      the boy's hand; "far better than I deserve to have had. Don't cry, lad;
+      you will get on better without me, and things are just as well as they
+      are. I hope you will come to your estates some day; you will make a better
+      master than I should ever have done. I hope that in time you will carry
+      out your plan of entering some foreign service; there is no chance here. I
+      don't want you to settle down as a city scrivener. Still, do as you like,
+      lad, and unless your wishes go with mine, think no further of service."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I would rather be a soldier, father. I only undertook this work because I
+      could see nothing else."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is right, my boy, that is right. I know you won't forget that you
+      come of a race of gentlemen."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He spoke but little after that. A few broken words came from his lips that
+      showed that his thoughts had gone back to old times. "Boot and saddle," he
+      murmured. "That is right. Now we are ready for them. Down with the
+      prick-eared knaves! God and King Charles!" These were the last words he
+      spoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had done all that was necessary. He had laid by more than half his
+      earnings for the last eight or nine months. One of his clients, an
+      undertaker, had made all the necessary preparations for the funeral, and
+      in a few hours his father would be borne to his last resting-place. As he
+      stood at the open window he thought sadly over the past, and of his
+      father's wasted life. Had it not been for the war he might have lived and
+      died a country gentleman. It was the war, with its wild excitements, that
+      had ruined him. What was there for him to do in a foreign country, without
+      resource or employment, having no love for reading, but to waste his life
+      as he had done? Had his wife lived it might have been different. Cyril had
+      still a vivid remembrance of his mother, and, though his father had but
+      seldom spoken to him of her, he knew that he had loved her, and that, had
+      she lived, he would never have given way to drink as he had done of late
+      years.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To his father's faults he could not be blind; but they stood for nothing
+      now. He had been his only friend, and of late they had been drawn closer
+      to each other in their loneliness; and although scarce a word of
+      endearment had passed between them, he knew that his father had cared for
+      him more than was apparent in his manner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few hours later, Sir Aubrey Shenstone was laid to rest in a little
+      graveyard outside the city walls. Cyril was the only mourner; and when it
+      was over, instead of going back to his lonely room, he turned away and
+      wandered far out through the fields towards Hampstead, and then sat
+      himself down to think what he had best do. Another three or four years
+      must pass before he could try to get service abroad. When the time came he
+      should find Sir John Parton, and beg him to procure for him some letter of
+      introduction to the many British gentlemen serving abroad. He had not seen
+      him since he came to England. His father had met him, but had quarrelled
+      with him upon Sir John declining to interest himself actively to push his
+      claims, and had forbidden Cyril to go near those who had been so kind to
+      him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boy had felt it greatly at first, but he came, after a time, to see
+      that it was best so. It seemed to him that he had fallen altogether out of
+      their station in life when the hope of his father's recovering his estates
+      vanished, and although he was sure of a kindly reception from Lady Parton,
+      he shrank from going there in his present position. They had done so much
+      for him already, that the thought that his visit might seem to them a sort
+      of petition for further benefits was intolerable to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For the present, the question in his mind was whether he should continue
+      at his present work, which at any rate sufficed to keep him, or should
+      seek other employment. He would greatly have preferred some life of
+      action,&mdash;something that would fit him better to bear the fatigues and
+      hardships of war,&mdash;but he saw no prospect of obtaining any such
+      position.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should be a fool to throw up what I have," he said to himself at last.
+      "I will stick to it anyhow until some opportunity offers; but the sooner I
+      leave it the better. It was bad enough before; it will be worse now. If I
+      had but a friend or two it would not be so hard; but to have no one to
+      speak to, and no one to think about, when work is done, will be lonely
+      indeed."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At any rate, he determined to change his room as soon as possible. It
+      mattered little where he went so that it was a change. He thought over
+      various tradesmen for whom he worked. Some of them might have an attic, he
+      cared not how small, that they might let him have in lieu of paying him
+      for his work. Even if they never spoke to him, it would be better to be in
+      a house where he knew something of those downstairs, than to lodge in one
+      where he was an utter stranger to all. He had gone round to the shops
+      where he worked, on the day after his father's death, to explain that he
+      could not come again until after the funeral, and he resolved that next
+      morning he would ask each in turn whether he could obtain a lodging with
+      them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sun was already setting when he rose from the bank on which he had
+      seated himself, and returned to the city. The room did not feel so lonely
+      to him as it would have done had he not been accustomed to spending the
+      evenings alone. He took out his little hoard and counted it. After paying
+      the expenses of the funeral there would still remain sufficient to keep
+      him for three or four months should he fall ill, or, from any cause, lose
+      his work. He had one good suit of clothes that had been bought on his
+      return to England,&mdash;when his father thought that they would assuredly
+      be going down almost immediately to take possession of the old Hall,&mdash;and
+      the rest were all in fair condition.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next day he began his work again; he had two visits to pay of an hour
+      each, and one of two hours, and the spare time between these he filled up
+      by calling at two or three other shops to make up for the arrears of work
+      during the last few days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The last place he had to visit was that at which he had the longest task
+      to perform. It was at a ship-chandler's in Tower Street, a large and dingy
+      house, the lower portion being filled with canvas, cordage, barrels of
+      pitch and tar, candles, oil, and matters of all sorts needed by
+      ship-masters, including many cannon of different sizes, piles of balls,
+      anchors, and other heavy work, all of which were stowed away in a yard
+      behind it. The owner of this store was a one-armed man. His father had
+      kept it before him, but he himself, after working there long enough to
+      become a citizen and a member of the Ironmongers' Guild, had quarrelled
+      with his father and had taken to the sea. For twenty years he had voyaged
+      to many lands, principally in ships trading in the Levant, and had passed
+      through a great many adventures, including several fights with the Moorish
+      corsairs. In the last voyage he took, he had had his arm shot off by a
+      ball from a Greek pirate among the Islands. He had long before made up his
+      differences with his father, but had resisted the latter's entreaties that
+      he should give up the sea and settle down at the shop; on his return after
+      this unfortunate voyage he told him that he had come home to stay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shall be able to help about the stores after a while," he said, "but I
+      shall never be the man I was on board ship. It will be hard work to take
+      to measuring out canvas and to weighing iron, after a free life on the
+      sea, but I don't so much mind now I have had my share of adventures;
+      though I dare say I should have gone on for a few more years if that
+      rascally ball had not carried away my arm. I don't know but that it is
+      best as it is, for the older I got the harder I should find it to fall
+      into new ways and to settle down here."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Anyhow, I am glad you are back, David," his father said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You are forty-five, and though I don't say it would not have been better
+      if you had remained here from the first, you have learnt many things you
+      would not have learnt here. You know just the sort of things that masters
+      of ships require, and what canvas and cables and cordage will suit their
+      wants. Besides, customers like to talk with men of their own way of
+      thinking, and sailors more, I think, than other men. You know, too, most
+      of the captains who sail up the Mediterranean, and may be able to bring
+      fresh custom into the shop. Therefore, do not think that you will be of no
+      use to me. As to your wife and child, there is plenty of room for them as
+      well as for you, and it will be better for them here, with you always at
+      hand, than it would be for them to remain over at Rotherhithe and only to
+      see you after the shutters are up."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eight years later Captain Dave, as he was always called, became sole owner
+      of the house and business. A year after he did so he was lamenting to a
+      friend the trouble that he had with his accounts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "My father always kept that part of the business in his own hands," he
+      said, "and I find it a mighty heavy burden. Beyond checking a bill of
+      lading, or reading the marks on the bales and boxes, I never had occasion
+      to read or write for twenty years, and there has not been much more of it
+      for the last fifteen; and although I was a smart scholar enough in my
+      young days, my fingers are stiff with hauling at ropes and using the
+      marling-spike, and my eyes are not so clear as they used to be, and it is
+      no slight toil and labour to me to make up an account for goods sold. John
+      Wilkes, my head shopman, is a handy fellow; he was my boatswain in the <i>Kate</i>,
+      and I took him on when we found that the man who had been my father's
+      right hand for twenty years had been cheating him all along. We got on
+      well enough as long as I could give all my time in the shop; but he is no
+      good with the pen&mdash;all he can do is to enter receipts and sales.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He has a man under him, who helps him in measuring out the right length
+      of canvas and cables or for weighing a chain or an anchor, and knows
+      enough to put down the figures; but that is all. Then there are the two
+      smiths and the two apprentices; they don't count in the matter. Robert
+      Ashford, the eldest apprentice, could do the work, but I have no fancy for
+      him; he does not look one straight in the face as one who is honest and
+      above board should do. I shall have to keep a clerk, and I know what it
+      will be&mdash;he will be setting me right, and I shall not feel my own
+      master; he will be out of place in my crew altogether. I never liked
+      pursers; most of them are rogues. Still, I suppose it must come to that."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have a boy come in to write my bills and to make up my accounts, who
+      would be just the lad for you, Captain Dave. He is the son of a
+      broken-down Cavalier, but he is a steady, honest young fellow, and I fancy
+      his pen keeps his father, who is a roystering blade, and spends most of
+      his time at the taverns. The boy comes to me for an hour, twice a week; he
+      writes as good a hand as any clerk and can reckon as quickly, and I pay
+      him but a groat a week, which was all he asked."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Tell him to come to me, then. I should want him every day, if he could
+      manage it, and it would be the very thing for me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am sure you would like him," the other said; "he is a good-looking
+      young fellow, and his face speaks for him without any recommendation. I
+      was afraid at first that he would not do for me; I thought there was too
+      much of the gentleman about him. He has good manners, and a gentle sort of
+      way. He has been living in France all his life, and though he has never
+      said anything about his family&mdash;indeed he talks but little, he just
+      comes in and does his work and goes away&mdash;I fancy his father was one
+      of King Charles's men and of good blood."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, that doesn't sound so well," the sailor said, "but anyhow I should
+      like to have a look at him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He comes to me to-morrow at eleven and goes at twelve," the man said,
+      "and I will send him round to you when he has done."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had gone round the next morning to the ships' store.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "So you are the lad that works for my neighbour Anderson?" Captain Dave
+      said, as he surveyed him closely. "I like your looks, lad, but I doubt
+      whether we shall get on together. I am an old sailor, you know, and I am
+      quick of speech and don't stop to choose my words, so if you are quick to
+      take offence it would be of no use your coming to me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't think I am likely to take offence," Cyril said quietly; "and if
+      we don't get on well together, sir, you will only have to tell me that you
+      don't want me any longer; but I trust you will not have often the occasion
+      to use hard words, for at any rate I will do my best to please you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You can't say more, lad. Well, let us have a taste of your quality. Come
+      in here," and he led him into a little room partitioned off from the shop.
+      "There, you see," and he opened a book, "is the account of the sales and
+      orders yesterday; the ready-money sales have got to be entered in that
+      ledger with the red cover; the sales where no money passed have to be
+      entered to the various customers or ships in the ledger. I have made out a
+      list&mdash;here it is&mdash;of twelve accounts that have to be drawn out
+      from that ledger and sent in to customers. You will find some of them are
+      of somewhat long standing, for I have been putting off that job. Sit you
+      down here. When you have done one or two of them I will have a look at
+      your work, and if that is satisfactory we will have a talk as to what
+      hours you have got disengaged, and what days in the week will suit you
+      best."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was two hours before Captain Dave came in again. Cyril had just
+      finished the work; some of the accounts were long ones, and the writing
+      was so crabbed that it took him some time to decipher it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, how are you getting on, lad?" the Captain asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have this moment finished the last account."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What! Do you mean to say that you have done them all! Why, it would have
+      taken me all my evenings for a week. Now, hand me the books; it is best to
+      do things ship-shape."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He first compared the list of the sales with the entries, and then Cyril
+      handed him the twelve accounts he had drawn up. Captain David did not
+      speak until he had finished looking through them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I would not have believed all that work could have been done in two
+      hours," he said, getting up from his chair. "Orderly and well written, and
+      without a blot. The King's secretary could not have done better! Well, now
+      you have seen the list of sales for a day, and I take it that be about the
+      average, so if you come three times a week you will always have two days'
+      sales to enter in the ledger. There are a lot of other books my father
+      used to keep, but I have never had time to bother myself about them, and
+      as I have got on very well so far, I do not see any occasion for you to do
+      so, for my part it seems to me that all these books are only invented by
+      clerks to give themselves something to do to fill up their time. Of
+      course, there won't be accounts to send out every day. Do you think with
+      two hours, three times a week, you could keep things straight?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should certainly think so, sir, but I can hardly say until I try,
+      because it seems to me that there must be a great many items, and I can't
+      say how long it will take entering all the goods received under their
+      proper headings; but if the books are thoroughly made up now, I should
+      think I could keep them all going."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That they are not," Captain David said ruefully; "they are all horribly
+      in arrears. I took charge of them myself three years ago, and though I
+      spend three hours every evening worrying over them, they get further and
+      further in arrears. Look at those files over there," and he pointed to
+      three long wires, on each of which was strung a large bundle of papers; "I
+      am afraid you will have to enter them all up before you can get matters
+      into ship-shape order. The daily sale book is the only one that has been
+      kept up regularly."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But these accounts I have made up, sir? Probably in those files there are
+      many other goods supplied to the same people."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Of course there are, lad, though I did not think of it before. Well, we
+      must wait, then, until you can make up the arrears a bit, though I really
+      want to get some money in."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, sir, I might write at the bottom of each bill 'Account made up to,'
+      and then put in the date of the latest entry charged."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That would do capitally, lad&mdash;I did not think of that. I see you
+      will be of great use to me. I can buy and sell, for I know the value of
+      the goods I deal in; but as to accounts, they are altogether out of my
+      way. And now, lad, what do you charge?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I charge a groat for two hours' work, sir; but if I came to you three
+      times a week, I would do it for a little less."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, lad, I don't want to beat you down; indeed, I don't think you charge
+      enough. However, let us say, to begin with, three groats a week."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This had been six weeks before Sir Aubrey Shenstone's death; and in the
+      interval Cyril had gradually wiped off all the arrears, and had all the
+      books in order up to date, to the astonishment of his employer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II &mdash; A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      "I am glad to see you again, lad," Captain David said, when Cyril entered
+      his shop. "I have been thinking of the news you gave me last week, and the
+      mistress and I have been talking it over. Where are you lodging?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have been lodging until now in Holborn," Cyril replied; "but I am going
+      to move."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; that is what we thought you would be doing. It is always better to
+      make a change after a loss. I don't want to interfere in your business,
+      lad, but have you any friends you are thinking of going to?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, sir; I do not know a soul in London save those I work for."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is bad, lad&mdash;very bad. I was talking it over with my wife, and
+      I said that maybe you were lonely. I am sure, lad, you are one of the
+      right sort. I don't mean only in your work, for as for that I would back
+      you against any scrivener in London, but I mean about yourself. It don't
+      need half an eye to see that you have not been brought up to this sort of
+      thing, though you have taken to it so kindly, but there is not one in a
+      thousand boys of your age who would have settled down to work and made
+      their way without a friend to help them as you have done; it shows that
+      there is right good stuff in you. There, I am so long getting under weigh
+      that I shall never get into port if I don't steer a straight course. Now,
+      my ideas and my wife's come to this: if you have got no friends you will
+      have to take a lodging somewhere among strangers, and then it would be one
+      of two things&mdash;you would either stop at home and mope by yourself, or
+      you would go out, and maybe get into bad company. If I had not come across
+      you I should have had to employ a clerk, and he would either have lived
+      here with us or I should have had to pay him enough to keep house for
+      himself. Now in fact you are a clerk; for though you are only here for six
+      hours a week&mdash;you do all the work there is to do, and no clerk could
+      do more. Well, we have got an attic upstairs which is not used, and if you
+      like to come here and live with us, my wife and I will make you heartily
+      welcome."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Thank you, indeed," Cyril said warmly. "It is of all things what I should
+      like; but of course I should wish to pay you for my board. I can afford to
+      do so if you will employ me for the same hours as at present."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, I would not have that, lad; but if you like we can reckon your board
+      against what I now pay you. We feed John Wilkes and the two apprentices,
+      and one mouth extra will make but little difference. I don't want it to be
+      a matter of obligation, so we will put your board against the work you do
+      for me. I shall consider that we are making a good bargain."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is your pleasure to say so, sir, but I cannot tell you what a load
+      your kind offer takes off my mind. The future has seemed very dark to me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Very well. That matter is settled, then. Come upstairs with me and I will
+      present you to my wife and daughter; they have heard me speak of you so
+      often that they will be glad to see you. In the first place, though, I
+      must ask you your name. Since you first signed articles and entered the
+      crew I have never thought of asking you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "My name is Cyril, sir&mdash;Cyril Shenstone."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His employer nodded and at once led the way upstairs. A motherly looking
+      woman rose from the seat where she was sitting at work, as they entered
+      the living-room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is my Prince of Scriveners, Mary, the lad I have often spoken to you
+      about. His name is Cyril; he has accepted the proposal we talked over last
+      night, and is going to become one of the crew on board our ship."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am glad to see you," she said to Cyril, holding out her hand to him. "I
+      have not met you before, but I feel very grateful to you. Till you came,
+      my husband was bothered nearly out of his wits; he used to sit here
+      worrying over his books, and writing from the time the shop closed till
+      the hour for bed, and Nellie and I dared not to say as much as a word. Now
+      we see no more of his books, and he is able to go out for a walk in the
+      fields with us as he used to do before."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is very kind of you to say so, Mistress," Cyril said earnestly; "but
+      it is I, on the contrary, who am deeply grateful to you for the offer
+      Captain Dave has been good enough to make me. You cannot tell the pleasure
+      it has given me, for you cannot understand how lonely and friendless I
+      have been feeling. Believe me, I will strive to give you as little trouble
+      as possible, and to conform myself in all ways to your wishes."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment Nellie Dowsett came into the room. She was a pretty girl
+      some eighteen years of age.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is Cyril, your father's assistant, Nellie," her mother said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You are welcome, Master Cyril. I have been wanting to see you. Father has
+      been praising you up to the skies so often that I have had quite a
+      curiosity to see what you could be like."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Your father is altogether too good, Mistress Nellie, and makes far more
+      of my poor ability than it deserves."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And is he going to live with us, mother?" Nellie asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, child; he has accepted your father's offer."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie clapped her hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is good," she said. "I shall expect you to escort me out sometimes,
+      Cyril. Father always wants me to go down to the wharf to look at the ships
+      or to go into the fields; but I want to go sometimes to see the fashions,
+      and there is no one to take me, for John Wilkes always goes off to smoke a
+      pipe with some sailor or other, and the apprentices are stupid and have
+      nothing to say for themselves; and besides, one can't walk alongside a boy
+      in an apprentice cap."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shall be very happy to, Mistress, when my work is done, though I fear
+      that I shall make but a poor escort, for indeed I have had no practice
+      whatever in the esquiring of dames."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am sure you will do very well," Nellie said, nodding approvingly. "Is
+      it true that you have been in France? Father said he was told so."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; I have lived almost all my life in France."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And do you speak French?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; I speak it as well as English."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It must have been very hard to learn?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not at all. It came to me naturally, just as English did."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You must not keep him any longer now, Nellie; he has other appointments
+      to keep, and when he has done that, to go and pack up his things and see
+      that they are brought here by a porter. He can answer some more of your
+      questions when he comes here this evening."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril returned to Holborn with a lighter heart than he had felt for a long
+      time. His preparations for the move took him but a short time, and two
+      hours later he was installed in a little attic in the ship-chandler's
+      house. He spent half-an-hour in unpacking his things, and then heard a
+      stentorian shout from below,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Masthead, ahoy! Supper's waiting."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Supposing that this hail was intended for himself, he at once went
+      downstairs. The table was laid. Mistress Dowsett took her seat at the
+      head; her husband sat on one side of her, and Nellie on the other. John
+      Wilkes sat next to his master, and beyond him the elder of the two
+      apprentices. A seat was left between Nellie and the other apprentice for
+      Cyril.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now our crew is complete, John," Captain Dave said. "We have been wanting
+      a supercargo badly."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay, Captain Dave, there is no doubt we have been short-handed in that
+      respect; but things have been more ship-shape lately."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is so, John. I can make a shift to keep the vessel on her course,
+      but when it comes to writing up the log, and keeping the reckoning, I make
+      but a poor hand at it. It was getting to be as bad as that voyage of the
+      <i>Jane</i> in the Levant, when the supercargo had got himself stabbed at
+      Lemnos."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I mind it, Captain&mdash;I mind it well. And what a trouble there was
+      with the owners when we got back again!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, yes," the Captain said; "it was worse work than having a brush with
+      a Barbary corsair. I shall never forget that day. When I went to the
+      office to report, the three owners were all in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Well, Captain Dave, back from your voyage?' said the littlest of the
+      three. 'Made a good voyage, I hope?'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "First-rate, says I, except that the supercargo got killed at Lemnos by
+      one of them rascally Greeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Dear, dear,' said another of them&mdash;he was a prim, sanctimonious
+      sort&mdash;'Has our brother Jenkins left us?'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't know about his leaving us, says I, but we left him sure enough in
+      a burying-place there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'And how did you manage without him?'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I made as good a shift as I could, I said. I have sold all the cargo, and
+      I have brought back a freight of six tons of Turkey figs, and four hundred
+      boxes of currants. And these two bags hold the difference.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Have you brought the books with you, Captain?'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Never a book, said I. I have had to navigate the ship and to look after
+      the crew, and do the best I could at each port. The books are on board,
+      made out up to the day before the supercargo was killed, three months ago;
+      but I have never had time to make an entry since.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They looked at each other like owls for a minute or two, and then they
+      all began to talk at once. How had I sold the goods? had I charged the
+      prices mentioned in the invoice? what percentage had I put on for profit?
+      and a lot of other things. I waited until they were all out of breath, and
+      then I said I had not bothered about invoices. I knew pretty well the
+      prices such things cost in England. I clapped on so much more for the
+      expenses of the voyage and a fair profit. I could tell them what I had
+      paid for the figs and the currants, and for some bags of Smyrna sponges I
+      had bought, but as to the prices I had charged, it was too much to expect
+      that I could carry them in my head. All I knew was I had paid for the
+      things I had bought, I had paid all the port dues and other charges, I had
+      advanced the men one-fourth of their wages each month, and I had brought
+      them back the balance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Such a hubbub you never heard. One would have thought they would have
+      gone raving mad. The sanctimonious partner was the worst of the lot. He
+      threatened me with the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen, and went on till I
+      thought he would have had a fit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Look here, says I, at last, I'll tell you what I will do. You tell me
+      what the cargo cost you altogether, and put on so much for the hire of the
+      ship. I will pay you for them and settle up with the crew, and take the
+      cargo and sell it. That is a fair offer. And I advise you to keep civil
+      tongues in your heads, or I will knock them off and take my chance before
+      the Lord Mayor for assault and battery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "With that I took off my coat and laid it on a bench. I reckon they saw
+      that I was in earnest, and they just sat as mum as mice. Then the little
+      man said, in a quieter sort of voice,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'You are too hasty, Captain Dowsett. We know you to be an honest man and
+      a good sailor, and had no suspicion that you would wrong us; but no
+      merchant in the City of London could hear that his business had been
+      conducted in such a way as you have carried it through without for a time
+      losing countenance. Let us talk the matter over reasonably and quietly.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is just what I am wanting, I said; and if there hasn't been reason
+      and quiet it is from no fault of mine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Well, please to put your coat on again, Captain, and let us see how
+      matters stand!'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then they took their ink-horns and pens, and, on finding out what I had
+      paid for the figs and other matters, they reckoned them up; then they put
+      down what I said was due to the sailors and the mate and myself; then they
+      got out some books, and for an hour they were busy reckoning up figures;
+      then they opened the bags and counted up the gold we had brought home.
+      Well, when they had done, you would hardly have known them for the same
+      men. First of all, they went through all their calculations again to be
+      sure they had made no mistake about them; then they laid down their pens,
+      and the sanctimonious man mopped the perspiration from his face, and the
+      others smiled at each other. Then the biggest of the three, who had
+      scarcely spoken before, said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Well, Captain Dowsett, I must own that my partners were a little hasty.
+      The result of our calculations is that the voyage has been a satisfactory
+      one, I may almost say very satisfactory, and that you must have disposed
+      of the goods to much advantage. It has been a new and somewhat
+      extraordinary way of doing business, but I am bound to say that the result
+      has exceeded our expectations, and we trust that you will command the <i>Jane</i>
+      for many more voyages.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not for me, says I. You can hand me over the wages due to me, and you
+      will find the <i>Jane</i> moored in the stream just above the Tower. You
+      will find her in order and shipshape; but never again do I set my foot on
+      board her or on any other vessel belonging to men who have doubted my
+      honesty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Nor did I. I had a pretty good name among traders, and ten days later I
+      started for the Levant again in command of a far smarter vessel than the
+      <i>Jane</i> had ever been."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And we all went with you, Captain," John Wilkes said, "every man jack of
+      us. And on her very next voyage the <i>Jane</i> was captured by the
+      Algerines, and I reckon there are some of the poor fellows working as
+      slaves there now; for though Blake did blow the place pretty nigh out of
+      water a few years afterwards, it is certain that the Christian slaves
+      handed over to him were not half those the Moors had in their hands."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It would seem, Captain Dowsett, from your story, that you can manage very
+      well without a supercargo?" Cyril said quietly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, lad; but you see that was a ready-money business. I handed over the
+      goods and took the cash; there was no accounts to be kept. It was all
+      clear and above board. But it is a different thing in this ship
+      altogether, when, instead of paying down on the nail for what they get,
+      you have got to keep an account of everything and send in all their items
+      jotted down in order. Why, Nellie, your tongue seems quieter than usual."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You have not given me a chance, father. You have been talking ever since
+      we sat down to table."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Supper was now over. The two apprentices at once retired. Cyril would have
+      done the same, but Mistress Dowsett said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Sit you still, Cyril. The Captain says that you are to be considered as
+      one of the officers of the ship, and we shall be always glad to have you
+      here, though of course you can always go up to your own room, or go out,
+      when you feel inclined."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have to go out three times a week to work," Cyril said; "but all the
+      other evenings I shall be glad indeed to sit here, Mistress Dowsett. You
+      cannot tell what a pleasure it is to me to be in an English home like
+      this."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was not long before John Wilkes went out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He is off to smoke his pipe," the Captain said. "I never light mine till
+      he goes. I can't persuade him to take his with me; he insists it would not
+      be manners to smoke in the cabin."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He is quite right, father," Nellie said. "It is bad enough having you
+      smoke here. When mother's friends or mine come in they are well-nigh
+      choked; they are not accustomed to it as we are, for a respectable London
+      citizen does not think of taking tobacco."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am a London citizen, Nellie, but I don't set up any special claim to
+      respectability. I am a sea-captain, though that rascally Greek cannon-ball
+      and other circumstances have made a trader of me, sorely against my will;
+      and if I could not have my pipe and my glass of grog here I would go and
+      sit with John Wilkes in the tavern at the corner of the street, and I
+      suppose that would not be even as respectable as smoking here."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Nellie doesn't mean, David, that she wants you to give up smoking; only
+      she thinks that John is quite right to go out to take his pipe. And I must
+      say I think so too. You know that when you have sea-captains of your
+      acquaintance here, you always send the maid off to bed and smoke in the
+      kitchen."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay, my dear, I don't want to turn your room into a fo'castle. There
+      is reason in all things. I suppose you don't smoke, Master Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, Captain Dave, I have never so much as thought of such a thing. In
+      France it is the fashion to take snuff, but the habit seemed to me a
+      useless one, and I don't think that I should ever have taken to it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I wonder," Captain Dave said, after they had talked for some time, "that
+      after living in sight of the sea for so long your thoughts never turned
+      that way."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I cannot say that I have never thought of it," Cyril said. "I have
+      thought that I should greatly like to take foreign voyages, but I should
+      not have cared to go as a ship's boy, and to live with men so ignorant
+      that they could not even write their own names. My thoughts have turned
+      rather to the Army; and when I get older I think of entering some foreign
+      service, either that of Sweden or of one of the Protestant German princes.
+      I could obtain introductions through which I might enter as a cadet, or
+      gentleman volunteer. I have learnt German, and though I cannot speak it as
+      I can French or English, I know enough to make my way in it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Can you use your sword, Cyril?" Nellie Dowsett asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have had very good teaching," Cyril replied, "and hope to be able to
+      hold my own."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then you are not satisfied with this mode of life?" Mistress Dowsett
+      said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am satisfied with it, Mistress, inasmuch as I can earn money sufficient
+      to keep me. But rather than settle down for life as a city scrivener, I
+      would go down to the river and ship on board the first vessel that would
+      take me, no matter where she sailed for."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I think you are wrong," Mistress Dowsett said gravely. "My husband tells
+      me how clever you are at figures, and you might some day get a good post
+      in the house of one of our great merchants."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Maybe it would be so," Cyril said; "but such a life would ill suit me. I
+      have truly a great desire to earn money: but it must be in some way to
+      suit my taste."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And why do you want to earn a great deal of money, Cyril?" Nellie
+      laughed, while her mother shook her head disapprovingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I wish to have enough to buy my father's estate back again," he said,
+      "and though I know well enough that it is not likely I shall ever do it, I
+      shall fight none the worse that I have such a hope in my mind."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Bravo, lad!" Captain Dave said. "I knew not that there was an estate in
+      the case, though I did hear that you were the son of a Royalist. It is a
+      worthy ambition, boy, though if it is a large one 'tis scarce like that
+      you will get enough to buy it back again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is not a very large one," Cyril said. "'Tis down in Norfolk, but it
+      was a grand old house&mdash;at least, so I have heard my father say,
+      though I have but little remembrance of it, as I was but three years old
+      when I left it. My father, who was Sir Aubrey Shenstone, had hoped to
+      recover it; but he was one of the many who sold their estates for far less
+      than their value in order to raise money in the King's service, and, as
+      you are aware, none of those who did so have been reinstated, but only
+      those who, having had their land taken from them by Parliament, recovered
+      them because their owners had no title-deeds to show, save the grant of
+      Parliament that was of no effect in the Courts. Thus the most loyal men&mdash;those
+      who sold their estates to aid the King&mdash;have lost all, while those
+      that did not so dispossess themselves in his service are now replaced on
+      their land."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It seems very unfair," Nellie said indignantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is unfair to them, assuredly, Mistress Nellie. And yet it would be
+      unfair to the men who bought, though often they gave but a tenth of their
+      value, to be turned out again unless they received their money back. It is
+      not easy to see where that money could come from, for assuredly the King's
+      privy purse would not suffice to pay all the money, and equally certain is
+      it that Parliament would not vote a great sum for that purpose."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is a hard case, lad&mdash;a hard case," Captain Dave said, as he
+      puffed the smoke from his pipe. "Now I know how you stand, I blame, you in
+      no way that you long more for a life of adventure than to settle down as a
+      city scrivener. I don't think even my wife, much as she thinks of the
+      city, could say otherwise."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It alters the case much," Mistress Dowsett said. "I did not know that
+      Cyril was the son of a Knight, though it was easy enough to see that his
+      manners accord not with his present position. Still there are fortunes
+      made in the city, and no honest work is dishonouring even to a gentleman's
+      son."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not at all, Mistress," Cyril said warmly. "'Tis assuredly not on that
+      account that I would fain seek more stirring employment; but it was always
+      my father's wish and intention that, should there be no chance of his ever
+      regaining the estate, I should enter foreign service, and I have always
+      looked forward to that career."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, I will wager that you will do credit to it, lad," Captain Dave
+      said. "You have proved that you are ready to turn your hand to any work
+      that may come to you. You have shown a manly spirit, my boy, and I honour
+      you for it; and by St. Anthony I believe that some day, unless a
+      musket-ball or a pike-thrust brings you up with a round turn, you will
+      live to get your own back again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril remained talking for another two hours, and then betook himself to
+      bed. After he had gone, Mistress Dowsett said, after a pause,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do you not think, David, that, seeing that Cyril is the son of a Knight,
+      it would be more becoming to give him the room downstairs instead of the
+      attic where he is now lodged?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old sailor laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is woman-kind all over," he said. "It was good enough for him
+      before, and now forsooth, because the lad mentioned, and assuredly in no
+      boasting way, that his father had been a Knight, he is to be treated
+      differently. He would not thank you himself for making the change, dame.
+      In the first place, it would make him uncomfortable, and he might make an
+      excuse to leave us altogether; and in the second, you may be sure that he
+      has been used to no better quarters than those he has got. The Royalists
+      in France were put to sore shifts to live, and I fancy that he has fared
+      no better since he came home. His father would never have consented to his
+      going out to earn money by keeping the accounts of little city traders
+      like myself had it not been that he was driven to it by want. No, no,
+      wife; let the boy go on as he is, and make no difference in any way. I
+      liked him before, and I like him all the better now, for putting his
+      gentlemanship in his pocket and setting manfully to work instead of
+      hanging on the skirts of some Royalist who has fared better than his
+      father did. He is grateful as it is&mdash;that is easy to see&mdash;for
+      our taking him in here. We did that partly because he proved a good worker
+      and has taken a lot of care off my shoulders, partly because he was
+      fatherless and alone. I would not have him think that we are ready to do
+      more because he is a Knight's son. Let the boy be, and suffer him to steer
+      his ship his own course. If, when the time comes, we can further his
+      objects in any way we will do it with right good will. What do you think
+      of him, Nellie?" he asked, changing the subject.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He is a proper young fellow, father, and I shall be well content to go
+      abroad escorted by him instead of having your apprentice, Robert Ashford,
+      in attendance on me. He has not a word to say for himself, and truly I
+      like him not in anyway."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He is not a bad apprentice, Nellie, and John Wilkes has but seldom cause
+      to find fault with him, though I own that I have no great liking myself
+      for him; he never seems to look one well in the face, which, I take it, is
+      always a bad sign. I know no harm of him; but when his apprenticeship is
+      out, which it will be in another year, I shall let him go his own way, for
+      I should not care to have him on the premises."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Methinks you are very unjust, David. The lad is quiet and regular in his
+      ways; he goes twice every Sunday to the Church of St. Alphage, and always
+      tells me the texts of the sermons."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Captain grunted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Maybe so, wife; but it is easy to get hold of the text of a sermon
+      without having heard it. I have my doubts whether he goes as regularly to
+      St. Alphage's as he says he does. Why could he not go with us to St.
+      Bennet's?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He says he likes the administrations of Mr. Catlin better, David. And, in
+      truth, our parson is not one of the stirring kind."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "So much the better," Captain Dave said bluntly. "I like not these men
+      that thump the pulpit and make as if they were about to jump out head
+      foremost. However, I don't suppose there is much harm in the lad, and it
+      may be that his failure to look one in the face is not so much his fault
+      as that of nature, which endowed him with a villainous squint. Well, let
+      us turn in; it is past nine o'clock, and high time to be a-bed."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril seemed to himself to have entered upon a new life when he stepped
+      across the threshold of David Dowsett's store. All his cares and anxieties
+      had dropped from him. For the past two years he had lived the life of an
+      automaton, starting early to his work, returning in the middle of the day
+      to his dinner,&mdash;to which as often as not he sat down alone,&mdash;and
+      spending his evenings in utter loneliness in the bare garret, where he was
+      generally in bed long before his father returned. He blamed himself
+      sometimes during the first fortnight of his stay here for the feeling of
+      light-heartedness that at times came over him. He had loved his father in
+      spite of his faults, and should, he told himself, have felt deeply
+      depressed at his loss; but nature was too strong for him. The pleasant
+      evenings with Captain Dave and his family were to him delightful; he was
+      like a traveller who, after a cold and cheerless journey, comes in to the
+      warmth of a fire, and feels a glow of comfort as the blood circulates
+      briskly through his veins. Sometimes, when he had no other engagements, he
+      went out with Nellie Dowsett, whose lively chatter was new and very
+      amusing to him. Sometimes they went up into Cheapside, and into St.
+      Paul's, but more often sallied out of the city at Aldgate, and walked into
+      the fields. On these occasions he carried a stout cane that had been his
+      father's, for Nellie tried in vain to persuade him to gird on a sword.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You are a gentleman, Cyril," she would argue, "and have a right to carry
+      one."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am for the present a sober citizen, Mistress Nellie, and do not wish to
+      assume to be of any other condition. Those one sees with swords are either
+      gentlemen of the Court, or common bullies, or maybe highwaymen. After
+      nightfall it is different; for then many citizens carry their swords,
+      which indeed are necessary to protect them from the ruffians who, in spite
+      of the city watch, oftentimes attack quiet passers-by; and if at any time
+      I escort you to the house of one of your friends, I shall be ready to take
+      my sword with me. But in the daytime there is no occasion for a weapon,
+      and, moreover, I am full young to carry one, and this stout cane would,
+      were it necessary, do me good service, for I learned in France the
+      exercise that they call the <i>bâton</i>, which differs little from our
+      English singlestick."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While Cyril was received almost as a member of the family by Captain Dave
+      and his wife, and found himself on excellent terms with John Wilkes, he
+      saw that he was viewed with dislike by the two apprentices. He was
+      scarcely surprised at this. Before his coming, Robert Ashford had been in
+      the habit of escorting his young mistress when she went out, and had no
+      doubt liked these expeditions, as a change from the measuring out of ropes
+      and weighing of iron in the store. Then, again, the apprentices did not
+      join in the conversation at table unless a remark was specially addressed
+      to them; and as Captain Dave was by no means fond of his elder apprentice,
+      it was but seldom that he spoke to him. Robert Ashford was between
+      eighteen and nineteen. He was no taller than Cyril, but it would have been
+      difficult to judge his age by his face, which had a wizened look; and, as
+      Nellie said one day, in his absence, he might pass very well for sixty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was easy enough for Cyril to see that Robert Ashford heartily disliked
+      him; the covert scowls that he threw across the table at meal-time, and
+      the way in which he turned his head and feigned to be too busy to notice
+      him as he passed through the shop, were sufficient indications of
+      ill-will. The younger apprentice, Tom Frost, was but a boy of fifteen; he
+      gave Cyril the idea of being a timid lad. He did not appear to share his
+      comrade's hostility to him, but once or twice, when Cyril came out from
+      the office after making up the accounts of the day, he fancied that the
+      boy glanced at him with an expression of anxiety, if not of terror.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If it were not," Cyril said to himself, "that Tom is clearly too nervous
+      and timid to venture upon an act of dishonesty, I should say that he had
+      been pilfering something; but I feel sure that he would not attempt such a
+      thing as that, though I am by no means certain that Robert Ashford, with
+      his foxy face and cross eyes, would not steal his master's goods or any
+      one else's did he get the chance. Unless he were caught in the act, he
+      could do it with impunity, for everything here is carried on in such a
+      free-and-easy fashion that any amount of goods might be carried off
+      without their being missed."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After thinking the matter over, he said, one afternoon when his employer
+      came in while he was occupied at the accounts,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have not seen anything of a stock-book, Captain Dave. Everything else
+      is now straight, and balanced up to to-day. Here is the book of goods
+      sold, the book of goods received, and the ledger with the accounts; but
+      there is no stock-book such as I find in almost all the other places where
+      I work."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What do I want with a stock-book?" Captain Dave asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You cannot know how you stand without it," Cyril replied. "You know how
+      much you have paid, and how much you have received during the year; but
+      unless you have a stock-book you do not know whether the difference
+      between the receipts and expenditure represents profit, for the stock may
+      have so fallen in value during the year that you may really have made a
+      loss while seeming to make a profit."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How can that be?" Captain Dave asked. "I get a fair profit on every
+      article."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There ought to be a profit, of course," Cyril said; "but sometimes it is
+      found not to be so. Moreover, if there is a stock-book you can tell at any
+      time, without the trouble of opening bins and weighing metal, how much
+      stock you have of each article you sell, and can order your goods
+      accordingly."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How would you do that?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is very simple, Captain Dave," Cyril said. "After taking stock of the
+      whole of the goods, I should have a ledger in which each article would
+      have a page or more to itself, and every day I should enter from John
+      Wilkes's sales-book a list of the goods that have gone out, each under its
+      own heading. Thus, at any moment, if you were to ask how much chain you
+      had got in stock I could tell you within a fathom. When did you take stock
+      last?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should say it was about fifteen months since. It was only yesterday
+      John Wilkes was saying we had better have a thorough overhauling."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Quite time, too, I should think, Captain Dave. I suppose you have got the
+      account of your last stock-taking, with the date of it?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Oh, yes, I have got that;" and the Captain unlocked his desk and took out
+      an account-book. "It has been lying there ever since. It took a wonderful
+      lot of trouble to do, and I had a clerk and two men in for a fortnight,
+      for of course John and the boys were attending to their usual duties. I
+      have often wondered since why I should have had all that trouble over a
+      matter that has never been of the slightest use to me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, I hope you will take it again, sir; it is a trouble, no doubt, but
+      you will find it a great advantage."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Are you sure you think it needful, Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Most needful, Captain Dave. You will see the advantage of it afterwards."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, if you think so, I suppose it must be done," the Captain said, with
+      a sigh; "but it will be giving you a lot of trouble to keep this new book
+      of yours."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is nothing, sir. Now that I have got all the back work up it will be
+      a simple matter to keep the daily work straight. I shall find ample time
+      to do it without any need of lengthening my hours."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril now set to work in earnest, and telling Mrs. Dowsett he had some
+      books that he wanted to make up in his room before going to bed, he asked
+      her to allow him to keep his light burning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dowsett consented, but shook her head and said he would assuredly
+      injure his health if he worked by candle light.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Fortunately, John Wilkes had just opened a fresh sales-book, and Cyril
+      told him that he wished to refer to some particulars in the back books. He
+      first opened the ledger by inscribing under their different heads the
+      amount of each description of goods kept in stock at the last
+      stock-taking, and then entered under their respective heads all the sales
+      that had been made, while on an opposite page he entered the amount
+      purchased. It took him a month's hard work, and he finished it on the very
+      day that the new stock-taking concluded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III &mdash; A THIEF SOMEWHERE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Two days after the conclusion of the stock-taking, Cyril said, after
+      breakfast was over,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Would it trouble you, Captain Dave, to give me an hour up here before you
+      go downstairs to the counting-house. I am free for two hours now, and
+      there is a matter upon which I should like to speak to you privately."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Certainly, lad," the old sailor said, somewhat surprised. "We shall be
+      quiet enough here, as soon as the table is cleared. My dame and Nellie
+      will be helping the maid do up the cabins, and will then be sallying out
+      marketing."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the maid had cleared the table, Cyril went up to his room and
+      returned with a large ledger and several smaller books.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have, for the last month, Captain Dave, been making up this stock-book
+      for my own satisfaction."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Bless me, lad, why have you taken all that trouble? This accounts, then,
+      for your writing so long at night, for which my dame has been quarrelling
+      with you!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was interesting work," Cyril said quietly. "Now, you see, sir," he
+      went on, opening the big ledger, "here are the separate accounts under
+      each head. These pages, you see, are for heavy cables for hawsers; of
+      these, at the date of the last stock-taking, there were, according to the
+      book you handed to me, five hundred fathoms in stock. These are the
+      amounts you have purchased since. Now, upon the other side are all the
+      sales of this cable entered in the sales-book. Adding them together, and
+      deducting them from the other side, you will see there should remain in
+      stock four hundred and fifty fathoms. According to the new stock-taking
+      there are four hundred and thirty-eight. That is, I take it, as near as
+      you could expect to get, for, in the measuring out of so many thousand
+      fathoms of cable during the fifteen months between the two stock-takings,
+      there may well have been a loss of the twelve fathoms in giving good
+      measurement."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is so," Captain Dave said. "I always say to John Wilkes, 'Give good
+      measurement, John&mdash;better a little over than a little under.' Nothing
+      can be clearer or more satisfactory."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril closed the book.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am sorry to say, Captain Dave, all the items are not so satisfactory,
+      and that I greatly fear that you have been robbed to a considerable
+      amount."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Robbed, lad!" the Captain said, starting up from his chair. "Who should
+      rob me? Not John Wilkes, I can be sworn! Not the two apprentices for a
+      surety, for they never go out during the day, and John keeps a sharp
+      look-out upon them, and the entrance to the shop is always locked and
+      barred after work is over, so that none can enter without getting the key,
+      which, as you know, John always brings up and hands to me as soon as he
+      has fastened the door! You are mistaken, lad, and although I know that
+      your intentions are good, you should be careful how you make a charge that
+      might bring ruin to innocent men. Carelessness there may be; but robbery!
+      No; assuredly not."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have not brought the charge without warrant, Captain Dave," Cyril said
+      gravely, "and if you will bear with me for a few minutes, I think you will
+      see that there is at least something that wants looking into."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, it is only fair after the trouble you have taken, lad, that I
+      should hear what you have to say; but it will need strong evidence indeed
+      to make me believe that there has been foul play."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, sir," Cyril said, opening the ledger again, "in the first place, I
+      would point out that in all the heavy articles, such as could not
+      conveniently be carried away, the tally of the stock-takers corresponds
+      closely with the figures in this book. In best bower anchors the figures
+      are absolutely the same and, as you have seen, in heavy cables they
+      closely correspond. In the large ship's compasses, the ship's boilers, and
+      ship's galleys, the numbers tally exactly. So it is with all the heavy
+      articles; the main blocks are correct, and all other heavy gear. This
+      shows that John Wilkes's book is carefully kept, and it would be strange
+      indeed if heavy goods had all been properly entered, and light ones
+      omitted; but yet when we turn to small articles, we find that there is a
+      great discrepancy between the figures. Here is the account, for instance,
+      of the half-inch rope. According to my ledger, there should be eighteen
+      hundred fathoms in stock, whereas the stock-takers found but three hundred
+      and eighty. In two-inch rope there is a deficiency of two hundred and
+      thirty fathoms, in one-inch rope of six hundred and twenty. These sizes,
+      as you know, are always in requisition, and a thief would find ready
+      purchasers for a coil of any of them. But, as might be expected, it is in
+      copper that the deficiency is most serious. Of fourteen-inch bolts,
+      eighty-two are short, of twelve-inch bolts a hundred and thirty, of
+      eight-inch three hundred and nine; and so on throughout almost all the
+      copper stores. According to your expenditure and receipt-book, Captain
+      Dave, you have made, in the last fifteen months, twelve hundred and thirty
+      pounds; but according to this book your stock is less in value, by two
+      thousand and thirty-four pounds, than it should have been. You are,
+      therefore, a poorer man than you were at the beginning of this fifteen
+      months' trading, by eight hundred and four pounds."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dave sat down in his chair, breathing hard. He took out his
+      handkerchief and wiped the drops of perspiration from his forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Are you sure of this, boy?" he said hoarsely. "Are you sure that you have
+      made no mistake in your figures?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Quite sure," Cyril said firmly. "In all cases in which I have found
+      deficiencies I have gone through the books three times and compared the
+      figures, and I am sure that if you put the books into the hands of any
+      city accountant, he will bear out my figures."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a time Captain Dave sat silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Hast any idea," he said at last, "how this has come about?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have none," Cyril replied. "That John Wilkes is not concerned in it I
+      am as sure as you are; and, thinking the matter over, I see not how the
+      apprentices could have carried off so many articles, some heavy and some
+      bulky, when they left the shop in the evening, without John Wilkes
+      noticing them. So sure am I, that my advice would be that you should take
+      John Wilkes into your confidence, and tell him how matters stand. My only
+      objection to that is that he is a hasty man, and that I fear he would not
+      be able to keep his countenance, so that the apprentices would remark that
+      something was wrong. I am far from saying that they have any hand in it;
+      it would be a grievous wrong to them to have suspicions when there is no
+      shadow of evidence against them; but at any rate, if this matter is to be
+      stopped and the thieves detected, it is most important that they should
+      have, if they are guilty, no suspicion that they are in any way being
+      watched, or that these deficiencies have been discovered. If they have had
+      a hand in the matter they most assuredly had accomplices, for such goods
+      could not be disposed of by an apprentice to any dealer without his being
+      sure that they must have been stolen."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You are right there, lad&mdash;quite right. Did John Wilkes know that I
+      had been robbed in this way he would get into a fury, and no words could
+      restrain him from falling upon the apprentices and beating them till he
+      got some of the truth out of them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They may be quite innocent," Cyril said. "It may be that the thieves have
+      discovered some mode of entry into the store either by opening the
+      shutters at the back, or by loosening a board, or even by delving up under
+      the ground. It is surely easier to believe this than that the boys can
+      have contrived to carry off so large a quantity of goods under John
+      Wilkes's eye."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is so, lad. I have never liked Robert Ashford, but God forbid that I
+      should suspect him of such crime only because his forehead is as wrinkled
+      as an ape's, and Providence has set his eyes crossways in his head. You
+      cannot always judge a ship by her upper works; she may be ugly to the eye
+      and yet have a clear run under water. Still, you can't help going by what
+      you see. I agree with you that if we tell John Wilkes about this, those
+      boys will know five minutes afterwards that the ship is on fire; but if we
+      don't tell him, how are we to get to the bottom of what is going on?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is a difficult question, but a few days will not make much
+      difference, when we know that it has been going on for over a year, and
+      may, for aught we know, have been going on much longer. The first thing,
+      Captain Dave, is to send these books to an accountant, for him to go
+      through them and check my figures."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is no need for that, lad. I know how careful you are, and you
+      cannot have gone so far wrong as all this."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, sir, I am sure that there is no mistake; but, for your own sake as
+      well as mine, it were well that you should have the signature of an
+      accountant to the correctness of the books. If you have to lay the matter
+      before the magistrates, they would not take my testimony as to your
+      losses, and might even say that you were rash in acting upon the word of a
+      boy like myself, and you might then be obliged to have the accounts made
+      up anew, which would cost you more, and cause much delay in the process;
+      whereas, if you put in your books and say that their correctness is
+      vouched for by an accountant, no question would arise on it; nor would
+      there be any delay now, for while the books are being gone into, we can be
+      trying to get to the bottom of the matter here."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay, it shall be done, Master Cyril, as you say. But for the life of
+      me I don't see how we are to get at the bottom of the ship to find out
+      where she is leaking!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It seems to me that the first thing, Captain Dave, is to see to the
+      warehouse. As we agreed that the apprentices cannot have carried out all
+      these goods under John Wilkes's eye, and cannot have come down night after
+      night through the house, the warehouse must have been entered from
+      without. As I never go in there, it would be best that you should see to
+      this matter yourself. There are the fastenings of the shutters in the
+      first place, then the boardings all round. As for me, I will look round
+      outside. The window of my room looks into the street, but if you will take
+      me to one of the rooms at the back we can look at the surroundings of the
+      yard, and may gather some idea whether the goods can have been passed over
+      into any of the houses abutting on it, or, as is more likely, into the
+      lane that runs up by its side."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Captain led the way into one of the rooms at the back of the house,
+      and opening the casement, he and Cyril leaned out. The store occupied
+      fully half the yard, the rest being occupied by anchors, piles of iron,
+      ballast, etc. There were two or three score of guns of various sizes piled
+      on each other. A large store of cannon-ball was ranged in a great pyramid
+      close by. A wall some ten feet high separated the yard from the lane Cyril
+      had spoken of. On the left, adjoining the warehouse, was the yard of the
+      next shop, which belonged to a wool-stapler. Behind were the backs of a
+      number of small houses crowded in between Tower Street and Leadenhall
+      Street.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I suppose you do not know who lives in those houses, Captain Dave?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, indeed. The land is not like the sea. Afloat, when one sees a sail,
+      one wonders what is her nationality, and whither she is bound, and still
+      more whether she is an honest trader or a rascally pirate; but here on
+      land, one scarcely gives a thought as to who may dwell in the houses
+      round."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will walk round presently," Cyril said, "and gather, as far as I can,
+      who they are that live there; but, as I have said, I fancy it is over that
+      wall and into the alley that your goods have departed. The apprentices'
+      room is this side of the house, is it not?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; John Wilkes sleeps in the room next to yours, and the door opposite
+      to his is that of the lads' room."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do the windows of any of the rooms look into that lane?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No; it is a blank wall on that side."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is the clock striking nine," Cyril said, starting. "It is time for
+      me to be off. Then you will take the books to-day, Captain Dave?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will carry them off at once, and when I return will look narrowly into
+      the fastenings of the two windows and door from the warehouse into the
+      yard; and will take care to do so when the boys are engaged in the front
+      shop."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When his work was done, Cyril went round to the houses behind the yard,
+      and he found that they stood in a small court, with three or four trees
+      growing in the centre, and were evidently inhabited by respectable
+      citizens. Over the door of one was painted, "Joshua Heddings, Attorney";
+      next to him was Gilbert Gushing, who dealt in jewels, silks, and other
+      precious commodities from the East; next to him was a doctor, and beyond a
+      dealer in spices. This was enough to assure him that it was not through
+      such houses as these that the goods had been carried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had not been back at the mid-day meal, for his work that day lay up
+      by Holborn Bar, where he had two customers whom he attended with but half
+      an hour's interval between the visits, and on the days on which he went
+      there he was accustomed to get something to eat at a tavern hard by.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Supper was an unusually quiet meal. Captain Dave now and then asked John
+      Wilkes a question as to the business matters of the day, but evidently
+      spoke with an effort. Nellie rattled on as usual; but the burden of
+      keeping up the conversation lay entirely on her shoulders and those of
+      Cyril. After the apprentices had left, and John Wilkes had started for his
+      usual resort, the Captain lit his pipe. Nellie signed to Cyril to come and
+      seat himself by her in the window that projected out over the street, and
+      enabled the occupants of the seats at either side to have a view up and
+      down it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What have you been doing to father, Cyril?" she asked, in low tones; "he
+      has been quite unlike himself all day. Generally when he is out of temper
+      he rates everyone heartily, as if we were a mutinous crew, but to-day he
+      has gone about scarcely speaking; he hasn't said a cross word to any of
+      us, but several times when I spoke to him I got no answer, and it is easy
+      to see that he is terribly put out about something. He was in his usual
+      spirits at breakfast; then, you know, he was talking with you for an hour,
+      and it does not take much guessing to see that it must have been something
+      that passed between you that has put him out. Now what was it?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't see why you should say that, Mistress Nellie. It is true we did
+      have a talk together, and he examined some fresh books I have been making
+      out and said that he was mightily pleased with my work. I went away at
+      nine o'clock, and something may have occurred to upset him between that
+      and dinner."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "All which means that you don't mean to tell me anything about it, Master
+      Cyril. Well, then, you may consider yourself in my black books
+      altogether," she said petulantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am sorry that you should say so," he said. "If it were true that
+      anything that I had said to him had ruffled him, it would be for him to
+      tell you, and not for me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Methinks I have treated Robert Ashford scurvily, and I shall take him for
+      my escort to see His Majesty attend service at St. Paul's to-morrow."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I think it would be fair to give him a turn, Mistress, and I am glad to
+      see that you have such a kind thought."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie rose indignantly, and taking her work sat down by the side of her
+      mother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is a fine evening," Cyril said to Captain Dave, "and I think I shall
+      take a walk round. I shall return in an hour."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Captain understood, by a glance Cyril gave him, that he was going out
+      for some purpose connected with the matter they had in hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay, lad," he said. "It is not good for you to be sitting moping at
+      home every evening. I have often wondered before that you did not take a
+      walk on deck before you turned in. I always used to do so myself."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't think there is any moping in it, Captain Dave," Cyril said, with
+      a laugh. "If you knew how pleasant the evenings have been to me after the
+      life I lived before, you would not say so."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril's only object in going out, however, was to avoid the necessity of
+      having to talk with Dame Dowsett and Nellie. His thoughts were running on
+      nothing but the robbery, and he had found it very difficult to talk in his
+      usual manner, and to answer Nellie's sprightly sallies. It was dark
+      already. A few oil lamps gave a feeble light here and there. At present he
+      had formed no plan whatever of detecting the thieves; he was as much
+      puzzled as the Captain himself as to how the goods could have been
+      removed. It would be necessary, of course, to watch the apprentices, but
+      he did not think that anything was likely to come out of this. It was the
+      warehouse itself that must be watched, in order to discover how the
+      thieves made an entry. His own idea was that they got over the wall by
+      means of a rope, and in some way managed to effect an entry into the
+      warehouse. The apprentices could hardly aid them unless they came down
+      through the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If they had managed to get a duplicate key of the door leading from the
+      bottom of the stairs to the shop, they could, of course, unbar the
+      windows, and pass things out&mdash;that part of the business would be
+      easy; but he could not believe that they would venture frequently to pass
+      down through the house. It was an old one, and the stairs creaked. He
+      himself was a light sleeper; he had got into the way of waking at the
+      slightest sound, from the long watches he had had for his father's return,
+      and felt sure that he should have heard them open their door and steal
+      along the passage past his room, however quietly they might do it. He
+      walked up the Exchange, then along Cheapside as far as St. Paul's, and
+      back. Quiet as it was in Thames Street there was no lack of animation
+      elsewhere. Apprentices were generally allowed to go out for an hour after
+      supper, the regulation being that they returned to their homes by eight
+      o'clock. Numbers of these were about. A good many citizens were on their
+      way home after supping with friends. The city watch, with lanterns,
+      patrolled the streets, and not infrequently interfered in quarrels which
+      broke out among the apprentices. Cyril felt more solitary among the knots
+      of laughing, noisy lads than in the quiet streets, and was glad to be home
+      again. Captain Dave himself came down to open the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have just sent the women to bed," he said. "The two boys came in five
+      minutes ago. I thought you would not be long."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I did not go out for anything particular," Cyril said; "but Mistress
+      Nellie insisted that there was something wrong with you, and that I must
+      know what it was about, so, feeling indeed indisposed to talk, I thought
+      it best to go out for a short time."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, yes. Women always want to know, lad. I have been long enough at sea,
+      you may be sure, to know that when anything is wrong, it is the best thing
+      to keep it from the passengers as long as you can."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You took the books away this morning, Captain Dave?" Cyril asked as they
+      sat down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, lad, I took them to Master Skinner, who bears as good a reputation as
+      any accountant in the city, and he promised to take them in hand without
+      loss of time; but I have been able to do nothing here. John, or one or
+      other of the boys, was always in the warehouse, and I have had no
+      opportunity of examining the door and shutters closely. When the house is
+      sound asleep we will take a lantern and go down to look at them. I have
+      been thinking that we must let John Wilkes into this matter; it is too
+      much to bear on my mind by myself. He is my first mate, you see, and in
+      time of danger, the first mate, if he is worth anything, is the man the
+      captain relies on for help."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "By all means tell him, then," Cyril said. "I can keep books, but I have
+      no experience in matters like this, and shall be very glad to have his
+      opinion and advice."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There he is&mdash;half-past eight. He is as punctual as clockwork."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril ran down and let John in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The Captain wants to speak to you," he said, "before you go up to bed."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John, after carefully bolting the door, followed him upstairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have got some bad news for you, John. There, light your pipe again, and
+      sit down. My good dame has gone off to bed, and we have got the cabin to
+      ourselves."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John touched an imaginary hat and obeyed orders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The ship has sprung a bad leak, John. This lad here has found it out, and
+      it is well he did, for unless he had done so we should have had her
+      foundering under our feet without so much as suspecting anything was going
+      wrong."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sailor took his newly-lighted pipe from between his lips and stared at
+      the Captain in astonishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, it is hard to believe, mate, but, by the Lord Harry, it is as I say.
+      There is a pirate about somewhere, and the books show that, since the
+      stock-taking fifteen months ago, he has eased the craft of her goods to
+      the tune of two thousand pounds and odd."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John Wilkes flung his pipe on to the table with such force that it
+      shivered into fragments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Dash my timbers!" he exclaimed. "Who is the man? You only give me the
+      orders, sir, and I am ready to range alongside and board him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is what we have got to find out, John. That the goods have gone is
+      certain, but how they can have gone beats us altogether."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do you mean to say, Captain, that they have stolen them out of the place
+      under my eyes and me know nothing about it? It can't be, sir. There must
+      be some mistake. I know naught about figures, save enough to put down the
+      things I sell, but I don't believe as a thing has gone out of the shop
+      unbeknown to me. That yarn won't do for me, sir," and he looked angrily at
+      Cyril.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is true enough, John, for all that. The books have been balanced up.
+      We knew what was in stock fifteen months ago, and we knew from your
+      sale-book what has passed out of the shop, and from your entry-book what
+      has come in. We know now what there is remaining. We find that in bulky
+      goods, such as cables and anchors and ships' boilers and suchlike, the
+      accounts tally exactly, but in the small rope, and above all in the
+      copper, there is a big shrinkage. I will read you the figures of some of
+      them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John's face grew longer and longer as he heard the totals read.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, I'm jiggered!" he said, when the list was concluded. "I could have
+      sworn that the cargo was right according to the manifest. Well, Captain,
+      all I can say is, if that 'ere list be correct, the best thing you can do
+      is to send me adrift as a blind fool. I have kept my tallies as correct as
+      I could, and I thought I had marked down every package that has left the
+      ship, and here they must have been passing out pretty nigh in cart-loads
+      under my very eyes, and I knew nothing about it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't blame you, John, more than I blame myself. I am generally about
+      on deck, and had no more idea that the cargo was being meddled with than
+      you had. I have been wrong in letting matters go on so long without taking
+      stock of them and seeing that it was all right; but I never saw the need
+      for it. This is what comes of taking to a trade you know nothing about; we
+      have just been like two children, thinking that it was all plain and above
+      board, and that we had nothing to do but to sell our goods and to fill up
+      again when the hold got empty. Well, it is of no use talking over that
+      part of the business. What we have got to do is to find out this leak and
+      stop it. We are pretty well agreed, Cyril and me, that the things don't go
+      out of the shop by daylight. The question is, how do they go out at
+      night?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I always lock up the hatches according to orders, Captain."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, I have no doubt you do, John; but maybe the fastenings have been
+      tampered with. The only way in which we see it can have been managed is
+      that someone has been in the habit of getting over the wall between the
+      yard and the lane, and then getting into the warehouse somehow. It must
+      have been done very often, for if the things had been taken in
+      considerable quantities you would have noticed that the stock was short
+      directly the next order came in. Now I propose we light these two lanterns
+      I have got here, and that we go down and have a look round the hold."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lighting the candles, they went downstairs. The Captain took out the key
+      and turned the lock. It grated loudly as he did so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is a noisy lock," Cyril said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It wants oiling," John replied. "I have been thinking of doing it for the
+      last month, but it has always slipped out of my mind."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "At any rate," Cyril said, "it is certain that thieves could not have got
+      into the shop this way, for the noise would have been heard all over the
+      house."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The door between the shop and the warehouse was next unlocked. The
+      fastenings of the shutters and doors were first examined; there was no
+      sign of their having been tampered with. Each bolt and hasp was tried, and
+      the screws examined. Then they went round trying every one of the stout
+      planks that formed the side; all were firm and in good condition.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It beats me altogether," the Captain said, when they had finished their
+      examination. "The things cannot walk out of themselves; they have got to
+      be carried. But how the fellows who carry them get in is more than I can
+      say. There is nowhere else to look, is there, John?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not that I can see, Captain."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They went to the door into the shop, and were about to close it, when
+      Cyril said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Some of the things that are gone are generally kept in here, Captain&mdash;the
+      rope up to two inch, for example, and a good deal of canvas, and most of
+      the smaller copper fittings; so that, whoever the thief is, he must have
+      been in the habit of coming in here as well as into the warehouse."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is so, lad. Perhaps they entered from this side."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Will you hold the lantern here, John?" Cyril said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sailor held the lantern to the lock.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There are no scratches nor signs of tools having been used here," Cyril
+      said, examining both the lock and the door-post. "Whether the thief came
+      into the warehouse first, or not, he must have had a key."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Captain nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Thieves generally carry a lot of keys with them, Cyril; and if one does
+      not quite fit they can file it until it does."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The shutters of the shop window and its fastenings, and those of the door,
+      were as secure as those of the warehouse, and, completely puzzled, the
+      party went upstairs again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There must be some way of getting in and out, although we can't find it,"
+      Captain Dave said. "Things can't have gone off by themselves."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It may be, Captain," John Wilkes said, "that some of the planks may be
+      loose."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But we tried them all, John."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, they seem firm enough, but it may be that one of them is wedged in,
+      and that when the wedges are taken out it could be pulled off."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I think you would have noticed it, John. If there was anything of that
+      sort it must be outside. However, we will take a good look round the yard
+      to-morrow. The warehouse is strongly built, and I don't believe that any
+      plank could be taken off and put back again, time after time, without
+      making a noise that would be heard in the house. What do you think,
+      Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I agree with you, Captain Dave. How the thieves make an entry I can't
+      imagine, but I don't believe that it is through the wall of the warehouse.
+      I am convinced that the robberies must have been very frequent. Had a
+      large amount been taken at a time, John Wilkes would have been sure to
+      notice it. Then, again, the thieves would not come so often, and each time
+      for a comparatively small amount of booty, unless it could be managed
+      without any serious risk or trouble. However, now that we do know that
+      they come, we shall have, I should think, very little difficulty in
+      finding out how it is done."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You may warrant we will keep a sharp look-out," John Wilkes said
+      savagely. "If the Captain will give me the use of a room at the back of
+      the house, you may be sure I shan't close an eye till I have got to the
+      bottom of the matter. I am responsible for the cargo below, and if I had
+      kept as sharp an eye on the stores as I ought to have done, this would not
+      have happened. Only let me catch them trying to board, and I will give
+      them such a reception that I warrant me they will sheer off with a bullet
+      or two in them. I have got that pair of boarding pistols, and a cutlass,
+      hung up over my bed."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You must not do that, John," the Captain said. "It isn't a matter of
+      beating off the pirates by pouring a broadside into them. Maybe you might
+      cripple them, more likely they would make off, and we want to capture
+      them. Therefore, I say, let us watch, and find out how they do it. When we
+      once know that, we can lay our plans for capturing them the next time they
+      come. I will take watch and watch with you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, if it goes on long, Captain, I won't say no to that; but for
+      to-night anyhow I will sit up alone."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Very well, let it be so, John. But mind, whatever you see, you keep as
+      still as a mouse. Just steal to my room in your stockinged feet directly
+      you see anything moving. Open the door and say, 'Strange sail in sight!'
+      and I will be over at your window in no time. And now, Cyril, you and I
+      may as well turn in."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The night passed quietly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You saw nothing, I suppose, John?" the Captain said next morning, after
+      the apprentices had gone down from breakfast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not a thing, Captain."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now we will go and have a look in the yard. Will you come, Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should like to come," Cyril replied, "but, as I have never been out
+      there before, had you not better make some pretext for me to do so. You
+      might say, in the hearing of the apprentices, 'We may as well take the
+      measurements for that new shed we were talking about, and see how much
+      boarding it will require.' Then you can call to me out from the office to
+      come and help you to measure."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then you still think the apprentices are in it?" John Wilkes asked
+      sharply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't say I think so, John. I have nothing against them. I don't
+      believe they could come down at night without being heard; I feel sure
+      they could not get into the shop without that stiff bolt making a noise.
+      Still, as it is possible they may be concerned in the matter, I think
+      that, now we have it in good train for getting to the bottom of it, it
+      would be well to keep the matter altogether to ourselves."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Quite right," Captain Dave said approvingly. "When you suspect treachery,
+      don't let a soul think that you have got such a matter in your mind, until
+      you are in a position to take the traitor by the collar and put a pistol
+      to his ear. That idea of yours is a very good one; I will say something
+      about the shed to John this morning, and then when you go down to the
+      counting-house after dinner I will call to you to come out to the yard
+      with us."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After dinner, Captain Dave went with Cyril into the counting-house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We had an order in this morning for a set of ship's anchors, and John and
+      I have been in the yard looking them out; we looked over the place pretty
+      sharply, as you may be sure, but as far as we could see the place is as
+      solid as when it was built, fifty years ago, by my father."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Captain went out into the store, and ten minutes afterwards re-entered
+      the shop and shouted,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Come out here, Cyril, and lend a hand. We are going to take those
+      measurements. Bring out your ink-horn, and a bit of paper to put them down
+      as we take them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The yard was some sixty feet long by twenty-five broad, exclusive of the
+      space occupied by the warehouse. This, as Cyril had observed from the
+      window above, did not extend as far as the back wall; but on walking round
+      there with the two men, he found that the distance was greater than he had
+      expected, and that there was a space of some twenty feet clear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is where we are thinking of putting the shed," the Captain said in a
+      loud voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But I see that you have a crane and door into the loft over the warehouse
+      there," Cyril said, looking up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We never use that now. When my father first began business, he used to
+      buy up old junk and such-like stores, and store them up there, but it
+      didn't pay for the trouble; and, besides, as you see, he wanted every foot
+      of the yard room, and of course at that time they had to leave a space
+      clear for the carts to come up from the gate round here, so it was given
+      up, and the loft is empty now."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril looked up at the crane. It was swung round so as to lie flat against
+      the wooden shutters. The rope was still through the block, and passed into
+      the loft through a hole cut at the junction of the shutters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They now measured the space between the warehouse and the wall, the
+      Captain repeating the figures, still in a loud voice; then they discussed
+      the height of the walls, and after some argument between the Captain and
+      John Wilkes agreed that this should be the same as the rest of the
+      building. Still talking on the subject, they returned through the
+      warehouse, Cyril on the way taking a look at the massive gate that opened
+      into the lane. In addition to a heavy bar it had a strong hasp, fastened
+      by a great padlock. The apprentices were busy at work coiling up some rope
+      when they passed by.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "When we have knocked a door through the end there, John," Captain Dave
+      said, "it will give you a deal more room, and you will be able to get rid
+      of all these cables and heavy dunnage, and to have matters more ship-shape
+      here."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While they had been taking the measurements, all three had carefully
+      examined the wall of the warehouse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is nothing wrong there, Cyril," his employer said, as, leaving John
+      Wilkes in the warehouse, they went through the shop into the little
+      office.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Certainly nothing that I could see, Captain Dave. I did not before know
+      the loft had any opening to the outside. Of course I have seen the ladder
+      going up from the warehouse to that trap-door; but as it was closed I
+      thought no more of it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't suppose anyone has been up there for years, lad. What, are you
+      thinking that someone might get in through those shutters? Why, they are
+      twenty feet from the ground, so that you would want a long ladder, and
+      when you got up there you would find that you could not open the shutters.
+      I said nobody had been up there, but I did go up myself to have a look
+      round when I first settled down here, and there is a big bar with a
+      padlock."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril thought no more about it, and after supper it was arranged that he
+      and Captain Dave should keep watch by turns at the window of the room that
+      had been now given to John Wilkes, and that the latter should have a night
+      in his berth, as the Captain expressed it. John Wilkes had made some
+      opposition, saying that he would be quite willing to take his watch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will just obey orders, John," the Captain said. "You have had
+      thirty-six hours off the reel on duty, and you have got to be at work all
+      day to-morrow again. You shall take the middle watch to-morrow night if
+      you like, but one can see with half an eye that you are not fit to be on
+      the lookout to-night. I doubt if any of us could see as far as the length
+      of the bowsprit. It is pretty nearly pitch dark; there is not a star to be
+      seen, and it looked to me, when I turned out before supper, as if we were
+      going to have a storm."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV &mdash; CAPTURED
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was settled that Cyril was to take the first watch, and that the
+      Captain should relieve him at one o'clock. At nine, the family went to
+      bed. A quarter of an hour later, Cyril stole noiselessly from his attic
+      down to John Wilkes's room. The door had been left ajar, and the candle
+      was still burning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I put a chair by the window," the sailor said, from his bed, "and left
+      the light, for you might run foul of something or other in the dark,
+      though I have left a pretty clear gangway for you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril blew out the candle, and seated himself at the window. For a time he
+      could see nothing, and told himself that the whole contents of the
+      warehouse might be carried off without his being any the wiser.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shall certainly see nothing," he said to himself; "but, at least, I may
+      hear something."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, he turned the fastening of the casement and opened it about
+      half an inch. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he was able
+      to make out the line of the roof of the warehouse, which was some three or
+      four feet below the level of his eyes, and some twenty feet away on his
+      left. The time passed slowly. He kept himself awake by thinking over the
+      old days in France, the lessons he had learnt with his friend, Harry
+      Parton, and the teaching of the old clergyman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He heard the bell of St. Paul's strike ten and eleven. The last stroke had
+      scarcely ceased to vibrate when he rose to his feet suddenly. He heard, on
+      his left, a scraping noise. A moment later it ceased, and then was renewed
+      again. It lasted but a few seconds; then he heard an irregular, shuffling
+      noise, that seemed to him upon the roof of the warehouse. Pressing his
+      face to the casement, he suddenly became aware that the straight line of
+      the ridge was broken by something moving along it, and a moment later he
+      made out a second object, just behind the first. Moving with the greatest
+      care, he made his way out of the room, half closed the door behind him,
+      crossed the passage, and pushed at a door opposite.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Captain Dave," he said, in a low voice, "get up at once, and please don't
+      make a noise."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay, lad."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a movement from the bed, and a moment later the Captain stood
+      beside him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What is it, lad?" he whispered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There are two figures moving along on the ridge of the roof of the
+      warehouse. I think it is the apprentices. I heard a slight noise, as if
+      they were letting themselves down from their window by a rope. It is just
+      over that roof, you know."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a rustling sound as the Captain slipped his doublet on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is so. The young scoundrels! What can they be doing on the roof?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They went to the window behind. Just as they reached it there was a vivid
+      flash of lightning. It sufficed to show them a figure lying at full length
+      at the farther end of the roof; then all was dark again, and a second or
+      two later came a sharp, crashing roar of thunder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We had better stand well back from the window," Cyril whispered. "Another
+      flash might show us to anyone looking this way."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What does it mean, lad? What on earth is that boy doing there? I could
+      not see which it was."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I think it is Ashford," Cyril said. "The figure in front seemed the
+      smaller of the two."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But where on earth can Tom have got to?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should fancy, sir, that Robert has lowered him so that he can get his
+      feet on the crane and swing it outwards; then he might sit down on it and
+      swing himself by the rope into the loft if the doors are not fastened
+      inside. Robert, being taller, would have no difficulty in lowering himself&mdash;There!"
+      he broke off, as another flash of lightning lit up the sky. "He has gone,
+      now; there is no one on the roof."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John Wilkes was by this time standing beside them, having started up at
+      the first flash of lightning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do you go up, John, into their room," the Captain said. "I think there
+      can be no doubt that these fellows on the roof are Ashford and Frost, but
+      it is as well to be able to swear to it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The foreman returned in a minute or two.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The room is empty, Captain; the window is open, and there is a rope
+      hanging down from it. Shall I cast it adrift?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Certainly not, John. We do not mean to take them tonight, and they must
+      be allowed to go back to their beds without a suspicion that they have
+      been watched. I hope and trust that it is not so bad as it looks, and that
+      the boys have only broken out from devilry. You know, boys will do things
+      of that sort just because it is forbidden."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There must be more than that," John Wilkes said. "If it had been just
+      after they went to their rooms, it might be that they went to some tavern
+      or other low resort, but the town is all asleep now."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They again went close to the window, pushed the casement a little more
+      open, and stood listening there. In two or three minutes there was a very
+      slight sound heard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They are unbolting the door into the yard," John Wilkes whispered. "I
+      would give a month's pay to be behind them with a rope's end."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Half a minute later there was a sudden gleam of light below, and they
+      could see the door open. The light disappeared again, but they heard
+      footsteps; then they saw the light thrown on the fastening to the outer
+      gate, and could make out that two figures below were applying a key to the
+      padlock. This was taken off and laid down; then the heavy wooden bar was
+      lifted, and also laid on the ground. The gate opened as if pushed from the
+      other side. The two figures went out; the sound of a low murmur of
+      conversation could be heard; then they returned, the gate was closed and
+      fastened again, they entered the warehouse, the light disappeared, and the
+      door was closed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That's how the things went, John."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay, sir," the foreman growled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "As they were undoing the gate, the light fell on a coil of rope they had
+      set down there, and a bag which I guess had copper of some kind in it.
+      They have done us cleverly, the young villains! There was not noise enough
+      to wake a cat. They must have had every bolt and hinge well oiled."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We had better close the casement now, sir, for as they come back along
+      the ridge they will be facing it, and if a flash of lightning came they
+      would see that it was half open, and even if they did not catch sight of
+      our faces they would think it suspicious that the window should be open,
+      and it might put them on their guard."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; and we may as well turn in at once, John. Like enough when they get
+      back they will listen for a bit at their door, so as to make sure that
+      everything is quiet before they turn in. There is nothing more to see now.
+      Of course they will get in as they got out. You had better turn in as you
+      are, Cyril; they may listen at your door."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril at once went up to his room, closed the door, placed a chair against
+      it, and then lay down on his bed. He listened intently, and four or five
+      minutes later thought that he heard a door open; but he could not be sure,
+      for just at that moment heavy drops began to patter down upon the tiles.
+      The noise rose louder and louder until he could scarce have heard himself
+      speak. Then there was a bright flash and the deep rumble of the thunder
+      mingled with the sharp rattle of the raindrops overhead. He listened for a
+      time to the storm, and then dropped off to sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Things went on as usual at breakfast the next morning. During the meal,
+      Captain Dave gave the foreman several instructions as to the morning's
+      work.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am going on board the <i>Royalist</i>," he said. "John Browning wants
+      me to overhaul all the gear, and see what will do for another voyage or
+      two, and what must be new. His skipper asked for new running rigging all
+      over, but he thinks that there can't be any occasion for its all being
+      renewed. I don't expect I shall be in till dinner-time, so anyone that
+      wants to see me must come again in the afternoon."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ten minutes later, Cyril went out, on his way to his work. Captain Dave
+      was standing a few doors away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Before I go on board the brig, lad, I am going up to the Chief
+      Constable's to arrange about this business. I want to get four men of the
+      watch. Of course, it may be some nights before this is tried again, so I
+      shall have the men stowed away in the kitchen. Then we must keep watch,
+      and as soon as we see those young villains on the roof, we will let the
+      men out at the front door. Two will post themselves this end of the lane,
+      and two go round into Leadenhall Street and station themselves at the
+      other end. When the boys go out after supper we will unlock the door at
+      the bottom of the stairs into the shop, and the door into the warehouse.
+      Then we will steal down into the shop and listen there until we hear them
+      open the door into the yard, and then go into the warehouse and be ready
+      to make a rush out as soon as they get the gate open. John will have his
+      boatswain's whistle ready, and will give the signal. That will bring the
+      watch up, so they will be caught in a trap."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should think that would be a very good plan, Captain Dave, though I
+      wish that it could have been done without Tom Frost being taken. He is a
+      timid sort of boy, and I have no doubt that he has been entirely under the
+      thumb of Robert."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, if he has he will get off lightly," the Captain said. "Even if a
+      boy is a timid boy, he knows what will be the consequences if he is caught
+      robbing his master. Cowardice is no excuse for crime, lad. The boys have
+      always been well treated, and though I dare say Ashford is the worst of
+      the two, if the other had been honest he would not have seen him robbing
+      me without letting me know."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For six nights watch was kept without success. Every evening, when the
+      family and apprentices had retired to rest, John Wilkes went quietly
+      downstairs and admitted the four constables, letting them out in the
+      morning before anyone was astir. Mrs. Dowsett had been taken into her
+      husband's confidence so far as to know that he had discovered he had been
+      robbed, and was keeping a watch for the thieves. She was not told that the
+      apprentices were concerned in the matter, for Captain Dave felt sure that,
+      however much she might try to conceal it, Robert Ashford would perceive,
+      by her looks, that something was wrong.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie was told a day or two later, for, although ignorant of her father's
+      nightly watchings, she was conscious from his manner, and that of her
+      mother, that something was amiss, and was so persistent in her inquiries,
+      that the Captain consented to her mother telling her that he had a
+      suspicion he was being robbed, and warning her that it was essential that
+      the subject must not be in any way alluded to.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Your father is worrying over it a good deal, Nellie, and it is better
+      that he should not perceive that you are aware of it. Just let things go
+      on as they were."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Is the loss serious, mother?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; he thinks that a good deal of money has gone. I don't think he minds
+      that so much as the fact that, so far, he doesn't know who the people most
+      concerned in it may be. He has some sort of suspicion in one quarter, but
+      has no clue whatever to the men most to blame."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Does Cyril know anything about it?" Nellie asked suddenly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, he knows, my dear; indeed, it was owing to his cleverness that your
+      father first came to have suspicions."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Oh! that explains it," Nellie said. "He had been talking to father, and I
+      asked what it was about and he would not tell me, and I have been very
+      angry with him ever since."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have noticed that you have been behaving very foolishly," Mrs. Dowsett
+      said quietly, "and that for the last week you have been taking Robert with
+      you as an escort when you went out of an evening. I suppose you did that
+      to annoy Cyril, but I don't think that he minded much."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't think he did, mother," Nellie agreed, with a laugh which betrayed
+      a certain amount of irritation. "I saw that he smiled, two or three
+      evenings back, when I told Robert at supper that I wanted him to go out
+      with me, and I was rarely angry, I can tell you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had indeed troubled himself in no way about Nellie's coolness; but
+      when she had so pointedly asked Robert to go with her, he had been amused
+      at the thought of how greatly she would be mortified, when Robert was
+      haled up to the Guildhall for robbing her father, at the thought that he
+      had been accompanying her as an escort.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I rather hope this will be our last watch, Captain Dave," he said, on the
+      seventh evening.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Why do you hope so specially to-night, lad?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Of course I have been hoping so every night. But I think it is likely
+      that the men who take the goods come regularly once a week; for in that
+      case there would be no occasion for them to meet at other times to arrange
+      on what night they should be in the lane."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, that is like enough, Cyril; and the hour will probably be the same,
+      too. John and I will share your watch to-night, so as to be ready to get
+      the men off without loss of time."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had always taken the first watch, which was from half-past nine till
+      twelve. The Captain and Wilkes had taken the other watches by turns.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As before, just as the bell finished striking eleven, the three watchers
+      again heard through the slightly open casement the scraping noise on the
+      left. It had been agreed that they should not move, lest the sound should
+      be heard outside. Each grasped the stout cudgel he held in his hand, and
+      gazed at the roof of the warehouse, which could now be plainly seen, for
+      the moon was half full and the sky was clear. As before, the two figures
+      went along, and this time they could clearly recognise them. They were
+      both sitting astride of the ridge tiles, and moved themselves along by
+      means of their hands. They waited until they saw one after the other
+      disappear at the end of the roof, and then John Wilkes quietly stole
+      downstairs. The four constables had been warned to be specially wakeful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They are at it again to-night," John said to them, as he entered. "Now,
+      do you two who go round into Leadenhall Street start at once, but don't
+      take your post at the end of the lane for another five or six minutes. The
+      thieves outside may not have come up at present. As you go out, leave the
+      door ajar; in five minutes you others should stand ready. Don't go to the
+      corner, but wait in the doorway below until you hear the whistle. They
+      will be only fifteen or twenty yards up the lane, and would see you if you
+      took up your station at the corner; but the moment you hear the whistle,
+      rush out and have at them. We shall be there before you will."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John went down with the last two men, entered the shop, and stood there
+      waiting until he should be joined by his master. The latter and Cyril
+      remained at the window until they saw the door of the warehouse open, and
+      then hurried downstairs. Both were in their stockinged feet, so that their
+      movements should be noiseless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Come on, John; they are in the yard," the Captain whispered; and they
+      entered the warehouse and went noiselessly on, until they stood at the
+      door. The process of unbarring the gate was nearly accomplished. As it
+      swung open, John Wilkes put his whistle to his lips and blew a loud,
+      shrill call, and the three rushed forward. There was a shout of alarm, a
+      fierce imprecation, and three of the four figures at the gate sprang at
+      them. Scarce a blow had been struck when the two constables ran up and
+      joined in the fray. Two men fought stoutly, but were soon overpowered.
+      Robert Ashford, knife in hand, had attacked John Wilkes with fury, and
+      would have stabbed him, as his attention was engaged upon one of the men
+      outside, had not Cyril brought his cudgel down sharply on his knuckles,
+      when, with a yell of pain, he dropped the knife and fled up the lane. He
+      had gone but a short distance, however, when he fell into the hands of the
+      two constables, who were running towards him. One of them promptly knocked
+      him down with his cudgel, and then proceeded to bind his hands behind him,
+      while the other ran on to join in the fray. It was over before he got
+      there, and his comrades were engaged in binding the two robbers. Tom Frost
+      had taken no part in the fight. He stood looking on, paralysed with
+      terror, and when the two men were overpowered he fell on his knees
+      beseeching his master to have mercy on him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is too late, Tom," the Captain said. "You have been robbing me for
+      months, and now you have been caught in the act you will have to take your
+      share in the punishment. You are a prisoner of the constables here, and
+      not of mine, and even if I were willing to let you go, they would have
+      their say in the matter. Still, if you make a clean breast of what you
+      know about it, I will do all I can to get you off lightly; and seeing that
+      you are but a boy, and have been, perhaps, led into this, they will not be
+      disposed to be hard on you. Pick up that lantern and bring it here, John;
+      let us see what plunder, they were making off with."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was no rope this time, but a bag containing some fifty pounds'
+      weight of brass and copper fittings. One of the constables took possession
+      of this.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You had better come along with us to the Bridewell, Master Dowsett, to
+      sign the charge sheet, though I don't know whether it is altogether
+      needful, seeing that we have caught them in the act; and you will all
+      three have to be at the Court to-morrow at ten o'clock."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will go with you," the Captain said; "but I will first slip in and put
+      my shoes on; I brought them down in my hand and shall be ready in a
+      minute. You may as well lock up this gate again, John. I will go out
+      through the front door and join them in the lane." As he went into the
+      house, John Wilkes closed the gate and put up the bar, then took up the
+      lantern and said to Cyril,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, Master Cyril, this has been a good night's work, and mighty
+      thankful I am that we have caught the pirates. It was a good day for us
+      all when you came to the Captain, or they might have gone on robbing him
+      till the time came that there was nothing more to rob; and I should never
+      have held up my head again, for though the Captain would never believe
+      that I had had a hand in bringing him to ruin, other people would not have
+      thought so, and I might never have got a chance of proving my innocence.
+      Now we will just go to the end of the yard and see if they did manage to
+      get into the warehouse by means of that crane, as you thought they did."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They found that the crane had been swung out just far enough to afford a
+      foot-hold to those lowering themselves on to it from the roof. The door of
+      the loft stood open.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Just as you said. You could not have been righter, not if you had seen
+      them at it. And now I reckon we may as well lock up the place again, and
+      turn in. The Captain has got the key of the front door, and we will leave
+      the lantern burning at the bottom of the stairs."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril got up as soon as he heard a movement in the house, and went down to
+      the shop, which had been already opened by John Wilkes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It seems quiet here, without the apprentices, John. Is there any way in
+      which I can help?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, thank you, sir. We shan't be moving the goods about till after
+      breakfast, and then, no doubt, the Captain will get an extra man in to
+      help me. I reckon he will have to get a neighbour in to give an eye to the
+      place while we are all away at the Court."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I see there is the rope still hanging from their window," Cyril said, as
+      he went out into the yard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I thought it best to leave it there," John Wilkes replied, "and I ain't
+      been up into the loft either. It is best to leave matters just as they
+      were. Like enough, they will send an officer down from the Court to look
+      at them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the family assembled at breakfast, Mrs. Dowsett was looking very
+      grave. The Captain, on the other hand, was in capital spirits. Nellie, as
+      usual, was somewhat late.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Where is everybody?" she asked in surprise, seeing that Cyril alone was
+      in his place with her father and mother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "John Wilkes is downstairs, looking after the shop, and will come up and
+      have his breakfast when we have done," her father replied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Are both the apprentices out, then?" she asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The apprentices are in limbo," the Captain said grimly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "In limbo, father! What does that mean?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It means that they are in gaol, my dear."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie put down the knife and fork that she had just taken up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Are you joking, father?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Very far from it, my dear; it is no joke to any of us&mdash;certainly not
+      to me, and not to Robert Ashford, or Tom Frost. They have been robbing me
+      for the last year, and, for aught I know, before that. If it had not been
+      for Master Cyril it would not have been very long before I should have had
+      to put my shutters up."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But how could they rob you, father?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "By stealing my goods, and selling them, Nellie. The way they did it was
+      to lower themselves by a rope from their window on to the roof of the
+      warehouse, and to get down at the other end on to the crane, and then into
+      the loft. Then they went down and took what they had a fancy to, undid the
+      door, and went into the yard, and then handed over their booty to the
+      fellows waiting at the gate for it. Last night we caught them at it, after
+      having been on the watch for ten days."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is what I heard last night, then," she said. "I was woke by a loud
+      whistle, and then I heard a sound of quarrelling and fighting in the lane.
+      I thought it was some roysterers going home late. Oh, father, it is
+      dreadful to think of! And what will they do to them?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is a hanging matter," the Captain said; "it is not only theft, but
+      mutiny. No doubt the judges will take a lenient view of Tom Frost's case,
+      both on the ground of his youth, and because, no doubt, he was influenced
+      by Ashford; but I would not give much for Robert's chances. No doubt it
+      will be a blow to you, Nellie, for you seem to have taken to him mightily
+      of late."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie was about to give an emphatic contradiction, but as she remembered
+      how pointedly she had asked for his escort during the last few days, she
+      flushed up, and was silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is terrible to think of," she said, after a pause. "I suppose this is
+      what you and Cyril were consulting about, father. I have to ask your
+      pardon, Master Cyril, for my rudeness to you; but of course I did not
+      think it was anything of consequence, or that you could not have told me
+      if you had wished to do so."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You need not beg my pardon, Mistress Nellie. No doubt you thought it
+      churlish on my part to refuse to gratify your curiosity, and I am not
+      surprised that you took offence. I knew that when you learned how
+      important it was to keep silence over the matter, that you would acquit me
+      of the intention of making a mystery about nothing."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I suppose you knew, mother?" Nellie asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I knew that your father believed that he was being robbed, Nellie, and
+      that he was keeping watch for some hours every night, but I did not know
+      that he suspected the apprentices. I am glad that we did not, for
+      assuredly we should have found it very hard to school our faces so that
+      they should not guess that aught was wrong."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That was why we said nothing about it, Nellie. It has been as much as I
+      have been able to do to sit at table, and talk in the shop as usual, with
+      boys I knew were robbing me; and I know honest John Wilkes must have felt
+      it still more. But till a week ago we would not believe that they had a
+      hand in the matter. It is seven nights since Cyril caught them creeping
+      along the roof, and called me to the window in John Wilkes's room, whence
+      he was watching the yard, not thinking the enemy was in the house."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And how did you come to suspect that robbery was going on, Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Simply because, on making up the books, I found there was a great
+      deficiency in the stores."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is what he was doing when he was sitting up at night, after you were
+      in bed, Miss Nellie," her father said. "You may thank your stars that he
+      took a berth in this ship, for the scoundrels would have foundered her to
+      a certainty, if he had not done so. I tell you, child, he has saved this
+      craft from going to the bottom. I have not said much to him about it, but
+      he knows that I don't feel it any the less."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And who were the other men who were taken, father?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That I can't tell you, Nellie. I went to the Bridewell with them, and as
+      soon as I saw them safely lodged there I came home. They will be had up
+      before the Lord Mayor this morning, and then I dare say I shall know all
+      about them. Now I must go and take my watch below, and let John Wilkes
+      come off duty."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Why, John, what is the matter?" Mrs. Dowsett said, when the foreman
+      entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Nothing worth speaking of, Mistress. I got a clip over the eye from one
+      of the pirates we were capturing. The thing mattered nothing, one way or
+      the other, but it might have cost me my life, because, for a moment, it
+      pretty well dazed me. That young villain, Bob, was just coming at me with
+      his knife, and I reckon it would have gone hard with me if Master Cyril
+      here hadn't, just in the nick of time, brought his stick down on Robert's
+      knuckles, and that so sharply that the fellow dropped his knife with a
+      yell, and took to his heels, only to fall into the hands of two of the
+      watch coming from the other end of the lane. You did me a good turn, lad,
+      and if ever I get the chance of ranging up alongside of you in a fray, you
+      may trust me to return it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He held out his hand to Cyril, and gave a warm grip to the hand the latter
+      laid in it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is a rum start, Mistress," John went on, as he sat down to his meal,
+      "that two old hands like the Captain and I were sailing on, not dreaming
+      of hidden rocks or sand-banks, when this lad, who I used to look upon as a
+      young cockerel who was rather above his position, should come forward and
+      have saved us all from shipwreck."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is indeed, John," his mistress said earnestly, "and I thank God indeed
+      that He put the thought into the minds of Captain Dave and myself to ask
+      him to take up his abode with us. It seemed to us then that we were doing
+      a little kindness that would cost us nothing, whereas it has turned out
+      the saving of us."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Dear, dear!" Nellie, who had been sitting with a frown on her pretty
+      face, said pettishly. "What a talk there will be about it all, and how
+      Jane Greenwood and Martha Stebbings and the rest of them will laugh at me!
+      They used to say they wondered how I could go about with such an ugly
+      wretch behind me, and of course I spoke up for him and said that he was an
+      honest knave and faithful; and now it turns out that he is a villain and a
+      robber. I shall never hear the last of him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will get over that, Nellie," her mother said severely. "It would be
+      much better if, instead of thinking of such trifles, you would consider
+      how sad a thing it is that two lads should lose their character, and
+      perhaps their lives, simply for their greed of other people's goods. I
+      could cry when I think of it. I know that Robert Ashford has neither
+      father nor mother to grieve about him, for my husband's father took him
+      out of sheer charity; but Tom's parents are living, and it will be
+      heart-breaking indeed to them when they hear of their son's misdoings."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I trust that Captain Dave will get him off," Cyril said. "As he is so
+      young he may turn King's evidence, and I feel sure that he did not go
+      willingly into the affair. I have noticed many times that he had a
+      frightened look, as if he had something on his mind. I believe that he
+      acted under fear of the other."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as John Wilkes had finished his breakfast he went with Captain
+      Dave and Cyril to the Magistrates' Court at the Guildhall. Some other
+      cases were first heard, and then the apprentices, with the two men who had
+      been captured in the lane, were brought in and placed in the dock. The men
+      bore marks that showed they had been engaged in a severe struggle, and
+      that the watch had used their staves with effect. One was an elderly man
+      with shaggy grey eyebrows; the other was a very powerfully built fellow,
+      who seemed, from his attire, to follow the profession of a sailor. Tom
+      Frost was sobbing bitterly. One of Robert Ashford's hands was bandaged up.
+      As he was placed in the dock he cast furtive glances round with his shifty
+      eyes, and as they fell upon Cyril an expression of deadly hate came over
+      his face. The men of the watch who had captured them first gave their
+      evidence as to finding them in the act of robbery, and testified to the
+      desperate resistance they had offered to capture. Captain Dave then
+      entered the witness-box, and swore first to the goods that were found on
+      them being his property, and then related how, it having come to his
+      knowledge that he was being robbed, he had set a watch, and had, eight
+      days previously, seen his two apprentices getting along the roof, and how
+      they had come out from the warehouse door, had opened the outer gate, and
+      had handed over some goods they had brought out to persons unknown waiting
+      to receive them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Why did you not stop them in their commission of the theft?" the Alderman
+      in the Chair asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Because, sir, had I done so, the men I considered to be the chief
+      criminals, and who had doubtless tempted my apprentices to rob me, would
+      then have made off. Therefore, I thought it better to wait until I could
+      lay hands on them also, and so got four men of the watch to remain in the
+      house at night."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he went on to relate how, after watching seven nights, he had again
+      seen the apprentices make their way along the roof, and how they and the
+      receivers of their booty were taken by the watch, aided by himself, his
+      foreman, and Master Cyril Shenstone, who was dwelling in his house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After John Wilkes had given his evidence, Cyril went into the box and
+      related how, being engaged by Captain David Dowsett to make up his books,
+      he found, upon stock being taken, that there was a deficiency to the
+      amount of many hundreds of pounds in certain stores, notably such as were
+      valuable without being bulky.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Is anything known as to the prisoners?" the magistrate asked the officer
+      of the city watch in charge of the case.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Nothing is known of the two boys, your honour; but the men are well
+      known. The elder, who gave the name of Peter Johnson, is one Joseph
+      Marner; he keeps a marine shop close to the Tower. For a long time he has
+      been suspected of being a receiver of stolen goods, but we have never been
+      able to lay finger on him before. The other man has, for the last year,
+      acted as his assistant in the shop; he answers closely to the description
+      of a man, Ephraim Fowler, who has long been wanted. This man was a seaman
+      in a brig trading to Yarmouth. After an altercation with the captain he
+      stabbed him, and then slew the mate who was coming to his assistance; then
+      with threats he compelled the other two men on board to let him take the
+      boat. When they were off Brightlingsea he rowed away, and has not been
+      heard of since. If you will remand them, before he comes up again I hope
+      to find the men who were on board, and see if they identify him. We are in
+      possession of Joseph Marner's shop, and have found large quantities of
+      goods that we have reason to believe are the proceeds of these and other
+      robberies."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the prisoners had left the dock, Captain Dave went up to the
+      officer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I believe," he said, "that the boy has not voluntarily taken part in
+      these robberies, but has been led away, or perhaps obliged by threats to
+      take part in them; he may be able to give you some assistance, for maybe
+      these men are not the only persons to whom the stolen goods have been
+      sold, and he may be able to put you on the track of other receivers."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The matter is out of my hands now," the officer said, "but I will
+      represent what you say in the proper quarter; and now you had better come
+      round with me; you may be able to pick out some of your property. We only
+      made a seizure of the place an hour ago. I had all the men who came in on
+      duty this morning to take a look at the prisoners. Fortunately two or
+      three of them recognised Marner, and you may guess we lost no time in
+      getting a search warrant and going down to his place. It is the most
+      important capture we have made for some time, and may lead to the
+      discovery of other robberies that have been puzzling us for months past.
+      There is a gang known as the Black Gang, but we have never been able to
+      lay hands on any of their leaders, and such fellows as have been captured
+      have refused to say a word, and have denied all knowledge of it. There
+      have been a number of robberies of a mysterious kind, none of which have
+      we been able to trace, and they have been put down to the same gang. The
+      Chief Constable is waiting for me there, and we shall make a thorough
+      search of the premises, and it is like enough we shall come across some
+      clue of importance. At any rate, if we can find some of the articles
+      stolen in the robberies I am speaking of, it will be a strong proof that
+      Marner is one of the chiefs of the gang, and that may lead to further
+      discoveries."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You had better come with us, John," Captain Dave said. "You know our
+      goods better than I do myself. Will you come, Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should be of no use in identifying the goods, sir, and I am due in half
+      an hour at one of my shops."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The search was an exhaustive one. There was no appearance of an
+      underground cellar, but on some of the boards of the shop being taken up,
+      it was found that there was a large one extending over the whole house.
+      This contained an immense variety of goods. In one corner was a pile of
+      copper bolts that Captain Dave and John were able to claim at once, as
+      they bore the brand of the maker from whom they obtained their stock.
+      There were boxes of copper and brass ship and house fittings, and a very
+      large quantity of rope, principally of the sizes in which the stock had
+      been found deficient; but to these Captain Dave was unable to swear. In
+      addition to these articles the cellar contained a number of chests, all of
+      which were found to be filled with miscellaneous articles of wearing
+      apparel&mdash;rolls of silk, velvet, cloth, and other materials&mdash;curtains,
+      watches, clocks, ornaments of all kinds, and a considerable amount of
+      plate. As among these were many articles which answered to the
+      descriptions given of goods that had been stolen from country houses, the
+      whole were impounded by the Chief Constable, and carried away in carts.
+      The upper part of the house was carefully searched, the walls tapped,
+      wainscotting pulled down, and the floors carefully examined. Several
+      hiding-places were found, but nothing of any importance discovered in
+      them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should advise you," the Chief Constable said to Captain Dave, "to put
+      in a claim for every article corresponding with those you have lost. Of
+      course, if anyone else comes forward and also puts in a claim, the matter
+      will have to be gone into, and if neither of you can absolutely swear to
+      the things, I suppose you will have to settle it somehow between you. If
+      no one else claims them, you will get them all without question, for you
+      can swear that, to the best of your knowledge and belief, they are yours,
+      and bring samples of your own goods to show that they exactly correspond
+      with them. I have no doubt that a good deal of the readily saleable stuff,
+      such as ropes, brass sheaves for blocks, and things of that sort, will
+      have been sold, but as it is clear that there is a good deal of your stuff
+      in the stock found below, I hope your loss will not be very great. There
+      is no doubt it has been a splendid find for us. It is likely enough that
+      we shall discover among those boxes goods that have been obtained from a
+      score of robberies in London, and likely enough in the country. We have
+      arrested three men we found in the place, and two women, and may get from
+      some of them information that will enable us to lay hands on some of the
+      others concerned in these robberies."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V &mdash; KIDNAPPED
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      That afternoon Captain Dave went down to the Bridewell, and had an
+      interview with Tom Frost, in the presence of the Master of the prison.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, Tom, I never expected to have to come to see you in a place like
+      this."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am glad I am here, master," the boy said earnestly, with tears in his
+      eyes. "I don't mind if they hang me; I would rather anything than go on as
+      I have been doing. I knew it must come, and whenever I heard anyone walk
+      into the shop I made sure it was a constable. I am ready to tell
+      everything, master; I know I deserve whatever I shall get, but that won't
+      hurt me half as much as it has done, having to go on living in the house
+      with you, and knowing I was helping to rob you all along."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Anything that you say must be taken down," the officer said; "and I can't
+      promise that it will make any difference in your sentence."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I do not care anything about that; I am going to tell the truth."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Very well, then, I will take down anything you say. But wait a minute."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He went to the door of the room and called.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Is the Chief Constable in?" he asked a man who came up. "If he is, ask
+      him to step here."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A minute later the Chief Constable came in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This prisoner wishes to make a confession, Master Holmes. I thought it
+      best that you should be here. You can hear what he says then, and it may
+      help you in your inquiry. Besides, you may think of questions on points he
+      may not mention; he understands that he is speaking entirely of his own
+      free will, and that I have given him no promise whatever that his so doing
+      will alter his sentence, although no doubt it will be taken into
+      consideration."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Quite so," the constable said. "This is not a case where one prisoner
+      would be ordinarily permitted to turn King's evidence against the others,
+      because, as they were caught in the act, no such evidence is necessary. We
+      know all about how the thing was done, and who did it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I want to tell how I first came to rob my master," the boy said. "I never
+      thought of robbing him. When I came up to London, my father said to me,
+      'Whatever you do, Tom, be honest. They say there are rogues up in London;
+      don't you have anything to do with them.' One evening, about a year ago I
+      went out with Robert, and we went to a shop near the wall at Aldgate. I
+      had never been there before, but Robert knew the master, who was the old
+      man that was taken in the lane. Robert said the man was a relation of his
+      father's, and had been kind to him. We sat down and talked for a time, and
+      then Robert, who was sitting close to me, moved for something, and put his
+      hand against my pocket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Hullo!' he said; 'what have you got there?'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Nothing,' I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Oh, haven't you?' and he put his hand in my pocket, and brought out ten
+      guineas. 'Hullo!' he said; 'where did you get these? You told me yesterday
+      you had not got a groat. Why, you young villain, you must have been
+      robbing the till!'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I was so frightened that I could not say anything, except that I did not
+      know how they came there and I could swear that I had not touched the
+      till. I was too frightened to think then, but I have since thought that
+      the guineas were never in my pocket at all, but were in Robert's hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'That won't do, boy,' the man said. 'It is clear that you are a thief. I
+      saw Robert take them from your pocket, and, as an honest man, it is my
+      duty to take you to your master and tell him what sort of an apprentice he
+      has. You are young, and you will get off with a whipping at the pillory,
+      and that will teach you that honesty is the best policy.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "So he got his hat and put it on, and took me by the collar as if to haul
+      me out into the street. I went down on my knees to beg for mercy, and at
+      last he said that he would keep the matter quiet if I would swear to do
+      everything that Robert told me; and I was so frightened that I swore to do
+      so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "For a bit there wasn't any stealing, but Robert used to take me out over
+      the roof, and we used to go out together and go to places where there were
+      two or three men, and they gave us wine. Then Robert proposed that we
+      should have a look through the warehouse. I did not know what he meant,
+      but as we went through he filled his pockets with things and told me to
+      take some too. I said I would not. Then he threatened to raise the alarm,
+      and said that when Captain Dave came down he should say he heard me get up
+      to come down by the rope on to the warehouse, and that he had followed me
+      to see what I was doing, and had found me in the act of taking goods, and
+      that, as he had before caught me with money stolen from the till, as a
+      friend of his could testify, he felt that it was his duty to summon you at
+      once. I know I ought to have refused, and to have let him call you down,
+      but I was too frightened. At last I agreed to do what he told me, and ever
+      since then we have been robbing you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What have you done with the money you got for the things?" the constable
+      asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I had a groat sometimes," the boy said, "but that is all. Robert said
+      first that I should have a share, but I said I would have nothing to do
+      with it. I did as he ordered me because I could not help it. Though I have
+      taken a groat or two sometimes, that is all I have had."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do you know anything about how much Robert had?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, sir; I never saw him paid any money. I supposed that he had some
+      because he has said sometimes he should set up a shop for himself, down at
+      some seaport town, when he was out of his apprenticeship; but I have never
+      seen him with any money beyond a little silver. I don't know what he used
+      to do when we had given the things to the men that met us in the lane. I
+      used always to come straight back to bed, but generally he went out with
+      them. I used to fasten the gate after him, and he got back over the wall
+      by a rope. Most times he didn't come in till a little before daybreak."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Were they always the same men that met you in the lane?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, sir. The master of the shop was very seldom there. The big man has
+      come for the last three or four months, and there were two other men. They
+      used to be waiting for us together until the big man came, but since then
+      one or other of them came with him, except when the master of the shop was
+      there himself."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Describe them to me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boy described them as well as he could.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Could you swear to them if you saw them?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I think so. Of course, sometimes it was moonlight, and I could see their
+      faces well; and besides, the light of the lantern often fell upon their
+      faces."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The constable nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The descriptions answer exactly," he said to Captain Dave, "to the two
+      men we found in the shop. The place was evidently the headquarters of a
+      gang of thieves."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Please, sir," the boy said, "would you have me shut up in another place?
+      I am afraid of being with the others. They have sworn they will kill me if
+      I say a word, and when I get back they will ask me who I have seen and
+      what I have said."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dave took the other two men aside.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Could you not let the boy come home with me?" he said. "I believe his
+      story is a true one. He has been terrified into helping that rascal,
+      Robert Ashford. Of course he himself was of no good to them, but they were
+      obliged to force him into it, as otherwise he would have found out
+      Robert's absences and might have reported them to me. I will give what
+      bail you like, and will undertake to produce him whenever he is required."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I could not do that myself," the constable said, "but I will go round to
+      the Court now with the boy's confession, and I have no doubt the Alderman
+      will let him go. But let me give you a word of advice: don't let him stir
+      out of the house after dark. We have no doubt that there is a big gang
+      concerned in this robbery, and the others of which we found the booty at
+      the receiver's. They would not know how much this boy could tell about
+      them, but if he went back to you they would guess that he had peached. If
+      he went out after dark, the chances would be against his ever coming back
+      again. No, now I think of it, I am sure you had better let him stay where
+      he is. The Master will put him apart from the others, and make him
+      comfortable. You see, at present we have no clue as to the men concerned
+      in the robberies. You may be sure that they are watching every move on our
+      part, and if they knew that this boy was out, they might take the alarm
+      and make off."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, if you think so, I will leave him here."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am sure that it would be the best plan."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will make him comfortable, Master Holroyd?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; you need not worry about him, Captain Dowsett."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They then turned to the boy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will be moved away from the others, Tom," Captain Dave said, "and Mr.
+      Holroyd has promised to make you comfortable."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Oh, Captain Dave," the boy burst out, "will you forgive me? I don't mind
+      being punished, but if you knew how awfully miserable I have been all this
+      time, knowing that I was robbing you while you were so kind to me, I think
+      you would forgive me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I forgive you, Tom," Captain Dave said, putting his hand on the boy's
+      shoulder. "I hope that this will be a lesson to you, all your life. You
+      see all this has come upon you because you were a coward. If you had been
+      a brave lad you would have said, 'Take me to my master.' You might have
+      been sure that I would have heard your story as well as theirs, and I
+      don't think I should have decided against you under the circumstances. It
+      was only your word against Robert's; and his taking you to this man's, and
+      finding the money in your pocket in so unlikely a way, would certainly
+      have caused me to have suspicions. There is nothing so bad as cowardice;
+      it is the father of all faults. A coward is certain to be a liar, for he
+      will not hesitate to tell any falsehood to shelter him from the
+      consequences of a fault. In your case, you see, cowardice has made you a
+      thief; and in some cases it might drive a man to commit a murder. However,
+      lad, I forgive you freely. You have been weak, and your weakness has made
+      you a criminal; but it has been against your own will. When all this is
+      over, I will see what can be done for you. You may live to be an honest
+      man and a good citizen yet."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two days later Cyril was returning home late in the evening after being
+      engaged longer than usual in making up a number of accounts for one of his
+      customers. He had come through Leadenhall Street, and had entered the lane
+      where the capture of the thieves had been made, when he heard a footstep
+      behind him. He turned half round to see who was following him, when he
+      received a tremendous blow on the head which struck him senseless to the
+      ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After a time he was dimly conscious that he was being carried along. He
+      was unable to move; there was something in his mouth that prevented him
+      from calling out, and his head was muffled in a cloak. He felt too weak
+      and confused to struggle. A minute later he heard a voice, that sounded
+      below him, say,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Have you got him?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have got him all right," was the answer of the man who was carrying
+      him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he felt that he was being carried down some stairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Someone took him, and he was thrown roughly down; then there was a slight
+      rattling noise, followed by a regular sound. He wondered vaguely what it
+      was, but as his senses came back it flashed upon him; it was the sound of
+      oars; he was in a boat. It was some time before he could think why he
+      should be in a boat. He had doubtless been carried off by some of the
+      friends of the prisoners', partly, perhaps, to prevent his giving evidence
+      against them, partly from revenge for the part he had played in the
+      discovery of the crime.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a few minutes the sound of oars ceased, and there was a bump as the
+      boat struck against something hard. Then he was lifted up, and someone
+      took hold of him from above. He was carried a few steps and roughly thrust
+      in somewhere. There was a sound of something heavy being thrown down above
+      him, and then for a long time he knew nothing more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he became conscious again, he was able, as he lay there, to come to a
+      distinct conclusion as to where he was. He had been kidnapped, carried
+      off, taken out in a boat to some craft anchored in the river, and was now
+      in the hold. He felt almost suffocated. The wrap round his head prevented
+      his breathing freely, the gag in his mouth pressed on his tongue, and gave
+      him severe pain, while his head ached acutely from the effects of the
+      blow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first thing to do was, if possible, to free his hands, so as to
+      relieve himself from the gag and muffling. An effort or two soon showed
+      him that he was but loosely bound. Doubtless the man who had attacked him
+      had not wasted much time in securing his arms, believing that the blow
+      would be sufficient to keep him quiet until he was safe on board ship. It
+      was, therefore, without much difficulty that he managed to free one of his
+      hands, and it was then an easy task to get rid of the rope altogether. The
+      cloak was pulled from his face, and, feeling for his knife, he cut the
+      lashings of the gag and removed it from his mouth. He lay quiet for a few
+      minutes, panting from his exhaustion. Putting up his hand he felt a beam
+      about a foot above his body. He was, then, in a hold already stored with
+      cargo. The next thing was to shift his position among the barrels and
+      bales upon which he was lying, until he found a comparatively level spot.
+      He was in too great pain to think of sleep; his head throbbed fiercely,
+      and he suffered from intense thirst.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From time to time heavy footsteps passed overhead. Presently he heard a
+      sudden rattling of blocks, and the flapping of a sail. Then he noticed
+      that there was a slight change in the level of his position, and knew that
+      the craft was under way on her voyage down the river.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It seemed an immense time to him before he saw a faint gleam of light, and
+      edging himself along, found himself again under the hatchway, through a
+      crack in which the light was shining. It was some hours before the hatch
+      was lifted off, and he saw two men looking down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Water!" he said. "I am dying of thirst."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Bring a pannikin of water," one of the men said, "but first give us a
+      hand, and we will have him on deck."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stooping down, they took Cyril by the shoulders and hoisted him out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He is a decent-looking young chap," the speaker went on. "I would have
+      seen to him before, if I had known him to be so bad. Those fellows didn't
+      tell us they had hurt him. Here is the water, young fellow. Can you sit up
+      to drink it?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril sat up and drank off the contents of the pannikin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Why, the back of your head is all covered with blood!" the man who had
+      before spoken said. "You must have had an ugly knock?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't care so much for that," Cyril replied. "It's the gag that hurt
+      me. My tongue is so much swollen I can hardly speak."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, you can stay here on deck if you will give me your promise not to
+      hail any craft we may pass. If you won't do that I must put you down under
+      hatches again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will promise that willingly," Cyril said; "the more so that I can
+      scarce speak above a whisper."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Mind, if you as much as wave a hand, or do anything to bring an eye on
+      us, down you go into the hold again, and when you come up next time it
+      will be to go overboard. Now just put your head over the rail, and I will
+      pour a few buckets of water over it. I agreed to get you out of the way,
+      but I have got no grudge against you, and don't want to do you harm."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Getting a bucket with a rope tied to the handle, he dipped it into the
+      river, and poured half-a-dozen pailfuls over Cyril's head. The lad felt
+      greatly refreshed, and, sitting down on the deck, was able to look round.
+      The craft was a coaster of about twenty tons burden. There were three men
+      on deck besides the man who had spoken to him, and who was evidently the
+      skipper. Besides these a boy occasionally put up his head from a hatchway
+      forward. There was a pile of barrels and empty baskets amidship, and the
+      men presently began to wash down the decks and to tidy up the ropes and
+      gear lying about. The shore on both sides was flat, and Cyril was
+      surprised at the width of the river. Behind them was a small town,
+      standing on higher ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What place is that?" he asked a sailor who passed near him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is Gravesend."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few minutes afterwards the boy again put his head out of the hatchway
+      and shouted,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Breakfast!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Can you eat anything, youngster?" the skipper asked Cyril.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, thank you, my head aches too much; and my mouth is so sore I am sure
+      I could not get anything down."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, you had best lie down, then, with your head on that coil of rope; I
+      allow you did not sleep much last night."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a few minutes Cyril was sound asleep, and when he awoke the sun was
+      setting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You have had a good bout of it, lad," the skipper said, as he raised
+      himself on his elbow and looked round. "How are you feeling now?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A great deal better," Cyril said, as he rose to his feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Supper will be ready in a few minutes, and if you can manage to get a bit
+      down it will do you good."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will try, anyhow," Cyril said. "I think that I feel hungry."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The land was now but a faint line on either hand. A gentle breeze was
+      blowing from the south-west, and the craft was running along over the
+      smooth water at the rate of three or four miles an hour. Cyril wondered
+      where he was being taken to, and what was going to be done with him, but
+      determined to ask no questions. The skipper was evidently a kind-hearted
+      man, although he might be engaged in lawless business, but it was as well
+      to wait until he chose to open the subject.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as the boy hailed, the captain led the way to the hatchway. They
+      descended a short ladder into the fo'castle, which was low, but roomy.
+      Supper consisted of boiled skate&mdash;a fish Cyril had never tasted
+      before&mdash;oaten bread, and beer. His mouth was still sore, but he
+      managed to make a hearty meal of fish, though he could not manage the hard
+      bread. One of the men was engaged at the helm, but the other two shared
+      the meal, all being seated on lockers that ran round the cabin. The fish
+      were placed on an earthenware dish, each man cutting off slices with his
+      jack-knife, and using his bread as a platter. Little was said while the
+      meal went on; but when they went on deck again, the skipper, having put
+      another man at the tiller, while the man released went forward to get his
+      supper, said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, I think you are in luck, lad."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril opened his eyes in surprise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You don't think so?" the man went on. "I don't mean that you are in luck
+      in being knocked about and carried off, but that you are not floating down
+      the river at present instead of walking the deck here. I can only suppose
+      that they thought your body might be picked up, and that it would go all
+      the harder with the prisoners, if it were proved that you had been put out
+      of the way. You don't look like an informer either!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am not an informer," Cyril said indignantly. "I found that my employer
+      was being robbed, and I aided him to catch the thieves. I don't call that
+      informing. That is when a man betrays others engaged in the same work as
+      himself."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, well, it makes no difference to me," the skipper said. "I was
+      engaged by a man, with whom I do business sometimes, to take a fellow who
+      had been troublesome out of the way, and to see that he did not come back
+      again for some time. I bargained that there was to be no foul play; I
+      don't hold with things of that sort. As to carrying down a bale of goods
+      sometimes, or taking a few kegs of spirits from a French lugger, I see no
+      harm in it; but when it comes to cutting throats, I wash my hands of it. I
+      am sorry now I brought you off, though maybe if I had refused they would
+      have put a knife into you, and chucked you into the river. However, now
+      that I have got you I must go through with it. I ain't a man to go back
+      from my word, and what I says I always sticks to. Still, I am sorry I had
+      anything to do with the business. You look to me a decent young gentleman,
+      though your looks and your clothes have not been improved by what you have
+      gone through. Well, at any rate, I promise you that no harm shall come to
+      you as long as you are in my hands."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And how long is that likely to be, captain?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ah! that is more than I can tell you. I don't want to do you harm, lad,
+      and more than that, I will prevent other people from doing you harm as
+      long as you are on board this craft. But more than that I can't say. It is
+      likely enough I shall have trouble in keeping that promise, and I can't go
+      a step farther. There is many a man who would have chucked you overboard,
+      and so have got rid of the trouble altogether, and of the risk of its
+      being afterwards proved that he had a hand in getting you out of the way."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I feel that, captain," Cyril said, "and I thank you heartily for your
+      kind treatment of me. I promise you that if at any time I am set ashore
+      and find my way back to London, I will say no word which can get you into
+      trouble."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is Tom coming upon deck. You had better turn in. You have had a
+      good sleep, but I have no doubt you can do with some more, and a night's
+      rest will set you up. You take the left-hand locker. The boy sleeps on the
+      right hand, and we have bunks overhead."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril was soon soundly asleep, and did not wake when the others turned in.
+      He was alone in the cabin when he opened his eyes, but the sun was shining
+      brightly through the open hatchway. He sprang up and went on deck. The
+      craft was at anchor. No land could be seen to the south, but to the north
+      a low shore stretched away three or four miles distant. There was scarcely
+      a breath of wind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, you have had a good sleep, lad," the captain said. "You had best
+      dip that bucket overboard and have a wash; you will feel better after it.
+      Now, boy, slip down and get your fire going; we shall be ready for
+      breakfast as soon as it is ready for us."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril soused his head with the cold water, and felt, as the captain had
+      said, all the better for it, for the air in the little cabin was close and
+      stuffy, and he had felt hot and feverish before his wash.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The wind died out, you see," the captain said, "and we had to anchor when
+      tide turned at two o'clock. There is a dark line behind us, and as soon as
+      the wind reaches us, we will up anchor. The force of the tide is spent."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The wind, however, continued very light, and the vessel did little more
+      than drift with the tide, and when it turned at two o'clock they had to
+      drop anchor again close under some high land, on the top of which stood a
+      lofty tower.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is a land-mark," the captain said. "There are some bad sands outside
+      us, and that stands as a mark for vessels coming through."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had enjoyed the quiet passage much. The wound at the back of his
+      head still smarted, and he had felt disinclined for any exertion. More
+      than once, in spite of the good allowance of sleep he had had, he dozed
+      off as he sat on the deck with his back against the bulwark, watching the
+      shore as they drifted slowly past it, and wondering vaguely, how it would
+      all end. They had been anchored but half an hour when the captain ordered
+      the men to the windlass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is a breeze coming, lads," he said; "and even if it only lasts for
+      an hour, it will take us round the head and far enough into the bay to get
+      into the tide running up the rivers."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The breeze, however, when it came, held steadily, and in two hours they
+      were off Harwich; but on coming opposite the town they turned off up the
+      Orwell, and anchored, after dark, at a small village some six miles up the
+      river.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If you will give me your word, lad, that you will not try to escape, and
+      will not communicate with anyone who may come off from the shore, I will
+      continue to treat you as a passenger; but if not, I must fasten you up in
+      the cabin, and keep a watch over you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will promise, captain. I should not know where to go if I landed. I
+      heard you say, 'There is Harwich steeple,' when we first came in sight of
+      it, but where that is I have no idea, nor how far we are from London. As I
+      have not a penny in my pocket, I should find it well-nigh impossible to
+      make my way to town, which may, for aught I know, be a hundred miles away;
+      for, in truth, I know but little of the geography of England, having been
+      brought up in France, and not having been out of sight of London since I
+      came over."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just as he was speaking, the splash of an oar was heard close by.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Up, men," the captain said in a low tone to those in the fo'castle.
+      "Bring up the cutlasses. Who is that?" he called, hailing the boat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Merry men all," was the reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "All right. Come alongside. You saw our signal, then?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay, we saw it; but there is an officer with a boat-load of sailors
+      ashore from the King's ship at Harwich. He is spending the evening with
+      the revenue captain here, and we had to wait until the two men left in
+      charge of the boat went up to join their comrades at the tavern. What have
+      you got for us?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Six boxes and a lot of dunnage, such as cables, chains, and some small
+      anchors."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, you had better wait for an hour before you take the hatches off.
+      You will hear the gig with the sailors row past soon. The tide has begun
+      to run down strong, and I expect the officer won't be long before he
+      moves. As soon as he has gone we will come out again. We shall take the
+      goods up half a mile farther. The revenue man on that beat has been paid
+      to keep his eyes shut, and we shall get them all stored in a hut, a mile
+      away in the woods, before daybreak. You know the landing-place; there will
+      be water enough for us to row in there for another two hours."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boat rowed away to the shore, which was not more than a hundred yards
+      distant. A little later they heard a stir on the strand, then came the
+      sound of oars, and two minutes later a boat shot past close to them, and
+      then, bearing away, rowed down the river.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now, lads," the captain said, "get the hatches off. The wind is coming
+      more offshore, which is all the better for us, but do not make more noise
+      than you can help."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The hatches were taken off, and the men proceeded to get up a number of
+      barrels and bales, some sail-cloth being thrown on the deck to deaden the
+      sound. Lanterns, passed down into the hold, gave them light for their
+      operations.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is the lot," one of the sailors said presently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Six large boxes were then passed up and put apart from the others. Then
+      followed eight or ten coils of rope, a quantity of chain, some kedge
+      anchors, a number of blocks, five rolls of canvas, and some heavy bags
+      that, by the sound they made when they were laid down, Cyril judged to
+      contain metal articles of some sort. Then the other goods were lowered
+      into the hold and the hatches replaced. The work had scarcely concluded
+      when the boat again came alongside, this time with four men on board.
+      Scarcely a word was spoken as the goods were transferred to the boat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will be going to-morrow?" one of the men in the boat asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, I shall get up to Ipswich on the top of the tide&mdash;that is, if I
+      don't stick fast in this crooked channel. My cargo is all either for
+      Ipswich or Aldborough. Now let us turn in," as the boatmen made their way
+      up the river. "We must be under way before daylight, or else we shall not
+      save the tide down to-morrow evening. I am glad we have got that lot
+      safely off. I always feel uncomfortable until we get rid of that part of
+      the cargo. If it wasn't that it paid better than all the rest together I
+      would not have anything to do with it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril was very glad to lie down on the locker, while the men turned into
+      their berths overhead. He had not yet fully recovered from the effects of
+      the blow he had received, but in spite of the aching of his head he was
+      soon sound asleep. It seemed to him that he had scarcely closed his eyes
+      when he was roused by the captain's voice,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Tumble up, lads. The light is beginning to show."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ten minutes later they were under way. The breeze had almost died out, and
+      after sailing for some two miles in nearly a straight course, the boat was
+      thrown over, two men got into it, and, fastening a rope to the ketch's
+      bow, proceeded to tow her along, the captain taking the helm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To Cyril's surprise, they turned off almost at right angles to the course
+      they had before been following, and made straight for the opposite shore.
+      They approached it so closely that Cyril expected that in another moment
+      the craft would take ground, when, at a shout from the captain, the men in
+      the boat started off parallel with the shore, taking the craft's head
+      round. For the next three-quarters of an hour they pursued a serpentine
+      course, the boy standing in the chains and heaving the lead continually.
+      At last the captain shouted,&mdash;"You can come on board now, lads. We
+      are in the straight channel at last." Twenty minutes later they again
+      dropped their anchor opposite a town of considerable size.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is Ipswich, lad," the captain said. "It is as nasty a place to get
+      into as there is in England, unless you have got the wind due aft."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The work of unloading began at once, and was carried on until after dark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is the last of them," the captain said, to Cyril's satisfaction. "We
+      can be off now when the tide turns, and if we hadn't got clear to-night we
+      might have lost hours, for there is no getting these people on shore to
+      understand that the loss of a tide means the loss of a day, and that it is
+      no harder to get up and do your work at one hour than it is at another. I
+      shall have a clean up, now, and go ashore. I have got your promise, lad,
+      that you won't try to escape?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril assented. Standing on the deck there, with the river bank but twenty
+      yards away, it seemed hard that he should not be able to escape. But, as
+      he told himself, he would not have been standing there if it had not been
+      for that promise, but would have been lying, tightly bound, down in the
+      hold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril and the men were asleep when the captain came aboard, the boy alone
+      remaining up to fetch him off in the boat when he hailed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is no wind, captain," Cyril said, as the anchor was got up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, lad, I am glad there is not. We can drop down with the tide and the
+      boat towing us, but if there was a head wind we might have to stop here
+      till it either dropped or shifted. I have been here three weeks at a
+      spell. I got some news ashore," he went on, as he took his place at the
+      helm, while the three men rowed the boat ahead. "A man I sometimes bring
+      things to told me that he heard there had been an attempt to rescue the
+      men concerned in that robbery. I heard, before I left London, it was
+      likely that it would be attempted."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There were a lot of people concerned in that affair, one way and another,
+      and I knew they would move heaven and earth to get them out, for if any of
+      them peached there would be such a haul as the constables never made in
+      the city before. Word was passed to the prisoners to be ready, and as they
+      were being taken from the Guildhall to Newgate there was a sudden rush
+      made. The constables were not caught napping, and there was a tough fight,
+      till the citizens ran out of their shops and took part with them, and the
+      men, who were sailors, watermen, 'longshore-men, and rascals of all sorts,
+      bolted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But two of the prisoners were missing. One was, I heard, an apprentice
+      who was mixed up in the affair, and no one saw him go. They say he must
+      have stooped down and wriggled away into the crowd. The other was a man
+      they called Black Dick; he struck down two constables, broke through the
+      crowd, and got clean away. There is a great hue and cry, but so far
+      nothing has been heard of them. They will be kept in hiding somewhere till
+      there is a chance of getting them through the gates or on board a craft
+      lying in the river. Our men made a mess of it, or they would have got them
+      all off. I hear that they are all in a fine taking that Marner is safely
+      lodged in Newgate with the others taken in his house; he knows so much
+      that if he chose to peach he could hang a score of men. Black Dick could
+      tell a good deal, but he wasn't in all the secrets, and they say Marner is
+      really the head of the band and had a finger in pretty nigh every robbery
+      through the country. All those taken in his place are also in Newgate, and
+      they say the constables are searching the city like ferrets in a
+      rabbit-warren, and that several other arrests have been made."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am not sorry the apprentice got away," Cyril said. "He is a bad fellow,
+      there is no doubt, and, by the look he gave me, he would do me harm if he
+      got a chance, but I suppose that is only natural. As to the other man, he
+      looked to me to be a desperate villain, and he also gave me so evil a look
+      that, though he was in the dock with a constable on either side of him, I
+      felt horribly uncomfortable, especially when I heard what sort of man he
+      was."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What did they say of him?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They said they believed he was a man named Ephraim Fowler, who had
+      murdered the skipper and mate of a coaster and then went off in the boat."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Is that the man? Then truly do I regret that he has escaped. I knew both
+      John Moore, the master, and George Monson, the mate, and many a flagon of
+      beer we have emptied together. If I had known the fellow's whereabouts, I
+      would have put the constables on his track. I am heartily sorry now, boy,
+      that I had a hand in carrying you off, though maybe it is best for you
+      that it has been so. If I hadn't taken you someone else would, and more
+      than likely you would not have fared so well as you have done, for some of
+      them would have saved themselves all further trouble and risk, by chucking
+      you overboard as soon as they were well out of the Pool."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Can't you put me ashore now, captain?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, boy; I have given my word and taken my money, and I am not one to
+      fail to carry out a bargain because I find that I have made a bad one.
+      They have trusted me with thousands of pounds' worth of goods, and I have
+      no reason to complain of their pay, and am not going to turn my back on
+      them now they have got into trouble; besides, though I would trust you not
+      to round upon me, I would not trust them. If you were to turn up in London
+      they would know that I had sold them, and Marner would soon hear of it.
+      There is a way of getting messages to a man even in prison. Then you may
+      be sure that, if he said nothing else, he would take good care to let out
+      that I was the man who used to carry their booty away, sometimes to quiet
+      places on the coast, and sometimes across to Holland, and the first time I
+      dropped anchor in the Pool I should find myself seized and thrown into
+      limbo. No, lad; I must carry out my agreement&mdash;which is that I am not
+      to land you in England, but that I am to take you across to Holland or
+      elsewhere&mdash;the elsewhere meaning that if you fall overboard by the
+      way there will be no complaints as to the breach of the agreement. That
+      is, in fact, what they really meant, though they did not actually put it
+      into words. They said, 'We have a boy who is an informer, and has been the
+      means of Marner being seized and his place broken up, and there is no
+      saying that a score of us may not get a rope round our necks. In
+      consequence, we want him carried away. What you do with him is nothing to
+      us so long as he don't set foot in England again.' 'Will Holland suit you?
+      I am going across there,' I said, 'after touching at Ipswich and
+      Aldborough.' 'It would be much safer for you and everyone else if it
+      happen that he falls over before he gets there. However, we will call it
+      Holland.'"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then if I were to fall overboard," Cyril said, with a smile, "you would
+      not be breaking your agreement, captain? I might fall overboard to-night,
+      you know."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I would not advise it, lad. You had much better stay where you are. I
+      don't say I mightn't anchor off Harwich, and that if you fell overboard
+      you couldn't manage to swim ashore, but I tell you I would not give
+      twopence for your life when you got back to London. It is to the interest
+      of a score of men to keep Marner's mouth shut. They have shown their
+      willingness to help him as far as they could, by getting you out of the
+      way, and if you got back they would have your life the first time you
+      ventured out of doors after dark; they would be afraid Marner would
+      suppose they had sold him if you were to turn up at his trial, and as like
+      as not he would round on the whole lot. Besides, I don't think it would be
+      over safe for me the first time I showed myself in London afterwards, for,
+      though I never said that I would do it, I have no doubt they reckoned that
+      I should chuck you overboard, and if you were to make your appearance in
+      London they would certainly put it down that I had sold them. You keep
+      yourself quiet, and I will land you in Holland, but not as they would
+      expect, without a penny or a friend; I will put you into good hands, and
+      arrange that you shall be sent back again as soon as the trial is over."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Thank you very much, captain. I have no relations in London, and no
+      friends, except my employer, Captain David Dowsett, and by this time he
+      will have made up his mind that I am dead, and it won't make much
+      difference whether I return in four or five days or as many weeks."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI &mdash; A NARROW ESCAPE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The <i>Eliza</i>, for this Cyril, after leaving Ipswich, learnt was her
+      name, unloaded the rest of her cargo at Aldborough, and then sailed across
+      to Rotterdam. The skipper fulfilled his promise by taking Cyril to the
+      house of one of the men with whom he did business, and arranging with him
+      to board the boy until word came that he could safely return to England.
+      The man was a diamond-cutter, and to him packets of jewellery and gems
+      that could not be disposed of in England had often been brought over by
+      the captain. The latter had nothing to do with the pecuniary arrangements,
+      which were made direct by Marner, and he had only to hand over the packets
+      and take back sums of money to England.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You understand," the captain said to Cyril, "that I have not said a word
+      touching the matter for which you are here. I have only told him that it
+      had been thought it was as well you should be out of England for a time.
+      Of course, he understood that you were wanted for an affair in which you
+      had taken part; but it matters not what he thinks. I have paid him for a
+      month's board for you, and here are three pounds, which will be enough to
+      pay for your passage back if I myself should not return. If you do not
+      hear from me, or see the <i>Eliza</i>, within four weeks, there is no
+      reason why you should not take passage back. The trial will be over by
+      that time, and as the members of the gang have done their part in
+      preventing you from appearing, I see not why they should have further
+      grudge against you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I cannot thank you too much for your kindness, captain. I trust that when
+      I get back you will call at Captain Dowsett's store in Tower Street, so
+      that I may see you and again thank you; I know that the Captain himself
+      will welcome you heartily when I tell him how kindly you have treated me.
+      He will be almost as glad as I shall myself to see you. I suppose you
+      could not take him a message or letter from me now?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I think not, lad. It would never do for him to be able to say at the
+      trial that he had learnt you had been kidnapped. They might write over
+      here to the Dutch authorities about you. There is one thing further. From
+      what I heard when I landed yesterday, it seems that there is likely to be
+      war between Holland and England."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I heard a talk of it in London," Cyril said, "but I do not rightly
+      understand the cause, nor did I inquire much about the matter."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is something about the colonies, and our taxing their goods, but I
+      don't rightly understand the quarrel, except that the Dutch think, now
+      that Blake is gone and our ships for the most part laid up, they may be
+      able to take their revenge for the lickings we have given them. Should
+      there be war, as you say you speak French as well as English, I should
+      think you had best make your way to Dunkirk as a young Frenchman, and from
+      there you would find no difficulty in crossing to England."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I know Dunkirk well, captain, having indeed lived there all my life. I
+      should have no difficulty in travelling through Holland as a French boy."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If there is a war," the captain said, "I shall, of course, come here no
+      more; but it may be that you will see me at Dunkirk. French brandy sells
+      as well as Dutch Schiedam, and if I cannot get the one I may perhaps get
+      the other; and there is less danger in coming to Dunkirk and making across
+      to Harwich than there is in landing from Calais or Nantes on the south
+      coast, where the revenue men are much more on the alert than they are at
+      Harwich."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Are you not afraid of getting your boat captured? You said it was your
+      own."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not much, lad. I bring over a regular cargo, and the kegs are stowed away
+      under the floor of the cabin, and I run them at Pin-mill&mdash;that is the
+      place we anchored the night before we got to Ipswich. I have been
+      overhauled a good many times, but the cargo always looks right, and after
+      searching it for a bit, they conclude it is all regular. You see, I don't
+      bring over a great quantity&mdash;fifteen or twenty kegs is as much as I
+      can stow away&mdash;and it is a long way safer being content with a small
+      profit than trying to make a big one."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril parted with regret from the captain, whose departure had been
+      hastened by a report that war might be declared at any moment, in which
+      case the <i>Eliza</i> might have been detained for a considerable time. He
+      had, therefore, been working almost night and day to get in his cargo, and
+      Cyril had remained on board until the last moment. He had seen the diamond
+      dealer but once, and hoped that he should not meet him often, for he felt
+      certain that awkward questions would be asked him. This man was in the
+      habit of having dealings with Marner, and had doubtless understood from
+      the captain that he was in some way connected with his gang; and were he
+      to find out the truth he would view him with the reverse of a friendly
+      eye. He had told him that he was to take his meals with his clerk, and
+      Cyril hoped, therefore, that he should seldom see him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He wandered about the wharf until it became dark. Then he went in and took
+      supper with the clerk. As the latter spoke Dutch only, there was no
+      possibility of conversation. Cyril was thinking of going up to his bed
+      when there was a ring at the bell. The clerk went to answer it, leaving
+      the door open as he went out, and Cyril heard a voice ask, in English, if
+      Herr Schweindorf was in. The clerk said something in Dutch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The fool does not understand English, Robert," the man said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Tell him," he said, in a louder voice, to the clerk, "that two persons
+      from England&mdash;England, you understand&mdash;who have only just
+      arrived, want to see him on particular business. There, don't be blocking
+      up the door; just go and tell your master what I told you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He pushed his way into the passage, and the clerk, seeing that there was
+      nothing else to do, went upstairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A minute later he came down again, and made a sign for them to follow him.
+      As they went up Cyril stole out and looked after them. The fact that they
+      had come from England, and that one of them was named Robert, and that
+      they had business with this man, who was in connection with Marner, had
+      excited his suspicions, but he felt a shiver of fear run through him as he
+      recognised the figures of Robert Ashford and the man who was called Black
+      Dick. He remembered the expression of hatred with which they had regarded
+      him in the Court, and felt that his danger would be great indeed did they
+      hear that he was in Rotterdam. A moment's thought convinced him that they
+      would almost certainly learn this at once from his host. The letter would
+      naturally mention that the captain had left a lad in his charge who was,
+      as he believed, connected with them. They would denounce him as an enemy
+      instead of a friend. The diamond merchant would expel him from his house,
+      terrified at the thought that he possessed information as to his dealings
+      with this band in England; and once beyond the door he would, in this
+      strange town, be at the mercy of his enemies. Cyril's first impulse was to
+      run back into the room, seize his cap, and fly. He waited, however, until
+      the clerk came down again; then he put his cap carelessly on his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am going for a walk," he said, waving his hand vaguely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man nodded, went with him to the door, and Cyril heard him put up the
+      bar after he had gone out. He walked quietly away, for there was no fear
+      of immediate pursuit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Black Dick had probably brought over some more jewels to dispose of, and
+      that business would be transacted, before there would be any talk of other
+      matters. It might be a quarter of an hour before they heard that he was an
+      inmate of the house; then, when they went downstairs with the dealer, they
+      would hear that he had gone out for a walk and would await his return, so
+      that he had two or three hours at least before there would be any search.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was early yet. Some of the boats might be discharging by torchlight. At
+      any rate, he might hear of a ship starting in the morning. He went down to
+      the wharf. There was plenty of bustle here; boats were landing fish, and
+      larger craft were discharging or taking in cargo; but his inability to
+      speak Dutch prevented his asking questions. He crossed to the other side
+      of the road. The houses here were principally stores or drinking taverns.
+      In the window of one was stuck up, "English and French Spoken Here." He
+      went inside, walked up to the bar, and called for a glass of beer in
+      English.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You speak English, landlord?" he asked, as the mug was placed before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The latter nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I want to take passage either to England or to France," he said. "I came
+      out here but a few days ago, and I hear that there is going to be trouble
+      between the two countries. It will therefore be of no use my going on to
+      Amsterdam. I wish to get back again, for I am told that if I delay I may
+      be too late. I cannot speak Dutch, and therefore cannot inquire if any
+      boat will be sailing in the morning for England or Dunkirk. I have
+      acquaintances in Dunkirk, and speak French, so it makes no difference to
+      me whether I go there or to England."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "My boy speaks French," the landlord said, "and if you like he can go
+      along the port with you. Of course, you will give him something for his
+      trouble?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Willingly," Cyril said, "and be much obliged to you into the bargain."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The landlord left the bar and returned in a minute with a boy twelve years
+      old.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He does not speak French very well," he said, "but I dare say it will be
+      enough for your purpose. I have told him that you want to take ship to
+      England, or that, if you cannot find one, to Dunkirk. If that will not do,
+      Ostend might suit you. They speak French there, and there are boats always
+      going between there and England."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That would do; though I should prefer the other."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There would be no difficulty at any other time in getting a boat for
+      England, but I don't know whether you will do so now. They have been
+      clearing off for some days, and I doubt if you will find an English ship
+      in port now, though of course there may be those who have been delayed for
+      their cargo."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril went out with the boy, and after making many inquiries learnt that
+      there was but one English vessel still in port. However, Cyril told his
+      guide that he would prefer one for Dunkirk if they could find one, for if
+      war were declared before the boat sailed, she might be detained. After
+      some search they found a coasting scow that would sail in the morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They will touch at two or three places," the boy said to Cyril, after a
+      talk with the captain; "but if you are not in a hurry, he will take you
+      and land you at Dunkirk for a pound&mdash;that is, if he finds food; if
+      you find food he will take you for eight shillings. He will start at
+      daybreak."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Tell him that I agree to his price. I don't want the trouble of getting
+      food. As he will be going so early, I will come on board at once. I will
+      get my bundle, and will be back in half an hour."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He went with the boy to one of the sailors' shops near, bought a rough
+      coat and a thick blanket, had them wrapped up into a parcel, and then,
+      after paying the boy, went on board.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he expected, he found there were no beds or accommodation for
+      passengers, so he stretched himself on a locker in the cabin, covered
+      himself with his blanket, and put the coat under his head for a pillow.
+      His real reason for choosing this craft in preference to the English ship
+      was that he thought it probable that, when he did not return to the house,
+      it would at once be suspected that he had recognised the visitors, and was
+      not going to return at all. In that case, they might suspect that he would
+      try to take passage to England, and would, the first thing in the morning,
+      make a search for him on board any English vessels that might be in the
+      port.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It would be easy then for them to get him ashore, for the diamond merchant
+      might accuse him of theft, and so get him handed over to him. Rather than
+      run that risk, he would have started on foot had he not been able to find
+      a native craft sailing early in the morning. Failing Dunkirk and Ostend,
+      he would have taken a passage to any other Dutch port, and run his chance
+      of getting a ship from there. The great point was to get away from
+      Rotterdam.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The four men forming the crew of the scow returned late, and by their loud
+      talk Cyril, who kept his eyes closed, judged that they were in liquor. In
+      a short time they climbed up into their berths, and all was quiet. At
+      daybreak they were called up by the captain. Cyril lay quiet until, by the
+      rippling of the water against the side, he knew that the craft was under
+      way. He waited a few minutes, and then went up on deck. The scow, clumsy
+      as she looked, was running along fast before a brisk wind, and in an hour
+      Rotterdam lay far behind them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The voyage was a pleasant one. They touched at Dordrecht, at Steenbergen
+      on the mainland, and Flushing, staying a few hours in each place to take
+      in or discharge cargo. After this, they made out from the Islands, and ran
+      along the coast, putting into Ostend and Nieuport, and, four days after
+      starting, entered the port of Dunkirk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril did not go ashore at any of the places at which they stopped. It was
+      possible that war might have been declared with England, and as it might
+      be noticed that he was a foreigner he would in that case be questioned and
+      arrested. As soon, therefore, as they neared a quay, he went down to the
+      cabin and slept until they got under way again. The food was rough, but
+      wholesome; it consisted entirely of fish and black bread; but the sea air
+      gave him a good appetite, and he was in high spirits at the thought that
+      he had escaped from danger and was on his way back again. At Dunkirk he
+      was under the French flag, and half an hour after landing had engaged a
+      passage to London on a brig that was to sail on the following day. The
+      voyage was a stormy one, and he rejoiced in the possession of his
+      great-coat, which he had only bought in order that he might have a packet
+      to bring on board the scow, and so avoid exciting any suspicion or
+      question as to his being entirely unprovided with luggage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was three days before the brig dropped anchor in the Pool. As soon as
+      she did so, Cyril hailed a waterman, and spent almost his last remaining
+      coin in being taken to shore. He was glad that it was late in the
+      afternoon and so dark that his attire would not be noticed. His clothes
+      had suffered considerably from his capture and confinement on board the <i>Eliza</i>,
+      and his great-coat was of a rough appearance that was very much out of
+      character in the streets of London. He had, however, but a short distance
+      to traverse before he reached the door of the house. He rang at the bell,
+      and the door was opened by John Wilkes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What is it?" the latter asked. "The shop is shut for the night, and I
+      ain't going to open for anyone. At half-past seven in the morning you can
+      get what you want, but not before."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Don't you know me, John?" Cyril laughed. The old sailor stepped back as
+      if struck with a blow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Eh, what?" he exclaimed. "Is it you, Cyril? Why, we had all thought you
+      dead! I did not know you in this dim light and in that big coat you have
+      got on. Come upstairs, master. Captain Dave and the ladies will be glad
+      indeed to see you. They have been mourning for you sadly, I can tell you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril took off his wrap and hung it on a peg, and then followed John
+      upstairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There, Captain Dave," the sailor said, as he opened the door of the
+      sitting-room. "There is a sight for sore eyes!&mdash;a sight you never
+      thought you would look on again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment Captain Dave, his wife, and daughter stared at Cyril as if
+      scarce believing their eyes. Then the Captain sprang to his feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It's the lad, sure enough. Why, Cyril," he went on, seizing him by the
+      hand, and shaking it violently, "we had never thought to see you alive
+      again; we made sure that those pirates had knocked you on the head, and
+      that you were food for fishes by this time. There has been no comforting
+      my good wife; and as to Nellie, if it had been a brother she had lost, she
+      could not have taken it more hardly."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They did knock me on the head, and very hard too, Captain Dave. If my
+      skull hadn't been quite so thick, I should, as you say, have been food for
+      fishes before now, for that is what they meant me for, and there is no
+      thanks to them that I am here at present. I am sorry that you have all
+      been made so uncomfortable about me."
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+"We should have been an ungrateful lot indeed if we had not,
+considering that in the first place you saved us from being ruined by
+those pirates, and that it was, as we thought, owing to the services
+you had done us that you had come to your end."
+
+ "But where have you been, Master Cyril?" Nellie broke in. "What has
+happened to you? We have been picturing all sorts of horrors, mother
+and I. That evil had befallen you we were sure, for we knew that you
+would not go away of a sudden, in this fashion, without so much as
+saying goodbye. We feared all the more when, two days afterwards, the
+wretches were so bold as to attack the constables, and to rescue
+Robert Ashford and another from their hands. Men who would do this in
+broad daylight would surely hesitate at nothing."
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      "Let him eat his supper without asking further questions, Nellie," her
+      father said. "It is ill asking one with victuals before him to begin a
+      tale that may, for aught I know, last an hour. Let him have his food,
+      lass, and then I will light my pipe, and John Wilkes shall light his here
+      instead of going out for it, and we will have the yarn in peace and
+      comfort. It spoils a good story to hurry it through. Cyril is here, alive
+      and well; let that content you for a few minutes."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If I must, I must," Nellie said, with a little pout. "But you should
+      remember, father, that, while you have been all your life having
+      adventures of some sort, this is the very first that I have had; for
+      though Cyril is the one to whom it befell, it is all a parcel with the
+      robbery of the house and the capture of the thieves."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "When does the trial come off, Captain Dave?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It came off yesterday. Marner is to be hung at the end of the week. He
+      declared that he was but in the lane by accident when two lads opened the
+      gate. He and the man with him, seeing that they were laden with goods,
+      would have seized them, when they themselves were attacked and beaten
+      down. But this ingenuity did not save him. Tom Frost had been admitted as
+      King's evidence, and testified that Marner had been several times at the
+      gate with the fellow that escaped, to receive the stolen goods. Moreover,
+      there were many articles among those found at his place that I was able to
+      swear to, besides the proceeds of over a score of burglaries. The two men
+      taken in his house will have fifteen years in gaol. The women got off
+      scot-free; there was no proof that they had taken part in the robberies,
+      though there is little doubt they knew all about them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But how did they prove the men were concerned?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They got all the people whose property had been found there, and four of
+      these, on seeing the men in the yard at Newgate, were able to swear to
+      them as having been among those who came into their rooms and frightened
+      them well-nigh to death. It was just a question whether they should be
+      hung or not, and there was some wonder that the Judge let them escape the
+      gallows."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And what has become of Tom?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They kept Tom in the prison till last night. I saw him yesterday, and I
+      am sure the boy is mighty sorry for having been concerned in the matter,
+      being, as I truly believe, terrified into it. I had written down to an old
+      friend of mine who has set up in the same way as myself at Plymouth. Of
+      course I told him all the circumstances, but assured him, that according
+      to my belief, the boy was not so much to blame, and that I was sure the
+      lesson he had had, would last him for life; so I asked him to give Tom
+      another chance, and if he did so, to keep the knowledge of this affair
+      from everyone. I got his answer yesterday morning, telling me to send him
+      down to him; he would give him a fair trial, and if he wasn't altogether
+      satisfied with him, would then get him a berth as ship's boy. So, last
+      night after dark, he was taken down by John Wilkes, and put on board a
+      coaster bound for Plymouth. I would have taken him back here, but after
+      your disappearance I feared that his life would not be safe; for although
+      they had plenty of other cases they could have proved against Marner,
+      Tom's evidence brought this business home to him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dave would not allow Cyril to begin his story until the table had
+      been cleared and he and John Wilkes had lighted their pipes. Then Cyril
+      told his adventure, the earlier part of which elicited many exclamations
+      of pity from Dame Dowsett and Mistress Nellie, and some angry ejaculations
+      from the Captain when he heard that Black Dick and Robert Ashford had got
+      safely off to Holland.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "By St. Anthony, lad," he broke out, when the story was finished, "you had
+      a narrow escape from those villains at Rotterdam. Had it chanced that you
+      were out at the time they came, I would not have given a groat for your
+      life. By all accounts, that fellow Black Dick is a desperate villain. They
+      say that they had got hold of evidence enough against him to hang a dozen
+      men, and it seems that there is little doubt that he was concerned in
+      several cases, where, not content with robbing, the villain had murdered
+      the inmates of lonely houses round London. He had good cause for hating
+      you. It was through you that he had been captured, and had lost his share
+      in all that plunder at Marner's. Well, I trust the villain will never
+      venture to show his face in London again; but there is never any saying. I
+      should like to meet that captain who behaved so well to you, and I will
+      meet him too, and shake him by the hand and tell him that any gear he may
+      want for that ketch of his, he is free to come in here to help himself.
+      There is another thing to be thought of. I must go round in the morning to
+      the Guildhall and notify the authorities that you have come back. There
+      has been a great hue and cry for you. They have searched the thieves' dens
+      of London from attic to cellar; there have been boats out looking for your
+      body; and on the day after you were missing they overhauled all the ships
+      in the port. Of course the search has died out now, but I must go and tell
+      them, and you will have to give them the story of the affair."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shan't say a word that will give them a clue that will help them to lay
+      hands on the captain. He saved my life, and no one could have been kinder
+      than he was. I would rather go away for a time altogether, for I don't see
+      how I am to tell the story without injuring him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No; it is awkward, lad. I see that, even if you would not give them the
+      name of the craft, they might find out what vessels went into Ipswich on
+      that morning, and also the names of those that sailed from Rotterdam on
+      the day she left."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It seems to me, Captain, that the only way will be for me to say the
+      exact truth, namely, that I gave my word to the captain that I would say
+      naught of the matter. I could tell how I was struck down, and how I did
+      not recover consciousness until I found myself in a boat, and was lifted
+      on board a vessel and put down into the hold, and was there kept until
+      morning. I could say that when I was let out I found we were far down the
+      river, that the captain expressed great regret when he found that I had
+      been hurt so badly, that he did everything in his power for me, and that
+      after I had been some days on board the ship he offered to land me in
+      Holland, and to give me money to pay my fare back here if I would give him
+      my word of honour not to divulge his name or the name of the ship, or that
+      of the port at which he landed me. Of course, they can imprison me for a
+      time if I refuse to tell, but I would rather stay in gaol for a year than
+      say aught that might set them upon the track of Captain Madden. It was not
+      until the day he left me in Holland that I knew his name, for of course
+      the men always called him captain, and so did I."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is the only way I can see out of it, lad. I don't think they will
+      imprison you after the service you have done in enabling them to break up
+      this gang, bring the head of it to justice, and recover a large amount of
+      property."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So indeed, on their going to the Guildhall next morning, it turned out.
+      The sitting Alderman threatened Cyril with committal to prison unless he
+      gave a full account of all that had happened to him, but Captain Dowsett
+      spoke up for him, and said boldly that instead of punishment he deserved
+      honour for the great service he had done to justice, and that, moreover,
+      if he were punished for refusing to keep the promise of secrecy he had
+      made, there was little chance in the future of desperate men sparing the
+      lives of those who fell into their hands. They would assuredly murder them
+      in self-defence if they knew that the law would force them to break any
+      promise of silence they might have made. The Magistrate, after a
+      consultation with the Chief Constable, finally came round to this view,
+      and permitted Cyril to leave the Court, after praising him warmly for the
+      vigilance he had shown in the protection of his employer's interests. He
+      regretted that he had not been able to furnish them with the name of a man
+      who had certainly been, to some extent, an accomplice of those who had
+      assaulted him, but this was not, however, so much to be regretted, since
+      the man had done all in his power to atone for his actions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is no further information you can give us, Master Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Only this, your worship: that on the day before I left Holland, I caught
+      sight of the two persons who had escaped from the constables. They had
+      just landed."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am sorry to hear it," the Alderman said. "I had hoped that they were
+      still in hiding somewhere in the City, and that the constables might yet
+      be able to lay hands on them. However, I expect they will be back again
+      erelong. Your ill-doer is sure to return here sooner or later, either with
+      the hope of further gain, or because he cannot keep away from his old
+      haunts and companions. If they fall into the hands of the City Constables,
+      I will warrant they won't escape again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He nodded to Cyril, who understood that his business was over and left the
+      Court with Captain Dave.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am not so anxious as the Alderman seemed to be that Black Dick and
+      Robert Ashford should return to London, Captain Dave."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No; I can understand that, Cyril. And even now that you know they are
+      abroad, it would be well to take every precaution, for the others whose
+      business has been sorely interrupted by the capture of that villain Marner
+      may again try to do you harm. No doubt other receivers will fill his place
+      in time, but the loss of a ready market must incommode them much. Plate
+      they can melt down themselves, and I reckon they would have but little
+      difficulty in finding knaves ready to purchase the products of the
+      melting-pot; but it is only a man with premises specially prepared for it
+      who will buy goods of all kinds, however bulky, without asking questions
+      about them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril was now in high favour with Mistress Nellie, and whenever he was not
+      engaged when she went out he was invited to escort her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day he went with her to hear a famous preacher hold forth at St.
+      Paul's. Only a portion of the cathedral was used for religious services;
+      the rest was utilised as a sort of public promenade, and here people of
+      all classes met&mdash;gallants of the Court, citizens, their wives and
+      daughters, idlers and loungers, thieves and mendicants.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As Nellie walked forward to join the throng gathered near the pulpit,
+      Cyril noticed a young man in a Court suit, standing among a group who were
+      talking and laughing much louder than was seemly, take off his plumed hat,
+      and make a deep bow, to which she replied by a slight inclination of the
+      head, and passed on with somewhat heightened colour.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril waited until the service was over, when, as he left the cathedral
+      with her, he asked,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Who was that ruffler in gay clothes, who bowed so deeply to you, Mistress
+      Nellie?&mdash;that is, if there is no indiscretion in my asking."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I met him in a throng while you were away," she said, with an attempt at
+      carelessness which he at once detected. "There was a great press, and I
+      well-nigh fainted, but he very courteously came to my assistance, and
+      brought me safely out of the crowd."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And doubtless you have seen him since, Mistress?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie tossed her head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't see what right you have to question me, Master Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No right at all," Cyril replied good-temperedly, "save that I am an
+      inmate of your father's house, and have received great kindness from him,
+      and I doubt if he would be pleased if he knew that you bowed to a person
+      unknown to him and unknown, I presume, to yourself, save that he has
+      rendered you a passing service."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He is a gentleman of the Court, I would have you know," she said angrily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I do not know that that is any great recommendation if the tales one
+      hears about the Court are true," Cyril replied calmly. "I cannot say I
+      admire either his companions or his manners, and if he is a gentleman he
+      should know that if he wishes to speak to an honest citizen's daughter it
+      were only right that he should first address himself to her father."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Heigh ho!" Nellie exclaimed, with her face flushed with indignation. "Who
+      made you my censor, I should like to know? I will thank you to attend to
+      your own affairs, and to leave mine alone."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The affairs of Captain Dave's daughter are mine so long as I am abroad
+      with her," Cyril said firmly. "I am sorry to displease you, but I am only
+      doing what I feel to be my duty. Methinks that, were John Wilkes here in
+      charge of you, he would say the same, only probably he would express his
+      opinion as to yonder gallant more strongly than I do;" he nodded in the
+      direction of the man, who had followed them out of the cathedral, and was
+      now walking on the other side of the street and evidently trying to
+      attract Nellie's attention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie bit her lips. She was about to answer him passionately, but
+      restrained herself with a great effort.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You are mistaken in the gentleman, Cyril," she said, after a pause; "he
+      is of a good family, and heir to a fine estate."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Oh, he has told you as much as that, has he? Well, Mistress Nellie, it
+      may be as he says, but surely it is for your father to inquire into that,
+      when the gentleman comes forward in due course and presents himself as a
+      suitor. Fine feathers do not always make fine birds, and a man may ruffle
+      it at King Charles's Court without ten guineas to shake in his purse."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment the young man crossed the street, and, bowing deeply to
+      Nellie, was about to address her when Cyril said gravely,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Sir, I am not acquainted with your name, nor do I know more about you
+      save that you are a stranger to this lady's family. That being so, and as
+      she is at present under my escort, I must ask you to abstain from
+      addressing her."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You insolent young varlet!" the man said furiously. "Had I a cane instead
+      of a sword I would chastise you for your insolence."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is as it may be," Cyril said quietly. "That sort of thing may do
+      down at Whitehall, but if you attempt to make trouble here in Cheapside
+      you will very speedily find yourself in the hands of the watch."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "For Heaven's sake, sir," Nellie said anxiously, as several passers-by
+      paused to see what was the matter, "do not cause trouble. For my sake, if
+      not for your own, pray leave me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I obey you, Mistress," the man said again, lifting his hat and bowing
+      deeply. "I regret that the officiousness of this blundering varlet should
+      have mistaken my intentions, which were but to salute you courteously."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, he replaced his hat, and, with a threatening scowl at Cyril,
+      pushed his way roughly through those standing round, and walked rapidly
+      away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie was very pale, and trembled from head to foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Take me home, Cyril," she murmured.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He offered her his arm, and he made his way along the street, while his
+      face flushed with anger at some jeering remarks he heard from one or two
+      of those who looked on at the scene. It was not long before Nellie's anger
+      gained the upper hand of her fears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A pretty position you have placed me in, with your interference!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You mean, I suppose, Mistress Nellie, a pretty position that man placed
+      you in, by his insolence. What would Captain Dave say if he heard that his
+      daughter had been accosted by a Court gallant in the streets?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Are you going to tell him?" she asked, removing her hand sharply from his
+      arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have no doubt I ought to do so, and if you will take my advice you will
+      tell him yourself as soon as you reach home, for it may be that among
+      those standing round was someone who is acquainted with both you and your
+      father; and you know as well as I do what Captain Dave would say if it
+      came to his ears in such fashion."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie walked for some time in silence. Her anger rose still higher
+      against Cyril at the position in which his interference had placed her,
+      but she could not help seeing that his advice was sound. She had indeed
+      met this man several times, and had listened without chiding to his
+      protestations of admiration and love. Nellie was ambitious. She had been
+      allowed to have her own way by her mother, whose sole companion she had
+      been during her father's absence at sea. She knew that she was remarkably
+      pretty, and saw no reason why she, like many another citizen's daughter,
+      should not make a good match. She had readily given the man her promise to
+      say nothing at home until he gave her leave to do so, and she had been
+      weak, enough to take all that he said for gospel. Now she felt that, at
+      any rate, she must smooth matters over and put it so that as few questions
+      as possible should be asked. After a long pause, then, she said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Perhaps you are right, Cyril. I will myself tell my father and mother. I
+      can assure you that I had no idea I should meet him to-day."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This Cyril could readily believe, for certainly she would not have asked
+      him to accompany her if she had known. However, he only replied gravely,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am glad to hear that you will tell them, Mistress Nellie, and trust
+      that you will take them entirely into your confidence."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This Nellie had no idea of doing; but she said no further word until they
+      reached home.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII &mdash; SAVED FROM A VILLAIN
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      "I find that I have to give you thanks for yet another service, Cyril,"
+      Captain Dave said heartily, when they met the next morning. "Nellie tells
+      me a young Court gallant had the insolence to try to address her yesterday
+      in Cheapside, on her way back from St. Paul's, that you prevented his
+      doing so, and that there was quite a scene in the street. If I knew who he
+      was I would break his sconce for him, were he Rochester himself. A pretty
+      pass things have come to, when a citizen's daughter cannot walk home from
+      St. Paul's without one of these impudent vagabonds of the Court venturing
+      to address her! Know you who he was?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No; I have never seen the fellow before, Captain Dave. I do know many of
+      the courtiers by sight, having, when we first came over, often gone down
+      to Whitehall with my father when he was seeking to obtain an audience with
+      the King; but this man's face is altogether strange to me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, well! I will take care that Nellie shall not go abroad again except
+      under her mother's escort or mine. I know, Cyril, that she would be as
+      safe under your charge as in ours, but it is better that she should have
+      the presence of an older person. It is not that I doubt your courage or
+      your address, lad, but a ruffling gallant of this sort would know naught
+      of you, save that you are young, and besides, did you interfere, there
+      might be a scene that would do serious harm to Nellie's reputation."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I agree with you thoroughly, Captain Dave," Cyril said warmly. "It will
+      be far better that you or Mrs. Dowsett should be by her side as long as
+      there is any fear of further annoyance from this fellow. I should ask
+      nothing better than to try a bout with him myself, for I have been right
+      well taught how to use my sword; but, as you say, a brawl in the street is
+      of all things to be avoided."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Three or four weeks passed quietly. Nellie seldom went abroad; when she
+      did so her mother always accompanied her if it were in the daytime, and
+      her father whenever she went to the house of any friend after dusk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril one day caught sight of the gallant in Tower Street, and although he
+      was on his way to one of his customers, he at once determined to break his
+      appointment and to find out who the fellow was. The man sauntered about
+      looking into the shops for full half an hour, but it was apparent to Cyril
+      that he paid little attention to their contents, and was really waiting
+      for someone. When the clock struck three he started, stamped his foot
+      angrily on the ground, and, walking away rapidly to the stairs of London
+      Bridge, took a seat in a boat, and was rowed up the river.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril waited until he had gone a short distance, and then hailed a wherry
+      rowing two oars.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You see that boat over there?" he said. "I don't wish to overtake it at
+      present. Keep a hundred yards or so behind it, but row inshore so that it
+      shall not seem that you are following them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The men obeyed his instructions until they had passed the Temple; then, as
+      the other boat still kept in the middle of the stream, Cyril had no doubt
+      that it would continue its course to Westminster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now stretch to your oars," he said to the watermen. "I want to get to
+      Westminster before the other boat, and to be well away from the stairs
+      before it comes up."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The rest of the journey was performed at much greater speed, and Cyril
+      alighted at Westminster while the other boat was some three or four
+      hundred yards behind. Paying the watermen, he went up the stairs, walked
+      away fifty or sixty yards, and waited until he saw the man he was
+      following appear. The latter walked quietly up towards Whitehall and
+      entered a tavern frequented by young bloods of the Court. Cyril pressed
+      his hat down over his eyes. His dress was not the same as that in which he
+      had escorted Nellie to the cathedral, and he had but small fear of being
+      recognised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he entered he sat down at a vacant table, and, having ordered a stoup
+      of wine, looked round. The man had joined a knot of young fellows like
+      himself, seated at a table. They were dissipated-looking blades, and were
+      talking loudly and boisterously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, Harvey, how goes it? Is the lovely maiden we saw when we were with
+      you at St. Paul's ready to drop into your arms?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Things are going on all right," Harvey said, with an air of
+      consciousness; "but she is watched by two griffins, her father and mother.
+      'Tis fortunate they do not know me by sight, and I have thus chances of
+      slipping a note in her hand when I pass her. I think it will not be long
+      before you will have to congratulate me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "She is an heiress and only daughter, is she not, honest John?" another
+      asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "She is an only child, and her father bears the reputation of doing a good
+      business; but as to what I shall finally do, I shall not yet determine. As
+      to that, I shall be guided by circumstances."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Of course, of course," the one who had first spoken said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had gained the information he required. The man's name was John
+      Harvey, and Nellie was keeping up a clandestine correspondence with him.
+      Cyril felt that were he to listen longer he could not restrain his
+      indignation, and, without touching the wine he had paid for, he hastily
+      left the tavern.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he walked towards the city, he was unable to decide what he had better
+      do. Were he to inform Captain Dave of what he had heard there would be a
+      terrible scene, and there was no saying what might happen. Still, Nellie
+      must be saved from falling into the hands of this fellow, and if he
+      abstained from telling her father he must himself take steps to prevent
+      the possibility of such a thing taking place. The more he thought of it
+      the more he felt of the heavy responsibility it would be. Anxious as he
+      was to save Nellie from the anger of her father, it was of far greater
+      consequence to save her from the consequences of her own folly. At last he
+      resolved to take John Wilkes into his counsels. John was devoted to his
+      master, and even if his advice were not of much value, his aid in keeping
+      watch would be of immense service. Accordingly, that evening, when John
+      went out for his usual pipe after supper, Cyril, who had to go to a trader
+      in Holborn, followed him out quickly and overtook him a few yards from the
+      door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I want to have a talk with you, John."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay, sir. Where shall it be? Nothing wrong, I hope? That new
+      apprentice looks to me an honest sort of chap, and the man we have got in
+      the yard now is an old mate of mine. He was a ship's boy on board the <i>Dolphin</i>
+      twenty-five years back, and he sailed under the Captain till he left the
+      sea. I would trust that chap just as I would myself."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is nothing of that sort, John. It is another sort of business
+      altogether, and yet it is quite as serious as the last. I have got half an
+      hour before I have to start to do those books at Master Hopkins'. Where
+      can we have a talk in a quiet place where there is no chance of our being
+      overheard?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is a little room behind the bar at the place I go to, and I have no
+      doubt the landlord will let us have it, seeing as I am a regular
+      customer."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "At any rate we can see, John. It is too cold for walking about talking
+      here; and, besides, I think one can look at a matter in all lights much
+      better sitting down than one can walking about."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is according to what you are accustomed to," John said, shaking his
+      head. "It seems to me that I can look further into the innards of a
+      question when I am walking up and down the deck on night watch with just
+      enough wind aloft to take her along cheerful, and not too much of it, than
+      I can at any other time; but then, you see, that is just what one is
+      accustomed to. This is the place."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered a quiet tavern, and, nodding to five or six
+      weather-beaten-looking men, who were sitting smoking long pipes, each with
+      a glass of grog before him, went up to the landlord, who formed one of the
+      party. He had been formerly the master of a trader, and had come into the
+      possession of the tavern by marriage with its mistress, who was still the
+      acting head of the establishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We have got a piece of business we want to overhaul, Peter. I suppose we
+      can have that cabin in yonder for a bit?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay. There is a good fire burning. You will find pipes on the table.
+      You will want a couple of glasses of grog, of course?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John nodded, and then led the way into the little snuggery at the end of
+      the room. It had a glass door, so that, if desired, a view could be
+      obtained of the general room, but there was a curtain to draw across this.
+      There was a large oak settle on either side of the fire, and there was a
+      table, with pipes and a jar of tobacco standing between them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is a tidy little crib," John said, as he seated himself and began to
+      fill a pipe. "There is no fear of being disturbed here. There has been
+      many a voyage talked over and arranged in this 'ere room. They say that
+      Blake himself, when the Fleet was in the river, would drop in here
+      sometimes, with one of his captains, for a quiet talk."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A minute later a boy entered and placed two steaming glasses of grog on
+      the table. The door closed after him, and John said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now you can get under way, Master Cyril. You have got a fair course now,
+      and nothing to bring you up."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is a serious matter, John. And before I begin, I must tell you that I
+      rely on your keeping absolute silence as to what I am going to tell you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That in course," John said, as he lifted his glass to his lips. "You
+      showed yourself a first-rate pilot in that last job, and I am content to
+      sail under you this time without asking any questions as to the ship's
+      course, and to steer according to orders."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril told the story, interrupted frequently by angry ejaculations on the
+      part of the old bo'swain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Dash my wig!" he exclaimed, when Cyril came to an end. "But this is a bad
+      business altogether, Master Cyril. One can engage a pirate and beat him
+      off if the crew is staunch, but when there is treason on board ship, it
+      makes it an awkward job for those in command."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The question is this, John: ought we to tell the Captain, or shall we try
+      to take the affair into our own hands, and so to manage it that he shall
+      never know anything about it?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sailor was silent for a minute or two, puffing his pipe meditatively.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I see it is an awkward business to decide," he said. "On one side, it
+      would pretty nigh kill Captain Dave to know that Mistress Nellie has been
+      steering wild and has got out of hand. She is just the apple of his eye.
+      Then, on the other hand, if we undertook the job without telling him, and
+      one fine morning we was to find out she was gone, we should be in a mighty
+      bad fix, for the Captain would turn round and say, 'Why didn't you tell
+      me? If you had done so, I would have locked her up under hatches, and
+      there she would be, safe now.'"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is just what I see, and it is for that reason I come to you. I could
+      not be always on the watch, but I think that you and I together would keep
+      so sharp a look-out that we might feel pretty sure that she could not get
+      away without our knowledge."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We could watch sharply enough at night, Master Cyril. There would be no
+      fear of her getting away then without our knowing it. But how would it be
+      during the day? There am I in the shop or store from seven in the morning
+      until we lock up before supper-time. You are out most of your time, and
+      when you are not away, you are in the office at the books, and she is free
+      to go in and out of the front door without either of us being any the
+      wiser."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't think he would venture to carry her off by daylight," Cyril said.
+      "She never goes out alone now, and could scarcely steal away unnoticed.
+      Besides, she would know that she would be missed directly, and a hue and
+      cry set up. I should think she would certainly choose the evening, when we
+      are all supposed to be in bed. He would have a chair waiting somewhere
+      near; and there are so often chairs going about late, after city
+      entertainments, that they would get off unnoticed. I should say the most
+      dangerous time is between nine o'clock and midnight. She generally goes
+      off to bed at nine or soon after, and she might very well put on her hood
+      and cloak and steal downstairs at once, knowing that she would not be
+      missed till morning. Another dangerous time would be when she goes out to
+      a neighbour's. The Captain always takes her, and goes to fetch her at nine
+      o'clock, but she might make some excuse to leave quite early, and go off
+      in that way."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That would be awkward, Mr. Cyril, for neither you nor I could be away at
+      supper-time without questions being asked. It seems to me that I had
+      better take Matthew into the secret. As he don't live in the house he
+      could very well watch wherever she is, till I slip round after supper to
+      relieve him, and he could watch outside here in the evening till either
+      you or I could steal downstairs and take his place. You can count on him
+      keeping his mouth shut just as you can on me. The only thing is, how is he
+      to stop her if he finds her coming out from a neighbour's before the
+      Captain has come for her?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If he saw her coming straight home he could follow her to the door
+      without being noticed, John, but if he found her going some other way he
+      must follow her till he sees someone speak to her, and must then go
+      straight up and say, 'Mistress Dowsett, I am ready to escort you home.' If
+      she orders him off, or the man she meets threatens him, as is like enough,
+      he must say, 'Unless you come I shall shout for aid, and call upon
+      passers-by to assist me'; and, rather than risk the exposure, she would
+      most likely return with him. Of course, he would carry with him a good
+      heavy cudgel, and choose a thoroughfare where there are people about to
+      speak to her, and not an unfrequented passage, for you may be sure the
+      fellow would have no hesitation in running him through if he could do so
+      without being observed."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Matthew is a stout fellow," John Wilkes said, "and was as smart a sailor
+      as any on board till he had his foot smashed by being jammed by a spare
+      spar that got adrift in a gale, so that the doctors had to cut off the leg
+      under the knee, and leave him to stump about on a timber toe for the rest
+      of his life. I tell you what, Master Cyril: we might make the thing safer
+      still if I spin the Captain a yarn as how Matthew has strained his back
+      and ain't fit to work for a bit; then I can take on another hand to work
+      in the yard, and we can put him on watch all day. He might come on duty at
+      nine o'clock in the morning, and stop until I relieve him as soon as
+      supper is over. Of course, he would not keep opposite the house, but might
+      post himself a bit up or down the street, so that he could manage to keep
+      an eye on the door."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That would be excellent," Cyril said. "Of course, at the supper-hour he
+      could go off duty, as she could not possibly leave the house between that
+      time and nine o'clock. You always come in about that hour, and I hear you
+      go up to bed. When you get there, you should at once take off your boots,
+      slip downstairs again with them, and go quietly out. I often sit talking
+      with Captain Dave till half-past nine or ten, but directly I can get away
+      I will come down and join you. I think in that way we need feel no
+      uneasiness as to harm coming from our not telling Captain Dave, for it
+      would be impossible for her to get off unnoticed. Now that is all arranged
+      I must be going, for I shall be late at my appointment unless I hurry."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Shall I go round and begin my watch at once, Master Cyril?".
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, there is no occasion for that. We know that he missed her to-day, and
+      therefore can have made no appointment; and I am convinced by what he said
+      to the fellows he met, that matters are not settled yet. However, we will
+      begin to-morrow. You can take an opportunity during the day to tell
+      Matthew about it, and he can pretend to strain his back in the afternoon,
+      and you can send him away. He can come round again next morning early, and
+      when the Captain comes down you can tell him that you find that Matthew
+      will not be able to work for the present, and ask him to let you take
+      another man on until he can come back again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril watched Nellie closely at meal-times and in the evening for the next
+      few days. He thought that he should be certain to detect some slight
+      change in her manner, however well she might play her part, directly she
+      decided on going off with this man. She would not dream that she was
+      suspected in any way, and would therefore be the less cautious. Matthew
+      kept watch during the day, and followed if she went out with her father to
+      a neighbour's, remaining on guard outside the house until John Wilkes
+      relieved him as soon as he had finished his supper. If she remained at
+      home in the evening John went out silently, after his return at his usual
+      hour, and was joined by Cyril as soon as Captain Dave said good-night and
+      went in to his bedroom. At midnight they re-entered the house and stole up
+      to their rooms, leaving their doors open and listening attentively for
+      another hour before they tried to get to sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the sixth morning Cyril noticed that Nellie was silent and abstracted
+      at breakfast-time. She went out marketing with her mother afterwards, and
+      at dinner her mood had changed. She talked and laughed more than usual.
+      There was a flush of excitement on her cheeks, and he drew the conclusion
+      that in the morning she had not come to an absolute decision, but had
+      probably given an answer to the man during the time she was out with her
+      mother, and that she felt the die was now cast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Pass the word to Matthew to keep an extra sharp watch this afternoon and
+      to-morrow, John. I think the time is close at hand," he said, as they went
+      downstairs together after dinner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do you think so? Well, the sooner the better. It is trying work, this
+      here spying, and I don't care how soon it is over. I only hope it will end
+      by our running down this pirate and engaging him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I hope so too, John. I feel it very hard to be sitting at table with her
+      and Captain Dave and her mother, and to know that she is deceiving them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I can't say a word for her," the old sailor said, shaking his head. "She
+      has as good parents as a girl could want to have. They would give their
+      lives for her, either of them, cheerful, and there she is thinking of
+      running away from them with a scamp she knows nothing of and has probably
+      never spoken with for an hour. I knew her head was a bit turned with young
+      fellows dangling after her, and by being noticed by some of the Court
+      gallants at the last City ball, and by being made the toast by many a
+      young fellow in City taverns&mdash;'Pretty Mistress Nellie Dowsett'; but I
+      did not think her head was so turned that she would act as she is doing.
+      Well, well, we must hope that this will be a lesson, Master Cyril, that
+      she will remember all her life."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I hope so, John, and I trust that we shall be able to manage it all so
+      that the matter will never come to her parents' ears."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I hope so, and I don't see why it should. The fellow may bluster, but he
+      will say nothing about it because he would get into trouble for trying to
+      carry off a citizen's daughter."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And besides that, John,&mdash;which would be quite as serious in the eyes
+      of a fellow of this sort,&mdash;he would have the laugh against him among
+      all his companions for having been outwitted in the City. So I think when
+      he finds the game is up he will be glad enough to make off without causing
+      trouble."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Don't you think we might give him a sound thrashing? It would do him a
+      world of good."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't think it would do a man of that sort much good, John, and he
+      would be sure to shout, and then there would be trouble, and the watch
+      might come up, and we should all get hauled off together. In the morning
+      the whole story would be known, and Mistress Nellie's name in the mouth of
+      every apprentice in the City. No, no; if he is disposed to go off quietly,
+      by all means let him go."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have no doubt that you are right, Master Cyril, but it goes mightily
+      against the grain to think that a fellow like that is to get off with a
+      whole skin. However, if one should fall foul of him some other time, one
+      might take it out of him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dave found Cyril but a bad listener to his stories that evening,
+      and, soon after nine, said he should turn in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't know what ails you to-night, Cyril," he said. "Your wits are
+      wool-gathering, somewhere. I don't believe that you heard half that last
+      story I was telling you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I heard it all, sir; but I do feel a little out of sorts this evening."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You do too much writing, lad. My head would be like to go to pieces if I
+      were to sit half the hours that you do at a desk."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Captain Dave went into his room, Cyril walked upstairs and closed his
+      bedroom door with a bang, himself remaining outside. Then he took off his
+      boots, and, holding them in his hand, went noiselessly downstairs to the
+      front door. The lock had been carefully oiled, and, after putting on his
+      boots again, he went out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You are right, Master Cyril, sure enough," John Wilkes said when he
+      joined him, fifty yards away from the house. "It is to-night she is going
+      to try to make off. I thought I had best keep Matthew at hand, so I bid
+      him stop till I came out, then sent him round to have a pint of ale at the
+      tavern, and when he came back told him he had best cruise about, and look
+      for signs of pirates. He came back ten minutes ago, and told me that a
+      sedan chair had just been brought to the other end of the lane. It was set
+      down some thirty yards from Fenchurch Street. There were the two chairmen
+      and three fellows wrapped up in cloaks."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That certainly looks like action, John. Well, I should say that Matthew
+      had better take up his station at the other end of the lane, there to
+      remain quiet until he hears an uproar at the chair; then he can run up to
+      our help if we need it. We will post ourselves near the door. No doubt
+      Harvey, and perhaps one of his friends, will come and wait for her. We
+      can't interfere with them here, but must follow and come up with her just
+      before they reach the chair. The further they are away from the house the
+      better. Then if there is any trouble Captain Dave will not hear anything
+      of it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That will be a good plan of operations," John agreed. "Matthew is just
+      round the next corner. I will send him to Fenchurch Street at once."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He went away, and rejoined Cyril in two or three minutes. They then went
+      along towards the house, and took post in a doorway on the other side of
+      the street, some thirty yards from the shop. They had scarcely done so,
+      when they heard footsteps, and presently saw two men come along in the
+      middle of the street. They stopped and looked round.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is not a soul stirring," one said. "We can give the signal."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, he sang a bar or two of a song popular at the time, and they
+      then drew back from the road into a doorway and waited.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Five minutes later, Cyril and his fellow-watcher heard a very slight
+      sound, and a figure stepped out from Captain Dowsett's door. The two men
+      crossed at once and joined her. A few low words were spoken, and they
+      moved away together, and turned up the lane.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as they disappeared from sight, Cyril and John Wilkes issued out.
+      The latter had produced some long strips of cloth, which he wound round
+      both their boots, so as, he said, to muffle the oars. Their steps,
+      therefore, as they followed, were almost noiseless. Walking fast, they
+      came up to the three persons ahead of them just as they reached the sedan
+      chair. The two chairmen were standing at the poles, and a third man was
+      holding the door open with his hat in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Avast heaving, mates!" John Wilkes said. "It seems to me as you are
+      running this cargo without proper permits."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie gave a slight scream on hearing the voice, while the man beside her
+      stepped forward, exclaiming furiously:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "S" death, sir! who are you, and what are you interfering about?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am an honest man I hope, master. My name is John Wilkes, and, as that
+      young lady will tell you, I am in the employ of her father."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then I tell you, John Wilkes, or John the Devil, or whatever your name
+      maybe, that if you don't at once take yourself off, I will let daylight
+      into you," and he drew his sword, as did his two companions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John gave a whistle, and the wooden-legged man was heard hurrying up from
+      Fenchurch Street.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Cut the scoundrel down, Penrose," Harvey exclaimed, "while I put the lady
+      into the chair."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man addressed sprang at Wilkes, but in a moment his Court sword was
+      shivered by a blow from the latter's cudgel, which a moment later fell
+      again on his head, sending him reeling back several paces.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Stay, sir, or I will run you through," Cyril said, pricking Harvey
+      sharply in the arm as he was urging Nellie to enter the chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Oh, it's you, is it?" the other exclaimed, in a tone of fury. "My boy of
+      Cheapside! Well, I can spare a moment to punish you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Oh, do not fight with him, my lord!" Nellie exclaimed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "My lord!" Cyril laughed. "So he has become a lord, eh?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he changed his tone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Mistress Nellie, you have been deceived. This fellow is no lord. He is a
+      hanger-on of the Court, one John Harvey, a disreputable blackguard whom I
+      heard boasting to his boon-companions of his conquest. I implore you to
+      return home as quietly as you went. None will know of this."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He broke off suddenly, for, with an oath, Harvey rushed at him. Their
+      swords clashed, there was a quick thrust and parry, and then Harvey
+      staggered back with a sword-wound through the shoulder, dropping his sword
+      to the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Your game is up, John Harvey," Cyril said. "Did you have your deserts I
+      would pass my sword through your body. Now call your fellows off, or it
+      will be worse for them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Oh, it is not true? Surely it cannot be true?" Nellie cried, addressing
+      Harvey. "You cannot have deceived me?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The fellow, smarting with pain, and seeing that the game was up, replied
+      with a savage curse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You may think yourself lucky that you are only disabled, you villain!"
+      Cyril said, taking a step towards him with his sword menacingly raised.
+      "Begone, sir, before my patience is exhausted, or, by heaven! it will be
+      your dead body that the chairmen will have to carry away."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Disabled or not," John Wilkes exclaimed, "I will have a say in the
+      matter;" and, with a blow with his cudgel, he stretched Harvey on the
+      ground, and belaboured him furiously until Cyril dragged him away by
+      force. Harvey rose slowly to his feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Take yourself off, sir," Cyril said. "One of your brave companions has
+      long ago bolted; the other is disarmed, and has his head broken. You may
+      thank your stars that you have escaped with nothing worse than a
+      sword-thrust through your shoulder, and a sound drubbing. Hanging would be
+      a fit punishment for knaves like you. I warn you, if you ever address or
+      in any way molest this lady again, you won't get off so easily."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he turned and offered his arm to Nellie, who was leaning against the
+      wall in a half-fainting state. Not a word was spoken until they emerged
+      from the lane.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No one knows of this but ourselves, Mistress Nellie, and you will never
+      hear of it from us. Glad indeed I am that I have saved you from the misery
+      and ruin that must have resulted from your listening to that plausible
+      scoundrel. Go quietly upstairs. We will wait here till we are sure that
+      you have gone safely into your room; then we will follow. I doubt not that
+      you are angry with me now, but in time you will feel that you have been
+      saved from a great danger."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The door was not locked. He lifted the latch silently, and held the door
+      open for her to pass in. Then he closed it again, and turned to the two
+      men who followed them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This has been a good night's work, John."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That has it. I don't think that young spark will be coming after City
+      maidens again. Well, it has been a narrow escape for her. It would have
+      broken the Captain's heart if she had gone in that way. What strange
+      things women are! I have always thought Mistress Nellie as sensible a girl
+      as one would want to see. Given a little over-much, perhaps, to thinking
+      of the fashion of her dress, but that was natural enough, seeing how
+      pretty she is and how much she is made of; and yet she is led, by a few
+      soft speeches from a man she knows nothing of, to run away from home, and
+      leave father, and mother, and all. Well, Matthew, lad, we sha'n't want any
+      more watching. You have done a big service to the master, though he will
+      never know it. I know I can trust you to keep a stopper on your jaws.
+      Don't you let a soul know of this&mdash;not even your wife."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You trust me, mate," the man replied. "My wife is a good soul, but her
+      tongue runs nineteen to the dozen, and you might as well shout a thing out
+      at Paul's Cross as drop it into her ear. I think my back will be well
+      enough for me to come to work again to-morrow," he added, with a laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "All right, mate. I shall be glad to have you again, for the chap who has
+      been in your place is a landsman, and he don't know a marling-spike from
+      an anchor. Good-night, mate."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, Master Cyril," he went on, as the sailor walked away, "I don't
+      think there ever was such a good wind as that which blew you here. First
+      of all you saved Captain Dave's fortune, and now you save his daughter. I
+      look on Captain Dave as being pretty nigh the same as myself, seeing as I
+      have been with him man and boy for over thirty years, and I feel what you
+      have done for him just as if you had done it for me. I am only a rough
+      sailor-man, and I don't know how to put it in words, but I feel just full
+      up with a cargo of thankfulness."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is all right," Cyril said, holding out his hand, which John Wilkes
+      shook with a heartiness that was almost painful. "Captain Dave offered me
+      a home when I was alone without a friend in London, and I am glad indeed
+      that I have been able to render him service in return. I myself have done
+      little enough, though I do not say that the consequences have not been
+      important. It has been just taking a little trouble and keeping a few
+      watches&mdash;a thing not worth talking about one way or the other. I hope
+      this will do Mistress Nellie good. She is a nice girl, but too fond of
+      admiration, and inclined to think that she is meant for higher things than
+      to marry a London citizen. I think to-night's work will cure her of that.
+      This fellow evidently made himself out to her to be a nobleman of the
+      Court. Now she sees that he is neither a nobleman nor a gentleman, but a
+      ruffian who took advantage of her vanity and inexperience, and that she
+      would have done better to have jumped down the well in the yard than to
+      have put herself in his power. Now we can go up to bed. There is no more
+      probability of our waking the Captain than there has been on other nights;
+      but mind, if we should do so, you stick to the story we agreed on, that
+      you thought there was someone by the gate in the lane again, and so called
+      me to go down with you to investigate, not thinking it worth while to
+      rouse up the Captain on what might be a false alarm."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Everything remained perfectly quiet as they made their way upstairs to
+      their rooms as silently as possible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Where is Nellie?" Captain Dave asked, when they assembled at breakfast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "She is not well," his wife replied, "I went to her room just now and
+      found that she was still a-bed. She said that she had a bad headache, and
+      I fear that she is going to have a fever, for her face is pale and her
+      eyes red and swollen, just as if she had been well-nigh crying them out of
+      her head; her hands are hot and her pulse fast. Directly I have had
+      breakfast I shall make her some camomile tea, and if that does not do her
+      good I shall send for the doctor."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do so, wife, without delay. Why, the girl has never ailed a day for
+      years! What can have come to her?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "She says it is only a bad headache&mdash;that all she wants is to be left
+      alone."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, yes; that is all very well, but if she does not get better soon she
+      must be seen to. They say that there were several cases last week of that
+      plague that has been doing so much harm in foreign parts, and if that is
+      so it behoves us to be very careful, and see that any illness is attended
+      to without delay."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't think that there is any cause for alarm," his wife said quietly.
+      "The child has got a headache and is a little feverish, but there is no
+      occasion whatever for thinking that it is anything more. There is nothing
+      unusual in a girl having a headache, but Nellie has had such good health
+      that if she had a prick in the finger you would think it was serious."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "By the way, John," Captain Dave said suddenly, "did you hear any noise in
+      the lane last night? Your room is at the back of the house, and you were
+      more likely to have heard it than I was. I have just seen one of the
+      watch, and he tells me that there was a fray there last night, for there
+      is a patch of blood and marks of a scuffle. It was up at the other end.
+      There is some mystery about it, he thinks, for he says that one of his
+      mates last night saw a sedan chair escorted by three men turn into the
+      lane from Fenchurch Street just before ten o'clock, and one of the
+      neighbours says that just after that hour he heard a disturbance and a
+      clashing of swords there. On looking out, he saw something dark that might
+      have been a chair standing there, and several men engaged in a scuffle. It
+      seemed soon over, and directly afterwards three people came down the lane
+      this way. Then he fancied that someone got into the chair, which was
+      afterwards carried out into Fenchurch Street."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I did hear something that sounded like a quarrel or a fray," John Wilkes
+      said, "but there is nothing unusual about that. As everything was soon
+      quiet again, I gave no further thought to it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, it seems a curious affair, John. However, it is the business of the
+      City watch and not mine, so we need not bother ourselves about it. I am
+      glad to see you have got Matthew at work again this morning. He tells me
+      that he thinks he has fairly got over that sprain in his back."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VIII &mdash; THE CAPTAIN'S YARN
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mindful of the fact that this affair had added a new enemy to those he had
+      acquired by the break-up of the Black Gang, Cyril thought it as well to go
+      round and give notice to the two traders whose books he attended to in the
+      evening, that unless they could arrange for him to do them in the daytime
+      he must give up the work altogether. Both preferred the former
+      alternative, for they recognised the advantage they had derived from his
+      work, and that at a rate of pay for which they could not have obtained the
+      services of any scrivener in the City.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was three or four days before Nellie Dowsett made her appearance at the
+      general table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I can't make out what ails the girl," her mother said, on the previous
+      evening. "The fever speedily left her, as I told you, but she is weak and
+      languid, and seems indisposed to talk."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "She will soon get over that, my dear," Captain Dave said. "Girls are not
+      like men. I have seen them on board ship. One day they are laughing and
+      fidgeting about like wild things, the next day they are poor, woebegone
+      creatures. If she gets no better in a few days, I will see when my old
+      friend, Jim Carroll, is starting in his brig for Yarmouth, and will run
+      down with her myself&mdash;and of course with you, wife, if you will go&mdash;and
+      stay there a few days while he is unloading and filling up again. The
+      sea-air will set her up again, I warrant."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not at this time of year," Dame Dowsett said firmly. "With these bitter
+      winds it is no time for a lass to go a-sailing; and they say that Yarmouth
+      is a great deal colder than we are here, being exposed to the east winds."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, well, Dame, then we will content ourselves with a run in the hoy
+      down to Margate. If we choose well the wind and tide we can start from
+      here in the morning and maybe reach there late in the evening, or, if not,
+      the next morning to breakfast. Or if you think that too far we will stop
+      at Sheerness, where we can get in two tides easily enough if the wind be
+      fair."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That would be better, David; but it were best to see how she goes on. It
+      may be, as you say, that she will shortly gain her strength and spirits
+      again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was evident, when Nellie entered the room at breakfast-time the next
+      morning, that her mother's reports had not been exaggerated. She looked,
+      indeed, as if recovering from a severe illness, and when she said
+      good-morning to her father her voice trembled and her eyes filled with
+      tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Tut, tut, lass! This will never do. I shall soon hardly own you for my
+      Nellie. We shall have to feed you up on capons and wine, child, or send
+      you down to one of the baths for a course of strengthening waters."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She smiled faintly, and then turning, gave her hand to Cyril. As she did
+      so, a slight flush of colour came into her cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am heartily glad to see you down again, Mistress Nellie," he said, "and
+      wish you a fair and speedy recovery."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shall be better presently," she replied, with an effort. "Good-morning,
+      John."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Good-morning, Mistress Nellie. Right glad are we to see you down again,
+      for it makes but a dull table without your merry laugh to give an edge to
+      our appetites."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She sat down now, and the others, seeing that it was best to let her alone
+      for a while, chatted gaily together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is no talk in the City but of the war, Cyril," the Captain said
+      presently. "They say that the Dutch make sure of eating us up, but they
+      won't find it as easy a job as they fancy. The Duke of York is to command
+      the Fleet. They say that Prince Rupert will be second. To my mind they
+      ought to have entrusted the whole matter to him. He proved himself as
+      brave a captain at sea as he was on land, and I will warrant he would lead
+      his ships into action as gallantly as he rode at the head of his Cavaliers
+      on many a stricken field. The ships are fitting out in all haste, and they
+      are gathering men at every sea-port. I should say they will have no lack
+      of hands, for there are many ships laid up, that at other times trade with
+      Holland, and Dantzic, and Dunkirk, and many a bold young sailor who will
+      be glad to try whether he can fight as stoutly against the Dutch under
+      York and Rupert as his father did under Blake."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "For my part," Cyril said, "I cannot understand it; for it seems to me
+      that the English and Dutch have been fighting for the last year. I have
+      been too busy to read the Journal, and have not been in the way of hearing
+      the talk of the coffeehouses and taverns; but, beyond that it is some
+      dispute about the colonies, I know little of the matter."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am not greatly versed in it myself, lad. Nellie here reads the Journal,
+      and goes abroad more than any of us, and should be able to tell us
+      something about it. Now, girl, can't you do something to set us right in
+      this matter, for I like not to be behind my neighbours, though I am such a
+      stay-at-home, having, as I thank the Lord, much happiness here, and no
+      occasion to go out to seek it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There was much discourse about it, father, the evening I went to Dame
+      King's. There were several gentlemen there who had trade with the East,
+      and one of them held shares in the English Company trading thither. After
+      supper was over, they discoursed more fully on the matter than was
+      altogether pleasing to some of us, who would much rather that, as we had
+      hoped, we might have dancing or singing. I could see that Dame King
+      herself was somewhat put out that her husband should have, without her
+      knowing of his intention, brought in these gentlemen. Still, the matter of
+      their conversation was new to us, and we became at last so mightily
+      interested in it that we listened to the discourse without bemoaning
+      ourselves that we had lost the amusement we looked for. I know I wished at
+      the time that you had been there. I say not that I can repeat all that I
+      heard, but as I had before read some of the matters spoken of in the
+      Journal, I could follow what the gentlemen said more closely. Soon after
+      the coming of the King to the throne the friendship between us and the
+      Spaniards, that had been weakened during the mastership of Cromwell, was
+      renewed, and they gave our ships many advantages at their ports, while, on
+      the other hand, they took away the privileges the Dutch had enjoyed there,
+      and thus our commerce with Spain increased, while that of the Dutch
+      diminished."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is certainly true, Nellie," her father said. "We have three ships
+      sailing through the Mediterranean now to one that sailed there ten years
+      ago, and doubtless the Dutch must have suffered by the increase in our
+      trade."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then he said that, as we had obtained the Island of Bombay in the East
+      Indies and the City of Tangier in Africa as the dowry of the Queen, and
+      had received the Island of Poleron for our East India Company by the
+      treaty with Holland, our commerce everywhere increased, and raised their
+      jealousy higher and higher. There was nothing in this of which complaint
+      could be made by the Dutch Government, but nevertheless they gave
+      encouragement to their East and West India Companies to raise trouble.
+      Their East India Company refused to hand over the Island, and laid great
+      limitations as to the places at which our merchants might trade in India.
+      The other Company acted in the same manner, and lawlessly took possession
+      of Cape Coast Castle, belonging to our English Company.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The Duke of York, who was patron and governor of our African Company,
+      sent Sir Robert Holmes with four frigates to Guinea to make reprisals. He
+      captured a place from the Dutch and named it James's Fort, and then,
+      proceeding to the river Gambia, he turned out the Dutch traders there and
+      built a fort. A year ago, as the Dutch still held Cape Coast Castle, Sir
+      Robert was sent out again with orders to take it by force, and on the way
+      he overhauled a Dutch ship and found she carried a letter of secret
+      instructions from the Dutch Government to the West India Company to take
+      the English Fort at Cormantin. Seeing that the Hollanders, although
+      professing friendship, were thus treacherously inclined, he judged himself
+      justified in exceeding the commission he had received, and on his way
+      south he touched at Cape Verde. There he first captured two Dutch ships
+      and then attacked their forts on the Island of Gorse and captured them,
+      together with a ship lying under their guns.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "In the fort he found a great quantity of goods ready to be shipped. He
+      loaded his own vessels, and those that he had captured, with the
+      merchandise, and carried it to Sierra Leone. Then he attacked the Dutch
+      fort of St. George del Mena, the strongest on the coast, but failed there;
+      but he soon afterwards captured Cape Coast Castle, though, as the
+      gentlemen said, a mightily strong place. Then he sailed across to America,
+      and, as you know, captured the Dutch Settlements of New Netherlands, and
+      changed the name into that of New York. He did this not so much out of
+      reprisal for the misconduct of the Dutch in Africa, but because the land
+      was ours by right, having been discovered by the Cabots and taken
+      possession of in the name of King Henry VII., and our title always
+      maintained until the Dutch seized it thirty years ago.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then the Dutch sent orders to De Ruyter, who commanded the fleet which
+      was in the Mediterranean, to sail away privately and to make reprisals on
+      the Coast of Guinea and elsewhere. He first captured several of our
+      trading forts, among them that of Cormantin, taking great quantities of
+      goods belonging to our Company; he then sailed to Barbadoes, where he was
+      beaten off by the forts. Then he captured twenty of our ships off
+      Newfoundland, and so returned to Holland, altogether doing damage, as the
+      House of Commons told His Majesty, to the extent of eight hundred thousand
+      pounds. All this time the Dutch had been secretly preparing for war, which
+      they declared in January, which has forced us to do the same, although we
+      delayed a month in hopes that some accommodation might be arrived at. I
+      think, father, that is all that he told us, though there were many details
+      that I do not remember."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And very well told, lass, truly. I wonder that your giddy head should
+      have taken in so much matter. Of course, now you tell them over, I have
+      heard these things before&mdash;the wrong that the Dutch did our Company
+      by seizing their post at Cape Coast, and the reprisals that Sir Robert
+      Holmes took upon them with our Company's ships&mdash;but they made no
+      great mark on my memory, for I was just taking over my father's work when
+      the first expedition took place. At any rate, none can say that we have
+      gone into this war unjustly, seeing that the Dutch began it, altogether
+      without cause, by first attacking our trading posts."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It seems to me, Captain Dave," John Wilkes said, "that it has been mighty
+      like the war that our English buccaneers waged against the Spaniards in
+      the West Indies, while the two nations were at peace at home."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is curious," Cyril said, "that the trouble begun in Africa should have
+      shifted to the other side of the Atlantic."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, lad; just as that first trouble was at last fought out in the English
+      Channel, off the coast of France, so this is likely to be decided in
+      well-nigh the same waters."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The gentlemen, the other night, were all of opinion," Nellie said, "that
+      the matter would never have come to such a head had it not been that De
+      Witt, who is now the chief man in Holland, belongs to the French party
+      there, and has been urged on by King Louis, for his own interest, to make
+      war with us."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That may well be, Nellie. In all our English wars France has ever had a
+      part either openly or by intrigues. France never seems to be content with
+      attending to her own business, but is ever meddling with her neighbours',
+      and, if not fighting herself, trying to set them by the ears against each
+      other. If I were a bit younger, and had not lost my left flipper, I would
+      myself volunteer for the service. As for Master Cyril here, I know he is
+      burning to lay aside the pen and take to the sword."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is so, Captain Dave. As you know, I only took up the pen to keep me
+      until I was old enough to use a sword. I have been two years at it now,
+      and I suppose it will be as much longer before I can think of entering the
+      service of one of the Protestant princes; but as soon as I am fit to do
+      so, I shall get an introduction and be off; but I would tenfold rather
+      fight for my own country, and would gladly sail in the Fleet, though I
+      went but as a ship's boy."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is the right spirit, Master Cyril," John Wilkes exclaimed. "I would
+      go myself if the Captain could spare me and they would take such a
+      battered old hulk."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I couldn't spare you, John," Captain Dave said. "I have been mighty near
+      making a mess of it, even with you as chief mate, and I might as well shut
+      up shop altogether if you were to leave me. I should miss you, too,
+      Cyril," he went on, stretching his arm across the table to shake hands
+      with the lad. "You have proved a real friend and a true; but were there a
+      chance of your going as an officer, I would not balk you, even if I could
+      do so. It is but natural that a lad of spirit should speak and think as
+      you do; besides, the war may not last for long, and when you come back,
+      and the ships are paid off, you would soon wipe off the arrears of work,
+      and get the books into ship-shape order. But, work or no work, that room
+      of yours will always stand ready for you while I live, and there will
+      always be a plate for you on this table."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Thank you, Captain Dave. You always overrate my services, and forget that
+      they are but the consequence of the kindness that you have shown to me.
+      But I have no intention of going. It was but a passing thought. I have but
+      one friend who could procure me a berth as a volunteer, and as it is to
+      him I must look for an introduction to some foreign prince, I would not go
+      to him twice for a favour, especially as I have no sort of claim on his
+      kindness. To go as a cabin boy would be to go with men under my own
+      condition, and although I do not shirk hard work and rough usage, I should
+      not care for them in such fashion. Moreover, I am doing work which, even
+      without your hospitality, would suffice to keep me comfortably, and if I
+      went away, though but for a month, I might find that those for whom I work
+      had engaged other assistance. Spending naught, I am laying by money for
+      the time when I shall have to travel at my own expense and to provide
+      myself necessaries, and, maybe, to keep myself for a while until I can
+      procure employment. I have the prospect that, by the end of another two
+      years, I shall have gathered a sufficient store for all my needs, and I
+      should be wrong to throw myself out of employment merely to embark on an
+      adventure, and so to make a break, perhaps a long one, in my plans."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Don't you worry yourself on that score," Captain Dave said warmly, and
+      then checked himself. "It will be time to talk about that when the time
+      comes. But you are right, lad. I like a man who steadfastly holds on the
+      way he has chosen, and will not turn to the right or left. There is not
+      much that a man cannot achieve if he keeps his aim steadily in view. Why,
+      Cyril, if you said you had made up your mind to be Lord Mayor of London, I
+      would wager that you would some day be elected."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shall never set my eyes in that direction, nor do I think the thing I
+      have set myself to do will ever be in my power&mdash;that is, to buy back
+      my father's estate; but so long as I live I shall keep that in view."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "More unlikely things have happened, lad. You have got first to rise to be
+      a General; then, what with your pay and your share in the sack of a city
+      or two, and in other ways, you may come home with a purse full enough even
+      for that. But it is time for us to be going down below. Matthew will think
+      that we have forgotten him altogether."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Another fortnight passed. Nellie had, to a considerable extent, recovered
+      from the shock that she had suffered, but her manner was still quiet and
+      subdued, her sallies were less lively, and her father noticed, with some
+      surprise, that she no longer took any great interest in the gossip he
+      retailed of the gay doings of the Court.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I can't think what has come over the girl," he said to his wife. "She
+      seems well in health again, but she is changed a good deal, somehow. She
+      is gentler and softer. I think she is all the better for it, but I miss
+      her merry laugh and her way of ordering things about, as if her pleasure
+      only were to be consulted."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I think she is very much improved," Mrs. Dowsett said decidedly; "though
+      I can no more account for it than you can. She never used to have any care
+      about the household, and now she assists me in my work, and is in all
+      respects dutiful and obedient, and is not for ever bent upon gadding about
+      as she was before. I only hope it will continue so, for, in truth, I have
+      often sighed over the thought that she would make but a poor wife for an
+      honest citizen."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Tut, tut, wife. It has never been as bad as that. Girls will be girls,
+      and if they are a little vain of their good looks, that will soften down
+      in time, when they get to have the charge of a household. You yourself,
+      dame, were not so staid when I first wooed you, as you are now; and I
+      think you had your own little share of vanity, as was natural enough in
+      the prettiest girl in Plymouth."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Nellie was in the room Cyril did his best to save her from being
+      obliged to take part in the conversation, by inducing Captain Dave to tell
+      him stories of some of his adventures at sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You were saying, Captain Dave, that you had had several engagements with
+      the Tunis Rovers," he said one evening. "Were they ever near taking you?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They did take me once, lad, and that without an engagement; but,
+      fortunately, I was not very long a prisoner. It was not a pleasant time
+      though, John, was it?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was not, Captain Dave. I have been in sore danger of wreck several
+      times, and in three big sea-fights; but never did I feel so out of heart
+      as when I was lying, bound hand and foot, on the ballast in the hold of
+      that corsair. No true sailor is afraid of being killed; but the thought
+      that one might be all one's life a slave among the cruel heathen was
+      enough to take the stiffness out of any man's courage."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But how was it that you were taken without an engagement, Captain Dave?
+      And how did you make your escape?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, lad, it was the carelessness of my first mate that did it; but as
+      he paid for his fault with his life let us say naught against him. He was
+      a handsome, merry young fellow, and had shipped as second mate, but my
+      first had died of fever in the Levant, and of course he got the step,
+      though all too young for the responsibility. We had met with some bad
+      weather when south of Malta, and had had a heavy gale for three days,
+      during which time we lost our main topmast, and badly strained the mizzen.
+      The weather abated when we were off Pantellaria, which is a bare rock
+      rising like a mountain peak out of the sea, and with only one place where
+      a landing can be safely effected. As the gale had blown itself out, and it
+      was likely we should have a spell of settled weather, I decided to anchor
+      close in to the Island, and to repair damages.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We were hard at work for two days. All hands had had a stiff time of it,
+      and the second night, having fairly repaired damages, I thought to give
+      the crew a bit of a rest, and, not dreaming of danger, ordered that half
+      each watch might remain below. John Wilkes was acting as my second mate.
+      Pettigrew took the first watch; John had the middle watch; and then the
+      other came up again. I turned out once or twice, but everything was quiet&mdash;we
+      had not seen a sail all day. There was a light breeze blowing, but no
+      chance of its increasing, and as we were well sheltered in the only spot
+      where the anchorage was good, I own that I did not impress upon Pettigrew
+      the necessity for any particular vigilance. Anyhow, just as morning was
+      breaking I was woke by a shout. I ran out on deck, but as I did so there
+      was a rush of dark figures, and I was knocked down and bound before I knew
+      what had happened. As soon as I could think it over, it was clear enough.
+      The Moor had been coming into the anchorage, and, catching sight of us in
+      the early light, had run alongside and boarded us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The watch, of course, must have been asleep. There was not a shot fired
+      nor a drop of blood shed, for those on deck had been seized and bound
+      before they could spring to their feet, and the crew had all been caught
+      in their bunks. It was bitter enough. There was the vessel gone, and the
+      cargo, and with them my savings of twenty years' hard work, and the
+      prospect of slavery for life. The men were all brought aft and laid down
+      side by side. Young Pettigrew was laid next to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'I wish to heaven, captain,' he said, 'you had got a pistol and your hand
+      free, and would blow out my brains for me. It is all my fault, and hanging
+      at the yard-arm is what I deserve. I never thought there was the slightest
+      risk&mdash;not a shadow of it&mdash;and feeling a bit dozy, sat down for
+      five minutes' caulk. Seeing that, no doubt the men thought they might do
+      the same; and this is what has come of it. I must have slept half an hour
+      at least, for there was no sail in sight when I went off, and this Moor
+      must have come round the point and made us out after that.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The corsair was lying alongside of us, her shrouds lashed to ours. There
+      was a long jabbering among the Moors when they had taken off our hatches
+      and seen that we were pretty well full up with cargo; then, after a bit,
+      we were kicked, and they made signs for us to get on our feet and to cross
+      over into their ship. The crew were sent down into the forward hold, and
+      some men went down with them to tie them up securely. John Wilkes,
+      Pettigrew, and myself were shoved down into a bit of a place below the
+      stern cabin. Our legs were tied, as well as our arms. The trap was shut,
+      and there we were in the dark. Of course I told Pettigrew that, though he
+      had failed in his duty, and it had turned out badly, he wasn't to be
+      blamed as if he had gone to sleep in sight of an enemy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'I had never given the Moors a thought myself,' I said, 'and it was not
+      to be expected that you would. But no sailor, still less an officer, ought
+      to sleep on his watch, even if his ship is anchored in a friendly harbour,
+      and you are to blame that you gave way to drowsiness. Still, even if you
+      hadn't, it might have come to the same thing in the long run, for the
+      corsair is a large one, and might have taken us even if you had made her
+      out as she rounded the point.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But, in spite of all I could say to cheer him, he took it to heart badly,
+      and was groaning and muttering to himself when they left us in the dark,
+      so I said to him,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Look here, lad, the best way to retrieve the fault you have committed is
+      to try and get us out of the scrape. Set your brains to work, and let us
+      talk over what had best be done. There is no time to be lost, for with a
+      fair wind they can run from here to Tunis in four-and-twenty hours, and
+      once there one may give up all hope. There are all our crew on board this
+      ship. The Moor carried twice as many men as we do, but we may reckon they
+      will have put more than half of them on board our barque; they don't
+      understand her sails as well as they do their own, and will therefore want
+      a strong prize crew on board.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'I am ready to do anything, captain,' the young fellow said firmly. 'If
+      you were to give me the word, I would get into their magazine if I could,
+      and blow the ship into the air.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Well, I don't know that I will give you that order, Pettigrew. To be a
+      heathen's slave is bad, but, at any rate, I would rather try that life for
+      a bit than strike my colours at once. Now let us think it over. In the
+      first place we have to get rid of these ropes; then we have to work our
+      way forward to the crew; and then to get on deck and fight for it. It is a
+      stiff job, look at it which way one will, but at any rate it will be
+      better to be doing something&mdash;even if we find at last that we can't
+      get out of this dog-kennel&mdash;than to lie here doing nothing.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "After some talk, we agreed that it was not likely the Moors would come
+      down to us for a long time, for they might reckon that we could hold on
+      without food or water easy enough until they got to Tunis; having agreed
+      as to that point, we set to work to get our ropes loose. Wriggling
+      wouldn't do it, though we tried until the cords cut into our flesh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "At last Pettigrew said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'What a fool I am! I have got my knife hanging from a lanyard round my
+      neck. It is under my blouse, so they did not notice it when they turned my
+      pockets out.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was a long job to get at that knife. At last I found the string behind
+      his neck, and, getting hold of it with my teeth, pulled till the knife
+      came up to his throat. Then John got it in his teeth, and the first part
+      of the job was done. The next was easy enough. John held the handle of the
+      knife in his teeth and Pettigrew got hold of the blade in his, and between
+      them they made a shift to open it; then, after a good deal of trouble,
+      Pettigrew shifted himself till he managed to get the knife in his hands. I
+      lay across him and worked myself backwards and forwards till the blade cut
+      through the rope at my wrist; then, in two more minutes, we were free.
+      Then we felt about, and found that the boarding between us and the main
+      hold was old and shaky, and, with the aid of the knife and of our three
+      shoulders, we made a shift at last to wrench one of the boards from its
+      place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Pettigrew, who was slightest, crawled through, and we soon got another
+      plank down. The hold was half full of cargo, which, no doubt, they had
+      taken out of some ship or other. We made our way forward till we got to
+      the bulkhead, which, like the one we had got through, was but a make-shift
+      sort of affair, with room to put your fingers between the planks. So we
+      hailed the men and told them how we had got free, and that if they didn't
+      want to work all their lives as slaves they had best do the same. They
+      were ready enough, you may be sure, and, finding a passage between the
+      planks wider in one place than the rest, we passed the knife through to
+      them, and told them how to set about cutting the rope. They were a deal
+      quicker over it than we had been, for in our place there had been no
+      height where we could stand upright, but they were able to do so. Two men,
+      standing back to back and one holding the knife, made quick work of
+      cutting the rope.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We had plenty of strength now, and were not long in getting down a couple
+      of planks. The first thing was to make a regular overhaul of the cargo&mdash;as
+      well as we could do it, without shifting things and making a noise&mdash;to
+      look for weapons or for anything that would come in handy for the fight.
+      Not a thing could we find, but we came upon a lot of kegs that we knew, by
+      their feel, were powder. If there had been arms and we could have got up,
+      we should have done it at once, trusting to seize the ship before the
+      other could come up to her help. But without arms it would be madness to
+      try in broad daylight, and we agreed to wait till night, and to lie down
+      again where we were before, putting the ropes round our legs again and our
+      hands behind our backs, so that, if they did look in, everything should
+      seem secure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'We shall have plenty of time,' one of the sailors said, 'for they have
+      coiled a big hawser down on the hatch.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "When we got back to our lazaret, we tried the hatch by which we had been
+      shoved down, but the three of us couldn't move it any more than if it had
+      been solid stone. We had a goodish talk over it, and it was clear that the
+      hatchway of the main hold was our only chance of getting out; and we might
+      find that a tough job.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'If we can't do it in any other way,' Pettigrew said, 'I should say we
+      had best bring enough bales and things to fill this place up to within a
+      foot of the top; then on that we might put a keg of powder, bore a hole in
+      it, and make a slow match that would blow the cabin overhead into
+      splinters, while the bales underneath it would prevent the force of the
+      explosion blowing her bottom out.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We agreed that, if the worst came to the worst, we would try this, and
+      having settled that, went back to have a look at the main hatch. Feeling
+      about round it, we found the points of the staple on which the hatchway
+      bar worked above; they were not fastened with nuts as they would have been
+      with us, but were simply turned over and clinched. We had no means of
+      straightening them out, but we could cut through the woodwork round them.
+      Setting to work at that, we took it by turns till we could see the light
+      through the wood; then we left it to finish after dark. All this time we
+      knew we were under sail by the rippling of the water along the sides. The
+      men on board were evidently in high delight at their easy capture, and
+      kicked up so much noise that there was no fear of their hearing any slight
+      stir we made below.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Very carefully we brought packages and bales under the hatchway, till we
+      built up a sort of platform about four feet below it. We reckoned that,
+      standing as thick as we could there, and all lifting together, we could
+      make sure of hoisting the hatchway up, and could then spring out in a
+      moment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Pettigrew still stuck to his plan, and talked us into carrying it out,
+      both under the fore and aft hatches, pointing out that the two explosions
+      would scare the crew out of their wits, that some would be killed, and
+      many jump overboard in their fright. We came to see that the scheme was
+      really a good one, so set all the crew to carry out the business, and
+      they, working with stockinged feet, built up a platform under their hatch,
+      as well as in our den aft. Then we made holes in two of the kegs of
+      powder, and, shaking a little out, damped it, and rubbed it into two
+      strips of cotton. Putting an end of a slow match into each of the holes,
+      we laid the kegs in their places and waited.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We made two other fuses, so that a man could go forward, and another aft,
+      to fire them both together. Two of the men were told off for this job, and
+      the rest of us gathered under the main hatch, for we had settled now that
+      if we heard them making any move to open the hatches we would fire the
+      powder at once, whatever hour it was. In order to be ready, we cut deeper
+      into the woodwork round the staple till there was but the thickness of a
+      card remaining, and we could tell by this how light it was above.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It don't take long to tell you, but all this had taken us a good many
+      hours; and so baked were we by the heat down below, and parched by thirst,
+      that it was as much as I could do to persuade the men to wait until
+      nightfall. At last we saw the light in the cut fade and darken. Again the
+      men wanted to be at work, but I pointed out that if we waited till the
+      crew had laid down on the deck, we might carry it through without losing a
+      life, but if they were all awake, some of them would be sure to come at us
+      with their weapons, and, unarmed as we were, might do us much harm. Still,
+      though I succeeded in keeping the men quiet, I felt it was hard work to
+      put a stopper on my own impatience.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "At last even John here spoke up for action.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'I expect those who mean to sleep are off by this time,' he said. 'As to
+      reckoning upon them all going off, there ain't no hope of it; they will
+      sit and jabber all night. They have made a good haul, and have taken a
+      stout ship with a full hold, and five-and-twenty stout slaves, and that
+      without losing a man. There won't be any sleep for most of them. I reckon
+      it is two bells now. I do think, Captain, we might as well begin, for
+      human nature can't stand this heat and thirst much longer.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'All right, John,' I said. 'Now, lads, remember that when the first
+      explosion comes&mdash;for we can't reckon on the two slow matches burning
+      just the same time&mdash;we all heave together till we find the hatch
+      lifts; then, when the second comes, we chuck it over and leap out. If you
+      see a weapon, catch it up, but don't waste time looking about, but go at
+      them with your fists. They will be scared pretty well out of their senses,
+      and you will not be long before you all get hold of weapons of some sort.
+      Now, Pettigrew, shove your blade up through the wood and cut round the
+      staple. Now, Jack Brown, get out that tinder-box you said you had about
+      you, and get a spark going.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Three or four clicks were heard as the sailor struck his flint against
+      the steel lid of the tinder-box.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'All right, yer honour,' he said, 'I have got the spark.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then the two hands we had given the slow matches to, lit them at the
+      tinder-box, and went fore and aft, while as many of the rest of us as
+      could crowded under the hatch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Are you ready, fore and aft?' I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The two men hailed in reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Light the matches, then, and come here.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I suppose it was not above a minute, but it seemed ten before there was a
+      tremendous explosion aft. The ship shook from stem to stern. There was a
+      moment's silence, and then came yells and screams mixed with the sound of
+      timbers and wreckage falling on the deck.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Now lift,' I said. 'But not too high. That is enough&mdash;she is free.
+      Wait for the other.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There was a rush of feet overhead as the Moors ran forward. Then came the
+      other explosion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Off with her, lads!' I shouted, and in a moment we flung the hatch off
+      and leapt out with a cheer. There was no fighting to speak of. The
+      officers had been killed by the first explosion under their cabin, and
+      many of the men had either been blown overboard or lay crushed under the
+      timber and wreckage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The second explosion had been even more destructive, for it happened just
+      as the crew, in their terror, had rushed forward. Many of those unhurt had
+      sprung overboard at once, and as we rushed up most of the others did the
+      same. There was no difficulty about arms, for the deck was strewn with
+      weapons. Few of us, however, stopped to pick one up, but, half mad with
+      rage and thirst, rushed forward at the Moors. That finished them; and
+      before we got to them the last had sprung overboard. There was a rush on
+      the part of the men to the scuttle butt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Take one drink, lads,' I shouted, 'and then to the buckets.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It took us a quarter of an hour's hard work to put out the flames, and it
+      was lucky the powder had blown so much of the decks up that we were
+      enabled to get at the fire without difficulty, and so extinguish it before
+      it got any great hold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "As soon as we had got it out I called a muster. There was only one
+      missing;&mdash;it was Pettigrew, he being the first to leap out and rush
+      aft. There had been but one shot fired by the Moors. One fellow, as he
+      leapt on to the rail, drew his pistol from his belt and fired before he
+      sprang overboard. In the excitement and confusion no one had noticed
+      whether the shot took effect, for two or three men had stumbled and fallen
+      over fragments of timber or bodies as we rushed aft. But now we searched,
+      and soon came on the poor young fellow. The ball had struck him fair on
+      the forehead, and he had fallen dead without a word or a cry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There was, however, no time to grieve. We had got to re-capture the
+      barque, which had been but a cable's length away when we rushed on deck;
+      while we had been fighting the fire she had sailed on, regardless of the
+      shrieks and shouts of the wretches who had sprung overboard from us. But
+      she was still near us; both vessels had been running before the wind, for
+      I had sent John Wilkes to the tiller the moment that we got possession of
+      the corsair, and the barque was but about a quarter of a mile ahead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The wind was light, and we were running along at four knots an hour. The
+      Moors on board the <i>Kate</i> had, luckily, been too scared by the
+      explosion to think of getting one of the guns aft and peppering us while
+      we were engaged in putting out the fire; and indeed, they could not have
+      done us much harm if they had, for the high fo'castle hid us from their
+      view.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "As soon as we had found Pettigrew's body and laid it on the hatch we had
+      thrown off, I went aft to John.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Are we gaining on her, John?'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'No; she has drawn away a little. But this craft is not doing her best. I
+      expect they wanted to keep close to the barque, and so kept her sheets in.
+      If you square the sails, captain, we shall soon be upon her.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That was quickly done, and then the first thing was to see that the men
+      were all armed. We could have got a gun forward, but I did not want to
+      damage the <i>Kate</i>, and we could soon see that we were closing on her.
+      We shoved a bag of musket-balls into each cannon, so as to sweep her decks
+      as we came alongside, for we knew that her crew was a good deal stronger
+      than we were. Still, no one had any doubt as to the result, and it was
+      soon evident that the Moors had got such a scare from the fate of their
+      comrades that they had no stomach for fighting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'They are lowering the boats,' John shouted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'All the better,' I said. 'They would fight like rats caught in a trap if
+      we came up to them, and though we are men enough to capture her, we might
+      lose half our number.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "As soon as the boats reached the water they were all pulled up to the
+      starboard side, and then the helm was put down, and the barque came round
+      till she was broadside on to us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Down with your helm, John Wilkes!' I shouted. 'Hard down, man!'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "John hesitated, for he had thought that I should have gone round to the
+      other side of her and so have caught all the boats; but, in truth, I was
+      so pleased at the thought of getting the craft back again that I was
+      willing to let the poor villains go, since they were of a mind to do so
+      without giving us trouble. We had punished them enough, and the shrieks
+      and cries of those left behind to drown were ringing in my ears then. So
+      we brought the corsair up quietly by the side of the <i>Kate</i>, lashed
+      her there, and then, with a shout of triumph, sprang on board the old
+      barky.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not a Moor was left on board. The boats were four or five hundred yards
+      away, rowing at the top of their speed. The men would have run to the
+      guns, but I shouted,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Let them go, lads. We have punished them heavily enough; we have taken
+      their ship, and sent half of them to Eternity. Let them take the tale back
+      to Tunis how a British merchantman re-captured their ship. Now set to work
+      to get some of the sail off both craft, and then, when we have got things
+      snug, we will splice the main brace and have a meal.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is no more to tell. We carried the rover into Gibraltar and sold
+      her and her cargo there. It brought in a good round sum, and, except for
+      the death of Pettigrew, we had no cause to regret the corsair having taken
+      us by surprise that night off Pantellaria."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That was an exciting business, indeed, Captain Dave," Cyril said, when
+      the Captain brought his story to a conclusion. "If it had not been for
+      your good fortune in finding those kegs of powder, and Pettigrew's idea of
+      using them as he did, you and John might now, if you had been alive, have
+      been working as slaves among the Moors."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, lad. And not the least lucky thing was that Pettigrew's knife and
+      Jack Brown's tinder-box had escaped the notice of the Moors. Jack had it
+      in an inside pocket sewn into his shirt so as to keep it dry. It was a
+      lesson to me, and for the rest of the time I was at sea I always carried a
+      knife, with a lanyard round my neck, and stowed away in an inside pocket
+      of my shirt, together with a tinder-box. They are two as useful things as
+      a sailor can have about him, for, if cast upon a desert shore after a
+      wreck, a man with a knife and tinder-box may make shift to live, when,
+      without them, he and his comrades might freeze to death."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IX &mdash; THE FIRE IN THE SAVOY
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The next evening John Wilkes returned after an absence of but half an
+      hour.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Why, John, you can but have smoked a single pipe! Did you not find your
+      cronies there?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I hurried back, Captain, because a man from one of the ships in the Pool
+      landed and said there was a great light in the sky, and that it seemed to
+      him it was either a big fire in the Temple, or in one of the mansions
+      beyond the walls; so methought I would come in and ask Cyril if he would
+      like to go with me to see what was happening."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should like it much, John. I saw a great fire in Holborn just after I
+      came over from France, and a brave sight it was, though very terrible; and
+      I would willingly see one again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He took his hat and cloak and was about to be off, when Captain Dave
+      called after him,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Buckle on your sword, lad, and leave your purse behind you. A fire ever
+      attracts thieves and cut-throats, who flock round in hopes of stealing
+      something in the confusion. Besides, as I have told you before, you should
+      never go out after dark without your sword, even were it but to cross the
+      road."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril ran upstairs to his room, buckled on his weapon, and ran down again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The Captain is right," John Wilkes said, as he joined him at the door.
+      "After your two adventures, it would be folly for you to go out unarmed."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Oh, I expect they have forgotten about me long ago," Cyril laughed
+      lightly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't know," John Wilkes said seriously. "As to Marner's gang, I think
+      that there is not much fear from them, unless that young rascal Robert and
+      the scoundrel who was with him have returned from Holland; and that they
+      are not likely to do for some time to come. But it would not be in human
+      nature if the man you call John Harvey should take his defeat without
+      trying to pay you back for that wound you gave him, for getting Mistress
+      Nellie out of his hands, and for making him the laughing-stock of his
+      comrades. I tell you that there is scarce an evening that I have gone out
+      but some fellow passes me before I have gone twenty yards, and, as he
+      brushes my sleeve, turns his head to look at me. But yesternight I said to
+      one who so behaved, 'Look here, mate, this is not the first time you have
+      run against me. I warn you that if it happens again I will crack your head
+      with my cudgel.' The fellow went off, muttering and grumbling, but I have
+      no doubt that he and the others, for it certainly was not always the same
+      man, were watching for you. To-night there was no one about, or, if there
+      was, he did not come near me, and it may be that, finding you never leave
+      the house after nightfall, they have decided to give it up for the
+      present. But I thought I heard a footfall lower down the street, just as
+      we came out of the house, and it is like enough that we are followed now."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "At any rate, they would scarce attack two of us, John, and I should not
+      mind if they did. It is a stab in the back that I am afraid of more than
+      an open quarrel."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You may have a better swordsman to deal with next time. The fellow
+      himself would scarcely care to cross swords with you again, but he would
+      have no difficulty in getting half-a-dozen cut-throats from the purlieus
+      of the Temple or Westminster, professional bullies, who are ready to use
+      their swords to those who care to purchase them, and who would cut a
+      throat for a few crowns, without caring a jot whose throat it was. Some of
+      these fellows are disbanded soldiers. Some are men who were ruined in the
+      wars. Some are tavern bullies&mdash;broken men, reckless and quarrelsome
+      gamblers so long as they have a shilling in their pockets, but equally
+      ready to take to the road or to rob a house when their pockets are empty."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By this time they had passed the Exchange into Cheapside. Many people were
+      hurrying in the same direction and wondering where the fire was. Presently
+      one of the Fire Companies, with buckets, ladders, and axes, passed them at
+      a run. Even in Cheapside the glow in the sky ahead could be plainly seen,
+      but it was not until they passed St. Paul's and stood at the top of
+      Ludgate Hill that the flames, shooting up high in the air, were visible.
+      They were almost straight ahead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It must be at the other end of Fleet Street," Cyril said, as they broke
+      into a run.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Farther than that, lad. It must be one of the mansions along the Strand.
+      A fire always looks closer than it is. I have seen a ship in flames that
+      looked scarce a mile away, and yet, sailing with a brisk wind, it took us
+      over an hour to come up to it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The crowd became thicker as they approached Temple Bar. The upper windows
+      of the houses were all open, and women were leaning out looking at the
+      sight. From every lane and alley men poured into the street and swelled
+      the hurrying current. They passed through the Bar, expecting to find that
+      the fire was close at hand. They had, however, some distance farther to
+      go, for the fire was at a mansion in the Savoy. Another Fire Company came
+      along when they were within a hundred yards of the spot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Join in with them," Cyril said; and he and John Wilkes managed to push
+      their way into the ranks, joining in the shout, "Way there, way! Make room
+      for the buckets!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Aided by some of the City watch the Company made its way through the
+      crowd, and hurried down the hill from the Strand into the Savoy. A party
+      of the King's Guard, who had just marched up, kept back the crowd, and,
+      when once in the open space, Cyril and his companion stepped out from the
+      ranks and joined a group of people who had arrived before the constables
+      and soldiers had come up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The mansion from which the fire had originated was in flames from top to
+      bottom. The roof had fallen in. Volumes of flame and sparks shot high into
+      the air, threatening the safety of several other houses standing near. The
+      Fire Companies were working their hand-pumps, throwing water on to the
+      doors and woodwork of these houses. Long lines of men were extended down
+      to the edge of the river and passed the buckets backwards and forwards.
+      City officials, gentlemen of the Court, and officers of the troops, moved
+      to and fro shouting directions and superintending the work. From many of
+      the houses the inhabitants were bringing out their furniture and goods,
+      aided by the constables and spectators.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is a grand sight," Cyril said, as, with his companion, he took his
+      place in a quiet corner where a projecting portico threw a deep shadow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It will soon be grander still. The wind is taking the sparks and flames
+      westwards, and nothing can save that house over there. Do you see the
+      little jets of flame already bursting through the roof?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The house seems empty. There is not a window open."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It looks so, Cyril, but there may be people asleep at the back. Let us
+      work round and have a look from behind."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They turned down an alley, and in a minute or two came out behind the
+      house. There was a garden and some high trees, but it was surrounded by a
+      wall, and they could not see the windows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Here, Cyril, I will give you a hoist up. If you stand on my shoulders,
+      you can reach to the top of the wall and pull yourself up. Come along here
+      to where that branch projects over. That's it. Now drop your cloak, and
+      jump on to my back. That is right. Now get on to my shoulders."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril managed to get up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I can just touch the top, but I can't get my fingers on to it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Put your foot on my head. I will warrant it is strong enough to bear your
+      weight."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril did as he was told, grasped the top of the wall, and, after a sharp
+      struggle, seated himself astride on it. Just as he did so, a window in a
+      wing projecting into the garden was thrown open, and a female voice
+      uttered a loud scream for help. There was light enough for Cyril to see
+      that the lower windows were all barred. He shouted back,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Can't you get down the staircase?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No; the house is full of smoke. There are some children here. Help!
+      Help!" and the voice rose in a loud scream again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril dropped down into the roadway by the side of John Wilkes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There are some women and children in there, John. They can't get out. We
+      must go round to the other side and get some axes and break down the
+      door."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Snatching up his cloak, he ran at full speed to his former position,
+      followed by Wilkes. The roof of the house was now in flames. Many of the
+      shutters and window-frames had also caught fire, from the heat. He ran up
+      to two gentlemen who seemed to be directing the operations.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There are some women and children in a room at the back of that house,"
+      he said. "I have just been round there to see. They are in the second
+      storey, and are crying for help."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I fear the ladders are too short."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I can tie two or three of them together," Wilkes said. "I am an old
+      sailor and can answer for the knots."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The firemen were already dashing water on the lower windows of the front
+      of the house. A party with axes were cutting at the door, but this was so
+      massive and solid that it resisted their efforts. One of the gentlemen
+      went down to them. At his orders eight or ten men seized ladders. Cyril
+      snatched some ropes from a heap that had been thrown down by the firemen,
+      and the party, with one of the gentlemen, ran round to the back of the
+      house. Two ladders were placed against the wall. John Wilkes, running up
+      one of them, hauled several of the others up, and lowered them into the
+      garden.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The flames were now issuing from some of the upper windows. Cyril dropped
+      from the wall into the garden, and, running close up to the house, shouted
+      to three or four women, who were screaming loudly, and hanging so far out
+      that he thought they would fall, that help was at hand, and that they
+      would be speedily rescued. John Wilkes rapidly tied three of the short
+      ladders together. These were speedily raised, but it was found that they
+      just reached the window. One of the firemen ran up, while John set to work
+      to prepare another long ladder. As there was no sign of life at any other
+      window he laid it down on the grass when finished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If you will put it up at the next window," Cyril said, "I will mount it.
+      The woman said there were children in the house, and possibly I may find
+      them. Those women are so frightened that they don't know what they are
+      doing."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One woman had already been got on to the other ladder, but instead of
+      coming down, she held on tightly, screaming at the top of her voice, until
+      the fireman with great difficulty got up by her side, wrenched her hands
+      from their hold, threw her across his shoulder, and carried her down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The room was full of smoke as Cyril leapt into it, but he found that it
+      was not, as he had supposed, the one in which the women at the next window
+      were standing. Near the window, however, an elderly woman was lying on the
+      floor insensible, and three girls of from eight to fourteen lay across
+      her. Cyril thrust his head out of the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Come up, John," he shouted. "I want help."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He lifted the youngest of the girls, and as he got her out of the window,
+      John's head appeared above the sill.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Take her down quick, John," he said, as he handed the child to him.
+      "There are three others. They are all insensible from the smoke."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Filling his lungs with fresh air, he turned into the blinding smoke again,
+      and speedily reappeared at the window with another of the girls. John was
+      not yet at the bottom; he placed her with her head outside the window, and
+      was back with the eldest girl by the time Wilkes was up again. He handed
+      her to him, and then, taking the other, stepped out on to the ladder and
+      followed Wilkes down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Brave lad!" the gentleman said, patting him on the shoulder. "Are there
+      any more of them?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "One more&mdash;a woman, sir. Do you go up, John. I will follow, for I
+      doubt whether I can lift her by myself."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He followed Wilkes closely up the ladder. There was a red glow now in the
+      smoke. Flames were bursting through the door. John was waiting at the
+      window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Which way, lad? There is no seeing one's hand in the smoke."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Just in front, John, not six feet away. Hold your breath."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They dashed forward together, seized the woman between them, and, dragging
+      her to the window, placed her head and shoulders on the sill.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You go first, John. She is too heavy for me," Cyril gasped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John stumbled out, half suffocated, while Cyril thrust his head as far as
+      he could outside the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is it, John; you take hold of her shoulder, and I will help you get
+      her on to your back."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Between them they pushed her nearly out, and then, with Cyril's
+      assistance, John got her across his shoulders. She was a heavy woman, and
+      the old sailor had great difficulty in carrying her down. Cyril hung far
+      out of the window till he saw him put his foot on the ground; then he
+      seized a rung of the ladder, swung himself out on to it, and was soon
+      down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a time he felt confused and bewildered, and was conscious that if he
+      let go the ladder he should fall. He heard a voice say, "Bring one of
+      those buckets of water," and directly afterwards, "Here, lad, put your
+      head into this," and a handful of water was dashed into his face. It
+      revived him, and, turning round, he plunged his head into a bucket that a
+      man held up for him. Then he took a long breath or two, pressed the water
+      from his hair, and felt himself again. The women at the other window had
+      by this time been brought down. A door in the garden wall had been broken
+      down with axes, and the women and girls were taken away to a neighbouring
+      house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is nothing more to do here," the gentlemen said. "Now, men, you are
+      to enter the houses round about. Wherever a door is fastened, break it in.
+      Go out on to the roofs with buckets, put out the sparks as fast as they
+      fall. I will send some more men to help you at once." He then put his hand
+      on Cyril's shoulder, and walked back with him to the open space.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We have saved them all," he said to the other gentleman who had now come
+      up, "but it has been a close touch, and it was only by the gallantry of
+      this young gentleman and another with him that the lives of three girls
+      and a woman were rescued. I think all the men that can be spared had
+      better go round to the houses in that direction. You see, the wind is
+      setting that way, and the only hope of stopping the progress of the fire
+      is to get plenty of men with buckets out on the roofs and at all the upper
+      windows."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The other gentleman gave the necessary orders to an officer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now, young sir, may I ask your name?" the other said to Cyril.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Cyril Shenstone, sir," he replied respectfully; for he saw that the two
+      men before him were persons of rank.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Shenstone? I know the name well. Are you any relation of Sir Aubrey
+      Shenstone?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He was my father, sir."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A brave soldier, and a hearty companion," the other said warmly. "He rode
+      behind me scores of times into the thick of the fight. I am Prince Rupert,
+      lad."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril doffed his hat in deep respect. His father had always spoken of the
+      Prince in terms of boundless admiration, and had over and over again
+      lamented that he had not been able to join the Prince in his exploits at
+      sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What has become of my old friend?" the Prince asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He died six months ago, Prince."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am sorry to hear it. I did hear that, while I was away, he had been
+      suing at Court. I asked for him, but could get no tidings of his
+      whereabouts. But we cannot speak here. Ask for me to-morrow at Whitehall.
+      Do you know this gentleman?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, sir, I have not the honour."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is the Duke of Albemarle, my former enemy, but now my good friend.
+      You will like the lad no worse, my Lord, because his father more than once
+      rode with me into the heart of your ranks."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Certainly not," the Duke said. "It is clear that the son will be as
+      gallant a gentleman as his father was before him, and, thank God! it is
+      not against Englishmen that he will draw his sword. You may count me as
+      your friend, sir, henceforth."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril bowed deeply and retired, while Prince Rupert and the Duke hurried
+      away again to see that the operations they had directed were properly
+      carried out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER X &mdash; HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE DUTCH
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      After leaving Prince Rupert, Cyril returned to John Wilkes, who was
+      standing a short distance away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "John! John!" he said eagerly, as he joined him. "Who do you think those
+      gentlemen are?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't know, lad. It is easy to see that they are men of importance by
+      the way they order everyone about."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The one who went with us to the garden is Prince Rupert; the other is the
+      Duke of Albemarle. And the Prince has told me to call upon him to-morrow
+      at Whitehall."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is a stroke of luck, indeed, lad, and right glad am I that I took it
+      into my head to fetch you out to see the fire. But more than that, you
+      have to thank yourself, for, indeed, you behaved right gallantly. You
+      nearly had the Prince for your helper, for just before I went up the
+      ladder the last time he stepped forward and said to me, 'You must be
+      well-nigh spent, man. I will go up this time.' However, I said that I
+      would finish the work, and so, without more ado, I shook off the hand he
+      had placed on my arm, and ran up after you. Well, it is a stroke of good
+      fortune to you, lad, that you should have shown your courage under his eye&mdash;no
+      one is more able to appreciate a gallant action. This may help you a long
+      way towards bringing about the aim you were talking about the other night,
+      and I may live to see you Sir Cyril Shenstone yet."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You can see me that now," Cyril said, laughing. "My father was a baronet,
+      and therefore at his death I came into the title, though I am not silly
+      enough to go about the City as Sir Cyril Shenstone when I am but a poor
+      clerk. It will be time enough to call myself 'Sir' when I see some chance
+      of buying back our estate, though, indeed, I have thought of taking the
+      title again when I embark on foreign service, as it may help me somewhat
+      in obtaining promotion. But do not say anything about it at home. I am
+      Cyril Shenstone, and have been fortunate enough to win the friendship of
+      Captain Dave, and I should not be so comfortable were there any change
+      made in my position in the family. A title is an empty thing, John, unless
+      there are means to support it, and plain Cyril Shenstone suits my position
+      far better than a title without a guinea in my purse. Indeed, till you
+      spoke just now, I had well-nigh forgotten that I have the right to call
+      myself 'Sir.'"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They waited for two hours longer. At the end of that time four mansions
+      had been burnt to the ground, but the further progress of the flames had
+      been effectually stayed. The crowd had already begun to scatter, and as
+      they walked eastward the streets were full of people making their way
+      homeward. The bell of St. Paul's was striking midnight as they entered.
+      The Captain and his family had long since gone off to bed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This reminds one of that last business," John whispered, as they went
+      quietly upstairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It does, John. But it has been a pleasanter evening in every way than
+      those fruitless watches we kept in the street below."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning the story of the fire was told, and excited great
+      interest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Who were the girls you saved, Cyril?" Nellie asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't know. I did not think of asking to whom the house belonged, nor,
+      indeed, was there anyone to ask. Most of the people were too busy to talk
+      to, and the rest were spectators who had, like ourselves, managed to make
+      their way in through the lines of the soldiers and watch."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Were they ladies?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I really don't know," Cyril laughed. "The smoke was too thick to see
+      anything about them, and I should not know them if I met them to-day; and,
+      besides, when you only see a young person in her nightdress, it is hard to
+      form any opinion as to her rank."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie joined in the laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I suppose not, Cyril. It might make a difference to you, though. Those
+      houses in the Savoy are almost all the property of noblemen, and you might
+      have gained another powerful friend if they had been the daughters of
+      one."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should not think they were so," Cyril said. "There seemed to be no one
+      else in the house but three maid servants and the woman who was in the
+      room with them. I should say the family were all away and the house left
+      in charge of servants. The woman may have been a housekeeper, and the
+      girls her children; besides, even had it been otherwise, it was merely by
+      chance that I helped them out. It was John who tied the ladders together
+      and who carried the girls down, one by one. If I had been alone I should
+      only have had time to save the youngest, for I am not accustomed to
+      running up and down ladders, as he is, and by the time I had got her down
+      it would have been too late to have saved the others. Indeed, I am not
+      sure that we did save them; they were all insensible, and, for aught I
+      know, may not have recovered from the effects of the smoke. My eyes are
+      smarting even now."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And so you are to see Prince Rupert to-day, Cyril?" Captain Dave said. "I
+      am afraid we shall be losing you, for he will, I should say, assuredly
+      appoint you to one of his ships if you ask him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That would be good fortune indeed," Cyril said. "I cannot but think
+      myself that he may do so, though it would be almost too good to be true.
+      Certainly he spoke very warmly, and, although he may not himself have the
+      appointment of his officers, a word from him at the Admiralty would, no
+      doubt, be sufficient. At any rate, it is a great thing indeed to have so
+      powerful a friend at Court. It may be that, at the end of another two
+      years, we may be at war with some other foreign power, and that I may be
+      able to enter our own army instead of seeking service abroad. If not, much
+      as I should like to go to sea to fight against the Dutch, service in this
+      Fleet would be of no real advantage to me, for the war may last but for a
+      short time, and as soon as it is over the ships will be laid up again and
+      the crews disbanded."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, but if you find the life of a sailor to your liking, Cyril, you might
+      do worse than go into the merchant service. I could help you there, and
+      you might soon get the command of a trader. And, let me tell you, it is a
+      deal better to walk the decks as captain than it is to be serving on shore
+      with twenty masters over you; and there is money to be made, too. A
+      captain is always allowed to take in a certain amount of cargo on his own
+      account; that was the way I scraped together money enough to buy my own
+      ship at last, and to be master as well as owner, and there is no reason
+      why you should not do the same."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Thank you, Captain Dave. I will think it over when I find out whether I
+      like a sea life, but at present it seems to me that my inclinations turn
+      rather towards the plan that my father recommended, and that, for the last
+      two years, I have always had before me. You said, the other day, you had
+      fought the Dutch, John?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay, Master Cyril; but, in truth, it was from no wish or desire on my
+      part that I did so. I had come ashore from Captain Dave's ship here in the
+      Pool, and had been with some of my messmates who had friends in Wapping
+      and had got three days' leave ashore, as the cargo we expected had not
+      come on board the ship. We had kept it up a bit, and it was latish when I
+      was making my way down to the stairs. I expect that I was more intent on
+      making a straight course down the street than in looking about for
+      pirates, when suddenly I found myself among a lot of men. One of them
+      seized me by the arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Hands off, mate!' says I, and I lifted my fist to let fly at him, when I
+      got a knock at the back of the head. The next thing I knew was, I was
+      lying in the hold of a ship, and, as I made out presently, with a score of
+      others, some of whom were groaning, and some cursing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Hullo, mates!' says I. 'What port is this we are brought up in?'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'We are on board the <i>Tartar</i>,' one said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I knew what that meant, for the <i>Tartar</i> was the receiving hulk
+      where they took the pressed men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The next morning, without question asked, we were brought up on deck,
+      tumbled into a small sloop, and taken down to Gravesend, and there put, in
+      batches of four or five, into the ships of war lying there. It chanced
+      that I was put on board Monk's flagship the <i>Resolution</i>. And that is
+      how it was I came to fight the Dutch."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What year was that in, John?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'53&mdash;in May it was. Van Tromp, at that time, with ninety-eight ships
+      of war, and six fire-ships, was in the Downs, and felt so much Master of
+      the Sea that he sailed in and battered Dover Castle."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then you were in the fight of the 2nd of June?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay; and in that of the 31st of July, which was harder still."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Tell me all about it, John."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Lor' bless you, sir, there is nothing to tell as far as I was concerned.
+      I was at one of the guns on the upper deck, but I might as well have been
+      down below for anything I saw of it. It was just load and fire, load and
+      fire. Sometimes, through the clouds of smoke, one caught a sight of the
+      Dutchman one was firing at; more often one didn't. There was no time for
+      looking about, I can tell you, and if there had been time there was
+      nothing to see. It was like being in a big thunderstorm, with thunderbolts
+      falling all round you, and a smashing and a grinding and a ripping that
+      would have made your hair stand on end if you had only had time to think
+      of it. But we hadn't time. It was 'Now then, my hearties, blaze away! Keep
+      it up, lads! The Dutchmen have pretty near had enough of it!' And then, at
+      last, 'They are running, lads. Run in your guns, and tend the sails.' And
+      then a cheer as loud as we could give&mdash;which wasn't much, I can tell
+      you, for we were spent with labour, and half choked with powder, and our
+      tongues parched up with thirst."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How many ships had you?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We had ninety-five war-ships, and five fire-ships, so the game was an
+      equal one. They had Tromp and De Ruyter to command them, and we had Monk
+      and Deane. Both Admirals were on board our ship, and in the very first
+      broadside the Dutch fired a chain-shot, and pretty well cut Admiral Deane
+      in two. I was close to him at the time. Monk, who was standing by his
+      side, undid his own cloak in a moment, threw it over his comrade, and held
+      up his hand to the few of us that had seen what had happened, to take no
+      notice of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was a good thing that Deane and Monk were on board the same ship. If
+      it had not been so, Deane's flag would have been hauled down and all the
+      Fleet would have known of his death, which, at the commencement of the
+      fight, would have greatly discouraged the men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They told me, though I know naught about it, that Rear-Admiral Lawson
+      charged with the Blue Squadron right through the Dutch line, and so threw
+      them into confusion. However, about three o'clock, the fight having begun
+      at eleven, Van Tromp began to draw off, and we got more sail on the <i>Resolution</i>
+      and followed them for some hours, they making a sort of running fight of
+      it, till one of their big ships blew up, about nine in the evening, when
+      they laid in for shore. Blake came up in the night with eighteen ships.
+      The Dutch tried to draw off, but at eight o'clock we came up to them, and,
+      after fighting for four hours, they hauled off and ran, in great
+      confusion, for the flats, where we could not follow them, and so they
+      escaped to Zeeland. We heard that they had six of their best ships sunk,
+      two blown up and eleven taken, but whether it was so or not I knew not,
+      for, in truth, I saw nothing whatever of the matter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We sailed to the Texel, and there blocked in De Ruyter's squadron of
+      twenty-five large ships, and we thought that there would be no more
+      fighting, for the Dutch had sent to England to ask for terms of peace.
+      However, we were wrong, and, to give the Dutchmen their due, they showed
+      resolution greater than we gave them credit for, for we were astonished
+      indeed to hear, towards the end of July, that Van Tromp had sailed out
+      again with upwards of ninety ships.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "On the 29th they came in view, and we sailed out to engage them, but they
+      would not come to close quarters, and it was seven at night before the <i>Resolution</i>,
+      with some thirty other ships, came up to them and charged through their
+      line. By the time we had done that it was quite dark, and we missed them
+      altogether and sailed south, thinking Van Tromp had gone that way; but,
+      instead, he had sailed north, and in the morning we found he had picked up
+      De Ruyter's fleet, and was ready to fight. But we had other things to
+      think of besides fighting that day, for the wind blew so hard that it was
+      as much as we could do to keep off the shore, and if the gale had
+      continued a good part of the ships would have left their bones there.
+      However, by nightfall the gale abated somewhat, and by the next morning
+      the sea had gone down sufficient for the main deck ports to be opened. So
+      the Dutch, having the weather gauge, sailed down to engage us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I thought it rough work in the fight two months before, but it was as
+      nothing to this. To begin with, the Dutch fire-ships came down before the
+      wind, and it was as much as we could do to avoid them. They did, indeed,
+      set the <i>Triumph</i> on fire, and most of the crew jumped overboard; but
+      those that remained managed to put out the flames.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Lawson, with the Blue Squadron, began the fighting, and that so briskly,
+      that De Ruyter's flagship was completely disabled and towed out of the
+      fight. However, after I had seen that, our turn began, and I had no more
+      time to look about. I only know that ship after ship came up to engage us,
+      seeming bent upon lowering Monk's flag. Three Dutch Admirals, Tromp,
+      Evertson, and De Ruyter, as I heard afterwards, came up in turn. We did
+      not know who they were, but we knew they were Admirals by their flags, and
+      pounded them with all our hearts; and so good was our aim that I myself
+      saw two of the Admirals' flags brought down, and they say that all three
+      of them were lowered. But you may guess the pounding was not all on our
+      side, and we suffered very heavily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Four men were hurt at the gun I worked, and nigh half the crew were
+      killed or wounded. Two of our masts were shot away, many of our guns
+      disabled, and towards the end of the fight we were towed out of the line.
+      How the day would have gone if Van Tromp had continued in command of the
+      Dutch, I cannot say, but about noon he was shot through the body by a
+      musket-ball, and this misfortune greatly discouraged the Dutchmen, who
+      fight well as long as things seem to be going their way, but lose heart
+      very easily when they think the matter is going against them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "By about two o'clock the officers shouted to us that the Dutch were
+      beginning to draw off, and it was not long before they began to fly, each
+      for himself, and in no sort of order. Some of our light frigates, that had
+      suffered less than the line-of-battle ships, followed them until the one
+      Dutch Admiral whose flag was left flying, turned and fought them till two
+      or three of our heavier ships came up and he was sunk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We could see but little of the chase, having plenty of work, for, had a
+      gale come on, our ship, and a good many others, would assuredly have been
+      driven ashore, in the plight we were in. Anyhow, at night their ships got
+      into the Texel, and our vessels, which had been following them, anchored
+      five or six leagues out, being afraid of the sands. Altogether we had
+      burnt or sunk twenty-six of their ships of war, while we lost only two
+      frigates, both of which were burnt by their fire-ships.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "As it was certain that they would not come out for some time again, and
+      many of our ships being unfit for further contention until repaired, we
+      returned to England, and I got my discharge and joined Captain Dave again
+      a fortnight later, when his ship came up the river.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Monk is a good fighter, Master Cyril, and should have the command of the
+      Fleet instead of, as they say, the Duke of York. Although he is called
+      General, and not Admiral, he is as good a sea-dog as any of them, and he
+      can think as well as fight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Among our ships that day were several merchantmen that had been taken up
+      for the service at the last moment and had guns slapped on board, with
+      gunners to work them. Some of them had still their cargoes in the hold,
+      and Monk, thinking that it was likely the captains would think more of
+      saving their ships and goods than of fighting the Dutch, changed the
+      captains all round, so that no man commanded his own vessel. And the
+      consequence was that, as all admitted, the merchantmen were as willing to
+      fight as any, and bore themselves right stoutly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Don't you think, Master Cyril, if you go with the Fleet, that you are
+      going to see much of what goes on. It will be worse for you than it was
+      for me, for there was I, labouring and toiling like a dumb beast, with my
+      mind intent upon working the gun, and paying no heed to the roar and
+      confusion around, scarce even noticing when one beside me was struck down.
+      You will be up on the poop, having naught to do but to stand with your
+      hand on your sword hilt, and waiting to board an enemy or to drive back
+      one who tries to board you. You will find that you will be well-nigh dazed
+      and stupid with the din and uproar."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It does not sound a very pleasant outlook, John," Cyril laughed.
+      "However, if I ever do get into an engagement, I will think of what you
+      have said, and will try and prevent myself from getting either dazed or
+      stupid; though, in truth, I can well imagine that it is enough to shake
+      anyone's nerves to stand inactive in so terrible a scene."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will have to take great care of yourself, Cyril," Nellie said
+      gravely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dave and John Wilkes both burst into a laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How is he to take care of himself, Nellie?" her father said. "Do you
+      suppose that a man on deck would be any the safer were he to stoop down
+      with his head below the rail, or to screw himself up on the leeward side
+      of a mast? No, no, lass; each man has to take his share of danger, and the
+      most cowardly runs just as great a risk as the man who fearlessly exposes
+      himself."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XI &mdash; PRINCE RUPERT
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The next day Cyril went down to breakfast in what he had often called,
+      laughingly, his Court suit. This suit he had had made for him a short time
+      before his father's death, to replace the one he had when he came over,
+      that being altogether outgrown. He had done so to please Sir Aubrey, who
+      had repeatedly expressed his anxiety that Cyril should always be prepared
+      to take advantage of any good fortune that might befall him. This was the
+      first time he had put it on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, truly you look a pretty fellow, Cyril," the Captain said, as he
+      entered. "Don't you think so, Nellie?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't know that I like him better than in his black suit, father. But
+      he looks very well."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Hullo, lass! This is a change of opinion, truly! For myself I care not
+      one jot for the fashion of a man's clothes, but I had thought that you
+      always inclined to gay attire, and Cyril now would seem rather to belong
+      to the Court than to the City."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If it had been any other morning, father, I might have thought more of
+      Cyril's appearance; but what you were telling us but now of the
+      continuance of the Plague is so sad, that mourning, rather than Court
+      attire, would seem to be the proper wear."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Is the Plague spreading fast, then, Captain Dave?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No; but it is not decreasing, as we had hoped it would do. From the
+      beginning of December the deaths rose steadily until the end of January.
+      While our usual death-rate is under three hundred it went to four hundred
+      and seventy-four. Then the weather setting in very severe checked it till
+      the end of February, and we all hoped that the danger was over, and that
+      we should be rid of the distemper before the warm weather set in; but for
+      the last fortnight there has been a rise rather than a fall&mdash;not a
+      large one, but sufficient to cause great alarm that it will continue until
+      warm weather sets in, and may then grow into terrible proportions. So far,
+      there has been no case in the City, and it is only in the West that it has
+      any hold, the deaths being altogether in the parishes of St. Giles's, St.
+      Andrew's, St. Bride's, and St. James's, Clerkenwell. Of course, there have
+      been cases now and then for many years past, and nine years ago it spread
+      to a greater extent than now, and were we at the beginning of winter
+      instead of nearing summer there would be no occasion to think much of the
+      matter; but, with the hot weather approaching, and the tales we hear of
+      the badness of the Plague in foreign parts one cannot but feel anxious."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And they say, too, that there have been prophecies of grievous evils in
+      London," Nellie put in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We need not trouble about that," her father replied. "The Anabaptists
+      prophesied all sorts of evils in Elizabeth's time, but naught came of it.
+      There are always men and women with disordered minds, who think that they
+      are prophets, and have power to see further into the future than other
+      people, but no one minds them or thinks aught of their wild words save at
+      a time like the present, when there is a danger of war or pestilence. You
+      remember Bill Vokes, John?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I mind him, yer honour. A poor, half-crazed fellow he was, and yet a good
+      seaman, who would do his duty blow high or blow low. He sailed six voyages
+      with us, Captain."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And never one of them without telling the crew that the ship would never
+      return to port. He had had dreams about it, and the black cat had mewed
+      when he left home, and he saw the three magpies in a tree hard by when he
+      stepped from the door, and many other portents of that kind. The first
+      time he well-nigh scared some of the crew, but after the first voyage&mdash;from
+      which we came back safely, of course&mdash;they did but laugh at him; and
+      as in all other respects he was a good sailor, and a willing fellow, I did
+      not like to discharge him, for, once the men found out that his prophecies
+      came to naught, they did no harm, and, indeed, they afforded them much
+      amusement. Just as it is on board a ship, so it is elsewhere. If our
+      vessel had gone down that first voyage, any man who escaped drowning would
+      have said that Bill Vokes had not been without reason in his warnings, and
+      that it was nothing less than flying in the face of Providence, to put to
+      sea when the loss of the ship had been so surely foretold. So, on shore,
+      the fools or madmen who have dreams and visions are not heeded when times
+      are good, and men's senses sound, whereas, in troubled times, men take
+      their ravings to heart. If all the scatterbrains had a good whipping at
+      the pillory it would be well, both for them and for the silly people who
+      pay attention to their ravings."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few minutes later, Cyril took a boat to the Whitehall steps, and after
+      some delay was shown up to Prince Rupert's room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "None the worse for your exertions yester-even, young gentleman, I hope?"
+      the Prince said, shaking hands with him warmly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "None, sir. The exertion was not great, and it was but the inconvenience
+      of the smoke that troubled me in any way."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Have you been to inquire after the young ladies who owe their lives to
+      you?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, sir; I know neither their names nor their condition, nor, had I
+      wished it, could I have made inquiries, for I know not whither they were
+      taken."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I sent round early this morning," the Prince said, "and heard that they
+      were as well as might be expected after the adventure they went through.
+      And now tell me about yourself, and what you have been doing. 'Tis one of
+      the saddest things to me, since I returned to England, that so many good
+      men who fought by my side have been made beggars in the King's service,
+      and that I could do naught for them. 'Tis a grievous business, and yet I
+      see not how it is to be mended. The hardest thing is, that those who did
+      most for the King's service are those who have suffered most deeply. None
+      of those who were driven to sell their estates at a fraction of their
+      value, in order to raise money for the King's treasury or to put men into
+      the field, have received any redress. It would need a vast sum to buy back
+      all their lands, and Parliament would not vote money for that purpose; nor
+      would it be fair to turn men out of the estates that they bought and paid
+      for. Do you not think so?" he asked suddenly, seeing, by the lad's face,
+      that he was not in agreement with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, sir; it does not seem to me that it would be unfair. These men bought
+      the lands for, as you say, but a fraction of their value; they did so in
+      the belief that Parliament would triumph, and their purchase was but a
+      speculation grounded on that belief. They have had the enjoyment of the
+      estates for years, and have drawn from them an income which has, by this
+      time, brought them in a sum much exceeding that which they have
+      adventured, and it does not seem to me that there would be any hardship
+      whatever were they now called upon to restore them to their owners. 'Tis
+      as when a man risks his money in a venture at sea. If all goes as he hopes
+      he will make a great profit on his money. If the ship is cast away or
+      taken by pirates, it is unfortunate, but he has no reason to curse his
+      ill-luck if the ship had already made several voyages which have more than
+      recouped the money he ventured."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well and stoutly argued!" the Prince said approvingly. "But you must
+      remember, young sir, that the King, on his return, was by no means
+      strongly seated on the throne. There was the Army most evilly affected
+      towards him; there were the Puritans, who lamented the upset of the work
+      they or their fathers had done. All those men who had purchased the
+      estates of the Royalists had families and friends, and, had these estates
+      been restored to their rightful owners, there might have been an outbreak
+      that would have shaken the throne again. Many would have refused to give
+      up possession, save to force; and where was the force to come from? Even
+      had the King had troops willing to carry out such a measure, they might
+      have been met by force, and had blood once been shed, none can say how the
+      trouble might have spread, or what might have been the end of it. And now,
+      lad, come to your own fortunes."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril briefly related the story of his life since his return to London,
+      stating his father's plan that he should some day take foreign service.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You have shown that you have a stout heart, young sir, as well as a brave
+      one, and have done well, indeed, in turning your mind to earn your living
+      by such talents as you have, rather than in wasting your time in vain
+      hopes and in ceaseless importunities for justice. It may be that you have
+      acted wisely in thinking of taking service on the Continent, seeing that
+      we have no Army; and when the time comes, I will further your wishes to
+      the utmost of my power. But in the meantime there is opportunity for
+      service at home, and I will gladly appoint you as a Volunteer in my own
+      ship. There are many gentlemen going with me in that capacity, and it
+      would be of advantage to you, if, when I write to some foreign prince on
+      your behalf, I can say that you have fought under my eye."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Thank you greatly, Prince. I have been wishing, above all things, that I
+      could join the Fleet, and it would be, indeed, an honour to begin my
+      career under the Prince of whom I heard so often from my father."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Prince Rupert looked at his watch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The King will be in the Mall now," he said. "I will take you across and
+      present you to him. It is useful to have the <i>entrée</i> at Court,
+      though perhaps the less you avail yourself of it the better."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, he rose, put on his hat, and, throwing his cloak over his
+      shoulder, went across to the Mall, asking questions of Cyril as he went,
+      and extracting from him a sketch of the adventure of his being kidnapped
+      and taken to Holland.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently they arrived at the spot where the King, with three or four
+      nobles and gentlemen, had been playing. Charles was in a good humour, for
+      he had just won a match with the Earl of Rochester.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, my grave cousin," he said merrily, "what brings you out of your
+      office so early? No fresh demands for money, I hope?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not at present. And indeed, it is not to you that I should come on such a
+      quest, but to the Duke of York."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And he would come to me," said the King; "so it is the same thing."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have come across to present to your Majesty a very gallant young
+      gentleman, who yesterday evening, at the risk of his life, saved the three
+      daughters of the Earl of Wisbech from being burned at the fire in the
+      Savoy, where his Lordship's mansion was among those that were destroyed. I
+      beg to present to your Majesty Sir Cyril Shenstone, the son of the late
+      Sir Aubrey Shenstone, a most gallant gentleman, who rode under my banner
+      in many a stern fight in the service of your royal father."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I knew him well," the King said graciously, "but had not heard of his
+      death. I am glad to hear that his son inherits his bravery. I have often
+      regretted deeply that it was out of my power to requite, in any way, the
+      services Sir Aubrey rendered, and the sacrifices he made for our House."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His brow clouded a little, and he looked appealingly at Prince Rupert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Sir Cyril Shenstone has no more intention of asking for favours than I
+      have, Charles," the latter said. "He is going to accompany me as a
+      Volunteer against the Dutch, and if the war lasts I shall ask for a better
+      appointment for him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That he shall have," the King said warmly. "None have a better claim to
+      commissions in the Navy and Army than sons of gentlemen who fought and
+      suffered in the cause of our royal father. My Lords," he said to the
+      little group of gentlemen, who had been standing a few paces away while
+      this conversation had been going on, "I would have you know Sir Cyril
+      Shenstone, the son of a faithful adherent of my father, and who, yesterday
+      evening, saved the lives of the three daughters of My Lord of Wisbech in
+      the fire at the Savoy. He is going as a Volunteer with my cousin Rupert
+      when he sails against the Dutch."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentlemen all returned Cyril's salute courteously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He will be fortunate in beginning his career under the eyes of so brave a
+      Prince," the Earl of Rochester said, bowing to Prince Rupert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It would be well if you all," the latter replied bluntly, "were to ship
+      in the Fleet for a few months instead of wasting your time in empty
+      pleasures."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Earl smiled. Prince Rupert's extreme disapproval of the life at Court
+      was well known.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We cannot all be Bayards, Prince, and most of us would, methinks, be too
+      sick at sea to be of much assistance, were we to go. But if the Dutchmen
+      come here, which is not likely&mdash;for I doubt not, Prince, that you
+      will soon send them flying back to their own ports&mdash;we shall all be
+      glad to do our best to meet them when they land."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince made no reply, but, turning to the King, said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We will not detain you longer from your game, Cousin Charles. I have
+      plenty to do, with all the complaints as to the state of the ships, and
+      the lack of stores and necessaries."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Remember, I shall be glad to see you at my <i>levées</i>, Sir Cyril," the
+      King said, holding out his hand. "Do not wait for the Prince to bring you,
+      for if you do you will wait long."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril doffed his hat, raised the King's hand to his lips, then, with a
+      deep bow and an expression of thanks, followed Prince Rupert, who was
+      already striding away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You might have been better introduced," the Prince said when he overtook
+      him. "Still it is better to be badly introduced than to have no
+      introduction at all. I am too old for the flippancies of the Court. You
+      had better show yourself there sometimes; you will make friends that may
+      be useful. By the way, I have not your address, and it may be a fortnight
+      or more before the <i>Henrietta</i> is ready to take her crew on board."
+      He took out his tablet and wrote down the address. "Come and see me if
+      there is anything you want to ask me. Do not let the clerks keep you out
+      with the pretence that I am busy, but send up your name to me, and tell
+      them that I have ordered it shall be taken up, however I may be engaged."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having no occasion for haste, Cyril walked back to the City after leaving
+      Prince Rupert. A great change had taken place in his fortunes in the last
+      twenty-four hours. Then he had no prospects save continuing his work in
+      the City for another two years, and even after that time he foresaw grave
+      difficulties in the way of his obtaining a commission in a foreign army;
+      for Sir John Parton, even if ready to carry out the promise he had
+      formerly made him, might not have sufficient influence to do so. Now he
+      was to embark in Prince Rupert's own ship. He would be the companion of
+      many other gentlemen going out as Volunteers, and, at a bound, spring from
+      the position of a writer in the City to that occupied by his father before
+      he became involved in the trouble between King and Parliament. He was
+      already admitted to Court, and Prince Rupert himself had promised to push
+      his fortunes abroad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And yet he felt less elated than he would have expected from his sudden
+      change. The question of money was the cloud that dulled the brightness of
+      his prospects. As a Volunteer he would receive no pay, and yet he must
+      make a fair show among the young noblemen and gentlemen who would be his
+      companions. Doubtless they would be victualled on board, but he would have
+      to dress well and probably pay a share in the expenses that would be
+      incurred for wine and other things on board. Had it not been for the
+      future he would have been inclined to regret that he had not refused the
+      tempting offer; but the advantages to be gained by Prince Rupert's
+      patronage were so large that he felt no sacrifice would be too great to
+      that end&mdash;even that of accepting the assistance that Captain Dave had
+      more than once hinted he should give him. It was just the dinner-hour when
+      he arrived home.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, Cyril, I see by your face that the Prince has said nothing in the
+      direction of your wishes," Captain Dave said, as he entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then my face is a false witness, Captain Dave, for Prince Rupert has
+      appointed me a Volunteer on board his own ship."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am glad, indeed, lad, heartily glad, though your going will be a heavy
+      loss to us all. But why were you looking so grave over it?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have been wondering whether I have acted wisely in accepting it," Cyril
+      said. "I am very happy here, I am earning my living, I have no cares of
+      any sort, and I feel that it is a very serious matter to make a change.
+      The Prince has a number of noblemen and gentlemen going with him as
+      Volunteers, and I feel that I shall be out of my element in such company.
+      At the same time I have every reason to be thankful, for Prince Rupert has
+      promised that he will, after the war is over, give me introductions which
+      will procure me a commission abroad."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, then, it seems to me that things could not look better," Captain
+      Dave said heartily. "When do you go on board?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The Prince says it may be another fortnight; so that I shall have time to
+      make my preparations, and warn the citizens I work for, that I am going to
+      leave them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should say the sooner the better, lad. You will have to get your outfit
+      and other matters seen to. Moreover, now that you have been taken under
+      Prince Rupert's protection, and have become, as it were, an officer on his
+      ship&mdash;for gentlemen Volunteers, although they have no duties in
+      regard to working the ship, are yet officers&mdash;it is hardly seemly
+      that you should be making up the accounts of bakers and butchers,
+      ironmongers, and ship's storekeepers."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The work is honest, and I am in no way ashamed of it," Cyril said; "but
+      as I have many things to see about, I suppose I had better give them
+      notice at once. Prince Rupert presented me to the King to-day, and His
+      Majesty requested me to attend at Court, which I should be loath to do,
+      were it not that the Prince urged upon me that it was of advantage that I
+      should make myself known."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "One would think, Master Cyril, that this honour which has suddenly
+      befallen you is regarded by you as a misfortune," Mrs. Dowsett said,
+      laughing. "Most youths would be overjoyed at such a change in their
+      fortune."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It would be all very pleasant," Cyril said, "had I the income of my
+      father's estate at my back; but I feel that I shall be in a false
+      position, thus thrusting myself among men who have more guineas in their
+      pockets than I have pennies. However, it seems that the matter has been
+      taken out of my own hands, and that, as things have turned out, so I must
+      travel. Who would have thought, when John Wilkes fetched me out last night
+      to go to the fire, it would make an alteration in my whole life, and that
+      such a little thing as climbing up a ladder and helping to get three girls
+      out of a room full of smoke&mdash;and John Wilkes did the most difficult
+      part of the work&mdash;was to change all my prospects?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There was a Providence in it, Cyril," Mrs. Dowsett said gently. "Why,
+      else, should you have gone up that ladder, when, to all seeming, there was
+      no one there. The maids were so frightened, John says, that they would
+      never have said a word about there being anyone in that room, and the
+      girls would have perished had you not gone up. Now as, owing to that,
+      everything has turned out according to your wishes, it would be a sin not
+      to take advantage of it, for you may be sure that, as the way has thus
+      been suddenly opened to you, so will all other things follow in due
+      course."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Thank you, madam," Cyril said simply. "I had not thought of it in that
+      light, but assuredly you are right, and I will not suffer myself to be
+      daunted by the difficulties there may be in my way."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John Wilkes now came in and sat down to the meal. He was vastly pleased
+      when he heard of the good fortune that had befallen Cyril.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It seems to me," Cyril said, "that I am but an impostor, and that at
+      least some share in the good luck ought to have fallen to you, John,
+      seeing that you carried them all down the ladder."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have carried heavier bales, many a time, much longer distances than
+      that&mdash;though I do not say that the woman was not a tidy weight, for,
+      indeed, she was; but I would have carried down ten of them for the honour
+      I had in being shaken by the hand by Prince Rupert, as gallant a sailor as
+      ever sailed a ship. No, no; what I did was all in a day's work, and no
+      more than lifting anchors and chains about in the storehouse. As for
+      honours, I want none of them. I am moored in a snug port here, and would
+      not leave Captain Dave if they would make a Duke of me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie had said no word of congratulation to Cyril, but as they rose from
+      dinner, she said, in low tones,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You know I am pleased, and hope that you will have all the good fortune
+      you deserve."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril set out at once to make a round of the shops where he worked. The
+      announcement that he must at once terminate his connection with them, as
+      he was going on board the Fleet, was everywhere received with great
+      regret.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I would gladly pay double," one said, "rather than that you should go,
+      for, indeed, it has taken a heavy load off my shoulders, and I know not
+      how I shall get on in the future."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should think there would be no difficulty in getting some other young
+      clerk to do the work," Cyril said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not so easy," the man replied. "I had tried one or two before, and found
+      they were more trouble than they were worth. There are not many who write
+      as neatly as you do, and you do as much in an hour as some would take a
+      day over. However, I wish you good luck, and if you should come back, and
+      take up the work again, or start as a scrivener in the City, I can promise
+      you that you shall have my books again, and that among my friends I can
+      find you as much work as you can get through."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Something similar was said to him at each of the houses where he called,
+      and he felt much gratified at finding that his work had given such
+      satisfaction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he came in to supper, Cyril was conscious that something had occurred
+      of an unusual nature. Nellie's eyes were swollen with crying; Mrs. Dowsett
+      had also evidently been in tears; while Captain Dave was walking up and
+      down the room restlessly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant was placing the things upon the table, and, just as they were
+      about to take their seats, the bell of the front door rang loudly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "See who it is, John," Captain Dave said. "Whoever it is seems to be in a
+      mighty hurry."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a minute or two John returned, followed by a gentleman. The latter
+      paused at the door, and then said, bowing courteously, as he advanced, to
+      Mrs. Dowsett,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I must ask pardon for intruding on your meal, madam, but my business is
+      urgent. I am the Earl of Wisbech, and I have called to see Sir Cyril
+      Shenstone, to offer him my heartfelt thanks for the service he has
+      rendered me by saving the lives of my daughters."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All had risen to their feet as he entered, and there was a slight
+      exclamation of surprise from the Captain, his wife, and daughter, as the
+      Earl said "Sir Cyril Shenstone."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril stepped forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am Cyril Shenstone, my Lord," he said, "and had the good fortune to be
+      able, with the assistance of my friend here, John Wilkes, to rescue your
+      daughters, though, at the time, indeed, I was altogether ignorant of their
+      rank. It was a fortunate occurrence, but I must disclaim any merit in the
+      action, for it was by mere accident that, mounting to the window by a
+      ladder, I saw them lying insensible on the ground."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Your modesty does you credit, sir," the Earl said, shaking him warmly by
+      the hand. "But such is not the opinion of Prince Rupert, who described it
+      to me as a very gallant action; and, moreover, he said that it was you who
+      first brought him the news that there were females in the house, which he
+      and others had supposed to be empty, and that it was solely owing to you
+      that the ladders were taken round."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Will you allow me, my Lord, to introduce to you Captain Dowsett, his
+      wife, and daughter, who have been to me the kindest of friends?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A kindness, my Lord," Captain Dave said earnestly, "that has been repaid
+      a thousandfold by this good youth, of whose rank we were indeed ignorant
+      until you named it. May I ask you to honour us by joining in our meal?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That will I right gladly, sir," the Earl said, "for, in truth, I have
+      scarce broke my fast to-day. I was down at my place in Kent when I was
+      awoke this morning by one of my grooms, who had ridden down with the news
+      that my mansion in the Savoy had been burned, and that my daughters had
+      had a most narrow escape of their lives. Of course, I mounted at once and
+      rode to town, where I was happy in finding that they had well-nigh
+      recovered from the effects of their fright and the smoke. Neither they nor
+      the nurse who was with them could give me any account of what had
+      happened, save that they had, as they supposed, become insensible from the
+      smoke. When they recovered, they found themselves in the Earl of Surrey's
+      house, to which it seems they had been carried. After inquiry, I learned
+      that the Duke of Albemarle and Prince Rupert had both been on the scene
+      directing operations. I went to the latter, with whom I have the honour of
+      being well acquainted, and he told me the whole story, saying that had it
+      not been for Sir Cyril Shenstone, my daughters would certainly have
+      perished. He gave credit, too, to Sir Cyril's companion, who, he said,
+      carried them down the ladder, and himself entered the burning room the
+      last time, to aid in bringing out the nurse, who was too heavy for the
+      rescuer of my daughters to lift. Save a cup of wine and a piece of bread,
+      that I took on my first arrival, I have not broken my fast to-day."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he seated himself on a chair that Cyril had placed for him between
+      Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dave whispered to John Wilkes, who went out, and returned in two
+      or three minutes with three or four flasks of rare Spanish wine which the
+      Captain had brought back on his last voyage, and kept for drinking on
+      special occasions. The dame always kept an excellent table, and although
+      she made many apologies to the Earl, he assured her that none were needed,
+      for that he could have supped no better in his own house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I hear," he said presently to Cyril, "that you are going out as a
+      Volunteer in Prince Rupert's ship. My son is also going with him, and I
+      hope, in a day or two, to introduce him to you. He is at present at
+      Cambridge, but, having set his mind on sailing with the Prince, I have
+      been fain to allow him to give up his studies. I heard from Prince Rupert
+      that you had recently been kidnapped and taken to Holland. He gave me no
+      particulars, nor did I ask them, being desirous of hurrying off at once to
+      express my gratitude to you. How was it that such an adventure befell you&mdash;for
+      it would hardly seem likely that you could have provoked the enmity of
+      persons capable of such an outrage?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was the result of his services to me, my Lord," Captain Dave said.
+      "Having been a sea-captain, I am but a poor hand at accounts; but, having
+      fallen into this business at the death of my father, it seemed simple
+      enough for me to get on without much book-learning. I made but a bad shape
+      at it; and when Master Shenstone, as he then called himself, offered to
+      keep my books for me, it seemed to me an excellent mode of saving myself
+      worry and trouble. However, when he set himself to making up the accounts
+      of my stock, he found that I was nigh eight hundred pounds short; and,
+      setting himself to watch, discovered that my apprentices were in alliance
+      with a band of thieves, and were nightly robbing me. We caught them and
+      two of the thieves in the act. One of the latter was the receiver, and on
+      his premises the proceeds of a great number of robberies were found, and
+      there was no doubt that he was the chief of a notorious gang, called the
+      'Black Gang,' which had for a long time infested the City and the
+      surrounding country. It was to prevent Sir Cyril from giving evidence at
+      the trial that he was kidnapped and sent away. He was placed in the house
+      of a diamond merchant, to whom the thieves were in the habit of consigning
+      jewels; and this might well have turned out fatal to him, for to the same
+      house came my elder apprentice and one of the men captured with him&mdash;a
+      notorious ruffian&mdash;who had been rescued from the constables by a gang
+      of their fellows, in open daylight, in the City. These, doubtless, would
+      have compassed his death had he not happily seen them enter the house, and
+      made his escape, taking passage in a coaster bound for Dunkirk, from which
+      place he took another ship to England. Thus you see, my Lord, that I am
+      indebted to him for saving me from a further loss that might well have
+      ruined me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused, and glanced at Nellie, who rose at once, saying to the Earl,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I trust that your Lordship will excuse my mother and myself. My father
+      has more to tell you; at least, I should wish him to do so."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, taking her mother's hand, she curtsied deeply, and they left the
+      room together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Such, my Lord, as I have told you, is the service, so far as I knew till
+      this afternoon, Sir Cyril Shenstone has rendered me. That was no small
+      thing, but it is very little to what I know now that I am indebted to him.
+      After he went out I was speaking with my wife on money matters, desiring
+      much to be of assistance to him in the matter of the expedition on which
+      he is going. Suddenly my daughter burst into tears and left the room. I
+      naturally bade my wife follow her and learn what ailed her. Then, with
+      many sobs and tears, she told her mother that we little knew how much we
+      were indebted to him. She said she had been a wicked girl, having
+      permitted herself to be accosted several times by a well-dressed gallant,
+      who told her that he was the Earl of Harwich, who had professed great love
+      for her, and urged her to marry him privately.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He was about to speak to her one day when she was out under Master
+      Cyril's escort. The latter interfered, and there was well-nigh a <i>fracas</i>
+      between them. Being afraid that some of the lookers-on might know her, and
+      bring the matter to our ears, she mentioned so much to us, and, in
+      consequence, we did not allow her to go out afterwards, save in the
+      company of her mother. Nevertheless, the man continued to meet her, and,
+      as he was unknown to her mother, passed notes into her hand. To these she
+      similarly replied, and at last consented to fly with him. She did so at
+      night, and was about to enter a sedan chair in the lane near this house
+      when they were interrupted by the arrival of Master Shenstone and my
+      friend John Wilkes. The former, it seems, had his suspicions, and setting
+      himself to watch, had discovered that she was corresponding with this man&mdash;whom
+      he had found was not the personage he pretended to be, but a disreputable
+      hanger-on of the Court, one John Harvey&mdash;and had then kept up an
+      incessant watch, with the aid of John Wilkes, outside the house at night,
+      until he saw her come out and join the fellow with two associates, when he
+      followed her to the chair they had in readiness for her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There was, she says, a terrible scene. Swords were drawn. John Wilkes
+      knocked down one of the men, and Master Shenstone ran John Harvey through
+      the shoulder. Appalled now at seeing how she had been deceived, and how
+      narrowly she had escaped destruction, she returned with her rescuers to
+      the house, and no word was ever said on the subject until she spoke this
+      afternoon. We had noticed that a great change had come over her, and that
+      she seemed to have lost all her tastes for shows and finery, but little
+      did we dream of the cause. She said that she could not have kept the
+      secret much longer in any case, being utterly miserable at the thought of
+      how she had degraded herself and deceived us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was a sad story to have to hear, my Lord, but we have fully forgiven
+      her, having, indeed, cause to thank God both for her preservation and for
+      the good that this seems to have wrought in her. She had been a spoilt
+      child, and, being well-favoured, her head had been turned by flattery, and
+      she indulged in all sorts of foolish dreams. Now she is truly penitent for
+      her folly. Had you not arrived, my Lord, I should, when we had finished
+      our supper, have told Master Shenstone that I knew of this vast service he
+      has rendered us&mdash;a service to which the other was as nothing. That
+      touched my pocket only; this my only child's happiness. I have told you
+      the story, my Lord, by her consent, in order that you might know what sort
+      of a young fellow this gentleman who has rescued your daughter is. John, I
+      thank you for your share in this matter," and, with tears in his eyes, he
+      held out his hand to his faithful companion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I thank you deeply, Captain Dowsett, for having told me this story," the
+      Earl said gravely. "It was a painful one to tell, and I feel sure that the
+      circumstance will, as you say, be of lasting benefit to your daughter. It
+      shows that her heart is a true and loyal one, or she would not have had so
+      painful a story told to a stranger, simply that the true character of her
+      preserver should be known. I need not say that it has had the effect she
+      desired of raising Sir Cyril Shenstone highly in my esteem. Prince Rupert
+      spoke of him very highly and told me how he had been honourably supporting
+      himself and his father, until the death of the latter. Now I see that he
+      possesses unusual discretion and acuteness, as well as bravery. Now I will
+      take my leave, thanking you for the good entertainment that you have given
+      me. I am staying at the house of the Earl of Surrey, Sir Cyril, and I hope
+      that you will call to-morrow morning, in order that my daughters may thank
+      you in person."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dave and Cyril escorted the Earl to the door and then returned to
+      the chamber above.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XII &mdash; NEW FRIENDS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      On arriving at the room upstairs, Captain Dave placed his hand on Cyril's
+      shoulder and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How can I thank you, lad, for what you have done for us?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "By saying nothing further about it, Captain Dave. I had hoped that the
+      matter would never have come to your ears, and yet I rejoice, for her own
+      sake, that Mistress Nellie has told you all. I thought that she would do
+      so some day, for I, too, have seen how much she has been changed since
+      then, and though it becomes me not to speak of one older than myself, I
+      think that the experience has been for her good, and, above all, I am
+      rejoiced to find that you have fully forgiven her, for indeed I am sure
+      that she has been grievously punished."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, well, lad, it shall be as you say, for indeed I am but a poor hand
+      at talking, but believe me that I feel as grateful as if I could express
+      myself rightly, and that the Earl of Wisbech cannot feel one whit more
+      thankful to you for having saved the lives of his three children than I do
+      for your having saved my Nellie from the consequences of her own folly.
+      There is one thing that you must let me do&mdash;it is but a small thing,
+      but at present I have no other way of showing what I feel: you must let me
+      take upon myself, as if you had been my son, the expenses of this outfit
+      of yours. I was talking of the matter, as you may have guessed by what I
+      said to the Earl, when Nellie burst into tears; and if I contemplated this
+      when I knew only you had saved me from ruin, how much more do I feel it
+      now that you have done this greater thing? I trust that you will not
+      refuse me and my wife this small opportunity of showing our gratitude.
+      What say you, John Wilkes?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I say, Captain Dave, that it is well spoken, and I am sure Master Cyril
+      will not refuse your offer."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will not, Captain Dave, providing that you let it be as a loan that I
+      may perhaps some day be enabled to repay you. I feel that it would be
+      churlish to refuse so kind an offer, and it will relieve me of the one
+      difficulty that troubled me when the prospects in all other respects
+      seemed so fair."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is right, lad, and you have taken a load off my mind. You have not
+      acted quite fairly by us in one respect, Master Cyril!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How is that?" Cyril asked in surprise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "In not telling us that you were Sir Cyril Shenstone, and in letting us
+      put you up in an attic, and letting you go about as Nellie's escort, as if
+      you had been but an apprentice."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I said that my father was Sir Aubrey Shenstone, though I own that I did
+      not say so until I had been here some time; but the fact that he was a
+      Baronet and not a Knight made little difference. It was a friendless lad
+      whom you took in and gave shelter to, Captain Dave, and&mdash;it mattered
+      not whether he was plain Cyril or Sir Cyril. I had certainly no thought of
+      taking my title again until I entered a foreign army, and indeed it would
+      have been a disservice to me here in London. I should have cut but a poor
+      figure asking for work and calling myself Sir Cyril Shenstone. I should
+      have had to enter into all sorts of explanations before anyone would have
+      believed me, and I don't think that, even with you, I should have been so
+      comfortable as I have been."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, at any rate, no harm has been done," Captain Dave said; "but I
+      think you might have told me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If I had, Captain Dave, you would assuredly have told your wife and
+      Mistress Nellie; and it was much more pleasant for me that things should
+      be as they were."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, perhaps you were right, lad. And I own that I might not have let
+      you work at my books, and worry over that robbery, had I known that you
+      were of a station above me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That you could never have known," Cyril said warmly. "We have been poor
+      ever since I can remember. I owed my education to the kindness of friends
+      of my mother, and in no way has my station been equal to that of a London
+      trader like yourself. As to the title, it was but a matter of birth, and
+      went but ill with an empty purse and a shabby doublet. In the future it
+      may be useful, but until now, it has been naught, and indeed worse than
+      naught, to me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning when Cyril went into the parlour he found that Nellie was
+      busy assisting the maid to lay the table. When the latter had left the
+      room, the girl went up to Cyril and took his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have never thanked you yet," she said. "I could not bring myself to
+      speak of it, but now that I have told them I can do so. Ever since that
+      dreadful night I have prayed for you, morning and evening, and thanked God
+      for sending you to my rescue. What a wicked girl you must have thought me&mdash;and
+      with reason! But you could not think of me worse than I thought of myself.
+      Now that my father and mother have forgiven me I shall be different
+      altogether. I had before made up my mind to tell them. Still, it did not
+      seem to me that I should ever be happy again. But now that I have had the
+      courage to speak out, and they have been so good to me, a great weight is
+      lifted off my mind, and I mean to learn to be a good housewife like my
+      mother, and to try to be worthy, some day, of an honest man's love."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am sure you will be," Cyril said warmly. "And so, Mistress Nellie, it
+      has all turned out for the best, though it did not seem so at one time."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment Captain Dave came in. "I am glad to see you two talking
+      together as of old," he said. "We had thought that there must be some
+      quarrel between you, for you had given up rating him, Nellie. Give her a
+      kiss, Cyril; she is a good lass, though she has been a foolish one. Nay,
+      Nellie, do not offer him your cheek&mdash;it is the fashion to do that to
+      every idle acquaintance. Kiss him heartily, as if you loved him. That is
+      right, lass. Now let us to breakfast. Where is your mother? She is late."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I told her that I would see after the breakfast in future, father, and I
+      have begun this morning&mdash;partly because it is my duty to take the
+      work off her hands, and partly because I wanted a private talk with Sir
+      Cyril."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I won't be called Sir Cyril under this roof," the lad said, laughing.
+      "And I warn you that if anyone calls me so I will not answer. I have
+      always been Cyril with you all, and I intend to remain so to the end, and
+      you must remember that it is but a few months that I have had the right to
+      the title, and was never addressed by it until by Prince Rupert. I was for
+      the moment well nigh as much surprised as you were last night."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An hour later Cyril again donned his best suit, and started to pay his
+      visit to the Earl. Had he not seen him over-night, he would have felt very
+      uncomfortable at the thought of the visit; but he had found him so
+      pleasant and friendly, and so entirely free from any air of pride or
+      condescension, that it seemed as if he were going to meet a friend. He was
+      particularly struck with the manner in which he had placed Captain Dave
+      and his family at their ease, and got them to talk as freely and naturally
+      with him as if he had been an acquaintance of long standing. It seemed
+      strange to him to give his name as Sir Cyril Shenstone to the lackeys at
+      the door, and he almost expected to see an expression of amusement on
+      their faces. They had, however, evidently received instructions respecting
+      him, for he was without question at once ushered into the room in which
+      the Earl of Wisbech and his daughters were sitting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Earl shook him warmly by the hand, and then, turning to his daughters,
+      said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is the gentleman to whom you owe your lives, girls. Sir Cyril, these
+      are my daughters&mdash;Lady Dorothy, Lady Bertha, and Lady Beatrice. It
+      seems somewhat strange to have to introduce you, who have saved their
+      lives, to them; but you have the advantage of them, for you have seen them
+      before, but they have not until now seen your face."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Each of the girls as she was named made a deep curtsey, and then presented
+      her cheek to be kissed, as was the custom of the times.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They are somewhat tongue-tied," the Earl said, smiling, as the eldest of
+      the three cast an appealing glance to him, "and have begged me to thank
+      you in their names, which I do with all my heart, and beg you to believe
+      that their gratitude is none the less deep because they have no words to
+      express it. They generally have plenty to say, I can assure you, and will
+      find their tongues when you are a little better acquainted."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am most happy to have been of service to you, ladies," Cyril said,
+      bowing deeply to them. "I can hardly say that I have the advantage your
+      father speaks of, for in truth the smoke was so thick, and my eyes smarted
+      so with it, that I could scarce see your faces."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Their attire, too, in no way helped you," the Earl said, with a laugh,
+      "for, as I hear, their costume was of the slightest. I believe that
+      Dorothy's chief concern is that she did not have time to attire herself in
+      a more becoming toilette before the smoke overpowered her."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now, father," the girl protested, with a pretty colour in her cheeks,
+      "you know I have never said anything of the sort, though I did say that I
+      wished I had thrown a cloak round me. It is not pleasant, whatever you may
+      think, to know that one was handed down a ladder in one's nightdress."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't care about that a bit," Beatrice said; "but you did not say,
+      father, that it was a young gentleman, no older than Sydney, who found us
+      and carried us out. I had expected to see a great big man."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't think I said anything about his age, Beatrice, but simply told
+      you that I had found out that it was Sir Cyril Shenstone that had saved
+      you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Is the nurse recovering, my Lord?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "She is still in bed, and the doctor says she will be some time before she
+      quite recovers from the fright and shock. They were all sleeping in the
+      storey above. It was Dorothy who first woke, and, after waking her
+      sisters, ran into the nurse's room, which was next door, and roused her.
+      The silly woman was so frightened that she could do nothing but stand at
+      the window and scream until the girls almost dragged her away, and forced
+      her to come downstairs. The smoke, however, was so thick that they could
+      get no farther than the next floor; then, guided by the screams of the
+      other servants, they opened a door and ran in, but, as you know, it was
+      not the room into which the women had gone. The nurse fell down in a faint
+      as soon as she got in. The girls, as it seems, dragged her as far as they
+      could towards the window, but she was too heavy for them; and as they had
+      not shut the door, the smoke poured in and overpowered them, and they fell
+      beside her. The rest you know. She is a silly woman, and she has quite
+      lost my confidence by her folly and cowardice, but she has been a good
+      servant, and the girls, all of whom she nursed, were fond of her. Still,
+      it is evident that she is not to be trusted in an emergency, and it was
+      only because the girls' governess is away on a visit to her mother that
+      she happened to be left in charge of them. Now, young ladies, you can
+      leave us, as I have other matters to talk over with Sir Cyril."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The three girls curtsied deeply, first to their father, and then to Cyril,
+      who held the door for them to pass out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now, Sir Cyril," the Earl said, as the door closed behind them, "we must
+      have a talk together. You may well believe that, after what has happened,
+      I look upon you almost as part of my family, and that I consider you have
+      given me the right to look after your welfare as if you were a near
+      relation of my own; and glad I am to have learned yesterday evening that
+      you are, in all respects, one whom I might be proud indeed to call a
+      kinsman. Had you been a cousin of mine, with parents but indifferently off
+      in worldly goods, it would have been my duty, of course, to push you
+      forward and to aid you in every way to make a proper figure on this
+      expedition. I think that, after what has happened, I have equally the
+      right to do so, and what would have been my duty, had you been a relation,
+      is no less a duty, and will certainly be a great gratification to me to do
+      now. You understand me, do you not? I wish to take upon myself all the
+      charges connected with your outfit, and to make you an allowance, similar
+      to that which I shall give to my son, for your expenses on board ship. All
+      this is of course but a slight thing, but, believe me, that when the
+      expedition is over it will be my pleasure to help you forward to
+      advancement in any course which you may choose."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I thank you most heartily, my Lord," Cyril said, "and would not hesitate
+      to accept your help in the present matter, did I need it. However, I have
+      saved some little money during the past two years, and Captain Dowsett has
+      most generously offered me any sum I may require for my expenses, and has
+      consented to allow me to take it as a loan to be repaid at some future
+      time, should it be in my power to do so. Your offer, however, to aid me in
+      my career afterwards, I most thankfully accept. My idea has always been to
+      take service under some foreign prince, and Prince Rupert has most kindly
+      promised to aid me in that respect; but after serving for a time at sea I
+      shall be better enabled to judge than at present as to whether that course
+      is indeed the best, and I shall be most thankful for your counsel in this
+      and all other matters, and feel myself fortunate indeed to have obtained
+      your good will and patronage."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, if it must be so, it must," the Earl said. "Your friend Captain
+      Dowsett seems to me a very worthy man. You have placed him under an
+      obligation as heavy as my own, and he has the first claim to do you
+      service. In this matter, then, I must be content to stand aside, but on
+      your return from sea it will be my turn, and I shall be hurt and grieved
+      indeed if you do not allow me an opportunity of proving my gratitude to
+      you. As to the career you speak of, it is a precarious one. There are
+      indeed many English and Scotch officers who have risen to high rank and
+      honour in foreign service; but to every one that so succeeds, how many
+      fall unnoticed, and lie in unmarked graves, in well-nigh every country in
+      Europe? Were you like so many of your age, bent merely on adventure and
+      pleasure, the case would be different, but it is evident that you have a
+      clear head for business, that you are steady and persevering, and such
+      being the case, there are many offices under the Crown in which you might
+      distinguish yourself and do far better than the vast majority of those who
+      sell their swords to foreign princes, and become mere soldiers of fortune,
+      fighting for a cause in which they have no interest, and risking their
+      lives in quarrels that are neither their own nor their country's.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "However, all this we can talk over when you come back after having, as I
+      hope, aided in destroying the Dutch Fleet. I expect my son up to-morrow,
+      and trust that you will accompany him to the King's <i>levée</i>, next
+      Monday. Prince Rupert tells me that he has already presented you to the
+      King, and that you were well received by him, as indeed you had a right to
+      be, as the son of a gentleman who had suffered and sacrificed much in the
+      Royal cause. But I will take the opportunity of introducing you to several
+      other gentlemen who will sail with you. On the following day I shall be
+      going down into Kent, and shall remain there until it is time for Sydney
+      to embark. If you can get your preparations finished by that time, I trust
+      that you will give us the pleasure of your company, and will stay with me
+      until you embark with Sydney. In this way you will come to know us better,
+      and to feel, as I wish you to feel, as one of the family."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril gratefully accepted the invitation, and then took his leave.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dave was delighted when he heard the issue of his visit to the
+      Earl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should never have forgiven you, lad, if you had accepted the Earl's
+      offer to help you in the matter of this expedition. It is no great thing,
+      and comes well within my compass, and I should have been sorely hurt had
+      you let him come between us; but in the future I can do little, and he
+      much. I have spoken to several friends who are better acquainted with
+      public affairs than I am, and they all speak highly of him. He holds, for
+      the most part, aloof from Court, which is to his credit seeing how matters
+      go on there; but he is spoken of as a very worthy gentleman and one of
+      merit, who might take a prominent part in affairs were he so minded. He
+      has broad estates in Kent and Norfolk, and spends the greater part of his
+      life at one or other of his country seats. Doubtless, he will be able to
+      assist you greatly in the future."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I did not like to refuse his offer to go down with him to Kent," Cyril
+      said, "though I would far rather have remained here with you until we
+      sail."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You did perfectly right, lad. It will cut short your stay here but a
+      week, and it would be madness to refuse the opportunity of getting to know
+      him and his family better. The Countess died three years ago, I hear, and
+      he has shown no disposition to take another wife, as he might well do,
+      seeing he is but a year or two past forty, and has as pleasant a face and
+      manner as I have ever seen. He is not the sort of man to promise what he
+      will not perform, Cyril, and more than ever do I think that it was a
+      fortunate thing for you that John Wilkes fetched you to that fire in the
+      Savoy. And now, lad, you have no time to lose. You must come with me at
+      once to Master Woods, the tailor, in Eastcheap, who makes clothes not only
+      for the citizens but for many of the nobles and gallants of the Court. In
+      the first place, you will need a fitting dress for the King's <i>levée</i>;
+      then you will need at least one more suit similar to that you now wear,
+      and three for on board ship and for ordinary occasions, made of stout
+      cloth, but in the fashion; then you must have helmet, and breast- and
+      back-pieces for the fighting, and for these we will go to Master Lawrence,
+      the armourer, in Cheapside. All these we will order to-day in my name, and
+      put them down in your account to me. As to arms, you have your sword, and
+      there is but a brace of pistols to be bought. You will want a few things
+      such as thick cloaks for sea service; for though I suppose that Volunteers
+      do not keep their watch, you may meet with rains and heavy weather, and
+      you will need something to keep you dry."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They sallied out at once. So the clothes were ordered, and the Court suit,
+      with the best of the others promised by the end of the week; the armour
+      was fitted on and bought, and a stock of fine shirts with ruffles, hose,
+      and shoes, was also purchased. The next day Sydney Oliphant, the Earl's
+      son, called upon Cyril. He was a frank, pleasant young fellow, about a
+      year older than Cyril. He was very fond of his sisters, and expressed in
+      lively terms his gratitude for their rescue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This expedition has happened in the nick of time for me," he said, when,
+      in accordance with his invitation, Cyril and he embarked in the Earl's
+      boat in which he had been rowed to the City, "for I was in bad odour with
+      the authorities, and was like, erelong, to have been sent home far less
+      pleasantly; and although the Earl, my father, is very indulgent, he would
+      have been terribly angry with me had it been so. To tell you the truth, at
+      the University we are divided into two sets&mdash;those who read and those
+      who don't&mdash;and on joining I found myself very soon among the latter.
+      I don't think it was quite my fault, for I naturally fell in with
+      companions whom I had known before, and it chanced that some of these were
+      among the wildest spirits in the University.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Of course I had my horses, and, being fond of riding, I was more often in
+      the saddle than in my seat in the college schools. Then there were
+      constant complaints against us for sitting up late and disturbing the
+      college with our melodies, and altogether we stood in bad odour with the
+      Dons; and when they punished us we took our revenge by playing them
+      pranks, until lately it became almost open war, and would certainly have
+      ended before long in a score or more of us being sent down. I should not
+      have minded that myself, but it would have grieved the Earl, and I am not
+      one of the new-fashioned ones who care naught for what their fathers may
+      say. He has been praising you up to the skies this morning, I can tell you&mdash;I
+      don't mean only as to the fire but about other things&mdash;and says he
+      hopes we shall be great friends, and I am sure I hope so too, and think
+      so. He had been telling me about your finding out about their robbing that
+      good old sea-captain you live with, and how you were kidnapped afterwards,
+      and sent to Holland; and how, in another adventure, although he did not
+      tell me how that came about, you pricked a ruffling gallant through the
+      shoulder; so that you have had a larger share of adventure, by a great
+      deal, than I have. I had expected to see you rather a solemn personage,
+      for the Earl told me you had more sense in your little finger than I had
+      in my whole body, which was not complimentary to me, though I dare say it
+      is true."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now, as a rule, they say that sensible people are very disagreeable; but
+      I hope I shall not be disagreeable," Cyril laughed, "and I am certainly
+      not aware that I am particularly sensible."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, I am sure you won't be disagreeable, but I should have been quite
+      nervous about coming to see you if it had not been for the girls. Little
+      Beatrice told me she thought you were a prince in disguise, and had
+      evidently a private idea that the good fairies had sent you to her rescue.
+      Bertha said that you were a very proper young gentleman, and that she was
+      sure you were nice. Dorothy didn't say much, but she evidently approved of
+      the younger girls' sentiments, so I felt that you must be all right, for
+      the girls are generally pretty severe critics, and very few of my friends
+      stand at all high in their good graces. What amusement are you most fond
+      of?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am afraid I have had very little time for amusements," Cyril said. "I
+      was very fond of fencing when I was in France, but have had no opportunity
+      of practising since I came to England. I went to a bull-bait once, but
+      thought it a cruel sport."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I suppose you go to a play-house sometimes?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No; I have never been inside one. A good deal of my work has been done in
+      the evening, and I don't know that the thought ever occurred to me to go.
+      I know nothing of your English sports, and neither ride nor shoot, except
+      with a pistol, with which I used to be a good shot when I was in France."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They rowed down as low as Greenwich, then, as the tide turned, made their
+      way back; and by the time Cyril alighted from the boat at London Bridge
+      stairs the two young fellows had become quite intimate with each other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie looked with great approval at Cyril as he came downstairs in a full
+      Court dress. Since the avowal she had made of her fault she had recovered
+      much of her brightness. She bustled about the house, intent upon the
+      duties she had newly taken up, to the gratification of Mrs. Dowsett, who
+      protested that her occupation was gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not at all, mother. It is only that you are now captain of the ship, and
+      have got to give your orders instead of carrying them out yourself. Father
+      did not pull up the ropes or go aloft to furl the sails, while I have no
+      doubt he had plenty to do in seeing that his orders were carried out. You
+      will be worse off than he was, for he had John Wilkes, and others, who
+      knew their duty, while I have got almost everything to learn."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Although her cheerfulness had returned, and she could again be heard
+      singing snatches of song about the house, her voice and manner were
+      gentler and softer, and Captain Dave said to Cyril,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It has all turned out for the best, lad. The ship was very near wrecked,
+      but the lesson has been a useful one, and there is no fear of her being
+      lost from want of care or good seamanship in future. I feel, too, that I
+      have been largely to blame in the matter. I spoilt her as a child, and I
+      spoilt her all along. Her mother would have kept a firmer hand upon the
+      helm if I had not always spoken up for the lass, and said, 'Let her have
+      her head; don't check the sheets in too tautly.' I see I was wrong now.
+      Why, lad, what a blessing it is to us all that it happened when it did!
+      for if that fire had been but a month earlier, you would probably have
+      gone away with the Earl, and we should have known nothing of Nellie's
+      peril until we found that she was gone."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Sir Cyril&mdash;no, I really cannot call you Cyril now," Nellie said,
+      curtseying almost to the ground after taking a survey of the lad, "your
+      costume becomes you rarely; and I am filled with wonder at the thought of
+      my own stupidity in not seeing all along that you were a prince in
+      disguise. It is like the fairy tales my old nurse used to tell me of the
+      king's son who went out to look for a beautiful wife, and who worked as a
+      scullion in the king's palace without anyone suspecting his rank. I think
+      fortune has been very hard upon me, in that I was born five years too
+      soon. Had I been but fourteen instead of nineteen, your Royal Highness
+      might have cast favourable eyes upon me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But then, Mistress Nellie," Cyril said, laughing, "you would be filled
+      with grief now at the thought that I am going away to the wars."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl's face changed. She dropped her saucy manner and said earnestly,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am grieved, Cyril; and if it would do any good I would sit down and
+      have a hearty cry. The Dutchmen are brave fighters, and their fleet will
+      be stronger than ours; and there will be many who sail away to sea who
+      will never come back again. I have never had a brother; but it seems to me
+      that if I had had one who was wise, and thoughtful, and brave, I should
+      have loved him as I love you. I think the princess must always have felt
+      somehow that the scullion was not what he seemed; and though I have always
+      laughed at you and scolded you, I have known all along that you were not
+      really a clerk. I don't know that I thought you were a prince; but I
+      somehow felt a little afraid of you. You never said that you thought me
+      vain and giddy, but I knew you did think so, and I used to feel a little
+      malice against you; and yet, somehow, I respected and liked you all the
+      more, and now it seems to me that you are still in disguise, and that,
+      though you seem to be but a boy, you are really a man to whom some good
+      fairy has given a boy's face. Methinks no boy could be as thoughtful and
+      considerate, and as kind as you are."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You are exaggerating altogether," Cyril said; "and yet, in what you say
+      about my age, I think you are partly right. I have lived most of my life
+      alone; I have had much care always on my shoulders, and grave
+      responsibility; thus it is that I am older in many ways than I should be
+      at my years. I would it were not so. I have not had any boyhood, as other
+      boys have, and I think it has been a great misfortune for me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It has not been a misfortune for us, Cyril; it has been a blessing indeed
+      to us all that you have not been quite like other boys, and I think that
+      all your life it will be a satisfaction for you to know that you have
+      saved one house from ruin, one woman from misery, and disgrace. Now it is
+      time for you to be going; but although you are leaving us tomorrow, Cyril,
+      I hope that you are not going quite out of our lives."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That you may be sure I am not, Nellie. If you have reason to be grateful
+      to me, truly I have much reason to be grateful to your father. I have
+      never been so happy as since I have been in this house, and I shall always
+      return to it as to a home where I am sure of a welcome&mdash;as the place
+      to which I chiefly owe any good fortune that may ever befall me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The <i>levée</i> was a brilliant one, and was attended, in addition to the
+      usual throng of courtiers, by most of the officers and gentlemen who were
+      going with the Fleet. Cyril was glad indeed that he was with the Earl of
+      Wisbech and his son, for he would have felt lonely and out of place in the
+      brilliant throng, in which Prince Rupert's face would have been the only
+      one with which he was familiar. The Earl introduced him to several of the
+      gentlemen who would be his shipmates, and by all he was cordially received
+      when the Earl named him as the gentleman who had rescued his daughters
+      from death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At times, when the Earl was chatting with his friends, Cyril moved about
+      through the rooms with Sydney, who knew by appearance a great number of
+      those present, and was able to point out all the distinguished persons of
+      the Court to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is the Prince," he said, "talking with the Earl of Rochester. What
+      a grave face he has now! It is difficult to believe that he is the Rupert
+      of the wars, and the headstrong prince whose very bravery helped to lose
+      well-nigh as many battles as he won. We may be sure that he will take us
+      into the very thick of the fight, Cyril. Even now his wrist is as firm,
+      and, I doubt not, his arm as strong as when he led the Cavaliers. I have
+      seen him in the tennis-court; there is not one at the Court, though many
+      are well-nigh young enough to be his sons, who is his match at tennis.
+      There is the Duke of York. They say he is a Catholic, but I own that makes
+      no difference to me. He is fond of the sea, and is never so happy as when
+      he is on board ship, though you would hardly think it by his grave face.
+      The King is fond of it, too. He has a pleasure vessel that is called a
+      yacht, and so has the Duke of York, and they have races one against the
+      other; but the King generally wins. He is making it a fashionable pastime.
+      Some day I will have one myself&mdash;that is, if I find I like the sea;
+      for it must be pleasant to sail about in your own vessel, and to go
+      wheresoever one may fancy without asking leave from any man."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When it came to his turn Cyril passed before the King with the Earl and
+      his son. The Earl presented Sydney, who had not before been at Court, to
+      the King, mentioning that he was going out as a Volunteer in Prince
+      Rupert's vessel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is as it should be, my Lord," the King said. "England need never
+      fear so long as her nobles and gentlemen are ready themselves to go out to
+      fight her battles, and to set an example to the seamen. You need not
+      present this young gentleman to me; my cousin Rupert has already done so,
+      and told me of the service he has rendered to your daughters. He, too,
+      sails with the Prince, and after what happened there can be no doubt that
+      he can stand fire well. I would that this tiresome dignity did not prevent
+      my being of the party. I would gladly, for once, lay my kingship down and
+      go out as one of the company to help give the Dutchmen a lesson that will
+      teach them that, even if caught unexpectedly, the sea-dogs of England can
+      well hold their own, though they have no longer a Blake to command them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I wonder that the King ventures to use Blake's name," Sydney whispered,
+      as they moved away, "considering the indignities that he allowed the
+      judges to inflict on the body of the grand old sailor."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was scandalous!" Cyril said warmly; "and I burned with indignation
+      when I heard of it in France. They may call him a traitor because he sided
+      with the Parliament, but even Royalists should never have forgotten what
+      great deeds he did for England. However, though they might have
+      dishonoured his body, they could not touch his fame, and his name will be
+      known and honoured as long as England is a nation and when the names of
+      the men who condemned him have been long forgotten."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After leaving the <i>levée</i>, Cyril went back to the City, and the next
+      morning started on horseback, with the Earl and his son, to the latter's
+      seat, near Sevenoaks, the ladies having gone down in the Earl's coach on
+      the previous day. Wholly unaccustomed as Cyril was to riding, he was so
+      stiff that he had difficulty in dismounting when they rode up to the
+      mansion. The Earl had provided a quiet and well-trained horse for his use,
+      and he had therefore found no difficulty in retaining his seat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You must ride every day while you are down here," the Earl said, "and by
+      the end of the week you will begin to be fairly at home in the saddle. A
+      good seat is one of the prime necessities of a gentleman's education, and
+      if it should be that you ever carry out your idea of taking service abroad
+      it will be essential for you, because, in most cases, the officers are
+      mounted. You can hardly expect ever to become a brilliant rider. For that
+      it is necessary to begin young; but if you can keep your seat under all
+      circumstances, and be able to use your sword on horseback, as well as on
+      foot, it will be all that is needful."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The week passed very pleasantly. Cyril rode and fenced daily with Sydney,
+      who was surprised to find that he was fully his match with the sword. He
+      walked in the gardens with the girls, who had now quite recovered from the
+      effects of the fire. Bertha and Beatrice, being still children, chatted
+      with him as freely and familiarly as they did with Sydney. Of Lady Dorothy
+      he saw less, as she was in charge of her <i>gouvernante</i>, who always
+      walked beside her, and was occupied in training her into the habits of
+      preciseness and decorum in vogue at the time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I do believe, Dorothy," Sydney said, one day, "that you are forgetting
+      how to laugh. You walk like a machine, and seem afraid to move your hands
+      or your feet except according to rule. I like you very much better as you
+      were a year ago, when you did not think yourself too fine for a romp, and
+      could laugh when you were pleased. That dragon of yours is spoiling you
+      altogether."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is a matter of opinion, Sydney," Dorothy said, with a deep curtsey.
+      "When you first began to fence, I have no doubt you were stiff and
+      awkward, and I am sure if you had always had someone by your side, saying,
+      'Keep your head up!' 'Don't poke your chin forward!' 'Pray do not swing
+      your arms!' and that sort of thing, you would be just as awkward as I
+      feel. I am sure I would rather run about with the others; the process of
+      being turned into a young lady is not a pleasant one. But perhaps some
+      day, when you see the finished article, you will be pleased to give your
+      Lordship's august approval," and she ended with a merry laugh that would
+      have shocked her <i>gouvernante</i> if she had heard it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIII &mdash; THE BATTLE OF LOWESTOFT
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The Earl returned with his son and Cyril to town, and the latter spent the
+      night in the City.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I do not know, Cyril," Captain Dave said, as they talked over his
+      departure, "that you run much greater risk in going than do we in staying
+      here. The Plague makes progress, and although it has not invaded the City,
+      we can hardly hope that it will be long before it appears here. There are
+      many evil prophecies abroad, and it is the general opinion that a great
+      misfortune hangs over us, and they say that many have prepared to leave
+      London. I have talked the matter over with my wife. We have not as yet
+      thought of going, but should the Plague come heavily, it may be that we
+      shall for a time go away. There will be no business to be done, for
+      vessels will not come up the Thames and risk infection, nor, indeed, would
+      they be admitted into ports, either in England or abroad, after coming
+      from an infected place. Therefore I could leave without any loss in the
+      way of trade. It will, of course, depend upon the heaviness of the malady,
+      but if it becomes widespread we shall perhaps go for a visit to my wife's
+      cousin, who lives near Gloucester, and who has many times written to us
+      urging us to go down with Nellie for a visit to her. Hitherto, business
+      has prevented my going, but if all trade ceases, it would be a good
+      occasion for us, and such as may never occur again. Still, I earnestly
+      desire that it may not arise, for it cannot do so without sore trouble and
+      pain alighting on the City. Did the Earl tell you, Cyril, what he has done
+      with regard to John?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No; he did not speak to me on the subject."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "His steward came here three days since with a gold watch and chain, as a
+      gift from the Earl. The watch has an inscription on the case, saying that
+      it is presented to John Wilkes from the Earl of Wisbech, as a memorial of
+      his gratitude for the great services rendered to his daughters. Moreover,
+      he brought a letter from the Earl saying that if John should at any time
+      leave my service, owing to my death or retirement from business, or from
+      John himself wishing, either from age or other reason, to leave me, he
+      would place at his service a cottage and garden on his estate, and a
+      pension of twenty pounds a year, to enable him to live in comfort for the
+      remainder of his days. John is, as you may suppose, mightily pleased, for
+      though I would assuredly never part with him as long as I live, and have
+      by my will made provision that will keep him from want in case I die
+      before him, it was mighty pleasant to receive so handsome a letter and
+      offer of service from the Earl. Nellie wrote for him a letter in which he
+      thanked the Earl for the kindness of his offer, for which, although he
+      hoped he should never be forced to benefit from it, he was none the less
+      obliged and grateful, seeing that he had done nothing that any other
+      bystander would not have done, to deserve it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Early the next morning Sydney Oliphant rode up to the door, followed by
+      two grooms, one of whom had a led horse, and the other a sumpter-mule,
+      which was partly laden. Captain Dave went down with Cyril to the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I pray you to enter, my Lord," he said. "My wife will not be happy unless
+      you take a cup of posset before you start. Moreover, she and my daughter
+      desire much to see you, as you are going to sail with Sir Cyril, whom we
+      regard as a member of our family."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will come up right willingly," the young noble said, leaping lightly
+      from his horse. "If your good dame's posset is as good as the wine the
+      Earl, my father, tells me you gave him, it must be good indeed; for he
+      told me he believed he had none in his cellar equal to it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He remained for a few minutes upstairs, chatting gaily, vowing that the
+      posset was the best he had ever drank, and declaring to Nellie that he
+      regarded as a favourable omen for his expedition that he should have seen
+      so fair a face the last thing before starting. He shook hands with John
+      Wilkes heartily when he came up to say that Cyril's valises were all
+      securely packed on the horses, and then went off, promising to send
+      Captain Dave a runnet of the finest schiedam from the Dutch Admiral's
+      ship.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Truly, I am thankful you came up," Cyril said, as they mounted and rode
+      off. "Before you came we were all dull, and the Dame and Mistress Nellie
+      somewhat tearful; Now we have gone off amidst smiles, which is vastly more
+      pleasant."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Crossing London Bridge, they rode through Southwark, and then out into the
+      open country. Each had a light valise strapped behind the saddle, and the
+      servants had saddle-bags containing the smaller articles of luggage, while
+      the sumpter-mule carried two trunks with their clothes and sea
+      necessaries. It was late in the evening when they arrived at Chatham. Here
+      they put up at an hotel which was crowded with officers of the Fleet, and
+      with Volunteers like themselves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should grumble at these quarters, Cyril," Sydney said, as the landlord,
+      with many apologies, showed them into a tiny attic, which was the only
+      place he had unoccupied, "were it not that we are going to sea to-morrow,
+      and I suppose that our quarters will be even rougher there. However, we
+      may have elbow-room for a time, for most of the Volunteers will not join,
+      I hear, until the last thing before the Fleet sails, and it may be a
+      fortnight yet before all the ships are collected. I begged my father to
+      let me do the same, but he goes back again to-day to Sevenoaks, and he
+      liked not the idea of my staying in town, seeing that the Plague is
+      spreading so rapidly. I would even have stayed in the country had he let
+      me, but he was of opinion that I was best on board&mdash;in the first
+      place, because I may not get news down there in time to join the Fleet
+      before it sails, and in the second, that I might come to get over this
+      sickness of the sea, and so be fit and able to do my part when we meet the
+      Dutch. This was so reasonable that I could urge nothing against it; for,
+      in truth, it would be a horrible business if I were lying like a sick dog,
+      unable to lift my head, while our men were fighting the Dutch. I have
+      never been to sea, and know not how I shall bear it. Are you a good
+      sailor?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; I used to go out very often in a fishing-boat at Dunkirk, and never
+      was ill from the first. Many people are not ill at all, and it will
+      certainly be of an advantage to you to be on board for a short time in
+      quiet waters before setting out for sea."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On going downstairs, Lord Oliphant found several young men of his
+      acquaintance among those staying in the house. He introduced Cyril to
+      them. But the room was crowded and noisy; many of those present had drunk
+      more than was good for them, and it was not long before Cyril told his
+      friend that he should go up to bed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am not accustomed to noisy parties, Sydney, and feel quite confused
+      with all this talk."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will soon get accustomed to it, Cyril. Still, do as you like. I dare
+      say I shall not be very long before I follow you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning after breakfast they went down to the quay, and took a
+      boat to the ship, which was lying abreast of the dockyard. The captain, on
+      their giving their names, consulted the list.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is right, gentlemen, though indeed I know not why you should have
+      come down until we are ready to sail, which may not be for a week or more,
+      though we shall go out from here to-morrow and join those lying in the
+      Hope; for indeed you can be of no use while we are fitting, and would but
+      do damage to your clothes and be in the way of the sailors. It is but
+      little accommodation you will find on board here, though we will do the
+      best we can for you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We do not come about accommodation, captain," Lord Oliphant laughed, "and
+      we have brought down gear with us that will not soil, or rather, that
+      cannot be the worse for soiling. There are three or four others at the inn
+      where we stopped last night who are coming on board, but I hear that the
+      rest of the Volunteers will probably join when the Fleet assembles in
+      Yarmouth roads."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then they must be fonder of journeying on horseback than I am," the
+      captain said. "While we are in the Hope, where, indeed, for aught I know,
+      we may tarry but a day or two, they could come down by boat conveniently
+      without trouble, whereas to Yarmouth it is a very long ride, with the risk
+      of losing their purses to the gentlemen of the road. Moreover, though the
+      orders are at present that the Fleet gather at Yarmouth, and many are
+      already there 'tis like that it may be changed in a day for Harwich or the
+      Downs. I pray you get your meals at your inn to-day, for we are, as you
+      see, full of work taking on board stores. If it please you to stay and
+      watch what is doing here you are heartily welcome, but please tell the
+      others that they had best not come off until late in the evening, by which
+      time I will do what I can to have a place ready for them to sleep. We
+      shall sail at the turn of the tide, which will be at three o'clock in the
+      morning."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oliphant wrote a few lines to the gentlemen on shore, telling them that
+      the captain desired that none should come on board until the evening, and
+      having sent it off by their boatmen, telling them to return in time to
+      take them back to dinner, he and Cyril mounted to the poop and surveyed
+      the scene round them. The ship was surrounded with lighters and boats from
+      the dockyards, and from these casks and barrels, boxes and cases, were
+      being swung on board by blocks from the yards, or rolled in at the
+      port-holes. A large number of men were engaged at the work, and as fast as
+      the stores came on board they were seized by the sailors and carried down
+      into the hold, the provisions piled in tiers of barrels, the powder-kegs
+      packed in the magazine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Tis like an ant-hill," Cyril said. "'Tis just as I have seen when a nest
+      has been disturbed. Every ant seizes a white egg as big as itself, and
+      rushes off with it to the passage below."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They work bravely," his companion said. "Every man seems to know that it
+      is important that the ship should be filled up by to-night. See! the other
+      four vessels lying above us are all alike at work, and may, perhaps, start
+      with us in the morning. The other ships are busy, too, but not as we are.
+      I suppose they will take them in hand when they have got rid of us."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am not surprised that the captain does not want idlers here, for,
+      except ourselves, every man seems to have his appointed work."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I feel half inclined to take off my doublet and to go and help to roll
+      those big casks up the planks."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I fancy, Sydney, we should be much more in the way there than here. There
+      is certainly no lack of men, and your strength and mine together would not
+      equal that of one of those strong fellows; besides, we are learning
+      something here. It is good to see how orderly the work is being carried
+      on, for, in spite of the number employed, there is no confusion. You see
+      there are three barges on each side; the upper tiers of barrels and bales
+      are being got on board through the portholes, while the lower ones are
+      fished up from the bottom by the ropes from the yards and swung into the
+      waist, and so passed below; and as fast as one barge is unloaded another
+      drops alongside to take its place."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They returned to the inn to dinner, after which they paid a visit to the
+      victualling yard and dockyard, where work was everywhere going on. After
+      supper they, with the other gentlemen for Prince Rupert's ship, took boat
+      and went off together. They had learned that, while they would be
+      victualled on board, they must take with them wine and other matters they
+      required over and above the ship's fare. They had had a consultation with
+      the other gentlemen after dinner, and concluded that it would be best to
+      take but a small quantity of things, as they knew not how they would be
+      able to stow them away, and would have opportunities of getting, at
+      Gravesend or at Yarmouth, further stores, when they saw what things were
+      required. They therefore took only a cheese, some butter, and a case of
+      wine. As soon as they got on board they were taken below. They found that
+      a curtain of sail-cloth had been hung across the main deck, and hammocks
+      slung between the guns. Three or four lanterns were hung along the middle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is all we can do for you, gentlemen," the officer who conducted them
+      down said. "Had we been going on a pleasure trip we could have knocked up
+      separate cabins, but as we must have room to work the guns, this cannot be
+      done. In the morning the sailors will take down these hammocks, and will
+      erect a table along the middle, where you will take your meals. At
+      present, as you see, we have only slung hammocks for you, but when you all
+      come on board there will be twenty. We have, so far, only a list of
+      sixteen, but as the Prince said that two or three more might come at the
+      last moment we have railed off space enough for ten hammocks on each side.
+      We will get the place cleaned for you to-morrow, but the last barge was
+      emptied but a few minutes since, and we could do naught but just sweep the
+      deck down. To-morrow everything shall be scrubbed and put in order."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It will do excellently well," one of the gentlemen said. "We have not
+      come on board ship to get luxuries, and had we to sleep on the bare boards
+      you would hear no grumbling."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now, gentlemen, as I have shown you your quarters, will you come up with
+      me to the captain's cabin? He has bade me say that he will be glad if you
+      will spend an hour with him there before you retire to rest."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On their entering, the captain shook hands with Lord Oliphant and Cyril.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I must apologise, gentlemen, for being short with you when you came on
+      board this morning; but my hands were full, and I had no time to be
+      polite. They say you can never get a civil answer from a housewife on her
+      washing-day, and it is the same thing with an officer on board a ship when
+      she is taking in her stores. However, that business is over, and now I am
+      glad to see you all, and will do my best to make you as comfortable as I
+      can, which indeed will not be much; for as we shall, I hope, be going into
+      action in the course of another ten days, the decks must all be kept
+      clear, and as we have the Prince on board, we have less cabin room than we
+      should have were we not an admiral's flagship."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wine was placed on the table, and they had a pleasant chat. They learnt
+      that the Fleet was now ready for sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Four ships will sail with ours to-morrow," the captain said, "and the
+      other five will be off the next morning. They have all their munitions on
+      board, and will take in the rest of their provisions to-morrow. The Dutch
+      had thought to take us by surprise, but from what we hear they are not so
+      forward as we, for things have been pushed on with great zeal at all our
+      ports, the war being generally popular with the nation, and especially
+      with the merchants, whose commerce has been greatly injured by the
+      pretensions and violence of the Dutch. The Portsmouth ships, and those
+      from Plymouth, are already on their way round to the mouth of the Thames,
+      and in a week we may be at sea. I only hope the Dutch will not be long
+      before they come out to fight us. However, we are likely to pick up a
+      great many prizes, and, next to fighting, you know, sailors like
+      prize-money."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After an hour's talk the five gentlemen went below to their hammocks, and
+      then to bed, with much laughter at the difficulty they had in mounting
+      into their swinging cots.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was scarce daylight when they were aroused by a great stir on board the
+      ship, and, hastily putting on their clothes, went on deck. Already a crowd
+      of men were aloft loosening the sails. Others had taken their places in
+      boats in readiness to tow the ship, for the wind was, as yet, so light
+      that it was like she would scarce have steerage way, and there were many
+      sharp angles in the course down the river to be rounded, and shallows to
+      be avoided. A few minutes later the moorings were cast off, the sails
+      sheeted home, and the crew gave a great cheer, which was answered from the
+      dockyard, and from boats alongside, full of the relations and friends of
+      the sailors, who stood up and waved their hats and shouted good bye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sails still hung idly, but the tide swept the ship along, and the men
+      in the boats ahead simply lay on their oars until the time should come to
+      pull her head round in one direction or another. They had not long to
+      wait, for, as they reached the sharp corner at the end of the reach,
+      orders were shouted, the men bent to their oars, and the vessel was taken
+      round the curve until her head pointed east. Scarcely had they got under
+      way when they heard the cheer from the ship astern of them, and by the
+      time they had reached the next curve, off the village of Gillingham, the
+      other four ships had rounded the point behind them, and were following at
+      a distance of about a hundred yards apart. Soon afterwards the wind sprang
+      up and the sails bellied out, and the men in the boats had to row briskly
+      to keep ahead of the ship. The breeze continued until they passed
+      Sheerness, and presently they dropped anchor inside the Nore sands. There
+      they remained until the tide turned, and then sailed up the Thames to the
+      Hope, where some forty men-of-war were already at anchor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning some barges arrived from Tilbury, laden with soldiers, of
+      whom a hundred and fifty came on board, their quarters being on the main
+      deck on the other side of the canvas division. A cutter also brought down
+      a number of impressed men, twenty of whom were put on board the <i>Henrietta</i>
+      to complete her crew. Cyril was standing on the poop watching them come on
+      board, when he started as his eye fell on two of their number. One was
+      Robert Ashford; the other was Black Dick. They had doubtless returned from
+      Holland when war was declared. Robert Ashford had assumed the dress of a
+      sailor the better to disguise himself, and the two had been carried off
+      together from some haunt of sailors at Wapping. He pointed them out to his
+      friend Sydney.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "So those are the two scamps? The big one looks a truculent ruffian. Well,
+      they can do you no harm here, Cyril. I should let them stay and do their
+      share of the fighting, and then, when the voyage is over, if they have not
+      met with a better death than they deserve at the hands of the Dutch, you
+      can, if you like, denounce them, and have them handed over to the City
+      authorities."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That I will do, as far as the big ruffian they call Black Dick is
+      concerned. He is a desperate villain, and for aught I know may have
+      committed many a murder, and if allowed to go free might commit many more.
+      Besides, I shall never feel quite safe as long as he is at large. As to
+      Robert Ashford, he is a knave, but I know no worse of him, and will
+      therefore let him go his way."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the evening the other ships from Chatham came up, and the captain told
+      them later that the Earl of Sandwich, who was in command, would weigh
+      anchor in the morning, as the contingent from London, Chatham, and
+      Sheerness was now complete. Cyril thought that he had never seen a
+      prettier sight, as the Fleet, consisting of fifty men-of-war, of various
+      sizes, and eight merchant vessels that had been bought and converted into
+      fire-ships, got under way and sailed down the river. That night they
+      anchored off Felixstowe, and the next day proceeded, with a favourable
+      wind, to Yarmouth, where already a great number of ships were at anchor.
+      So far the five Volunteers had taken their meals with the captain, but as
+      the others would be coming on board, they were now to mess below, getting
+      fresh meat and vegetables from the shore as they required them. As to
+      other stores, they resolved to do nothing till the whole party arrived.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They had not long to wait, for, on the third day after their arrival, the
+      Duke of York and Prince Rupert, with a great train of gentlemen, arrived
+      in the town, and early the next morning embarked on board their respective
+      ships. A council was held by the Volunteers in their quarters, three of
+      their number were chosen as caterers, and, a contribution of three pounds
+      a head being agreed upon, these went ashore in one of the ship's boats,
+      and returned presently with a barrel or two of good biscuits, the
+      carcasses of five sheep, two or three score of ducks and chickens, and
+      several casks of wine, together with a large quantity of vegetables. The
+      following morning the signal was hoisted on the mast-head of the <i>Royal
+      Charles</i>, the Duke of York's flagship, for the Fleet to prepare to
+      weigh anchor, and they presently got under way in three squadrons, the red
+      under the special orders of the Duke, the white under Prince Rupert, and
+      the blue under the Earl of Sandwich.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Fleet consisted of one hundred and nine men-of-war and frigates, and
+      twenty-eight fire-ships and ketches, manned by 21,006 seamen and soldiers.
+      They sailed across to the coast of Holland, and cruised, for a few days,
+      off Texel, capturing ten or twelve merchant vessels that tried to run in.
+      So far, the weather had been very fine, but there were now signs of a
+      change of weather. The sky became overcast, the wind rose rapidly, and the
+      signal was made for the Fleet to scatter, so that each vessel should have
+      more sea-room, and the chance of collision be avoided. By nightfall the
+      wind had increased to the force of a gale, and the vessels were soon
+      labouring heavily. Cyril and two or three of his comrades who, like
+      himself, did not suffer from sickness, remained on deck; the rest were
+      prostrate below.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For forty-eight hours the gale continued, and when it abated and the ships
+      gradually closed up round the three admirals' flags, it was found that
+      many had suffered sorely in the gale. Some had lost their upper spars,
+      others had had their sails blown away, some their bulwarks smashed in, and
+      two or three had lost their bowsprits. There was a consultation between
+      the admirals and the principal captains, and it was agreed that it was
+      best to sail back to England for repairs, as many of the ships were
+      unfitted to take their place in line of battle, and as the Dutch Fleet was
+      known to be fully equal to their own in strength, it would have been
+      hazardous to risk an engagement. So the ketches and some of the light
+      frigates were at once sent off to find the ships that had not yet joined,
+      and give them orders to make for Yarmouth, Lowestoft, or Harwich. All
+      vessels uninjured were to gather off Lowestoft, while the others were to
+      make for the other ports, repair their damages as speedily as possible,
+      and then rejoin at Lowestoft.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No sooner did the Dutch know that the English Fleet had sailed away than
+      they put their fleet to sea. It consisted of one hundred and twelve
+      men-of-war, and thirty fire-ships, and small craft manned by 22,365
+      soldiers and sailors. It was commanded by Admiral Obdam, having under him
+      Tromp, Evertson, and other Dutch admirals. On their nearing England they
+      fell in with nine ships from Hamburg, with rich cargoes, and a convoy of a
+      thirty-four gun frigate. These they captured, to the great loss of the
+      merchants of London.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The <i>Henrietta</i> had suffered but little in the storm, and speedily
+      repaired her damages without going into port. With so much haste and
+      energy did the crews of the injured ships set to work at refitting them,
+      that in four days after the main body had anchored off Lowestoft, they
+      were rejoined by all the ships that had made for Harwich and Yarmouth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At midnight on June 2nd, a fast-sailing fishing-boat brought in the news
+      that the Dutch Fleet were but a few miles away, sailing in that direction,
+      having apparently learnt the position of the English from some ship or
+      fishing-boat they had captured.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The trumpets on the admiral's ship at once sounded, and Prince Rupert and
+      the Earl of Sandwich immediately rowed to her. They remained but a few
+      minutes, and on their return to their respective vessels made the signals
+      for their captains to come on board. The order, at such an hour, was
+      sufficient to notify all that news must have been received of the
+      whereabouts of the Dutch Fleet, and by the time the captains returned to
+      their ships the crews were all up and ready to execute any order. At two
+      o'clock day had begun to break, and soon from the mastheads of several of
+      the vessels the look-out shouted that they could perceive the Dutch Fleet
+      but four miles away. A mighty cheer rose throughout the Fleet, and as it
+      subsided a gun from the <i>Royal Charles</i> gave the order to weigh
+      anchor, and a few minutes later the three squadrons, in excellent order,
+      sailed out to meet the enemy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They did not, however, advance directly towards them, but bore up closely
+      into the wind until they had gained the weather gauge of the enemy. Having
+      obtained this advantage, the Duke flew the signal to engage. The
+      Volunteers were all in their places on the poop, being posted near the
+      rail forward, that they might be able either to run down the ladder to the
+      waist and aid to repel boarders, or to spring on to a Dutch ship should
+      one come alongside, and also that the afterpart of the poop, where Prince
+      Rupert and the captain had taken their places near the wheel, should be
+      free. The Prince himself had requested them so to station themselves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "At other times, gentlemen, you are my good friends and comrades," he
+      said, "but, from the moment that the first gun fires, you are soldiers
+      under my orders; and I pray you take your station and remain there until I
+      call upon you for action, for my whole attention must be given to the
+      manoeuvring of the ship, and any movement or talking near me might
+      distract my thoughts. I shall strive to lay her alongside of the biggest
+      Dutchman I can pick out, and as soon as the grapnels are thrown, and their
+      sides grind together, you will have the post of honour, and will lead the
+      soldiers aboard her. Once among the Dutchmen, you will know what to do
+      without my telling you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Tis a grand sight, truly, Cyril," Sydney said, in a low tone, as the
+      great fleets met each other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A grand sight, truly, Sydney, but a terrible one. I do not think I shall
+      mind when I am once at it, but at present I feel that, despite my efforts,
+      I am in a tremor, and that my knees shake as I never felt them before."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am glad you feel like that, Cyril, for I feel much like it myself, and
+      began to be afraid that I had, without knowing it, been born a coward.
+      There goes the first gun."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he spoke, a puff of white smoke spouted out from the bows of one of the
+      Dutch ships, and a moment later the whole of their leading vessels opened
+      fire. There was a rushing sound overhead, and a ball passed through the
+      main topsail of the <i>Henrietta</i>. No reply was made by the English
+      ships until they passed in between the Dutchmen; then the <i>Henrietta</i>
+      poured her broadsides into the enemy on either side of her, receiving
+      theirs in return. There was a rending of wood, and a quiver through the
+      ship. One of the upper-deck-guns was knocked off its carriage, crushing
+      two of the men working it as it fell. Several others were hurt with
+      splinters, and the sails pierced with holes. Again and again as she
+      passed, did the <i>Henrietta</i> exchange broadsides with the Dutch
+      vessels, until&mdash;the two fleets having passed through each other&mdash;she
+      bore up, and prepared to repeat the manoeuvre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I feel all right now," Cyril said, "but I do wish I had something to do
+      instead of standing here useless. I quite envy the men there, stripped to
+      the waist, working the guns. There is that fellow Black Dick, by the gun
+      forward; he is a scoundrel, no doubt, but what strength and power he has!
+      I saw him put his shoulder under that gun just now, and slew it across by
+      sheer strength, so as to bear upon the stern of the Dutchman. I noticed
+      him and Robert looking up at me just before the first gun was fired, and
+      speaking together. I have no doubt he would gladly have pointed the gun at
+      me instead of at the enemy, for he knows that, if I denounce him, he will
+      get the due reward of his crimes."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as the ships were headed round they passed through the Dutch as
+      before, and this manoeuvre was several times repeated. Up to one o'clock
+      in the day no great advantage had been gained on either side. Spars had
+      been carried away; there were yawning gaps in the bulwarks; portholes had
+      been knocked into one, guns dismounted, and many killed; but as yet no
+      vessel on either side had been damaged to an extent that obliged her to
+      strike her flag, or to fall out of the fighting line. There had been a
+      pause after each encounter, in which both fleets had occupied themselves
+      in repairing damages, as far as possible, reeving fresh ropes in place of
+      those that had been shot away, clearing the wreckage of fallen spars and
+      yards, and carrying the wounded below. Four of the Volunteers had been
+      struck down&mdash;two of them mortally wounded, but after the first
+      passage through the enemy's fleet, Prince Rupert had ordered them to arm
+      themselves with muskets from the racks, and to keep up a fire at the Dutch
+      ships as they passed, aiming specially at the man at the wheel. The order
+      had been a very welcome one, for, like Cyril, they had all felt inactivity
+      in such a scene to be a sore trial. They were now ranged along on both
+      sides of the poop.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At one o'clock Lord Sandwich signalled to the Blue Squadron to close up
+      together as they advanced, as before, against the enemy's line. His
+      position at the time was in the centre, and his squadron, sailing close
+      together, burst into the Dutch line before their ships could make any
+      similar disposition. Having thus broken it asunder, instead of passing
+      through it, the squadron separated, and the ships, turning to port and
+      starboard, each engaged an enemy. The other two squadrons similarly ranged
+      up among the Dutch, and the battle now became furious all along the line.
+      Fire-ships played an important part in the battles of the time, and the
+      thoughts of the captain of a ship were not confined to struggles with a
+      foe of equal size, but were still more engrossed by the need for avoiding
+      any fire-ship that might direct its course towards him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had now no time to give a thought as to what was passing elsewhere.
+      The <i>Henrietta</i> had ranged up alongside a Dutch vessel of equal size,
+      and was exchanging broadsides with her. All round were vessels engaged in
+      an equally furious encounter. The roar of the guns and the shouts of the
+      seamen on both sides were deafening. One moment the vessel reeled from the
+      recoil of her own guns, the next she quivered as the balls of the enemy
+      crashed through her sides.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly, above the din, Cyril heard the voice of Prince Rupert sound like
+      a trumpet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Hatchets and pikes on the starboard quarter! Draw in the guns and keep
+      off this fire-ship."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Laying their muskets against the bulwarks, he and Sydney sprang to the
+      mizzen-mast, and each seized a hatchet from those ranged against it. They
+      then rushed to the starboard side, just as a small ship came out through
+      the cloud of smoke that hung thickly around them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a shock as she struck the <i>Henrietta</i>, and then, as she
+      glided alongside, a dozen grapnels were thrown by men on her yards. The
+      instant they had done so, the men disappeared, sliding down the ropes and
+      running aft to their boat. Before the last leaped in he stooped. A flash
+      of fire ran along the deck, there was a series of sharp explosions, and
+      then a bright flame sprang up from the hatchways, ran up the shrouds and
+      ropes, that had been soaked with oil and tar, and in a moment the sails
+      were on fire. In spite of the flames, a score of men sprang on to the
+      rigging of the <i>Henrietta</i> and cut the ropes of the grapnels, which,
+      as yet&mdash;so quickly had the explosion followed their throwing&mdash;had
+      scarce begun to check the way the fire-ship had on her as she came up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril, having cast over a grapnel that had fallen on the poop, looked down
+      on the fire-ship as she drifted along. The deck, which, like everything
+      else, had been smeared with tar, was in a blaze, but the combustible had
+      not been carried as far as the helm, where doubtless the captain had stood
+      to direct her course. A sudden thought struck him. He ran along the poop
+      until opposite the stern of the fire-ship, climbed over the bulwark and
+      leapt down on to the deck, some fifteen feet below him. Then he seized the
+      helm and jammed it hard down. The fire-ship had still steerage way on her,
+      and he saw her head at once begin to turn away from the <i>Henrietta</i>;
+      the movement was aided by the latter's crew, who, with poles and oars,
+      pushed her off.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The heat was terrific, but Cyril's helmet and breast-piece sheltered him
+      somewhat; yet though he shielded his face with his arm, he felt that it
+      would speedily become unbearable. His eye fell upon a coil of rope at his
+      feet. Snatching it up, he fastened it to the tiller and then round a
+      belaying-pin in the bulwark, caught up a bucket with a rope attached,
+      threw it over the side and soused its contents over the tiller-rope, then,
+      unbuckling the straps of his breast- and back-pieces, he threw them off,
+      cast his helmet on the deck, blistering his hands as he did so, and leapt
+      overboard. It was with a delicious sense of coolness that he rose to the
+      surface and looked round. Hitherto he had been so scorched by the flame
+      and smothered by the smoke that it was with difficulty he had kept his
+      attention upon what he was doing, and would doubtless, in another minute,
+      have fallen senseless. The plunge into the sea seemed to restore his
+      faculties, and as he came up he looked eagerly to see how far success had
+      attended his efforts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He saw with delight that the bow of the fire-ship was thirty or forty feet
+      distant from the side of the <i>Henrietta</i> and her stern half that
+      distance. Two or three of the sails of the man-of-war had caught fire, but
+      a crowd of seamen were beating the flames out of two of them while
+      another, upon which the fire had got a better hold, was being cut away
+      from its yard. As he turned to swim to the side of the <i>Henrietta</i>,
+      three or four ropes fell close to him. He twisted one of these round his
+      body, and, a minute later, was hauled up into the waist. He was saluted
+      with a tremendous cheer, and was caught up by three or four strong
+      fellows, who, in spite of his remonstrances, carried him up on to the
+      poop. Prince Rupert was standing on the top of the ladder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Nobly done, Sir Cyril!" he exclaimed. "You have assuredly saved the <i>Henrietta</i>
+      and all our lives. A minute later, and we should have been on fire beyond
+      remedy. But I will speak more to you when we have finished with the
+      Dutchman on the other side."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIV &mdash; HONOURABLE SCARS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      During the time that the greater part of the crew of the <i>Henrietta</i>
+      had been occupied with the fire-ship, the enemy had redoubled their
+      efforts, and as the sailors returned to their guns, the mizzen-mast fell
+      with a crash. A minute later, a Dutch man-of-war ran alongside, fired a
+      broadside, and grappled. Then her crew, springing over the bulwarks,
+      poured on to the deck of the <i>Henrietta</i>. They were met boldly by the
+      soldiers, who had hitherto borne no part in the fight, and who, enraged at
+      the loss they had been compelled to suffer, fell upon the enemy with fury.
+      For a moment, however, the weight of numbers of the Dutchmen bore them
+      back, but the sailors, who had at first been taken by surprise, snatched
+      up their boarding pikes and axes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Prince Rupert, with the other officers and Volunteers, dashed into the
+      thick of the fray, and, step by step, the Dutchmen were driven back, until
+      they suddenly gave way and rushed back to their own ship. The English
+      would have followed them, but the Dutch who remained on board their ship,
+      seeing that the fight was going against their friends, cut the ropes of
+      the grapnels, and the ships drifted apart, some of the last to leave the
+      deck of the <i>Henrietta</i> being forced to jump into the sea. The
+      cannonade was at once renewed on both sides, but the Dutch had had enough
+      of it&mdash;having lost very heavily in men&mdash;and drew off from the
+      action.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had joined in the fray. He had risen to his feet and drawn his
+      sword, but he found himself strangely weak. His hands were blistered and
+      swollen, his face was already so puffed that he could scarce see out of
+      his eyes; still, he had staggered down the steps to the waist, and,
+      recovering his strength from the excitement, threw himself into the fray.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Scarce had he done so, when a sailor next to him fell heavily against him,
+      shot through the head by one of the Dutch soldiers. Cyril staggered, and
+      before he could recover himself, a Dutch sailor struck at his head. He
+      threw up his sword to guard the blow, but the guard was beaten down as if
+      it had been a reed. It sufficed, however, slightly to turn the blow, which
+      fell first on the side of the head, and then, glancing down, inflicted a
+      terrible wound on the shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He fell at once, unconscious, and, when he recovered his senses, found
+      himself laid out on the poop, where Sydney, assisted by two of the other
+      gentlemen, had carried him. His head and shoulder had already been
+      bandaged, the Prince having sent for his doctor to come up from below to
+      attend upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The battle was raging with undiminished fury all round, but, for the
+      moment, the <i>Henrietta</i> was not engaged, and her crew were occupied
+      in cutting away the wreckage of the mizzen-mast, and trying to repair the
+      more important of the damages that she had suffered. Carpenters were
+      lowered over the side, and were nailing pieces of wood over the shot-holes
+      near the water-line. Men swarmed aloft knotting and splicing ropes and
+      fishing damaged spars.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sydney, who was standing a short distance away, at once came up to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How are you, Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "My head sings, and my shoulder aches, but I shall do well enough. Please
+      get me lifted up on to that seat by the bulwark, so that I can look over
+      and see what is going on."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't think you are strong enough to sit up, Cyril."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Oh, yes I am; besides, I can lean against the bulwark."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril was placed in the position he wanted, and, leaning his arm on the
+      bulwark and resting his head on it, was able to see what was passing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly a tremendous explosion was heard a quarter of a mile away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The Dutch admiral's ship has blown up," one of the men aloft shouted, and
+      a loud cheer broke from the crew.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was true. The Duke of York in the <i>Royal Charles</i>, of eighty guns,
+      and the <i>Eendracht</i>, of eighty-four, the flagship of Admiral Obdam,
+      had met and engaged each other fiercely. For a time the Dutchmen had the
+      best of it. A single shot killed the Earl of Falmouth, Lord Muskerry, and
+      Mr. Boyle, three gentlemen Volunteers, who at the moment were standing
+      close to the Duke, and the <i>Royal Charles</i> suffered heavily until a
+      shot from one of her guns struck the Dutchman's magazine, and the <i>Eendracht</i>
+      blew up, only five men being rescued out of the five hundred that were on
+      board of her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This accident in no small degree decided the issue of the engagement, for
+      the Dutch at once fell into confusion. Four of their ships, a few hundred
+      yards from the <i>Henrietta</i>, fell foul of each other, and while the
+      crews were engaged in trying to separate them an English fire-ship sailed
+      boldly up and laid herself alongside. A moment later the flames shot up
+      high, and the boat with the crew of the fire-ship rowed to the <i>Henrietta</i>.
+      The flames instantly spread to the Dutch men-of-war, and the sailors were
+      seen jumping over in great numbers. Prince Rupert ordered the boats to be
+      lowered, but only one was found to be uninjured. This was manned and
+      pushed off at once, and, with others from British vessels near, rescued a
+      good many of the Dutch sailors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Still the fight was raging all round; but a short time afterwards three
+      other of the finest ships in the Dutch Fleet ran into each other. Another
+      of the English fire-ships hovering near observed the opportunity, and was
+      laid alongside, with the same success as her consort, the three men-of-war
+      being all destroyed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This took place at some distance from the <i>Henrietta</i>, but the
+      English vessels near them succeeded in saving, in their boats, a portion
+      of the crews. The Dutch ship <i>Orange</i>, of seventy-five guns, was
+      disabled after a sharp fight with the <i>Mary</i>, and was likewise burnt.
+      Two Dutch vice-admirals were killed, and a panic spread through the Dutch
+      Fleet. About eight o'clock in the evening between thirty and forty of
+      their ships made off in a body, and the rest speedily followed. During the
+      fight and the chase eighteen Dutch ships were taken, though some of these
+      afterwards escaped, as the vessels to which they had struck joined the
+      rest in the chase. Fourteen were sunk, besides those burnt and blown up.
+      Only one English ship, the <i>Charity</i>, had struck, having, at the
+      beginning of the fight been attacked by three Dutch vessels, and lost the
+      greater part of her men, and was then compelled to surrender to a Dutch
+      vessel of considerably greater strength that came up and joined the
+      others. The English loss was, considering the duration of the fight,
+      extremely small, amounting to but 250 killed, and 340 wounded. Among the
+      killed were the Earl of Marlborough, the Earl of Portland, who was present
+      as a Volunteer, Rear-Admiral Sampson, and Vice-Admiral Lawson, the latter
+      of whom died after the fight, from his wounds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The pursuit of the Dutch was continued for some hours, and then terminated
+      abruptly, owing to a Member of Parliament named Brounker, who was in the
+      suite of the Duke of York, giving the captain of the <i>Royal Charles</i>
+      orders, which he falsely stated emanated from the Duke, for the pursuit to
+      be abandoned. For this he was afterwards expelled the House of Commons,
+      and was ordered to be impeached, but after a time the matter was suffered
+      to drop.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as the battle was over Cyril was taken down to a hammock below. He
+      was just dozing off to sleep when Sydney came to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am sorry to disturb you, Cyril, but an officer tells me that a man who
+      is mortally wounded wishes to speak to you; and from his description I
+      think it is the fellow you call Black Dick. I thought it right to tell
+      you, but I don't think you are fit to go to see him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will go," Cyril said, "if you will lend me your arm. I should like to
+      hear what the poor wretch has to say."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He lies just below; the hatchway is but a few yards distant."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There had been no attempt to remove Cyril's clothes, and, by the aid of
+      Lord Oliphant and of a sailor he called to his aid, he made his way below,
+      and was led through the line of wounded, until a doctor, turning round,
+      said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is the man who wishes to see you, Sir Cyril."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Although a line of lanterns hung from the beams, so nearly blind was he
+      that Cyril could scarce distinguish the man's features.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have sent for you," the latter said faintly, "to tell you that if it
+      hadn't been for your jumping down on to that fire-ship you would not have
+      lived through this day's fight. I saw that you recognised me, and knew
+      that, as soon as we went back, you would hand us over to the constables.
+      So I made up my mind that I would run you through in the <i>mêlée</i> if
+      we got hand to hand with the Dutchmen, or would put a musket-ball into you
+      while the firing was going on. But when I saw you standing there with the
+      flames round you, giving your life, as it seemed, to save the ship, I felt
+      that, even if I must be hung for it, I could not bring myself to hurt so
+      brave a lad; so there is an end of that business. Robert Ashford was
+      killed by a gun that was knocked from its carriage, so you have got rid of
+      us both. I thought I should like to tell you before I went that the brave
+      action you did saved your life, and that, bad as I am, I had yet heart
+      enough to feel that I would rather take hanging than kill you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The last words had been spoken in a scarcely audible whisper. The man
+      closed his eyes; and the doctor, laying his hand on Cyril's arm, said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You had better go back to your hammock now, Sir Cyril. He will never
+      speak again. In a few minutes the end will come."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril spent a restless night. The wind was blowing strongly from the
+      north, and the crews had hard work to keep the vessels off the shore. His
+      wounds did not pain him much, but his hands, arms, face, and legs smarted
+      intolerably, for his clothes had been almost burnt off him, and,
+      refreshing as the sea-bath had been at the moment, it now added to the
+      smarting of the wounds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the morning Prince Rupert came down to see him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was madness of you to have joined in that <i>mêlée</i>, lad, in the
+      state in which you were. I take the blame on myself in not ordering you to
+      remain behind; but when the Dutchmen poured on board I had no thought of
+      aught but driving them back again. It would have marred our pleasure in
+      the victory we have won had you fallen, for to you we all owe our lives
+      and the safety of the ship. No braver deed was performed yesterday than
+      yours. I fear it will be some time before you are able to fight by my side
+      again; but, at least, you have done your share, and more, were the war to
+      last a lifetime."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril was in less pain now, for the doctor had poured oil over his burns,
+      and had wrapped up his hands in soft bandages.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was the thought of a moment, Prince," he said. "I saw the fire-ship
+      had steerage way on her, and if the helm were put down she would drive
+      away from our side, so without stopping to think about it one way or the
+      other, I ran along to the stern, and jumped down to her tiller."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, lad, it was but a moment's thought, no doubt, but it is one thing to
+      think, and another to execute, and none but the bravest would have
+      ventured that leap on to the fire-ship. By to-morrow morning we shall be
+      anchored in the river. Would you like to be placed in the hospital at
+      Sheerness, or to be taken up to London?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I would rather go to London, if I may," Cyril said. "I know that I shall
+      be well nursed at Captain Dave's, and hope, erelong, to be able to
+      rejoin."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not for some time, lad&mdash;not for some time. Your burns will doubtless
+      heal apace, but the wound in your shoulder is serious. The doctor says
+      that the Dutchman's sword has cleft right through your shoulder-bone. 'Tis
+      well that it is your left, for it may be that you will never have its full
+      use again. You are not afraid of the Plague, are you? for on the day we
+      left town there was a rumour that it had at last entered the City."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am not afraid of it," Cyril said; "and if it should come to Captain
+      Dowsett's house, I would rather be there, that I may do what I can to help
+      those who were so kind to me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Just as you like, lad. Do not hurry to rejoin. It is not likely there
+      will be any fighting for some time, for it will be long before the Dutch
+      are ready to take the sea again after the hammering we have given them,
+      and all there will be to do will be to blockade their coast and to pick up
+      their ships from foreign ports as prizes."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning Cyril was placed on board a little yacht, called the <i>Fan
+      Fan</i>, belonging to the Prince, and sailed up the river, the ship's
+      company mustering at the side and giving him a hearty cheer. The wind was
+      favourable, and they arrived that afternoon in town. According to the
+      Prince's instructions, the sailors at once placed Cyril on a litter that
+      had been brought for the purpose, and carried him up to Captain Dowsett's.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The City was in a state of agitation. The news of the victory had arrived
+      but a few hours before, and the church bells were all ringing, flags were
+      flying, the shops closed, and the people in the streets. John Wilkes came
+      down in answer to the summons of the bell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Hullo!" he said; "whom have we here?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Don't you know me, John?" Cyril said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John gave a start of astonishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "By St. Anthony, it is Master Cyril! At least, it is his voice, though it
+      is little I can see of him, and what I see in no way resembles him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is Sir Cyril Shenstone," the captain of the <i>Fan Fan</i>, who had
+      come with the party, said sternly, feeling ruffled at the familiarity with
+      which this rough-looking servitor of a City trader spoke of the gentleman
+      in his charge. "It is Sir Cyril Shenstone, as brave a gentleman as ever
+      drew sword, and who, as I hear, saved Prince Rupert's ship from being
+      burnt by the Dutchmen."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He knows me," John Wilkes said bluntly, "and he knows no offence is
+      meant. The Captain and his dame, and Mistress Nellie are all out, Sir
+      Cyril, but I will look after you till they return. Bring him up, lads. I
+      am an old sailor myself, and fought the Dutch under Blake and Monk more
+      than once."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He led the way upstairs into the best of the spare rooms. Here Cyril was
+      laid on a bed. He thanked the sailors heartily for the care they had taken
+      of him, and the captain handed a letter to John, saying,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The young Lord Oliphant asked me to give this to Captain Dowsett, but as
+      he is not at home I pray you to give it him when he returns."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as they had gone, John returned to the bed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is terrible, Master Cyril. What have they been doing to you? I can
+      see but little of your face for those bandages, but your eyes look mere
+      slits, your flesh is all red and swollen, your eyebrows have gone, your
+      arms and legs are all swathed up in bandages&mdash;Have you been blown up
+      with gunpowder?&mdash;for surely no wound could have so disfigured you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have not been blown up, John, but I was burnt by the flames of a Dutch
+      fire-ship that came alongside. It is a matter that a fortnight will set
+      right, though I doubt not that I am an unpleasant-looking object at
+      present, and it will be some time before my hair grows again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And you are not hurt otherwise, Master?" John asked anxiously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; I am hurt gravely enough, though not so as to imperil my life. I
+      have a wound on the side of my head, and the same blow, as the doctor
+      says, cleft through my shoulder-bone."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I had best go and get a surgeon at once," John said; "though it will be
+      no easy matter, for all the world is agog in the streets."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Leave it for the present, John. There is no need whatever for haste. In
+      that trunk of mine is a bottle of oils for the burns, though most of the
+      sore places are already beginning to heal over, and the doctor said that I
+      need not apply it any more, unless I found that they smarted too much for
+      bearing. As for the other wounds, they are strapped up and bandaged, and
+      he said that unless they inflamed badly, they would be best let alone for
+      a time. So sit down quietly, and let me hear the news."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The news is bad enough, though the Plague has not yet entered the City."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The Prince told me that there was a report, before he came on board at
+      Lowestoft, that it had done so."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, it is not yet come; but people are as frightened as if it was raging
+      here. For the last fortnight they have been leaving in crowds from the
+      West End, and many of the citizens are also beginning to move. They
+      frighten themselves like a parcel of children. The comet seemed to many a
+      sign of great disaster."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If it could be seen only in London there might be something in it, but as
+      it can be seen all over Europe, it is hard to say why it should augur evil
+      to London especially. It was shining in the sky three nights ago when we
+      were chasing the Dutch, and they had quite as good reason for thinking it
+      was a sign of misfortune to them as have the Londoners."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is true enough," John Wilkes agreed; "though, in truth, I like not
+      to see the' thing in the sky myself. Then people have troubled their heads
+      greatly because, in Master Lilly's Almanack, and other books of
+      prediction, a great pestilence is foretold."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It needed no great wisdom for that," Cyril said, "seeing that the Plague
+      has been for some time busy in foreign parts, and that it was here, though
+      not so very bad, in the winter, when these books would have been written."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then," John Wilkes went on, "there is a man going through the streets,
+      night and day. He speaks to no one, but cries out continually, 'Oh! the
+      great and dreadful God!' This troubles many men's hearts greatly."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is a pity, John, that the poor fellow is not taken and shut up in some
+      place where madmen are kept. Doubtless, it is some poor coward whose brain
+      has been turned by fright. People who are frightened by such a thing as
+      that must be poor-witted creatures indeed."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That may be, Master Cyril, but methinks it is as they say, one fool makes
+      many. People get together and bemoan themselves till their hearts fail
+      them altogether. And yet, methinks they are not altogether without reason,
+      for if the pestilence is so heavy without the walls, where the streets are
+      wider and the people less crowded than here, it may well be that we shall
+      have a terrible time of it in the City when it once passes the walls."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That may well be, John, but cowardly fear will not make things any
+      better. We knew, when we sailed out against the Dutch the other day, that
+      very many would not see the setting sun, yet I believe there was not one
+      man throughout the Fleet who behaved like a coward."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No doubt, Master Cyril; but there is a difference. One can fight against
+      men, but one cannot fight against the pestilence, and I do not believe
+      that if the citizens knew that a great Dutch army was marching on London,
+      and that they would have to withstand a dreadful siege, they would be
+      moved with fear as they are now."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That may be so," Cyril agreed. "Now, John, I think that I could sleep for
+      a bit."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do so, Master, and I will go into the kitchen and see what I can do to
+      make you a basin of broth when you awake; for the girl has gone out too.
+      She wanted to see what was going on in the streets; and as I had sooner
+      stay quietly at home I offered to take her place, as the shop was shut and
+      I had nothing to do. Maybe by the time you wake again Captain Dave and the
+      others will be back from their cruise."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was dark when Cyril woke at the sound of the bell. He heard voices and
+      movements without, and then the door was quietly opened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am awake," he said. "You see I have taken you at your word, and come
+      back to be patched up."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You are heartily welcome," Mrs. Dowsett said. "Nellie, bring the light.
+      Cyril is awake. We were sorry indeed when John told us that you had come
+      in our absence. It was but a cold welcome for you to find that we were all
+      out."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There was nothing I needed, madam. Had there been, John would have done
+      it for me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie now appeared at the door with the light, and gave an exclamation of
+      horror as she approached the bedside.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is not so bad as it looks, Nellie," Cyril said. "Not that I know how
+      it looks, for I have not seen myself in a glass since I left here; but I
+      can guess that I am an unpleasant object to look at."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dowsett made a sign to Nellie to be silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "John told us that you were badly burned and were all wrapped up in
+      bandages, but we did not expect to find you so changed. However, that will
+      soon pass off, I hope."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I expect I shall be all right in another week, save for this wound in my
+      shoulder. As for that on my head, it is but of slight consequence. My
+      skull was thick enough to save my brain."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, Master Cyril," Captain Dave said heartily, as he entered the room
+      with a basin of broth in his hand, and then stopped abruptly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, Captain Dave, here I am, battered out of all shape, you see, but
+      not seriously damaged in my timbers. There, you see, though I have only
+      been a fortnight at sea, I am getting quite nautical."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is right, lad&mdash;that is right," Captain Dave said, a little
+      unsteadily. "My dame and Nellie will soon put you into ship-shape trim
+      again. So you got burnt, I hear, by one of those rascally Dutch
+      fire-ships? and John tells me that the captain of the sailors who carried
+      you here said that you had gained mighty credit for yourself."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I did my best, as everyone did, Captain Dave. There was not a man on
+      board the Fleet who did not do his duty, or we should never have beaten
+      the Dutchmen so soundly."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You had better not talk any more," Mrs. Dowsett said. "You are in my
+      charge now, and my first order is that you must keep very quiet, or else
+      you will be having fever come on. You had best take a little of this broth
+      now. Nellie will sit with you while I go out to prepare you a cooling
+      drink."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will take a few spoonfuls of the soup since John has taken the trouble
+      to prepare it for me," Cyril said; "though, indeed, my lips are so parched
+      and swollen that the cooling drink will be much more to my taste."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I think it were best first, dame," the Captain said, "that John and I
+      should get him comfortably into bed, instead of lying there wrapped up in
+      the blanket in which they brought him ashore. The broth will be none the
+      worse for cooling a bit."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That will be best," his wife agreed. "I will fetch some more pillows, so
+      that we can prop him up. He can swallow more comfortably so, and will
+      sleep all the better when he lies down again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as Cyril was comfortably settled John Wilkes was sent to call in a
+      doctor, who, after examining him, said that the burns were doing well, and
+      that he would send in some cooling lotion to be applied to them
+      frequently. As to the wounds, he said they had been so skilfully bandaged
+      that it were best to leave them alone, unless great pain set in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Another four days, and Cyril's face had so far recovered its usual
+      condition that the swelling was almost abated, and the bandages could be
+      removed. The peak of the helmet had sheltered it a good deal, and it had
+      suffered less than his hands and arms. Captain Dave and John had sat up
+      with him by turns at night, while the Dame and her daughter had taken care
+      of him during the day. He had slept a great deal, and had not been allowed
+      to talk at all. This prohibition was now removed, as the doctor said that
+      the burns were now all healing fast, and that he no longer had any fear of
+      fever setting in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "By the way, Captain," John Wilkes said, that day, at dinner, "I have just
+      bethought me of this letter, that was given me by the sailor who brought
+      Cyril here. It is for you, from young Lord Oliphant. It has clean gone out
+      of my mind till now. I put it in the pocket of my doublet, and have
+      forgotten it ever since."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No harm can have come of the delay, John," Captain Dave said. "It was
+      thoughtful of the lad. He must have been sure that Cyril would not be in a
+      condition to tell us aught of the battle, and he may have sent us some
+      details of it, for the Gazette tells us little enough, beyond the ships
+      taken and the names of gentlemen and officers killed. Here, Nellie, do you
+      read it. It seems a long epistle, and my eyes are not as good as they
+      were."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie took the letter and read aloud:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'DEAR AND WORTHY SIR,&mdash;I did not think when I was so pleasantly
+      entertained at your house that it would befall me to become your
+      correspondent, but so it has happened, for, Sir Cyril being sorely hurt,
+      and in no state to tell you how the matter befell him&mdash;if indeed his
+      modesty would allow him, which I greatly doubt&mdash;it is right that you
+      should know how the business came about, and what great credit Sir Cyril
+      has gained for himself. In the heat of the fight, when we were briskly
+      engaged in exchanging broadsides with a Dutchman of our own size, one of
+      their fire-ships, coming unnoticed through the smoke, slipped alongside of
+      us, and, the flames breaking out, would speedily have destroyed us, as
+      indeed they went near doing. The grapnels were briskly thrown over, but
+      she had already touched our sides, and the flames were blowing across us
+      when Sir Cyril, perceiving that she had still some way on her, sprang down
+      on to her deck and put over the helm. She was then a pillar of flame, and
+      the decks, which were plentifully besmeared with pitch, were all in a
+      blaze, save just round the tiller where her captain had stood to steer
+      her. It was verily a furnace, and it seemed impossible that one could
+      stand there for only half a minute and live. Everyone on board was filled
+      with astonishment, and the Prince called out loudly that he had never seen
+      a braver deed. As the fire-ship drew away from us, we saw Sir Cyril fasten
+      the helm down with a rope, and then, lowering a bucket over, throw water
+      on to it; then he threw off his helmet and armour&mdash;his clothes being,
+      by this time, all in a flame&mdash;and sprang into the sea, the fire-ship
+      being now well nigh her own length from us. She had sheered off none too
+      soon, for some of our sails were on fire, and it was with great difficulty
+      that we succeeded in cutting them from the yards and so saving the ship.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'All, from the Prince down, say that no finer action was ever performed,
+      and acknowledge that we all owe our lives, and His Majesty owes his ship,
+      to it. Then, soon after we had hauled Sir Cyril on board, the Dutchmen
+      boarded us, and there was a stiff fight, all hands doing their best to
+      beat them back, in which we succeeded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Sir Cyril, though scarce able to stand, joined in the fray, unnoticed by
+      us all, who in the confusion had not thought of him, and being, indeed,
+      scarce able to hold his sword, received a heavy wound, of which, however,
+      the doctor has all hopes that he will make a good recovery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'It would have done you good to hear how the whole crew cheered Sir Cyril
+      as we dragged him on board. The Prince is mightily taken with him, and is
+      sending him to London in his own yacht, where I feel sure that your good
+      dame and fair daughter will do all that they can to restore him to health.
+      As soon as I get leave&mdash;though I do not know when that will be, for
+      we cannot say as yet how matters will turn out, or what ships will keep
+      the sea&mdash;I shall do myself the honour of waiting upon you. I pray you
+      give my respectful compliments to Mrs. Dowsett and Mistress Nellie, who
+      are, I hope, enjoying good health.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     "'Your servant to command,
+
+         "'SYDNEY OLIPHANT.'"
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The tears were standing in Nellie's eyes, and her voice trembled as she
+      read. When she finished she burst out crying.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There!" John Wilkes exclaimed, bringing his fist down upon the table. "I
+      knew, by what that skipper said, the lad had been doing something quite
+      out of the way, but when I spoke to him about it before you came in he
+      only said that he had tried his best to do his duty, just as every other
+      man in the Fleet had done. Who would have thought, Captain Dave, that that
+      quiet young chap, who used to sit down below making out your accounts, was
+      going to turn out a hero?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Who, indeed?" the Captain said, wiping his eyes with the back of his
+      hands. "Why, he wasn't more than fifteen then, and, as you say, such a
+      quiet fellow. He used to sit there and write, and never speak unless I
+      spoke to him. 'Tis scarce two years ago, and look what he has done! Who
+      would have thought it? I can't finish my breakfast," he went on, getting
+      up from his seat, "till I have gone in and shaken him by the hand."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You had better not, David," Mrs. Dowsett said gently. "We had best say
+      but little to him about it now. We can let him know we have heard how he
+      came by his burns from Lord Oliphant, but do not let us make much of it.
+      Had he wished it he would have told us himself."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dave sat down again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Perhaps you are right, my dear. At any rate, till he is getting strong we
+      will not tell him what we think of him. Anyhow, it can't do any harm to
+      tell him we know it, and may do him good, for it is clear he does not like
+      telling it himself, and may be dreading our questioning about the affair."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie went into Cyril's room as soon as they had
+      finished breakfast. Captain Dave followed them a few minutes later.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We have been hearing how you got burnt," he began. "Your friend, Lord
+      Oliphant, sent a letter about it by the skipper of his yacht. That stupid
+      fellow, John, has been carrying it about ever since, and only remembered
+      it just now, when we were at breakfast. It was a plucky thing to do, lad."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It turned out a very lucky one," Cyril said hastily, "for it was the
+      means of saving my life."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Saving your life, lad! What do you mean?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril then told how Robert Ashford and Black Dick had been brought on
+      board as impressed men, how the former had been killed, and the confession
+      that Black Dick had made to him before dying.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+"He said he had made up his mind to kill me during the fight, but
+that, after I had risked my life to save the <i>Henrietta</i>, he was
+ashamed to kill me, and that, rather than do so, he had resolved to
+take his chance of my denouncing him when he returned to land."
+
+ "There was some good in the knave, then," Captain Dave said. "Yes,
+it was a fortunate as well as a brave action, as it turned out."
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      "Fortunate in one respect, but not in another," Cyril put in, anxious to
+      prevent the conversation reverting to the question of his bravery. "I put
+      down this wound in my shoulder to it, for if I had been myself I don't
+      think I should have got hurt. I guarded the blow, but I was so shaky that
+      he broke my guard down as if I had been a child, though I think that it
+      did turn the blow a little, and saved it from falling fair on my skull.
+      Besides, I should have had my helmet and armour on if it had not been for
+      my having to take a swim. So, you see, Captain Dave, things were pretty
+      equally balanced, and there is no occasion to say anything more about
+      them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We have one piece of bad news to tell you, Cyril," Mrs. Dowsett remarked,
+      in order to give the conversation the turn which she saw he wished for.
+      "We heard this morning that the Plague has come at last into the City. Dr.
+      Burnet was attacked yesterday."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is bad news indeed, Dame, though it was not to be expected that it
+      would spare the City. If you will take my advice, you will go away at
+      once, before matters get worse, for if the Plague gets a hold here the
+      country people will have nothing to do with Londoners, fearing that they
+      will bring the infection among them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We shall not go until you are fit to go with us, Cyril," Nellie said
+      indignantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then you will worry me into a fever," Cyril replied. "I am getting on
+      well now, and as you said, when you were talking of it before, you should
+      leave John in charge of the house and shop, he will be able to do
+      everything that is necessary for me. If you stay here, and the Plague
+      increases, I shall keep on worrying myself at the thought that you are
+      risking your lives needlessly for me, and if it should come into the
+      house, and any of you die, I shall charge myself all my life with having
+      been the cause of your death. I pray you, for my sake as well as your own,
+      to lose no time in going to the sister Captain Dave spoke of, down near
+      Gloucester."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do not agitate yourself," Mrs. Dowsett said gently, pressing him quietly
+      back on to the pillows from which he had risen in his excitement. "We will
+      talk it over, and see what is for the best. It is but a solitary case yet,
+      and may spread no further. In a few days we shall see how matters go.
+      Things have not come to a bad pass yet."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril, however, was not to be consoled. Hitherto he had given
+      comparatively small thought to the Plague, but now that it was in the
+      City, and he felt that his presence alone prevented the family from
+      leaving, he worried incessantly over it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Your patient is not so well," the doctor said to Mrs. Dowsett, next
+      morning. "Yesterday he was quite free from fever&mdash;his hands were
+      cool; now they are dry and hard. If this goes on, I fear that we shall
+      have great trouble."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He is worrying himself because we do not go out of town. We had, indeed,
+      made up our minds to do so, but we could not leave him here."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Your nursing would be valuable certainly, but if he goes on as he is he
+      will soon be in a high fever; his wounds will grow angry and fester. While
+      yesterday he seemed in a fair way to recovery, I should be sorry to give
+      any favourable opinion as to what may happen if this goes on. Is there no
+      one who could take care of him if you went?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "John Wilkes will remain behind, and could certainly be trusted to do
+      everything that you directed; but that is not like women, doctor."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, I am well aware of that; but if things go on well he will really not
+      need nursing, while, if fever sets in badly, the best nursing may not save
+      him. Moreover, wounds and all other ailments of this sort do badly at
+      present; the Plague in the air seems to affect all other maladies. If you
+      will take my advice, Dame, you will carry out your intention, and leave at
+      once. I hear there are several new cases of the Plague today in the City,
+      and those who can go should lose no time in doing so; but, even if not for
+      your own sakes, I should say go for that of your patient."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Will you speak to my husband, doctor? I am ready to do whatever is best
+      for your patient, whom we love dearly, and regard almost as a son."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If he were a son I should give the same advice. Yes, I will see Captain
+      Dowsett."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Half an hour later, Cyril was told what the doctor's advice had been, and,
+      seeing that he was bent on it, and that if they stayed they would do him
+      more harm than good, they resolved to start the next day for
+      Gloucestershire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XV &mdash; THE PLAGUE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Reluctant as they were to leave Cyril, Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter
+      speedily saw that the doctor's advice was good. Cyril did not say much,
+      but an expression of restful satisfaction came over his face, and it was
+      not long before he fell into a quiet sleep that contrasted strongly with
+      the restless and fretful state in which he had passed the night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You see I was right, madam," the doctor said that evening. "The fever has
+      not quite left him, but he is a different man to what he was this morning;
+      another quiet night's rest, and he will regain the ground he has lost. I
+      think you can go in perfect comfort so far as he is concerned. Another
+      week and he will be up, if nothing occurs to throw him back again; but of
+      course it will be weeks before he can use his arm."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John Wilkes had been sent off as soon as it was settled that they would
+      go, and had bought, at Epping, a waggon and a pair of strong horses. It
+      had a tilt, and the ladies were to sleep in it on the journey, as it was
+      certain that, until they were far away from London, they would be unable
+      to obtain lodgings. A man was engaged to drive them down, and a sail and
+      two or three poles were packed in the waggon to make a tent for him and
+      Captain Dowsett. A store of provisions was cooked, and a cask of beer,
+      another of water, and a case of wine were also placed in. Mattresses were
+      laid down for the ladies to sit on during the day and to sleep on at
+      night; so they would be practically independent during the journey. Early
+      next morning they started.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It seems heartless to leave you, Cyril," Nellie said, as they came in to
+      say good-bye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not heartless at all," Cyril replied. "I know that you are going because
+      I wish it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is more than wishing, you tiresome boy. We are going because you have
+      made up your mind that you will be ill if we don't. You are too weak to
+      quarrel with now, but when we meet again, tremble, for I warn you I shall
+      scold you terribly then."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You shall scold me as much as you please, Nellie; I shall take it all
+      quite patiently."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nellie and her mother went away in tears, and Captain Dave himself was a
+      good deal upset. They had thought the going away from home on such a long
+      journey would be a great trial, but this was now quite lost sight of in
+      their regret at what they considered deserting Cyril, and many were the
+      injunctions that were given to John Wilkes before the waggon drove off.
+      They were somewhat consoled by seeing that Cyril was undoubtedly better
+      and brighter. He had slept all night without waking, his hands were cool,
+      and the flush had entirely left his cheek.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If they were starting on a voyage to the Indies they could not be in a
+      greater taking," John Wilkes said, on returning to Cyril's bedside. "Why,
+      I have seen the Captain go off on a six months' voyage and less said about
+      it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am heartily glad they are gone, John. If the Plague grows there will be
+      a terrible time here. Is the shop shut?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay; the man went away two days ago, and we sent off the two 'prentices
+      yesterday. There is naught doing. Yesterday half the vessels in the Pool
+      cleared out on the news of the Plague having got into the City, and I
+      reckon that, before long, there won't be a ship in the port. We shall have
+      a quiet time of it, you and I; we shall be like men in charge of an old
+      hulk."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Another week, and Cyril was up. All his bandages, except those on the
+      shoulder and head, had been thrown aside, and the doctor said that,
+      erelong, the former would be dispensed with. John had wanted to sit up
+      with him, but as Cyril would not hear of this he had moved his bed into
+      the same room, so that he could be up in a moment if anything was wanted.
+      He went out every day to bring in the news.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is little enough to tell, Master Cyril," he said one day. "So far,
+      the Plague grows but slowly in the City, though, indeed, it is no fault of
+      the people that it does not spread rapidly. Most of them seem scared out
+      of their wits; they gather together and talk, with white faces, and one
+      man tells of a dream that his wife has had, and another of a voice that he
+      says he has heard; and some have seen ghosts. Yesterday I came upon a
+      woman with a crowd round her; she was staring up at a white cloud, and
+      swore that she could plainly see an angel with a white sword, and some of
+      the others cried that they saw it too. I should like to have been a
+      gunner's mate with a stout rattan, and to have laid it over their
+      shoulders, to give them something else to think about for a few hours. It
+      is downright pitiful to see such cowards. At the corner of one street
+      there was a quack, vending pills and perfumes that he warranted to keep
+      away the Plague, and the people ran up and bought his nostrums by the
+      score; I hear there are a dozen such in the City, making a fortune out of
+      the people's fears. I went into the tavern I always use, and had a glass
+      of Hollands and a talk with the landlord. He says that he does as good a
+      trade as ever, though in a different way. There are no sailors there now,
+      but neighbours come in and drink down a glass of strong waters, which many
+      think is the best thing against the Plague, and then hurry off again. I
+      saw the Gazette there, and it was half full of advertisements of people
+      who said they were doctors from foreign parts, and all well accustomed to
+      cure the Plague. They say the magistrates are going to issue notices about
+      shutting up houses, as they do at St. Giles's, and to have watchmen at the
+      doors to see none come in or go out, and that they are going to appoint
+      examiners in every parish to go from house to house to search for infected
+      persons."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I suppose these are proper steps to take," Cyril said, "but it will be a
+      difficult thing to keep people shut up in houses where one is infected. No
+      doubt it would be a good thing at the commencement of the illness, but
+      when it has once spread itself, and the very air become infected, it seems
+      to me that it will do but little good, while it will assuredly cause great
+      distress and trouble. I long to be able to get up myself, and to see about
+      things."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The streets have quite an empty aspect, so many have gone away; and what
+      with that, and most of the shops being closed, and the dismal aspect of
+      the people, there is little pleasure in being out, Master Cyril."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I dare say, John. Still, it will be a change, and, as soon as I am strong
+      enough, I shall sally out with you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Another fortnight, and Cyril was able to do so. The Plague had still
+      spread, but so slowly that people began to hope that the City would be
+      spared any great calamity, for they were well on in July, and in another
+      six weeks the heat of summer would be passed. Some of those who had gone
+      into the country returned, more shops had been opened, and the panic had
+      somewhat subsided.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What do you mean to do, Master Cyril?" John Wilkes asked that evening.
+      "Of course you cannot join the Fleet again, for it will be, as the doctor
+      says, another two months before your shoulder-bone will have knit strongly
+      enough for you to use your arm, and at sea it is a matter of more
+      consequence than on land for a man to have the use of both arms. The ship
+      may give a sudden lurch, and one may have to make a clutch at whatever is
+      nearest to prevent one from rolling into the lee scuppers; and such a
+      wrench as that would take from a weak arm all the good a three months'
+      nursing had done it, and might spoil the job of getting the bone to grow
+      straight again altogether. I don't say you are fit to travel yet, but you
+      should be able before long to start on a journey, and might travel down
+      into Gloucestershire, where, be sure, you will be gladly welcomed by the
+      Captain, his dame, and Mistress Nellie. Or, should you not care for that,
+      you might go aboard a ship. There are hundreds of them lying idle in the
+      river, and many families have taken up their homes there, so as to be free
+      from all risks of meeting infected persons in the streets."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I think I shall stay here, John, and keep you company. If the Plague dies
+      away, well and good. If it gets bad, we can shut ourselves up. You say
+      that the Captain has laid in a great store of provisions, so that you
+      could live without laying out a penny for a year, and it is as sure as
+      anything can be, that when the cold weather comes on it will die out.
+      Besides, John, neither you nor I are afraid of the Plague, and it is
+      certain that it is fear that makes most people take it. If it becomes bad,
+      there will be terrible need for help, and maybe we shall be able to do
+      some good. If we are not afraid of facing death in battle, why should we
+      fear it by the Plague. It is as noble a death to die helping one's
+      fellow-countrymen in their sore distress as in fighting for one's
+      country."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is true enough, Master Cyril, if folks did but see it so. I do not
+      see what we could do, but if there be aught, you can depend on me. I was
+      in a ship in the Levant when we had a fever, which, it seems to me, was
+      akin to this Plague, though not like it in all its symptoms. Half the crew
+      died, and, as you say, I verily believe that it was partly from the
+      lowness of spirits into which they fell from fear. I used to help nurse
+      the sick, and throw overboard the dead, and it never touched me. I don't
+      say that I was braver than others, but it seemed to me as it was just as
+      easy to take things comfortable as it was to fret over them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Towards the end of the month the Plague spread rapidly, and all work
+      ceased in the parishes most affected. But, just as it had raged for weeks
+      in the Western parishes outside the City, so it seemed restricted by
+      certain invisible lines, after it had made its entry within the walls, and
+      while it raged in some parts others were entirely unaffected, and here
+      shops were open, and the streets still retained something of their usual
+      appearance. There had been great want among the poorer classes, owing to
+      the cessation of work, especially along the riverside. The Lord Mayor,
+      some of the Aldermen, and most other rich citizens had hastened to leave
+      the City. While many of the clergy were deserting their flocks, and many
+      doctors their patients, others remained firmly at their posts, and worked
+      incessantly, and did all that was possible in order to check the spread of
+      the Plague and to relieve the distress of the poor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Numbers of the women were engaged as nurses. Examiners were appointed in
+      each parish, and these, with their assistants, paid house-to-house
+      visitations, in order to discover any who were infected; and as soon as
+      the case was discovered the house was closed, and none suffered to go in
+      or out, a watchman being placed before the door day and night. Two men
+      therefore were needed to each infected house, and this afforded employment
+      for numbers of poor. Others were engaged in digging graves, or in going
+      round at night, with carts, collecting the dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So great was the dread of the people at the thought of being shut up in
+      their houses, without communication with the world, that every means was
+      used for concealing the fact that one of the inmates was smitten down.
+      This was the more easy because the early stages of the disease were
+      without pain, and people were generally ignorant that they had been
+      attacked until within a few hours, and sometimes within a few minutes, of
+      their death; consequently, when the Plague had once spread, all the
+      precautions taken to prevent its increase were useless, while they caused
+      great misery and suffering, and doubtless very much greater loss of life.
+      For, owing to so many being shut up in the houses with those affected, and
+      there being no escape from the infection, whole families, with the
+      servants and apprentices, sickened and died together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril frequently went up to view the infected districts. He was not moved
+      by curiosity, but by a desire to see if there were no way of being of use.
+      There was not a street but many of the houses were marked with the red
+      cross. In front of these the watchmen sat on stools or chairs lent by the
+      inmates, or borrowed from some house whence the inhabitants had all fled.
+      The air rang with pitiful cries. Sometimes women, distraught with terror
+      or grief, screamed wildly through open windows. Sometimes people talked
+      from the upper stories to their neighbours on either hand, or opposite,
+      prisoners like themselves, each telling their lamentable tale of misery,
+      of how many had died and how many remained.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was by no means uncommon to see on the pavement men and women who, in
+      the excess of despair or pain, had thrown themselves headlong down. While
+      such sounds and sights filled Cyril with horror, they aroused still more
+      his feelings of pity and desire to be of some use. Very frequently he went
+      on errands for people who called down from above to him. Money was lowered
+      in a tin dish, or other vessel, in which it lay covered with vinegar as a
+      disinfectant. Taking it out, he would go and buy the required articles,
+      generally food or medicine, and, returning, place them in a basket that
+      was again lowered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The watchmen mostly executed these commissions, but many of them were
+      surly fellows, and, as they were often abused and cursed by those whom
+      they held prisoners, would do but little for them. They had, moreover, an
+      excuse for refusing to leave the door, because, as often happened, it
+      might be opened in their absence and the inmates escape. It was true that
+      the watchmen had the keys, but the screws were often drawn from the locks
+      inside; and so frequently was this done that at last chains with padlocks
+      were fastened to all the doors as soon as the watch was set over them. But
+      even this did not avail. Many of the houses had communications at the
+      backs into other streets, and so eluded the vigilance of the watch; while,
+      in other cases, communications were broken through the walls into other
+      houses, empty either by desertion or death, and the escape could thus be
+      made under the very eye of the watchman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Very frequently Cyril went into a church when he saw the door open. Here
+      very small congregations would be gathered, for there was a fear on the
+      part of all of meeting with strangers, for these might, unknown to
+      themselves, be already stricken with the pest, and all public meetings of
+      any kind were, for this reason, strictly forbidden. One day, he was
+      passing a church that had hitherto been always closed, its incumbent being
+      one of those who had fled at the outbreak of the Plague. Upon entering he
+      saw a larger congregation than usual, some twenty or thirty people being
+      present.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The minister had just mounted the pulpit, and was beginning his address as
+      Cyril entered. The latter was struck with his appearance. He was a man of
+      some thirty years of age, with a strangely earnest face. His voice was
+      deep, but soft and flexible, and in the stillness of the almost empty
+      church its lowest tones seemed to come with impressive power, and Cyril
+      thought that he had never heard such preaching before. The very text
+      seemed strange at such a time: <i>"Rejoice ye, for the kingdom of heaven
+      is at hand."</i> From most of the discourses he had heard Cyril had gone
+      out depressed rather than inspirited. They had been pitched in one tone.
+      The terrible scourge that raged round them was held up as a punishment
+      sent by the wrath of God upon a sinful people, and the congregation were
+      warned to prepare themselves for the fate, that might at any moment be
+      theirs, by repentance and humiliation. The preacher to whom Cyril was now
+      listening spoke in an altogether different strain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You are all soldiers of Christ," he said, "and now is an opportunity
+      given to you to show that you are worthy soldiers. When the troops of a
+      worldly monarch go into battle they do so with head erect, with proud and
+      resolute bearing, with flashing eye, and with high courage, determined to
+      bear aloft his banner and to crown it with victory, even though it cost
+      them their lives. Such is the mien that soldiers of Christ should bear in
+      the mortal strife now raging round us. Let them show the same fearlessness
+      of death, the same high courage, the same unlimited confidence in their
+      Leader. What matter if they die in His service? He has told them what
+      their work should be. He has bidden them visit the sick and comfort the
+      sorrowing. What if there be danger in the work? Did He shrink from the
+      Cross which was to end His work of love, and is it for His followers to do
+      so? 'Though you go down into the pit,' He has said, 'I am there also'; and
+      with His companionship one must be craven indeed to tremble. This is a
+      noble opportunity for holding high the banner of Christ. There is work to
+      be done for all, and as the work is done, men should see by the calm
+      courage, the cheerfulness, and the patience of those that do it, that they
+      know that they are doing His work, and that they are content to leave the
+      issue, whatever it be, in His hands."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Such was the tone in which, for half an hour, he spoke. When he had
+      finished he offered up a prayer, gave the blessing, and then came down
+      from the pulpit and spoke to several of the congregation. He was evidently
+      personally known to most of them. One by one, after a few words, they left
+      the church. Cyril remained to the last.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am willing to work, sir," he said, as the preacher came up, "but, so
+      far, no work has come in my way."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Have you father or mother, or any dependent on you?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No one, sir."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then come along with me; I lodge close by. I have eaten nothing to-day,
+      and must keep up my strength, and I have a long round of calls to make."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is the first time I have seen the church open," Cyril said, as they
+      went out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is not my church, sir, nor do I belong to the Church of England; I am
+      an Independent. But as many of the pastors have fled and left their sheep
+      untended, so have we&mdash;for there are others besides myself who have
+      done so&mdash;taken possession of their empty pulpits, none gainsaying us,
+      and are doing what good we can. You have been in the war, I see," he went
+      on, glancing at Cyril's arm, which was carried in a sling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; I was at the battle of Lowestoft, and having been wounded there,
+      came to London to stay in a friend's house till I was cured. He and his
+      family have left, but I am living with a trusty foreman who is in charge
+      of the house. I have a great desire to be useful. I myself have little
+      fear of the Plague."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is the best of all preservatives from its ravages, although not a
+      sure one; for many doctors who have laboured fearlessly have yet died.
+      Have you thought of any way of being useful?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, sir; that is what is troubling me. As you see, I have but the use of
+      one arm, and I have not got back my full strength by a long way."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Everyone can be useful if he chooses," the minister said. "There is need
+      everywhere among this stricken, frightened, helpless people, of men of
+      calm courage and cool heads. Nine out of ten are so scared out of their
+      senses, when once the Plague enters the houses, as to be well-nigh
+      useless, and yet the law hinders those who would help if they could. I am
+      compelled to labour, not among those who are sick, but among those who are
+      well. When one enters a house with the red cross on the door, he may leave
+      it no more until he is either borne out to the dead-cart, or the Plague
+      has wholly disappeared within it, and a month has elapsed. The sole
+      exception are the doctors; they are no more exempt from spreading the
+      infection than other men, but as they must do their work so far as they
+      can they have free passage; and yet, so few is their number and so heavy
+      already their losses, that not one in a hundred of those that are smitten
+      can have their aid. Here is one coming now, one of the best&mdash;Dr.
+      Hodges. If you are indeed willing so to risk your life, I will speak to
+      him. But I know not your name?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "My name is Cyril Shenstone."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The clergyman looked at him suddenly, and would have spoken, but the
+      doctor was now close to them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ah! Mr. Wallace," he said, "I am glad to see you, and to know that, so
+      far, you have not taken the disease, although constantly going into the
+      worst neighbourhoods."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Like yourself, Dr. Hodges, I have no fear of it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I do not say I have no fear," the doctor replied. "I do my duty so far as
+      I can, but I do not doubt that, sooner or later, I shall catch the malady,
+      as many of us have done already. I take such precautions as I can, but the
+      distemper seems to baffle all precautions. My only grief is that our skill
+      avails so little. So far we have found nothing that seems to be of any
+      real use. Perhaps if we could attack it in the earlier stages we might be
+      more successful. The strange nature of the disease, and the way in which
+      it does its work well-nigh to the end, before the patient is himself aware
+      of it, puts it out of our power to combat it. In many cases I am not sent
+      for until the patient is at the point of death, and by the time I reach
+      his door I am met with the news that he is dead. But I must be going."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "One moment, Dr. Hodges. This young gentleman has been expressing to me
+      his desire to be of use. I know nothing of him save that he was one of my
+      congregation this morning, but, as he fears not the Plague, and is moved
+      by a desire to help his fellows in distress, I take it that he is a good
+      youth. He was wounded in the battle of Lowestoft, and, being as ready to
+      encounter the Plague as he was the Dutch, would now fight in the cause of
+      humanity. Would you take him as an assistant? I doubt if he knows anything
+      of medicine, but I think he is one that would see your orders carried out.
+      He has no relations or friends, and therefore considers himself free to
+      venture his life."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The doctor looked earnestly at Cyril and then raised his hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Young sir," he said, "since you are willing so to venture your life, I
+      will gladly accept your help. There are few enough clear heads in this
+      city, God knows. As for the nurses, they are Jezebels. They have the
+      choice of starving or nursing, and they nurse; but they neglect their
+      patients, they rob them, and there is little doubt that in many cases they
+      murder them, so that at the end of their first nursing they may have
+      enough money to live on without going to another house. But I am pressed
+      for time. Here is my card. Call on me this evening at six, and we will
+      talk further on the matter."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Shaking hands with the minister he hurried away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Come as far as my lodgings," Mr. Wallace said to Cyril, "and stay with me
+      while I eat my meal. 'Tis a diversion to one's mind to turn for a moment
+      from the one topic that all men are speaking of.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Your name is Shenstone. I come from Norfolk. There was a family of that
+      name formerly had estates near my native place. One Sir Aubrey Shenstone
+      was at its head&mdash;a brave gentleman. I well remember seeing him when I
+      was a boy, but he took the side of the King against the Parliament, and,
+      as we heard, passed over with Charles to France when his cause was lost. I
+      have not heard of him since."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Sir Aubrey was my father," Cyril said quietly; "he died a year ago. I am
+      his only son."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And therefore Sir Cyril," the minister said, "though you did not so name
+      yourself."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was needless," Cyril said. "I have no estates to support my title, and
+      though it is true that, when at sea with Prince Rupert, I was called Sir
+      Cyril, it was because the Prince had known my father, and knew that I, at
+      his death, inherited the title, though I inherited nothing else."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They now reached the door of Mr. Wallace's lodging, and went up to his
+      room on the first floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Neglect no precaution," the minister said. "No one should throw away his
+      life. I myself, although not a smoker, nor accustomed to take snuff, use
+      it now, and would, as the doctors advise, chew a piece of tobacco, but
+      'tis too nasty, and when I tried it, I was so ill that I thought even the
+      risk of the Plague preferable. But I carry camphor in my pockets, and when
+      I return from preaching among people of whom some may well have the
+      infection, I bathe my face and hands with vinegar, and, pouring some on to
+      a hot iron, fill the room with its vapour. My life is useful, I hope, and
+      I would fain keep it, as long as it is the Lord's will, to work in His
+      service. As a rule, I take wine and bread before I go out in the morning,
+      though to-day I was pressed for time, and neglected it. I should advise
+      you always to do so. I am convinced that a full man has less chance of
+      catching the infection than a fasting one, and that it is the weakness
+      many men suffer from their fears, and from their loss of appetite from
+      grief, that causes them to take it so easily. When the fever was so bad in
+      St. Giles's, I heard that in many instances, where whole families were
+      carried away, the nurses shut up with them were untouched with the
+      infection, and I believe that this was because they had become hardened to
+      the work, and ate and drank heartily, and troubled not themselves at all
+      at the grief of those around them. They say that many of these harpies
+      have grown, wealthy, loading themselves with everything valuable they
+      could lay hands on in the houses of those they attended."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the meal, in which he insisted upon Cyril joining him, was
+      concluded, Mr. Wallace uttered a short prayer that Cyril might safely pass
+      through the work he had undertaken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I trust," he said, "that you will come here frequently? I generally have
+      a few friends here of an evening. We try to be cheerful, and to strengthen
+      each other, and I am sure we all have comfort at these meetings."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Thank you, I will come sometimes, sir; but as a rule I must return home,
+      for my friend, John Wilkes, would sorely miss my company, and is so good
+      and faithful a fellow that I would not seem to desert him on any account."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do as you think right, lad, but remember there will always be a welcome
+      for you here when you choose to come."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John Wilkes was dismayed when he heard of Cyril's intention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, Master Cyril," he said, after smoking his pipe in silence for some
+      time, "it is not for me to hinder you in what you have made up your mind
+      to do. I don't say that if I wasn't on duty here that I mightn't go and do
+      what I could for these poor creatures. But I don't know. It is one thing
+      to face a deadly fever like this Plague if it comes on board your own
+      ship, for there is no getting out of it; and as you have got to face it,
+      why, says I, do it as a man; but as for going out of your way to put
+      yourself in the middle of it, that is going a bit beyond me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, John, you didn't think it foolish when I went as a Volunteer to
+      fight the Dutch. It was just the same thing, you know."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I suppose it was," John said reluctantly, after a pause. "But then, you
+      see, you were fighting for your country."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, but in the present case I shall be fighting for my countrymen and
+      countrywomen, John. It is awful to think of the misery that people are
+      suffering, and it seems to me that, having nothing else to do here, it is
+      specially my duty to put my hand to the work of helping as far as I can.
+      The risk may, at present, be greater than it would be if I stayed at home,
+      but if the Plague spreads&mdash;and it looks as if all the City would
+      presently be affected&mdash;all will have to run the risk of contagion.
+      There are thousands of women now who voluntarily enter the houses as
+      nurses for a small rate of pay. Even robbers, they say, will enter and
+      ransack the houses of the dead in search of plunder. It will be a shame
+      indeed then if one should shrink from doing so when possibly one might do
+      good."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will say nothing more against it, Master Cyril. Still, I do not see
+      exactly what you are going to do; with one arm you could scarce hold down
+      a raving man."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am not going to be a nurse, certainly, John," Cyril said, with a laugh.
+      "I expect that the doctor wants certain cases watched. Either he may doubt
+      the nurses, or he may want to see how some particular drug works. Nothing,
+      so far, seems of use, but that may be partly because the doctors are all
+      so busy that they cannot watch the patients and see, from hour to hour,
+      how medicines act."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "When I was in the Levant, and the pest was bad there," John Wilkes said,
+      "I heard that the Turks, when seized with the distemper, sometimes wrapped
+      themselves up in a great number of clothes, so that they sweated heavily,
+      and that this seemed, in some cases, to draw off the fever, and so the
+      patient recovered."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That seems a sensible sort of treatment, John, and worth trying with this
+      Plague."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On calling on Dr. Hodges that afternoon, Cyril found that he had rightly
+      guessed the nature of the work that the doctor wished him to perform.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I can never rely upon the nurses," he said. "I give instructions with
+      medicines, but in most cases I am sure that the instructions are never
+      carried out. The relations and friends are too frightened to think or act
+      calmly, too full of grief for the sick, and anxiety for those who have not
+      yet taken the illness, to watch the changes in the patient. As to the
+      nurses, they are often drunk the whole time they are in the house.
+      Sometimes they fear to go near the sick man or woman; sometimes,
+      undoubtedly, they hasten death. In most cases it matters little, for we
+      are generally called in too late to be of any service. The poor people
+      view us almost as enemies; they hide their malady from us in every way.
+      Half our time, too, is wasted uselessly, for many are there who frighten
+      themselves into the belief that they are ill, and send for us in all
+      haste. So far, we feel that we are working altogether in the dark; none of
+      us can see that any sort of drug avails even in the slightest degree when
+      the malady has once got a hold. One in twenty cases may live, but why we
+      know not. Still the fact that some do live shows that the illness is not
+      necessarily mortal, and that, could the right remedy befound, we might yet
+      overcome it. The first thing, however, is to try to prevent its spread.
+      Here we have ten or more people shut up in a house with one sick person.
+      It is a terrible necessity, for it is a sentence of death to many, if not
+      to all. We give the nurses instructions to fumigate the room by
+      evaporating vinegar upon hot irons, by burning spices and drugs, by
+      sprinkling perfumes. So far, I cannot see that these measures have been of
+      any service, but I cannot say how thoroughly they have been carried out,
+      and I sorely need an assistant to see that the system is fairly tried. It
+      is not necessary that he should be a doctor, but he must have influence
+      and power over those in the house. He must be calm and firm, and he must
+      be regarded by the people as a doctor. If you will undertake this, you
+      must put on a wig, for you know that that is looked upon as a necessary
+      part of a doctor's outfit by people in general. I shall introduce you as
+      my assistant, and say that you are to be obeyed as implicitly as if I
+      myself were present. There is another reason why you must pass as a
+      doctor, for you would otherwise be a prisoner and unable to pass in and
+      out. You had best wear a black suit. I will lend you one of my canes and a
+      snuff-box, and should advise you to take snuff, even if it is not your
+      habit, for I believe that it is good against infection, and one of the
+      experiments I wish to try is as to what its result may be if burnt freely
+      in the house. Are you ready to undertake this work?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Quite ready, sir."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then come round here at eight in the morning. I shall have heard by that
+      hour from the examiners of this parish of any fresh case they have found.
+      They begin their rounds at five o'clock."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next day Cyril presented himself at the doctor's, dressed in black,
+      with white ruffles to his shirt, and a flowing wig he had purchased the
+      night before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Here are the cane and snuff-box," Dr. Hodges said. "Now you will pass
+      muster very well as my assistant. Let us be off at once; for I have a long
+      list of cases."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril remained outside while Dr. Hodges went into three or four houses.
+      Presently he came down to the door, and said to him,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is a case where things are favourable for a first trial. It is a boy
+      who is taken ill, and the parents, though in deep grief, seem to have some
+      sense left."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned to the watchman, who had already been placed at the door. The
+      man, who evidently knew him, had saluted respectfully when he entered the
+      house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This gentleman is my assistant," he said, "and you will allow him to pass
+      in and out just as you would myself. He is going to take this case
+      entirely in hand, and you will regard him as being in charge here."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He then re-entered the house with Cyril, and led him to the room where the
+      parents of the boy, and two elder sisters, were assembled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is my assistant," he said, "and he has consented to take entire
+      charge of the case, though I myself shall look in and consult with him
+      every morning. In the first place, your son must be taken to the top
+      storey of the house. You say that you are ready to nurse him yourselves,
+      and do not wish that a paid nurse should be had in. I commend your
+      determination, for the nurses are, for the most part, worse than useless,
+      and carry the infection all over the house. But only one of you must go
+      into the room, and whoever goes in must stay there. It is madness for all
+      to be going in and out and exposing themselves to the infection when no
+      good can be done. When this is the case, one or other is sure to take the
+      malady, and then it spreads to all. Which of you will undertake the duty?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All four at once offered themselves, and there was an earnest contest
+      between them for the dangerous post. Dr. Hodges listened for a minute or
+      two, and then decided upon the elder of the two sisters&mdash;a quiet,
+      resolute-looking girl with a healthy face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This young lady shall be nurse," he said. "I feel that I can have
+      confidence in her. She looks healthy and strong, and would, methinks, best
+      resist the malady, should she take it. I am leaving my assistant here for
+      a time to see to the fumigation of the house. You will please see that his
+      orders are carried out in every respect. I have every hope that if this is
+      done the Plague will not spread further; but much must depend upon
+      yourselves. Do not give way to grief, but encourage each other, and go
+      about with calm minds. I see," he said, pointing to a Bible on the table,
+      "that you know where to go for comfort and strength. The first thing is to
+      carry the boy up to the room that we chose for him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will do that," the father said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He had better be left in the blankets in which he is lying. Cover him
+      completely over with them, for, above all, it is necessary that you should
+      not inhale his breath. You had better take the head and your daughter the
+      feet. But first see that the room upstairs is prepared."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a few minutes the lad was transferred to the upper room, the doctor
+      warning the others not to enter that from which he had been carried until
+      it had been fumigated and sprinkled with vinegar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now," he said to the girl who was to remain with the patient, "keep the
+      window wide open; as there is no fireplace, keep a brazier of charcoal
+      burning near the window. Keep the door shut, and open it only when you
+      have need for something. Give him a portion of this medicine every half
+      hour. Do not lean over him&mdash;remember that his breath is a fatal
+      poison. Put a pinch of these powdered spices into the fire every few
+      minutes. Pour this perfume over your handkerchief, and put it over your
+      mouth and nose whenever you approach the bed. He is in a stupor now, poor
+      lad, and I fear that his chance of recovery is very slight; but you must
+      remember that your own life is of value to your parents, and that it
+      behoves you to do all in your power to preserve it, and that if you take
+      the contagion it may spread through the house. We shall hang a sheet,
+      soaked in vinegar, outside the door."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We could not have a better case for a trial," he said, as he went
+      downstairs and joined Cyril, whom he had bidden wait below. "The people
+      are all calm and sensible, and if we succeed not here, there is small
+      chance of our succeeding elsewhere."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The doctor then gave detailed orders as to fumigating the house, and left.
+      Cyril saw at once that a brazier of charcoal was lighted and carried
+      upstairs, and he called to the girl to come out and fetch it in. As soon
+      as she had done so the sheet was hung over the door. Then he took another
+      brazier, placed it in the room from which the boy had been carried, laid
+      several lumps of sulphur upon it, and then left the room. All the doors of
+      the other rooms were then thrown open, and a quantity of tobacco, spices,
+      and herbs, were burnt on a red-hot iron at the foot of the stairs, until
+      the house was filled with a dense smoke. Half an hour later all the
+      windows were opened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVI &mdash; FATHER AND SON
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The process of fumigation had well-nigh suffocated the wife and daughter
+      of the trader, but, as soon as the smoke cleared away, Cyril set them all
+      to work to carry up articles of furniture to another bedroom on the top
+      floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "When your daughter is released from nursing, madam," he said, "she must
+      at once come into this room, and remain there secluded for a few days.
+      Therefore, it will be well to make it as comfortable as possible for her.
+      Her food must be taken up and put outside the door, so that she can take
+      it in there without any of you going near her."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The occupation was a useful one, as it distracted the thoughts of those
+      engaged in it from the sick room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril did not enter there. He had told the girl to call him should there
+      be any necessity, but said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do not call me unless absolutely needful, if, for instance, he becomes
+      violent, in which case we must fasten the sheets across him so as to
+      restrain him. But it is of no use your remaining shut up there if I go in
+      and out of the room to carry the infection to the others."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You have hurt your arm, doctor?" the mother said, when the arrangements
+      were all made, and they had returned to the room below.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes," he said; "I met with an accident, and must, for a short time, keep
+      my arm in a sling."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You look young, sir, to be running these fearful perils."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am young," Cyril said, "and have not yet completed all my studies; but
+      Dr. Hodges judged that I was sufficiently advanced to be able to be of
+      service to him, not so much in prescribing as by seeing that his orders
+      were carried out."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Every half hour he went upstairs, and inquired, through the door, as to
+      the state of the boy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Late in the afternoon he heard the girl crying bitterly within. He
+      knocked, and she cried out,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He is dead, sir; he has just expired."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then you must think of yourself and the others," he said. "The small
+      packet I placed on the chair contains sulphur. Close the window, then
+      place the packet on the fire, and leave the room at once and go into the
+      next room, which is all ready for you. There, I pray you, undress, and
+      sponge yourself with vinegar, then make your clothes into a bundle and put
+      them outside the door. There will be a bowl of hot broth in readiness for
+      you there; drink that, and then go to bed at once, and keep the blankets
+      over you and try to sleep."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He went part of the way downstairs, and, in a minute or two, heard a door
+      open and shut, then another door shut. Knowing that the order had been
+      carried out, he went downstairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Madam," he said, "God has taken your boy. The doctor had but little hope
+      for him. For the sake of yourself and those around you, I pray you all to
+      bear up against the sorrow."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The mother burst into tears, and, leaving her with her husband and
+      daughter, Cyril went into the kitchen, where the maid and an apprentice
+      were sitting with pale faces, and bade the servant at once warm up the
+      broth, that had already been prepared. As soon as it was ready, he carried
+      a basin upstairs. The bundle of clothes had already been placed outside
+      the girl's room. He took this down and put it on the kitchen fire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now," he said, "take four basins up to the parlour, and do you and the
+      boy each make a hearty meal. I think there is little fear of the Plague
+      spreading, and your best chance of avoiding it is by keeping up your
+      spirits and not fretting about it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as the broth had been taken into the parlour, he went in and
+      persuaded them to eat and to take a glass of wine with it, while he
+      himself sat down with them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You are all weak," he said, "for, doubtless, you have eaten nothing
+      to-day, and you need strength as well as courage. I trust that your
+      daughter will presently go off into a sound sleep. The last thing before
+      you go to bed, take up with you a basin of good posset with a glass of
+      wine in it; knock gently at her door; if she is awake, tell her to come
+      out and take it in as soon as you have gone, but if she does not reply, do
+      not rouse her. I can be of no further use to-night, but will return in the
+      morning, when I hope to find all is well."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The father accompanied him to the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will of course bring the poor boy down to-night. It were best that
+      you made some excuse to sleep in another room. Let your daughter sleep
+      with her mother. When you go in to fetch him, be careful that you do not
+      enter at once, for the fumes of the sulphur will scarcely have abated. As
+      you go in, place a wet handkerchief to your mouth, and make to the window
+      and throw it open, closing the door behind you. Sit at the window till the
+      air is tolerable, then wrap the blankets round him and carry him
+      downstairs when you hear the bell. After he has gone tell the servant to
+      have a brazier lighted, and to keep up the kitchen fire. As soon as he is
+      gone, burn on the brazier at the foot of the stairs, tobacco and spices,
+      as we did before; then take off your clothes and burn them on the kitchen
+      fire, and then go up to bed. You can leave the doors and windows of the
+      rooms that are not in use open, so that the smoke may escape."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "God bless you, sir!" the man said. "You have been a comfort indeed to us,
+      and I have good hopes that the Plague will spread no further among us."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril went first to the doctor's, and reported what had taken place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will go round in the morning and see how they are," he concluded, "and
+      bring you round word before you start on your rounds."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You have done very well indeed," the doctor said. "If people everywhere
+      would be as calm, and obey orders as well as those you have been with, I
+      should have good hopes that we might check the spread of the Plague; but
+      you will find that they are quite the exception."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This, indeed, proved to be the case. In many instances, the people were so
+      distracted with grief and fear that they ran about the house like mad
+      persons, crying and screaming, running in and out of the sick chamber, or
+      sitting there crying helplessly, and refusing to leave the body until it
+      was carried out to the dead-cart. But with such cases Cyril had nothing to
+      do, as the doctor would only send him to the houses where he saw that his
+      instructions would be carried out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To his great satisfaction, Cyril found that the precautions taken in the
+      first case proved successful. Regularly, every morning, he inquired at the
+      door, and received the answer, "All are well."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In August the Plague greatly increased in violence, the deaths rising to
+      ten thousand a week. A dull despair had now seized the population. It
+      seemed that all were to be swept away. Many went out of their minds. The
+      quacks no longer drove a flourishing trade in their pretended nostrums;
+      these were now utterly discredited, for nothing seemed of the slightest
+      avail. Some went to the opposite extreme, and affected to defy fate. The
+      taverns were filled again, and boisterous shouts and songs seemed to mock
+      the dismal cries from the houses with the red cross on the door. Robberies
+      were rife. Regardless of the danger of the pest, robbers broke into the
+      houses where all the inmates had perished by the Plague, and rifled them
+      of their valuables. The nurses plundered the dying. All natural affection
+      seemed at an end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Those stricken were often deserted by all their relatives, and left alone
+      to perish.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bands of reckless young fellows went through the streets singing, and,
+      dressing up in masks, performed the dance of death. The dead were too many
+      to be carried away in carts at night to the great pits prepared for them,
+      but the dismal tones of the bell, and the cries of "Bring out your dead!"
+      sounded in the streets all day. It was no longer possible to watch the
+      whole of the infected houses. Sometimes Plague-stricken men would escape
+      from their beds and run through the streets until they dropped dead. One
+      such man, in the height of his delirium, sprang into the river, and, after
+      swimming about for some time, returned to the shore, marvellously cured of
+      his malady by the shock.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril went occasionally in the evening to the lodgings of Mr. Wallace. At
+      first he met several people gathered there, but the number became fewer
+      every time he went. He had told the minister that he thought that it would
+      be better for him to stay away, exposed as he was to infection, but Mr.
+      Wallace would take no excuses on this score.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We are all in the hands of God," he said. "The streets are full of
+      infected people, and I myself frequently go to pray with my friends in the
+      earliest stages of the malady. There is no longer any use in precautions.
+      We can but all go on doing our duty until we are called away, and even
+      among the few who gather here of an evening there may be one or more who
+      are already smitten, though unconscious yet that their summons has come."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among others Cyril was introduced to a Mr. and Mrs. Harvey, who were, the
+      minister told him, from the country, but were staying in town on account
+      of a painful family business.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have tried to persuade them to return home and to stay there until the
+      Plague ceases, but they conceive it their duty to remain. They are, like
+      myself, Independents, and are not easily to be turned from a resolution
+      they have taken."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril could easily understand that Mr. Harvey was exactly what he, from
+      the description he had heard of them, had pictured to himself that a
+      Roundhead soldier would be. He had a stern face, eyes deeply sunk in his
+      head, high cheekbones, a firm mouth, and a square jaw. He wore his hair
+      cut close. His figure was bony, and he must, as a young man, have been
+      very powerful. He spoke in a slow, deliberate way, that struck Cyril as
+      being the result of long effort, for a certain restless action of the
+      fingers and the quick movement of the eye, told of a naturally impulsive
+      and fiery disposition. He constantly used scriptural texts in the course
+      of his speech. His wife was gentle and quiet, but it was evident that
+      there was a very strong sympathy between them, and Cyril found, after
+      meeting them once or twice, that he liked them far better than he thought
+      he should do on their first introduction. This was, no doubt, partly due
+      to the fact that Mr. Harvey frequently entered into conversation with him,
+      and appeared to interest himself in him. He was, too, a type that was
+      altogether new to the lad. From his father, and his father's companions,
+      he had heard nothing good of the Puritans, but the evident earnestness of
+      this man's nature was, to some extent, in accordance with his own
+      disposition, and he felt that, widely as he might differ from him on all
+      points of politics, he could not but respect him. The evenings were
+      pleasant. As if by common consent, the conversation never turned on the
+      Plague, but they talked of other passing events, of the trials of their
+      friends, and of the laws that were being put in force against
+      Nonconformists.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What think you of these persecutions, young sir?" Mr. Harvey abruptly
+      asked Cyril, one evening, breaking off in the midst of a general
+      conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril was a little confused at the unexpected question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I think all persecutions for conscience' sake are wrong," he said, after
+      a moment's pause, "and generally recoil upon the persecutors. Spain lost
+      Holland owing to her persecution of the people. France lost great numbers
+      of her best citizens by her laws against the Protestants. I agree with you
+      thoroughly, that the persecution of the Nonconformists at present is a
+      grievous error, and a cruel injustice; but, at the same time, if you will
+      excuse my saying so, it is the natural consequence of the persecution by
+      the Nonconformists, when they were in power, of the ministers of the
+      Church of England. My tutor in France was an English clergyman, who had
+      been driven from his living, like thousands of other ministers, because he
+      would not give up his opinions. Therefore, you see, I very early was
+      imbued with a hatred of persecution in any form. I trust that I have not
+      spoken too boldly; but you asked for my opinion, and I was forced to give
+      it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "At any rate, young sir, you have spoken manfully, and I like you none the
+      worse for it. Nor can I altogether gainsay your words. But you must
+      remember that we had before been oppressed, and that we have been engaged
+      in a desperate struggle for liberty of conscience."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Which, having won for ourselves, we proceeded to deny to others," Mr.
+      Wallace said, with a smile. "Cyril has us fairly, Mr. Harvey. We are
+      reaping what our fathers sowed. They thought that the power they had
+      gained was to be theirs to hold always, and they used it tyrannously,
+      being thereby false to all their principles. It is ever the persecuted,
+      when he attains power, who becomes the persecutor, and, hard as is the
+      pressure of the laws now, we should never forget that we have, in our
+      time, been persecutors, and that in defiance of the rights of conscience
+      we had fought to achieve. Man's nature is, I fear, unchangeable. The slave
+      longs, above all things, for freedom, but when he rises successfully
+      against his master he, in turn, becomes a tyrant, and not infrequently a
+      cruel and bloodthirsty one. Still, we must hope. It may be in the good
+      days that are to come, we may reach a point when each will be free to
+      worship in his own fashion, without any fear or hindrance, recognising the
+      fact that each has a right to follow his own path to Heaven, without its
+      being a subject of offence to those who walk in other ways."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One or two of the other visitors were on the point of speaking, when Mr.
+      Wallace put a stop to further argument by fetching a Bible from his
+      closet, and preparing for the short service of prayer with which the
+      evening always closed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One evening, Mr. Harvey and his wife were absent from the usual gathering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I feel anxious about them," Mr. Wallace said; "they have never, since
+      they arrived in town, missed coming here at seven o'clock. The bells are
+      usually striking the hour as they come. I fear that one or other of them
+      may have been seized by the Plague."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "With your permission, sir, I will run round and see," Cyril said. "I know
+      their lodging, for I have accompanied them to the door several times. It
+      is but five minutes' walk from here. If one or other is ill I will run
+      round to Dr. Hodges, and I am sure, at my request, he will go round at
+      once to see them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril walked fast towards the lodging occupied by the Harveys. It was at
+      the house of a mercer, but he and his family had, three weeks before, gone
+      away, having gladly permitted his lodgers to remain, as their presence
+      acted as a guard to the house. They had brought up an old servant with
+      them, and were therefore able to dispense with other attendants. Cyril
+      hurried along, trying, as usual, to pay as little heed as he could to the
+      doleful cries that arose from many of the houses. Although it was still
+      broad daylight there was scarce a soul in the streets, and those he met
+      were, like himself, walking fast, keeping as far as possible from any one
+      they met, so as to avoid contact.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he neared the house he heard a woman scream. A moment later a casement
+      was thrown open, and Mrs. Harvey's head appeared. She gave another
+      piercing cry for help, and was then suddenly dragged back, and the
+      casement was violently closed. Cyril had so frequently heard similar cries
+      that he would have paid no attention to it had it come from a stranger,
+      but he felt that Mrs. Harvey was not one to give way to wild despair, even
+      had her husband been suddenly attacked with the Plague. Her sudden
+      disappearance, and the closing of the casement, too, were unaccountable,
+      unless, indeed, her husband were in a state of violent delirium. He ran to
+      the door and flung himself against it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Help me to force it down," he cried to a man who was passing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You are mad," the man replied. "Do you not see that they have got the
+      Plague? You may hear hundreds of such cries every day."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril drew his sword, which he always carried when he went out of an
+      evening&mdash;for, owing to the deaths among the City watch, deeds of
+      lawlessness and violence were constantly perpetrated&mdash;and struck,
+      with all his strength, with the hilt upon the fastening of the casement
+      next the door. Several of the small panes of glass fell in, and the whole
+      window shook. Again and again he struck upon the same spot, when the
+      fastening gave way, and the window flew open. He sprang in at once, ran
+      through the shop into the passage, and then upstairs. The door was open,
+      and he nearly fell over the body of a man. As he ran into the room he
+      heard the words,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "For the last time: Will you sign the deed? You think I will not do this,
+      but I am desperate."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As the words left his mouth, Cyril sprang forward between the man and Mr.
+      Harvey, who was standing with his arms folded, looking steadfastly at his
+      opponent, who was menacing him with a drawn sword. The man, with a
+      terrible oath, turned to defend himself, repeating the oath when he saw
+      who was his assailant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I let you off last time lightly, you scoundrel!" Cyril exclaimed. "This
+      time it is your life or mine."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man made a furious lunge at him. Cyril parried it, and would at the
+      next moment have run him through had not Mr. Harvey suddenly thrown
+      himself between them, hurling Cyril's antagonist to the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Put up your sword," he said to Cyril. "This man is my son; scoundrel and
+      villain, yet still my son, even though he has raised his hand against me.
+      Leave him to God."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had stepped a pace back in his surprise. At first he thought that
+      Mr. Harvey's trouble had turned his brain; then it flashed across him that
+      this ruffian's name was indeed John Harvey. The man was about to rise from
+      the floor when Cyril again sprang forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Drop that sword," he exclaimed, "or I will run you through. Now, sir," he
+      said to Mr. Harvey, "will you draw out that pistol, whose butt projects
+      from his pocket, or your son may do one of us mischief yet?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That such had been the man's intention was evident from the glance of
+      baffled rage he threw at Cyril.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now, sir, go," his father said sternly. "Remember that, henceforth, you
+      are no son of mine. Did I do my duty I should hand you over to the watch&mdash;not
+      for your threats to me, but for the sword-thrust you have given to Joseph
+      Edmonds, who has many times carried you on his shoulder when a child. You
+      may compass my death, but be assured that not one farthing will you gain
+      thereby. 'Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.' I leave it to Him to pay it.
+      Now go."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John Harvey rose to his feet, and walked to the door. Then he turned and
+      shook his fist at Cyril.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Curse you!" he said. "I will be even with you yet."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril now had time to look round. His eye fell upon the figure of Mrs.
+      Harvey, who had fallen insensible. He made a step towards her, but her
+      husband said, "She has but fainted. This is more pressing," and he turned
+      to the old servant. Cyril aided him in lifting the old man up and laying
+      him on the couch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He breathes," said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He is wounded to death," Mr. Harvey said sadly; "and my son hath done
+      it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril opened the servant's coat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Here is the wound, high up on the left side. It may not touch a vital
+      part. It bleeds freely, and I have heard that that is a good sign."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is so," Mr. Harvey said excitedly. "Perhaps he may yet recover. I
+      would give all that I am worth that it might be so, and that, bad as he
+      may be, the sin of this murder should not rest on my son's soul."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will run for the doctor, sir, but before I go let me help you to lift
+      your wife. She will doubtless come round shortly, and will aid you to
+      stanch the wound till the doctor comes."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Harvey was indeed already showing signs of returning animation. She
+      was placed on a couch, and water sprinkled on her face. As soon as he saw
+      her eyes open Cyril caught up his hat and ran to Dr. Hodges. The doctor
+      had just finished his supper, and was on the point of going out again to
+      see some of his patients. On hearing from Cyril that a servant of some
+      friends of his had been wounded by a robber, he put some lint and bandages
+      in his pocket, and started with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "These robberies are becoming more and more frequent," he said; "and so
+      bold and reckless are the criminals that they seem to care not a jot
+      whether they add murder to their other crimes. Where do you say the wound
+      is?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril pointed below his own shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is just about there, doctor."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then it may be above the upper edge of the lung. If so, we may save the
+      man. Half an inch higher or lower will make all the difference between
+      life and death. As you say that it was bleeding freely, it is probable
+      that the sword has missed the lung, for had it pierced it, the bleeding
+      would have been chiefly internal, and the hope of saving him would have
+      been slight indeed."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When they reached the house Cyril found that Mrs. Harvey had quite
+      recovered. They had cut open the man's clothes and her husband was
+      pressing a handkerchief, closely folded, upon the wound.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is serious, but, I think, not vital," Dr. Hodges said, after examining
+      it. "I feel sure that the sword has missed the lung."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After cutting off the rest of the man's upper garments, he poured, from a
+      phial he had brought with him, a few drops of a powerful styptic into the
+      wound, placed a thick pad of lint over it, and bandaged it securely. Then,
+      giving directions that a small quantity of spirits and water should be
+      given to the patient from time to time, and, above all things, that he
+      should be kept perfectly quiet, he hurried away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Is there anything more I can do, sir?" Cyril asked Mr. Harvey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Nothing more. You will understand, sir, what our feelings are, and that
+      our hearts are too full of grief and emotion for us to speak. We shall
+      watch together to-night, and lay our case before the Lord."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then I will come early in the morning and see if there is aught I can do,
+      sir. I am going back now to Mr. Wallace, who was uneasy at your absence. I
+      suppose you would wish me to say only that I found that there was a robber
+      in the place who, having wounded your servant, was on the point of
+      attacking you when I entered, and that he fled almost immediately."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That will do. Say to him that for to-night we shall be busy nursing, and
+      that my wife is greatly shaken; therefore I would not that he should come
+      round, but I pray him to call here in the morning."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will do so, sir."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril went downstairs, closed the shutters of the window into which he had
+      broken, and put up the bars, and then went out at the door, taking special
+      pains to close it firmly behind him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was glad to be out of the house. He had seen many sad scenes during the
+      last few weeks, but it seemed to him that this was the saddest of all.
+      Better, a thousand times, to see a son stricken by the Plague than this.
+      He walked slowly back to the minister's. He met Mr. Wallace at the door of
+      his house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I was coming round," the latter said. "Of course one or other of them are
+      stricken?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, sir; it was another cause that prevented their coming. Just as I
+      reached the house I heard a scream, and Mrs. Harvey appeared at the
+      casement calling for help. I forced open a window and ran up. I found that
+      a robber had entered the house. He had seriously wounded the old servant,
+      and was on the point of attacking Mr. Harvey when I entered. Taken by
+      surprise, the man fled almost immediately. Mrs. Harvey had fainted. At
+      first, we thought the servant was killed, but, finding that he lived, I
+      ran off and fetched Dr. Hodges, who has dressed the wound, and thinks that
+      the man has a good chance of recovery. As Mrs. Harvey had now come round,
+      and was capable of assisting her husband, they did not accept my offer to
+      stay and do anything I could. I said I was coming to you, and Mr. Harvey
+      asked me to say that, although they were too much shaken to see you this
+      evening, they should be glad if you would go round to them the first thing
+      in the morning."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then the robber got away unharmed?" Mr. Wallace asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He was unharmed, sir. I would rather that you did not question me on the
+      subject. Mr. Harvey will doubtless enter fully into the matter with you in
+      the morning. We did not exchange many words, for he was greatly disturbed
+      in spirit at the wounding of his old servant, and the scene he had gone
+      through; and, seeing that he and his wife would rather be alone with their
+      patient, I left almost directly after Dr. Hodges went away. However, I may
+      say that I believe that there are private matters in the affair, which he
+      will probably himself communicate to you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then I will ask no more questions, Cyril. I am well content to know that
+      it is not as I feared, and that the Plague had not attacked them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I said that I would call round in the morning, sir; but I have been
+      thinking of it as I came along, and consider that, as you will be there,
+      it is as well that I should not do so. I will come round here at ten
+      o'clock, and should you not have returned, will wait until you do. I do
+      not know that I can be of any use whatever, and do not wish to intrude
+      there. Will you kindly say this to them, but add that should they really
+      wish me to go, I will of course do so?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Wallace looked a little puzzled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will do as you ask me, but it seems to me that they will naturally wish
+      to see you, seeing that, had it not been for your arrival, they might have
+      been robbed and perhaps murdered."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will understand better when you have seen Mr. Harvey, sir. Now I will
+      be making for home; it is about my usual hour, and John Wilkes will be
+      beginning to wonder and worry about me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To John, Cyril told the same story as to Mr. Wallace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But, how was it that you let the villain escape, Master Cyril? Why did
+      you not run him through the body?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I had other things to think of, John. There was Mrs. Harvey lying
+      insensible, and the servant desperately wounded, and I thought more of
+      these than of the robber, and was glad enough, when he ran out, to be able
+      to turn my attention to them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay, that was natural enough, lad; but 'tis a pity the villain got off
+      scot-free. Truly it is not safe for two old people to be in an empty house
+      by themselves in these times, specially as, maybe, the houses on either
+      side are also untenanted, and robbers can get into them and make their way
+      along the roof, and so enter any house they like by the windows there. It
+      was a mercy you chanced to come along. Men are so accustomed now to hear
+      screams and calls for aid, that none trouble themselves as to such sounds.
+      And you still feel quite well?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Never better, John, except for occasional twitches in my shoulder."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It does not knit so fast as it should do," John said. "In the first
+      place, you are always on the move; then no one can go about into infected
+      houses without his spirits being disturbed, and of all things a calm and
+      easy disposition is essential for the proper healing of wounds. Lastly, it
+      is certain that when there is poison in the air wounds do not heal so
+      quickly as at other times."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is going on well enough, John; indeed, I could not desire it to do
+      better. As soon as it is fairly healed I ought to join Prince Rupert
+      again; but in truth I do not wish to go, for I would fain see this
+      terrible Plague come to an end before I leave; for never since the days of
+      the Black Death, hundreds of years ago, was there so strange and terrible
+      a malady in this country."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Wallace had returned to his house when Cyril called the next morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Thinking over what you said last night, Cyril, I arrived at a pretty
+      correct conclusion as to what had happened, though I thought not that it
+      could be as bad as it was. I knew the object with which Mr. Harvey and his
+      wife had come up to London, at a time when most men were fleeing from it.
+      Their son has, ever since he came up three years ago, been a source of
+      grievous trouble to them, as he was, indeed, for a long time previously.
+      Some natures seem naturally to turn to evil, and this boy's was one of
+      them. It may be that the life at home was too rigid and severe, and that
+      he revolted against it. Certain it is that he took to evil courses and
+      consorted with bad companions. Severity was unavailing. He would break out
+      of the house at night and be away for days. He was drunken and dissolute.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "At last, just after a considerable sum of money had come into the house
+      from the tenants' rents, he stole it, and went up to London. His name was
+      not mentioned at home, though his father learnt from correspondents here
+      that he had become a hanger-on of the Court, where, his father being a man
+      of condition, he found friends without difficulty. He was a gambler and a
+      brawler, and bore a bad reputation even among the riff-raff of the Court.
+      His father learnt that he had disappeared from sight at the time the Court
+      went to Oxford early in June, and his correspondent found that he was
+      reported to have joined a band of abandoned ruffians, whose least crimes
+      were those of robbery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "When the Plague spread rapidly, Mr. Harvey and his wife determined to
+      come up to London, to make one more effort to draw him from his evil
+      courses. The only thing that they have been able to learn for certain was,
+      that he was one of the performers in that wicked mockery the dance of
+      death, but their efforts to trace him have otherwise failed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They had intended, if they had found him, and he would have made promises
+      of amendment, to have given him money that would have enabled him to go
+      over to America and begin a new life there, promising him a regular
+      allowance to maintain him in comfort. As they have many friends over
+      there, some of whom went abroad to settle before the Civil War broke out
+      here, they would be able to have news how he was going on; and if they
+      found he was living a decent life, and truly repented his past course,
+      they would in five years have had him back again, and reinstated him as
+      their heir.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I knew their intentions in the matter, and have done my best to gain them
+      news of him. I did not believe in the reformation of one who had shown
+      himself to be of such evil spirit; but God is all-powerful, and might have
+      led him out from the slough into which he had fallen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yesterday evening, half an hour before you went there, his father and
+      mother were astonished at his suddenly entering. He saluted them at first
+      with ironical politeness, and said that having heard from one from the
+      same part of the country that he had seen them in London, he had had the
+      streets thereabouts watched, and having found where they lodged, had come
+      to pay his respects.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There was a reckless bravado in his manner that alarmed his mother, and
+      it was not long before the purpose of his visit came out. He demanded that
+      his father should at once sign a deed which he had brought drawn out in
+      readiness, assigning to him at once half his property.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'You have,' he said, 'far more than you can require. Living as you do,
+      you must save three-quarters of your income, and it would be at once an
+      act of charity, and save you the trouble of dealing with money that is of
+      no use to you.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "His father indignantly refused to take any such step, and then told him
+      the plans he had himself formed for him. At this he laughed scoffingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'You have the choice,' he said, 'of giving me half, or of my taking
+      everything.' And then he swore with terrible oaths that unless his father
+      signed the paper, that day should be his last. 'You are in my power,' he
+      said, 'and I am desperate. Do you think that if three dead bodies are
+      found in a house now any will trouble to inquire how they came to their
+      end? They will be tossed into the plague-cart, and none will make inquiry
+      about them.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Hearing voices raised in anger, the old servant ran in. At once the
+      villain drew and ran at him, passing his sword through his body. Then, as
+      if transported at the sight of the blood he had shed, he turned upon his
+      father. It was at this moment that his mother ran to the window and called
+      for help. He dragged her back, and as she fell fainting with horror and
+      fear he again turned upon his father; his passion grew hotter and hotter
+      as the latter, upbraiding him with the deed he had done, refused to sign;
+      and there is no doubt that he would have taken his life had you not
+      luckily ran in at this moment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It has truly been a terrible night for them. They have passed it in
+      prayer, and when I went this morning were both calm and composed, though
+      it was easy to see by their faces how they had suffered, and how much the
+      blow has told upon them. They have determined to save their son from any
+      further temptation to enrich himself by their deaths. I fetched a lawyer
+      for them; and when I left Mr. Harvey was giving him instructions for
+      drawing up his will, by which every farthing is left away from him. They
+      request me to go to them this evening with two or three of our friends to
+      witness it, as it is necessary in a time like this that a will should be
+      witnessed by as many as possible, as some may be carried off by the
+      Plague; and should all the witnesses be dead, the will might be disputed
+      as a forgery. So the lawyer will bring his clerks with him, and I shall
+      take four or five of our friends.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They will return to the country as soon as their servant can be moved.
+      Dr. Hodges came when I was there, and gives hopes that the cure will be a
+      speedy one. We are going to place some men in the house. I have among my
+      poorer friends two men who will be glad to establish themselves there with
+      their wives, seeing that they will pay no rent, and will receive wages as
+      long as Mr. Harvey remains there. There will thus be no fear of any
+      repetition of the attempt. Mr. Harvey, on my advice, will also draw up and
+      sign a paper giving a full account of the occurrence of last evening, and
+      will leave this in the hands of the lawyer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This will be a protection to him should his son follow him into the
+      country, as he will then be able to assure him that if he proceeds to
+      violence suspicion will at once fall upon him, and he will be arrested for
+      his murder. But, indeed, the poor gentleman holds but little to his life;
+      and it was only on my representing to him that this document might be the
+      means of averting the commission of the most terrible of all sins from the
+      head of his son, that he agreed to sign it. I gave him your message, and
+      he prays me to say that, deeply grateful as he and his wife are to you,
+      not so much for the saving of their lives, as for preventing their son's
+      soul being stained by the crime, they would indeed rather that you did not
+      call for a time, for they are so sorely shaken that they do not feel equal
+      to seeing you. You will not, I hope, take this amiss."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "By no means," Cyril replied; "it is but a natural feeling; and, in truth,
+      I myself am relieved that such is their decision, for it would be
+      well-nigh as painful to me as to them to see them again, and to talk over
+      the subject."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "By the way, Cyril, Mr. Harvey said that when you saw his son you cried
+      out his name, and that by the manner in which he turned upon you it was
+      clear that he had some cause for hating you. Is this so, or was it merely
+      his fancy?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was no fancy, sir. It is not long since I thwarted his attempt to
+      carry off the daughter of a city merchant, to whom he had represented
+      himself as a nobleman. He was in the act of doing so, with the aid of some
+      friends, when, accompanied by John Wilkes, I came up. There was a fray, in
+      the course of which I ran him through the shoulder. The young lady
+      returned home with us, and has since heartily repented of her folly. I had
+      not seen the man since that time till I met him yesterday; but certainly
+      the house was watched for some time, as I believe, by his associates who
+      would probably have done me an ill turn had I gone out after nightfall."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That explains it, Cyril. I will tell Mr. Harvey, whose mind has been much
+      puzzled by your recognition of his son."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVII &mdash; SMITTEN DOWN
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Two days later, Cyril started at his usual hour to go to Dr. Hodges'; but
+      he had proceeded but a few yards when a man, who was leaning against the
+      wall, suddenly lurched forward and caught him round the neck. Thinking
+      that the fellow had been drinking, Cyril angrily tried to shake him off.
+      As he did so the man's hat, which had been pressed down over his eyes,
+      fell off, and, to his astonishment, Cyril recognised John Harvey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You villain! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, as he freed himself
+      from the embrace, sending his assailant staggering back against the wall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man's face lit up with a look of savage exultation..
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I told you you should hear from me again," he said, "and I have kept my
+      word. I knew the hour you went out, and I have been waiting for you. You
+      are a doomed man. I have the Plague, and I have breathed in your face.
+      Before twenty-four hours have passed you will be, as I am, a dying man.
+      That is a good piece of vengeance. You may be a better swordsman than I
+      am, but you can't fight with the Plague."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril drew back in horror. As he did so, a change came over John Harvey's
+      face, he muttered a few words incoherently, swayed backwards and forwards,
+      and then slid to the ground in a heap. A rush of blood poured from his
+      mouth, and he fell over dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had seen more than one similar death in the streets, but the
+      horrible malignity of this man, and his sudden death, gave him a terrible
+      shock. He felt for the moment completely unmanned, and, conscious that he
+      was too unhinged for work, he turned and went back to the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You look pale, lad," John Wilkes said, as Cyril went upstairs. "What
+      brings you back so soon?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have had rather a shock, John." And he told him of what had happened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That was enough to startle you, lad. I should say the best thing you
+      could do would be to take a good strong tumbler of grog, and then lay
+      down."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That I will do, and will take a dose of the medicine Dr. Hodges makes
+      everyone take when the infection first shows itself in a house. As you
+      know, I have never had any fear of the Plague hitherto. I don't say that I
+      am afraid of it now, but I have run a far greater risk of catching it than
+      I have ever done before, for until now I have never been in actual contact
+      with anyone with the disease."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After a sleep Cyril rose, and feeling himself again, went to call upon Mr.
+      Wallace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shall not come again for a few days," he said, after telling him what
+      had happened, but without mentioning the name of John Harvey, "but I will
+      send you a note every other day by John Wilkes. If he does not come, you
+      will know that I have taken the malady, and in that case, Mr. Wallace, I
+      know that I shall have your prayers for my recovery. I am sure that I
+      shall be well cared for by John Wilkes."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Of my prayers you maybe sure, Cyril; and, indeed, I have every faith
+      that, should you catch the malady, you will recover from it. You have
+      neither well-nigh frightened yourself to death, nor have you dosed
+      yourself with drugs until nature was exhausted before the struggle began.
+      You will, I am sure, be calm and composed, and above all you have faith in
+      God, and the knowledge that you have done your part to carry out His
+      orders, and to visit the sick and aid those in sorrow."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next day Cyril was conscious of no change except that he felt a
+      disinclination to exert himself. The next morning he had a feeling of
+      nausea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I think that I am in for it, John," he said. "But at any rate it can do
+      no harm to try that remedy you spoke of that is used in the East. First of
+      all, let us fumigate the room. As far as I have seen, the smoke of tobacco
+      is the best preservative against the Plague. Now do you, John, keep a bit
+      of tobacco in your mouth."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That I mostly do, lad."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, keep a bigger bit than usual, John, and smoke steadily. Still, that
+      will not be enough. Keep the fire burning, and an iron plate heated to
+      redness over it. Bring that into my room from time to time, and burn
+      tobacco on it. Keep the room full of smoke."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will do that," John said, "but you must not have too much of it. I am
+      an old hand, and have many times sat in a fo'castle so full of smoke that
+      one could scarce see one's hands, but you are not accustomed to it, and it
+      may like enough make you sick."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There will be no harm in that, John, so that one does not push it too
+      far. Now, how are you going to set about this sweating process?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "While you undress and get into bed I will get a blanket ready. It is to
+      be dipped in boiling water, and then wrung out until it is as dry as we
+      can get it. Then you are wrapped in that, and then rolled in five or six
+      dry blankets to keep in the heat. You will keep in that until you feel
+      almost weak with sweating; then I take you out and sponge you with warmish
+      water, and then wrap you in another dry blanket."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You had better sponge me with vinegar, John."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril undressed. When he had done so he carefully examined himself, and
+      his eye soon fell on a black spot on the inside of his leg, just above the
+      knee. It was the well-known sign of the Plague.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have got it, John," he said, when the latter entered with a pile of
+      blankets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, then, we have got to fight it, Master Cyril, and we will beat it if
+      it is to be beaten. Now, lad, for the hot blanket."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Lay it down on the bed, and I will wrap myself in it, and the same with
+      the others. Now I warn you, you are not to come nearer to me than you can
+      help, and above all you are not to lean over me. If you do, I will turn
+      you out of the room and lock the door, and fight it out by myself. Now
+      puff away at that pipe, and the moment you wrap me up get the room full of
+      smoke."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Don't you bother about me," he growled. "I reckon the Plague ain't going
+      to touch such a tough old bit of seasoned mahogany as I am. Still, I will
+      do as you tell me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a few minutes Cyril was in a profuse perspiration, in which even his
+      head, which was above the blankets, shared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is grand," John said complacently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cloud of tobacco, with which the room was soon filled, was not long in
+      having the effect that John had predicted, and Cyril was soon violently
+      sick, which had the effect of further increasing the perspiration.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You must open the window and let the smoke out a bit, John," he gasped.
+      "I can't stand any more of it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was done, and for another hour Cyril lay between the blankets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shall faint if I lie here any longer," he said at last. "Now, John, do
+      you go out of the room, and don't come back again until I call you. I see
+      you have put the vinegar handy. It is certain that if this is doing me any
+      good the blankets will be infected. You say you have got a big fire in the
+      kitchen. Well, I shall take them myself, and hang them up in front of it,
+      and you are not to go into the room till they are perfectly dry again. You
+      had better light another fire at once in the parlour, and you can do any
+      cooking there. I will keep the kitchen for my blankets."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John nodded and left the room, and Cyril at once proceeded to unroll the
+      blankets. As he came to the last he was conscious of a strong fetid odour,
+      similar to that he had more than once perceived in houses infected by the
+      Plague.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I believe it is drawing it out of me," he said to himself. "I will give
+      it another trial presently."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He first sponged himself with vinegar, and felt much refreshed. He then
+      wrapped himself up and lay down for a few minutes, for he felt strangely
+      weak. Then he got up and carried the blankets into the kitchen, where a
+      huge fire had been made up by John. He threw the one that had been next to
+      him into a tub, and poured boiling water on it, and the others he hung on
+      chairs round it. Then he went back to his room, and lay down and slept for
+      half an hour. He returned to the kitchen and rearranged the blankets. When
+      John saw him go back to his room he followed him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have got some strong broth ready," he said. "Do you think that you
+      could take a cupful?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, and a good-sized one, John. I feel sure that the sweating has done me
+      good, and I will have another turn at it soon. You must go at once and
+      report that I have got it, or when the examiners come round, and find that
+      the Plague is in the house, you will be fined, or perhaps imprisoned.
+      Before you go there, please leave word at Dr. Hodges' that I am ill, and
+      you might also call at Mr. Wallace's and leave the same message. Tell
+      them, in both cases, that I have everything that I want, and trust that I
+      shall make a good recovery."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay, sir; I will be off as soon as I have brought you in your broth,
+      and will be back here in half an hour."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril drank the broth, and then dozed again until John returned. When he
+      heard his step he called out to him to bring the hot iron, and he filled
+      the room with tobacco smoke before allowing him to enter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now, John, the blankets are dry, and can be handled again, and I am ready
+      for another cooking."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Four times that day did Cyril undergo the sweating process. By the evening
+      he was as weak as a child, but his skin was soft and cool, and he was free
+      from all feeling of pain or uneasiness. Dr. Hodges called half an hour
+      after he had taken it for the last time, having only received his message
+      when he returned late from a terrible day's work. Cyril had just turned in
+      for the night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, lad, how are you feeling? I am so sorry that I did not get your
+      message before."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am feeling very well, doctor."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Your hand is moist and cool," Dr. Hodges said in surprise. "You must have
+      been mistaken. I see no signs whatever of the Plague."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There was no mistake, doctor; there were the black marks on my thighs,
+      but I think I have pretty well sweated it out of me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He then described the process he had followed, and said that John Wilkes
+      had told him that it was practised in the Levant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Sweating is greatly used here, and I have tried it very repeatedly among
+      my patients, and in some cases, where I had notice of the disease early,
+      have saved them. Some bleed before sweating, but I have not heard of one
+      who did so who recovered. In many cases the patient, from terror or from
+      weakness of body, cannot get up the heat required, and even if they arrive
+      at it, have not the strength to support it. In your case you lost no time;
+      you had vital heat in plenty, and you had strength to keep up the heat in
+      full force until you washed, as it were, the malady out of you. Henceforth
+      I shall order that treatment with confidence when patients come to me whom
+      I suspect to have the Plague, although it may not have as yet fully
+      declared itself. What have you done with the blankets?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I would not suffer John to touch them, but carried them myself into the
+      kitchen. The blankets next to me I throw into a tub and pour boiling water
+      over them; the others I hang up before a huge fire, so as to be dry for
+      the next operation. I take care that John does not enter the kitchen."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How often have you done this?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Four times, and lay each time for an hour in the blankets. I feel very
+      weak, and must have lost very many pounds in weight, but my head is clear,
+      and I suffer no pain whatever. The marks on my legs have not spread, and
+      seem to me less dark in colour than they were."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Your case is the most hopeful that I have seen," Dr. Hodges said. "The
+      system has had every advantage, and to this it owes its success. In the
+      first place, you began it as soon as you felt unwell. Most people would
+      have gone on for another twelve hours before they paid much attention to
+      the first symptoms, and might not have noticed the Plague marks even when
+      they went to bed. In the second place, you are cool and collected, and
+      voluntarily delivered yourself to the treatment. And in the third place,
+      which is the most important perhaps of all, you were in good health
+      generally. You had not weakened yourself by swallowing every nostrum
+      advertised, or wearing yourself out by vain terrors. Ninety-nine cases out
+      of a hundred would be probably beyond the reach of help before they were
+      conscious of illness, and be too weak to stand so severe a strain on the
+      system as that you have undergone. Another thing is that the remedy could
+      hardly be attempted in a house full of frightened people. There would be
+      sure to be carelessness in the matter of the blankets, which, unless
+      treated as you have done, would be a certain means of spreading the
+      infection over the house. At any rate, I would continue the sweating as
+      long as you can possibly stand it. Take nourishment in the shape of broth
+      frequently, but in small quantity. I would do it again at midnight; 'tis
+      well not to let the virus have time to gather strength again. I see you
+      have faith in tobacco."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, doctor. I never let John Wilkes into the room after I have taken a
+      bath until it is full of tobacco smoke. I have twice made myself ill with
+      it to-day."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Don't carry it too far, lad; for although I also believe in the virtue of
+      the weed, 'tis a powerful poison, and you do not want to weaken yourself.
+      Well, I see I can do nothing for you. You and your man seem to me to have
+      treated the attack far more successfully than I should have done; for,
+      indeed, this month very few of those attacked have recovered, whatever the
+      treatment has been. I shall come round early tomorrow morning to see how
+      you are going on. At present nothing can be better. Since the first
+      outbreak, I have not seen a single case in which the patient was in so
+      fair a way towards recovery in so short a time after the discovery of the
+      infection."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John Wilkes at this moment came in with a basin of broth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is my good friend, John Wilkes, doctor."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You ought to be called Dr. John Wilkes," the doctor, who was one of the
+      most famous of his time, said, with a smile, as he shook hands with him.
+      "Your treatment seems to be doing wonders."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It seems to me he is doing well, doctor, but I am afraid he is carrying
+      it too far; he is so weak he can hardly stand."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Never mind that," the doctor said; "it will be easy enough to build him
+      up when we have once got the Plague out of him. I have told him to have
+      another turn in the blankets at twelve o'clock to-night; it will not do to
+      let the malady get a fresh hold of him. But don't push it too far, lad. If
+      you begin to feel faint, stop it, even if you have not been a quarter of
+      an hour in the blankets. Do not cover yourself up too warmly when you have
+      done; let nature have a rest. I shall be round between eight and nine, and
+      no doubt you will have had another bath before I come. Do not sleep in the
+      room, Wilkes; he is sure to go off soundly to sleep, and there is no use
+      your running any needless risk. Let his window stand open; indeed, it
+      should always be open, except when he gets out of his blankets, or is
+      fumigating the room. Let him have a chair by the open window, so as to get
+      as much fresh air as possible; but be sure that he is warmly wrapped up
+      with blankets, so as to avoid getting a chill. You might place a hand-bell
+      by the side of his bed to-night, so that he can summons you should he have
+      occasion."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the doctor came next morning he nodded approvingly as soon as he felt
+      Cyril's hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Nothing could be better," he said; "your pulse is even quieter than last
+      night. Now let me look at those spots."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They are fainter," Cyril said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A great deal," Dr. Hodges said, in a tone of the greatest pleasure.
+      "Thank God, my lad, it is dying out. Not above three or four times since
+      the Plague began have I been able to say so. I shall go about my work with
+      a lighter heart today, and shall order your treatment in every case where
+      I see the least chance of its being carried out, but I cannot hope that it
+      will often prove as successful as it has with you. You have had everything
+      in your favour&mdash;youth, a good constitution, a tranquil mind, an
+      absence of fear, and a faith in God."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And a good attendant, doctor&mdash;don't forget that."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, that goes for a great deal, lad&mdash;for a great deal. Not one nurse
+      out of a hundred would carry out my instructions carefully; not one
+      patient in a thousand would be able to see that they were carried out. Of
+      course you will keep on with the treatment, but do not push it to
+      extremes; you have pulled yourself down prodigiously, and must not go too
+      far. Do you perceive any change in the odour when you take off the
+      blankets?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, doctor, a great change; I could scarcely distinguish it this
+      morning, and indeed allowed John Wilkes to carry them out, as I don't
+      think I myself could have walked as far as the kitchen, though it is but
+      ten or twelve paces away. I told him to smoke furiously all the time, and
+      to come out of the kitchen as soon as he had hung them up."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril took three more baths in the course of the day, but was only able to
+      sustain them for twenty minutes each, as by the end of that time he nearly
+      fainted. The doctor came in late in the evening.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The spots are gone, doctor," Cyril said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then I think you may consider yourself cured, lad. Do not take the
+      treatment again to-night; you can take it once in the morning; and then if
+      I find the spots have not reappeared by the time I come, I shall pronounce
+      the cure as complete, and shall begin to build you up again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The doctor was able to give this opinion in the morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shall not come again, lad, unless you send for me, for every moment of
+      my time is very precious, and I shall leave you in the hands of Dr.
+      Wilkes. All you want now is nourishment; but take it carefully at first,
+      and not too much at a time; stick to broths for the next two or three
+      days, and when you do begin with solids do so very sparingly."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There was a gentleman here yesterday asking about you," John Wilkes said,
+      as Cyril, propped up in bed, sipped his broth. "It was Mr. Harvey. He rang
+      at the bell, and I went down to the lower window and talked to him through
+      that, for of course the watchman would not let me go out and speak to him.
+      I had heard you speak of him as one of the gentlemen you met at the
+      minister's, and he seemed muchly interested in you. He said that you had
+      done him a great service, and of course I knew it was by frightening that
+      robber away. I never saw a man more pleased than he was when I told him
+      that the doctor thought you were as good as cured, and he thanked God very
+      piously for the same. After he had done that, he asked me first whether
+      you had said anything to me about him. I said that you had told me you had
+      met him and his wife at the minister's, and that you said you had
+      disturbed a robber you found at his house. He said, quite sharp, 'Nothing
+      more?' 'No, not as I can think of. He is always doing good to somebody,'
+      says I, 'and never a word would he say about it, if it did not get found
+      out somehow. Why, he saved Prince Rupert's ship from being blown up by a
+      fire-vessel, and never should we have known of it if young Lord Oliphant
+      had not written to the Captain telling him all about it, and saying that
+      it was the gallantest feat done in the battle. Then there were other
+      things, but they were of the nature of private affairs.' 'You can tell me
+      about them, my good man,' he said; 'I am no vain babbler; and as you may
+      well believe, from what he did for me, and for other reasons, I would fain
+      know as much as I can of him.' So then I told him about how you found out
+      about the robbery and saved master from being ruined, and how you
+      prevented Miss Nellie from going off with a rascal who pretended he was an
+      earl."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then you did very wrong, John," Cyril said angrily. "I say naught about
+      your speaking about the robbery, for that was told in open Court, but you
+      ought not, on any account, to have said a word about Mistress Nellie's
+      affairs."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, your honour, I doubt not Mistress Nellie herself would have told
+      the gentleman had she been in my place. I am sure he can be trusted not to
+      let it go further. I took care to tell him what good it had done Mistress
+      Nellie, and that good had come out of evil."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, you ought not to have said anything about it, John. It may be that
+      Mistress Nellie out of her goodness of heart might herself have told, but
+      that is no reason why anyone else should do so. I charge you in future
+      never to open your lips about that to anyone, no matter who. I say not
+      that any harm will come of it in this case, for Mr. Harvey is indeed a
+      sober and God-fearing man, and assuredly asked only because he felt an
+      interest in me, and from no idle curiosity. Still, I would rather that he
+      had not known of a matter touching the honour of Mistress Nellie."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Mum's the word in future, Master Cyril. I will keep the hatches fast down
+      on my tongue. Now I will push your bed up near the window as the doctor
+      ordered, and then I hope you will get a good long sleep."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Plague and the process by which it had been expelled had left Cyril so
+      weak that it was some days before he could walk across the room. Every
+      morning he inquired anxiously of John how he felt, and the answer was
+      always satisfactory. John had never been better in his life; therefore, by
+      the time Cyril was able to walk to his easy-chair by the window, he began
+      to hope that John had escaped the infection, which generally declared
+      itself within a day or two, and often within a few hours, of the first
+      outbreak in a house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A week later the doctor, who paid him a flying visit every two or three
+      days, gave him the welcome news that he had ordered the red cross to be
+      removed from the door, and the watchmen to cease their attendance, as the
+      house might now be considered altogether free from infection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Plague continued its ravages with but slight abatement, moving
+      gradually eastward, and Aldgate and the district lying east of the walls
+      were now suffering terribly. It was nearly the end of September before
+      Cyril was strong enough to go out for his first walk. Since the beginning
+      of August some fifty thousand people had been carried off, so that the
+      streets were now almost entirely deserted, and in many places the grass
+      was shooting up thickly in the road. In some streets every house bore the
+      sign of a red cross, and the tolling of the bells of the dead-carts and
+      piteous cries and lamentations were the only sounds that broke the strange
+      silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The scene was so disheartening that Cyril did not leave the house again
+      for another fortnight. His first visit was to Mr. Wallace. The sight of a
+      watchman at the door gave him quite a shock, and he was grieved indeed
+      when he heard from the man that the brave minister had died a fortnight
+      before. Then he went to Mr. Harvey's. There was no mark on the door, but
+      his repeated knockings met with no response, and a woman, looking out from
+      a window opposite, called to him that the house had been empty for
+      well-nigh a month, and the people that were in it had gone off in a cart,
+      she supposed into the country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There was a gentleman and lady," she said, "who seemed well enough, and
+      their servant, who was carried down and placed in the cart. It could not
+      have been the Plague, though the man looked as if he had been sorely ill."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next day he called on Dr. Hodges, who had not been near him for the
+      last month. There was no watchman at the door, and his man opened it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Can I see the doctor?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, you can see him," he said; "he is cured now, and will soon be about
+      again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Has he had the Plague, then?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That he has, but it is a week now since the watchman left."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril went upstairs. The doctor was sitting, looking pale and thin, by the
+      window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am grieved indeed to hear that you have been ill, doctor," Cyril said;
+      "had I known it I should have come a fortnight since, for I was strong
+      enough to walk this distance then. I did indeed go out, but the streets
+      had so sad an aspect that I shrank from stirring out again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, I have had it," the doctor said. "Directly I felt it come on I
+      followed your system exactly, but it had gone further with me than it had
+      with you, and it was a week before I fairly drove the enemy out. I ordered
+      sweating in every case, but, as you know, they seldom sent for me until
+      too late, and it is rare that the system got a fair chance. However, in my
+      case it was a complete success. Two of my servants died; they were taken
+      when I was at my worst. Both were dead before I was told of it. The man
+      you saw was the one who waited on me, and as I adopted all the same
+      precautions you had taken with your man, he did not catch it, and it was
+      only when he went downstairs one day and found the other two servants
+      lying dead in the kitchen that he knew they had been ill."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Mr. Wallace has gone, you will be sorry to hear, sir."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am sorry," the doctor said; "but no one was more fitted to die. He was
+      a brave man and a true Christian, but he ran too many risks, and your news
+      does not surprise me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The only other friends I have, Mr. Harvey and his wife, went out of town
+      a month ago, taking with them their servant."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; I saw them the day before I was taken ill," the doctor said, "and
+      told them that the man was so far out of danger that he might safely be
+      moved. They seemed very interested in you, and were very pleased when I
+      told them that I had now given up attending you, and that you were able to
+      walk across the room, and would, erelong, be yourself again. I hope we are
+      getting to the end of it now, lad. As the Plague travels East it abates in
+      the West, and the returns for the last week show a distinct fall in the
+      rate of mortality. There is no further East for it to go now, and I hope
+      that in another few weeks it will have worn itself out. We are half
+      through October, and may look for cold weather before long."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should think that I am strong enough to be useful again now, sir."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't think you are strong enough, and I am sure I shall not give you
+      leave to do so," the doctor said. "I can hardly say how far a first attack
+      is a protection against a second, for the recoveries have been so few that
+      we have scarce means of knowing, but there certainly have been cases where
+      persons have recovered from a first attack and died from a second. Your
+      treatment is too severe to be gone through twice, and it is, therefore,
+      more essential that you should run no risk of infection than it was
+      before. I can see that you are still very far from strong, and your duty
+      now is, in the first place, to regain your health. I should say get on
+      board a hoy and go to Yarmouth. A week in the bracing air there would do
+      you more good than six months here. But it is useless to give you that
+      advice, because, in the first place, no shipping comes up the river, and,
+      even if you could get down to Yarmouth by road, no one would receive you.
+      Still, that is what I should do myself as soon as I could get away, were
+      it not that, in my case, I have my duties here."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But, doctor, what you said to me surely applies to yourself also?" Cyril
+      said, with a smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I know that," the doctor said good-humouredly, "and expected it, but it
+      is not for a doctor to choose. He is not free, like other men; he has
+      adopted a vocation in which it is his first duty to go among the sick,
+      whatever their ailment may be, to do all that he can for them, and if, as
+      in the present case, he can do practically nothing else, to set them an
+      example of calmness and fearlessness. Still, for a time, at any rate, I
+      shall be able to go no more into houses where the Plague is raging. 'Tis
+      more than a month since you were cured, yet you are still a mere shadow of
+      what you were. I had a much harder fight with the enemy, and cannot walk
+      across the room yet without William's help. Therefore, it will be a
+      fortnight or three weeks yet before I can see patients, and much longer
+      before I shall have strength to visit them in their houses. By that time I
+      trust that the Plague will have very greatly abated. Thus, you see, I
+      shall not be called upon to stand face to face with it for some time.
+      Those who call upon me here are seldom Plague-stricken. They come for
+      other ailments, or because they feel unwell, and are nervous lest it
+      should be the beginning of an attack; but of late I have had very few come
+      here. My patients are mostly of the middle class, and these have either
+      fled or fallen victims to the Plague, or have shut themselves up in their
+      houses like fortresses, and nothing would tempt them to issue abroad.
+      Therefore, I expect that I shall have naught to do but to gain strength
+      again. Come here when you will, lad, and the oftener the better.
+      Conversation is the best medicine for both of us, and as soon as I can I
+      will visit you. I doubt not that John Wilkes has many a story of the sea
+      that will take our thoughts away from this sad city. Bring him with you
+      sometimes; he is an honest fellow, and the talk of sailors so smacks of
+      the sea that it seems almost to act as a tonic."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril stayed for an hour, and promised to return on the following evening.
+      He said, however, that he was sure John Wilkes would not accompany him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He never leaves the house unless I am in it. He considers himself on
+      duty; and although, as I tell him, there is little fear of anyone breaking
+      in, seeing how many houses with much more valuable and more portable goods
+      are empty and deserted, he holds to his purpose, saying that, even with
+      the house altogether empty, it would be just as much his duty to remain in
+      charge."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, come yourself, Cyril. If we cannot get this old watch-dog out I
+      must wait until I can go to him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shall be very glad to come, doctor, for time hangs heavily on my hands.
+      John Wilkes spends hours every day in washing and scrubbing decks, as he
+      calls it, and there are but few books in the house."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "As to that, I can furnish you, and will do so gladly. Go across to the
+      shelves there, and choose for yourself."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Thank you very much indeed, sir. But will you kindly choose for me? I
+      have read but few English books, for of course in France my reading was
+      entirely French."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then take Shakespeare. I hold his writings to be the finest in our
+      tongue. I know them nearly by heart, for there is scarce an evening when I
+      do not take him down for an hour, and reading him I forget the worries and
+      cares of my day's work, which would otherwise often keep me from sleep.
+      'Tis a bulky volume, but do not let that discourage you; it is full of wit
+      and wisdom, and of such romance that you will often find it hard to lay it
+      down. Stay&mdash;I have two editions, and can well spare one of them, so
+      take the one on that upper shelf, and keep it when you have read it. There
+      is but little difference between them, but I generally use the other, and
+      have come to look upon it as a friend."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Nay, sir, I will take it as a loan."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will do nothing of the sort. I owe you a fee, and a bumping one."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Henceforth Cyril did not find his time hang heavy on his hands. It seemed
+      to him, as he sat at the window and read, that a new world opened to him.
+      His life had been an eminently practical one. He had studied hard in
+      France, and when he laid his books aside his time had been spent in the
+      open air. It was only since he had been with Captain Dave that he had ever
+      read for amusement, and the Captain's library consisted only of a few
+      books of travels and voyages. He had never so much as dreamt of a book
+      like this, and for the next few days he devoured its pages.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You are not looking so well, Cyril," Dr. Hodges said to him abruptly one
+      day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am doing nothing but reading Shakespeare, doctor."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then you are doing wrong, lad. You will never build yourself up unless
+      you take exercise."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The streets are so melancholy, doctor, and whenever I go out I return
+      sick at heart and in low spirits."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That I can understand, lad. But we must think of something," and he sat
+      for a minute or two in silence. Then he said suddenly, "Do you understand
+      the management of a boat?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, doctor; it was my greatest pleasure at Dunkirk to be out with the
+      fishermen."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That will do, then. Go down at once to the riverside. There are hundreds
+      of boats lying idle there, for there are no passengers and no trade, and
+      half of their owners are dead. You are sure to see some men there; having
+      nothing else to do, some will be hanging about. Say you want to hire a
+      boat for a couple of months or to buy one. You will probably get one for a
+      few shillings. Get one with a sail as well as oars. Go out the first thing
+      after breakfast, and go up or down the river as the tide or wind may suit.
+      Take some bread and meat with you, and don't return till supper-time. Then
+      you can spend your evenings with Shakespeare. Maybe I myself will come
+      down and take a sail with you sometimes. That will bring the colour back
+      into your cheeks, and make a new man of you. Would that I had thought of
+      it before!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril was delighted with the idea, and, going down to Blackfriars, bought
+      a wherry with a sail for a pound. Its owner was dead, but he learned where
+      the widow lived, and effected the bargain without difficulty, for she was
+      almost starving.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have bought it," he said, "because it may be that I may get it damaged
+      or sunk; but I only need it for six weeks or two months, and at the end of
+      that time I will give it you back again. As soon as the Plague is over
+      there will be work for boats, and you will be able to let it, or to sell
+      it at a fair price."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John Wilkes was greatly pleased when Cyril came back and told him what he
+      had done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is the very thing for you," he said. "I have been a thick-head not
+      to think of it. I have been worrying for the last week at seeing you sit
+      there and do nothing but read, and yet there seemed nothing else for you
+      to do, for ten minutes out in the streets is enough to give one the
+      heartache. Maybe I will go out for a sail with you myself sometimes, for
+      there is no fear of the house being broken into by daylight."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not in the slightest, John. I hope that you will come out with me always.
+      I should soon find it dull by myself, and besides, I don't think that I am
+      strong enough yet to manage a pair of sculls for long, and one must reckon
+      occasionally on having to row against the tide. Even if the worst
+      happened, and anyone did break in and carry off a few things, I am sure
+      Captain Dave would not grumble at the loss when he knew that I had wanted
+      you to come out and help me to manage the boat, which I was ordered to use
+      for my health's sake."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That he wouldn't," John said heartily; "not if they stripped the house
+      and shop of everything there was in them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVIII &mdash; A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Having finally disposed of John Wilkes's scruples as to leaving the house
+      during the daytime, Cyril thenceforth went out with him every day. If the
+      tide was in flood they rowed far up the river, and came down on the ebb.
+      If it was running out they went down as far as it would take them.
+      Whenever the wind was favourable they hoisted the sail; at other times,
+      they rowed. The fresh air, and the exercise, soon did their work. Cyril at
+      first could only take one scull, and that only for a short time, but at
+      the end of a fortnight was able to manage both for a time, or to row with
+      one for hours. The feeling of lassitude which had oppressed him passed
+      away speedily, the colour came back to his cheeks, his muscles
+      strengthened, and he began to put on flesh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were now in November, and needed warm garments when on the water, and
+      John insisted on completely muffling him up whenever they hoisted the
+      sail; but the colder weather braced him up, and he was often inclined to
+      shout with pleasure as the wind drove the boat along before it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was cheering to know that others were benefiting by the change. In the
+      week ending October 3rd the deaths officially given were 4,328, though at
+      least another thousand must be added to this, for great numbers of deaths
+      from the Plague were put down to other causes, and very many, especially
+      those of infants, were never counted at all. It was said that as many
+      people were infected as ever, but that the virulence of the disease was
+      abated, and that, whereas in August scarce one of those attacked
+      recovered, in October but one out of every three died of the malady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the second week of October, the number of deaths by the Plague was but
+      2,665, and only 1,250 in the third week, though great numbers were still
+      attacked. People, however, grew careless, and ran unnecessary risks, and,
+      in consequence, in the first week of November the number of deaths rose by
+      400. After this it decreased rapidly, and the people who had fled began to
+      come back again&mdash;the more so because it had now spread to other large
+      cities, and it seemed that there was less danger in London, where it had
+      spent its force, than in places where it had but lately broken out. The
+      shops began to open again, and the streets to reassume their former
+      appearance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had written several times to Captain Dowsett, telling him how
+      matters were going on, and in November, hearing that they were thinking of
+      returning, he wrote begging them not to do so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Many of those who have returned have fallen sick, and died," he said. "It
+      seems to me but a useless risk of life, after taking so much pains to
+      avoid infection, to hurry back before the danger has altogether passed. In
+      your case, Captain Dave, there is the less reason for it, since there is
+      no likelihood of the shipping trade being renewed for the present. All the
+      ports of Europe are closed to our ships, and it is like to be a long time
+      before they lose fear of us. Even the coasting trade is lost for the
+      present. Therefore, my advice is very strongly against your returning for
+      some weeks. All is going on well here. I am getting quite strong again,
+      and, by the orders of the doctor, go out with John daily for a long row,
+      and have gained much benefit from it. John sends his respects. He says
+      that everything is ship-shape above and below, and the craft holding well
+      on her way. He also prays you not to think of returning at present, and
+      says that it would be as bad seamanship, as for a captain who has made a
+      good offing in a gale, and has plenty of sea-room, to run down close to a
+      rocky shore under the lee, before the storm has altogether blown itself
+      out."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dave took the advice, and only returned with his wife and Nellie a
+      week before Christmas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am glad indeed to be back," he said, after the first greetings were
+      over. "'Twas well enough for the women, who used to help in the dairy, and
+      to feed the fowls, and gather the eggs, and make the butter, but for me
+      there was nothing to do, and it seemed as if the days would never come to
+      an end."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was not so bad as that, father," Nellie said. "First of all, you had
+      your pipe to smoke. Then, once a week you used to go over with the
+      market-cart to Gloucester and to look at the shipping there, and talk with
+      the masters and sailors. Then, on a Sunday, of course, there was church.
+      So there were only five days each week to get through; and you know you
+      took a good deal of interest in the horses and cows and pigs."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I tried to take an interest in them, Nellie; but it was very hard work."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, father, that is just what you were saying you wanted, and I am sure
+      you spent hours every day walking about with the children, or telling them
+      stories."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, perhaps, when I think of it, it was not so very bad after all,"
+      Captain Dave admitted. "At any rate, I am heartily glad I am back here
+      again. We will open the shop to-morrow morning, John."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That we will, master. We sha'n't do much trade at present. Still, a few
+      coasters have come in, and I hope that every day things will get better.
+      Besides, all the vessels that have been lying in the Pool since June will
+      want painting up and getting into trim again before they sail out of the
+      river, so things may not be so slack after all. You will find everything
+      in order in the store. I have had little to do but to polish up brass work
+      and keep the metal from rusting. When do the apprentices come back again?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shall write for them as soon as I find that there is something for them
+      to do. You are not thinking of running away as soon as we come back I
+      hope, Cyril? You said, when you last wrote, that you were fit for sea
+      again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am not thinking of going for some little time, if you will keep me,
+      Captain Dave. There is no news of the Fleet fitting out at present, and
+      they will not want us on board till they are just ready to start. They say
+      that Albemarle is to command this time instead of the Duke, at which I am
+      right glad, for he has fought the Dutch at sea many times, and although
+      not bred up to the trade, he has shown that he can fight as steadily on
+      sea as on land. All say the Duke showed courage and kept a firm
+      countenance at Lowestoft, but there was certainly great slackness in the
+      pursuit, though this, 'tis said, was not so much his fault as that of
+      those who were over-careful of his safety. Still, as he is the heir to the
+      throne, it is but right that he should be kept out of the fighting."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is like to be stern work next time, Cyril, if what I hear be true.
+      Owing partly to all men's minds being occupied by the Plague, and partly
+      to the great sums wasted by the King in his pleasures, nothing whatever
+      has been done for the Fleet. Of course, the squadron at sea has taken
+      great numbers of prizes; but the rest of the Fleet is laid up, and no new
+      ships are being built, while they say that the Dutch are busy in all their
+      ship-yards, and will send out a much stronger fleet this spring than that
+      which fought us at Lowestoft. I suppose you have not heard of any of your
+      grand friends?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No. I should have written to Sydney Oliphant, but I knew not whether he
+      was at sea or at home, and, moreover, I read that most folks in the
+      country are afraid of letters from London, thinking that they might carry
+      contagion. Many noblemen have now returned to the West End, and when I
+      hear that the Earl has also come back with his family it will, of course,
+      be my duty to wait upon him, and on Prince Rupert also. But I hope the
+      Prince will not be back yet, for he will be wanting me to go to Court
+      again, and for this, in truth, I have no inclination, and, moreover, it
+      cannot be done without much expense for clothes, and I have no intention
+      to go into expenses on follies or gew-gaws, or to trench upon the store of
+      money that I had from you, Captain Dave."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They had just finished breakfast on the day before Christmas, when one of
+      the apprentices came up from the shop and said that one Master
+      Goldsworthy, a lawyer in the Temple, desired to speak to Sir Cyril
+      Shenstone. Cyril was about to go down when Captain Dave said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Show the gentleman up, Susan. We will leave you here to him, Cyril."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "By no means," Cyril said. "I do not know him, and he can assuredly have
+      no private business with me that you may not hear."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter, however, left the room. The lawyer, a
+      grave-looking gentleman of some fifty years of age, glanced at Cyril and
+      the Captain as he entered the room, and then advanced towards the former.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "My name is unknown to you, Sir Cyril," he said, "but it has been said
+      that a bearer of good news needs no introduction, and I come in that
+      capacity. I bring you, sir, a Christmas-box," and he took from a bag he
+      carried a bundle of some size, and a letter. "Before you open it, sir, I
+      will explain the character of its contents, which would take you some time
+      to decipher and understand, while I can explain them in a very few words.
+      I may tell you that I am the legal adviser of Mr. Ebenezer Harvey, of
+      Upmead Court, Norfolk. You are, I presume, familiar with the name?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril started. Upmead Court was the name of his father's place, but with
+      the name of its present owner he was not familiar. Doubtless, he might
+      sometimes have heard it from his father, but the latter, when he spoke of
+      the present possessor of the Court, generally did so as "that Roundhead
+      dog," or "that canting Puritan."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The Court I know, sir," he said gravely, "as having once been my
+      father's, but I do not recall the name of its present owner, though it may
+      be that in my childhood my father mentioned it in my hearing."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Nevertheless, sir, you know the gentleman himself, having met him, as he
+      tells me, frequently at the house of Mr. Wallace, who was minister of the
+      chapel at which he worshipped, and who came up to London to minister to
+      those sorely afflicted and needing comfort. Not only did you meet with Mr.
+      Harvey and his wife, but you rendered to them very material service."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I was certainly unaware," Cyril said, "that Mr. Harvey was the possessor
+      of what had been my father's estate, but, had I known it, it would have
+      made no difference in my feeling towards him. I found him a kind and godly
+      gentleman whom, more than others there, was good enough to converse
+      frequently with me, and to whom I was pleased to be of service."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The service was of a most important nature," the lawyer said, "being
+      nothing less than the saving of his life, and probably that of his wife.
+      He sent for me the next morning, and then drew out his will. By that will
+      he left to you the estates which he had purchased from your father."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril gave a start of surprise, and would have spoken, but Master
+      Goldsworthy held up his hand, and said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Please let me continue my story to the end. This act was not the
+      consequence of the service that you had rendered him. He had previously
+      consulted me on the subject, and stated his intentions to me. He had met
+      you at Mr. Wallace's, and at once recognised your name, and learnt from
+      Mr. Wallace that you were the son of Sir Aubrey Shenstone. He studied your
+      character, had an interview with Dr. Hodges, and learnt how fearlessly you
+      were devoting yourself to the work of aiding those stricken with the
+      Plague. With his own son he had reason for being profoundly dissatisfied.
+      The young man had thrown off his authority, had become a notorious
+      reprobate, and had, he believed, sunk down to become a companion of
+      thieves and highwaymen. He had come up to London solely to make a last
+      effort to save him from his evil courses and to give him a chance of
+      reformation by sending him out to New England.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Mr. Harvey is possessed of considerable property in addition to the
+      estates purchased of your father, for, previous to that purchase he had
+      been the owner of large tanneries at Norwich, which he has ever since
+      maintained, not so much for the sake of the income he derived from them as
+      because they afforded a livelihood to a large number of workmen. He had,
+      therefore, ample means to leave to his son, should the latter accept his
+      offer and reform his life, without the estates of Upmead. When he saw you,
+      he told me his conscience was moved. He had, of course, a legal right to
+      the estates, but he had purchased them for a sum not exceeding a fifth of
+      their value, and he considered that in the twenty years he had held them
+      he had drawn from them sums amply sufficient to repay him for the price he
+      had given for them, and had received a large interest on the money in
+      addition. He questioned, therefore, strongly whether he had any right
+      longer to retain them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "When he consulted me on the subject, he alluded to the fact that, by the
+      laws of the Bible, persons who bought lands were bound to return the land
+      to its former possessors, at the end of seven times seven years. He had
+      already, then, made up his mind to leave that portion of his property to
+      you, when you rendered him that great service, and at the same time it
+      became, alas! but too evident to him that his son was hopelessly bad, and
+      that any money whatever left to him would assuredly be spent in evil
+      courses, and would do evil rather than good. Therefore, when I came in the
+      morning to him he said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'My will must be made immediately. Not one penny is to go to my son. I
+      may be carried off to-morrow by the Plague, or my son may renew his
+      attempt with success. So I must will it away from him at once. For the
+      moment, therefore, make a short will bequeathing the estate of Upmead to
+      Sir Cyril Shenstone, all my other possessions to my wife for her lifetime,
+      and at her death also to Sir Cyril Shenstone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'I may alter this later on,' he said, 'but for the present I desire
+      chiefly to place them beyond my son's reach. Please draw up the document
+      at once, for no one can say what half an hour may bring forth to either of
+      us. Get the document in form by this evening, when some friends will be
+      here to witness it. Pray bring your two clerks also!'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A few days later he called upon me again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'I have been making further inquiries about Sir Cyril Shenstone,' he
+      said, 'and have learnt much concerning him from a man who is in the
+      employment of the trader with whom he lives. What I have learnt more than
+      confirms me in my impression of him. He came over from France, three years
+      ago, a boy of scarce fourteen. He was clever at figures, and supported his
+      reprobate father for the last two years of his life by keeping the books
+      of small traders in the City. So much was he esteemed that, at his
+      father's death, Captain Dowsett offered him a home in his house. He
+      rewarded the kindness by making the discovery that the trader was being
+      foully robbed, and brought about the arrest of the thieves, which
+      incidentally led to the breaking-up of one of the worst gangs of robbers
+      in London. Later on he found that his employer's daughter was in
+      communication with a hanger-on of the Court, who told her that he was a
+      nobleman. The young fellow set a watch upon her, came upon her at the
+      moment she was about to elope with this villain, ran him through the
+      shoulder, and took her back to her home, and so far respected her secret
+      that her parents would never have known of it had she not, some time
+      afterwards, confessed it to them. That villain, Mr. Goldsworthy,' he said,
+      'was my son! Just after that Sir Cyril obtained the good will of the Earl
+      of Wisbech, whose three daughters he saved from being burnt to death at a
+      fire in the Savoy. Thus, you see, this youth is in every way worthy of
+      good fortune, and can be trusted to administer the estate of his fathers
+      worthily and well. I wish you to draw out, at once, a deed conveying to
+      him these estates, and rehearsing that, having obtained them at a small
+      price, and having enjoyed them for a time long enough to return to me the
+      money I paid for them with ample interest thereon, I now return them to
+      him, confident that they will be in good hands, and that their revenues
+      will be worthily spent.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "In this parcel is the deed in question, duly signed and witnessed,
+      together with the parchments, deeds, and titles of which he became
+      possessed at his purchase of the estate. I may say, Sir Cyril, that I have
+      never carried out a legal transfer with greater pleasure to myself,
+      considering, as I do, that the transaction is alike just and honourable on
+      his part and most creditable to yourself. He begged me to hand the deeds
+      to you myself. They were completed two months since, but he himself
+      suggested that I should bring them to you on Christmas Eve, when it is the
+      custom for many to give to their friends tokens of their regard and good
+      will. I congratulate you heartily, sir, and rejoice that, for once, merit
+      has met with a due reward."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I do not know, sir," Cyril replied, "how I can express my feelings of
+      deep pleasure and gratitude at the wonderful tidings you have brought me.
+      I had set it before me as the great object of my life, that, some day,
+      should I live to be an old man, I might be enabled to repurchase the
+      estate of my father's. I knew how improbable it was that I should ever be
+      able to do so, and I can scarce credit that what seemed presumptuous even
+      as a hope should have thus been so strangely and unexpectedly realised. I
+      certainly do not feel that it is in any way due to what you are good
+      enough to call my merits, for in all these matters that you have spoken of
+      there has been nothing out of the way, or, so far as I can see, in any way
+      praiseworthy, in what I have done. It would seem, indeed, that in all
+      these matters, and in the saving of my life from the Plague, things have
+      arranged themselves so as to fall out for my benefit."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is what Mr. Harvey feels very strongly, Sir Cyril. He has told me,
+      over and over again, that it seemed to him that the finger of God was
+      specially manifest in thus bringing you together, and in placing you in a
+      position to save his life. And now I will take my leave. I may say that in
+      all legal matters connected with the estate I have acted for Mr. Harvey,
+      and should be naturally glad if you will continue to entrust such matters
+      to me. I have some special facilities in the matter, as Mr. Popham, a
+      lawyer of Norwich, is married to my daughter, and we therefore act
+      together in all business connected with the estate, he performing what may
+      be called the local business, while I am advised by him as to matters
+      requiring attention here in London."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shall be glad indeed if you and Mr. Popham will continue to act in the
+      same capacity for me," Cyril said warmly. "I am, as you see, very young,
+      and know nothing of the management of an estate, and shall be grateful if
+      you will, in all matters, act for me until I am of an age to assume the
+      duties of the owner of Upmead."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I thank you, Sir Cyril, and we shall, I trust, afford you satisfaction.
+      The deed, you will observe, is dated the 29th of September, the day on
+      which it was signed, though there have been other matters to settle. The
+      tenants have already been notified that from that date they are to regard
+      you as their landlord. Now that you authorise us to act for you, my
+      son-in-law will at once proceed to collect the rents for this quarter. I
+      may say that, roughly, they amount to seventeen hundred pounds a year, and
+      as it may be a convenience to you to draw at once, if it so please you I
+      will place, on Monday next, the sum of four hundred pounds to your credit
+      with Messrs. Murchison and Graham, who are my bankers, or with any other
+      firm you may prefer."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "With the bankers you name, by all means," Cyril said; "and I thank you
+      heartily for so doing, for as I shall shortly rejoin the Fleet, a portion,
+      at least, of the money will be very useful to me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Goldsworthy took his hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is one thing further I have forgotten. Mr. Harvey requested me to
+      say that he wished for no thanks in this matter. He regards it as an act
+      of rightful restitution, and, although you will doubtless write to him, he
+      would be pleased if you will abstain altogether from treating it as a
+      gift."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will try to obey his wishes," Cyril said, "but it does not seem to me
+      that it will be possible for me to abstain from any expression of
+      gratitude for his noble act."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril accompanied the lawyer to the door, and then returned upstairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now I can speak," Captain Dowsett said. "I have had hard work to keep a
+      stopper on my tongue all this time, for I have been well-nigh bursting to
+      congratulate you. I wish you joy, my lad," and he wrung Cyril's hand
+      heartily, "and a pleasant voyage through life. I am as glad, ay, and a
+      deal more glad than if such a fortune had come in my way, for it would
+      have been of little use to me, seeing I have all that the heart of man
+      could desire."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He ran to the door and shouted loudly for his wife and daughter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have news for you both," he said, as they came in. "What do you think?
+      Cyril, like the King, has come to his own again, and he is now Sir Cyril
+      Shenstone, the owner of the estate of Upmead."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Both broke into exclamations of surprise and pleasure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How has the wonder come about?" Nellie asked, after the first
+      congratulations were over. "What good fairy has brought this round?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The good fairy was the Mr. Harvey whose name Cyril once mentioned
+      casually, and whose life, as it now appears, he saved, though he has said
+      nothing to us about it. That gentleman was, most strangely, the man who
+      bought the estate from his father. He, it seems, is a wealthy man, and his
+      conscience has for some time been pricked with the thought that he had
+      benefited too largely from the necessities of Sir Aubrey, and that, having
+      received back from the rents all the money he paid, and goodly interest
+      thereon, he ought to restore the estate to its former owner. Possibly he
+      might never have acted on this thought, but he considered the circumstance
+      that he had so strangely met Cyril here at the time of the Plague, and
+      still more strangely that Cyril had saved his life, was a matter of more
+      than chance, and was a direct and manifest interposition of Providence;
+      and he has therefore made restitution, and that parcel on the table
+      contains a deed of gift to Cyril of all his father's estates."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He has done quite rightly," Mrs. Dowsett said warmly, "though, indeed, it
+      is not everyone who would see matters in that light. If men always acted
+      in that spirit it would be a better world."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ay, ay, wife. There are not many men who, having got the best of a
+      bargain, voluntarily resign the profits they have made. It is pleasant to
+      come across one who so acts, more especially when one's best friend is the
+      gainer. Ah! Nellie, what a pity some good fairy did not tell you of what
+      was coming! What a chance you have lost, girl! See what might have
+      happened if you had set your cap at Cyril!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Indeed, it is terrible to think of," Nellie laughed. "It was hard on me
+      that he was not five or six years older. Then I might have done it, even
+      if my good fairy had not whispered in my ear about this fortune. Never
+      mind. I shall console myself by looking forward to dance at his wedding&mdash;that
+      is, if he will send me an invitation."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Like as not you will be getting past your dancing days by the time that
+      comes off, Nellie. I hope that, years before then, I shall have danced at
+      your wedding&mdash;that is to say," he said, imitating her, "if you will
+      send me an invitation."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What are you going to do next, Cyril?" Captain Dave asked, when the laugh
+      had subsided.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't know, I am sure," Cyril replied. "I have not really woke up to it
+      all yet. It will be some time before I realise that I am not a penniless
+      young baronet, and that I can spend a pound without looking at it a dozen
+      times. I shall have to get accustomed to the thought before I can make any
+      plans. I suppose that one of the first things to do will be to go down to
+      Oxford to see Prince Rupert&mdash;who, I suppose, is with the Court,
+      though this I can doubtless learn at the offices of the Admiralty&mdash;and
+      to tell him that I am ready to rejoin his ship as soon as he puts to sea
+      again. Then I shall find out where Sydney Oliphant is, and how his family
+      have fared in the Plague. I would fain find out what has become of the
+      Partons, to whom, and especially to Lady Parton, I owe much. I suppose,
+      too, I shall have to go down to Norfolk, but that I shall put off as long
+      as I can, for it will be strange and very unpleasant at first to go down
+      as master to a place I have never seen. I shall have to get you to come
+      down with me, Captain Dave, to keep me in countenance."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not I, my lad. You will want a better introducer. I expect that the
+      lawyer who was here will give you a letter to his son-in-law, who will, of
+      course, place himself at your service, establishing you in your house and
+      taking you round to your tenants."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Oh, yes," Nellie said, clapping her hands. "And there will be fine
+      doings, and bonfires, and arches, and all sorts of festivities. I do begin
+      to feel how much I have missed the want of that good fairy."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It will be all very disagreeable," Cyril said seriously; whereat the
+      others laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril then went downstairs with Captain Dave, and told John Wilkes of the
+      good fortune that had befallen him, at which he was as much delighted as
+      the others had been.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ten days later Cyril rode to Oxford, and found that Prince Rupert was at
+      present there. The Prince received him with much warmth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have wondered many times what had become of you, Sir Cyril," he said.
+      "From the hour when I saw you leave us in the <i>Fan Fan</i> I have lost
+      sight of you altogether. I have not been in London since, for the Plague
+      had set in badly before the ships were laid up, and as I had naught
+      particular to do there I kept away from it. Albemarle has stayed through
+      it, and he and Mr. Pepys were able to do all there was to do, but I have
+      thought of you often and wondered how you fared, and hoped to see you
+      here, seeing that there was, as it seemed to me, nothing to keep you in
+      London after your wounds had healed. I have spoken often to the King of
+      the brave deed by which you saved us all, and he declared that, had it not
+      been that you were already a baronet, he would knight you as soon as you
+      appeared, as many of the captains and others have already received that
+      honour; and he agreed with me that none deserved it better than yourself.
+      Now, what has become of you all this time?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril related how he had stayed in London, had had the Plague, and had
+      recovered from it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I must see about getting you a commission at once in the Navy," the
+      Prince said, "though I fear you will have to wait until we fit out again.
+      There will be no difficulty then, for of course there were many officers
+      killed in the action."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril expressed his thanks, adding,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is no further occasion for me to take a commission, Prince, for,
+      strangely enough, the owner of my father's property has just made it over
+      to me. He is a good man, and, considering that he has already reaped large
+      benefits by his purchase, and has been repaid his money with good
+      interest, his conscience will no longer suffer him to retain it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then he is a Prince of Roundheads," the Prince said, "and I most heartily
+      congratulate you; and I believe that the King will be as pleased as I am.
+      He said but the other day, when I was speaking to him of you, that it
+      grieved him sorely that he was powerless to do anything for so many that
+      had suffered in his cause, and that, after the bravery you had shown, he
+      was determined to do something, and would insist with his ministers that
+      some office should be found for you,&mdash;though it is not an easy
+      matter, when each of them has special friends of his own among whom to
+      divide any good things that fall vacant. He holds a Court this evening,
+      and I will take you with me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The King was most gracious when the Prince again presented Cyril to him
+      and told him of the good fortune that had befallen him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "By my faith, Sir Cyril, you were born under a lucky star. First of all
+      you saved my Lord of Wisbech's daughters; then, as Prince Rupert tells me,
+      you saved him and all on board his ship from being burned; and now a
+      miracle has well-nigh happened in your favour. I see, too, that you have
+      the use of your arm, which the Prince doubted would ever altogether
+      recover."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "More still, Your Majesty," the Prince said. "He had the Plague in August
+      and recovered from it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I shall have to keep you about me, Sir Cyril," the King said, "as a sort
+      of amulet to guard me against ill luck."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am going to take him to sea first," Prince Rupert broke in, seeing that
+      Cyril was about to disclaim the idea of coming to Court. "I may want him
+      to save my ship again, and I suppose he will be going down to visit his
+      estate till I want him. You have never seen it, have you, Sir Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, sir; at least not to have any remembrance of it. I naturally long to
+      see Upmead, of which I have heard much from my father. I should have gone
+      down at once, but I thought it my duty to come hither and report myself to
+      you as being ready to sail again as soon as you put to sea."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Duty first and pleasure afterwards," the King said. "I am afraid that is
+      a little beyond me&mdash;eh, Rupert?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Very much so, I should say, Cousin Charles," the Prince replied, with a
+      smile. "However, I have no doubt Sir Cyril will not grudge us a few days
+      before he leaves. There are several of the gentlemen who were his comrades
+      on the <i>Henrietta</i> here, and they will be glad to renew their
+      acquaintance with him, knowing, as they all do, that they owe their lives
+      to him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As Cyril was walking down the High Street, he saw a student coming along
+      whose face seemed familiar to him. He looked hard at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Surely you must be Harry Parton?" he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is my name, sir; though I cannot recall where I have met you. Yet
+      there seems something familiar in your face, and still more in your
+      voice."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am Cyril Shenstone."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Why, what has become of you, Cyril?" Harry said, shaking him warmly by
+      the hand. "I searched for you a year ago when I was in London, but could
+      obtain no tidings whatever of you, save that you had lost your father. We
+      are alike there, for my father died a few months after yours did."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am sorry indeed, Harry. I had not heard of it before. I was not,
+      indeed, in the way of doing so, as I was working in the City and knew
+      nothing of what was passing elsewhere."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "This is my college, Cyril. Come up to my room; there we can talk
+      comfortably, and we have much to tell each other. How is it that you have
+      never been near us?" he went on, when they were seated in front of a
+      blazing fire in his room. "I know that there was some quarrel between our
+      fathers, but when we heard of Sir Aubrey's death, both my father and
+      mother thought that you would come to see us or would have written&mdash;for
+      indeed it was not until after my father's death that we paid a visit to
+      London. It was then my mother asked me to search for you; and after great
+      difficulty I found the quarter in which you had lived, and then from the
+      parish register learned where your father had died. Going there, I learned
+      that you had left the lodging directly after his death, but more than that
+      the people could not tell me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should have come to see your mother and Sir John, Harry. I know how
+      deeply I am indebted to them, and as long as I live shall never cease to
+      be grateful for Lady Parton's kindness to me. But I had received so much
+      kindness that I shrank from seeming to wish to presume upon it further. I
+      had, of course, to work for my living, and I wanted, before I recalled
+      myself to them, to be able to say that I had not come as a beggar for
+      further favours, but that I was making my way independently. Sooner or
+      later I should have come, for your father once promised me that if I
+      followed out what you remember was my plan, of entering foreign service,
+      he would give me letters of introduction that would be useful to me. Had I
+      that favour still to ask I could do it without shame. But more than that I
+      would not have asked, even had I wanted bread, which, thank God! was never
+      the case."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I can understand your feeling, Cyril, but my mother assuredly would
+      always have been pleased to see you. You know you were a favourite of
+      hers."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Had you been near town, Harry, I should certainly have come to see her
+      and you as soon as I had fairly established myself, but I heard from my
+      father that you had all gone away into the country soon after the
+      unfortunate quarrel he had with Sir John, and therefore delayed taking any
+      step for the time, and indeed did not know in what part of the country
+      your father's estates lay. I know that he recovered them as soon as he
+      returned."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They had never been forfeited," Harry said. "My father retired from the
+      struggle after Naseby, and as he had influential friends among the
+      Puritans, there was no forfeiture of his estates, and we were therefore
+      able, as you know, to live in comfort at Dunkirk, his steward sending over
+      such monies as were required. And now about yourself. Your brains must
+      have served you rarely somehow, for you are dressed in the latest fashion,
+      and indeed I took you for a Court gallant when you accosted me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have been truly fortunate, Harry, and indeed everything has turned out
+      as if specially designed for my good, and, in a most strange and
+      unlooked-for manner, I have just come into my father's estates again."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am glad indeed to hear it, Cyril. Tell me how it has all come about."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril told the story of his life since he had come to London.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You have, indeed, had strange adventures, Cyril, and, though you say
+      little about it, you must have done something special to have gained
+      Prince Rupert's patronage and introduction to Court; but I shall worm all
+      that out of you some day, or get it from other lips. What a contrast your
+      life has been to mine! Here have you been earning your living bravely,
+      fighting in the great battle against the Dutch, going through that
+      terrible Plague, and winning your way back to fortune, while I have been
+      living the life of a school-boy. Our estates lie in Shropshire, and as
+      soon as we went down there my father placed me at a school at Shrewsbury.
+      There I remained till his death, and then, as was his special wish,
+      entered here. I have still a year of my course to complete. I only came up
+      into residence last week. When the summer comes I hope that you will come
+      down to Ardleigh and stay with us; it will give my mother great pleasure
+      to see you again, for I never see her but she speaks of you, and wonders
+      what has become of you, and if you are still alive."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Assuredly I will come, and that with the greatest pleasure," Cyril said,
+      "providing only that I am not then at sea, which is, I fear, likely, as I
+      rejoin the ship as soon as Prince Rupert takes the sea against the Dutch.
+      However, directly we return I will write to you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If you do so, let it be to Ardleigh, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire. Should
+      I be here when your letter arrives, my mother will forward it to me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIX &mdash; TAKING POSSESSION
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Cyril stayed a week at Oxford. He greatly enjoyed the visit; and not only
+      was he most warmly received by his former comrades on board the <i>Henrietta</i>,
+      but Prince Rupert spoke so strongly in his favour to other gentlemen to
+      whom he introduced him that he no longer felt a stranger at Court. Much of
+      his spare time he spent with Harry Parton, and in his rooms saw something
+      of college life, which seemed to him a very pleasant and merry one. He had
+      ascertained, as soon as he arrived, that the Earl of Wisbech and his
+      family were down at his estate, near the place from which he took his
+      title, and had at once written to Sydney, from whom he received an answer
+      on the last day of his stay at Oxford. It contained a warm invitation for
+      him to come down to Wisbech.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You say you will be going to Norwich to take possession of your estate.
+      If you ride direct from Oxford, our place will be but little out of your
+      way, therefore we shall take no excuse for your not coming to see us, and
+      shall look for you within a week or so from the date of this. We were all
+      delighted to get your missive, for although what you say about infection
+      carried by letters is true enough, and, indeed there was no post out of
+      London for months, we had begun to fear that the worst must have befallen
+      you when no letter arrived from you in December. Still, we thought that
+      you might not know where we were, and so hoped that you might be waiting
+      until you could find that out. My father bids me say that he will take no
+      refusal. Since my return he more than ever regards you as being the good
+      genius of the family, and it is certainly passing strange that, after
+      saving my sisters' lives from fire you should, though in so different a
+      way, have saved me from a similar death. So set off as soon as you get
+      this&mdash;that is, if you can tear yourself away from the gaieties of
+      Oxford."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had, indeed, been specially waiting for Sydney's answer, having told
+      him that he should remain at Oxford until he received it, and on the
+      following morning he packed his valise and rode for Wisbech, where he
+      arrived three days' later. His welcome at the Earl's was a most cordial
+      one. He spent a week there, at the end of which time Sydney, at his
+      earnest request, started for Norwich with him. The Earl had insisted on
+      Cyril's accepting a splendid horse, and behind him, on his other animal,
+      rode a young fellow, the son of a small tenant on the Earl's estate, whom
+      he had engaged as a servant. He had written, three days before, to Mr.
+      Popham, telling him that he would shortly arrive, and begging him to order
+      the two old servants of his father, whom he had, at his request, engaged
+      to take care of the house to get two or three chambers in readiness for
+      him, which could doubtless be easily done, as he had learnt from the deed
+      that the furniture and all contents of the house had been included in the
+      gift. After putting up at the inn, he went to the lawyer's. Mr. Popham, he
+      found, had had a room prepared in readiness for him at his house, but
+      Cyril, while thanking him for so doing, said that, as Lord Oliphant was
+      with him, he would stay at the inn for the night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning they rode over with Mr. Popham to Upmead, which was six
+      miles distant from the town.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is the house," the lawyer said, as a fine old mansion came in sight.
+      "There are larger residences in the county, but few more handsome. Indeed,
+      it is almost too large for the estate, but, as perhaps you know, that was
+      at one time a good deal larger than it is at present, for it was
+      diminished by one of your ancestors in the days of Elizabeth."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the gate where they turned into the Park an arch of evergreens had been
+      erected.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You don't mean to say you let them know that I was coming home?" Cyril
+      said, in a tone of such alarm that Lord Oliphant laughed and Mr. Popham
+      said apologetically,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I certainly wrote to the tenants, sir, when I received your letter, and
+      sent off a message saying that you would be here this morning. Most of
+      them or their fathers were here in the old time, for Mr. Harvey made no
+      changes, and I am sure they would have been very disappointed if they had
+      not had notice that Sir Aubrey's son was coming home."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Of course it was quite right for you to do so, Mr. Popham, but you see I
+      am quite unaccustomed to such things, and would personally have been much
+      more pleased to have come home quietly. Still, as you say, it is only
+      right that the tenants should have been informed, and at any rate it will
+      be a satisfaction to get it all over at once."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There were indeed quite a large number of men and women assembled in front
+      of the house&mdash;all the tenants, with their wives and families, having
+      gathered to greet their young landlord&mdash;and loud bursts of cheering
+      arose as he rode up, Sydney and Mr. Popham reining back their horses a
+      little to allow him to precede them. Cyril took off his hat, and bowed
+      repeatedly in reply to the acclamations that greeted him. The tenants
+      crowded round, many of the older men pressing forward to shake him by the
+      hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Welcome back to your own again, Sir Cyril!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I fought under your father, sir, and a good landlord he was to us all."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Such were the exclamations that rose round him until he reached the door
+      of the mansion, and, dismounting, took his place at the top of the steps.
+      Then he took off his hat again, and when there was silence he said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I thank you heartily, one and all, good friends, for the welcome that you
+      have given me. Glad indeed I am to come down to my father's home, and to
+      be so greeted by those who knew him, and especially by those who followed
+      him in the field in the evil days which have, we may hope, passed away for
+      ever. You all know, perhaps, that I owe my return here as master to the
+      noble generosity of Mr. Harvey, your late landlord, who restored me the
+      estates, not being bound in any way to do so, but solely because he
+      considered that he had already been repaid the money he gave for them.
+      This may be true, but, nevertheless, there is not one man in a hundred
+      thousand who would so despoil himself of the benefits of a bargain
+      lawfully made, and I beg you therefore to give three cheers, as hearty as
+      those with which you greeted me, for Mr. Harvey."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Three cheers, as long and loud as those that had before risen, responded
+      to the appeal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Such a man," Cyril went on, when they subsided, "must have been a just
+      and good landlord to you all, and I shall do my best to give you no cause
+      for regret at the change that has come about."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused for a moment to speak to Mr. Popham, who stood beside him, and
+      then went on,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I did not know whether I could ask you to drink to my health, but I learn
+      from Mr. Popham that the cellars have been left well filled; therefore, my
+      first orders on coming to the house of my fathers will be that a cask of
+      wine shall be speedily broached, and that you shall be enabled to drink my
+      health. While that is being done, Mr. Popham will introduce you to me one
+      by one."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Another loud cheer arose, and then the tenants came forward with their
+      wives and families.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril shook hands with them all, and said a few words to each. The elder
+      men had all ridden by his father in battle, and most of the younger ones
+      said, as he shook hands with them,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "My father fell, under Sir Aubrey, at Naseby," or "at Worcester," or in
+      other battles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By the time all had been introduced, a great cask of wine had been
+      broached, and after the tenants had drunk to his health, and he had, in
+      turn, pledged them, Cyril entered the house with Sydney and Mr. Popham,
+      and proceeded to examine it under the guidance of the old man who had been
+      his father's butler, and whose wife had also been a servant in Sir
+      Aubrey's time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Everything is just as it was then, Sir Cyril. A few fresh articles of
+      furniture have been added, but Mr. Harvey would have no general change
+      made. The family pictures hang just where they did, and your father
+      himself would scarce notice the changes."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is indeed a fine old mansion, Cyril," Lord Oliphant said, when they
+      had made a tour of the house; "and now that I see it and its furniture I
+      am even more inclined than before to admire the man who could voluntarily
+      resign them. I shall have to modify my ideas of the Puritans. They have
+      shown themselves ready to leave the country and cross the ocean to
+      America, and begin life anew for conscience' sake&mdash;that is to say, to
+      escape persecution&mdash;and they fought very doughtily, and we must own,
+      very successfully, for the same reason, but this is the first time I have
+      ever heard of one of them relinquishing a fine estate for conscience'
+      sake."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Mr. Harvey is indeed a most worthy gentleman," Mr. Popham said, "and has
+      the esteem and respect of all, even of those who are of wholly different
+      politics. Still, it may be that although he would in any case, I believe,
+      have left this property to Sir Cyril, he might not have handed it over to
+      him in his lifetime, had not he received so great a service at his hands."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Why, what is this, Cyril?" Sydney said, turning upon him. "You have told
+      us nothing whatever of any services rendered. I never saw such a fellow as
+      you are for helping other people."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There was nothing worth speaking of," Cyril said, much vexed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Popham smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Most people would think it was a very great service, Lord Oliphant.
+      However, I may not tell you what it was, although I have heard all the
+      details from my father-in-law, Mr. Goldsworthy. They were told in
+      confidence, and in order to enlighten me as to the relations between Mr.
+      Harvey and Sir Cyril, and as they relate to painful family matters I am
+      bound to preserve an absolute silence."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will be content to wait, Cyril, till I get you to myself. It is a
+      peculiarity of Sir Cyril Shenstone, Mr. Popham, that he goes through life
+      doing all sorts of services for all sorts of people. You may not know that
+      he saved the lives of my three sisters in a fire at our mansion in the
+      Savoy; he also performed the trifling service of saving Prince Rupert's
+      ship and the lives of all on board, among whom was myself, from a Dutch
+      fire-ship, in the battle of Lowestoft. These are insignificant affairs,
+      that he would not think it worth while to allude to, even if you knew him
+      for twenty years."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You do not know Lord Oliphant, Mr. Popham," Cyril laughed, "or you would
+      be aware that his custom is to make mountains out of molehills. But let us
+      sit down to dinner. I suppose it is your forethought, Mr. Popham, that I
+      have to thank for having warned them to make this provision? I had thought
+      that we should be lucky if the resources of the establishment sufficed to
+      furnish us with a meal of bread and cheese."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I sent on a few things with my messenger yesterday evening, Sir Cyril,
+      but for the hare and those wild ducks methinks you have to thank your
+      tenants, who doubtless guessed that an addition to the larder would be
+      welcome. I have no doubt that, good landlord as Mr. Harvey was, they are
+      really delighted to have you among them again. As you know, these eastern
+      counties were the stronghold of Puritanism, and that feeling is still held
+      by the majority. It is only among the tenants of many gentlemen who, like
+      your father, were devoted Royalists, that there is any very strong feeling
+      the other way. As you heard from their lips, most of your older tenants
+      fought under Sir Aubrey, while the fathers of the younger ones fell under
+      his banner. Consequently, it was galling to them that one of altogether
+      opposite politics should be their landlord, and although in every other
+      respect they had reason to like him, he was, as it were, a symbol of their
+      defeat, and I suppose they viewed him a good deal as the Saxons of old
+      times regarded their Norman lords."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I can quite understand that, Mr. Popham."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Another feeling has worked in your favour, Sir Cyril," the lawyer went
+      on. "It may perhaps be a relic of feudalism, but there can be no doubt
+      that there exists, in the minds of English country folks, a feeling of
+      respect and of something like affection for their landlords when men of
+      old family, and that feeling is never transferred to new men who may take
+      their place. Mr. Harvey was, in their eyes, a new man&mdash;a wealthy one,
+      no doubt, but owing his wealth to his own exertions&mdash;and he would
+      never have excited among them the same feeling as they gave to the family
+      who had, for several hundred years, been owners of the soil."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril remained for a fortnight at Upmead, calling on all the tenants, and
+      interesting himself in them and their families. The day after his arrival
+      he rode into Norwich, and paid a visit to Mr. Harvey. He had, in
+      compliance to his wishes, written but a short letter of acknowledgment of
+      the restitution of the estate, but he now expressed the deep feeling of
+      gratitude that he entertained.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have only done what is right," Mr. Harvey said quietly, "and would
+      rather not be thanked for it; but your feelings are natural, and I have
+      therefore not checked your words. It was assuredly God's doing in so
+      strangely bringing us together, and making you an instrument in saving our
+      lives, and so awakening an uneasy conscience into activity. I have had but
+      small pleasure from Upmead. I have a house here which is more than
+      sufficient for all my wants, and I have, I hope, the respect of my
+      townsfellows, and the affection of my workmen. At Upmead I was always
+      uncomfortable. Such of the county gentlemen who retained their estates
+      looked askance at me. The tenants, I knew, though they doffed their hats
+      as I passed them, regarded me as a usurper. I had no taste for the sports
+      and pleasures of country life, being born and bred a townsman. The
+      ill-doing of my son cast a gloom over my life of late. I have lived
+      chiefly here with the society of friends of my own religious and political
+      feeling. Therefore, I have made no sacrifice in resigning my tenancy of
+      Upmead, and I pray you say no further word of your gratitude. I have
+      heard, from one who was there yesterday, how generously you spoke of me to
+      your tenants, and I thank you for so doing, for it is pleasant for me to
+      stand well in the thoughts of those whose welfare I have had at heart."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I trust that Mrs. Harvey is in good health?" Cyril said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "She is far from well, Cyril. The events of that night in London have told
+      heavily upon her, as is not wonderful, for she has suffered much sorrow
+      for years, and this last blow has broken her sorely. She mourns, as David
+      mourned over the death of Absalom, over the wickedness of her son, but she
+      is quite as one with me in the measures that I have taken concerning him,
+      save that, at her earnest prayer, I have made a provision for him which
+      will keep him from absolute want, and will leave him no excuse to urge
+      that he was driven by poverty into crime. Mr. Goldsworthy has not yet
+      discovered means of communicating with him, but when he does so he will
+      notify him that he has my instructions to pay to him fifteen pounds on the
+      first of every month, and that the offer of assistance to pay his passage
+      to America is still open to him, and that on arriving there he will
+      receive for three years the same allowance as here. Then if a favourable
+      report of his conduct is forthcoming from the magistrates and deacons of
+      the town where he takes up his residence, a correspondent of Mr.
+      Goldsworthy's will be authorised to expend four thousand pounds on the
+      purchase of an estate for him, and to hand to him another thousand for the
+      due working and maintenance of the same. For these purposes I have already
+      made provisions in my will, with proviso that if, at the end of five years
+      after my death, no news of him shall be obtained, the money set aside for
+      these purposes shall revert to the main provisions of the will. It may be
+      that he died of the Plague. It may be that he has fallen, or will fall, a
+      victim to his own evil courses and evil passions. But I am convinced that,
+      should he be alive, Mr. Goldsworthy will be able to obtain tidings of him
+      long before the five years have expired. And now," he said, abruptly
+      changing the subject, "what are you thinking of doing, Sir Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "In the first place, sir, I am going to sea again with the Fleet very
+      shortly. I entered as a Volunteer for the war, and could not well, even if
+      I wished it, draw back."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They are a stiff-necked people," Mr. Harvey said. "That the Sovereigns of
+      Europe should have viewed with displeasure the overthrow of the monarchy
+      here was natural enough; but in Holland, if anywhere, we might have looked
+      for sympathy, seeing that as they had battled for freedom of conscience,
+      so had we done here; and yet they were our worst enemies, and again and
+      again had Blake to sail forth to chastise them. They say that Monk is to
+      command this time?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I believe so, sir."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Monk is the bruised reed that pierced our hand, but he is a good fighter.
+      And after the war is over, Sir Cyril, you will not, I trust, waste your
+      life in the Court of the profligate King?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Certainly not," Cyril said earnestly. "As soon as the war is over I shall
+      return to Upmead and take up my residence there. I have lived too hard a
+      life to care for the gaieties of Court, still less of a Court like that of
+      King Charles. I shall travel for a while in Europe if there is a genuine
+      peace. I have lost the opportunity of completing my education, and am too
+      old now to go to either of the Universities. Not too old perhaps; but I
+      have seen too much of the hard side of life to care to pass three years
+      among those who, no older than myself, are still as boys in their
+      feelings. The next best thing, therefore, as it seems to me, would be to
+      travel, and perhaps to spend a year or two in one of the great
+      Universities abroad."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The matter is worth thinking over," Mr. Harvey said. "You are assuredly
+      young yet to settle down alone at Upmead, and will reap much advantage
+      from speaking French which is everywhere current, and may greatly aid you
+      in making your travels useful to you. I have no fear of your falling into
+      Popish error, Sir Cyril; but if my wishes have any weight with you I would
+      pray you to choose the schools of Leyden or Haarlem, should you enter a
+      foreign University, for they turn out learned men and good divines."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Certainly your wishes have weight with me, Mr. Harvey, and should events
+      so turn out that I can enter one of the foreign Universities, it shall be
+      one of those you name&mdash;that is, should we, after this war is ended,
+      come into peaceful relations with the Dutch."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before leaving the Earl's, Cyril had promised faithfully that he would
+      return thither with Sydney, and accordingly, at the end of the fortnight,
+      he rode back with him there, and, three weeks later, journeyed up to
+      London with the Earl and his family.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the middle of March when they reached London. The Court had come up
+      a day or two before, and the Fleet was, as Cyril learnt, being fitted out
+      in great haste. The French had now, after hesitating all through the
+      winter, declared war against us, and it was certain that we should have
+      their fleet as well as that of the Dutch to cope with. Calling upon Prince
+      Rupert on the day he arrived, Cyril learnt that the Fleet would assuredly
+      put to sea in a month's time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Would you rather join at once, or wait until I go on board?" the Prince
+      asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I would rather join at once, sir. I have no business to do in London, and
+      it would be of no use for me to take an apartment when I am to leave so
+      soon; therefore, if I can be of any use, I would gladly join at once."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You would be of no use on board," the Prince said, "but assuredly you
+      could be of use in carrying messages, and letting me know frequently, from
+      your own report, how matters are going on. I heard yesterday that the <i>Fan
+      Fan</i> is now fitted out. You shall take the command of her. I will give
+      you a letter to the boatswain, who is at present in charge, saying that I
+      have placed her wholly under your orders. You will, of course, live on
+      board. You will be chiefly at Chatham and Sheerness. If you call early
+      to-morrow I will have a letter prepared for you, addressed to all captains
+      holding commands in the White Squadron, bidding them to acquaint you,
+      whensoever you go on board, with all particulars of how matters have been
+      pushed forward, and to give you a list of all things lacking. Then, twice
+      a week you will sail up to town, and report to me, or, should there be any
+      special news at other times, send it to me by a mounted messenger. Mr.
+      Pepys, the secretary, is a diligent and hard-working man, but he cannot
+      see to everything, and Albemarle so pushes him that I think the White
+      Squadron does not get a fair share of attention; but if I can go to him
+      with your reports in hand, I may succeed in getting what is necessary
+      done."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bidding farewell to the Earl and his family, and thanking him for his
+      kindness, Cyril stopped that night at Captain Dave's, and told him of all
+      that had happened since they met. The next morning he went early to Prince
+      Rupert's, received the two letters, and rode down to Chatham. Then,
+      sending the horses back by his servant, who was to take them to the Earl's
+      stable, where they would be cared for until his return, Cyril went on
+      board the <i>Fan Fan</i>. For the next month he was occupied early and
+      late with his duties. The cabin was small, but very comfortable. The crew
+      was a strong one, for the yacht rowed twelve oars, with which she could
+      make good progress even without her sails. He was waited on by his
+      servant, who returned as soon as he had left the horses in the Earl's
+      stables; his cooking was done for him in the yacht's galley. On occasions,
+      as the tide suited, he either sailed up to London in the afternoon, gave
+      his report to the Prince late in the evening, and was back at Sheerness by
+      daybreak, or he sailed up at night, saw the Prince as soon as he rose, and
+      returned at once.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince highly commended his diligence, and told him that his reports
+      were of great use to him, as, with them in his hand, he could not be put
+      off at the Admiralty with vague assurances. Every day one or more ships
+      went out to join the Fleet that was gathering in the Downs, and on April
+      20th Cyril sailed in the <i>Fan Fan</i>, in company with the last vessel
+      of the White Squadron, and there again took up his quarters on board the
+      <i>Henrietta</i>, the <i>Fan Fan</i> being anchored hard by in charge of
+      the boatswain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the 23rd, the Prince, with the Duke of Albemarle, and a great company
+      of noblemen and gentlemen, arrived at Deal, and came on board the Fleet,
+      which, on May 1st, weighed anchor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lord Oliphant was among the volunteers who came down with the Prince, and,
+      as many of the other gentlemen had also been on board during the first
+      voyage, Cyril felt that he was among friends, and had none of the feeling
+      of strangeness and isolation he had before experienced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The party was indeed a merry one. For upwards of a year the fear of the
+      Plague had weighed on all England. At the time it increased so terribly in
+      London, that all thought it would, like the Black Death, spread over
+      England, and that, once again, half the population of the country might be
+      swept away. Great as the mortality had been, it had been confined almost
+      entirely to London and some of the great towns, and now that it had died
+      away even in these, there was great relief in men's minds, and all felt
+      that they had personally escaped from a terrible and imminent danger. That
+      they were about to face peril even greater than that from which they had
+      escaped did not weigh on the spirits of the gentlemen on board Prince
+      Rupert's ship. To be killed fighting for their country was an honourable
+      death that none feared, while there had been, in the minds of even the
+      bravest, a horror of death by the Plague, with all its ghastly
+      accompaniments. Sailing out to sea to the Downs, then, they felt that the
+      past year's events lay behind them as an evil dream, and laughed and
+      jested and sang with light-hearted mirth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As yet, the Dutch had not put out from port, and for three weeks the Fleet
+      cruised off their coast. Then, finding that the enemy could not be tempted
+      to come out, they sailed back to the Downs. The day after they arrived
+      there, a messenger came down from London with orders to Prince Rupert to
+      sail at once with the White Squadron to engage the French Fleet, which was
+      reported to be on the point of putting to sea. The Prince had very little
+      belief that the French really intended to fight. Hitherto, although they
+      had been liberal in their promises to the Dutch, they had done nothing
+      whatever to aid them, and the general opinion was that France rejoiced at
+      seeing her rivals damage each other, but had no idea of risking her ships
+      or men in the struggle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I believe, gentlemen," Prince Rupert said to his officers, "that this is
+      but a ruse on the part of Louis to aid his Dutch allies by getting part of
+      our fleet out of the way. Still, I have nothing to do but to obey orders,
+      though I fear it is but a fool's errand on which we are sent."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The wind was from the north-east, and was blowing a fresh gale. The Prince
+      prepared to put to sea. While the men were heaving at the anchors a
+      message came to Cyril that Prince Rupert wished to speak to him in his
+      cabin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Sir Cyril, I am going to restore you to your command. The wind is so
+      strong and the sea will be so heavy that I would not risk my yacht and the
+      lives of the men by sending her down the Channel. I do not think there is
+      any chance of our meeting the French, and believe that it is here that the
+      battle will be fought, for with this wind the Dutch can be here in a few
+      hours, and I doubt not that as soon as they learn that one of our
+      squadrons has sailed away they will be out. The <i>Fan Fan</i> will sail
+      with us, but will run into Dover as we pass. Here is a letter that I have
+      written ordering you to do so, and authorising you to put out and join the
+      Admiral's Fleet, should the Dutch attack before my return. If you like to
+      have young Lord Oliphant with you he can go, but he must go as a Volunteer
+      under you. You are the captain of the <i>Fan Fan</i>, and have been so for
+      the last two months; therefore, although your friend is older than you
+      are, he must, if he choose to go, be content to serve under you. Stay, I
+      will put it to him myself."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He touched the bell, and ordered Sydney to be sent for.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Lord Oliphant," he said, "I know that you and Sir Cyril are great
+      friends. I do not consider that the <i>Fan Fan</i>, of which he has for
+      some time been commander, is fit to keep the sea in a gale like this, and
+      I have therefore ordered him to take her into Dover. If the Dutch come out
+      to fight the Admiral, as I think they will, he will join the Fleet, and
+      although the <i>Fan Fan</i> can take but small share in the fighting, she
+      may be useful in carrying messages from the Duke while the battle is going
+      on. It seems to me that, as the <i>Fan Fan</i> is more likely to see
+      fighting than my ships, you, as a Volunteer, might prefer to transfer
+      yourself to her until she again joins us. Sir Cyril is younger than you
+      are, but if you go, you must necessarily be under his command seeing that
+      he is captain of the yacht. It is for you to choose whether you will
+      remain here or go with him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should like to go with him, sir. He has had a good deal of experience
+      of the sea, while I have never set foot on board ship till last year. And
+      after what he did at Lowestoft I should say that any gentleman would be
+      glad to serve under him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is the right feeling," Prince Rupert said warmly. "Then get your
+      things transferred to the yacht. If you join Albemarle's Fleet, Sir Cyril,
+      you will of course report yourself to him, and say that I directed you to
+      place yourself under his orders."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Five minutes later Cyril and his friend were on board the <i>Fan Fan.</i>
+      Scarcely had they reached her, when a gun was fired from Prince Rupert's
+      ship as a signal, and the ships of the White Squadron shook out their
+      sails, and, with the wind free, raced down towards the South Foreland.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We are to put into Dover," Cyril said to the boatswain, a weatherbeaten
+      old sailor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The Lord be praised for that, sir! She is a tight little craft, but there
+      will be a heavy sea on as soon we are beyond shelter of the sands, and
+      with these two guns on board of her she will make bad weather. Besides, in
+      a wind like this, it ain't pleasant being in a little craft in the middle
+      of a lot of big ones, for if we were not swamped by the sea, we might very
+      well be run down. We had better keep her close to the Point, yer honour,
+      and then run along, under shelter of the cliffs, into Dover. The water
+      will be pretty smooth in there, though we had best carry as little sail as
+      we can, for the gusts will come down from above fit to take the mast out
+      of her."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am awfully glad you came with me, Sydney," Cyril said, as he took his
+      place with his friend near the helmsman, "but I wish the Prince had put
+      you in command. Of course, it is only a nominal thing, for the boatswain
+      is really the captain in everything that concerns making sail and giving
+      orders to the crew. Still, it would have been much nicer the other way."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't see that it would, Cyril," Sydney laughed, "for you know as much
+      more about handling a boat like this than I do, as the boatswain does than
+      yourself. You have been on board her night and day for more than a month,
+      and even if you knew nothing about her at all, Prince Rupert would have
+      been right to choose you as a recognition of your great services last
+      time. Don't think anything about it. We are friends, and it does not
+      matter a fig which is the nominal commander. I was delighted to come, not
+      only to be with you, but because it will be a very great deal pleasanter
+      being our own masters on board this pretty little yacht than being
+      officers on board the <i>Henrietta</i> where we would have been only in
+      the way except when we went into action."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as they rounded the Point most of the sail was taken off the <i>Fan
+      Fan,</i> but even under the small canvas she carried she lay over until
+      her lee rail was almost under water when the heavy squalls swooped down on
+      her from the cliffs. The rest of the squadron was keeping some distance
+      out, presenting a fine sight as the ships lay over, sending the spray
+      flying high into the air from their bluff bows, and plunging deeply into
+      the waves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, it is very distinctly better being where we are," Lord Oliphant
+      said, as he gazed at them. "I was beginning to feel qualmish before we got
+      under shelter of the Point, and by this time, if I had been on board the
+      <i>Henrietta,</i> I should have been prostrate, and should have had I know
+      not how long misery before me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A quarter of an hour later they were snugly moored in Dover Harbour. For
+      twenty-four hours the gale continued; the wind then fell somewhat, but
+      continued to blow strongly from the same quarter. Two days later it veered
+      round to the south-west, and shortly afterwards the English Fleet could be
+      seen coming out past the Point. As soon as they did so they headed
+      eastward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They are going out to meet the Dutch," Sydney said, as they watched the
+      ships from the cliffs, "The news must have arrived that their fleet has
+      put out to sea."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then we may as well be off after them, Sydney; they will sail faster than
+      we shall in this wind, for it is blowing too strongly for us to carry much
+      sail."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They hurried on board. A quarter of an hour later the <i>Fan Fan</i> put
+      out from the harbour. The change of wind had caused an ugly cross sea and
+      the yacht made bad weather of it, the waves constantly washing over her
+      decks, but before they were off Calais she had overtaken some of the
+      slower sailers of the Fleet. The sea was less violent as they held on, for
+      they were now, to some extent, sheltered by the coast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a short time Cyril ran down into the cabin where Sydney was lying ill.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The Admiral has given the signal to anchor, and the leading ships are
+      already bringing up. We will choose a berth as near the shore as we can;
+      with our light draught we can lie well inside of the others, and shall be
+      in comparatively smooth water."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before dusk the Fleet was at anchor, with the exception of two or three of
+      the fastest frigates, which were sent on to endeavour to obtain some news
+      of the enemy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XX &mdash; THE FIGHT OFF DUNKIRK
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      As soon as the <i>Fan Fan</i> had been brought to an anchor the boat was
+      lowered, and Cyril was rowed on board the Admiral's ship.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Albemarle was on the poop, and Cyril made his report to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Very well, sir," the Duke said, "I dare say I shall be able to make you
+      of some use. Keep your craft close to us when we sail. I seem to know your
+      face."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am Sir Cyril Shenstone, my Lord Duke. I had the honour of meeting you
+      first at the fire in the Savoy, and Prince Rupert afterwards was good
+      enough to present me to you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, yes, I remember. And it was you who saved the <i>Henrietta</i> from
+      the fire-ship at Lowestoft. You have begun well indeed, young sir, and are
+      like to have further opportunities of showing your bravery."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril bowed, and then, going down the side to his boat, returned to the <i>Fan
+      Fan.</i> She was lying in almost smooth water, and Sydney had come up on
+      deck again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You heard no news of the Dutch, I suppose, Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No; I asked a young officer as I left the ship, and he said that, so far
+      as he knew, nothing had been heard of them, but news had come in, before
+      the Admiral sailed from the Downs, that everything was ready for sea, and
+      that orders were expected every hour for them to put out."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is rather to be hoped that they won't put out for another two days,"
+      Sydney said. "That will give the Prince time to rejoin with his squadron.
+      The wind is favourable now for his return, and I should think, as soon as
+      they hear in London that the Dutch are on the point of putting out, and
+      Albemarle has sailed, they will send him orders to join us at once. We
+      have only about sixty sail, while they say that the Dutch have over
+      ninety, which is too heavy odds against us to be pleasant."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should think the Duke will not fight till the Prince comes up."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't think he will wait for him if he finds the Dutch near. All say
+      that he is over-confident, and apt to despise the Dutch too much. Anyhow,
+      he is as brave as a lion, and, though he might not attack unless the Dutch
+      begin it, I feel sure he will not run away from them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning early, the <i>Bristol</i> frigate was seen returning from
+      the east. She had to beat her way back in the teeth of the wind, but, when
+      still some miles away, a puff of white smoke was seen to dart out from her
+      side, and presently the boom of a heavy gun was heard. Again and again she
+      fired, and the signal was understood to be a notification that she had
+      seen the Dutch. The signal for the captains of the men-of-war to come on
+      board was at once run up to the mast-head of the flagship, followed by
+      another for the Fleet to be prepared to weigh anchor. Captain Bacon, of
+      the <i>Bristol</i>, went on board as soon as his ship came up. In a short
+      time the boats were seen to put off, and as the captains reached their
+      respective ships the signal to weigh anchor was hoisted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was hailed with a burst of cheering throughout the Fleet, and all
+      felt that it signified that they would soon meet the Dutch. The <i>Fan Fan</i>
+      was under sail long before the men-of-war had got up their heavy anchors,
+      and, sailing out, tacked backwards and forwards until the Fleet were under
+      sail, when Cyril told the boatswain to place her within a few cables'
+      length of the flagship on her weather quarter. After two hours' sail the
+      Dutch Fleet were made out, anchored off Dunkirk. The Blue Squadron, under
+      Sir William Berkley, led the way, the Red Squadron, under the Duke,
+      following.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will put a man in the chains with the lead," the boatswain said to
+      Cyril. "There are very bad sands off Dunkirk, and though we might get over
+      them in safety, the big ships would take ground, and if they did so we
+      should be in a bad plight indeed."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "In that case, we had best slack out the sheet a little, and take up our
+      post on the weather bow of the Admiral, so that we can signal to him if we
+      find water failing."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The topsail was hoisted, and the <i>Fan Fan,</i> which was a very fast
+      craft in comparatively smooth water, ran past the Admiral's flagship.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Shall I order him back, your Grace?" the Captain asked angrily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Albemarle looked at the <i>Fan Fan</i> attentively.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They have got a man sounding," he said. "It is a wise precaution. The
+      young fellow in command knows what he is doing. We ought to have been
+      taking the same care. See! he is taking down his topsail again. Set an
+      officer to watch the yacht, and if they signal, go about at once."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The soundings continued for a short time at six fathoms, when suddenly the
+      man at the lead called out sharply,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Three fathoms!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril ran to the flagstaff, and as the next cry came&mdash;"Two fathoms!"&mdash;hauled
+      down the flag and stood waving his cap, while the boatswain, who had gone
+      to the tiller, at once pushed it over to starboard, and brought the yacht
+      up into the wind. Cyril heard orders shouted on board the flagship, and
+      saw her stern sweeping round. A moment later her sails were aback, but the
+      men, who already clustered round the guns, were not quick enough in
+      hauling the yards across, and, to his dismay, he saw the main topmast
+      bend, and then go over the side with a crash. All was confusion on board,
+      and for a time it seemed as if the other topmast would also go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Run her alongside within hailing distance," Cyril said to the boatswain.
+      "They will want to question us."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As they came alongside the flagship the Duke himself leant over the side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What water had you when you came about, sir?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We went suddenly from six fathoms to three, your Grace," Cyril shouted,
+      "and a moment after we found but two."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Very well, sir," the Duke called back. "In that case you have certainly
+      saved our ship. I thought perhaps that you had been over-hasty, and had
+      thus cost us our topmast, but I see it was not so, and thank you. Our
+      pilot assured us there was plenty of water on the course we were taking."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ships of the Red Squadron had all changed their course on seeing the
+      flagship come about so suddenly, and considerable delay and confusion was
+      caused before they again formed in order, and, in obedience to the Duke's
+      signal, followed in support of the Blue Squadron. This had already dashed
+      into the midst of the Dutch Fleet, who were themselves in some confusion;
+      for, so sudden had been the attack, that they had been forced to cut their
+      cables, having no time to get up their anchors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The British ships poured in their broadsides as they approached, while the
+      Dutch opened a tremendous cannonade. Besides their great inferiority in
+      numbers, the British were under a serious disadvantage. They had the
+      weather gauge, and the wind was so strong that it heeled them over, so
+      that they were unable to open their lower ports, and were therefore
+      deprived of the use of their heaviest guns.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Four of the ships of the Red Squadron remained by the flagship, to protect
+      her if attacked, and to keep off fire-ships, while her crew laboured to
+      get up another topmast. More than three hours were occupied in this
+      operation, but so busily did the rest of the Fleet keep the Dutch at work
+      that they were unable to detach sufficient ships to attack her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as the topmast was in place and the sails hoisted, the flagship
+      and her consorts hastened to join their hard-pressed comrades.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The fight was indeed a desperate one. Sir William Berkley and his ship,
+      the <i>Swiftsure,</i> a second-rate, was taken, as was the <i>Essex,</i> a
+      third-rate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The <i>Henry,</i> commanded by Sir John Harman, was surrounded by foes.
+      Her sails and rigging were shot to pieces, so she was completely disabled,
+      and the Dutch Admiral, Cornelius Evertz, summoned Sir John Harman to
+      surrender.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It has not come to that yet," Sir John shouted back, and continued to
+      pour such heavy broadsides into the Dutch that several of their ships were
+      greatly damaged, and Evertz himself killed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Dutch captains drew off their vessels, and launched three fire-ships
+      at the <i>Henry.</i> The first one, coming up on her starboard quarter,
+      grappled with her. The dense volumes of smoke rising from her prevented
+      the sailors from discovering where the grapnels were fixed, and the flames
+      were spreading to her when her boatswain gallantly leapt on board the
+      fire-ship, and, by the light of its flames, discovered the grapnels and
+      threw them overboard, and succeeded in regaining his ship.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A moment later, the second fire-ship came up on the port side, and so
+      great a body of flames swept across the <i>Henry</i> that her chaplain and
+      fifty men sprang overboard. Sir John, however, drew his sword, and
+      threatened to cut down the first man who refused to obey orders, and the
+      rest of the crew, setting manfully to work, succeeded in extinguishing the
+      flames, and in getting free of the fire-ship. The halliards of the main
+      yard were, however, burnt through, and the spar fell, striking Sir John
+      Harman to the deck and breaking his leg.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The third fire-ship was received with the fire of four cannon loaded with
+      chain shot. These brought her mast down, and she drifted by, clear of the
+      <i>Henry,</i> which was brought safely into Harwich.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The fight continued the whole day, and did not terminate until ten o'clock
+      in the evening. The night was spent in repairing damages, and in the
+      morning the English recommenced the battle. It was again obstinately
+      contested. Admiral Van Tromp threw himself into the midst of the British
+      line, and suffered so heavily that he was only saved by the arrival of
+      Admiral de Ruyter. He, in his turn, was in a most perilous position, and
+      his ship disabled, when fresh reinforcements arrived. And so the battle
+      raged, until, in the afternoon, as if by mutual consent, the Fleets drew
+      off from each other, and the battle ceased. The fighting had been
+      extraordinarily obstinate and determined on both sides, many ships had
+      been sunk, several burnt, and some captured. The sea was dotted with
+      wreckage, masts, and spars, fragments of boats and <i>débris</i> of all
+      kinds. Both fleets presented a pitiable appearance; the hulls, but
+      forty-eight hours ago so trim and smooth, were splintered and jagged,
+      port-holes were knocked into one, bulwarks carried away, and stern
+      galleries gone. The sails were riddled with shot-holes, many of the ships
+      had lost one or more masts, while the light spars had been, in most cases,
+      carried away, and many of the yards had come down owing to the destruction
+      of the running gear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In so tremendous a conflict the little <i>Fan Fan</i> could bear but a
+      small part. Cyril and Lord Oliphant agreed, at the commencement of the
+      first day's fight, that it would be useless for them to attempt to fire
+      their two little guns, but that their efforts should be entirely directed
+      against the enemy's fire-ships. During each day's battle, then, they
+      hovered round the flagship, getting out of the way whenever she was
+      engaged, as she often was, on both broadsides, and although once or twice
+      struck by stray shots, the <i>Fan Fan</i> received no serious damage. In
+      this encounter of giants, the little yacht was entirely overlooked, and
+      none of the great ships wasted a shot upon her. Two or three times each
+      day, when the Admiral's ship had beaten off her foes, a fire-ship directed
+      its course against her. Then came the <i>Fan Fan's</i> turn for action.
+      Under the pressure of her twelve oars she sped towards the fire-ship, and
+      on reaching her a grapnel was thrown over the end of the bowsprit, and by
+      the efforts of the rowers her course was changed, so that she swept
+      harmlessly past the flagship.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Twice when the vessels were coming down before the wind at a rate of speed
+      that rendered it evident that the efforts of the men at the oars would be
+      insufficient to turn her course, the <i>Fan Fan</i> was steered alongside,
+      grapnels were thrown, and, headed by Lord Oliphant and Cyril, the crew
+      sprang on board, cut down or drove overboard the few men who were in
+      charge of her. Then, taking the helm and trimming the sails, they directed
+      her against one of the Dutch men-of-war, threw the grapnels on board,
+      lighted the train, leapt back into the <i>Fan Fan</i>, rowed away, and
+      took up their place near the Admiral, the little craft being greeted with
+      hearty cheers by the whole ship's company.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The afternoon was spent in repairing damages as far as practicable, but
+      even the Duke saw it was impossible to continue the fight. The Dutch had
+      received a reinforcement while the fighting was going on that morning, and
+      although the English had inflicted terrible damage upon the Dutch Fleet,
+      their own loss in ships was greater than that which they had caused their
+      adversaries. A considerable portion of their vessels were not in a
+      condition to renew the battle, and the carpenters had hard work to save
+      them from sinking outright. Albemarle himself embarked on the <i>Fan Fan</i>,
+      and sailed from ship to ship, ascertaining the condition of each, and the
+      losses its crew had suffered. As soon as night fell, the vessels most
+      disabled were ordered to sail for England as they best could. The crew of
+      three which were totally dismasted and could hardly be kept afloat, were
+      taken out and divided between the twenty-eight vessels which alone
+      remained in a condition to renew the fight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These three battered hulks were, early the next morning, set on fire, and
+      the rest of the Fleet, in good order and prepared to give battle, followed
+      their companions that had sailed on the previous evening. The Dutch
+      followed, but at a distance, thinking to repair their damages still
+      farther before they again engaged. In the afternoon the sails of a
+      squadron were seen ahead, and a loud cheer ran from ship to ship, for all
+      knew that this was Prince Rupert coming up with the White Squadron. A
+      serious loss, however, occurred a few minutes afterwards. The <i>Royal
+      Prince</i>, the largest and most powerful vessel in the Fleet, which was
+      somewhat in rear of the line, struck on the sands. The tide being with
+      them and the wind light, the rest of the Fleet tried in vain to return to
+      her assistance, and as the Dutch Fleet were fast coming up, and some of
+      the fire-ships making for the <i>Royal Prince</i>, they were forced to
+      give up the attempt to succour her, and Sir George Ayscue, her captain,
+      was obliged to haul down his flag and surrender.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as the White Squadron joined the remnant of the Fleet the whole
+      advanced against the Dutch, drums beating and trumpets sounding, and twice
+      made their way through the enemy's line. But it was now growing dark, and
+      the third day's battle came to an end. The next morning it was seen that
+      the Dutch, although considerably stronger than the English, were almost
+      out of sight. The latter at once hoisted sail and pursued, and, at eight
+      o'clock, came up with them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Dutch finding the combat inevitable, the terrible fight was renewed,
+      and raged, without intermission, until seven in the evening. Five times
+      the British passed through the line of the Dutch. On both sides many ships
+      fell out of the fighting line wholly disabled. Several were sunk, and some
+      on both sides forced to surrender, being so battered as to be unable to
+      withdraw from the struggle. Prince Rupert's ship was wholly disabled, and
+      that of Albemarle almost as severely damaged, and the battle, like those
+      of the preceding days, ended without any decided advantage on either side.
+      Both nations claimed the victory, but equally without reason. The Dutch
+      historians compute our loss at sixteen men-of-war, of which ten were sunk
+      and six taken, while we admitted only a loss of nine ships, and claimed
+      that the Dutch lost fifteen men-of-war. Both parties acknowledged that it
+      was the most terrible battle fought in this, or any other modern war.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      De Witte, who at that time was at the head of the Dutch Republic, and who
+      was a bitter enemy of the English, owned, some time afterwards, to Sir
+      William Temple, "that the English got more glory to their nation through
+      the invincible courage of their seamen during those engagements than by
+      the two victories of this war, and that he was sure that his own fleet
+      could not have been brought on to fight the fifth day, after the
+      disadvantages of the fourth, and he believed that no other nation was
+      capable of it but the English."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril took no part in the last day's engagement, for Prince Rupert, when
+      the <i>Fan Fan</i> came near him on his arrival on the previous evening,
+      returned his salute from the poop, and shouted to him that on no account
+      was he to adventure into the fight with the <i>Fan Fan</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morning after the battle ended, Lord Oliphant and Cyril rowed on
+      board Prince Rupert's ship, where every unwounded man was hard at work
+      getting up a jury-mast or patching up the holes in the hull.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, Sir Cyril, I see that you have been getting my yacht knocked
+      about," he said, as they came up to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is not much damage done, sir. She has but two shot-holes in her
+      hull."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And my new mainsail spoiled. Do you know, sir, that I got a severe rating
+      from the Duke yesterday evening, on your account?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril looked surprised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I trust, sir, that I have not in any way disobeyed orders?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, it was not that. He asked after the <i>Fan Fan</i>, and said that he
+      had seen nothing of her during the day's fighting, and I said I had
+      strictly ordered you not to come into the battle. He replied, 'Then you
+      did wrong, Prince, for that little yacht of yours did yeomen's service
+      during the first two days' fighting. I told Sir Cyril to keep her near me,
+      thinking that she would be useful in carrying orders, and during those two
+      days she kept close to us, save when we were surrounded by the enemy. Five
+      times in those three days did she avert fire-ships from us. We were so
+      damaged that we could sail but slowly, and, thinking us altogether
+      unmanageable, the Dutch launched their fire-ships. The <i>Fan Fan</i>
+      rowed to meet them. Three of them were diverted from their course by a
+      rope being thrown over the bowsprit, and the crew rowing so as to turn her
+      head. On the second day there was more wind, and the fire-ships could have
+      held on their course in spite of the efforts of the men on board the <i>Fan
+      Fan</i>. Twice during the day the little boat was boldly laid alongside
+      them, while the crew boarded and captured them, and then, directing them
+      towards the Dutch ships, grappled and set them on fire. One of the
+      Dutchmen was burned, the other managed to throw off the grapnels. It was
+      all done under our eyes, and five times in the two days did my crew cheer
+      your little yacht as she came alongside. So you see, Prince, by ordering
+      her out of the fight you deprived us of the assistance of as boldly
+      handled a little craft as ever sailed.'
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'I am quite proud of my little yacht, gentlemen, and I thank you for
+      having given her so good a christening under fire. But I must stay no
+      longer talking. Here is the despatch I have written of my share of the
+      engagement. You, Sir Cyril, will deliver this. You will now row to the
+      Duke's ship, and he will give you his despatches, which you, Lord
+      Oliphant, will deliver. I need not say that you are to make all haste to
+      the Thames. We have no ship to spare except the <i>Fan Fan</i>, for we
+      must keep the few that are still able to manoeuvre, in case the Dutch
+      should come out again before we have got the crippled ones in a state to
+      make sail. '"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Taking leave of the Prince, they were at once rowed to the Duke's
+      flagship. They had a short interview with the Admiral, who praised them
+      highly for the service they had rendered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will have to tell the story of the fighting," he said, "for the
+      Prince and myself have written but few lines; we have too many matters on
+      our minds to do scribe's work. They will have heard, ere now, of the first
+      two days' fighting, for some of the ships that were sent back will have
+      arrived at Harwich before this. By to-morrow morning I hope to have the
+      Fleet so far refitted as to be able to follow you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Five minutes later, the <i>Fan Fan</i>, with every stitch of sail set, was
+      on her way to the Thames. As a brisk wind was blowing, they arrived in
+      London twenty-four hours later, and at once proceeded to the Admiralty,
+      the despatches being addressed to the Duke of York. They were immediately
+      ushered in to him. Without a word he seized the despatches, tore them
+      open, and ran his eye down them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "God be praised!" he exclaimed, when he finished them. "We had feared even
+      worse intelligence, and have been in a terrible state of anxiety since
+      yesterday, when we heard from Harwich that one of the ships had come in
+      with the news that more than half the Fleet was crippled or destroyed, and
+      that twenty-eight only remained capable of continuing the battle. The only
+      hope was that the White Squadron might arrive in time, and it seems that
+      it has done so. The account of our losses is indeed a terrible one, but at
+      least we have suffered no defeat, and as the Dutch have retreated, they
+      must have suffered well-nigh as much as we have done. Come along with me
+      at once, gentlemen; I must go to the King to inform him of this great
+      news, which is vastly beyond what we could have hoped for. The Duke, in
+      his despatch, tells me that the bearers of it, Lord Oliphant and Sir Cyril
+      Shenstone, have done very great service, having, in Prince Rupert's little
+      yacht, saved his flagship no less than five times from the attacks of the
+      Dutch fire-ships."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke had ordered his carriage to be in readiness as soon as he learnt
+      that the bearers of despatches from the Fleet had arrived. It was already
+      at the door, and, taking his seat in it, with Lord Oliphant and Cyril
+      opposite to him, he was driven to the Palace, learning by the way such
+      details as they could give him of the last two days' fighting. He led them
+      at once to the King's dressing-room. Charles was already attired, for he
+      had passed a sleepless night, and had risen early.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What news, James?" he asked eagerly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Good news, brother. After two more days' fighting&mdash;and terrible
+      fighting, on both sides&mdash;the Dutch Fleet has returned to its ports."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A victory!" the King exclaimed, in delight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A dearly-bought one with the lives of so many brave men, but a victory
+      nevertheless. Here are the despatches from Albemarle and Rupert. They have
+      been brought by these gentlemen, with whom you are already acquainted, in
+      Rupert's yacht. Albemarle speaks very highly of their conduct."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The King took the despatches, and read them eagerly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It has indeed been a dearly-bought victory," he said, "but it is
+      marvellous indeed how our captains and men bore themselves. Never have
+      they shown greater courage and endurance. Well may Monk say that, after
+      four days of incessant fighting and four nights spent in the labour of
+      repairing damages, the strength of all has well-nigh come to an end, and
+      that he himself can write but a few lines to tell me of what has happened,
+      leaving all details for further occasion. I thank you both, gentlemen, for
+      the speed with which you have brought me this welcome news, and for the
+      services of which the Duke of Albemarle speaks so warmly. This is the
+      second time, Sir Cyril, that my admirals have had occasion to speak of
+      great and honourable service rendered by you. Lord Oliphant, the Earl,
+      your father, will have reason to be proud when he hears you so highly
+      praised. Now, gentlemen, tell me more fully than is done in these
+      despatches as to the incidents of the fighting. I have heard something of
+      what took place in the first two days from an officer who posted up from
+      Harwich yesterday."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lord Oliphant related the events of the first two days, and then went on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Of the last two I can say less, Your Majesty, for we took no part in,
+      having Prince Rupert's orders, given as he came up, that we should not
+      adventure into the fight. Therefore, we were but spectators, though we
+      kept on the edge of the fight and, if opportunity had offered, and we had
+      seen one of our ships too hard pressed, and threatened by fire-ships, we
+      should have ventured so far to transgress orders as to bear in and do what
+      we could on her behalf; but indeed, the smoke was so great that we could
+      see but little.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was a strange sight, when, on the Prince's arrival, his ships and
+      those of the Duke's, battered as they were, bore down on the Dutch line;
+      the drums beating, the trumpets sounding, and the crews cheering loudly.
+      We saw them disappear into the Dutch line; then the smoke shut all out
+      from view, and for hours there was but a thick cloud of smoke and a
+      continuous roar of the guns. Sometimes a vessel would come out from the
+      curtain of smoke torn and disabled. Sometimes it was a Dutchman, sometimes
+      one of our own ships. If the latter, we rowed up to them and did our best
+      with planks and nails to stop the yawning holes close to the water-line,
+      while the crew knotted ropes and got up the spars and yards, and then
+      sailed back into the fight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The first day's fighting was comparatively slight, for the Dutch seemed
+      to be afraid to close with the Duke's ships, and hung behind at a
+      distance. It was not till the White Squadron came up, and the Duke turned,
+      with Prince Rupert, and fell upon his pursuers like a wounded boar upon
+      the dogs, that the battle commenced in earnest; but the last day it went
+      on for nigh twelve hours without intermission; and when at last the roar
+      of the guns ceased, and the smoke slowly cleared off, it was truly a
+      pitiful sight, so torn and disabled were the ships.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "As the two fleets separated, drifting apart as it would almost seem, so
+      few were the sails now set, we rowed up among them, and for hours were
+      occupied in picking up men clinging to broken spars and wreckage, for but
+      few of the ships had so much as a single boat left. We were fortunate
+      enough to save well-nigh a hundred, of whom more than seventy were our own
+      men, the remainder Dutch. From these last we learnt that the ships of Van
+      Tromp and Ruyter had both been so disabled that they had been forced to
+      fall out of battle, and had been towed away to port. They said that their
+      Admirals Cornelius Evertz and Van der Hulst had both been killed, while on
+      our side we learnt that Admiral Sir Christopher Mings had fallen."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Did the Dutch Fleet appear to be as much injured as our own?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, Your Majesty. Judging by the sail set when the battle was over,
+      theirs must have been in better condition than ours, which is not
+      surprising, seeing how superior they were in force, and for the most part
+      bigger ships, and carrying more guns."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then you will have your hands full, James, or they will be ready to take
+      to sea again before we are. Next time I hope that we shall meet them with
+      more equal numbers."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will do the best I can, brother," the Duke replied. "Though we have so
+      many ships sorely disabled there have been but few lost, and we can supply
+      their places with the vessels that have been building with all haste. If
+      the Dutch will give us but two months' time I warrant that we shall be
+      able to meet them in good force."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as the audience was over, Cyril and his friend returned to the <i>Fan
+      Fan</i>, and after giving the crew a few hours for sleep, sailed down to
+      Sheerness, where, shortly afterwards, Prince Rupert arrived with a portion
+      of the Fleet, the rest having been ordered to Harwich, Portsmouth, and
+      other ports, so that they could be more speedily refitted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Although the work went on almost without intermission day and night, the
+      repairs were not completed before the news arrived that the Dutch Fleet
+      had again put to sea. Two days later they arrived off our coast, where,
+      finding no fleet ready to meet them, they sailed away to France, where
+      they hoped to be joined by their French allies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two days later, however, our ships began to assemble at the mouth of the
+      Thames, and on June 24th the whole Fleet was ready to take to sea. It
+      consisted of eighty men-of-war, large and small, and nineteen fire-ships.
+      Prince Rupert was in command of the Red Squadron, and the Duke of
+      Albemarle sailed with him, on board the same ship. Sir Thomas Allen was
+      Admiral of the White, and Sir Jeremiah Smith of the Blue Squadron. Cyril
+      remained on board the <i>Fan Fan</i>, Lord Oliphant returning to his
+      duties on board the flagship. Marvels had been effected by the zeal and
+      energy of the crews and dockyard men. But three weeks back, the English
+      ships had, for the most part, been crippled seemingly almost beyond
+      repair, but now, with their holes patched, with new spars, and in the
+      glory of fresh paint and new canvas, they made as brave a show as when
+      they had sailed out from the Downs a month previously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were anchored off the Nore when, late in the evening, the news came
+      out from Sheerness that a mounted messenger had just ridden in from Dover,
+      and that the Dutch Fleet had, in the afternoon, passed the town, and had
+      rounded the South Foreland, steering north.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Orders were at once issued that the Fleet should sail at daybreak, and at
+      three o'clock the next morning they were on their way down the river. At
+      ten o'clock the Dutch Fleet was seen off the North Foreland. According to
+      their own accounts they numbered eighty-eight men-of-war, with twenty-five
+      fire-ships, and were also divided into three squadrons, under De Ruyter,
+      John Evertz, and Van Tromp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The engagement began at noon by an attack by the White Squadron upon that
+      commanded by Evertz. An hour later, Prince Rupert and the Duke, with the
+      Red Squadron, fell upon De Ruyter, while that of Van Tromp, which was at
+      some distance from the others, was engaged by Sir Jeremiah Smith with the
+      Blue Squadron. Sir Thomas Allen completely defeated his opponents, killing
+      Evertz, his vice- and rear-admirals, capturing the vice-admiral of
+      Zeeland, who was with him, and burning a ship of fifty guns.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Red Squadron was evenly matched by that of De Ruyter, and each vessel
+      laid itself alongside an adversary. Although De Ruyter himself and his
+      vice-admiral, Van Ness, fought obstinately, their ships in general,
+      commanded, for the most part, by men chosen for their family influence
+      rather than for either seamanship or courage, behaved but badly, and all
+      but seven gradually withdrew from the fight, and went off under all sail;
+      and De Ruyter, finding himself thus deserted, was forced also to draw off.
+      During this time, Van Tromp, whose squadron was the strongest of the three
+      Dutch divisions, was so furiously engaged by the Blue Squadron, which was
+      the weakest of the English divisions, that he was unable to come to the
+      assistance of his consorts; when, however, he saw the defeat of the rest
+      of the Dutch Fleet, he, too, was obliged to draw off, lest he should have
+      the whole of the English down upon him, and was able the more easily to do
+      so as darkness was closing in when the battle ended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Dutch continued their retreat during the night, followed at a distance
+      by the Red Squadron, which was, next morning, on the point of overtaking
+      them, when the Dutch sought refuge by steering into the shallows, which
+      their light draught enabled them to cross, while the deeper English ships
+      were unable to follow. Great was the wrath and disappointment of the
+      English when they saw themselves thus baulked of reaping the full benefit
+      of the victory. Prince Rupert shouted to Cyril, who, in the <i>Fan Fan</i>,
+      had taken but small share in the engagement, as the fire-ships had not
+      played any conspicuous part in it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Sir Cyril, we can go no farther, but do you pursue De Ruyter and show him
+      in what contempt we hold him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril lifted his hat to show that he heard and understood the order. Then
+      he ordered his men to get out their oars, for the wind was very light,
+      and, amidst loud cheering, mingled with laughter, from the crews of the
+      vessels that were near enough to hear Prince Rupert's order, the <i>Fan
+      Fan</i> rowed out from the English line in pursuit of the Dutch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXI &mdash; LONDON IN FLAMES
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The sailors laughed and joked as they rowed away from the Fleet, but the
+      old boatswain shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We shall have to be careful, Sir Cyril," he said. "It is like a small cur
+      barking at the heels of a bull&mdash;it is good fun enough for a bit, but
+      when the bull turns, perchance the dog will find himself thrown high in
+      the air."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril nodded. He himself considered Prince Rupert's order to be beyond all
+      reason, and given only in the heat of his anger at De Ruyter having thus
+      escaped him, and felt that it was very likely to cost the lives of all on
+      board the <i>Fan Fan</i>. However, there was nothing to do but to carry it
+      out. It seemed to him that the boatswain's simile was a very apt one, and
+      that, although the spectacle of the <i>Fan Fan</i> worrying the great
+      Dutch battle-ship might be an amusing one to the English spectators, it
+      was likely to be a very serious adventure for her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      De Ruyter's ship, which was in the rear of all the other Dutch vessels,
+      was but a mile distant when the <i>Fan Fan</i> started, and as the wind
+      was so light that it scarce filled her sails, the yacht approached her
+      rapidly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We are within half a mile now, your honour," the boatswain said. "I
+      should say we had better go no nearer if we don't want to be blown out of
+      the water."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; I think we may as well stop rowing now, and get the guns to work.
+      There are only those two cannon in her stern ports which can touch us
+      here. She will scarcely come up in the wind to give us a broadside. She is
+      moving so slowly through the water that it would take her a long time to
+      come round, and De Ruyter would feel ashamed to bring his great flag-ship
+      round to crush such a tiny foe."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boatswain went forward to the guns, round which the men, after laying
+      in their oars, clustered in great glee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now," he said, "you have got to make those two guns in the stern your
+      mark. Try and send your shots through the port-holes. It will be a waste
+      to fire them at the hull, for the balls would not penetrate the thick
+      timber that she is built of. Remember, the straighter you aim the more
+      chance there is that the Dutch won't hit us. Men don't stop to aim very
+      straight when they are expecting a shot among them every second. We will
+      fire alternately, and one gun is not to fire until the other is loaded
+      again. I will lay the first gun myself."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a good shot, and the crew cheered as they saw the splinters fly at
+      the edge of the port-hole. Shot after shot was fired with varying success.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Dutch made no reply, and seemed to ignore the presence of their tiny
+      foe. The crew were, for the most part, busy aloft repairing damages, and
+      after half an hour's firing, without eliciting a reply, the boatswain went
+      aft to Cyril, and suggested that they should now aim at the spars.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A lucky shot might do a good deal of damage, sir," he said. "The weather
+      is fine enough at present, but there is no saying when a change may come,
+      and if we could weaken one of the main spars it might be the means of her
+      being blown ashore, should the wind spring up in the right direction."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril assented, and fire was now directed at the masts. A few ropes were
+      cut away, but no serious damage was effected until a shot struck one of
+      the halliard blocks of the spanker, and the sail at once ran down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It has taken a big bit out of the mast, too," the boatswain called
+      exultingly to Cyril. "I think that will rouse the Dutchmen up."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A minute later it was evident that the shot had at least had that effect.
+      Two puffs of smoke spirted out from the stern of the Dutch flagship, and,
+      simultaneously with the roar of the guns, came the hum of two heavy shot
+      flying overhead. Delighted at having excited the Dutchmen's wrath at last,
+      the crew of the <i>Fan Fan</i> took off their hats and gave a loud cheer,
+      and then, more earnestly than before, settled down to work; their guns
+      aimed now, as at first, at the port-holes. Four or five shots were
+      discharged from each of the little guns before the Dutch were ready again.
+      Then came the thundering reports. The <i>Fan Fan's</i> topmast was carried
+      away by one of the shot, but the other went wide. Two or three men were
+      told to cut away the wreckage, and the rest continued their fire. One of
+      the next shots of the enemy was better directed. It struck the deck close
+      to the foot of the mast, committed great havoc in Cyril's cabin, and
+      passed out through the stern below the water-line. Cyril leapt down the
+      companion as he heard the crash, shouting to the boatswain to follow him.
+      The water was coming through the hole in a great jet. Cyril seized a
+      pillow and&mdash;stuffed it into the shot-hole, being drenched from head
+      to foot in the operation. One of the sailors had followed the boatswain,
+      and Cyril called him to his assistance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Get out the oars at once," he said to the boatswain. "Another shot like
+      this and she will go down. Get a piece cut off a spar and make a plug.
+      There is no holding this pillow in its place, and the water comes in fast
+      still."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sailor took Cyril's post while he ran up on deck and assisted in
+      cutting the plug; this was roughly shaped to the size of the hole, and
+      then driven in. It stopped the rush of the water, but a good deal still
+      leaked through.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By the time this was done the <i>Fan Fan</i> had considerably increased
+      her distance from De Ruyter. Four or five more shots were fired from the
+      Dutch ship. The last of these struck the mast ten feet above the deck,
+      bringing it down with a crash. Fortunately, none of the crew were hurt,
+      and, dropping the oars, they hauled the mast alongside, cut the sail from
+      its fastening to the hoops and gaff, and then severed the shrouds and
+      allowed the mast to drift away, while they again settled themselves to the
+      oars. Although every man rowed his hardest, the <i>Fan Fan</i> was half
+      full of water before she reached the Fleet, which was two miles astern of
+      them when they first began to row.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well done, <i>Fan Fan</i>!" Prince Rupert shouted, as the little craft
+      came alongside. "Have you suffered any damage besides your spars? I see
+      you are low in the water."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We were shot through our stern, sir; we put in a plug, but the water
+      comes in still. Will you send a carpenter on board? For I don't think she
+      will float many minutes longer unless we get the hole better stopped."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince gave some orders to an officer standing by him. The latter
+      called two or three sailors and bade them bring some short lengths of
+      thick hawser, while a strong party were set to reeve tackle to the
+      mainyard. As soon as the hawsers, each thirty feet in length, were
+      brought, they were dropped on to the deck of the <i>Fan Fan</i>, and the
+      officer told the crew to pass them under her, one near each end, and to
+      knot the hawsers. By the time this was done, two strong tackles were
+      lowered and fixed to the hawsers, and the crew ordered to come up on to
+      the ship. The tackles were then manned and hauled on by strong parties,
+      and the <i>Fan Fan</i> was gradually raised. The boatswain went below
+      again and knocked out the plug, and, as the little yacht was hoisted up,
+      the water ran out of it. As soon as the hole was above the water-level,
+      the tackle at the bow was gradually slackened off until she lay with her
+      fore-part in the water, which came some distance up her deck. The
+      carpenter then slung himself over the stern, and nailed, first a piece of
+      tarred canvas, and then a square of plank, over the hole. Then the stern
+      tackle was eased off, and the <i>Fan Fan</i> floated on a level keel. Her
+      crew went down to her again, and, in half an hour, pumped her free of
+      water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By this time, the results of the victory were known. On the English side,
+      the <i>Resolution</i> was the only ship lost, she having been burnt by a
+      Dutch fire-ship; three English captains, and about three hundred men were
+      killed. On the other hand, the Dutch lost twenty ships, four admirals, a
+      great many of their captains, and some four thousand men. It was, indeed,
+      the greatest and most complete victory gained throughout the war. Many of
+      the British ships had suffered a good deal, that which carried the Duke's
+      flag most of all, for it had been so battered in the fight with De Ruyter
+      that the Duke and Prince Rupert had been obliged to leave her, and to
+      hoist their flags upon another man-of-war.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning the Fleet sailed to Schonevelt, which was the usual <i>rendezvous</i>
+      of the Dutch Fleet, and there remained some time, altogether undisturbed
+      by the enemy. The <i>Fan Fan</i> was here thoroughly repaired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On July 29th they sailed for Ulic, where they arrived on August 7th, the
+      wind being contrary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Learning that there was a large fleet of merchantmen lying between the
+      islands of Ulic and Schelling, guarded by but two men-of-war, and that
+      there were rich magazines of goods on these islands, it was determined to
+      attack them. Four small frigates, of a slight draught of water, and five
+      fire-ships, were selected for the attack, together with the boats of the
+      Fleet, manned by nine hundred men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the evening of the 8th, Cyril was ordered to go, in the <i>Fan Fan</i>,
+      to reconnoitre the position of the Dutch. He did not sail until after
+      nightfall, and, on reaching the passage between the islands, he lowered
+      his sails, got out his oars, and drifted with the tide silently down
+      through the Dutch merchant fleet, where no watch seemed to be kept, and in
+      the morning carried the news to Sir Robert Holmes, the commander of the
+      expedition, who had anchored a league from the entrance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had sounded the passage as he went through, and it was found that
+      two of the frigates could not enter it. These were left at the anchorage,
+      and, on arriving at the mouth of the harbour, the <i>Tiger</i>, Sir Robert
+      Holmes's flagship, was also obliged to anchor, and he came on board the <i>Fan
+      Fan</i>, on which he hoisted his flag. The captains of the other ships
+      came on board, and it was arranged that the <i>Pembroke</i>, which had but
+      a small draught of water, should enter at once with the five fire-ships.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The attack was completely successful. Two of the fire-ships grappled with
+      the men-of-war and burnt them, while three great merchantmen were
+      destroyed by the others. Then the boats dashed into the fleet, and, with
+      the exception of four or five merchantmen and four privateers, who took
+      refuge in a creek, defended by a battery, the whole of the hundred and
+      seventy merchantmen, the smallest of which was not less than 200 tons
+      burden, and all heavily laden, were burned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next day, Sir Robert Holmes landed eleven companies of troops on the
+      Island of Schonevelt and burnt Bandaris, its principal town, with its
+      magazines and store-houses, causing a loss to the Dutch, according to
+      their own admission, of six million guilders. This, and the loss of the
+      great Fleet, inflicted a very heavy blow upon the commerce of Holland. The
+      <i>Fan Fan</i> had been hit again by a shot from one of the batteries,
+      and, on her rejoining the Fleet, Prince Rupert determined to send her to
+      England so that she could be thoroughly repaired and fitted out again.
+      Cyril's orders were to take her to Chatham, and to hand her over to the
+      dockyard authorities.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I do not think the Dutch will come out and fight us again this autumn,
+      Sir Cyril, so you can take your ease in London as it pleases you. We are
+      now halfway through August, and it will probably be at least a month after
+      your arrival before the <i>Fan Fan</i> is fit for sea again. It may be a
+      good deal longer than that, for they are busy upon the repairs of the
+      ships sent home after the battle, and will hardly take any hands off these
+      to put on to the <i>Fan Fan</i>. In October we shall all be coming home
+      again, so that, until next spring, it is hardly likely that there will be
+      aught doing."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril accordingly returned to London. The wind was contrary, and it was
+      not until the last day of August that he dropped anchor in the Medway.
+      After spending a night at Chatham, he posted up to London the next
+      morning, and, finding convenient chambers in the Savoy, he installed
+      himself there, and then proceeded to the house of the Earl of Wisbech, to
+      whom he was the bearer of a letter from his son. Finding that the Earl and
+      his family were down at his place near Sevenoaks, he went into the City,
+      and spent the evening at Captain Dave's, having ordered his servant to
+      pack a small valise, and bring it with the two horses in the morning. He
+      had gone to bed but an hour when he was awoke by John Wilkes knocking at
+      his door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is a great fire burning not far off, Sir Cyril. A man who ran past
+      told me it was in Pudding Lane, at the top of Fish Street. The Captain is
+      getting up, and is going out to see it; for, with such dry weather as we
+      have been having, there is no saying how far it may go."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril sprang out of his bed and dressed. Captain Dave, accustomed to slip
+      on his clothes in a hurry, was waiting for him, and, with John Wilkes,
+      they sallied out. There was a broad glare of light in the sky, and the
+      bells of many of the churches were ringing out the fire-alarm. As they
+      passed, many people put their heads out from windows and asked where the
+      fire was. In five minutes they approached the scene. A dozen houses were
+      blazing fiercely, while, from those near, the inhabitants were busily
+      removing their valuables. The Fire Companies, with their buckets, were
+      already at work, and lines of men were formed down to the river and were
+      passing along buckets from hand to hand. Well-nigh half the water was
+      spilt, however, before it arrived at the fire, and, in the face of such a
+      body of flame, it seemed to make no impression whatever.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They might as well attempt to pump out a leaky ship with a child's
+      squirt," the Captain said. "The fire will burn itself out, and we must
+      pray heaven that the wind drops altogether; 'tis not strong, but it will
+      suffice to carry the flames across these narrow streets. 'Tis lucky that
+      it is from the east, so there is little fear that it will travel in our
+      direction."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They learnt that the fire had begun in the house of Faryner, the King's
+      baker, though none knew how it had got alight. It was not long before the
+      flames leapt across the lane, five or six houses catching fire almost at
+      the same moment. A cry of dismay broke from the crowd, and the fright of
+      the neighbours increased. Half-clad women hurried from their houses,
+      carrying their babes, and dragging their younger children out. Men
+      staggered along with trunks of clothing and valuables. Many wrung their
+      hands helplessly, while the City Watch guarded the streets leading to
+      Pudding Lane, so as to prevent thieves and vagabonds from taking advantage
+      of the confusion to plunder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With great rapidity the flames spread from house to house. A portion of
+      Fish Street was already invaded, and the Church of St. Magnus in danger.
+      The fears of the people increased in proportion to the advance of the
+      conflagration. The whole neighbourhood was now alarmed, and, in all the
+      streets round, people were beginning to remove their goods. The river
+      seemed to be regarded by all as the safest place of refuge. The boats from
+      the various landing-places had already come up, and these were doing a
+      thriving trade by taking the frightened people, with what goods they
+      carried, to lighters and ships moored in the river.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lines of men passing buckets had long since broken up, it being too
+      evident that their efforts were not of the slightest avail. The wind had,
+      in the last two hours, rapidly increased in strength, and was carrying the
+      burning embers far and wide.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril and his companions had, after satisfying their first curiosity, set
+      to work to assist the fugitives, by aiding them to carry down their goods
+      to the waterside. Cyril was now between eighteen and nineteen, and had
+      grown into a powerful, young fellow, having, since he recovered from the
+      Plague, grown fast and widened out greatly. He was able to shoulder heavy
+      trunks, and to carry them down without difficulty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By six o'clock, however, all were exhausted by their labours, and Captain
+      Dave's proposal, that they should go back and get breakfast and have a
+      wash, was at once agreed to.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this time the greater part of Fish Street was in flames, the Church of
+      St. Magnus had fallen, and the flames had spread to many of the streets
+      and alleys running west. The houses on the Bridge were blazing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, father, what is the news?" Nellie exclaimed, as they entered. "What
+      have you been doing? You are all blackened, like the men who carry out the
+      coals from the ships. I never saw such figures."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We have been helping people to carry their goods down to the water,
+      Nellie. The news is bad. The fire is a terrible one."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That we can see, father. Mother and I were at the window for hours after
+      you left, and the whole sky seemed ablaze. Do you think that there is any
+      danger of its coming here?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The wind is taking the flames the other way, Nellie, but in spite of that
+      I think that there is danger. The heat is so great that the houses catch
+      on this side, and we saw, as we came back, that it had travelled
+      eastwards. Truly, I believe that if the wind keeps on as it is at present,
+      the whole City will be destroyed. However, we will have a wash first and
+      then some breakfast, of which we are sorely in need. Then we can talk over
+      what had best be done."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Little was said during breakfast. The apprentices had already been out,
+      and so excited were they at the scenes they had witnessed that they had
+      difficulty in preserving their usual quiet and submissive demeanour.
+      Captain Dave was wearied with his unwonted exertions. Mrs. Dowsett and
+      Nellie both looked pale and anxious, and Cyril and John Wilkes were
+      oppressed by the terrible scene of destruction and the widespread misery
+      they had witnessed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When breakfast was over, Captain Dave ordered the apprentices on no
+      account to leave the premises. They were to put up the shutters at once,
+      and then to await orders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What do you think we had better do, Cyril?" he said, when the boys had
+      left the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should say that you had certainly better go on board a ship, Captain
+      Dave. There is time to move now quietly, and to get many things taken on
+      board, but if there were a swift change of wind the flames would come down
+      so suddenly that you would have no time to save anything. Do you know of a
+      captain who would receive you?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Certainly; I know of half a dozen."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then the first thing is to secure a boat before they are all taken up."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will go down to the stairs at once."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then I should say, John, you had better go off with Captain Dave, and, as
+      soon as he has arranged with one of the captains, come back to shore. Let
+      the waterman lie off in the stream, for if the flames come this way there
+      will be a rush for boats, and people will not stop to ask to whom they
+      belong. It will be better still to take one of the apprentices with you,
+      leave him at the stairs till you return, and then tie up to a ship till we
+      hail him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That will be the best plan," Captain Dave said. "Now, wife, you and
+      Nellie and the maid had best set to work at once packing up all your best
+      clothes and such other things as you may think most valuable. We shall
+      have time, I hope, to make many trips."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "While you are away, I will go along the street and see whether the fire
+      is making any way in this direction," Cyril said. "Of course if it's
+      coming slowly you will have time to take away a great many things. And we
+      may even hope that it may not come here at all."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Taking one of the apprentices, Captain Dave and John at once started for
+      the waterside, while Cyril made his way westward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Already, people were bringing down their goods from most of the houses.
+      Some acted as if they believed that if they took the goods out of the
+      houses they would be safe, and great piles of articles of all kinds almost
+      blocked the road. Weeping women and frightened children sat on these piles
+      as if to guard them. Some stood at their doors wringing their hands
+      helplessly; others were already starting eastward laden with bundles and
+      boxes, occasionally looking round as if to bid farewell to their homes.
+      Many of the men seemed even more confused and frightened than the women,
+      running hither and thither without purpose, shouting, gesticulating, and
+      seeming almost distraught with fear and grief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had not gone far when he saw that the houses on both sides of the
+      street, at the further end, were already in flames. He was obliged to
+      advance with great caution, for many people were recklessly throwing goods
+      of all kinds from the windows, regardless of whom they might fall upon,
+      and without thought of how they were to be carried away. He went on until
+      close to the fire, and stood for a time watching. The noise was
+      bewildering. Mingled with the roar of the flames, the crackling of
+      woodwork, and the heavy crashes that told of the fall of roofs or walls,
+      was the clang of the alarm-bells, shouts, cries, and screams. The fire
+      spread steadily, but with none of the rapidity with which he had seen it
+      fly along from house to house on the other side of the conflagration. The
+      houses, however, were largely composed of wood. The balconies generally
+      caught first, and the fire crept along under the roofs, and sometimes a
+      shower of tiles, and a burst of flames, showed that it had advanced there,
+      while the lower portion of the house was still intact.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Is it coming, Cyril?" Mrs. Dowsett asked, when he returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is coming steadily," he said, "and can be stopped by nothing short of
+      a miracle. Can I help you in any way?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No," she said; "we have packed as many things as can possibly be carried.
+      It is well that your things are all at your lodging, Cyril, and beyond the
+      risk of this danger."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It would have mattered little about them," he said. "I could have
+      replaced them easily enough. That is but a question of money. And now, in
+      the first place, I will get the trunks and bundles you have packed
+      downstairs. That will save time."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Assisted by the apprentice and Nellie, Cyril got all the things
+      downstairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How long have we, do you think?" Nellie asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should say that in three hours the fire will be here," he said. "It may
+      be checked a little at the cross lanes; but I fear that three hours is all
+      we can hope for."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just as they had finished taking down the trunks, Captain Dave and John
+      Wilkes arrived.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have arranged the affair," the former said. "My old friend, Dick
+      Watson, will take us in his ship; she lies but a hundred yards from the
+      stairs. Now, get on your mantle and hood, Nellie, and bring your mother
+      and maid down."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The three women were soon at the foot of the stairs, and Mrs. Dowsett's
+      face showed signs of tears; but, though pale, she was quiet and calm, and
+      the servant, a stout wench, had gained confidence from her mistress's
+      example. As soon as they were ready, the three men each shouldered a
+      trunk. The servant and the apprentice carried one between them. Mrs.
+      Dowsett and her daughter took as many bundles as they could carry. It was
+      but five minutes' walk down to the stairs. The boat was lying twenty yards
+      out in the stream, fastened up to a lighter, with the apprentice and
+      waterman on board. It came at once alongside, and in five minutes they
+      reached the <i>Good Venture</i>. As soon as the women had ascended the
+      accommodation ladder, some sailors ran down and helped to carry up the
+      trunks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Empty them all out in the cabin," Captain Dave said to his wife; "we will
+      take them back with us."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as he had seen the ladies into the cabin, Captain Watson called
+      his son Frank, who was his chief mate, and half a dozen of his men. These
+      carried the boxes, as fast as they were emptied, down into the boat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We will all go ashore together," he said to Captain Dave. "I was a fool
+      not to think of it before. We will soon make light work of it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as they reached the house, some of the sailors were sent off with
+      the remaining trunks and bundles, while the others carried upstairs those
+      they had brought, and quickly emptied into them the remaining contents of
+      the drawers and linen press. So quickly and steadily did the work go on,
+      that no less than six trips were made to the <i>Good Venture</i> in the
+      next three hours, and at the end of that time almost everything portable
+      had been carried away, including several pieces of valuable furniture, and
+      a large number of objects brought home by Captain Dave from his various
+      voyages. The last journey, indeed, was devoted to saving some of the most
+      valuable contents of the store. Captain Dave, delighted at having saved so
+      much, would not have thought of taking more, but Captain Watson would not
+      hear of this.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is time for one more trip, old friend," he said, "and there are
+      many things in your store that are worth more than their weight in silver.
+      I will take my other two hands this time, and, with the eight men and our
+      five selves, we shall be able to bring a good load."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The trunks were therefore this time packed with ship's instruments, and
+      brass fittings of all kinds, to the full weight that could be carried. All
+      hands then set to work, and, in a very short time, a great proportion of
+      the portable goods were carried from the store-house into an arched cellar
+      beneath it. By the time that they were ready to start there were but six
+      houses between them and the fire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I wish we had another three hours before us," Captain Watson said. "It
+      goes to one's heart to leave all this new rope and sail cloth, good
+      blocks, and other things, to be burnt."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There have been better things than that burnt to-day, Watson. Few men
+      have saved as much as I have, thanks to your assistance and that of these
+      stout sailors of yours. Why, the contents of these twelve boxes are worth
+      as much as the whole of the goods remaining."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sailors' loads were so heavy that they had to help each other to get
+      them upon their shoulders, and the other five were scarcely less weighted;
+      and, short as was the distance, all had to rest several times on the way
+      to the stairs, setting their burdens upon window-sills, or upon boxes
+      scattered in the streets. One of the ship's boats had, after the first
+      trip, taken the place of the light wherry, but even this was weighted down
+      to the gunwale when the men and the goods were all on board. After the
+      first two trips, the contents of the boxes had been emptied on deck, and
+      by the time the last arrived the three women had packed away in the empty
+      cabins all the clothing, linen, and other articles, that had been taken
+      below. Captain Watson ordered a stiff glass of grog to be given to each of
+      the sailors, and then went down with the others into the main cabin, where
+      the steward had already laid the table for a meal, and poured out five
+      tumblers of wine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have not had so tough a job since I was before the mast," he said.
+      "What say you, Captain Dave?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It has been a hard morning's work, indeed, Watson, and, in truth, I feel
+      fairly spent. But though weary in body I am cheerful in heart. It seemed
+      to me at breakfast-time that we should save little beyond what we stood
+      in, and now I have rescued well-nigh everything valuable that I have. I
+      should have grieved greatly had I lost all those mementos that it took me
+      nigh thirty years to gather, and those pieces of furniture that belonged
+      to my father I would not have lost for any money. Truly, it has been a
+      noble salvage."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie now joined them. They had quite recovered their
+      spirits, and were delighted at the unexpected rescue of so many things
+      precious to them, and Captain Watson was overwhelmed by their thanks for
+      what he had done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the meal was over they sat quietly talking for a time, and then
+      Cyril proposed that they should row up the river and see what progress the
+      fire was making above the Bridge. Mrs. Dowsett, however, was too much
+      fatigued by her sleepless night and the troubles and emotions of the
+      morning to care about going. Captain Dave said that he was too stiff to do
+      anything but sit quiet and smoke a pipe, and that he would superintend the
+      getting of their things on deck a little ship-shape. Nellie embraced the
+      offer eagerly, and young Watson, who was a well-built and handsome fellow,
+      with a pleasant face and manner, said that he would go, and would take a
+      couple of hands to row. The tide had just turned to run up when they set
+      out. Cyril asked the first mate to steer, and he sat on one side of him
+      and Nellie on the other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will have to mind your oars, lads," Frank Watson said. "The river is
+      crowded with boats."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They crossed over to the Southwark side, as it would have been dangerous
+      to pass under the arches above which the houses were burning. The flames,
+      however, had not spread right across the bridge, for the houses were built
+      only over the piers, and the openings at the arches had checked the
+      flames, and at these points numbers of men were drawing water in buckets
+      and throwing it over the fronts of the houses, or passing them, by ropes,
+      to other men on the roofs, which were kept deluged with water. Hundreds of
+      willing hands were engaged in the work, for the sight of the tremendous
+      fire on the opposite bank filled people with terror lest the flames should
+      cross the bridge and spread to the south side of the river. The warehouses
+      and wharves on the bank were black with spectators, who looked with
+      astonishment and awe at the terrible scene of destruction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was not until they passed under the bridge that the full extent of the
+      conflagration was visible. The fire had made its way some distance along
+      Thames Street, and had spread far up into the City. Gracechurch Street and
+      Lombard Street were in flames, and indeed the fire seemed to have extended
+      a long distance further; but the smoke was so dense, that it was difficult
+      to make out the precise point that it had reached. The river was a
+      wonderful sight. It was crowded with boats and lighters, all piled up with
+      goods, while along the quays from Dowgate to the Temple, crowds of people
+      were engaged in placing what goods they had saved on board lighters and
+      other craft. Many of those in the boats seemed altogether helpless and
+      undecided as to what had best be done, and drifted along with the tide,
+      but the best part were making either for the marshes at Lambeth or the
+      fields at Millbank, there to land their goods, the owners of the boats
+      refusing to keep them long on board, as they desired to return by the next
+      tide to fetch away other cargoes, being able to obtain any price they
+      chose to demand for their services.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the boats were floating goods and wreckage of all kinds, charred
+      timber that had fallen from the houses on the bridge, and from the
+      warehouses by the quays, bales of goods, articles of furniture, bedding,
+      and other matters. At times, a sudden change of wind drove a dense smoke
+      across the water, flakes of burning embers and papers causing great
+      confusion among the boats, and threatening to set the piles of goods on
+      fire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At Frank Watson's suggestion, they landed at the Temple, after having been
+      some two hours on the river. Going up into Fleet Street, they found a
+      stream of carts and other vehicles proceeding westward, all piled with
+      furniture and goods, mostly of a valuable kind. The pavements were
+      well-nigh blocked with people, all journeying in the same direction, laden
+      with their belongings. With difficulty they made their way East as far as
+      St. Paul's. The farther end of Cheapside was already in flames, and they
+      learnt that the fire had extended as far as Moorfields. It was said that
+      efforts had been made to pull down houses and so check its progress, but
+      that there was no order or method, and that no benefit was gained by the
+      work.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After looking on at the scene for some time, they returned to Fleet
+      Street. Frank Watson went down with Nellie to the boat, while Cyril went
+      to his lodgings in the Savoy. Here he found his servant anxiously awaiting
+      him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I did not bring the horses this morning, sir," he said. "I heard that
+      there was a great fire, and went on foot as far as I could get, but,
+      finding that I could not pass, I thought it best to come back here and
+      await your return."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Quite right, Reuben; you could not have got the horses to me unless you
+      had ridden round the walls and come in at Aldgate, and they would have
+      been useless had you brought them. The house at which I stayed last night
+      is already burnt to the ground. You had better stay here for the present,
+      I think. There is no fear of the fire extending beyond the City. Should
+      you find that it does so, pack my clothes in the valises, take the horses
+      down to Sevenoaks, and remain at the Earl's until you hear from me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having arranged this, Cyril went down to the Savoy stairs, where he found
+      the boat waiting for him, and then they rowed back to London Bridge,
+      where, the force of the tide being now abated, they were able to row
+      through and get to the <i>Good Venture</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They had but little sleep that night. Gradually the fire worked its way
+      eastward until it was abreast of them. The roaring and crackling of the
+      flames was prodigious. Here and there the glare was diversified by columns
+      of a deeper red glow, showing where warehouses, filled with pitch, tar,
+      and oil, were in flames. The heavy crashes of falling buildings were
+      almost incessant. Occasionally they saw a church tower or steeple, that
+      had stood for a time black against the glowing sky, become suddenly
+      wreathed in flames, and, after burning for a time, fall with a crash that
+      could be plainly heard above the general roar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Surely such a fire was never seen before!" Captain Dave said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not since Rome was burnt, I should think," Cyril replied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How long was that ago, Cyril? I don't remember hearing about it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Tis fifteen hundred years or so since then, Captain Dave; but the
+      greater part of the city was destroyed, and Rome was then many times
+      bigger than London. It burnt for three days."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, this is bad enough," Captain Watson said. "Even here the heat is
+      well-nigh too great to face. Frank, you had better call the crew up and
+      get all the sails off the yards. Were a burning flake to fall on them we
+      might find it difficult to extinguish them. When they have done that, let
+      the men get all the buckets filled with water and ranged on the deck; and
+      it will be as well to get a couple of hands in the boat and let them chuck
+      water against this side. We shall have all the paint blistered off before
+      morning."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So the night passed. Occasionally they went below for a short time, but
+      they found it impossible to sleep, and were soon up again, and felt it a
+      relief when the morning began to break.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXII &mdash; AFTER THE FIRE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Daylight brought little alleviation to the horrors of the scene. The
+      flames were less vivid, but a dense pall of smoke overhung the sky. As
+      soon as they had breakfasted, Captain Watson, his son, Captain Dowsett,
+      Nellie, and Cyril took their places in the boat, and were rowed up the
+      river. An exclamation burst from them all as they saw how fast the flames
+      had travelled since the previous evening.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "St. Paul's is on fire!" Cyril exclaimed. "See! there are flames bursting
+      through its roof. I think, Captain Watson, if you will put me ashore at
+      the Temple, I will make my way to Whitehall, and report myself there. I
+      may be of use."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will do that," Captain Watson said. "Then I will row back to the ship
+      again. We must leave a couple of hands on board, in case some of these
+      burning flakes should set anything alight. We will land with the rest, and
+      do what we can to help these poor women and children."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will stay on board and take command, if you like, Watson," Captain Dave
+      said. "You ought to have some one there, and I have not recovered from
+      yesterday's work, and should be of little use ashore."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Very well, Dowsett. That will certainly be best; but I think it will be
+      prudent, before we leave, to run out a kedge with forty or fifty fathoms
+      of cable towards the middle of the stream, and then veer out the cable on
+      her anchor so as to let her ride thirty fathoms or so farther out. We left
+      six men sluicing her side and deck, but it certainly would be prudent to
+      get her out a bit farther. Even here, the heat is as much as we can
+      stand."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as Cyril had landed, he hurried up into Fleet Street. He had just
+      reached Temple Bar when he saw a party of horsemen making their way
+      through the carts. A hearty cheer greeted them from the crowd, who hoped
+      that the presence of the King&mdash;for it was Charles who rode in front&mdash;was
+      a sign that vigorous steps were about to be taken to check the progress of
+      the flames. Beside the King rode the Duke of Albemarle, and following were
+      a number of other gentlemen and officers. Cyril made his way through the
+      crowd to the side of the Duke's horse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Can I be of any possible use, my Lord Duke?" he asked, doffing his hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ah, Sir Cyril, it is you, is it? I have not seen you since you bearded De
+      Ruyter in the <i>Fan Fan</i>. Yes, you can be of use. We have five hundred
+      sailors and dockyard men behind; they have just arrived from Chatham, and
+      a thousand more have landed below the Bridge to fight the flames on that
+      side. Keep by me now, and, when we decide where to set to work, I will put
+      you under the orders of Captain Warncliffe, who has charge of them."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When they reached the bottom of Fleet Street, the fire was halfway down
+      Ludgate Hill, and it was decided to begin operations along the bottom of
+      the Fleet Valley. The dockyard men and sailors were brought up, and
+      following them were some carts laden with kegs of powder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Warncliffe," Lord Albemarle said, as the officer came up at the head of
+      them, "Sir Cyril Shenstone is anxious to help. You know him by repute, and
+      you can trust him in any dangerous business. You had better tell off
+      twenty men under him. You have only to tell him what you want done, and
+      you can rely upon its being done thoroughly."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sailors were soon at work along the line of the Fleet Ditch. All
+      carried axes, and with these they chopped down the principal beams of the
+      small houses clustered by the Ditch, and so weakened them that a small
+      charge of powder easily brought them down. In many places they met with
+      fierce opposition from the owners, who, still clinging to the faint hope
+      that something might occur to stop the progress of the fire before it
+      reached their abodes, raised vain protestations against the destruction of
+      their houses. All day the men worked unceasingly, but in vain. Driven by
+      the fierce wind, the flames swept down the opposite slope, leapt over the
+      space strewn with rubbish and beams, and began to climb Fleet Street and
+      Holborn Hill and the dense mass of houses between them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The fight was renewed higher up. Beer and bread and cheese were obtained
+      from the taverns, and served out to the workmen, and these kept at their
+      task all night. Towards morning the wind had fallen somewhat. The open
+      spaces of the Temple favoured the defenders; the houses to east of it were
+      blown up, and, late in the afternoon, the progress of the flames at this
+      spot was checked. As soon as it was felt that there was no longer any fear
+      of its further advance here, the exhausted men, who had, for twenty-four
+      hours, laboured, half suffocated by the blinding smoke and by the dust
+      made by their own work, threw themselves down on the grass of the Temple
+      Gardens and slept. At midnight they were roused by their officers, and
+      proceeded to assist their comrades, who had been battling with the flames
+      on the other side of Fleet Street. They found that these too had been
+      successful; the flames had swept up to Fetter Lane, but the houses on the
+      west side had been demolished, and although, at one or two points, the
+      fallen beams caught fire, they were speedily extinguished. Halfway up
+      Fetter Lane the houses stood on both sides uninjured, for a large open
+      space round St. Andrew's, Holborn, had aided the defenders in their
+      efforts to check the flames. North of Holborn the fire had spread but
+      little, and that only among the poorer houses in Fleet Valley.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ascending the hill, they found that, while the flames had overleapt the
+      City wall from Ludgate to Newgate in its progress west, the wall had
+      proved an effective barrier from the sharp corner behind Christchurch up
+      to Aldersgate and thence up to Cripplegate, which was the farthest limit
+      reached by the fire to the north. To the east, the City had fared better.
+      By the river, indeed, the destruction was complete as far as the Tower.
+      Mark Lane, however, stood, and north of this the line of destruction swept
+      westward to Leaden Hall, a massive structure at the entrance to the street
+      that took its name from it, and proved a bulwark against the flames. From
+      this point, the line of devastated ground swept round by the eastern end
+      of Throgmorton Street to the northern end of Basinghall Street.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril remained with the sailors for two days longer, during which time
+      they were kept at work beating out the embers of the fire. In this they
+      were aided by a heavy fall of rain, which put an end to all fear of the
+      flames springing up again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There can be no need for you to remain longer with us, Sir Cyril,"
+      Captain Warncliffe said, at the end of the second day. "I shall have
+      pleasure in reporting to the Duke of Albemarle the good services that you
+      have rendered. Doubtless we shall remain on duty here for some time, for
+      we may have, for aught I know, to aid in the clearing away of some of the
+      ruins; but, at any rate, there can be no occasion for you to stay longer
+      with us."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril afterwards learnt that the sailors and dockyard men were, on the
+      following day, sent back to Chatham. The fire had rendered so great a
+      number of men homeless and without means of subsistence, that there was an
+      abundant force on hand for the clearing away of ruins. Great numbers were
+      employed by the authorities, while many of the merchants and traders
+      engaged parties to clear away the ruins of their dwellings, in order to
+      get at the cellars below, in which they had, as soon as the danger from
+      fire was perceived, stowed away the main bulk of their goods. As soon as
+      he was released from duty, Cyril made his way to the Tower, and, hiring a
+      boat, was rowed to the <i>Good Venture</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The shipping presented a singular appearance, their sides being blistered,
+      and in many places completely stripped of their paint, while in some cases
+      the spars were scorched, and the sails burnt away. There was lively
+      satisfaction at his appearance, as he stepped on to the deck of the <i>Good
+      Venture</i>, for, until he did so, he had been unrecognised, so begrimed
+      with smoke and dust was he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We have been wondering about you," Captain Dave said, as he shook him by
+      the hand, "but I can scarce say we had become uneasy. We learnt that a
+      large body of seamen and others were at work blowing up houses, and as you
+      had gone to offer your services we doubted not that you were employed with
+      them. Truly you must have been having a rough time of it, for not only are
+      you dirtier than any scavenger, but you look utterly worn out and
+      fatigued."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It was up-hill work the first twenty-four hours, for we worked
+      unceasingly, and worked hard, too, I can assure you, and that well-nigh
+      smothered with smoke and dust. Since then, our work has been more easy,
+      but no less dirty. In the three days I have not had twelve hours' sleep
+      altogether."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I will get a tub of hot water placed in your cabin," Captain Watson said,
+      "and should advise you, when you get out from it, to turn into your bunk
+      at once. No one shall go near you in the morning until you wake of your
+      own accord."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril was, however, down to breakfast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Now tell us all about the fire," Nellie said, when they had finished the
+      meal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have nothing to tell you, for I know nothing," Cyril replied. "Our work
+      was simply pulling down and blowing up houses. I had scarce time so much
+      as to look at the fire. However, as I have since been working all round
+      its course, I can tell you exactly how far it spread."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he brought his story to a conclusion, he said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And now, Captain Dave, what are you thinking of doing?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "In the first place, I am going ashore to look at the old house. As soon
+      as I can get men, I shall clear the ground, and begin to rebuild it. I
+      have enough laid by to start me again. I should be like a fish out of
+      water with nothing to see to. I have the most valuable part of my stock
+      still on hand here on deck, and if the cellar has proved staunch my loss
+      in goods will be small indeed, for the anchors and chains in the yard will
+      have suffered no damage. But even if the cellar has caved in, and its
+      contents are destroyed, and if, when I have rebuilt my house, I find I
+      have not enough left to replenish my stock, I am sure that I can get
+      credit from the rope- and sail-makers, and iron-masters with whom I deal."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do not trouble yourself about that, Captain Dave," Cyril said. "You came
+      to my help last time, and it will be my turn this time. I am sure that I
+      shall have no difficulty in getting any monies that may be required from
+      Mr. Goldsworthy, and there is nothing that will give me more pleasure than
+      to see you established again in the place that was the first where I ever
+      felt I had a home."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I hope that it will not be needed, lad," Captain Dave said, shaking his
+      hand warmly, "but if it should, I will not hesitate to accept your offer
+      in the spirit in which it is made, and thus add one more to the
+      obligations that I am under to you."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril went ashore with Captain Dave and John Wilkes. The wall of the yard
+      was, of course, uninjured, but the gate was burnt down. The store-house,
+      which was of wood, had entirely disappeared, and the back wall of the
+      house had fallen over it and the yard. The entrance to the cellar,
+      therefore, could not be seen, and, as yet, the heat from the fallen bricks
+      was too great to attempt to clear them away to get at it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That night, however, it rained heavily, and in the morning Captain Watson
+      took a party of sailors ashore, and these succeeded in clearing away the
+      rubbish sufficiently to get to the entrance of the cellar. The door was
+      covered by an iron plate, and although the wood behind this was charred it
+      had not caught fire, and on getting it open it was found that the contents
+      of the cellar were uninjured.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In order to prevent marauders from getting at it before preparations could
+      be made for rebuilding, the rubbish was again thrown in so as to
+      completely conceal the entrance. On returning on board there was a
+      consultation on the future, held in the cabin. Captain Dave at once said
+      that he and John Wilkes must remain in town to make arrangements for the
+      rebuilding and to watch the performance of the work. Cyril warmly pressed
+      Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie to come down with him to Norfolk until the house
+      was ready to receive them, but both were in favour of remaining in London,
+      and it was settled that, next day, they should go down to Stepney, hire a
+      house and store-room there, and remove thither their goods on board the
+      ship, and the contents of the cellar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was some little difficulty in getting a house, as so many were
+      seeking for lodgings, but at last they came upon a widow who was willing
+      to let a house, upon the proviso that she was allowed to retain one room
+      for her own occupation. This being settled, Cyril that evening returned to
+      his lodging, and the next day rode down to Norfolk. There he remained
+      until the middle of May, when he received a letter from Captain Dave,
+      saying that his house was finished, and that they should move into it in a
+      fortnight, and that they all earnestly hoped he would be present. As he
+      had already been thinking of going up to London for a time, he decided to
+      accept the invitation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By this time he had made the acquaintance of all the surrounding gentry,
+      and felt perfectly at home at Upmead. He rode frequently into Norwich,
+      and, whenever he did so, paid a visit to Mr. Harvey, whose wife had died
+      in January, never having completely recovered from the shock that she had
+      received in London. Mr. Harvey himself had aged much; he still took a
+      great interest in the welfare of the tenants of Upmead, and in Cyril's
+      proposals for the improvement of their homes, and was pleased to see how
+      earnestly he had taken up the duties of his new life. He spoke
+      occasionally of his son, of whose death he felt convinced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have never been able to obtain any news of him," he often said, "and
+      assuredly I should have heard of him had he been alive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It would ease my mind to know the truth," he said, one day. "It troubles
+      me to think that, if alive, he is assuredly pursuing evil courses, and
+      that he will probably end his days on a gallows. That he will repent, and
+      turn to better courses, I have now no hope whatever. Unless he be living
+      by roguery, he would, long ere this, have written, professing repentance,
+      even if he did not feel it, and begging for assistance. It troubles me
+      much that I can find out nothing for certain of him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Would it be a relief to you to know surely that he was dead?" Cyril
+      asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I would rather know that he was dead than feel, as I do, that if alive,
+      he is going on sinning. One can mourn for the dead as David mourned for
+      Absalom, and trust that their sins may be forgiven them; but, uncertain as
+      I am of his death, I cannot so mourn, since it may be that he still
+      lives."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then, sir, I am in a position to set your mind at rest. I have known for
+      a long time that he died of the Plague, but I have kept it from you,
+      thinking that it was best you should still think that he might be living.
+      He fell dead beside me on the very day that I sickened of the Plague, and,
+      indeed, it was from him that I took it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Harvey remained silent for a minute or two.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "'Tis better so," he said solemnly. "The sins of youth may be forgiven,
+      but, had he lived, his whole course might have been wicked. How know you
+      that it was he who gave you the Plague?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I met him in the street. He was tottering in his walk, and, as he came
+      up, he stumbled, and grasped me to save himself. I held him for a moment,
+      and then he slipped from my arms and fell on the pavement, and died."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Harvey looked keenly at Cyril, and was about to ask a question, but
+      checked himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He is dead," he said. "God rest his soul, and forgive him his sins!
+      Henceforth I shall strive to forget that he ever lived to manhood, and
+      seek to remember him as he was when a child."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he held out his hand to Cyril, to signify that he would fain be
+      alone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On arriving in London, Cyril took up his abode at his former lodgings, and
+      the next day at twelve o'clock, the hour appointed in a letter he found
+      awaiting him on his arrival, he arrived in Tower Street, having ridden
+      through the City. An army of workmen, who had come up from all parts of
+      the country, were engaged in rebuilding the town. In the main
+      thoroughfares many of the houses were already finished, and the shops
+      re-opened. In other parts less progress had been made, as the traders were
+      naturally most anxious to resume their business, and most able to pay for
+      speed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dave's was one of the first houses completed in Tower Street, but
+      there were many others far advanced in progress. The front differed
+      materially from that of the old house, in which each story had projected
+      beyond the one below it. Inside, however, there was but little change in
+      its appearance, except that the rooms were somewhat more lofty, and that
+      there were no heavy beams across the ceilings. Captain Dave and his family
+      had moved in that morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It does not look quite like the old place," Mrs. Dowsett said, after the
+      first greetings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not quite," Cyril agreed. "The new furniture, of course, gives it a
+      different appearance as yet; but one will soon get accustomed to that, and
+      you will quickly make it home-like again. I see you have the bits of
+      furniture you saved in their old corners."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; and it will make a great difference when they get all my curiosities
+      up in their places again," Captain Dave put in. "We pulled them down
+      anyhow, and some of them will want glueing up a bit. And so your fighting
+      is over, Cyril?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes, it looks like it. The Dutch have evidently had enough of it. They
+      asked for peace, and as both parties consented to the King of Sweden being
+      mediator, and our representatives and those of Holland are now settling
+      affairs at Breda, peace may be considered as finally settled. We have only
+      two small squadrons now afloat; the rest are all snugly laid up. I trust
+      that there is no chance of another war between the two nations for years
+      to come."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I hope not, Cyril. But De Witte is a crafty knave, and is ever in close
+      alliance with Louis. Were it not for French influence the Prince of Orange
+      would soon oust him from the head of affairs."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I should think he would not have any power for mischief in the future,"
+      Cyril said. "It was he who brought on the last war, and, although it has
+      cost us much, it has cost the Dutch very much more, and the loss of her
+      commerce has well-nigh brought Holland to ruin. Besides, the last victory
+      we won must have lowered their national pride greatly."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You have not heard the reports that are about, then?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, I have heard no news whatever. It takes a long time for it to travel
+      down to Norwich, and I have seen no one since I came up to town last
+      night."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Well, there is a report that a Dutch Fleet of eighty sail has put to sea.
+      It may be that 'tis but bravado to show that, though they have begged for
+      peace, 'tis not because they are in no condition to fight. I know not how
+      this may be, but it is certain that for the last three days the Naval
+      people have been very busy, and that powder is being sent down to Chatham.
+      As for the Fleet, small as it is, it is doubtful whether it would fight,
+      for the men are in a veritable state of mutiny, having received no pay for
+      many months. Moreover, several ships were but yesterday bought by
+      Government, for what purpose it is not known, but it is conjectured they
+      are meant for fire-ships."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I cannot but think that it is, as you say, a mere piece of bravado on the
+      part of the Dutch, Captain Dave. They could never be so treacherous as to
+      attack us when peace is well-nigh concluded, but, hurt as their pride must
+      be by the defeat we gave them, it is not unnatural they should wish to
+      show that they can still put a brave fleet on the seas, and are not driven
+      to make peace because they could not, if need be, continue the war."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And now I have a piece of news for you. We are going to have a wedding
+      here before long."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am right glad to hear it," Cyril said heartily. "And who is the happy
+      man, Nellie?" he asked, turning towards where she had been standing the
+      moment before. But Nellie had fled the moment her father had opened his
+      lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is Frank Watson," her father said. "A right good lad; and her mother
+      and I are well pleased with her choice."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I thought that he was very attentive the few days we were on board his
+      father's ship," Cyril said. "I am not surprised to hear the news."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "They have been two voyages since then, and while the <i>Good Venture</i>
+      was in the Pool, Master Frank spent most of his time down at Stepney, and
+      it was settled a fortnight since. My old friend Watson is as pleased as I
+      am. And the best part of the business is that Frank is going to give up
+      the sea and become my partner. His father owns the <i>Good Venture</i>,
+      and, being a careful man, has laid by a round sum, and he settled to give
+      him fifteen hundred pounds, which he will put into the business."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is a capital plan, Captain Dave. It will be an excellent thing for
+      you to have so young and active a partner."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Watson has bought the house down at Stepney that we have been living in,
+      and Frank and Nellie are going to settle there, and Watson will make it
+      his headquarters when his ship is in port, and will, I have no doubt, take
+      up his moorings there, when he gives up the sea. The wedding is to be in a
+      fortnight's time, for Watson has set his heart on seeing them spliced
+      before he sails again, and I see no reason for delay. You must come to the
+      wedding, of course, Cyril. Indeed, I don't think Nellie would consent to
+      be married if you were not there. The girl has often spoken of you lately.
+      You see, now that she really knows what love is, and has a quiet, happy
+      life to look forward to, she feels more than ever the service you did her,
+      and the escape she had. She told the whole story to Frank before she said
+      yes, when he asked her to be his wife, and, of course, he liked her no
+      less for it, though I think it would go hard with that fellow if he ever
+      met him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The fellow died of the Plague, Captain Dave. His last action was to try
+      and revenge himself on me by giving me the infection, for, meeting me in
+      the streets, he threw his arms round me and exclaimed, 'I have given you
+      the Plague!' They were the last words he ever spoke, for he gave a hideous
+      laugh, and then dropped down dead. However, he spoke truly, for that night
+      I sickened of it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Then your kindness to Nellie well-nigh cost you your life," Mrs. Dowsett
+      said, laying her hand on his shoulder, while the tears stood in her eyes.
+      "And you never told us this before!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There was nothing to tell," Cyril replied. "If I had not caught it from
+      him, I should have, doubtless, taken it from someone else, for I was
+      constantly in the way of it, and could hardly have hoped to escape an
+      attack. Now, Captain Dave, let us go downstairs, and see the store."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "John Wilkes and the two boys are at work there," the Captain said, as he
+      went downstairs, "and we open our doors tomorrow. I have hurried on the
+      house as fast as possible, and as no others in my business have yet
+      opened, I look to do a thriving trade at once. Watson will send all his
+      friends here, and as there is scarce a captain who goes in or out of port
+      but knows Frank, I consider that our new partner will greatly extend the
+      business."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Watson and Frank came in at supper-time, and, after spending a
+      pleasant evening, Cyril returned to his lodgings in the Strand. The next
+      day he was walking near Whitehall when a carriage dashed out at full
+      speed, and, as it came along, he caught sight of the Duke of Albemarle,
+      who looked in a state of strange confusion. His wig was awry, his coat was
+      off, and his face was flushed and excited. As his eye fell on Cyril, he
+      shouted out to the postillions to stop. As they pulled up, he shouted,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Jump in, Sir Cyril! Jump in, for your life."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Astonished at this address, Cyril ran to the door, opened it, and jumped
+      in, and the Duke shouted to the postillions to go on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What do you think, sir?&mdash;what do you think?" roared the Duke. "Those
+      treacherous scoundrels, the Dutch, have appeared with a great Fleet of
+      seventy men-of-war, besides fire-ships, off Sheerness, this morning at
+      daybreak, and have taken the place, and Chatham lies open to them. We have
+      been bamboozled and tricked. While the villains were pretending they were
+      all for peace, they have been secretly fitting out, and there they are at
+      Sheerness. A mounted messenger brought in the news, but ten minutes ago."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Have they taken Sheerness, sir?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes; there were but six guns mounted on the fort, and no preparations
+      made. The ships that were there did nothing. The rascals are in mutiny&mdash;and
+      small wonder, when they can get no pay; the money voted for them being
+      wasted by the Court. It is enough to drive one wild with vexation, and,
+      had I my will, there are a dozen men, whose names are the foremost in the
+      country, whom I would hang up with my own hands. The wind is from the
+      east, and if they go straight up the Medway they may be there this
+      afternoon, and have the whole of our ships at their mercy. It is enough to
+      make Blake turn in his grave that such an indignity should be offered us,
+      though it be but the outcome of treachery on the part of the Dutch, and of
+      gross negligence on ours. But if they give us a day or two to prepare, we
+      will, at least, give them something to do before they can carry out their
+      design, and, if one could but rely on the sailors, we might even beat them
+      off; but it is doubtful whether the knaves will fight. The forts are
+      unfinished, though the money was voted for them three years since. And all
+      this is not the worst of it, for, after they have taken Chatham, there is
+      naught to prevent their coming up to London. We have had plague and we
+      have had fire, and to be bombarded by the Dutchmen would be the crowning
+      blow, and it would be like to bring about another revolution in England."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They posted down to Chatham as fast as the horses could gallop. The
+      instant the news had arrived, the Duke had sent off a man, on horseback,
+      to order horses to be in readiness to change at each posting station. Not
+      a minute, therefore, was lost. In a little over two hours from the time of
+      leaving Whitehall, they drove into the dockyard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Where is Sir Edward Spragge?" the Duke shouted, as he leapt from the
+      carriage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He has gone down to the new forts, your Grace," an officer replied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Have a gig prepared at once, without the loss of a moment," the Duke
+      said. "What is being done?" he asked another officer, as the first ran
+      off.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Sir Edward has taken four frigates down to the narrow part of the river,
+      sir, and preparations have been made for placing a great chain there.
+      Several of the ships are being towed out into the river, and are to be
+      sunk in the passage."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Any news of the Dutch having left Sheerness?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "No, sir; a shallop rowed up at noon, but was chased back again by one of
+      our pinnaces."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That is better than I had hoped. Come, come, we shall make a fight for it
+      yet," and he strode away towards the landing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Shall I accompany you, sir?" Cyril asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Yes. There is nothing for you to do until we see exactly how things
+      stand. I shall use you as my staff officer&mdash;that is, if you are
+      willing, Sir Cyril. I have carried you off without asking whether you
+      consented or no; but, knowing your spirit and quickness, I felt sure you
+      would be of use."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am at your service altogether," Cyril said, "and am glad indeed that
+      your Grace encountered me, for I should have been truly sorry to have been
+      idle at such a time."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An eight-oared gig was already at the stairs, and they were rowed rapidly
+      down the river. They stopped at Upnor Castle, and found that Major Scott,
+      who was in command there, was hard at work mounting cannon and putting the
+      place in a posture of defence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You will have more men from London by to-morrow night, at the latest,"
+      the Duke said, "and powder and shot in abundance was sent off yesterday.
+      We passed a train on our way down, and I told them to push on with all
+      speed. As the Dutch have not moved yet, they cannot be here until the
+      afternoon of to-morrow, and, like enough, will not attack until next day,
+      for they must come slowly, or they will lose some of their ships on the
+      sands. We will try to get up a battery opposite, so as to aid you with a
+      cross fire. I am going down to see Sir Edward Spragge now."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Taking their places in the boat again, they rowed round the horseshoe
+      curve down to Gillingham, and then along to the spot where the frigates
+      were moored. At the sharp bend lower down here the Duke found the Admiral,
+      and they held a long consultation together. It was agreed that the chain
+      should be placed somewhat higher up, where a lightly-armed battery on
+      either side would afford some assistance, that behind the chain the three
+      ships, the <i>Matthias</i>, the <i>Unity</i>, and the <i>Charles V.</i>,
+      all prizes taken from the Dutch, should be moored, and that the <i>Jonathan</i>
+      and <i>Fort of Honinggen</i>&mdash;also a Dutch prize&mdash;should be also
+      posted there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having arranged this, the Duke was rowed back to Chatham, there to see
+      about getting some of the great ships removed from their moorings off
+      Gillingham, up the river. To his fury, he found that, of all the eighteen
+      hundred men employed in the yard, not more than half a dozen had remained
+      at their work, the rest being, like all the townsmen, occupied in removing
+      their goods in great haste. Even the frigates that were armed had but a
+      third, at most, of their crews on board, so many having deserted owing to
+      the backwardness of their pay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That night, Sir W. Coventry, Sir W. Penn, Lord Brounker, and other
+      officers and officials of the Admiralty, came down from London. Some of
+      these, especially Lord Brounker, had a hot time of it with the Duke, who
+      rated them roundly for the state of things which prevailed, telling the
+      latter that he was the main cause of all the misfortunes that might occur,
+      owing to his having dismantled and disarmed all the great ships. In spite
+      of the efforts of all these officers, but little could be done, owing to
+      the want of hands, and to the refusal of the dockyard men, and most of the
+      sailors, to do anything. A small battery of sandbags was, however, erected
+      opposite Upnor, and a few guns placed in position there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several ships were sunk in the channel above Upnor, and a few of those
+      lying off Gillingham were towed up. Little help was sent down from London,
+      for the efforts of the authorities were directed wholly to the defence of
+      the Thames. The train-bands were all under arms, fire-ships were being
+      fitted out and sent down to Gravesend, and batteries erected there and at
+      Tilbury, while several ships were sunk in the channel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Dutch remained at Sheerness from the 7th to the 12th, and had it not
+      been for the misconduct of the men, Chatham could have been put into a
+      good state for defence. As it was, but little could be effected; and when,
+      on the 12th, the Dutch Fleet were seen coming up the river, the chances of
+      successful resistance were small.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The fight commenced by a Dutch frigate, commanded by Captain Brakell,
+      advancing against the chain. Carried up by a strong tide and east wind the
+      ship struck it with such force that it at once gave way. The English
+      frigates, but weakly manned, could offer but slight resistance, and the <i>Jonathan</i>
+      was boarded and captured by Brakell. Following his frigate were a host of
+      fire-ships, which at once grappled with the defenders. The <i>Matthias,
+      Unity, Charles V.</i>, and <i>Fort of Honinggen</i> were speedily in
+      flames. The light batteries on the shore were silenced by the guns of the
+      Fleet, which then anchored. The next day, six of their men-of-war, with
+      five fire-ships, advanced, exchanged broadsides, as they went along, with
+      the <i>Royal Oak</i> and presently engaged Upnor. They were received with
+      so hot a fire from the Castle, and from the battery opposite, where Sir
+      Edward Spragge had stationed himself, that, after a time, they gave up the
+      design of ascending to the dockyard, which at that time occupied a
+      position higher up the river than at present.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The tide was beginning to slacken, and they doubtless feared that a number
+      of fire-barges might be launched at them did they venture higher up. On
+      the way back, they launched a fire-ship at the <i>Royal Oak</i>, which was
+      commanded by Captain Douglas. The flames speedily communicated to the
+      ship, and the crew took to the boats and rowed ashore. Captain Douglas
+      refused to leave his vessel, and perished in the flames. The report given
+      by the six men-of-war decided the Dutch not to attempt anything further
+      against Chatham. On the 14th, they set fire to the hulks, the <i>Loyal
+      London</i> and the <i>Great James</i>, and carried off the hulk of the <i>Royal
+      Charles</i>, after the English had twice tried to destroy her by fire. As
+      this was the ship in which the Duke of Albemarle, then General Monk, had
+      brought the King over to England from Holland, her capture was considered
+      a special triumph for the Dutch and a special dishonour to us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke of Albemarle had left Chatham before the Dutch came up. As the
+      want of crews prevented his being of any use there, and he saw that Sir
+      Edward Spragge would do all that was possible in defence of the place, he
+      posted back to London, where his presence was urgently required, a
+      complete panic reigning. Crowds assembled at Whitehall, and insulted the
+      King and his ministers as the cause of the present misfortunes, while at
+      Deptford and Wapping, the sailors and their wives paraded the streets,
+      shouting that the ill-treatment of our sailors had brought these things
+      about, and so hostile were their manifestations that the officials of the
+      Admiralty scarce dared show themselves in the streets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril had remained at Chatham, the Duke having recommended him to Sir
+      Edward Spragge, and he, with some other gentlemen and a few sailors, had
+      manned the battery opposite Upnor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The great proportion of the Dutch ships were still at the Nore, as it
+      would have been dangerous to have hazarded so great a fleet in the narrow
+      water of the Medway. As it was, two of their men-of-war, on the way back
+      from Chatham, ran ashore, and had to be burnt. They had also six
+      fire-ships burnt, and lost over a hundred and fifty men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Leaving Admiral Van Ness with part of the Fleet in the mouth of the
+      Thames, De Ruyter sailed first for Harwich, where he attempted to land
+      with sixteen hundred men in boats, supported by the guns of the Fleet. The
+      boats, however, failed to effect a landing, being beaten off, with
+      considerable loss, by the county Militia; and Ruyter then sailed for
+      Portsmouth, where he also failed. He then went west to Torbay, where he
+      was likewise repulsed, and then returned to the mouth of the Thames.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On July 23rd, Van Ness, with twenty-five men-of-war, sailed up the Hope,
+      where Sir Edward Spragge had now hoisted his flag on board a squadron of
+      eighteen ships, of whom five were frigates and the rest fire-ships. A
+      sharp engagement ensued, but the wind was very light, and the English, by
+      towing their fire-ships, managed to lay them alongside the Dutch
+      fire-ships, and destroyed twelve of these with a loss of only six English
+      ships. But, the wind then rising, Sir Edward retired from the Hope to
+      Gravesend, where he was protected by the guns at Tilbury.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next day, being joined by Sir Joseph Jordan, with a few small ships,
+      he took the offensive, and destroyed the last fire-ship that the Dutch had
+      left, and compelled the men-of-war to retire. Sir Edward followed them
+      with his little squadron, and Van Ness, as he retired down the river, was
+      met by five frigates and fourteen fire-ships from Harwich. These boldly
+      attacked him. Two of the Dutch men-of-war narrowly escaped being burnt,
+      another was forced ashore and greatly damaged, and the whole of the Dutch
+      Fleet was compelled to bear away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While these events had been happening in the Thames, the negotiations at
+      Breda had continued, and, just as the Dutch retreated, the news came that
+      Peace had been signed. The Dutch, on their side, were satisfied with the
+      success with which they had closed the war, while England was, at the
+      moment, unable to continue it, and the King, seeing the intense
+      unpopularity that had been excited against him by the affair at Chatham,
+      was glad to ratify the Peace, especially as we thereby retained possession
+      of several islands we had taken in the West Indies from the Dutch, and it
+      was manifest that Spain was preparing to join the coalition of France and
+      Holland against us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A Peace concluded under such circumstances was naturally but a short one.
+      When the war was renewed, three years later, the French were in alliance
+      with us, and, after several more desperate battles, in which no great
+      advantages were gained on either side, the Dutch were so exhausted and
+      impoverished by the loss of trade, that a final Peace was arranged on
+      terms far more advantageous to us than those secured by the Treaty of
+      1667. The De Wittes, the authors of the previous wars, had both been
+      killed in a popular tumult. The Prince of Orange was at the head of the
+      State, and the fact that France and Spain were both hostile to Holland had
+      reawakened the feeling of England in favour of the Protestant Republic,
+      and the friendship between the two nations has never since been broken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cyril took no part in the last war against the Dutch. He, like the
+      majority of the nation, was opposed to it, and, although willing to give
+      his life in defence of his country when attacked, felt it by no means his
+      duty to do so when we were aiding the designs of France in crushing a
+      brave enemy. Such was in fact the result of the war; for although peace
+      was made on even terms, the wars of Holland with England and the ruin
+      caused to her trade thereby, inflicted a blow upon the Republic from which
+      she never recovered. From being the great rival of England, both on the
+      sea and in her foreign commerce, her prosperity and power dwindled until
+      she ceased altogether to be a factor in European affairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the Peace of Breda was signed, Cyril went down to Upmead, where, for
+      the next four years, he devoted himself to the management of his estate.
+      His friendship with Mr. Harvey grew closer and warmer, until the latter
+      came to consider him in really the light of a son; and when he died, in
+      1681, it was found that his will was unaltered, and that, with the
+      exception of legacies to many of his old employés at his factory, the
+      whole of his property was left to Cyril. The latter received a good offer
+      for the tanyard, and, upon an estate next to his own coming shortly
+      afterwards into the market, he purchased it, and thus the Upmead estates
+      became as extensive as they had been before the time of his ancestor, who
+      had so seriously diminished them during the reign of Elizabeth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His friendship with the family of the Earl of Wisbech had remained
+      unaltered, and he had every year paid them a visit, either at Wisbech or
+      at Sevenoaks. A year after Mr. Harvey's death, he married Dorothy, who had
+      previously refused several flattering offers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dave and his wife lived to a good old age. The business had
+      largely increased, owing to the energy of their son-in-law, who had, with
+      his wife and children, taken up his abode in the next house to theirs,
+      which had been bought to meet the extension of their business. John
+      Wilkes, at the death of Captain Dave, declined Cyril's pressing offer to
+      make his home with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It would never do, Sir Cyril," he said. "I should be miserable out of the
+      sight of ships, and without a place where I could meet seafaring men, and
+      smoke my pipe, and listen to their yarns."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He therefore remained with Frank Watson, nominally in charge of the
+      stores, but doing, in fact, as little as he chose until, long past the
+      allotted age of man, he passed quietly away.
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 6em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
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+</pre>
+  </body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of When London Burned, by G. A. Henty
+
+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: When London Burned
+
+Author: G. A. Henty
+
+Posting Date: June 2, 2012 [EBook #7831]
+Release Date: April, 2005
+First Posted: May 20, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN LONDON BURNED ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, S.R. Ellison,
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+WHEN LONDON BURNED
+
+BY G. A. HENTY
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+We are accustomed to regard the Reign of Charles II. as one of the
+most inglorious periods of English History; but this was far from
+being the case. It is true that the extravagance and profligacy of
+the Court were carried to a point unknown before or since,
+forming,--by the indignation they excited among the people at
+large,--the main cause of the overthrow of the House of Stuart. But,
+on the other hand, the nation made extraordinary advances in commerce
+and wealth, while the valour of our sailors was as conspicuous under
+the Dukes of York and Albemarle, Prince Rupert and the Earl of
+Sandwich, as it had been under Blake himself, and their victories
+resulted in transferring the commercial as well as the naval
+supremacy of Holland to this country. In spite of the cruel blows
+inflicted on the well-being of the country, alike by the extravagance
+of the Court, the badness of the Government, the Great Plague, and
+the destruction of London by fire, an extraordinary extension of our
+trade occurred during the reign of Charles II. Such a period,
+therefore, although its brilliancy was marred by dark shadows, cannot
+be considered as an inglorious epoch. It was ennobled by the bravery
+of our sailors, by the fearlessness with which the coalition of
+France with Holland was faced, and by the spirit of enterprise with
+which our merchants and traders seized the opportunity, and, in spite
+of national misfortunes, raised England in the course of a few years
+to the rank of the greatest commercial power in the world.
+
+                                  G. A. HENTY.
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+     I. FATHERLESS
+
+    II. A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
+
+   III. A THIEF SOMEWHERE
+
+    IV. CAPTURED
+
+     V. KIDNAPPED
+
+    VI. A NARROW ESCAPE
+
+   VII. SAVED FROM A VILLAIN
+
+  VIII. THE CAPTAIN'S YARN
+
+    IX. THE FIRE IN THE SAVOY
+
+     X. HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE DUTCH
+
+    XI. PRINCE RUPERT
+
+   XII. NEW FRIENDS
+
+  XIII. THE BATTLE OF LOWESTOFT
+
+   XIV. HONOURABLE SCARS
+
+    XV. THE PLAGUE
+
+   XVI. FATHER AND SON
+
+  XVII. SMITTEN DOWN
+
+ XVIII. A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE
+
+   XIX. TAKING POSSESSION
+
+    XX. THE FIGHT OFF DUNKIRK
+
+   XXI. LONDON IN FLAMES
+
+  XXII. AFTER THE FIRE
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+"WITH GREAT RAPIDITY THE FLAMES SPREAD FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE"
+
+"DON'T CRY, LAD; YOU WILL GET ON BETTER WITHOUT ME"
+
+"THIS IS MY PRINCE OF SCRIVENERS, MARY"
+
+"ROBERT ASHFORD, KNIFE IN HAND, ATTACKED JOHN WILKES WITH FURY"
+
+"CYRIL SAT UP AND DRANK OFF THE CONTENTS OF THE PANNIKIN"
+
+"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, SIR, DO NOT CAUSE TROUBLE"
+
+"TAKE HER DOWN QUICK, JOHN, THERE ARE THREE OTHERS"
+
+"CYRIL RAISED THE KING'S HAND TO HIS LIPS"
+
+"A DUTCH MAN-OF-WAR RAN ALONGSIDE AND FIRED A BROADSIDE"
+
+"FOR THE LAST TIME: WILL YOU SIGN THE DEED?"
+
+"WELCOME BACK TO YOUR OWN AGAIN, SIR CYRIL!"
+
+"WHAT NEWS, JAMES?" THE KING ASKED EAGERLY
+
+
+
+
+WHEN LONDON BURNED
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+FATHERLESS
+
+
+Lad stood looking out of the dormer window in a scantily furnished
+attic in the high-pitched roof of a house in Holborn, in September
+1664. Numbers of persons were traversing the street below, many of
+them going out through the bars, fifty yards away, into the fields
+beyond, where some sports were being held that morning, while country
+people were coming in with their baskets from the villages of
+Highgate and Hampstead, Tyburn and Bayswater. But the lad noted
+nothing that was going on; his eyes were filled with tears, and his
+thoughts were in the little room behind him; for here, coffined in
+readiness for burial, lay the body of his father.
+
+Sir Aubrey Shenstone had not been a good father in any sense of the
+word. He had not been harsh or cruel, but he had altogether neglected
+his son. Beyond the virtues of loyalty and courage, he possessed few
+others. He had fought, as a young man, for Charles, and even among
+the Cavaliers who rode behind Prince Rupert was noted for reckless
+bravery. When, on the fatal field of Worcester, the last hopes of the
+Royalists were crushed, he had effected his escape to France and
+taken up his abode at Dunkirk. His estates had been forfeited; and
+after spending the proceeds of his wife's jewels and those he had
+carried about with him in case fortune went against the cause for
+which he fought, he sank lower and lower, and had for years lived on
+the scanty pension allowed by Louis to the King and his adherents.
+
+Sir Aubrey had been one of the wild, reckless spirits whose conduct
+did much towards setting the people of England against the cause of
+Charles. He gambled and drank, interlarded his conversation with
+oaths, and despised as well as hated the Puritans against whom he
+fought. Misfortune did not improve him; he still drank when he had
+money to do so, gambled for small sums in low taverns with men of his
+own kind, and quarrelled and fought on the smallest provocation. Had
+it not been for his son he would have taken service in the army of
+some foreign Power; but he could not take the child about with him,
+nor could he leave it behind.
+
+Sir Aubrey was not altogether without good points. He would divide
+his last crown with a comrade poorer than himself. In the worst of
+times he was as cheerful as when money was plentiful, making a joke
+of his necessities and keeping a brave face to the world.
+
+Wholly neglected by his father, who spent the greater portion of his
+time abroad, Cyril would have fared badly indeed had it not been for
+the kindness of Lady Parton, the wife of a Cavalier of very different
+type to Sir Aubrey. He had been an intimate friend of Lord Falkland,
+and, like that nobleman, had drawn his sword with the greatest
+reluctance, and only when he saw that Parliament was bent upon
+overthrowing the other two estates in the realm and constituting
+itself the sole authority in England. After the execution of Charles
+he had retired to France, and did not take part in the later risings,
+but lived a secluded life with his wife and children. The eldest of
+these was of the same age as Cyril; and as the latter's mother had
+been a neighbour of hers before marriage, Lady Parton promised her,
+on her death-bed, to look after the child, a promise that she
+faithfully kept.
+
+Sir John Parton had always been adverse to the association of his boy
+with the son of Sir Aubrey Shenstone; but he had reluctantly yielded
+to his wife's wishes, and Cyril passed the greater portion of his
+time at their house, sharing the lessons Harry received from an
+English clergyman who had been expelled from his living by the
+fanatics of Parliament. He was a good and pious man, as well as an
+excellent scholar, and under his teaching, aided by the gentle
+precepts of Lady Parton, and the strict but kindly rule of her
+husband, Cyril received a training of a far better kind than he would
+ever have been likely to obtain had he been brought up in his
+father's house near Norfolk. Sir Aubrey exclaimed sometimes that the
+boy was growing up a little Puritan, and had he taken more interest
+in his welfare would undoubtedly have withdrawn him from the healthy
+influences that were benefiting him so greatly; but, with the usual
+acuteness of children, Cyril soon learnt that any allusion to his
+studies or his life at Sir John Parton's was disagreeable to his
+father, and therefore seldom spoke of them.
+
+Sir Aubrey was never, even when under the influence of his potations,
+unkind to Cyril. The boy bore a strong likeness to his mother, whom
+his father had, in his rough way, really loved passionately. He
+seldom spoke even a harsh word to him, and although he occasionally
+expressed his disapproval of the teaching he was receiving, was at
+heart not sorry to see the boy growing up so different from himself;
+and Cyril, in spite of his father's faults, loved him. When Sir
+Aubrey came back with unsteady step, late at night, and threw himself
+on his pallet, Cyril would say to himself, "Poor father! How
+different he would have been had it not been for his misfortunes! He
+is to be pitied rather than blamed!" And so, as years went on, in
+spite of the difference between their natures, there had grown up a
+sort of fellowship between the two; and of an evening sometimes, when
+his father's purse was so low that he could not indulge in his usual
+stoup of wine at the tavern, they would sit together while Sir Aubrey
+talked of his fights and adventures.
+
+"As to the estates, Cyril," he said one day, "I don't know that
+Cromwell and his Roundheads have done you much harm. I should have
+run through them, lad--I should have diced them away years ago--and I
+am not sure but that their forfeiture has been a benefit to you. If
+the King ever gets his own, you may come to the estates; while, if I
+had had the handling of them, the usurers would have had such a grip
+on them that you would never have had a penny of the income."
+
+"It doesn't matter, father," the boy replied. "I mean to be a soldier
+some day, as you have been, and I shall take service with some of the
+Protestant Princes of Germany; or, if I can't do that, I shall be
+able to work my way somehow."
+
+"What can you work at, lad?" his father said, contemptuously.
+
+"I don't know yet, father; but I shall find some work to do."
+
+Sir Aubrey was about to burst into a tirade against work, but he
+checked himself. If Cyril never came into the estates he would have
+to earn his living somehow.
+
+"All right, my boy. But do you stick to your idea of earning your
+living by your sword; it is a gentleman's profession, and I would
+rather see you eating dry bread as a soldier of fortune than
+prospering in some vile trading business."
+
+Cyril never argued with his father, and he simply nodded an assent
+and then asked some question that turned Sir Aubrey's thoughts on
+other matters.
+
+The news that Monk had declared for the King, and that Charles would
+speedily return to take his place on his father's throne, caused
+great excitement among the Cavaliers scattered over the Continent;
+and as soon as the matter was settled, all prepared to return to
+England, in the full belief that their evil days were over, and that
+they would speedily be restored to their former estates, with honours
+and rewards for their many sacrifices.
+
+"I must leave you behind for a short time, Cyril," his father said to
+the boy, when he came in one afternoon. "I must be in London before
+the King arrives there, to join in his welcome home, and for the
+moment I cannot take you; I shall be busy from morning till night. Of
+course, in the pressure of things at first it will be impossible for
+the King to do everything at once, and it may be a few weeks before
+all these Roundheads can be turned out of the snug nests they have
+made for themselves, and the rightful owners come to their own again.
+As I have no friends in London, I should have nowhere to bestow you,
+until I can take you down with me to Norfolk to present you to our
+tenants, and you would be grievously in my way; but as soon as things
+are settled I will write to you or come over myself to fetch you. In
+the meantime I must think over where I had best place you. It will
+not matter for so short a time, but I would that you should be as
+comfortable as possible. Think it over yourself, and let me know if
+you have any wishes in the matter. Sir John Parton leaves at the end
+of the week, and ere another fortnight there will be scarce another
+Englishman left at Dunkirk."
+
+"Don't you think you can take me with you, father?"
+
+"Impossible," Sir Aubrey said shortly. "Lodgings will be at a great
+price in London, for the city will be full of people from all parts
+coming up to welcome the King home. I can bestow myself in a garret
+anywhere, but I could not leave you there all day. Besides, I shall
+have to get more fitting clothes, and shall have many expenses. You
+are at home here, and will not feel it dull for the short time you
+have to remain behind."
+
+Cyril said no more, but went up, with a heavy heart, for his last
+day's lessons at the Partons'. Young as he was, he was accustomed to
+think for himself, for it was but little guidance he received from
+his father; and after his studies were over he laid the case before
+his master, Mr. Felton, and asked if he could advise him. Mr. Felton
+was himself in high spirits, and was hoping to be speedily reinstated
+in his living. He looked grave when Cyril told his story.
+
+"I think it is a pity that your father, Sir Aubrey, does not take you
+over with him, for it will assuredly take longer to bring all these
+matters into order than he seems to think. However, that is his
+affair. I should think he could not do better for you than place you
+with the people where I lodge. You know them, and they are a worthy
+couple; the husband is, as you know, a fisherman, and you and Harry
+Parton have often been out with him in his boat, so it would not be
+like going among strangers. Continue your studies. I should be sorry
+to think that you were forgetting all that you have learnt. I will
+take you this afternoon, if you like, to my friend, the Cure of St.
+Ursula. Although we differ on religion we are good friends, and
+should you need advice on any matters he will give it to you, and may
+be of use in arranging for a passage for you to England, should your
+father not be able himself to come and fetch you."
+
+Sir Aubrey at once assented to the plan when Cyril mentioned it to
+him, and a week later sailed for England; Cyril moving, with his few
+belongings, to the house of Jean Baudoin, who was the owner and
+master of one of the largest fishing-boats in Dunkirk. Sir Aubrey had
+paid for his board and lodgings for two months.
+
+"I expect to be over to fetch you long before that, Cyril," he had
+said, "but it is as well to be on the safe side. Here are four
+crowns, which will furnish you with ample pocket-money. And I have
+arranged with your fencing-master for you to have lessons regularly,
+as before; it will not do for you to neglect so important an
+accomplishment, for which, as he tells me, you show great aptitude."
+
+The two months passed. Cyril had received but one letter from his
+father. Although it expressed hopes of his speedy restoration to his
+estates, Cyril could see, by its tone, that his father was far from
+satisfied with the progress he had made in the matter. Madame Baudoin
+was a good and pious woman, and was very kind to the forlorn English
+boy; but when a fortnight over the two months had passed, Cyril could
+see that the fisherman was becoming anxious. Regularly, on his return
+from the fishing, he inquired if letters had arrived, and seemed much
+put out when he heard that there was no news. One day, when Cyril was
+in the garden that surrounded the cottage, he heard him say to his
+wife,--
+
+"Well, I will say nothing about it until after the next voyage, and
+then if we don't hear, the boy must do something for his living. I
+can take him in the boat with me; he can earn his victuals in that
+way. If he won't do that, I shall wash my hands of him altogether,
+and he must shift for himself. I believe his father has left him with
+us for good. We were wrong in taking him only on the recommendation
+of Mr. Felton. I have been inquiring about his father, and hear
+little good of him."
+
+Cyril, as soon as the fisherman had gone, stole up to his little
+room. He was but twelve years old, and he threw himself down on his
+bed and cried bitterly. Then a thought struck him; he went to his
+box, and took out from it a sealed parcel; on it was written, "To my
+son. This parcel is only to be opened should you find yourself in
+great need, Your Loving Mother." He remembered how she had placed it
+in his hands a few hours before her death, and had said to him,--
+
+"Put this away, Cyril. I charge you let no one see it. Do not speak
+of it to anyone--not even to your father. Keep it as a sacred gift,
+and do not open it unless you are in sore need. It is for you, and
+you alone. It is the sole thing that I have to leave you; use it with
+discretion. I fear that hard times will come upon you."
+
+Cyril felt that his need could hardly be sorer than it was now, and
+without hesitation he broke the seals, and opened the packet. He
+found first a letter directed to himself. It began,--
+
+"MY DARLING CYRIL,--I trust that it will be many years before you
+open this parcel and read these words. I have left the enclosed as a
+parting gift to you. I know not how long this exile may last, or
+whether you will ever be able to return to England. But whether you
+do or not, it may well be that the time will arrive when you may find
+yourself in sore need. Your father has been a loving husband to me,
+and will, I am sure, do what he can for you; but he is not provident
+in his habits, and may not, after he is left alone, be as careful in
+his expenditure as I have tried to be. I fear then that the time will
+come when you will be in need of money, possibly even in want of the
+necessaries of life. All my other trinkets I have given to him; but
+the one enclosed, which belonged to my mother, I leave to you. It is
+worth a good deal of money, and this it is my desire that you shall
+spend upon yourself. Use it wisely, my son. If, when you open this,
+you are of age to enter the service of a foreign Prince, as is, I
+know, the intention of your father, it will provide you with a
+suitable outfit. If, as is possible, you may lose your father by
+death or otherwise while you are still young, spend it on your
+education, which is the best of all heritages. Should your father be
+alive when you open this, I pray you not to inform him of it. The
+money, in his hands, would last but a short time, and might, I fear,
+be wasted. Think not that I am speaking or thinking hardly of him.
+All men, even the best, have their faults, and his is a carelessness
+as to money matters, and a certain recklessness concerning them;
+therefore, I pray you to keep it secret from him, though I do not say
+that you should not use the money for your common good, if it be
+needful; only, in that case, I beg you will not inform him as to what
+money you have in your possession, but use it carefully and prudently
+for the household wants, and make it last as long as may be. My good
+friend, Lady Parton, if still near you, will doubtless aid you in
+disposing of the jewels to the best advantage. God bless you, my son!
+This is the only secret I ever had from your father, but for your
+good I have hidden this one thing from him, and I pray that this
+deceit, which is practised for your advantage, may be forgiven me.
+YOUR LOVING MOTHER."
+
+It was some time before Cyril opened the parcel; it contained a
+jewel-box in which was a necklace of pearls. After some consideration
+he took this to the Cure of St. Ursula, and, giving him his mother's
+letter to read, asked him for his advice as to its disposal.
+
+"Your mother was a thoughtful and pious woman," the good priest said,
+after he had read the letter, "and has acted wisely in your behalf.
+The need she foresaw might come, has arisen, and you are surely
+justified in using her gift. I will dispose of this trinket for you;
+it is doubtless of considerable value. If it should be that your
+father speedily sends for you, you ought to lay aside the money for
+some future necessity. If he does not come for some time, as may well
+be--for, from the news that comes from England, it is like to be many
+months before affairs are settled--then draw from it only such
+amounts as are needed for your living and education. Study hard, my
+son, for so will you best be fulfilling the intentions of your
+mother. If you like, I will keep the money in my hands, serving it
+out to you as you need it; and in order that you may keep the matter
+a secret, I will myself go to Baudoin, and tell him that he need not
+be disquieted as to the cost of your maintenance, for that I have
+money in hand with which to discharge your expenses, so long as you
+may remain with him."
+
+The next day the Cure informed Cyril that he had disposed of the
+necklace for fifty louis. Upon this sum Cyril lived for two years.
+
+Things had gone very hardly with Sir Aubrey Shenstone. The King had a
+difficult course to steer. To have evicted all those who had obtained
+possession of the forfeited estates of the Cavaliers would have been
+to excite a deep feeling of resentment among the Nonconformists. In
+vain Sir Aubrey pressed his claims, in season and out of season. He
+had no powerful friends to aid him; his conduct had alienated the men
+who could have assisted him, and, like so many other Cavaliers who
+had fought and suffered for Charles I., Sir Aubrey Shenstone found
+himself left altogether in the cold. For a time he was able to keep
+up a fair appearance, as he obtained loans from Prince Rupert and
+other Royalists whom he had known in the old days, and who had been
+more fortunate than himself; but the money so obtained lasted but a
+short time, and it was not long before he was again in dire straits.
+
+Cyril had from the first but little hope that his father would
+recover his estates. He had, shortly before his father left France,
+heard a conversation between Sir John Parton and a gentleman who was
+in the inner circle of Charles's advisers. The latter had said,--
+
+"One of the King's great difficulties will be to satisfy the exiles.
+Undoubtedly, could he consult his own inclinations only, he would on
+his return at once reinstate all those who have suffered in their
+estates from their loyalty to his father and himself. But this will
+be impossible. It was absolutely necessary for him, in his
+proclamation at Breda, to promise an amnesty for all offences,
+liberty of conscience and an oblivion as to the past, and he
+specially says that all questions of grants, sales and purchases of
+land, and titles, shall be referred to Parliament. The Nonconformists
+are at present in a majority, and although it seems that all parties
+are willing to welcome the King back, you may be sure that no
+Parliament will consent to anything like a general disturbance of the
+possessors of estates formerly owned by Royalists. In a vast number
+of cases, the persons to whom such grants were made disposed of them
+by sale to others, and it would be as hard on them to be ousted as it
+is upon the original proprietors to be kept out of their possession.
+Truly it is a most difficult position, and one that will have to be
+approached with great judgment, the more so since most of those to
+whom the lands were granted were generals, officers, and soldiers of
+the Parliament, and Monk would naturally oppose any steps to the
+detriment of his old comrades.
+
+"I fear there will be much bitter disappointment among the exiles,
+and that the King will be charged with ingratitude by those who think
+that he has only to sign an order for their reinstatement, whereas
+Charles will have himself a most difficult course to steer, and will
+have to govern himself most circumspectly, so as to give offence to
+none of the governing parties. As to his granting estates, or
+dispossessing their holders, he will have no more power to do so than
+you or I. Doubtless some of the exiles will be restored to their
+estates; but I fear that the great bulk are doomed to disappointment.
+At any rate, for a time no extensive changes can be made, though it
+may be that in the distance, when the temper of the nation at large
+is better understood, the King will be able to do something for those
+who suffered in the cause.
+
+"It was all very well for Cromwell, who leant solely on the Army, to
+dispense with a Parliament, and to govern far more autocratically
+than James or Charles even dreamt of doing; but the Army that
+supported Cromwell would certainly not support Charles. It is
+composed for the most part of stern fanatics, and will be the first
+to oppose any attempt of the King to override the law. No doubt it
+will erelong be disbanded; but you will see that Parliament will then
+recover the authority of which Cromwell deprived it; and Charles is a
+far wiser man than his father, and will never set himself against the
+feeling of the country. Certainly, anything like a general
+reinstatement of the men who have been for the last ten years
+haunting the taverns of the Continent is out of the question; they
+would speedily create such a revulsion of public opinion as might
+bring about another rebellion. Hyde, staunch Royalist as he is, would
+never suffer the King to make so grievous an error; nor do I think
+for a moment that Charles, who is shrewd and politic, and above all
+things a lover of ease and quiet, would think of bringing such a nest
+of hornets about his ears."
+
+When, after his return to England, it became evident that Sir Aubrey
+had but small chance of reinstatement in his lands, his former
+friends began to close their purses and to refuse to grant further
+loans, and he was presently reduced to straits as severe as those he
+had suffered during his exile. The good spirits that had borne him up
+so long failed now, and he grew morose and petulant. His loyalty to
+the King was unshaken; Charles had several times granted him
+audiences, and had assured him that, did it rest with him, justice
+should be at once dealt to him, but that he was practically powerless
+in the matter, and the knight's resentment was concentrated upon
+Hyde, now Lord Clarendon, and the rest of the King's advisers. He
+wrote but seldom to Cyril; he had no wish to have the boy with him
+until he could take him down with him in triumph to Norfolk, and show
+him to the tenants as his heir. Living from hand to mouth as he did,
+he worried but little as to how Cyril was getting on.
+
+"The lad has fallen on his feet somehow," he said, "and he is better
+where he is than he would be with me. I suppose when he wants money
+he will write and say so, though where I should get any to send to
+him I know not. Anyhow, I need not worry about him at present."
+
+Cyril, indeed, had written to him soon after the sale of the
+necklace, telling him that he need not distress himself about his
+condition, for that he had obtained sufficient money for his present
+necessities from the sale of a small trinket his mother had given him
+before her death, and that when this was spent he should doubtless
+find some means of earning his living until he could rejoin him. His
+father never inquired into the matter, though he made a casual
+reference to it in his next letter, saying that he was glad Cyril had
+obtained some money, as it would, at the moment, have been
+inconvenient to him to send any over.
+
+Cyril worked assiduously at the school that had been recommended to
+him by the Cure, and at the end of two years he had still twenty
+louis left. He had several conversations with his adviser as to the
+best way of earning his living.
+
+"I do not wish to spend any more, Father," he said, "and would fain
+keep this for some future necessity."
+
+The Cure agreed with him as to this, and, learning from his master
+that he was extremely quick at figures and wrote an excellent hand,
+he obtained a place for him with one of the principal traders of the
+town. He was to receive no salary for a year, but was to learn
+book-keeping and accounts. Although but fourteen, the boy was so
+intelligent and zealous that his employer told the Cure that he found
+him of real service, and that he was able to entrust some of his
+books entirely to his charge.
+
+Six months after entering his service, however, Cyril received a
+letter from his father, saying that he believed his affairs were on
+the point of settlement, and therefore wished him to come over in the
+first ship sailing. He enclosed an order on a house at Dunkirk for
+fifty francs, to pay his passage. His employer parted with him with
+regret, and the kind Cure bade him farewell in terms of real
+affection, for he had come to take a great interest in him.
+
+"At any rate, Cyril," he said, "your time here has not been wasted,
+and your mother's gift has been turned to as much advantage as even
+she can have hoped that it would be. Should your father's hopes be
+again disappointed, and fresh delays arise, you may, with the
+practice you have had, be able to earn your living in London. There
+must be there, as in France, many persons in trade who have had but
+little education, and you may be able to obtain employment in keeping
+the books of such people, who are, I believe, more common in England
+than here. Here are the sixteen louis that still remain; put them
+aside, Cyril, and use them only for urgent necessity."
+
+Cyril, on arriving in London, was heartily welcomed by his father,
+who had, for the moment, high hopes of recovering his estates. These,
+however, soon faded, and although Sir Aubrey would not allow it, even
+to himself, no chance remained of those Royalists, who had, like him,
+parted with their estates for trifling sums, to be spent in the
+King's service, ever regaining possession of them.
+
+It was not long before Cyril perceived that unless he himself
+obtained work of some sort they would soon be face to face with
+actual starvation. He said nothing to his father, but started out one
+morning on a round of visits among the smaller class of shopkeepers,
+offering to make up their books and write out their bills and
+accounts for a small remuneration. As he had a frank and pleasant
+face, and his foreign bringing up had given him an ease and
+politeness of manner rare among English lads of the day, it was not
+long before he obtained several clients. To some of the smaller class
+of traders he went only for an hour or two, once a week, while others
+required their bills and accounts to be made out daily. The pay was
+very small, but it sufficed to keep absolute want from the door. When
+he told his father of the arrangements he had made, Sir Aubrey at
+first raged and stormed; but he had come, during the last year or
+two, to recognise the good sense and strong will of his son, and
+although he never verbally acquiesced in what he considered a
+degradation, he offered no actual opposition to a plan that at least
+enabled them to live, and furnished him occasionally with a few
+groats with which he could visit a tavern.
+
+So things had gone on for more than a year. Cyril was now sixteen,
+and his punctuality, and the neatness of his work, had been so
+appreciated by the tradesmen who first employed him, that his time
+was now fully occupied, and that at rates more remunerative than
+those he had at first obtained. He kept the state of his resources to
+himself, and had no difficulty in doing this, as his father never
+alluded to the subject of his work. Cyril knew that, did he hand over
+to him all the money he made, it would be wasted in drink or at
+cards; consequently, he kept the table furnished as modestly as at
+first, and regularly placed after dinner on the corner of the mantel
+a few coins, which his father as regularly dropped into his pocket.
+
+A few days before the story opens, Sir Aubrey had, late one evening,
+been carried upstairs, mortally wounded in a brawl; he only recovered
+consciousness a few minutes before his death.
+
+"You have been a good lad, Cyril," he said faintly, as he feebly
+pressed the boy's hand; "far better than I deserve to have had. Don't
+cry, lad; you will get on better without me, and things are just as
+well as they are. I hope you will come to your estates some day; you
+will make a better master than I should ever have done. I hope that
+in time you will carry out your plan of entering some foreign
+service; there is no chance here. I don't want you to settle down as
+a city scrivener. Still, do as you like, lad, and unless your wishes
+go with mine, think no further of service."
+
+"I would rather be a soldier, father. I only undertook this work
+because I could see nothing else."
+
+"That is right, my boy, that is right. I know you won't forget that
+you come of a race of gentlemen."
+
+He spoke but little after that. A few broken words came from his lips
+that showed that his thoughts had gone back to old times. "Boot and
+saddle," he murmured. "That is right. Now we are ready for them. Down
+with the prick-eared knaves! God and King Charles!" These were the
+last words he spoke.
+
+Cyril had done all that was necessary. He had laid by more than half
+his earnings for the last eight or nine months. One of his clients,
+an undertaker, had made all the necessary preparations for the
+funeral, and in a few hours his father would be borne to his last
+resting-place. As he stood at the open window he thought sadly over
+the past, and of his father's wasted life. Had it not been for the
+war he might have lived and died a country gentleman. It was the war,
+with its wild excitements, that had ruined him. What was there for
+him to do in a foreign country, without resource or employment,
+having no love for reading, but to waste his life as he had done? Had
+his wife lived it might have been different. Cyril had still a vivid
+remembrance of his mother, and, though his father had but seldom
+spoken to him of her, he knew that he had loved her, and that, had
+she lived, he would never have given way to drink as he had done of
+late years.
+
+To his father's faults he could not be blind; but they stood for
+nothing now. He had been his only friend, and of late they had been
+drawn closer to each other in their loneliness; and although scarce a
+word of endearment had passed between them, he knew that his father
+had cared for him more than was apparent in his manner.
+
+A few hours later, Sir Aubrey Shenstone was laid to rest in a little
+graveyard outside the city walls. Cyril was the only mourner; and
+when it was over, instead of going back to his lonely room, he turned
+away and wandered far out through the fields towards Hampstead, and
+then sat himself down to think what he had best do. Another three or
+four years must pass before he could try to get service abroad. When
+the time came he should find Sir John Parton, and beg him to procure
+for him some letter of introduction to the many British gentlemen
+serving abroad. He had not seen him since he came to England. His
+father had met him, but had quarrelled with him upon Sir John
+declining to interest himself actively to push his claims, and had
+forbidden Cyril to go near those who had been so kind to him.
+
+The boy had felt it greatly at first, but he came, after a time, to
+see that it was best so. It seemed to him that he had fallen
+altogether out of their station in life when the hope of his father's
+recovering his estates vanished, and although he was sure of a kindly
+reception from Lady Parton, he shrank from going there in his present
+position. They had done so much for him already, that the thought
+that his visit might seem to them a sort of petition for further
+benefits was intolerable to him.
+
+For the present, the question in his mind was whether he should
+continue at his present work, which at any rate sufficed to keep him,
+or should seek other employment. He would greatly have preferred some
+life of action,--something that would fit him better to bear the
+fatigues and hardships of war,--but he saw no prospect of obtaining
+any such position.
+
+"I should be a fool to throw up what I have," he said to himself at
+last. "I will stick to it anyhow until some opportunity offers; but
+the sooner I leave it the better. It was bad enough before; it will
+be worse now. If I had but a friend or two it would not be so hard;
+but to have no one to speak to, and no one to think about, when work
+is done, will be lonely indeed."
+
+At any rate, he determined to change his room as soon as possible. It
+mattered little where he went so that it was a change. He thought
+over various tradesmen for whom he worked. Some of them might have an
+attic, he cared not how small, that they might let him have in lieu
+of paying him for his work. Even if they never spoke to him, it would
+be better to be in a house where he knew something of those
+downstairs, than to lodge in one where he was an utter stranger to
+all. He had gone round to the shops where he worked, on the day after
+his father's death, to explain that he could not come again until
+after the funeral, and he resolved that next morning he would ask
+each in turn whether he could obtain a lodging with them.
+
+The sun was already setting when he rose from the bank on which he
+had seated himself, and returned to the city. The room did not feel
+so lonely to him as it would have done had he not been accustomed to
+spending the evenings alone. He took out his little hoard and counted
+it. After paying the expenses of the funeral there would still remain
+sufficient to keep him for three or four months should he fall ill,
+or, from any cause, lose his work. He had one good suit of clothes
+that had been bought on his return to England,--when his father
+thought that they would assuredly be going down almost immediately to
+take possession of the old Hall,--and the rest were all in fair
+condition.
+
+The next day he began his work again; he had two visits to pay of an
+hour each, and one of two hours, and the spare time between these he
+filled up by calling at two or three other shops to make up for the
+arrears of work during the last few days.
+
+The last place he had to visit was that at which he had the longest
+task to perform. It was at a ship-chandler's in Tower Street, a large
+and dingy house, the lower portion being filled with canvas, cordage,
+barrels of pitch and tar, candles, oil, and matters of all sorts
+needed by ship-masters, including many cannon of different sizes,
+piles of balls, anchors, and other heavy work, all of which were
+stowed away in a yard behind it. The owner of this store was a
+one-armed man. His father had kept it before him, but he himself,
+after working there long enough to become a citizen and a member of
+the Ironmongers' Guild, had quarrelled with his father and had taken
+to the sea. For twenty years he had voyaged to many lands,
+principally in ships trading in the Levant, and had passed through a
+great many adventures, including several fights with the Moorish
+corsairs. In the last voyage he took, he had had his arm shot off by
+a ball from a Greek pirate among the Islands. He had long before made
+up his differences with his father, but had resisted the latter's
+entreaties that he should give up the sea and settle down at the
+shop; on his return after this unfortunate voyage he told him that he
+had come home to stay.
+
+"I shall be able to help about the stores after a while," he said,
+"but I shall never be the man I was on board ship. It will be hard
+work to take to measuring out canvas and to weighing iron, after a
+free life on the sea, but I don't so much mind now I have had my
+share of adventures; though I dare say I should have gone on for a
+few more years if that rascally ball had not carried away my arm. I
+don't know but that it is best as it is, for the older I got the
+harder I should find it to fall into new ways and to settle down
+here."
+
+"Anyhow, I am glad you are back, David," his father said.
+
+"You are forty-five, and though I don't say it would not have been
+better if you had remained here from the first, you have learnt many
+things you would not have learnt here. You know just the sort of
+things that masters of ships require, and what canvas and cables and
+cordage will suit their wants. Besides, customers like to talk with
+men of their own way of thinking, and sailors more, I think, than
+other men. You know, too, most of the captains who sail up the
+Mediterranean, and may be able to bring fresh custom into the shop.
+Therefore, do not think that you will be of no use to me. As to your
+wife and child, there is plenty of room for them as well as for you,
+and it will be better for them here, with you always at hand, than it
+would be for them to remain over at Rotherhithe and only to see you
+after the shutters are up."
+
+Eight years later Captain Dave, as he was always called, became sole
+owner of the house and business. A year after he did so he was
+lamenting to a friend the trouble that he had with his accounts.
+
+"My father always kept that part of the business in his own hands,"
+he said, "and I find it a mighty heavy burden. Beyond checking a bill
+of lading, or reading the marks on the bales and boxes, I never had
+occasion to read or write for twenty years, and there has not been
+much more of it for the last fifteen; and although I was a smart
+scholar enough in my young days, my fingers are stiff with hauling at
+ropes and using the marling-spike, and my eyes are not so clear as
+they used to be, and it is no slight toil and labour to me to make up
+an account for goods sold. John Wilkes, my head shopman, is a handy
+fellow; he was my boatswain in the _Kate_, and I took him on when we
+found that the man who had been my father's right hand for twenty
+years had been cheating him all along. We got on well enough as long
+as I could give all my time in the shop; but he is no good with the
+pen--all he can do is to enter receipts and sales.
+
+"He has a man under him, who helps him in measuring out the right
+length of canvas and cables or for weighing a chain or an anchor, and
+knows enough to put down the figures; but that is all. Then there are
+the two smiths and the two apprentices; they don't count in the
+matter. Robert Ashford, the eldest apprentice, could do the work, but
+I have no fancy for him; he does not look one straight in the face as
+one who is honest and above board should do. I shall have to keep a
+clerk, and I know what it will be--he will be setting me right, and I
+shall not feel my own master; he will be out of place in my crew
+altogether. I never liked pursers; most of them are rogues. Still, I
+suppose it must come to that."
+
+"I have a boy come in to write my bills and to make up my accounts,
+who would be just the lad for you, Captain Dave. He is the son of a
+broken-down Cavalier, but he is a steady, honest young fellow, and I
+fancy his pen keeps his father, who is a roystering blade, and spends
+most of his time at the taverns. The boy comes to me for an hour,
+twice a week; he writes as good a hand as any clerk and can reckon as
+quickly, and I pay him but a groat a week, which was all he asked."
+
+"Tell him to come to me, then. I should want him every day, if he
+could manage it, and it would be the very thing for me."
+
+"I am sure you would like him," the other said; "he is a good-looking
+young fellow, and his face speaks for him without any recommendation.
+I was afraid at first that he would not do for me; I thought there
+was too much of the gentleman about him. He has good manners, and a
+gentle sort of way. He has been living in France all his life, and
+though he has never said anything about his family--indeed he talks
+but little, he just comes in and does his work and goes away--I fancy
+his father was one of King Charles's men and of good blood."
+
+"Well, that doesn't sound so well," the sailor said, "but anyhow I
+should like to have a look at him."
+
+"He comes to me to-morrow at eleven and goes at twelve," the man
+said, "and I will send him round to you when he has done."
+
+Cyril had gone round the next morning to the ships' store.
+
+"So you are the lad that works for my neighbour Anderson?" Captain
+Dave said, as he surveyed him closely. "I like your looks, lad, but I
+doubt whether we shall get on together. I am an old sailor, you know,
+and I am quick of speech and don't stop to choose my words, so if you
+are quick to take offence it would be of no use your coming to me."
+
+"I don't think I am likely to take offence," Cyril said quietly; "and
+if we don't get on well together, sir, you will only have to tell me
+that you don't want me any longer; but I trust you will not have
+often the occasion to use hard words, for at any rate I will do my
+best to please you."
+
+"You can't say more, lad. Well, let us have a taste of your quality.
+Come in here," and he led him into a little room partitioned off from
+the shop. "There, you see," and he opened a book, "is the account of
+the sales and orders yesterday; the ready-money sales have got to be
+entered in that ledger with the red cover; the sales where no money
+passed have to be entered to the various customers or ships in the
+ledger. I have made out a list--here it is--of twelve accounts that
+have to be drawn out from that ledger and sent in to customers. You
+will find some of them are of somewhat long standing, for I have been
+putting off that job. Sit you down here. When you have done one or
+two of them I will have a look at your work, and if that is
+satisfactory we will have a talk as to what hours you have got
+disengaged, and what days in the week will suit you best."
+
+It was two hours before Captain Dave came in again. Cyril had just
+finished the work; some of the accounts were long ones, and the
+writing was so crabbed that it took him some time to decipher it.
+
+"Well, how are you getting on, lad?" the Captain asked.
+
+"I have this moment finished the last account."
+
+"What! Do you mean to say that you have done them all! Why, it would
+have taken me all my evenings for a week. Now, hand me the books; it
+is best to do things ship-shape."
+
+He first compared the list of the sales with the entries, and then
+Cyril handed him the twelve accounts he had drawn up. Captain David
+did not speak until he had finished looking through them.
+
+"I would not have believed all that work could have been done in two
+hours," he said, getting up from his chair. "Orderly and well
+written, and without a blot. The King's secretary could not have done
+better! Well, now you have seen the list of sales for a day, and I
+take it that be about the average, so if you come three times a week
+you will always have two days' sales to enter in the ledger. There
+are a lot of other books my father used to keep, but I have never had
+time to bother myself about them, and as I have got on very well so
+far, I do not see any occasion for you to do so, for my part it seems
+to me that all these books are only invented by clerks to give
+themselves something to do to fill up their time. Of course, there
+won't be accounts to send out every day. Do you think with two hours,
+three times a week, you could keep things straight?"
+
+"I should certainly think so, sir, but I can hardly say until I try,
+because it seems to me that there must be a great many items, and I
+can't say how long it will take entering all the goods received under
+their proper headings; but if the books are thoroughly made up now, I
+should think I could keep them all going."
+
+"That they are not," Captain David said ruefully; "they are all
+horribly in arrears. I took charge of them myself three years ago,
+and though I spend three hours every evening worrying over them, they
+get further and further in arrears. Look at those files over there,"
+and he pointed to three long wires, on each of which was strung a
+large bundle of papers; "I am afraid you will have to enter them all
+up before you can get matters into ship-shape order. The daily sale
+book is the only one that has been kept up regularly."
+
+"But these accounts I have made up, sir? Probably in those files
+there are many other goods supplied to the same people."
+
+"Of course there are, lad, though I did not think of it before. Well,
+we must wait, then, until you can make up the arrears a bit, though I
+really want to get some money in."
+
+"Well, sir, I might write at the bottom of each bill 'Account made up
+to,' and then put in the date of the latest entry charged."
+
+"That would do capitally, lad--I did not think of that. I see you
+will be of great use to me. I can buy and sell, for I know the value
+of the goods I deal in; but as to accounts, they are altogether out
+of my way. And now, lad, what do you charge?"
+
+"I charge a groat for two hours' work, sir; but if I came to you
+three times a week, I would do it for a little less."
+
+"No, lad, I don't want to beat you down; indeed, I don't think you
+charge enough. However, let us say, to begin with, three groats a
+week."
+
+This had been six weeks before Sir Aubrey Shenstone's death; and in
+the interval Cyril had gradually wiped off all the arrears, and had
+all the books in order up to date, to the astonishment of his
+employer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
+
+
+"I am glad to see you again, lad," Captain David said, when Cyril
+entered his shop. "I have been thinking of the news you gave me last
+week, and the mistress and I have been talking it over. Where are you
+lodging?"
+
+"I have been lodging until now in Holborn," Cyril replied; "but I am
+going to move."
+
+"Yes; that is what we thought you would be doing. It is always better
+to make a change after a loss. I don't want to interfere in your
+business, lad, but have you any friends you are thinking of going
+to?"
+
+"No, sir; I do not know a soul in London save those I work for."
+
+"That is bad, lad--very bad. I was talking it over with my wife, and
+I said that maybe you were lonely. I am sure, lad, you are one of the
+right sort. I don't mean only in your work, for as for that I would
+back you against any scrivener in London, but I mean about yourself.
+It don't need half an eye to see that you have not been brought up to
+this sort of thing, though you have taken to it so kindly, but there
+is not one in a thousand boys of your age who would have settled down
+to work and made their way without a friend to help them as you have
+done; it shows that there is right good stuff in you. There, I am so
+long getting under weigh that I shall never get into port if I don't
+steer a straight course. Now, my ideas and my wife's come to this: if
+you have got no friends you will have to take a lodging somewhere
+among strangers, and then it would be one of two things--you would
+either stop at home and mope by yourself, or you would go out, and
+maybe get into bad company. If I had not come across you I should
+have had to employ a clerk, and he would either have lived here with
+us or I should have had to pay him enough to keep house for himself.
+Now in fact you are a clerk; for though you are only here for six
+hours a week--you do all the work there is to do, and no clerk could
+do more. Well, we have got an attic upstairs which is not used, and
+if you like to come here and live with us, my wife and I will make
+you heartily welcome."
+
+"Thank you, indeed," Cyril said warmly. "It is of all things what I
+should like; but of course I should wish to pay you for my board. I
+can afford to do so if you will employ me for the same hours as at
+present."
+
+"No, I would not have that, lad; but if you like we can reckon your
+board against what I now pay you. We feed John Wilkes and the two
+apprentices, and one mouth extra will make but little difference. I
+don't want it to be a matter of obligation, so we will put your board
+against the work you do for me. I shall consider that we are making a
+good bargain."
+
+"It is your pleasure to say so, sir, but I cannot tell you what a
+load your kind offer takes off my mind. The future has seemed very
+dark to me."
+
+"Very well. That matter is settled, then. Come upstairs with me and I
+will present you to my wife and daughter; they have heard me speak of
+you so often that they will be glad to see you. In the first place,
+though, I must ask you your name. Since you first signed articles and
+entered the crew I have never thought of asking you."
+
+"My name is Cyril, sir--Cyril Shenstone."
+
+His employer nodded and at once led the way upstairs. A motherly
+looking woman rose from the seat where she was sitting at work, as
+they entered the living-room.
+
+"This is my Prince of Scriveners, Mary, the lad I have often spoken
+to you about. His name is Cyril; he has accepted the proposal we
+talked over last night, and is going to become one of the crew on
+board our ship."
+
+"I am glad to see you," she said to Cyril, holding out her hand to
+him. "I have not met you before, but I feel very grateful to you.
+Till you came, my husband was bothered nearly out of his wits; he
+used to sit here worrying over his books, and writing from the time
+the shop closed till the hour for bed, and Nellie and I dared not to
+say as much as a word. Now we see no more of his books, and he is
+able to go out for a walk in the fields with us as he used to do
+before."
+
+"It is very kind of you to say so, Mistress," Cyril said earnestly;
+"but it is I, on the contrary, who am deeply grateful to you for the
+offer Captain Dave has been good enough to make me. You cannot tell
+the pleasure it has given me, for you cannot understand how lonely
+and friendless I have been feeling. Believe me, I will strive to give
+you as little trouble as possible, and to conform myself in all ways
+to your wishes."
+
+At this moment Nellie Dowsett came into the room. She was a pretty
+girl some eighteen years of age.
+
+"This is Cyril, your father's assistant, Nellie," her mother said.
+
+"You are welcome, Master Cyril. I have been wanting to see you.
+Father has been praising you up to the skies so often that I have had
+quite a curiosity to see what you could be like."
+
+"Your father is altogether too good, Mistress Nellie, and makes far
+more of my poor ability than it deserves."
+
+"And is he going to live with us, mother?" Nellie asked.
+
+"Yes, child; he has accepted your father's offer."
+
+Nellie clapped her hands.
+
+"That is good," she said. "I shall expect you to escort me out
+sometimes, Cyril. Father always wants me to go down to the wharf to
+look at the ships or to go into the fields; but I want to go
+sometimes to see the fashions, and there is no one to take me, for
+John Wilkes always goes off to smoke a pipe with some sailor or
+other, and the apprentices are stupid and have nothing to say for
+themselves; and besides, one can't walk alongside a boy in an
+apprentice cap."
+
+"I shall be very happy to, Mistress, when my work is done, though I
+fear that I shall make but a poor escort, for indeed I have had no
+practice whatever in the esquiring of dames."
+
+"I am sure you will do very well," Nellie said, nodding approvingly.
+"Is it true that you have been in France? Father said he was told
+so."
+
+"Yes; I have lived almost all my life in France."
+
+"And do you speak French?"
+
+"Yes; I speak it as well as English."
+
+"It must have been very hard to learn?"
+
+"Not at all. It came to me naturally, just as English did."
+
+"You must not keep him any longer now, Nellie; he has other
+appointments to keep, and when he has done that, to go and pack up
+his things and see that they are brought here by a porter. He can
+answer some more of your questions when he comes here this evening."
+
+Cyril returned to Holborn with a lighter heart than he had felt for a
+long time. His preparations for the move took him but a short time,
+and two hours later he was installed in a little attic in the
+ship-chandler's house. He spent half-an-hour in unpacking his things,
+and then heard a stentorian shout from below,--
+
+"Masthead, ahoy! Supper's waiting."
+
+Supposing that this hail was intended for himself, he at once went
+downstairs. The table was laid. Mistress Dowsett took her seat at the
+head; her husband sat on one side of her, and Nellie on the other.
+John Wilkes sat next to his master, and beyond him the elder of the
+two apprentices. A seat was left between Nellie and the other
+apprentice for Cyril.
+
+"Now our crew is complete, John," Captain Dave said. "We have been
+wanting a supercargo badly."
+
+"Ay, ay, Captain Dave, there is no doubt we have been short-handed in
+that respect; but things have been more ship-shape lately."
+
+"That is so, John. I can make a shift to keep the vessel on her
+course, but when it comes to writing up the log, and keeping the
+reckoning, I make but a poor hand at it. It was getting to be as bad
+as that voyage of the _Jane_ in the Levant, when the supercargo had
+got himself stabbed at Lemnos."
+
+"I mind it, Captain--I mind it well. And what a trouble there was
+with the owners when we got back again!"
+
+"Yes, yes," the Captain said; "it was worse work than having a brush
+with a Barbary corsair. I shall never forget that day. When I went to
+the office to report, the three owners were all in.
+
+"'Well, Captain Dave, back from your voyage?' said the littlest of
+the three. 'Made a good voyage, I hope?'
+
+"First-rate, says I, except that the supercargo got killed at Lemnos
+by one of them rascally Greeks.
+
+"'Dear, dear,' said another of them--he was a prim, sanctimonious
+sort--'Has our brother Jenkins left us?'
+
+"I don't know about his leaving us, says I, but we left him sure
+enough in a burying-place there.
+
+"'And how did you manage without him?'
+
+"I made as good a shift as I could, I said. I have sold all the
+cargo, and I have brought back a freight of six tons of Turkey figs,
+and four hundred boxes of currants. And these two bags hold the
+difference.
+
+"'Have you brought the books with you, Captain?'
+
+"Never a book, said I. I have had to navigate the ship and to look
+after the crew, and do the best I could at each port. The books are
+on board, made out up to the day before the supercargo was killed,
+three months ago; but I have never had time to make an entry since.
+
+"They looked at each other like owls for a minute or two, and then
+they all began to talk at once. How had I sold the goods? had I
+charged the prices mentioned in the invoice? what percentage had I
+put on for profit? and a lot of other things. I waited until they
+were all out of breath, and then I said I had not bothered about
+invoices. I knew pretty well the prices such things cost in England.
+I clapped on so much more for the expenses of the voyage and a fair
+profit. I could tell them what I had paid for the figs and the
+currants, and for some bags of Smyrna sponges I had bought, but as to
+the prices I had charged, it was too much to expect that I could
+carry them in my head. All I knew was I had paid for the things I had
+bought, I had paid all the port dues and other charges, I had
+advanced the men one-fourth of their wages each month, and I had
+brought them back the balance.
+
+"Such a hubbub you never heard. One would have thought they would
+have gone raving mad. The sanctimonious partner was the worst of the
+lot. He threatened me with the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen, and went
+on till I thought he would have had a fit.
+
+"Look here, says I, at last, I'll tell you what I will do. You tell
+me what the cargo cost you altogether, and put on so much for the
+hire of the ship. I will pay you for them and settle up with the
+crew, and take the cargo and sell it. That is a fair offer. And I
+advise you to keep civil tongues in your heads, or I will knock them
+off and take my chance before the Lord Mayor for assault and battery.
+
+"With that I took off my coat and laid it on a bench. I reckon they
+saw that I was in earnest, and they just sat as mum as mice. Then the
+little man said, in a quieter sort of voice,--
+
+"'You are too hasty, Captain Dowsett. We know you to be an honest man
+and a good sailor, and had no suspicion that you would wrong us; but
+no merchant in the City of London could hear that his business had
+been conducted in such a way as you have carried it through without
+for a time losing countenance. Let us talk the matter over reasonably
+and quietly.'
+
+"That is just what I am wanting, I said; and if there hasn't been
+reason and quiet it is from no fault of mine.
+
+"'Well, please to put your coat on again, Captain, and let us see how
+matters stand!'
+
+"Then they took their ink-horns and pens, and, on finding out what I
+had paid for the figs and other matters, they reckoned them up; then
+they put down what I said was due to the sailors and the mate and
+myself; then they got out some books, and for an hour they were busy
+reckoning up figures; then they opened the bags and counted up the
+gold we had brought home. Well, when they had done, you would hardly
+have known them for the same men. First of all, they went through all
+their calculations again to be sure they had made no mistake about
+them; then they laid down their pens, and the sanctimonious man
+mopped the perspiration from his face, and the others smiled at each
+other. Then the biggest of the three, who had scarcely spoken before,
+said,--
+
+"'Well, Captain Dowsett, I must own that my partners were a little
+hasty. The result of our calculations is that the voyage has been a
+satisfactory one, I may almost say very satisfactory, and that you
+must have disposed of the goods to much advantage. It has been a new
+and somewhat extraordinary way of doing business, but I am bound to
+say that the result has exceeded our expectations, and we trust that
+you will command the _Jane_ for many more voyages.'
+
+"Not for me, says I. You can hand me over the wages due to me, and
+you will find the _Jane_ moored in the stream just above the Tower.
+You will find her in order and shipshape; but never again do I set my
+foot on board her or on any other vessel belonging to men who have
+doubted my honesty.
+
+"Nor did I. I had a pretty good name among traders, and ten days
+later I started for the Levant again in command of a far smarter
+vessel than the _Jane_ had ever been."
+
+"And we all went with you, Captain," John Wilkes said, "every man
+jack of us. And on her very next voyage the _Jane_ was captured by
+the Algerines, and I reckon there are some of the poor fellows
+working as slaves there now; for though Blake did blow the place
+pretty nigh out of water a few years afterwards, it is certain that
+the Christian slaves handed over to him were not half those the Moors
+had in their hands."
+
+"It would seem, Captain Dowsett, from your story, that you can manage
+very well without a supercargo?" Cyril said quietly.
+
+"Ay, lad; but you see that was a ready-money business. I handed over
+the goods and took the cash; there was no accounts to be kept. It was
+all clear and above board. But it is a different thing in this ship
+altogether, when, instead of paying down on the nail for what they
+get, you have got to keep an account of everything and send in all
+their items jotted down in order. Why, Nellie, your tongue seems
+quieter than usual."
+
+"You have not given me a chance, father. You have been talking ever
+since we sat down to table."
+
+Supper was now over. The two apprentices at once retired. Cyril would
+have done the same, but Mistress Dowsett said,--
+
+"Sit you still, Cyril. The Captain says that you are to be considered
+as one of the officers of the ship, and we shall be always glad to
+have you here, though of course you can always go up to your own
+room, or go out, when you feel inclined."
+
+"I have to go out three times a week to work," Cyril said; "but all
+the other evenings I shall be glad indeed to sit here, Mistress
+Dowsett. You cannot tell what a pleasure it is to me to be in an
+English home like this."
+
+It was not long before John Wilkes went out.
+
+"He is off to smoke his pipe," the Captain said. "I never light mine
+till he goes. I can't persuade him to take his with me; he insists it
+would not be manners to smoke in the cabin."
+
+"He is quite right, father," Nellie said. "It is bad enough having
+you smoke here. When mother's friends or mine come in they are
+well-nigh choked; they are not accustomed to it as we are, for a
+respectable London citizen does not think of taking tobacco."
+
+"I am a London citizen, Nellie, but I don't set up any special claim
+to respectability. I am a sea-captain, though that rascally Greek
+cannon-ball and other circumstances have made a trader of me, sorely
+against my will; and if I could not have my pipe and my glass of grog
+here I would go and sit with John Wilkes in the tavern at the corner
+of the street, and I suppose that would not be even as respectable as
+smoking here."
+
+"Nellie doesn't mean, David, that she wants you to give up smoking;
+only she thinks that John is quite right to go out to take his pipe.
+And I must say I think so too. You know that when you have
+sea-captains of your acquaintance here, you always send the maid off
+to bed and smoke in the kitchen."
+
+"Ay, ay, my dear, I don't want to turn your room into a fo'castle.
+There is reason in all things. I suppose you don't smoke, Master
+Cyril?"
+
+"No, Captain Dave, I have never so much as thought of such a thing.
+In France it is the fashion to take snuff, but the habit seemed to me
+a useless one, and I don't think that I should ever have taken to
+it."
+
+"I wonder," Captain Dave said, after they had talked for some time,
+"that after living in sight of the sea for so long your thoughts
+never turned that way."
+
+"I cannot say that I have never thought of it," Cyril said. "I have
+thought that I should greatly like to take foreign voyages, but I
+should not have cared to go as a ship's boy, and to live with men so
+ignorant that they could not even write their own names. My thoughts
+have turned rather to the Army; and when I get older I think of
+entering some foreign service, either that of Sweden or of one of the
+Protestant German princes. I could obtain introductions through which
+I might enter as a cadet, or gentleman volunteer. I have learnt
+German, and though I cannot speak it as I can French or English, I
+know enough to make my way in it."
+
+"Can you use your sword, Cyril?" Nellie Dowsett asked.
+
+"I have had very good teaching," Cyril replied, "and hope to be able
+to hold my own."
+
+"Then you are not satisfied with this mode of life?" Mistress Dowsett
+said.
+
+"I am satisfied with it, Mistress, inasmuch as I can earn money
+sufficient to keep me. But rather than settle down for life as a city
+scrivener, I would go down to the river and ship on board the first
+vessel that would take me, no matter where she sailed for."
+
+"I think you are wrong," Mistress Dowsett said gravely. "My husband
+tells me how clever you are at figures, and you might some day get a
+good post in the house of one of our great merchants."
+
+"Maybe it would be so," Cyril said; "but such a life would ill suit
+me. I have truly a great desire to earn money: but it must be in some
+way to suit my taste."
+
+"And why do you want to earn a great deal of money, Cyril?" Nellie
+laughed, while her mother shook her head disapprovingly.
+
+"I wish to have enough to buy my father's estate back again," he
+said, "and though I know well enough that it is not likely I shall
+ever do it, I shall fight none the worse that I have such a hope in
+my mind."
+
+"Bravo, lad!" Captain Dave said. "I knew not that there was an estate
+in the case, though I did hear that you were the son of a Royalist.
+It is a worthy ambition, boy, though if it is a large one 'tis scarce
+like that you will get enough to buy it back again."
+
+"It is not a very large one," Cyril said. "'Tis down in Norfolk, but
+it was a grand old house--at least, so I have heard my father say,
+though I have but little remembrance of it, as I was but three years
+old when I left it. My father, who was Sir Aubrey Shenstone, had
+hoped to recover it; but he was one of the many who sold their
+estates for far less than their value in order to raise money in the
+King's service, and, as you are aware, none of those who did so have
+been reinstated, but only those who, having had their land taken from
+them by Parliament, recovered them because their owners had no
+title-deeds to show, save the grant of Parliament that was of no
+effect in the Courts. Thus the most loyal men--those who sold their
+estates to aid the King--have lost all, while those that did not so
+dispossess themselves in his service are now replaced on their land."
+
+"It seems very unfair," Nellie said indignantly.
+
+"It is unfair to them, assuredly, Mistress Nellie. And yet it would
+be unfair to the men who bought, though often they gave but a tenth
+of their value, to be turned out again unless they received their
+money back. It is not easy to see where that money could come from,
+for assuredly the King's privy purse would not suffice to pay all the
+money, and equally certain is it that Parliament would not vote a
+great sum for that purpose."
+
+"It is a hard case, lad--a hard case," Captain Dave said, as he
+puffed the smoke from his pipe. "Now I know how you stand, I blame,
+you in no way that you long more for a life of adventure than to
+settle down as a city scrivener. I don't think even my wife, much as
+she thinks of the city, could say otherwise."
+
+"It alters the case much," Mistress Dowsett said. "I did not know
+that Cyril was the son of a Knight, though it was easy enough to see
+that his manners accord not with his present position. Still there
+are fortunes made in the city, and no honest work is dishonouring
+even to a gentleman's son."
+
+"Not at all, Mistress," Cyril said warmly. "'Tis assuredly not on
+that account that I would fain seek more stirring employment; but it
+was always my father's wish and intention that, should there be no
+chance of his ever regaining the estate, I should enter foreign
+service, and I have always looked forward to that career."
+
+"Well, I will wager that you will do credit to it, lad," Captain Dave
+said. "You have proved that you are ready to turn your hand to any
+work that may come to you. You have shown a manly spirit, my boy, and
+I honour you for it; and by St. Anthony I believe that some day,
+unless a musket-ball or a pike-thrust brings you up with a round
+turn, you will live to get your own back again."
+
+Cyril remained talking for another two hours, and then betook himself
+to bed. After he had gone, Mistress Dowsett said, after a pause,--
+
+"Do you not think, David, that, seeing that Cyril is the son of a
+Knight, it would be more becoming to give him the room downstairs
+instead of the attic where he is now lodged?"
+
+The old sailor laughed.
+
+"That is woman-kind all over," he said. "It was good enough for him
+before, and now forsooth, because the lad mentioned, and assuredly in
+no boasting way, that his father had been a Knight, he is to be
+treated differently. He would not thank you himself for making the
+change, dame. In the first place, it would make him uncomfortable,
+and he might make an excuse to leave us altogether; and in the
+second, you may be sure that he has been used to no better quarters
+than those he has got. The Royalists in France were put to sore
+shifts to live, and I fancy that he has fared no better since he came
+home. His father would never have consented to his going out to earn
+money by keeping the accounts of little city traders like myself had
+it not been that he was driven to it by want. No, no, wife; let the
+boy go on as he is, and make no difference in any way. I liked him
+before, and I like him all the better now, for putting his
+gentlemanship in his pocket and setting manfully to work instead of
+hanging on the skirts of some Royalist who has fared better than his
+father did. He is grateful as it is--that is easy to see--for our
+taking him in here. We did that partly because he proved a good
+worker and has taken a lot of care off my shoulders, partly because
+he was fatherless and alone. I would not have him think that we are
+ready to do more because he is a Knight's son. Let the boy be, and
+suffer him to steer his ship his own course. If, when the time comes,
+we can further his objects in any way we will do it with right good
+will. What do you think of him, Nellie?" he asked, changing the
+subject.
+
+"He is a proper young fellow, father, and I shall be well content to
+go abroad escorted by him instead of having your apprentice, Robert
+Ashford, in attendance on me. He has not a word to say for himself,
+and truly I like him not in anyway."
+
+"He is not a bad apprentice, Nellie, and John Wilkes has but seldom
+cause to find fault with him, though I own that I have no great
+liking myself for him; he never seems to look one well in the face,
+which, I take it, is always a bad sign. I know no harm of him; but
+when his apprenticeship is out, which it will be in another year, I
+shall let him go his own way, for I should not care to have him on
+the premises."
+
+"Methinks you are very unjust, David. The lad is quiet and regular in
+his ways; he goes twice every Sunday to the Church of St. Alphage,
+and always tells me the texts of the sermons."
+
+The Captain grunted.
+
+"Maybe so, wife; but it is easy to get hold of the text of a sermon
+without having heard it. I have my doubts whether he goes as
+regularly to St. Alphage's as he says he does. Why could he not go
+with us to St. Bennet's?"
+
+"He says he likes the administrations of Mr. Catlin better, David.
+And, in truth, our parson is not one of the stirring kind."
+
+"So much the better," Captain Dave said bluntly. "I like not these
+men that thump the pulpit and make as if they were about to jump out
+head foremost. However, I don't suppose there is much harm in the
+lad, and it may be that his failure to look one in the face is not so
+much his fault as that of nature, which endowed him with a villainous
+squint. Well, let us turn in; it is past nine o'clock, and high time
+to be a-bed."
+
+Cyril seemed to himself to have entered upon a new life when he
+stepped across the threshold of David Dowsett's store. All his cares
+and anxieties had dropped from him. For the past two years he had
+lived the life of an automaton, starting early to his work, returning
+in the middle of the day to his dinner,--to which as often as not he
+sat down alone,--and spending his evenings in utter loneliness in the
+bare garret, where he was generally in bed long before his father
+returned. He blamed himself sometimes during the first fortnight of
+his stay here for the feeling of light-heartedness that at times came
+over him. He had loved his father in spite of his faults, and should,
+he told himself, have felt deeply depressed at his loss; but nature
+was too strong for him. The pleasant evenings with Captain Dave and
+his family were to him delightful; he was like a traveller who, after
+a cold and cheerless journey, comes in to the warmth of a fire, and
+feels a glow of comfort as the blood circulates briskly through his
+veins. Sometimes, when he had no other engagements, he went out with
+Nellie Dowsett, whose lively chatter was new and very amusing to him.
+Sometimes they went up into Cheapside, and into St. Paul's, but more
+often sallied out of the city at Aldgate, and walked into the fields.
+On these occasions he carried a stout cane that had been his
+father's, for Nellie tried in vain to persuade him to gird on a
+sword.
+
+"You are a gentleman, Cyril," she would argue, "and have a right to
+carry one."
+
+"I am for the present a sober citizen, Mistress Nellie, and do not
+wish to assume to be of any other condition. Those one sees with
+swords are either gentlemen of the Court, or common bullies, or maybe
+highwaymen. After nightfall it is different; for then many citizens
+carry their swords, which indeed are necessary to protect them from
+the ruffians who, in spite of the city watch, oftentimes attack quiet
+passers-by; and if at any time I escort you to the house of one of
+your friends, I shall be ready to take my sword with me. But in the
+daytime there is no occasion for a weapon, and, moreover, I am full
+young to carry one, and this stout cane would, were it necessary, do
+me good service, for I learned in France the exercise that they call
+the _baton_, which differs little from our English singlestick."
+
+While Cyril was received almost as a member of the family by Captain
+Dave and his wife, and found himself on excellent terms with John
+Wilkes, he saw that he was viewed with dislike by the two
+apprentices. He was scarcely surprised at this. Before his coming,
+Robert Ashford had been in the habit of escorting his young mistress
+when she went out, and had no doubt liked these expeditions, as a
+change from the measuring out of ropes and weighing of iron in the
+store. Then, again, the apprentices did not join in the conversation
+at table unless a remark was specially addressed to them; and as
+Captain Dave was by no means fond of his elder apprentice, it was but
+seldom that he spoke to him. Robert Ashford was between eighteen and
+nineteen. He was no taller than Cyril, but it would have been
+difficult to judge his age by his face, which had a wizened look;
+and, as Nellie said one day, in his absence, he might pass very well
+for sixty.
+
+It was easy enough for Cyril to see that Robert Ashford heartily
+disliked him; the covert scowls that he threw across the table at
+meal-time, and the way in which he turned his head and feigned to be
+too busy to notice him as he passed through the shop, were sufficient
+indications of ill-will. The younger apprentice, Tom Frost, was but a
+boy of fifteen; he gave Cyril the idea of being a timid lad. He did
+not appear to share his comrade's hostility to him, but once or
+twice, when Cyril came out from the office after making up the
+accounts of the day, he fancied that the boy glanced at him with an
+expression of anxiety, if not of terror.
+
+"If it were not," Cyril said to himself, "that Tom is clearly too
+nervous and timid to venture upon an act of dishonesty, I should say
+that he had been pilfering something; but I feel sure that he would
+not attempt such a thing as that, though I am by no means certain
+that Robert Ashford, with his foxy face and cross eyes, would not
+steal his master's goods or any one else's did he get the chance.
+Unless he were caught in the act, he could do it with impunity, for
+everything here is carried on in such a free-and-easy fashion that
+any amount of goods might be carried off without their being missed."
+
+After thinking the matter over, he said, one afternoon when his
+employer came in while he was occupied at the accounts,--
+
+"I have not seen anything of a stock-book, Captain Dave. Everything
+else is now straight, and balanced up to to-day. Here is the book of
+goods sold, the book of goods received, and the ledger with the
+accounts; but there is no stock-book such as I find in almost all the
+other places where I work."
+
+"What do I want with a stock-book?" Captain Dave asked.
+
+"You cannot know how you stand without it," Cyril replied. "You know
+how much you have paid, and how much you have received during the
+year; but unless you have a stock-book you do not know whether the
+difference between the receipts and expenditure represents profit,
+for the stock may have so fallen in value during the year that you
+may really have made a loss while seeming to make a profit."
+
+"How can that be?" Captain Dave asked. "I get a fair profit on every
+article."
+
+"There ought to be a profit, of course," Cyril said; "but sometimes
+it is found not to be so. Moreover, if there is a stock-book you can
+tell at any time, without the trouble of opening bins and weighing
+metal, how much stock you have of each article you sell, and can
+order your goods accordingly."
+
+"How would you do that?"
+
+"It is very simple, Captain Dave," Cyril said. "After taking stock of
+the whole of the goods, I should have a ledger in which each article
+would have a page or more to itself, and every day I should enter
+from John Wilkes's sales-book a list of the goods that have gone out,
+each under its own heading. Thus, at any moment, if you were to ask
+how much chain you had got in stock I could tell you within a fathom.
+When did you take stock last?"
+
+"I should say it was about fifteen months since. It was only
+yesterday John Wilkes was saying we had better have a thorough
+overhauling."
+
+"Quite time, too, I should think, Captain Dave. I suppose you have
+got the account of your last stock-taking, with the date of it?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I have got that;" and the Captain unlocked his desk and
+took out an account-book. "It has been lying there ever since. It
+took a wonderful lot of trouble to do, and I had a clerk and two men
+in for a fortnight, for of course John and the boys were attending to
+their usual duties. I have often wondered since why I should have had
+all that trouble over a matter that has never been of the slightest
+use to me."
+
+"Well, I hope you will take it again, sir; it is a trouble, no doubt,
+but you will find it a great advantage."
+
+"Are you sure you think it needful, Cyril?"
+
+"Most needful, Captain Dave. You will see the advantage of it
+afterwards."
+
+"Well, if you think so, I suppose it must be done," the Captain said,
+with a sigh; "but it will be giving you a lot of trouble to keep this
+new book of yours."
+
+"That is nothing, sir. Now that I have got all the back work up it
+will be a simple matter to keep the daily work straight. I shall find
+ample time to do it without any need of lengthening my hours."
+
+Cyril now set to work in earnest, and telling Mrs. Dowsett he had
+some books that he wanted to make up in his room before going to bed,
+he asked her to allow him to keep his light burning.
+
+Mrs. Dowsett consented, but shook her head and said he would
+assuredly injure his health if he worked by candle light.
+
+Fortunately, John Wilkes had just opened a fresh sales-book, and
+Cyril told him that he wished to refer to some particulars in the
+back books. He first opened the ledger by inscribing under their
+different heads the amount of each description of goods kept in stock
+at the last stock-taking, and then entered under their respective
+heads all the sales that had been made, while on an opposite page he
+entered the amount purchased. It took him a month's hard work, and he
+finished it on the very day that the new stock-taking concluded.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A THIEF SOMEWHERE
+
+
+Two days after the conclusion of the stock-taking, Cyril said, after
+breakfast was over,--
+
+"Would it trouble you, Captain Dave, to give me an hour up here
+before you go downstairs to the counting-house. I am free for two
+hours now, and there is a matter upon which I should like to speak to
+you privately."
+
+"Certainly, lad," the old sailor said, somewhat surprised. "We shall
+be quiet enough here, as soon as the table is cleared. My dame and
+Nellie will be helping the maid do up the cabins, and will then be
+sallying out marketing."
+
+When the maid had cleared the table, Cyril went up to his room and
+returned with a large ledger and several smaller books.
+
+"I have, for the last month, Captain Dave, been making up this
+stock-book for my own satisfaction."
+
+"Bless me, lad, why have you taken all that trouble? This accounts,
+then, for your writing so long at night, for which my dame has been
+quarrelling with you!"
+
+"It was interesting work," Cyril said quietly. "Now, you see, sir,"
+he went on, opening the big ledger, "here are the separate accounts
+under each head. These pages, you see, are for heavy cables for
+hawsers; of these, at the date of the last stock-taking, there were,
+according to the book you handed to me, five hundred fathoms in
+stock. These are the amounts you have purchased since. Now, upon the
+other side are all the sales of this cable entered in the sales-book.
+Adding them together, and deducting them from the other side, you
+will see there should remain in stock four hundred and fifty fathoms.
+According to the new stock-taking there are four hundred and
+thirty-eight. That is, I take it, as near as you could expect to get,
+for, in the measuring out of so many thousand fathoms of cable during
+the fifteen months between the two stock-takings, there may well have
+been a loss of the twelve fathoms in giving good measurement."
+
+"That is so," Captain Dave said. "I always say to John Wilkes, 'Give
+good measurement, John--better a little over than a little under.'
+Nothing can be clearer or more satisfactory."
+
+Cyril closed the book.
+
+"I am sorry to say, Captain Dave, all the items are not so
+satisfactory, and that I greatly fear that you have been robbed to a
+considerable amount."
+
+"Robbed, lad!" the Captain said, starting up from his chair. "Who
+should rob me? Not John Wilkes, I can be sworn! Not the two
+apprentices for a surety, for they never go out during the day, and
+John keeps a sharp look-out upon them, and the entrance to the shop
+is always locked and barred after work is over, so that none can
+enter without getting the key, which, as you know, John always brings
+up and hands to me as soon as he has fastened the door! You are
+mistaken, lad, and although I know that your intentions are good, you
+should be careful how you make a charge that might bring ruin to
+innocent men. Carelessness there may be; but robbery! No; assuredly
+not."
+
+"I have not brought the charge without warrant, Captain Dave," Cyril
+said gravely, "and if you will bear with me for a few minutes, I
+think you will see that there is at least something that wants
+looking into."
+
+"Well, it is only fair after the trouble you have taken, lad, that I
+should hear what you have to say; but it will need strong evidence
+indeed to make me believe that there has been foul play."
+
+"Well, sir," Cyril said, opening the ledger again, "in the first
+place, I would point out that in all the heavy articles, such as
+could not conveniently be carried away, the tally of the stock-takers
+corresponds closely with the figures in this book. In best bower
+anchors the figures are absolutely the same and, as you have seen, in
+heavy cables they closely correspond. In the large ship's compasses,
+the ship's boilers, and ship's galleys, the numbers tally exactly. So
+it is with all the heavy articles; the main blocks are correct, and
+all other heavy gear. This shows that John Wilkes's book is carefully
+kept, and it would be strange indeed if heavy goods had all been
+properly entered, and light ones omitted; but yet when we turn to
+small articles, we find that there is a great discrepancy between the
+figures. Here is the account, for instance, of the half-inch rope.
+According to my ledger, there should be eighteen hundred fathoms in
+stock, whereas the stock-takers found but three hundred and eighty.
+In two-inch rope there is a deficiency of two hundred and thirty
+fathoms, in one-inch rope of six hundred and twenty. These sizes, as
+you know, are always in requisition, and a thief would find ready
+purchasers for a coil of any of them. But, as might be expected, it
+is in copper that the deficiency is most serious. Of fourteen-inch
+bolts, eighty-two are short, of twelve-inch bolts a hundred and
+thirty, of eight-inch three hundred and nine; and so on throughout
+almost all the copper stores. According to your expenditure and
+receipt-book, Captain Dave, you have made, in the last fifteen
+months, twelve hundred and thirty pounds; but according to this book
+your stock is less in value, by two thousand and thirty-four pounds,
+than it should have been. You are, therefore, a poorer man than you
+were at the beginning of this fifteen months' trading, by eight
+hundred and four pounds."
+
+Captain Dave sat down in his chair, breathing hard. He took out his
+handkerchief and wiped the drops of perspiration from his forehead.
+
+"Are you sure of this, boy?" he said hoarsely. "Are you sure that you
+have made no mistake in your figures?"
+
+"Quite sure," Cyril said firmly. "In all cases in which I have found
+deficiencies I have gone through the books three times and compared
+the figures, and I am sure that if you put the books into the hands
+of any city accountant, he will bear out my figures."
+
+For a time Captain Dave sat silent.
+
+"Hast any idea," he said at last, "how this has come about?"
+
+"I have none," Cyril replied. "That John Wilkes is not concerned in
+it I am as sure as you are; and, thinking the matter over, I see not
+how the apprentices could have carried off so many articles, some
+heavy and some bulky, when they left the shop in the evening, without
+John Wilkes noticing them. So sure am I, that my advice would be that
+you should take John Wilkes into your confidence, and tell him how
+matters stand. My only objection to that is that he is a hasty man,
+and that I fear he would not be able to keep his countenance, so that
+the apprentices would remark that something was wrong. I am far from
+saying that they have any hand in it; it would be a grievous wrong to
+them to have suspicions when there is no shadow of evidence against
+them; but at any rate, if this matter is to be stopped and the
+thieves detected, it is most important that they should have, if they
+are guilty, no suspicion that they are in any way being watched, or
+that these deficiencies have been discovered. If they have had a hand
+in the matter they most assuredly had accomplices, for such goods
+could not be disposed of by an apprentice to any dealer without his
+being sure that they must have been stolen."
+
+"You are right there, lad--quite right. Did John Wilkes know that I
+had been robbed in this way he would get into a fury, and no words
+could restrain him from falling upon the apprentices and beating them
+till he got some of the truth out of them."
+
+"They may be quite innocent," Cyril said. "It may be that the thieves
+have discovered some mode of entry into the store either by opening
+the shutters at the back, or by loosening a board, or even by delving
+up under the ground. It is surely easier to believe this than that
+the boys can have contrived to carry off so large a quantity of goods
+under John Wilkes's eye."
+
+"That is so, lad. I have never liked Robert Ashford, but God forbid
+that I should suspect him of such crime only because his forehead is
+as wrinkled as an ape's, and Providence has set his eyes crossways in
+his head. You cannot always judge a ship by her upper works; she may
+be ugly to the eye and yet have a clear run under water. Still, you
+can't help going by what you see. I agree with you that if we tell
+John Wilkes about this, those boys will know five minutes afterwards
+that the ship is on fire; but if we don't tell him, how are we to get
+to the bottom of what is going on?"
+
+"That is a difficult question, but a few days will not make much
+difference, when we know that it has been going on for over a year,
+and may, for aught we know, have been going on much longer. The first
+thing, Captain Dave, is to send these books to an accountant, for him
+to go through them and check my figures."
+
+"There is no need for that, lad. I know how careful you are, and you
+cannot have gone so far wrong as all this."
+
+"No, sir, I am sure that there is no mistake; but, for your own sake
+as well as mine, it were well that you should have the signature of
+an accountant to the correctness of the books. If you have to lay the
+matter before the magistrates, they would not take my testimony as to
+your losses, and might even say that you were rash in acting upon the
+word of a boy like myself, and you might then be obliged to have the
+accounts made up anew, which would cost you more, and cause much
+delay in the process; whereas, if you put in your books and say that
+their correctness is vouched for by an accountant, no question would
+arise on it; nor would there be any delay now, for while the books
+are being gone into, we can be trying to get to the bottom of the
+matter here."
+
+"Ay, ay, it shall be done, Master Cyril, as you say. But for the life
+of me I don't see how we are to get at the bottom of the ship to find
+out where she is leaking!"
+
+"It seems to me that the first thing, Captain Dave, is to see to the
+warehouse. As we agreed that the apprentices cannot have carried out
+all these goods under John Wilkes's eye, and cannot have come down
+night after night through the house, the warehouse must have been
+entered from without. As I never go in there, it would be best that
+you should see to this matter yourself. There are the fastenings of
+the shutters in the first place, then the boardings all round. As for
+me, I will look round outside. The window of my room looks into the
+street, but if you will take me to one of the rooms at the back we
+can look at the surroundings of the yard, and may gather some idea
+whether the goods can have been passed over into any of the houses
+abutting on it, or, as is more likely, into the lane that runs up by
+its side."
+
+The Captain led the way into one of the rooms at the back of the
+house, and opening the casement, he and Cyril leaned out. The store
+occupied fully half the yard, the rest being occupied by anchors,
+piles of iron, ballast, etc. There were two or three score of guns of
+various sizes piled on each other. A large store of cannon-ball was
+ranged in a great pyramid close by. A wall some ten feet high
+separated the yard from the lane Cyril had spoken of. On the left,
+adjoining the warehouse, was the yard of the next shop, which
+belonged to a wool-stapler. Behind were the backs of a number of
+small houses crowded in between Tower Street and Leadenhall Street.
+
+"I suppose you do not know who lives in those houses, Captain Dave?"
+
+"No, indeed. The land is not like the sea. Afloat, when one sees a
+sail, one wonders what is her nationality, and whither she is bound,
+and still more whether she is an honest trader or a rascally pirate;
+but here on land, one scarcely gives a thought as to who may dwell in
+the houses round."
+
+"I will walk round presently," Cyril said, "and gather, as far as I
+can, who they are that live there; but, as I have said, I fancy it is
+over that wall and into the alley that your goods have departed. The
+apprentices' room is this side of the house, is it not?"
+
+"Yes; John Wilkes sleeps in the room next to yours, and the door
+opposite to his is that of the lads' room."
+
+"Do the windows of any of the rooms look into that lane?"
+
+"No; it is a blank wall on that side."
+
+"There is the clock striking nine," Cyril said, starting. "It is time
+for me to be off. Then you will take the books to-day, Captain Dave?"
+
+"I will carry them off at once, and when I return will look narrowly
+into the fastenings of the two windows and door from the warehouse
+into the yard; and will take care to do so when the boys are engaged
+in the front shop."
+
+When his work was done, Cyril went round to the houses behind the
+yard, and he found that they stood in a small court, with three or
+four trees growing in the centre, and were evidently inhabited by
+respectable citizens. Over the door of one was painted, "Joshua
+Heddings, Attorney"; next to him was Gilbert Gushing, who dealt in
+jewels, silks, and other precious commodities from the East; next to
+him was a doctor, and beyond a dealer in spices. This was enough to
+assure him that it was not through such houses as these that the
+goods had been carried.
+
+Cyril had not been back at the mid-day meal, for his work that day
+lay up by Holborn Bar, where he had two customers whom he attended
+with but half an hour's interval between the visits, and on the days
+on which he went there he was accustomed to get something to eat at a
+tavern hard by.
+
+Supper was an unusually quiet meal. Captain Dave now and then asked
+John Wilkes a question as to the business matters of the day, but
+evidently spoke with an effort. Nellie rattled on as usual; but the
+burden of keeping up the conversation lay entirely on her shoulders
+and those of Cyril. After the apprentices had left, and John Wilkes
+had started for his usual resort, the Captain lit his pipe. Nellie
+signed to Cyril to come and seat himself by her in the window that
+projected out over the street, and enabled the occupants of the seats
+at either side to have a view up and down it.
+
+"What have you been doing to father, Cyril?" she asked, in low tones;
+"he has been quite unlike himself all day. Generally when he is out
+of temper he rates everyone heartily, as if we were a mutinous crew,
+but to-day he has gone about scarcely speaking; he hasn't said a
+cross word to any of us, but several times when I spoke to him I got
+no answer, and it is easy to see that he is terribly put out about
+something. He was in his usual spirits at breakfast; then, you know,
+he was talking with you for an hour, and it does not take much
+guessing to see that it must have been something that passed between
+you that has put him out. Now what was it?"
+
+"I don't see why you should say that, Mistress Nellie. It is true we
+did have a talk together, and he examined some fresh books I have
+been making out and said that he was mightily pleased with my work. I
+went away at nine o'clock, and something may have occurred to upset
+him between that and dinner."
+
+"All which means that you don't mean to tell me anything about it,
+Master Cyril. Well, then, you may consider yourself in my black books
+altogether," she said petulantly.
+
+"I am sorry that you should say so," he said. "If it were true that
+anything that I had said to him had ruffled him, it would be for him
+to tell you, and not for me."
+
+"Methinks I have treated Robert Ashford scurvily, and I shall take
+him for my escort to see His Majesty attend service at St. Paul's
+to-morrow."
+
+Cyril smiled.
+
+"I think it would be fair to give him a turn, Mistress, and I am glad
+to see that you have such a kind thought."
+
+Nellie rose indignantly, and taking her work sat down by the side of
+her mother.
+
+"It is a fine evening," Cyril said to Captain Dave, "and I think I
+shall take a walk round. I shall return in an hour."
+
+The Captain understood, by a glance Cyril gave him, that he was going
+out for some purpose connected with the matter they had in hand.
+
+"Ay, ay, lad," he said. "It is not good for you to be sitting moping
+at home every evening. I have often wondered before that you did not
+take a walk on deck before you turned in. I always used to do so
+myself."
+
+"I don't think there is any moping in it, Captain Dave," Cyril said,
+with a laugh. "If you knew how pleasant the evenings have been to me
+after the life I lived before, you would not say so."
+
+Cyril's only object in going out, however, was to avoid the necessity
+of having to talk with Dame Dowsett and Nellie. His thoughts were
+running on nothing but the robbery, and he had found it very
+difficult to talk in his usual manner, and to answer Nellie's
+sprightly sallies. It was dark already. A few oil lamps gave a feeble
+light here and there. At present he had formed no plan whatever of
+detecting the thieves; he was as much puzzled as the Captain himself
+as to how the goods could have been removed. It would be necessary,
+of course, to watch the apprentices, but he did not think that
+anything was likely to come out of this. It was the warehouse itself
+that must be watched, in order to discover how the thieves made an
+entry. His own idea was that they got over the wall by means of a
+rope, and in some way managed to effect an entry into the warehouse.
+The apprentices could hardly aid them unless they came down through
+the house.
+
+If they had managed to get a duplicate key of the door leading from
+the bottom of the stairs to the shop, they could, of course, unbar
+the windows, and pass things out--that part of the business would be
+easy; but he could not believe that they would venture frequently to
+pass down through the house. It was an old one, and the stairs
+creaked. He himself was a light sleeper; he had got into the way of
+waking at the slightest sound, from the long watches he had had for
+his father's return, and felt sure that he should have heard them
+open their door and steal along the passage past his room, however
+quietly they might do it. He walked up the Exchange, then along
+Cheapside as far as St. Paul's, and back. Quiet as it was in Thames
+Street there was no lack of animation elsewhere. Apprentices were
+generally allowed to go out for an hour after supper, the regulation
+being that they returned to their homes by eight o'clock. Numbers of
+these were about. A good many citizens were on their way home after
+supping with friends. The city watch, with lanterns, patrolled the
+streets, and not infrequently interfered in quarrels which broke out
+among the apprentices. Cyril felt more solitary among the knots of
+laughing, noisy lads than in the quiet streets, and was glad to be
+home again. Captain Dave himself came down to open the door.
+
+"I have just sent the women to bed," he said. "The two boys came in
+five minutes ago. I thought you would not be long."
+
+"I did not go out for anything particular," Cyril said; "but Mistress
+Nellie insisted that there was something wrong with you, and that I
+must know what it was about, so, feeling indeed indisposed to talk, I
+thought it best to go out for a short time."
+
+"Yes, yes. Women always want to know, lad. I have been long enough at
+sea, you may be sure, to know that when anything is wrong, it is the
+best thing to keep it from the passengers as long as you can."
+
+"You took the books away this morning, Captain Dave?" Cyril asked as
+they sat down.
+
+"Ay, lad, I took them to Master Skinner, who bears as good a
+reputation as any accountant in the city, and he promised to take
+them in hand without loss of time; but I have been able to do nothing
+here. John, or one or other of the boys, was always in the warehouse,
+and I have had no opportunity of examining the door and shutters
+closely. When the house is sound asleep we will take a lantern and go
+down to look at them. I have been thinking that we must let John
+Wilkes into this matter; it is too much to bear on my mind by myself.
+He is my first mate, you see, and in time of danger, the first mate,
+if he is worth anything, is the man the captain relies on for help."
+
+"By all means tell him, then," Cyril said. "I can keep books, but I
+have no experience in matters like this, and shall be very glad to
+have his opinion and advice."
+
+"There he is--half-past eight. He is as punctual as clockwork."
+
+Cyril ran down and let John in.
+
+"The Captain wants to speak to you," he said, "before you go up to
+bed."
+
+John, after carefully bolting the door, followed him upstairs.
+
+"I have got some bad news for you, John. There, light your pipe
+again, and sit down. My good dame has gone off to bed, and we have
+got the cabin to ourselves."
+
+John touched an imaginary hat and obeyed orders.
+
+"The ship has sprung a bad leak, John. This lad here has found it
+out, and it is well he did, for unless he had done so we should have
+had her foundering under our feet without so much as suspecting
+anything was going wrong."
+
+The sailor took his newly-lighted pipe from between his lips and
+stared at the Captain in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, it is hard to believe, mate, but, by the Lord Harry, it is as I
+say. There is a pirate about somewhere, and the books show that,
+since the stock-taking fifteen months ago, he has eased the craft of
+her goods to the tune of two thousand pounds and odd."
+
+John Wilkes flung his pipe on to the table with such force that it
+shivered into fragments.
+
+"Dash my timbers!" he exclaimed. "Who is the man? You only give me
+the orders, sir, and I am ready to range alongside and board him."
+
+"That is what we have got to find out, John. That the goods have gone
+is certain, but how they can have gone beats us altogether."
+
+"Do you mean to say, Captain, that they have stolen them out of the
+place under my eyes and me know nothing about it? It can't be, sir.
+There must be some mistake. I know naught about figures, save enough
+to put down the things I sell, but I don't believe as a thing has
+gone out of the shop unbeknown to me. That yarn won't do for me,
+sir," and he looked angrily at Cyril.
+
+"It is true enough, John, for all that. The books have been balanced
+up. We knew what was in stock fifteen months ago, and we knew from
+your sale-book what has passed out of the shop, and from your
+entry-book what has come in. We know now what there is remaining. We
+find that in bulky goods, such as cables and anchors and ships'
+boilers and suchlike, the accounts tally exactly, but in the small
+rope, and above all in the copper, there is a big shrinkage. I will
+read you the figures of some of them."
+
+John's face grew longer and longer as he heard the totals read.
+
+"Well, I'm jiggered!" he said, when the list was concluded. "I could
+have sworn that the cargo was right according to the manifest. Well,
+Captain, all I can say is, if that 'ere list be correct, the best
+thing you can do is to send me adrift as a blind fool. I have kept my
+tallies as correct as I could, and I thought I had marked down every
+package that has left the ship, and here they must have been passing
+out pretty nigh in cart-loads under my very eyes, and I knew nothing
+about it."
+
+"I don't blame you, John, more than I blame myself. I am generally
+about on deck, and had no more idea that the cargo was being meddled
+with than you had. I have been wrong in letting matters go on so long
+without taking stock of them and seeing that it was all right; but I
+never saw the need for it. This is what comes of taking to a trade
+you know nothing about; we have just been like two children, thinking
+that it was all plain and above board, and that we had nothing to do
+but to sell our goods and to fill up again when the hold got empty.
+Well, it is of no use talking over that part of the business. What we
+have got to do is to find out this leak and stop it. We are pretty
+well agreed, Cyril and me, that the things don't go out of the shop
+by daylight. The question is, how do they go out at night?"
+
+"I always lock up the hatches according to orders, Captain."
+
+"Yes, I have no doubt you do, John; but maybe the fastenings have
+been tampered with. The only way in which we see it can have been
+managed is that someone has been in the habit of getting over the
+wall between the yard and the lane, and then getting into the
+warehouse somehow. It must have been done very often, for if the
+things had been taken in considerable quantities you would have
+noticed that the stock was short directly the next order came in. Now
+I propose we light these two lanterns I have got here, and that we go
+down and have a look round the hold."
+
+Lighting the candles, they went downstairs. The Captain took out the
+key and turned the lock. It grated loudly as he did so.
+
+"That is a noisy lock," Cyril said.
+
+"It wants oiling," John replied. "I have been thinking of doing it
+for the last month, but it has always slipped out of my mind."
+
+"At any rate," Cyril said, "it is certain that thieves could not have
+got into the shop this way, for the noise would have been heard all
+over the house."
+
+The door between the shop and the warehouse was next unlocked. The
+fastenings of the shutters and doors were first examined; there was
+no sign of their having been tampered with. Each bolt and hasp was
+tried, and the screws examined. Then they went round trying every one
+of the stout planks that formed the side; all were firm and in good
+condition.
+
+"It beats me altogether," the Captain said, when they had finished
+their examination. "The things cannot walk out of themselves; they
+have got to be carried. But how the fellows who carry them get in is
+more than I can say. There is nowhere else to look, is there, John?"
+
+"Not that I can see, Captain."
+
+They went to the door into the shop, and were about to close it, when
+Cyril said,--
+
+"Some of the things that are gone are generally kept in here,
+Captain--the rope up to two inch, for example, and a good deal of
+canvas, and most of the smaller copper fittings; so that, whoever the
+thief is, he must have been in the habit of coming in here as well as
+into the warehouse."
+
+"That is so, lad. Perhaps they entered from this side."
+
+"Will you hold the lantern here, John?" Cyril said.
+
+The sailor held the lantern to the lock.
+
+"There are no scratches nor signs of tools having been used here,"
+Cyril said, examining both the lock and the door-post. "Whether the
+thief came into the warehouse first, or not, he must have had a key."
+
+The Captain nodded.
+
+"Thieves generally carry a lot of keys with them, Cyril; and if one
+does not quite fit they can file it until it does."
+
+The shutters of the shop window and its fastenings, and those of the
+door, were as secure as those of the warehouse, and, completely
+puzzled, the party went upstairs again.
+
+"There must be some way of getting in and out, although we can't find
+it," Captain Dave said. "Things can't have gone off by themselves."
+
+"It may be, Captain," John Wilkes said, "that some of the planks may
+be loose."
+
+"But we tried them all, John."
+
+"Ay, they seem firm enough, but it may be that one of them is wedged
+in, and that when the wedges are taken out it could be pulled off."
+
+"I think you would have noticed it, John. If there was anything of
+that sort it must be outside. However, we will take a good look round
+the yard to-morrow. The warehouse is strongly built, and I don't
+believe that any plank could be taken off and put back again, time
+after time, without making a noise that would be heard in the house.
+What do you think, Cyril?"
+
+"I agree with you, Captain Dave. How the thieves make an entry I
+can't imagine, but I don't believe that it is through the wall of the
+warehouse. I am convinced that the robberies must have been very
+frequent. Had a large amount been taken at a time, John Wilkes would
+have been sure to notice it. Then, again, the thieves would not come
+so often, and each time for a comparatively small amount of booty,
+unless it could be managed without any serious risk or trouble.
+However, now that we do know that they come, we shall have, I should
+think, very little difficulty in finding out how it is done."
+
+"You may warrant we will keep a sharp look-out," John Wilkes said
+savagely. "If the Captain will give me the use of a room at the back
+of the house, you may be sure I shan't close an eye till I have got
+to the bottom of the matter. I am responsible for the cargo below,
+and if I had kept as sharp an eye on the stores as I ought to have
+done, this would not have happened. Only let me catch them trying to
+board, and I will give them such a reception that I warrant me they
+will sheer off with a bullet or two in them. I have got that pair of
+boarding pistols, and a cutlass, hung up over my bed."
+
+"You must not do that, John," the Captain said. "It isn't a matter of
+beating off the pirates by pouring a broadside into them. Maybe you
+might cripple them, more likely they would make off, and we want to
+capture them. Therefore, I say, let us watch, and find out how they
+do it. When we once know that, we can lay our plans for capturing
+them the next time they come. I will take watch and watch with you."
+
+"Well, if it goes on long, Captain, I won't say no to that; but for
+to-night anyhow I will sit up alone."
+
+"Very well, let it be so, John. But mind, whatever you see, you keep
+as still as a mouse. Just steal to my room in your stockinged feet
+directly you see anything moving. Open the door and say, 'Strange
+sail in sight!' and I will be over at your window in no time. And
+now, Cyril, you and I may as well turn in."
+
+The night passed quietly.
+
+"You saw nothing, I suppose, John?" the Captain said next morning,
+after the apprentices had gone down from breakfast.
+
+"Not a thing, Captain."
+
+"Now we will go and have a look in the yard. Will you come, Cyril?"
+
+"I should like to come," Cyril replied, "but, as I have never been
+out there before, had you not better make some pretext for me to do
+so. You might say, in the hearing of the apprentices, 'We may as well
+take the measurements for that new shed we were talking about, and
+see how much boarding it will require.' Then you can call to me out
+from the office to come and help you to measure."
+
+"Then you still think the apprentices are in it?" John Wilkes asked
+sharply.
+
+"I don't say I think so, John. I have nothing against them. I don't
+believe they could come down at night without being heard; I feel
+sure they could not get into the shop without that stiff bolt making
+a noise. Still, as it is possible they may be concerned in the
+matter, I think that, now we have it in good train for getting to the
+bottom of it, it would be well to keep the matter altogether to
+ourselves."
+
+"Quite right," Captain Dave said approvingly. "When you suspect
+treachery, don't let a soul think that you have got such a matter in
+your mind, until you are in a position to take the traitor by the
+collar and put a pistol to his ear. That idea of yours is a very good
+one; I will say something about the shed to John this morning, and
+then when you go down to the counting-house after dinner I will call
+to you to come out to the yard with us."
+
+After dinner, Captain Dave went with Cyril into the counting-house.
+
+"We had an order in this morning for a set of ship's anchors, and
+John and I have been in the yard looking them out; we looked over the
+place pretty sharply, as you may be sure, but as far as we could see
+the place is as solid as when it was built, fifty years ago, by my
+father."
+
+The Captain went out into the store, and ten minutes afterwards
+re-entered the shop and shouted,--
+
+"Come out here, Cyril, and lend a hand. We are going to take those
+measurements. Bring out your ink-horn, and a bit of paper to put them
+down as we take them."
+
+The yard was some sixty feet long by twenty-five broad, exclusive of
+the space occupied by the warehouse. This, as Cyril had observed from
+the window above, did not extend as far as the back wall; but on
+walking round there with the two men, he found that the distance was
+greater than he had expected, and that there was a space of some
+twenty feet clear.
+
+"This is where we are thinking of putting the shed," the Captain said
+in a loud voice.
+
+"But I see that you have a crane and door into the loft over the
+warehouse there," Cyril said, looking up.
+
+"We never use that now. When my father first began business, he used
+to buy up old junk and such-like stores, and store them up there, but
+it didn't pay for the trouble; and, besides, as you see, he wanted
+every foot of the yard room, and of course at that time they had to
+leave a space clear for the carts to come up from the gate round
+here, so it was given up, and the loft is empty now."
+
+Cyril looked up at the crane. It was swung round so as to lie flat
+against the wooden shutters. The rope was still through the block,
+and passed into the loft through a hole cut at the junction of the
+shutters.
+
+They now measured the space between the warehouse and the wall, the
+Captain repeating the figures, still in a loud voice; then they
+discussed the height of the walls, and after some argument between
+the Captain and John Wilkes agreed that this should be the same as
+the rest of the building. Still talking on the subject, they returned
+through the warehouse, Cyril on the way taking a look at the massive
+gate that opened into the lane. In addition to a heavy bar it had a
+strong hasp, fastened by a great padlock. The apprentices were busy
+at work coiling up some rope when they passed by.
+
+"When we have knocked a door through the end there, John," Captain
+Dave said, "it will give you a deal more room, and you will be able
+to get rid of all these cables and heavy dunnage, and to have matters
+more ship-shape here."
+
+While they had been taking the measurements, all three had carefully
+examined the wall of the warehouse.
+
+"There is nothing wrong there, Cyril," his employer said, as, leaving
+John Wilkes in the warehouse, they went through the shop into the
+little office.
+
+"Certainly nothing that I could see, Captain Dave. I did not before
+know the loft had any opening to the outside. Of course I have seen
+the ladder going up from the warehouse to that trap-door; but as it
+was closed I thought no more of it."
+
+"I don't suppose anyone has been up there for years, lad. What, are
+you thinking that someone might get in through those shutters? Why,
+they are twenty feet from the ground, so that you would want a long
+ladder, and when you got up there you would find that you could not
+open the shutters. I said nobody had been up there, but I did go up
+myself to have a look round when I first settled down here, and there
+is a big bar with a padlock."
+
+Cyril thought no more about it, and after supper it was arranged that
+he and Captain Dave should keep watch by turns at the window of the
+room that had been now given to John Wilkes, and that the latter
+should have a night in his berth, as the Captain expressed it. John
+Wilkes had made some opposition, saying that he would be quite
+willing to take his watch.
+
+"You will just obey orders, John," the Captain said. "You have had
+thirty-six hours off the reel on duty, and you have got to be at work
+all day to-morrow again. You shall take the middle watch to-morrow
+night if you like, but one can see with half an eye that you are not
+fit to be on the lookout to-night. I doubt if any of us could see as
+far as the length of the bowsprit. It is pretty nearly pitch dark;
+there is not a star to be seen, and it looked to me, when I turned
+out before supper, as if we were going to have a storm."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+CAPTURED
+
+
+It was settled that Cyril was to take the first watch, and that the
+Captain should relieve him at one o'clock. At nine, the family went
+to bed. A quarter of an hour later, Cyril stole noiselessly from his
+attic down to John Wilkes's room. The door had been left ajar, and
+the candle was still burning.
+
+"I put a chair by the window," the sailor said, from his bed, "and
+left the light, for you might run foul of something or other in the
+dark, though I have left a pretty clear gangway for you."
+
+Cyril blew out the candle, and seated himself at the window. For a
+time he could see nothing, and told himself that the whole contents
+of the warehouse might be carried off without his being any the
+wiser.
+
+"I shall certainly see nothing," he said to himself; "but, at least,
+I may hear something."
+
+So saying, he turned the fastening of the casement and opened it
+about half an inch. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he
+was able to make out the line of the roof of the warehouse, which was
+some three or four feet below the level of his eyes, and some twenty
+feet away on his left. The time passed slowly. He kept himself awake
+by thinking over the old days in France, the lessons he had learnt
+with his friend, Harry Parton, and the teaching of the old clergyman.
+
+He heard the bell of St. Paul's strike ten and eleven. The last
+stroke had scarcely ceased to vibrate when he rose to his feet
+suddenly. He heard, on his left, a scraping noise. A moment later it
+ceased, and then was renewed again. It lasted but a few seconds; then
+he heard an irregular, shuffling noise, that seemed to him upon the
+roof of the warehouse. Pressing his face to the casement, he suddenly
+became aware that the straight line of the ridge was broken by
+something moving along it, and a moment later he made out a second
+object, just behind the first. Moving with the greatest care, he made
+his way out of the room, half closed the door behind him, crossed the
+passage, and pushed at a door opposite.
+
+"Captain Dave," he said, in a low voice, "get up at once, and please
+don't make a noise."
+
+"Ay, ay, lad."
+
+There was a movement from the bed, and a moment later the Captain
+stood beside him.
+
+"What is it, lad?" he whispered.
+
+"There are two figures moving along on the ridge of the roof of the
+warehouse. I think it is the apprentices. I heard a slight noise, as
+if they were letting themselves down from their window by a rope. It
+is just over that roof, you know."
+
+There was a rustling sound as the Captain slipped his doublet on.
+
+"That is so. The young scoundrels! What can they be doing on the
+roof?"
+
+They went to the window behind. Just as they reached it there was a
+vivid flash of lightning. It sufficed to show them a figure lying at
+full length at the farther end of the roof; then all was dark again,
+and a second or two later came a sharp, crashing roar of thunder.
+
+"We had better stand well back from the window," Cyril whispered.
+"Another flash might show us to anyone looking this way."
+
+"What does it mean, lad? What on earth is that boy doing there? I
+could not see which it was."
+
+"I think it is Ashford," Cyril said. "The figure in front seemed the
+smaller of the two."
+
+"But where on earth can Tom have got to?"
+
+"I should fancy, sir, that Robert has lowered him so that he can get
+his feet on the crane and swing it outwards; then he might sit down
+on it and swing himself by the rope into the loft if the doors are
+not fastened inside. Robert, being taller, would have no difficulty
+in lowering himself--There!" he broke off, as another flash of
+lightning lit up the sky. "He has gone, now; there is no one on the
+roof."
+
+John Wilkes was by this time standing beside them, having started up
+at the first flash of lightning.
+
+"Do you go up, John, into their room," the Captain said. "I think
+there can be no doubt that these fellows on the roof are Ashford and
+Frost, but it is as well to be able to swear to it."
+
+The foreman returned in a minute or two.
+
+"The room is empty, Captain; the window is open, and there is a rope
+hanging down from it. Shall I cast it adrift?"
+
+"Certainly not, John. We do not mean to take them tonight, and they
+must be allowed to go back to their beds without a suspicion that
+they have been watched. I hope and trust that it is not so bad as it
+looks, and that the boys have only broken out from devilry. You know,
+boys will do things of that sort just because it is forbidden."
+
+"There must be more than that," John Wilkes said. "If it had been
+just after they went to their rooms, it might be that they went to
+some tavern or other low resort, but the town is all asleep now."
+
+They again went close to the window, pushed the casement a little
+more open, and stood listening there. In two or three minutes there
+was a very slight sound heard.
+
+"They are unbolting the door into the yard," John Wilkes whispered.
+"I would give a month's pay to be behind them with a rope's end."
+
+Half a minute later there was a sudden gleam of light below, and they
+could see the door open. The light disappeared again, but they heard
+footsteps; then they saw the light thrown on the fastening to the
+outer gate, and could make out that two figures below were applying a
+key to the padlock. This was taken off and laid down; then the heavy
+wooden bar was lifted, and also laid on the ground. The gate opened
+as if pushed from the other side. The two figures went out; the sound
+of a low murmur of conversation could be heard; then they returned,
+the gate was closed and fastened again, they entered the warehouse,
+the light disappeared, and the door was closed.
+
+"That's how the things went, John."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," the foreman growled.
+
+"As they were undoing the gate, the light fell on a coil of rope they
+had set down there, and a bag which I guess had copper of some kind
+in it. They have done us cleverly, the young villains! There was not
+noise enough to wake a cat. They must have had every bolt and hinge
+well oiled."
+
+"We had better close the casement now, sir, for as they come back
+along the ridge they will be facing it, and if a flash of lightning
+came they would see that it was half open, and even if they did not
+catch sight of our faces they would think it suspicious that the
+window should be open, and it might put them on their guard."
+
+"Yes; and we may as well turn in at once, John. Like enough when they
+get back they will listen for a bit at their door, so as to make sure
+that everything is quiet before they turn in. There is nothing more
+to see now. Of course they will get in as they got out. You had
+better turn in as you are, Cyril; they may listen at your door."
+
+Cyril at once went up to his room, closed the door, placed a chair
+against it, and then lay down on his bed. He listened intently, and
+four or five minutes later thought that he heard a door open; but he
+could not be sure, for just at that moment heavy drops began to
+patter down upon the tiles. The noise rose louder and louder until he
+could scarce have heard himself speak. Then there was a bright flash
+and the deep rumble of the thunder mingled with the sharp rattle of
+the raindrops overhead. He listened for a time to the storm, and then
+dropped off to sleep.
+
+Things went on as usual at breakfast the next morning. During the
+meal, Captain Dave gave the foreman several instructions as to the
+morning's work.
+
+"I am going on board the _Royalist_," he said. "John Browning wants
+me to overhaul all the gear, and see what will do for another voyage
+or two, and what must be new. His skipper asked for new running
+rigging all over, but he thinks that there can't be any occasion for
+its all being renewed. I don't expect I shall be in till dinner-time,
+so anyone that wants to see me must come again in the afternoon."
+
+Ten minutes later, Cyril went out, on his way to his work. Captain
+Dave was standing a few doors away.
+
+"Before I go on board the brig, lad, I am going up to the Chief
+Constable's to arrange about this business. I want to get four men of
+the watch. Of course, it may be some nights before this is tried
+again, so I shall have the men stowed away in the kitchen. Then we
+must keep watch, and as soon as we see those young villains on the
+roof, we will let the men out at the front door. Two will post
+themselves this end of the lane, and two go round into Leadenhall
+Street and station themselves at the other end. When the boys go out
+after supper we will unlock the door at the bottom of the stairs into
+the shop, and the door into the warehouse. Then we will steal down
+into the shop and listen there until we hear them open the door into
+the yard, and then go into the warehouse and be ready to make a rush
+out as soon as they get the gate open. John will have his boatswain's
+whistle ready, and will give the signal. That will bring the watch
+up, so they will be caught in a trap."
+
+"I should think that would be a very good plan, Captain Dave, though
+I wish that it could have been done without Tom Frost being taken. He
+is a timid sort of boy, and I have no doubt that he has been entirely
+under the thumb of Robert."
+
+"Well, if he has he will get off lightly," the Captain said. "Even if
+a boy is a timid boy, he knows what will be the consequences if he is
+caught robbing his master. Cowardice is no excuse for crime, lad. The
+boys have always been well treated, and though I dare say Ashford is
+the worst of the two, if the other had been honest he would not have
+seen him robbing me without letting me know."
+
+For six nights watch was kept without success. Every evening, when
+the family and apprentices had retired to rest, John Wilkes went
+quietly downstairs and admitted the four constables, letting them out
+in the morning before anyone was astir. Mrs. Dowsett had been taken
+into her husband's confidence so far as to know that he had
+discovered he had been robbed, and was keeping a watch for the
+thieves. She was not told that the apprentices were concerned in the
+matter, for Captain Dave felt sure that, however much she might try
+to conceal it, Robert Ashford would perceive, by her looks, that
+something was wrong.
+
+Nellie was told a day or two later, for, although ignorant of her
+father's nightly watchings, she was conscious from his manner, and
+that of her mother, that something was amiss, and was so persistent
+in her inquiries, that the Captain consented to her mother telling
+her that he had a suspicion he was being robbed, and warning her that
+it was essential that the subject must not be in any way alluded to.
+
+"Your father is worrying over it a good deal, Nellie, and it is
+better that he should not perceive that you are aware of it. Just let
+things go on as they were."
+
+"Is the loss serious, mother?"
+
+"Yes; he thinks that a good deal of money has gone. I don't think he
+minds that so much as the fact that, so far, he doesn't know who the
+people most concerned in it may be. He has some sort of suspicion in
+one quarter, but has no clue whatever to the men most to blame."
+
+"Does Cyril know anything about it?" Nellie asked suddenly.
+
+"Yes, he knows, my dear; indeed, it was owing to his cleverness that
+your father first came to have suspicions."
+
+"Oh! that explains it," Nellie said. "He had been talking to father,
+and I asked what it was about and he would not tell me, and I have
+been very angry with him ever since."
+
+"I have noticed that you have been behaving very foolishly," Mrs.
+Dowsett said quietly, "and that for the last week you have been
+taking Robert with you as an escort when you went out of an evening.
+I suppose you did that to annoy Cyril, but I don't think that he
+minded much."
+
+"I don't think he did, mother," Nellie agreed, with a laugh which
+betrayed a certain amount of irritation. "I saw that he smiled, two
+or three evenings back, when I told Robert at supper that I wanted
+him to go out with me, and I was rarely angry, I can tell you."
+
+Cyril had indeed troubled himself in no way about Nellie's coolness;
+but when she had so pointedly asked Robert to go with her, he had
+been amused at the thought of how greatly she would be mortified,
+when Robert was haled up to the Guildhall for robbing her father, at
+the thought that he had been accompanying her as an escort.
+
+"I rather hope this will be our last watch, Captain Dave," he said,
+on the seventh evening.
+
+"Why do you hope so specially to-night, lad?"
+
+"Of course I have been hoping so every night. But I think it is
+likely that the men who take the goods come regularly once a week;
+for in that case there would be no occasion for them to meet at other
+times to arrange on what night they should be in the lane."
+
+"Yes, that is like enough, Cyril; and the hour will probably be the
+same, too. John and I will share your watch to-night, so as to be
+ready to get the men off without loss of time."
+
+Cyril had always taken the first watch, which was from half-past nine
+till twelve. The Captain and Wilkes had taken the other watches by
+turns.
+
+As before, just as the bell finished striking eleven, the three
+watchers again heard through the slightly open casement the scraping
+noise on the left. It had been agreed that they should not move, lest
+the sound should be heard outside. Each grasped the stout cudgel he
+held in his hand, and gazed at the roof of the warehouse, which could
+now be plainly seen, for the moon was half full and the sky was
+clear. As before, the two figures went along, and this time they
+could clearly recognise them. They were both sitting astride of the
+ridge tiles, and moved themselves along by means of their hands. They
+waited until they saw one after the other disappear at the end of the
+roof, and then John Wilkes quietly stole downstairs. The four
+constables had been warned to be specially wakeful.
+
+"They are at it again to-night," John said to them, as he entered.
+"Now, do you two who go round into Leadenhall Street start at once,
+but don't take your post at the end of the lane for another five or
+six minutes. The thieves outside may not have come up at present. As
+you go out, leave the door ajar; in five minutes you others should
+stand ready. Don't go to the corner, but wait in the doorway below
+until you hear the whistle. They will be only fifteen or twenty yards
+up the lane, and would see you if you took up your station at the
+corner; but the moment you hear the whistle, rush out and have at
+them. We shall be there before you will."
+
+John went down with the last two men, entered the shop, and stood
+there waiting until he should be joined by his master. The latter and
+Cyril remained at the window until they saw the door of the warehouse
+open, and then hurried downstairs. Both were in their stockinged
+feet, so that their movements should be noiseless.
+
+"Come on, John; they are in the yard," the Captain whispered; and
+they entered the warehouse and went noiselessly on, until they stood
+at the door. The process of unbarring the gate was nearly
+accomplished. As it swung open, John Wilkes put his whistle to his
+lips and blew a loud, shrill call, and the three rushed forward.
+There was a shout of alarm, a fierce imprecation, and three of the
+four figures at the gate sprang at them. Scarce a blow had been
+struck when the two constables ran up and joined in the fray. Two men
+fought stoutly, but were soon overpowered. Robert Ashford, knife in
+hand, had attacked John Wilkes with fury, and would have stabbed him,
+as his attention was engaged upon one of the men outside, had not
+Cyril brought his cudgel down sharply on his knuckles, when, with a
+yell of pain, he dropped the knife and fled up the lane. He had gone
+but a short distance, however, when he fell into the hands of the two
+constables, who were running towards him. One of them promptly
+knocked him down with his cudgel, and then proceeded to bind his
+hands behind him, while the other ran on to join in the fray. It was
+over before he got there, and his comrades were engaged in binding
+the two robbers. Tom Frost had taken no part in the fight. He stood
+looking on, paralysed with terror, and when the two men were
+overpowered he fell on his knees beseeching his master to have mercy
+on him.
+
+"It is too late, Tom," the Captain said. "You have been robbing me
+for months, and now you have been caught in the act you will have to
+take your share in the punishment. You are a prisoner of the
+constables here, and not of mine, and even if I were willing to let
+you go, they would have their say in the matter. Still, if you make a
+clean breast of what you know about it, I will do all I can to get
+you off lightly; and seeing that you are but a boy, and have been,
+perhaps, led into this, they will not be disposed to be hard on you.
+Pick up that lantern and bring it here, John; let us see what
+plunder, they were making off with."
+
+There was no rope this time, but a bag containing some fifty pounds'
+weight of brass and copper fittings. One of the constables took
+possession of this.
+
+"You had better come along with us to the Bridewell, Master Dowsett,
+to sign the charge sheet, though I don't know whether it is
+altogether needful, seeing that we have caught them in the act; and
+you will all three have to be at the Court to-morrow at ten o'clock."
+
+"I will go with you," the Captain said; "but I will first slip in and
+put my shoes on; I brought them down in my hand and shall be ready in
+a minute. You may as well lock up this gate again, John. I will go
+out through the front door and join them in the lane." As he went
+into the house, John Wilkes closed the gate and put up the bar, then
+took up the lantern and said to Cyril,--
+
+"Well, Master Cyril, this has been a good night's work, and mighty
+thankful I am that we have caught the pirates. It was a good day for
+us all when you came to the Captain, or they might have gone on
+robbing him till the time came that there was nothing more to rob;
+and I should never have held up my head again, for though the Captain
+would never believe that I had had a hand in bringing him to ruin,
+other people would not have thought so, and I might never have got a
+chance of proving my innocence. Now we will just go to the end of the
+yard and see if they did manage to get into the warehouse by means of
+that crane, as you thought they did."
+
+They found that the crane had been swung out just far enough to
+afford a foot-hold to those lowering themselves on to it from the
+roof. The door of the loft stood open.
+
+"Just as you said. You could not have been righter, not if you had
+seen them at it. And now I reckon we may as well lock up the place
+again, and turn in. The Captain has got the key of the front door,
+and we will leave the lantern burning at the bottom of the stairs."
+
+Cyril got up as soon as he heard a movement in the house, and went
+down to the shop, which had been already opened by John Wilkes.
+
+"It seems quiet here, without the apprentices, John. Is there any way
+in which I can help?"
+
+"No, thank you, sir. We shan't be moving the goods about till after
+breakfast, and then, no doubt, the Captain will get an extra man in
+to help me. I reckon he will have to get a neighbour in to give an
+eye to the place while we are all away at the Court."
+
+"I see there is the rope still hanging from their window," Cyril
+said, as he went out into the yard.
+
+"I thought it best to leave it there," John Wilkes replied, "and I
+ain't been up into the loft either. It is best to leave matters just
+as they were. Like enough, they will send an officer down from the
+Court to look at them."
+
+When the family assembled at breakfast, Mrs. Dowsett was looking very
+grave. The Captain, on the other hand, was in capital spirits.
+Nellie, as usual, was somewhat late.
+
+"Where is everybody?" she asked in surprise, seeing that Cyril alone
+was in his place with her father and mother.
+
+"John Wilkes is downstairs, looking after the shop, and will come up
+and have his breakfast when we have done," her father replied.
+
+"Are both the apprentices out, then?" she asked.
+
+"The apprentices are in limbo," the Captain said grimly.
+
+"In limbo, father! What does that mean?"
+
+"It means that they are in gaol, my dear."
+
+Nellie put down the knife and fork that she had just taken up.
+
+"Are you joking, father?"
+
+"Very far from it, my dear; it is no joke to any of us--certainly not
+to me, and not to Robert Ashford, or Tom Frost. They have been
+robbing me for the last year, and, for aught I know, before that. If
+it had not been for Master Cyril it would not have been very long
+before I should have had to put my shutters up."
+
+"But how could they rob you, father?"
+
+"By stealing my goods, and selling them, Nellie. The way they did it
+was to lower themselves by a rope from their window on to the roof of
+the warehouse, and to get down at the other end on to the crane, and
+then into the loft. Then they went down and took what they had a
+fancy to, undid the door, and went into the yard, and then handed
+over their booty to the fellows waiting at the gate for it. Last
+night we caught them at it, after having been on the watch for ten
+days."
+
+"That is what I heard last night, then," she said. "I was woke by a
+loud whistle, and then I heard a sound of quarrelling and fighting in
+the lane. I thought it was some roysterers going home late. Oh,
+father, it is dreadful to think of! And what will they do to them?"
+
+"It is a hanging matter," the Captain said; "it is not only theft,
+but mutiny. No doubt the judges will take a lenient view of Tom
+Frost's case, both on the ground of his youth, and because, no doubt,
+he was influenced by Ashford; but I would not give much for Robert's
+chances. No doubt it will be a blow to you, Nellie, for you seem to
+have taken to him mightily of late."
+
+Nellie was about to give an emphatic contradiction, but as she
+remembered how pointedly she had asked for his escort during the last
+few days, she flushed up, and was silent.
+
+"It is terrible to think of," she said, after a pause. "I suppose
+this is what you and Cyril were consulting about, father. I have to
+ask your pardon, Master Cyril, for my rudeness to you; but of course
+I did not think it was anything of consequence, or that you could not
+have told me if you had wished to do so."
+
+"You need not beg my pardon, Mistress Nellie. No doubt you thought it
+churlish on my part to refuse to gratify your curiosity, and I am not
+surprised that you took offence. I knew that when you learned how
+important it was to keep silence over the matter, that you would
+acquit me of the intention of making a mystery about nothing."
+
+"I suppose you knew, mother?" Nellie asked.
+
+"I knew that your father believed that he was being robbed, Nellie,
+and that he was keeping watch for some hours every night, but I did
+not know that he suspected the apprentices. I am glad that we did
+not, for assuredly we should have found it very hard to school our
+faces so that they should not guess that aught was wrong."
+
+"That was why we said nothing about it, Nellie. It has been as much
+as I have been able to do to sit at table, and talk in the shop as
+usual, with boys I knew were robbing me; and I know honest John
+Wilkes must have felt it still more. But till a week ago we would not
+believe that they had a hand in the matter. It is seven nights since
+Cyril caught them creeping along the roof, and called me to the
+window in John Wilkes's room, whence he was watching the yard, not
+thinking the enemy was in the house."
+
+"And how did you come to suspect that robbery was going on, Cyril?"
+
+"Simply because, on making up the books, I found there was a great
+deficiency in the stores."
+
+"That is what he was doing when he was sitting up at night, after you
+were in bed, Miss Nellie," her father said. "You may thank your stars
+that he took a berth in this ship, for the scoundrels would have
+foundered her to a certainty, if he had not done so. I tell you,
+child, he has saved this craft from going to the bottom. I have not
+said much to him about it, but he knows that I don't feel it any the
+less."
+
+"And who were the other men who were taken, father?"
+
+"That I can't tell you, Nellie. I went to the Bridewell with them,
+and as soon as I saw them safely lodged there I came home. They will
+be had up before the Lord Mayor this morning, and then I dare say I
+shall know all about them. Now I must go and take my watch below, and
+let John Wilkes come off duty."
+
+"Why, John, what is the matter?" Mrs. Dowsett said, when the foreman
+entered.
+
+"Nothing worth speaking of, Mistress. I got a clip over the eye from
+one of the pirates we were capturing. The thing mattered nothing, one
+way or the other, but it might have cost me my life, because, for a
+moment, it pretty well dazed me. That young villain, Bob, was just
+coming at me with his knife, and I reckon it would have gone hard
+with me if Master Cyril here hadn't, just in the nick of time,
+brought his stick down on Robert's knuckles, and that so sharply that
+the fellow dropped his knife with a yell, and took to his heels, only
+to fall into the hands of two of the watch coming from the other end
+of the lane. You did me a good turn, lad, and if ever I get the
+chance of ranging up alongside of you in a fray, you may trust me to
+return it."
+
+He held out his hand to Cyril, and gave a warm grip to the hand the
+latter laid in it.
+
+"It is a rum start, Mistress," John went on, as he sat down to his
+meal, "that two old hands like the Captain and I were sailing on, not
+dreaming of hidden rocks or sand-banks, when this lad, who I used to
+look upon as a young cockerel who was rather above his position,
+should come forward and have saved us all from shipwreck."
+
+"It is indeed, John," his mistress said earnestly, "and I thank God
+indeed that He put the thought into the minds of Captain Dave and
+myself to ask him to take up his abode with us. It seemed to us then
+that we were doing a little kindness that would cost us nothing,
+whereas it has turned out the saving of us."
+
+"Dear, dear!" Nellie, who had been sitting with a frown on her pretty
+face, said pettishly. "What a talk there will be about it all, and
+how Jane Greenwood and Martha Stebbings and the rest of them will
+laugh at me! They used to say they wondered how I could go about with
+such an ugly wretch behind me, and of course I spoke up for him and
+said that he was an honest knave and faithful; and now it turns out
+that he is a villain and a robber. I shall never hear the last of
+him."
+
+"You will get over that, Nellie," her mother said severely. "It would
+be much better if, instead of thinking of such trifles, you would
+consider how sad a thing it is that two lads should lose their
+character, and perhaps their lives, simply for their greed of other
+people's goods. I could cry when I think of it. I know that Robert
+Ashford has neither father nor mother to grieve about him, for my
+husband's father took him out of sheer charity; but Tom's parents are
+living, and it will be heart-breaking indeed to them when they hear
+of their son's misdoings."
+
+"I trust that Captain Dave will get him off," Cyril said. "As he is
+so young he may turn King's evidence, and I feel sure that he did not
+go willingly into the affair. I have noticed many times that he had a
+frightened look, as if he had something on his mind. I believe that
+he acted under fear of the other."
+
+As soon as John Wilkes had finished his breakfast he went with
+Captain Dave and Cyril to the Magistrates' Court at the Guildhall.
+Some other cases were first heard, and then the apprentices, with the
+two men who had been captured in the lane, were brought in and placed
+in the dock. The men bore marks that showed they had been engaged in
+a severe struggle, and that the watch had used their staves with
+effect. One was an elderly man with shaggy grey eyebrows; the other
+was a very powerfully built fellow, who seemed, from his attire, to
+follow the profession of a sailor. Tom Frost was sobbing bitterly.
+One of Robert Ashford's hands was bandaged up. As he was placed in
+the dock he cast furtive glances round with his shifty eyes, and as
+they fell upon Cyril an expression of deadly hate came over his face.
+The men of the watch who had captured them first gave their evidence
+as to finding them in the act of robbery, and testified to the
+desperate resistance they had offered to capture. Captain Dave then
+entered the witness-box, and swore first to the goods that were found
+on them being his property, and then related how, it having come to
+his knowledge that he was being robbed, he had set a watch, and had,
+eight days previously, seen his two apprentices getting along the
+roof, and how they had come out from the warehouse door, had opened
+the outer gate, and had handed over some goods they had brought out
+to persons unknown waiting to receive them.
+
+"Why did you not stop them in their commission of the theft?" the
+Alderman in the Chair asked.
+
+"Because, sir, had I done so, the men I considered to be the chief
+criminals, and who had doubtless tempted my apprentices to rob me,
+would then have made off. Therefore, I thought it better to wait
+until I could lay hands on them also, and so got four men of the
+watch to remain in the house at night."
+
+Then he went on to relate how, after watching seven nights, he had
+again seen the apprentices make their way along the roof, and how
+they and the receivers of their booty were taken by the watch, aided
+by himself, his foreman, and Master Cyril Shenstone, who was dwelling
+in his house.
+
+After John Wilkes had given his evidence, Cyril went into the box and
+related how, being engaged by Captain David Dowsett to make up his
+books, he found, upon stock being taken, that there was a deficiency
+to the amount of many hundreds of pounds in certain stores, notably
+such as were valuable without being bulky.
+
+"Is anything known as to the prisoners?" the magistrate asked the
+officer of the city watch in charge of the case.
+
+"Nothing is known of the two boys, your honour; but the men are well
+known. The elder, who gave the name of Peter Johnson, is one Joseph
+Marner; he keeps a marine shop close to the Tower. For a long time he
+has been suspected of being a receiver of stolen goods, but we have
+never been able to lay finger on him before. The other man has, for
+the last year, acted as his assistant in the shop; he answers closely
+to the description of a man, Ephraim Fowler, who has long been
+wanted. This man was a seaman in a brig trading to Yarmouth. After an
+altercation with the captain he stabbed him, and then slew the mate
+who was coming to his assistance; then with threats he compelled the
+other two men on board to let him take the boat. When they were off
+Brightlingsea he rowed away, and has not been heard of since. If you
+will remand them, before he comes up again I hope to find the men who
+were on board, and see if they identify him. We are in possession of
+Joseph Marner's shop, and have found large quantities of goods that
+we have reason to believe are the proceeds of these and other
+robberies."
+
+After the prisoners had left the dock, Captain Dave went up to the
+officer.
+
+"I believe," he said, "that the boy has not voluntarily taken part in
+these robberies, but has been led away, or perhaps obliged by threats
+to take part in them; he may be able to give you some assistance, for
+maybe these men are not the only persons to whom the stolen goods
+have been sold, and he may be able to put you on the track of other
+receivers."
+
+"The matter is out of my hands now," the officer said, "but I will
+represent what you say in the proper quarter; and now you had better
+come round with me; you may be able to pick out some of your
+property. We only made a seizure of the place an hour ago. I had all
+the men who came in on duty this morning to take a look at the
+prisoners. Fortunately two or three of them recognised Marner, and
+you may guess we lost no time in getting a search warrant and going
+down to his place. It is the most important capture we have made for
+some time, and may lead to the discovery of other robberies that have
+been puzzling us for months past. There is a gang known as the Black
+Gang, but we have never been able to lay hands on any of their
+leaders, and such fellows as have been captured have refused to say a
+word, and have denied all knowledge of it. There have been a number
+of robberies of a mysterious kind, none of which have we been able to
+trace, and they have been put down to the same gang. The Chief
+Constable is waiting for me there, and we shall make a thorough
+search of the premises, and it is like enough we shall come across
+some clue of importance. At any rate, if we can find some of the
+articles stolen in the robberies I am speaking of, it will be a
+strong proof that Marner is one of the chiefs of the gang, and that
+may lead to further discoveries."
+
+"You had better come with us, John," Captain Dave said. "You know our
+goods better than I do myself. Will you come, Cyril?"
+
+"I should be of no use in identifying the goods, sir, and I am due in
+half an hour at one of my shops."
+
+The search was an exhaustive one. There was no appearance of an
+underground cellar, but on some of the boards of the shop being taken
+up, it was found that there was a large one extending over the whole
+house. This contained an immense variety of goods. In one corner was
+a pile of copper bolts that Captain Dave and John were able to claim
+at once, as they bore the brand of the maker from whom they obtained
+their stock. There were boxes of copper and brass ship and house
+fittings, and a very large quantity of rope, principally of the sizes
+in which the stock had been found deficient; but to these Captain
+Dave was unable to swear. In addition to these articles the cellar
+contained a number of chests, all of which were found to be filled
+with miscellaneous articles of wearing apparel--rolls of silk,
+velvet, cloth, and other materials--curtains, watches, clocks,
+ornaments of all kinds, and a considerable amount of plate. As among
+these were many articles which answered to the descriptions given of
+goods that had been stolen from country houses, the whole were
+impounded by the Chief Constable, and carried away in carts. The
+upper part of the house was carefully searched, the walls tapped,
+wainscotting pulled down, and the floors carefully examined. Several
+hiding-places were found, but nothing of any importance discovered in
+them.
+
+"I should advise you," the Chief Constable said to Captain Dave, "to
+put in a claim for every article corresponding with those you have
+lost. Of course, if anyone else comes forward and also puts in a
+claim, the matter will have to be gone into, and if neither of you
+can absolutely swear to the things, I suppose you will have to settle
+it somehow between you. If no one else claims them, you will get them
+all without question, for you can swear that, to the best of your
+knowledge and belief, they are yours, and bring samples of your own
+goods to show that they exactly correspond with them. I have no doubt
+that a good deal of the readily saleable stuff, such as ropes, brass
+sheaves for blocks, and things of that sort, will have been sold, but
+as it is clear that there is a good deal of your stuff in the stock
+found below, I hope your loss will not be very great. There is no
+doubt it has been a splendid find for us. It is likely enough that we
+shall discover among those boxes goods that have been obtained from a
+score of robberies in London, and likely enough in the country. We
+have arrested three men we found in the place, and two women, and may
+get from some of them information that will enable us to lay hands on
+some of the others concerned in these robberies."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+KIDNAPPED
+
+
+That afternoon Captain Dave went down to the Bridewell, and had an
+interview with Tom Frost, in the presence of the Master of the
+prison.
+
+"Well, Tom, I never expected to have to come to see you in a place
+like this."
+
+"I am glad I am here, master," the boy said earnestly, with tears in
+his eyes. "I don't mind if they hang me; I would rather anything than
+go on as I have been doing. I knew it must come, and whenever I heard
+anyone walk into the shop I made sure it was a constable. I am ready
+to tell everything, master; I know I deserve whatever I shall get,
+but that won't hurt me half as much as it has done, having to go on
+living in the house with you, and knowing I was helping to rob you
+all along."
+
+"Anything that you say must be taken down," the officer said; "and I
+can't promise that it will make any difference in your sentence."
+
+"I do not care anything about that; I am going to tell the truth."
+
+"Very well, then, I will take down anything you say. But wait a
+minute."
+
+He went to the door of the room and called.
+
+"Is the Chief Constable in?" he asked a man who came up. "If he is,
+ask him to step here."
+
+A minute later the Chief Constable came in.
+
+"This prisoner wishes to make a confession, Master Holmes. I thought
+it best that you should be here. You can hear what he says then, and
+it may help you in your inquiry. Besides, you may think of questions
+on points he may not mention; he understands that he is speaking
+entirely of his own free will, and that I have given him no promise
+whatever that his so doing will alter his sentence, although no doubt
+it will be taken into consideration."
+
+"Quite so," the constable said. "This is not a case where one
+prisoner would be ordinarily permitted to turn King's evidence
+against the others, because, as they were caught in the act, no such
+evidence is necessary. We know all about how the thing was done, and
+who did it."
+
+"I want to tell how I first came to rob my master," the boy said. "I
+never thought of robbing him. When I came up to London, my father
+said to me, 'Whatever you do, Tom, be honest. They say there are
+rogues up in London; don't you have anything to do with them.' One
+evening, about a year ago I went out with Robert, and we went to a
+shop near the wall at Aldgate. I had never been there before, but
+Robert knew the master, who was the old man that was taken in the
+lane. Robert said the man was a relation of his father's, and had
+been kind to him. We sat down and talked for a time, and then Robert,
+who was sitting close to me, moved for something, and put his hand
+against my pocket.
+
+"'Hullo!' he said; 'what have you got there?'
+
+"'Nothing,' I said.
+
+"'Oh, haven't you?' and he put his hand in my pocket, and brought out
+ten guineas. 'Hullo!' he said; 'where did you get these? You told me
+yesterday you had not got a groat. Why, you young villain, you must
+have been robbing the till!'
+
+"I was so frightened that I could not say anything, except that I did
+not know how they came there and I could swear that I had not touched
+the till. I was too frightened to think then, but I have since
+thought that the guineas were never in my pocket at all, but were in
+Robert's hand.
+
+"'That won't do, boy,' the man said. 'It is clear that you are a
+thief. I saw Robert take them from your pocket, and, as an honest
+man, it is my duty to take you to your master and tell him what sort
+of an apprentice he has. You are young, and you will get off with a
+whipping at the pillory, and that will teach you that honesty is the
+best policy.'
+
+"So he got his hat and put it on, and took me by the collar as if to
+haul me out into the street. I went down on my knees to beg for
+mercy, and at last he said that he would keep the matter quiet if I
+would swear to do everything that Robert told me; and I was so
+frightened that I swore to do so.
+
+"For a bit there wasn't any stealing, but Robert used to take me out
+over the roof, and we used to go out together and go to places where
+there were two or three men, and they gave us wine. Then Robert
+proposed that we should have a look through the warehouse. I did not
+know what he meant, but as we went through he filled his pockets with
+things and told me to take some too. I said I would not. Then he
+threatened to raise the alarm, and said that when Captain Dave came
+down he should say he heard me get up to come down by the rope on to
+the warehouse, and that he had followed me to see what I was doing,
+and had found me in the act of taking goods, and that, as he had
+before caught me with money stolen from the till, as a friend of his
+could testify, he felt that it was his duty to summon you at once. I
+know I ought to have refused, and to have let him call you down, but
+I was too frightened. At last I agreed to do what he told me, and
+ever since then we have been robbing you."
+
+"What have you done with the money you got for the things?" the
+constable asked.
+
+"I had a groat sometimes," the boy said, "but that is all. Robert
+said first that I should have a share, but I said I would have
+nothing to do with it. I did as he ordered me because I could not
+help it. Though I have taken a groat or two sometimes, that is all I
+have had."
+
+"Do you know anything about how much Robert had?"
+
+"No, sir; I never saw him paid any money. I supposed that he had some
+because he has said sometimes he should set up a shop for himself,
+down at some seaport town, when he was out of his apprenticeship; but
+I have never seen him with any money beyond a little silver. I don't
+know what he used to do when we had given the things to the men that
+met us in the lane. I used always to come straight back to bed, but
+generally he went out with them. I used to fasten the gate after him,
+and he got back over the wall by a rope. Most times he didn't come in
+till a little before daybreak."
+
+"Were they always the same men that met you in the lane?"
+
+"No, sir. The master of the shop was very seldom there. The big man
+has come for the last three or four months, and there were two other
+men. They used to be waiting for us together until the big man came,
+but since then one or other of them came with him, except when the
+master of the shop was there himself."
+
+"Describe them to me."
+
+The boy described them as well as he could.
+
+"Could you swear to them if you saw them?"
+
+"I think so. Of course, sometimes it was moonlight, and I could see
+their faces well; and besides, the light of the lantern often fell
+upon their faces."
+
+The constable nodded.
+
+"The descriptions answer exactly," he said to Captain Dave, "to the
+two men we found in the shop. The place was evidently the
+headquarters of a gang of thieves."
+
+"Please, sir," the boy said, "would you have me shut up in another
+place? I am afraid of being with the others. They have sworn they
+will kill me if I say a word, and when I get back they will ask me
+who I have seen and what I have said."
+
+Captain Dave took the other two men aside.
+
+"Could you not let the boy come home with me?" he said. "I believe
+his story is a true one. He has been terrified into helping that
+rascal, Robert Ashford. Of course he himself was of no good to them,
+but they were obliged to force him into it, as otherwise he would
+have found out Robert's absences and might have reported them to me.
+I will give what bail you like, and will undertake to produce him
+whenever he is required."
+
+"I could not do that myself," the constable said, "but I will go
+round to the Court now with the boy's confession, and I have no doubt
+the Alderman will let him go. But let me give you a word of advice:
+don't let him stir out of the house after dark. We have no doubt that
+there is a big gang concerned in this robbery, and the others of
+which we found the booty at the receiver's. They would not know how
+much this boy could tell about them, but if he went back to you they
+would guess that he had peached. If he went out after dark, the
+chances would be against his ever coming back again. No, now I think
+of it, I am sure you had better let him stay where he is. The Master
+will put him apart from the others, and make him comfortable. You
+see, at present we have no clue as to the men concerned in the
+robberies. You may be sure that they are watching every move on our
+part, and if they knew that this boy was out, they might take the
+alarm and make off."
+
+"Well, if you think so, I will leave him here."
+
+"I am sure that it would be the best plan."
+
+"You will make him comfortable, Master Holroyd?"
+
+"Yes; you need not worry about him, Captain Dowsett."
+
+They then turned to the boy.
+
+"You will be moved away from the others, Tom," Captain Dave said,
+"and Mr. Holroyd has promised to make you comfortable."
+
+"Oh, Captain Dave," the boy burst out, "will you forgive me? I don't
+mind being punished, but if you knew how awfully miserable I have
+been all this time, knowing that I was robbing you while you were so
+kind to me, I think you would forgive me."
+
+"I forgive you, Tom," Captain Dave said, putting his hand on the
+boy's shoulder. "I hope that this will be a lesson to you, all your
+life. You see all this has come upon you because you were a coward.
+If you had been a brave lad you would have said, 'Take me to my
+master.' You might have been sure that I would have heard your story
+as well as theirs, and I don't think I should have decided against
+you under the circumstances. It was only your word against Robert's;
+and his taking you to this man's, and finding the money in your
+pocket in so unlikely a way, would certainly have caused me to have
+suspicions. There is nothing so bad as cowardice; it is the father of
+all faults. A coward is certain to be a liar, for he will not
+hesitate to tell any falsehood to shelter him from the consequences
+of a fault. In your case, you see, cowardice has made you a thief;
+and in some cases it might drive a man to commit a murder. However,
+lad, I forgive you freely. You have been weak, and your weakness has
+made you a criminal; but it has been against your own will. When all
+this is over, I will see what can be done for you. You may live to be
+an honest man and a good citizen yet."
+
+Two days later Cyril was returning home late in the evening after
+being engaged longer than usual in making up a number of accounts for
+one of his customers. He had come through Leadenhall Street, and had
+entered the lane where the capture of the thieves had been made, when
+he heard a footstep behind him. He turned half round to see who was
+following him, when he received a tremendous blow on the head which
+struck him senseless to the ground.
+
+After a time he was dimly conscious that he was being carried along.
+He was unable to move; there was something in his mouth that
+prevented him from calling out, and his head was muffled in a cloak.
+He felt too weak and confused to struggle. A minute later he heard a
+voice, that sounded below him, say,--
+
+"Have you got him?"
+
+"I have got him all right," was the answer of the man who was
+carrying him.
+
+Then he felt that he was being carried down some stairs.
+
+Someone took him, and he was thrown roughly down; then there was a
+slight rattling noise, followed by a regular sound. He wondered
+vaguely what it was, but as his senses came back it flashed upon him;
+it was the sound of oars; he was in a boat. It was some time before
+he could think why he should be in a boat. He had doubtless been
+carried off by some of the friends of the prisoners', partly,
+perhaps, to prevent his giving evidence against them, partly from
+revenge for the part he had played in the discovery of the crime.
+
+In a few minutes the sound of oars ceased, and there was a bump as
+the boat struck against something hard. Then he was lifted up, and
+someone took hold of him from above. He was carried a few steps and
+roughly thrust in somewhere. There was a sound of something heavy
+being thrown down above him, and then for a long time he knew nothing
+more.
+
+When he became conscious again, he was able, as he lay there, to come
+to a distinct conclusion as to where he was. He had been kidnapped,
+carried off, taken out in a boat to some craft anchored in the river,
+and was now in the hold. He felt almost suffocated. The wrap round
+his head prevented his breathing freely, the gag in his mouth pressed
+on his tongue, and gave him severe pain, while his head ached acutely
+from the effects of the blow.
+
+The first thing to do was, if possible, to free his hands, so as to
+relieve himself from the gag and muffling. An effort or two soon
+showed him that he was but loosely bound. Doubtless the man who had
+attacked him had not wasted much time in securing his arms, believing
+that the blow would be sufficient to keep him quiet until he was safe
+on board ship. It was, therefore, without much difficulty that he
+managed to free one of his hands, and it was then an easy task to get
+rid of the rope altogether. The cloak was pulled from his face, and,
+feeling for his knife, he cut the lashings of the gag and removed it
+from his mouth. He lay quiet for a few minutes, panting from his
+exhaustion. Putting up his hand he felt a beam about a foot above his
+body. He was, then, in a hold already stored with cargo. The next
+thing was to shift his position among the barrels and bales upon
+which he was lying, until he found a comparatively level spot. He was
+in too great pain to think of sleep; his head throbbed fiercely, and
+he suffered from intense thirst.
+
+From time to time heavy footsteps passed overhead. Presently he heard
+a sudden rattling of blocks, and the flapping of a sail. Then he
+noticed that there was a slight change in the level of his position,
+and knew that the craft was under way on her voyage down the river.
+
+It seemed an immense time to him before he saw a faint gleam of
+light, and edging himself along, found himself again under the
+hatchway, through a crack in which the light was shining. It was some
+hours before the hatch was lifted off, and he saw two men looking
+down.
+
+"Water!" he said. "I am dying of thirst."
+
+"Bring a pannikin of water," one of the men said, "but first give us
+a hand, and we will have him on deck."
+
+Stooping down, they took Cyril by the shoulders and hoisted him out.
+
+"He is a decent-looking young chap," the speaker went on. "I would
+have seen to him before, if I had known him to be so bad. Those
+fellows didn't tell us they had hurt him. Here is the water, young
+fellow. Can you sit up to drink it?"
+
+Cyril sat up and drank off the contents of the pannikin.
+
+"Why, the back of your head is all covered with blood!" the man who
+had before spoken said. "You must have had an ugly knock?"
+
+"I don't care so much for that," Cyril replied. "It's the gag that
+hurt me. My tongue is so much swollen I can hardly speak."
+
+"Well, you can stay here on deck if you will give me your promise not
+to hail any craft we may pass. If you won't do that I must put you
+down under hatches again."
+
+"I will promise that willingly," Cyril said; "the more so that I can
+scarce speak above a whisper."
+
+"Mind, if you as much as wave a hand, or do anything to bring an eye
+on us, down you go into the hold again, and when you come up next
+time it will be to go overboard. Now just put your head over the
+rail, and I will pour a few buckets of water over it. I agreed to get
+you out of the way, but I have got no grudge against you, and don't
+want to do you harm."
+
+Getting a bucket with a rope tied to the handle, he dipped it into
+the river, and poured half-a-dozen pailfuls over Cyril's head. The
+lad felt greatly refreshed, and, sitting down on the deck, was able
+to look round. The craft was a coaster of about twenty tons burden.
+There were three men on deck besides the man who had spoken to him,
+and who was evidently the skipper. Besides these a boy occasionally
+put up his head from a hatchway forward. There was a pile of barrels
+and empty baskets amidship, and the men presently began to wash down
+the decks and to tidy up the ropes and gear lying about. The shore on
+both sides was flat, and Cyril was surprised at the width of the
+river. Behind them was a small town, standing on higher ground.
+
+"What place is that?" he asked a sailor who passed near him.
+
+"That is Gravesend."
+
+A few minutes afterwards the boy again put his head out of the
+hatchway and shouted,--
+
+"Breakfast!"
+
+"Can you eat anything, youngster?" the skipper asked Cyril.
+
+"No, thank you, my head aches too much; and my mouth is so sore I am
+sure I could not get anything down."
+
+"Well, you had best lie down, then, with your head on that coil of
+rope; I allow you did not sleep much last night."
+
+In a few minutes Cyril was sound asleep, and when he awoke the sun
+was setting.
+
+"You have had a good bout of it, lad," the skipper said, as he raised
+himself on his elbow and looked round. "How are you feeling now?"
+
+"A great deal better," Cyril said, as he rose to his feet.
+
+"Supper will be ready in a few minutes, and if you can manage to get
+a bit down it will do you good."
+
+"I will try, anyhow," Cyril said. "I think that I feel hungry."
+
+The land was now but a faint line on either hand. A gentle breeze was
+blowing from the south-west, and the craft was running along over the
+smooth water at the rate of three or four miles an hour. Cyril
+wondered where he was being taken to, and what was going to be done
+with him, but determined to ask no questions. The skipper was
+evidently a kind-hearted man, although he might be engaged in lawless
+business, but it was as well to wait until he chose to open the
+subject.
+
+As soon as the boy hailed, the captain led the way to the hatchway.
+They descended a short ladder into the fo'castle, which was low, but
+roomy. Supper consisted of boiled skate--a fish Cyril had never
+tasted before--oaten bread, and beer. His mouth was still sore, but
+he managed to make a hearty meal of fish, though he could not manage
+the hard bread. One of the men was engaged at the helm, but the other
+two shared the meal, all being seated on lockers that ran round the
+cabin. The fish were placed on an earthenware dish, each man cutting
+off slices with his jack-knife, and using his bread as a platter.
+Little was said while the meal went on; but when they went on deck
+again, the skipper, having put another man at the tiller, while the
+man released went forward to get his supper, said,--
+
+"Well, I think you are in luck, lad."
+
+Cyril opened his eyes in surprise.
+
+"You don't think so?" the man went on. "I don't mean that you are in
+luck in being knocked about and carried off, but that you are not
+floating down the river at present instead of walking the deck here.
+I can only suppose that they thought your body might be picked up,
+and that it would go all the harder with the prisoners, if it were
+proved that you had been put out of the way. You don't look like an
+informer either!"
+
+"I am not an informer," Cyril said indignantly. "I found that my
+employer was being robbed, and I aided him to catch the thieves. I
+don't call that informing. That is when a man betrays others engaged
+in the same work as himself."
+
+"Well, well, it makes no difference to me," the skipper said. "I was
+engaged by a man, with whom I do business sometimes, to take a fellow
+who had been troublesome out of the way, and to see that he did not
+come back again for some time. I bargained that there was to be no
+foul play; I don't hold with things of that sort. As to carrying down
+a bale of goods sometimes, or taking a few kegs of spirits from a
+French lugger, I see no harm in it; but when it comes to cutting
+throats, I wash my hands of it. I am sorry now I brought you off,
+though maybe if I had refused they would have put a knife into you,
+and chucked you into the river. However, now that I have got you I
+must go through with it. I ain't a man to go back from my word, and
+what I says I always sticks to. Still, I am sorry I had anything to
+do with the business. You look to me a decent young gentleman, though
+your looks and your clothes have not been improved by what you have
+gone through. Well, at any rate, I promise you that no harm shall
+come to you as long as you are in my hands."
+
+"And how long is that likely to be, captain?"
+
+"Ah! that is more than I can tell you. I don't want to do you harm,
+lad, and more than that, I will prevent other people from doing you
+harm as long as you are on board this craft. But more than that I
+can't say. It is likely enough I shall have trouble in keeping that
+promise, and I can't go a step farther. There is many a man who would
+have chucked you overboard, and so have got rid of the trouble
+altogether, and of the risk of its being afterwards proved that he
+had a hand in getting you out of the way."
+
+"I feel that, captain," Cyril said, "and I thank you heartily for
+your kind treatment of me. I promise you that if at any time I am set
+ashore and find my way back to London, I will say no word which can
+get you into trouble."
+
+"There is Tom coming upon deck. You had better turn in. You have had
+a good sleep, but I have no doubt you can do with some more, and a
+night's rest will set you up. You take the left-hand locker. The boy
+sleeps on the right hand, and we have bunks overhead."
+
+Cyril was soon soundly asleep, and did not wake when the others
+turned in. He was alone in the cabin when he opened his eyes, but the
+sun was shining brightly through the open hatchway. He sprang up and
+went on deck. The craft was at anchor. No land could be seen to the
+south, but to the north a low shore stretched away three or four
+miles distant. There was scarcely a breath of wind.
+
+"Well, you have had a good sleep, lad," the captain said. "You had
+best dip that bucket overboard and have a wash; you will feel better
+after it. Now, boy, slip down and get your fire going; we shall be
+ready for breakfast as soon as it is ready for us."
+
+Cyril soused his head with the cold water, and felt, as the captain
+had said, all the better for it, for the air in the little cabin was
+close and stuffy, and he had felt hot and feverish before his wash.
+
+"The wind died out, you see," the captain said, "and we had to anchor
+when tide turned at two o'clock. There is a dark line behind us, and
+as soon as the wind reaches us, we will up anchor. The force of the
+tide is spent."
+
+The wind, however, continued very light, and the vessel did little
+more than drift with the tide, and when it turned at two o'clock they
+had to drop anchor again close under some high land, on the top of
+which stood a lofty tower.
+
+"That is a land-mark," the captain said. "There are some bad sands
+outside us, and that stands as a mark for vessels coming through."
+
+Cyril had enjoyed the quiet passage much. The wound at the back of
+his head still smarted, and he had felt disinclined for any exertion.
+More than once, in spite of the good allowance of sleep he had had,
+he dozed off as he sat on the deck with his back against the bulwark,
+watching the shore as they drifted slowly past it, and wondering
+vaguely, how it would all end. They had been anchored but half an
+hour when the captain ordered the men to the windlass.
+
+"There is a breeze coming, lads," he said; "and even if it only lasts
+for an hour, it will take us round the head and far enough into the
+bay to get into the tide running up the rivers."
+
+The breeze, however, when it came, held steadily, and in two hours
+they were off Harwich; but on coming opposite the town they turned
+off up the Orwell, and anchored, after dark, at a small village some
+six miles up the river.
+
+"If you will give me your word, lad, that you will not try to escape,
+and will not communicate with anyone who may come off from the shore,
+I will continue to treat you as a passenger; but if not, I must
+fasten you up in the cabin, and keep a watch over you."
+
+"I will promise, captain. I should not know where to go if I landed.
+I heard you say, 'There is Harwich steeple,' when we first came in
+sight of it, but where that is I have no idea, nor how far we are
+from London. As I have not a penny in my pocket, I should find it
+well-nigh impossible to make my way to town, which may, for aught I
+know, be a hundred miles away; for, in truth, I know but little of
+the geography of England, having been brought up in France, and not
+having been out of sight of London since I came over."
+
+Just as he was speaking, the splash of an oar was heard close by.
+
+"Up, men," the captain said in a low tone to those in the fo'castle.
+"Bring up the cutlasses. Who is that?" he called, hailing the boat.
+
+"Merry men all," was the reply.
+
+"All right. Come alongside. You saw our signal, then?"
+
+"Ay, ay, we saw it; but there is an officer with a boat-load of
+sailors ashore from the King's ship at Harwich. He is spending the
+evening with the revenue captain here, and we had to wait until the
+two men left in charge of the boat went up to join their comrades at
+the tavern. What have you got for us?"
+
+"Six boxes and a lot of dunnage, such as cables, chains, and some
+small anchors."
+
+"Well, you had better wait for an hour before you take the hatches
+off. You will hear the gig with the sailors row past soon. The tide
+has begun to run down strong, and I expect the officer won't be long
+before he moves. As soon as he has gone we will come out again. We
+shall take the goods up half a mile farther. The revenue man on that
+beat has been paid to keep his eyes shut, and we shall get them all
+stored in a hut, a mile away in the woods, before daybreak. You know
+the landing-place; there will be water enough for us to row in there
+for another two hours."
+
+The boat rowed away to the shore, which was not more than a hundred
+yards distant. A little later they heard a stir on the strand, then
+came the sound of oars, and two minutes later a boat shot past close
+to them, and then, bearing away, rowed down the river.
+
+"Now, lads," the captain said, "get the hatches off. The wind is
+coming more offshore, which is all the better for us, but do not make
+more noise than you can help."
+
+The hatches were taken off, and the men proceeded to get up a number
+of barrels and bales, some sail-cloth being thrown on the deck to
+deaden the sound. Lanterns, passed down into the hold, gave them
+light for their operations.
+
+"This is the lot," one of the sailors said presently.
+
+Six large boxes were then passed up and put apart from the others.
+Then followed eight or ten coils of rope, a quantity of chain, some
+kedge anchors, a number of blocks, five rolls of canvas, and some
+heavy bags that, by the sound they made when they were laid down,
+Cyril judged to contain metal articles of some sort. Then the other
+goods were lowered into the hold and the hatches replaced. The work
+had scarcely concluded when the boat again came alongside, this time
+with four men on board. Scarcely a word was spoken as the goods were
+transferred to the boat.
+
+"You will be going to-morrow?" one of the men in the boat asked.
+
+"Yes, I shall get up to Ipswich on the top of the tide--that is, if I
+don't stick fast in this crooked channel. My cargo is all either for
+Ipswich or Aldborough. Now let us turn in," as the boatmen made their
+way up the river. "We must be under way before daylight, or else we
+shall not save the tide down to-morrow evening. I am glad we have got
+that lot safely off. I always feel uncomfortable until we get rid of
+that part of the cargo. If it wasn't that it paid better than all the
+rest together I would not have anything to do with it."
+
+Cyril was very glad to lie down on the locker, while the men turned
+into their berths overhead. He had not yet fully recovered from the
+effects of the blow he had received, but in spite of the aching of
+his head he was soon sound asleep. It seemed to him that he had
+scarcely closed his eyes when he was roused by the captain's voice,--
+
+"Tumble up, lads. The light is beginning to show."
+
+Ten minutes later they were under way. The breeze had almost died
+out, and after sailing for some two miles in nearly a straight
+course, the boat was thrown over, two men got into it, and, fastening
+a rope to the ketch's bow, proceeded to tow her along, the captain
+taking the helm.
+
+To Cyril's surprise, they turned off almost at right angles to the
+course they had before been following, and made straight for the
+opposite shore. They approached it so closely that Cyril expected
+that in another moment the craft would take ground, when, at a shout
+from the captain, the men in the boat started off parallel with the
+shore, taking the craft's head round. For the next three-quarters of
+an hour they pursued a serpentine course, the boy standing in the
+chains and heaving the lead continually. At last the captain
+shouted,--"You can come on board now, lads. We are in the straight
+channel at last." Twenty minutes later they again dropped their
+anchor opposite a town of considerable size.
+
+"That is Ipswich, lad," the captain said. "It is as nasty a place to
+get into as there is in England, unless you have got the wind due
+aft."
+
+The work of unloading began at once, and was carried on until after
+dark.
+
+"That is the last of them," the captain said, to Cyril's
+satisfaction. "We can be off now when the tide turns, and if we
+hadn't got clear to-night we might have lost hours, for there is no
+getting these people on shore to understand that the loss of a tide
+means the loss of a day, and that it is no harder to get up and do
+your work at one hour than it is at another. I shall have a clean up,
+now, and go ashore. I have got your promise, lad, that you won't try
+to escape?"
+
+Cyril assented. Standing on the deck there, with the river bank but
+twenty yards away, it seemed hard that he should not be able to
+escape. But, as he told himself, he would not have been standing
+there if it had not been for that promise, but would have been lying,
+tightly bound, down in the hold.
+
+Cyril and the men were asleep when the captain came aboard, the boy
+alone remaining up to fetch him off in the boat when he hailed.
+
+"There is no wind, captain," Cyril said, as the anchor was got up.
+
+"No, lad, I am glad there is not. We can drop down with the tide and
+the boat towing us, but if there was a head wind we might have to
+stop here till it either dropped or shifted. I have been here three
+weeks at a spell. I got some news ashore," he went on, as he took his
+place at the helm, while the three men rowed the boat ahead. "A man I
+sometimes bring things to told me that he heard there had been an
+attempt to rescue the men concerned in that robbery. I heard, before
+I left London, it was likely that it would be attempted."
+
+There were a lot of people concerned in that affair, one way and
+another, and I knew they would move heaven and earth to get them out,
+for if any of them peached there would be such a haul as the
+constables never made in the city before. Word was passed to the
+prisoners to be ready, and as they were being taken from the
+Guildhall to Newgate there was a sudden rush made. The constables
+were not caught napping, and there was a tough fight, till the
+citizens ran out of their shops and took part with them, and the men,
+who were sailors, watermen, 'longshore-men, and rascals of all sorts,
+bolted.
+
+"But two of the prisoners were missing. One was, I heard, an
+apprentice who was mixed up in the affair, and no one saw him go.
+They say he must have stooped down and wriggled away into the crowd.
+The other was a man they called Black Dick; he struck down two
+constables, broke through the crowd, and got clean away. There is a
+great hue and cry, but so far nothing has been heard of them. They
+will be kept in hiding somewhere till there is a chance of getting
+them through the gates or on board a craft lying in the river. Our
+men made a mess of it, or they would have got them all off. I hear
+that they are all in a fine taking that Marner is safely lodged in
+Newgate with the others taken in his house; he knows so much that if
+he chose to peach he could hang a score of men. Black Dick could tell
+a good deal, but he wasn't in all the secrets, and they say Marner is
+really the head of the band and had a finger in pretty nigh every
+robbery through the country. All those taken in his place are also in
+Newgate, and they say the constables are searching the city like
+ferrets in a rabbit-warren, and that several other arrests have been
+made."
+
+"I am not sorry the apprentice got away," Cyril said. "He is a bad
+fellow, there is no doubt, and, by the look he gave me, he would do
+me harm if he got a chance, but I suppose that is only natural. As to
+the other man, he looked to me to be a desperate villain, and he also
+gave me so evil a look that, though he was in the dock with a
+constable on either side of him, I felt horribly uncomfortable,
+especially when I heard what sort of man he was."
+
+"What did they say of him?"
+
+"They said they believed he was a man named Ephraim Fowler, who had
+murdered the skipper and mate of a coaster and then went off in the
+boat."
+
+"Is that the man? Then truly do I regret that he has escaped. I knew
+both John Moore, the master, and George Monson, the mate, and many a
+flagon of beer we have emptied together. If I had known the fellow's
+whereabouts, I would have put the constables on his track. I am
+heartily sorry now, boy, that I had a hand in carrying you off,
+though maybe it is best for you that it has been so. If I hadn't
+taken you someone else would, and more than likely you would not have
+fared so well as you have done, for some of them would have saved
+themselves all further trouble and risk, by chucking you overboard as
+soon as they were well out of the Pool."
+
+"Can't you put me ashore now, captain?"
+
+"No, boy; I have given my word and taken my money, and I am not one
+to fail to carry out a bargain because I find that I have made a bad
+one. They have trusted me with thousands of pounds' worth of goods,
+and I have no reason to complain of their pay, and am not going to
+turn my back on them now they have got into trouble; besides, though
+I would trust you not to round upon me, I would not trust them. If
+you were to turn up in London they would know that I had sold them,
+and Marner would soon hear of it. There is a way of getting messages
+to a man even in prison. Then you may be sure that, if he said
+nothing else, he would take good care to let out that I was the man
+who used to carry their booty away, sometimes to quiet places on the
+coast, and sometimes across to Holland, and the first time I dropped
+anchor in the Pool I should find myself seized and thrown into limbo.
+No, lad; I must carry out my agreement--which is that I am not to
+land you in England, but that I am to take you across to Holland or
+elsewhere--the elsewhere meaning that if you fall overboard by the
+way there will be no complaints as to the breach of the agreement.
+That is, in fact, what they really meant, though they did not
+actually put it into words. They said, 'We have a boy who is an
+informer, and has been the means of Marner being seized and his place
+broken up, and there is no saying that a score of us may not get a
+rope round our necks. In consequence, we want him carried away. What
+you do with him is nothing to us so long as he don't set foot in
+England again.' 'Will Holland suit you? I am going across there,' I
+said, 'after touching at Ipswich and Aldborough.' 'It would be much
+safer for you and everyone else if it happen that he falls over
+before he gets there. However, we will call it Holland.'"
+
+"Then if I were to fall overboard," Cyril said, with a smile, "you
+would not be breaking your agreement, captain? I might fall overboard
+to-night, you know."
+
+"I would not advise it, lad. You had much better stay where you are.
+I don't say I mightn't anchor off Harwich, and that if you fell
+overboard you couldn't manage to swim ashore, but I tell you I would
+not give twopence for your life when you got back to London. It is to
+the interest of a score of men to keep Marner's mouth shut. They have
+shown their willingness to help him as far as they could, by getting
+you out of the way, and if you got back they would have your life the
+first time you ventured out of doors after dark; they would be afraid
+Marner would suppose they had sold him if you were to turn up at his
+trial, and as like as not he would round on the whole lot. Besides, I
+don't think it would be over safe for me the first time I showed
+myself in London afterwards, for, though I never said that I would do
+it, I have no doubt they reckoned that I should chuck you overboard,
+and if you were to make your appearance in London they would
+certainly put it down that I had sold them. You keep yourself quiet,
+and I will land you in Holland, but not as they would expect, without
+a penny or a friend; I will put you into good hands, and arrange that
+you shall be sent back again as soon as the trial is over."
+
+"Thank you very much, captain. I have no relations in London, and no
+friends, except my employer, Captain David Dowsett, and by this time
+he will have made up his mind that I am dead, and it won't make much
+difference whether I return in four or five days or as many weeks."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A NARROW ESCAPE
+
+
+The _Eliza_, for this Cyril, after leaving Ipswich, learnt was her
+name, unloaded the rest of her cargo at Aldborough, and then sailed
+across to Rotterdam. The skipper fulfilled his promise by taking
+Cyril to the house of one of the men with whom he did business, and
+arranging with him to board the boy until word came that he could
+safely return to England. The man was a diamond-cutter, and to him
+packets of jewellery and gems that could not be disposed of in
+England had often been brought over by the captain. The latter had
+nothing to do with the pecuniary arrangements, which were made direct
+by Marner, and he had only to hand over the packets and take back
+sums of money to England.
+
+"You understand," the captain said to Cyril, "that I have not said a
+word touching the matter for which you are here. I have only told him
+that it had been thought it was as well you should be out of England
+for a time. Of course, he understood that you were wanted for an
+affair in which you had taken part; but it matters not what he
+thinks. I have paid him for a month's board for you, and here are
+three pounds, which will be enough to pay for your passage back if I
+myself should not return. If you do not hear from me, or see the
+_Eliza_, within four weeks, there is no reason why you should not
+take passage back. The trial will be over by that time, and as the
+members of the gang have done their part in preventing you from
+appearing, I see not why they should have further grudge against
+you."
+
+"I cannot thank you too much for your kindness, captain. I trust that
+when I get back you will call at Captain Dowsett's store in Tower
+Street, so that I may see you and again thank you; I know that the
+Captain himself will welcome you heartily when I tell him how kindly
+you have treated me. He will be almost as glad as I shall myself to
+see you. I suppose you could not take him a message or letter from me
+now?"
+
+"I think not, lad. It would never do for him to be able to say at the
+trial that he had learnt you had been kidnapped. They might write
+over here to the Dutch authorities about you. There is one thing
+further. From what I heard when I landed yesterday, it seems that
+there is likely to be war between Holland and England."
+
+"I heard a talk of it in London," Cyril said, "but I do not rightly
+understand the cause, nor did I inquire much about the matter."
+
+"It is something about the colonies, and our taxing their goods, but
+I don't rightly understand the quarrel, except that the Dutch think,
+now that Blake is gone and our ships for the most part laid up, they
+may be able to take their revenge for the lickings we have given
+them. Should there be war, as you say you speak French as well as
+English, I should think you had best make your way to Dunkirk as a
+young Frenchman, and from there you would find no difficulty in
+crossing to England."
+
+"I know Dunkirk well, captain, having indeed lived there all my life.
+I should have no difficulty in travelling through Holland as a French
+boy."
+
+"If there is a war," the captain said, "I shall, of course, come here
+no more; but it may be that you will see me at Dunkirk. French brandy
+sells as well as Dutch Schiedam, and if I cannot get the one I may
+perhaps get the other; and there is less danger in coming to Dunkirk
+and making across to Harwich than there is in landing from Calais or
+Nantes on the south coast, where the revenue men are much more on the
+alert than they are at Harwich."
+
+"Are you not afraid of getting your boat captured? You said it was
+your own."
+
+"Not much, lad. I bring over a regular cargo, and the kegs are stowed
+away under the floor of the cabin, and I run them at Pin-mill--that
+is the place we anchored the night before we got to Ipswich. I have
+been overhauled a good many times, but the cargo always looks right,
+and after searching it for a bit, they conclude it is all regular.
+You see, I don't bring over a great quantity--fifteen or twenty kegs
+is as much as I can stow away--and it is a long way safer being
+content with a small profit than trying to make a big one."
+
+Cyril parted with regret from the captain, whose departure had been
+hastened by a report that war might be declared at any moment, in
+which case the _Eliza_ might have been detained for a considerable
+time. He had, therefore, been working almost night and day to get in
+his cargo, and Cyril had remained on board until the last moment. He
+had seen the diamond dealer but once, and hoped that he should not
+meet him often, for he felt certain that awkward questions would be
+asked him. This man was in the habit of having dealings with Marner,
+and had doubtless understood from the captain that he was in some way
+connected with his gang; and were he to find out the truth he would
+view him with the reverse of a friendly eye. He had told him that he
+was to take his meals with his clerk, and Cyril hoped, therefore,
+that he should seldom see him.
+
+He wandered about the wharf until it became dark. Then he went in and
+took supper with the clerk. As the latter spoke Dutch only, there was
+no possibility of conversation. Cyril was thinking of going up to his
+bed when there was a ring at the bell. The clerk went to answer it,
+leaving the door open as he went out, and Cyril heard a voice ask, in
+English, if Herr Schweindorf was in. The clerk said something in
+Dutch.
+
+"The fool does not understand English, Robert," the man said.
+
+"Tell him," he said, in a louder voice, to the clerk, "that two
+persons from England--England, you understand--who have only just
+arrived, want to see him on particular business. There, don't be
+blocking up the door; just go and tell your master what I told you."
+
+He pushed his way into the passage, and the clerk, seeing that there
+was nothing else to do, went upstairs.
+
+A minute later he came down again, and made a sign for them to follow
+him. As they went up Cyril stole out and looked after them. The fact
+that they had come from England, and that one of them was named
+Robert, and that they had business with this man, who was in
+connection with Marner, had excited his suspicions, but he felt a
+shiver of fear run through him as he recognised the figures of Robert
+Ashford and the man who was called Black Dick. He remembered the
+expression of hatred with which they had regarded him in the Court,
+and felt that his danger would be great indeed did they hear that he
+was in Rotterdam. A moment's thought convinced him that they would
+almost certainly learn this at once from his host. The letter would
+naturally mention that the captain had left a lad in his charge who
+was, as he believed, connected with them. They would denounce him as
+an enemy instead of a friend. The diamond merchant would expel him
+from his house, terrified at the thought that he possessed
+information as to his dealings with this band in England; and once
+beyond the door he would, in this strange town, be at the mercy of
+his enemies. Cyril's first impulse was to run back into the room,
+seize his cap, and fly. He waited, however, until the clerk came down
+again; then he put his cap carelessly on his head.
+
+"I am going for a walk," he said, waving his hand vaguely.
+
+The man nodded, went with him to the door, and Cyril heard him put up
+the bar after he had gone out. He walked quietly away, for there was
+no fear of immediate pursuit.
+
+Black Dick had probably brought over some more jewels to dispose of,
+and that business would be transacted, before there would be any talk
+of other matters. It might be a quarter of an hour before they heard
+that he was an inmate of the house; then, when they went downstairs
+with the dealer, they would hear that he had gone out for a walk and
+would await his return, so that he had two or three hours at least
+before there would be any search.
+
+It was early yet. Some of the boats might be discharging by
+torchlight. At any rate, he might hear of a ship starting in the
+morning. He went down to the wharf. There was plenty of bustle here;
+boats were landing fish, and larger craft were discharging or taking
+in cargo; but his inability to speak Dutch prevented his asking
+questions. He crossed to the other side of the road. The houses here
+were principally stores or drinking taverns. In the window of one was
+stuck up, "English and French Spoken Here." He went inside, walked up
+to the bar, and called for a glass of beer in English.
+
+"You speak English, landlord?" he asked, as the mug was placed before
+him.
+
+The latter nodded.
+
+"I want to take passage either to England or to France," he said. "I
+came out here but a few days ago, and I hear that there is going to
+be trouble between the two countries. It will therefore be of no use
+my going on to Amsterdam. I wish to get back again, for I am told
+that if I delay I may be too late. I cannot speak Dutch, and
+therefore cannot inquire if any boat will be sailing in the morning
+for England or Dunkirk. I have acquaintances in Dunkirk, and speak
+French, so it makes no difference to me whether I go there or to
+England."
+
+"My boy speaks French," the landlord said, "and if you like he can go
+along the port with you. Of course, you will give him something for
+his trouble?"
+
+"Willingly," Cyril said, "and be much obliged to you into the
+bargain."
+
+The landlord left the bar and returned in a minute with a boy twelve
+years old.
+
+"He does not speak French very well," he said, "but I dare say it
+will be enough for your purpose. I have told him that you want to
+take ship to England, or that, if you cannot find one, to Dunkirk. If
+that will not do, Ostend might suit you. They speak French there, and
+there are boats always going between there and England."
+
+"That would do; though I should prefer the other."
+
+"There would be no difficulty at any other time in getting a boat for
+England, but I don't know whether you will do so now. They have been
+clearing off for some days, and I doubt if you will find an English
+ship in port now, though of course there may be those who have been
+delayed for their cargo."
+
+Cyril went out with the boy, and after making many inquiries learnt
+that there was but one English vessel still in port. However, Cyril
+told his guide that he would prefer one for Dunkirk if they could
+find one, for if war were declared before the boat sailed, she might
+be detained. After some search they found a coasting scow that would
+sail in the morning.
+
+"They will touch at two or three places," the boy said to Cyril,
+after a talk with the captain; "but if you are not in a hurry, he
+will take you and land you at Dunkirk for a pound--that is, if he
+finds food; if you find food he will take you for eight shillings. He
+will start at daybreak."
+
+"Tell him that I agree to his price. I don't want the trouble of
+getting food. As he will be going so early, I will come on board at
+once. I will get my bundle, and will be back in half an hour."
+
+He went with the boy to one of the sailors' shops near, bought a
+rough coat and a thick blanket, had them wrapped up into a parcel,
+and then, after paying the boy, went on board.
+
+As he expected, he found there were no beds or accommodation for
+passengers, so he stretched himself on a locker in the cabin, covered
+himself with his blanket, and put the coat under his head for a
+pillow. His real reason for choosing this craft in preference to the
+English ship was that he thought it probable that, when he did not
+return to the house, it would at once be suspected that he had
+recognised the visitors, and was not going to return at all. In that
+case, they might suspect that he would try to take passage to
+England, and would, the first thing in the morning, make a search for
+him on board any English vessels that might be in the port.
+
+It would be easy then for them to get him ashore, for the diamond
+merchant might accuse him of theft, and so get him handed over to
+him. Rather than run that risk, he would have started on foot had he
+not been able to find a native craft sailing early in the morning.
+Failing Dunkirk and Ostend, he would have taken a passage to any
+other Dutch port, and run his chance of getting a ship from there.
+The great point was to get away from Rotterdam.
+
+The four men forming the crew of the scow returned late, and by their
+loud talk Cyril, who kept his eyes closed, judged that they were in
+liquor. In a short time they climbed up into their berths, and all
+was quiet. At daybreak they were called up by the captain. Cyril lay
+quiet until, by the rippling of the water against the side, he knew
+that the craft was under way. He waited a few minutes, and then went
+up on deck. The scow, clumsy as she looked, was running along fast
+before a brisk wind, and in an hour Rotterdam lay far behind them.
+
+The voyage was a pleasant one. They touched at Dordrecht, at
+Steenbergen on the mainland, and Flushing, staying a few hours in
+each place to take in or discharge cargo. After this, they made out
+from the Islands, and ran along the coast, putting into Ostend and
+Nieuport, and, four days after starting, entered the port of Dunkirk.
+
+Cyril did not go ashore at any of the places at which they stopped.
+It was possible that war might have been declared with England, and
+as it might be noticed that he was a foreigner he would in that case
+be questioned and arrested. As soon, therefore, as they neared a
+quay, he went down to the cabin and slept until they got under way
+again. The food was rough, but wholesome; it consisted entirely of
+fish and black bread; but the sea air gave him a good appetite, and
+he was in high spirits at the thought that he had escaped from danger
+and was on his way back again. At Dunkirk he was under the French
+flag, and half an hour after landing had engaged a passage to London
+on a brig that was to sail on the following day. The voyage was a
+stormy one, and he rejoiced in the possession of his great-coat,
+which he had only bought in order that he might have a packet to
+bring on board the scow, and so avoid exciting any suspicion or
+question as to his being entirely unprovided with luggage.
+
+It was three days before the brig dropped anchor in the Pool. As soon
+as she did so, Cyril hailed a waterman, and spent almost his last
+remaining coin in being taken to shore. He was glad that it was late
+in the afternoon and so dark that his attire would not be noticed.
+His clothes had suffered considerably from his capture and
+confinement on board the _Eliza_, and his great-coat was of a rough
+appearance that was very much out of character in the streets of
+London. He had, however, but a short distance to traverse before he
+reached the door of the house. He rang at the bell, and the door was
+opened by John Wilkes.
+
+"What is it?" the latter asked. "The shop is shut for the night, and
+I ain't going to open for anyone. At half-past seven in the morning
+you can get what you want, but not before."
+
+"Don't you know me, John?" Cyril laughed. The old sailor stepped back
+as if struck with a blow.
+
+"Eh, what?" he exclaimed. "Is it you, Cyril? Why, we had all thought
+you dead! I did not know you in this dim light and in that big coat
+you have got on. Come upstairs, master. Captain Dave and the ladies
+will be glad indeed to see you. They have been mourning for you
+sadly, I can tell you."
+
+Cyril took off his wrap and hung it on a peg, and then followed John
+upstairs.
+
+"There, Captain Dave," the sailor said, as he opened the door of the
+sitting-room. "There is a sight for sore eyes!--a sight you never
+thought you would look on again."
+
+For a moment Captain Dave, his wife, and daughter stared at Cyril as
+if scarce believing their eyes. Then the Captain sprang to his feet.
+
+"It's the lad, sure enough. Why, Cyril," he went on, seizing him by
+the hand, and shaking it violently, "we had never thought to see you
+alive again; we made sure that those pirates had knocked you on the
+head, and that you were food for fishes by this time. There has been
+no comforting my good wife; and as to Nellie, if it had been a
+brother she had lost, she could not have taken it more hardly."
+
+"They did knock me on the head, and very hard too, Captain Dave. If
+my skull hadn't been quite so thick, I should, as you say, have been
+food for fishes before now, for that is what they meant me for, and
+there is no thanks to them that I am here at present. I am sorry that
+you have all been made so uncomfortable about me."
+
+"We should have been an ungrateful lot indeed if we had not,
+considering that in the first place you saved us from being ruined by
+those pirates, and that it was, as we thought, owing to the services
+you had done us that you had come to your end."
+
+ "But where have you been, Master Cyril?" Nellie broke in. "What has
+happened to you? We have been picturing all sorts of horrors, mother
+and I. That evil had befallen you we were sure, for we knew that you
+would not go away of a sudden, in this fashion, without so much as
+saying goodbye. We feared all the more when, two days afterwards, the
+wretches were so bold as to attack the constables, and to rescue
+Robert Ashford and another from their hands. Men who would do this in
+broad daylight would surely hesitate at nothing."
+
+"Let him eat his supper without asking further questions, Nellie,"
+her father said. "It is ill asking one with victuals before him to
+begin a tale that may, for aught I know, last an hour. Let him have
+his food, lass, and then I will light my pipe, and John Wilkes shall
+light his here instead of going out for it, and we will have the yarn
+in peace and comfort. It spoils a good story to hurry it through.
+Cyril is here, alive and well; let that content you for a few
+minutes."
+
+"If I must, I must," Nellie said, with a little pout. "But you should
+remember, father, that, while you have been all your life having
+adventures of some sort, this is the very first that I have had; for
+though Cyril is the one to whom it befell, it is all a parcel with
+the robbery of the house and the capture of the thieves."
+
+"When does the trial come off, Captain Dave?"
+
+"It came off yesterday. Marner is to be hung at the end of the week.
+He declared that he was but in the lane by accident when two lads
+opened the gate. He and the man with him, seeing that they were laden
+with goods, would have seized them, when they themselves were
+attacked and beaten down. But this ingenuity did not save him. Tom
+Frost had been admitted as King's evidence, and testified that Marner
+had been several times at the gate with the fellow that escaped, to
+receive the stolen goods. Moreover, there were many articles among
+those found at his place that I was able to swear to, besides the
+proceeds of over a score of burglaries. The two men taken in his
+house will have fifteen years in gaol. The women got off scot-free;
+there was no proof that they had taken part in the robberies, though
+there is little doubt they knew all about them."
+
+"But how did they prove the men were concerned?"
+
+"They got all the people whose property had been found there, and
+four of these, on seeing the men in the yard at Newgate, were able to
+swear to them as having been among those who came into their rooms
+and frightened them well-nigh to death. It was just a question
+whether they should be hung or not, and there was some wonder that
+the Judge let them escape the gallows."
+
+"And what has become of Tom?"
+
+"They kept Tom in the prison till last night. I saw him yesterday,
+and I am sure the boy is mighty sorry for having been concerned in
+the matter, being, as I truly believe, terrified into it. I had
+written down to an old friend of mine who has set up in the same way
+as myself at Plymouth. Of course I told him all the circumstances,
+but assured him, that according to my belief, the boy was not so much
+to blame, and that I was sure the lesson he had had, would last him
+for life; so I asked him to give Tom another chance, and if he did
+so, to keep the knowledge of this affair from everyone. I got his
+answer yesterday morning, telling me to send him down to him; he
+would give him a fair trial, and if he wasn't altogether satisfied
+with him, would then get him a berth as ship's boy. So, last night
+after dark, he was taken down by John Wilkes, and put on board a
+coaster bound for Plymouth. I would have taken him back here, but
+after your disappearance I feared that his life would not be safe;
+for although they had plenty of other cases they could have proved
+against Marner, Tom's evidence brought this business home to him."
+
+Captain Dave would not allow Cyril to begin his story until the table
+had been cleared and he and John Wilkes had lighted their pipes. Then
+Cyril told his adventure, the earlier part of which elicited many
+exclamations of pity from Dame Dowsett and Mistress Nellie, and some
+angry ejaculations from the Captain when he heard that Black Dick and
+Robert Ashford had got safely off to Holland.
+
+"By St. Anthony, lad," he broke out, when the story was finished,
+"you had a narrow escape from those villains at Rotterdam. Had it
+chanced that you were out at the time they came, I would not have
+given a groat for your life. By all accounts, that fellow Black Dick
+is a desperate villain. They say that they had got hold of evidence
+enough against him to hang a dozen men, and it seems that there is
+little doubt that he was concerned in several cases, where, not
+content with robbing, the villain had murdered the inmates of lonely
+houses round London. He had good cause for hating you. It was through
+you that he had been captured, and had lost his share in all that
+plunder at Marner's. Well, I trust the villain will never venture to
+show his face in London again; but there is never any saying. I
+should like to meet that captain who behaved so well to you, and I
+will meet him too, and shake him by the hand and tell him that any
+gear he may want for that ketch of his, he is free to come in here to
+help himself. There is another thing to be thought of. I must go
+round in the morning to the Guildhall and notify the authorities that
+you have come back. There has been a great hue and cry for you. They
+have searched the thieves' dens of London from attic to cellar; there
+have been boats out looking for your body; and on the day after you
+were missing they overhauled all the ships in the port. Of course the
+search has died out now, but I must go and tell them, and you will
+have to give them the story of the affair."
+
+"I shan't say a word that will give them a clue that will help them
+to lay hands on the captain. He saved my life, and no one could have
+been kinder than he was. I would rather go away for a time
+altogether, for I don't see how I am to tell the story without
+injuring him."
+
+"No; it is awkward, lad. I see that, even if you would not give them
+the name of the craft, they might find out what vessels went into
+Ipswich on that morning, and also the names of those that sailed from
+Rotterdam on the day she left."
+
+"It seems to me, Captain, that the only way will be for me to say the
+exact truth, namely, that I gave my word to the captain that I would
+say naught of the matter. I could tell how I was struck down, and how
+I did not recover consciousness until I found myself in a boat, and
+was lifted on board a vessel and put down into the hold, and was
+there kept until morning. I could say that when I was let out I found
+we were far down the river, that the captain expressed great regret
+when he found that I had been hurt so badly, that he did everything
+in his power for me, and that after I had been some days on board the
+ship he offered to land me in Holland, and to give me money to pay my
+fare back here if I would give him my word of honour not to divulge
+his name or the name of the ship, or that of the port at which he
+landed me. Of course, they can imprison me for a time if I refuse to
+tell, but I would rather stay in gaol for a year than say aught that
+might set them upon the track of Captain Madden. It was not until the
+day he left me in Holland that I knew his name, for of course the men
+always called him captain, and so did I."
+
+"That is the only way I can see out of it, lad. I don't think they
+will imprison you after the service you have done in enabling them to
+break up this gang, bring the head of it to justice, and recover a
+large amount of property."
+
+So indeed, on their going to the Guildhall next morning, it turned
+out. The sitting Alderman threatened Cyril with committal to prison
+unless he gave a full account of all that had happened to him, but
+Captain Dowsett spoke up for him, and said boldly that instead of
+punishment he deserved honour for the great service he had done to
+justice, and that, moreover, if he were punished for refusing to keep
+the promise of secrecy he had made, there was little chance in the
+future of desperate men sparing the lives of those who fell into
+their hands. They would assuredly murder them in self-defence if they
+knew that the law would force them to break any promise of silence
+they might have made. The Magistrate, after a consultation with the
+Chief Constable, finally came round to this view, and permitted Cyril
+to leave the Court, after praising him warmly for the vigilance he
+had shown in the protection of his employer's interests. He regretted
+that he had not been able to furnish them with the name of a man who
+had certainly been, to some extent, an accomplice of those who had
+assaulted him, but this was not, however, so much to be regretted,
+since the man had done all in his power to atone for his actions.
+
+"There is no further information you can give us, Master Cyril?"
+
+"Only this, your worship: that on the day before I left Holland, I
+caught sight of the two persons who had escaped from the constables.
+They had just landed."
+
+"I am sorry to hear it," the Alderman said. "I had hoped that they
+were still in hiding somewhere in the City, and that the constables
+might yet be able to lay hands on them. However, I expect they will
+be back again erelong. Your ill-doer is sure to return here sooner or
+later, either with the hope of further gain, or because he cannot
+keep away from his old haunts and companions. If they fall into the
+hands of the City Constables, I will warrant they won't escape
+again."
+
+He nodded to Cyril, who understood that his business was over and
+left the Court with Captain Dave.
+
+"I am not so anxious as the Alderman seemed to be that Black Dick and
+Robert Ashford should return to London, Captain Dave."
+
+"No; I can understand that, Cyril. And even now that you know they
+are abroad, it would be well to take every precaution, for the others
+whose business has been sorely interrupted by the capture of that
+villain Marner may again try to do you harm. No doubt other receivers
+will fill his place in time, but the loss of a ready market must
+incommode them much. Plate they can melt down themselves, and I
+reckon they would have but little difficulty in finding knaves ready
+to purchase the products of the melting-pot; but it is only a man
+with premises specially prepared for it who will buy goods of all
+kinds, however bulky, without asking questions about them."
+
+Cyril was now in high favour with Mistress Nellie, and whenever he
+was not engaged when she went out he was invited to escort her.
+
+One day he went with her to hear a famous preacher hold forth at St.
+Paul's. Only a portion of the cathedral was used for religious
+services; the rest was utilised as a sort of public promenade, and
+here people of all classes met--gallants of the Court, citizens,
+their wives and daughters, idlers and loungers, thieves and
+mendicants.
+
+As Nellie walked forward to join the throng gathered near the pulpit,
+Cyril noticed a young man in a Court suit, standing among a group who
+were talking and laughing much louder than was seemly, take off his
+plumed hat, and make a deep bow, to which she replied by a slight
+inclination of the head, and passed on with somewhat heightened
+colour.
+
+Cyril waited until the service was over, when, as he left the
+cathedral with her, he asked,--
+
+"Who was that ruffler in gay clothes, who bowed so deeply to you,
+Mistress Nellie?--that is, if there is no indiscretion in my asking."
+
+"I met him in a throng while you were away," she said, with an
+attempt at carelessness which he at once detected. "There was a great
+press, and I well-nigh fainted, but he very courteously came to my
+assistance, and brought me safely out of the crowd."
+
+"And doubtless you have seen him since, Mistress?"
+
+Nellie tossed her head.
+
+"I don't see what right you have to question me, Master Cyril?"
+
+"No right at all," Cyril replied good-temperedly, "save that I am an
+inmate of your father's house, and have received great kindness from
+him, and I doubt if he would be pleased if he knew that you bowed to
+a person unknown to him and unknown, I presume, to yourself, save
+that he has rendered you a passing service."
+
+"He is a gentleman of the Court, I would have you know," she said
+angrily.
+
+"I do not know that that is any great recommendation if the tales one
+hears about the Court are true," Cyril replied calmly. "I cannot say
+I admire either his companions or his manners, and if he is a
+gentleman he should know that if he wishes to speak to an honest
+citizen's daughter it were only right that he should first address
+himself to her father."
+
+"Heigh ho!" Nellie exclaimed, with her face flushed with indignation.
+"Who made you my censor, I should like to know? I will thank you to
+attend to your own affairs, and to leave mine alone."
+
+"The affairs of Captain Dave's daughter are mine so long as I am
+abroad with her," Cyril said firmly. "I am sorry to displease you,
+but I am only doing what I feel to be my duty. Methinks that, were
+John Wilkes here in charge of you, he would say the same, only
+probably he would express his opinion as to yonder gallant more
+strongly than I do;" he nodded in the direction of the man, who had
+followed them out of the cathedral, and was now walking on the other
+side of the street and evidently trying to attract Nellie's
+attention.
+
+Nellie bit her lips. She was about to answer him passionately, but
+restrained herself with a great effort.
+
+"You are mistaken in the gentleman, Cyril," she said, after a pause;
+"he is of a good family, and heir to a fine estate."
+
+"Oh, he has told you as much as that, has he? Well, Mistress Nellie,
+it may be as he says, but surely it is for your father to inquire
+into that, when the gentleman comes forward in due course and
+presents himself as a suitor. Fine feathers do not always make fine
+birds, and a man may ruffle it at King Charles's Court without ten
+guineas to shake in his purse."
+
+At this moment the young man crossed the street, and, bowing deeply
+to Nellie, was about to address her when Cyril said gravely,--
+
+"Sir, I am not acquainted with your name, nor do I know more about
+you save that you are a stranger to this lady's family. That being
+so, and as she is at present under my escort, I must ask you to
+abstain from addressing her."
+
+"You insolent young varlet!" the man said furiously. "Had I a cane
+instead of a sword I would chastise you for your insolence."
+
+"That is as it may be," Cyril said quietly. "That sort of thing may
+do down at Whitehall, but if you attempt to make trouble here in
+Cheapside you will very speedily find yourself in the hands of the
+watch."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, sir," Nellie said anxiously, as several
+passers-by paused to see what was the matter, "do not cause trouble.
+For my sake, if not for your own, pray leave me."
+
+"I obey you, Mistress," the man said again, lifting his hat and
+bowing deeply. "I regret that the officiousness of this blundering
+varlet should have mistaken my intentions, which were but to salute
+you courteously."
+
+So saying, he replaced his hat, and, with a threatening scowl at
+Cyril, pushed his way roughly through those standing round, and
+walked rapidly away.
+
+Nellie was very pale, and trembled from head to foot.
+
+"Take me home, Cyril," she murmured.
+
+He offered her his arm, and he made his way along the street, while
+his face flushed with anger at some jeering remarks he heard from one
+or two of those who looked on at the scene. It was not long before
+Nellie's anger gained the upper hand of her fears.
+
+"A pretty position you have placed me in, with your interference!"
+
+"You mean, I suppose, Mistress Nellie, a pretty position that man
+placed you in, by his insolence. What would Captain Dave say if he
+heard that his daughter had been accosted by a Court gallant in the
+streets?"
+
+"Are you going to tell him?" she asked, removing her hand sharply
+from his arm.
+
+"I have no doubt I ought to do so, and if you will take my advice you
+will tell him yourself as soon as you reach home, for it may be that
+among those standing round was someone who is acquainted with both
+you and your father; and you know as well as I do what Captain Dave
+would say if it came to his ears in such fashion."
+
+Nellie walked for some time in silence. Her anger rose still higher
+against Cyril at the position in which his interference had placed
+her, but she could not help seeing that his advice was sound. She had
+indeed met this man several times, and had listened without chiding
+to his protestations of admiration and love. Nellie was ambitious.
+She had been allowed to have her own way by her mother, whose sole
+companion she had been during her father's absence at sea. She knew
+that she was remarkably pretty, and saw no reason why she, like many
+another citizen's daughter, should not make a good match. She had
+readily given the man her promise to say nothing at home until he
+gave her leave to do so, and she had been weak, enough to take all
+that he said for gospel. Now she felt that, at any rate, she must
+smooth matters over and put it so that as few questions as possible
+should be asked. After a long pause, then, she said,--
+
+"Perhaps you are right, Cyril. I will myself tell my father and
+mother. I can assure you that I had no idea I should meet him
+to-day."
+
+This Cyril could readily believe, for certainly she would not have
+asked him to accompany her if she had known. However, he only replied
+gravely,--
+
+"I am glad to hear that you will tell them, Mistress Nellie, and
+trust that you will take them entirely into your confidence."
+
+This Nellie had no idea of doing; but she said no further word until
+they reached home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+SAVED FROM A VILLAIN
+
+
+"I find that I have to give you thanks for yet another service,
+Cyril," Captain Dave said heartily, when they met the next morning.
+"Nellie tells me a young Court gallant had the insolence to try to
+address her yesterday in Cheapside, on her way back from St. Paul's,
+that you prevented his doing so, and that there was quite a scene in
+the street. If I knew who he was I would break his sconce for him,
+were he Rochester himself. A pretty pass things have come to, when a
+citizen's daughter cannot walk home from St. Paul's without one of
+these impudent vagabonds of the Court venturing to address her! Know
+you who he was?"
+
+"No; I have never seen the fellow before, Captain Dave. I do know
+many of the courtiers by sight, having, when we first came over,
+often gone down to Whitehall with my father when he was seeking to
+obtain an audience with the King; but this man's face is altogether
+strange to me."
+
+"Well, well! I will take care that Nellie shall not go abroad again
+except under her mother's escort or mine. I know, Cyril, that she
+would be as safe under your charge as in ours, but it is better that
+she should have the presence of an older person. It is not that I
+doubt your courage or your address, lad, but a ruffling gallant of
+this sort would know naught of you, save that you are young, and
+besides, did you interfere, there might be a scene that would do
+serious harm to Nellie's reputation."
+
+"I agree with you thoroughly, Captain Dave," Cyril said warmly. "It
+will be far better that you or Mrs. Dowsett should be by her side as
+long as there is any fear of further annoyance from this fellow. I
+should ask nothing better than to try a bout with him myself, for I
+have been right well taught how to use my sword; but, as you say, a
+brawl in the street is of all things to be avoided."
+
+Three or four weeks passed quietly. Nellie seldom went abroad; when
+she did so her mother always accompanied her if it were in the
+daytime, and her father whenever she went to the house of any friend
+after dusk.
+
+Cyril one day caught sight of the gallant in Tower Street, and
+although he was on his way to one of his customers, he at once
+determined to break his appointment and to find out who the fellow
+was. The man sauntered about looking into the shops for full half an
+hour, but it was apparent to Cyril that he paid little attention to
+their contents, and was really waiting for someone. When the clock
+struck three he started, stamped his foot angrily on the ground, and,
+walking away rapidly to the stairs of London Bridge, took a seat in a
+boat, and was rowed up the river.
+
+Cyril waited until he had gone a short distance, and then hailed a
+wherry rowing two oars.
+
+"You see that boat over there?" he said. "I don't wish to overtake it
+at present. Keep a hundred yards or so behind it, but row inshore so
+that it shall not seem that you are following them."
+
+The men obeyed his instructions until they had passed the Temple;
+then, as the other boat still kept in the middle of the stream, Cyril
+had no doubt that it would continue its course to Westminster.
+
+"Now stretch to your oars," he said to the watermen. "I want to get
+to Westminster before the other boat, and to be well away from the
+stairs before it comes up."
+
+The rest of the journey was performed at much greater speed, and
+Cyril alighted at Westminster while the other boat was some three or
+four hundred yards behind. Paying the watermen, he went up the
+stairs, walked away fifty or sixty yards, and waited until he saw the
+man he was following appear. The latter walked quietly up towards
+Whitehall and entered a tavern frequented by young bloods of the
+Court. Cyril pressed his hat down over his eyes. His dress was not
+the same as that in which he had escorted Nellie to the cathedral,
+and he had but small fear of being recognised.
+
+When he entered he sat down at a vacant table, and, having ordered a
+stoup of wine, looked round. The man had joined a knot of young
+fellows like himself, seated at a table. They were dissipated-looking
+blades, and were talking loudly and boisterously.
+
+"Well, Harvey, how goes it? Is the lovely maiden we saw when we were
+with you at St. Paul's ready to drop into your arms?"
+
+"Things are going on all right," Harvey said, with an air of
+consciousness; "but she is watched by two griffins, her father and
+mother. 'Tis fortunate they do not know me by sight, and I have thus
+chances of slipping a note in her hand when I pass her. I think it
+will not be long before you will have to congratulate me."
+
+"She is an heiress and only daughter, is she not, honest John?"
+another asked.
+
+"She is an only child, and her father bears the reputation of doing a
+good business; but as to what I shall finally do, I shall not yet
+determine. As to that, I shall be guided by circumstances."
+
+"Of course, of course," the one who had first spoken said.
+
+Cyril had gained the information he required. The man's name was John
+Harvey, and Nellie was keeping up a clandestine correspondence with
+him. Cyril felt that were he to listen longer he could not restrain
+his indignation, and, without touching the wine he had paid for, he
+hastily left the tavern.
+
+As he walked towards the city, he was unable to decide what he had
+better do. Were he to inform Captain Dave of what he had heard there
+would be a terrible scene, and there was no saying what might happen.
+Still, Nellie must be saved from falling into the hands of this
+fellow, and if he abstained from telling her father he must himself
+take steps to prevent the possibility of such a thing taking place.
+The more he thought of it the more he felt of the heavy
+responsibility it would be. Anxious as he was to save Nellie from the
+anger of her father, it was of far greater consequence to save her
+from the consequences of her own folly. At last he resolved to take
+John Wilkes into his counsels. John was devoted to his master, and
+even if his advice were not of much value, his aid in keeping watch
+would be of immense service. Accordingly, that evening, when John
+went out for his usual pipe after supper, Cyril, who had to go to a
+trader in Holborn, followed him out quickly and overtook him a few
+yards from the door.
+
+"I want to have a talk with you, John."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir. Where shall it be? Nothing wrong, I hope? That new
+apprentice looks to me an honest sort of chap, and the man we have
+got in the yard now is an old mate of mine. He was a ship's boy on
+board the _Dolphin_ twenty-five years back, and he sailed under the
+Captain till he left the sea. I would trust that chap just as I would
+myself."
+
+"It is nothing of that sort, John. It is another sort of business
+altogether, and yet it is quite as serious as the last. I have got
+half an hour before I have to start to do those books at Master
+Hopkins'. Where can we have a talk in a quiet place where there is no
+chance of our being overheard?"
+
+"There is a little room behind the bar at the place I go to, and I
+have no doubt the landlord will let us have it, seeing as I am a
+regular customer."
+
+"At any rate we can see, John. It is too cold for walking about
+talking here; and, besides, I think one can look at a matter in all
+lights much better sitting down than one can walking about."
+
+"That is according to what you are accustomed to," John said, shaking
+his head. "It seems to me that I can look further into the innards of
+a question when I am walking up and down the deck on night watch with
+just enough wind aloft to take her along cheerful, and not too much
+of it, than I can at any other time; but then, you see, that is just
+what one is accustomed to. This is the place."
+
+He entered a quiet tavern, and, nodding to five or six
+weather-beaten-looking men, who were sitting smoking long pipes, each
+with a glass of grog before him, went up to the landlord, who formed
+one of the party. He had been formerly the master of a trader, and
+had come into the possession of the tavern by marriage with its
+mistress, who was still the acting head of the establishment.
+
+"We have got a piece of business we want to overhaul, Peter. I
+suppose we can have that cabin in yonder for a bit?"
+
+"Ay, ay. There is a good fire burning. You will find pipes on the
+table. You will want a couple of glasses of grog, of course?"
+
+John nodded, and then led the way into the little snuggery at the end
+of the room. It had a glass door, so that, if desired, a view could
+be obtained of the general room, but there was a curtain to draw
+across this. There was a large oak settle on either side of the fire,
+and there was a table, with pipes and a jar of tobacco standing
+between them.
+
+"This is a tidy little crib," John said, as he seated himself and
+began to fill a pipe. "There is no fear of being disturbed here.
+There has been many a voyage talked over and arranged in this 'ere
+room. They say that Blake himself, when the Fleet was in the river,
+would drop in here sometimes, with one of his captains, for a quiet
+talk."
+
+A minute later a boy entered and placed two steaming glasses of grog
+on the table. The door closed after him, and John said,--
+
+"Now you can get under way, Master Cyril. You have got a fair course
+now, and nothing to bring you up."
+
+"It is a serious matter, John. And before I begin, I must tell you
+that I rely on your keeping absolute silence as to what I am going to
+tell you."
+
+"That in course," John said, as he lifted his glass to his lips. "You
+showed yourself a first-rate pilot in that last job, and I am content
+to sail under you this time without asking any questions as to the
+ship's course, and to steer according to orders."
+
+Cyril told the story, interrupted frequently by angry ejaculations on
+the part of the old bo'swain.
+
+"Dash my wig!" he exclaimed, when Cyril came to an end. "But this is
+a bad business altogether, Master Cyril. One can engage a pirate and
+beat him off if the crew is staunch, but when there is treason on
+board ship, it makes it an awkward job for those in command."
+
+"The question is this, John: ought we to tell the Captain, or shall
+we try to take the affair into our own hands, and so to manage it
+that he shall never know anything about it?"
+
+The sailor was silent for a minute or two, puffing his pipe
+meditatively.
+
+"I see it is an awkward business to decide," he said. "On one side,
+it would pretty nigh kill Captain Dave to know that Mistress Nellie
+has been steering wild and has got out of hand. She is just the apple
+of his eye. Then, on the other hand, if we undertook the job without
+telling him, and one fine morning we was to find out she was gone, we
+should be in a mighty bad fix, for the Captain would turn round and
+say, 'Why didn't you tell me? If you had done so, I would have locked
+her up under hatches, and there she would be, safe now.'"
+
+"That is just what I see, and it is for that reason I come to you. I
+could not be always on the watch, but I think that you and I together
+would keep so sharp a look-out that we might feel pretty sure that
+she could not get away without our knowledge."
+
+"We could watch sharply enough at night, Master Cyril. There would be
+no fear of her getting away then without our knowing it. But how
+would it be during the day? There am I in the shop or store from
+seven in the morning until we lock up before supper-time. You are out
+most of your time, and when you are not away, you are in the office
+at the books, and she is free to go in and out of the front door
+without either of us being any the wiser."
+
+"I don't think he would venture to carry her off by daylight," Cyril
+said. "She never goes out alone now, and could scarcely steal away
+unnoticed. Besides, she would know that she would be missed directly,
+and a hue and cry set up. I should think she would certainly choose
+the evening, when we are all supposed to be in bed. He would have a
+chair waiting somewhere near; and there are so often chairs going
+about late, after city entertainments, that they would get off
+unnoticed. I should say the most dangerous time is between nine
+o'clock and midnight. She generally goes off to bed at nine or soon
+after, and she might very well put on her hood and cloak and steal
+downstairs at once, knowing that she would not be missed till
+morning. Another dangerous time would be when she goes out to a
+neighbour's. The Captain always takes her, and goes to fetch her at
+nine o'clock, but she might make some excuse to leave quite early,
+and go off in that way."
+
+"That would be awkward, Mr. Cyril, for neither you nor I could be
+away at supper-time without questions being asked. It seems to me
+that I had better take Matthew into the secret. As he don't live in
+the house he could very well watch wherever she is, till I slip round
+after supper to relieve him, and he could watch outside here in the
+evening till either you or I could steal downstairs and take his
+place. You can count on him keeping his mouth shut just as you can on
+me. The only thing is, how is he to stop her if he finds her coming
+out from a neighbour's before the Captain has come for her?"
+
+"If he saw her coming straight home he could follow her to the door
+without being noticed, John, but if he found her going some other way
+he must follow her till he sees someone speak to her, and must then
+go straight up and say, 'Mistress Dowsett, I am ready to escort you
+home.' If she orders him off, or the man she meets threatens him, as
+is like enough, he must say, 'Unless you come I shall shout for aid,
+and call upon passers-by to assist me'; and, rather than risk the
+exposure, she would most likely return with him. Of course, he would
+carry with him a good heavy cudgel, and choose a thoroughfare where
+there are people about to speak to her, and not an unfrequented
+passage, for you may be sure the fellow would have no hesitation in
+running him through if he could do so without being observed."
+
+"Matthew is a stout fellow," John Wilkes said, "and was as smart a
+sailor as any on board till he had his foot smashed by being jammed
+by a spare spar that got adrift in a gale, so that the doctors had to
+cut off the leg under the knee, and leave him to stump about on a
+timber toe for the rest of his life. I tell you what, Master Cyril:
+we might make the thing safer still if I spin the Captain a yarn as
+how Matthew has strained his back and ain't fit to work for a bit;
+then I can take on another hand to work in the yard, and we can put
+him on watch all day. He might come on duty at nine o'clock in the
+morning, and stop until I relieve him as soon as supper is over. Of
+course, he would not keep opposite the house, but might post himself
+a bit up or down the street, so that he could manage to keep an eye
+on the door."
+
+"That would be excellent," Cyril said. "Of course, at the supper-hour
+he could go off duty, as she could not possibly leave the house
+between that time and nine o'clock. You always come in about that
+hour, and I hear you go up to bed. When you get there, you should at
+once take off your boots, slip downstairs again with them, and go
+quietly out. I often sit talking with Captain Dave till half-past
+nine or ten, but directly I can get away I will come down and join
+you. I think in that way we need feel no uneasiness as to harm coming
+from our not telling Captain Dave, for it would be impossible for her
+to get off unnoticed. Now that is all arranged I must be going, for I
+shall be late at my appointment unless I hurry."
+
+"Shall I go round and begin my watch at once, Master Cyril?".
+
+"No, there is no occasion for that. We know that he missed her
+to-day, and therefore can have made no appointment; and I am
+convinced by what he said to the fellows he met, that matters are not
+settled yet. However, we will begin to-morrow. You can take an
+opportunity during the day to tell Matthew about it, and he can
+pretend to strain his back in the afternoon, and you can send him
+away. He can come round again next morning early, and when the
+Captain comes down you can tell him that you find that Matthew will
+not be able to work for the present, and ask him to let you take
+another man on until he can come back again."
+
+Cyril watched Nellie closely at meal-times and in the evening for the
+next few days. He thought that he should be certain to detect some
+slight change in her manner, however well she might play her part,
+directly she decided on going off with this man. She would not dream
+that she was suspected in any way, and would therefore be the less
+cautious. Matthew kept watch during the day, and followed if she went
+out with her father to a neighbour's, remaining on guard outside the
+house until John Wilkes relieved him as soon as he had finished his
+supper. If she remained at home in the evening John went out
+silently, after his return at his usual hour, and was joined by Cyril
+as soon as Captain Dave said good-night and went in to his bedroom.
+At midnight they re-entered the house and stole up to their rooms,
+leaving their doors open and listening attentively for another hour
+before they tried to get to sleep.
+
+On the sixth morning Cyril noticed that Nellie was silent and
+abstracted at breakfast-time. She went out marketing with her mother
+afterwards, and at dinner her mood had changed. She talked and
+laughed more than usual. There was a flush of excitement on her
+cheeks, and he drew the conclusion that in the morning she had not
+come to an absolute decision, but had probably given an answer to the
+man during the time she was out with her mother, and that she felt
+the die was now cast.
+
+"Pass the word to Matthew to keep an extra sharp watch this afternoon
+and to-morrow, John. I think the time is close at hand," he said, as
+they went downstairs together after dinner.
+
+"Do you think so? Well, the sooner the better. It is trying work,
+this here spying, and I don't care how soon it is over. I only hope
+it will end by our running down this pirate and engaging him."
+
+"I hope so too, John. I feel it very hard to be sitting at table with
+her and Captain Dave and her mother, and to know that she is
+deceiving them."
+
+"I can't say a word for her," the old sailor said, shaking his head.
+"She has as good parents as a girl could want to have. They would
+give their lives for her, either of them, cheerful, and there she is
+thinking of running away from them with a scamp she knows nothing of
+and has probably never spoken with for an hour. I knew her head was a
+bit turned with young fellows dangling after her, and by being
+noticed by some of the Court gallants at the last City ball, and by
+being made the toast by many a young fellow in City taverns--'Pretty
+Mistress Nellie Dowsett'; but I did not think her head was so turned
+that she would act as she is doing. Well, well, we must hope that
+this will be a lesson, Master Cyril, that she will remember all her
+life."
+
+"I hope so, John, and I trust that we shall be able to manage it all
+so that the matter will never come to her parents' ears."
+
+"I hope so, and I don't see why it should. The fellow may bluster,
+but he will say nothing about it because he would get into trouble
+for trying to carry off a citizen's daughter."
+
+"And besides that, John,--which would be quite as serious in the eyes
+of a fellow of this sort,--he would have the laugh against him among
+all his companions for having been outwitted in the City. So I think
+when he finds the game is up he will be glad enough to make off
+without causing trouble."
+
+"Don't you think we might give him a sound thrashing? It would do him
+a world of good."
+
+"I don't think it would do a man of that sort much good, John, and he
+would be sure to shout, and then there would be trouble, and the
+watch might come up, and we should all get hauled off together. In
+the morning the whole story would be known, and Mistress Nellie's
+name in the mouth of every apprentice in the City. No, no; if he is
+disposed to go off quietly, by all means let him go."
+
+"I have no doubt that you are right, Master Cyril, but it goes
+mightily against the grain to think that a fellow like that is to get
+off with a whole skin. However, if one should fall foul of him some
+other time, one might take it out of him."
+
+Captain Dave found Cyril but a bad listener to his stories that
+evening, and, soon after nine, said he should turn in.
+
+"I don't know what ails you to-night, Cyril," he said. "Your wits are
+wool-gathering, somewhere. I don't believe that you heard half that
+last story I was telling you."
+
+"I heard it all, sir; but I do feel a little out of sorts this
+evening."
+
+"You do too much writing, lad. My head would be like to go to pieces
+if I were to sit half the hours that you do at a desk."
+
+When Captain Dave went into his room, Cyril walked upstairs and
+closed his bedroom door with a bang, himself remaining outside. Then
+he took off his boots, and, holding them in his hand, went
+noiselessly downstairs to the front door. The lock had been carefully
+oiled, and, after putting on his boots again, he went out.
+
+"You are right, Master Cyril, sure enough," John Wilkes said when he
+joined him, fifty yards away from the house. "It is to-night she is
+going to try to make off. I thought I had best keep Matthew at hand,
+so I bid him stop till I came out, then sent him round to have a pint
+of ale at the tavern, and when he came back told him he had best
+cruise about, and look for signs of pirates. He came back ten minutes
+ago, and told me that a sedan chair had just been brought to the
+other end of the lane. It was set down some thirty yards from
+Fenchurch Street. There were the two chairmen and three fellows
+wrapped up in cloaks."
+
+"That certainly looks like action, John. Well, I should say that
+Matthew had better take up his station at the other end of the lane,
+there to remain quiet until he hears an uproar at the chair; then he
+can run up to our help if we need it. We will post ourselves near the
+door. No doubt Harvey, and perhaps one of his friends, will come and
+wait for her. We can't interfere with them here, but must follow and
+come up with her just before they reach the chair. The further they
+are away from the house the better. Then if there is any trouble
+Captain Dave will not hear anything of it."
+
+"That will be a good plan of operations," John agreed. "Matthew is
+just round the next corner. I will send him to Fenchurch Street at
+once."
+
+He went away, and rejoined Cyril in two or three minutes. They then
+went along towards the house, and took post in a doorway on the other
+side of the street, some thirty yards from the shop. They had
+scarcely done so, when they heard footsteps, and presently saw two
+men come along in the middle of the street. They stopped and looked
+round.
+
+"There is not a soul stirring," one said. "We can give the signal."
+
+So saying, he sang a bar or two of a song popular at the time, and
+they then drew back from the road into a doorway and waited.
+
+Five minutes later, Cyril and his fellow-watcher heard a very slight
+sound, and a figure stepped out from Captain Dowsett's door. The two
+men crossed at once and joined her. A few low words were spoken, and
+they moved away together, and turned up the lane.
+
+As soon as they disappeared from sight, Cyril and John Wilkes issued
+out. The latter had produced some long strips of cloth, which he
+wound round both their boots, so as, he said, to muffle the oars.
+Their steps, therefore, as they followed, were almost noiseless.
+Walking fast, they came up to the three persons ahead of them just as
+they reached the sedan chair. The two chairmen were standing at the
+poles, and a third man was holding the door open with his hat in his
+hand.
+
+"Avast heaving, mates!" John Wilkes said. "It seems to me as you are
+running this cargo without proper permits."
+
+Nellie gave a slight scream on hearing the voice, while the man
+beside her stepped forward, exclaiming furiously:
+
+"S" death, sir! who are you, and what are you interfering about?"
+
+"I am an honest man I hope, master. My name is John Wilkes, and, as
+that young lady will tell you, I am in the employ of her father."
+
+"Then I tell you, John Wilkes, or John the Devil, or whatever your
+name maybe, that if you don't at once take yourself off, I will let
+daylight into you," and he drew his sword, as did his two companions.
+
+John gave a whistle, and the wooden-legged man was heard hurrying up
+from Fenchurch Street.
+
+"Cut the scoundrel down, Penrose," Harvey exclaimed, "while I put the
+lady into the chair."
+
+The man addressed sprang at Wilkes, but in a moment his Court sword
+was shivered by a blow from the latter's cudgel, which a moment later
+fell again on his head, sending him reeling back several paces.
+
+"Stay, sir, or I will run you through," Cyril said, pricking Harvey
+sharply in the arm as he was urging Nellie to enter the chair.
+
+"Oh, it's you, is it?" the other exclaimed, in a tone of fury. "My
+boy of Cheapside! Well, I can spare a moment to punish you."
+
+"Oh, do not fight with him, my lord!" Nellie exclaimed.
+
+"My lord!" Cyril laughed. "So he has become a lord, eh?"
+
+Then he changed his tone.
+
+"Mistress Nellie, you have been deceived. This fellow is no lord. He
+is a hanger-on of the Court, one John Harvey, a disreputable
+blackguard whom I heard boasting to his boon-companions of his
+conquest. I implore you to return home as quietly as you went. None
+will know of this."
+
+He broke off suddenly, for, with an oath, Harvey rushed at him. Their
+swords clashed, there was a quick thrust and parry, and then Harvey
+staggered back with a sword-wound through the shoulder, dropping his
+sword to the ground.
+
+"Your game is up, John Harvey," Cyril said. "Did you have your
+deserts I would pass my sword through your body. Now call your
+fellows off, or it will be worse for them."
+
+"Oh, it is not true? Surely it cannot be true?" Nellie cried,
+addressing Harvey. "You cannot have deceived me?"
+
+The fellow, smarting with pain, and seeing that the game was up,
+replied with a savage curse.
+
+"You may think yourself lucky that you are only disabled, you
+villain!" Cyril said, taking a step towards him with his sword
+menacingly raised. "Begone, sir, before my patience is exhausted, or,
+by heaven! it will be your dead body that the chairmen will have to
+carry away."
+
+"Disabled or not," John Wilkes exclaimed, "I will have a say in the
+matter;" and, with a blow with his cudgel, he stretched Harvey on the
+ground, and belaboured him furiously until Cyril dragged him away by
+force. Harvey rose slowly to his feet.
+
+"Take yourself off, sir," Cyril said. "One of your brave companions
+has long ago bolted; the other is disarmed, and has his head broken.
+You may thank your stars that you have escaped with nothing worse
+than a sword-thrust through your shoulder, and a sound drubbing.
+Hanging would be a fit punishment for knaves like you. I warn you, if
+you ever address or in any way molest this lady again, you won't get
+off so easily."
+
+Then he turned and offered his arm to Nellie, who was leaning against
+the wall in a half-fainting state. Not a word was spoken until they
+emerged from the lane.
+
+"No one knows of this but ourselves, Mistress Nellie, and you will
+never hear of it from us. Glad indeed I am that I have saved you from
+the misery and ruin that must have resulted from your listening to
+that plausible scoundrel. Go quietly upstairs. We will wait here till
+we are sure that you have gone safely into your room; then we will
+follow. I doubt not that you are angry with me now, but in time you
+will feel that you have been saved from a great danger."
+
+The door was not locked. He lifted the latch silently, and held the
+door open for her to pass in. Then he closed it again, and turned to
+the two men who followed them.
+
+"This has been a good night's work, John."
+
+"That has it. I don't think that young spark will be coming after
+City maidens again. Well, it has been a narrow escape for her. It
+would have broken the Captain's heart if she had gone in that way.
+What strange things women are! I have always thought Mistress Nellie
+as sensible a girl as one would want to see. Given a little
+over-much, perhaps, to thinking of the fashion of her dress, but that
+was natural enough, seeing how pretty she is and how much she is made
+of; and yet she is led, by a few soft speeches from a man she knows
+nothing of, to run away from home, and leave father, and mother, and
+all. Well, Matthew, lad, we sha'n't want any more watching. You have
+done a big service to the master, though he will never know it. I
+know I can trust you to keep a stopper on your jaws. Don't you let a
+soul know of this--not even your wife."
+
+"You trust me, mate," the man replied. "My wife is a good soul, but
+her tongue runs nineteen to the dozen, and you might as well shout a
+thing out at Paul's Cross as drop it into her ear. I think my back
+will be well enough for me to come to work again to-morrow," he
+added, with a laugh.
+
+"All right, mate. I shall be glad to have you again, for the chap who
+has been in your place is a landsman, and he don't know a
+marling-spike from an anchor. Good-night, mate."
+
+"Well, Master Cyril," he went on, as the sailor walked away, "I don't
+think there ever was such a good wind as that which blew you here.
+First of all you saved Captain Dave's fortune, and now you save his
+daughter. I look on Captain Dave as being pretty nigh the same as
+myself, seeing as I have been with him man and boy for over thirty
+years, and I feel what you have done for him just as if you had done
+it for me. I am only a rough sailor-man, and I don't know how to put
+it in words, but I feel just full up with a cargo of thankfulness."
+
+"That is all right," Cyril said, holding out his hand, which John
+Wilkes shook with a heartiness that was almost painful. "Captain Dave
+offered me a home when I was alone without a friend in London, and I
+am glad indeed that I have been able to render him service in return.
+I myself have done little enough, though I do not say that the
+consequences have not been important. It has been just taking a
+little trouble and keeping a few watches--a thing not worth talking
+about one way or the other. I hope this will do Mistress Nellie good.
+She is a nice girl, but too fond of admiration, and inclined to think
+that she is meant for higher things than to marry a London citizen. I
+think to-night's work will cure her of that. This fellow evidently
+made himself out to her to be a nobleman of the Court. Now she sees
+that he is neither a nobleman nor a gentleman, but a ruffian who took
+advantage of her vanity and inexperience, and that she would have
+done better to have jumped down the well in the yard than to have put
+herself in his power. Now we can go up to bed. There is no more
+probability of our waking the Captain than there has been on other
+nights; but mind, if we should do so, you stick to the story we
+agreed on, that you thought there was someone by the gate in the lane
+again, and so called me to go down with you to investigate, not
+thinking it worth while to rouse up the Captain on what might be a
+false alarm."
+
+Everything remained perfectly quiet as they made their way upstairs
+to their rooms as silently as possible.
+
+"Where is Nellie?" Captain Dave asked, when they assembled at
+breakfast.
+
+"She is not well," his wife replied, "I went to her room just now and
+found that she was still a-bed. She said that she had a bad headache,
+and I fear that she is going to have a fever, for her face is pale
+and her eyes red and swollen, just as if she had been well-nigh
+crying them out of her head; her hands are hot and her pulse fast.
+Directly I have had breakfast I shall make her some camomile tea, and
+if that does not do her good I shall send for the doctor."
+
+"Do so, wife, without delay. Why, the girl has never ailed a day for
+years! What can have come to her?"
+
+"She says it is only a bad headache--that all she wants is to be left
+alone."
+
+"Yes, yes; that is all very well, but if she does not get better soon
+she must be seen to. They say that there were several cases last week
+of that plague that has been doing so much harm in foreign parts, and
+if that is so it behoves us to be very careful, and see that any
+illness is attended to without delay."
+
+"I don't think that there is any cause for alarm," his wife said
+quietly. "The child has got a headache and is a little feverish, but
+there is no occasion whatever for thinking that it is anything more.
+There is nothing unusual in a girl having a headache, but Nellie has
+had such good health that if she had a prick in the finger you would
+think it was serious."
+
+"By the way, John," Captain Dave said suddenly, "did you hear any
+noise in the lane last night? Your room is at the back of the house,
+and you were more likely to have heard it than I was. I have just
+seen one of the watch, and he tells me that there was a fray there
+last night, for there is a patch of blood and marks of a scuffle. It
+was up at the other end. There is some mystery about it, he thinks,
+for he says that one of his mates last night saw a sedan chair
+escorted by three men turn into the lane from Fenchurch Street just
+before ten o'clock, and one of the neighbours says that just after
+that hour he heard a disturbance and a clashing of swords there. On
+looking out, he saw something dark that might have been a chair
+standing there, and several men engaged in a scuffle. It seemed soon
+over, and directly afterwards three people came down the lane this
+way. Then he fancied that someone got into the chair, which was
+afterwards carried out into Fenchurch Street."
+
+"I did hear something that sounded like a quarrel or a fray," John
+Wilkes said, "but there is nothing unusual about that. As everything
+was soon quiet again, I gave no further thought to it."
+
+"Well, it seems a curious affair, John. However, it is the business
+of the City watch and not mine, so we need not bother ourselves about
+it. I am glad to see you have got Matthew at work again this morning.
+He tells me that he thinks he has fairly got over that sprain in his
+back."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S YARN
+
+
+Mindful of the fact that this affair had added a new enemy to those
+he had acquired by the break-up of the Black Gang, Cyril thought it
+as well to go round and give notice to the two traders whose books he
+attended to in the evening, that unless they could arrange for him to
+do them in the daytime he must give up the work altogether. Both
+preferred the former alternative, for they recognised the advantage
+they had derived from his work, and that at a rate of pay for which
+they could not have obtained the services of any scrivener in the
+City.
+
+It was three or four days before Nellie Dowsett made her appearance
+at the general table.
+
+"I can't make out what ails the girl," her mother said, on the
+previous evening. "The fever speedily left her, as I told you, but
+she is weak and languid, and seems indisposed to talk."
+
+"She will soon get over that, my dear," Captain Dave said. "Girls are
+not like men. I have seen them on board ship. One day they are
+laughing and fidgeting about like wild things, the next day they are
+poor, woebegone creatures. If she gets no better in a few days, I
+will see when my old friend, Jim Carroll, is starting in his brig for
+Yarmouth, and will run down with her myself--and of course with you,
+wife, if you will go--and stay there a few days while he is unloading
+and filling up again. The sea-air will set her up again, I warrant."
+
+"Not at this time of year," Dame Dowsett said firmly. "With these
+bitter winds it is no time for a lass to go a-sailing; and they say
+that Yarmouth is a great deal colder than we are here, being exposed
+to the east winds."
+
+"Well, well, Dame, then we will content ourselves with a run in the
+hoy down to Margate. If we choose well the wind and tide we can start
+from here in the morning and maybe reach there late in the evening,
+or, if not, the next morning to breakfast. Or if you think that too
+far we will stop at Sheerness, where we can get in two tides easily
+enough if the wind be fair."
+
+"That would be better, David; but it were best to see how she goes
+on. It may be, as you say, that she will shortly gain her strength
+and spirits again."
+
+It was evident, when Nellie entered the room at breakfast-time the
+next morning, that her mother's reports had not been exaggerated. She
+looked, indeed, as if recovering from a severe illness, and when she
+said good-morning to her father her voice trembled and her eyes
+filled with tears.
+
+"Tut, tut, lass! This will never do. I shall soon hardly own you for
+my Nellie. We shall have to feed you up on capons and wine, child, or
+send you down to one of the baths for a course of strengthening
+waters."
+
+She smiled faintly, and then turning, gave her hand to Cyril. As she
+did so, a slight flush of colour came into her cheeks.
+
+"I am heartily glad to see you down again, Mistress Nellie," he said,
+"and wish you a fair and speedy recovery."
+
+"I shall be better presently," she replied, with an effort.
+"Good-morning, John."
+
+"Good-morning, Mistress Nellie. Right glad are we to see you down
+again, for it makes but a dull table without your merry laugh to give
+an edge to our appetites."
+
+She sat down now, and the others, seeing that it was best to let her
+alone for a while, chatted gaily together.
+
+"There is no talk in the City but of the war, Cyril," the Captain
+said presently. "They say that the Dutch make sure of eating us up,
+but they won't find it as easy a job as they fancy. The Duke of York
+is to command the Fleet. They say that Prince Rupert will be second.
+To my mind they ought to have entrusted the whole matter to him. He
+proved himself as brave a captain at sea as he was on land, and I
+will warrant he would lead his ships into action as gallantly as he
+rode at the head of his Cavaliers on many a stricken field. The ships
+are fitting out in all haste, and they are gathering men at every
+sea-port. I should say they will have no lack of hands, for there are
+many ships laid up, that at other times trade with Holland, and
+Dantzic, and Dunkirk, and many a bold young sailor who will be glad
+to try whether he can fight as stoutly against the Dutch under York
+and Rupert as his father did under Blake."
+
+"For my part," Cyril said, "I cannot understand it; for it seems to
+me that the English and Dutch have been fighting for the last year. I
+have been too busy to read the Journal, and have not been in the way
+of hearing the talk of the coffeehouses and taverns; but, beyond that
+it is some dispute about the colonies, I know little of the matter."
+
+"I am not greatly versed in it myself, lad. Nellie here reads the
+Journal, and goes abroad more than any of us, and should be able to
+tell us something about it. Now, girl, can't you do something to set
+us right in this matter, for I like not to be behind my neighbours,
+though I am such a stay-at-home, having, as I thank the Lord, much
+happiness here, and no occasion to go out to seek it."
+
+"There was much discourse about it, father, the evening I went to
+Dame King's. There were several gentlemen there who had trade with
+the East, and one of them held shares in the English Company trading
+thither. After supper was over, they discoursed more fully on the
+matter than was altogether pleasing to some of us, who would much
+rather that, as we had hoped, we might have dancing or singing. I
+could see that Dame King herself was somewhat put out that her
+husband should have, without her knowing of his intention, brought in
+these gentlemen. Still, the matter of their conversation was new to
+us, and we became at last so mightily interested in it that we
+listened to the discourse without bemoaning ourselves that we had
+lost the amusement we looked for. I know I wished at the time that
+you had been there. I say not that I can repeat all that I heard, but
+as I had before read some of the matters spoken of in the Journal, I
+could follow what the gentlemen said more closely. Soon after the
+coming of the King to the throne the friendship between us and the
+Spaniards, that had been weakened during the mastership of Cromwell,
+was renewed, and they gave our ships many advantages at their ports,
+while, on the other hand, they took away the privileges the Dutch had
+enjoyed there, and thus our commerce with Spain increased, while that
+of the Dutch diminished."
+
+"That is certainly true, Nellie," her father said. "We have three
+ships sailing through the Mediterranean now to one that sailed there
+ten years ago, and doubtless the Dutch must have suffered by the
+increase in our trade."
+
+"Then he said that, as we had obtained the Island of Bombay in the
+East Indies and the City of Tangier in Africa as the dowry of the
+Queen, and had received the Island of Poleron for our East India
+Company by the treaty with Holland, our commerce everywhere
+increased, and raised their jealousy higher and higher. There was
+nothing in this of which complaint could be made by the Dutch
+Government, but nevertheless they gave encouragement to their East
+and West India Companies to raise trouble. Their East India Company
+refused to hand over the Island, and laid great limitations as to the
+places at which our merchants might trade in India. The other Company
+acted in the same manner, and lawlessly took possession of Cape Coast
+Castle, belonging to our English Company.
+
+"The Duke of York, who was patron and governor of our African
+Company, sent Sir Robert Holmes with four frigates to Guinea to make
+reprisals. He captured a place from the Dutch and named it James's
+Fort, and then, proceeding to the river Gambia, he turned out the
+Dutch traders there and built a fort. A year ago, as the Dutch still
+held Cape Coast Castle, Sir Robert was sent out again with orders to
+take it by force, and on the way he overhauled a Dutch ship and found
+she carried a letter of secret instructions from the Dutch Government
+to the West India Company to take the English Fort at Cormantin.
+Seeing that the Hollanders, although professing friendship, were thus
+treacherously inclined, he judged himself justified in exceeding the
+commission he had received, and on his way south he touched at Cape
+Verde. There he first captured two Dutch ships and then attacked
+their forts on the Island of Gorse and captured them, together with a
+ship lying under their guns.
+
+"In the fort he found a great quantity of goods ready to be shipped.
+He loaded his own vessels, and those that he had captured, with the
+merchandise, and carried it to Sierra Leone. Then he attacked the
+Dutch fort of St. George del Mena, the strongest on the coast, but
+failed there; but he soon afterwards captured Cape Coast Castle,
+though, as the gentlemen said, a mightily strong place. Then he
+sailed across to America, and, as you know, captured the Dutch
+Settlements of New Netherlands, and changed the name into that of New
+York. He did this not so much out of reprisal for the misconduct of
+the Dutch in Africa, but because the land was ours by right, having
+been discovered by the Cabots and taken possession of in the name of
+King Henry VII., and our title always maintained until the Dutch
+seized it thirty years ago.
+
+"Then the Dutch sent orders to De Ruyter, who commanded the fleet
+which was in the Mediterranean, to sail away privately and to make
+reprisals on the Coast of Guinea and elsewhere. He first captured
+several of our trading forts, among them that of Cormantin, taking
+great quantities of goods belonging to our Company; he then sailed to
+Barbadoes, where he was beaten off by the forts. Then he captured
+twenty of our ships off Newfoundland, and so returned to Holland,
+altogether doing damage, as the House of Commons told His Majesty, to
+the extent of eight hundred thousand pounds. All this time the Dutch
+had been secretly preparing for war, which they declared in January,
+which has forced us to do the same, although we delayed a month in
+hopes that some accommodation might be arrived at. I think, father,
+that is all that he told us, though there were many details that I do
+not remember."
+
+"And very well told, lass, truly. I wonder that your giddy head
+should have taken in so much matter. Of course, now you tell them
+over, I have heard these things before--the wrong that the Dutch did
+our Company by seizing their post at Cape Coast, and the reprisals
+that Sir Robert Holmes took upon them with our Company's ships--but
+they made no great mark on my memory, for I was just taking over my
+father's work when the first expedition took place. At any rate, none
+can say that we have gone into this war unjustly, seeing that the
+Dutch began it, altogether without cause, by first attacking our
+trading posts."
+
+"It seems to me, Captain Dave," John Wilkes said, "that it has been
+mighty like the war that our English buccaneers waged against the
+Spaniards in the West Indies, while the two nations were at peace at
+home."
+
+"It is curious," Cyril said, "that the trouble begun in Africa should
+have shifted to the other side of the Atlantic."
+
+"Ay, lad; just as that first trouble was at last fought out in the
+English Channel, off the coast of France, so this is likely to be
+decided in well-nigh the same waters."
+
+"The gentlemen, the other night, were all of opinion," Nellie said,
+"that the matter would never have come to such a head had it not been
+that De Witt, who is now the chief man in Holland, belongs to the
+French party there, and has been urged on by King Louis, for his own
+interest, to make war with us."
+
+"That may well be, Nellie. In all our English wars France has ever
+had a part either openly or by intrigues. France never seems to be
+content with attending to her own business, but is ever meddling with
+her neighbours', and, if not fighting herself, trying to set them by
+the ears against each other. If I were a bit younger, and had not
+lost my left flipper, I would myself volunteer for the service. As
+for Master Cyril here, I know he is burning to lay aside the pen and
+take to the sword."
+
+"That is so, Captain Dave. As you know, I only took up the pen to
+keep me until I was old enough to use a sword. I have been two years
+at it now, and I suppose it will be as much longer before I can think
+of entering the service of one of the Protestant princes; but as soon
+as I am fit to do so, I shall get an introduction and be off; but I
+would tenfold rather fight for my own country, and would gladly sail
+in the Fleet, though I went but as a ship's boy."
+
+"That is the right spirit, Master Cyril," John Wilkes exclaimed. "I
+would go myself if the Captain could spare me and they would take
+such a battered old hulk."
+
+"I couldn't spare you, John," Captain Dave said. "I have been mighty
+near making a mess of it, even with you as chief mate, and I might as
+well shut up shop altogether if you were to leave me. I should miss
+you, too, Cyril," he went on, stretching his arm across the table to
+shake hands with the lad. "You have proved a real friend and a true;
+but were there a chance of your going as an officer, I would not balk
+you, even if I could do so. It is but natural that a lad of spirit
+should speak and think as you do; besides, the war may not last for
+long, and when you come back, and the ships are paid off, you would
+soon wipe off the arrears of work, and get the books into ship-shape
+order. But, work or no work, that room of yours will always stand
+ready for you while I live, and there will always be a plate for you
+on this table."
+
+"Thank you, Captain Dave. You always overrate my services, and forget
+that they are but the consequence of the kindness that you have shown
+to me. But I have no intention of going. It was but a passing
+thought. I have but one friend who could procure me a berth as a
+volunteer, and as it is to him I must look for an introduction to
+some foreign prince, I would not go to him twice for a favour,
+especially as I have no sort of claim on his kindness. To go as a
+cabin boy would be to go with men under my own condition, and
+although I do not shirk hard work and rough usage, I should not care
+for them in such fashion. Moreover, I am doing work which, even
+without your hospitality, would suffice to keep me comfortably, and
+if I went away, though but for a month, I might find that those for
+whom I work had engaged other assistance. Spending naught, I am
+laying by money for the time when I shall have to travel at my own
+expense and to provide myself necessaries, and, maybe, to keep myself
+for a while until I can procure employment. I have the prospect that,
+by the end of another two years, I shall have gathered a sufficient
+store for all my needs, and I should be wrong to throw myself out of
+employment merely to embark on an adventure, and so to make a break,
+perhaps a long one, in my plans."
+
+"Don't you worry yourself on that score," Captain Dave said warmly,
+and then checked himself. "It will be time to talk about that when
+the time comes. But you are right, lad. I like a man who steadfastly
+holds on the way he has chosen, and will not turn to the right or
+left. There is not much that a man cannot achieve if he keeps his aim
+steadily in view. Why, Cyril, if you said you had made up your mind
+to be Lord Mayor of London, I would wager that you would some day be
+elected."
+
+Cyril laughed.
+
+"I shall never set my eyes in that direction, nor do I think the
+thing I have set myself to do will ever be in my power--that is, to
+buy back my father's estate; but so long as I live I shall keep that
+in view."
+
+"More unlikely things have happened, lad. You have got first to rise
+to be a General; then, what with your pay and your share in the sack
+of a city or two, and in other ways, you may come home with a purse
+full enough even for that. But it is time for us to be going down
+below. Matthew will think that we have forgotten him altogether."
+
+Another fortnight passed. Nellie had, to a considerable extent,
+recovered from the shock that she had suffered, but her manner was
+still quiet and subdued, her sallies were less lively, and her father
+noticed, with some surprise, that she no longer took any great
+interest in the gossip he retailed of the gay doings of the Court.
+
+"I can't think what has come over the girl," he said to his wife.
+"She seems well in health again, but she is changed a good deal,
+somehow. She is gentler and softer. I think she is all the better for
+it, but I miss her merry laugh and her way of ordering things about,
+as if her pleasure only were to be consulted."
+
+"I think she is very much improved," Mrs. Dowsett said decidedly;
+"though I can no more account for it than you can. She never used to
+have any care about the household, and now she assists me in my work,
+and is in all respects dutiful and obedient, and is not for ever bent
+upon gadding about as she was before. I only hope it will continue
+so, for, in truth, I have often sighed over the thought that she
+would make but a poor wife for an honest citizen."
+
+"Tut, tut, wife. It has never been as bad as that. Girls will be
+girls, and if they are a little vain of their good looks, that will
+soften down in time, when they get to have the charge of a household.
+You yourself, dame, were not so staid when I first wooed you, as you
+are now; and I think you had your own little share of vanity, as was
+natural enough in the prettiest girl in Plymouth."
+
+When Nellie was in the room Cyril did his best to save her from being
+obliged to take part in the conversation, by inducing Captain Dave to
+tell him stories of some of his adventures at sea.
+
+"You were saying, Captain Dave, that you had had several engagements
+with the Tunis Rovers," he said one evening. "Were they ever near
+taking you?"
+
+"They did take me once, lad, and that without an engagement; but,
+fortunately, I was not very long a prisoner. It was not a pleasant
+time though, John, was it?"
+
+"It was not, Captain Dave. I have been in sore danger of wreck
+several times, and in three big sea-fights; but never did I feel so
+out of heart as when I was lying, bound hand and foot, on the ballast
+in the hold of that corsair. No true sailor is afraid of being
+killed; but the thought that one might be all one's life a slave
+among the cruel heathen was enough to take the stiffness out of any
+man's courage."
+
+"But how was it that you were taken without an engagement, Captain
+Dave? And how did you make your escape?"
+
+"Well, lad, it was the carelessness of my first mate that did it; but
+as he paid for his fault with his life let us say naught against him.
+He was a handsome, merry young fellow, and had shipped as second
+mate, but my first had died of fever in the Levant, and of course he
+got the step, though all too young for the responsibility. We had met
+with some bad weather when south of Malta, and had had a heavy gale
+for three days, during which time we lost our main topmast, and badly
+strained the mizzen. The weather abated when we were off Pantellaria,
+which is a bare rock rising like a mountain peak out of the sea, and
+with only one place where a landing can be safely effected. As the
+gale had blown itself out, and it was likely we should have a spell
+of settled weather, I decided to anchor close in to the Island, and
+to repair damages.
+
+"We were hard at work for two days. All hands had had a stiff time of
+it, and the second night, having fairly repaired damages, I thought
+to give the crew a bit of a rest, and, not dreaming of danger,
+ordered that half each watch might remain below. John Wilkes was
+acting as my second mate. Pettigrew took the first watch; John had
+the middle watch; and then the other came up again. I turned out once
+or twice, but everything was quiet--we had not seen a sail all day.
+There was a light breeze blowing, but no chance of its increasing,
+and as we were well sheltered in the only spot where the anchorage
+was good, I own that I did not impress upon Pettigrew the necessity
+for any particular vigilance. Anyhow, just as morning was breaking I
+was woke by a shout. I ran out on deck, but as I did so there was a
+rush of dark figures, and I was knocked down and bound before I knew
+what had happened. As soon as I could think it over, it was clear
+enough. The Moor had been coming into the anchorage, and, catching
+sight of us in the early light, had run alongside and boarded us.
+
+"The watch, of course, must have been asleep. There was not a shot
+fired nor a drop of blood shed, for those on deck had been seized and
+bound before they could spring to their feet, and the crew had all
+been caught in their bunks. It was bitter enough. There was the
+vessel gone, and the cargo, and with them my savings of twenty years'
+hard work, and the prospect of slavery for life. The men were all
+brought aft and laid down side by side. Young Pettigrew was laid next
+to me.
+
+"'I wish to heaven, captain,' he said, 'you had got a pistol and your
+hand free, and would blow out my brains for me. It is all my fault,
+and hanging at the yard-arm is what I deserve. I never thought there
+was the slightest risk--not a shadow of it--and feeling a bit dozy,
+sat down for five minutes' caulk. Seeing that, no doubt the men
+thought they might do the same; and this is what has come of it. I
+must have slept half an hour at least, for there was no sail in sight
+when I went off, and this Moor must have come round the point and
+made us out after that.'
+
+"The corsair was lying alongside of us, her shrouds lashed to ours.
+There was a long jabbering among the Moors when they had taken off
+our hatches and seen that we were pretty well full up with cargo;
+then, after a bit, we were kicked, and they made signs for us to get
+on our feet and to cross over into their ship. The crew were sent
+down into the forward hold, and some men went down with them to tie
+them up securely. John Wilkes, Pettigrew, and myself were shoved down
+into a bit of a place below the stern cabin. Our legs were tied, as
+well as our arms. The trap was shut, and there we were in the dark.
+Of course I told Pettigrew that, though he had failed in his duty,
+and it had turned out badly, he wasn't to be blamed as if he had gone
+to sleep in sight of an enemy.
+
+"'I had never given the Moors a thought myself,' I said, 'and it was
+not to be expected that you would. But no sailor, still less an
+officer, ought to sleep on his watch, even if his ship is anchored in
+a friendly harbour, and you are to blame that you gave way to
+drowsiness. Still, even if you hadn't, it might have come to the same
+thing in the long run, for the corsair is a large one, and might have
+taken us even if you had made her out as she rounded the point.'
+
+"But, in spite of all I could say to cheer him, he took it to heart
+badly, and was groaning and muttering to himself when they left us in
+the dark, so I said to him,--
+
+"'Look here, lad, the best way to retrieve the fault you have
+committed is to try and get us out of the scrape. Set your brains to
+work, and let us talk over what had best be done. There is no time to
+be lost, for with a fair wind they can run from here to Tunis in
+four-and-twenty hours, and once there one may give up all hope. There
+are all our crew on board this ship. The Moor carried twice as many
+men as we do, but we may reckon they will have put more than half of
+them on board our barque; they don't understand her sails as well as
+they do their own, and will therefore want a strong prize crew on
+board.'
+
+"'I am ready to do anything, captain,' the young fellow said firmly.
+'If you were to give me the word, I would get into their magazine if
+I could, and blow the ship into the air.'
+
+"'Well, I don't know that I will give you that order, Pettigrew. To
+be a heathen's slave is bad, but, at any rate, I would rather try
+that life for a bit than strike my colours at once. Now let us think
+it over. In the first place we have to get rid of these ropes; then
+we have to work our way forward to the crew; and then to get on deck
+and fight for it. It is a stiff job, look at it which way one will,
+but at any rate it will be better to be doing something--even if we
+find at last that we can't get out of this dog-kennel--than to lie
+here doing nothing.'
+
+"After some talk, we agreed that it was not likely the Moors would
+come down to us for a long time, for they might reckon that we could
+hold on without food or water easy enough until they got to Tunis;
+having agreed as to that point, we set to work to get our ropes
+loose. Wriggling wouldn't do it, though we tried until the cords cut
+into our flesh.
+
+"At last Pettigrew said,--
+
+"'What a fool I am! I have got my knife hanging from a lanyard round
+my neck. It is under my blouse, so they did not notice it when they
+turned my pockets out.'
+
+"It was a long job to get at that knife. At last I found the string
+behind his neck, and, getting hold of it with my teeth, pulled till
+the knife came up to his throat. Then John got it in his teeth, and
+the first part of the job was done. The next was easy enough. John
+held the handle of the knife in his teeth and Pettigrew got hold of
+the blade in his, and between them they made a shift to open it;
+then, after a good deal of trouble, Pettigrew shifted himself till he
+managed to get the knife in his hands. I lay across him and worked
+myself backwards and forwards till the blade cut through the rope at
+my wrist; then, in two more minutes, we were free. Then we felt
+about, and found that the boarding between us and the main hold was
+old and shaky, and, with the aid of the knife and of our three
+shoulders, we made a shift at last to wrench one of the boards from
+its place.
+
+"Pettigrew, who was slightest, crawled through, and we soon got
+another plank down. The hold was half full of cargo, which, no doubt,
+they had taken out of some ship or other. We made our way forward
+till we got to the bulkhead, which, like the one we had got through,
+was but a make-shift sort of affair, with room to put your fingers
+between the planks. So we hailed the men and told them how we had got
+free, and that if they didn't want to work all their lives as slaves
+they had best do the same. They were ready enough, you may be sure,
+and, finding a passage between the planks wider in one place than the
+rest, we passed the knife through to them, and told them how to set
+about cutting the rope. They were a deal quicker over it than we had
+been, for in our place there had been no height where we could stand
+upright, but they were able to do so. Two men, standing back to back
+and one holding the knife, made quick work of cutting the rope.
+
+"We had plenty of strength now, and were not long in getting down a
+couple of planks. The first thing was to make a regular overhaul of
+the cargo--as well as we could do it, without shifting things and
+making a noise--to look for weapons or for anything that would come
+in handy for the fight. Not a thing could we find, but we came upon a
+lot of kegs that we knew, by their feel, were powder. If there had
+been arms and we could have got up, we should have done it at once,
+trusting to seize the ship before the other could come up to her
+help. But without arms it would be madness to try in broad daylight,
+and we agreed to wait till night, and to lie down again where we were
+before, putting the ropes round our legs again and our hands behind
+our backs, so that, if they did look in, everything should seem
+secure.
+
+"'We shall have plenty of time,' one of the sailors said, 'for they
+have coiled a big hawser down on the hatch.'
+
+"When we got back to our lazaret, we tried the hatch by which we had
+been shoved down, but the three of us couldn't move it any more than
+if it had been solid stone. We had a goodish talk over it, and it was
+clear that the hatchway of the main hold was our only chance of
+getting out; and we might find that a tough job.
+
+"'If we can't do it in any other way,' Pettigrew said, 'I should say
+we had best bring enough bales and things to fill this place up to
+within a foot of the top; then on that we might put a keg of powder,
+bore a hole in it, and make a slow match that would blow the cabin
+overhead into splinters, while the bales underneath it would prevent
+the force of the explosion blowing her bottom out.'
+
+"We agreed that, if the worst came to the worst, we would try this,
+and having settled that, went back to have a look at the main hatch.
+Feeling about round it, we found the points of the staple on which
+the hatchway bar worked above; they were not fastened with nuts as
+they would have been with us, but were simply turned over and
+clinched. We had no means of straightening them out, but we could cut
+through the woodwork round them. Setting to work at that, we took it
+by turns till we could see the light through the wood; then we left
+it to finish after dark. All this time we knew we were under sail by
+the rippling of the water along the sides. The men on board were
+evidently in high delight at their easy capture, and kicked up so
+much noise that there was no fear of their hearing any slight stir we
+made below.
+
+"Very carefully we brought packages and bales under the hatchway,
+till we built up a sort of platform about four feet below it. We
+reckoned that, standing as thick as we could there, and all lifting
+together, we could make sure of hoisting the hatchway up, and could
+then spring out in a moment.
+
+"Pettigrew still stuck to his plan, and talked us into carrying it
+out, both under the fore and aft hatches, pointing out that the two
+explosions would scare the crew out of their wits, that some would be
+killed, and many jump overboard in their fright. We came to see that
+the scheme was really a good one, so set all the crew to carry out
+the business, and they, working with stockinged feet, built up a
+platform under their hatch, as well as in our den aft. Then we made
+holes in two of the kegs of powder, and, shaking a little out, damped
+it, and rubbed it into two strips of cotton. Putting an end of a slow
+match into each of the holes, we laid the kegs in their places and
+waited.
+
+"We made two other fuses, so that a man could go forward, and another
+aft, to fire them both together. Two of the men were told off for
+this job, and the rest of us gathered under the main hatch, for we
+had settled now that if we heard them making any move to open the
+hatches we would fire the powder at once, whatever hour it was. In
+order to be ready, we cut deeper into the woodwork round the staple
+till there was but the thickness of a card remaining, and we could
+tell by this how light it was above.
+
+"It don't take long to tell you, but all this had taken us a good
+many hours; and so baked were we by the heat down below, and parched
+by thirst, that it was as much as I could do to persuade the men to
+wait until nightfall. At last we saw the light in the cut fade and
+darken. Again the men wanted to be at work, but I pointed out that if
+we waited till the crew had laid down on the deck, we might carry it
+through without losing a life, but if they were all awake, some of
+them would be sure to come at us with their weapons, and, unarmed as
+we were, might do us much harm. Still, though I succeeded in keeping
+the men quiet, I felt it was hard work to put a stopper on my own
+impatience.
+
+"At last even John here spoke up for action.
+
+"'I expect those who mean to sleep are off by this time,' he said.
+'As to reckoning upon them all going off, there ain't no hope of it;
+they will sit and jabber all night. They have made a good haul, and
+have taken a stout ship with a full hold, and five-and-twenty stout
+slaves, and that without losing a man. There won't be any sleep for
+most of them. I reckon it is two bells now. I do think, Captain, we
+might as well begin, for human nature can't stand this heat and
+thirst much longer.'
+
+"'All right, John,' I said. 'Now, lads, remember that when the first
+explosion comes--for we can't reckon on the two slow matches burning
+just the same time--we all heave together till we find the hatch
+lifts; then, when the second comes, we chuck it over and leap out. If
+you see a weapon, catch it up, but don't waste time looking about,
+but go at them with your fists. They will be scared pretty well out
+of their senses, and you will not be long before you all get hold of
+weapons of some sort. Now, Pettigrew, shove your blade up through the
+wood and cut round the staple. Now, Jack Brown, get out that
+tinder-box you said you had about you, and get a spark going.'
+
+"Three or four clicks were heard as the sailor struck his flint
+against the steel lid of the tinder-box.
+
+"'All right, yer honour,' he said, 'I have got the spark.'
+
+"Then the two hands we had given the slow matches to, lit them at the
+tinder-box, and went fore and aft, while as many of the rest of us as
+could crowded under the hatch.
+
+"'Are you ready, fore and aft?' I asked.
+
+"The two men hailed in reply.
+
+"'Light the matches, then, and come here.'
+
+"I suppose it was not above a minute, but it seemed ten before there
+was a tremendous explosion aft. The ship shook from stem to stern.
+There was a moment's silence, and then came yells and screams mixed
+with the sound of timbers and wreckage falling on the deck.
+
+"'Now lift,' I said. 'But not too high. That is enough--she is free.
+Wait for the other.'
+
+"There was a rush of feet overhead as the Moors ran forward. Then
+came the other explosion.
+
+"'Off with her, lads!' I shouted, and in a moment we flung the hatch
+off and leapt out with a cheer. There was no fighting to speak of.
+The officers had been killed by the first explosion under their
+cabin, and many of the men had either been blown overboard or lay
+crushed under the timber and wreckage.
+
+"The second explosion had been even more destructive, for it happened
+just as the crew, in their terror, had rushed forward. Many of those
+unhurt had sprung overboard at once, and as we rushed up most of the
+others did the same. There was no difficulty about arms, for the deck
+was strewn with weapons. Few of us, however, stopped to pick one up,
+but, half mad with rage and thirst, rushed forward at the Moors. That
+finished them; and before we got to them the last had sprung
+overboard. There was a rush on the part of the men to the scuttle
+butt.
+
+"'Take one drink, lads,' I shouted, 'and then to the buckets.'
+
+"It took us a quarter of an hour's hard work to put out the flames,
+and it was lucky the powder had blown so much of the decks up that we
+were enabled to get at the fire without difficulty, and so extinguish
+it before it got any great hold.
+
+"As soon as we had got it out I called a muster. There was only one
+missing;--it was Pettigrew, he being the first to leap out and rush
+aft. There had been but one shot fired by the Moors. One fellow, as
+he leapt on to the rail, drew his pistol from his belt and fired
+before he sprang overboard. In the excitement and confusion no one
+had noticed whether the shot took effect, for two or three men had
+stumbled and fallen over fragments of timber or bodies as we rushed
+aft. But now we searched, and soon came on the poor young fellow. The
+ball had struck him fair on the forehead, and he had fallen dead
+without a word or a cry.
+
+"There was, however, no time to grieve. We had got to re-capture the
+barque, which had been but a cable's length away when we rushed on
+deck; while we had been fighting the fire she had sailed on,
+regardless of the shrieks and shouts of the wretches who had sprung
+overboard from us. But she was still near us; both vessels had been
+running before the wind, for I had sent John Wilkes to the tiller the
+moment that we got possession of the corsair, and the barque was but
+about a quarter of a mile ahead.
+
+"The wind was light, and we were running along at four knots an hour.
+The Moors on board the _Kate_ had, luckily, been too scared by the
+explosion to think of getting one of the guns aft and peppering us
+while we were engaged in putting out the fire; and indeed, they could
+not have done us much harm if they had, for the high fo'castle hid us
+from their view.
+
+"As soon as we had found Pettigrew's body and laid it on the hatch we
+had thrown off, I went aft to John.
+
+"'Are we gaining on her, John?'
+
+"'No; she has drawn away a little. But this craft is not doing her
+best. I expect they wanted to keep close to the barque, and so kept
+her sheets in. If you square the sails, captain, we shall soon be
+upon her.'
+
+"That was quickly done, and then the first thing was to see that the
+men were all armed. We could have got a gun forward, but I did not
+want to damage the _Kate_, and we could soon see that we were
+closing on her. We shoved a bag of musket-balls into each cannon, so
+as to sweep her decks as we came alongside, for we knew that her crew
+was a good deal stronger than we were. Still, no one had any doubt as
+to the result, and it was soon evident that the Moors had got such a
+scare from the fate of their comrades that they had no stomach for
+fighting.
+
+"'They are lowering the boats,' John shouted.
+
+"'All the better,' I said. 'They would fight like rats caught in a
+trap if we came up to them, and though we are men enough to capture
+her, we might lose half our number.'
+
+"As soon as the boats reached the water they were all pulled up to
+the starboard side, and then the helm was put down, and the barque
+came round till she was broadside on to us.
+
+"'Down with your helm, John Wilkes!' I shouted. 'Hard down, man!'
+
+"John hesitated, for he had thought that I should have gone round to
+the other side of her and so have caught all the boats; but, in
+truth, I was so pleased at the thought of getting the craft back
+again that I was willing to let the poor villains go, since they were
+of a mind to do so without giving us trouble. We had punished them
+enough, and the shrieks and cries of those left behind to drown were
+ringing in my ears then. So we brought the corsair up quietly by the
+side of the _Kate_, lashed her there, and then, with a shout of
+triumph, sprang on board the old barky.
+
+"Not a Moor was left on board. The boats were four or five hundred
+yards away, rowing at the top of their speed. The men would have run
+to the guns, but I shouted,--
+
+"'Let them go, lads. We have punished them heavily enough; we have
+taken their ship, and sent half of them to Eternity. Let them take
+the tale back to Tunis how a British merchantman re-captured their
+ship. Now set to work to get some of the sail off both craft, and
+then, when we have got things snug, we will splice the main brace and
+have a meal.'
+
+"There is no more to tell. We carried the rover into Gibraltar and
+sold her and her cargo there. It brought in a good round sum, and,
+except for the death of Pettigrew, we had no cause to regret the
+corsair having taken us by surprise that night off Pantellaria."
+
+"That was an exciting business, indeed, Captain Dave," Cyril said,
+when the Captain brought his story to a conclusion. "If it had not
+been for your good fortune in finding those kegs of powder, and
+Pettigrew's idea of using them as he did, you and John might now, if
+you had been alive, have been working as slaves among the Moors."
+
+"Yes, lad. And not the least lucky thing was that Pettigrew's knife
+and Jack Brown's tinder-box had escaped the notice of the Moors. Jack
+had it in an inside pocket sewn into his shirt so as to keep it dry.
+It was a lesson to me, and for the rest of the time I was at sea I
+always carried a knife, with a lanyard round my neck, and stowed away
+in an inside pocket of my shirt, together with a tinder-box. They are
+two as useful things as a sailor can have about him, for, if cast
+upon a desert shore after a wreck, a man with a knife and tinder-box
+may make shift to live, when, without them, he and his comrades might
+freeze to death."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE FIRE IN THE SAVOY
+
+
+The next evening John Wilkes returned after an absence of but half an
+hour.
+
+"Why, John, you can but have smoked a single pipe! Did you not find
+your cronies there?"
+
+"I hurried back, Captain, because a man from one of the ships in the
+Pool landed and said there was a great light in the sky, and that it
+seemed to him it was either a big fire in the Temple, or in one of
+the mansions beyond the walls; so methought I would come in and ask
+Cyril if he would like to go with me to see what was happening."
+
+"I should like it much, John. I saw a great fire in Holborn just
+after I came over from France, and a brave sight it was, though very
+terrible; and I would willingly see one again."
+
+He took his hat and cloak and was about to be off, when Captain Dave
+called after him,--
+
+"Buckle on your sword, lad, and leave your purse behind you. A fire
+ever attracts thieves and cut-throats, who flock round in hopes of
+stealing something in the confusion. Besides, as I have told you
+before, you should never go out after dark without your sword, even
+were it but to cross the road."
+
+Cyril ran upstairs to his room, buckled on his weapon, and ran down
+again.
+
+"The Captain is right," John Wilkes said, as he joined him at the
+door. "After your two adventures, it would be folly for you to go out
+unarmed."
+
+"Oh, I expect they have forgotten about me long ago," Cyril laughed
+lightly.
+
+"I don't know," John Wilkes said seriously. "As to Marner's gang, I
+think that there is not much fear from them, unless that young rascal
+Robert and the scoundrel who was with him have returned from Holland;
+and that they are not likely to do for some time to come. But it
+would not be in human nature if the man you call John Harvey should
+take his defeat without trying to pay you back for that wound you
+gave him, for getting Mistress Nellie out of his hands, and for
+making him the laughing-stock of his comrades. I tell you that there
+is scarce an evening that I have gone out but some fellow passes me
+before I have gone twenty yards, and, as he brushes my sleeve, turns
+his head to look at me. But yesternight I said to one who so behaved,
+'Look here, mate, this is not the first time you have run against me.
+I warn you that if it happens again I will crack your head with my
+cudgel.' The fellow went off, muttering and grumbling, but I have no
+doubt that he and the others, for it certainly was not always the
+same man, were watching for you. To-night there was no one about, or,
+if there was, he did not come near me, and it may be that, finding
+you never leave the house after nightfall, they have decided to give
+it up for the present. But I thought I heard a footfall lower down
+the street, just as we came out of the house, and it is like enough
+that we are followed now."
+
+"At any rate, they would scarce attack two of us, John, and I should
+not mind if they did. It is a stab in the back that I am afraid of
+more than an open quarrel."
+
+"You may have a better swordsman to deal with next time. The fellow
+himself would scarcely care to cross swords with you again, but he
+would have no difficulty in getting half-a-dozen cut-throats from the
+purlieus of the Temple or Westminster, professional bullies, who are
+ready to use their swords to those who care to purchase them, and who
+would cut a throat for a few crowns, without caring a jot whose
+throat it was. Some of these fellows are disbanded soldiers. Some are
+men who were ruined in the wars. Some are tavern bullies--broken men,
+reckless and quarrelsome gamblers so long as they have a shilling in
+their pockets, but equally ready to take to the road or to rob a
+house when their pockets are empty."
+
+By this time they had passed the Exchange into Cheapside. Many people
+were hurrying in the same direction and wondering where the fire was.
+Presently one of the Fire Companies, with buckets, ladders, and axes,
+passed them at a run. Even in Cheapside the glow in the sky ahead
+could be plainly seen, but it was not until they passed St. Paul's
+and stood at the top of Ludgate Hill that the flames, shooting up
+high in the air, were visible. They were almost straight ahead.
+
+"It must be at the other end of Fleet Street," Cyril said, as they
+broke into a run.
+
+"Farther than that, lad. It must be one of the mansions along the
+Strand. A fire always looks closer than it is. I have seen a ship in
+flames that looked scarce a mile away, and yet, sailing with a brisk
+wind, it took us over an hour to come up to it."
+
+The crowd became thicker as they approached Temple Bar. The upper
+windows of the houses were all open, and women were leaning out
+looking at the sight. From every lane and alley men poured into the
+street and swelled the hurrying current. They passed through the Bar,
+expecting to find that the fire was close at hand. They had, however,
+some distance farther to go, for the fire was at a mansion in the
+Savoy. Another Fire Company came along when they were within a
+hundred yards of the spot.
+
+"Join in with them," Cyril said; and he and John Wilkes managed to
+push their way into the ranks, joining in the shout, "Way there, way!
+Make room for the buckets!"
+
+Aided by some of the City watch the Company made its way through the
+crowd, and hurried down the hill from the Strand into the Savoy. A
+party of the King's Guard, who had just marched up, kept back the
+crowd, and, when once in the open space, Cyril and his companion
+stepped out from the ranks and joined a group of people who had
+arrived before the constables and soldiers had come up.
+
+The mansion from which the fire had originated was in flames from top
+to bottom. The roof had fallen in. Volumes of flame and sparks shot
+high into the air, threatening the safety of several other houses
+standing near. The Fire Companies were working their hand-pumps,
+throwing water on to the doors and woodwork of these houses. Long
+lines of men were extended down to the edge of the river and passed
+the buckets backwards and forwards. City officials, gentlemen of the
+Court, and officers of the troops, moved to and fro shouting
+directions and superintending the work. From many of the houses the
+inhabitants were bringing out their furniture and goods, aided by the
+constables and spectators.
+
+"It is a grand sight," Cyril said, as, with his companion, he took
+his place in a quiet corner where a projecting portico threw a deep
+shadow.
+
+"It will soon be grander still. The wind is taking the sparks and
+flames westwards, and nothing can save that house over there. Do you
+see the little jets of flame already bursting through the roof?"
+
+"The house seems empty. There is not a window open."
+
+"It looks so, Cyril, but there may be people asleep at the back. Let
+us work round and have a look from behind."
+
+They turned down an alley, and in a minute or two came out behind the
+house. There was a garden and some high trees, but it was surrounded
+by a wall, and they could not see the windows.
+
+"Here, Cyril, I will give you a hoist up. If you stand on my
+shoulders, you can reach to the top of the wall and pull yourself up.
+Come along here to where that branch projects over. That's it. Now
+drop your cloak, and jump on to my back. That is right. Now get on to
+my shoulders."
+
+Cyril managed to get up.
+
+"I can just touch the top, but I can't get my fingers on to it."
+
+"Put your foot on my head. I will warrant it is strong enough to bear
+your weight."
+
+Cyril did as he was told, grasped the top of the wall, and, after a
+sharp struggle, seated himself astride on it. Just as he did so, a
+window in a wing projecting into the garden was thrown open, and a
+female voice uttered a loud scream for help. There was light enough
+for Cyril to see that the lower windows were all barred. He shouted
+back,--
+
+"Can't you get down the staircase?"
+
+"No; the house is full of smoke. There are some children here. Help!
+Help!" and the voice rose in a loud scream again.
+
+Cyril dropped down into the roadway by the side of John Wilkes.
+
+"There are some women and children in there, John. They can't get
+out. We must go round to the other side and get some axes and break
+down the door."
+
+Snatching up his cloak, he ran at full speed to his former position,
+followed by Wilkes. The roof of the house was now in flames. Many of
+the shutters and window-frames had also caught fire, from the heat.
+He ran up to two gentlemen who seemed to be directing the operations.
+
+"There are some women and children in a room at the back of that
+house," he said. "I have just been round there to see. They are in
+the second storey, and are crying for help."
+
+"I fear the ladders are too short."
+
+"I can tie two or three of them together," Wilkes said. "I am an old
+sailor and can answer for the knots."
+
+The firemen were already dashing water on the lower windows of the
+front of the house. A party with axes were cutting at the door, but
+this was so massive and solid that it resisted their efforts. One of
+the gentlemen went down to them. At his orders eight or ten men
+seized ladders. Cyril snatched some ropes from a heap that had been
+thrown down by the firemen, and the party, with one of the gentlemen,
+ran round to the back of the house. Two ladders were placed against
+the wall. John Wilkes, running up one of them, hauled several of the
+others up, and lowered them into the garden.
+
+The flames were now issuing from some of the upper windows. Cyril
+dropped from the wall into the garden, and, running close up to the
+house, shouted to three or four women, who were screaming loudly, and
+hanging so far out that he thought they would fall, that help was at
+hand, and that they would be speedily rescued. John Wilkes rapidly
+tied three of the short ladders together. These were speedily raised,
+but it was found that they just reached the window. One of the
+firemen ran up, while John set to work to prepare another long
+ladder. As there was no sign of life at any other window he laid it
+down on the grass when finished.
+
+"If you will put it up at the next window," Cyril said, "I will mount
+it. The woman said there were children in the house, and possibly I
+may find them. Those women are so frightened that they don't know
+what they are doing."
+
+One woman had already been got on to the other ladder, but instead of
+coming down, she held on tightly, screaming at the top of her voice,
+until the fireman with great difficulty got up by her side, wrenched
+her hands from their hold, threw her across his shoulder, and carried
+her down.
+
+The room was full of smoke as Cyril leapt into it, but he found that
+it was not, as he had supposed, the one in which the women at the
+next window were standing. Near the window, however, an elderly woman
+was lying on the floor insensible, and three girls of from eight to
+fourteen lay across her. Cyril thrust his head out of the window.
+
+"Come up, John," he shouted. "I want help."
+
+He lifted the youngest of the girls, and as he got her out of the
+window, John's head appeared above the sill.
+
+"Take her down quick, John," he said, as he handed the child to him.
+"There are three others. They are all insensible from the smoke."
+
+Filling his lungs with fresh air, he turned into the blinding smoke
+again, and speedily reappeared at the window with another of the
+girls. John was not yet at the bottom; he placed her with her head
+outside the window, and was back with the eldest girl by the time
+Wilkes was up again. He handed her to him, and then, taking the
+other, stepped out on to the ladder and followed Wilkes down.
+
+"Brave lad!" the gentleman said, patting him on the shoulder. "Are
+there any more of them?"
+
+"One more--a woman, sir. Do you go up, John. I will follow, for I
+doubt whether I can lift her by myself."
+
+He followed Wilkes closely up the ladder. There was a red glow now in
+the smoke. Flames were bursting through the door. John was waiting at
+the window.
+
+"Which way, lad? There is no seeing one's hand in the smoke."
+
+"Just in front, John, not six feet away. Hold your breath."
+
+They dashed forward together, seized the woman between them, and,
+dragging her to the window, placed her head and shoulders on the
+sill.
+
+"You go first, John. She is too heavy for me," Cyril gasped.
+
+John stumbled out, half suffocated, while Cyril thrust his head as
+far as he could outside the window.
+
+"That is it, John; you take hold of her shoulder, and I will help you
+get her on to your back."
+
+Between them they pushed her nearly out, and then, with Cyril's
+assistance, John got her across his shoulders. She was a heavy woman,
+and the old sailor had great difficulty in carrying her down. Cyril
+hung far out of the window till he saw him put his foot on the
+ground; then he seized a rung of the ladder, swung himself out on to
+it, and was soon down.
+
+For a time he felt confused and bewildered, and was conscious that if
+he let go the ladder he should fall. He heard a voice say, "Bring one
+of those buckets of water," and directly afterwards, "Here, lad, put
+your head into this," and a handful of water was dashed into his
+face. It revived him, and, turning round, he plunged his head into a
+bucket that a man held up for him. Then he took a long breath or two,
+pressed the water from his hair, and felt himself again. The women at
+the other window had by this time been brought down. A door in the
+garden wall had been broken down with axes, and the women and girls
+were taken away to a neighbouring house.
+
+"There is nothing more to do here," the gentlemen said. "Now, men,
+you are to enter the houses round about. Wherever a door is fastened,
+break it in. Go out on to the roofs with buckets, put out the sparks
+as fast as they fall. I will send some more men to help you at once."
+He then put his hand on Cyril's shoulder, and walked back with him to
+the open space.
+
+"We have saved them all," he said to the other gentleman who had now
+come up, "but it has been a close touch, and it was only by the
+gallantry of this young gentleman and another with him that the lives
+of three girls and a woman were rescued. I think all the men that can
+be spared had better go round to the houses in that direction. You
+see, the wind is setting that way, and the only hope of stopping the
+progress of the fire is to get plenty of men with buckets out on the
+roofs and at all the upper windows."
+
+The other gentleman gave the necessary orders to an officer.
+
+"Now, young sir, may I ask your name?" the other said to Cyril.
+
+"Cyril Shenstone, sir," he replied respectfully; for he saw that the
+two men before him were persons of rank.
+
+"Shenstone? I know the name well. Are you any relation of Sir Aubrey
+Shenstone?"
+
+"He was my father, sir."
+
+"A brave soldier, and a hearty companion," the other said warmly. "He
+rode behind me scores of times into the thick of the fight. I am
+Prince Rupert, lad."
+
+Cyril doffed his hat in deep respect. His father had always spoken of
+the Prince in terms of boundless admiration, and had over and over
+again lamented that he had not been able to join the Prince in his
+exploits at sea.
+
+"What has become of my old friend?" the Prince asked.
+
+"He died six months ago, Prince."
+
+"I am sorry to hear it. I did hear that, while I was away, he had
+been suing at Court. I asked for him, but could get no tidings of his
+whereabouts. But we cannot speak here. Ask for me to-morrow at
+Whitehall. Do you know this gentleman?"
+
+"No, sir, I have not the honour."
+
+"This is the Duke of Albemarle, my former enemy, but now my good
+friend. You will like the lad no worse, my Lord, because his father
+more than once rode with me into the heart of your ranks."
+
+"Certainly not," the Duke said. "It is clear that the son will be as
+gallant a gentleman as his father was before him, and, thank God! it
+is not against Englishmen that he will draw his sword. You may count
+me as your friend, sir, henceforth."
+
+Cyril bowed deeply and retired, while Prince Rupert and the Duke
+hurried away again to see that the operations they had directed were
+properly carried out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE DUTCH
+
+
+After leaving Prince Rupert, Cyril returned to John Wilkes, who was
+standing a short distance away.
+
+"John! John!" he said eagerly, as he joined him. "Who do you think
+those gentlemen are?"
+
+"I don't know, lad. It is easy to see that they are men of importance
+by the way they order everyone about."
+
+"The one who went with us to the garden is Prince Rupert; the other
+is the Duke of Albemarle. And the Prince has told me to call upon him
+to-morrow at Whitehall."
+
+"That is a stroke of luck, indeed, lad, and right glad am I that I
+took it into my head to fetch you out to see the fire. But more than
+that, you have to thank yourself, for, indeed, you behaved right
+gallantly. You nearly had the Prince for your helper, for just before
+I went up the ladder the last time he stepped forward and said to me,
+'You must be well-nigh spent, man. I will go up this time.' However,
+I said that I would finish the work, and so, without more ado, I
+shook off the hand he had placed on my arm, and ran up after you.
+Well, it is a stroke of good fortune to you, lad, that you should
+have shown your courage under his eye--no one is more able to
+appreciate a gallant action. This may help you a long way towards
+bringing about the aim you were talking about the other night, and I
+may live to see you Sir Cyril Shenstone yet."
+
+"You can see me that now," Cyril said, laughing. "My father was a
+baronet, and therefore at his death I came into the title, though I
+am not silly enough to go about the City as Sir Cyril Shenstone when
+I am but a poor clerk. It will be time enough to call myself 'Sir'
+when I see some chance of buying back our estate, though, indeed, I
+have thought of taking the title again when I embark on foreign
+service, as it may help me somewhat in obtaining promotion. But do
+not say anything about it at home. I am Cyril Shenstone, and have
+been fortunate enough to win the friendship of Captain Dave, and I
+should not be so comfortable were there any change made in my
+position in the family. A title is an empty thing, John, unless there
+are means to support it, and plain Cyril Shenstone suits my position
+far better than a title without a guinea in my purse. Indeed, till
+you spoke just now, I had well-nigh forgotten that I have the right
+to call myself 'Sir.'"
+
+They waited for two hours longer. At the end of that time four
+mansions had been burnt to the ground, but the further progress of
+the flames had been effectually stayed. The crowd had already begun
+to scatter, and as they walked eastward the streets were full of
+people making their way homeward. The bell of St. Paul's was striking
+midnight as they entered. The Captain and his family had long since
+gone off to bed.
+
+"This reminds one of that last business," John whispered, as they
+went quietly upstairs.
+
+"It does, John. But it has been a pleasanter evening in every way
+than those fruitless watches we kept in the street below."
+
+The next morning the story of the fire was told, and excited great
+interest.
+
+"Who were the girls you saved, Cyril?" Nellie asked.
+
+"I don't know. I did not think of asking to whom the house belonged,
+nor, indeed, was there anyone to ask. Most of the people were too
+busy to talk to, and the rest were spectators who had, like
+ourselves, managed to make their way in through the lines of the
+soldiers and watch."
+
+"Were they ladies?"
+
+"I really don't know," Cyril laughed. "The smoke was too thick to see
+anything about them, and I should not know them if I met them to-day;
+and, besides, when you only see a young person in her nightdress, it
+is hard to form any opinion as to her rank."
+
+Nellie joined in the laugh.
+
+"I suppose not, Cyril. It might make a difference to you, though.
+Those houses in the Savoy are almost all the property of noblemen,
+and you might have gained another powerful friend if they had been
+the daughters of one."
+
+"I should not think they were so," Cyril said. "There seemed to be no
+one else in the house but three maid servants and the woman who was
+in the room with them. I should say the family were all away and the
+house left in charge of servants. The woman may have been a
+housekeeper, and the girls her children; besides, even had it been
+otherwise, it was merely by chance that I helped them out. It was
+John who tied the ladders together and who carried the girls down,
+one by one. If I had been alone I should only have had time to save
+the youngest, for I am not accustomed to running up and down ladders,
+as he is, and by the time I had got her down it would have been too
+late to have saved the others. Indeed, I am not sure that we did save
+them; they were all insensible, and, for aught I know, may not have
+recovered from the effects of the smoke. My eyes are smarting even
+now."
+
+"And so you are to see Prince Rupert to-day, Cyril?" Captain Dave
+said. "I am afraid we shall be losing you, for he will, I should say,
+assuredly appoint you to one of his ships if you ask him."
+
+"That would be good fortune indeed," Cyril said. "I cannot but think
+myself that he may do so, though it would be almost too good to be
+true. Certainly he spoke very warmly, and, although he may not
+himself have the appointment of his officers, a word from him at the
+Admiralty would, no doubt, be sufficient. At any rate, it is a great
+thing indeed to have so powerful a friend at Court. It may be that,
+at the end of another two years, we may be at war with some other
+foreign power, and that I may be able to enter our own army instead
+of seeking service abroad. If not, much as I should like to go to sea
+to fight against the Dutch, service in this Fleet would be of no real
+advantage to me, for the war may last but for a short time, and as
+soon as it is over the ships will be laid up again and the crews
+disbanded."
+
+"Ay, but if you find the life of a sailor to your liking, Cyril, you
+might do worse than go into the merchant service. I could help you
+there, and you might soon get the command of a trader. And, let me
+tell you, it is a deal better to walk the decks as captain than it is
+to be serving on shore with twenty masters over you; and there is
+money to be made, too. A captain is always allowed to take in a
+certain amount of cargo on his own account; that was the way I
+scraped together money enough to buy my own ship at last, and to be
+master as well as owner, and there is no reason why you should not do
+the same."
+
+"Thank you, Captain Dave. I will think it over when I find out
+whether I like a sea life, but at present it seems to me that my
+inclinations turn rather towards the plan that my father recommended,
+and that, for the last two years, I have always had before me. You
+said, the other day, you had fought the Dutch, John?"
+
+"Ay, ay, Master Cyril; but, in truth, it was from no wish or desire
+on my part that I did so. I had come ashore from Captain Dave's ship
+here in the Pool, and had been with some of my messmates who had
+friends in Wapping and had got three days' leave ashore, as the cargo
+we expected had not come on board the ship. We had kept it up a bit,
+and it was latish when I was making my way down to the stairs. I
+expect that I was more intent on making a straight course down the
+street than in looking about for pirates, when suddenly I found
+myself among a lot of men. One of them seized me by the arm.
+
+"'Hands off, mate!' says I, and I lifted my fist to let fly at him,
+when I got a knock at the back of the head. The next thing I knew
+was, I was lying in the hold of a ship, and, as I made out presently,
+with a score of others, some of whom were groaning, and some cursing.
+
+"'Hullo, mates!' says I. 'What port is this we are brought up in?'
+
+"'We are on board the _Tartar_,' one said.
+
+"I knew what that meant, for the _Tartar_ was the receiving hulk
+where they took the pressed men.
+
+"The next morning, without question asked, we were brought up on
+deck, tumbled into a small sloop, and taken down to Gravesend, and
+there put, in batches of four or five, into the ships of war lying
+there. It chanced that I was put on board Monk's flagship the
+_Resolution_. And that is how it was I came to fight the Dutch."
+
+"What year was that in, John?"
+
+"'53--in May it was. Van Tromp, at that time, with ninety-eight ships
+of war, and six fire-ships, was in the Downs, and felt so much Master
+of the Sea that he sailed in and battered Dover Castle."
+
+"Then you were in the fight of the 2nd of June?"
+
+"Ay; and in that of the 31st of July, which was harder still."
+
+"Tell me all about it, John."
+
+"Lor' bless you, sir, there is nothing to tell as far as I was
+concerned. I was at one of the guns on the upper deck, but I might as
+well have been down below for anything I saw of it. It was just load
+and fire, load and fire. Sometimes, through the clouds of smoke, one
+caught a sight of the Dutchman one was firing at; more often one
+didn't. There was no time for looking about, I can tell you, and if
+there had been time there was nothing to see. It was like being in a
+big thunderstorm, with thunderbolts falling all round you, and a
+smashing and a grinding and a ripping that would have made your hair
+stand on end if you had only had time to think of it. But we hadn't
+time. It was 'Now then, my hearties, blaze away! Keep it up, lads!
+The Dutchmen have pretty near had enough of it!' And then, at last,
+'They are running, lads. Run in your guns, and tend the sails.' And
+then a cheer as loud as we could give--which wasn't much, I can tell
+you, for we were spent with labour, and half choked with powder, and
+our tongues parched up with thirst."
+
+"How many ships had you?"
+
+"We had ninety-five war-ships, and five fire-ships, so the game was
+an equal one. They had Tromp and De Ruyter to command them, and we
+had Monk and Deane. Both Admirals were on board our ship, and in the
+very first broadside the Dutch fired a chain-shot, and pretty well
+cut Admiral Deane in two. I was close to him at the time. Monk, who
+was standing by his side, undid his own cloak in a moment, threw it
+over his comrade, and held up his hand to the few of us that had seen
+what had happened, to take no notice of it.
+
+"It was a good thing that Deane and Monk were on board the same ship.
+If it had not been so, Deane's flag would have been hauled down and
+all the Fleet would have known of his death, which, at the
+commencement of the fight, would have greatly discouraged the men.
+
+"They told me, though I know naught about it, that Rear-Admiral
+Lawson charged with the Blue Squadron right through the Dutch line,
+and so threw them into confusion. However, about three o'clock, the
+fight having begun at eleven, Van Tromp began to draw off, and we got
+more sail on the _Resolution_ and followed them for some hours, they
+making a sort of running fight of it, till one of their big ships
+blew up, about nine in the evening, when they laid in for shore.
+Blake came up in the night with eighteen ships. The Dutch tried to
+draw off, but at eight o'clock we came up to them, and, after
+fighting for four hours, they hauled off and ran, in great confusion,
+for the flats, where we could not follow them, and so they escaped to
+Zeeland. We heard that they had six of their best ships sunk, two
+blown up and eleven taken, but whether it was so or not I knew not,
+for, in truth, I saw nothing whatever of the matter.
+
+"We sailed to the Texel, and there blocked in De Ruyter's squadron of
+twenty-five large ships, and we thought that there would be no more
+fighting, for the Dutch had sent to England to ask for terms of
+peace. However, we were wrong, and, to give the Dutchmen their due,
+they showed resolution greater than we gave them credit for, for we
+were astonished indeed to hear, towards the end of July, that Van
+Tromp had sailed out again with upwards of ninety ships.
+
+"On the 29th they came in view, and we sailed out to engage them, but
+they would not come to close quarters, and it was seven at night
+before the _Resolution_, with some thirty other ships, came up to
+them and charged through their line. By the time we had done that it
+was quite dark, and we missed them altogether and sailed south,
+thinking Van Tromp had gone that way; but, instead, he had sailed
+north, and in the morning we found he had picked up De Ruyter's
+fleet, and was ready to fight. But we had other things to think of
+besides fighting that day, for the wind blew so hard that it was as
+much as we could do to keep off the shore, and if the gale had
+continued a good part of the ships would have left their bones there.
+However, by nightfall the gale abated somewhat, and by the next
+morning the sea had gone down sufficient for the main deck ports to
+be opened. So the Dutch, having the weather gauge, sailed down to
+engage us.
+
+"I thought it rough work in the fight two months before, but it was
+as nothing to this. To begin with, the Dutch fire-ships came down
+before the wind, and it was as much as we could do to avoid them.
+They did, indeed, set the _Triumph_ on fire, and most of the crew
+jumped overboard; but those that remained managed to put out the
+flames.
+
+"Lawson, with the Blue Squadron, began the fighting, and that so
+briskly, that De Ruyter's flagship was completely disabled and towed
+out of the fight. However, after I had seen that, our turn began, and
+I had no more time to look about. I only know that ship after ship
+came up to engage us, seeming bent upon lowering Monk's flag. Three
+Dutch Admirals, Tromp, Evertson, and De Ruyter, as I heard
+afterwards, came up in turn. We did not know who they were, but we
+knew they were Admirals by their flags, and pounded them with all our
+hearts; and so good was our aim that I myself saw two of the
+Admirals' flags brought down, and they say that all three of them
+were lowered. But you may guess the pounding was not all on our side,
+and we suffered very heavily.
+
+"Four men were hurt at the gun I worked, and nigh half the crew were
+killed or wounded. Two of our masts were shot away, many of our guns
+disabled, and towards the end of the fight we were towed out of the
+line. How the day would have gone if Van Tromp had continued in
+command of the Dutch, I cannot say, but about noon he was shot
+through the body by a musket-ball, and this misfortune greatly
+discouraged the Dutchmen, who fight well as long as things seem to be
+going their way, but lose heart very easily when they think the
+matter is going against them.
+
+"By about two o'clock the officers shouted to us that the Dutch were
+beginning to draw off, and it was not long before they began to fly,
+each for himself, and in no sort of order. Some of our light
+frigates, that had suffered less than the line-of-battle ships,
+followed them until the one Dutch Admiral whose flag was left flying,
+turned and fought them till two or three of our heavier ships came up
+and he was sunk.
+
+"We could see but little of the chase, having plenty of work, for,
+had a gale come on, our ship, and a good many others, would assuredly
+have been driven ashore, in the plight we were in. Anyhow, at night
+their ships got into the Texel, and our vessels, which had been
+following them, anchored five or six leagues out, being afraid of the
+sands. Altogether we had burnt or sunk twenty-six of their ships of
+war, while we lost only two frigates, both of which were burnt by
+their fire-ships.
+
+"As it was certain that they would not come out for some time again,
+and many of our ships being unfit for further contention until
+repaired, we returned to England, and I got my discharge and joined
+Captain Dave again a fortnight later, when his ship came up the
+river.
+
+"Monk is a good fighter, Master Cyril, and should have the command of
+the Fleet instead of, as they say, the Duke of York. Although he is
+called General, and not Admiral, he is as good a sea-dog as any of
+them, and he can think as well as fight.
+
+"Among our ships that day were several merchantmen that had been
+taken up for the service at the last moment and had guns slapped on
+board, with gunners to work them. Some of them had still their
+cargoes in the hold, and Monk, thinking that it was likely the
+captains would think more of saving their ships and goods than of
+fighting the Dutch, changed the captains all round, so that no man
+commanded his own vessel. And the consequence was that, as all
+admitted, the merchantmen were as willing to fight as any, and bore
+themselves right stoutly.
+
+"Don't you think, Master Cyril, if you go with the Fleet, that you
+are going to see much of what goes on. It will be worse for you than
+it was for me, for there was I, labouring and toiling like a dumb
+beast, with my mind intent upon working the gun, and paying no heed
+to the roar and confusion around, scarce even noticing when one
+beside me was struck down. You will be up on the poop, having naught
+to do but to stand with your hand on your sword hilt, and waiting to
+board an enemy or to drive back one who tries to board you. You will
+find that you will be well-nigh dazed and stupid with the din and
+uproar."
+
+"It does not sound a very pleasant outlook, John," Cyril laughed.
+"However, if I ever do get into an engagement, I will think of what
+you have said, and will try and prevent myself from getting either
+dazed or stupid; though, in truth, I can well imagine that it is
+enough to shake anyone's nerves to stand inactive in so terrible a
+scene."
+
+"You will have to take great care of yourself, Cyril," Nellie said
+gravely.
+
+Captain Dave and John Wilkes both burst into a laugh.
+
+"How is he to take care of himself, Nellie?" her father said. "Do you
+suppose that a man on deck would be any the safer were he to stoop
+down with his head below the rail, or to screw himself up on the
+leeward side of a mast? No, no, lass; each man has to take his share
+of danger, and the most cowardly runs just as great a risk as the man
+who fearlessly exposes himself."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+PRINCE RUPERT
+
+
+The next day Cyril went down to breakfast in what he had often
+called, laughingly, his Court suit. This suit he had had made for him
+a short time before his father's death, to replace the one he had
+when he came over, that being altogether outgrown. He had done so to
+please Sir Aubrey, who had repeatedly expressed his anxiety that
+Cyril should always be prepared to take advantage of any good fortune
+that might befall him. This was the first time he had put it on.
+
+"Well, truly you look a pretty fellow, Cyril," the Captain said, as
+he entered. "Don't you think so, Nellie?"
+
+The girl nodded.
+
+"I don't know that I like him better than in his black suit, father.
+But he looks very well."
+
+"Hullo, lass! This is a change of opinion, truly! For myself I care
+not one jot for the fashion of a man's clothes, but I had thought
+that you always inclined to gay attire, and Cyril now would seem
+rather to belong to the Court than to the City."
+
+"If it had been any other morning, father, I might have thought more
+of Cyril's appearance; but what you were telling us but now of the
+continuance of the Plague is so sad, that mourning, rather than Court
+attire, would seem to be the proper wear."
+
+"Is the Plague spreading fast, then, Captain Dave?"
+
+"No; but it is not decreasing, as we had hoped it would do. From the
+beginning of December the deaths rose steadily until the end of
+January. While our usual death-rate is under three hundred it went to
+four hundred and seventy-four. Then the weather setting in very
+severe checked it till the end of February, and we all hoped that the
+danger was over, and that we should be rid of the distemper before
+the warm weather set in; but for the last fortnight there has been a
+rise rather than a fall--not a large one, but sufficient to cause
+great alarm that it will continue until warm weather sets in, and may
+then grow into terrible proportions. So far, there has been no case
+in the City, and it is only in the West that it has any hold, the
+deaths being altogether in the parishes of St. Giles's, St. Andrew's,
+St. Bride's, and St. James's, Clerkenwell. Of course, there have been
+cases now and then for many years past, and nine years ago it spread
+to a greater extent than now, and were we at the beginning of winter
+instead of nearing summer there would be no occasion to think much of
+the matter; but, with the hot weather approaching, and the tales we
+hear of the badness of the Plague in foreign parts one cannot but
+feel anxious."
+
+"And they say, too, that there have been prophecies of grievous evils
+in London," Nellie put in.
+
+"We need not trouble about that," her father replied. "The
+Anabaptists prophesied all sorts of evils in Elizabeth's time, but
+naught came of it. There are always men and women with disordered
+minds, who think that they are prophets, and have power to see
+further into the future than other people, but no one minds them or
+thinks aught of their wild words save at a time like the present,
+when there is a danger of war or pestilence. You remember Bill Vokes,
+John?"
+
+"I mind him, yer honour. A poor, half-crazed fellow he was, and yet a
+good seaman, who would do his duty blow high or blow low. He sailed
+six voyages with us, Captain."
+
+"And never one of them without telling the crew that the ship would
+never return to port. He had had dreams about it, and the black cat
+had mewed when he left home, and he saw the three magpies in a tree
+hard by when he stepped from the door, and many other portents of
+that kind. The first time he well-nigh scared some of the crew, but
+after the first voyage--from which we came back safely, of
+course--they did but laugh at him; and as in all other respects he
+was a good sailor, and a willing fellow, I did not like to discharge
+him, for, once the men found out that his prophecies came to naught,
+they did no harm, and, indeed, they afforded them much amusement.
+Just as it is on board a ship, so it is elsewhere. If our vessel had
+gone down that first voyage, any man who escaped drowning would have
+said that Bill Vokes had not been without reason in his warnings, and
+that it was nothing less than flying in the face of Providence, to
+put to sea when the loss of the ship had been so surely foretold. So,
+on shore, the fools or madmen who have dreams and visions are not
+heeded when times are good, and men's senses sound, whereas, in
+troubled times, men take their ravings to heart. If all the
+scatterbrains had a good whipping at the pillory it would be well,
+both for them and for the silly people who pay attention to their
+ravings."
+
+A few minutes later, Cyril took a boat to the Whitehall steps, and
+after some delay was shown up to Prince Rupert's room.
+
+"None the worse for your exertions yester-even, young gentleman, I
+hope?" the Prince said, shaking hands with him warmly.
+
+"None, sir. The exertion was not great, and it was but the
+inconvenience of the smoke that troubled me in any way."
+
+"Have you been to inquire after the young ladies who owe their lives
+to you?"
+
+"No, sir; I know neither their names nor their condition, nor, had I
+wished it, could I have made inquiries, for I know not whither they
+were taken."
+
+"I sent round early this morning," the Prince said, "and heard that
+they were as well as might be expected after the adventure they went
+through. And now tell me about yourself, and what you have been
+doing. 'Tis one of the saddest things to me, since I returned to
+England, that so many good men who fought by my side have been made
+beggars in the King's service, and that I could do naught for them.
+'Tis a grievous business, and yet I see not how it is to be mended.
+The hardest thing is, that those who did most for the King's service
+are those who have suffered most deeply. None of those who were
+driven to sell their estates at a fraction of their value, in order
+to raise money for the King's treasury or to put men into the field,
+have received any redress. It would need a vast sum to buy back all
+their lands, and Parliament would not vote money for that purpose;
+nor would it be fair to turn men out of the estates that they bought
+and paid for. Do you not think so?" he asked suddenly, seeing, by the
+lad's face, that he was not in agreement with him.
+
+"No, sir; it does not seem to me that it would be unfair. These men
+bought the lands for, as you say, but a fraction of their value; they
+did so in the belief that Parliament would triumph, and their
+purchase was but a speculation grounded on that belief. They have had
+the enjoyment of the estates for years, and have drawn from them an
+income which has, by this time, brought them in a sum much exceeding
+that which they have adventured, and it does not seem to me that
+there would be any hardship whatever were they now called upon to
+restore them to their owners. 'Tis as when a man risks his money in a
+venture at sea. If all goes as he hopes he will make a great profit
+on his money. If the ship is cast away or taken by pirates, it is
+unfortunate, but he has no reason to curse his ill-luck if the ship
+had already made several voyages which have more than recouped the
+money he ventured."
+
+"Well and stoutly argued!" the Prince said approvingly. "But you must
+remember, young sir, that the King, on his return, was by no means
+strongly seated on the throne. There was the Army most evilly
+affected towards him; there were the Puritans, who lamented the upset
+of the work they or their fathers had done. All those men who had
+purchased the estates of the Royalists had families and friends, and,
+had these estates been restored to their rightful owners, there might
+have been an outbreak that would have shaken the throne again. Many
+would have refused to give up possession, save to force; and where
+was the force to come from? Even had the King had troops willing to
+carry out such a measure, they might have been met by force, and had
+blood once been shed, none can say how the trouble might have spread,
+or what might have been the end of it. And now, lad, come to your own
+fortunes."
+
+Cyril briefly related the story of his life since his return to
+London, stating his father's plan that he should some day take
+foreign service.
+
+"You have shown that you have a stout heart, young sir, as well as a
+brave one, and have done well, indeed, in turning your mind to earn
+your living by such talents as you have, rather than in wasting your
+time in vain hopes and in ceaseless importunities for justice. It may
+be that you have acted wisely in thinking of taking service on the
+Continent, seeing that we have no Army; and when the time comes, I
+will further your wishes to the utmost of my power. But in the
+meantime there is opportunity for service at home, and I will gladly
+appoint you as a Volunteer in my own ship. There are many gentlemen
+going with me in that capacity, and it would be of advantage to you,
+if, when I write to some foreign prince on your behalf, I can say
+that you have fought under my eye."
+
+"Thank you greatly, Prince. I have been wishing, above all things,
+that I could join the Fleet, and it would be, indeed, an honour to
+begin my career under the Prince of whom I heard so often from my
+father."
+
+Prince Rupert looked at his watch.
+
+"The King will be in the Mall now," he said. "I will take you across
+and present you to him. It is useful to have the _entree_ at Court,
+though perhaps the less you avail yourself of it the better."
+
+So saying, he rose, put on his hat, and, throwing his cloak over his
+shoulder, went across to the Mall, asking questions of Cyril as he
+went, and extracting from him a sketch of the adventure of his being
+kidnapped and taken to Holland.
+
+Presently they arrived at the spot where the King, with three or four
+nobles and gentlemen, had been playing. Charles was in a good humour,
+for he had just won a match with the Earl of Rochester.
+
+"Well, my grave cousin," he said merrily, "what brings you out of
+your office so early? No fresh demands for money, I hope?"
+
+"Not at present. And indeed, it is not to you that I should come on
+such a quest, but to the Duke of York."
+
+"And he would come to me," said the King; "so it is the same thing."
+
+"I have come across to present to your Majesty a very gallant young
+gentleman, who yesterday evening, at the risk of his life, saved the
+three daughters of the Earl of Wisbech from being burned at the fire
+in the Savoy, where his Lordship's mansion was among those that were
+destroyed. I beg to present to your Majesty Sir Cyril Shenstone, the
+son of the late Sir Aubrey Shenstone, a most gallant gentleman, who
+rode under my banner in many a stern fight in the service of your
+royal father."
+
+"I knew him well," the King said graciously, "but had not heard of
+his death. I am glad to hear that his son inherits his bravery. I
+have often regretted deeply that it was out of my power to requite,
+in any way, the services Sir Aubrey rendered, and the sacrifices he
+made for our House."
+
+His brow clouded a little, and he looked appealingly at Prince
+Rupert.
+
+"Sir Cyril Shenstone has no more intention of asking for favours than
+I have, Charles," the latter said. "He is going to accompany me as a
+Volunteer against the Dutch, and if the war lasts I shall ask for a
+better appointment for him."
+
+"That he shall have," the King said warmly. "None have a better claim
+to commissions in the Navy and Army than sons of gentlemen who fought
+and suffered in the cause of our royal father. My Lords," he said to
+the little group of gentlemen, who had been standing a few paces away
+while this conversation had been going on, "I would have you know Sir
+Cyril Shenstone, the son of a faithful adherent of my father, and
+who, yesterday evening, saved the lives of the three daughters of My
+Lord of Wisbech in the fire at the Savoy. He is going as a Volunteer
+with my cousin Rupert when he sails against the Dutch."
+
+The gentlemen all returned Cyril's salute courteously.
+
+"He will be fortunate in beginning his career under the eyes of so
+brave a Prince," the Earl of Rochester said, bowing to Prince Rupert.
+
+"It would be well if you all," the latter replied bluntly, "were to
+ship in the Fleet for a few months instead of wasting your time in
+empty pleasures."
+
+The Earl smiled. Prince Rupert's extreme disapproval of the life at
+Court was well known.
+
+"We cannot all be Bayards, Prince, and most of us would, methinks, be
+too sick at sea to be of much assistance, were we to go. But if the
+Dutchmen come here, which is not likely--for I doubt not, Prince,
+that you will soon send them flying back to their own ports--we shall
+all be glad to do our best to meet them when they land."
+
+The Prince made no reply, but, turning to the King, said,--
+
+"We will not detain you longer from your game, Cousin Charles. I have
+plenty to do, with all the complaints as to the state of the ships,
+and the lack of stores and necessaries."
+
+"Remember, I shall be glad to see you at my _levees_, Sir Cyril,"
+the King said, holding out his hand. "Do not wait for the Prince to
+bring you, for if you do you will wait long."
+
+Cyril doffed his hat, raised the King's hand to his lips, then, with
+a deep bow and an expression of thanks, followed Prince Rupert, who
+was already striding away.
+
+"You might have been better introduced," the Prince said when he
+overtook him. "Still it is better to be badly introduced than to have
+no introduction at all. I am too old for the flippancies of the
+Court. You had better show yourself there sometimes; you will make
+friends that may be useful. By the way, I have not your address, and
+it may be a fortnight or more before the _Henrietta_ is ready to
+take her crew on board." He took out his tablet and wrote down the
+address. "Come and see me if there is anything you want to ask me. Do
+not let the clerks keep you out with the pretence that I am busy, but
+send up your name to me, and tell them that I have ordered it shall
+be taken up, however I may be engaged."
+
+Having no occasion for haste, Cyril walked back to the City after
+leaving Prince Rupert. A great change had taken place in his fortunes
+in the last twenty-four hours. Then he had no prospects save
+continuing his work in the City for another two years, and even after
+that time he foresaw grave difficulties in the way of his obtaining a
+commission in a foreign army; for Sir John Parton, even if ready to
+carry out the promise he had formerly made him, might not have
+sufficient influence to do so. Now he was to embark in Prince
+Rupert's own ship. He would be the companion of many other gentlemen
+going out as Volunteers, and, at a bound, spring from the position of
+a writer in the City to that occupied by his father before he became
+involved in the trouble between King and Parliament. He was already
+admitted to Court, and Prince Rupert himself had promised to push his
+fortunes abroad.
+
+And yet he felt less elated than he would have expected from his
+sudden change. The question of money was the cloud that dulled the
+brightness of his prospects. As a Volunteer he would receive no pay,
+and yet he must make a fair show among the young noblemen and
+gentlemen who would be his companions. Doubtless they would be
+victualled on board, but he would have to dress well and probably pay
+a share in the expenses that would be incurred for wine and other
+things on board. Had it not been for the future he would have been
+inclined to regret that he had not refused the tempting offer; but
+the advantages to be gained by Prince Rupert's patronage were so
+large that he felt no sacrifice would be too great to that end--even
+that of accepting the assistance that Captain Dave had more than once
+hinted he should give him. It was just the dinner-hour when he
+arrived home.
+
+"Well, Cyril, I see by your face that the Prince has said nothing in
+the direction of your wishes," Captain Dave said, as he entered.
+
+"Then my face is a false witness, Captain Dave, for Prince Rupert has
+appointed me a Volunteer on board his own ship."
+
+"I am glad, indeed, lad, heartily glad, though your going will be a
+heavy loss to us all. But why were you looking so grave over it?"
+
+"I have been wondering whether I have acted wisely in accepting it,"
+Cyril said. "I am very happy here, I am earning my living, I have no
+cares of any sort, and I feel that it is a very serious matter to
+make a change. The Prince has a number of noblemen and gentlemen
+going with him as Volunteers, and I feel that I shall be out of my
+element in such company. At the same time I have every reason to be
+thankful, for Prince Rupert has promised that he will, after the war
+is over, give me introductions which will procure me a commission
+abroad."
+
+"Well, then, it seems to me that things could not look better,"
+Captain Dave said heartily. "When do you go on board?"
+
+"The Prince says it may be another fortnight; so that I shall have
+time to make my preparations, and warn the citizens I work for, that
+I am going to leave them."
+
+"I should say the sooner the better, lad. You will have to get your
+outfit and other matters seen to. Moreover, now that you have been
+taken under Prince Rupert's protection, and have become, as it were,
+an officer on his ship--for gentlemen Volunteers, although they have
+no duties in regard to working the ship, are yet officers--it is
+hardly seemly that you should be making up the accounts of bakers and
+butchers, ironmongers, and ship's storekeepers."
+
+"The work is honest, and I am in no way ashamed of it," Cyril said;
+"but as I have many things to see about, I suppose I had better give
+them notice at once. Prince Rupert presented me to the King to-day,
+and His Majesty requested me to attend at Court, which I should be
+loath to do, were it not that the Prince urged upon me that it was of
+advantage that I should make myself known."
+
+"One would think, Master Cyril, that this honour which has suddenly
+befallen you is regarded by you as a misfortune," Mrs. Dowsett said,
+laughing. "Most youths would be overjoyed at such a change in their
+fortune."
+
+"It would be all very pleasant," Cyril said, "had I the income of my
+father's estate at my back; but I feel that I shall be in a false
+position, thus thrusting myself among men who have more guineas in
+their pockets than I have pennies. However, it seems that the matter
+has been taken out of my own hands, and that, as things have turned
+out, so I must travel. Who would have thought, when John Wilkes
+fetched me out last night to go to the fire, it would make an
+alteration in my whole life, and that such a little thing as climbing
+up a ladder and helping to get three girls out of a room full of
+smoke--and John Wilkes did the most difficult part of the work--was
+to change all my prospects?"
+
+"There was a Providence in it, Cyril," Mrs. Dowsett said gently.
+"Why, else, should you have gone up that ladder, when, to all
+seeming, there was no one there. The maids were so frightened, John
+says, that they would never have said a word about there being anyone
+in that room, and the girls would have perished had you not gone up.
+Now as, owing to that, everything has turned out according to your
+wishes, it would be a sin not to take advantage of it, for you may be
+sure that, as the way has thus been suddenly opened to you, so will
+all other things follow in due course."
+
+"Thank you, madam," Cyril said simply. "I had not thought of it in
+that light, but assuredly you are right, and I will not suffer myself
+to be daunted by the difficulties there may be in my way."
+
+John Wilkes now came in and sat down to the meal. He was vastly
+pleased when he heard of the good fortune that had befallen Cyril.
+
+"It seems to me," Cyril said, "that I am but an impostor, and that at
+least some share in the good luck ought to have fallen to you, John,
+seeing that you carried them all down the ladder."
+
+"I have carried heavier bales, many a time, much longer distances
+than that--though I do not say that the woman was not a tidy weight,
+for, indeed, she was; but I would have carried down ten of them for
+the honour I had in being shaken by the hand by Prince Rupert, as
+gallant a sailor as ever sailed a ship. No, no; what I did was all in
+a day's work, and no more than lifting anchors and chains about in
+the storehouse. As for honours, I want none of them. I am moored in a
+snug port here, and would not leave Captain Dave if they would make a
+Duke of me."
+
+Nellie had said no word of congratulation to Cyril, but as they rose
+from dinner, she said, in low tones,--
+
+"You know I am pleased, and hope that you will have all the good
+fortune you deserve."
+
+Cyril set out at once to make a round of the shops where he worked.
+The announcement that he must at once terminate his connection with
+them, as he was going on board the Fleet, was everywhere received
+with great regret.
+
+"I would gladly pay double," one said, "rather than that you should
+go, for, indeed, it has taken a heavy load off my shoulders, and I
+know not how I shall get on in the future."
+
+"I should think there would be no difficulty in getting some other
+young clerk to do the work," Cyril said.
+
+"Not so easy," the man replied. "I had tried one or two before, and
+found they were more trouble than they were worth. There are not many
+who write as neatly as you do, and you do as much in an hour as some
+would take a day over. However, I wish you good luck, and if you
+should come back, and take up the work again, or start as a scrivener
+in the City, I can promise you that you shall have my books again,
+and that among my friends I can find you as much work as you can get
+through."
+
+Something similar was said to him at each of the houses where he
+called, and he felt much gratified at finding that his work had given
+such satisfaction.
+
+When he came in to supper, Cyril was conscious that something had
+occurred of an unusual nature. Nellie's eyes were swollen with
+crying; Mrs. Dowsett had also evidently been in tears; while Captain
+Dave was walking up and down the room restlessly.
+
+The servant was placing the things upon the table, and, just as they
+were about to take their seats, the bell of the front door rang
+loudly.
+
+"See who it is, John," Captain Dave said. "Whoever it is seems to be
+in a mighty hurry."
+
+In a minute or two John returned, followed by a gentleman. The latter
+paused at the door, and then said, bowing courteously, as he
+advanced, to Mrs. Dowsett,--
+
+"I must ask pardon for intruding on your meal, madam, but my business
+is urgent. I am the Earl of Wisbech, and I have called to see Sir
+Cyril Shenstone, to offer him my heartfelt thanks for the service he
+has rendered me by saving the lives of my daughters."
+
+All had risen to their feet as he entered, and there was a slight
+exclamation of surprise from the Captain, his wife, and daughter, as
+the Earl said "Sir Cyril Shenstone."
+
+Cyril stepped forward.
+
+"I am Cyril Shenstone, my Lord," he said, "and had the good fortune
+to be able, with the assistance of my friend here, John Wilkes, to
+rescue your daughters, though, at the time, indeed, I was altogether
+ignorant of their rank. It was a fortunate occurrence, but I must
+disclaim any merit in the action, for it was by mere accident that,
+mounting to the window by a ladder, I saw them lying insensible on
+the ground."
+
+"Your modesty does you credit, sir," the Earl said, shaking him
+warmly by the hand. "But such is not the opinion of Prince Rupert,
+who described it to me as a very gallant action; and, moreover, he
+said that it was you who first brought him the news that there were
+females in the house, which he and others had supposed to be empty,
+and that it was solely owing to you that the ladders were taken
+round."
+
+"Will you allow me, my Lord, to introduce to you Captain Dowsett, his
+wife, and daughter, who have been to me the kindest of friends?"
+
+"A kindness, my Lord," Captain Dave said earnestly, "that has been
+repaid a thousandfold by this good youth, of whose rank we were
+indeed ignorant until you named it. May I ask you to honour us by
+joining in our meal?"
+
+"That will I right gladly, sir," the Earl said, "for, in truth, I
+have scarce broke my fast to-day. I was down at my place in Kent when
+I was awoke this morning by one of my grooms, who had ridden down
+with the news that my mansion in the Savoy had been burned, and that
+my daughters had had a most narrow escape of their lives. Of course,
+I mounted at once and rode to town, where I was happy in finding that
+they had well-nigh recovered from the effects of their fright and the
+smoke. Neither they nor the nurse who was with them could give me any
+account of what had happened, save that they had, as they supposed,
+become insensible from the smoke. When they recovered, they found
+themselves in the Earl of Surrey's house, to which it seems they had
+been carried. After inquiry, I learned that the Duke of Albemarle and
+Prince Rupert had both been on the scene directing operations. I went
+to the latter, with whom I have the honour of being well acquainted,
+and he told me the whole story, saying that had it not been for Sir
+Cyril Shenstone, my daughters would certainly have perished. He gave
+credit, too, to Sir Cyril's companion, who, he said, carried them
+down the ladder, and himself entered the burning room the last time,
+to aid in bringing out the nurse, who was too heavy for the rescuer
+of my daughters to lift. Save a cup of wine and a piece of bread,
+that I took on my first arrival, I have not broken my fast to-day."
+
+Then he seated himself on a chair that Cyril had placed for him
+between Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie.
+
+Captain Dave whispered to John Wilkes, who went out, and returned in
+two or three minutes with three or four flasks of rare Spanish wine
+which the Captain had brought back on his last voyage, and kept for
+drinking on special occasions. The dame always kept an excellent
+table, and although she made many apologies to the Earl, he assured
+her that none were needed, for that he could have supped no better in
+his own house.
+
+"I hear," he said presently to Cyril, "that you are going out as a
+Volunteer in Prince Rupert's ship. My son is also going with him, and
+I hope, in a day or two, to introduce him to you. He is at present at
+Cambridge, but, having set his mind on sailing with the Prince, I
+have been fain to allow him to give up his studies. I heard from
+Prince Rupert that you had recently been kidnapped and taken to
+Holland. He gave me no particulars, nor did I ask them, being
+desirous of hurrying off at once to express my gratitude to you. How
+was it that such an adventure befell you--for it would hardly seem
+likely that you could have provoked the enmity of persons capable of
+such an outrage?"
+
+"It was the result of his services to me, my Lord," Captain Dave
+said. "Having been a sea-captain, I am but a poor hand at accounts;
+but, having fallen into this business at the death of my father, it
+seemed simple enough for me to get on without much book-learning. I
+made but a bad shape at it; and when Master Shenstone, as he then
+called himself, offered to keep my books for me, it seemed to me an
+excellent mode of saving myself worry and trouble. However, when he
+set himself to making up the accounts of my stock, he found that I
+was nigh eight hundred pounds short; and, setting himself to watch,
+discovered that my apprentices were in alliance with a band of
+thieves, and were nightly robbing me. We caught them and two of the
+thieves in the act. One of the latter was the receiver, and on his
+premises the proceeds of a great number of robberies were found, and
+there was no doubt that he was the chief of a notorious gang, called
+the 'Black Gang,' which had for a long time infested the City and the
+surrounding country. It was to prevent Sir Cyril from giving evidence
+at the trial that he was kidnapped and sent away. He was placed in
+the house of a diamond merchant, to whom the thieves were in the
+habit of consigning jewels; and this might well have turned out fatal
+to him, for to the same house came my elder apprentice and one of the
+men captured with him--a notorious ruffian--who had been rescued from
+the constables by a gang of their fellows, in open daylight, in the
+City. These, doubtless, would have compassed his death had he not
+happily seen them enter the house, and made his escape, taking
+passage in a coaster bound for Dunkirk, from which place he took
+another ship to England. Thus you see, my Lord, that I am indebted to
+him for saving me from a further loss that might well have ruined
+me."
+
+He paused, and glanced at Nellie, who rose at once, saying to the
+Earl,--
+
+"I trust that your Lordship will excuse my mother and myself. My
+father has more to tell you; at least, I should wish him to do so."
+
+Then, taking her mother's hand, she curtsied deeply, and they left
+the room together.
+
+"Such, my Lord, as I have told you, is the service, so far as I knew
+till this afternoon, Sir Cyril Shenstone has rendered me. That was no
+small thing, but it is very little to what I know now that I am
+indebted to him. After he went out I was speaking with my wife on
+money matters, desiring much to be of assistance to him in the matter
+of the expedition on which he is going. Suddenly my daughter burst
+into tears and left the room. I naturally bade my wife follow her and
+learn what ailed her. Then, with many sobs and tears, she told her
+mother that we little knew how much we were indebted to him. She said
+she had been a wicked girl, having permitted herself to be accosted
+several times by a well-dressed gallant, who told her that he was the
+Earl of Harwich, who had professed great love for her, and urged her
+to marry him privately.
+
+"He was about to speak to her one day when she was out under Master
+Cyril's escort. The latter interfered, and there was well-nigh a
+_fracas_ between them. Being afraid that some of the lookers-on
+might know her, and bring the matter to our ears, she mentioned so
+much to us, and, in consequence, we did not allow her to go out
+afterwards, save in the company of her mother. Nevertheless, the man
+continued to meet her, and, as he was unknown to her mother, passed
+notes into her hand. To these she similarly replied, and at last
+consented to fly with him. She did so at night, and was about to
+enter a sedan chair in the lane near this house when they were
+interrupted by the arrival of Master Shenstone and my friend John
+Wilkes. The former, it seems, had his suspicions, and setting himself
+to watch, had discovered that she was corresponding with this
+man--whom he had found was not the personage he pretended to be, but
+a disreputable hanger-on of the Court, one John Harvey--and had then
+kept up an incessant watch, with the aid of John Wilkes, outside the
+house at night, until he saw her come out and join the fellow with
+two associates, when he followed her to the chair they had in
+readiness for her.
+
+"There was, she says, a terrible scene. Swords were drawn. John
+Wilkes knocked down one of the men, and Master Shenstone ran John
+Harvey through the shoulder. Appalled now at seeing how she had been
+deceived, and how narrowly she had escaped destruction, she returned
+with her rescuers to the house, and no word was ever said on the
+subject until she spoke this afternoon. We had noticed that a great
+change had come over her, and that she seemed to have lost all her
+tastes for shows and finery, but little did we dream of the cause.
+She said that she could not have kept the secret much longer in any
+case, being utterly miserable at the thought of how she had degraded
+herself and deceived us.
+
+"It was a sad story to have to hear, my Lord, but we have fully
+forgiven her, having, indeed, cause to thank God both for her
+preservation and for the good that this seems to have wrought in her.
+She had been a spoilt child, and, being well-favoured, her head had
+been turned by flattery, and she indulged in all sorts of foolish
+dreams. Now she is truly penitent for her folly. Had you not arrived,
+my Lord, I should, when we had finished our supper, have told Master
+Shenstone that I knew of this vast service he has rendered us--a
+service to which the other was as nothing. That touched my pocket
+only; this my only child's happiness. I have told you the story, my
+Lord, by her consent, in order that you might know what sort of a
+young fellow this gentleman who has rescued your daughter is. John, I
+thank you for your share in this matter," and, with tears in his
+eyes, he held out his hand to his faithful companion.
+
+"I thank you deeply, Captain Dowsett, for having told me this story,"
+the Earl said gravely. "It was a painful one to tell, and I feel sure
+that the circumstance will, as you say, be of lasting benefit to your
+daughter. It shows that her heart is a true and loyal one, or she
+would not have had so painful a story told to a stranger, simply that
+the true character of her preserver should be known. I need not say
+that it has had the effect she desired of raising Sir Cyril Shenstone
+highly in my esteem. Prince Rupert spoke of him very highly and told
+me how he had been honourably supporting himself and his father,
+until the death of the latter. Now I see that he possesses unusual
+discretion and acuteness, as well as bravery. Now I will take my
+leave, thanking you for the good entertainment that you have given
+me. I am staying at the house of the Earl of Surrey, Sir Cyril, and I
+hope that you will call to-morrow morning, in order that my daughters
+may thank you in person."
+
+Captain Dave and Cyril escorted the Earl to the door and then
+returned to the chamber above.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+NEW FRIENDS
+
+
+On arriving at the room upstairs, Captain Dave placed his hand on
+Cyril's shoulder and said:
+
+"How can I thank you, lad, for what you have done for us?"
+
+"By saying nothing further about it, Captain Dave. I had hoped that
+the matter would never have come to your ears, and yet I rejoice, for
+her own sake, that Mistress Nellie has told you all. I thought that
+she would do so some day, for I, too, have seen how much she has been
+changed since then, and though it becomes me not to speak of one
+older than myself, I think that the experience has been for her good,
+and, above all, I am rejoiced to find that you have fully forgiven
+her, for indeed I am sure that she has been grievously punished."
+
+"Well, well, lad, it shall be as you say, for indeed I am but a poor
+hand at talking, but believe me that I feel as grateful as if I could
+express myself rightly, and that the Earl of Wisbech cannot feel one
+whit more thankful to you for having saved the lives of his three
+children than I do for your having saved my Nellie from the
+consequences of her own folly. There is one thing that you must let
+me do--it is but a small thing, but at present I have no other way of
+showing what I feel: you must let me take upon myself, as if you had
+been my son, the expenses of this outfit of yours. I was talking of
+the matter, as you may have guessed by what I said to the Earl, when
+Nellie burst into tears; and if I contemplated this when I knew only
+you had saved me from ruin, how much more do I feel it now that you
+have done this greater thing? I trust that you will not refuse me and
+my wife this small opportunity of showing our gratitude. What say
+you, John Wilkes?"
+
+"I say, Captain Dave, that it is well spoken, and I am sure Master
+Cyril will not refuse your offer."
+
+"I will not, Captain Dave, providing that you let it be as a loan
+that I may perhaps some day be enabled to repay you. I feel that it
+would be churlish to refuse so kind an offer, and it will relieve me
+of the one difficulty that troubled me when the prospects in all
+other respects seemed so fair."
+
+"That is right, lad, and you have taken a load off my mind. You have
+not acted quite fairly by us in one respect, Master Cyril!"
+
+"How is that?" Cyril asked in surprise.
+
+"In not telling us that you were Sir Cyril Shenstone, and in letting
+us put you up in an attic, and letting you go about as Nellie's
+escort, as if you had been but an apprentice."
+
+Cyril laughed.
+
+"I said that my father was Sir Aubrey Shenstone, though I own that I
+did not say so until I had been here some time; but the fact that he
+was a Baronet and not a Knight made little difference. It was a
+friendless lad whom you took in and gave shelter to, Captain Dave,
+and--it mattered not whether he was plain Cyril or Sir Cyril. I had
+certainly no thought of taking my title again until I entered a
+foreign army, and indeed it would have been a disservice to me here
+in London. I should have cut but a poor figure asking for work and
+calling myself Sir Cyril Shenstone. I should have had to enter into
+all sorts of explanations before anyone would have believed me, and I
+don't think that, even with you, I should have been so comfortable as
+I have been."
+
+"Well, at any rate, no harm has been done," Captain Dave said; "but I
+think you might have told me."
+
+"If I had, Captain Dave, you would assuredly have told your wife and
+Mistress Nellie; and it was much more pleasant for me that things
+should be as they were."
+
+"Well, perhaps you were right, lad. And I own that I might not have
+let you work at my books, and worry over that robbery, had I known
+that you were of a station above me."
+
+"That you could never have known," Cyril said warmly. "We have been
+poor ever since I can remember. I owed my education to the kindness
+of friends of my mother, and in no way has my station been equal to
+that of a London trader like yourself. As to the title, it was but a
+matter of birth, and went but ill with an empty purse and a shabby
+doublet. In the future it may be useful, but until now, it has been
+naught, and indeed worse than naught, to me."
+
+The next morning when Cyril went into the parlour he found that
+Nellie was busy assisting the maid to lay the table. When the latter
+had left the room, the girl went up to Cyril and took his hand.
+
+"I have never thanked you yet," she said. "I could not bring myself
+to speak of it, but now that I have told them I can do so. Ever since
+that dreadful night I have prayed for you, morning and evening, and
+thanked God for sending you to my rescue. What a wicked girl you must
+have thought me--and with reason! But you could not think of me worse
+than I thought of myself. Now that my father and mother have forgiven
+me I shall be different altogether. I had before made up my mind to
+tell them. Still, it did not seem to me that I should ever be happy
+again. But now that I have had the courage to speak out, and they
+have been so good to me, a great weight is lifted off my mind, and I
+mean to learn to be a good housewife like my mother, and to try to be
+worthy, some day, of an honest man's love."
+
+"I am sure you will be," Cyril said warmly. "And so, Mistress Nellie,
+it has all turned out for the best, though it did not seem so at one
+time."
+
+At this moment Captain Dave came in. "I am glad to see you two
+talking together as of old," he said. "We had thought that there must
+be some quarrel between you, for you had given up rating him, Nellie.
+Give her a kiss, Cyril; she is a good lass, though she has been a
+foolish one. Nay, Nellie, do not offer him your cheek--it is the
+fashion to do that to every idle acquaintance. Kiss him heartily, as
+if you loved him. That is right, lass. Now let us to breakfast. Where
+is your mother? She is late."
+
+"I told her that I would see after the breakfast in future, father,
+and I have begun this morning--partly because it is my duty to take
+the work off her hands, and partly because I wanted a private talk
+with Sir Cyril."
+
+"I won't be called Sir Cyril under this roof," the lad said,
+laughing. "And I warn you that if anyone calls me so I will not
+answer. I have always been Cyril with you all, and I intend to remain
+so to the end, and you must remember that it is but a few months that
+I have had the right to the title, and was never addressed by it
+until by Prince Rupert. I was for the moment well nigh as much
+surprised as you were last night."
+
+An hour later Cyril again donned his best suit, and started to pay
+his visit to the Earl. Had he not seen him over-night, he would have
+felt very uncomfortable at the thought of the visit; but he had found
+him so pleasant and friendly, and so entirely free from any air of
+pride or condescension, that it seemed as if he were going to meet a
+friend. He was particularly struck with the manner in which he had
+placed Captain Dave and his family at their ease, and got them to
+talk as freely and naturally with him as if he had been an
+acquaintance of long standing. It seemed strange to him to give his
+name as Sir Cyril Shenstone to the lackeys at the door, and he almost
+expected to see an expression of amusement on their faces. They had,
+however, evidently received instructions respecting him, for he was
+without question at once ushered into the room in which the Earl of
+Wisbech and his daughters were sitting.
+
+The Earl shook him warmly by the hand, and then, turning to his
+daughters, said,--
+
+"This is the gentleman to whom you owe your lives, girls. Sir Cyril,
+these are my daughters--Lady Dorothy, Lady Bertha, and Lady Beatrice.
+It seems somewhat strange to have to introduce you, who have saved
+their lives, to them; but you have the advantage of them, for you
+have seen them before, but they have not until now seen your face."
+
+Each of the girls as she was named made a deep curtsey, and then
+presented her cheek to be kissed, as was the custom of the times.
+
+"They are somewhat tongue-tied," the Earl said, smiling, as the
+eldest of the three cast an appealing glance to him, "and have begged
+me to thank you in their names, which I do with all my heart, and beg
+you to believe that their gratitude is none the less deep because
+they have no words to express it. They generally have plenty to say,
+I can assure you, and will find their tongues when you are a little
+better acquainted."
+
+"I am most happy to have been of service to you, ladies," Cyril said,
+bowing deeply to them. "I can hardly say that I have the advantage
+your father speaks of, for in truth the smoke was so thick, and my
+eyes smarted so with it, that I could scarce see your faces."
+
+"Their attire, too, in no way helped you," the Earl said, with a
+laugh, "for, as I hear, their costume was of the slightest. I believe
+that Dorothy's chief concern is that she did not have time to attire
+herself in a more becoming toilette before the smoke overpowered
+her."
+
+"Now, father," the girl protested, with a pretty colour in her
+cheeks, "you know I have never said anything of the sort, though I
+did say that I wished I had thrown a cloak round me. It is not
+pleasant, whatever you may think, to know that one was handed down a
+ladder in one's nightdress."
+
+"I don't care about that a bit," Beatrice said; "but you did not say,
+father, that it was a young gentleman, no older than Sydney, who
+found us and carried us out. I had expected to see a great big man."
+
+"I don't think I said anything about his age, Beatrice, but simply
+told you that I had found out that it was Sir Cyril Shenstone that
+had saved you."
+
+"Is the nurse recovering, my Lord?"
+
+"She is still in bed, and the doctor says she will be some time
+before she quite recovers from the fright and shock. They were all
+sleeping in the storey above. It was Dorothy who first woke, and,
+after waking her sisters, ran into the nurse's room, which was next
+door, and roused her. The silly woman was so frightened that she
+could do nothing but stand at the window and scream until the girls
+almost dragged her away, and forced her to come downstairs. The
+smoke, however, was so thick that they could get no farther than the
+next floor; then, guided by the screams of the other servants, they
+opened a door and ran in, but, as you know, it was not the room into
+which the women had gone. The nurse fell down in a faint as soon as
+she got in. The girls, as it seems, dragged her as far as they could
+towards the window, but she was too heavy for them; and as they had
+not shut the door, the smoke poured in and overpowered them, and they
+fell beside her. The rest you know. She is a silly woman, and she has
+quite lost my confidence by her folly and cowardice, but she has been
+a good servant, and the girls, all of whom she nursed, were fond of
+her. Still, it is evident that she is not to be trusted in an
+emergency, and it was only because the girls' governess is away on a
+visit to her mother that she happened to be left in charge of them.
+Now, young ladies, you can leave us, as I have other matters to talk
+over with Sir Cyril."
+
+The three girls curtsied deeply, first to their father, and then to
+Cyril, who held the door for them to pass out.
+
+"Now, Sir Cyril," the Earl said, as the door closed behind them, "we
+must have a talk together. You may well believe that, after what has
+happened, I look upon you almost as part of my family, and that I
+consider you have given me the right to look after your welfare as if
+you were a near relation of my own; and glad I am to have learned
+yesterday evening that you are, in all respects, one whom I might be
+proud indeed to call a kinsman. Had you been a cousin of mine, with
+parents but indifferently off in worldly goods, it would have been my
+duty, of course, to push you forward and to aid you in every way to
+make a proper figure on this expedition. I think that, after what has
+happened, I have equally the right to do so, and what would have been
+my duty, had you been a relation, is no less a duty, and will
+certainly be a great gratification to me to do now. You understand
+me, do you not? I wish to take upon myself all the charges connected
+with your outfit, and to make you an allowance, similar to that which
+I shall give to my son, for your expenses on board ship. All this is
+of course but a slight thing, but, believe me, that when the
+expedition is over it will be my pleasure to help you forward to
+advancement in any course which you may choose."
+
+"I thank you most heartily, my Lord," Cyril said, "and would not
+hesitate to accept your help in the present matter, did I need it.
+However, I have saved some little money during the past two years,
+and Captain Dowsett has most generously offered me any sum I may
+require for my expenses, and has consented to allow me to take it as
+a loan to be repaid at some future time, should it be in my power to
+do so. Your offer, however, to aid me in my career afterwards, I most
+thankfully accept. My idea has always been to take service under some
+foreign prince, and Prince Rupert has most kindly promised to aid me
+in that respect; but after serving for a time at sea I shall be
+better enabled to judge than at present as to whether that course is
+indeed the best, and I shall be most thankful for your counsel in
+this and all other matters, and feel myself fortunate indeed to have
+obtained your good will and patronage."
+
+"Well, if it must be so, it must," the Earl said. "Your friend
+Captain Dowsett seems to me a very worthy man. You have placed him
+under an obligation as heavy as my own, and he has the first claim to
+do you service. In this matter, then, I must be content to stand
+aside, but on your return from sea it will be my turn, and I shall be
+hurt and grieved indeed if you do not allow me an opportunity of
+proving my gratitude to you. As to the career you speak of, it is a
+precarious one. There are indeed many English and Scotch officers who
+have risen to high rank and honour in foreign service; but to every
+one that so succeeds, how many fall unnoticed, and lie in unmarked
+graves, in well-nigh every country in Europe? Were you like so many
+of your age, bent merely on adventure and pleasure, the case would be
+different, but it is evident that you have a clear head for business,
+that you are steady and persevering, and such being the case, there
+are many offices under the Crown in which you might distinguish
+yourself and do far better than the vast majority of those who sell
+their swords to foreign princes, and become mere soldiers of fortune,
+fighting for a cause in which they have no interest, and risking
+their lives in quarrels that are neither their own nor their
+country's.
+
+"However, all this we can talk over when you come back after having,
+as I hope, aided in destroying the Dutch Fleet. I expect my son up
+to-morrow, and trust that you will accompany him to the King's
+_levee_, next Monday. Prince Rupert tells me that he has already
+presented you to the King, and that you were well received by him, as
+indeed you had a right to be, as the son of a gentleman who had
+suffered and sacrificed much in the Royal cause. But I will take the
+opportunity of introducing you to several other gentlemen who will
+sail with you. On the following day I shall be going down into Kent,
+and shall remain there until it is time for Sydney to embark. If you
+can get your preparations finished by that time, I trust that you
+will give us the pleasure of your company, and will stay with me
+until you embark with Sydney. In this way you will come to know us
+better, and to feel, as I wish you to feel, as one of the family."
+
+Cyril gratefully accepted the invitation, and then took his leave.
+
+Captain Dave was delighted when he heard the issue of his visit to
+the Earl.
+
+"I should never have forgiven you, lad, if you had accepted the
+Earl's offer to help you in the matter of this expedition. It is no
+great thing, and comes well within my compass, and I should have been
+sorely hurt had you let him come between us; but in the future I can
+do little, and he much. I have spoken to several friends who are
+better acquainted with public affairs than I am, and they all speak
+highly of him. He holds, for the most part, aloof from Court, which
+is to his credit seeing how matters go on there; but he is spoken of
+as a very worthy gentleman and one of merit, who might take a
+prominent part in affairs were he so minded. He has broad estates in
+Kent and Norfolk, and spends the greater part of his life at one or
+other of his country seats. Doubtless, he will be able to assist you
+greatly in the future."
+
+"I did not like to refuse his offer to go down with him to Kent,"
+Cyril said, "though I would far rather have remained here with you
+until we sail."
+
+"You did perfectly right, lad. It will cut short your stay here but a
+week, and it would be madness to refuse the opportunity of getting to
+know him and his family better. The Countess died three years ago, I
+hear, and he has shown no disposition to take another wife, as he
+might well do, seeing he is but a year or two past forty, and has as
+pleasant a face and manner as I have ever seen. He is not the sort of
+man to promise what he will not perform, Cyril, and more than ever do
+I think that it was a fortunate thing for you that John Wilkes
+fetched you to that fire in the Savoy. And now, lad, you have no time
+to lose. You must come with me at once to Master Woods, the tailor,
+in Eastcheap, who makes clothes not only for the citizens but for
+many of the nobles and gallants of the Court. In the first place, you
+will need a fitting dress for the King's _levee_; then you will need
+at least one more suit similar to that you now wear, and three for on
+board ship and for ordinary occasions, made of stout cloth, but in
+the fashion; then you must have helmet, and breast- and back-pieces
+for the fighting, and for these we will go to Master Lawrence, the
+armourer, in Cheapside. All these we will order to-day in my name,
+and put them down in your account to me. As to arms, you have your
+sword, and there is but a brace of pistols to be bought. You will
+want a few things such as thick cloaks for sea service; for though I
+suppose that Volunteers do not keep their watch, you may meet with
+rains and heavy weather, and you will need something to keep you
+dry."
+
+They sallied out at once. So the clothes were ordered, and the Court
+suit, with the best of the others promised by the end of the week;
+the armour was fitted on and bought, and a stock of fine shirts with
+ruffles, hose, and shoes, was also purchased. The next day Sydney
+Oliphant, the Earl's son, called upon Cyril. He was a frank, pleasant
+young fellow, about a year older than Cyril. He was very fond of his
+sisters, and expressed in lively terms his gratitude for their
+rescue.
+
+"This expedition has happened in the nick of time for me," he said,
+when, in accordance with his invitation, Cyril and he embarked in the
+Earl's boat in which he had been rowed to the City, "for I was in bad
+odour with the authorities, and was like, erelong, to have been sent
+home far less pleasantly; and although the Earl, my father, is very
+indulgent, he would have been terribly angry with me had it been so.
+To tell you the truth, at the University we are divided into two
+sets--those who read and those who don't--and on joining I found
+myself very soon among the latter. I don't think it was quite my
+fault, for I naturally fell in with companions whom I had known
+before, and it chanced that some of these were among the wildest
+spirits in the University.
+
+"Of course I had my horses, and, being fond of riding, I was more
+often in the saddle than in my seat in the college schools. Then
+there were constant complaints against us for sitting up late and
+disturbing the college with our melodies, and altogether we stood in
+bad odour with the Dons; and when they punished us we took our
+revenge by playing them pranks, until lately it became almost open
+war, and would certainly have ended before long in a score or more of
+us being sent down. I should not have minded that myself, but it
+would have grieved the Earl, and I am not one of the new-fashioned
+ones who care naught for what their fathers may say. He has been
+praising you up to the skies this morning, I can tell you--I don't
+mean only as to the fire but about other things--and says he hopes we
+shall be great friends, and I am sure I hope so too, and think so. He
+had been telling me about your finding out about their robbing that
+good old sea-captain you live with, and how you were kidnapped
+afterwards, and sent to Holland; and how, in another adventure,
+although he did not tell me how that came about, you pricked a
+ruffling gallant through the shoulder; so that you have had a larger
+share of adventure, by a great deal, than I have. I had expected to
+see you rather a solemn personage, for the Earl told me you had more
+sense in your little finger than I had in my whole body, which was
+not complimentary to me, though I dare say it is true."
+
+"Now, as a rule, they say that sensible people are very disagreeable;
+but I hope I shall not be disagreeable," Cyril laughed, "and I am
+certainly not aware that I am particularly sensible."
+
+"No, I am sure you won't be disagreeable, but I should have been
+quite nervous about coming to see you if it had not been for the
+girls. Little Beatrice told me she thought you were a prince in
+disguise, and had evidently a private idea that the good fairies had
+sent you to her rescue. Bertha said that you were a very proper young
+gentleman, and that she was sure you were nice. Dorothy didn't say
+much, but she evidently approved of the younger girls' sentiments, so
+I felt that you must be all right, for the girls are generally pretty
+severe critics, and very few of my friends stand at all high in their
+good graces. What amusement are you most fond of?"
+
+"I am afraid I have had very little time for amusements," Cyril said.
+"I was very fond of fencing when I was in France, but have had no
+opportunity of practising since I came to England. I went to a
+bull-bait once, but thought it a cruel sport."
+
+"I suppose you go to a play-house sometimes?"
+
+"No; I have never been inside one. A good deal of my work has been
+done in the evening, and I don't know that the thought ever occurred
+to me to go. I know nothing of your English sports, and neither ride
+nor shoot, except with a pistol, with which I used to be a good shot
+when I was in France."
+
+They rowed down as low as Greenwich, then, as the tide turned, made
+their way back; and by the time Cyril alighted from the boat at
+London Bridge stairs the two young fellows had become quite intimate
+with each other.
+
+Nellie looked with great approval at Cyril as he came downstairs in a
+full Court dress. Since the avowal she had made of her fault she had
+recovered much of her brightness. She bustled about the house, intent
+upon the duties she had newly taken up, to the gratification of Mrs.
+Dowsett, who protested that her occupation was gone.
+
+"Not at all, mother. It is only that you are now captain of the ship,
+and have got to give your orders instead of carrying them out
+yourself. Father did not pull up the ropes or go aloft to furl the
+sails, while I have no doubt he had plenty to do in seeing that his
+orders were carried out. You will be worse off than he was, for he
+had John Wilkes, and others, who knew their duty, while I have got
+almost everything to learn."
+
+Although her cheerfulness had returned, and she could again be heard
+singing snatches of song about the house, her voice and manner were
+gentler and softer, and Captain Dave said to Cyril,--
+
+"It has all turned out for the best, lad. The ship was very near
+wrecked, but the lesson has been a useful one, and there is no fear
+of her being lost from want of care or good seamanship in future. I
+feel, too, that I have been largely to blame in the matter. I spoilt
+her as a child, and I spoilt her all along. Her mother would have
+kept a firmer hand upon the helm if I had not always spoken up for
+the lass, and said, 'Let her have her head; don't check the sheets in
+too tautly.' I see I was wrong now. Why, lad, what a blessing it is
+to us all that it happened when it did! for if that fire had been but
+a month earlier, you would probably have gone away with the Earl, and
+we should have known nothing of Nellie's peril until we found that
+she was gone."
+
+"Sir Cyril--no, I really cannot call you Cyril now," Nellie said,
+curtseying almost to the ground after taking a survey of the lad,
+"your costume becomes you rarely; and I am filled with wonder at the
+thought of my own stupidity in not seeing all along that you were a
+prince in disguise. It is like the fairy tales my old nurse used to
+tell me of the king's son who went out to look for a beautiful wife,
+and who worked as a scullion in the king's palace without anyone
+suspecting his rank. I think fortune has been very hard upon me, in
+that I was born five years too soon. Had I been but fourteen instead
+of nineteen, your Royal Highness might have cast favourable eyes upon
+me."
+
+"But then, Mistress Nellie," Cyril said, laughing, "you would be
+filled with grief now at the thought that I am going away to the
+wars."
+
+The girl's face changed. She dropped her saucy manner and said
+earnestly,--
+
+"I am grieved, Cyril; and if it would do any good I would sit down
+and have a hearty cry. The Dutchmen are brave fighters, and their
+fleet will be stronger than ours; and there will be many who sail
+away to sea who will never come back again. I have never had a
+brother; but it seems to me that if I had had one who was wise, and
+thoughtful, and brave, I should have loved him as I love you. I think
+the princess must always have felt somehow that the scullion was not
+what he seemed; and though I have always laughed at you and scolded
+you, I have known all along that you were not really a clerk. I don't
+know that I thought you were a prince; but I somehow felt a little
+afraid of you. You never said that you thought me vain and giddy, but
+I knew you did think so, and I used to feel a little malice against
+you; and yet, somehow, I respected and liked you all the more, and
+now it seems to me that you are still in disguise, and that, though
+you seem to be but a boy, you are really a man to whom some good
+fairy has given a boy's face. Methinks no boy could be as thoughtful
+and considerate, and as kind as you are."
+
+"You are exaggerating altogether," Cyril said; "and yet, in what you
+say about my age, I think you are partly right. I have lived most of
+my life alone; I have had much care always on my shoulders, and grave
+responsibility; thus it is that I am older in many ways than I should
+be at my years. I would it were not so. I have not had any boyhood,
+as other boys have, and I think it has been a great misfortune for
+me."
+
+"It has not been a misfortune for us, Cyril; it has been a blessing
+indeed to us all that you have not been quite like other boys, and I
+think that all your life it will be a satisfaction for you to know
+that you have saved one house from ruin, one woman from misery, and
+disgrace. Now it is time for you to be going; but although you are
+leaving us tomorrow, Cyril, I hope that you are not going quite out
+of our lives."
+
+"That you may be sure I am not, Nellie. If you have reason to be
+grateful to me, truly I have much reason to be grateful to your
+father. I have never been so happy as since I have been in this
+house, and I shall always return to it as to a home where I am sure
+of a welcome--as the place to which I chiefly owe any good fortune
+that may ever befall me."
+
+The _levee_ was a brilliant one, and was attended, in addition to
+the usual throng of courtiers, by most of the officers and gentlemen
+who were going with the Fleet. Cyril was glad indeed that he was with
+the Earl of Wisbech and his son, for he would have felt lonely and
+out of place in the brilliant throng, in which Prince Rupert's face
+would have been the only one with which he was familiar. The Earl
+introduced him to several of the gentlemen who would be his
+shipmates, and by all he was cordially received when the Earl named
+him as the gentleman who had rescued his daughters from death.
+
+At times, when the Earl was chatting with his friends, Cyril moved
+about through the rooms with Sydney, who knew by appearance a great
+number of those present, and was able to point out all the
+distinguished persons of the Court to him.
+
+"There is the Prince," he said, "talking with the Earl of Rochester.
+What a grave face he has now! It is difficult to believe that he is
+the Rupert of the wars, and the headstrong prince whose very bravery
+helped to lose well-nigh as many battles as he won. We may be sure
+that he will take us into the very thick of the fight, Cyril. Even
+now his wrist is as firm, and, I doubt not, his arm as strong as when
+he led the Cavaliers. I have seen him in the tennis-court; there is
+not one at the Court, though many are well-nigh young enough to be
+his sons, who is his match at tennis. There is the Duke of York. They
+say he is a Catholic, but I own that makes no difference to me. He is
+fond of the sea, and is never so happy as when he is on board ship,
+though you would hardly think it by his grave face. The King is fond
+of it, too. He has a pleasure vessel that is called a yacht, and so
+has the Duke of York, and they have races one against the other; but
+the King generally wins. He is making it a fashionable pastime. Some
+day I will have one myself--that is, if I find I like the sea; for it
+must be pleasant to sail about in your own vessel, and to go
+wheresoever one may fancy without asking leave from any man."
+
+When it came to his turn Cyril passed before the King with the Earl
+and his son. The Earl presented Sydney, who had not before been at
+Court, to the King, mentioning that he was going out as a Volunteer
+in Prince Rupert's vessel.
+
+"That is as it should be, my Lord," the King said. "England need
+never fear so long as her nobles and gentlemen are ready themselves
+to go out to fight her battles, and to set an example to the seamen.
+You need not present this young gentleman to me; my cousin Rupert has
+already done so, and told me of the service he has rendered to your
+daughters. He, too, sails with the Prince, and after what happened
+there can be no doubt that he can stand fire well. I would that this
+tiresome dignity did not prevent my being of the party. I would
+gladly, for once, lay my kingship down and go out as one of the
+company to help give the Dutchmen a lesson that will teach them that,
+even if caught unexpectedly, the sea-dogs of England can well hold
+their own, though they have no longer a Blake to command them."
+
+"I wonder that the King ventures to use Blake's name," Sydney
+whispered, as they moved away, "considering the indignities that he
+allowed the judges to inflict on the body of the grand old sailor."
+
+"It was scandalous!" Cyril said warmly; "and I burned with
+indignation when I heard of it in France. They may call him a traitor
+because he sided with the Parliament, but even Royalists should never
+have forgotten what great deeds he did for England. However, though
+they might have dishonoured his body, they could not touch his fame,
+and his name will be known and honoured as long as England is a
+nation and when the names of the men who condemned him have been long
+forgotten."
+
+After leaving the _levee_, Cyril went back to the City, and the next
+morning started on horseback, with the Earl and his son, to the
+latter's seat, near Sevenoaks, the ladies having gone down in the
+Earl's coach on the previous day. Wholly unaccustomed as Cyril was to
+riding, he was so stiff that he had difficulty in dismounting when
+they rode up to the mansion. The Earl had provided a quiet and
+well-trained horse for his use, and he had therefore found no
+difficulty in retaining his seat.
+
+"You must ride every day while you are down here," the Earl said,
+"and by the end of the week you will begin to be fairly at home in
+the saddle. A good seat is one of the prime necessities of a
+gentleman's education, and if it should be that you ever carry out
+your idea of taking service abroad it will be essential for you,
+because, in most cases, the officers are mounted. You can hardly
+expect ever to become a brilliant rider. For that it is necessary to
+begin young; but if you can keep your seat under all circumstances,
+and be able to use your sword on horseback, as well as on foot, it
+will be all that is needful."
+
+The week passed very pleasantly. Cyril rode and fenced daily with
+Sydney, who was surprised to find that he was fully his match with
+the sword. He walked in the gardens with the girls, who had now quite
+recovered from the effects of the fire. Bertha and Beatrice, being
+still children, chatted with him as freely and familiarly as they did
+with Sydney. Of Lady Dorothy he saw less, as she was in charge of her
+_gouvernante_, who always walked beside her, and was occupied in
+training her into the habits of preciseness and decorum in vogue at
+the time.
+
+"I do believe, Dorothy," Sydney said, one day, "that you are
+forgetting how to laugh. You walk like a machine, and seem afraid to
+move your hands or your feet except according to rule. I like you
+very much better as you were a year ago, when you did not think
+yourself too fine for a romp, and could laugh when you were pleased.
+That dragon of yours is spoiling you altogether."
+
+"That is a matter of opinion, Sydney," Dorothy said, with a deep
+curtsey. "When you first began to fence, I have no doubt you were
+stiff and awkward, and I am sure if you had always had someone by
+your side, saying, 'Keep your head up!' 'Don't poke your chin
+forward!' 'Pray do not swing your arms!' and that sort of thing, you
+would be just as awkward as I feel. I am sure I would rather run
+about with the others; the process of being turned into a young lady
+is not a pleasant one. But perhaps some day, when you see the
+finished article, you will be pleased to give your Lordship's august
+approval," and she ended with a merry laugh that would have shocked
+her _gouvernante_ if she had heard it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE BATTLE OF LOWESTOFT
+
+
+The Earl returned with his son and Cyril to town, and the latter
+spent the night in the City.
+
+"I do not know, Cyril," Captain Dave said, as they talked over his
+departure, "that you run much greater risk in going than do we in
+staying here. The Plague makes progress, and although it has not
+invaded the City, we can hardly hope that it will be long before it
+appears here. There are many evil prophecies abroad, and it is the
+general opinion that a great misfortune hangs over us, and they say
+that many have prepared to leave London. I have talked the matter
+over with my wife. We have not as yet thought of going, but should
+the Plague come heavily, it may be that we shall for a time go away.
+There will be no business to be done, for vessels will not come up
+the Thames and risk infection, nor, indeed, would they be admitted
+into ports, either in England or abroad, after coming from an
+infected place. Therefore I could leave without any loss in the way
+of trade. It will, of course, depend upon the heaviness of the
+malady, but if it becomes widespread we shall perhaps go for a visit
+to my wife's cousin, who lives near Gloucester, and who has many
+times written to us urging us to go down with Nellie for a visit to
+her. Hitherto, business has prevented my going, but if all trade
+ceases, it would be a good occasion for us, and such as may never
+occur again. Still, I earnestly desire that it may not arise, for it
+cannot do so without sore trouble and pain alighting on the City. Did
+the Earl tell you, Cyril, what he has done with regard to John?"
+
+"No; he did not speak to me on the subject."
+
+"His steward came here three days since with a gold watch and chain,
+as a gift from the Earl. The watch has an inscription on the case,
+saying that it is presented to John Wilkes from the Earl of Wisbech,
+as a memorial of his gratitude for the great services rendered to his
+daughters. Moreover, he brought a letter from the Earl saying that if
+John should at any time leave my service, owing to my death or
+retirement from business, or from John himself wishing, either from
+age or other reason, to leave me, he would place at his service a
+cottage and garden on his estate, and a pension of twenty pounds a
+year, to enable him to live in comfort for the remainder of his days.
+John is, as you may suppose, mightily pleased, for though I would
+assuredly never part with him as long as I live, and have by my will
+made provision that will keep him from want in case I die before him,
+it was mighty pleasant to receive so handsome a letter and offer of
+service from the Earl. Nellie wrote for him a letter in which he
+thanked the Earl for the kindness of his offer, for which, although
+he hoped he should never be forced to benefit from it, he was none
+the less obliged and grateful, seeing that he had done nothing that
+any other bystander would not have done, to deserve it."
+
+Early the next morning Sydney Oliphant rode up to the door, followed
+by two grooms, one of whom had a led horse, and the other a
+sumpter-mule, which was partly laden. Captain Dave went down with
+Cyril to the door.
+
+"I pray you to enter, my Lord," he said. "My wife will not be happy
+unless you take a cup of posset before you start. Moreover, she and
+my daughter desire much to see you, as you are going to sail with Sir
+Cyril, whom we regard as a member of our family."
+
+"I will come up right willingly," the young noble said, leaping
+lightly from his horse. "If your good dame's posset is as good as the
+wine the Earl, my father, tells me you gave him, it must be good
+indeed; for he told me he believed he had none in his cellar equal to
+it."
+
+He remained for a few minutes upstairs, chatting gaily, vowing that
+the posset was the best he had ever drank, and declaring to Nellie
+that he regarded as a favourable omen for his expedition that he
+should have seen so fair a face the last thing before starting. He
+shook hands with John Wilkes heartily when he came up to say that
+Cyril's valises were all securely packed on the horses, and then went
+off, promising to send Captain Dave a runnet of the finest schiedam
+from the Dutch Admiral's ship.
+
+"Truly, I am thankful you came up," Cyril said, as they mounted and
+rode off. "Before you came we were all dull, and the Dame and
+Mistress Nellie somewhat tearful; Now we have gone off amidst smiles,
+which is vastly more pleasant."
+
+Crossing London Bridge, they rode through Southwark, and then out
+into the open country. Each had a light valise strapped behind the
+saddle, and the servants had saddle-bags containing the smaller
+articles of luggage, while the sumpter-mule carried two trunks with
+their clothes and sea necessaries. It was late in the evening when
+they arrived at Chatham. Here they put up at an hotel which was
+crowded with officers of the Fleet, and with Volunteers like
+themselves.
+
+"I should grumble at these quarters, Cyril," Sydney said, as the
+landlord, with many apologies, showed them into a tiny attic, which
+was the only place he had unoccupied, "were it not that we are going
+to sea to-morrow, and I suppose that our quarters will be even
+rougher there. However, we may have elbow-room for a time, for most
+of the Volunteers will not join, I hear, until the last thing before
+the Fleet sails, and it may be a fortnight yet before all the ships
+are collected. I begged my father to let me do the same, but he goes
+back again to-day to Sevenoaks, and he liked not the idea of my
+staying in town, seeing that the Plague is spreading so rapidly. I
+would even have stayed in the country had he let me, but he was of
+opinion that I was best on board--in the first place, because I may
+not get news down there in time to join the Fleet before it sails,
+and in the second, that I might come to get over this sickness of the
+sea, and so be fit and able to do my part when we meet the Dutch.
+This was so reasonable that I could urge nothing against it; for, in
+truth, it would be a horrible business if I were lying like a sick
+dog, unable to lift my head, while our men were fighting the Dutch. I
+have never been to sea, and know not how I shall bear it. Are you a
+good sailor?"
+
+"Yes; I used to go out very often in a fishing-boat at Dunkirk, and
+never was ill from the first. Many people are not ill at all, and it
+will certainly be of an advantage to you to be on board for a short
+time in quiet waters before setting out for sea."
+
+On going downstairs, Lord Oliphant found several young men of his
+acquaintance among those staying in the house. He introduced Cyril to
+them. But the room was crowded and noisy; many of those present had
+drunk more than was good for them, and it was not long before Cyril
+told his friend that he should go up to bed.
+
+"I am not accustomed to noisy parties, Sydney, and feel quite
+confused with all this talk."
+
+"You will soon get accustomed to it, Cyril. Still, do as you like. I
+dare say I shall not be very long before I follow you."
+
+The next morning after breakfast they went down to the quay, and took
+a boat to the ship, which was lying abreast of the dockyard. The
+captain, on their giving their names, consulted the list.
+
+"That is right, gentlemen, though indeed I know not why you should
+have come down until we are ready to sail, which may not be for a
+week or more, though we shall go out from here to-morrow and join
+those lying in the Hope; for indeed you can be of no use while we are
+fitting, and would but do damage to your clothes and be in the way of
+the sailors. It is but little accommodation you will find on board
+here, though we will do the best we can for you."
+
+"We do not come about accommodation, captain," Lord Oliphant laughed,
+"and we have brought down gear with us that will not soil, or rather,
+that cannot be the worse for soiling. There are three or four others
+at the inn where we stopped last night who are coming on board, but I
+hear that the rest of the Volunteers will probably join when the
+Fleet assembles in Yarmouth roads."
+
+"Then they must be fonder of journeying on horseback than I am," the
+captain said. "While we are in the Hope, where, indeed, for aught I
+know, we may tarry but a day or two, they could come down by boat
+conveniently without trouble, whereas to Yarmouth it is a very long
+ride, with the risk of losing their purses to the gentlemen of the
+road. Moreover, though the orders are at present that the Fleet
+gather at Yarmouth, and many are already there 'tis like that it may
+be changed in a day for Harwich or the Downs. I pray you get your
+meals at your inn to-day, for we are, as you see, full of work taking
+on board stores. If it please you to stay and watch what is doing
+here you are heartily welcome, but please tell the others that they
+had best not come off until late in the evening, by which time I will
+do what I can to have a place ready for them to sleep. We shall sail
+at the turn of the tide, which will be at three o'clock in the
+morning."
+
+Oliphant wrote a few lines to the gentlemen on shore, telling them
+that the captain desired that none should come on board until the
+evening, and having sent it off by their boatmen, telling them to
+return in time to take them back to dinner, he and Cyril mounted to
+the poop and surveyed the scene round them. The ship was surrounded
+with lighters and boats from the dockyards, and from these casks and
+barrels, boxes and cases, were being swung on board by blocks from
+the yards, or rolled in at the port-holes. A large number of men were
+engaged at the work, and as fast as the stores came on board they
+were seized by the sailors and carried down into the hold, the
+provisions piled in tiers of barrels, the powder-kegs packed in the
+magazine.
+
+"'Tis like an ant-hill," Cyril said. "'Tis just as I have seen when a
+nest has been disturbed. Every ant seizes a white egg as big as
+itself, and rushes off with it to the passage below."
+
+"They work bravely," his companion said. "Every man seems to know
+that it is important that the ship should be filled up by to-night.
+See! the other four vessels lying above us are all alike at work, and
+may, perhaps, start with us in the morning. The other ships are busy,
+too, but not as we are. I suppose they will take them in hand when
+they have got rid of us."
+
+"I am not surprised that the captain does not want idlers here, for,
+except ourselves, every man seems to have his appointed work."
+
+"I feel half inclined to take off my doublet and to go and help to
+roll those big casks up the planks."
+
+"I fancy, Sydney, we should be much more in the way there than here.
+There is certainly no lack of men, and your strength and mine
+together would not equal that of one of those strong fellows;
+besides, we are learning something here. It is good to see how
+orderly the work is being carried on, for, in spite of the number
+employed, there is no confusion. You see there are three barges on
+each side; the upper tiers of barrels and bales are being got on
+board through the portholes, while the lower ones are fished up from
+the bottom by the ropes from the yards and swung into the waist, and
+so passed below; and as fast as one barge is unloaded another drops
+alongside to take its place."
+
+They returned to the inn to dinner, after which they paid a visit to
+the victualling yard and dockyard, where work was everywhere going
+on. After supper they, with the other gentlemen for Prince Rupert's
+ship, took boat and went off together. They had learned that, while
+they would be victualled on board, they must take with them wine and
+other matters they required over and above the ship's fare. They had
+had a consultation with the other gentlemen after dinner, and
+concluded that it would be best to take but a small quantity of
+things, as they knew not how they would be able to stow them away,
+and would have opportunities of getting, at Gravesend or at Yarmouth,
+further stores, when they saw what things were required. They
+therefore took only a cheese, some butter, and a case of wine. As
+soon as they got on board they were taken below. They found that a
+curtain of sail-cloth had been hung across the main deck, and
+hammocks slung between the guns. Three or four lanterns were hung
+along the middle.
+
+"This is all we can do for you, gentlemen," the officer who conducted
+them down said. "Had we been going on a pleasure trip we could have
+knocked up separate cabins, but as we must have room to work the
+guns, this cannot be done. In the morning the sailors will take down
+these hammocks, and will erect a table along the middle, where you
+will take your meals. At present, as you see, we have only slung
+hammocks for you, but when you all come on board there will be
+twenty. We have, so far, only a list of sixteen, but as the Prince
+said that two or three more might come at the last moment we have
+railed off space enough for ten hammocks on each side. We will get
+the place cleaned for you to-morrow, but the last barge was emptied
+but a few minutes since, and we could do naught but just sweep the
+deck down. To-morrow everything shall be scrubbed and put in order."
+
+"It will do excellently well," one of the gentlemen said. "We have
+not come on board ship to get luxuries, and had we to sleep on the
+bare boards you would hear no grumbling."
+
+"Now, gentlemen, as I have shown you your quarters, will you come up
+with me to the captain's cabin? He has bade me say that he will be
+glad if you will spend an hour with him there before you retire to
+rest."
+
+On their entering, the captain shook hands with Lord Oliphant and
+Cyril.
+
+"I must apologise, gentlemen, for being short with you when you came
+on board this morning; but my hands were full, and I had no time to
+be polite. They say you can never get a civil answer from a housewife
+on her washing-day, and it is the same thing with an officer on board
+a ship when she is taking in her stores. However, that business is
+over, and now I am glad to see you all, and will do my best to make
+you as comfortable as I can, which indeed will not be much; for as we
+shall, I hope, be going into action in the course of another ten
+days, the decks must all be kept clear, and as we have the Prince on
+board, we have less cabin room than we should have were we not an
+admiral's flagship."
+
+Wine was placed on the table, and they had a pleasant chat. They
+learnt that the Fleet was now ready for sea.
+
+"Four ships will sail with ours to-morrow," the captain said, "and
+the other five will be off the next morning. They have all their
+munitions on board, and will take in the rest of their provisions
+to-morrow. The Dutch had thought to take us by surprise, but from
+what we hear they are not so forward as we, for things have been
+pushed on with great zeal at all our ports, the war being generally
+popular with the nation, and especially with the merchants, whose
+commerce has been greatly injured by the pretensions and violence of
+the Dutch. The Portsmouth ships, and those from Plymouth, are already
+on their way round to the mouth of the Thames, and in a week we may
+be at sea. I only hope the Dutch will not be long before they come
+out to fight us. However, we are likely to pick up a great many
+prizes, and, next to fighting, you know, sailors like prize-money."
+
+After an hour's talk the five gentlemen went below to their hammocks,
+and then to bed, with much laughter at the difficulty they had in
+mounting into their swinging cots.
+
+It was scarce daylight when they were aroused by a great stir on
+board the ship, and, hastily putting on their clothes, went on deck.
+Already a crowd of men were aloft loosening the sails. Others had
+taken their places in boats in readiness to tow the ship, for the
+wind was, as yet, so light that it was like she would scarce have
+steerage way, and there were many sharp angles in the course down the
+river to be rounded, and shallows to be avoided. A few minutes later
+the moorings were cast off, the sails sheeted home, and the crew gave
+a great cheer, which was answered from the dockyard, and from boats
+alongside, full of the relations and friends of the sailors, who
+stood up and waved their hats and shouted good bye.
+
+The sails still hung idly, but the tide swept the ship along, and the
+men in the boats ahead simply lay on their oars until the time should
+come to pull her head round in one direction or another. They had not
+long to wait, for, as they reached the sharp corner at the end of the
+reach, orders were shouted, the men bent to their oars, and the
+vessel was taken round the curve until her head pointed east.
+Scarcely had they got under way when they heard the cheer from the
+ship astern of them, and by the time they had reached the next curve,
+off the village of Gillingham, the other four ships had rounded the
+point behind them, and were following at a distance of about a
+hundred yards apart. Soon afterwards the wind sprang up and the sails
+bellied out, and the men in the boats had to row briskly to keep
+ahead of the ship. The breeze continued until they passed Sheerness,
+and presently they dropped anchor inside the Nore sands. There they
+remained until the tide turned, and then sailed up the Thames to the
+Hope, where some forty men-of-war were already at anchor.
+
+The next morning some barges arrived from Tilbury, laden with
+soldiers, of whom a hundred and fifty came on board, their quarters
+being on the main deck on the other side of the canvas division. A
+cutter also brought down a number of impressed men, twenty of whom
+were put on board the _Henrietta_ to complete her crew. Cyril was
+standing on the poop watching them come on board, when he started as
+his eye fell on two of their number. One was Robert Ashford; the
+other was Black Dick. They had doubtless returned from Holland when
+war was declared. Robert Ashford had assumed the dress of a sailor
+the better to disguise himself, and the two had been carried off
+together from some haunt of sailors at Wapping. He pointed them out
+to his friend Sydney.
+
+"So those are the two scamps? The big one looks a truculent ruffian.
+Well, they can do you no harm here, Cyril. I should let them stay and
+do their share of the fighting, and then, when the voyage is over, if
+they have not met with a better death than they deserve at the hands
+of the Dutch, you can, if you like, denounce them, and have them
+handed over to the City authorities."
+
+"That I will do, as far as the big ruffian they call Black Dick is
+concerned. He is a desperate villain, and for aught I know may have
+committed many a murder, and if allowed to go free might commit many
+more. Besides, I shall never feel quite safe as long as he is at
+large. As to Robert Ashford, he is a knave, but I know no worse of
+him, and will therefore let him go his way."
+
+In the evening the other ships from Chatham came up, and the captain
+told them later that the Earl of Sandwich, who was in command, would
+weigh anchor in the morning, as the contingent from London, Chatham,
+and Sheerness was now complete. Cyril thought that he had never seen
+a prettier sight, as the Fleet, consisting of fifty men-of-war, of
+various sizes, and eight merchant vessels that had been bought and
+converted into fire-ships, got under way and sailed down the river.
+That night they anchored off Felixstowe, and the next day proceeded,
+with a favourable wind, to Yarmouth, where already a great number of
+ships were at anchor. So far the five Volunteers had taken their
+meals with the captain, but as the others would be coming on board,
+they were now to mess below, getting fresh meat and vegetables from
+the shore as they required them. As to other stores, they resolved to
+do nothing till the whole party arrived.
+
+They had not long to wait, for, on the third day after their arrival,
+the Duke of York and Prince Rupert, with a great train of gentlemen,
+arrived in the town, and early the next morning embarked on board
+their respective ships. A council was held by the Volunteers in their
+quarters, three of their number were chosen as caterers, and, a
+contribution of three pounds a head being agreed upon, these went
+ashore in one of the ship's boats, and returned presently with a
+barrel or two of good biscuits, the carcasses of five sheep, two or
+three score of ducks and chickens, and several casks of wine,
+together with a large quantity of vegetables. The following morning
+the signal was hoisted on the mast-head of the _Royal Charles_, the
+Duke of York's flagship, for the Fleet to prepare to weigh anchor,
+and they presently got under way in three squadrons, the red under
+the special orders of the Duke, the white under Prince Rupert, and
+the blue under the Earl of Sandwich.
+
+The Fleet consisted of one hundred and nine men-of-war and frigates,
+and twenty-eight fire-ships and ketches, manned by 21,006 seamen and
+soldiers. They sailed across to the coast of Holland, and cruised,
+for a few days, off Texel, capturing ten or twelve merchant vessels
+that tried to run in. So far, the weather had been very fine, but
+there were now signs of a change of weather. The sky became overcast,
+the wind rose rapidly, and the signal was made for the Fleet to
+scatter, so that each vessel should have more sea-room, and the
+chance of collision be avoided. By nightfall the wind had increased
+to the force of a gale, and the vessels were soon labouring heavily.
+Cyril and two or three of his comrades who, like himself, did not
+suffer from sickness, remained on deck; the rest were prostrate
+below.
+
+For forty-eight hours the gale continued, and when it abated and the
+ships gradually closed up round the three admirals' flags, it was
+found that many had suffered sorely in the gale. Some had lost their
+upper spars, others had had their sails blown away, some their
+bulwarks smashed in, and two or three had lost their bowsprits. There
+was a consultation between the admirals and the principal captains,
+and it was agreed that it was best to sail back to England for
+repairs, as many of the ships were unfitted to take their place in
+line of battle, and as the Dutch Fleet was known to be fully equal to
+their own in strength, it would have been hazardous to risk an
+engagement. So the ketches and some of the light frigates were at
+once sent off to find the ships that had not yet joined, and give
+them orders to make for Yarmouth, Lowestoft, or Harwich. All vessels
+uninjured were to gather off Lowestoft, while the others were to make
+for the other ports, repair their damages as speedily as possible,
+and then rejoin at Lowestoft.
+
+No sooner did the Dutch know that the English Fleet had sailed away
+than they put their fleet to sea. It consisted of one hundred and
+twelve men-of-war, and thirty fire-ships, and small craft manned by
+22,365 soldiers and sailors. It was commanded by Admiral Obdam,
+having under him Tromp, Evertson, and other Dutch admirals. On their
+nearing England they fell in with nine ships from Hamburg, with rich
+cargoes, and a convoy of a thirty-four gun frigate. These they
+captured, to the great loss of the merchants of London.
+
+The _Henrietta_ had suffered but little in the storm, and speedily
+repaired her damages without going into port. With so much haste and
+energy did the crews of the injured ships set to work at refitting
+them, that in four days after the main body had anchored off
+Lowestoft, they were rejoined by all the ships that had made for
+Harwich and Yarmouth.
+
+At midnight on June 2nd, a fast-sailing fishing-boat brought in the
+news that the Dutch Fleet were but a few miles away, sailing in that
+direction, having apparently learnt the position of the English from
+some ship or fishing-boat they had captured.
+
+The trumpets on the admiral's ship at once sounded, and Prince Rupert
+and the Earl of Sandwich immediately rowed to her. They remained but
+a few minutes, and on their return to their respective vessels made
+the signals for their captains to come on board. The order, at such
+an hour, was sufficient to notify all that news must have been
+received of the whereabouts of the Dutch Fleet, and by the time the
+captains returned to their ships the crews were all up and ready to
+execute any order. At two o'clock day had begun to break, and soon
+from the mastheads of several of the vessels the look-out shouted
+that they could perceive the Dutch Fleet but four miles away. A
+mighty cheer rose throughout the Fleet, and as it subsided a gun from
+the _Royal Charles_ gave the order to weigh anchor, and a few
+minutes later the three squadrons, in excellent order, sailed out to
+meet the enemy.
+
+They did not, however, advance directly towards them, but bore up
+closely into the wind until they had gained the weather gauge of the
+enemy. Having obtained this advantage, the Duke flew the signal to
+engage. The Volunteers were all in their places on the poop, being
+posted near the rail forward, that they might be able either to run
+down the ladder to the waist and aid to repel boarders, or to spring
+on to a Dutch ship should one come alongside, and also that the
+afterpart of the poop, where Prince Rupert and the captain had taken
+their places near the wheel, should be free. The Prince himself had
+requested them so to station themselves.
+
+"At other times, gentlemen, you are my good friends and comrades," he
+said, "but, from the moment that the first gun fires, you are
+soldiers under my orders; and I pray you take your station and remain
+there until I call upon you for action, for my whole attention must
+be given to the manoeuvring of the ship, and any movement or talking
+near me might distract my thoughts. I shall strive to lay her
+alongside of the biggest Dutchman I can pick out, and as soon as the
+grapnels are thrown, and their sides grind together, you will have
+the post of honour, and will lead the soldiers aboard her. Once among
+the Dutchmen, you will know what to do without my telling you."
+
+"'Tis a grand sight, truly, Cyril," Sydney said, in a low tone, as
+the great fleets met each other.
+
+"A grand sight, truly, Sydney, but a terrible one. I do not think I
+shall mind when I am once at it, but at present I feel that, despite
+my efforts, I am in a tremor, and that my knees shake as I never felt
+them before."
+
+"I am glad you feel like that, Cyril, for I feel much like it myself,
+and began to be afraid that I had, without knowing it, been born a
+coward. There goes the first gun."
+
+As he spoke, a puff of white smoke spouted out from the bows of one
+of the Dutch ships, and a moment later the whole of their leading
+vessels opened fire. There was a rushing sound overhead, and a ball
+passed through the main topsail of the _Henrietta_. No reply was
+made by the English ships until they passed in between the Dutchmen;
+then the _Henrietta_ poured her broadsides into the enemy on either
+side of her, receiving theirs in return. There was a rending of wood,
+and a quiver through the ship. One of the upper-deck-guns was knocked
+off its carriage, crushing two of the men working it as it fell.
+Several others were hurt with splinters, and the sails pierced with
+holes. Again and again as she passed, did the _Henrietta_ exchange
+broadsides with the Dutch vessels, until--the two fleets having
+passed through each other--she bore up, and prepared to repeat the
+manoeuvre.
+
+"I feel all right now," Cyril said, "but I do wish I had something to
+do instead of standing here useless. I quite envy the men there,
+stripped to the waist, working the guns. There is that fellow Black
+Dick, by the gun forward; he is a scoundrel, no doubt, but what
+strength and power he has! I saw him put his shoulder under that gun
+just now, and slew it across by sheer strength, so as to bear upon
+the stern of the Dutchman. I noticed him and Robert looking up at me
+just before the first gun was fired, and speaking together. I have no
+doubt he would gladly have pointed the gun at me instead of at the
+enemy, for he knows that, if I denounce him, he will get the due
+reward of his crimes."
+
+As soon as the ships were headed round they passed through the Dutch
+as before, and this manoeuvre was several times repeated. Up to one
+o'clock in the day no great advantage had been gained on either side.
+Spars had been carried away; there were yawning gaps in the bulwarks;
+portholes had been knocked into one, guns dismounted, and many
+killed; but as yet no vessel on either side had been damaged to an
+extent that obliged her to strike her flag, or to fall out of the
+fighting line. There had been a pause after each encounter, in which
+both fleets had occupied themselves in repairing damages, as far as
+possible, reeving fresh ropes in place of those that had been shot
+away, clearing the wreckage of fallen spars and yards, and carrying
+the wounded below. Four of the Volunteers had been struck down--two
+of them mortally wounded, but after the first passage through the
+enemy's fleet, Prince Rupert had ordered them to arm themselves with
+muskets from the racks, and to keep up a fire at the Dutch ships as
+they passed, aiming specially at the man at the wheel. The order had
+been a very welcome one, for, like Cyril, they had all felt
+inactivity in such a scene to be a sore trial. They were now ranged
+along on both sides of the poop.
+
+At one o'clock Lord Sandwich signalled to the Blue Squadron to close
+up together as they advanced, as before, against the enemy's line.
+His position at the time was in the centre, and his squadron, sailing
+close together, burst into the Dutch line before their ships could
+make any similar disposition. Having thus broken it asunder, instead
+of passing through it, the squadron separated, and the ships, turning
+to port and starboard, each engaged an enemy. The other two squadrons
+similarly ranged up among the Dutch, and the battle now became
+furious all along the line. Fire-ships played an important part in
+the battles of the time, and the thoughts of the captain of a ship
+were not confined to struggles with a foe of equal size, but were
+still more engrossed by the need for avoiding any fire-ship that
+might direct its course towards him.
+
+Cyril had now no time to give a thought as to what was passing
+elsewhere. The _Henrietta_ had ranged up alongside a Dutch vessel of
+equal size, and was exchanging broadsides with her. All round were
+vessels engaged in an equally furious encounter. The roar of the guns
+and the shouts of the seamen on both sides were deafening. One moment
+the vessel reeled from the recoil of her own guns, the next she
+quivered as the balls of the enemy crashed through her sides.
+
+Suddenly, above the din, Cyril heard the voice of Prince Rupert sound
+like a trumpet.
+
+"Hatchets and pikes on the starboard quarter! Draw in the guns and
+keep off this fire-ship."
+
+Laying their muskets against the bulwarks, he and Sydney sprang to
+the mizzen-mast, and each seized a hatchet from those ranged against
+it. They then rushed to the starboard side, just as a small ship came
+out through the cloud of smoke that hung thickly around them.
+
+There was a shock as she struck the _Henrietta_, and then, as she
+glided alongside, a dozen grapnels were thrown by men on her yards.
+The instant they had done so, the men disappeared, sliding down the
+ropes and running aft to their boat. Before the last leaped in he
+stooped. A flash of fire ran along the deck, there was a series of
+sharp explosions, and then a bright flame sprang up from the
+hatchways, ran up the shrouds and ropes, that had been soaked with
+oil and tar, and in a moment the sails were on fire. In spite of the
+flames, a score of men sprang on to the rigging of the _Henrietta_
+and cut the ropes of the grapnels, which, as yet--so quickly had the
+explosion followed their throwing--had scarce begun to check the way
+the fire-ship had on her as she came up.
+
+Cyril, having cast over a grapnel that had fallen on the poop, looked
+down on the fire-ship as she drifted along. The deck, which, like
+everything else, had been smeared with tar, was in a blaze, but the
+combustible had not been carried as far as the helm, where doubtless
+the captain had stood to direct her course. A sudden thought struck
+him. He ran along the poop until opposite the stern of the fire-ship,
+climbed over the bulwark and leapt down on to the deck, some fifteen
+feet below him. Then he seized the helm and jammed it hard down. The
+fire-ship had still steerage way on her, and he saw her head at once
+begin to turn away from the _Henrietta_; the movement was aided by
+the latter's crew, who, with poles and oars, pushed her off.
+
+The heat was terrific, but Cyril's helmet and breast-piece sheltered
+him somewhat; yet though he shielded his face with his arm, he felt
+that it would speedily become unbearable. His eye fell upon a coil of
+rope at his feet. Snatching it up, he fastened it to the tiller and
+then round a belaying-pin in the bulwark, caught up a bucket with a
+rope attached, threw it over the side and soused its contents over
+the tiller-rope, then, unbuckling the straps of his breast- and
+back-pieces, he threw them off, cast his helmet on the deck,
+blistering his hands as he did so, and leapt overboard. It was with a
+delicious sense of coolness that he rose to the surface and looked
+round. Hitherto he had been so scorched by the flame and smothered by
+the smoke that it was with difficulty he had kept his attention upon
+what he was doing, and would doubtless, in another minute, have
+fallen senseless. The plunge into the sea seemed to restore his
+faculties, and as he came up he looked eagerly to see how far success
+had attended his efforts.
+
+He saw with delight that the bow of the fire-ship was thirty or forty
+feet distant from the side of the _Henrietta_ and her stern half
+that distance. Two or three of the sails of the man-of-war had caught
+fire, but a crowd of seamen were beating the flames out of two of
+them while another, upon which the fire had got a better hold, was
+being cut away from its yard. As he turned to swim to the side of the
+_Henrietta_, three or four ropes fell close to him. He twisted one
+of these round his body, and, a minute later, was hauled up into the
+waist. He was saluted with a tremendous cheer, and was caught up by
+three or four strong fellows, who, in spite of his remonstrances,
+carried him up on to the poop. Prince Rupert was standing on the top
+of the ladder.
+
+"Nobly done, Sir Cyril!" he exclaimed. "You have assuredly saved the
+_Henrietta_ and all our lives. A minute later, and we should have
+been on fire beyond remedy. But I will speak more to you when we have
+finished with the Dutchman on the other side."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+HONOURABLE SCARS
+
+
+During the time that the greater part of the crew of the _Henrietta_
+had been occupied with the fire-ship, the enemy had redoubled their
+efforts, and as the sailors returned to their guns, the mizzen-mast
+fell with a crash. A minute later, a Dutch man-of-war ran alongside,
+fired a broadside, and grappled. Then her crew, springing over the
+bulwarks, poured on to the deck of the _Henrietta_. They were met
+boldly by the soldiers, who had hitherto borne no part in the fight,
+and who, enraged at the loss they had been compelled to suffer, fell
+upon the enemy with fury. For a moment, however, the weight of
+numbers of the Dutchmen bore them back, but the sailors, who had at
+first been taken by surprise, snatched up their boarding pikes and
+axes.
+
+Prince Rupert, with the other officers and Volunteers, dashed into
+the thick of the fray, and, step by step, the Dutchmen were driven
+back, until they suddenly gave way and rushed back to their own ship.
+The English would have followed them, but the Dutch who remained on
+board their ship, seeing that the fight was going against their
+friends, cut the ropes of the grapnels, and the ships drifted apart,
+some of the last to leave the deck of the _Henrietta_ being forced
+to jump into the sea. The cannonade was at once renewed on both
+sides, but the Dutch had had enough of it--having lost very heavily
+in men--and drew off from the action.
+
+Cyril had joined in the fray. He had risen to his feet and drawn his
+sword, but he found himself strangely weak. His hands were blistered
+and swollen, his face was already so puffed that he could scarce see
+out of his eyes; still, he had staggered down the steps to the waist,
+and, recovering his strength from the excitement, threw himself into
+the fray.
+
+Scarce had he done so, when a sailor next to him fell heavily against
+him, shot through the head by one of the Dutch soldiers. Cyril
+staggered, and before he could recover himself, a Dutch sailor struck
+at his head. He threw up his sword to guard the blow, but the guard
+was beaten down as if it had been a reed. It sufficed, however,
+slightly to turn the blow, which fell first on the side of the head,
+and then, glancing down, inflicted a terrible wound on the shoulder.
+
+He fell at once, unconscious, and, when he recovered his senses,
+found himself laid out on the poop, where Sydney, assisted by two of
+the other gentlemen, had carried him. His head and shoulder had
+already been bandaged, the Prince having sent for his doctor to come
+up from below to attend upon him.
+
+The battle was raging with undiminished fury all round, but, for the
+moment, the _Henrietta_ was not engaged, and her crew were occupied
+in cutting away the wreckage of the mizzen-mast, and trying to repair
+the more important of the damages that she had suffered. Carpenters
+were lowered over the side, and were nailing pieces of wood over the
+shot-holes near the water-line. Men swarmed aloft knotting and
+splicing ropes and fishing damaged spars.
+
+Sydney, who was standing a short distance away, at once came up to
+him.
+
+"How are you, Cyril?"
+
+"My head sings, and my shoulder aches, but I shall do well enough.
+Please get me lifted up on to that seat by the bulwark, so that I can
+look over and see what is going on."
+
+"I don't think you are strong enough to sit up, Cyril."
+
+"Oh, yes I am; besides, I can lean against the bulwark."
+
+Cyril was placed in the position he wanted, and, leaning his arm on
+the bulwark and resting his head on it, was able to see what was
+passing.
+
+Suddenly a tremendous explosion was heard a quarter of a mile away.
+
+"The Dutch admiral's ship has blown up," one of the men aloft
+shouted, and a loud cheer broke from the crew.
+
+It was true. The Duke of York in the _Royal Charles_, of eighty
+guns, and the _Eendracht_, of eighty-four, the flagship of Admiral
+Obdam, had met and engaged each other fiercely. For a time the
+Dutchmen had the best of it. A single shot killed the Earl of
+Falmouth, Lord Muskerry, and Mr. Boyle, three gentlemen Volunteers,
+who at the moment were standing close to the Duke, and the _Royal
+Charles_ suffered heavily until a shot from one of her guns struck
+the Dutchman's magazine, and the _Eendracht_ blew up, only five men
+being rescued out of the five hundred that were on board of her.
+
+This accident in no small degree decided the issue of the engagement,
+for the Dutch at once fell into confusion. Four of their ships, a few
+hundred yards from the _Henrietta_, fell foul of each other, and
+while the crews were engaged in trying to separate them an English
+fire-ship sailed boldly up and laid herself alongside. A moment later
+the flames shot up high, and the boat with the crew of the fire-ship
+rowed to the _Henrietta_. The flames instantly spread to the Dutch
+men-of-war, and the sailors were seen jumping over in great numbers.
+Prince Rupert ordered the boats to be lowered, but only one was found
+to be uninjured. This was manned and pushed off at once, and, with
+others from British vessels near, rescued a good many of the Dutch
+sailors.
+
+Still the fight was raging all round; but a short time afterwards
+three other of the finest ships in the Dutch Fleet ran into each
+other. Another of the English fire-ships hovering near observed the
+opportunity, and was laid alongside, with the same success as her
+consort, the three men-of-war being all destroyed.
+
+This took place at some distance from the _Henrietta_, but the
+English vessels near them succeeded in saving, in their boats, a
+portion of the crews. The Dutch ship _Orange_, of seventy-five guns,
+was disabled after a sharp fight with the _Mary_, and was likewise
+burnt. Two Dutch vice-admirals were killed, and a panic spread
+through the Dutch Fleet. About eight o'clock in the evening between
+thirty and forty of their ships made off in a body, and the rest
+speedily followed. During the fight and the chase eighteen Dutch
+ships were taken, though some of these afterwards escaped, as the
+vessels to which they had struck joined the rest in the chase.
+Fourteen were sunk, besides those burnt and blown up. Only one
+English ship, the _Charity_, had struck, having, at the beginning of
+the fight been attacked by three Dutch vessels, and lost the greater
+part of her men, and was then compelled to surrender to a Dutch
+vessel of considerably greater strength that came up and joined the
+others. The English loss was, considering the duration of the fight,
+extremely small, amounting to but 250 killed, and 340 wounded. Among
+the killed were the Earl of Marlborough, the Earl of Portland, who
+was present as a Volunteer, Rear-Admiral Sampson, and Vice-Admiral
+Lawson, the latter of whom died after the fight, from his wounds.
+
+The pursuit of the Dutch was continued for some hours, and then
+terminated abruptly, owing to a Member of Parliament named Brounker,
+who was in the suite of the Duke of York, giving the captain of the
+_Royal Charles_ orders, which he falsely stated emanated from the
+Duke, for the pursuit to be abandoned. For this he was afterwards
+expelled the House of Commons, and was ordered to be impeached, but
+after a time the matter was suffered to drop.
+
+As soon as the battle was over Cyril was taken down to a hammock
+below. He was just dozing off to sleep when Sydney came to him.
+
+"I am sorry to disturb you, Cyril, but an officer tells me that a man
+who is mortally wounded wishes to speak to you; and from his
+description I think it is the fellow you call Black Dick. I thought
+it right to tell you, but I don't think you are fit to go to see
+him."
+
+"I will go," Cyril said, "if you will lend me your arm. I should like
+to hear what the poor wretch has to say."
+
+"He lies just below; the hatchway is but a few yards distant."
+
+There had been no attempt to remove Cyril's clothes, and, by the aid
+of Lord Oliphant and of a sailor he called to his aid, he made his
+way below, and was led through the line of wounded, until a doctor,
+turning round, said,--
+
+"This is the man who wishes to see you, Sir Cyril."
+
+Although a line of lanterns hung from the beams, so nearly blind was
+he that Cyril could scarce distinguish the man's features.
+
+"I have sent for you," the latter said faintly, "to tell you that if
+it hadn't been for your jumping down on to that fire-ship you would
+not have lived through this day's fight. I saw that you recognised
+me, and knew that, as soon as we went back, you would hand us over to
+the constables. So I made up my mind that I would run you through in
+the _melee_ if we got hand to hand with the Dutchmen, or would put a
+musket-ball into you while the firing was going on. But when I saw
+you standing there with the flames round you, giving your life, as it
+seemed, to save the ship, I felt that, even if I must be hung for it,
+I could not bring myself to hurt so brave a lad; so there is an end
+of that business. Robert Ashford was killed by a gun that was knocked
+from its carriage, so you have got rid of us both. I thought I should
+like to tell you before I went that the brave action you did saved
+your life, and that, bad as I am, I had yet heart enough to feel that
+I would rather take hanging than kill you."
+
+The last words had been spoken in a scarcely audible whisper. The man
+closed his eyes; and the doctor, laying his hand on Cyril's arm,
+said,--
+
+"You had better go back to your hammock now, Sir Cyril. He will never
+speak again. In a few minutes the end will come."
+
+Cyril spent a restless night. The wind was blowing strongly from the
+north, and the crews had hard work to keep the vessels off the shore.
+His wounds did not pain him much, but his hands, arms, face, and legs
+smarted intolerably, for his clothes had been almost burnt off him,
+and, refreshing as the sea-bath had been at the moment, it now added
+to the smarting of the wounds.
+
+In the morning Prince Rupert came down to see him.
+
+"It was madness of you to have joined in that _melee_, lad, in the
+state in which you were. I take the blame on myself in not ordering
+you to remain behind; but when the Dutchmen poured on board I had no
+thought of aught but driving them back again. It would have marred
+our pleasure in the victory we have won had you fallen, for to you we
+all owe our lives and the safety of the ship. No braver deed was
+performed yesterday than yours. I fear it will be some time before
+you are able to fight by my side again; but, at least, you have done
+your share, and more, were the war to last a lifetime."
+
+Cyril was in less pain now, for the doctor had poured oil over his
+burns, and had wrapped up his hands in soft bandages.
+
+"It was the thought of a moment, Prince," he said. "I saw the
+fire-ship had steerage way on her, and if the helm were put down she
+would drive away from our side, so without stopping to think about it
+one way or the other, I ran along to the stern, and jumped down to
+her tiller."
+
+"Yes, lad, it was but a moment's thought, no doubt, but it is one
+thing to think, and another to execute, and none but the bravest
+would have ventured that leap on to the fire-ship. By to-morrow
+morning we shall be anchored in the river. Would you like to be
+placed in the hospital at Sheerness, or to be taken up to London?"
+
+"I would rather go to London, if I may," Cyril said. "I know that I
+shall be well nursed at Captain Dave's, and hope, erelong, to be able
+to rejoin."
+
+"Not for some time, lad--not for some time. Your burns will doubtless
+heal apace, but the wound in your shoulder is serious. The doctor
+says that the Dutchman's sword has cleft right through your
+shoulder-bone. 'Tis well that it is your left, for it may be that you
+will never have its full use again. You are not afraid of the Plague,
+are you? for on the day we left town there was a rumour that it had
+at last entered the City."
+
+"I am not afraid of it," Cyril said; "and if it should come to
+Captain Dowsett's house, I would rather be there, that I may do what
+I can to help those who were so kind to me."
+
+"Just as you like, lad. Do not hurry to rejoin. It is not likely
+there will be any fighting for some time, for it will be long before
+the Dutch are ready to take the sea again after the hammering we have
+given them, and all there will be to do will be to blockade their
+coast and to pick up their ships from foreign ports as prizes."
+
+The next morning Cyril was placed on board a little yacht, called the
+_Fan Fan_, belonging to the Prince, and sailed up the river, the
+ship's company mustering at the side and giving him a hearty cheer.
+The wind was favourable, and they arrived that afternoon in town.
+According to the Prince's instructions, the sailors at once placed
+Cyril on a litter that had been brought for the purpose, and carried
+him up to Captain Dowsett's.
+
+The City was in a state of agitation. The news of the victory had
+arrived but a few hours before, and the church bells were all
+ringing, flags were flying, the shops closed, and the people in the
+streets. John Wilkes came down in answer to the summons of the bell.
+
+"Hullo!" he said; "whom have we here?"
+
+"Don't you know me, John?" Cyril said.
+
+John gave a start of astonishment.
+
+"By St. Anthony, it is Master Cyril! At least, it is his voice,
+though it is little I can see of him, and what I see in no way
+resembles him."
+
+"It is Sir Cyril Shenstone," the captain of the _Fan Fan_, who had
+come with the party, said sternly, feeling ruffled at the familiarity
+with which this rough-looking servitor of a City trader spoke of the
+gentleman in his charge. "It is Sir Cyril Shenstone, as brave a
+gentleman as ever drew sword, and who, as I hear, saved Prince
+Rupert's ship from being burnt by the Dutchmen."
+
+"He knows me," John Wilkes said bluntly, "and he knows no offence is
+meant. The Captain and his dame, and Mistress Nellie are all out, Sir
+Cyril, but I will look after you till they return. Bring him up,
+lads. I am an old sailor myself, and fought the Dutch under Blake and
+Monk more than once."
+
+He led the way upstairs into the best of the spare rooms. Here Cyril
+was laid on a bed. He thanked the sailors heartily for the care they
+had taken of him, and the captain handed a letter to John, saying,--
+
+"The young Lord Oliphant asked me to give this to Captain Dowsett,
+but as he is not at home I pray you to give it him when he returns."
+
+As soon as they had gone, John returned to the bed.
+
+"This is terrible, Master Cyril. What have they been doing to you? I
+can see but little of your face for those bandages, but your eyes
+look mere slits, your flesh is all red and swollen, your eyebrows
+have gone, your arms and legs are all swathed up in bandages--Have
+you been blown up with gunpowder?--for surely no wound could have so
+disfigured you."
+
+"I have not been blown up, John, but I was burnt by the flames of a
+Dutch fire-ship that came alongside. It is a matter that a fortnight
+will set right, though I doubt not that I am an unpleasant-looking
+object at present, and it will be some time before my hair grows
+again."
+
+"And you are not hurt otherwise, Master?" John asked anxiously.
+
+"Yes; I am hurt gravely enough, though not so as to imperil my life.
+I have a wound on the side of my head, and the same blow, as the
+doctor says, cleft through my shoulder-bone."
+
+"I had best go and get a surgeon at once," John said; "though it will
+be no easy matter, for all the world is agog in the streets."
+
+"Leave it for the present, John. There is no need whatever for haste.
+In that trunk of mine is a bottle of oils for the burns, though most
+of the sore places are already beginning to heal over, and the doctor
+said that I need not apply it any more, unless I found that they
+smarted too much for bearing. As for the other wounds, they are
+strapped up and bandaged, and he said that unless they inflamed
+badly, they would be best let alone for a time. So sit down quietly,
+and let me hear the news."
+
+"The news is bad enough, though the Plague has not yet entered the
+City."
+
+"The Prince told me that there was a report, before he came on board
+at Lowestoft, that it had done so."
+
+"No, it is not yet come; but people are as frightened as if it was
+raging here. For the last fortnight they have been leaving in crowds
+from the West End, and many of the citizens are also beginning to
+move. They frighten themselves like a parcel of children. The comet
+seemed to many a sign of great disaster."
+
+Cyril laughed.
+
+"If it could be seen only in London there might be something in it,
+but as it can be seen all over Europe, it is hard to say why it
+should augur evil to London especially. It was shining in the sky
+three nights ago when we were chasing the Dutch, and they had quite
+as good reason for thinking it was a sign of misfortune to them as
+have the Londoners."
+
+"That is true enough," John Wilkes agreed; "though, in truth, I like
+not to see the' thing in the sky myself. Then people have troubled
+their heads greatly because, in Master Lilly's Almanack, and other
+books of prediction, a great pestilence is foretold."
+
+"It needed no great wisdom for that," Cyril said, "seeing that the
+Plague has been for some time busy in foreign parts, and that it was
+here, though not so very bad, in the winter, when these books would
+have been written."
+
+"Then," John Wilkes went on, "there is a man going through the
+streets, night and day. He speaks to no one, but cries out
+continually, 'Oh! the great and dreadful God!' This troubles many
+men's hearts greatly."
+
+"It is a pity, John, that the poor fellow is not taken and shut up in
+some place where madmen are kept. Doubtless, it is some poor coward
+whose brain has been turned by fright. People who are frightened by
+such a thing as that must be poor-witted creatures indeed."
+
+"That may be, Master Cyril, but methinks it is as they say, one fool
+makes many. People get together and bemoan themselves till their
+hearts fail them altogether. And yet, methinks they are not
+altogether without reason, for if the pestilence is so heavy without
+the walls, where the streets are wider and the people less crowded
+than here, it may well be that we shall have a terrible time of it in
+the City when it once passes the walls."
+
+"That may well be, John, but cowardly fear will not make things any
+better. We knew, when we sailed out against the Dutch the other day,
+that very many would not see the setting sun, yet I believe there was
+not one man throughout the Fleet who behaved like a coward."
+
+"No doubt, Master Cyril; but there is a difference. One can fight
+against men, but one cannot fight against the pestilence, and I do
+not believe that if the citizens knew that a great Dutch army was
+marching on London, and that they would have to withstand a dreadful
+siege, they would be moved with fear as they are now."
+
+"That may be so," Cyril agreed. "Now, John, I think that I could
+sleep for a bit."
+
+"Do so, Master, and I will go into the kitchen and see what I can do
+to make you a basin of broth when you awake; for the girl has gone
+out too. She wanted to see what was going on in the streets; and as I
+had sooner stay quietly at home I offered to take her place, as the
+shop was shut and I had nothing to do. Maybe by the time you wake
+again Captain Dave and the others will be back from their cruise."
+
+It was dark when Cyril woke at the sound of the bell. He heard voices
+and movements without, and then the door was quietly opened.
+
+"I am awake," he said. "You see I have taken you at your word, and
+come back to be patched up."
+
+"You are heartily welcome," Mrs. Dowsett said. "Nellie, bring the
+light. Cyril is awake. We were sorry indeed when John told us that
+you had come in our absence. It was but a cold welcome for you to
+find that we were all out."
+
+"There was nothing I needed, madam. Had there been, John would have
+done it for me."
+
+Nellie now appeared at the door with the light, and gave an
+exclamation of horror as she approached the bedside.
+
+"It is not so bad as it looks, Nellie," Cyril said. "Not that I know
+how it looks, for I have not seen myself in a glass since I left
+here; but I can guess that I am an unpleasant object to look at."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett made a sign to Nellie to be silent.
+
+"John told us that you were badly burned and were all wrapped up in
+bandages, but we did not expect to find you so changed. However, that
+will soon pass off, I hope."
+
+"I expect I shall be all right in another week, save for this wound
+in my shoulder. As for that on my head, it is but of slight
+consequence. My skull was thick enough to save my brain."
+
+"Well, Master Cyril," Captain Dave said heartily, as he entered the
+room with a basin of broth in his hand, and then stopped abruptly.
+
+"Well, Captain Dave, here I am, battered out of all shape, you see,
+but not seriously damaged in my timbers. There, you see, though I
+have only been a fortnight at sea, I am getting quite nautical."
+
+"That is right, lad--that is right," Captain Dave said, a little
+unsteadily. "My dame and Nellie will soon put you into ship-shape
+trim again. So you got burnt, I hear, by one of those rascally Dutch
+fire-ships? and John tells me that the captain of the sailors who
+carried you here said that you had gained mighty credit for
+yourself."
+
+"I did my best, as everyone did, Captain Dave. There was not a man on
+board the Fleet who did not do his duty, or we should never have
+beaten the Dutchmen so soundly."
+
+"You had better not talk any more," Mrs. Dowsett said. "You are in my
+charge now, and my first order is that you must keep very quiet, or
+else you will be having fever come on. You had best take a little of
+this broth now. Nellie will sit with you while I go out to prepare
+you a cooling drink."
+
+"I will take a few spoonfuls of the soup since John has taken the
+trouble to prepare it for me," Cyril said; "though, indeed, my lips
+are so parched and swollen that the cooling drink will be much more
+to my taste."
+
+"I think it were best first, dame," the Captain said, "that John and
+I should get him comfortably into bed, instead of lying there wrapped
+up in the blanket in which they brought him ashore. The broth will be
+none the worse for cooling a bit."
+
+"That will be best," his wife agreed. "I will fetch some more
+pillows, so that we can prop him up. He can swallow more comfortably
+so, and will sleep all the better when he lies down again."
+
+As soon as Cyril was comfortably settled John Wilkes was sent to call
+in a doctor, who, after examining him, said that the burns were doing
+well, and that he would send in some cooling lotion to be applied to
+them frequently. As to the wounds, he said they had been so skilfully
+bandaged that it were best to leave them alone, unless great pain set
+in.
+
+Another four days, and Cyril's face had so far recovered its usual
+condition that the swelling was almost abated, and the bandages could
+be removed. The peak of the helmet had sheltered it a good deal, and
+it had suffered less than his hands and arms. Captain Dave and John
+had sat up with him by turns at night, while the Dame and her
+daughter had taken care of him during the day. He had slept a great
+deal, and had not been allowed to talk at all. This prohibition was
+now removed, as the doctor said that the burns were now all healing
+fast, and that he no longer had any fear of fever setting in.
+
+"By the way, Captain," John Wilkes said, that day, at dinner, "I have
+just bethought me of this letter, that was given me by the sailor who
+brought Cyril here. It is for you, from young Lord Oliphant. It has
+clean gone out of my mind till now. I put it in the pocket of my
+doublet, and have forgotten it ever since."
+
+"No harm can have come of the delay, John," Captain Dave said. "It
+was thoughtful of the lad. He must have been sure that Cyril would
+not be in a condition to tell us aught of the battle, and he may have
+sent us some details of it, for the Gazette tells us little enough,
+beyond the ships taken and the names of gentlemen and officers
+killed. Here, Nellie, do you read it. It seems a long epistle, and my
+eyes are not as good as they were."
+
+Nellie took the letter and read aloud:--
+
+"'DEAR AND WORTHY SIR,--I did not think when I was so pleasantly
+entertained at your house that it would befall me to become your
+correspondent, but so it has happened, for, Sir Cyril being sorely
+hurt, and in no state to tell you how the matter befell him--if
+indeed his modesty would allow him, which I greatly doubt--it is
+right that you should know how the business came about, and what
+great credit Sir Cyril has gained for himself. In the heat of the
+fight, when we were briskly engaged in exchanging broadsides with a
+Dutchman of our own size, one of their fire-ships, coming unnoticed
+through the smoke, slipped alongside of us, and, the flames breaking
+out, would speedily have destroyed us, as indeed they went near
+doing. The grapnels were briskly thrown over, but she had already
+touched our sides, and the flames were blowing across us when Sir
+Cyril, perceiving that she had still some way on her, sprang down on
+to her deck and put over the helm. She was then a pillar of flame,
+and the decks, which were plentifully besmeared with pitch, were all
+in a blaze, save just round the tiller where her captain had stood to
+steer her. It was verily a furnace, and it seemed impossible that one
+could stand there for only half a minute and live. Everyone on board
+was filled with astonishment, and the Prince called out loudly that
+he had never seen a braver deed. As the fire-ship drew away from us,
+we saw Sir Cyril fasten the helm down with a rope, and then, lowering
+a bucket over, throw water on to it; then he threw off his helmet and
+armour--his clothes being, by this time, all in a flame--and sprang
+into the sea, the fire-ship being now well nigh her own length from
+us. She had sheered off none too soon, for some of our sails were on
+fire, and it was with great difficulty that we succeeded in cutting
+them from the yards and so saving the ship.
+
+"'All, from the Prince down, say that no finer action was ever
+performed, and acknowledge that we all owe our lives, and His Majesty
+owes his ship, to it. Then, soon after we had hauled Sir Cyril on
+board, the Dutchmen boarded us, and there was a stiff fight, all
+hands doing their best to beat them back, in which we succeeded.
+
+"'Sir Cyril, though scarce able to stand, joined in the fray,
+unnoticed by us all, who in the confusion had not thought of him, and
+being, indeed, scarce able to hold his sword, received a heavy wound,
+of which, however, the doctor has all hopes that he will make a good
+recovery.
+
+"'It would have done you good to hear how the whole crew cheered Sir
+Cyril as we dragged him on board. The Prince is mightily taken with
+him, and is sending him to London in his own yacht, where I feel sure
+that your good dame and fair daughter will do all that they can to
+restore him to health. As soon as I get leave--though I do not know
+when that will be, for we cannot say as yet how matters will turn
+out, or what ships will keep the sea--I shall do myself the honour of
+waiting upon you. I pray you give my respectful compliments to Mrs.
+Dowsett and Mistress Nellie, who are, I hope, enjoying good health.
+
+     "'Your servant to command,
+
+         "'SYDNEY OLIPHANT.'"
+
+The tears were standing in Nellie's eyes, and her voice trembled as
+she read. When she finished she burst out crying.
+
+"There!" John Wilkes exclaimed, bringing his fist down upon the
+table. "I knew, by what that skipper said, the lad had been doing
+something quite out of the way, but when I spoke to him about it
+before you came in he only said that he had tried his best to do his
+duty, just as every other man in the Fleet had done. Who would have
+thought, Captain Dave, that that quiet young chap, who used to sit
+down below making out your accounts, was going to turn out a hero?"
+
+"Who, indeed?" the Captain said, wiping his eyes with the back of his
+hands. "Why, he wasn't more than fifteen then, and, as you say, such
+a quiet fellow. He used to sit there and write, and never speak
+unless I spoke to him. 'Tis scarce two years ago, and look what he
+has done! Who would have thought it? I can't finish my breakfast," he
+went on, getting up from his seat, "till I have gone in and shaken
+him by the hand."
+
+"You had better not, David," Mrs. Dowsett said gently. "We had best
+say but little to him about it now. We can let him know we have heard
+how he came by his burns from Lord Oliphant, but do not let us make
+much of it. Had he wished it he would have told us himself."
+
+Captain Dave sat down again.
+
+"Perhaps you are right, my dear. At any rate, till he is getting
+strong we will not tell him what we think of him. Anyhow, it can't do
+any harm to tell him we know it, and may do him good, for it is clear
+he does not like telling it himself, and may be dreading our
+questioning about the affair."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie went into Cyril's room as soon as they had
+finished breakfast. Captain Dave followed them a few minutes later.
+
+"We have been hearing how you got burnt," he began. "Your friend,
+Lord Oliphant, sent a letter about it by the skipper of his yacht.
+That stupid fellow, John, has been carrying it about ever since, and
+only remembered it just now, when we were at breakfast. It was a
+plucky thing to do, lad."
+
+"It turned out a very lucky one," Cyril said hastily, "for it was the
+means of saving my life."
+
+"Saving your life, lad! What do you mean?"
+
+Cyril then told how Robert Ashford and Black Dick had been brought on
+board as impressed men, how the former had been killed, and the
+confession that Black Dick had made to him before dying.
+
+"He said he had made up his mind to kill me during the fight, but
+that, after I had risked my life to save the _Henrietta_, he was
+ashamed to kill me, and that, rather than do so, he had resolved to
+take his chance of my denouncing him when he returned to land."
+
+ "There was some good in the knave, then," Captain Dave said. "Yes,
+it was a fortunate as well as a brave action, as it turned out."
+
+"Fortunate in one respect, but not in another," Cyril put in, anxious
+to prevent the conversation reverting to the question of his bravery.
+"I put down this wound in my shoulder to it, for if I had been myself
+I don't think I should have got hurt. I guarded the blow, but I was
+so shaky that he broke my guard down as if I had been a child, though
+I think that it did turn the blow a little, and saved it from falling
+fair on my skull. Besides, I should have had my helmet and armour on
+if it had not been for my having to take a swim. So, you see, Captain
+Dave, things were pretty equally balanced, and there is no occasion
+to say anything more about them."
+
+"We have one piece of bad news to tell you, Cyril," Mrs. Dowsett
+remarked, in order to give the conversation the turn which she saw he
+wished for. "We heard this morning that the Plague has come at last
+into the City. Dr. Burnet was attacked yesterday."
+
+"That is bad news indeed, Dame, though it was not to be expected that
+it would spare the City. If you will take my advice, you will go away
+at once, before matters get worse, for if the Plague gets a hold here
+the country people will have nothing to do with Londoners, fearing
+that they will bring the infection among them."
+
+"We shall not go until you are fit to go with us, Cyril," Nellie said
+indignantly.
+
+"Then you will worry me into a fever," Cyril replied. "I am getting
+on well now, and as you said, when you were talking of it before, you
+should leave John in charge of the house and shop, he will be able to
+do everything that is necessary for me. If you stay here, and the
+Plague increases, I shall keep on worrying myself at the thought that
+you are risking your lives needlessly for me, and if it should come
+into the house, and any of you die, I shall charge myself all my life
+with having been the cause of your death. I pray you, for my sake as
+well as your own, to lose no time in going to the sister Captain Dave
+spoke of, down near Gloucester."
+
+"Do not agitate yourself," Mrs. Dowsett said gently, pressing him
+quietly back on to the pillows from which he had risen in his
+excitement. "We will talk it over, and see what is for the best. It
+is but a solitary case yet, and may spread no further. In a few days
+we shall see how matters go. Things have not come to a bad pass yet."
+
+Cyril, however, was not to be consoled. Hitherto he had given
+comparatively small thought to the Plague, but now that it was in the
+City, and he felt that his presence alone prevented the family from
+leaving, he worried incessantly over it.
+
+"Your patient is not so well," the doctor said to Mrs. Dowsett, next
+morning. "Yesterday he was quite free from fever--his hands were
+cool; now they are dry and hard. If this goes on, I fear that we
+shall have great trouble."
+
+"He is worrying himself because we do not go out of town. We had,
+indeed, made up our minds to do so, but we could not leave him here."
+
+"Your nursing would be valuable certainly, but if he goes on as he is
+he will soon be in a high fever; his wounds will grow angry and
+fester. While yesterday he seemed in a fair way to recovery, I should
+be sorry to give any favourable opinion as to what may happen if this
+goes on. Is there no one who could take care of him if you went?"
+
+"John Wilkes will remain behind, and could certainly be trusted to do
+everything that you directed; but that is not like women, doctor."
+
+"No, I am well aware of that; but if things go on well he will really
+not need nursing, while, if fever sets in badly, the best nursing may
+not save him. Moreover, wounds and all other ailments of this sort do
+badly at present; the Plague in the air seems to affect all other
+maladies. If you will take my advice, Dame, you will carry out your
+intention, and leave at once. I hear there are several new cases of
+the Plague today in the City, and those who can go should lose no
+time in doing so; but, even if not for your own sakes, I should say
+go for that of your patient."
+
+"Will you speak to my husband, doctor? I am ready to do whatever is
+best for your patient, whom we love dearly, and regard almost as a
+son."
+
+"If he were a son I should give the same advice. Yes, I will see
+Captain Dowsett."
+
+Half an hour later, Cyril was told what the doctor's advice had been,
+and, seeing that he was bent on it, and that if they stayed they
+would do him more harm than good, they resolved to start the next day
+for Gloucestershire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE PLAGUE
+
+
+Reluctant as they were to leave Cyril, Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter
+speedily saw that the doctor's advice was good. Cyril did not say
+much, but an expression of restful satisfaction came over his face,
+and it was not long before he fell into a quiet sleep that contrasted
+strongly with the restless and fretful state in which he had passed
+the night.
+
+"You see I was right, madam," the doctor said that evening. "The
+fever has not quite left him, but he is a different man to what he
+was this morning; another quiet night's rest, and he will regain the
+ground he has lost. I think you can go in perfect comfort so far as
+he is concerned. Another week and he will be up, if nothing occurs to
+throw him back again; but of course it will be weeks before he can
+use his arm."
+
+John Wilkes had been sent off as soon as it was settled that they
+would go, and had bought, at Epping, a waggon and a pair of strong
+horses. It had a tilt, and the ladies were to sleep in it on the
+journey, as it was certain that, until they were far away from
+London, they would be unable to obtain lodgings. A man was engaged to
+drive them down, and a sail and two or three poles were packed in the
+waggon to make a tent for him and Captain Dowsett. A store of
+provisions was cooked, and a cask of beer, another of water, and a
+case of wine were also placed in. Mattresses were laid down for the
+ladies to sit on during the day and to sleep on at night; so they
+would be practically independent during the journey. Early next
+morning they started.
+
+"It seems heartless to leave you, Cyril," Nellie said, as they came
+in to say good-bye.
+
+"Not heartless at all," Cyril replied. "I know that you are going
+because I wish it."
+
+"It is more than wishing, you tiresome boy. We are going because you
+have made up your mind that you will be ill if we don't. You are too
+weak to quarrel with now, but when we meet again, tremble, for I warn
+you I shall scold you terribly then."
+
+"You shall scold me as much as you please, Nellie; I shall take it
+all quite patiently."
+
+Nellie and her mother went away in tears, and Captain Dave himself
+was a good deal upset. They had thought the going away from home on
+such a long journey would be a great trial, but this was now quite
+lost sight of in their regret at what they considered deserting
+Cyril, and many were the injunctions that were given to John Wilkes
+before the waggon drove off. They were somewhat consoled by seeing
+that Cyril was undoubtedly better and brighter. He had slept all
+night without waking, his hands were cool, and the flush had entirely
+left his cheek.
+
+"If they were starting on a voyage to the Indies they could not be in
+a greater taking," John Wilkes said, on returning to Cyril's bedside.
+"Why, I have seen the Captain go off on a six months' voyage and less
+said about it."
+
+"I am heartily glad they are gone, John. If the Plague grows there
+will be a terrible time here. Is the shop shut?"
+
+"Ay; the man went away two days ago, and we sent off the two
+'prentices yesterday. There is naught doing. Yesterday half the
+vessels in the Pool cleared out on the news of the Plague having got
+into the City, and I reckon that, before long, there won't be a ship
+in the port. We shall have a quiet time of it, you and I; we shall be
+like men in charge of an old hulk."
+
+Another week, and Cyril was up. All his bandages, except those on the
+shoulder and head, had been thrown aside, and the doctor said that,
+erelong, the former would be dispensed with. John had wanted to sit
+up with him, but as Cyril would not hear of this he had moved his bed
+into the same room, so that he could be up in a moment if anything
+was wanted. He went out every day to bring in the news.
+
+"There is little enough to tell, Master Cyril," he said one day. "So
+far, the Plague grows but slowly in the City, though, indeed, it is
+no fault of the people that it does not spread rapidly. Most of them
+seem scared out of their wits; they gather together and talk, with
+white faces, and one man tells of a dream that his wife has had, and
+another of a voice that he says he has heard; and some have seen
+ghosts. Yesterday I came upon a woman with a crowd round her; she was
+staring up at a white cloud, and swore that she could plainly see an
+angel with a white sword, and some of the others cried that they saw
+it too. I should like to have been a gunner's mate with a stout
+rattan, and to have laid it over their shoulders, to give them
+something else to think about for a few hours. It is downright
+pitiful to see such cowards. At the corner of one street there was a
+quack, vending pills and perfumes that he warranted to keep away the
+Plague, and the people ran up and bought his nostrums by the score; I
+hear there are a dozen such in the City, making a fortune out of the
+people's fears. I went into the tavern I always use, and had a glass
+of Hollands and a talk with the landlord. He says that he does as
+good a trade as ever, though in a different way. There are no sailors
+there now, but neighbours come in and drink down a glass of strong
+waters, which many think is the best thing against the Plague, and
+then hurry off again. I saw the Gazette there, and it was half full
+of advertisements of people who said they were doctors from foreign
+parts, and all well accustomed to cure the Plague. They say the
+magistrates are going to issue notices about shutting up houses, as
+they do at St. Giles's, and to have watchmen at the doors to see none
+come in or go out, and that they are going to appoint examiners in
+every parish to go from house to house to search for infected
+persons."
+
+"I suppose these are proper steps to take," Cyril said, "but it will
+be a difficult thing to keep people shut up in houses where one is
+infected. No doubt it would be a good thing at the commencement of
+the illness, but when it has once spread itself, and the very air
+become infected, it seems to me that it will do but little good,
+while it will assuredly cause great distress and trouble. I long to
+be able to get up myself, and to see about things."
+
+"The streets have quite an empty aspect, so many have gone away; and
+what with that, and most of the shops being closed, and the dismal
+aspect of the people, there is little pleasure in being out, Master
+Cyril."
+
+"I dare say, John. Still, it will be a change, and, as soon as I am
+strong enough, I shall sally out with you."
+
+Another fortnight, and Cyril was able to do so. The Plague had still
+spread, but so slowly that people began to hope that the City would
+be spared any great calamity, for they were well on in July, and in
+another six weeks the heat of summer would be passed. Some of those
+who had gone into the country returned, more shops had been opened,
+and the panic had somewhat subsided.
+
+"What do you mean to do, Master Cyril?" John Wilkes asked that
+evening. "Of course you cannot join the Fleet again, for it will be,
+as the doctor says, another two months before your shoulder-bone will
+have knit strongly enough for you to use your arm, and at sea it is a
+matter of more consequence than on land for a man to have the use of
+both arms. The ship may give a sudden lurch, and one may have to make
+a clutch at whatever is nearest to prevent one from rolling into the
+lee scuppers; and such a wrench as that would take from a weak arm
+all the good a three months' nursing had done it, and might spoil the
+job of getting the bone to grow straight again altogether. I don't
+say you are fit to travel yet, but you should be able before long to
+start on a journey, and might travel down into Gloucestershire,
+where, be sure, you will be gladly welcomed by the Captain, his dame,
+and Mistress Nellie. Or, should you not care for that, you might go
+aboard a ship. There are hundreds of them lying idle in the river,
+and many families have taken up their homes there, so as to be free
+from all risks of meeting infected persons in the streets."
+
+"I think I shall stay here, John, and keep you company. If the Plague
+dies away, well and good. If it gets bad, we can shut ourselves up.
+You say that the Captain has laid in a great store of provisions, so
+that you could live without laying out a penny for a year, and it is
+as sure as anything can be, that when the cold weather comes on it
+will die out. Besides, John, neither you nor I are afraid of the
+Plague, and it is certain that it is fear that makes most people take
+it. If it becomes bad, there will be terrible need for help, and
+maybe we shall be able to do some good. If we are not afraid of
+facing death in battle, why should we fear it by the Plague. It is as
+noble a death to die helping one's fellow-countrymen in their sore
+distress as in fighting for one's country."
+
+"That is true enough, Master Cyril, if folks did but see it so. I do
+not see what we could do, but if there be aught, you can depend on
+me. I was in a ship in the Levant when we had a fever, which, it
+seems to me, was akin to this Plague, though not like it in all its
+symptoms. Half the crew died, and, as you say, I verily believe that
+it was partly from the lowness of spirits into which they fell from
+fear. I used to help nurse the sick, and throw overboard the dead,
+and it never touched me. I don't say that I was braver than others,
+but it seemed to me as it was just as easy to take things comfortable
+as it was to fret over them."
+
+Towards the end of the month the Plague spread rapidly, and all work
+ceased in the parishes most affected. But, just as it had raged for
+weeks in the Western parishes outside the City, so it seemed
+restricted by certain invisible lines, after it had made its entry
+within the walls, and while it raged in some parts others were
+entirely unaffected, and here shops were open, and the streets still
+retained something of their usual appearance. There had been great
+want among the poorer classes, owing to the cessation of work,
+especially along the riverside. The Lord Mayor, some of the Aldermen,
+and most other rich citizens had hastened to leave the City. While
+many of the clergy were deserting their flocks, and many doctors
+their patients, others remained firmly at their posts, and worked
+incessantly, and did all that was possible in order to check the
+spread of the Plague and to relieve the distress of the poor.
+
+Numbers of the women were engaged as nurses. Examiners were appointed
+in each parish, and these, with their assistants, paid house-to-house
+visitations, in order to discover any who were infected; and as soon
+as the case was discovered the house was closed, and none suffered to
+go in or out, a watchman being placed before the door day and night.
+Two men therefore were needed to each infected house, and this
+afforded employment for numbers of poor. Others were engaged in
+digging graves, or in going round at night, with carts, collecting
+the dead.
+
+So great was the dread of the people at the thought of being shut up
+in their houses, without communication with the world, that every
+means was used for concealing the fact that one of the inmates was
+smitten down. This was the more easy because the early stages of the
+disease were without pain, and people were generally ignorant that
+they had been attacked until within a few hours, and sometimes within
+a few minutes, of their death; consequently, when the Plague had once
+spread, all the precautions taken to prevent its increase were
+useless, while they caused great misery and suffering, and doubtless
+very much greater loss of life. For, owing to so many being shut up
+in the houses with those affected, and there being no escape from the
+infection, whole families, with the servants and apprentices, sickened
+and died together.
+
+Cyril frequently went up to view the infected districts. He was not
+moved by curiosity, but by a desire to see if there were no way of
+being of use. There was not a street but many of the houses were
+marked with the red cross. In front of these the watchmen sat on
+stools or chairs lent by the inmates, or borrowed from some house
+whence the inhabitants had all fled. The air rang with pitiful cries.
+Sometimes women, distraught with terror or grief, screamed wildly
+through open windows. Sometimes people talked from the upper stories
+to their neighbours on either hand, or opposite, prisoners like
+themselves, each telling their lamentable tale of misery, of how many
+had died and how many remained.
+
+It was by no means uncommon to see on the pavement men and women who,
+in the excess of despair or pain, had thrown themselves headlong
+down. While such sounds and sights filled Cyril with horror, they
+aroused still more his feelings of pity and desire to be of some use.
+Very frequently he went on errands for people who called down from
+above to him. Money was lowered in a tin dish, or other vessel, in
+which it lay covered with vinegar as a disinfectant. Taking it out,
+he would go and buy the required articles, generally food or
+medicine, and, returning, place them in a basket that was again
+lowered.
+
+The watchmen mostly executed these commissions, but many of them were
+surly fellows, and, as they were often abused and cursed by those
+whom they held prisoners, would do but little for them. They had,
+moreover, an excuse for refusing to leave the door, because, as often
+happened, it might be opened in their absence and the inmates escape.
+It was true that the watchmen had the keys, but the screws were often
+drawn from the locks inside; and so frequently was this done that at
+last chains with padlocks were fastened to all the doors as soon as
+the watch was set over them. But even this did not avail. Many of the
+houses had communications at the backs into other streets, and so
+eluded the vigilance of the watch; while, in other cases,
+communications were broken through the walls into other houses, empty
+either by desertion or death, and the escape could thus be made under
+the very eye of the watchman.
+
+Very frequently Cyril went into a church when he saw the door open.
+Here very small congregations would be gathered, for there was a fear
+on the part of all of meeting with strangers, for these might,
+unknown to themselves, be already stricken with the pest, and all
+public meetings of any kind were, for this reason, strictly
+forbidden. One day, he was passing a church that had hitherto been
+always closed, its incumbent being one of those who had fled at the
+outbreak of the Plague. Upon entering he saw a larger congregation
+than usual, some twenty or thirty people being present.
+
+The minister had just mounted the pulpit, and was beginning his
+address as Cyril entered. The latter was struck with his appearance.
+He was a man of some thirty years of age, with a strangely earnest
+face. His voice was deep, but soft and flexible, and in the stillness
+of the almost empty church its lowest tones seemed to come with
+impressive power, and Cyril thought that he had never heard such
+preaching before. The very text seemed strange at such a time:
+_"Rejoice ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."_ From most of
+the discourses he had heard Cyril had gone out depressed rather than
+inspirited. They had been pitched in one tone. The terrible scourge
+that raged round them was held up as a punishment sent by the wrath
+of God upon a sinful people, and the congregation were warned to
+prepare themselves for the fate, that might at any moment be theirs,
+by repentance and humiliation. The preacher to whom Cyril was now
+listening spoke in an altogether different strain.
+
+"You are all soldiers of Christ," he said, "and now is an opportunity
+given to you to show that you are worthy soldiers. When the troops of
+a worldly monarch go into battle they do so with head erect, with
+proud and resolute bearing, with flashing eye, and with high courage,
+determined to bear aloft his banner and to crown it with victory,
+even though it cost them their lives. Such is the mien that soldiers
+of Christ should bear in the mortal strife now raging round us. Let
+them show the same fearlessness of death, the same high courage, the
+same unlimited confidence in their Leader. What matter if they die in
+His service? He has told them what their work should be. He has
+bidden them visit the sick and comfort the sorrowing. What if there
+be danger in the work? Did He shrink from the Cross which was to end
+His work of love, and is it for His followers to do so? 'Though you
+go down into the pit,' He has said, 'I am there also'; and with His
+companionship one must be craven indeed to tremble. This is a noble
+opportunity for holding high the banner of Christ. There is work to
+be done for all, and as the work is done, men should see by the calm
+courage, the cheerfulness, and the patience of those that do it, that
+they know that they are doing His work, and that they are content to
+leave the issue, whatever it be, in His hands."
+
+Such was the tone in which, for half an hour, he spoke. When he had
+finished he offered up a prayer, gave the blessing, and then came
+down from the pulpit and spoke to several of the congregation. He was
+evidently personally known to most of them. One by one, after a few
+words, they left the church. Cyril remained to the last.
+
+"I am willing to work, sir," he said, as the preacher came up, "but,
+so far, no work has come in my way."
+
+"Have you father or mother, or any dependent on you?"
+
+"No one, sir."
+
+"Then come along with me; I lodge close by. I have eaten nothing
+to-day, and must keep up my strength, and I have a long round of
+calls to make."
+
+"This is the first time I have seen the church open," Cyril said, as
+they went out.
+
+"It is not my church, sir, nor do I belong to the Church of England;
+I am an Independent. But as many of the pastors have fled and left
+their sheep untended, so have we--for there are others besides myself
+who have done so--taken possession of their empty pulpits, none
+gainsaying us, and are doing what good we can. You have been in the
+war, I see," he went on, glancing at Cyril's arm, which was carried
+in a sling.
+
+"Yes; I was at the battle of Lowestoft, and having been wounded
+there, came to London to stay in a friend's house till I was cured.
+He and his family have left, but I am living with a trusty foreman
+who is in charge of the house. I have a great desire to be useful. I
+myself have little fear of the Plague."
+
+"That is the best of all preservatives from its ravages, although not
+a sure one; for many doctors who have laboured fearlessly have yet
+died. Have you thought of any way of being useful?"
+
+"No, sir; that is what is troubling me. As you see, I have but the
+use of one arm, and I have not got back my full strength by a long
+way."
+
+"Everyone can be useful if he chooses," the minister said. "There is
+need everywhere among this stricken, frightened, helpless people, of
+men of calm courage and cool heads. Nine out of ten are so scared out
+of their senses, when once the Plague enters the houses, as to be
+well-nigh useless, and yet the law hinders those who would help if
+they could. I am compelled to labour, not among those who are sick,
+but among those who are well. When one enters a house with the red
+cross on the door, he may leave it no more until he is either borne
+out to the dead-cart, or the Plague has wholly disappeared within it,
+and a month has elapsed. The sole exception are the doctors; they are
+no more exempt from spreading the infection than other men, but as
+they must do their work so far as they can they have free passage;
+and yet, so few is their number and so heavy already their losses,
+that not one in a hundred of those that are smitten can have their
+aid. Here is one coming now, one of the best--Dr. Hodges. If you are
+indeed willing so to risk your life, I will speak to him. But I know
+not your name?"
+
+"My name is Cyril Shenstone."
+
+The clergyman looked at him suddenly, and would have spoken, but the
+doctor was now close to them.
+
+"Ah! Mr. Wallace," he said, "I am glad to see you, and to know that,
+so far, you have not taken the disease, although constantly going
+into the worst neighbourhoods."
+
+"Like yourself, Dr. Hodges, I have no fear of it."
+
+"I do not say I have no fear," the doctor replied. "I do my duty so
+far as I can, but I do not doubt that, sooner or later, I shall catch
+the malady, as many of us have done already. I take such precautions
+as I can, but the distemper seems to baffle all precautions. My only
+grief is that our skill avails so little. So far we have found
+nothing that seems to be of any real use. Perhaps if we could attack
+it in the earlier stages we might be more successful. The strange
+nature of the disease, and the way in which it does its work
+well-nigh to the end, before the patient is himself aware of it, puts
+it out of our power to combat it. In many cases I am not sent for
+until the patient is at the point of death, and by the time I reach
+his door I am met with the news that he is dead. But I must be
+going."
+
+"One moment, Dr. Hodges. This young gentleman has been expressing to
+me his desire to be of use. I know nothing of him save that he was
+one of my congregation this morning, but, as he fears not the Plague,
+and is moved by a desire to help his fellows in distress, I take it
+that he is a good youth. He was wounded in the battle of Lowestoft,
+and, being as ready to encounter the Plague as he was the Dutch,
+would now fight in the cause of humanity. Would you take him as an
+assistant? I doubt if he knows anything of medicine, but I think he
+is one that would see your orders carried out. He has no relations or
+friends, and therefore considers himself free to venture his life."
+
+The doctor looked earnestly at Cyril and then raised his hat.
+
+"Young sir," he said, "since you are willing so to venture your life,
+I will gladly accept your help. There are few enough clear heads in
+this city, God knows. As for the nurses, they are Jezebels. They have
+the choice of starving or nursing, and they nurse; but they neglect
+their patients, they rob them, and there is little doubt that in many
+cases they murder them, so that at the end of their first nursing
+they may have enough money to live on without going to another house.
+But I am pressed for time. Here is my card. Call on me this evening
+at six, and we will talk further on the matter."
+
+Shaking hands with the minister he hurried away.
+
+"Come as far as my lodgings," Mr. Wallace said to Cyril, "and stay
+with me while I eat my meal. 'Tis a diversion to one's mind to turn
+for a moment from the one topic that all men are speaking of.
+
+"Your name is Shenstone. I come from Norfolk. There was a family of
+that name formerly had estates near my native place. One Sir Aubrey
+Shenstone was at its head--a brave gentleman. I well remember seeing
+him when I was a boy, but he took the side of the King against the
+Parliament, and, as we heard, passed over with Charles to France when
+his cause was lost. I have not heard of him since."
+
+"Sir Aubrey was my father," Cyril said quietly; "he died a year ago.
+I am his only son."
+
+"And therefore Sir Cyril," the minister said, "though you did not so
+name yourself."
+
+"It was needless," Cyril said. "I have no estates to support my
+title, and though it is true that, when at sea with Prince Rupert, I
+was called Sir Cyril, it was because the Prince had known my father,
+and knew that I, at his death, inherited the title, though I
+inherited nothing else."
+
+They now reached the door of Mr. Wallace's lodging, and went up to
+his room on the first floor.
+
+"Neglect no precaution," the minister said. "No one should throw away
+his life. I myself, although not a smoker, nor accustomed to take
+snuff, use it now, and would, as the doctors advise, chew a piece of
+tobacco, but 'tis too nasty, and when I tried it, I was so ill that I
+thought even the risk of the Plague preferable. But I carry camphor
+in my pockets, and when I return from preaching among people of whom
+some may well have the infection, I bathe my face and hands with
+vinegar, and, pouring some on to a hot iron, fill the room with its
+vapour. My life is useful, I hope, and I would fain keep it, as long
+as it is the Lord's will, to work in His service. As a rule, I take
+wine and bread before I go out in the morning, though to-day I was
+pressed for time, and neglected it. I should advise you always to do
+so. I am convinced that a full man has less chance of catching the
+infection than a fasting one, and that it is the weakness many men
+suffer from their fears, and from their loss of appetite from grief,
+that causes them to take it so easily. When the fever was so bad in
+St. Giles's, I heard that in many instances, where whole families
+were carried away, the nurses shut up with them were untouched with
+the infection, and I believe that this was because they had become
+hardened to the work, and ate and drank heartily, and troubled not
+themselves at all at the grief of those around them. They say that
+many of these harpies have grown, wealthy, loading themselves with
+everything valuable they could lay hands on in the houses of those
+they attended."
+
+After the meal, in which he insisted upon Cyril joining him, was
+concluded, Mr. Wallace uttered a short prayer that Cyril might safely
+pass through the work he had undertaken.
+
+"I trust," he said, "that you will come here frequently? I generally
+have a few friends here of an evening. We try to be cheerful, and to
+strengthen each other, and I am sure we all have comfort at these
+meetings."
+
+"Thank you, I will come sometimes, sir; but as a rule I must return
+home, for my friend, John Wilkes, would sorely miss my company, and
+is so good and faithful a fellow that I would not seem to desert him
+on any account."
+
+"Do as you think right, lad, but remember there will always be a
+welcome for you here when you choose to come."
+
+John Wilkes was dismayed when he heard of Cyril's intention.
+
+"Well, Master Cyril," he said, after smoking his pipe in silence for
+some time, "it is not for me to hinder you in what you have made up
+your mind to do. I don't say that if I wasn't on duty here that I
+mightn't go and do what I could for these poor creatures. But I don't
+know. It is one thing to face a deadly fever like this Plague if it
+comes on board your own ship, for there is no getting out of it; and
+as you have got to face it, why, says I, do it as a man; but as for
+going out of your way to put yourself in the middle of it, that is
+going a bit beyond me."
+
+"Well, John, you didn't think it foolish when I went as a Volunteer
+to fight the Dutch. It was just the same thing, you know."
+
+"I suppose it was," John said reluctantly, after a pause. "But then,
+you see, you were fighting for your country."
+
+"Well, but in the present case I shall be fighting for my countrymen
+and countrywomen, John. It is awful to think of the misery that
+people are suffering, and it seems to me that, having nothing else to
+do here, it is specially my duty to put my hand to the work of
+helping as far as I can. The risk may, at present, be greater than it
+would be if I stayed at home, but if the Plague spreads--and it looks
+as if all the City would presently be affected--all will have to run
+the risk of contagion. There are thousands of women now who
+voluntarily enter the houses as nurses for a small rate of pay. Even
+robbers, they say, will enter and ransack the houses of the dead in
+search of plunder. It will be a shame indeed then if one should
+shrink from doing so when possibly one might do good."
+
+"I will say nothing more against it, Master Cyril. Still, I do not
+see exactly what you are going to do; with one arm you could scarce
+hold down a raving man."
+
+"I am not going to be a nurse, certainly, John," Cyril said, with a
+laugh. "I expect that the doctor wants certain cases watched. Either
+he may doubt the nurses, or he may want to see how some particular
+drug works. Nothing, so far, seems of use, but that may be partly
+because the doctors are all so busy that they cannot watch the
+patients and see, from hour to hour, how medicines act."
+
+"When I was in the Levant, and the pest was bad there," John Wilkes
+said, "I heard that the Turks, when seized with the distemper,
+sometimes wrapped themselves up in a great number of clothes, so that
+they sweated heavily, and that this seemed, in some cases, to draw
+off the fever, and so the patient recovered."
+
+"That seems a sensible sort of treatment, John, and worth trying with
+this Plague."
+
+On calling on Dr. Hodges that afternoon, Cyril found that he had
+rightly guessed the nature of the work that the doctor wished him to
+perform.
+
+"I can never rely upon the nurses," he said. "I give instructions
+with medicines, but in most cases I am sure that the instructions are
+never carried out. The relations and friends are too frightened to
+think or act calmly, too full of grief for the sick, and anxiety for
+those who have not yet taken the illness, to watch the changes in the
+patient. As to the nurses, they are often drunk the whole time they
+are in the house. Sometimes they fear to go near the sick man or
+woman; sometimes, undoubtedly, they hasten death. In most cases it
+matters little, for we are generally called in too late to be of any
+service. The poor people view us almost as enemies; they hide their
+malady from us in every way. Half our time, too, is wasted uselessly,
+for many are there who frighten themselves into the belief that they
+are ill, and send for us in all haste. So far, we feel that we are
+working altogether in the dark; none of us can see that any sort of
+drug avails even in the slightest degree when the malady has once got
+a hold. One in twenty cases may live, but why we know not. Still the
+fact that some do live shows that the illness is not necessarily
+mortal, and that, could the right remedy befound, we might yet
+overcome it. The first thing, however, is to try to prevent its
+spread. Here we have ten or more people shut up in a house with one
+sick person. It is a terrible necessity, for it is a sentence of
+death to many, if not to all. We give the nurses instructions to
+fumigate the room by evaporating vinegar upon hot irons, by burning
+spices and drugs, by sprinkling perfumes. So far, I cannot see that
+these measures have been of any service, but I cannot say how
+thoroughly they have been carried out, and I sorely need an assistant
+to see that the system is fairly tried. It is not necessary that he
+should be a doctor, but he must have influence and power over those
+in the house. He must be calm and firm, and he must be regarded by
+the people as a doctor. If you will undertake this, you must put on a
+wig, for you know that that is looked upon as a necessary part of a
+doctor's outfit by people in general. I shall introduce you as my
+assistant, and say that you are to be obeyed as implicitly as if I
+myself were present. There is another reason why you must pass as a
+doctor, for you would otherwise be a prisoner and unable to pass in
+and out. You had best wear a black suit. I will lend you one of my
+canes and a snuff-box, and should advise you to take snuff, even if
+it is not your habit, for I believe that it is good against
+infection, and one of the experiments I wish to try is as to what its
+result may be if burnt freely in the house. Are you ready to
+undertake this work?"
+
+"Quite ready, sir."
+
+"Then come round here at eight in the morning. I shall have heard by
+that hour from the examiners of this parish of any fresh case they
+have found. They begin their rounds at five o'clock."
+
+The next day Cyril presented himself at the doctor's, dressed in
+black, with white ruffles to his shirt, and a flowing wig he had
+purchased the night before.
+
+"Here are the cane and snuff-box," Dr. Hodges said. "Now you will
+pass muster very well as my assistant. Let us be off at once; for I
+have a long list of cases."
+
+Cyril remained outside while Dr. Hodges went into three or four
+houses. Presently he came down to the door, and said to him,--
+
+"This is a case where things are favourable for a first trial. It is
+a boy who is taken ill, and the parents, though in deep grief, seem
+to have some sense left."
+
+He turned to the watchman, who had already been placed at the door.
+The man, who evidently knew him, had saluted respectfully when he
+entered the house.
+
+"This gentleman is my assistant," he said, "and you will allow him to
+pass in and out just as you would myself. He is going to take this
+case entirely in hand, and you will regard him as being in charge
+here."
+
+He then re-entered the house with Cyril, and led him to the room
+where the parents of the boy, and two elder sisters, were assembled.
+
+"This is my assistant," he said, "and he has consented to take entire
+charge of the case, though I myself shall look in and consult with
+him every morning. In the first place, your son must be taken to the
+top storey of the house. You say that you are ready to nurse him
+yourselves, and do not wish that a paid nurse should be had in. I
+commend your determination, for the nurses are, for the most part,
+worse than useless, and carry the infection all over the house. But
+only one of you must go into the room, and whoever goes in must stay
+there. It is madness for all to be going in and out and exposing
+themselves to the infection when no good can be done. When this is
+the case, one or other is sure to take the malady, and then it
+spreads to all. Which of you will undertake the duty?"
+
+All four at once offered themselves, and there was an earnest contest
+between them for the dangerous post. Dr. Hodges listened for a minute
+or two, and then decided upon the elder of the two sisters--a quiet,
+resolute-looking girl with a healthy face.
+
+"This young lady shall be nurse," he said. "I feel that I can have
+confidence in her. She looks healthy and strong, and would, methinks,
+best resist the malady, should she take it. I am leaving my assistant
+here for a time to see to the fumigation of the house. You will
+please see that his orders are carried out in every respect. I have
+every hope that if this is done the Plague will not spread further;
+but much must depend upon yourselves. Do not give way to grief, but
+encourage each other, and go about with calm minds. I see," he said,
+pointing to a Bible on the table, "that you know where to go for
+comfort and strength. The first thing is to carry the boy up to the
+room that we chose for him."
+
+"I will do that," the father said.
+
+"He had better be left in the blankets in which he is lying. Cover
+him completely over with them, for, above all, it is necessary that
+you should not inhale his breath. You had better take the head and
+your daughter the feet. But first see that the room upstairs is
+prepared."
+
+In a few minutes the lad was transferred to the upper room, the
+doctor warning the others not to enter that from which he had been
+carried until it had been fumigated and sprinkled with vinegar.
+
+"Now," he said to the girl who was to remain with the patient, "keep
+the window wide open; as there is no fireplace, keep a brazier of
+charcoal burning near the window. Keep the door shut, and open it
+only when you have need for something. Give him a portion of this
+medicine every half hour. Do not lean over him--remember that his
+breath is a fatal poison. Put a pinch of these powdered spices into
+the fire every few minutes. Pour this perfume over your handkerchief,
+and put it over your mouth and nose whenever you approach the bed. He
+is in a stupor now, poor lad, and I fear that his chance of recovery
+is very slight; but you must remember that your own life is of value
+to your parents, and that it behoves you to do all in your power to
+preserve it, and that if you take the contagion it may spread through
+the house. We shall hang a sheet, soaked in vinegar, outside the
+door."
+
+"We could not have a better case for a trial," he said, as he went
+downstairs and joined Cyril, whom he had bidden wait below. "The
+people are all calm and sensible, and if we succeed not here, there
+is small chance of our succeeding elsewhere."
+
+The doctor then gave detailed orders as to fumigating the house, and
+left. Cyril saw at once that a brazier of charcoal was lighted and
+carried upstairs, and he called to the girl to come out and fetch it
+in. As soon as she had done so the sheet was hung over the door. Then
+he took another brazier, placed it in the room from which the boy had
+been carried, laid several lumps of sulphur upon it, and then left
+the room. All the doors of the other rooms were then thrown open, and
+a quantity of tobacco, spices, and herbs, were burnt on a red-hot
+iron at the foot of the stairs, until the house was filled with a
+dense smoke. Half an hour later all the windows were opened.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+FATHER AND SON
+
+
+The process of fumigation had well-nigh suffocated the wife and
+daughter of the trader, but, as soon as the smoke cleared away, Cyril
+set them all to work to carry up articles of furniture to another
+bedroom on the top floor.
+
+"When your daughter is released from nursing, madam," he said, "she
+must at once come into this room, and remain there secluded for a few
+days. Therefore, it will be well to make it as comfortable as
+possible for her. Her food must be taken up and put outside the door,
+so that she can take it in there without any of you going near her."
+
+The occupation was a useful one, as it distracted the thoughts of
+those engaged in it from the sick room.
+
+Cyril did not enter there. He had told the girl to call him should
+there be any necessity, but said,--
+
+"Do not call me unless absolutely needful, if, for instance, he
+becomes violent, in which case we must fasten the sheets across him
+so as to restrain him. But it is of no use your remaining shut up
+there if I go in and out of the room to carry the infection to the
+others."
+
+"You have hurt your arm, doctor?" the mother said, when the
+arrangements were all made, and they had returned to the room below.
+
+"Yes," he said; "I met with an accident, and must, for a short time,
+keep my arm in a sling."
+
+"You look young, sir, to be running these fearful perils."
+
+"I am young," Cyril said, "and have not yet completed all my studies;
+but Dr. Hodges judged that I was sufficiently advanced to be able to
+be of service to him, not so much in prescribing as by seeing that
+his orders were carried out."
+
+Every half hour he went upstairs, and inquired, through the door, as
+to the state of the boy.
+
+Late in the afternoon he heard the girl crying bitterly within. He
+knocked, and she cried out,--
+
+"He is dead, sir; he has just expired."
+
+"Then you must think of yourself and the others," he said. "The small
+packet I placed on the chair contains sulphur. Close the window, then
+place the packet on the fire, and leave the room at once and go into
+the next room, which is all ready for you. There, I pray you,
+undress, and sponge yourself with vinegar, then make your clothes
+into a bundle and put them outside the door. There will be a bowl of
+hot broth in readiness for you there; drink that, and then go to bed
+at once, and keep the blankets over you and try to sleep."
+
+He went part of the way downstairs, and, in a minute or two, heard a
+door open and shut, then another door shut. Knowing that the order
+had been carried out, he went downstairs.
+
+"Madam," he said, "God has taken your boy. The doctor had but little
+hope for him. For the sake of yourself and those around you, I pray
+you all to bear up against the sorrow."
+
+The mother burst into tears, and, leaving her with her husband and
+daughter, Cyril went into the kitchen, where the maid and an
+apprentice were sitting with pale faces, and bade the servant at once
+warm up the broth, that had already been prepared. As soon as it was
+ready, he carried a basin upstairs. The bundle of clothes had already
+been placed outside the girl's room. He took this down and put it on
+the kitchen fire.
+
+"Now," he said, "take four basins up to the parlour, and do you and
+the boy each make a hearty meal. I think there is little fear of the
+Plague spreading, and your best chance of avoiding it is by keeping
+up your spirits and not fretting about it."
+
+As soon as the broth had been taken into the parlour, he went in and
+persuaded them to eat and to take a glass of wine with it, while he
+himself sat down with them.
+
+"You are all weak," he said, "for, doubtless, you have eaten nothing
+to-day, and you need strength as well as courage. I trust that your
+daughter will presently go off into a sound sleep. The last thing
+before you go to bed, take up with you a basin of good posset with a
+glass of wine in it; knock gently at her door; if she is awake, tell
+her to come out and take it in as soon as you have gone, but if she
+does not reply, do not rouse her. I can be of no further use
+to-night, but will return in the morning, when I hope to find all is
+well."
+
+The father accompanied him to the door.
+
+"You will of course bring the poor boy down to-night. It were best
+that you made some excuse to sleep in another room. Let your daughter
+sleep with her mother. When you go in to fetch him, be careful that
+you do not enter at once, for the fumes of the sulphur will scarcely
+have abated. As you go in, place a wet handkerchief to your mouth,
+and make to the window and throw it open, closing the door behind
+you. Sit at the window till the air is tolerable, then wrap the
+blankets round him and carry him downstairs when you hear the bell.
+After he has gone tell the servant to have a brazier lighted, and to
+keep up the kitchen fire. As soon as he is gone, burn on the brazier
+at the foot of the stairs, tobacco and spices, as we did before; then
+take off your clothes and burn them on the kitchen fire, and then go
+up to bed. You can leave the doors and windows of the rooms that are
+not in use open, so that the smoke may escape."
+
+"God bless you, sir!" the man said. "You have been a comfort indeed
+to us, and I have good hopes that the Plague will spread no further
+among us."
+
+Cyril went first to the doctor's, and reported what had taken place.
+
+"I will go round in the morning and see how they are," he concluded,
+"and bring you round word before you start on your rounds."
+
+"You have done very well indeed," the doctor said. "If people
+everywhere would be as calm, and obey orders as well as those you
+have been with, I should have good hopes that we might check the
+spread of the Plague; but you will find that they are quite the
+exception."
+
+This, indeed, proved to be the case. In many instances, the people
+were so distracted with grief and fear that they ran about the house
+like mad persons, crying and screaming, running in and out of the
+sick chamber, or sitting there crying helplessly, and refusing to
+leave the body until it was carried out to the dead-cart. But with
+such cases Cyril had nothing to do, as the doctor would only send him
+to the houses where he saw that his instructions would be carried
+out.
+
+To his great satisfaction, Cyril found that the precautions taken in
+the first case proved successful. Regularly, every morning, he
+inquired at the door, and received the answer, "All are well."
+
+In August the Plague greatly increased in violence, the deaths rising
+to ten thousand a week. A dull despair had now seized the population.
+It seemed that all were to be swept away. Many went out of their
+minds. The quacks no longer drove a flourishing trade in their
+pretended nostrums; these were now utterly discredited, for nothing
+seemed of the slightest avail. Some went to the opposite extreme, and
+affected to defy fate. The taverns were filled again, and boisterous
+shouts and songs seemed to mock the dismal cries from the houses with
+the red cross on the door. Robberies were rife. Regardless of the
+danger of the pest, robbers broke into the houses where all the
+inmates had perished by the Plague, and rifled them of their
+valuables. The nurses plundered the dying. All natural affection
+seemed at an end.
+
+Those stricken were often deserted by all their relatives, and left
+alone to perish.
+
+Bands of reckless young fellows went through the streets singing,
+and, dressing up in masks, performed the dance of death. The dead
+were too many to be carried away in carts at night to the great pits
+prepared for them, but the dismal tones of the bell, and the cries of
+"Bring out your dead!" sounded in the streets all day. It was no
+longer possible to watch the whole of the infected houses. Sometimes
+Plague-stricken men would escape from their beds and run through the
+streets until they dropped dead. One such man, in the height of his
+delirium, sprang into the river, and, after swimming about for some
+time, returned to the shore, marvellously cured of his malady by the
+shock.
+
+Cyril went occasionally in the evening to the lodgings of Mr.
+Wallace. At first he met several people gathered there, but the
+number became fewer every time he went. He had told the minister that
+he thought that it would be better for him to stay away, exposed as
+he was to infection, but Mr. Wallace would take no excuses on this
+score.
+
+"We are all in the hands of God," he said. "The streets are full of
+infected people, and I myself frequently go to pray with my friends
+in the earliest stages of the malady. There is no longer any use in
+precautions. We can but all go on doing our duty until we are called
+away, and even among the few who gather here of an evening there may
+be one or more who are already smitten, though unconscious yet that
+their summons has come."
+
+Among others Cyril was introduced to a Mr. and Mrs. Harvey, who were,
+the minister told him, from the country, but were staying in town on
+account of a painful family business.
+
+"I have tried to persuade them to return home and to stay there until
+the Plague ceases, but they conceive it their duty to remain. They
+are, like myself, Independents, and are not easily to be turned from
+a resolution they have taken."
+
+Cyril could easily understand that Mr. Harvey was exactly what he,
+from the description he had heard of them, had pictured to himself
+that a Roundhead soldier would be. He had a stern face, eyes deeply
+sunk in his head, high cheekbones, a firm mouth, and a square jaw. He
+wore his hair cut close. His figure was bony, and he must, as a young
+man, have been very powerful. He spoke in a slow, deliberate way,
+that struck Cyril as being the result of long effort, for a certain
+restless action of the fingers and the quick movement of the eye,
+told of a naturally impulsive and fiery disposition. He constantly
+used scriptural texts in the course of his speech. His wife was
+gentle and quiet, but it was evident that there was a very strong
+sympathy between them, and Cyril found, after meeting them once or
+twice, that he liked them far better than he thought he should do on
+their first introduction. This was, no doubt, partly due to the fact
+that Mr. Harvey frequently entered into conversation with him, and
+appeared to interest himself in him. He was, too, a type that was
+altogether new to the lad. From his father, and his father's
+companions, he had heard nothing good of the Puritans, but the
+evident earnestness of this man's nature was, to some extent, in
+accordance with his own disposition, and he felt that, widely as he
+might differ from him on all points of politics, he could not but
+respect him. The evenings were pleasant. As if by common consent, the
+conversation never turned on the Plague, but they talked of other
+passing events, of the trials of their friends, and of the laws that
+were being put in force against Nonconformists.
+
+"What think you of these persecutions, young sir?" Mr. Harvey
+abruptly asked Cyril, one evening, breaking off in the midst of a
+general conversation.
+
+Cyril was a little confused at the unexpected question.
+
+"I think all persecutions for conscience' sake are wrong," he said,
+after a moment's pause, "and generally recoil upon the persecutors.
+Spain lost Holland owing to her persecution of the people. France
+lost great numbers of her best citizens by her laws against the
+Protestants. I agree with you thoroughly, that the persecution of the
+Nonconformists at present is a grievous error, and a cruel injustice;
+but, at the same time, if you will excuse my saying so, it is the
+natural consequence of the persecution by the Nonconformists, when
+they were in power, of the ministers of the Church of England. My
+tutor in France was an English clergyman, who had been driven from
+his living, like thousands of other ministers, because he would not
+give up his opinions. Therefore, you see, I very early was imbued
+with a hatred of persecution in any form. I trust that I have not
+spoken too boldly; but you asked for my opinion, and I was forced to
+give it."
+
+"At any rate, young sir, you have spoken manfully, and I like you
+none the worse for it. Nor can I altogether gainsay your words. But
+you must remember that we had before been oppressed, and that we have
+been engaged in a desperate struggle for liberty of conscience."
+
+"Which, having won for ourselves, we proceeded to deny to others,"
+Mr. Wallace said, with a smile. "Cyril has us fairly, Mr. Harvey. We
+are reaping what our fathers sowed. They thought that the power they
+had gained was to be theirs to hold always, and they used it
+tyrannously, being thereby false to all their principles. It is ever
+the persecuted, when he attains power, who becomes the persecutor,
+and, hard as is the pressure of the laws now, we should never forget
+that we have, in our time, been persecutors, and that in defiance of
+the rights of conscience we had fought to achieve. Man's nature is, I
+fear, unchangeable. The slave longs, above all things, for freedom,
+but when he rises successfully against his master he, in turn,
+becomes a tyrant, and not infrequently a cruel and bloodthirsty one.
+Still, we must hope. It may be in the good days that are to come, we
+may reach a point when each will be free to worship in his own
+fashion, without any fear or hindrance, recognising the fact that
+each has a right to follow his own path to Heaven, without its being
+a subject of offence to those who walk in other ways."
+
+One or two of the other visitors were on the point of speaking, when
+Mr. Wallace put a stop to further argument by fetching a Bible from
+his closet, and preparing for the short service of prayer with which
+the evening always closed.
+
+One evening, Mr. Harvey and his wife were absent from the usual
+gathering.
+
+"I feel anxious about them," Mr. Wallace said; "they have never,
+since they arrived in town, missed coming here at seven o'clock. The
+bells are usually striking the hour as they come. I fear that one or
+other of them may have been seized by the Plague."
+
+"With your permission, sir, I will run round and see," Cyril said. "I
+know their lodging, for I have accompanied them to the door several
+times. It is but five minutes' walk from here. If one or other is ill
+I will run round to Dr. Hodges, and I am sure, at my request, he will
+go round at once to see them."
+
+Cyril walked fast towards the lodging occupied by the Harveys. It was
+at the house of a mercer, but he and his family had, three weeks
+before, gone away, having gladly permitted his lodgers to remain, as
+their presence acted as a guard to the house. They had brought up an
+old servant with them, and were therefore able to dispense with other
+attendants. Cyril hurried along, trying, as usual, to pay as little
+heed as he could to the doleful cries that arose from many of the
+houses. Although it was still broad daylight there was scarce a soul
+in the streets, and those he met were, like himself, walking fast,
+keeping as far as possible from any one they met, so as to avoid
+contact.
+
+As he neared the house he heard a woman scream. A moment later a
+casement was thrown open, and Mrs. Harvey's head appeared. She gave
+another piercing cry for help, and was then suddenly dragged back,
+and the casement was violently closed. Cyril had so frequently heard
+similar cries that he would have paid no attention to it had it come
+from a stranger, but he felt that Mrs. Harvey was not one to give way
+to wild despair, even had her husband been suddenly attacked with the
+Plague. Her sudden disappearance, and the closing of the casement,
+too, were unaccountable, unless, indeed, her husband were in a state
+of violent delirium. He ran to the door and flung himself against it.
+
+"Help me to force it down," he cried to a man who was passing.
+
+"You are mad," the man replied. "Do you not see that they have got
+the Plague? You may hear hundreds of such cries every day."
+
+Cyril drew his sword, which he always carried when he went out of an
+evening--for, owing to the deaths among the City watch, deeds of
+lawlessness and violence were constantly perpetrated--and struck,
+with all his strength, with the hilt upon the fastening of the
+casement next the door. Several of the small panes of glass fell in,
+and the whole window shook. Again and again he struck upon the same
+spot, when the fastening gave way, and the window flew open. He
+sprang in at once, ran through the shop into the passage, and then
+upstairs. The door was open, and he nearly fell over the body of a
+man. As he ran into the room he heard the words,--
+
+"For the last time: Will you sign the deed? You think I will not do
+this, but I am desperate."
+
+As the words left his mouth, Cyril sprang forward between the man and
+Mr. Harvey, who was standing with his arms folded, looking
+steadfastly at his opponent, who was menacing him with a drawn sword.
+The man, with a terrible oath, turned to defend himself, repeating
+the oath when he saw who was his assailant.
+
+"I let you off last time lightly, you scoundrel!" Cyril exclaimed.
+"This time it is your life or mine."
+
+The man made a furious lunge at him. Cyril parried it, and would at
+the next moment have run him through had not Mr. Harvey suddenly
+thrown himself between them, hurling Cyril's antagonist to the
+ground.
+
+"Put up your sword," he said to Cyril. "This man is my son; scoundrel
+and villain, yet still my son, even though he has raised his hand
+against me. Leave him to God."
+
+Cyril had stepped a pace back in his surprise. At first he thought
+that Mr. Harvey's trouble had turned his brain; then it flashed
+across him that this ruffian's name was indeed John Harvey. The man
+was about to rise from the floor when Cyril again sprang forward.
+
+"Drop that sword," he exclaimed, "or I will run you through. Now,
+sir," he said to Mr. Harvey, "will you draw out that pistol, whose
+butt projects from his pocket, or your son may do one of us mischief
+yet?"
+
+That such had been the man's intention was evident from the glance of
+baffled rage he threw at Cyril.
+
+"Now, sir, go," his father said sternly. "Remember that, henceforth,
+you are no son of mine. Did I do my duty I should hand you over to
+the watch--not for your threats to me, but for the sword-thrust you
+have given to Joseph Edmonds, who has many times carried you on his
+shoulder when a child. You may compass my death, but be assured that
+not one farthing will you gain thereby. 'Vengeance is mine, saith the
+Lord.' I leave it to Him to pay it. Now go."
+
+John Harvey rose to his feet, and walked to the door. Then he turned
+and shook his fist at Cyril.
+
+"Curse you!" he said. "I will be even with you yet."
+
+Cyril now had time to look round. His eye fell upon the figure of
+Mrs. Harvey, who had fallen insensible. He made a step towards her,
+but her husband said, "She has but fainted. This is more pressing,"
+and he turned to the old servant. Cyril aided him in lifting the old
+man up and laying him on the couch.
+
+"He breathes," said he.
+
+"He is wounded to death," Mr. Harvey said sadly; "and my son hath
+done it."
+
+Cyril opened the servant's coat.
+
+"Here is the wound, high up on the left side. It may not touch a
+vital part. It bleeds freely, and I have heard that that is a good
+sign."
+
+"It is so," Mr. Harvey said excitedly. "Perhaps he may yet recover. I
+would give all that I am worth that it might be so, and that, bad as
+he may be, the sin of this murder should not rest on my son's soul."
+
+"I will run for the doctor, sir, but before I go let me help you to
+lift your wife. She will doubtless come round shortly, and will aid
+you to stanch the wound till the doctor comes."
+
+Mrs. Harvey was indeed already showing signs of returning animation.
+She was placed on a couch, and water sprinkled on her face. As soon
+as he saw her eyes open Cyril caught up his hat and ran to Dr.
+Hodges. The doctor had just finished his supper, and was on the point
+of going out again to see some of his patients. On hearing from Cyril
+that a servant of some friends of his had been wounded by a robber,
+he put some lint and bandages in his pocket, and started with him.
+
+"These robberies are becoming more and more frequent," he said; "and
+so bold and reckless are the criminals that they seem to care not a
+jot whether they add murder to their other crimes. Where do you say
+the wound is?"
+
+Cyril pointed below his own shoulder.
+
+"It is just about there, doctor."
+
+"Then it may be above the upper edge of the lung. If so, we may save
+the man. Half an inch higher or lower will make all the difference
+between life and death. As you say that it was bleeding freely, it is
+probable that the sword has missed the lung, for had it pierced it,
+the bleeding would have been chiefly internal, and the hope of saving
+him would have been slight indeed."
+
+When they reached the house Cyril found that Mrs. Harvey had quite
+recovered. They had cut open the man's clothes and her husband was
+pressing a handkerchief, closely folded, upon the wound.
+
+"It is serious, but, I think, not vital," Dr. Hodges said, after
+examining it. "I feel sure that the sword has missed the lung."
+
+After cutting off the rest of the man's upper garments, he poured,
+from a phial he had brought with him, a few drops of a powerful
+styptic into the wound, placed a thick pad of lint over it, and
+bandaged it securely. Then, giving directions that a small quantity
+of spirits and water should be given to the patient from time to
+time, and, above all things, that he should be kept perfectly quiet,
+he hurried away.
+
+"Is there anything more I can do, sir?" Cyril asked Mr. Harvey.
+
+"Nothing more. You will understand, sir, what our feelings are, and
+that our hearts are too full of grief and emotion for us to speak. We
+shall watch together to-night, and lay our case before the Lord."
+
+"Then I will come early in the morning and see if there is aught I
+can do, sir. I am going back now to Mr. Wallace, who was uneasy at
+your absence. I suppose you would wish me to say only that I found
+that there was a robber in the place who, having wounded your
+servant, was on the point of attacking you when I entered, and that
+he fled almost immediately."
+
+"That will do. Say to him that for to-night we shall be busy nursing,
+and that my wife is greatly shaken; therefore I would not that he
+should come round, but I pray him to call here in the morning."
+
+"I will do so, sir."
+
+Cyril went downstairs, closed the shutters of the window into which
+he had broken, and put up the bars, and then went out at the door,
+taking special pains to close it firmly behind him.
+
+He was glad to be out of the house. He had seen many sad scenes
+during the last few weeks, but it seemed to him that this was the
+saddest of all. Better, a thousand times, to see a son stricken by
+the Plague than this. He walked slowly back to the minister's. He met
+Mr. Wallace at the door of his house.
+
+"I was coming round," the latter said. "Of course one or other of
+them are stricken?"
+
+"No, sir; it was another cause that prevented their coming. Just as I
+reached the house I heard a scream, and Mrs. Harvey appeared at the
+casement calling for help. I forced open a window and ran up. I found
+that a robber had entered the house. He had seriously wounded the old
+servant, and was on the point of attacking Mr. Harvey when I entered.
+Taken by surprise, the man fled almost immediately. Mrs. Harvey had
+fainted. At first, we thought the servant was killed, but, finding
+that he lived, I ran off and fetched Dr. Hodges, who has dressed the
+wound, and thinks that the man has a good chance of recovery. As Mrs.
+Harvey had now come round, and was capable of assisting her husband,
+they did not accept my offer to stay and do anything I could. I said
+I was coming to you, and Mr. Harvey asked me to say that, although
+they were too much shaken to see you this evening, they should be
+glad if you would go round to them the first thing in the morning."
+
+"Then the robber got away unharmed?" Mr. Wallace asked.
+
+"He was unharmed, sir. I would rather that you did not question me on
+the subject. Mr. Harvey will doubtless enter fully into the matter
+with you in the morning. We did not exchange many words, for he was
+greatly disturbed in spirit at the wounding of his old servant, and
+the scene he had gone through; and, seeing that he and his wife would
+rather be alone with their patient, I left almost directly after Dr.
+Hodges went away. However, I may say that I believe that there are
+private matters in the affair, which he will probably himself
+communicate to you."
+
+"Then I will ask no more questions, Cyril. I am well content to know
+that it is not as I feared, and that the Plague had not attacked
+them."
+
+"I said that I would call round in the morning, sir; but I have been
+thinking of it as I came along, and consider that, as you will be
+there, it is as well that I should not do so. I will come round here
+at ten o'clock, and should you not have returned, will wait until you
+do. I do not know that I can be of any use whatever, and do not wish
+to intrude there. Will you kindly say this to them, but add that
+should they really wish me to go, I will of course do so?"
+
+Mr. Wallace looked a little puzzled.
+
+"I will do as you ask me, but it seems to me that they will naturally
+wish to see you, seeing that, had it not been for your arrival, they
+might have been robbed and perhaps murdered."
+
+"You will understand better when you have seen Mr. Harvey, sir. Now I
+will be making for home; it is about my usual hour, and John Wilkes
+will be beginning to wonder and worry about me."
+
+To John, Cyril told the same story as to Mr. Wallace.
+
+"But, how was it that you let the villain escape, Master Cyril? Why
+did you not run him through the body?"
+
+"I had other things to think of, John. There was Mrs. Harvey lying
+insensible, and the servant desperately wounded, and I thought more
+of these than of the robber, and was glad enough, when he ran out, to
+be able to turn my attention to them."
+
+"Ay, ay, that was natural enough, lad; but 'tis a pity the villain
+got off scot-free. Truly it is not safe for two old people to be in
+an empty house by themselves in these times, specially as, maybe, the
+houses on either side are also untenanted, and robbers can get into
+them and make their way along the roof, and so enter any house they
+like by the windows there. It was a mercy you chanced to come along.
+Men are so accustomed now to hear screams and calls for aid, that
+none trouble themselves as to such sounds. And you still feel quite
+well?"
+
+"Never better, John, except for occasional twitches in my shoulder."
+
+"It does not knit so fast as it should do," John said. "In the first
+place, you are always on the move; then no one can go about into
+infected houses without his spirits being disturbed, and of all
+things a calm and easy disposition is essential for the proper
+healing of wounds. Lastly, it is certain that when there is poison in
+the air wounds do not heal so quickly as at other times."
+
+"It is going on well enough, John; indeed, I could not desire it to
+do better. As soon as it is fairly healed I ought to join Prince
+Rupert again; but in truth I do not wish to go, for I would fain see
+this terrible Plague come to an end before I leave; for never since
+the days of the Black Death, hundreds of years ago, was there so
+strange and terrible a malady in this country."
+
+Mr. Wallace had returned to his house when Cyril called the next
+morning.
+
+"Thinking over what you said last night, Cyril, I arrived at a pretty
+correct conclusion as to what had happened, though I thought not that
+it could be as bad as it was. I knew the object with which Mr. Harvey
+and his wife had come up to London, at a time when most men were
+fleeing from it. Their son has, ever since he came up three years
+ago, been a source of grievous trouble to them, as he was, indeed,
+for a long time previously. Some natures seem naturally to turn to
+evil, and this boy's was one of them. It may be that the life at home
+was too rigid and severe, and that he revolted against it. Certain it
+is that he took to evil courses and consorted with bad companions.
+Severity was unavailing. He would break out of the house at night and
+be away for days. He was drunken and dissolute.
+
+"At last, just after a considerable sum of money had come into the
+house from the tenants' rents, he stole it, and went up to London.
+His name was not mentioned at home, though his father learnt from
+correspondents here that he had become a hanger-on of the Court,
+where, his father being a man of condition, he found friends without
+difficulty. He was a gambler and a brawler, and bore a bad reputation
+even among the riff-raff of the Court. His father learnt that he had
+disappeared from sight at the time the Court went to Oxford early in
+June, and his correspondent found that he was reported to have joined
+a band of abandoned ruffians, whose least crimes were those of
+robbery.
+
+"When the Plague spread rapidly, Mr. Harvey and his wife determined
+to come up to London, to make one more effort to draw him from his
+evil courses. The only thing that they have been able to learn for
+certain was, that he was one of the performers in that wicked mockery
+the dance of death, but their efforts to trace him have otherwise
+failed.
+
+"They had intended, if they had found him, and he would have made
+promises of amendment, to have given him money that would have
+enabled him to go over to America and begin a new life there,
+promising him a regular allowance to maintain him in comfort. As they
+have many friends over there, some of whom went abroad to settle
+before the Civil War broke out here, they would be able to have news
+how he was going on; and if they found he was living a decent life,
+and truly repented his past course, they would in five years have had
+him back again, and reinstated him as their heir.
+
+"I knew their intentions in the matter, and have done my best to gain
+them news of him. I did not believe in the reformation of one who had
+shown himself to be of such evil spirit; but God is all-powerful, and
+might have led him out from the slough into which he had fallen.
+
+"Yesterday evening, half an hour before you went there, his father
+and mother were astonished at his suddenly entering. He saluted them
+at first with ironical politeness, and said that having heard from
+one from the same part of the country that he had seen them in
+London, he had had the streets thereabouts watched, and having found
+where they lodged, had come to pay his respects.
+
+"There was a reckless bravado in his manner that alarmed his mother,
+and it was not long before the purpose of his visit came out. He
+demanded that his father should at once sign a deed which he had
+brought drawn out in readiness, assigning to him at once half his
+property.
+
+"'You have,' he said, 'far more than you can require. Living as you
+do, you must save three-quarters of your income, and it would be at
+once an act of charity, and save you the trouble of dealing with
+money that is of no use to you.'
+
+"His father indignantly refused to take any such step, and then told
+him the plans he had himself formed for him. At this he laughed
+scoffingly.
+
+"'You have the choice,' he said, 'of giving me half, or of my taking
+everything.' And then he swore with terrible oaths that unless his
+father signed the paper, that day should be his last. 'You are in my
+power,' he said, 'and I am desperate. Do you think that if three dead
+bodies are found in a house now any will trouble to inquire how they
+came to their end? They will be tossed into the plague-cart, and none
+will make inquiry about them.'
+
+"Hearing voices raised in anger, the old servant ran in. At once the
+villain drew and ran at him, passing his sword through his body.
+Then, as if transported at the sight of the blood he had shed, he
+turned upon his father. It was at this moment that his mother ran to
+the window and called for help. He dragged her back, and as she fell
+fainting with horror and fear he again turned upon his father; his
+passion grew hotter and hotter as the latter, upbraiding him with the
+deed he had done, refused to sign; and there is no doubt that he
+would have taken his life had you not luckily ran in at this moment.
+
+"It has truly been a terrible night for them. They have passed it in
+prayer, and when I went this morning were both calm and composed,
+though it was easy to see by their faces how they had suffered, and
+how much the blow has told upon them. They have determined to save
+their son from any further temptation to enrich himself by their
+deaths. I fetched a lawyer for them; and when I left Mr. Harvey was
+giving him instructions for drawing up his will, by which every
+farthing is left away from him. They request me to go to them this
+evening with two or three of our friends to witness it, as it is
+necessary in a time like this that a will should be witnessed by as
+many as possible, as some may be carried off by the Plague; and
+should all the witnesses be dead, the will might be disputed as a
+forgery. So the lawyer will bring his clerks with him, and I shall
+take four or five of our friends.
+
+"They will return to the country as soon as their servant can be
+moved. Dr. Hodges came when I was there, and gives hopes that the
+cure will be a speedy one. We are going to place some men in the
+house. I have among my poorer friends two men who will be glad to
+establish themselves there with their wives, seeing that they will
+pay no rent, and will receive wages as long as Mr. Harvey remains
+there. There will thus be no fear of any repetition of the attempt.
+Mr. Harvey, on my advice, will also draw up and sign a paper giving a
+full account of the occurrence of last evening, and will leave this
+in the hands of the lawyer.
+
+"This will be a protection to him should his son follow him into the
+country, as he will then be able to assure him that if he proceeds to
+violence suspicion will at once fall upon him, and he will be
+arrested for his murder. But, indeed, the poor gentleman holds but
+little to his life; and it was only on my representing to him that
+this document might be the means of averting the commission of the
+most terrible of all sins from the head of his son, that he agreed to
+sign it. I gave him your message, and he prays me to say that, deeply
+grateful as he and his wife are to you, not so much for the saving of
+their lives, as for preventing their son's soul being stained by the
+crime, they would indeed rather that you did not call for a time, for
+they are so sorely shaken that they do not feel equal to seeing you.
+You will not, I hope, take this amiss."
+
+"By no means," Cyril replied; "it is but a natural feeling; and, in
+truth, I myself am relieved that such is their decision, for it would
+be well-nigh as painful to me as to them to see them again, and to
+talk over the subject."
+
+"By the way, Cyril, Mr. Harvey said that when you saw his son you
+cried out his name, and that by the manner in which he turned upon
+you it was clear that he had some cause for hating you. Is this so,
+or was it merely his fancy?"
+
+"It was no fancy, sir. It is not long since I thwarted his attempt to
+carry off the daughter of a city merchant, to whom he had represented
+himself as a nobleman. He was in the act of doing so, with the aid of
+some friends, when, accompanied by John Wilkes, I came up. There was
+a fray, in the course of which I ran him through the shoulder. The
+young lady returned home with us, and has since heartily repented of
+her folly. I had not seen the man since that time till I met him
+yesterday; but certainly the house was watched for some time, as I
+believe, by his associates who would probably have done me an ill
+turn had I gone out after nightfall."
+
+"That explains it, Cyril. I will tell Mr. Harvey, whose mind has been
+much puzzled by your recognition of his son."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+SMITTEN DOWN
+
+
+Two days later, Cyril started at his usual hour to go to Dr. Hodges';
+but he had proceeded but a few yards when a man, who was leaning
+against the wall, suddenly lurched forward and caught him round the
+neck. Thinking that the fellow had been drinking, Cyril angrily tried
+to shake him off. As he did so the man's hat, which had been pressed
+down over his eyes, fell off, and, to his astonishment, Cyril
+recognised John Harvey.
+
+"You villain! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, as he freed
+himself from the embrace, sending his assailant staggering back
+against the wall.
+
+The man's face lit up with a look of savage exultation..
+
+"I told you you should hear from me again," he said, "and I have kept
+my word. I knew the hour you went out, and I have been waiting for
+you. You are a doomed man. I have the Plague, and I have breathed in
+your face. Before twenty-four hours have passed you will be, as I am,
+a dying man. That is a good piece of vengeance. You may be a better
+swordsman than I am, but you can't fight with the Plague."
+
+Cyril drew back in horror. As he did so, a change came over John
+Harvey's face, he muttered a few words incoherently, swayed backwards
+and forwards, and then slid to the ground in a heap. A rush of blood
+poured from his mouth, and he fell over dead.
+
+Cyril had seen more than one similar death in the streets, but the
+horrible malignity of this man, and his sudden death, gave him a
+terrible shock. He felt for the moment completely unmanned, and,
+conscious that he was too unhinged for work, he turned and went back
+to the house.
+
+"You look pale, lad," John Wilkes said, as Cyril went upstairs. "What
+brings you back so soon?"
+
+"I have had rather a shock, John." And he told him of what had
+happened.
+
+"That was enough to startle you, lad. I should say the best thing you
+could do would be to take a good strong tumbler of grog, and then lay
+down."
+
+"That I will do, and will take a dose of the medicine Dr. Hodges
+makes everyone take when the infection first shows itself in a house.
+As you know, I have never had any fear of the Plague hitherto. I
+don't say that I am afraid of it now, but I have run a far greater
+risk of catching it than I have ever done before, for until now I
+have never been in actual contact with anyone with the disease."
+
+After a sleep Cyril rose, and feeling himself again, went to call
+upon Mr. Wallace.
+
+"I shall not come again for a few days," he said, after telling him
+what had happened, but without mentioning the name of John Harvey,
+"but I will send you a note every other day by John Wilkes. If he
+does not come, you will know that I have taken the malady, and in
+that case, Mr. Wallace, I know that I shall have your prayers for my
+recovery. I am sure that I shall be well cared for by John Wilkes."
+
+"Of my prayers you maybe sure, Cyril; and, indeed, I have every faith
+that, should you catch the malady, you will recover from it. You have
+neither well-nigh frightened yourself to death, nor have you dosed
+yourself with drugs until nature was exhausted before the struggle
+began. You will, I am sure, be calm and composed, and above all you
+have faith in God, and the knowledge that you have done your part to
+carry out His orders, and to visit the sick and aid those in sorrow."
+
+The next day Cyril was conscious of no change except that he felt a
+disinclination to exert himself. The next morning he had a feeling of
+nausea.
+
+"I think that I am in for it, John," he said. "But at any rate it can
+do no harm to try that remedy you spoke of that is used in the East.
+First of all, let us fumigate the room. As far as I have seen, the
+smoke of tobacco is the best preservative against the Plague. Now do
+you, John, keep a bit of tobacco in your mouth."
+
+"That I mostly do, lad."
+
+"Well, keep a bigger bit than usual, John, and smoke steadily. Still,
+that will not be enough. Keep the fire burning, and an iron plate
+heated to redness over it. Bring that into my room from time to time,
+and burn tobacco on it. Keep the room full of smoke."
+
+"I will do that," John said, "but you must not have too much of it. I
+am an old hand, and have many times sat in a fo'castle so full of
+smoke that one could scarce see one's hands, but you are not
+accustomed to it, and it may like enough make you sick."
+
+"There will be no harm in that, John, so that one does not push it
+too far. Now, how are you going to set about this sweating process?"
+
+"While you undress and get into bed I will get a blanket ready. It is
+to be dipped in boiling water, and then wrung out until it is as dry
+as we can get it. Then you are wrapped in that, and then rolled in
+five or six dry blankets to keep in the heat. You will keep in that
+until you feel almost weak with sweating; then I take you out and
+sponge you with warmish water, and then wrap you in another dry
+blanket."
+
+"You had better sponge me with vinegar, John."
+
+Cyril undressed. When he had done so he carefully examined himself,
+and his eye soon fell on a black spot on the inside of his leg, just
+above the knee. It was the well-known sign of the Plague.
+
+"I have got it, John," he said, when the latter entered with a pile
+of blankets.
+
+"Well, then, we have got to fight it, Master Cyril, and we will beat
+it if it is to be beaten. Now, lad, for the hot blanket."
+
+"Lay it down on the bed, and I will wrap myself in it, and the same
+with the others. Now I warn you, you are not to come nearer to me
+than you can help, and above all you are not to lean over me. If you
+do, I will turn you out of the room and lock the door, and fight it
+out by myself. Now puff away at that pipe, and the moment you wrap me
+up get the room full of smoke."
+
+John nodded.
+
+"Don't you bother about me," he growled. "I reckon the Plague ain't
+going to touch such a tough old bit of seasoned mahogany as I am.
+Still, I will do as you tell me."
+
+In a few minutes Cyril was in a profuse perspiration, in which even
+his head, which was above the blankets, shared.
+
+"That is grand," John said complacently.
+
+The cloud of tobacco, with which the room was soon filled, was not
+long in having the effect that John had predicted, and Cyril was soon
+violently sick, which had the effect of further increasing the
+perspiration.
+
+"You must open the window and let the smoke out a bit, John," he
+gasped. "I can't stand any more of it."
+
+This was done, and for another hour Cyril lay between the blankets.
+
+"I shall faint if I lie here any longer," he said at last. "Now,
+John, do you go out of the room, and don't come back again until I
+call you. I see you have put the vinegar handy. It is certain that if
+this is doing me any good the blankets will be infected. You say you
+have got a big fire in the kitchen. Well, I shall take them myself,
+and hang them up in front of it, and you are not to go into the room
+till they are perfectly dry again. You had better light another fire
+at once in the parlour, and you can do any cooking there. I will keep
+the kitchen for my blankets."
+
+John nodded and left the room, and Cyril at once proceeded to unroll
+the blankets. As he came to the last he was conscious of a strong
+fetid odour, similar to that he had more than once perceived in
+houses infected by the Plague.
+
+"I believe it is drawing it out of me," he said to himself. "I will
+give it another trial presently."
+
+He first sponged himself with vinegar, and felt much refreshed. He
+then wrapped himself up and lay down for a few minutes, for he felt
+strangely weak. Then he got up and carried the blankets into the
+kitchen, where a huge fire had been made up by John. He threw the one
+that had been next to him into a tub, and poured boiling water on it,
+and the others he hung on chairs round it. Then he went back to his
+room, and lay down and slept for half an hour. He returned to the
+kitchen and rearranged the blankets. When John saw him go back to his
+room he followed him.
+
+"I have got some strong broth ready," he said. "Do you think that you
+could take a cupful?"
+
+"Ay, and a good-sized one, John. I feel sure that the sweating has
+done me good, and I will have another turn at it soon. You must go at
+once and report that I have got it, or when the examiners come round,
+and find that the Plague is in the house, you will be fined, or
+perhaps imprisoned. Before you go there, please leave word at Dr.
+Hodges' that I am ill, and you might also call at Mr. Wallace's and
+leave the same message. Tell them, in both cases, that I have
+everything that I want, and trust that I shall make a good recovery."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir; I will be off as soon as I have brought you in your
+broth, and will be back here in half an hour."
+
+Cyril drank the broth, and then dozed again until John returned. When
+he heard his step he called out to him to bring the hot iron, and he
+filled the room with tobacco smoke before allowing him to enter.
+
+"Now, John, the blankets are dry, and can be handled again, and I am
+ready for another cooking."
+
+Four times that day did Cyril undergo the sweating process. By the
+evening he was as weak as a child, but his skin was soft and cool,
+and he was free from all feeling of pain or uneasiness. Dr. Hodges
+called half an hour after he had taken it for the last time, having
+only received his message when he returned late from a terrible day's
+work. Cyril had just turned in for the night.
+
+"Well, lad, how are you feeling? I am so sorry that I did not get
+your message before."
+
+"I am feeling very well, doctor."
+
+"Your hand is moist and cool," Dr. Hodges said in surprise. "You must
+have been mistaken. I see no signs whatever of the Plague."
+
+"There was no mistake, doctor; there were the black marks on my
+thighs, but I think I have pretty well sweated it out of me."
+
+He then described the process he had followed, and said that John
+Wilkes had told him that it was practised in the Levant.
+
+"Sweating is greatly used here, and I have tried it very repeatedly
+among my patients, and in some cases, where I had notice of the
+disease early, have saved them. Some bleed before sweating, but I
+have not heard of one who did so who recovered. In many cases the
+patient, from terror or from weakness of body, cannot get up the heat
+required, and even if they arrive at it, have not the strength to
+support it. In your case you lost no time; you had vital heat in
+plenty, and you had strength to keep up the heat in full force until
+you washed, as it were, the malady out of you. Henceforth I shall
+order that treatment with confidence when patients come to me whom I
+suspect to have the Plague, although it may not have as yet fully
+declared itself. What have you done with the blankets?"
+
+"I would not suffer John to touch them, but carried them myself into
+the kitchen. The blankets next to me I throw into a tub and pour
+boiling water over them; the others I hang up before a huge fire, so
+as to be dry for the next operation. I take care that John does not
+enter the kitchen."
+
+"How often have you done this?"
+
+"Four times, and lay each time for an hour in the blankets. I feel
+very weak, and must have lost very many pounds in weight, but my head
+is clear, and I suffer no pain whatever. The marks on my legs have
+not spread, and seem to me less dark in colour than they were."
+
+"Your case is the most hopeful that I have seen," Dr. Hodges said.
+"The system has had every advantage, and to this it owes its success.
+In the first place, you began it as soon as you felt unwell. Most
+people would have gone on for another twelve hours before they paid
+much attention to the first symptoms, and might not have noticed the
+Plague marks even when they went to bed. In the second place, you are
+cool and collected, and voluntarily delivered yourself to the
+treatment. And in the third place, which is the most important
+perhaps of all, you were in good health generally. You had not
+weakened yourself by swallowing every nostrum advertised, or wearing
+yourself out by vain terrors. Ninety-nine cases out of a hundred
+would be probably beyond the reach of help before they were conscious
+of illness, and be too weak to stand so severe a strain on the system
+as that you have undergone. Another thing is that the remedy could
+hardly be attempted in a house full of frightened people. There would
+be sure to be carelessness in the matter of the blankets, which,
+unless treated as you have done, would be a certain means of
+spreading the infection over the house. At any rate, I would continue
+the sweating as long as you can possibly stand it. Take nourishment
+in the shape of broth frequently, but in small quantity. I would do
+it again at midnight; 'tis well not to let the virus have time to
+gather strength again. I see you have faith in tobacco."
+
+"Yes, doctor. I never let John Wilkes into the room after I have
+taken a bath until it is full of tobacco smoke. I have twice made
+myself ill with it to-day."
+
+"Don't carry it too far, lad; for although I also believe in the
+virtue of the weed, 'tis a powerful poison, and you do not want to
+weaken yourself. Well, I see I can do nothing for you. You and your
+man seem to me to have treated the attack far more successfully than
+I should have done; for, indeed, this month very few of those
+attacked have recovered, whatever the treatment has been. I shall
+come round early tomorrow morning to see how you are going on. At
+present nothing can be better. Since the first outbreak, I have not
+seen a single case in which the patient was in so fair a way towards
+recovery in so short a time after the discovery of the infection."
+
+John Wilkes at this moment came in with a basin of broth.
+
+"This is my good friend, John Wilkes, doctor."
+
+"You ought to be called Dr. John Wilkes," the doctor, who was one of
+the most famous of his time, said, with a smile, as he shook hands
+with him. "Your treatment seems to be doing wonders."
+
+"It seems to me he is doing well, doctor, but I am afraid he is
+carrying it too far; he is so weak he can hardly stand."
+
+"Never mind that," the doctor said; "it will be easy enough to build
+him up when we have once got the Plague out of him. I have told him
+to have another turn in the blankets at twelve o'clock to-night; it
+will not do to let the malady get a fresh hold of him. But don't push
+it too far, lad. If you begin to feel faint, stop it, even if you
+have not been a quarter of an hour in the blankets. Do not cover
+yourself up too warmly when you have done; let nature have a rest. I
+shall be round between eight and nine, and no doubt you will have had
+another bath before I come. Do not sleep in the room, Wilkes; he is
+sure to go off soundly to sleep, and there is no use your running any
+needless risk. Let his window stand open; indeed, it should always be
+open, except when he gets out of his blankets, or is fumigating the
+room. Let him have a chair by the open window, so as to get as much
+fresh air as possible; but be sure that he is warmly wrapped up with
+blankets, so as to avoid getting a chill. You might place a hand-bell
+by the side of his bed to-night, so that he can summons you should he
+have occasion."
+
+When the doctor came next morning he nodded approvingly as soon as he
+felt Cyril's hand.
+
+"Nothing could be better," he said; "your pulse is even quieter than
+last night. Now let me look at those spots."
+
+"They are fainter," Cyril said.
+
+"A great deal," Dr. Hodges said, in a tone of the greatest pleasure.
+"Thank God, my lad, it is dying out. Not above three or four times
+since the Plague began have I been able to say so. I shall go about
+my work with a lighter heart today, and shall order your treatment in
+every case where I see the least chance of its being carried out, but
+I cannot hope that it will often prove as successful as it has with
+you. You have had everything in your favour--youth, a good
+constitution, a tranquil mind, an absence of fear, and a faith in
+God."
+
+"And a good attendant, doctor--don't forget that."
+
+"No, that goes for a great deal, lad--for a great deal. Not one nurse
+out of a hundred would carry out my instructions carefully; not one
+patient in a thousand would be able to see that they were carried
+out. Of course you will keep on with the treatment, but do not push
+it to extremes; you have pulled yourself down prodigiously, and must
+not go too far. Do you perceive any change in the odour when you take
+off the blankets?"
+
+"Yes, doctor, a great change; I could scarcely distinguish it this
+morning, and indeed allowed John Wilkes to carry them out, as I don't
+think I myself could have walked as far as the kitchen, though it is
+but ten or twelve paces away. I told him to smoke furiously all the
+time, and to come out of the kitchen as soon as he had hung them up."
+
+Cyril took three more baths in the course of the day, but was only
+able to sustain them for twenty minutes each, as by the end of that
+time he nearly fainted. The doctor came in late in the evening.
+
+"The spots are gone, doctor," Cyril said.
+
+"Then I think you may consider yourself cured, lad. Do not take the
+treatment again to-night; you can take it once in the morning; and
+then if I find the spots have not reappeared by the time I come, I
+shall pronounce the cure as complete, and shall begin to build you up
+again."
+
+The doctor was able to give this opinion in the morning.
+
+"I shall not come again, lad, unless you send for me, for every
+moment of my time is very precious, and I shall leave you in the
+hands of Dr. Wilkes. All you want now is nourishment; but take it
+carefully at first, and not too much at a time; stick to broths for
+the next two or three days, and when you do begin with solids do so
+very sparingly."
+
+"There was a gentleman here yesterday asking about you," John Wilkes
+said, as Cyril, propped up in bed, sipped his broth. "It was Mr.
+Harvey. He rang at the bell, and I went down to the lower window and
+talked to him through that, for of course the watchman would not let
+me go out and speak to him. I had heard you speak of him as one of
+the gentlemen you met at the minister's, and he seemed muchly
+interested in you. He said that you had done him a great service, and
+of course I knew it was by frightening that robber away. I never saw
+a man more pleased than he was when I told him that the doctor
+thought you were as good as cured, and he thanked God very piously
+for the same. After he had done that, he asked me first whether you
+had said anything to me about him. I said that you had told me you
+had met him and his wife at the minister's, and that you said you had
+disturbed a robber you found at his house. He said, quite sharp,
+'Nothing more?' 'No, not as I can think of. He is always doing good
+to somebody,' says I, 'and never a word would he say about it, if it
+did not get found out somehow. Why, he saved Prince Rupert's ship
+from being blown up by a fire-vessel, and never should we have known
+of it if young Lord Oliphant had not written to the Captain telling
+him all about it, and saying that it was the gallantest feat done in
+the battle. Then there were other things, but they were of the nature
+of private affairs.' 'You can tell me about them, my good man,' he
+said; 'I am no vain babbler; and as you may well believe, from what
+he did for me, and for other reasons, I would fain know as much as I
+can of him.' So then I told him about how you found out about the
+robbery and saved master from being ruined, and how you prevented
+Miss Nellie from going off with a rascal who pretended he was an
+earl."
+
+"Then you did very wrong, John," Cyril said angrily. "I say naught
+about your speaking about the robbery, for that was told in open
+Court, but you ought not, on any account, to have said a word about
+Mistress Nellie's affairs."
+
+"Well, your honour, I doubt not Mistress Nellie herself would have
+told the gentleman had she been in my place. I am sure he can be
+trusted not to let it go further. I took care to tell him what good
+it had done Mistress Nellie, and that good had come out of evil."
+
+"Well, you ought not to have said anything about it, John. It may be
+that Mistress Nellie out of her goodness of heart might herself have
+told, but that is no reason why anyone else should do so. I charge
+you in future never to open your lips about that to anyone, no matter
+who. I say not that any harm will come of it in this case, for Mr.
+Harvey is indeed a sober and God-fearing man, and assuredly asked
+only because he felt an interest in me, and from no idle curiosity.
+Still, I would rather that he had not known of a matter touching the
+honour of Mistress Nellie."
+
+"Mum's the word in future, Master Cyril. I will keep the hatches fast
+down on my tongue. Now I will push your bed up near the window as the
+doctor ordered, and then I hope you will get a good long sleep."
+
+The Plague and the process by which it had been expelled had left
+Cyril so weak that it was some days before he could walk across the
+room. Every morning he inquired anxiously of John how he felt, and
+the answer was always satisfactory. John had never been better in his
+life; therefore, by the time Cyril was able to walk to his easy-chair
+by the window, he began to hope that John had escaped the infection,
+which generally declared itself within a day or two, and often within
+a few hours, of the first outbreak in a house.
+
+A week later the doctor, who paid him a flying visit every two or
+three days, gave him the welcome news that he had ordered the red
+cross to be removed from the door, and the watchmen to cease their
+attendance, as the house might now be considered altogether free from
+infection.
+
+The Plague continued its ravages with but slight abatement, moving
+gradually eastward, and Aldgate and the district lying east of the
+walls were now suffering terribly. It was nearly the end of September
+before Cyril was strong enough to go out for his first walk. Since
+the beginning of August some fifty thousand people had been carried
+off, so that the streets were now almost entirely deserted, and in
+many places the grass was shooting up thickly in the road. In some
+streets every house bore the sign of a red cross, and the tolling of
+the bells of the dead-carts and piteous cries and lamentations were
+the only sounds that broke the strange silence.
+
+The scene was so disheartening that Cyril did not leave the house
+again for another fortnight. His first visit was to Mr. Wallace. The
+sight of a watchman at the door gave him quite a shock, and he was
+grieved indeed when he heard from the man that the brave minister had
+died a fortnight before. Then he went to Mr. Harvey's. There was no
+mark on the door, but his repeated knockings met with no response,
+and a woman, looking out from a window opposite, called to him that
+the house had been empty for well-nigh a month, and the people that
+were in it had gone off in a cart, she supposed into the country.
+
+"There was a gentleman and lady," she said, "who seemed well enough,
+and their servant, who was carried down and placed in the cart. It
+could not have been the Plague, though the man looked as if he had
+been sorely ill."
+
+The next day he called on Dr. Hodges, who had not been near him for
+the last month. There was no watchman at the door, and his man opened
+it.
+
+"Can I see the doctor?"
+
+"Ay, you can see him," he said; "he is cured now, and will soon be
+about again."
+
+"Has he had the Plague, then?"
+
+"That he has, but it is a week now since the watchman left."
+
+Cyril went upstairs. The doctor was sitting, looking pale and thin,
+by the window.
+
+"I am grieved indeed to hear that you have been ill, doctor," Cyril
+said; "had I known it I should have come a fortnight since, for I was
+strong enough to walk this distance then. I did indeed go out, but
+the streets had so sad an aspect that I shrank from stirring out
+again."
+
+"Yes, I have had it," the doctor said. "Directly I felt it come on I
+followed your system exactly, but it had gone further with me than it
+had with you, and it was a week before I fairly drove the enemy out.
+I ordered sweating in every case, but, as you know, they seldom sent
+for me until too late, and it is rare that the system got a fair
+chance. However, in my case it was a complete success. Two of my
+servants died; they were taken when I was at my worst. Both were dead
+before I was told of it. The man you saw was the one who waited on
+me, and as I adopted all the same precautions you had taken with your
+man, he did not catch it, and it was only when he went downstairs one
+day and found the other two servants lying dead in the kitchen that
+he knew they had been ill."
+
+"Mr. Wallace has gone, you will be sorry to hear, sir."
+
+"I am sorry," the doctor said; "but no one was more fitted to die. He
+was a brave man and a true Christian, but he ran too many risks, and
+your news does not surprise me."
+
+"The only other friends I have, Mr. Harvey and his wife, went out of
+town a month ago, taking with them their servant."
+
+"Yes; I saw them the day before I was taken ill," the doctor said,
+"and told them that the man was so far out of danger that he might
+safely be moved. They seemed very interested in you, and were very
+pleased when I told them that I had now given up attending you, and
+that you were able to walk across the room, and would, erelong, be
+yourself again. I hope we are getting to the end of it now, lad. As
+the Plague travels East it abates in the West, and the returns for
+the last week show a distinct fall in the rate of mortality. There is
+no further East for it to go now, and I hope that in another few
+weeks it will have worn itself out. We are half through October, and
+may look for cold weather before long."
+
+"I should think that I am strong enough to be useful again now, sir."
+
+"I don't think you are strong enough, and I am sure I shall not give
+you leave to do so," the doctor said. "I can hardly say how far a
+first attack is a protection against a second, for the recoveries
+have been so few that we have scarce means of knowing, but there
+certainly have been cases where persons have recovered from a first
+attack and died from a second. Your treatment is too severe to be
+gone through twice, and it is, therefore, more essential that you
+should run no risk of infection than it was before. I can see that
+you are still very far from strong, and your duty now is, in the
+first place, to regain your health. I should say get on board a hoy
+and go to Yarmouth. A week in the bracing air there would do you more
+good than six months here. But it is useless to give you that advice,
+because, in the first place, no shipping comes up the river, and,
+even if you could get down to Yarmouth by road, no one would receive
+you. Still, that is what I should do myself as soon as I could get
+away, were it not that, in my case, I have my duties here."
+
+"But, doctor, what you said to me surely applies to yourself also?"
+Cyril said, with a smile.
+
+"I know that," the doctor said good-humouredly, "and expected it, but
+it is not for a doctor to choose. He is not free, like other men; he
+has adopted a vocation in which it is his first duty to go among the
+sick, whatever their ailment may be, to do all that he can for them,
+and if, as in the present case, he can do practically nothing else,
+to set them an example of calmness and fearlessness. Still, for a
+time, at any rate, I shall be able to go no more into houses where
+the Plague is raging. 'Tis more than a month since you were cured,
+yet you are still a mere shadow of what you were. I had a much harder
+fight with the enemy, and cannot walk across the room yet without
+William's help. Therefore, it will be a fortnight or three weeks yet
+before I can see patients, and much longer before I shall have
+strength to visit them in their houses. By that time I trust that the
+Plague will have very greatly abated. Thus, you see, I shall not be
+called upon to stand face to face with it for some time. Those who
+call upon me here are seldom Plague-stricken. They come for other
+ailments, or because they feel unwell, and are nervous lest it should
+be the beginning of an attack; but of late I have had very few come
+here. My patients are mostly of the middle class, and these have
+either fled or fallen victims to the Plague, or have shut themselves
+up in their houses like fortresses, and nothing would tempt them to
+issue abroad. Therefore, I expect that I shall have naught to do but
+to gain strength again. Come here when you will, lad, and the oftener
+the better. Conversation is the best medicine for both of us, and as
+soon as I can I will visit you. I doubt not that John Wilkes has many
+a story of the sea that will take our thoughts away from this sad
+city. Bring him with you sometimes; he is an honest fellow, and the
+talk of sailors so smacks of the sea that it seems almost to act as a
+tonic."
+
+Cyril stayed for an hour, and promised to return on the following
+evening. He said, however, that he was sure John Wilkes would not
+accompany him.
+
+"He never leaves the house unless I am in it. He considers himself on
+duty; and although, as I tell him, there is little fear of anyone
+breaking in, seeing how many houses with much more valuable and more
+portable goods are empty and deserted, he holds to his purpose,
+saying that, even with the house altogether empty, it would be just
+as much his duty to remain in charge."
+
+"Well, come yourself, Cyril. If we cannot get this old watch-dog out
+I must wait until I can go to him."
+
+"I shall be very glad to come, doctor, for time hangs heavily on my
+hands. John Wilkes spends hours every day in washing and scrubbing
+decks, as he calls it, and there are but few books in the house."
+
+"As to that, I can furnish you, and will do so gladly. Go across to
+the shelves there, and choose for yourself."
+
+"Thank you very much indeed, sir. But will you kindly choose for me?
+I have read but few English books, for of course in France my reading
+was entirely French."
+
+"Then take Shakespeare. I hold his writings to be the finest in our
+tongue. I know them nearly by heart, for there is scarce an evening
+when I do not take him down for an hour, and reading him I forget the
+worries and cares of my day's work, which would otherwise often keep
+me from sleep. 'Tis a bulky volume, but do not let that discourage
+you; it is full of wit and wisdom, and of such romance that you will
+often find it hard to lay it down. Stay--I have two editions, and can
+well spare one of them, so take the one on that upper shelf, and keep
+it when you have read it. There is but little difference between
+them, but I generally use the other, and have come to look upon it as
+a friend."
+
+"Nay, sir, I will take it as a loan."
+
+"You will do nothing of the sort. I owe you a fee, and a bumping
+one."
+
+Henceforth Cyril did not find his time hang heavy on his hands. It
+seemed to him, as he sat at the window and read, that a new world
+opened to him. His life had been an eminently practical one. He had
+studied hard in France, and when he laid his books aside his time had
+been spent in the open air. It was only since he had been with
+Captain Dave that he had ever read for amusement, and the Captain's
+library consisted only of a few books of travels and voyages. He had
+never so much as dreamt of a book like this, and for the next few
+days he devoured its pages.
+
+"You are not looking so well, Cyril," Dr. Hodges said to him abruptly
+one day.
+
+"I am doing nothing but reading Shakespeare, doctor."
+
+"Then you are doing wrong, lad. You will never build yourself up
+unless you take exercise."
+
+"The streets are so melancholy, doctor, and whenever I go out I
+return sick at heart and in low spirits."
+
+"That I can understand, lad. But we must think of something," and he
+sat for a minute or two in silence. Then he said suddenly, "Do you
+understand the management of a boat?"
+
+"Yes, doctor; it was my greatest pleasure at Dunkirk to be out with
+the fishermen."
+
+"That will do, then. Go down at once to the riverside. There are
+hundreds of boats lying idle there, for there are no passengers and
+no trade, and half of their owners are dead. You are sure to see some
+men there; having nothing else to do, some will be hanging about. Say
+you want to hire a boat for a couple of months or to buy one. You
+will probably get one for a few shillings. Get one with a sail as
+well as oars. Go out the first thing after breakfast, and go up or
+down the river as the tide or wind may suit. Take some bread and meat
+with you, and don't return till supper-time. Then you can spend your
+evenings with Shakespeare. Maybe I myself will come down and take a
+sail with you sometimes. That will bring the colour back into your
+cheeks, and make a new man of you. Would that I had thought of it
+before!"
+
+Cyril was delighted with the idea, and, going down to Blackfriars,
+bought a wherry with a sail for a pound. Its owner was dead, but he
+learned where the widow lived, and effected the bargain without
+difficulty, for she was almost starving.
+
+"I have bought it," he said, "because it may be that I may get it
+damaged or sunk; but I only need it for six weeks or two months, and
+at the end of that time I will give it you back again. As soon as the
+Plague is over there will be work for boats, and you will be able to
+let it, or to sell it at a fair price."
+
+John Wilkes was greatly pleased when Cyril came back and told him
+what he had done.
+
+"That is the very thing for you," he said. "I have been a thick-head
+not to think of it. I have been worrying for the last week at seeing
+you sit there and do nothing but read, and yet there seemed nothing
+else for you to do, for ten minutes out in the streets is enough to
+give one the heartache. Maybe I will go out for a sail with you
+myself sometimes, for there is no fear of the house being broken into
+by daylight."
+
+"Not in the slightest, John. I hope that you will come out with me
+always. I should soon find it dull by myself, and besides, I don't
+think that I am strong enough yet to manage a pair of sculls for
+long, and one must reckon occasionally on having to row against the
+tide. Even if the worst happened, and anyone did break in and carry
+off a few things, I am sure Captain Dave would not grumble at the
+loss when he knew that I had wanted you to come out and help me to
+manage the boat, which I was ordered to use for my health's sake."
+
+"That he wouldn't," John said heartily; "not if they stripped the
+house and shop of everything there was in them."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE
+
+
+Having finally disposed of John Wilkes's scruples as to leaving the
+house during the daytime, Cyril thenceforth went out with him every
+day. If the tide was in flood they rowed far up the river, and came
+down on the ebb. If it was running out they went down as far as it
+would take them. Whenever the wind was favourable they hoisted the
+sail; at other times, they rowed. The fresh air, and the exercise,
+soon did their work. Cyril at first could only take one scull, and
+that only for a short time, but at the end of a fortnight was able to
+manage both for a time, or to row with one for hours. The feeling of
+lassitude which had oppressed him passed away speedily, the colour
+came back to his cheeks, his muscles strengthened, and he began to
+put on flesh.
+
+They were now in November, and needed warm garments when on the
+water, and John insisted on completely muffling him up whenever they
+hoisted the sail; but the colder weather braced him up, and he was
+often inclined to shout with pleasure as the wind drove the boat
+along before it.
+
+It was cheering to know that others were benefiting by the change. In
+the week ending October 3rd the deaths officially given were 4,328,
+though at least another thousand must be added to this, for great
+numbers of deaths from the Plague were put down to other causes, and
+very many, especially those of infants, were never counted at all. It
+was said that as many people were infected as ever, but that the
+virulence of the disease was abated, and that, whereas in August
+scarce one of those attacked recovered, in October but one out of
+every three died of the malady.
+
+In the second week of October, the number of deaths by the Plague was
+but 2,665, and only 1,250 in the third week, though great numbers
+were still attacked. People, however, grew careless, and ran
+unnecessary risks, and, in consequence, in the first week of November
+the number of deaths rose by 400. After this it decreased rapidly,
+and the people who had fled began to come back again--the more so
+because it had now spread to other large cities, and it seemed that
+there was less danger in London, where it had spent its force, than
+in places where it had but lately broken out. The shops began to open
+again, and the streets to reassume their former appearance.
+
+Cyril had written several times to Captain Dowsett, telling him how
+matters were going on, and in November, hearing that they were
+thinking of returning, he wrote begging them not to do so.
+
+"Many of those who have returned have fallen sick, and died," he
+said. "It seems to me but a useless risk of life, after taking so
+much pains to avoid infection, to hurry back before the danger has
+altogether passed. In your case, Captain Dave, there is the less
+reason for it, since there is no likelihood of the shipping trade
+being renewed for the present. All the ports of Europe are closed to
+our ships, and it is like to be a long time before they lose fear of
+us. Even the coasting trade is lost for the present. Therefore, my
+advice is very strongly against your returning for some weeks. All is
+going on well here. I am getting quite strong again, and, by the
+orders of the doctor, go out with John daily for a long row, and have
+gained much benefit from it. John sends his respects. He says that
+everything is ship-shape above and below, and the craft holding well
+on her way. He also prays you not to think of returning at present,
+and says that it would be as bad seamanship, as for a captain who has
+made a good offing in a gale, and has plenty of sea-room, to run down
+close to a rocky shore under the lee, before the storm has altogether
+blown itself out."
+
+Captain Dave took the advice, and only returned with his wife and
+Nellie a week before Christmas.
+
+"I am glad indeed to be back," he said, after the first greetings
+were over. "'Twas well enough for the women, who used to help in the
+dairy, and to feed the fowls, and gather the eggs, and make the
+butter, but for me there was nothing to do, and it seemed as if the
+days would never come to an end."
+
+"It was not so bad as that, father," Nellie said. "First of all, you
+had your pipe to smoke. Then, once a week you used to go over with
+the market-cart to Gloucester and to look at the shipping there, and
+talk with the masters and sailors. Then, on a Sunday, of course,
+there was church. So there were only five days each week to get
+through; and you know you took a good deal of interest in the horses
+and cows and pigs."
+
+"I tried to take an interest in them, Nellie; but it was very hard
+work."
+
+"Well, father, that is just what you were saying you wanted, and I am
+sure you spent hours every day walking about with the children, or
+telling them stories."
+
+"Well, perhaps, when I think of it, it was not so very bad after
+all," Captain Dave admitted. "At any rate, I am heartily glad I am
+back here again. We will open the shop to-morrow morning, John."
+
+"That we will, master. We sha'n't do much trade at present. Still, a
+few coasters have come in, and I hope that every day things will get
+better. Besides, all the vessels that have been lying in the Pool
+since June will want painting up and getting into trim again before
+they sail out of the river, so things may not be so slack after all.
+You will find everything in order in the store. I have had little to
+do but to polish up brass work and keep the metal from rusting. When
+do the apprentices come back again?"
+
+"I shall write for them as soon as I find that there is something for
+them to do. You are not thinking of running away as soon as we come
+back I hope, Cyril? You said, when you last wrote, that you were fit
+for sea again."
+
+"I am not thinking of going for some little time, if you will keep
+me, Captain Dave. There is no news of the Fleet fitting out at
+present, and they will not want us on board till they are just ready
+to start. They say that Albemarle is to command this time instead of
+the Duke, at which I am right glad, for he has fought the Dutch at
+sea many times, and although not bred up to the trade, he has shown
+that he can fight as steadily on sea as on land. All say the Duke
+showed courage and kept a firm countenance at Lowestoft, but there
+was certainly great slackness in the pursuit, though this, 'tis said,
+was not so much his fault as that of those who were over-careful of
+his safety. Still, as he is the heir to the throne, it is but right
+that he should be kept out of the fighting."
+
+"It is like to be stern work next time, Cyril, if what I hear be
+true. Owing partly to all men's minds being occupied by the Plague,
+and partly to the great sums wasted by the King in his pleasures,
+nothing whatever has been done for the Fleet. Of course, the squadron
+at sea has taken great numbers of prizes; but the rest of the Fleet
+is laid up, and no new ships are being built, while they say that the
+Dutch are busy in all their ship-yards, and will send out a much
+stronger fleet this spring than that which fought us at Lowestoft. I
+suppose you have not heard of any of your grand friends?"
+
+"No. I should have written to Sydney Oliphant, but I knew not whether
+he was at sea or at home, and, moreover, I read that most folks in
+the country are afraid of letters from London, thinking that they
+might carry contagion. Many noblemen have now returned to the West
+End, and when I hear that the Earl has also come back with his family
+it will, of course, be my duty to wait upon him, and on Prince Rupert
+also. But I hope the Prince will not be back yet, for he will be
+wanting me to go to Court again, and for this, in truth, I have no
+inclination, and, moreover, it cannot be done without much expense
+for clothes, and I have no intention to go into expenses on follies
+or gew-gaws, or to trench upon the store of money that I had from
+you, Captain Dave."
+
+They had just finished breakfast on the day before Christmas, when
+one of the apprentices came up from the shop and said that one Master
+Goldsworthy, a lawyer in the Temple, desired to speak to Sir Cyril
+Shenstone. Cyril was about to go down when Captain Dave said,--
+
+"Show the gentleman up, Susan. We will leave you here to him, Cyril."
+
+"By no means," Cyril said. "I do not know him, and he can assuredly
+have no private business with me that you may not hear."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter, however, left the room. The lawyer, a
+grave-looking gentleman of some fifty years of age, glanced at Cyril
+and the Captain as he entered the room, and then advanced towards the
+former.
+
+"My name is unknown to you, Sir Cyril," he said, "but it has been
+said that a bearer of good news needs no introduction, and I come in
+that capacity. I bring you, sir, a Christmas-box," and he took from a
+bag he carried a bundle of some size, and a letter. "Before you open
+it, sir, I will explain the character of its contents, which would
+take you some time to decipher and understand, while I can explain
+them in a very few words. I may tell you that I am the legal adviser
+of Mr. Ebenezer Harvey, of Upmead Court, Norfolk. You are, I presume,
+familiar with the name?"
+
+Cyril started. Upmead Court was the name of his father's place, but
+with the name of its present owner he was not familiar. Doubtless, he
+might sometimes have heard it from his father, but the latter, when
+he spoke of the present possessor of the Court, generally did so as
+"that Roundhead dog," or "that canting Puritan."
+
+"The Court I know, sir," he said gravely, "as having once been my
+father's, but I do not recall the name of its present owner, though
+it may be that in my childhood my father mentioned it in my hearing."
+
+"Nevertheless, sir, you know the gentleman himself, having met him,
+as he tells me, frequently at the house of Mr. Wallace, who was
+minister of the chapel at which he worshipped, and who came up to
+London to minister to those sorely afflicted and needing comfort. Not
+only did you meet with Mr. Harvey and his wife, but you rendered to
+them very material service."
+
+"I was certainly unaware," Cyril said, "that Mr. Harvey was the
+possessor of what had been my father's estate, but, had I known it,
+it would have made no difference in my feeling towards him. I found
+him a kind and godly gentleman whom, more than others there, was good
+enough to converse frequently with me, and to whom I was pleased to
+be of service."
+
+"The service was of a most important nature," the lawyer said, "being
+nothing less than the saving of his life, and probably that of his
+wife. He sent for me the next morning, and then drew out his will. By
+that will he left to you the estates which he had purchased from your
+father."
+
+Cyril gave a start of surprise, and would have spoken, but Master
+Goldsworthy held up his hand, and said,--
+
+"Please let me continue my story to the end. This act was not the
+consequence of the service that you had rendered him. He had
+previously consulted me on the subject, and stated his intentions to
+me. He had met you at Mr. Wallace's, and at once recognised your
+name, and learnt from Mr. Wallace that you were the son of Sir Aubrey
+Shenstone. He studied your character, had an interview with Dr.
+Hodges, and learnt how fearlessly you were devoting yourself to the
+work of aiding those stricken with the Plague. With his own son he
+had reason for being profoundly dissatisfied. The young man had
+thrown off his authority, had become a notorious reprobate, and had,
+he believed, sunk down to become a companion of thieves and
+highwaymen. He had come up to London solely to make a last effort to
+save him from his evil courses and to give him a chance of
+reformation by sending him out to New England.
+
+"Mr. Harvey is possessed of considerable property in addition to the
+estates purchased of your father, for, previous to that purchase he
+had been the owner of large tanneries at Norwich, which he has ever
+since maintained, not so much for the sake of the income he derived
+from them as because they afforded a livelihood to a large number of
+workmen. He had, therefore, ample means to leave to his son, should
+the latter accept his offer and reform his life, without the estates
+of Upmead. When he saw you, he told me his conscience was moved. He
+had, of course, a legal right to the estates, but he had purchased
+them for a sum not exceeding a fifth of their value, and he
+considered that in the twenty years he had held them he had drawn
+from them sums amply sufficient to repay him for the price he had
+given for them, and had received a large interest on the money in
+addition. He questioned, therefore, strongly whether he had any right
+longer to retain them.
+
+"When he consulted me on the subject, he alluded to the fact that, by
+the laws of the Bible, persons who bought lands were bound to return
+the land to its former possessors, at the end of seven times seven
+years. He had already, then, made up his mind to leave that portion
+of his property to you, when you rendered him that great service, and
+at the same time it became, alas! but too evident to him that his son
+was hopelessly bad, and that any money whatever left to him would
+assuredly be spent in evil courses, and would do evil rather than
+good. Therefore, when I came in the morning to him he said,--
+
+"'My will must be made immediately. Not one penny is to go to my son.
+I may be carried off to-morrow by the Plague, or my son may renew his
+attempt with success. So I must will it away from him at once. For
+the moment, therefore, make a short will bequeathing the estate of
+Upmead to Sir Cyril Shenstone, all my other possessions to my wife
+for her lifetime, and at her death also to Sir Cyril Shenstone.
+
+"'I may alter this later on,' he said, 'but for the present I desire
+chiefly to place them beyond my son's reach. Please draw up the
+document at once, for no one can say what half an hour may bring
+forth to either of us. Get the document in form by this evening, when
+some friends will be here to witness it. Pray bring your two clerks
+also!'
+
+"A few days later he called upon me again.
+
+"'I have been making further inquiries about Sir Cyril Shenstone,' he
+said, 'and have learnt much concerning him from a man who is in the
+employment of the trader with whom he lives. What I have learnt more
+than confirms me in my impression of him. He came over from France,
+three years ago, a boy of scarce fourteen. He was clever at figures,
+and supported his reprobate father for the last two years of his life
+by keeping the books of small traders in the City. So much was he
+esteemed that, at his father's death, Captain Dowsett offered him a
+home in his house. He rewarded the kindness by making the discovery
+that the trader was being foully robbed, and brought about the arrest
+of the thieves, which incidentally led to the breaking-up of one of
+the worst gangs of robbers in London. Later on he found that his
+employer's daughter was in communication with a hanger-on of the
+Court, who told her that he was a nobleman. The young fellow set a
+watch upon her, came upon her at the moment she was about to elope
+with this villain, ran him through the shoulder, and took her back to
+her home, and so far respected her secret that her parents would
+never have known of it had she not, some time afterwards, confessed
+it to them. That villain, Mr. Goldsworthy,' he said, 'was my son!
+Just after that Sir Cyril obtained the good will of the Earl of
+Wisbech, whose three daughters he saved from being burnt to death at
+a fire in the Savoy. Thus, you see, this youth is in every way worthy
+of good fortune, and can be trusted to administer the estate of his
+fathers worthily and well. I wish you to draw out, at once, a deed
+conveying to him these estates, and rehearsing that, having obtained
+them at a small price, and having enjoyed them for a time long enough
+to return to me the money I paid for them with ample interest
+thereon, I now return them to him, confident that they will be in
+good hands, and that their revenues will be worthily spent.'
+
+"In this parcel is the deed in question, duly signed and witnessed,
+together with the parchments, deeds, and titles of which he became
+possessed at his purchase of the estate. I may say, Sir Cyril, that I
+have never carried out a legal transfer with greater pleasure to
+myself, considering, as I do, that the transaction is alike just and
+honourable on his part and most creditable to yourself. He begged me
+to hand the deeds to you myself. They were completed two months
+since, but he himself suggested that I should bring them to you on
+Christmas Eve, when it is the custom for many to give to their
+friends tokens of their regard and good will. I congratulate you
+heartily, sir, and rejoice that, for once, merit has met with a due
+reward."
+
+"I do not know, sir," Cyril replied, "how I can express my feelings
+of deep pleasure and gratitude at the wonderful tidings you have
+brought me. I had set it before me as the great object of my life,
+that, some day, should I live to be an old man, I might be enabled to
+repurchase the estate of my father's. I knew how improbable it was
+that I should ever be able to do so, and I can scarce credit that
+what seemed presumptuous even as a hope should have thus been so
+strangely and unexpectedly realised. I certainly do not feel that it
+is in any way due to what you are good enough to call my merits, for
+in all these matters that you have spoken of there has been nothing
+out of the way, or, so far as I can see, in any way praiseworthy, in
+what I have done. It would seem, indeed, that in all these matters,
+and in the saving of my life from the Plague, things have arranged
+themselves so as to fall out for my benefit."
+
+"That is what Mr. Harvey feels very strongly, Sir Cyril. He has told
+me, over and over again, that it seemed to him that the finger of God
+was specially manifest in thus bringing you together, and in placing
+you in a position to save his life. And now I will take my leave. I
+may say that in all legal matters connected with the estate I have
+acted for Mr. Harvey, and should be naturally glad if you will
+continue to entrust such matters to me. I have some special
+facilities in the matter, as Mr. Popham, a lawyer of Norwich, is
+married to my daughter, and we therefore act together in all business
+connected with the estate, he performing what may be called the local
+business, while I am advised by him as to matters requiring attention
+here in London."
+
+"I shall be glad indeed if you and Mr. Popham will continue to act in
+the same capacity for me," Cyril said warmly. "I am, as you see, very
+young, and know nothing of the management of an estate, and shall be
+grateful if you will, in all matters, act for me until I am of an age
+to assume the duties of the owner of Upmead."
+
+"I thank you, Sir Cyril, and we shall, I trust, afford you
+satisfaction. The deed, you will observe, is dated the 29th of
+September, the day on which it was signed, though there have been
+other matters to settle. The tenants have already been notified that
+from that date they are to regard you as their landlord. Now that you
+authorise us to act for you, my son-in-law will at once proceed to
+collect the rents for this quarter. I may say that, roughly, they
+amount to seventeen hundred pounds a year, and as it may be a
+convenience to you to draw at once, if it so please you I will place,
+on Monday next, the sum of four hundred pounds to your credit with
+Messrs. Murchison and Graham, who are my bankers, or with any other
+firm you may prefer."
+
+"With the bankers you name, by all means," Cyril said; "and I thank
+you heartily for so doing, for as I shall shortly rejoin the Fleet, a
+portion, at least, of the money will be very useful to me."
+
+Mr. Goldsworthy took his hat.
+
+"There is one thing further I have forgotten. Mr. Harvey requested me
+to say that he wished for no thanks in this matter. He regards it as
+an act of rightful restitution, and, although you will doubtless
+write to him, he would be pleased if you will abstain altogether from
+treating it as a gift."
+
+"I will try to obey his wishes," Cyril said, "but it does not seem to
+me that it will be possible for me to abstain from any expression of
+gratitude for his noble act."
+
+Cyril accompanied the lawyer to the door, and then returned upstairs.
+
+"Now I can speak," Captain Dowsett said. "I have had hard work to
+keep a stopper on my tongue all this time, for I have been well-nigh
+bursting to congratulate you. I wish you joy, my lad," and he wrung
+Cyril's hand heartily, "and a pleasant voyage through life. I am as
+glad, ay, and a deal more glad than if such a fortune had come in my
+way, for it would have been of little use to me, seeing I have all
+that the heart of man could desire."
+
+He ran to the door and shouted loudly for his wife and daughter.
+
+"I have news for you both," he said, as they came in. "What do you
+think? Cyril, like the King, has come to his own again, and he is now
+Sir Cyril Shenstone, the owner of the estate of Upmead."
+
+Both broke into exclamations of surprise and pleasure.
+
+"How has the wonder come about?" Nellie asked, after the first
+congratulations were over. "What good fairy has brought this round?"
+
+"The good fairy was the Mr. Harvey whose name Cyril once mentioned
+casually, and whose life, as it now appears, he saved, though he has
+said nothing to us about it. That gentleman was, most strangely, the
+man who bought the estate from his father. He, it seems, is a wealthy
+man, and his conscience has for some time been pricked with the
+thought that he had benefited too largely from the necessities of Sir
+Aubrey, and that, having received back from the rents all the money
+he paid, and goodly interest thereon, he ought to restore the estate
+to its former owner. Possibly he might never have acted on this
+thought, but he considered the circumstance that he had so strangely
+met Cyril here at the time of the Plague, and still more strangely
+that Cyril had saved his life, was a matter of more than chance, and
+was a direct and manifest interposition of Providence; and he has
+therefore made restitution, and that parcel on the table contains a
+deed of gift to Cyril of all his father's estates."
+
+"He has done quite rightly," Mrs. Dowsett said warmly, "though,
+indeed, it is not everyone who would see matters in that light. If
+men always acted in that spirit it would be a better world."
+
+"Ay, ay, wife. There are not many men who, having got the best of a
+bargain, voluntarily resign the profits they have made. It is
+pleasant to come across one who so acts, more especially when one's
+best friend is the gainer. Ah! Nellie, what a pity some good fairy
+did not tell you of what was coming! What a chance you have lost,
+girl! See what might have happened if you had set your cap at Cyril!"
+
+"Indeed, it is terrible to think of," Nellie laughed. "It was hard on
+me that he was not five or six years older. Then I might have done
+it, even if my good fairy had not whispered in my ear about this
+fortune. Never mind. I shall console myself by looking forward to
+dance at his wedding--that is, if he will send me an invitation."
+
+"Like as not you will be getting past your dancing days by the time
+that comes off, Nellie. I hope that, years before then, I shall have
+danced at your wedding--that is to say," he said, imitating her, "if
+you will send me an invitation."
+
+"What are you going to do next, Cyril?" Captain Dave asked, when the
+laugh had subsided.
+
+"I don't know, I am sure," Cyril replied. "I have not really woke up
+to it all yet. It will be some time before I realise that I am not a
+penniless young baronet, and that I can spend a pound without looking
+at it a dozen times. I shall have to get accustomed to the thought
+before I can make any plans. I suppose that one of the first things
+to do will be to go down to Oxford to see Prince Rupert--who, I
+suppose, is with the Court, though this I can doubtless learn at the
+offices of the Admiralty--and to tell him that I am ready to rejoin
+his ship as soon as he puts to sea again. Then I shall find out where
+Sydney Oliphant is, and how his family have fared in the Plague. I
+would fain find out what has become of the Partons, to whom, and
+especially to Lady Parton, I owe much. I suppose, too, I shall have
+to go down to Norfolk, but that I shall put off as long as I can, for
+it will be strange and very unpleasant at first to go down as master
+to a place I have never seen. I shall have to get you to come down
+with me, Captain Dave, to keep me in countenance."
+
+"Not I, my lad. You will want a better introducer. I expect that the
+lawyer who was here will give you a letter to his son-in-law, who
+will, of course, place himself at your service, establishing you in
+your house and taking you round to your tenants."
+
+"Oh, yes," Nellie said, clapping her hands. "And there will be fine
+doings, and bonfires, and arches, and all sorts of festivities. I do
+begin to feel how much I have missed the want of that good fairy."
+
+"It will be all very disagreeable," Cyril said seriously; whereat the
+others laughed.
+
+Cyril then went downstairs with Captain Dave, and told John Wilkes of
+the good fortune that had befallen him, at which he was as much
+delighted as the others had been.
+
+Ten days later Cyril rode to Oxford, and found that Prince Rupert was
+at present there. The Prince received him with much warmth.
+
+"I have wondered many times what had become of you, Sir Cyril," he
+said. "From the hour when I saw you leave us in the _Fan Fan_ I have
+lost sight of you altogether. I have not been in London since, for
+the Plague had set in badly before the ships were laid up, and as I
+had naught particular to do there I kept away from it. Albemarle has
+stayed through it, and he and Mr. Pepys were able to do all there was
+to do, but I have thought of you often and wondered how you fared,
+and hoped to see you here, seeing that there was, as it seemed to me,
+nothing to keep you in London after your wounds had healed. I have
+spoken often to the King of the brave deed by which you saved us all,
+and he declared that, had it not been that you were already a
+baronet, he would knight you as soon as you appeared, as many of the
+captains and others have already received that honour; and he agreed
+with me that none deserved it better than yourself. Now, what has
+become of you all this time?"
+
+Cyril related how he had stayed in London, had had the Plague, and
+had recovered from it.
+
+"I must see about getting you a commission at once in the Navy," the
+Prince said, "though I fear you will have to wait until we fit out
+again. There will be no difficulty then, for of course there were
+many officers killed in the action."
+
+Cyril expressed his thanks, adding,--
+
+"There is no further occasion for me to take a commission, Prince,
+for, strangely enough, the owner of my father's property has just
+made it over to me. He is a good man, and, considering that he has
+already reaped large benefits by his purchase, and has been repaid
+his money with good interest, his conscience will no longer suffer
+him to retain it."
+
+"Then he is a Prince of Roundheads," the Prince said, "and I most
+heartily congratulate you; and I believe that the King will be as
+pleased as I am. He said but the other day, when I was speaking to
+him of you, that it grieved him sorely that he was powerless to do
+anything for so many that had suffered in his cause, and that, after
+the bravery you had shown, he was determined to do something, and
+would insist with his ministers that some office should be found for
+you,--though it is not an easy matter, when each of them has special
+friends of his own among whom to divide any good things that fall
+vacant. He holds a Court this evening, and I will take you with me."
+
+The King was most gracious when the Prince again presented Cyril to
+him and told him of the good fortune that had befallen him.
+
+"By my faith, Sir Cyril, you were born under a lucky star. First of
+all you saved my Lord of Wisbech's daughters; then, as Prince Rupert
+tells me, you saved him and all on board his ship from being burned;
+and now a miracle has well-nigh happened in your favour. I see, too,
+that you have the use of your arm, which the Prince doubted would
+ever altogether recover."
+
+"More still, Your Majesty," the Prince said. "He had the Plague in
+August and recovered from it."
+
+"I shall have to keep you about me, Sir Cyril," the King said, "as a
+sort of amulet to guard me against ill luck."
+
+"I am going to take him to sea first," Prince Rupert broke in, seeing
+that Cyril was about to disclaim the idea of coming to Court. "I may
+want him to save my ship again, and I suppose he will be going down
+to visit his estate till I want him. You have never seen it, have
+you, Sir Cyril?"
+
+"No, sir; at least not to have any remembrance of it. I naturally
+long to see Upmead, of which I have heard much from my father. I
+should have gone down at once, but I thought it my duty to come
+hither and report myself to you as being ready to sail again as soon
+as you put to sea."
+
+"Duty first and pleasure afterwards," the King said. "I am afraid
+that is a little beyond me--eh, Rupert?"
+
+"Very much so, I should say, Cousin Charles," the Prince replied,
+with a smile. "However, I have no doubt Sir Cyril will not grudge us
+a few days before he leaves. There are several of the gentlemen who
+were his comrades on the _Henrietta_ here, and they will be glad to
+renew their acquaintance with him, knowing, as they all do, that they
+owe their lives to him."
+
+As Cyril was walking down the High Street, he saw a student coming
+along whose face seemed familiar to him. He looked hard at him.
+
+"Surely you must be Harry Parton?" he said.
+
+"That is my name, sir; though I cannot recall where I have met you.
+Yet there seems something familiar in your face, and still more in
+your voice."
+
+"I am Cyril Shenstone."
+
+"Why, what has become of you, Cyril?" Harry said, shaking him warmly
+by the hand. "I searched for you a year ago when I was in London, but
+could obtain no tidings whatever of you, save that you had lost your
+father. We are alike there, for my father died a few months after
+yours did."
+
+"I am sorry indeed, Harry. I had not heard of it before. I was not,
+indeed, in the way of doing so, as I was working in the City and knew
+nothing of what was passing elsewhere."
+
+"This is my college, Cyril. Come up to my room; there we can talk
+comfortably, and we have much to tell each other. How is it that you
+have never been near us?" he went on, when they were seated in front
+of a blazing fire in his room. "I know that there was some quarrel
+between our fathers, but when we heard of Sir Aubrey's death, both my
+father and mother thought that you would come to see us or would have
+written--for indeed it was not until after my father's death that we
+paid a visit to London. It was then my mother asked me to search for
+you; and after great difficulty I found the quarter in which you had
+lived, and then from the parish register learned where your father
+had died. Going there, I learned that you had left the lodging
+directly after his death, but more than that the people could not
+tell me."
+
+"I should have come to see your mother and Sir John, Harry. I know
+how deeply I am indebted to them, and as long as I live shall never
+cease to be grateful for Lady Parton's kindness to me. But I had
+received so much kindness that I shrank from seeming to wish to
+presume upon it further. I had, of course, to work for my living, and
+I wanted, before I recalled myself to them, to be able to say that I
+had not come as a beggar for further favours, but that I was making
+my way independently. Sooner or later I should have come, for your
+father once promised me that if I followed out what you remember was
+my plan, of entering foreign service, he would give me letters of
+introduction that would be useful to me. Had I that favour still to
+ask I could do it without shame. But more than that I would not have
+asked, even had I wanted bread, which, thank God! was never the
+case."
+
+"I can understand your feeling, Cyril, but my mother assuredly would
+always have been pleased to see you. You know you were a favourite of
+hers."
+
+"Had you been near town, Harry, I should certainly have come to see
+her and you as soon as I had fairly established myself, but I heard
+from my father that you had all gone away into the country soon after
+the unfortunate quarrel he had with Sir John, and therefore delayed
+taking any step for the time, and indeed did not know in what part of
+the country your father's estates lay. I know that he recovered them
+as soon as he returned."
+
+"They had never been forfeited," Harry said. "My father retired from
+the struggle after Naseby, and as he had influential friends among
+the Puritans, there was no forfeiture of his estates, and we were
+therefore able, as you know, to live in comfort at Dunkirk, his
+steward sending over such monies as were required. And now about
+yourself. Your brains must have served you rarely somehow, for you
+are dressed in the latest fashion, and indeed I took you for a Court
+gallant when you accosted me."
+
+"I have been truly fortunate, Harry, and indeed everything has turned
+out as if specially designed for my good, and, in a most strange and
+unlooked-for manner, I have just come into my father's estates
+again."
+
+"I am glad indeed to hear it, Cyril. Tell me how it has all come
+about."
+
+Cyril told the story of his life since he had come to London.
+
+"You have, indeed, had strange adventures, Cyril, and, though you say
+little about it, you must have done something special to have gained
+Prince Rupert's patronage and introduction to Court; but I shall worm
+all that out of you some day, or get it from other lips. What a
+contrast your life has been to mine! Here have you been earning your
+living bravely, fighting in the great battle against the Dutch, going
+through that terrible Plague, and winning your way back to fortune,
+while I have been living the life of a school-boy. Our estates lie in
+Shropshire, and as soon as we went down there my father placed me at
+a school at Shrewsbury. There I remained till his death, and then, as
+was his special wish, entered here. I have still a year of my course
+to complete. I only came up into residence last week. When the summer
+comes I hope that you will come down to Ardleigh and stay with us; it
+will give my mother great pleasure to see you again, for I never see
+her but she speaks of you, and wonders what has become of you, and if
+you are still alive."
+
+"Assuredly I will come, and that with the greatest pleasure," Cyril
+said, "providing only that I am not then at sea, which is, I fear,
+likely, as I rejoin the ship as soon as Prince Rupert takes the sea
+against the Dutch. However, directly we return I will write to you."
+
+"If you do so, let it be to Ardleigh, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
+Should I be here when your letter arrives, my mother will forward it
+to me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+TAKING POSSESSION
+
+
+Cyril stayed a week at Oxford. He greatly enjoyed the visit; and not
+only was he most warmly received by his former comrades on board the
+_Henrietta_, but Prince Rupert spoke so strongly in his favour to
+other gentlemen to whom he introduced him that he no longer felt a
+stranger at Court. Much of his spare time he spent with Harry Parton,
+and in his rooms saw something of college life, which seemed to him a
+very pleasant and merry one. He had ascertained, as soon as he
+arrived, that the Earl of Wisbech and his family were down at his
+estate, near the place from which he took his title, and had at once
+written to Sydney, from whom he received an answer on the last day of
+his stay at Oxford. It contained a warm invitation for him to come
+down to Wisbech.
+
+"You say you will be going to Norwich to take possession of your
+estate. If you ride direct from Oxford, our place will be but little
+out of your way, therefore we shall take no excuse for your not
+coming to see us, and shall look for you within a week or so from the
+date of this. We were all delighted to get your missive, for although
+what you say about infection carried by letters is true enough, and,
+indeed there was no post out of London for months, we had begun to
+fear that the worst must have befallen you when no letter arrived
+from you in December. Still, we thought that you might not know where
+we were, and so hoped that you might be waiting until you could find
+that out. My father bids me say that he will take no refusal. Since
+my return he more than ever regards you as being the good genius of
+the family, and it is certainly passing strange that, after saving my
+sisters' lives from fire you should, though in so different a way,
+have saved me from a similar death. So set off as soon as you get
+this--that is, if you can tear yourself away from the gaieties of
+Oxford."
+
+Cyril had, indeed, been specially waiting for Sydney's answer, having
+told him that he should remain at Oxford until he received it, and on
+the following morning he packed his valise and rode for Wisbech,
+where he arrived three days' later. His welcome at the Earl's was a
+most cordial one. He spent a week there, at the end of which time
+Sydney, at his earnest request, started for Norwich with him. The
+Earl had insisted on Cyril's accepting a splendid horse, and behind
+him, on his other animal, rode a young fellow, the son of a small
+tenant on the Earl's estate, whom he had engaged as a servant. He had
+written, three days before, to Mr. Popham, telling him that he would
+shortly arrive, and begging him to order the two old servants of his
+father, whom he had, at his request, engaged to take care of the
+house to get two or three chambers in readiness for him, which could
+doubtless be easily done, as he had learnt from the deed that the
+furniture and all contents of the house had been included in the
+gift. After putting up at the inn, he went to the lawyer's. Mr.
+Popham, he found, had had a room prepared in readiness for him at his
+house, but Cyril, while thanking him for so doing, said that, as Lord
+Oliphant was with him, he would stay at the inn for the night.
+
+The next morning they rode over with Mr. Popham to Upmead, which was
+six miles distant from the town.
+
+"That is the house," the lawyer said, as a fine old mansion came in
+sight. "There are larger residences in the county, but few more
+handsome. Indeed, it is almost too large for the estate, but, as
+perhaps you know, that was at one time a good deal larger than it is
+at present, for it was diminished by one of your ancestors in the
+days of Elizabeth."
+
+At the gate where they turned into the Park an arch of evergreens had
+been erected.
+
+"You don't mean to say you let them know that I was coming home?"
+Cyril said, in a tone of such alarm that Lord Oliphant laughed and
+Mr. Popham said apologetically,--
+
+"I certainly wrote to the tenants, sir, when I received your letter,
+and sent off a message saying that you would be here this morning.
+Most of them or their fathers were here in the old time, for Mr.
+Harvey made no changes, and I am sure they would have been very
+disappointed if they had not had notice that Sir Aubrey's son was
+coming home."
+
+"Of course it was quite right for you to do so, Mr. Popham, but you
+see I am quite unaccustomed to such things, and would personally have
+been much more pleased to have come home quietly. Still, as you say,
+it is only right that the tenants should have been informed, and at
+any rate it will be a satisfaction to get it all over at once."
+
+There were indeed quite a large number of men and women assembled in
+front of the house--all the tenants, with their wives and families,
+having gathered to greet their young landlord--and loud bursts of
+cheering arose as he rode up, Sydney and Mr. Popham reining back
+their horses a little to allow him to precede them. Cyril took off
+his hat, and bowed repeatedly in reply to the acclamations that
+greeted him. The tenants crowded round, many of the older men
+pressing forward to shake him by the hand.
+
+"Welcome back to your own again, Sir Cyril!"
+
+"I fought under your father, sir, and a good landlord he was to us
+all."
+
+Such were the exclamations that rose round him until he reached the
+door of the mansion, and, dismounting, took his place at the top of
+the steps. Then he took off his hat again, and when there was silence
+he said,--
+
+"I thank you heartily, one and all, good friends, for the welcome
+that you have given me. Glad indeed I am to come down to my father's
+home, and to be so greeted by those who knew him, and especially by
+those who followed him in the field in the evil days which have, we
+may hope, passed away for ever. You all know, perhaps, that I owe my
+return here as master to the noble generosity of Mr. Harvey, your
+late landlord, who restored me the estates, not being bound in any
+way to do so, but solely because he considered that he had already
+been repaid the money he gave for them. This may be true, but,
+nevertheless, there is not one man in a hundred thousand who would so
+despoil himself of the benefits of a bargain lawfully made, and I beg
+you therefore to give three cheers, as hearty as those with which you
+greeted me, for Mr. Harvey."
+
+Three cheers, as long and loud as those that had before risen,
+responded to the appeal.
+
+"Such a man," Cyril went on, when they subsided, "must have been a
+just and good landlord to you all, and I shall do my best to give you
+no cause for regret at the change that has come about."
+
+He paused for a moment to speak to Mr. Popham, who stood beside him,
+and then went on,--
+
+"I did not know whether I could ask you to drink to my health, but I
+learn from Mr. Popham that the cellars have been left well filled;
+therefore, my first orders on coming to the house of my fathers will
+be that a cask of wine shall be speedily broached, and that you shall
+be enabled to drink my health. While that is being done, Mr. Popham
+will introduce you to me one by one."
+
+Another loud cheer arose, and then the tenants came forward with
+their wives and families.
+
+Cyril shook hands with them all, and said a few words to each. The
+elder men had all ridden by his father in battle, and most of the
+younger ones said, as he shook hands with them,--
+
+"My father fell, under Sir Aubrey, at Naseby," or "at Worcester," or
+in other battles.
+
+By the time all had been introduced, a great cask of wine had been
+broached, and after the tenants had drunk to his health, and he had,
+in turn, pledged them, Cyril entered the house with Sydney and Mr.
+Popham, and proceeded to examine it under the guidance of the old man
+who had been his father's butler, and whose wife had also been a
+servant in Sir Aubrey's time.
+
+"Everything is just as it was then, Sir Cyril. A few fresh articles
+of furniture have been added, but Mr. Harvey would have no general
+change made. The family pictures hang just where they did, and your
+father himself would scarce notice the changes."
+
+"It is indeed a fine old mansion, Cyril," Lord Oliphant said, when
+they had made a tour of the house; "and now that I see it and its
+furniture I am even more inclined than before to admire the man who
+could voluntarily resign them. I shall have to modify my ideas of the
+Puritans. They have shown themselves ready to leave the country and
+cross the ocean to America, and begin life anew for conscience'
+sake--that is to say, to escape persecution--and they fought very
+doughtily, and we must own, very successfully, for the same reason,
+but this is the first time I have ever heard of one of them
+relinquishing a fine estate for conscience' sake."
+
+"Mr. Harvey is indeed a most worthy gentleman," Mr. Popham said, "and
+has the esteem and respect of all, even of those who are of wholly
+different politics. Still, it may be that although he would in any
+case, I believe, have left this property to Sir Cyril, he might not
+have handed it over to him in his lifetime, had not he received so
+great a service at his hands."
+
+"Why, what is this, Cyril?" Sydney said, turning upon him. "You have
+told us nothing whatever of any services rendered. I never saw such a
+fellow as you are for helping other people."
+
+"There was nothing worth speaking of," Cyril said, much vexed.
+
+Mr. Popham smiled.
+
+"Most people would think it was a very great service, Lord Oliphant.
+However, I may not tell you what it was, although I have heard all
+the details from my father-in-law, Mr. Goldsworthy. They were told in
+confidence, and in order to enlighten me as to the relations between
+Mr. Harvey and Sir Cyril, and as they relate to painful family
+matters I am bound to preserve an absolute silence."
+
+"I will be content to wait, Cyril, till I get you to myself. It is a
+peculiarity of Sir Cyril Shenstone, Mr. Popham, that he goes through
+life doing all sorts of services for all sorts of people. You may not
+know that he saved the lives of my three sisters in a fire at our
+mansion in the Savoy; he also performed the trifling service of
+saving Prince Rupert's ship and the lives of all on board, among whom
+was myself, from a Dutch fire-ship, in the battle of Lowestoft. These
+are insignificant affairs, that he would not think it worth while to
+allude to, even if you knew him for twenty years."
+
+"You do not know Lord Oliphant, Mr. Popham," Cyril laughed, "or you
+would be aware that his custom is to make mountains out of molehills.
+But let us sit down to dinner. I suppose it is your forethought, Mr.
+Popham, that I have to thank for having warned them to make this
+provision? I had thought that we should be lucky if the resources of
+the establishment sufficed to furnish us with a meal of bread and
+cheese."
+
+"I sent on a few things with my messenger yesterday evening, Sir
+Cyril, but for the hare and those wild ducks methinks you have to
+thank your tenants, who doubtless guessed that an addition to the
+larder would be welcome. I have no doubt that, good landlord as Mr.
+Harvey was, they are really delighted to have you among them again.
+As you know, these eastern counties were the stronghold of
+Puritanism, and that feeling is still held by the majority. It is
+only among the tenants of many gentlemen who, like your father, were
+devoted Royalists, that there is any very strong feeling the other
+way. As you heard from their lips, most of your older tenants fought
+under Sir Aubrey, while the fathers of the younger ones fell under
+his banner. Consequently, it was galling to them that one of
+altogether opposite politics should be their landlord, and although
+in every other respect they had reason to like him, he was, as it
+were, a symbol of their defeat, and I suppose they viewed him a good
+deal as the Saxons of old times regarded their Norman lords."
+
+"I can quite understand that, Mr. Popham."
+
+"Another feeling has worked in your favour, Sir Cyril," the lawyer
+went on. "It may perhaps be a relic of feudalism, but there can be no
+doubt that there exists, in the minds of English country folks, a
+feeling of respect and of something like affection for their
+landlords when men of old family, and that feeling is never
+transferred to new men who may take their place. Mr. Harvey was, in
+their eyes, a new man--a wealthy one, no doubt, but owing his wealth
+to his own exertions--and he would never have excited among them the
+same feeling as they gave to the family who had, for several hundred
+years, been owners of the soil."
+
+Cyril remained for a fortnight at Upmead, calling on all the tenants,
+and interesting himself in them and their families. The day after his
+arrival he rode into Norwich, and paid a visit to Mr. Harvey. He had,
+in compliance to his wishes, written but a short letter of
+acknowledgment of the restitution of the estate, but he now expressed
+the deep feeling of gratitude that he entertained.
+
+"I have only done what is right," Mr. Harvey said quietly, "and would
+rather not be thanked for it; but your feelings are natural, and I
+have therefore not checked your words. It was assuredly God's doing
+in so strangely bringing us together, and making you an instrument in
+saving our lives, and so awakening an uneasy conscience into
+activity. I have had but small pleasure from Upmead. I have a house
+here which is more than sufficient for all my wants, and I have, I
+hope, the respect of my townsfellows, and the affection of my
+workmen. At Upmead I was always uncomfortable. Such of the county
+gentlemen who retained their estates looked askance at me. The
+tenants, I knew, though they doffed their hats as I passed them,
+regarded me as a usurper. I had no taste for the sports and pleasures
+of country life, being born and bred a townsman. The ill-doing of my
+son cast a gloom over my life of late. I have lived chiefly here with
+the society of friends of my own religious and political feeling.
+Therefore, I have made no sacrifice in resigning my tenancy of
+Upmead, and I pray you say no further word of your gratitude. I have
+heard, from one who was there yesterday, how generously you spoke of
+me to your tenants, and I thank you for so doing, for it is pleasant
+for me to stand well in the thoughts of those whose welfare I have
+had at heart."
+
+"I trust that Mrs. Harvey is in good health?" Cyril said.
+
+"She is far from well, Cyril. The events of that night in London have
+told heavily upon her, as is not wonderful, for she has suffered much
+sorrow for years, and this last blow has broken her sorely. She
+mourns, as David mourned over the death of Absalom, over the
+wickedness of her son, but she is quite as one with me in the
+measures that I have taken concerning him, save that, at her earnest
+prayer, I have made a provision for him which will keep him from
+absolute want, and will leave him no excuse to urge that he was
+driven by poverty into crime. Mr. Goldsworthy has not yet discovered
+means of communicating with him, but when he does so he will notify
+him that he has my instructions to pay to him fifteen pounds on the
+first of every month, and that the offer of assistance to pay his
+passage to America is still open to him, and that on arriving there
+he will receive for three years the same allowance as here. Then if a
+favourable report of his conduct is forthcoming from the magistrates
+and deacons of the town where he takes up his residence, a
+correspondent of Mr. Goldsworthy's will be authorised to expend four
+thousand pounds on the purchase of an estate for him, and to hand to
+him another thousand for the due working and maintenance of the same.
+For these purposes I have already made provisions in my will, with
+proviso that if, at the end of five years after my death, no news of
+him shall be obtained, the money set aside for these purposes shall
+revert to the main provisions of the will. It may be that he died of
+the Plague. It may be that he has fallen, or will fall, a victim to
+his own evil courses and evil passions. But I am convinced that,
+should he be alive, Mr. Goldsworthy will be able to obtain tidings of
+him long before the five years have expired. And now," he said,
+abruptly changing the subject, "what are you thinking of doing, Sir
+Cyril?"
+
+"In the first place, sir, I am going to sea again with the Fleet very
+shortly. I entered as a Volunteer for the war, and could not well,
+even if I wished it, draw back."
+
+"They are a stiff-necked people," Mr. Harvey said. "That the
+Sovereigns of Europe should have viewed with displeasure the
+overthrow of the monarchy here was natural enough; but in Holland, if
+anywhere, we might have looked for sympathy, seeing that as they had
+battled for freedom of conscience, so had we done here; and yet they
+were our worst enemies, and again and again had Blake to sail forth
+to chastise them. They say that Monk is to command this time?"
+
+"I believe so, sir."
+
+"Monk is the bruised reed that pierced our hand, but he is a good
+fighter. And after the war is over, Sir Cyril, you will not, I trust,
+waste your life in the Court of the profligate King?"
+
+"Certainly not," Cyril said earnestly. "As soon as the war is over I
+shall return to Upmead and take up my residence there. I have lived
+too hard a life to care for the gaieties of Court, still less of a
+Court like that of King Charles. I shall travel for a while in Europe
+if there is a genuine peace. I have lost the opportunity of
+completing my education, and am too old now to go to either of the
+Universities. Not too old perhaps; but I have seen too much of the
+hard side of life to care to pass three years among those who, no
+older than myself, are still as boys in their feelings. The next best
+thing, therefore, as it seems to me, would be to travel, and perhaps
+to spend a year or two in one of the great Universities abroad."
+
+"The matter is worth thinking over," Mr. Harvey said. "You are
+assuredly young yet to settle down alone at Upmead, and will reap
+much advantage from speaking French which is everywhere current, and
+may greatly aid you in making your travels useful to you. I have no
+fear of your falling into Popish error, Sir Cyril; but if my wishes
+have any weight with you I would pray you to choose the schools of
+Leyden or Haarlem, should you enter a foreign University, for they
+turn out learned men and good divines."
+
+"Certainly your wishes have weight with me, Mr. Harvey, and should
+events so turn out that I can enter one of the foreign Universities,
+it shall be one of those you name--that is, should we, after this war
+is ended, come into peaceful relations with the Dutch."
+
+Before leaving the Earl's, Cyril had promised faithfully that he
+would return thither with Sydney, and accordingly, at the end of the
+fortnight, he rode back with him there, and, three weeks later,
+journeyed up to London with the Earl and his family.
+
+It was the middle of March when they reached London. The Court had
+come up a day or two before, and the Fleet was, as Cyril learnt,
+being fitted out in great haste. The French had now, after hesitating
+all through the winter, declared war against us, and it was certain
+that we should have their fleet as well as that of the Dutch to cope
+with. Calling upon Prince Rupert on the day he arrived, Cyril learnt
+that the Fleet would assuredly put to sea in a month's time.
+
+"Would you rather join at once, or wait until I go on board?" the
+Prince asked.
+
+"I would rather join at once, sir. I have no business to do in
+London, and it would be of no use for me to take an apartment when I
+am to leave so soon; therefore, if I can be of any use, I would
+gladly join at once."
+
+"You would be of no use on board," the Prince said, "but assuredly
+you could be of use in carrying messages, and letting me know
+frequently, from your own report, how matters are going on. I heard
+yesterday that the _Fan Fan_ is now fitted out. You shall take the
+command of her. I will give you a letter to the boatswain, who is at
+present in charge, saying that I have placed her wholly under your
+orders. You will, of course, live on board. You will be chiefly at
+Chatham and Sheerness. If you call early to-morrow I will have a
+letter prepared for you, addressed to all captains holding commands
+in the White Squadron, bidding them to acquaint you, whensoever you
+go on board, with all particulars of how matters have been pushed
+forward, and to give you a list of all things lacking. Then, twice a
+week you will sail up to town, and report to me, or, should there be
+any special news at other times, send it to me by a mounted
+messenger. Mr. Pepys, the secretary, is a diligent and hard-working
+man, but he cannot see to everything, and Albemarle so pushes him
+that I think the White Squadron does not get a fair share of
+attention; but if I can go to him with your reports in hand, I may
+succeed in getting what is necessary done."
+
+Bidding farewell to the Earl and his family, and thanking him for his
+kindness, Cyril stopped that night at Captain Dave's, and told him of
+all that had happened since they met. The next morning he went early
+to Prince Rupert's, received the two letters, and rode down to
+Chatham. Then, sending the horses back by his servant, who was to
+take them to the Earl's stable, where they would be cared for until
+his return, Cyril went on board the _Fan Fan_. For the next month he
+was occupied early and late with his duties. The cabin was small, but
+very comfortable. The crew was a strong one, for the yacht rowed
+twelve oars, with which she could make good progress even without her
+sails. He was waited on by his servant, who returned as soon as he
+had left the horses in the Earl's stables; his cooking was done for
+him in the yacht's galley. On occasions, as the tide suited, he
+either sailed up to London in the afternoon, gave his report to the
+Prince late in the evening, and was back at Sheerness by daybreak, or
+he sailed up at night, saw the Prince as soon as he rose, and
+returned at once.
+
+The Prince highly commended his diligence, and told him that his
+reports were of great use to him, as, with them in his hand, he could
+not be put off at the Admiralty with vague assurances. Every day one
+or more ships went out to join the Fleet that was gathering in the
+Downs, and on April 20th Cyril sailed in the _Fan Fan_, in company
+with the last vessel of the White Squadron, and there again took up
+his quarters on board the _Henrietta_, the _Fan Fan_ being anchored
+hard by in charge of the boatswain.
+
+On the 23rd, the Prince, with the Duke of Albemarle, and a great
+company of noblemen and gentlemen, arrived at Deal, and came on board
+the Fleet, which, on May 1st, weighed anchor.
+
+Lord Oliphant was among the volunteers who came down with the Prince,
+and, as many of the other gentlemen had also been on board during the
+first voyage, Cyril felt that he was among friends, and had none of
+the feeling of strangeness and isolation he had before experienced.
+
+The party was indeed a merry one. For upwards of a year the fear of
+the Plague had weighed on all England. At the time it increased so
+terribly in London, that all thought it would, like the Black Death,
+spread over England, and that, once again, half the population of the
+country might be swept away. Great as the mortality had been, it had
+been confined almost entirely to London and some of the great towns,
+and now that it had died away even in these, there was great relief
+in men's minds, and all felt that they had personally escaped from a
+terrible and imminent danger. That they were about to face peril even
+greater than that from which they had escaped did not weigh on the
+spirits of the gentlemen on board Prince Rupert's ship. To be killed
+fighting for their country was an honourable death that none feared,
+while there had been, in the minds of even the bravest, a horror of
+death by the Plague, with all its ghastly accompaniments. Sailing out
+to sea to the Downs, then, they felt that the past year's events lay
+behind them as an evil dream, and laughed and jested and sang with
+light-hearted mirth.
+
+As yet, the Dutch had not put out from port, and for three weeks the
+Fleet cruised off their coast. Then, finding that the enemy could not
+be tempted to come out, they sailed back to the Downs. The day after
+they arrived there, a messenger came down from London with orders to
+Prince Rupert to sail at once with the White Squadron to engage the
+French Fleet, which was reported to be on the point of putting to
+sea. The Prince had very little belief that the French really
+intended to fight. Hitherto, although they had been liberal in their
+promises to the Dutch, they had done nothing whatever to aid them,
+and the general opinion was that France rejoiced at seeing her rivals
+damage each other, but had no idea of risking her ships or men in the
+struggle.
+
+"I believe, gentlemen," Prince Rupert said to his officers, "that
+this is but a ruse on the part of Louis to aid his Dutch allies by
+getting part of our fleet out of the way. Still, I have nothing to do
+but to obey orders, though I fear it is but a fool's errand on which
+we are sent."
+
+The wind was from the north-east, and was blowing a fresh gale. The
+Prince prepared to put to sea. While the men were heaving at the
+anchors a message came to Cyril that Prince Rupert wished to speak to
+him in his cabin.
+
+"Sir Cyril, I am going to restore you to your command. The wind is so
+strong and the sea will be so heavy that I would not risk my yacht
+and the lives of the men by sending her down the Channel. I do not
+think there is any chance of our meeting the French, and believe that
+it is here that the battle will be fought, for with this wind the
+Dutch can be here in a few hours, and I doubt not that as soon as
+they learn that one of our squadrons has sailed away they will be
+out. The _Fan Fan_ will sail with us, but will run into Dover as we
+pass. Here is a letter that I have written ordering you to do so, and
+authorising you to put out and join the Admiral's Fleet, should the
+Dutch attack before my return. If you like to have young Lord
+Oliphant with you he can go, but he must go as a Volunteer under you.
+You are the captain of the _Fan Fan_, and have been so for the last
+two months; therefore, although your friend is older than you are, he
+must, if he choose to go, be content to serve under you. Stay, I will
+put it to him myself."
+
+He touched the bell, and ordered Sydney to be sent for.
+
+"Lord Oliphant," he said, "I know that you and Sir Cyril are great
+friends. I do not consider that the _Fan Fan_, of which he has for
+some time been commander, is fit to keep the sea in a gale like this,
+and I have therefore ordered him to take her into Dover. If the Dutch
+come out to fight the Admiral, as I think they will, he will join the
+Fleet, and although the _Fan Fan_ can take but small share in the
+fighting, she may be useful in carrying messages from the Duke while
+the battle is going on. It seems to me that, as the _Fan Fan_ is
+more likely to see fighting than my ships, you, as a Volunteer, might
+prefer to transfer yourself to her until she again joins us. Sir
+Cyril is younger than you are, but if you go, you must necessarily be
+under his command seeing that he is captain of the yacht. It is for
+you to choose whether you will remain here or go with him."
+
+"I should like to go with him, sir. He has had a good deal of
+experience of the sea, while I have never set foot on board ship till
+last year. And after what he did at Lowestoft I should say that any
+gentleman would be glad to serve under him."
+
+"That is the right feeling," Prince Rupert said warmly. "Then get
+your things transferred to the yacht. If you join Albemarle's Fleet,
+Sir Cyril, you will of course report yourself to him, and say that I
+directed you to place yourself under his orders."
+
+Five minutes later Cyril and his friend were on board the _Fan Fan._
+Scarcely had they reached her, when a gun was fired from Prince
+Rupert's ship as a signal, and the ships of the White Squadron shook
+out their sails, and, with the wind free, raced down towards the
+South Foreland.
+
+"We are to put into Dover," Cyril said to the boatswain, a
+weatherbeaten old sailor.
+
+"The Lord be praised for that, sir! She is a tight little craft, but
+there will be a heavy sea on as soon we are beyond shelter of the
+sands, and with these two guns on board of her she will make bad
+weather. Besides, in a wind like this, it ain't pleasant being in a
+little craft in the middle of a lot of big ones, for if we were not
+swamped by the sea, we might very well be run down. We had better
+keep her close to the Point, yer honour, and then run along, under
+shelter of the cliffs, into Dover. The water will be pretty smooth in
+there, though we had best carry as little sail as we can, for the
+gusts will come down from above fit to take the mast out of her."
+
+"I am awfully glad you came with me, Sydney," Cyril said, as he took
+his place with his friend near the helmsman, "but I wish the Prince
+had put you in command. Of course, it is only a nominal thing, for
+the boatswain is really the captain in everything that concerns
+making sail and giving orders to the crew. Still, it would have been
+much nicer the other way."
+
+"I don't see that it would, Cyril," Sydney laughed, "for you know as
+much more about handling a boat like this than I do, as the boatswain
+does than yourself. You have been on board her night and day for more
+than a month, and even if you knew nothing about her at all, Prince
+Rupert would have been right to choose you as a recognition of your
+great services last time. Don't think anything about it. We are
+friends, and it does not matter a fig which is the nominal commander.
+I was delighted to come, not only to be with you, but because it will
+be a very great deal pleasanter being our own masters on board this
+pretty little yacht than being officers on board the _Henrietta_
+where we would have been only in the way except when we went into
+action."
+
+As soon as they rounded the Point most of the sail was taken off the
+_Fan Fan,_ but even under the small canvas she carried she lay over
+until her lee rail was almost under water when the heavy squalls
+swooped down on her from the cliffs. The rest of the squadron was
+keeping some distance out, presenting a fine sight as the ships lay
+over, sending the spray flying high into the air from their bluff
+bows, and plunging deeply into the waves.
+
+"Yes, it is very distinctly better being where we are," Lord Oliphant
+said, as he gazed at them. "I was beginning to feel qualmish before
+we got under shelter of the Point, and by this time, if I had been on
+board the _Henrietta,_ I should have been prostrate, and should have
+had I know not how long misery before me."
+
+A quarter of an hour later they were snugly moored in Dover Harbour.
+For twenty-four hours the gale continued; the wind then fell
+somewhat, but continued to blow strongly from the same quarter. Two
+days later it veered round to the south-west, and shortly afterwards
+the English Fleet could be seen coming out past the Point. As soon as
+they did so they headed eastward.
+
+"They are going out to meet the Dutch," Sydney said, as they watched
+the ships from the cliffs, "The news must have arrived that their
+fleet has put out to sea."
+
+"Then we may as well be off after them, Sydney; they will sail faster
+than we shall in this wind, for it is blowing too strongly for us to
+carry much sail."
+
+They hurried on board. A quarter of an hour later the _Fan Fan_ put
+out from the harbour. The change of wind had caused an ugly cross sea
+and the yacht made bad weather of it, the waves constantly washing
+over her decks, but before they were off Calais she had overtaken
+some of the slower sailers of the Fleet. The sea was less violent as
+they held on, for they were now, to some extent, sheltered by the
+coast.
+
+In a short time Cyril ran down into the cabin where Sydney was lying
+ill.
+
+"The Admiral has given the signal to anchor, and the leading ships
+are already bringing up. We will choose a berth as near the shore as
+we can; with our light draught we can lie well inside of the others,
+and shall be in comparatively smooth water."
+
+Before dusk the Fleet was at anchor, with the exception of two or
+three of the fastest frigates, which were sent on to endeavour to
+obtain some news of the enemy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE FIGHT OFF DUNKIRK
+
+
+As soon as the _Fan Fan_ had been brought to an anchor the boat was
+lowered, and Cyril was rowed on board the Admiral's ship.
+
+Albemarle was on the poop, and Cyril made his report to him.
+
+"Very well, sir," the Duke said, "I dare say I shall be able to make
+you of some use. Keep your craft close to us when we sail. I seem to
+know your face."
+
+"I am Sir Cyril Shenstone, my Lord Duke. I had the honour of meeting
+you first at the fire in the Savoy, and Prince Rupert afterwards was
+good enough to present me to you."
+
+"Yes, yes, I remember. And it was you who saved the _Henrietta_ from
+the fire-ship at Lowestoft. You have begun well indeed, young sir,
+and are like to have further opportunities of showing your bravery."
+
+Cyril bowed, and then, going down the side to his boat, returned to
+the _Fan Fan._ She was lying in almost smooth water, and Sydney had
+come up on deck again.
+
+"You heard no news of the Dutch, I suppose, Cyril?"
+
+"No; I asked a young officer as I left the ship, and he said that, so
+far as he knew, nothing had been heard of them, but news had come in,
+before the Admiral sailed from the Downs, that everything was ready
+for sea, and that orders were expected every hour for them to put
+out."
+
+"It is rather to be hoped that they won't put out for another two
+days," Sydney said. "That will give the Prince time to rejoin with
+his squadron. The wind is favourable now for his return, and I should
+think, as soon as they hear in London that the Dutch are on the point
+of putting out, and Albemarle has sailed, they will send him orders
+to join us at once. We have only about sixty sail, while they say
+that the Dutch have over ninety, which is too heavy odds against us
+to be pleasant."
+
+"I should think the Duke will not fight till the Prince comes up."
+
+"I don't think he will wait for him if he finds the Dutch near. All
+say that he is over-confident, and apt to despise the Dutch too much.
+Anyhow, he is as brave as a lion, and, though he might not attack
+unless the Dutch begin it, I feel sure he will not run away from
+them."
+
+The next morning early, the _Bristol_ frigate was seen returning
+from the east. She had to beat her way back in the teeth of the wind,
+but, when still some miles away, a puff of white smoke was seen to
+dart out from her side, and presently the boom of a heavy gun was
+heard. Again and again she fired, and the signal was understood to be
+a notification that she had seen the Dutch. The signal for the
+captains of the men-of-war to come on board was at once run up to the
+mast-head of the flagship, followed by another for the Fleet to be
+prepared to weigh anchor. Captain Bacon, of the _Bristol_, went on
+board as soon as his ship came up. In a short time the boats were
+seen to put off, and as the captains reached their respective ships
+the signal to weigh anchor was hoisted.
+
+This was hailed with a burst of cheering throughout the Fleet, and
+all felt that it signified that they would soon meet the Dutch. The
+_Fan Fan_ was under sail long before the men-of-war had got up their
+heavy anchors, and, sailing out, tacked backwards and forwards until
+the Fleet were under sail, when Cyril told the boatswain to place her
+within a few cables' length of the flagship on her weather quarter.
+After two hours' sail the Dutch Fleet were made out, anchored off
+Dunkirk. The Blue Squadron, under Sir William Berkley, led the way,
+the Red Squadron, under the Duke, following.
+
+"I will put a man in the chains with the lead," the boatswain said to
+Cyril. "There are very bad sands off Dunkirk, and though we might get
+over them in safety, the big ships would take ground, and if they did
+so we should be in a bad plight indeed."
+
+"In that case, we had best slack out the sheet a little, and take up
+our post on the weather bow of the Admiral, so that we can signal to
+him if we find water failing."
+
+The topsail was hoisted, and the _Fan Fan,_ which was a very fast
+craft in comparatively smooth water, ran past the Admiral's flagship.
+
+"Shall I order him back, your Grace?" the Captain asked angrily.
+
+Albemarle looked at the _Fan Fan_ attentively.
+
+"They have got a man sounding," he said. "It is a wise precaution.
+The young fellow in command knows what he is doing. We ought to have
+been taking the same care. See! he is taking down his topsail again.
+Set an officer to watch the yacht, and if they signal, go about at
+once."
+
+The soundings continued for a short time at six fathoms, when
+suddenly the man at the lead called out sharply,--
+
+"Three fathoms!"
+
+Cyril ran to the flagstaff, and as the next cry came--"Two
+fathoms!"--hauled down the flag and stood waving his cap, while the
+boatswain, who had gone to the tiller, at once pushed it over to
+starboard, and brought the yacht up into the wind. Cyril heard orders
+shouted on board the flagship, and saw her stern sweeping round. A
+moment later her sails were aback, but the men, who already clustered
+round the guns, were not quick enough in hauling the yards across,
+and, to his dismay, he saw the main topmast bend, and then go over
+the side with a crash. All was confusion on board, and for a time it
+seemed as if the other topmast would also go.
+
+"Run her alongside within hailing distance," Cyril said to the
+boatswain. "They will want to question us."
+
+As they came alongside the flagship the Duke himself leant over the
+side.
+
+"What water had you when you came about, sir?"
+
+"We went suddenly from six fathoms to three, your Grace," Cyril
+shouted, "and a moment after we found but two."
+
+"Very well, sir," the Duke called back. "In that case you have
+certainly saved our ship. I thought perhaps that you had been
+over-hasty, and had thus cost us our topmast, but I see it was not
+so, and thank you. Our pilot assured us there was plenty of water on
+the course we were taking."
+
+The ships of the Red Squadron had all changed their course on seeing
+the flagship come about so suddenly, and considerable delay and
+confusion was caused before they again formed in order, and, in
+obedience to the Duke's signal, followed in support of the Blue
+Squadron. This had already dashed into the midst of the Dutch Fleet,
+who were themselves in some confusion; for, so sudden had been the
+attack, that they had been forced to cut their cables, having no time
+to get up their anchors.
+
+The British ships poured in their broadsides as they approached,
+while the Dutch opened a tremendous cannonade. Besides their great
+inferiority in numbers, the British were under a serious
+disadvantage. They had the weather gauge, and the wind was so strong
+that it heeled them over, so that they were unable to open their
+lower ports, and were therefore deprived of the use of their heaviest
+guns.
+
+Four of the ships of the Red Squadron remained by the flagship, to
+protect her if attacked, and to keep off fire-ships, while her crew
+laboured to get up another topmast. More than three hours were
+occupied in this operation, but so busily did the rest of the Fleet
+keep the Dutch at work that they were unable to detach sufficient
+ships to attack her.
+
+As soon as the topmast was in place and the sails hoisted, the
+flagship and her consorts hastened to join their hard-pressed
+comrades.
+
+The fight was indeed a desperate one. Sir William Berkley and his
+ship, the _Swiftsure,_ a second-rate, was taken, as was the
+_Essex,_ a third-rate.
+
+The _Henry,_ commanded by Sir John Harman, was surrounded by foes.
+Her sails and rigging were shot to pieces, so she was completely
+disabled, and the Dutch Admiral, Cornelius Evertz, summoned Sir John
+Harman to surrender.
+
+"It has not come to that yet," Sir John shouted back, and continued
+to pour such heavy broadsides into the Dutch that several of their
+ships were greatly damaged, and Evertz himself killed.
+
+The Dutch captains drew off their vessels, and launched three
+fire-ships at the _Henry._ The first one, coming up on her starboard
+quarter, grappled with her. The dense volumes of smoke rising from
+her prevented the sailors from discovering where the grapnels were
+fixed, and the flames were spreading to her when her boatswain
+gallantly leapt on board the fire-ship, and, by the light of its
+flames, discovered the grapnels and threw them overboard, and
+succeeded in regaining his ship.
+
+A moment later, the second fire-ship came up on the port side, and so
+great a body of flames swept across the _Henry_ that her chaplain
+and fifty men sprang overboard. Sir John, however, drew his sword,
+and threatened to cut down the first man who refused to obey orders,
+and the rest of the crew, setting manfully to work, succeeded in
+extinguishing the flames, and in getting free of the fire-ship. The
+halliards of the main yard were, however, burnt through, and the spar
+fell, striking Sir John Harman to the deck and breaking his leg.
+
+The third fire-ship was received with the fire of four cannon loaded
+with chain shot. These brought her mast down, and she drifted by,
+clear of the _Henry,_ which was brought safely into Harwich.
+
+The fight continued the whole day, and did not terminate until ten
+o'clock in the evening. The night was spent in repairing damages, and
+in the morning the English recommenced the battle. It was again
+obstinately contested. Admiral Van Tromp threw himself into the midst
+of the British line, and suffered so heavily that he was only saved
+by the arrival of Admiral de Ruyter. He, in his turn, was in a most
+perilous position, and his ship disabled, when fresh reinforcements
+arrived. And so the battle raged, until, in the afternoon, as if by
+mutual consent, the Fleets drew off from each other, and the battle
+ceased. The fighting had been extraordinarily obstinate and
+determined on both sides, many ships had been sunk, several burnt,
+and some captured. The sea was dotted with wreckage, masts, and
+spars, fragments of boats and _debris_ of all kinds. Both fleets
+presented a pitiable appearance; the hulls, but forty-eight hours ago
+so trim and smooth, were splintered and jagged, port-holes were
+knocked into one, bulwarks carried away, and stern galleries gone.
+The sails were riddled with shot-holes, many of the ships had lost
+one or more masts, while the light spars had been, in most cases,
+carried away, and many of the yards had come down owing to the
+destruction of the running gear.
+
+In so tremendous a conflict the little _Fan Fan_ could bear but a
+small part. Cyril and Lord Oliphant agreed, at the commencement of
+the first day's fight, that it would be useless for them to attempt
+to fire their two little guns, but that their efforts should be
+entirely directed against the enemy's fire-ships. During each day's
+battle, then, they hovered round the flagship, getting out of the way
+whenever she was engaged, as she often was, on both broadsides, and
+although once or twice struck by stray shots, the _Fan Fan_ received
+no serious damage. In this encounter of giants, the little yacht was
+entirely overlooked, and none of the great ships wasted a shot upon
+her. Two or three times each day, when the Admiral's ship had beaten
+off her foes, a fire-ship directed its course against her. Then came
+the _Fan Fan's_ turn for action. Under the pressure of her twelve
+oars she sped towards the fire-ship, and on reaching her a grapnel
+was thrown over the end of the bowsprit, and by the efforts of the
+rowers her course was changed, so that she swept harmlessly past the
+flagship.
+
+Twice when the vessels were coming down before the wind at a rate of
+speed that rendered it evident that the efforts of the men at the
+oars would be insufficient to turn her course, the _Fan Fan_ was
+steered alongside, grapnels were thrown, and, headed by Lord Oliphant
+and Cyril, the crew sprang on board, cut down or drove overboard the
+few men who were in charge of her. Then, taking the helm and trimming
+the sails, they directed her against one of the Dutch men-of-war,
+threw the grapnels on board, lighted the train, leapt back into the
+_Fan Fan_, rowed away, and took up their place near the Admiral, the
+little craft being greeted with hearty cheers by the whole ship's
+company.
+
+The afternoon was spent in repairing damages as far as practicable,
+but even the Duke saw it was impossible to continue the fight. The
+Dutch had received a reinforcement while the fighting was going on
+that morning, and although the English had inflicted terrible damage
+upon the Dutch Fleet, their own loss in ships was greater than that
+which they had caused their adversaries. A considerable portion of
+their vessels were not in a condition to renew the battle, and the
+carpenters had hard work to save them from sinking outright.
+Albemarle himself embarked on the _Fan Fan_, and sailed from ship to
+ship, ascertaining the condition of each, and the losses its crew had
+suffered. As soon as night fell, the vessels most disabled were
+ordered to sail for England as they best could. The crew of three
+which were totally dismasted and could hardly be kept afloat, were
+taken out and divided between the twenty-eight vessels which alone
+remained in a condition to renew the fight.
+
+These three battered hulks were, early the next morning, set on fire,
+and the rest of the Fleet, in good order and prepared to give battle,
+followed their companions that had sailed on the previous evening.
+The Dutch followed, but at a distance, thinking to repair their
+damages still farther before they again engaged. In the afternoon the
+sails of a squadron were seen ahead, and a loud cheer ran from ship
+to ship, for all knew that this was Prince Rupert coming up with the
+White Squadron. A serious loss, however, occurred a few minutes
+afterwards. The _Royal Prince_, the largest and most powerful vessel
+in the Fleet, which was somewhat in rear of the line, struck on the
+sands. The tide being with them and the wind light, the rest of the
+Fleet tried in vain to return to her assistance, and as the Dutch
+Fleet were fast coming up, and some of the fire-ships making for the
+_Royal Prince_, they were forced to give up the attempt to succour
+her, and Sir George Ayscue, her captain, was obliged to haul down his
+flag and surrender.
+
+As soon as the White Squadron joined the remnant of the Fleet the
+whole advanced against the Dutch, drums beating and trumpets
+sounding, and twice made their way through the enemy's line. But it
+was now growing dark, and the third day's battle came to an end. The
+next morning it was seen that the Dutch, although considerably
+stronger than the English, were almost out of sight. The latter at
+once hoisted sail and pursued, and, at eight o'clock, came up with
+them.
+
+The Dutch finding the combat inevitable, the terrible fight was
+renewed, and raged, without intermission, until seven in the evening.
+Five times the British passed through the line of the Dutch. On both
+sides many ships fell out of the fighting line wholly disabled.
+Several were sunk, and some on both sides forced to surrender, being
+so battered as to be unable to withdraw from the struggle. Prince
+Rupert's ship was wholly disabled, and that of Albemarle almost as
+severely damaged, and the battle, like those of the preceding days,
+ended without any decided advantage on either side. Both nations
+claimed the victory, but equally without reason. The Dutch historians
+compute our loss at sixteen men-of-war, of which ten were sunk and
+six taken, while we admitted only a loss of nine ships, and claimed
+that the Dutch lost fifteen men-of-war. Both parties acknowledged
+that it was the most terrible battle fought in this, or any other
+modern war.
+
+De Witte, who at that time was at the head of the Dutch Republic, and
+who was a bitter enemy of the English, owned, some time afterwards,
+to Sir William Temple, "that the English got more glory to their
+nation through the invincible courage of their seamen during those
+engagements than by the two victories of this war, and that he was
+sure that his own fleet could not have been brought on to fight the
+fifth day, after the disadvantages of the fourth, and he believed
+that no other nation was capable of it but the English."
+
+Cyril took no part in the last day's engagement, for Prince Rupert,
+when the _Fan Fan_ came near him on his arrival on the previous
+evening, returned his salute from the poop, and shouted to him that
+on no account was he to adventure into the fight with the _Fan Fan_.
+
+On the morning after the battle ended, Lord Oliphant and Cyril rowed
+on board Prince Rupert's ship, where every unwounded man was hard at
+work getting up a jury-mast or patching up the holes in the hull.
+
+"Well, Sir Cyril, I see that you have been getting my yacht knocked
+about," he said, as they came up to him.
+
+"There is not much damage done, sir. She has but two shot-holes in
+her hull."
+
+"And my new mainsail spoiled. Do you know, sir, that I got a severe
+rating from the Duke yesterday evening, on your account?"
+
+Cyril looked surprised.
+
+"I trust, sir, that I have not in any way disobeyed orders?"
+
+"No, it was not that. He asked after the _Fan Fan_, and said that he
+had seen nothing of her during the day's fighting, and I said I had
+strictly ordered you not to come into the battle. He replied, 'Then
+you did wrong, Prince, for that little yacht of yours did yeomen's
+service during the first two days' fighting. I told Sir Cyril to keep
+her near me, thinking that she would be useful in carrying orders,
+and during those two days she kept close to us, save when we were
+surrounded by the enemy. Five times in those three days did she avert
+fire-ships from us. We were so damaged that we could sail but slowly,
+and, thinking us altogether unmanageable, the Dutch launched their
+fire-ships. The _Fan Fan_ rowed to meet them. Three of them were
+diverted from their course by a rope being thrown over the bowsprit,
+and the crew rowing so as to turn her head. On the second day there
+was more wind, and the fire-ships could have held on their course in
+spite of the efforts of the men on board the _Fan Fan_. Twice during
+the day the little boat was boldly laid alongside them, while the
+crew boarded and captured them, and then, directing them towards the
+Dutch ships, grappled and set them on fire. One of the Dutchmen was
+burned, the other managed to throw off the grapnels. It was all done
+under our eyes, and five times in the two days did my crew cheer your
+little yacht as she came alongside. So you see, Prince, by ordering
+her out of the fight you deprived us of the assistance of as boldly
+handled a little craft as ever sailed.'
+
+"'I am quite proud of my little yacht, gentlemen, and I thank you for
+having given her so good a christening under fire. But I must stay no
+longer talking. Here is the despatch I have written of my share of
+the engagement. You, Sir Cyril, will deliver this. You will now row
+to the Duke's ship, and he will give you his despatches, which you,
+Lord Oliphant, will deliver. I need not say that you are to make all
+haste to the Thames. We have no ship to spare except the _Fan Fan_,
+for we must keep the few that are still able to manoeuvre, in case
+the Dutch should come out again before we have got the crippled ones
+in a state to make sail. '"
+
+Taking leave of the Prince, they were at once rowed to the Duke's
+flagship. They had a short interview with the Admiral, who praised
+them highly for the service they had rendered.
+
+"You will have to tell the story of the fighting," he said, "for the
+Prince and myself have written but few lines; we have too many
+matters on our minds to do scribe's work. They will have heard, ere
+now, of the first two days' fighting, for some of the ships that were
+sent back will have arrived at Harwich before this. By to-morrow
+morning I hope to have the Fleet so far refitted as to be able to
+follow you."
+
+Five minutes later, the _Fan Fan_, with every stitch of sail set,
+was on her way to the Thames. As a brisk wind was blowing, they
+arrived in London twenty-four hours later, and at once proceeded to
+the Admiralty, the despatches being addressed to the Duke of York.
+They were immediately ushered in to him. Without a word he seized the
+despatches, tore them open, and ran his eye down them.
+
+"God be praised!" he exclaimed, when he finished them. "We had feared
+even worse intelligence, and have been in a terrible state of anxiety
+since yesterday, when we heard from Harwich that one of the ships had
+come in with the news that more than half the Fleet was crippled or
+destroyed, and that twenty-eight only remained capable of continuing
+the battle. The only hope was that the White Squadron might arrive in
+time, and it seems that it has done so. The account of our losses is
+indeed a terrible one, but at least we have suffered no defeat, and
+as the Dutch have retreated, they must have suffered well-nigh as
+much as we have done. Come along with me at once, gentlemen; I must
+go to the King to inform him of this great news, which is vastly
+beyond what we could have hoped for. The Duke, in his despatch, tells
+me that the bearers of it, Lord Oliphant and Sir Cyril Shenstone,
+have done very great service, having, in Prince Rupert's little
+yacht, saved his flagship no less than five times from the attacks of
+the Dutch fire-ships."
+
+The Duke had ordered his carriage to be in readiness as soon as he
+learnt that the bearers of despatches from the Fleet had arrived. It
+was already at the door, and, taking his seat in it, with Lord
+Oliphant and Cyril opposite to him, he was driven to the Palace,
+learning by the way such details as they could give him of the last
+two days' fighting. He led them at once to the King's dressing-room.
+Charles was already attired, for he had passed a sleepless night, and
+had risen early.
+
+"What news, James?" he asked eagerly.
+
+"Good news, brother. After two more days' fighting--and terrible
+fighting, on both sides--the Dutch Fleet has returned to its ports."
+
+"A victory!" the King exclaimed, in delight.
+
+"A dearly-bought one with the lives of so many brave men, but a
+victory nevertheless. Here are the despatches from Albemarle and
+Rupert. They have been brought by these gentlemen, with whom you are
+already acquainted, in Rupert's yacht. Albemarle speaks very highly
+of their conduct."
+
+The King took the despatches, and read them eagerly.
+
+"It has indeed been a dearly-bought victory," he said, "but it is
+marvellous indeed how our captains and men bore themselves. Never
+have they shown greater courage and endurance. Well may Monk say
+that, after four days of incessant fighting and four nights spent in
+the labour of repairing damages, the strength of all has well-nigh
+come to an end, and that he himself can write but a few lines to tell
+me of what has happened, leaving all details for further occasion. I
+thank you both, gentlemen, for the speed with which you have brought
+me this welcome news, and for the services of which the Duke of
+Albemarle speaks so warmly. This is the second time, Sir Cyril, that
+my admirals have had occasion to speak of great and honourable
+service rendered by you. Lord Oliphant, the Earl, your father, will
+have reason to be proud when he hears you so highly praised. Now,
+gentlemen, tell me more fully than is done in these despatches as to
+the incidents of the fighting. I have heard something of what took
+place in the first two days from an officer who posted up from
+Harwich yesterday."
+
+Lord Oliphant related the events of the first two days, and then went
+on.
+
+"Of the last two I can say less, Your Majesty, for we took no part
+in, having Prince Rupert's orders, given as he came up, that we
+should not adventure into the fight. Therefore, we were but
+spectators, though we kept on the edge of the fight and, if
+opportunity had offered, and we had seen one of our ships too hard
+pressed, and threatened by fire-ships, we should have ventured so far
+to transgress orders as to bear in and do what we could on her
+behalf; but indeed, the smoke was so great that we could see but
+little.
+
+"It was a strange sight, when, on the Prince's arrival, his ships and
+those of the Duke's, battered as they were, bore down on the Dutch
+line; the drums beating, the trumpets sounding, and the crews
+cheering loudly. We saw them disappear into the Dutch line; then the
+smoke shut all out from view, and for hours there was but a thick
+cloud of smoke and a continuous roar of the guns. Sometimes a vessel
+would come out from the curtain of smoke torn and disabled. Sometimes
+it was a Dutchman, sometimes one of our own ships. If the latter, we
+rowed up to them and did our best with planks and nails to stop the
+yawning holes close to the water-line, while the crew knotted ropes
+and got up the spars and yards, and then sailed back into the fight.
+
+"The first day's fighting was comparatively slight, for the Dutch
+seemed to be afraid to close with the Duke's ships, and hung behind
+at a distance. It was not till the White Squadron came up, and the
+Duke turned, with Prince Rupert, and fell upon his pursuers like a
+wounded boar upon the dogs, that the battle commenced in earnest; but
+the last day it went on for nigh twelve hours without intermission;
+and when at last the roar of the guns ceased, and the smoke slowly
+cleared off, it was truly a pitiful sight, so torn and disabled were
+the ships.
+
+"As the two fleets separated, drifting apart as it would almost seem,
+so few were the sails now set, we rowed up among them, and for hours
+were occupied in picking up men clinging to broken spars and
+wreckage, for but few of the ships had so much as a single boat left.
+We were fortunate enough to save well-nigh a hundred, of whom more
+than seventy were our own men, the remainder Dutch. From these last
+we learnt that the ships of Van Tromp and Ruyter had both been so
+disabled that they had been forced to fall out of battle, and had
+been towed away to port. They said that their Admirals Cornelius
+Evertz and Van der Hulst had both been killed, while on our side we
+learnt that Admiral Sir Christopher Mings had fallen."
+
+"Did the Dutch Fleet appear to be as much injured as our own?"
+
+"No, Your Majesty. Judging by the sail set when the battle was over,
+theirs must have been in better condition than ours, which is not
+surprising, seeing how superior they were in force, and for the most
+part bigger ships, and carrying more guns."
+
+"Then you will have your hands full, James, or they will be ready to
+take to sea again before we are. Next time I hope that we shall meet
+them with more equal numbers."
+
+"I will do the best I can, brother," the Duke replied. "Though we
+have so many ships sorely disabled there have been but few lost, and
+we can supply their places with the vessels that have been building
+with all haste. If the Dutch will give us but two months' time I
+warrant that we shall be able to meet them in good force."
+
+As soon as the audience was over, Cyril and his friend returned to
+the _Fan Fan_, and after giving the crew a few hours for sleep,
+sailed down to Sheerness, where, shortly afterwards, Prince Rupert
+arrived with a portion of the Fleet, the rest having been ordered to
+Harwich, Portsmouth, and other ports, so that they could be more
+speedily refitted.
+
+Although the work went on almost without intermission day and night,
+the repairs were not completed before the news arrived that the Dutch
+Fleet had again put to sea. Two days later they arrived off our
+coast, where, finding no fleet ready to meet them, they sailed away
+to France, where they hoped to be joined by their French allies.
+
+Two days later, however, our ships began to assemble at the mouth of
+the Thames, and on June 24th the whole Fleet was ready to take to
+sea. It consisted of eighty men-of-war, large and small, and nineteen
+fire-ships. Prince Rupert was in command of the Red Squadron, and the
+Duke of Albemarle sailed with him, on board the same ship. Sir Thomas
+Allen was Admiral of the White, and Sir Jeremiah Smith of the Blue
+Squadron. Cyril remained on board the _Fan Fan_, Lord Oliphant
+returning to his duties on board the flagship. Marvels had been
+effected by the zeal and energy of the crews and dockyard men. But
+three weeks back, the English ships had, for the most part, been
+crippled seemingly almost beyond repair, but now, with their holes
+patched, with new spars, and in the glory of fresh paint and new
+canvas, they made as brave a show as when they had sailed out from
+the Downs a month previously.
+
+They were anchored off the Nore when, late in the evening, the news
+came out from Sheerness that a mounted messenger had just ridden in
+from Dover, and that the Dutch Fleet had, in the afternoon, passed
+the town, and had rounded the South Foreland, steering north.
+
+Orders were at once issued that the Fleet should sail at daybreak,
+and at three o'clock the next morning they were on their way down the
+river. At ten o'clock the Dutch Fleet was seen off the North
+Foreland. According to their own accounts they numbered eighty-eight
+men-of-war, with twenty-five fire-ships, and were also divided into
+three squadrons, under De Ruyter, John Evertz, and Van Tromp.
+
+The engagement began at noon by an attack by the White Squadron upon
+that commanded by Evertz. An hour later, Prince Rupert and the Duke,
+with the Red Squadron, fell upon De Ruyter, while that of Van Tromp,
+which was at some distance from the others, was engaged by Sir
+Jeremiah Smith with the Blue Squadron. Sir Thomas Allen completely
+defeated his opponents, killing Evertz, his vice- and rear-admirals,
+capturing the vice-admiral of Zeeland, who was with him, and burning
+a ship of fifty guns.
+
+The Red Squadron was evenly matched by that of De Ruyter, and each
+vessel laid itself alongside an adversary. Although De Ruyter himself
+and his vice-admiral, Van Ness, fought obstinately, their ships in
+general, commanded, for the most part, by men chosen for their family
+influence rather than for either seamanship or courage, behaved but
+badly, and all but seven gradually withdrew from the fight, and went
+off under all sail; and De Ruyter, finding himself thus deserted, was
+forced also to draw off. During this time, Van Tromp, whose squadron
+was the strongest of the three Dutch divisions, was so furiously
+engaged by the Blue Squadron, which was the weakest of the English
+divisions, that he was unable to come to the assistance of his
+consorts; when, however, he saw the defeat of the rest of the Dutch
+Fleet, he, too, was obliged to draw off, lest he should have the
+whole of the English down upon him, and was able the more easily to
+do so as darkness was closing in when the battle ended.
+
+The Dutch continued their retreat during the night, followed at a
+distance by the Red Squadron, which was, next morning, on the point
+of overtaking them, when the Dutch sought refuge by steering into the
+shallows, which their light draught enabled them to cross, while the
+deeper English ships were unable to follow. Great was the wrath and
+disappointment of the English when they saw themselves thus baulked
+of reaping the full benefit of the victory. Prince Rupert shouted to
+Cyril, who, in the _Fan Fan_, had taken but small share in the
+engagement, as the fire-ships had not played any conspicuous part in
+it.
+
+"Sir Cyril, we can go no farther, but do you pursue De Ruyter and
+show him in what contempt we hold him."
+
+Cyril lifted his hat to show that he heard and understood the order.
+Then he ordered his men to get out their oars, for the wind was very
+light, and, amidst loud cheering, mingled with laughter, from the
+crews of the vessels that were near enough to hear Prince Rupert's
+order, the _Fan Fan_ rowed out from the English line in pursuit of
+the Dutch.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+LONDON IN FLAMES
+
+
+The sailors laughed and joked as they rowed away from the Fleet, but
+the old boatswain shook his head.
+
+"We shall have to be careful, Sir Cyril," he said. "It is like a
+small cur barking at the heels of a bull--it is good fun enough for a
+bit, but when the bull turns, perchance the dog will find himself
+thrown high in the air."
+
+Cyril nodded. He himself considered Prince Rupert's order to be
+beyond all reason, and given only in the heat of his anger at De
+Ruyter having thus escaped him, and felt that it was very likely to
+cost the lives of all on board the _Fan Fan_. However, there was
+nothing to do but to carry it out. It seemed to him that the
+boatswain's simile was a very apt one, and that, although the
+spectacle of the _Fan Fan_ worrying the great Dutch battle-ship
+might be an amusing one to the English spectators, it was likely to
+be a very serious adventure for her.
+
+De Ruyter's ship, which was in the rear of all the other Dutch
+vessels, was but a mile distant when the _Fan Fan_ started, and as
+the wind was so light that it scarce filled her sails, the yacht
+approached her rapidly.
+
+"We are within half a mile now, your honour," the boatswain said. "I
+should say we had better go no nearer if we don't want to be blown
+out of the water."
+
+"Yes; I think we may as well stop rowing now, and get the guns to
+work. There are only those two cannon in her stern ports which can
+touch us here. She will scarcely come up in the wind to give us a
+broadside. She is moving so slowly through the water that it would
+take her a long time to come round, and De Ruyter would feel ashamed
+to bring his great flag-ship round to crush such a tiny foe."
+
+The boatswain went forward to the guns, round which the men, after
+laying in their oars, clustered in great glee.
+
+"Now," he said, "you have got to make those two guns in the stern
+your mark. Try and send your shots through the port-holes. It will be
+a waste to fire them at the hull, for the balls would not penetrate
+the thick timber that she is built of. Remember, the straighter you
+aim the more chance there is that the Dutch won't hit us. Men don't
+stop to aim very straight when they are expecting a shot among them
+every second. We will fire alternately, and one gun is not to fire
+until the other is loaded again. I will lay the first gun myself."
+
+It was a good shot, and the crew cheered as they saw the splinters
+fly at the edge of the port-hole. Shot after shot was fired with
+varying success.
+
+The Dutch made no reply, and seemed to ignore the presence of their
+tiny foe. The crew were, for the most part, busy aloft repairing
+damages, and after half an hour's firing, without eliciting a reply,
+the boatswain went aft to Cyril, and suggested that they should now
+aim at the spars.
+
+"A lucky shot might do a good deal of damage, sir," he said. "The
+weather is fine enough at present, but there is no saying when a
+change may come, and if we could weaken one of the main spars it
+might be the means of her being blown ashore, should the wind spring
+up in the right direction."
+
+Cyril assented, and fire was now directed at the masts. A few ropes
+were cut away, but no serious damage was effected until a shot struck
+one of the halliard blocks of the spanker, and the sail at once ran
+down.
+
+"It has taken a big bit out of the mast, too," the boatswain called
+exultingly to Cyril. "I think that will rouse the Dutchmen up."
+
+A minute later it was evident that the shot had at least had that
+effect. Two puffs of smoke spirted out from the stern of the Dutch
+flagship, and, simultaneously with the roar of the guns, came the hum
+of two heavy shot flying overhead. Delighted at having excited the
+Dutchmen's wrath at last, the crew of the _Fan Fan_ took off their
+hats and gave a loud cheer, and then, more earnestly than before,
+settled down to work; their guns aimed now, as at first, at the
+port-holes. Four or five shots were discharged from each of the
+little guns before the Dutch were ready again. Then came the
+thundering reports. The _Fan Fan's_ topmast was carried away by one
+of the shot, but the other went wide. Two or three men were told to
+cut away the wreckage, and the rest continued their fire. One of the
+next shots of the enemy was better directed. It struck the deck close
+to the foot of the mast, committed great havoc in Cyril's cabin, and
+passed out through the stern below the water-line. Cyril leapt down
+the companion as he heard the crash, shouting to the boatswain to
+follow him. The water was coming through the hole in a great jet.
+Cyril seized a pillow and--stuffed it into the shot-hole, being
+drenched from head to foot in the operation. One of the sailors had
+followed the boatswain, and Cyril called him to his assistance.
+
+"Get out the oars at once," he said to the boatswain. "Another shot
+like this and she will go down. Get a piece cut off a spar and make a
+plug. There is no holding this pillow in its place, and the water
+comes in fast still."
+
+The sailor took Cyril's post while he ran up on deck and assisted in
+cutting the plug; this was roughly shaped to the size of the hole,
+and then driven in. It stopped the rush of the water, but a good deal
+still leaked through.
+
+By the time this was done the _Fan Fan_ had considerably increased
+her distance from De Ruyter. Four or five more shots were fired from
+the Dutch ship. The last of these struck the mast ten feet above the
+deck, bringing it down with a crash. Fortunately, none of the crew
+were hurt, and, dropping the oars, they hauled the mast alongside,
+cut the sail from its fastening to the hoops and gaff, and then
+severed the shrouds and allowed the mast to drift away, while they
+again settled themselves to the oars. Although every man rowed his
+hardest, the _Fan Fan_ was half full of water before she reached the
+Fleet, which was two miles astern of them when they first began to
+row.
+
+"Well done, _Fan Fan_!" Prince Rupert shouted, as the little craft
+came alongside. "Have you suffered any damage besides your spars? I
+see you are low in the water."
+
+"We were shot through our stern, sir; we put in a plug, but the water
+comes in still. Will you send a carpenter on board? For I don't think
+she will float many minutes longer unless we get the hole better
+stopped."
+
+The Prince gave some orders to an officer standing by him. The latter
+called two or three sailors and bade them bring some short lengths of
+thick hawser, while a strong party were set to reeve tackle to the
+mainyard. As soon as the hawsers, each thirty feet in length, were
+brought, they were dropped on to the deck of the _Fan Fan_, and the
+officer told the crew to pass them under her, one near each end, and
+to knot the hawsers. By the time this was done, two strong tackles
+were lowered and fixed to the hawsers, and the crew ordered to come
+up on to the ship. The tackles were then manned and hauled on by
+strong parties, and the _Fan Fan_ was gradually raised. The
+boatswain went below again and knocked out the plug, and, as the
+little yacht was hoisted up, the water ran out of it. As soon as the
+hole was above the water-level, the tackle at the bow was gradually
+slackened off until she lay with her fore-part in the water, which
+came some distance up her deck. The carpenter then slung himself over
+the stern, and nailed, first a piece of tarred canvas, and then a
+square of plank, over the hole. Then the stern tackle was eased off,
+and the _Fan Fan_ floated on a level keel. Her crew went down to her
+again, and, in half an hour, pumped her free of water.
+
+By this time, the results of the victory were known. On the English
+side, the _Resolution_ was the only ship lost, she having been burnt
+by a Dutch fire-ship; three English captains, and about three hundred
+men were killed. On the other hand, the Dutch lost twenty ships, four
+admirals, a great many of their captains, and some four thousand men.
+It was, indeed, the greatest and most complete victory gained
+throughout the war. Many of the British ships had suffered a good
+deal, that which carried the Duke's flag most of all, for it had been
+so battered in the fight with De Ruyter that the Duke and Prince
+Rupert had been obliged to leave her, and to hoist their flags upon
+another man-of-war.
+
+The next morning the Fleet sailed to Schonevelt, which was the usual
+_rendezvous_ of the Dutch Fleet, and there remained some time,
+altogether undisturbed by the enemy. The _Fan Fan_ was here
+thoroughly repaired.
+
+On July 29th they sailed for Ulic, where they arrived on August 7th,
+the wind being contrary.
+
+Learning that there was a large fleet of merchantmen lying between
+the islands of Ulic and Schelling, guarded by but two men-of-war, and
+that there were rich magazines of goods on these islands, it was
+determined to attack them. Four small frigates, of a slight draught
+of water, and five fire-ships, were selected for the attack, together
+with the boats of the Fleet, manned by nine hundred men.
+
+On the evening of the 8th, Cyril was ordered to go, in the _Fan
+Fan_, to reconnoitre the position of the Dutch. He did not sail
+until after nightfall, and, on reaching the passage between the
+islands, he lowered his sails, got out his oars, and drifted with the
+tide silently down through the Dutch merchant fleet, where no watch
+seemed to be kept, and in the morning carried the news to Sir Robert
+Holmes, the commander of the expedition, who had anchored a league
+from the entrance.
+
+Cyril had sounded the passage as he went through, and it was found
+that two of the frigates could not enter it. These were left at the
+anchorage, and, on arriving at the mouth of the harbour, the
+_Tiger_, Sir Robert Holmes's flagship, was also obliged to anchor,
+and he came on board the _Fan Fan_, on which he hoisted his flag.
+The captains of the other ships came on board, and it was arranged
+that the _Pembroke_, which had but a small draught of water, should
+enter at once with the five fire-ships.
+
+The attack was completely successful. Two of the fire-ships grappled
+with the men-of-war and burnt them, while three great merchantmen
+were destroyed by the others. Then the boats dashed into the fleet,
+and, with the exception of four or five merchantmen and four
+privateers, who took refuge in a creek, defended by a battery, the
+whole of the hundred and seventy merchantmen, the smallest of which
+was not less than 200 tons burden, and all heavily laden, were
+burned.
+
+The next day, Sir Robert Holmes landed eleven companies of troops on
+the Island of Schonevelt and burnt Bandaris, its principal town, with
+its magazines and store-houses, causing a loss to the Dutch,
+according to their own admission, of six million guilders. This, and
+the loss of the great Fleet, inflicted a very heavy blow upon the
+commerce of Holland. The _Fan Fan_ had been hit again by a shot from
+one of the batteries, and, on her rejoining the Fleet, Prince Rupert
+determined to send her to England so that she could be thoroughly
+repaired and fitted out again. Cyril's orders were to take her to
+Chatham, and to hand her over to the dockyard authorities.
+
+"I do not think the Dutch will come out and fight us again this
+autumn, Sir Cyril, so you can take your ease in London as it pleases
+you. We are now halfway through August, and it will probably be at
+least a month after your arrival before the _Fan Fan_ is fit for sea
+again. It may be a good deal longer than that, for they are busy upon
+the repairs of the ships sent home after the battle, and will hardly
+take any hands off these to put on to the _Fan Fan_. In October we
+shall all be coming home again, so that, until next spring, it is
+hardly likely that there will be aught doing."
+
+Cyril accordingly returned to London. The wind was contrary, and it
+was not until the last day of August that he dropped anchor in the
+Medway. After spending a night at Chatham, he posted up to London the
+next morning, and, finding convenient chambers in the Savoy, he
+installed himself there, and then proceeded to the house of the Earl
+of Wisbech, to whom he was the bearer of a letter from his son.
+Finding that the Earl and his family were down at his place near
+Sevenoaks, he went into the City, and spent the evening at Captain
+Dave's, having ordered his servant to pack a small valise, and bring
+it with the two horses in the morning. He had gone to bed but an hour
+when he was awoke by John Wilkes knocking at his door.
+
+"There is a great fire burning not far off, Sir Cyril. A man who ran
+past told me it was in Pudding Lane, at the top of Fish Street. The
+Captain is getting up, and is going out to see it; for, with such dry
+weather as we have been having, there is no saying how far it may
+go."
+
+Cyril sprang out of his bed and dressed. Captain Dave, accustomed to
+slip on his clothes in a hurry, was waiting for him, and, with John
+Wilkes, they sallied out. There was a broad glare of light in the
+sky, and the bells of many of the churches were ringing out the
+fire-alarm. As they passed, many people put their heads out from
+windows and asked where the fire was. In five minutes they approached
+the scene. A dozen houses were blazing fiercely, while, from those
+near, the inhabitants were busily removing their valuables. The Fire
+Companies, with their buckets, were already at work, and lines of men
+were formed down to the river and were passing along buckets from
+hand to hand. Well-nigh half the water was spilt, however, before it
+arrived at the fire, and, in the face of such a body of flame, it
+seemed to make no impression whatever.
+
+"They might as well attempt to pump out a leaky ship with a child's
+squirt," the Captain said. "The fire will burn itself out, and we
+must pray heaven that the wind drops altogether; 'tis not strong, but
+it will suffice to carry the flames across these narrow streets. 'Tis
+lucky that it is from the east, so there is little fear that it will
+travel in our direction."
+
+They learnt that the fire had begun in the house of Faryner, the
+King's baker, though none knew how it had got alight. It was not long
+before the flames leapt across the lane, five or six houses catching
+fire almost at the same moment. A cry of dismay broke from the crowd,
+and the fright of the neighbours increased. Half-clad women hurried
+from their houses, carrying their babes, and dragging their younger
+children out. Men staggered along with trunks of clothing and
+valuables. Many wrung their hands helplessly, while the City Watch
+guarded the streets leading to Pudding Lane, so as to prevent thieves
+and vagabonds from taking advantage of the confusion to plunder.
+
+With great rapidity the flames spread from house to house. A portion
+of Fish Street was already invaded, and the Church of St. Magnus in
+danger. The fears of the people increased in proportion to the
+advance of the conflagration. The whole neighbourhood was now
+alarmed, and, in all the streets round, people were beginning to
+remove their goods. The river seemed to be regarded by all as the
+safest place of refuge. The boats from the various landing-places had
+already come up, and these were doing a thriving trade by taking the
+frightened people, with what goods they carried, to lighters and
+ships moored in the river.
+
+The lines of men passing buckets had long since broken up, it being
+too evident that their efforts were not of the slightest avail. The
+wind had, in the last two hours, rapidly increased in strength, and
+was carrying the burning embers far and wide.
+
+Cyril and his companions had, after satisfying their first curiosity,
+set to work to assist the fugitives, by aiding them to carry down
+their goods to the waterside. Cyril was now between eighteen and
+nineteen, and had grown into a powerful, young fellow, having, since
+he recovered from the Plague, grown fast and widened out greatly. He
+was able to shoulder heavy trunks, and to carry them down without
+difficulty.
+
+By six o'clock, however, all were exhausted by their labours, and
+Captain Dave's proposal, that they should go back and get breakfast
+and have a wash, was at once agreed to.
+
+At this time the greater part of Fish Street was in flames, the
+Church of St. Magnus had fallen, and the flames had spread to many of
+the streets and alleys running west. The houses on the Bridge were
+blazing.
+
+"Well, father, what is the news?" Nellie exclaimed, as they entered.
+"What have you been doing? You are all blackened, like the men who
+carry out the coals from the ships. I never saw such figures."
+
+"We have been helping people to carry their goods down to the water,
+Nellie. The news is bad. The fire is a terrible one."
+
+"That we can see, father. Mother and I were at the window for hours
+after you left, and the whole sky seemed ablaze. Do you think that
+there is any danger of its coming here?"
+
+"The wind is taking the flames the other way, Nellie, but in spite of
+that I think that there is danger. The heat is so great that the
+houses catch on this side, and we saw, as we came back, that it had
+travelled eastwards. Truly, I believe that if the wind keeps on as it
+is at present, the whole City will be destroyed. However, we will
+have a wash first and then some breakfast, of which we are sorely in
+need. Then we can talk over what had best be done."
+
+Little was said during breakfast. The apprentices had already been
+out, and so excited were they at the scenes they had witnessed that
+they had difficulty in preserving their usual quiet and submissive
+demeanour. Captain Dave was wearied with his unwonted exertions. Mrs.
+Dowsett and Nellie both looked pale and anxious, and Cyril and John
+Wilkes were oppressed by the terrible scene of destruction and the
+widespread misery they had witnessed.
+
+When breakfast was over, Captain Dave ordered the apprentices on no
+account to leave the premises. They were to put up the shutters at
+once, and then to await orders.
+
+"What do you think we had better do, Cyril?" he said, when the boys
+had left the room.
+
+"I should say that you had certainly better go on board a ship,
+Captain Dave. There is time to move now quietly, and to get many
+things taken on board, but if there were a swift change of wind the
+flames would come down so suddenly that you would have no time to
+save anything. Do you know of a captain who would receive you?"
+
+"Certainly; I know of half a dozen."
+
+"Then the first thing is to secure a boat before they are all taken
+up."
+
+"I will go down to the stairs at once."
+
+"Then I should say, John, you had better go off with Captain Dave,
+and, as soon as he has arranged with one of the captains, come back
+to shore. Let the waterman lie off in the stream, for if the flames
+come this way there will be a rush for boats, and people will not
+stop to ask to whom they belong. It will be better still to take one
+of the apprentices with you, leave him at the stairs till you return,
+and then tie up to a ship till we hail him."
+
+"That will be the best plan," Captain Dave said. "Now, wife, you and
+Nellie and the maid had best set to work at once packing up all your
+best clothes and such other things as you may think most valuable. We
+shall have time, I hope, to make many trips."
+
+"While you are away, I will go along the street and see whether the
+fire is making any way in this direction," Cyril said. "Of course if
+it's coming slowly you will have time to take away a great many
+things. And we may even hope that it may not come here at all."
+
+Taking one of the apprentices, Captain Dave and John at once started
+for the waterside, while Cyril made his way westward.
+
+Already, people were bringing down their goods from most of the
+houses. Some acted as if they believed that if they took the goods
+out of the houses they would be safe, and great piles of articles of
+all kinds almost blocked the road. Weeping women and frightened
+children sat on these piles as if to guard them. Some stood at their
+doors wringing their hands helplessly; others were already starting
+eastward laden with bundles and boxes, occasionally looking round as
+if to bid farewell to their homes. Many of the men seemed even more
+confused and frightened than the women, running hither and thither
+without purpose, shouting, gesticulating, and seeming almost
+distraught with fear and grief.
+
+Cyril had not gone far when he saw that the houses on both sides of
+the street, at the further end, were already in flames. He was
+obliged to advance with great caution, for many people were
+recklessly throwing goods of all kinds from the windows, regardless
+of whom they might fall upon, and without thought of how they were to
+be carried away. He went on until close to the fire, and stood for a
+time watching. The noise was bewildering. Mingled with the roar of
+the flames, the crackling of woodwork, and the heavy crashes that
+told of the fall of roofs or walls, was the clang of the alarm-bells,
+shouts, cries, and screams. The fire spread steadily, but with none
+of the rapidity with which he had seen it fly along from house to
+house on the other side of the conflagration. The houses, however,
+were largely composed of wood. The balconies generally caught first,
+and the fire crept along under the roofs, and sometimes a shower of
+tiles, and a burst of flames, showed that it had advanced there,
+while the lower portion of the house was still intact.
+
+"Is it coming, Cyril?" Mrs. Dowsett asked, when he returned.
+
+"It is coming steadily," he said, "and can be stopped by nothing
+short of a miracle. Can I help you in any way?"
+
+"No," she said; "we have packed as many things as can possibly be
+carried. It is well that your things are all at your lodging, Cyril,
+and beyond the risk of this danger."
+
+"It would have mattered little about them," he said. "I could have
+replaced them easily enough. That is but a question of money. And
+now, in the first place, I will get the trunks and bundles you have
+packed downstairs. That will save time."
+
+Assisted by the apprentice and Nellie, Cyril got all the things
+downstairs.
+
+"How long have we, do you think?" Nellie asked.
+
+"I should say that in three hours the fire will be here," he said.
+"It may be checked a little at the cross lanes; but I fear that three
+hours is all we can hope for."
+
+Just as they had finished taking down the trunks, Captain Dave and
+John Wilkes arrived.
+
+"I have arranged the affair," the former said. "My old friend, Dick
+Watson, will take us in his ship; she lies but a hundred yards from
+the stairs. Now, get on your mantle and hood, Nellie, and bring your
+mother and maid down."
+
+The three women were soon at the foot of the stairs, and Mrs.
+Dowsett's face showed signs of tears; but, though pale, she was quiet
+and calm, and the servant, a stout wench, had gained confidence from
+her mistress's example. As soon as they were ready, the three men
+each shouldered a trunk. The servant and the apprentice carried one
+between them. Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter took as many bundles as
+they could carry. It was but five minutes' walk down to the stairs.
+The boat was lying twenty yards out in the stream, fastened up to a
+lighter, with the apprentice and waterman on board. It came at once
+alongside, and in five minutes they reached the _Good Venture_. As
+soon as the women had ascended the accommodation ladder, some sailors
+ran down and helped to carry up the trunks.
+
+"Empty them all out in the cabin," Captain Dave said to his wife; "we
+will take them back with us."
+
+As soon as he had seen the ladies into the cabin, Captain Watson
+called his son Frank, who was his chief mate, and half a dozen of his
+men. These carried the boxes, as fast as they were emptied, down into
+the boat.
+
+"We will all go ashore together," he said to Captain Dave. "I was a
+fool not to think of it before. We will soon make light work of it."
+
+As soon as they reached the house, some of the sailors were sent off
+with the remaining trunks and bundles, while the others carried
+upstairs those they had brought, and quickly emptied into them the
+remaining contents of the drawers and linen press. So quickly and
+steadily did the work go on, that no less than six trips were made to
+the _Good Venture_ in the next three hours, and at the end of that
+time almost everything portable had been carried away, including
+several pieces of valuable furniture, and a large number of objects
+brought home by Captain Dave from his various voyages. The last
+journey, indeed, was devoted to saving some of the most valuable
+contents of the store. Captain Dave, delighted at having saved so
+much, would not have thought of taking more, but Captain Watson would
+not hear of this.
+
+"There is time for one more trip, old friend," he said, "and there
+are many things in your store that are worth more than their weight
+in silver. I will take my other two hands this time, and, with the
+eight men and our five selves, we shall be able to bring a good
+load."
+
+The trunks were therefore this time packed with ship's instruments,
+and brass fittings of all kinds, to the full weight that could be
+carried. All hands then set to work, and, in a very short time, a
+great proportion of the portable goods were carried from the
+store-house into an arched cellar beneath it. By the time that they
+were ready to start there were but six houses between them and the
+fire.
+
+"I wish we had another three hours before us," Captain Watson said.
+"It goes to one's heart to leave all this new rope and sail cloth,
+good blocks, and other things, to be burnt."
+
+"There have been better things than that burnt to-day, Watson. Few
+men have saved as much as I have, thanks to your assistance and that
+of these stout sailors of yours. Why, the contents of these twelve
+boxes are worth as much as the whole of the goods remaining."
+
+The sailors' loads were so heavy that they had to help each other to
+get them upon their shoulders, and the other five were scarcely less
+weighted; and, short as was the distance, all had to rest several
+times on the way to the stairs, setting their burdens upon
+window-sills, or upon boxes scattered in the streets. One of the
+ship's boats had, after the first trip, taken the place of the light
+wherry, but even this was weighted down to the gunwale when the men
+and the goods were all on board. After the first two trips, the
+contents of the boxes had been emptied on deck, and by the time the
+last arrived the three women had packed away in the empty cabins all
+the clothing, linen, and other articles, that had been taken below.
+Captain Watson ordered a stiff glass of grog to be given to each of
+the sailors, and then went down with the others into the main cabin,
+where the steward had already laid the table for a meal, and poured
+out five tumblers of wine.
+
+"I have not had so tough a job since I was before the mast," he said.
+"What say you, Captain Dave?"
+
+"It has been a hard morning's work, indeed, Watson, and, in truth, I
+feel fairly spent. But though weary in body I am cheerful in heart.
+It seemed to me at breakfast-time that we should save little beyond
+what we stood in, and now I have rescued well-nigh everything
+valuable that I have. I should have grieved greatly had I lost all
+those mementos that it took me nigh thirty years to gather, and those
+pieces of furniture that belonged to my father I would not have lost
+for any money. Truly, it has been a noble salvage."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie now joined them. They had quite recovered
+their spirits, and were delighted at the unexpected rescue of so many
+things precious to them, and Captain Watson was overwhelmed by their
+thanks for what he had done.
+
+After the meal was over they sat quietly talking for a time, and then
+Cyril proposed that they should row up the river and see what
+progress the fire was making above the Bridge. Mrs. Dowsett, however,
+was too much fatigued by her sleepless night and the troubles and
+emotions of the morning to care about going. Captain Dave said that
+he was too stiff to do anything but sit quiet and smoke a pipe, and
+that he would superintend the getting of their things on deck a
+little ship-shape. Nellie embraced the offer eagerly, and young
+Watson, who was a well-built and handsome fellow, with a pleasant
+face and manner, said that he would go, and would take a couple of
+hands to row. The tide had just turned to run up when they set out.
+Cyril asked the first mate to steer, and he sat on one side of him
+and Nellie on the other.
+
+"You will have to mind your oars, lads," Frank Watson said. "The
+river is crowded with boats."
+
+They crossed over to the Southwark side, as it would have been
+dangerous to pass under the arches above which the houses were
+burning. The flames, however, had not spread right across the bridge,
+for the houses were built only over the piers, and the openings at
+the arches had checked the flames, and at these points numbers of men
+were drawing water in buckets and throwing it over the fronts of the
+houses, or passing them, by ropes, to other men on the roofs, which
+were kept deluged with water. Hundreds of willing hands were engaged
+in the work, for the sight of the tremendous fire on the opposite
+bank filled people with terror lest the flames should cross the
+bridge and spread to the south side of the river. The warehouses and
+wharves on the bank were black with spectators, who looked with
+astonishment and awe at the terrible scene of destruction.
+
+It was not until they passed under the bridge that the full extent of
+the conflagration was visible. The fire had made its way some
+distance along Thames Street, and had spread far up into the City.
+Gracechurch Street and Lombard Street were in flames, and indeed the
+fire seemed to have extended a long distance further; but the smoke
+was so dense, that it was difficult to make out the precise point
+that it had reached. The river was a wonderful sight. It was crowded
+with boats and lighters, all piled up with goods, while along the
+quays from Dowgate to the Temple, crowds of people were engaged in
+placing what goods they had saved on board lighters and other craft.
+Many of those in the boats seemed altogether helpless and undecided
+as to what had best be done, and drifted along with the tide, but the
+best part were making either for the marshes at Lambeth or the fields
+at Millbank, there to land their goods, the owners of the boats
+refusing to keep them long on board, as they desired to return by the
+next tide to fetch away other cargoes, being able to obtain any price
+they chose to demand for their services.
+
+Among the boats were floating goods and wreckage of all kinds,
+charred timber that had fallen from the houses on the bridge, and
+from the warehouses by the quays, bales of goods, articles of
+furniture, bedding, and other matters. At times, a sudden change of
+wind drove a dense smoke across the water, flakes of burning embers
+and papers causing great confusion among the boats, and threatening
+to set the piles of goods on fire.
+
+At Frank Watson's suggestion, they landed at the Temple, after having
+been some two hours on the river. Going up into Fleet Street, they
+found a stream of carts and other vehicles proceeding westward, all
+piled with furniture and goods, mostly of a valuable kind. The
+pavements were well-nigh blocked with people, all journeying in the
+same direction, laden with their belongings. With difficulty they
+made their way East as far as St. Paul's. The farther end of
+Cheapside was already in flames, and they learnt that the fire had
+extended as far as Moorfields. It was said that efforts had been made
+to pull down houses and so check its progress, but that there was no
+order or method, and that no benefit was gained by the work.
+
+After looking on at the scene for some time, they returned to Fleet
+Street. Frank Watson went down with Nellie to the boat, while Cyril
+went to his lodgings in the Savoy. Here he found his servant
+anxiously awaiting him.
+
+"I did not bring the horses this morning, sir," he said. "I heard
+that there was a great fire, and went on foot as far as I could get,
+but, finding that I could not pass, I thought it best to come back
+here and await your return."
+
+"Quite right, Reuben; you could not have got the horses to me unless
+you had ridden round the walls and come in at Aldgate, and they would
+have been useless had you brought them. The house at which I stayed
+last night is already burnt to the ground. You had better stay here
+for the present, I think. There is no fear of the fire extending
+beyond the City. Should you find that it does so, pack my clothes in
+the valises, take the horses down to Sevenoaks, and remain at the
+Earl's until you hear from me."
+
+Having arranged this, Cyril went down to the Savoy stairs, where he
+found the boat waiting for him, and then they rowed back to London
+Bridge, where, the force of the tide being now abated, they were able
+to row through and get to the _Good Venture_.
+
+They had but little sleep that night. Gradually the fire worked its
+way eastward until it was abreast of them. The roaring and crackling
+of the flames was prodigious. Here and there the glare was
+diversified by columns of a deeper red glow, showing where
+warehouses, filled with pitch, tar, and oil, were in flames. The
+heavy crashes of falling buildings were almost incessant.
+Occasionally they saw a church tower or steeple, that had stood for a
+time black against the glowing sky, become suddenly wreathed in
+flames, and, after burning for a time, fall with a crash that could
+be plainly heard above the general roar.
+
+"Surely such a fire was never seen before!" Captain Dave said.
+
+"Not since Rome was burnt, I should think," Cyril replied.
+
+"How long was that ago, Cyril? I don't remember hearing about it."
+
+"'Tis fifteen hundred years or so since then, Captain Dave; but the
+greater part of the city was destroyed, and Rome was then many times
+bigger than London. It burnt for three days."
+
+"Well, this is bad enough," Captain Watson said. "Even here the heat
+is well-nigh too great to face. Frank, you had better call the crew
+up and get all the sails off the yards. Were a burning flake to fall
+on them we might find it difficult to extinguish them. When they have
+done that, let the men get all the buckets filled with water and
+ranged on the deck; and it will be as well to get a couple of hands
+in the boat and let them chuck water against this side. We shall have
+all the paint blistered off before morning."
+
+So the night passed. Occasionally they went below for a short time,
+but they found it impossible to sleep, and were soon up again, and
+felt it a relief when the morning began to break.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+AFTER THE FIRE
+
+
+Daylight brought little alleviation to the horrors of the scene. The
+flames were less vivid, but a dense pall of smoke overhung the sky.
+As soon as they had breakfasted, Captain Watson, his son, Captain
+Dowsett, Nellie, and Cyril took their places in the boat, and were
+rowed up the river. An exclamation burst from them all as they saw
+how fast the flames had travelled since the previous evening.
+
+"St. Paul's is on fire!" Cyril exclaimed. "See! there are flames
+bursting through its roof. I think, Captain Watson, if you will put
+me ashore at the Temple, I will make my way to Whitehall, and report
+myself there. I may be of use."
+
+"I will do that," Captain Watson said. "Then I will row back to the
+ship again. We must leave a couple of hands on board, in case some of
+these burning flakes should set anything alight. We will land with
+the rest, and do what we can to help these poor women and children."
+
+"I will stay on board and take command, if you like, Watson," Captain
+Dave said. "You ought to have some one there, and I have not
+recovered from yesterday's work, and should be of little use ashore."
+
+"Very well, Dowsett. That will certainly be best; but I think it will
+be prudent, before we leave, to run out a kedge with forty or fifty
+fathoms of cable towards the middle of the stream, and then veer out
+the cable on her anchor so as to let her ride thirty fathoms or so
+farther out. We left six men sluicing her side and deck, but it
+certainly would be prudent to get her out a bit farther. Even here,
+the heat is as much as we can stand."
+
+As soon as Cyril had landed, he hurried up into Fleet Street. He had
+just reached Temple Bar when he saw a party of horsemen making their
+way through the carts. A hearty cheer greeted them from the crowd,
+who hoped that the presence of the King--for it was Charles who rode
+in front--was a sign that vigorous steps were about to be taken to
+check the progress of the flames. Beside the King rode the Duke of
+Albemarle, and following were a number of other gentlemen and
+officers. Cyril made his way through the crowd to the side of the
+Duke's horse.
+
+"Can I be of any possible use, my Lord Duke?" he asked, doffing his
+hat.
+
+"Ah, Sir Cyril, it is you, is it? I have not seen you since you
+bearded De Ruyter in the _Fan Fan_. Yes, you can be of use. We have
+five hundred sailors and dockyard men behind; they have just arrived
+from Chatham, and a thousand more have landed below the Bridge to
+fight the flames on that side. Keep by me now, and, when we decide
+where to set to work, I will put you under the orders of Captain
+Warncliffe, who has charge of them."
+
+When they reached the bottom of Fleet Street, the fire was halfway
+down Ludgate Hill, and it was decided to begin operations along the
+bottom of the Fleet Valley. The dockyard men and sailors were brought
+up, and following them were some carts laden with kegs of powder.
+
+"Warncliffe," Lord Albemarle said, as the officer came up at the head
+of them, "Sir Cyril Shenstone is anxious to help. You know him by
+repute, and you can trust him in any dangerous business. You had
+better tell off twenty men under him. You have only to tell him what
+you want done, and you can rely upon its being done thoroughly."
+
+The sailors were soon at work along the line of the Fleet Ditch. All
+carried axes, and with these they chopped down the principal beams of
+the small houses clustered by the Ditch, and so weakened them that a
+small charge of powder easily brought them down. In many places they
+met with fierce opposition from the owners, who, still clinging to
+the faint hope that something might occur to stop the progress of the
+fire before it reached their abodes, raised vain protestations
+against the destruction of their houses. All day the men worked
+unceasingly, but in vain. Driven by the fierce wind, the flames swept
+down the opposite slope, leapt over the space strewn with rubbish and
+beams, and began to climb Fleet Street and Holborn Hill and the dense
+mass of houses between them.
+
+The fight was renewed higher up. Beer and bread and cheese were
+obtained from the taverns, and served out to the workmen, and these
+kept at their task all night. Towards morning the wind had fallen
+somewhat. The open spaces of the Temple favoured the defenders; the
+houses to east of it were blown up, and, late in the afternoon, the
+progress of the flames at this spot was checked. As soon as it was
+felt that there was no longer any fear of its further advance here,
+the exhausted men, who had, for twenty-four hours, laboured, half
+suffocated by the blinding smoke and by the dust made by their own
+work, threw themselves down on the grass of the Temple Gardens and
+slept. At midnight they were roused by their officers, and proceeded
+to assist their comrades, who had been battling with the flames on
+the other side of Fleet Street. They found that these too had been
+successful; the flames had swept up to Fetter Lane, but the houses on
+the west side had been demolished, and although, at one or two
+points, the fallen beams caught fire, they were speedily
+extinguished. Halfway up Fetter Lane the houses stood on both sides
+uninjured, for a large open space round St. Andrew's, Holborn, had
+aided the defenders in their efforts to check the flames. North of
+Holborn the fire had spread but little, and that only among the
+poorer houses in Fleet Valley.
+
+Ascending the hill, they found that, while the flames had overleapt
+the City wall from Ludgate to Newgate in its progress west, the wall
+had proved an effective barrier from the sharp corner behind
+Christchurch up to Aldersgate and thence up to Cripplegate, which was
+the farthest limit reached by the fire to the north. To the east, the
+City had fared better. By the river, indeed, the destruction was
+complete as far as the Tower. Mark Lane, however, stood, and north of
+this the line of destruction swept westward to Leaden Hall, a massive
+structure at the entrance to the street that took its name from it,
+and proved a bulwark against the flames. From this point, the line of
+devastated ground swept round by the eastern end of Throgmorton
+Street to the northern end of Basinghall Street.
+
+Cyril remained with the sailors for two days longer, during which
+time they were kept at work beating out the embers of the fire. In
+this they were aided by a heavy fall of rain, which put an end to all
+fear of the flames springing up again.
+
+"There can be no need for you to remain longer with us, Sir Cyril,"
+Captain Warncliffe said, at the end of the second day. "I shall have
+pleasure in reporting to the Duke of Albemarle the good services that
+you have rendered. Doubtless we shall remain on duty here for some
+time, for we may have, for aught I know, to aid in the clearing away
+of some of the ruins; but, at any rate, there can be no occasion for
+you to stay longer with us."
+
+Cyril afterwards learnt that the sailors and dockyard men were, on
+the following day, sent back to Chatham. The fire had rendered so
+great a number of men homeless and without means of subsistence, that
+there was an abundant force on hand for the clearing away of ruins.
+Great numbers were employed by the authorities, while many of the
+merchants and traders engaged parties to clear away the ruins of
+their dwellings, in order to get at the cellars below, in which they
+had, as soon as the danger from fire was perceived, stowed away the
+main bulk of their goods. As soon as he was released from duty, Cyril
+made his way to the Tower, and, hiring a boat, was rowed to the _Good
+Venture_.
+
+The shipping presented a singular appearance, their sides being
+blistered, and in many places completely stripped of their paint,
+while in some cases the spars were scorched, and the sails burnt
+away. There was lively satisfaction at his appearance, as he stepped
+on to the deck of the _Good Venture_, for, until he did so, he had
+been unrecognised, so begrimed with smoke and dust was he.
+
+"We have been wondering about you," Captain Dave said, as he shook
+him by the hand, "but I can scarce say we had become uneasy. We
+learnt that a large body of seamen and others were at work blowing up
+houses, and as you had gone to offer your services we doubted not
+that you were employed with them. Truly you must have been having a
+rough time of it, for not only are you dirtier than any scavenger,
+but you look utterly worn out and fatigued."
+
+"It was up-hill work the first twenty-four hours, for we worked
+unceasingly, and worked hard, too, I can assure you, and that
+well-nigh smothered with smoke and dust. Since then, our work has
+been more easy, but no less dirty. In the three days I have not had
+twelve hours' sleep altogether."
+
+"I will get a tub of hot water placed in your cabin," Captain Watson
+said, "and should advise you, when you get out from it, to turn into
+your bunk at once. No one shall go near you in the morning until you
+wake of your own accord."
+
+Cyril was, however, down to breakfast.
+
+"Now tell us all about the fire," Nellie said, when they had finished
+the meal.
+
+"I have nothing to tell you, for I know nothing," Cyril replied. "Our
+work was simply pulling down and blowing up houses. I had scarce time
+so much as to look at the fire. However, as I have since been working
+all round its course, I can tell you exactly how far it spread."
+
+When he brought his story to a conclusion, he said,--
+
+"And now, Captain Dave, what are you thinking of doing?"
+
+"In the first place, I am going ashore to look at the old house. As
+soon as I can get men, I shall clear the ground, and begin to rebuild
+it. I have enough laid by to start me again. I should be like a fish
+out of water with nothing to see to. I have the most valuable part of
+my stock still on hand here on deck, and if the cellar has proved
+staunch my loss in goods will be small indeed, for the anchors and
+chains in the yard will have suffered no damage. But even if the
+cellar has caved in, and its contents are destroyed, and if, when I
+have rebuilt my house, I find I have not enough left to replenish my
+stock, I am sure that I can get credit from the rope- and sail-makers,
+and iron-masters with whom I deal."
+
+"Do not trouble yourself about that, Captain Dave," Cyril said. "You
+came to my help last time, and it will be my turn this time. I am
+sure that I shall have no difficulty in getting any monies that may
+be required from Mr. Goldsworthy, and there is nothing that will give
+me more pleasure than to see you established again in the place that
+was the first where I ever felt I had a home."
+
+"I hope that it will not be needed, lad," Captain Dave said, shaking
+his hand warmly, "but if it should, I will not hesitate to accept
+your offer in the spirit in which it is made, and thus add one more
+to the obligations that I am under to you."
+
+Cyril went ashore with Captain Dave and John Wilkes. The wall of the
+yard was, of course, uninjured, but the gate was burnt down. The
+store-house, which was of wood, had entirely disappeared, and the
+back wall of the house had fallen over it and the yard. The entrance
+to the cellar, therefore, could not be seen, and, as yet, the heat
+from the fallen bricks was too great to attempt to clear them away to
+get at it.
+
+That night, however, it rained heavily, and in the morning Captain
+Watson took a party of sailors ashore, and these succeeded in
+clearing away the rubbish sufficiently to get to the entrance of the
+cellar. The door was covered by an iron plate, and although the wood
+behind this was charred it had not caught fire, and on getting it
+open it was found that the contents of the cellar were uninjured.
+
+In order to prevent marauders from getting at it before preparations
+could be made for rebuilding, the rubbish was again thrown in so as
+to completely conceal the entrance. On returning on board there was a
+consultation on the future, held in the cabin. Captain Dave at once
+said that he and John Wilkes must remain in town to make arrangements
+for the rebuilding and to watch the performance of the work. Cyril
+warmly pressed Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie to come down with him to
+Norfolk until the house was ready to receive them, but both were in
+favour of remaining in London, and it was settled that, next day,
+they should go down to Stepney, hire a house and store-room there,
+and remove thither their goods on board the ship, and the contents of
+the cellar.
+
+There was some little difficulty in getting a house, as so many were
+seeking for lodgings, but at last they came upon a widow who was
+willing to let a house, upon the proviso that she was allowed to
+retain one room for her own occupation. This being settled, Cyril
+that evening returned to his lodging, and the next day rode down to
+Norfolk. There he remained until the middle of May, when he received
+a letter from Captain Dave, saying that his house was finished, and
+that they should move into it in a fortnight, and that they all
+earnestly hoped he would be present. As he had already been thinking
+of going up to London for a time, he decided to accept the
+invitation.
+
+By this time he had made the acquaintance of all the surrounding
+gentry, and felt perfectly at home at Upmead. He rode frequently into
+Norwich, and, whenever he did so, paid a visit to Mr. Harvey, whose
+wife had died in January, never having completely recovered from the
+shock that she had received in London. Mr. Harvey himself had aged
+much; he still took a great interest in the welfare of the tenants of
+Upmead, and in Cyril's proposals for the improvement of their homes,
+and was pleased to see how earnestly he had taken up the duties of
+his new life. He spoke occasionally of his son, of whose death he
+felt convinced.
+
+"I have never been able to obtain any news of him," he often said,
+"and assuredly I should have heard of him had he been alive.
+
+"It would ease my mind to know the truth," he said, one day. "It
+troubles me to think that, if alive, he is assuredly pursuing evil
+courses, and that he will probably end his days on a gallows. That he
+will repent, and turn to better courses, I have now no hope whatever.
+Unless he be living by roguery, he would, long ere this, have
+written, professing repentance, even if he did not feel it, and
+begging for assistance. It troubles me much that I can find out
+nothing for certain of him."
+
+"Would it be a relief to you to know surely that he was dead?" Cyril
+asked.
+
+"I would rather know that he was dead than feel, as I do, that if
+alive, he is going on sinning. One can mourn for the dead as David
+mourned for Absalom, and trust that their sins may be forgiven them;
+but, uncertain as I am of his death, I cannot so mourn, since it may
+be that he still lives."
+
+"Then, sir, I am in a position to set your mind at rest. I have known
+for a long time that he died of the Plague, but I have kept it from
+you, thinking that it was best you should still think that he might
+be living. He fell dead beside me on the very day that I sickened of
+the Plague, and, indeed, it was from him that I took it."
+
+Mr. Harvey remained silent for a minute or two.
+
+"'Tis better so," he said solemnly. "The sins of youth may be
+forgiven, but, had he lived, his whole course might have been wicked.
+How know you that it was he who gave you the Plague?"
+
+"I met him in the street. He was tottering in his walk, and, as he
+came up, he stumbled, and grasped me to save himself. I held him for
+a moment, and then he slipped from my arms and fell on the pavement,
+and died."
+
+Mr. Harvey looked keenly at Cyril, and was about to ask a question,
+but checked himself.
+
+"He is dead," he said. "God rest his soul, and forgive him his sins!
+Henceforth I shall strive to forget that he ever lived to manhood,
+and seek to remember him as he was when a child."
+
+Then he held out his hand to Cyril, to signify that he would fain be
+alone.
+
+On arriving in London, Cyril took up his abode at his former
+lodgings, and the next day at twelve o'clock, the hour appointed in a
+letter he found awaiting him on his arrival, he arrived in Tower
+Street, having ridden through the City. An army of workmen, who had
+come up from all parts of the country, were engaged in rebuilding the
+town. In the main thoroughfares many of the houses were already
+finished, and the shops re-opened. In other parts less progress had
+been made, as the traders were naturally most anxious to resume their
+business, and most able to pay for speed.
+
+Captain Dave's was one of the first houses completed in Tower Street,
+but there were many others far advanced in progress. The front
+differed materially from that of the old house, in which each story
+had projected beyond the one below it. Inside, however, there was but
+little change in its appearance, except that the rooms were somewhat
+more lofty, and that there were no heavy beams across the ceilings.
+Captain Dave and his family had moved in that morning.
+
+"It does not look quite like the old place," Mrs. Dowsett said, after
+the first greetings.
+
+"Not quite," Cyril agreed. "The new furniture, of course, gives it a
+different appearance as yet; but one will soon get accustomed to
+that, and you will quickly make it home-like again. I see you have
+the bits of furniture you saved in their old corners."
+
+"Yes; and it will make a great difference when they get all my
+curiosities up in their places again," Captain Dave put in. "We
+pulled them down anyhow, and some of them will want glueing up a bit.
+And so your fighting is over, Cyril?"
+
+"Yes, it looks like it. The Dutch have evidently had enough of it.
+They asked for peace, and as both parties consented to the King of
+Sweden being mediator, and our representatives and those of Holland
+are now settling affairs at Breda, peace may be considered as finally
+settled. We have only two small squadrons now afloat; the rest are
+all snugly laid up. I trust that there is no chance of another war
+between the two nations for years to come."
+
+"I hope not, Cyril. But De Witte is a crafty knave, and is ever in
+close alliance with Louis. Were it not for French influence the
+Prince of Orange would soon oust him from the head of affairs."
+
+"I should think he would not have any power for mischief in the
+future," Cyril said. "It was he who brought on the last war, and,
+although it has cost us much, it has cost the Dutch very much more,
+and the loss of her commerce has well-nigh brought Holland to ruin.
+Besides, the last victory we won must have lowered their national
+pride greatly."
+
+"You have not heard the reports that are about, then?"
+
+"No, I have heard no news whatever. It takes a long time for it to
+travel down to Norwich, and I have seen no one since I came up to
+town last night."
+
+"Well, there is a report that a Dutch Fleet of eighty sail has put to
+sea. It may be that 'tis but bravado to show that, though they have
+begged for peace, 'tis not because they are in no condition to fight.
+I know not how this may be, but it is certain that for the last three
+days the Naval people have been very busy, and that powder is being
+sent down to Chatham. As for the Fleet, small as it is, it is
+doubtful whether it would fight, for the men are in a veritable state
+of mutiny, having received no pay for many months. Moreover, several
+ships were but yesterday bought by Government, for what purpose it is
+not known, but it is conjectured they are meant for fire-ships."
+
+"I cannot but think that it is, as you say, a mere piece of bravado
+on the part of the Dutch, Captain Dave. They could never be so
+treacherous as to attack us when peace is well-nigh concluded, but,
+hurt as their pride must be by the defeat we gave them, it is not
+unnatural they should wish to show that they can still put a brave
+fleet on the seas, and are not driven to make peace because they
+could not, if need be, continue the war."
+
+"And now I have a piece of news for you. We are going to have a
+wedding here before long."
+
+"I am right glad to hear it," Cyril said heartily. "And who is the
+happy man, Nellie?" he asked, turning towards where she had been
+standing the moment before. But Nellie had fled the moment her father
+had opened his lips.
+
+"It is Frank Watson," her father said. "A right good lad; and her
+mother and I are well pleased with her choice."
+
+"I thought that he was very attentive the few days we were on board
+his father's ship," Cyril said. "I am not surprised to hear the
+news."
+
+"They have been two voyages since then, and while the _Good Venture_
+was in the Pool, Master Frank spent most of his time down at Stepney,
+and it was settled a fortnight since. My old friend Watson is as
+pleased as I am. And the best part of the business is that Frank is
+going to give up the sea and become my partner. His father owns the
+_Good Venture_, and, being a careful man, has laid by a round sum,
+and he settled to give him fifteen hundred pounds, which he will put
+into the business."
+
+"That is a capital plan, Captain Dave. It will be an excellent thing
+for you to have so young and active a partner."
+
+"Watson has bought the house down at Stepney that we have been living
+in, and Frank and Nellie are going to settle there, and Watson will
+make it his headquarters when his ship is in port, and will, I have
+no doubt, take up his moorings there, when he gives up the sea. The
+wedding is to be in a fortnight's time, for Watson has set his heart
+on seeing them spliced before he sails again, and I see no reason for
+delay. You must come to the wedding, of course, Cyril. Indeed, I
+don't think Nellie would consent to be married if you were not there.
+The girl has often spoken of you lately. You see, now that she really
+knows what love is, and has a quiet, happy life to look forward to,
+she feels more than ever the service you did her, and the escape she
+had. She told the whole story to Frank before she said yes, when he
+asked her to be his wife, and, of course, he liked her no less for
+it, though I think it would go hard with that fellow if he ever met
+him."
+
+"The fellow died of the Plague, Captain Dave. His last action was to
+try and revenge himself on me by giving me the infection, for,
+meeting me in the streets, he threw his arms round me and exclaimed,
+'I have given you the Plague!' They were the last words he ever
+spoke, for he gave a hideous laugh, and then dropped down dead.
+However, he spoke truly, for that night I sickened of it."
+
+"Then your kindness to Nellie well-nigh cost you your life," Mrs.
+Dowsett said, laying her hand on his shoulder, while the tears stood
+in her eyes. "And you never told us this before!"
+
+"There was nothing to tell," Cyril replied. "If I had not caught it
+from him, I should have, doubtless, taken it from someone else, for I
+was constantly in the way of it, and could hardly have hoped to
+escape an attack. Now, Captain Dave, let us go downstairs, and see
+the store."
+
+"John Wilkes and the two boys are at work there," the Captain said,
+as he went downstairs, "and we open our doors tomorrow. I have
+hurried on the house as fast as possible, and as no others in my
+business have yet opened, I look to do a thriving trade at once.
+Watson will send all his friends here, and as there is scarce a
+captain who goes in or out of port but knows Frank, I consider that
+our new partner will greatly extend the business."
+
+Captain Watson and Frank came in at supper-time, and, after spending
+a pleasant evening, Cyril returned to his lodgings in the Strand. The
+next day he was walking near Whitehall when a carriage dashed out at
+full speed, and, as it came along, he caught sight of the Duke of
+Albemarle, who looked in a state of strange confusion. His wig was
+awry, his coat was off, and his face was flushed and excited. As his
+eye fell on Cyril, he shouted out to the postillions to stop. As they
+pulled up, he shouted,--
+
+"Jump in, Sir Cyril! Jump in, for your life."
+
+Astonished at this address, Cyril ran to the door, opened it, and
+jumped in, and the Duke shouted to the postillions to go on.
+
+"What do you think, sir?--what do you think?" roared the Duke. "Those
+treacherous scoundrels, the Dutch, have appeared with a great Fleet
+of seventy men-of-war, besides fire-ships, off Sheerness, this
+morning at daybreak, and have taken the place, and Chatham lies open
+to them. We have been bamboozled and tricked. While the villains were
+pretending they were all for peace, they have been secretly fitting
+out, and there they are at Sheerness. A mounted messenger brought in
+the news, but ten minutes ago."
+
+"Have they taken Sheerness, sir?"
+
+"Yes; there were but six guns mounted on the fort, and no
+preparations made. The ships that were there did nothing. The rascals
+are in mutiny--and small wonder, when they can get no pay; the money
+voted for them being wasted by the Court. It is enough to drive one
+wild with vexation, and, had I my will, there are a dozen men, whose
+names are the foremost in the country, whom I would hang up with my
+own hands. The wind is from the east, and if they go straight up the
+Medway they may be there this afternoon, and have the whole of our
+ships at their mercy. It is enough to make Blake turn in his grave
+that such an indignity should be offered us, though it be but the
+outcome of treachery on the part of the Dutch, and of gross
+negligence on ours. But if they give us a day or two to prepare, we
+will, at least, give them something to do before they can carry out
+their design, and, if one could but rely on the sailors, we might
+even beat them off; but it is doubtful whether the knaves will fight.
+The forts are unfinished, though the money was voted for them three
+years since. And all this is not the worst of it, for, after they
+have taken Chatham, there is naught to prevent their coming up to
+London. We have had plague and we have had fire, and to be bombarded
+by the Dutchmen would be the crowning blow, and it would be like to
+bring about another revolution in England."
+
+They posted down to Chatham as fast as the horses could gallop. The
+instant the news had arrived, the Duke had sent off a man, on
+horseback, to order horses to be in readiness to change at each
+posting station. Not a minute, therefore, was lost. In a little over
+two hours from the time of leaving Whitehall, they drove into the
+dockyard.
+
+"Where is Sir Edward Spragge?" the Duke shouted, as he leapt from the
+carriage.
+
+"He has gone down to the new forts, your Grace," an officer replied.
+
+"Have a gig prepared at once, without the loss of a moment," the Duke
+said. "What is being done?" he asked another officer, as the first
+ran off.
+
+"Sir Edward has taken four frigates down to the narrow part of the
+river, sir, and preparations have been made for placing a great chain
+there. Several of the ships are being towed out into the river, and
+are to be sunk in the passage."
+
+"Any news of the Dutch having left Sheerness?"
+
+"No, sir; a shallop rowed up at noon, but was chased back again by
+one of our pinnaces."
+
+"That is better than I had hoped. Come, come, we shall make a fight
+for it yet," and he strode away towards the landing.
+
+"Shall I accompany you, sir?" Cyril asked.
+
+"Yes. There is nothing for you to do until we see exactly how things
+stand. I shall use you as my staff officer--that is, if you are
+willing, Sir Cyril. I have carried you off without asking whether you
+consented or no; but, knowing your spirit and quickness, I felt sure
+you would be of use."
+
+"I am at your service altogether," Cyril said, "and am glad indeed
+that your Grace encountered me, for I should have been truly sorry to
+have been idle at such a time."
+
+An eight-oared gig was already at the stairs, and they were rowed
+rapidly down the river. They stopped at Upnor Castle, and found that
+Major Scott, who was in command there, was hard at work mounting
+cannon and putting the place in a posture of defence.
+
+"You will have more men from London by to-morrow night, at the
+latest," the Duke said, "and powder and shot in abundance was sent
+off yesterday. We passed a train on our way down, and I told them to
+push on with all speed. As the Dutch have not moved yet, they cannot
+be here until the afternoon of to-morrow, and, like enough, will not
+attack until next day, for they must come slowly, or they will lose
+some of their ships on the sands. We will try to get up a battery
+opposite, so as to aid you with a cross fire. I am going down to see
+Sir Edward Spragge now."
+
+Taking their places in the boat again, they rowed round the horseshoe
+curve down to Gillingham, and then along to the spot where the
+frigates were moored. At the sharp bend lower down here the Duke
+found the Admiral, and they held a long consultation together. It was
+agreed that the chain should be placed somewhat higher up, where a
+lightly-armed battery on either side would afford some assistance,
+that behind the chain the three ships, the _Matthias_, the _Unity_,
+and the _Charles V._, all prizes taken from the Dutch, should be
+moored, and that the _Jonathan_ and _Fort of Honinggen_--also a
+Dutch prize--should be also posted there.
+
+Having arranged this, the Duke was rowed back to Chatham, there to
+see about getting some of the great ships removed from their moorings
+off Gillingham, up the river. To his fury, he found that, of all the
+eighteen hundred men employed in the yard, not more than half a dozen
+had remained at their work, the rest being, like all the townsmen,
+occupied in removing their goods in great haste. Even the frigates
+that were armed had but a third, at most, of their crews on board, so
+many having deserted owing to the backwardness of their pay.
+
+That night, Sir W. Coventry, Sir W. Penn, Lord Brounker, and other
+officers and officials of the Admiralty, came down from London. Some
+of these, especially Lord Brounker, had a hot time of it with the
+Duke, who rated them roundly for the state of things which prevailed,
+telling the latter that he was the main cause of all the misfortunes
+that might occur, owing to his having dismantled and disarmed all the
+great ships. In spite of the efforts of all these officers, but
+little could be done, owing to the want of hands, and to the refusal
+of the dockyard men, and most of the sailors, to do anything. A small
+battery of sandbags was, however, erected opposite Upnor, and a few
+guns placed in position there.
+
+Several ships were sunk in the channel above Upnor, and a few of
+those lying off Gillingham were towed up. Little help was sent down
+from London, for the efforts of the authorities were directed wholly
+to the defence of the Thames. The train-bands were all under arms,
+fire-ships were being fitted out and sent down to Gravesend, and
+batteries erected there and at Tilbury, while several ships were sunk
+in the channel.
+
+The Dutch remained at Sheerness from the 7th to the 12th, and had it
+not been for the misconduct of the men, Chatham could have been put
+into a good state for defence. As it was, but little could be
+effected; and when, on the 12th, the Dutch Fleet were seen coming up
+the river, the chances of successful resistance were small.
+
+The fight commenced by a Dutch frigate, commanded by Captain Brakell,
+advancing against the chain. Carried up by a strong tide and east
+wind the ship struck it with such force that it at once gave way. The
+English frigates, but weakly manned, could offer but slight
+resistance, and the _Jonathan_ was boarded and captured by Brakell.
+Following his frigate were a host of fire-ships, which at once
+grappled with the defenders. The _Matthias, Unity, Charles V._, and
+_Fort of Honinggen_ were speedily in flames. The light batteries on
+the shore were silenced by the guns of the Fleet, which then
+anchored. The next day, six of their men-of-war, with five
+fire-ships, advanced, exchanged broadsides, as they went along, with
+the _Royal Oak_ and presently engaged Upnor. They were received with
+so hot a fire from the Castle, and from the battery opposite, where
+Sir Edward Spragge had stationed himself, that, after a time, they
+gave up the design of ascending to the dockyard, which at that time
+occupied a position higher up the river than at present.
+
+The tide was beginning to slacken, and they doubtless feared that a
+number of fire-barges might be launched at them did they venture
+higher up. On the way back, they launched a fire-ship at the _Royal
+Oak_, which was commanded by Captain Douglas. The flames speedily
+communicated to the ship, and the crew took to the boats and rowed
+ashore. Captain Douglas refused to leave his vessel, and perished in
+the flames. The report given by the six men-of-war decided the Dutch
+not to attempt anything further against Chatham. On the 14th, they
+set fire to the hulks, the _Loyal London_ and the _Great James_,
+and carried off the hulk of the _Royal Charles_, after the English
+had twice tried to destroy her by fire. As this was the ship in which
+the Duke of Albemarle, then General Monk, had brought the King over
+to England from Holland, her capture was considered a special triumph
+for the Dutch and a special dishonour to us.
+
+The Duke of Albemarle had left Chatham before the Dutch came up. As
+the want of crews prevented his being of any use there, and he saw
+that Sir Edward Spragge would do all that was possible in defence of
+the place, he posted back to London, where his presence was urgently
+required, a complete panic reigning. Crowds assembled at Whitehall,
+and insulted the King and his ministers as the cause of the present
+misfortunes, while at Deptford and Wapping, the sailors and their
+wives paraded the streets, shouting that the ill-treatment of our
+sailors had brought these things about, and so hostile were their
+manifestations that the officials of the Admiralty scarce dared show
+themselves in the streets.
+
+Cyril had remained at Chatham, the Duke having recommended him to Sir
+Edward Spragge, and he, with some other gentlemen and a few sailors,
+had manned the battery opposite Upnor.
+
+The great proportion of the Dutch ships were still at the Nore, as it
+would have been dangerous to have hazarded so great a fleet in the
+narrow water of the Medway. As it was, two of their men-of-war, on
+the way back from Chatham, ran ashore, and had to be burnt. They had
+also six fire-ships burnt, and lost over a hundred and fifty men.
+
+Leaving Admiral Van Ness with part of the Fleet in the mouth of the
+Thames, De Ruyter sailed first for Harwich, where he attempted to
+land with sixteen hundred men in boats, supported by the guns of the
+Fleet. The boats, however, failed to effect a landing, being beaten
+off, with considerable loss, by the county Militia; and Ruyter then
+sailed for Portsmouth, where he also failed. He then went west to
+Torbay, where he was likewise repulsed, and then returned to the
+mouth of the Thames.
+
+On July 23rd, Van Ness, with twenty-five men-of-war, sailed up the
+Hope, where Sir Edward Spragge had now hoisted his flag on board a
+squadron of eighteen ships, of whom five were frigates and the rest
+fire-ships. A sharp engagement ensued, but the wind was very light,
+and the English, by towing their fire-ships, managed to lay them
+alongside the Dutch fire-ships, and destroyed twelve of these with a
+loss of only six English ships. But, the wind then rising, Sir Edward
+retired from the Hope to Gravesend, where he was protected by the
+guns at Tilbury.
+
+The next day, being joined by Sir Joseph Jordan, with a few small
+ships, he took the offensive, and destroyed the last fire-ship that
+the Dutch had left, and compelled the men-of-war to retire. Sir
+Edward followed them with his little squadron, and Van Ness, as he
+retired down the river, was met by five frigates and fourteen
+fire-ships from Harwich. These boldly attacked him. Two of the Dutch
+men-of-war narrowly escaped being burnt, another was forced ashore
+and greatly damaged, and the whole of the Dutch Fleet was compelled
+to bear away.
+
+While these events had been happening in the Thames, the negotiations
+at Breda had continued, and, just as the Dutch retreated, the news
+came that Peace had been signed. The Dutch, on their side, were
+satisfied with the success with which they had closed the war, while
+England was, at the moment, unable to continue it, and the King,
+seeing the intense unpopularity that had been excited against him by
+the affair at Chatham, was glad to ratify the Peace, especially as we
+thereby retained possession of several islands we had taken in the
+West Indies from the Dutch, and it was manifest that Spain was
+preparing to join the coalition of France and Holland against us.
+
+A Peace concluded under such circumstances was naturally but a short
+one. When the war was renewed, three years later, the French were in
+alliance with us, and, after several more desperate battles, in which
+no great advantages were gained on either side, the Dutch were so
+exhausted and impoverished by the loss of trade, that a final Peace
+was arranged on terms far more advantageous to us than those secured
+by the Treaty of 1667. The De Wittes, the authors of the previous
+wars, had both been killed in a popular tumult. The Prince of Orange
+was at the head of the State, and the fact that France and Spain were
+both hostile to Holland had reawakened the feeling of England in
+favour of the Protestant Republic, and the friendship between the two
+nations has never since been broken.
+
+Cyril took no part in the last war against the Dutch. He, like the
+majority of the nation, was opposed to it, and, although willing to
+give his life in defence of his country when attacked, felt it by no
+means his duty to do so when we were aiding the designs of France in
+crushing a brave enemy. Such was in fact the result of the war; for
+although peace was made on even terms, the wars of Holland with
+England and the ruin caused to her trade thereby, inflicted a blow
+upon the Republic from which she never recovered. From being the
+great rival of England, both on the sea and in her foreign commerce,
+her prosperity and power dwindled until she ceased altogether to be a
+factor in European affairs.
+
+After the Peace of Breda was signed, Cyril went down to Upmead,
+where, for the next four years, he devoted himself to the management
+of his estate. His friendship with Mr. Harvey grew closer and warmer,
+until the latter came to consider him in really the light of a son;
+and when he died, in 1681, it was found that his will was unaltered,
+and that, with the exception of legacies to many of his old employes
+at his factory, the whole of his property was left to Cyril. The
+latter received a good offer for the tanyard, and, upon an estate
+next to his own coming shortly afterwards into the market, he
+purchased it, and thus the Upmead estates became as extensive as they
+had been before the time of his ancestor, who had so seriously
+diminished them during the reign of Elizabeth.
+
+His friendship with the family of the Earl of Wisbech had remained
+unaltered, and he had every year paid them a visit, either at Wisbech
+or at Sevenoaks. A year after Mr. Harvey's death, he married Dorothy,
+who had previously refused several flattering offers.
+
+Captain Dave and his wife lived to a good old age. The business had
+largely increased, owing to the energy of their son-in-law, who had,
+with his wife and children, taken up his abode in the next house to
+theirs, which had been bought to meet the extension of their
+business. John Wilkes, at the death of Captain Dave, declined Cyril's
+pressing offer to make his home with him.
+
+"It would never do, Sir Cyril," he said. "I should be miserable out
+of the sight of ships, and without a place where I could meet
+seafaring men, and smoke my pipe, and listen to their yarns."
+
+He therefore remained with Frank Watson, nominally in charge of the
+stores, but doing, in fact, as little as he chose until, long past
+the allotted age of man, he passed quietly away.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of When London Burned, by G. A. Henty
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of When London Burned, by G. A. Henty
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
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+Title: When London Burned
+
+Author: G. A. Henty
+
+Release Date: April, 2005  [EBook #7831]
+[This file was first posted on May 20, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: US-ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, WHEN LONDON BURNED ***
+
+
+
+
+Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, S.R. Ellison, and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+WHEN LONDON BURNED
+
+BY G. A. HENTY
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+We are accustomed to regard the Reign of Charles II. as one of the
+most inglorious periods of English History; but this was far from
+being the case. It is true that the extravagance and profligacy of
+the Court were carried to a point unknown before or since,
+forming,--by the indignation they excited among the people at
+large,--the main cause of the overthrow of the House of Stuart. But,
+on the other hand, the nation made extraordinary advances in commerce
+and wealth, while the valour of our sailors was as conspicuous under
+the Dukes of York and Albemarle, Prince Rupert and the Earl of
+Sandwich, as it had been under Blake himself, and their victories
+resulted in transferring the commercial as well as the naval
+supremacy of Holland to this country. In spite of the cruel blows
+inflicted on the well-being of the country, alike by the extravagance
+of the Court, the badness of the Government, the Great Plague, and
+the destruction of London by fire, an extraordinary extension of our
+trade occurred during the reign of Charles II. Such a period,
+therefore, although its brilliancy was marred by dark shadows, cannot
+be considered as an inglorious epoch. It was ennobled by the bravery
+of our sailors, by the fearlessness with which the coalition of
+France with Holland was faced, and by the spirit of enterprise with
+which our merchants and traders seized the opportunity, and, in spite
+of national misfortunes, raised England in the course of a few years
+to the rank of the greatest commercial power in the world.
+
+                                  G. A. HENTY.
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+     I. FATHERLESS
+
+    II. A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
+
+   III. A THIEF SOMEWHERE
+
+    IV. CAPTURED
+
+     V. KIDNAPPED
+
+    VI. A NARROW ESCAPE
+
+   VII. SAVED FROM A VILLAIN
+
+  VIII. THE CAPTAIN'S YARN
+
+    IX. THE FIRE IN THE SAVOY
+
+     X. HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE DUTCH
+
+    XI. PRINCE RUPERT
+
+   XII. NEW FRIENDS
+
+  XIII. THE BATTLE OF LOWESTOFT
+
+   XIV. HONOURABLE SCARS
+
+    XV. THE PLAGUE
+
+   XVI. FATHER AND SON
+
+  XVII. SMITTEN DOWN
+
+ XVIII. A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE
+
+   XIX. TAKING POSSESSION
+
+    XX. THE FIGHT OFF DUNKIRK
+
+   XXI. LONDON IN FLAMES
+
+  XXII. AFTER THE FIRE
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+"WITH GREAT RAPIDITY THE FLAMES SPREAD FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE"
+
+"DON'T CRY, LAD; YOU WILL GET ON BETTER WITHOUT ME"
+
+"THIS IS MY PRINCE OF SCRIVENERS, MARY"
+
+"ROBERT ASHFORD, KNIFE IN HAND, ATTACKED JOHN WILKES WITH FURY"
+
+"CYRIL SAT UP AND DRANK OFF THE CONTENTS OF THE PANNIKIN"
+
+"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, SIR, DO NOT CAUSE TROUBLE"
+
+"TAKE HER DOWN QUICK, JOHN, THERE ARE THREE OTHERS"
+
+"CYRIL RAISED THE KING'S HAND TO HIS LIPS"
+
+"A DUTCH MAN-OF-WAR RAN ALONGSIDE AND FIRED A BROADSIDE"
+
+"FOR THE LAST TIME: WILL YOU SIGN THE DEED?"
+
+"WELCOME BACK TO YOUR OWN AGAIN, SIR CYRIL!"
+
+"WHAT NEWS, JAMES?" THE KING ASKED EAGERLY
+
+
+
+
+WHEN LONDON BURNED
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+FATHERLESS
+
+
+Lad stood looking out of the dormer window in a scantily furnished
+attic in the high-pitched roof of a house in Holborn, in September
+1664. Numbers of persons were traversing the street below, many of
+them going out through the bars, fifty yards away, into the fields
+beyond, where some sports were being held that morning, while country
+people were coming in with their baskets from the villages of
+Highgate and Hampstead, Tyburn and Bayswater. But the lad noted
+nothing that was going on; his eyes were filled with tears, and his
+thoughts were in the little room behind him; for here, coffined in
+readiness for burial, lay the body of his father.
+
+Sir Aubrey Shenstone had not been a good father in any sense of the
+word. He had not been harsh or cruel, but he had altogether neglected
+his son. Beyond the virtues of loyalty and courage, he possessed few
+others. He had fought, as a young man, for Charles, and even among
+the Cavaliers who rode behind Prince Rupert was noted for reckless
+bravery. When, on the fatal field of Worcester, the last hopes of the
+Royalists were crushed, he had effected his escape to France and
+taken up his abode at Dunkirk. His estates had been forfeited; and
+after spending the proceeds of his wife's jewels and those he had
+carried about with him in case fortune went against the cause for
+which he fought, he sank lower and lower, and had for years lived on
+the scanty pension allowed by Louis to the King and his adherents.
+
+Sir Aubrey had been one of the wild, reckless spirits whose conduct
+did much towards setting the people of England against the cause of
+Charles. He gambled and drank, interlarded his conversation with
+oaths, and despised as well as hated the Puritans against whom he
+fought. Misfortune did not improve him; he still drank when he had
+money to do so, gambled for small sums in low taverns with men of his
+own kind, and quarrelled and fought on the smallest provocation. Had
+it not been for his son he would have taken service in the army of
+some foreign Power; but he could not take the child about with him,
+nor could he leave it behind.
+
+Sir Aubrey was not altogether without good points. He would divide
+his last crown with a comrade poorer than himself. In the worst of
+times he was as cheerful as when money was plentiful, making a joke
+of his necessities and keeping a brave face to the world.
+
+Wholly neglected by his father, who spent the greater portion of his
+time abroad, Cyril would have fared badly indeed had it not been for
+the kindness of Lady Parton, the wife of a Cavalier of very different
+type to Sir Aubrey. He had been an intimate friend of Lord Falkland,
+and, like that nobleman, had drawn his sword with the greatest
+reluctance, and only when he saw that Parliament was bent upon
+overthrowing the other two estates in the realm and constituting
+itself the sole authority in England. After the execution of Charles
+he had retired to France, and did not take part in the later risings,
+but lived a secluded life with his wife and children. The eldest of
+these was of the same age as Cyril; and as the latter's mother had
+been a neighbour of hers before marriage, Lady Parton promised her,
+on her death-bed, to look after the child, a promise that she
+faithfully kept.
+
+Sir John Parton had always been adverse to the association of his boy
+with the son of Sir Aubrey Shenstone; but he had reluctantly yielded
+to his wife's wishes, and Cyril passed the greater portion of his
+time at their house, sharing the lessons Harry received from an
+English clergyman who had been expelled from his living by the
+fanatics of Parliament. He was a good and pious man, as well as an
+excellent scholar, and under his teaching, aided by the gentle
+precepts of Lady Parton, and the strict but kindly rule of her
+husband, Cyril received a training of a far better kind than he would
+ever have been likely to obtain had he been brought up in his
+father's house near Norfolk. Sir Aubrey exclaimed sometimes that the
+boy was growing up a little Puritan, and had he taken more interest
+in his welfare would undoubtedly have withdrawn him from the healthy
+influences that were benefiting him so greatly; but, with the usual
+acuteness of children, Cyril soon learnt that any allusion to his
+studies or his life at Sir John Parton's was disagreeable to his
+father, and therefore seldom spoke of them.
+
+Sir Aubrey was never, even when under the influence of his potations,
+unkind to Cyril. The boy bore a strong likeness to his mother, whom
+his father had, in his rough way, really loved passionately. He
+seldom spoke even a harsh word to him, and although he occasionally
+expressed his disapproval of the teaching he was receiving, was at
+heart not sorry to see the boy growing up so different from himself;
+and Cyril, in spite of his father's faults, loved him. When Sir
+Aubrey came back with unsteady step, late at night, and threw himself
+on his pallet, Cyril would say to himself, "Poor father! How
+different he would have been had it not been for his misfortunes! He
+is to be pitied rather than blamed!" And so, as years went on, in
+spite of the difference between their natures, there had grown up a
+sort of fellowship between the two; and of an evening sometimes, when
+his father's purse was so low that he could not indulge in his usual
+stoup of wine at the tavern, they would sit together while Sir Aubrey
+talked of his fights and adventures.
+
+"As to the estates, Cyril," he said one day, "I don't know that
+Cromwell and his Roundheads have done you much harm. I should have
+run through them, lad--I should have diced them away years ago--and I
+am not sure but that their forfeiture has been a benefit to you. If
+the King ever gets his own, you may come to the estates; while, if I
+had had the handling of them, the usurers would have had such a grip
+on them that you would never have had a penny of the income."
+
+"It doesn't matter, father," the boy replied. "I mean to be a soldier
+some day, as you have been, and I shall take service with some of the
+Protestant Princes of Germany; or, if I can't do that, I shall be
+able to work my way somehow."
+
+"What can you work at, lad?" his father said, contemptuously.
+
+"I don't know yet, father; but I shall find some work to do."
+
+Sir Aubrey was about to burst into a tirade against work, but he
+checked himself. If Cyril never came into the estates he would have
+to earn his living somehow.
+
+"All right, my boy. But do you stick to your idea of earning your
+living by your sword; it is a gentleman's profession, and I would
+rather see you eating dry bread as a soldier of fortune than
+prospering in some vile trading business."
+
+Cyril never argued with his father, and he simply nodded an assent
+and then asked some question that turned Sir Aubrey's thoughts on
+other matters.
+
+The news that Monk had declared for the King, and that Charles would
+speedily return to take his place on his father's throne, caused
+great excitement among the Cavaliers scattered over the Continent;
+and as soon as the matter was settled, all prepared to return to
+England, in the full belief that their evil days were over, and that
+they would speedily be restored to their former estates, with honours
+and rewards for their many sacrifices.
+
+"I must leave you behind for a short time, Cyril," his father said to
+the boy, when he came in one afternoon. "I must be in London before
+the King arrives there, to join in his welcome home, and for the
+moment I cannot take you; I shall be busy from morning till night. Of
+course, in the pressure of things at first it will be impossible for
+the King to do everything at once, and it may be a few weeks before
+all these Roundheads can be turned out of the snug nests they have
+made for themselves, and the rightful owners come to their own again.
+As I have no friends in London, I should have nowhere to bestow you,
+until I can take you down with me to Norfolk to present you to our
+tenants, and you would be grievously in my way; but as soon as things
+are settled I will write to you or come over myself to fetch you. In
+the meantime I must think over where I had best place you. It will
+not matter for so short a time, but I would that you should be as
+comfortable as possible. Think it over yourself, and let me know if
+you have any wishes in the matter. Sir John Parton leaves at the end
+of the week, and ere another fortnight there will be scarce another
+Englishman left at Dunkirk."
+
+"Don't you think you can take me with you, father?"
+
+"Impossible," Sir Aubrey said shortly. "Lodgings will be at a great
+price in London, for the city will be full of people from all parts
+coming up to welcome the King home. I can bestow myself in a garret
+anywhere, but I could not leave you there all day. Besides, I shall
+have to get more fitting clothes, and shall have many expenses. You
+are at home here, and will not feel it dull for the short time you
+have to remain behind."
+
+Cyril said no more, but went up, with a heavy heart, for his last
+day's lessons at the Partons'. Young as he was, he was accustomed to
+think for himself, for it was but little guidance he received from
+his father; and after his studies were over he laid the case before
+his master, Mr. Felton, and asked if he could advise him. Mr. Felton
+was himself in high spirits, and was hoping to be speedily reinstated
+in his living. He looked grave when Cyril told his story.
+
+"I think it is a pity that your father, Sir Aubrey, does not take you
+over with him, for it will assuredly take longer to bring all these
+matters into order than he seems to think. However, that is his
+affair. I should think he could not do better for you than place you
+with the people where I lodge. You know them, and they are a worthy
+couple; the husband is, as you know, a fisherman, and you and Harry
+Parton have often been out with him in his boat, so it would not be
+like going among strangers. Continue your studies. I should be sorry
+to think that you were forgetting all that you have learnt. I will
+take you this afternoon, if you like, to my friend, the Cure of St.
+Ursula. Although we differ on religion we are good friends, and
+should you need advice on any matters he will give it to you, and may
+be of use in arranging for a passage for you to England, should your
+father not be able himself to come and fetch you."
+
+Sir Aubrey at once assented to the plan when Cyril mentioned it to
+him, and a week later sailed for England; Cyril moving, with his few
+belongings, to the house of Jean Baudoin, who was the owner and
+master of one of the largest fishing-boats in Dunkirk. Sir Aubrey had
+paid for his board and lodgings for two months.
+
+"I expect to be over to fetch you long before that, Cyril," he had
+said, "but it is as well to be on the safe side. Here are four
+crowns, which will furnish you with ample pocket-money. And I have
+arranged with your fencing-master for you to have lessons regularly,
+as before; it will not do for you to neglect so important an
+accomplishment, for which, as he tells me, you show great aptitude."
+
+The two months passed. Cyril had received but one letter from his
+father. Although it expressed hopes of his speedy restoration to his
+estates, Cyril could see, by its tone, that his father was far from
+satisfied with the progress he had made in the matter. Madame Baudoin
+was a good and pious woman, and was very kind to the forlorn English
+boy; but when a fortnight over the two months had passed, Cyril could
+see that the fisherman was becoming anxious. Regularly, on his return
+from the fishing, he inquired if letters had arrived, and seemed much
+put out when he heard that there was no news. One day, when Cyril was
+in the garden that surrounded the cottage, he heard him say to his
+wife,--
+
+"Well, I will say nothing about it until after the next voyage, and
+then if we don't hear, the boy must do something for his living. I
+can take him in the boat with me; he can earn his victuals in that
+way. If he won't do that, I shall wash my hands of him altogether,
+and he must shift for himself. I believe his father has left him with
+us for good. We were wrong in taking him only on the recommendation
+of Mr. Felton. I have been inquiring about his father, and hear
+little good of him."
+
+Cyril, as soon as the fisherman had gone, stole up to his little
+room. He was but twelve years old, and he threw himself down on his
+bed and cried bitterly. Then a thought struck him; he went to his
+box, and took out from it a sealed parcel; on it was written, "To my
+son. This parcel is only to be opened should you find yourself in
+great need, Your Loving Mother." He remembered how she had placed it
+in his hands a few hours before her death, and had said to him,--
+
+"Put this away, Cyril. I charge you let no one see it. Do not speak
+of it to anyone--not even to your father. Keep it as a sacred gift,
+and do not open it unless you are in sore need. It is for you, and
+you alone. It is the sole thing that I have to leave you; use it with
+discretion. I fear that hard times will come upon you."
+
+Cyril felt that his need could hardly be sorer than it was now, and
+without hesitation he broke the seals, and opened the packet. He
+found first a letter directed to himself. It began,--
+
+"MY DARLING CYRIL,--I trust that it will be many years before you
+open this parcel and read these words. I have left the enclosed as a
+parting gift to you. I know not how long this exile may last, or
+whether you will ever be able to return to England. But whether you
+do or not, it may well be that the time will arrive when you may find
+yourself in sore need. Your father has been a loving husband to me,
+and will, I am sure, do what he can for you; but he is not provident
+in his habits, and may not, after he is left alone, be as careful in
+his expenditure as I have tried to be. I fear then that the time will
+come when you will be in need of money, possibly even in want of the
+necessaries of life. All my other trinkets I have given to him; but
+the one enclosed, which belonged to my mother, I leave to you. It is
+worth a good deal of money, and this it is my desire that you shall
+spend upon yourself. Use it wisely, my son. If, when you open this,
+you are of age to enter the service of a foreign Prince, as is, I
+know, the intention of your father, it will provide you with a
+suitable outfit. If, as is possible, you may lose your father by
+death or otherwise while you are still young, spend it on your
+education, which is the best of all heritages. Should your father be
+alive when you open this, I pray you not to inform him of it. The
+money, in his hands, would last but a short time, and might, I fear,
+be wasted. Think not that I am speaking or thinking hardly of him.
+All men, even the best, have their faults, and his is a carelessness
+as to money matters, and a certain recklessness concerning them;
+therefore, I pray you to keep it secret from him, though I do not say
+that you should not use the money for your common good, if it be
+needful; only, in that case, I beg you will not inform him as to what
+money you have in your possession, but use it carefully and prudently
+for the household wants, and make it last as long as may be. My good
+friend, Lady Parton, if still near you, will doubtless aid you in
+disposing of the jewels to the best advantage. God bless you, my son!
+This is the only secret I ever had from your father, but for your
+good I have hidden this one thing from him, and I pray that this
+deceit, which is practised for your advantage, may be forgiven me.
+YOUR LOVING MOTHER."
+
+It was some time before Cyril opened the parcel; it contained a
+jewel-box in which was a necklace of pearls. After some consideration
+he took this to the Cure of St. Ursula, and, giving him his mother's
+letter to read, asked him for his advice as to its disposal.
+
+"Your mother was a thoughtful and pious woman," the good priest said,
+after he had read the letter, "and has acted wisely in your behalf.
+The need she foresaw might come, has arisen, and you are surely
+justified in using her gift. I will dispose of this trinket for you;
+it is doubtless of considerable value. If it should be that your
+father speedily sends for you, you ought to lay aside the money for
+some future necessity. If he does not come for some time, as may well
+be--for, from the news that comes from England, it is like to be many
+months before affairs are settled--then draw from it only such
+amounts as are needed for your living and education. Study hard, my
+son, for so will you best be fulfilling the intentions of your
+mother. If you like, I will keep the money in my hands, serving it
+out to you as you need it; and in order that you may keep the matter
+a secret, I will myself go to Baudoin, and tell him that he need not
+be disquieted as to the cost of your maintenance, for that I have
+money in hand with which to discharge your expenses, so long as you
+may remain with him."
+
+The next day the Cure informed Cyril that he had disposed of the
+necklace for fifty louis. Upon this sum Cyril lived for two years.
+
+Things had gone very hardly with Sir Aubrey Shenstone. The King had a
+difficult course to steer. To have evicted all those who had obtained
+possession of the forfeited estates of the Cavaliers would have been
+to excite a deep feeling of resentment among the Nonconformists. In
+vain Sir Aubrey pressed his claims, in season and out of season. He
+had no powerful friends to aid him; his conduct had alienated the men
+who could have assisted him, and, like so many other Cavaliers who
+had fought and suffered for Charles I., Sir Aubrey Shenstone found
+himself left altogether in the cold. For a time he was able to keep
+up a fair appearance, as he obtained loans from Prince Rupert and
+other Royalists whom he had known in the old days, and who had been
+more fortunate than himself; but the money so obtained lasted but a
+short time, and it was not long before he was again in dire straits.
+
+Cyril had from the first but little hope that his father would
+recover his estates. He had, shortly before his father left France,
+heard a conversation between Sir John Parton and a gentleman who was
+in the inner circle of Charles's advisers. The latter had said,--
+
+"One of the King's great difficulties will be to satisfy the exiles.
+Undoubtedly, could he consult his own inclinations only, he would on
+his return at once reinstate all those who have suffered in their
+estates from their loyalty to his father and himself. But this will
+be impossible. It was absolutely necessary for him, in his
+proclamation at Breda, to promise an amnesty for all offences,
+liberty of conscience and an oblivion as to the past, and he
+specially says that all questions of grants, sales and purchases of
+land, and titles, shall be referred to Parliament. The Nonconformists
+are at present in a majority, and although it seems that all parties
+are willing to welcome the King back, you may be sure that no
+Parliament will consent to anything like a general disturbance of the
+possessors of estates formerly owned by Royalists. In a vast number
+of cases, the persons to whom such grants were made disposed of them
+by sale to others, and it would be as hard on them to be ousted as it
+is upon the original proprietors to be kept out of their possession.
+Truly it is a most difficult position, and one that will have to be
+approached with great judgment, the more so since most of those to
+whom the lands were granted were generals, officers, and soldiers of
+the Parliament, and Monk would naturally oppose any steps to the
+detriment of his old comrades.
+
+"I fear there will be much bitter disappointment among the exiles,
+and that the King will be charged with ingratitude by those who think
+that he has only to sign an order for their reinstatement, whereas
+Charles will have himself a most difficult course to steer, and will
+have to govern himself most circumspectly, so as to give offence to
+none of the governing parties. As to his granting estates, or
+dispossessing their holders, he will have no more power to do so than
+you or I. Doubtless some of the exiles will be restored to their
+estates; but I fear that the great bulk are doomed to disappointment.
+At any rate, for a time no extensive changes can be made, though it
+may be that in the distance, when the temper of the nation at large
+is better understood, the King will be able to do something for those
+who suffered in the cause.
+
+"It was all very well for Cromwell, who leant solely on the Army, to
+dispense with a Parliament, and to govern far more autocratically
+than James or Charles even dreamt of doing; but the Army that
+supported Cromwell would certainly not support Charles. It is
+composed for the most part of stern fanatics, and will be the first
+to oppose any attempt of the King to override the law. No doubt it
+will erelong be disbanded; but you will see that Parliament will then
+recover the authority of which Cromwell deprived it; and Charles is a
+far wiser man than his father, and will never set himself against the
+feeling of the country. Certainly, anything like a general
+reinstatement of the men who have been for the last ten years
+haunting the taverns of the Continent is out of the question; they
+would speedily create such a revulsion of public opinion as might
+bring about another rebellion. Hyde, staunch Royalist as he is, would
+never suffer the King to make so grievous an error; nor do I think
+for a moment that Charles, who is shrewd and politic, and above all
+things a lover of ease and quiet, would think of bringing such a nest
+of hornets about his ears."
+
+When, after his return to England, it became evident that Sir Aubrey
+had but small chance of reinstatement in his lands, his former
+friends began to close their purses and to refuse to grant further
+loans, and he was presently reduced to straits as severe as those he
+had suffered during his exile. The good spirits that had borne him up
+so long failed now, and he grew morose and petulant. His loyalty to
+the King was unshaken; Charles had several times granted him
+audiences, and had assured him that, did it rest with him, justice
+should be at once dealt to him, but that he was practically powerless
+in the matter, and the knight's resentment was concentrated upon
+Hyde, now Lord Clarendon, and the rest of the King's advisers. He
+wrote but seldom to Cyril; he had no wish to have the boy with him
+until he could take him down with him in triumph to Norfolk, and show
+him to the tenants as his heir. Living from hand to mouth as he did,
+he worried but little as to how Cyril was getting on.
+
+"The lad has fallen on his feet somehow," he said, "and he is better
+where he is than he would be with me. I suppose when he wants money
+he will write and say so, though where I should get any to send to
+him I know not. Anyhow, I need not worry about him at present."
+
+Cyril, indeed, had written to him soon after the sale of the
+necklace, telling him that he need not distress himself about his
+condition, for that he had obtained sufficient money for his present
+necessities from the sale of a small trinket his mother had given him
+before her death, and that when this was spent he should doubtless
+find some means of earning his living until he could rejoin him. His
+father never inquired into the matter, though he made a casual
+reference to it in his next letter, saying that he was glad Cyril had
+obtained some money, as it would, at the moment, have been
+inconvenient to him to send any over.
+
+Cyril worked assiduously at the school that had been recommended to
+him by the Cure, and at the end of two years he had still twenty
+louis left. He had several conversations with his adviser as to the
+best way of earning his living.
+
+"I do not wish to spend any more, Father," he said, "and would fain
+keep this for some future necessity."
+
+The Cure agreed with him as to this, and, learning from his master
+that he was extremely quick at figures and wrote an excellent hand,
+he obtained a place for him with one of the principal traders of the
+town. He was to receive no salary for a year, but was to learn
+book-keeping and accounts. Although but fourteen, the boy was so
+intelligent and zealous that his employer told the Cure that he found
+him of real service, and that he was able to entrust some of his
+books entirely to his charge.
+
+Six months after entering his service, however, Cyril received a
+letter from his father, saying that he believed his affairs were on
+the point of settlement, and therefore wished him to come over in the
+first ship sailing. He enclosed an order on a house at Dunkirk for
+fifty francs, to pay his passage. His employer parted with him with
+regret, and the kind Cure bade him farewell in terms of real
+affection, for he had come to take a great interest in him.
+
+"At any rate, Cyril," he said, "your time here has not been wasted,
+and your mother's gift has been turned to as much advantage as even
+she can have hoped that it would be. Should your father's hopes be
+again disappointed, and fresh delays arise, you may, with the
+practice you have had, be able to earn your living in London. There
+must be there, as in France, many persons in trade who have had but
+little education, and you may be able to obtain employment in keeping
+the books of such people, who are, I believe, more common in England
+than here. Here are the sixteen louis that still remain; put them
+aside, Cyril, and use them only for urgent necessity."
+
+Cyril, on arriving in London, was heartily welcomed by his father,
+who had, for the moment, high hopes of recovering his estates. These,
+however, soon faded, and although Sir Aubrey would not allow it, even
+to himself, no chance remained of those Royalists, who had, like him,
+parted with their estates for trifling sums, to be spent in the
+King's service, ever regaining possession of them.
+
+It was not long before Cyril perceived that unless he himself
+obtained work of some sort they would soon be face to face with
+actual starvation. He said nothing to his father, but started out one
+morning on a round of visits among the smaller class of shopkeepers,
+offering to make up their books and write out their bills and
+accounts for a small remuneration. As he had a frank and pleasant
+face, and his foreign bringing up had given him an ease and
+politeness of manner rare among English lads of the day, it was not
+long before he obtained several clients. To some of the smaller class
+of traders he went only for an hour or two, once a week, while others
+required their bills and accounts to be made out daily. The pay was
+very small, but it sufficed to keep absolute want from the door. When
+he told his father of the arrangements he had made, Sir Aubrey at
+first raged and stormed; but he had come, during the last year or
+two, to recognise the good sense and strong will of his son, and
+although he never verbally acquiesced in what he considered a
+degradation, he offered no actual opposition to a plan that at least
+enabled them to live, and furnished him occasionally with a few
+groats with which he could visit a tavern.
+
+So things had gone on for more than a year. Cyril was now sixteen,
+and his punctuality, and the neatness of his work, had been so
+appreciated by the tradesmen who first employed him, that his time
+was now fully occupied, and that at rates more remunerative than
+those he had at first obtained. He kept the state of his resources to
+himself, and had no difficulty in doing this, as his father never
+alluded to the subject of his work. Cyril knew that, did he hand over
+to him all the money he made, it would be wasted in drink or at
+cards; consequently, he kept the table furnished as modestly as at
+first, and regularly placed after dinner on the corner of the mantel
+a few coins, which his father as regularly dropped into his pocket.
+
+A few days before the story opens, Sir Aubrey had, late one evening,
+been carried upstairs, mortally wounded in a brawl; he only recovered
+consciousness a few minutes before his death.
+
+"You have been a good lad, Cyril," he said faintly, as he feebly
+pressed the boy's hand; "far better than I deserve to have had. Don't
+cry, lad; you will get on better without me, and things are just as
+well as they are. I hope you will come to your estates some day; you
+will make a better master than I should ever have done. I hope that
+in time you will carry out your plan of entering some foreign
+service; there is no chance here. I don't want you to settle down as
+a city scrivener. Still, do as you like, lad, and unless your wishes
+go with mine, think no further of service."
+
+"I would rather be a soldier, father. I only undertook this work
+because I could see nothing else."
+
+"That is right, my boy, that is right. I know you won't forget that
+you come of a race of gentlemen."
+
+He spoke but little after that. A few broken words came from his lips
+that showed that his thoughts had gone back to old times. "Boot and
+saddle," he murmured. "That is right. Now we are ready for them. Down
+with the prick-eared knaves! God and King Charles!" These were the
+last words he spoke.
+
+Cyril had done all that was necessary. He had laid by more than half
+his earnings for the last eight or nine months. One of his clients,
+an undertaker, had made all the necessary preparations for the
+funeral, and in a few hours his father would be borne to his last
+resting-place. As he stood at the open window he thought sadly over
+the past, and of his father's wasted life. Had it not been for the
+war he might have lived and died a country gentleman. It was the war,
+with its wild excitements, that had ruined him. What was there for
+him to do in a foreign country, without resource or employment,
+having no love for reading, but to waste his life as he had done? Had
+his wife lived it might have been different. Cyril had still a vivid
+remembrance of his mother, and, though his father had but seldom
+spoken to him of her, he knew that he had loved her, and that, had
+she lived, he would never have given way to drink as he had done of
+late years.
+
+To his father's faults he could not be blind; but they stood for
+nothing now. He had been his only friend, and of late they had been
+drawn closer to each other in their loneliness; and although scarce a
+word of endearment had passed between them, he knew that his father
+had cared for him more than was apparent in his manner.
+
+A few hours later, Sir Aubrey Shenstone was laid to rest in a little
+graveyard outside the city walls. Cyril was the only mourner; and
+when it was over, instead of going back to his lonely room, he turned
+away and wandered far out through the fields towards Hampstead, and
+then sat himself down to think what he had best do. Another three or
+four years must pass before he could try to get service abroad. When
+the time came he should find Sir John Parton, and beg him to procure
+for him some letter of introduction to the many British gentlemen
+serving abroad. He had not seen him since he came to England. His
+father had met him, but had quarrelled with him upon Sir John
+declining to interest himself actively to push his claims, and had
+forbidden Cyril to go near those who had been so kind to him.
+
+The boy had felt it greatly at first, but he came, after a time, to
+see that it was best so. It seemed to him that he had fallen
+altogether out of their station in life when the hope of his father's
+recovering his estates vanished, and although he was sure of a kindly
+reception from Lady Parton, he shrank from going there in his present
+position. They had done so much for him already, that the thought
+that his visit might seem to them a sort of petition for further
+benefits was intolerable to him.
+
+For the present, the question in his mind was whether he should
+continue at his present work, which at any rate sufficed to keep him,
+or should seek other employment. He would greatly have preferred some
+life of action,--something that would fit him better to bear the
+fatigues and hardships of war,--but he saw no prospect of obtaining
+any such position.
+
+"I should be a fool to throw up what I have," he said to himself at
+last. "I will stick to it anyhow until some opportunity offers; but
+the sooner I leave it the better. It was bad enough before; it will
+be worse now. If I had but a friend or two it would not be so hard;
+but to have no one to speak to, and no one to think about, when work
+is done, will be lonely indeed."
+
+At any rate, he determined to change his room as soon as possible. It
+mattered little where he went so that it was a change. He thought
+over various tradesmen for whom he worked. Some of them might have an
+attic, he cared not how small, that they might let him have in lieu
+of paying him for his work. Even if they never spoke to him, it would
+be better to be in a house where he knew something of those
+downstairs, than to lodge in one where he was an utter stranger to
+all. He had gone round to the shops where he worked, on the day after
+his father's death, to explain that he could not come again until
+after the funeral, and he resolved that next morning he would ask
+each in turn whether he could obtain a lodging with them.
+
+The sun was already setting when he rose from the bank on which he
+had seated himself, and returned to the city. The room did not feel
+so lonely to him as it would have done had he not been accustomed to
+spending the evenings alone. He took out his little hoard and counted
+it. After paying the expenses of the funeral there would still remain
+sufficient to keep him for three or four months should he fall ill,
+or, from any cause, lose his work. He had one good suit of clothes
+that had been bought on his return to England,--when his father
+thought that they would assuredly be going down almost immediately to
+take possession of the old Hall,--and the rest were all in fair
+condition.
+
+The next day he began his work again; he had two visits to pay of an
+hour each, and one of two hours, and the spare time between these he
+filled up by calling at two or three other shops to make up for the
+arrears of work during the last few days.
+
+The last place he had to visit was that at which he had the longest
+task to perform. It was at a ship-chandler's in Tower Street, a large
+and dingy house, the lower portion being filled with canvas, cordage,
+barrels of pitch and tar, candles, oil, and matters of all sorts
+needed by ship-masters, including many cannon of different sizes,
+piles of balls, anchors, and other heavy work, all of which were
+stowed away in a yard behind it. The owner of this store was a
+one-armed man. His father had kept it before him, but he himself,
+after working there long enough to become a citizen and a member of
+the Ironmongers' Guild, had quarrelled with his father and had taken
+to the sea. For twenty years he had voyaged to many lands,
+principally in ships trading in the Levant, and had passed through a
+great many adventures, including several fights with the Moorish
+corsairs. In the last voyage he took, he had had his arm shot off by
+a ball from a Greek pirate among the Islands. He had long before made
+up his differences with his father, but had resisted the latter's
+entreaties that he should give up the sea and settle down at the
+shop; on his return after this unfortunate voyage he told him that he
+had come home to stay.
+
+"I shall be able to help about the stores after a while," he said,
+"but I shall never be the man I was on board ship. It will be hard
+work to take to measuring out canvas and to weighing iron, after a
+free life on the sea, but I don't so much mind now I have had my
+share of adventures; though I dare say I should have gone on for a
+few more years if that rascally ball had not carried away my arm. I
+don't know but that it is best as it is, for the older I got the
+harder I should find it to fall into new ways and to settle down
+here."
+
+"Anyhow, I am glad you are back, David," his father said.
+
+"You are forty-five, and though I don't say it would not have been
+better if you had remained here from the first, you have learnt many
+things you would not have learnt here. You know just the sort of
+things that masters of ships require, and what canvas and cables and
+cordage will suit their wants. Besides, customers like to talk with
+men of their own way of thinking, and sailors more, I think, than
+other men. You know, too, most of the captains who sail up the
+Mediterranean, and may be able to bring fresh custom into the shop.
+Therefore, do not think that you will be of no use to me. As to your
+wife and child, there is plenty of room for them as well as for you,
+and it will be better for them here, with you always at hand, than it
+would be for them to remain over at Rotherhithe and only to see you
+after the shutters are up."
+
+Eight years later Captain Dave, as he was always called, became sole
+owner of the house and business. A year after he did so he was
+lamenting to a friend the trouble that he had with his accounts.
+
+"My father always kept that part of the business in his own hands,"
+he said, "and I find it a mighty heavy burden. Beyond checking a bill
+of lading, or reading the marks on the bales and boxes, I never had
+occasion to read or write for twenty years, and there has not been
+much more of it for the last fifteen; and although I was a smart
+scholar enough in my young days, my fingers are stiff with hauling at
+ropes and using the marling-spike, and my eyes are not so clear as
+they used to be, and it is no slight toil and labour to me to make up
+an account for goods sold. John Wilkes, my head shopman, is a handy
+fellow; he was my boatswain in the _Kate_, and I took him on when we
+found that the man who had been my father's right hand for twenty
+years had been cheating him all along. We got on well enough as long
+as I could give all my time in the shop; but he is no good with the
+pen--all he can do is to enter receipts and sales.
+
+"He has a man under him, who helps him in measuring out the right
+length of canvas and cables or for weighing a chain or an anchor, and
+knows enough to put down the figures; but that is all. Then there are
+the two smiths and the two apprentices; they don't count in the
+matter. Robert Ashford, the eldest apprentice, could do the work, but
+I have no fancy for him; he does not look one straight in the face as
+one who is honest and above board should do. I shall have to keep a
+clerk, and I know what it will be--he will be setting me right, and I
+shall not feel my own master; he will be out of place in my crew
+altogether. I never liked pursers; most of them are rogues. Still, I
+suppose it must come to that."
+
+"I have a boy come in to write my bills and to make up my accounts,
+who would be just the lad for you, Captain Dave. He is the son of a
+broken-down Cavalier, but he is a steady, honest young fellow, and I
+fancy his pen keeps his father, who is a roystering blade, and spends
+most of his time at the taverns. The boy comes to me for an hour,
+twice a week; he writes as good a hand as any clerk and can reckon as
+quickly, and I pay him but a groat a week, which was all he asked."
+
+"Tell him to come to me, then. I should want him every day, if he
+could manage it, and it would be the very thing for me."
+
+"I am sure you would like him," the other said; "he is a good-looking
+young fellow, and his face speaks for him without any recommendation.
+I was afraid at first that he would not do for me; I thought there
+was too much of the gentleman about him. He has good manners, and a
+gentle sort of way. He has been living in France all his life, and
+though he has never said anything about his family--indeed he talks
+but little, he just comes in and does his work and goes away--I fancy
+his father was one of King Charles's men and of good blood."
+
+"Well, that doesn't sound so well," the sailor said, "but anyhow I
+should like to have a look at him."
+
+"He comes to me to-morrow at eleven and goes at twelve," the man
+said, "and I will send him round to you when he has done."
+
+Cyril had gone round the next morning to the ships' store.
+
+"So you are the lad that works for my neighbour Anderson?" Captain
+Dave said, as he surveyed him closely. "I like your looks, lad, but I
+doubt whether we shall get on together. I am an old sailor, you know,
+and I am quick of speech and don't stop to choose my words, so if you
+are quick to take offence it would be of no use your coming to me."
+
+"I don't think I am likely to take offence," Cyril said quietly; "and
+if we don't get on well together, sir, you will only have to tell me
+that you don't want me any longer; but I trust you will not have
+often the occasion to use hard words, for at any rate I will do my
+best to please you."
+
+"You can't say more, lad. Well, let us have a taste of your quality.
+Come in here," and he led him into a little room partitioned off from
+the shop. "There, you see," and he opened a book, "is the account of
+the sales and orders yesterday; the ready-money sales have got to be
+entered in that ledger with the red cover; the sales where no money
+passed have to be entered to the various customers or ships in the
+ledger. I have made out a list--here it is--of twelve accounts that
+have to be drawn out from that ledger and sent in to customers. You
+will find some of them are of somewhat long standing, for I have been
+putting off that job. Sit you down here. When you have done one or
+two of them I will have a look at your work, and if that is
+satisfactory we will have a talk as to what hours you have got
+disengaged, and what days in the week will suit you best."
+
+It was two hours before Captain Dave came in again. Cyril had just
+finished the work; some of the accounts were long ones, and the
+writing was so crabbed that it took him some time to decipher it.
+
+"Well, how are you getting on, lad?" the Captain asked.
+
+"I have this moment finished the last account."
+
+"What! Do you mean to say that you have done them all! Why, it would
+have taken me all my evenings for a week. Now, hand me the books; it
+is best to do things ship-shape."
+
+He first compared the list of the sales with the entries, and then
+Cyril handed him the twelve accounts he had drawn up. Captain David
+did not speak until he had finished looking through them.
+
+"I would not have believed all that work could have been done in two
+hours," he said, getting up from his chair. "Orderly and well
+written, and without a blot. The King's secretary could not have done
+better! Well, now you have seen the list of sales for a day, and I
+take it that be about the average, so if you come three times a week
+you will always have two days' sales to enter in the ledger. There
+are a lot of other books my father used to keep, but I have never had
+time to bother myself about them, and as I have got on very well so
+far, I do not see any occasion for you to do so, for my part it seems
+to me that all these books are only invented by clerks to give
+themselves something to do to fill up their time. Of course, there
+won't be accounts to send out every day. Do you think with two hours,
+three times a week, you could keep things straight?"
+
+"I should certainly think so, sir, but I can hardly say until I try,
+because it seems to me that there must be a great many items, and I
+can't say how long it will take entering all the goods received under
+their proper headings; but if the books are thoroughly made up now, I
+should think I could keep them all going."
+
+"That they are not," Captain David said ruefully; "they are all
+horribly in arrears. I took charge of them myself three years ago,
+and though I spend three hours every evening worrying over them, they
+get further and further in arrears. Look at those files over there,"
+and he pointed to three long wires, on each of which was strung a
+large bundle of papers; "I am afraid you will have to enter them all
+up before you can get matters into ship-shape order. The daily sale
+book is the only one that has been kept up regularly."
+
+"But these accounts I have made up, sir? Probably in those files
+there are many other goods supplied to the same people."
+
+"Of course there are, lad, though I did not think of it before. Well,
+we must wait, then, until you can make up the arrears a bit, though I
+really want to get some money in."
+
+"Well, sir, I might write at the bottom of each bill 'Account made up
+to,' and then put in the date of the latest entry charged."
+
+"That would do capitally, lad--I did not think of that. I see you
+will be of great use to me. I can buy and sell, for I know the value
+of the goods I deal in; but as to accounts, they are altogether out
+of my way. And now, lad, what do you charge?"
+
+"I charge a groat for two hours' work, sir; but if I came to you
+three times a week, I would do it for a little less."
+
+"No, lad, I don't want to beat you down; indeed, I don't think you
+charge enough. However, let us say, to begin with, three groats a
+week."
+
+This had been six weeks before Sir Aubrey Shenstone's death; and in
+the interval Cyril had gradually wiped off all the arrears, and had
+all the books in order up to date, to the astonishment of his
+employer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
+
+
+"I am glad to see you again, lad," Captain David said, when Cyril
+entered his shop. "I have been thinking of the news you gave me last
+week, and the mistress and I have been talking it over. Where are you
+lodging?"
+
+"I have been lodging until now in Holborn," Cyril replied; "but I am
+going to move."
+
+"Yes; that is what we thought you would be doing. It is always better
+to make a change after a loss. I don't want to interfere in your
+business, lad, but have you any friends you are thinking of going
+to?"
+
+"No, sir; I do not know a soul in London save those I work for."
+
+"That is bad, lad--very bad. I was talking it over with my wife, and
+I said that maybe you were lonely. I am sure, lad, you are one of the
+right sort. I don't mean only in your work, for as for that I would
+back you against any scrivener in London, but I mean about yourself.
+It don't need half an eye to see that you have not been brought up to
+this sort of thing, though you have taken to it so kindly, but there
+is not one in a thousand boys of your age who would have settled down
+to work and made their way without a friend to help them as you have
+done; it shows that there is right good stuff in you. There, I am so
+long getting under weigh that I shall never get into port if I don't
+steer a straight course. Now, my ideas and my wife's come to this: if
+you have got no friends you will have to take a lodging somewhere
+among strangers, and then it would be one of two things--you would
+either stop at home and mope by yourself, or you would go out, and
+maybe get into bad company. If I had not come across you I should
+have had to employ a clerk, and he would either have lived here with
+us or I should have had to pay him enough to keep house for himself.
+Now in fact you are a clerk; for though you are only here for six
+hours a week--you do all the work there is to do, and no clerk could
+do more. Well, we have got an attic upstairs which is not used, and
+if you like to come here and live with us, my wife and I will make
+you heartily welcome."
+
+"Thank you, indeed," Cyril said warmly. "It is of all things what I
+should like; but of course I should wish to pay you for my board. I
+can afford to do so if you will employ me for the same hours as at
+present."
+
+"No, I would not have that, lad; but if you like we can reckon your
+board against what I now pay you. We feed John Wilkes and the two
+apprentices, and one mouth extra will make but little difference. I
+don't want it to be a matter of obligation, so we will put your board
+against the work you do for me. I shall consider that we are making a
+good bargain."
+
+"It is your pleasure to say so, sir, but I cannot tell you what a
+load your kind offer takes off my mind. The future has seemed very
+dark to me."
+
+"Very well. That matter is settled, then. Come upstairs with me and I
+will present you to my wife and daughter; they have heard me speak of
+you so often that they will be glad to see you. In the first place,
+though, I must ask you your name. Since you first signed articles and
+entered the crew I have never thought of asking you."
+
+"My name is Cyril, sir--Cyril Shenstone."
+
+His employer nodded and at once led the way upstairs. A motherly
+looking woman rose from the seat where she was sitting at work, as
+they entered the living-room.
+
+"This is my Prince of Scriveners, Mary, the lad I have often spoken
+to you about. His name is Cyril; he has accepted the proposal we
+talked over last night, and is going to become one of the crew on
+board our ship."
+
+"I am glad to see you," she said to Cyril, holding out her hand to
+him. "I have not met you before, but I feel very grateful to you.
+Till you came, my husband was bothered nearly out of his wits; he
+used to sit here worrying over his books, and writing from the time
+the shop closed till the hour for bed, and Nellie and I dared not to
+say as much as a word. Now we see no more of his books, and he is
+able to go out for a walk in the fields with us as he used to do
+before."
+
+"It is very kind of you to say so, Mistress," Cyril said earnestly;
+"but it is I, on the contrary, who am deeply grateful to you for the
+offer Captain Dave has been good enough to make me. You cannot tell
+the pleasure it has given me, for you cannot understand how lonely
+and friendless I have been feeling. Believe me, I will strive to give
+you as little trouble as possible, and to conform myself in all ways
+to your wishes."
+
+At this moment Nellie Dowsett came into the room. She was a pretty
+girl some eighteen years of age.
+
+"This is Cyril, your father's assistant, Nellie," her mother said.
+
+"You are welcome, Master Cyril. I have been wanting to see you.
+Father has been praising you up to the skies so often that I have had
+quite a curiosity to see what you could be like."
+
+"Your father is altogether too good, Mistress Nellie, and makes far
+more of my poor ability than it deserves."
+
+"And is he going to live with us, mother?" Nellie asked.
+
+"Yes, child; he has accepted your father's offer."
+
+Nellie clapped her hands.
+
+"That is good," she said. "I shall expect you to escort me out
+sometimes, Cyril. Father always wants me to go down to the wharf to
+look at the ships or to go into the fields; but I want to go
+sometimes to see the fashions, and there is no one to take me, for
+John Wilkes always goes off to smoke a pipe with some sailor or
+other, and the apprentices are stupid and have nothing to say for
+themselves; and besides, one can't walk alongside a boy in an
+apprentice cap."
+
+"I shall be very happy to, Mistress, when my work is done, though I
+fear that I shall make but a poor escort, for indeed I have had no
+practice whatever in the esquiring of dames."
+
+"I am sure you will do very well," Nellie said, nodding approvingly.
+"Is it true that you have been in France? Father said he was told
+so."
+
+"Yes; I have lived almost all my life in France."
+
+"And do you speak French?"
+
+"Yes; I speak it as well as English."
+
+"It must have been very hard to learn?"
+
+"Not at all. It came to me naturally, just as English did."
+
+"You must not keep him any longer now, Nellie; he has other
+appointments to keep, and when he has done that, to go and pack up
+his things and see that they are brought here by a porter. He can
+answer some more of your questions when he comes here this evening."
+
+Cyril returned to Holborn with a lighter heart than he had felt for a
+long time. His preparations for the move took him but a short time,
+and two hours later he was installed in a little attic in the
+ship-chandler's house. He spent half-an-hour in unpacking his things,
+and then heard a stentorian shout from below,--
+
+"Masthead, ahoy! Supper's waiting."
+
+Supposing that this hail was intended for himself, he at once went
+downstairs. The table was laid. Mistress Dowsett took her seat at the
+head; her husband sat on one side of her, and Nellie on the other.
+John Wilkes sat next to his master, and beyond him the elder of the
+two apprentices. A seat was left between Nellie and the other
+apprentice for Cyril.
+
+"Now our crew is complete, John," Captain Dave said. "We have been
+wanting a supercargo badly."
+
+"Ay, ay, Captain Dave, there is no doubt we have been short-handed in
+that respect; but things have been more ship-shape lately."
+
+"That is so, John. I can make a shift to keep the vessel on her
+course, but when it comes to writing up the log, and keeping the
+reckoning, I make but a poor hand at it. It was getting to be as bad
+as that voyage of the _Jane_ in the Levant, when the supercargo had
+got himself stabbed at Lemnos."
+
+"I mind it, Captain--I mind it well. And what a trouble there was
+with the owners when we got back again!"
+
+"Yes, yes," the Captain said; "it was worse work than having a brush
+with a Barbary corsair. I shall never forget that day. When I went to
+the office to report, the three owners were all in.
+
+"'Well, Captain Dave, back from your voyage?' said the littlest of
+the three. 'Made a good voyage, I hope?'
+
+"First-rate, says I, except that the supercargo got killed at Lemnos
+by one of them rascally Greeks.
+
+"'Dear, dear,' said another of them--he was a prim, sanctimonious
+sort--'Has our brother Jenkins left us?'
+
+"I don't know about his leaving us, says I, but we left him sure
+enough in a burying-place there.
+
+"'And how did you manage without him?'
+
+"I made as good a shift as I could, I said. I have sold all the
+cargo, and I have brought back a freight of six tons of Turkey figs,
+and four hundred boxes of currants. And these two bags hold the
+difference.
+
+"'Have you brought the books with you, Captain?'
+
+"Never a book, said I. I have had to navigate the ship and to look
+after the crew, and do the best I could at each port. The books are
+on board, made out up to the day before the supercargo was killed,
+three months ago; but I have never had time to make an entry since.
+
+"They looked at each other like owls for a minute or two, and then
+they all began to talk at once. How had I sold the goods? had I
+charged the prices mentioned in the invoice? what percentage had I
+put on for profit? and a lot of other things. I waited until they
+were all out of breath, and then I said I had not bothered about
+invoices. I knew pretty well the prices such things cost in England.
+I clapped on so much more for the expenses of the voyage and a fair
+profit. I could tell them what I had paid for the figs and the
+currants, and for some bags of Smyrna sponges I had bought, but as to
+the prices I had charged, it was too much to expect that I could
+carry them in my head. All I knew was I had paid for the things I had
+bought, I had paid all the port dues and other charges, I had
+advanced the men one-fourth of their wages each month, and I had
+brought them back the balance.
+
+"Such a hubbub you never heard. One would have thought they would
+have gone raving mad. The sanctimonious partner was the worst of the
+lot. He threatened me with the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen, and went
+on till I thought he would have had a fit.
+
+"Look here, says I, at last, I'll tell you what I will do. You tell
+me what the cargo cost you altogether, and put on so much for the
+hire of the ship. I will pay you for them and settle up with the
+crew, and take the cargo and sell it. That is a fair offer. And I
+advise you to keep civil tongues in your heads, or I will knock them
+off and take my chance before the Lord Mayor for assault and battery.
+
+"With that I took off my coat and laid it on a bench. I reckon they
+saw that I was in earnest, and they just sat as mum as mice. Then the
+little man said, in a quieter sort of voice,--
+
+"'You are too hasty, Captain Dowsett. We know you to be an honest man
+and a good sailor, and had no suspicion that you would wrong us; but
+no merchant in the City of London could hear that his business had
+been conducted in such a way as you have carried it through without
+for a time losing countenance. Let us talk the matter over reasonably
+and quietly.'
+
+"That is just what I am wanting, I said; and if there hasn't been
+reason and quiet it is from no fault of mine.
+
+"'Well, please to put your coat on again, Captain, and let us see how
+matters stand!'
+
+"Then they took their ink-horns and pens, and, on finding out what I
+had paid for the figs and other matters, they reckoned them up; then
+they put down what I said was due to the sailors and the mate and
+myself; then they got out some books, and for an hour they were busy
+reckoning up figures; then they opened the bags and counted up the
+gold we had brought home. Well, when they had done, you would hardly
+have known them for the same men. First of all, they went through all
+their calculations again to be sure they had made no mistake about
+them; then they laid down their pens, and the sanctimonious man
+mopped the perspiration from his face, and the others smiled at each
+other. Then the biggest of the three, who had scarcely spoken before,
+said,--
+
+"'Well, Captain Dowsett, I must own that my partners were a little
+hasty. The result of our calculations is that the voyage has been a
+satisfactory one, I may almost say very satisfactory, and that you
+must have disposed of the goods to much advantage. It has been a new
+and somewhat extraordinary way of doing business, but I am bound to
+say that the result has exceeded our expectations, and we trust that
+you will command the _Jane_ for many more voyages.'
+
+"Not for me, says I. You can hand me over the wages due to me, and
+you will find the _Jane_ moored in the stream just above the Tower.
+You will find her in order and shipshape; but never again do I set my
+foot on board her or on any other vessel belonging to men who have
+doubted my honesty.
+
+"Nor did I. I had a pretty good name among traders, and ten days
+later I started for the Levant again in command of a far smarter
+vessel than the _Jane_ had ever been."
+
+"And we all went with you, Captain," John Wilkes said, "every man
+jack of us. And on her very next voyage the _Jane_ was captured by
+the Algerines, and I reckon there are some of the poor fellows
+working as slaves there now; for though Blake did blow the place
+pretty nigh out of water a few years afterwards, it is certain that
+the Christian slaves handed over to him were not half those the Moors
+had in their hands."
+
+"It would seem, Captain Dowsett, from your story, that you can manage
+very well without a supercargo?" Cyril said quietly.
+
+"Ay, lad; but you see that was a ready-money business. I handed over
+the goods and took the cash; there was no accounts to be kept. It was
+all clear and above board. But it is a different thing in this ship
+altogether, when, instead of paying down on the nail for what they
+get, you have got to keep an account of everything and send in all
+their items jotted down in order. Why, Nellie, your tongue seems
+quieter than usual."
+
+"You have not given me a chance, father. You have been talking ever
+since we sat down to table."
+
+Supper was now over. The two apprentices at once retired. Cyril would
+have done the same, but Mistress Dowsett said,--
+
+"Sit you still, Cyril. The Captain says that you are to be considered
+as one of the officers of the ship, and we shall be always glad to
+have you here, though of course you can always go up to your own
+room, or go out, when you feel inclined."
+
+"I have to go out three times a week to work," Cyril said; "but all
+the other evenings I shall be glad indeed to sit here, Mistress
+Dowsett. You cannot tell what a pleasure it is to me to be in an
+English home like this."
+
+It was not long before John Wilkes went out.
+
+"He is off to smoke his pipe," the Captain said. "I never light mine
+till he goes. I can't persuade him to take his with me; he insists it
+would not be manners to smoke in the cabin."
+
+"He is quite right, father," Nellie said. "It is bad enough having
+you smoke here. When mother's friends or mine come in they are
+well-nigh choked; they are not accustomed to it as we are, for a
+respectable London citizen does not think of taking tobacco."
+
+"I am a London citizen, Nellie, but I don't set up any special claim
+to respectability. I am a sea-captain, though that rascally Greek
+cannon-ball and other circumstances have made a trader of me, sorely
+against my will; and if I could not have my pipe and my glass of grog
+here I would go and sit with John Wilkes in the tavern at the corner
+of the street, and I suppose that would not be even as respectable as
+smoking here."
+
+"Nellie doesn't mean, David, that she wants you to give up smoking;
+only she thinks that John is quite right to go out to take his pipe.
+And I must say I think so too. You know that when you have
+sea-captains of your acquaintance here, you always send the maid off
+to bed and smoke in the kitchen."
+
+"Ay, ay, my dear, I don't want to turn your room into a fo'castle.
+There is reason in all things. I suppose you don't smoke, Master
+Cyril?"
+
+"No, Captain Dave, I have never so much as thought of such a thing.
+In France it is the fashion to take snuff, but the habit seemed to me
+a useless one, and I don't think that I should ever have taken to
+it."
+
+"I wonder," Captain Dave said, after they had talked for some time,
+"that after living in sight of the sea for so long your thoughts
+never turned that way."
+
+"I cannot say that I have never thought of it," Cyril said. "I have
+thought that I should greatly like to take foreign voyages, but I
+should not have cared to go as a ship's boy, and to live with men so
+ignorant that they could not even write their own names. My thoughts
+have turned rather to the Army; and when I get older I think of
+entering some foreign service, either that of Sweden or of one of the
+Protestant German princes. I could obtain introductions through which
+I might enter as a cadet, or gentleman volunteer. I have learnt
+German, and though I cannot speak it as I can French or English, I
+know enough to make my way in it."
+
+"Can you use your sword, Cyril?" Nellie Dowsett asked.
+
+"I have had very good teaching," Cyril replied, "and hope to be able
+to hold my own."
+
+"Then you are not satisfied with this mode of life?" Mistress Dowsett
+said.
+
+"I am satisfied with it, Mistress, inasmuch as I can earn money
+sufficient to keep me. But rather than settle down for life as a city
+scrivener, I would go down to the river and ship on board the first
+vessel that would take me, no matter where she sailed for."
+
+"I think you are wrong," Mistress Dowsett said gravely. "My husband
+tells me how clever you are at figures, and you might some day get a
+good post in the house of one of our great merchants."
+
+"Maybe it would be so," Cyril said; "but such a life would ill suit
+me. I have truly a great desire to earn money: but it must be in some
+way to suit my taste."
+
+"And why do you want to earn a great deal of money, Cyril?" Nellie
+laughed, while her mother shook her head disapprovingly.
+
+"I wish to have enough to buy my father's estate back again," he
+said, "and though I know well enough that it is not likely I shall
+ever do it, I shall fight none the worse that I have such a hope in
+my mind."
+
+"Bravo, lad!" Captain Dave said. "I knew not that there was an estate
+in the case, though I did hear that you were the son of a Royalist.
+It is a worthy ambition, boy, though if it is a large one 'tis scarce
+like that you will get enough to buy it back again."
+
+"It is not a very large one," Cyril said. "'Tis down in Norfolk, but
+it was a grand old house--at least, so I have heard my father say,
+though I have but little remembrance of it, as I was but three years
+old when I left it. My father, who was Sir Aubrey Shenstone, had
+hoped to recover it; but he was one of the many who sold their
+estates for far less than their value in order to raise money in the
+King's service, and, as you are aware, none of those who did so have
+been reinstated, but only those who, having had their land taken from
+them by Parliament, recovered them because their owners had no
+title-deeds to show, save the grant of Parliament that was of no
+effect in the Courts. Thus the most loyal men--those who sold their
+estates to aid the King--have lost all, while those that did not so
+dispossess themselves in his service are now replaced on their land."
+
+"It seems very unfair," Nellie said indignantly.
+
+"It is unfair to them, assuredly, Mistress Nellie. And yet it would
+be unfair to the men who bought, though often they gave but a tenth
+of their value, to be turned out again unless they received their
+money back. It is not easy to see where that money could come from,
+for assuredly the King's privy purse would not suffice to pay all the
+money, and equally certain is it that Parliament would not vote a
+great sum for that purpose."
+
+"It is a hard case, lad--a hard case," Captain Dave said, as he
+puffed the smoke from his pipe. "Now I know how you stand, I blame,
+you in no way that you long more for a life of adventure than to
+settle down as a city scrivener. I don't think even my wife, much as
+she thinks of the city, could say otherwise."
+
+"It alters the case much," Mistress Dowsett said. "I did not know
+that Cyril was the son of a Knight, though it was easy enough to see
+that his manners accord not with his present position. Still there
+are fortunes made in the city, and no honest work is dishonouring
+even to a gentleman's son."
+
+"Not at all, Mistress," Cyril said warmly. "'Tis assuredly not on
+that account that I would fain seek more stirring employment; but it
+was always my father's wish and intention that, should there be no
+chance of his ever regaining the estate, I should enter foreign
+service, and I have always looked forward to that career."
+
+"Well, I will wager that you will do credit to it, lad," Captain Dave
+said. "You have proved that you are ready to turn your hand to any
+work that may come to you. You have shown a manly spirit, my boy, and
+I honour you for it; and by St. Anthony I believe that some day,
+unless a musket-ball or a pike-thrust brings you up with a round
+turn, you will live to get your own back again."
+
+Cyril remained talking for another two hours, and then betook himself
+to bed. After he had gone, Mistress Dowsett said, after a pause,--
+
+"Do you not think, David, that, seeing that Cyril is the son of a
+Knight, it would be more becoming to give him the room downstairs
+instead of the attic where he is now lodged?"
+
+The old sailor laughed.
+
+"That is woman-kind all over," he said. "It was good enough for him
+before, and now forsooth, because the lad mentioned, and assuredly in
+no boasting way, that his father had been a Knight, he is to be
+treated differently. He would not thank you himself for making the
+change, dame. In the first place, it would make him uncomfortable,
+and he might make an excuse to leave us altogether; and in the
+second, you may be sure that he has been used to no better quarters
+than those he has got. The Royalists in France were put to sore
+shifts to live, and I fancy that he has fared no better since he came
+home. His father would never have consented to his going out to earn
+money by keeping the accounts of little city traders like myself had
+it not been that he was driven to it by want. No, no, wife; let the
+boy go on as he is, and make no difference in any way. I liked him
+before, and I like him all the better now, for putting his
+gentlemanship in his pocket and setting manfully to work instead of
+hanging on the skirts of some Royalist who has fared better than his
+father did. He is grateful as it is--that is easy to see--for our
+taking him in here. We did that partly because he proved a good
+worker and has taken a lot of care off my shoulders, partly because
+he was fatherless and alone. I would not have him think that we are
+ready to do more because he is a Knight's son. Let the boy be, and
+suffer him to steer his ship his own course. If, when the time comes,
+we can further his objects in any way we will do it with right good
+will. What do you think of him, Nellie?" he asked, changing the
+subject.
+
+"He is a proper young fellow, father, and I shall be well content to
+go abroad escorted by him instead of having your apprentice, Robert
+Ashford, in attendance on me. He has not a word to say for himself,
+and truly I like him not in anyway."
+
+"He is not a bad apprentice, Nellie, and John Wilkes has but seldom
+cause to find fault with him, though I own that I have no great
+liking myself for him; he never seems to look one well in the face,
+which, I take it, is always a bad sign. I know no harm of him; but
+when his apprenticeship is out, which it will be in another year, I
+shall let him go his own way, for I should not care to have him on
+the premises."
+
+"Methinks you are very unjust, David. The lad is quiet and regular in
+his ways; he goes twice every Sunday to the Church of St. Alphage,
+and always tells me the texts of the sermons."
+
+The Captain grunted.
+
+"Maybe so, wife; but it is easy to get hold of the text of a sermon
+without having heard it. I have my doubts whether he goes as
+regularly to St. Alphage's as he says he does. Why could he not go
+with us to St. Bennet's?"
+
+"He says he likes the administrations of Mr. Catlin better, David.
+And, in truth, our parson is not one of the stirring kind."
+
+"So much the better," Captain Dave said bluntly. "I like not these
+men that thump the pulpit and make as if they were about to jump out
+head foremost. However, I don't suppose there is much harm in the
+lad, and it may be that his failure to look one in the face is not so
+much his fault as that of nature, which endowed him with a villainous
+squint. Well, let us turn in; it is past nine o'clock, and high time
+to be a-bed."
+
+Cyril seemed to himself to have entered upon a new life when he
+stepped across the threshold of David Dowsett's store. All his cares
+and anxieties had dropped from him. For the past two years he had
+lived the life of an automaton, starting early to his work, returning
+in the middle of the day to his dinner,--to which as often as not he
+sat down alone,--and spending his evenings in utter loneliness in the
+bare garret, where he was generally in bed long before his father
+returned. He blamed himself sometimes during the first fortnight of
+his stay here for the feeling of light-heartedness that at times came
+over him. He had loved his father in spite of his faults, and should,
+he told himself, have felt deeply depressed at his loss; but nature
+was too strong for him. The pleasant evenings with Captain Dave and
+his family were to him delightful; he was like a traveller who, after
+a cold and cheerless journey, comes in to the warmth of a fire, and
+feels a glow of comfort as the blood circulates briskly through his
+veins. Sometimes, when he had no other engagements, he went out with
+Nellie Dowsett, whose lively chatter was new and very amusing to him.
+Sometimes they went up into Cheapside, and into St. Paul's, but more
+often sallied out of the city at Aldgate, and walked into the fields.
+On these occasions he carried a stout cane that had been his
+father's, for Nellie tried in vain to persuade him to gird on a
+sword.
+
+"You are a gentleman, Cyril," she would argue, "and have a right to
+carry one."
+
+"I am for the present a sober citizen, Mistress Nellie, and do not
+wish to assume to be of any other condition. Those one sees with
+swords are either gentlemen of the Court, or common bullies, or maybe
+highwaymen. After nightfall it is different; for then many citizens
+carry their swords, which indeed are necessary to protect them from
+the ruffians who, in spite of the city watch, oftentimes attack quiet
+passers-by; and if at any time I escort you to the house of one of
+your friends, I shall be ready to take my sword with me. But in the
+daytime there is no occasion for a weapon, and, moreover, I am full
+young to carry one, and this stout cane would, were it necessary, do
+me good service, for I learned in France the exercise that they call
+the _baton_, which differs little from our English singlestick."
+
+While Cyril was received almost as a member of the family by Captain
+Dave and his wife, and found himself on excellent terms with John
+Wilkes, he saw that he was viewed with dislike by the two
+apprentices. He was scarcely surprised at this. Before his coming,
+Robert Ashford had been in the habit of escorting his young mistress
+when she went out, and had no doubt liked these expeditions, as a
+change from the measuring out of ropes and weighing of iron in the
+store. Then, again, the apprentices did not join in the conversation
+at table unless a remark was specially addressed to them; and as
+Captain Dave was by no means fond of his elder apprentice, it was but
+seldom that he spoke to him. Robert Ashford was between eighteen and
+nineteen. He was no taller than Cyril, but it would have been
+difficult to judge his age by his face, which had a wizened look;
+and, as Nellie said one day, in his absence, he might pass very well
+for sixty.
+
+It was easy enough for Cyril to see that Robert Ashford heartily
+disliked him; the covert scowls that he threw across the table at
+meal-time, and the way in which he turned his head and feigned to be
+too busy to notice him as he passed through the shop, were sufficient
+indications of ill-will. The younger apprentice, Tom Frost, was but a
+boy of fifteen; he gave Cyril the idea of being a timid lad. He did
+not appear to share his comrade's hostility to him, but once or
+twice, when Cyril came out from the office after making up the
+accounts of the day, he fancied that the boy glanced at him with an
+expression of anxiety, if not of terror.
+
+"If it were not," Cyril said to himself, "that Tom is clearly too
+nervous and timid to venture upon an act of dishonesty, I should say
+that he had been pilfering something; but I feel sure that he would
+not attempt such a thing as that, though I am by no means certain
+that Robert Ashford, with his foxy face and cross eyes, would not
+steal his master's goods or any one else's did he get the chance.
+Unless he were caught in the act, he could do it with impunity, for
+everything here is carried on in such a free-and-easy fashion that
+any amount of goods might be carried off without their being missed."
+
+After thinking the matter over, he said, one afternoon when his
+employer came in while he was occupied at the accounts,--
+
+"I have not seen anything of a stock-book, Captain Dave. Everything
+else is now straight, and balanced up to to-day. Here is the book of
+goods sold, the book of goods received, and the ledger with the
+accounts; but there is no stock-book such as I find in almost all the
+other places where I work."
+
+"What do I want with a stock-book?" Captain Dave asked.
+
+"You cannot know how you stand without it," Cyril replied. "You know
+how much you have paid, and how much you have received during the
+year; but unless you have a stock-book you do not know whether the
+difference between the receipts and expenditure represents profit,
+for the stock may have so fallen in value during the year that you
+may really have made a loss while seeming to make a profit."
+
+"How can that be?" Captain Dave asked. "I get a fair profit on every
+article."
+
+"There ought to be a profit, of course," Cyril said; "but sometimes
+it is found not to be so. Moreover, if there is a stock-book you can
+tell at any time, without the trouble of opening bins and weighing
+metal, how much stock you have of each article you sell, and can
+order your goods accordingly."
+
+"How would you do that?"
+
+"It is very simple, Captain Dave," Cyril said. "After taking stock of
+the whole of the goods, I should have a ledger in which each article
+would have a page or more to itself, and every day I should enter
+from John Wilkes's sales-book a list of the goods that have gone out,
+each under its own heading. Thus, at any moment, if you were to ask
+how much chain you had got in stock I could tell you within a fathom.
+When did you take stock last?"
+
+"I should say it was about fifteen months since. It was only
+yesterday John Wilkes was saying we had better have a thorough
+overhauling."
+
+"Quite time, too, I should think, Captain Dave. I suppose you have
+got the account of your last stock-taking, with the date of it?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I have got that;" and the Captain unlocked his desk and
+took out an account-book. "It has been lying there ever since. It
+took a wonderful lot of trouble to do, and I had a clerk and two men
+in for a fortnight, for of course John and the boys were attending to
+their usual duties. I have often wondered since why I should have had
+all that trouble over a matter that has never been of the slightest
+use to me."
+
+"Well, I hope you will take it again, sir; it is a trouble, no doubt,
+but you will find it a great advantage."
+
+"Are you sure you think it needful, Cyril?"
+
+"Most needful, Captain Dave. You will see the advantage of it
+afterwards."
+
+"Well, if you think so, I suppose it must be done," the Captain said,
+with a sigh; "but it will be giving you a lot of trouble to keep this
+new book of yours."
+
+"That is nothing, sir. Now that I have got all the back work up it
+will be a simple matter to keep the daily work straight. I shall find
+ample time to do it without any need of lengthening my hours."
+
+Cyril now set to work in earnest, and telling Mrs. Dowsett he had
+some books that he wanted to make up in his room before going to bed,
+he asked her to allow him to keep his light burning.
+
+Mrs. Dowsett consented, but shook her head and said he would
+assuredly injure his health if he worked by candle light.
+
+Fortunately, John Wilkes had just opened a fresh sales-book, and
+Cyril told him that he wished to refer to some particulars in the
+back books. He first opened the ledger by inscribing under their
+different heads the amount of each description of goods kept in stock
+at the last stock-taking, and then entered under their respective
+heads all the sales that had been made, while on an opposite page he
+entered the amount purchased. It took him a month's hard work, and he
+finished it on the very day that the new stock-taking concluded.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A THIEF SOMEWHERE
+
+
+Two days after the conclusion of the stock-taking, Cyril said, after
+breakfast was over,--
+
+"Would it trouble you, Captain Dave, to give me an hour up here
+before you go downstairs to the counting-house. I am free for two
+hours now, and there is a matter upon which I should like to speak to
+you privately."
+
+"Certainly, lad," the old sailor said, somewhat surprised. "We shall
+be quiet enough here, as soon as the table is cleared. My dame and
+Nellie will be helping the maid do up the cabins, and will then be
+sallying out marketing."
+
+When the maid had cleared the table, Cyril went up to his room and
+returned with a large ledger and several smaller books.
+
+"I have, for the last month, Captain Dave, been making up this
+stock-book for my own satisfaction."
+
+"Bless me, lad, why have you taken all that trouble? This accounts,
+then, for your writing so long at night, for which my dame has been
+quarrelling with you!"
+
+"It was interesting work," Cyril said quietly. "Now, you see, sir,"
+he went on, opening the big ledger, "here are the separate accounts
+under each head. These pages, you see, are for heavy cables for
+hawsers; of these, at the date of the last stock-taking, there were,
+according to the book you handed to me, five hundred fathoms in
+stock. These are the amounts you have purchased since. Now, upon the
+other side are all the sales of this cable entered in the sales-book.
+Adding them together, and deducting them from the other side, you
+will see there should remain in stock four hundred and fifty fathoms.
+According to the new stock-taking there are four hundred and
+thirty-eight. That is, I take it, as near as you could expect to get,
+for, in the measuring out of so many thousand fathoms of cable during
+the fifteen months between the two stock-takings, there may well have
+been a loss of the twelve fathoms in giving good measurement."
+
+"That is so," Captain Dave said. "I always say to John Wilkes, 'Give
+good measurement, John--better a little over than a little under.'
+Nothing can be clearer or more satisfactory."
+
+Cyril closed the book.
+
+"I am sorry to say, Captain Dave, all the items are not so
+satisfactory, and that I greatly fear that you have been robbed to a
+considerable amount."
+
+"Robbed, lad!" the Captain said, starting up from his chair. "Who
+should rob me? Not John Wilkes, I can be sworn! Not the two
+apprentices for a surety, for they never go out during the day, and
+John keeps a sharp look-out upon them, and the entrance to the shop
+is always locked and barred after work is over, so that none can
+enter without getting the key, which, as you know, John always brings
+up and hands to me as soon as he has fastened the door! You are
+mistaken, lad, and although I know that your intentions are good, you
+should be careful how you make a charge that might bring ruin to
+innocent men. Carelessness there may be; but robbery! No; assuredly
+not."
+
+"I have not brought the charge without warrant, Captain Dave," Cyril
+said gravely, "and if you will bear with me for a few minutes, I
+think you will see that there is at least something that wants
+looking into."
+
+"Well, it is only fair after the trouble you have taken, lad, that I
+should hear what you have to say; but it will need strong evidence
+indeed to make me believe that there has been foul play."
+
+"Well, sir," Cyril said, opening the ledger again, "in the first
+place, I would point out that in all the heavy articles, such as
+could not conveniently be carried away, the tally of the stock-takers
+corresponds closely with the figures in this book. In best bower
+anchors the figures are absolutely the same and, as you have seen, in
+heavy cables they closely correspond. In the large ship's compasses,
+the ship's boilers, and ship's galleys, the numbers tally exactly. So
+it is with all the heavy articles; the main blocks are correct, and
+all other heavy gear. This shows that John Wilkes's book is carefully
+kept, and it would be strange indeed if heavy goods had all been
+properly entered, and light ones omitted; but yet when we turn to
+small articles, we find that there is a great discrepancy between the
+figures. Here is the account, for instance, of the half-inch rope.
+According to my ledger, there should be eighteen hundred fathoms in
+stock, whereas the stock-takers found but three hundred and eighty.
+In two-inch rope there is a deficiency of two hundred and thirty
+fathoms, in one-inch rope of six hundred and twenty. These sizes, as
+you know, are always in requisition, and a thief would find ready
+purchasers for a coil of any of them. But, as might be expected, it
+is in copper that the deficiency is most serious. Of fourteen-inch
+bolts, eighty-two are short, of twelve-inch bolts a hundred and
+thirty, of eight-inch three hundred and nine; and so on throughout
+almost all the copper stores. According to your expenditure and
+receipt-book, Captain Dave, you have made, in the last fifteen
+months, twelve hundred and thirty pounds; but according to this book
+your stock is less in value, by two thousand and thirty-four pounds,
+than it should have been. You are, therefore, a poorer man than you
+were at the beginning of this fifteen months' trading, by eight
+hundred and four pounds."
+
+Captain Dave sat down in his chair, breathing hard. He took out his
+handkerchief and wiped the drops of perspiration from his forehead.
+
+"Are you sure of this, boy?" he said hoarsely. "Are you sure that you
+have made no mistake in your figures?"
+
+"Quite sure," Cyril said firmly. "In all cases in which I have found
+deficiencies I have gone through the books three times and compared
+the figures, and I am sure that if you put the books into the hands
+of any city accountant, he will bear out my figures."
+
+For a time Captain Dave sat silent.
+
+"Hast any idea," he said at last, "how this has come about?"
+
+"I have none," Cyril replied. "That John Wilkes is not concerned in
+it I am as sure as you are; and, thinking the matter over, I see not
+how the apprentices could have carried off so many articles, some
+heavy and some bulky, when they left the shop in the evening, without
+John Wilkes noticing them. So sure am I, that my advice would be that
+you should take John Wilkes into your confidence, and tell him how
+matters stand. My only objection to that is that he is a hasty man,
+and that I fear he would not be able to keep his countenance, so that
+the apprentices would remark that something was wrong. I am far from
+saying that they have any hand in it; it would be a grievous wrong to
+them to have suspicions when there is no shadow of evidence against
+them; but at any rate, if this matter is to be stopped and the
+thieves detected, it is most important that they should have, if they
+are guilty, no suspicion that they are in any way being watched, or
+that these deficiencies have been discovered. If they have had a hand
+in the matter they most assuredly had accomplices, for such goods
+could not be disposed of by an apprentice to any dealer without his
+being sure that they must have been stolen."
+
+"You are right there, lad--quite right. Did John Wilkes know that I
+had been robbed in this way he would get into a fury, and no words
+could restrain him from falling upon the apprentices and beating them
+till he got some of the truth out of them."
+
+"They may be quite innocent," Cyril said. "It may be that the thieves
+have discovered some mode of entry into the store either by opening
+the shutters at the back, or by loosening a board, or even by delving
+up under the ground. It is surely easier to believe this than that
+the boys can have contrived to carry off so large a quantity of goods
+under John Wilkes's eye."
+
+"That is so, lad. I have never liked Robert Ashford, but God forbid
+that I should suspect him of such crime only because his forehead is
+as wrinkled as an ape's, and Providence has set his eyes crossways in
+his head. You cannot always judge a ship by her upper works; she may
+be ugly to the eye and yet have a clear run under water. Still, you
+can't help going by what you see. I agree with you that if we tell
+John Wilkes about this, those boys will know five minutes afterwards
+that the ship is on fire; but if we don't tell him, how are we to get
+to the bottom of what is going on?"
+
+"That is a difficult question, but a few days will not make much
+difference, when we know that it has been going on for over a year,
+and may, for aught we know, have been going on much longer. The first
+thing, Captain Dave, is to send these books to an accountant, for him
+to go through them and check my figures."
+
+"There is no need for that, lad. I know how careful you are, and you
+cannot have gone so far wrong as all this."
+
+"No, sir, I am sure that there is no mistake; but, for your own sake
+as well as mine, it were well that you should have the signature of
+an accountant to the correctness of the books. If you have to lay the
+matter before the magistrates, they would not take my testimony as to
+your losses, and might even say that you were rash in acting upon the
+word of a boy like myself, and you might then be obliged to have the
+accounts made up anew, which would cost you more, and cause much
+delay in the process; whereas, if you put in your books and say that
+their correctness is vouched for by an accountant, no question would
+arise on it; nor would there be any delay now, for while the books
+are being gone into, we can be trying to get to the bottom of the
+matter here."
+
+"Ay, ay, it shall be done, Master Cyril, as you say. But for the life
+of me I don't see how we are to get at the bottom of the ship to find
+out where she is leaking!"
+
+"It seems to me that the first thing, Captain Dave, is to see to the
+warehouse. As we agreed that the apprentices cannot have carried out
+all these goods under John Wilkes's eye, and cannot have come down
+night after night through the house, the warehouse must have been
+entered from without. As I never go in there, it would be best that
+you should see to this matter yourself. There are the fastenings of
+the shutters in the first place, then the boardings all round. As for
+me, I will look round outside. The window of my room looks into the
+street, but if you will take me to one of the rooms at the back we
+can look at the surroundings of the yard, and may gather some idea
+whether the goods can have been passed over into any of the houses
+abutting on it, or, as is more likely, into the lane that runs up by
+its side."
+
+The Captain led the way into one of the rooms at the back of the
+house, and opening the casement, he and Cyril leaned out. The store
+occupied fully half the yard, the rest being occupied by anchors,
+piles of iron, ballast, etc. There were two or three score of guns of
+various sizes piled on each other. A large store of cannon-ball was
+ranged in a great pyramid close by. A wall some ten feet high
+separated the yard from the lane Cyril had spoken of. On the left,
+adjoining the warehouse, was the yard of the next shop, which
+belonged to a wool-stapler. Behind were the backs of a number of
+small houses crowded in between Tower Street and Leadenhall Street.
+
+"I suppose you do not know who lives in those houses, Captain Dave?"
+
+"No, indeed. The land is not like the sea. Afloat, when one sees a
+sail, one wonders what is her nationality, and whither she is bound,
+and still more whether she is an honest trader or a rascally pirate;
+but here on land, one scarcely gives a thought as to who may dwell in
+the houses round."
+
+"I will walk round presently," Cyril said, "and gather, as far as I
+can, who they are that live there; but, as I have said, I fancy it is
+over that wall and into the alley that your goods have departed. The
+apprentices' room is this side of the house, is it not?"
+
+"Yes; John Wilkes sleeps in the room next to yours, and the door
+opposite to his is that of the lads' room."
+
+"Do the windows of any of the rooms look into that lane?"
+
+"No; it is a blank wall on that side."
+
+"There is the clock striking nine," Cyril said, starting. "It is time
+for me to be off. Then you will take the books to-day, Captain Dave?"
+
+"I will carry them off at once, and when I return will look narrowly
+into the fastenings of the two windows and door from the warehouse
+into the yard; and will take care to do so when the boys are engaged
+in the front shop."
+
+When his work was done, Cyril went round to the houses behind the
+yard, and he found that they stood in a small court, with three or
+four trees growing in the centre, and were evidently inhabited by
+respectable citizens. Over the door of one was painted, "Joshua
+Heddings, Attorney"; next to him was Gilbert Gushing, who dealt in
+jewels, silks, and other precious commodities from the East; next to
+him was a doctor, and beyond a dealer in spices. This was enough to
+assure him that it was not through such houses as these that the
+goods had been carried.
+
+Cyril had not been back at the mid-day meal, for his work that day
+lay up by Holborn Bar, where he had two customers whom he attended
+with but half an hour's interval between the visits, and on the days
+on which he went there he was accustomed to get something to eat at a
+tavern hard by.
+
+Supper was an unusually quiet meal. Captain Dave now and then asked
+John Wilkes a question as to the business matters of the day, but
+evidently spoke with an effort. Nellie rattled on as usual; but the
+burden of keeping up the conversation lay entirely on her shoulders
+and those of Cyril. After the apprentices had left, and John Wilkes
+had started for his usual resort, the Captain lit his pipe. Nellie
+signed to Cyril to come and seat himself by her in the window that
+projected out over the street, and enabled the occupants of the seats
+at either side to have a view up and down it.
+
+"What have you been doing to father, Cyril?" she asked, in low tones;
+"he has been quite unlike himself all day. Generally when he is out
+of temper he rates everyone heartily, as if we were a mutinous crew,
+but to-day he has gone about scarcely speaking; he hasn't said a
+cross word to any of us, but several times when I spoke to him I got
+no answer, and it is easy to see that he is terribly put out about
+something. He was in his usual spirits at breakfast; then, you know,
+he was talking with you for an hour, and it does not take much
+guessing to see that it must have been something that passed between
+you that has put him out. Now what was it?"
+
+"I don't see why you should say that, Mistress Nellie. It is true we
+did have a talk together, and he examined some fresh books I have
+been making out and said that he was mightily pleased with my work. I
+went away at nine o'clock, and something may have occurred to upset
+him between that and dinner."
+
+"All which means that you don't mean to tell me anything about it,
+Master Cyril. Well, then, you may consider yourself in my black books
+altogether," she said petulantly.
+
+"I am sorry that you should say so," he said. "If it were true that
+anything that I had said to him had ruffled him, it would be for him
+to tell you, and not for me."
+
+"Methinks I have treated Robert Ashford scurvily, and I shall take
+him for my escort to see His Majesty attend service at St. Paul's
+to-morrow."
+
+Cyril smiled.
+
+"I think it would be fair to give him a turn, Mistress, and I am glad
+to see that you have such a kind thought."
+
+Nellie rose indignantly, and taking her work sat down by the side of
+her mother.
+
+"It is a fine evening," Cyril said to Captain Dave, "and I think I
+shall take a walk round. I shall return in an hour."
+
+The Captain understood, by a glance Cyril gave him, that he was going
+out for some purpose connected with the matter they had in hand.
+
+"Ay, ay, lad," he said. "It is not good for you to be sitting moping
+at home every evening. I have often wondered before that you did not
+take a walk on deck before you turned in. I always used to do so
+myself."
+
+"I don't think there is any moping in it, Captain Dave," Cyril said,
+with a laugh. "If you knew how pleasant the evenings have been to me
+after the life I lived before, you would not say so."
+
+Cyril's only object in going out, however, was to avoid the necessity
+of having to talk with Dame Dowsett and Nellie. His thoughts were
+running on nothing but the robbery, and he had found it very
+difficult to talk in his usual manner, and to answer Nellie's
+sprightly sallies. It was dark already. A few oil lamps gave a feeble
+light here and there. At present he had formed no plan whatever of
+detecting the thieves; he was as much puzzled as the Captain himself
+as to how the goods could have been removed. It would be necessary,
+of course, to watch the apprentices, but he did not think that
+anything was likely to come out of this. It was the warehouse itself
+that must be watched, in order to discover how the thieves made an
+entry. His own idea was that they got over the wall by means of a
+rope, and in some way managed to effect an entry into the warehouse.
+The apprentices could hardly aid them unless they came down through
+the house.
+
+If they had managed to get a duplicate key of the door leading from
+the bottom of the stairs to the shop, they could, of course, unbar
+the windows, and pass things out--that part of the business would be
+easy; but he could not believe that they would venture frequently to
+pass down through the house. It was an old one, and the stairs
+creaked. He himself was a light sleeper; he had got into the way of
+waking at the slightest sound, from the long watches he had had for
+his father's return, and felt sure that he should have heard them
+open their door and steal along the passage past his room, however
+quietly they might do it. He walked up the Exchange, then along
+Cheapside as far as St. Paul's, and back. Quiet as it was in Thames
+Street there was no lack of animation elsewhere. Apprentices were
+generally allowed to go out for an hour after supper, the regulation
+being that they returned to their homes by eight o'clock. Numbers of
+these were about. A good many citizens were on their way home after
+supping with friends. The city watch, with lanterns, patrolled the
+streets, and not infrequently interfered in quarrels which broke out
+among the apprentices. Cyril felt more solitary among the knots of
+laughing, noisy lads than in the quiet streets, and was glad to be
+home again. Captain Dave himself came down to open the door.
+
+"I have just sent the women to bed," he said. "The two boys came in
+five minutes ago. I thought you would not be long."
+
+"I did not go out for anything particular," Cyril said; "but Mistress
+Nellie insisted that there was something wrong with you, and that I
+must know what it was about, so, feeling indeed indisposed to talk, I
+thought it best to go out for a short time."
+
+"Yes, yes. Women always want to know, lad. I have been long enough at
+sea, you may be sure, to know that when anything is wrong, it is the
+best thing to keep it from the passengers as long as you can."
+
+"You took the books away this morning, Captain Dave?" Cyril asked as
+they sat down.
+
+"Ay, lad, I took them to Master Skinner, who bears as good a
+reputation as any accountant in the city, and he promised to take
+them in hand without loss of time; but I have been able to do nothing
+here. John, or one or other of the boys, was always in the warehouse,
+and I have had no opportunity of examining the door and shutters
+closely. When the house is sound asleep we will take a lantern and go
+down to look at them. I have been thinking that we must let John
+Wilkes into this matter; it is too much to bear on my mind by myself.
+He is my first mate, you see, and in time of danger, the first mate,
+if he is worth anything, is the man the captain relies on for help."
+
+"By all means tell him, then," Cyril said. "I can keep books, but I
+have no experience in matters like this, and shall be very glad to
+have his opinion and advice."
+
+"There he is--half-past eight. He is as punctual as clockwork."
+
+Cyril ran down and let John in.
+
+"The Captain wants to speak to you," he said, "before you go up to
+bed."
+
+John, after carefully bolting the door, followed him upstairs.
+
+"I have got some bad news for you, John. There, light your pipe
+again, and sit down. My good dame has gone off to bed, and we have
+got the cabin to ourselves."
+
+John touched an imaginary hat and obeyed orders.
+
+"The ship has sprung a bad leak, John. This lad here has found it
+out, and it is well he did, for unless he had done so we should have
+had her foundering under our feet without so much as suspecting
+anything was going wrong."
+
+The sailor took his newly-lighted pipe from between his lips and
+stared at the Captain in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, it is hard to believe, mate, but, by the Lord Harry, it is as I
+say. There is a pirate about somewhere, and the books show that,
+since the stock-taking fifteen months ago, he has eased the craft of
+her goods to the tune of two thousand pounds and odd."
+
+John Wilkes flung his pipe on to the table with such force that it
+shivered into fragments.
+
+"Dash my timbers!" he exclaimed. "Who is the man? You only give me
+the orders, sir, and I am ready to range alongside and board him."
+
+"That is what we have got to find out, John. That the goods have gone
+is certain, but how they can have gone beats us altogether."
+
+"Do you mean to say, Captain, that they have stolen them out of the
+place under my eyes and me know nothing about it? It can't be, sir.
+There must be some mistake. I know naught about figures, save enough
+to put down the things I sell, but I don't believe as a thing has
+gone out of the shop unbeknown to me. That yarn won't do for me,
+sir," and he looked angrily at Cyril.
+
+"It is true enough, John, for all that. The books have been balanced
+up. We knew what was in stock fifteen months ago, and we knew from
+your sale-book what has passed out of the shop, and from your
+entry-book what has come in. We know now what there is remaining. We
+find that in bulky goods, such as cables and anchors and ships'
+boilers and suchlike, the accounts tally exactly, but in the small
+rope, and above all in the copper, there is a big shrinkage. I will
+read you the figures of some of them."
+
+John's face grew longer and longer as he heard the totals read.
+
+"Well, I'm jiggered!" he said, when the list was concluded. "I could
+have sworn that the cargo was right according to the manifest. Well,
+Captain, all I can say is, if that 'ere list be correct, the best
+thing you can do is to send me adrift as a blind fool. I have kept my
+tallies as correct as I could, and I thought I had marked down every
+package that has left the ship, and here they must have been passing
+out pretty nigh in cart-loads under my very eyes, and I knew nothing
+about it."
+
+"I don't blame you, John, more than I blame myself. I am generally
+about on deck, and had no more idea that the cargo was being meddled
+with than you had. I have been wrong in letting matters go on so long
+without taking stock of them and seeing that it was all right; but I
+never saw the need for it. This is what comes of taking to a trade
+you know nothing about; we have just been like two children, thinking
+that it was all plain and above board, and that we had nothing to do
+but to sell our goods and to fill up again when the hold got empty.
+Well, it is of no use talking over that part of the business. What we
+have got to do is to find out this leak and stop it. We are pretty
+well agreed, Cyril and me, that the things don't go out of the shop
+by daylight. The question is, how do they go out at night?"
+
+"I always lock up the hatches according to orders, Captain."
+
+"Yes, I have no doubt you do, John; but maybe the fastenings have
+been tampered with. The only way in which we see it can have been
+managed is that someone has been in the habit of getting over the
+wall between the yard and the lane, and then getting into the
+warehouse somehow. It must have been done very often, for if the
+things had been taken in considerable quantities you would have
+noticed that the stock was short directly the next order came in. Now
+I propose we light these two lanterns I have got here, and that we go
+down and have a look round the hold."
+
+Lighting the candles, they went downstairs. The Captain took out the
+key and turned the lock. It grated loudly as he did so.
+
+"That is a noisy lock," Cyril said.
+
+"It wants oiling," John replied. "I have been thinking of doing it
+for the last month, but it has always slipped out of my mind."
+
+"At any rate," Cyril said, "it is certain that thieves could not have
+got into the shop this way, for the noise would have been heard all
+over the house."
+
+The door between the shop and the warehouse was next unlocked. The
+fastenings of the shutters and doors were first examined; there was
+no sign of their having been tampered with. Each bolt and hasp was
+tried, and the screws examined. Then they went round trying every one
+of the stout planks that formed the side; all were firm and in good
+condition.
+
+"It beats me altogether," the Captain said, when they had finished
+their examination. "The things cannot walk out of themselves; they
+have got to be carried. But how the fellows who carry them get in is
+more than I can say. There is nowhere else to look, is there, John?"
+
+"Not that I can see, Captain."
+
+They went to the door into the shop, and were about to close it, when
+Cyril said,--
+
+"Some of the things that are gone are generally kept in here,
+Captain--the rope up to two inch, for example, and a good deal of
+canvas, and most of the smaller copper fittings; so that, whoever the
+thief is, he must have been in the habit of coming in here as well as
+into the warehouse."
+
+"That is so, lad. Perhaps they entered from this side."
+
+"Will you hold the lantern here, John?" Cyril said.
+
+The sailor held the lantern to the lock.
+
+"There are no scratches nor signs of tools having been used here,"
+Cyril said, examining both the lock and the door-post. "Whether the
+thief came into the warehouse first, or not, he must have had a key."
+
+The Captain nodded.
+
+"Thieves generally carry a lot of keys with them, Cyril; and if one
+does not quite fit they can file it until it does."
+
+The shutters of the shop window and its fastenings, and those of the
+door, were as secure as those of the warehouse, and, completely
+puzzled, the party went upstairs again.
+
+"There must be some way of getting in and out, although we can't find
+it," Captain Dave said. "Things can't have gone off by themselves."
+
+"It may be, Captain," John Wilkes said, "that some of the planks may
+be loose."
+
+"But we tried them all, John."
+
+"Ay, they seem firm enough, but it may be that one of them is wedged
+in, and that when the wedges are taken out it could be pulled off."
+
+"I think you would have noticed it, John. If there was anything of
+that sort it must be outside. However, we will take a good look round
+the yard to-morrow. The warehouse is strongly built, and I don't
+believe that any plank could be taken off and put back again, time
+after time, without making a noise that would be heard in the house.
+What do you think, Cyril?"
+
+"I agree with you, Captain Dave. How the thieves make an entry I
+can't imagine, but I don't believe that it is through the wall of the
+warehouse. I am convinced that the robberies must have been very
+frequent. Had a large amount been taken at a time, John Wilkes would
+have been sure to notice it. Then, again, the thieves would not come
+so often, and each time for a comparatively small amount of booty,
+unless it could be managed without any serious risk or trouble.
+However, now that we do know that they come, we shall have, I should
+think, very little difficulty in finding out how it is done."
+
+"You may warrant we will keep a sharp look-out," John Wilkes said
+savagely. "If the Captain will give me the use of a room at the back
+of the house, you may be sure I shan't close an eye till I have got
+to the bottom of the matter. I am responsible for the cargo below,
+and if I had kept as sharp an eye on the stores as I ought to have
+done, this would not have happened. Only let me catch them trying to
+board, and I will give them such a reception that I warrant me they
+will sheer off with a bullet or two in them. I have got that pair of
+boarding pistols, and a cutlass, hung up over my bed."
+
+"You must not do that, John," the Captain said. "It isn't a matter of
+beating off the pirates by pouring a broadside into them. Maybe you
+might cripple them, more likely they would make off, and we want to
+capture them. Therefore, I say, let us watch, and find out how they
+do it. When we once know that, we can lay our plans for capturing
+them the next time they come. I will take watch and watch with you."
+
+"Well, if it goes on long, Captain, I won't say no to that; but for
+to-night anyhow I will sit up alone."
+
+"Very well, let it be so, John. But mind, whatever you see, you keep
+as still as a mouse. Just steal to my room in your stockinged feet
+directly you see anything moving. Open the door and say, 'Strange
+sail in sight!' and I will be over at your window in no time. And
+now, Cyril, you and I may as well turn in."
+
+The night passed quietly.
+
+"You saw nothing, I suppose, John?" the Captain said next morning,
+after the apprentices had gone down from breakfast.
+
+"Not a thing, Captain."
+
+"Now we will go and have a look in the yard. Will you come, Cyril?"
+
+"I should like to come," Cyril replied, "but, as I have never been
+out there before, had you not better make some pretext for me to do
+so. You might say, in the hearing of the apprentices, 'We may as well
+take the measurements for that new shed we were talking about, and
+see how much boarding it will require.' Then you can call to me out
+from the office to come and help you to measure."
+
+"Then you still think the apprentices are in it?" John Wilkes asked
+sharply.
+
+"I don't say I think so, John. I have nothing against them. I don't
+believe they could come down at night without being heard; I feel
+sure they could not get into the shop without that stiff bolt making
+a noise. Still, as it is possible they may be concerned in the
+matter, I think that, now we have it in good train for getting to the
+bottom of it, it would be well to keep the matter altogether to
+ourselves."
+
+"Quite right," Captain Dave said approvingly. "When you suspect
+treachery, don't let a soul think that you have got such a matter in
+your mind, until you are in a position to take the traitor by the
+collar and put a pistol to his ear. That idea of yours is a very good
+one; I will say something about the shed to John this morning, and
+then when you go down to the counting-house after dinner I will call
+to you to come out to the yard with us."
+
+After dinner, Captain Dave went with Cyril into the counting-house.
+
+"We had an order in this morning for a set of ship's anchors, and
+John and I have been in the yard looking them out; we looked over the
+place pretty sharply, as you may be sure, but as far as we could see
+the place is as solid as when it was built, fifty years ago, by my
+father."
+
+The Captain went out into the store, and ten minutes afterwards
+re-entered the shop and shouted,--
+
+"Come out here, Cyril, and lend a hand. We are going to take those
+measurements. Bring out your ink-horn, and a bit of paper to put them
+down as we take them."
+
+The yard was some sixty feet long by twenty-five broad, exclusive of
+the space occupied by the warehouse. This, as Cyril had observed from
+the window above, did not extend as far as the back wall; but on
+walking round there with the two men, he found that the distance was
+greater than he had expected, and that there was a space of some
+twenty feet clear.
+
+"This is where we are thinking of putting the shed," the Captain said
+in a loud voice.
+
+"But I see that you have a crane and door into the loft over the
+warehouse there," Cyril said, looking up.
+
+"We never use that now. When my father first began business, he used
+to buy up old junk and such-like stores, and store them up there, but
+it didn't pay for the trouble; and, besides, as you see, he wanted
+every foot of the yard room, and of course at that time they had to
+leave a space clear for the carts to come up from the gate round
+here, so it was given up, and the loft is empty now."
+
+Cyril looked up at the crane. It was swung round so as to lie flat
+against the wooden shutters. The rope was still through the block,
+and passed into the loft through a hole cut at the junction of the
+shutters.
+
+They now measured the space between the warehouse and the wall, the
+Captain repeating the figures, still in a loud voice; then they
+discussed the height of the walls, and after some argument between
+the Captain and John Wilkes agreed that this should be the same as
+the rest of the building. Still talking on the subject, they returned
+through the warehouse, Cyril on the way taking a look at the massive
+gate that opened into the lane. In addition to a heavy bar it had a
+strong hasp, fastened by a great padlock. The apprentices were busy
+at work coiling up some rope when they passed by.
+
+"When we have knocked a door through the end there, John," Captain
+Dave said, "it will give you a deal more room, and you will be able
+to get rid of all these cables and heavy dunnage, and to have matters
+more ship-shape here."
+
+While they had been taking the measurements, all three had carefully
+examined the wall of the warehouse.
+
+"There is nothing wrong there, Cyril," his employer said, as, leaving
+John Wilkes in the warehouse, they went through the shop into the
+little office.
+
+"Certainly nothing that I could see, Captain Dave. I did not before
+know the loft had any opening to the outside. Of course I have seen
+the ladder going up from the warehouse to that trap-door; but as it
+was closed I thought no more of it."
+
+"I don't suppose anyone has been up there for years, lad. What, are
+you thinking that someone might get in through those shutters? Why,
+they are twenty feet from the ground, so that you would want a long
+ladder, and when you got up there you would find that you could not
+open the shutters. I said nobody had been up there, but I did go up
+myself to have a look round when I first settled down here, and there
+is a big bar with a padlock."
+
+Cyril thought no more about it, and after supper it was arranged that
+he and Captain Dave should keep watch by turns at the window of the
+room that had been now given to John Wilkes, and that the latter
+should have a night in his berth, as the Captain expressed it. John
+Wilkes had made some opposition, saying that he would be quite
+willing to take his watch.
+
+"You will just obey orders, John," the Captain said. "You have had
+thirty-six hours off the reel on duty, and you have got to be at work
+all day to-morrow again. You shall take the middle watch to-morrow
+night if you like, but one can see with half an eye that you are not
+fit to be on the lookout to-night. I doubt if any of us could see as
+far as the length of the bowsprit. It is pretty nearly pitch dark;
+there is not a star to be seen, and it looked to me, when I turned
+out before supper, as if we were going to have a storm."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+CAPTURED
+
+
+It was settled that Cyril was to take the first watch, and that the
+Captain should relieve him at one o'clock. At nine, the family went
+to bed. A quarter of an hour later, Cyril stole noiselessly from his
+attic down to John Wilkes's room. The door had been left ajar, and
+the candle was still burning.
+
+"I put a chair by the window," the sailor said, from his bed, "and
+left the light, for you might run foul of something or other in the
+dark, though I have left a pretty clear gangway for you."
+
+Cyril blew out the candle, and seated himself at the window. For a
+time he could see nothing, and told himself that the whole contents
+of the warehouse might be carried off without his being any the
+wiser.
+
+"I shall certainly see nothing," he said to himself; "but, at least,
+I may hear something."
+
+So saying, he turned the fastening of the casement and opened it
+about half an inch. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he
+was able to make out the line of the roof of the warehouse, which was
+some three or four feet below the level of his eyes, and some twenty
+feet away on his left. The time passed slowly. He kept himself awake
+by thinking over the old days in France, the lessons he had learnt
+with his friend, Harry Parton, and the teaching of the old clergyman.
+
+He heard the bell of St. Paul's strike ten and eleven. The last
+stroke had scarcely ceased to vibrate when he rose to his feet
+suddenly. He heard, on his left, a scraping noise. A moment later it
+ceased, and then was renewed again. It lasted but a few seconds; then
+he heard an irregular, shuffling noise, that seemed to him upon the
+roof of the warehouse. Pressing his face to the casement, he suddenly
+became aware that the straight line of the ridge was broken by
+something moving along it, and a moment later he made out a second
+object, just behind the first. Moving with the greatest care, he made
+his way out of the room, half closed the door behind him, crossed the
+passage, and pushed at a door opposite.
+
+"Captain Dave," he said, in a low voice, "get up at once, and please
+don't make a noise."
+
+"Ay, ay, lad."
+
+There was a movement from the bed, and a moment later the Captain
+stood beside him.
+
+"What is it, lad?" he whispered.
+
+"There are two figures moving along on the ridge of the roof of the
+warehouse. I think it is the apprentices. I heard a slight noise, as
+if they were letting themselves down from their window by a rope. It
+is just over that roof, you know."
+
+There was a rustling sound as the Captain slipped his doublet on.
+
+"That is so. The young scoundrels! What can they be doing on the
+roof?"
+
+They went to the window behind. Just as they reached it there was a
+vivid flash of lightning. It sufficed to show them a figure lying at
+full length at the farther end of the roof; then all was dark again,
+and a second or two later came a sharp, crashing roar of thunder.
+
+"We had better stand well back from the window," Cyril whispered.
+"Another flash might show us to anyone looking this way."
+
+"What does it mean, lad? What on earth is that boy doing there? I
+could not see which it was."
+
+"I think it is Ashford," Cyril said. "The figure in front seemed the
+smaller of the two."
+
+"But where on earth can Tom have got to?"
+
+"I should fancy, sir, that Robert has lowered him so that he can get
+his feet on the crane and swing it outwards; then he might sit down
+on it and swing himself by the rope into the loft if the doors are
+not fastened inside. Robert, being taller, would have no difficulty
+in lowering himself--There!" he broke off, as another flash of
+lightning lit up the sky. "He has gone, now; there is no one on the
+roof."
+
+John Wilkes was by this time standing beside them, having started up
+at the first flash of lightning.
+
+"Do you go up, John, into their room," the Captain said. "I think
+there can be no doubt that these fellows on the roof are Ashford and
+Frost, but it is as well to be able to swear to it."
+
+The foreman returned in a minute or two.
+
+"The room is empty, Captain; the window is open, and there is a rope
+hanging down from it. Shall I cast it adrift?"
+
+"Certainly not, John. We do not mean to take them tonight, and they
+must be allowed to go back to their beds without a suspicion that
+they have been watched. I hope and trust that it is not so bad as it
+looks, and that the boys have only broken out from devilry. You know,
+boys will do things of that sort just because it is forbidden."
+
+"There must be more than that," John Wilkes said. "If it had been
+just after they went to their rooms, it might be that they went to
+some tavern or other low resort, but the town is all asleep now."
+
+They again went close to the window, pushed the casement a little
+more open, and stood listening there. In two or three minutes there
+was a very slight sound heard.
+
+"They are unbolting the door into the yard," John Wilkes whispered.
+"I would give a month's pay to be behind them with a rope's end."
+
+Half a minute later there was a sudden gleam of light below, and they
+could see the door open. The light disappeared again, but they heard
+footsteps; then they saw the light thrown on the fastening to the
+outer gate, and could make out that two figures below were applying a
+key to the padlock. This was taken off and laid down; then the heavy
+wooden bar was lifted, and also laid on the ground. The gate opened
+as if pushed from the other side. The two figures went out; the sound
+of a low murmur of conversation could be heard; then they returned,
+the gate was closed and fastened again, they entered the warehouse,
+the light disappeared, and the door was closed.
+
+"That's how the things went, John."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," the foreman growled.
+
+"As they were undoing the gate, the light fell on a coil of rope they
+had set down there, and a bag which I guess had copper of some kind
+in it. They have done us cleverly, the young villains! There was not
+noise enough to wake a cat. They must have had every bolt and hinge
+well oiled."
+
+"We had better close the casement now, sir, for as they come back
+along the ridge they will be facing it, and if a flash of lightning
+came they would see that it was half open, and even if they did not
+catch sight of our faces they would think it suspicious that the
+window should be open, and it might put them on their guard."
+
+"Yes; and we may as well turn in at once, John. Like enough when they
+get back they will listen for a bit at their door, so as to make sure
+that everything is quiet before they turn in. There is nothing more
+to see now. Of course they will get in as they got out. You had
+better turn in as you are, Cyril; they may listen at your door."
+
+Cyril at once went up to his room, closed the door, placed a chair
+against it, and then lay down on his bed. He listened intently, and
+four or five minutes later thought that he heard a door open; but he
+could not be sure, for just at that moment heavy drops began to
+patter down upon the tiles. The noise rose louder and louder until he
+could scarce have heard himself speak. Then there was a bright flash
+and the deep rumble of the thunder mingled with the sharp rattle of
+the raindrops overhead. He listened for a time to the storm, and then
+dropped off to sleep.
+
+Things went on as usual at breakfast the next morning. During the
+meal, Captain Dave gave the foreman several instructions as to the
+morning's work.
+
+"I am going on board the _Royalist_," he said. "John Browning wants
+me to overhaul all the gear, and see what will do for another voyage
+or two, and what must be new. His skipper asked for new running
+rigging all over, but he thinks that there can't be any occasion for
+its all being renewed. I don't expect I shall be in till dinner-time,
+so anyone that wants to see me must come again in the afternoon."
+
+Ten minutes later, Cyril went out, on his way to his work. Captain
+Dave was standing a few doors away.
+
+"Before I go on board the brig, lad, I am going up to the Chief
+Constable's to arrange about this business. I want to get four men of
+the watch. Of course, it may be some nights before this is tried
+again, so I shall have the men stowed away in the kitchen. Then we
+must keep watch, and as soon as we see those young villains on the
+roof, we will let the men out at the front door. Two will post
+themselves this end of the lane, and two go round into Leadenhall
+Street and station themselves at the other end. When the boys go out
+after supper we will unlock the door at the bottom of the stairs into
+the shop, and the door into the warehouse. Then we will steal down
+into the shop and listen there until we hear them open the door into
+the yard, and then go into the warehouse and be ready to make a rush
+out as soon as they get the gate open. John will have his boatswain's
+whistle ready, and will give the signal. That will bring the watch
+up, so they will be caught in a trap."
+
+"I should think that would be a very good plan, Captain Dave, though
+I wish that it could have been done without Tom Frost being taken. He
+is a timid sort of boy, and I have no doubt that he has been entirely
+under the thumb of Robert."
+
+"Well, if he has he will get off lightly," the Captain said. "Even if
+a boy is a timid boy, he knows what will be the consequences if he is
+caught robbing his master. Cowardice is no excuse for crime, lad. The
+boys have always been well treated, and though I dare say Ashford is
+the worst of the two, if the other had been honest he would not have
+seen him robbing me without letting me know."
+
+For six nights watch was kept without success. Every evening, when
+the family and apprentices had retired to rest, John Wilkes went
+quietly downstairs and admitted the four constables, letting them out
+in the morning before anyone was astir. Mrs. Dowsett had been taken
+into her husband's confidence so far as to know that he had
+discovered he had been robbed, and was keeping a watch for the
+thieves. She was not told that the apprentices were concerned in the
+matter, for Captain Dave felt sure that, however much she might try
+to conceal it, Robert Ashford would perceive, by her looks, that
+something was wrong.
+
+Nellie was told a day or two later, for, although ignorant of her
+father's nightly watchings, she was conscious from his manner, and
+that of her mother, that something was amiss, and was so persistent
+in her inquiries, that the Captain consented to her mother telling
+her that he had a suspicion he was being robbed, and warning her that
+it was essential that the subject must not be in any way alluded to.
+
+"Your father is worrying over it a good deal, Nellie, and it is
+better that he should not perceive that you are aware of it. Just let
+things go on as they were."
+
+"Is the loss serious, mother?"
+
+"Yes; he thinks that a good deal of money has gone. I don't think he
+minds that so much as the fact that, so far, he doesn't know who the
+people most concerned in it may be. He has some sort of suspicion in
+one quarter, but has no clue whatever to the men most to blame."
+
+"Does Cyril know anything about it?" Nellie asked suddenly.
+
+"Yes, he knows, my dear; indeed, it was owing to his cleverness that
+your father first came to have suspicions."
+
+"Oh! that explains it," Nellie said. "He had been talking to father,
+and I asked what it was about and he would not tell me, and I have
+been very angry with him ever since."
+
+"I have noticed that you have been behaving very foolishly," Mrs.
+Dowsett said quietly, "and that for the last week you have been
+taking Robert with you as an escort when you went out of an evening.
+I suppose you did that to annoy Cyril, but I don't think that he
+minded much."
+
+"I don't think he did, mother," Nellie agreed, with a laugh which
+betrayed a certain amount of irritation. "I saw that he smiled, two
+or three evenings back, when I told Robert at supper that I wanted
+him to go out with me, and I was rarely angry, I can tell you."
+
+Cyril had indeed troubled himself in no way about Nellie's coolness;
+but when she had so pointedly asked Robert to go with her, he had
+been amused at the thought of how greatly she would be mortified,
+when Robert was haled up to the Guildhall for robbing her father, at
+the thought that he had been accompanying her as an escort.
+
+"I rather hope this will be our last watch, Captain Dave," he said,
+on the seventh evening.
+
+"Why do you hope so specially to-night, lad?"
+
+"Of course I have been hoping so every night. But I think it is
+likely that the men who take the goods come regularly once a week;
+for in that case there would be no occasion for them to meet at other
+times to arrange on what night they should be in the lane."
+
+"Yes, that is like enough, Cyril; and the hour will probably be the
+same, too. John and I will share your watch to-night, so as to be
+ready to get the men off without loss of time."
+
+Cyril had always taken the first watch, which was from half-past nine
+till twelve. The Captain and Wilkes had taken the other watches by
+turns.
+
+As before, just as the bell finished striking eleven, the three
+watchers again heard through the slightly open casement the scraping
+noise on the left. It had been agreed that they should not move, lest
+the sound should be heard outside. Each grasped the stout cudgel he
+held in his hand, and gazed at the roof of the warehouse, which could
+now be plainly seen, for the moon was half full and the sky was
+clear. As before, the two figures went along, and this time they
+could clearly recognise them. They were both sitting astride of the
+ridge tiles, and moved themselves along by means of their hands. They
+waited until they saw one after the other disappear at the end of the
+roof, and then John Wilkes quietly stole downstairs. The four
+constables had been warned to be specially wakeful.
+
+"They are at it again to-night," John said to them, as he entered.
+"Now, do you two who go round into Leadenhall Street start at once,
+but don't take your post at the end of the lane for another five or
+six minutes. The thieves outside may not have come up at present. As
+you go out, leave the door ajar; in five minutes you others should
+stand ready. Don't go to the corner, but wait in the doorway below
+until you hear the whistle. They will be only fifteen or twenty yards
+up the lane, and would see you if you took up your station at the
+corner; but the moment you hear the whistle, rush out and have at
+them. We shall be there before you will."
+
+John went down with the last two men, entered the shop, and stood
+there waiting until he should be joined by his master. The latter and
+Cyril remained at the window until they saw the door of the warehouse
+open, and then hurried downstairs. Both were in their stockinged
+feet, so that their movements should be noiseless.
+
+"Come on, John; they are in the yard," the Captain whispered; and
+they entered the warehouse and went noiselessly on, until they stood
+at the door. The process of unbarring the gate was nearly
+accomplished. As it swung open, John Wilkes put his whistle to his
+lips and blew a loud, shrill call, and the three rushed forward.
+There was a shout of alarm, a fierce imprecation, and three of the
+four figures at the gate sprang at them. Scarce a blow had been
+struck when the two constables ran up and joined in the fray. Two men
+fought stoutly, but were soon overpowered. Robert Ashford, knife in
+hand, had attacked John Wilkes with fury, and would have stabbed him,
+as his attention was engaged upon one of the men outside, had not
+Cyril brought his cudgel down sharply on his knuckles, when, with a
+yell of pain, he dropped the knife and fled up the lane. He had gone
+but a short distance, however, when he fell into the hands of the two
+constables, who were running towards him. One of them promptly
+knocked him down with his cudgel, and then proceeded to bind his
+hands behind him, while the other ran on to join in the fray. It was
+over before he got there, and his comrades were engaged in binding
+the two robbers. Tom Frost had taken no part in the fight. He stood
+looking on, paralysed with terror, and when the two men were
+overpowered he fell on his knees beseeching his master to have mercy
+on him.
+
+"It is too late, Tom," the Captain said. "You have been robbing me
+for months, and now you have been caught in the act you will have to
+take your share in the punishment. You are a prisoner of the
+constables here, and not of mine, and even if I were willing to let
+you go, they would have their say in the matter. Still, if you make a
+clean breast of what you know about it, I will do all I can to get
+you off lightly; and seeing that you are but a boy, and have been,
+perhaps, led into this, they will not be disposed to be hard on you.
+Pick up that lantern and bring it here, John; let us see what
+plunder, they were making off with."
+
+There was no rope this time, but a bag containing some fifty pounds'
+weight of brass and copper fittings. One of the constables took
+possession of this.
+
+"You had better come along with us to the Bridewell, Master Dowsett,
+to sign the charge sheet, though I don't know whether it is
+altogether needful, seeing that we have caught them in the act; and
+you will all three have to be at the Court to-morrow at ten o'clock."
+
+"I will go with you," the Captain said; "but I will first slip in and
+put my shoes on; I brought them down in my hand and shall be ready in
+a minute. You may as well lock up this gate again, John. I will go
+out through the front door and join them in the lane." As he went
+into the house, John Wilkes closed the gate and put up the bar, then
+took up the lantern and said to Cyril,--
+
+"Well, Master Cyril, this has been a good night's work, and mighty
+thankful I am that we have caught the pirates. It was a good day for
+us all when you came to the Captain, or they might have gone on
+robbing him till the time came that there was nothing more to rob;
+and I should never have held up my head again, for though the Captain
+would never believe that I had had a hand in bringing him to ruin,
+other people would not have thought so, and I might never have got a
+chance of proving my innocence. Now we will just go to the end of the
+yard and see if they did manage to get into the warehouse by means of
+that crane, as you thought they did."
+
+They found that the crane had been swung out just far enough to
+afford a foot-hold to those lowering themselves on to it from the
+roof. The door of the loft stood open.
+
+"Just as you said. You could not have been righter, not if you had
+seen them at it. And now I reckon we may as well lock up the place
+again, and turn in. The Captain has got the key of the front door,
+and we will leave the lantern burning at the bottom of the stairs."
+
+Cyril got up as soon as he heard a movement in the house, and went
+down to the shop, which had been already opened by John Wilkes.
+
+"It seems quiet here, without the apprentices, John. Is there any way
+in which I can help?"
+
+"No, thank you, sir. We shan't be moving the goods about till after
+breakfast, and then, no doubt, the Captain will get an extra man in
+to help me. I reckon he will have to get a neighbour in to give an
+eye to the place while we are all away at the Court."
+
+"I see there is the rope still hanging from their window," Cyril
+said, as he went out into the yard.
+
+"I thought it best to leave it there," John Wilkes replied, "and I
+ain't been up into the loft either. It is best to leave matters just
+as they were. Like enough, they will send an officer down from the
+Court to look at them."
+
+When the family assembled at breakfast, Mrs. Dowsett was looking very
+grave. The Captain, on the other hand, was in capital spirits.
+Nellie, as usual, was somewhat late.
+
+"Where is everybody?" she asked in surprise, seeing that Cyril alone
+was in his place with her father and mother.
+
+"John Wilkes is downstairs, looking after the shop, and will come up
+and have his breakfast when we have done," her father replied.
+
+"Are both the apprentices out, then?" she asked.
+
+"The apprentices are in limbo," the Captain said grimly.
+
+"In limbo, father! What does that mean?"
+
+"It means that they are in gaol, my dear."
+
+Nellie put down the knife and fork that she had just taken up.
+
+"Are you joking, father?"
+
+"Very far from it, my dear; it is no joke to any of us--certainly not
+to me, and not to Robert Ashford, or Tom Frost. They have been
+robbing me for the last year, and, for aught I know, before that. If
+it had not been for Master Cyril it would not have been very long
+before I should have had to put my shutters up."
+
+"But how could they rob you, father?"
+
+"By stealing my goods, and selling them, Nellie. The way they did it
+was to lower themselves by a rope from their window on to the roof of
+the warehouse, and to get down at the other end on to the crane, and
+then into the loft. Then they went down and took what they had a
+fancy to, undid the door, and went into the yard, and then handed
+over their booty to the fellows waiting at the gate for it. Last
+night we caught them at it, after having been on the watch for ten
+days."
+
+"That is what I heard last night, then," she said. "I was woke by a
+loud whistle, and then I heard a sound of quarrelling and fighting in
+the lane. I thought it was some roysterers going home late. Oh,
+father, it is dreadful to think of! And what will they do to them?"
+
+"It is a hanging matter," the Captain said; "it is not only theft,
+but mutiny. No doubt the judges will take a lenient view of Tom
+Frost's case, both on the ground of his youth, and because, no doubt,
+he was influenced by Ashford; but I would not give much for Robert's
+chances. No doubt it will be a blow to you, Nellie, for you seem to
+have taken to him mightily of late."
+
+Nellie was about to give an emphatic contradiction, but as she
+remembered how pointedly she had asked for his escort during the last
+few days, she flushed up, and was silent.
+
+"It is terrible to think of," she said, after a pause. "I suppose
+this is what you and Cyril were consulting about, father. I have to
+ask your pardon, Master Cyril, for my rudeness to you; but of course
+I did not think it was anything of consequence, or that you could not
+have told me if you had wished to do so."
+
+"You need not beg my pardon, Mistress Nellie. No doubt you thought it
+churlish on my part to refuse to gratify your curiosity, and I am not
+surprised that you took offence. I knew that when you learned how
+important it was to keep silence over the matter, that you would
+acquit me of the intention of making a mystery about nothing."
+
+"I suppose you knew, mother?" Nellie asked.
+
+"I knew that your father believed that he was being robbed, Nellie,
+and that he was keeping watch for some hours every night, but I did
+not know that he suspected the apprentices. I am glad that we did
+not, for assuredly we should have found it very hard to school our
+faces so that they should not guess that aught was wrong."
+
+"That was why we said nothing about it, Nellie. It has been as much
+as I have been able to do to sit at table, and talk in the shop as
+usual, with boys I knew were robbing me; and I know honest John
+Wilkes must have felt it still more. But till a week ago we would not
+believe that they had a hand in the matter. It is seven nights since
+Cyril caught them creeping along the roof, and called me to the
+window in John Wilkes's room, whence he was watching the yard, not
+thinking the enemy was in the house."
+
+"And how did you come to suspect that robbery was going on, Cyril?"
+
+"Simply because, on making up the books, I found there was a great
+deficiency in the stores."
+
+"That is what he was doing when he was sitting up at night, after you
+were in bed, Miss Nellie," her father said. "You may thank your stars
+that he took a berth in this ship, for the scoundrels would have
+foundered her to a certainty, if he had not done so. I tell you,
+child, he has saved this craft from going to the bottom. I have not
+said much to him about it, but he knows that I don't feel it any the
+less."
+
+"And who were the other men who were taken, father?"
+
+"That I can't tell you, Nellie. I went to the Bridewell with them,
+and as soon as I saw them safely lodged there I came home. They will
+be had up before the Lord Mayor this morning, and then I dare say I
+shall know all about them. Now I must go and take my watch below, and
+let John Wilkes come off duty."
+
+"Why, John, what is the matter?" Mrs. Dowsett said, when the foreman
+entered.
+
+"Nothing worth speaking of, Mistress. I got a clip over the eye from
+one of the pirates we were capturing. The thing mattered nothing, one
+way or the other, but it might have cost me my life, because, for a
+moment, it pretty well dazed me. That young villain, Bob, was just
+coming at me with his knife, and I reckon it would have gone hard
+with me if Master Cyril here hadn't, just in the nick of time,
+brought his stick down on Robert's knuckles, and that so sharply that
+the fellow dropped his knife with a yell, and took to his heels, only
+to fall into the hands of two of the watch coming from the other end
+of the lane. You did me a good turn, lad, and if ever I get the
+chance of ranging up alongside of you in a fray, you may trust me to
+return it."
+
+He held out his hand to Cyril, and gave a warm grip to the hand the
+latter laid in it.
+
+"It is a rum start, Mistress," John went on, as he sat down to his
+meal, "that two old hands like the Captain and I were sailing on, not
+dreaming of hidden rocks or sand-banks, when this lad, who I used to
+look upon as a young cockerel who was rather above his position,
+should come forward and have saved us all from shipwreck."
+
+"It is indeed, John," his mistress said earnestly, "and I thank God
+indeed that He put the thought into the minds of Captain Dave and
+myself to ask him to take up his abode with us. It seemed to us then
+that we were doing a little kindness that would cost us nothing,
+whereas it has turned out the saving of us."
+
+"Dear, dear!" Nellie, who had been sitting with a frown on her pretty
+face, said pettishly. "What a talk there will be about it all, and
+how Jane Greenwood and Martha Stebbings and the rest of them will
+laugh at me! They used to say they wondered how I could go about with
+such an ugly wretch behind me, and of course I spoke up for him and
+said that he was an honest knave and faithful; and now it turns out
+that he is a villain and a robber. I shall never hear the last of
+him."
+
+"You will get over that, Nellie," her mother said severely. "It would
+be much better if, instead of thinking of such trifles, you would
+consider how sad a thing it is that two lads should lose their
+character, and perhaps their lives, simply for their greed of other
+people's goods. I could cry when I think of it. I know that Robert
+Ashford has neither father nor mother to grieve about him, for my
+husband's father took him out of sheer charity; but Tom's parents are
+living, and it will be heart-breaking indeed to them when they hear
+of their son's misdoings."
+
+"I trust that Captain Dave will get him off," Cyril said. "As he is
+so young he may turn King's evidence, and I feel sure that he did not
+go willingly into the affair. I have noticed many times that he had a
+frightened look, as if he had something on his mind. I believe that
+he acted under fear of the other."
+
+As soon as John Wilkes had finished his breakfast he went with
+Captain Dave and Cyril to the Magistrates' Court at the Guildhall.
+Some other cases were first heard, and then the apprentices, with the
+two men who had been captured in the lane, were brought in and placed
+in the dock. The men bore marks that showed they had been engaged in
+a severe struggle, and that the watch had used their staves with
+effect. One was an elderly man with shaggy grey eyebrows; the other
+was a very powerfully built fellow, who seemed, from his attire, to
+follow the profession of a sailor. Tom Frost was sobbing bitterly.
+One of Robert Ashford's hands was bandaged up. As he was placed in
+the dock he cast furtive glances round with his shifty eyes, and as
+they fell upon Cyril an expression of deadly hate came over his face.
+The men of the watch who had captured them first gave their evidence
+as to finding them in the act of robbery, and testified to the
+desperate resistance they had offered to capture. Captain Dave then
+entered the witness-box, and swore first to the goods that were found
+on them being his property, and then related how, it having come to
+his knowledge that he was being robbed, he had set a watch, and had,
+eight days previously, seen his two apprentices getting along the
+roof, and how they had come out from the warehouse door, had opened
+the outer gate, and had handed over some goods they had brought out
+to persons unknown waiting to receive them.
+
+"Why did you not stop them in their commission of the theft?" the
+Alderman in the Chair asked.
+
+"Because, sir, had I done so, the men I considered to be the chief
+criminals, and who had doubtless tempted my apprentices to rob me,
+would then have made off. Therefore, I thought it better to wait
+until I could lay hands on them also, and so got four men of the
+watch to remain in the house at night."
+
+Then he went on to relate how, after watching seven nights, he had
+again seen the apprentices make their way along the roof, and how
+they and the receivers of their booty were taken by the watch, aided
+by himself, his foreman, and Master Cyril Shenstone, who was dwelling
+in his house.
+
+After John Wilkes had given his evidence, Cyril went into the box and
+related how, being engaged by Captain David Dowsett to make up his
+books, he found, upon stock being taken, that there was a deficiency
+to the amount of many hundreds of pounds in certain stores, notably
+such as were valuable without being bulky.
+
+"Is anything known as to the prisoners?" the magistrate asked the
+officer of the city watch in charge of the case.
+
+"Nothing is known of the two boys, your honour; but the men are well
+known. The elder, who gave the name of Peter Johnson, is one Joseph
+Marner; he keeps a marine shop close to the Tower. For a long time he
+has been suspected of being a receiver of stolen goods, but we have
+never been able to lay finger on him before. The other man has, for
+the last year, acted as his assistant in the shop; he answers closely
+to the description of a man, Ephraim Fowler, who has long been
+wanted. This man was a seaman in a brig trading to Yarmouth. After an
+altercation with the captain he stabbed him, and then slew the mate
+who was coming to his assistance; then with threats he compelled the
+other two men on board to let him take the boat. When they were off
+Brightlingsea he rowed away, and has not been heard of since. If you
+will remand them, before he comes up again I hope to find the men who
+were on board, and see if they identify him. We are in possession of
+Joseph Marner's shop, and have found large quantities of goods that
+we have reason to believe are the proceeds of these and other
+robberies."
+
+After the prisoners had left the dock, Captain Dave went up to the
+officer.
+
+"I believe," he said, "that the boy has not voluntarily taken part in
+these robberies, but has been led away, or perhaps obliged by threats
+to take part in them; he may be able to give you some assistance, for
+maybe these men are not the only persons to whom the stolen goods
+have been sold, and he may be able to put you on the track of other
+receivers."
+
+"The matter is out of my hands now," the officer said, "but I will
+represent what you say in the proper quarter; and now you had better
+come round with me; you may be able to pick out some of your
+property. We only made a seizure of the place an hour ago. I had all
+the men who came in on duty this morning to take a look at the
+prisoners. Fortunately two or three of them recognised Marner, and
+you may guess we lost no time in getting a search warrant and going
+down to his place. It is the most important capture we have made for
+some time, and may lead to the discovery of other robberies that have
+been puzzling us for months past. There is a gang known as the Black
+Gang, but we have never been able to lay hands on any of their
+leaders, and such fellows as have been captured have refused to say a
+word, and have denied all knowledge of it. There have been a number
+of robberies of a mysterious kind, none of which have we been able to
+trace, and they have been put down to the same gang. The Chief
+Constable is waiting for me there, and we shall make a thorough
+search of the premises, and it is like enough we shall come across
+some clue of importance. At any rate, if we can find some of the
+articles stolen in the robberies I am speaking of, it will be a
+strong proof that Marner is one of the chiefs of the gang, and that
+may lead to further discoveries."
+
+"You had better come with us, John," Captain Dave said. "You know our
+goods better than I do myself. Will you come, Cyril?"
+
+"I should be of no use in identifying the goods, sir, and I am due in
+half an hour at one of my shops."
+
+The search was an exhaustive one. There was no appearance of an
+underground cellar, but on some of the boards of the shop being taken
+up, it was found that there was a large one extending over the whole
+house. This contained an immense variety of goods. In one corner was
+a pile of copper bolts that Captain Dave and John were able to claim
+at once, as they bore the brand of the maker from whom they obtained
+their stock. There were boxes of copper and brass ship and house
+fittings, and a very large quantity of rope, principally of the sizes
+in which the stock had been found deficient; but to these Captain
+Dave was unable to swear. In addition to these articles the cellar
+contained a number of chests, all of which were found to be filled
+with miscellaneous articles of wearing apparel--rolls of silk,
+velvet, cloth, and other materials--curtains, watches, clocks,
+ornaments of all kinds, and a considerable amount of plate. As among
+these were many articles which answered to the descriptions given of
+goods that had been stolen from country houses, the whole were
+impounded by the Chief Constable, and carried away in carts. The
+upper part of the house was carefully searched, the walls tapped,
+wainscotting pulled down, and the floors carefully examined. Several
+hiding-places were found, but nothing of any importance discovered in
+them.
+
+"I should advise you," the Chief Constable said to Captain Dave, "to
+put in a claim for every article corresponding with those you have
+lost. Of course, if anyone else comes forward and also puts in a
+claim, the matter will have to be gone into, and if neither of you
+can absolutely swear to the things, I suppose you will have to settle
+it somehow between you. If no one else claims them, you will get them
+all without question, for you can swear that, to the best of your
+knowledge and belief, they are yours, and bring samples of your own
+goods to show that they exactly correspond with them. I have no doubt
+that a good deal of the readily saleable stuff, such as ropes, brass
+sheaves for blocks, and things of that sort, will have been sold, but
+as it is clear that there is a good deal of your stuff in the stock
+found below, I hope your loss will not be very great. There is no
+doubt it has been a splendid find for us. It is likely enough that we
+shall discover among those boxes goods that have been obtained from a
+score of robberies in London, and likely enough in the country. We
+have arrested three men we found in the place, and two women, and may
+get from some of them information that will enable us to lay hands on
+some of the others concerned in these robberies."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+KIDNAPPED
+
+
+That afternoon Captain Dave went down to the Bridewell, and had an
+interview with Tom Frost, in the presence of the Master of the
+prison.
+
+"Well, Tom, I never expected to have to come to see you in a place
+like this."
+
+"I am glad I am here, master," the boy said earnestly, with tears in
+his eyes. "I don't mind if they hang me; I would rather anything than
+go on as I have been doing. I knew it must come, and whenever I heard
+anyone walk into the shop I made sure it was a constable. I am ready
+to tell everything, master; I know I deserve whatever I shall get,
+but that won't hurt me half as much as it has done, having to go on
+living in the house with you, and knowing I was helping to rob you
+all along."
+
+"Anything that you say must be taken down," the officer said; "and I
+can't promise that it will make any difference in your sentence."
+
+"I do not care anything about that; I am going to tell the truth."
+
+"Very well, then, I will take down anything you say. But wait a
+minute."
+
+He went to the door of the room and called.
+
+"Is the Chief Constable in?" he asked a man who came up. "If he is,
+ask him to step here."
+
+A minute later the Chief Constable came in.
+
+"This prisoner wishes to make a confession, Master Holmes. I thought
+it best that you should be here. You can hear what he says then, and
+it may help you in your inquiry. Besides, you may think of questions
+on points he may not mention; he understands that he is speaking
+entirely of his own free will, and that I have given him no promise
+whatever that his so doing will alter his sentence, although no doubt
+it will be taken into consideration."
+
+"Quite so," the constable said. "This is not a case where one
+prisoner would be ordinarily permitted to turn King's evidence
+against the others, because, as they were caught in the act, no such
+evidence is necessary. We know all about how the thing was done, and
+who did it."
+
+"I want to tell how I first came to rob my master," the boy said. "I
+never thought of robbing him. When I came up to London, my father
+said to me, 'Whatever you do, Tom, be honest. They say there are
+rogues up in London; don't you have anything to do with them.' One
+evening, about a year ago I went out with Robert, and we went to a
+shop near the wall at Aldgate. I had never been there before, but
+Robert knew the master, who was the old man that was taken in the
+lane. Robert said the man was a relation of his father's, and had
+been kind to him. We sat down and talked for a time, and then Robert,
+who was sitting close to me, moved for something, and put his hand
+against my pocket.
+
+"'Hullo!' he said; 'what have you got there?'
+
+"'Nothing,' I said.
+
+"'Oh, haven't you?' and he put his hand in my pocket, and brought out
+ten guineas. 'Hullo!' he said; 'where did you get these? You told me
+yesterday you had not got a groat. Why, you young villain, you must
+have been robbing the till!'
+
+"I was so frightened that I could not say anything, except that I did
+not know how they came there and I could swear that I had not touched
+the till. I was too frightened to think then, but I have since
+thought that the guineas were never in my pocket at all, but were in
+Robert's hand.
+
+"'That won't do, boy,' the man said. 'It is clear that you are a
+thief. I saw Robert take them from your pocket, and, as an honest
+man, it is my duty to take you to your master and tell him what sort
+of an apprentice he has. You are young, and you will get off with a
+whipping at the pillory, and that will teach you that honesty is the
+best policy.'
+
+"So he got his hat and put it on, and took me by the collar as if to
+haul me out into the street. I went down on my knees to beg for
+mercy, and at last he said that he would keep the matter quiet if I
+would swear to do everything that Robert told me; and I was so
+frightened that I swore to do so.
+
+"For a bit there wasn't any stealing, but Robert used to take me out
+over the roof, and we used to go out together and go to places where
+there were two or three men, and they gave us wine. Then Robert
+proposed that we should have a look through the warehouse. I did not
+know what he meant, but as we went through he filled his pockets with
+things and told me to take some too. I said I would not. Then he
+threatened to raise the alarm, and said that when Captain Dave came
+down he should say he heard me get up to come down by the rope on to
+the warehouse, and that he had followed me to see what I was doing,
+and had found me in the act of taking goods, and that, as he had
+before caught me with money stolen from the till, as a friend of his
+could testify, he felt that it was his duty to summon you at once. I
+know I ought to have refused, and to have let him call you down, but
+I was too frightened. At last I agreed to do what he told me, and
+ever since then we have been robbing you."
+
+"What have you done with the money you got for the things?" the
+constable asked.
+
+"I had a groat sometimes," the boy said, "but that is all. Robert
+said first that I should have a share, but I said I would have
+nothing to do with it. I did as he ordered me because I could not
+help it. Though I have taken a groat or two sometimes, that is all I
+have had."
+
+"Do you know anything about how much Robert had?"
+
+"No, sir; I never saw him paid any money. I supposed that he had some
+because he has said sometimes he should set up a shop for himself,
+down at some seaport town, when he was out of his apprenticeship; but
+I have never seen him with any money beyond a little silver. I don't
+know what he used to do when we had given the things to the men that
+met us in the lane. I used always to come straight back to bed, but
+generally he went out with them. I used to fasten the gate after him,
+and he got back over the wall by a rope. Most times he didn't come in
+till a little before daybreak."
+
+"Were they always the same men that met you in the lane?"
+
+"No, sir. The master of the shop was very seldom there. The big man
+has come for the last three or four months, and there were two other
+men. They used to be waiting for us together until the big man came,
+but since then one or other of them came with him, except when the
+master of the shop was there himself."
+
+"Describe them to me."
+
+The boy described them as well as he could.
+
+"Could you swear to them if you saw them?"
+
+"I think so. Of course, sometimes it was moonlight, and I could see
+their faces well; and besides, the light of the lantern often fell
+upon their faces."
+
+The constable nodded.
+
+"The descriptions answer exactly," he said to Captain Dave, "to the
+two men we found in the shop. The place was evidently the
+headquarters of a gang of thieves."
+
+"Please, sir," the boy said, "would you have me shut up in another
+place? I am afraid of being with the others. They have sworn they
+will kill me if I say a word, and when I get back they will ask me
+who I have seen and what I have said."
+
+Captain Dave took the other two men aside.
+
+"Could you not let the boy come home with me?" he said. "I believe
+his story is a true one. He has been terrified into helping that
+rascal, Robert Ashford. Of course he himself was of no good to them,
+but they were obliged to force him into it, as otherwise he would
+have found out Robert's absences and might have reported them to me.
+I will give what bail you like, and will undertake to produce him
+whenever he is required."
+
+"I could not do that myself," the constable said, "but I will go
+round to the Court now with the boy's confession, and I have no doubt
+the Alderman will let him go. But let me give you a word of advice:
+don't let him stir out of the house after dark. We have no doubt that
+there is a big gang concerned in this robbery, and the others of
+which we found the booty at the receiver's. They would not know how
+much this boy could tell about them, but if he went back to you they
+would guess that he had peached. If he went out after dark, the
+chances would be against his ever coming back again. No, now I think
+of it, I am sure you had better let him stay where he is. The Master
+will put him apart from the others, and make him comfortable. You
+see, at present we have no clue as to the men concerned in the
+robberies. You may be sure that they are watching every move on our
+part, and if they knew that this boy was out, they might take the
+alarm and make off."
+
+"Well, if you think so, I will leave him here."
+
+"I am sure that it would be the best plan."
+
+"You will make him comfortable, Master Holroyd?"
+
+"Yes; you need not worry about him, Captain Dowsett."
+
+They then turned to the boy.
+
+"You will be moved away from the others, Tom," Captain Dave said,
+"and Mr. Holroyd has promised to make you comfortable."
+
+"Oh, Captain Dave," the boy burst out, "will you forgive me? I don't
+mind being punished, but if you knew how awfully miserable I have
+been all this time, knowing that I was robbing you while you were so
+kind to me, I think you would forgive me."
+
+"I forgive you, Tom," Captain Dave said, putting his hand on the
+boy's shoulder. "I hope that this will be a lesson to you, all your
+life. You see all this has come upon you because you were a coward.
+If you had been a brave lad you would have said, 'Take me to my
+master.' You might have been sure that I would have heard your story
+as well as theirs, and I don't think I should have decided against
+you under the circumstances. It was only your word against Robert's;
+and his taking you to this man's, and finding the money in your
+pocket in so unlikely a way, would certainly have caused me to have
+suspicions. There is nothing so bad as cowardice; it is the father of
+all faults. A coward is certain to be a liar, for he will not
+hesitate to tell any falsehood to shelter him from the consequences
+of a fault. In your case, you see, cowardice has made you a thief;
+and in some cases it might drive a man to commit a murder. However,
+lad, I forgive you freely. You have been weak, and your weakness has
+made you a criminal; but it has been against your own will. When all
+this is over, I will see what can be done for you. You may live to be
+an honest man and a good citizen yet."
+
+Two days later Cyril was returning home late in the evening after
+being engaged longer than usual in making up a number of accounts for
+one of his customers. He had come through Leadenhall Street, and had
+entered the lane where the capture of the thieves had been made, when
+he heard a footstep behind him. He turned half round to see who was
+following him, when he received a tremendous blow on the head which
+struck him senseless to the ground.
+
+After a time he was dimly conscious that he was being carried along.
+He was unable to move; there was something in his mouth that
+prevented him from calling out, and his head was muffled in a cloak.
+He felt too weak and confused to struggle. A minute later he heard a
+voice, that sounded below him, say,--
+
+"Have you got him?"
+
+"I have got him all right," was the answer of the man who was
+carrying him.
+
+Then he felt that he was being carried down some stairs.
+
+Someone took him, and he was thrown roughly down; then there was a
+slight rattling noise, followed by a regular sound. He wondered
+vaguely what it was, but as his senses came back it flashed upon him;
+it was the sound of oars; he was in a boat. It was some time before
+he could think why he should be in a boat. He had doubtless been
+carried off by some of the friends of the prisoners', partly,
+perhaps, to prevent his giving evidence against them, partly from
+revenge for the part he had played in the discovery of the crime.
+
+In a few minutes the sound of oars ceased, and there was a bump as
+the boat struck against something hard. Then he was lifted up, and
+someone took hold of him from above. He was carried a few steps and
+roughly thrust in somewhere. There was a sound of something heavy
+being thrown down above him, and then for a long time he knew nothing
+more.
+
+When he became conscious again, he was able, as he lay there, to come
+to a distinct conclusion as to where he was. He had been kidnapped,
+carried off, taken out in a boat to some craft anchored in the river,
+and was now in the hold. He felt almost suffocated. The wrap round
+his head prevented his breathing freely, the gag in his mouth pressed
+on his tongue, and gave him severe pain, while his head ached acutely
+from the effects of the blow.
+
+The first thing to do was, if possible, to free his hands, so as to
+relieve himself from the gag and muffling. An effort or two soon
+showed him that he was but loosely bound. Doubtless the man who had
+attacked him had not wasted much time in securing his arms, believing
+that the blow would be sufficient to keep him quiet until he was safe
+on board ship. It was, therefore, without much difficulty that he
+managed to free one of his hands, and it was then an easy task to get
+rid of the rope altogether. The cloak was pulled from his face, and,
+feeling for his knife, he cut the lashings of the gag and removed it
+from his mouth. He lay quiet for a few minutes, panting from his
+exhaustion. Putting up his hand he felt a beam about a foot above his
+body. He was, then, in a hold already stored with cargo. The next
+thing was to shift his position among the barrels and bales upon
+which he was lying, until he found a comparatively level spot. He was
+in too great pain to think of sleep; his head throbbed fiercely, and
+he suffered from intense thirst.
+
+From time to time heavy footsteps passed overhead. Presently he heard
+a sudden rattling of blocks, and the flapping of a sail. Then he
+noticed that there was a slight change in the level of his position,
+and knew that the craft was under way on her voyage down the river.
+
+It seemed an immense time to him before he saw a faint gleam of
+light, and edging himself along, found himself again under the
+hatchway, through a crack in which the light was shining. It was some
+hours before the hatch was lifted off, and he saw two men looking
+down.
+
+"Water!" he said. "I am dying of thirst."
+
+"Bring a pannikin of water," one of the men said, "but first give us
+a hand, and we will have him on deck."
+
+Stooping down, they took Cyril by the shoulders and hoisted him out.
+
+"He is a decent-looking young chap," the speaker went on. "I would
+have seen to him before, if I had known him to be so bad. Those
+fellows didn't tell us they had hurt him. Here is the water, young
+fellow. Can you sit up to drink it?"
+
+Cyril sat up and drank off the contents of the pannikin.
+
+"Why, the back of your head is all covered with blood!" the man who
+had before spoken said. "You must have had an ugly knock?"
+
+"I don't care so much for that," Cyril replied. "It's the gag that
+hurt me. My tongue is so much swollen I can hardly speak."
+
+"Well, you can stay here on deck if you will give me your promise not
+to hail any craft we may pass. If you won't do that I must put you
+down under hatches again."
+
+"I will promise that willingly," Cyril said; "the more so that I can
+scarce speak above a whisper."
+
+"Mind, if you as much as wave a hand, or do anything to bring an eye
+on us, down you go into the hold again, and when you come up next
+time it will be to go overboard. Now just put your head over the
+rail, and I will pour a few buckets of water over it. I agreed to get
+you out of the way, but I have got no grudge against you, and don't
+want to do you harm."
+
+Getting a bucket with a rope tied to the handle, he dipped it into
+the river, and poured half-a-dozen pailfuls over Cyril's head. The
+lad felt greatly refreshed, and, sitting down on the deck, was able
+to look round. The craft was a coaster of about twenty tons burden.
+There were three men on deck besides the man who had spoken to him,
+and who was evidently the skipper. Besides these a boy occasionally
+put up his head from a hatchway forward. There was a pile of barrels
+and empty baskets amidship, and the men presently began to wash down
+the decks and to tidy up the ropes and gear lying about. The shore on
+both sides was flat, and Cyril was surprised at the width of the
+river. Behind them was a small town, standing on higher ground.
+
+"What place is that?" he asked a sailor who passed near him.
+
+"That is Gravesend."
+
+A few minutes afterwards the boy again put his head out of the
+hatchway and shouted,--
+
+"Breakfast!"
+
+"Can you eat anything, youngster?" the skipper asked Cyril.
+
+"No, thank you, my head aches too much; and my mouth is so sore I am
+sure I could not get anything down."
+
+"Well, you had best lie down, then, with your head on that coil of
+rope; I allow you did not sleep much last night."
+
+In a few minutes Cyril was sound asleep, and when he awoke the sun
+was setting.
+
+"You have had a good bout of it, lad," the skipper said, as he raised
+himself on his elbow and looked round. "How are you feeling now?"
+
+"A great deal better," Cyril said, as he rose to his feet.
+
+"Supper will be ready in a few minutes, and if you can manage to get
+a bit down it will do you good."
+
+"I will try, anyhow," Cyril said. "I think that I feel hungry."
+
+The land was now but a faint line on either hand. A gentle breeze was
+blowing from the south-west, and the craft was running along over the
+smooth water at the rate of three or four miles an hour. Cyril
+wondered where he was being taken to, and what was going to be done
+with him, but determined to ask no questions. The skipper was
+evidently a kind-hearted man, although he might be engaged in lawless
+business, but it was as well to wait until he chose to open the
+subject.
+
+As soon as the boy hailed, the captain led the way to the hatchway.
+They descended a short ladder into the fo'castle, which was low, but
+roomy. Supper consisted of boiled skate--a fish Cyril had never
+tasted before--oaten bread, and beer. His mouth was still sore, but
+he managed to make a hearty meal of fish, though he could not manage
+the hard bread. One of the men was engaged at the helm, but the other
+two shared the meal, all being seated on lockers that ran round the
+cabin. The fish were placed on an earthenware dish, each man cutting
+off slices with his jack-knife, and using his bread as a platter.
+Little was said while the meal went on; but when they went on deck
+again, the skipper, having put another man at the tiller, while the
+man released went forward to get his supper, said,--
+
+"Well, I think you are in luck, lad."
+
+Cyril opened his eyes in surprise.
+
+"You don't think so?" the man went on. "I don't mean that you are in
+luck in being knocked about and carried off, but that you are not
+floating down the river at present instead of walking the deck here.
+I can only suppose that they thought your body might be picked up,
+and that it would go all the harder with the prisoners, if it were
+proved that you had been put out of the way. You don't look like an
+informer either!"
+
+"I am not an informer," Cyril said indignantly. "I found that my
+employer was being robbed, and I aided him to catch the thieves. I
+don't call that informing. That is when a man betrays others engaged
+in the same work as himself."
+
+"Well, well, it makes no difference to me," the skipper said. "I was
+engaged by a man, with whom I do business sometimes, to take a fellow
+who had been troublesome out of the way, and to see that he did not
+come back again for some time. I bargained that there was to be no
+foul play; I don't hold with things of that sort. As to carrying down
+a bale of goods sometimes, or taking a few kegs of spirits from a
+French lugger, I see no harm in it; but when it comes to cutting
+throats, I wash my hands of it. I am sorry now I brought you off,
+though maybe if I had refused they would have put a knife into you,
+and chucked you into the river. However, now that I have got you I
+must go through with it. I ain't a man to go back from my word, and
+what I says I always sticks to. Still, I am sorry I had anything to
+do with the business. You look to me a decent young gentleman, though
+your looks and your clothes have not been improved by what you have
+gone through. Well, at any rate, I promise you that no harm shall
+come to you as long as you are in my hands."
+
+"And how long is that likely to be, captain?"
+
+"Ah! that is more than I can tell you. I don't want to do you harm,
+lad, and more than that, I will prevent other people from doing you
+harm as long as you are on board this craft. But more than that I
+can't say. It is likely enough I shall have trouble in keeping that
+promise, and I can't go a step farther. There is many a man who would
+have chucked you overboard, and so have got rid of the trouble
+altogether, and of the risk of its being afterwards proved that he
+had a hand in getting you out of the way."
+
+"I feel that, captain," Cyril said, "and I thank you heartily for
+your kind treatment of me. I promise you that if at any time I am set
+ashore and find my way back to London, I will say no word which can
+get you into trouble."
+
+"There is Tom coming upon deck. You had better turn in. You have had
+a good sleep, but I have no doubt you can do with some more, and a
+night's rest will set you up. You take the left-hand locker. The boy
+sleeps on the right hand, and we have bunks overhead."
+
+Cyril was soon soundly asleep, and did not wake when the others
+turned in. He was alone in the cabin when he opened his eyes, but the
+sun was shining brightly through the open hatchway. He sprang up and
+went on deck. The craft was at anchor. No land could be seen to the
+south, but to the north a low shore stretched away three or four
+miles distant. There was scarcely a breath of wind.
+
+"Well, you have had a good sleep, lad," the captain said. "You had
+best dip that bucket overboard and have a wash; you will feel better
+after it. Now, boy, slip down and get your fire going; we shall be
+ready for breakfast as soon as it is ready for us."
+
+Cyril soused his head with the cold water, and felt, as the captain
+had said, all the better for it, for the air in the little cabin was
+close and stuffy, and he had felt hot and feverish before his wash.
+
+"The wind died out, you see," the captain said, "and we had to anchor
+when tide turned at two o'clock. There is a dark line behind us, and
+as soon as the wind reaches us, we will up anchor. The force of the
+tide is spent."
+
+The wind, however, continued very light, and the vessel did little
+more than drift with the tide, and when it turned at two o'clock they
+had to drop anchor again close under some high land, on the top of
+which stood a lofty tower.
+
+"That is a land-mark," the captain said. "There are some bad sands
+outside us, and that stands as a mark for vessels coming through."
+
+Cyril had enjoyed the quiet passage much. The wound at the back of
+his head still smarted, and he had felt disinclined for any exertion.
+More than once, in spite of the good allowance of sleep he had had,
+he dozed off as he sat on the deck with his back against the bulwark,
+watching the shore as they drifted slowly past it, and wondering
+vaguely, how it would all end. They had been anchored but half an
+hour when the captain ordered the men to the windlass.
+
+"There is a breeze coming, lads," he said; "and even if it only lasts
+for an hour, it will take us round the head and far enough into the
+bay to get into the tide running up the rivers."
+
+The breeze, however, when it came, held steadily, and in two hours
+they were off Harwich; but on coming opposite the town they turned
+off up the Orwell, and anchored, after dark, at a small village some
+six miles up the river.
+
+"If you will give me your word, lad, that you will not try to escape,
+and will not communicate with anyone who may come off from the shore,
+I will continue to treat you as a passenger; but if not, I must
+fasten you up in the cabin, and keep a watch over you."
+
+"I will promise, captain. I should not know where to go if I landed.
+I heard you say, 'There is Harwich steeple,' when we first came in
+sight of it, but where that is I have no idea, nor how far we are
+from London. As I have not a penny in my pocket, I should find it
+well-nigh impossible to make my way to town, which may, for aught I
+know, be a hundred miles away; for, in truth, I know but little of
+the geography of England, having been brought up in France, and not
+having been out of sight of London since I came over."
+
+Just as he was speaking, the splash of an oar was heard close by.
+
+"Up, men," the captain said in a low tone to those in the fo'castle.
+"Bring up the cutlasses. Who is that?" he called, hailing the boat.
+
+"Merry men all," was the reply.
+
+"All right. Come alongside. You saw our signal, then?"
+
+"Ay, ay, we saw it; but there is an officer with a boat-load of
+sailors ashore from the King's ship at Harwich. He is spending the
+evening with the revenue captain here, and we had to wait until the
+two men left in charge of the boat went up to join their comrades at
+the tavern. What have you got for us?"
+
+"Six boxes and a lot of dunnage, such as cables, chains, and some
+small anchors."
+
+"Well, you had better wait for an hour before you take the hatches
+off. You will hear the gig with the sailors row past soon. The tide
+has begun to run down strong, and I expect the officer won't be long
+before he moves. As soon as he has gone we will come out again. We
+shall take the goods up half a mile farther. The revenue man on that
+beat has been paid to keep his eyes shut, and we shall get them all
+stored in a hut, a mile away in the woods, before daybreak. You know
+the landing-place; there will be water enough for us to row in there
+for another two hours."
+
+The boat rowed away to the shore, which was not more than a hundred
+yards distant. A little later they heard a stir on the strand, then
+came the sound of oars, and two minutes later a boat shot past close
+to them, and then, bearing away, rowed down the river.
+
+"Now, lads," the captain said, "get the hatches off. The wind is
+coming more offshore, which is all the better for us, but do not make
+more noise than you can help."
+
+The hatches were taken off, and the men proceeded to get up a number
+of barrels and bales, some sail-cloth being thrown on the deck to
+deaden the sound. Lanterns, passed down into the hold, gave them
+light for their operations.
+
+"This is the lot," one of the sailors said presently.
+
+Six large boxes were then passed up and put apart from the others.
+Then followed eight or ten coils of rope, a quantity of chain, some
+kedge anchors, a number of blocks, five rolls of canvas, and some
+heavy bags that, by the sound they made when they were laid down,
+Cyril judged to contain metal articles of some sort. Then the other
+goods were lowered into the hold and the hatches replaced. The work
+had scarcely concluded when the boat again came alongside, this time
+with four men on board. Scarcely a word was spoken as the goods were
+transferred to the boat.
+
+"You will be going to-morrow?" one of the men in the boat asked.
+
+"Yes, I shall get up to Ipswich on the top of the tide--that is, if I
+don't stick fast in this crooked channel. My cargo is all either for
+Ipswich or Aldborough. Now let us turn in," as the boatmen made their
+way up the river. "We must be under way before daylight, or else we
+shall not save the tide down to-morrow evening. I am glad we have got
+that lot safely off. I always feel uncomfortable until we get rid of
+that part of the cargo. If it wasn't that it paid better than all the
+rest together I would not have anything to do with it."
+
+Cyril was very glad to lie down on the locker, while the men turned
+into their berths overhead. He had not yet fully recovered from the
+effects of the blow he had received, but in spite of the aching of
+his head he was soon sound asleep. It seemed to him that he had
+scarcely closed his eyes when he was roused by the captain's voice,--
+
+"Tumble up, lads. The light is beginning to show."
+
+Ten minutes later they were under way. The breeze had almost died
+out, and after sailing for some two miles in nearly a straight
+course, the boat was thrown over, two men got into it, and, fastening
+a rope to the ketch's bow, proceeded to tow her along, the captain
+taking the helm.
+
+To Cyril's surprise, they turned off almost at right angles to the
+course they had before been following, and made straight for the
+opposite shore. They approached it so closely that Cyril expected
+that in another moment the craft would take ground, when, at a shout
+from the captain, the men in the boat started off parallel with the
+shore, taking the craft's head round. For the next three-quarters of
+an hour they pursued a serpentine course, the boy standing in the
+chains and heaving the lead continually. At last the captain
+shouted,--"You can come on board now, lads. We are in the straight
+channel at last." Twenty minutes later they again dropped their
+anchor opposite a town of considerable size.
+
+"That is Ipswich, lad," the captain said. "It is as nasty a place to
+get into as there is in England, unless you have got the wind due
+aft."
+
+The work of unloading began at once, and was carried on until after
+dark.
+
+"That is the last of them," the captain said, to Cyril's
+satisfaction. "We can be off now when the tide turns, and if we
+hadn't got clear to-night we might have lost hours, for there is no
+getting these people on shore to understand that the loss of a tide
+means the loss of a day, and that it is no harder to get up and do
+your work at one hour than it is at another. I shall have a clean up,
+now, and go ashore. I have got your promise, lad, that you won't try
+to escape?"
+
+Cyril assented. Standing on the deck there, with the river bank but
+twenty yards away, it seemed hard that he should not be able to
+escape. But, as he told himself, he would not have been standing
+there if it had not been for that promise, but would have been lying,
+tightly bound, down in the hold.
+
+Cyril and the men were asleep when the captain came aboard, the boy
+alone remaining up to fetch him off in the boat when he hailed.
+
+"There is no wind, captain," Cyril said, as the anchor was got up.
+
+"No, lad, I am glad there is not. We can drop down with the tide and
+the boat towing us, but if there was a head wind we might have to
+stop here till it either dropped or shifted. I have been here three
+weeks at a spell. I got some news ashore," he went on, as he took his
+place at the helm, while the three men rowed the boat ahead. "A man I
+sometimes bring things to told me that he heard there had been an
+attempt to rescue the men concerned in that robbery. I heard, before
+I left London, it was likely that it would be attempted."
+
+There were a lot of people concerned in that affair, one way and
+another, and I knew they would move heaven and earth to get them out,
+for if any of them peached there would be such a haul as the
+constables never made in the city before. Word was passed to the
+prisoners to be ready, and as they were being taken from the
+Guildhall to Newgate there was a sudden rush made. The constables
+were not caught napping, and there was a tough fight, till the
+citizens ran out of their shops and took part with them, and the men,
+who were sailors, watermen, 'longshore-men, and rascals of all sorts,
+bolted.
+
+"But two of the prisoners were missing. One was, I heard, an
+apprentice who was mixed up in the affair, and no one saw him go.
+They say he must have stooped down and wriggled away into the crowd.
+The other was a man they called Black Dick; he struck down two
+constables, broke through the crowd, and got clean away. There is a
+great hue and cry, but so far nothing has been heard of them. They
+will be kept in hiding somewhere till there is a chance of getting
+them through the gates or on board a craft lying in the river. Our
+men made a mess of it, or they would have got them all off. I hear
+that they are all in a fine taking that Marner is safely lodged in
+Newgate with the others taken in his house; he knows so much that if
+he chose to peach he could hang a score of men. Black Dick could tell
+a good deal, but he wasn't in all the secrets, and they say Marner is
+really the head of the band and had a finger in pretty nigh every
+robbery through the country. All those taken in his place are also in
+Newgate, and they say the constables are searching the city like
+ferrets in a rabbit-warren, and that several other arrests have been
+made."
+
+"I am not sorry the apprentice got away," Cyril said. "He is a bad
+fellow, there is no doubt, and, by the look he gave me, he would do
+me harm if he got a chance, but I suppose that is only natural. As to
+the other man, he looked to me to be a desperate villain, and he also
+gave me so evil a look that, though he was in the dock with a
+constable on either side of him, I felt horribly uncomfortable,
+especially when I heard what sort of man he was."
+
+"What did they say of him?"
+
+"They said they believed he was a man named Ephraim Fowler, who had
+murdered the skipper and mate of a coaster and then went off in the
+boat."
+
+"Is that the man? Then truly do I regret that he has escaped. I knew
+both John Moore, the master, and George Monson, the mate, and many a
+flagon of beer we have emptied together. If I had known the fellow's
+whereabouts, I would have put the constables on his track. I am
+heartily sorry now, boy, that I had a hand in carrying you off,
+though maybe it is best for you that it has been so. If I hadn't
+taken you someone else would, and more than likely you would not have
+fared so well as you have done, for some of them would have saved
+themselves all further trouble and risk, by chucking you overboard as
+soon as they were well out of the Pool."
+
+"Can't you put me ashore now, captain?"
+
+"No, boy; I have given my word and taken my money, and I am not one
+to fail to carry out a bargain because I find that I have made a bad
+one. They have trusted me with thousands of pounds' worth of goods,
+and I have no reason to complain of their pay, and am not going to
+turn my back on them now they have got into trouble; besides, though
+I would trust you not to round upon me, I would not trust them. If
+you were to turn up in London they would know that I had sold them,
+and Marner would soon hear of it. There is a way of getting messages
+to a man even in prison. Then you may be sure that, if he said
+nothing else, he would take good care to let out that I was the man
+who used to carry their booty away, sometimes to quiet places on the
+coast, and sometimes across to Holland, and the first time I dropped
+anchor in the Pool I should find myself seized and thrown into limbo.
+No, lad; I must carry out my agreement--which is that I am not to
+land you in England, but that I am to take you across to Holland or
+elsewhere--the elsewhere meaning that if you fall overboard by the
+way there will be no complaints as to the breach of the agreement.
+That is, in fact, what they really meant, though they did not
+actually put it into words. They said, 'We have a boy who is an
+informer, and has been the means of Marner being seized and his place
+broken up, and there is no saying that a score of us may not get a
+rope round our necks. In consequence, we want him carried away. What
+you do with him is nothing to us so long as he don't set foot in
+England again.' 'Will Holland suit you? I am going across there,' I
+said, 'after touching at Ipswich and Aldborough.' 'It would be much
+safer for you and everyone else if it happen that he falls over
+before he gets there. However, we will call it Holland.'"
+
+"Then if I were to fall overboard," Cyril said, with a smile, "you
+would not be breaking your agreement, captain? I might fall overboard
+to-night, you know."
+
+"I would not advise it, lad. You had much better stay where you are.
+I don't say I mightn't anchor off Harwich, and that if you fell
+overboard you couldn't manage to swim ashore, but I tell you I would
+not give twopence for your life when you got back to London. It is to
+the interest of a score of men to keep Marner's mouth shut. They have
+shown their willingness to help him as far as they could, by getting
+you out of the way, and if you got back they would have your life the
+first time you ventured out of doors after dark; they would be afraid
+Marner would suppose they had sold him if you were to turn up at his
+trial, and as like as not he would round on the whole lot. Besides, I
+don't think it would be over safe for me the first time I showed
+myself in London afterwards, for, though I never said that I would do
+it, I have no doubt they reckoned that I should chuck you overboard,
+and if you were to make your appearance in London they would
+certainly put it down that I had sold them. You keep yourself quiet,
+and I will land you in Holland, but not as they would expect, without
+a penny or a friend; I will put you into good hands, and arrange that
+you shall be sent back again as soon as the trial is over."
+
+"Thank you very much, captain. I have no relations in London, and no
+friends, except my employer, Captain David Dowsett, and by this time
+he will have made up his mind that I am dead, and it won't make much
+difference whether I return in four or five days or as many weeks."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A NARROW ESCAPE
+
+
+The _Eliza_, for this Cyril, after leaving Ipswich, learnt was her
+name, unloaded the rest of her cargo at Aldborough, and then sailed
+across to Rotterdam. The skipper fulfilled his promise by taking
+Cyril to the house of one of the men with whom he did business, and
+arranging with him to board the boy until word came that he could
+safely return to England. The man was a diamond-cutter, and to him
+packets of jewellery and gems that could not be disposed of in
+England had often been brought over by the captain. The latter had
+nothing to do with the pecuniary arrangements, which were made direct
+by Marner, and he had only to hand over the packets and take back
+sums of money to England.
+
+"You understand," the captain said to Cyril, "that I have not said a
+word touching the matter for which you are here. I have only told him
+that it had been thought it was as well you should be out of England
+for a time. Of course, he understood that you were wanted for an
+affair in which you had taken part; but it matters not what he
+thinks. I have paid him for a month's board for you, and here are
+three pounds, which will be enough to pay for your passage back if I
+myself should not return. If you do not hear from me, or see the
+_Eliza_, within four weeks, there is no reason why you should not
+take passage back. The trial will be over by that time, and as the
+members of the gang have done their part in preventing you from
+appearing, I see not why they should have further grudge against
+you."
+
+"I cannot thank you too much for your kindness, captain. I trust that
+when I get back you will call at Captain Dowsett's store in Tower
+Street, so that I may see you and again thank you; I know that the
+Captain himself will welcome you heartily when I tell him how kindly
+you have treated me. He will be almost as glad as I shall myself to
+see you. I suppose you could not take him a message or letter from me
+now?"
+
+"I think not, lad. It would never do for him to be able to say at the
+trial that he had learnt you had been kidnapped. They might write
+over here to the Dutch authorities about you. There is one thing
+further. From what I heard when I landed yesterday, it seems that
+there is likely to be war between Holland and England."
+
+"I heard a talk of it in London," Cyril said, "but I do not rightly
+understand the cause, nor did I inquire much about the matter."
+
+"It is something about the colonies, and our taxing their goods, but
+I don't rightly understand the quarrel, except that the Dutch think,
+now that Blake is gone and our ships for the most part laid up, they
+may be able to take their revenge for the lickings we have given
+them. Should there be war, as you say you speak French as well as
+English, I should think you had best make your way to Dunkirk as a
+young Frenchman, and from there you would find no difficulty in
+crossing to England."
+
+"I know Dunkirk well, captain, having indeed lived there all my life.
+I should have no difficulty in travelling through Holland as a French
+boy."
+
+"If there is a war," the captain said, "I shall, of course, come here
+no more; but it may be that you will see me at Dunkirk. French brandy
+sells as well as Dutch Schiedam, and if I cannot get the one I may
+perhaps get the other; and there is less danger in coming to Dunkirk
+and making across to Harwich than there is in landing from Calais or
+Nantes on the south coast, where the revenue men are much more on the
+alert than they are at Harwich."
+
+"Are you not afraid of getting your boat captured? You said it was
+your own."
+
+"Not much, lad. I bring over a regular cargo, and the kegs are stowed
+away under the floor of the cabin, and I run them at Pin-mill--that
+is the place we anchored the night before we got to Ipswich. I have
+been overhauled a good many times, but the cargo always looks right,
+and after searching it for a bit, they conclude it is all regular.
+You see, I don't bring over a great quantity--fifteen or twenty kegs
+is as much as I can stow away--and it is a long way safer being
+content with a small profit than trying to make a big one."
+
+Cyril parted with regret from the captain, whose departure had been
+hastened by a report that war might be declared at any moment, in
+which case the _Eliza_ might have been detained for a considerable
+time. He had, therefore, been working almost night and day to get in
+his cargo, and Cyril had remained on board until the last moment. He
+had seen the diamond dealer but once, and hoped that he should not
+meet him often, for he felt certain that awkward questions would be
+asked him. This man was in the habit of having dealings with Marner,
+and had doubtless understood from the captain that he was in some way
+connected with his gang; and were he to find out the truth he would
+view him with the reverse of a friendly eye. He had told him that he
+was to take his meals with his clerk, and Cyril hoped, therefore,
+that he should seldom see him.
+
+He wandered about the wharf until it became dark. Then he went in and
+took supper with the clerk. As the latter spoke Dutch only, there was
+no possibility of conversation. Cyril was thinking of going up to his
+bed when there was a ring at the bell. The clerk went to answer it,
+leaving the door open as he went out, and Cyril heard a voice ask, in
+English, if Herr Schweindorf was in. The clerk said something in
+Dutch.
+
+"The fool does not understand English, Robert," the man said.
+
+"Tell him," he said, in a louder voice, to the clerk, "that two
+persons from England--England, you understand--who have only just
+arrived, want to see him on particular business. There, don't be
+blocking up the door; just go and tell your master what I told you."
+
+He pushed his way into the passage, and the clerk, seeing that there
+was nothing else to do, went upstairs.
+
+A minute later he came down again, and made a sign for them to follow
+him. As they went up Cyril stole out and looked after them. The fact
+that they had come from England, and that one of them was named
+Robert, and that they had business with this man, who was in
+connection with Marner, had excited his suspicions, but he felt a
+shiver of fear run through him as he recognised the figures of Robert
+Ashford and the man who was called Black Dick. He remembered the
+expression of hatred with which they had regarded him in the Court,
+and felt that his danger would be great indeed did they hear that he
+was in Rotterdam. A moment's thought convinced him that they would
+almost certainly learn this at once from his host. The letter would
+naturally mention that the captain had left a lad in his charge who
+was, as he believed, connected with them. They would denounce him as
+an enemy instead of a friend. The diamond merchant would expel him
+from his house, terrified at the thought that he possessed
+information as to his dealings with this band in England; and once
+beyond the door he would, in this strange town, be at the mercy of
+his enemies. Cyril's first impulse was to run back into the room,
+seize his cap, and fly. He waited, however, until the clerk came down
+again; then he put his cap carelessly on his head.
+
+"I am going for a walk," he said, waving his hand vaguely.
+
+The man nodded, went with him to the door, and Cyril heard him put up
+the bar after he had gone out. He walked quietly away, for there was
+no fear of immediate pursuit.
+
+Black Dick had probably brought over some more jewels to dispose of,
+and that business would be transacted, before there would be any talk
+of other matters. It might be a quarter of an hour before they heard
+that he was an inmate of the house; then, when they went downstairs
+with the dealer, they would hear that he had gone out for a walk and
+would await his return, so that he had two or three hours at least
+before there would be any search.
+
+It was early yet. Some of the boats might be discharging by
+torchlight. At any rate, he might hear of a ship starting in the
+morning. He went down to the wharf. There was plenty of bustle here;
+boats were landing fish, and larger craft were discharging or taking
+in cargo; but his inability to speak Dutch prevented his asking
+questions. He crossed to the other side of the road. The houses here
+were principally stores or drinking taverns. In the window of one was
+stuck up, "English and French Spoken Here." He went inside, walked up
+to the bar, and called for a glass of beer in English.
+
+"You speak English, landlord?" he asked, as the mug was placed before
+him.
+
+The latter nodded.
+
+"I want to take passage either to England or to France," he said. "I
+came out here but a few days ago, and I hear that there is going to
+be trouble between the two countries. It will therefore be of no use
+my going on to Amsterdam. I wish to get back again, for I am told
+that if I delay I may be too late. I cannot speak Dutch, and
+therefore cannot inquire if any boat will be sailing in the morning
+for England or Dunkirk. I have acquaintances in Dunkirk, and speak
+French, so it makes no difference to me whether I go there or to
+England."
+
+"My boy speaks French," the landlord said, "and if you like he can go
+along the port with you. Of course, you will give him something for
+his trouble?"
+
+"Willingly," Cyril said, "and be much obliged to you into the
+bargain."
+
+The landlord left the bar and returned in a minute with a boy twelve
+years old.
+
+"He does not speak French very well," he said, "but I dare say it
+will be enough for your purpose. I have told him that you want to
+take ship to England, or that, if you cannot find one, to Dunkirk. If
+that will not do, Ostend might suit you. They speak French there, and
+there are boats always going between there and England."
+
+"That would do; though I should prefer the other."
+
+"There would be no difficulty at any other time in getting a boat for
+England, but I don't know whether you will do so now. They have been
+clearing off for some days, and I doubt if you will find an English
+ship in port now, though of course there may be those who have been
+delayed for their cargo."
+
+Cyril went out with the boy, and after making many inquiries learnt
+that there was but one English vessel still in port. However, Cyril
+told his guide that he would prefer one for Dunkirk if they could
+find one, for if war were declared before the boat sailed, she might
+be detained. After some search they found a coasting scow that would
+sail in the morning.
+
+"They will touch at two or three places," the boy said to Cyril,
+after a talk with the captain; "but if you are not in a hurry, he
+will take you and land you at Dunkirk for a pound--that is, if he
+finds food; if you find food he will take you for eight shillings. He
+will start at daybreak."
+
+"Tell him that I agree to his price. I don't want the trouble of
+getting food. As he will be going so early, I will come on board at
+once. I will get my bundle, and will be back in half an hour."
+
+He went with the boy to one of the sailors' shops near, bought a
+rough coat and a thick blanket, had them wrapped up into a parcel,
+and then, after paying the boy, went on board.
+
+As he expected, he found there were no beds or accommodation for
+passengers, so he stretched himself on a locker in the cabin, covered
+himself with his blanket, and put the coat under his head for a
+pillow. His real reason for choosing this craft in preference to the
+English ship was that he thought it probable that, when he did not
+return to the house, it would at once be suspected that he had
+recognised the visitors, and was not going to return at all. In that
+case, they might suspect that he would try to take passage to
+England, and would, the first thing in the morning, make a search for
+him on board any English vessels that might be in the port.
+
+It would be easy then for them to get him ashore, for the diamond
+merchant might accuse him of theft, and so get him handed over to
+him. Rather than run that risk, he would have started on foot had he
+not been able to find a native craft sailing early in the morning.
+Failing Dunkirk and Ostend, he would have taken a passage to any
+other Dutch port, and run his chance of getting a ship from there.
+The great point was to get away from Rotterdam.
+
+The four men forming the crew of the scow returned late, and by their
+loud talk Cyril, who kept his eyes closed, judged that they were in
+liquor. In a short time they climbed up into their berths, and all
+was quiet. At daybreak they were called up by the captain. Cyril lay
+quiet until, by the rippling of the water against the side, he knew
+that the craft was under way. He waited a few minutes, and then went
+up on deck. The scow, clumsy as she looked, was running along fast
+before a brisk wind, and in an hour Rotterdam lay far behind them.
+
+The voyage was a pleasant one. They touched at Dordrecht, at
+Steenbergen on the mainland, and Flushing, staying a few hours in
+each place to take in or discharge cargo. After this, they made out
+from the Islands, and ran along the coast, putting into Ostend and
+Nieuport, and, four days after starting, entered the port of Dunkirk.
+
+Cyril did not go ashore at any of the places at which they stopped.
+It was possible that war might have been declared with England, and
+as it might be noticed that he was a foreigner he would in that case
+be questioned and arrested. As soon, therefore, as they neared a
+quay, he went down to the cabin and slept until they got under way
+again. The food was rough, but wholesome; it consisted entirely of
+fish and black bread; but the sea air gave him a good appetite, and
+he was in high spirits at the thought that he had escaped from danger
+and was on his way back again. At Dunkirk he was under the French
+flag, and half an hour after landing had engaged a passage to London
+on a brig that was to sail on the following day. The voyage was a
+stormy one, and he rejoiced in the possession of his great-coat,
+which he had only bought in order that he might have a packet to
+bring on board the scow, and so avoid exciting any suspicion or
+question as to his being entirely unprovided with luggage.
+
+It was three days before the brig dropped anchor in the Pool. As soon
+as she did so, Cyril hailed a waterman, and spent almost his last
+remaining coin in being taken to shore. He was glad that it was late
+in the afternoon and so dark that his attire would not be noticed.
+His clothes had suffered considerably from his capture and
+confinement on board the _Eliza_, and his great-coat was of a rough
+appearance that was very much out of character in the streets of
+London. He had, however, but a short distance to traverse before he
+reached the door of the house. He rang at the bell, and the door was
+opened by John Wilkes.
+
+"What is it?" the latter asked. "The shop is shut for the night, and
+I ain't going to open for anyone. At half-past seven in the morning
+you can get what you want, but not before."
+
+"Don't you know me, John?" Cyril laughed. The old sailor stepped back
+as if struck with a blow.
+
+"Eh, what?" he exclaimed. "Is it you, Cyril? Why, we had all thought
+you dead! I did not know you in this dim light and in that big coat
+you have got on. Come upstairs, master. Captain Dave and the ladies
+will be glad indeed to see you. They have been mourning for you
+sadly, I can tell you."
+
+Cyril took off his wrap and hung it on a peg, and then followed John
+upstairs.
+
+"There, Captain Dave," the sailor said, as he opened the door of the
+sitting-room. "There is a sight for sore eyes!--a sight you never
+thought you would look on again."
+
+For a moment Captain Dave, his wife, and daughter stared at Cyril as
+if scarce believing their eyes. Then the Captain sprang to his feet.
+
+"It's the lad, sure enough. Why, Cyril," he went on, seizing him by
+the hand, and shaking it violently, "we had never thought to see you
+alive again; we made sure that those pirates had knocked you on the
+head, and that you were food for fishes by this time. There has been
+no comforting my good wife; and as to Nellie, if it had been a
+brother she had lost, she could not have taken it more hardly."
+
+"They did knock me on the head, and very hard too, Captain Dave. If
+my skull hadn't been quite so thick, I should, as you say, have been
+food for fishes before now, for that is what they meant me for, and
+there is no thanks to them that I am here at present. I am sorry that
+you have all been made so uncomfortable about me."
+
+"We should have been an ungrateful lot indeed if we had not,
+considering that in the first place you saved us from being ruined by
+those pirates, and that it was, as we thought, owing to the services
+you had done us that you had come to your end."
+
+ "But where have you been, Master Cyril?" Nellie broke in. "What has
+happened to you? We have been picturing all sorts of horrors, mother
+and I. That evil had befallen you we were sure, for we knew that you
+would not go away of a sudden, in this fashion, without so much as
+saying goodbye. We feared all the more when, two days afterwards, the
+wretches were so bold as to attack the constables, and to rescue
+Robert Ashford and another from their hands. Men who would do this in
+broad daylight would surely hesitate at nothing."
+
+"Let him eat his supper without asking further questions, Nellie,"
+her father said. "It is ill asking one with victuals before him to
+begin a tale that may, for aught I know, last an hour. Let him have
+his food, lass, and then I will light my pipe, and John Wilkes shall
+light his here instead of going out for it, and we will have the yarn
+in peace and comfort. It spoils a good story to hurry it through.
+Cyril is here, alive and well; let that content you for a few
+minutes."
+
+"If I must, I must," Nellie said, with a little pout. "But you should
+remember, father, that, while you have been all your life having
+adventures of some sort, this is the very first that I have had; for
+though Cyril is the one to whom it befell, it is all a parcel with
+the robbery of the house and the capture of the thieves."
+
+"When does the trial come off, Captain Dave?"
+
+"It came off yesterday. Marner is to be hung at the end of the week.
+He declared that he was but in the lane by accident when two lads
+opened the gate. He and the man with him, seeing that they were laden
+with goods, would have seized them, when they themselves were
+attacked and beaten down. But this ingenuity did not save him. Tom
+Frost had been admitted as King's evidence, and testified that Marner
+had been several times at the gate with the fellow that escaped, to
+receive the stolen goods. Moreover, there were many articles among
+those found at his place that I was able to swear to, besides the
+proceeds of over a score of burglaries. The two men taken in his
+house will have fifteen years in gaol. The women got off scot-free;
+there was no proof that they had taken part in the robberies, though
+there is little doubt they knew all about them."
+
+"But how did they prove the men were concerned?"
+
+"They got all the people whose property had been found there, and
+four of these, on seeing the men in the yard at Newgate, were able to
+swear to them as having been among those who came into their rooms
+and frightened them well-nigh to death. It was just a question
+whether they should be hung or not, and there was some wonder that
+the Judge let them escape the gallows."
+
+"And what has become of Tom?"
+
+"They kept Tom in the prison till last night. I saw him yesterday,
+and I am sure the boy is mighty sorry for having been concerned in
+the matter, being, as I truly believe, terrified into it. I had
+written down to an old friend of mine who has set up in the same way
+as myself at Plymouth. Of course I told him all the circumstances,
+but assured him, that according to my belief, the boy was not so much
+to blame, and that I was sure the lesson he had had, would last him
+for life; so I asked him to give Tom another chance, and if he did
+so, to keep the knowledge of this affair from everyone. I got his
+answer yesterday morning, telling me to send him down to him; he
+would give him a fair trial, and if he wasn't altogether satisfied
+with him, would then get him a berth as ship's boy. So, last night
+after dark, he was taken down by John Wilkes, and put on board a
+coaster bound for Plymouth. I would have taken him back here, but
+after your disappearance I feared that his life would not be safe;
+for although they had plenty of other cases they could have proved
+against Marner, Tom's evidence brought this business home to him."
+
+Captain Dave would not allow Cyril to begin his story until the table
+had been cleared and he and John Wilkes had lighted their pipes. Then
+Cyril told his adventure, the earlier part of which elicited many
+exclamations of pity from Dame Dowsett and Mistress Nellie, and some
+angry ejaculations from the Captain when he heard that Black Dick and
+Robert Ashford had got safely off to Holland.
+
+"By St. Anthony, lad," he broke out, when the story was finished,
+"you had a narrow escape from those villains at Rotterdam. Had it
+chanced that you were out at the time they came, I would not have
+given a groat for your life. By all accounts, that fellow Black Dick
+is a desperate villain. They say that they had got hold of evidence
+enough against him to hang a dozen men, and it seems that there is
+little doubt that he was concerned in several cases, where, not
+content with robbing, the villain had murdered the inmates of lonely
+houses round London. He had good cause for hating you. It was through
+you that he had been captured, and had lost his share in all that
+plunder at Marner's. Well, I trust the villain will never venture to
+show his face in London again; but there is never any saying. I
+should like to meet that captain who behaved so well to you, and I
+will meet him too, and shake him by the hand and tell him that any
+gear he may want for that ketch of his, he is free to come in here to
+help himself. There is another thing to be thought of. I must go
+round in the morning to the Guildhall and notify the authorities that
+you have come back. There has been a great hue and cry for you. They
+have searched the thieves' dens of London from attic to cellar; there
+have been boats out looking for your body; and on the day after you
+were missing they overhauled all the ships in the port. Of course the
+search has died out now, but I must go and tell them, and you will
+have to give them the story of the affair."
+
+"I shan't say a word that will give them a clue that will help them
+to lay hands on the captain. He saved my life, and no one could have
+been kinder than he was. I would rather go away for a time
+altogether, for I don't see how I am to tell the story without
+injuring him."
+
+"No; it is awkward, lad. I see that, even if you would not give them
+the name of the craft, they might find out what vessels went into
+Ipswich on that morning, and also the names of those that sailed from
+Rotterdam on the day she left."
+
+"It seems to me, Captain, that the only way will be for me to say the
+exact truth, namely, that I gave my word to the captain that I would
+say naught of the matter. I could tell how I was struck down, and how
+I did not recover consciousness until I found myself in a boat, and
+was lifted on board a vessel and put down into the hold, and was
+there kept until morning. I could say that when I was let out I found
+we were far down the river, that the captain expressed great regret
+when he found that I had been hurt so badly, that he did everything
+in his power for me, and that after I had been some days on board the
+ship he offered to land me in Holland, and to give me money to pay my
+fare back here if I would give him my word of honour not to divulge
+his name or the name of the ship, or that of the port at which he
+landed me. Of course, they can imprison me for a time if I refuse to
+tell, but I would rather stay in gaol for a year than say aught that
+might set them upon the track of Captain Madden. It was not until the
+day he left me in Holland that I knew his name, for of course the men
+always called him captain, and so did I."
+
+"That is the only way I can see out of it, lad. I don't think they
+will imprison you after the service you have done in enabling them to
+break up this gang, bring the head of it to justice, and recover a
+large amount of property."
+
+So indeed, on their going to the Guildhall next morning, it turned
+out. The sitting Alderman threatened Cyril with committal to prison
+unless he gave a full account of all that had happened to him, but
+Captain Dowsett spoke up for him, and said boldly that instead of
+punishment he deserved honour for the great service he had done to
+justice, and that, moreover, if he were punished for refusing to keep
+the promise of secrecy he had made, there was little chance in the
+future of desperate men sparing the lives of those who fell into
+their hands. They would assuredly murder them in self-defence if they
+knew that the law would force them to break any promise of silence
+they might have made. The Magistrate, after a consultation with the
+Chief Constable, finally came round to this view, and permitted Cyril
+to leave the Court, after praising him warmly for the vigilance he
+had shown in the protection of his employer's interests. He regretted
+that he had not been able to furnish them with the name of a man who
+had certainly been, to some extent, an accomplice of those who had
+assaulted him, but this was not, however, so much to be regretted,
+since the man had done all in his power to atone for his actions.
+
+"There is no further information you can give us, Master Cyril?"
+
+"Only this, your worship: that on the day before I left Holland, I
+caught sight of the two persons who had escaped from the constables.
+They had just landed."
+
+"I am sorry to hear it," the Alderman said. "I had hoped that they
+were still in hiding somewhere in the City, and that the constables
+might yet be able to lay hands on them. However, I expect they will
+be back again erelong. Your ill-doer is sure to return here sooner or
+later, either with the hope of further gain, or because he cannot
+keep away from his old haunts and companions. If they fall into the
+hands of the City Constables, I will warrant they won't escape
+again."
+
+He nodded to Cyril, who understood that his business was over and
+left the Court with Captain Dave.
+
+"I am not so anxious as the Alderman seemed to be that Black Dick and
+Robert Ashford should return to London, Captain Dave."
+
+"No; I can understand that, Cyril. And even now that you know they
+are abroad, it would be well to take every precaution, for the others
+whose business has been sorely interrupted by the capture of that
+villain Marner may again try to do you harm. No doubt other receivers
+will fill his place in time, but the loss of a ready market must
+incommode them much. Plate they can melt down themselves, and I
+reckon they would have but little difficulty in finding knaves ready
+to purchase the products of the melting-pot; but it is only a man
+with premises specially prepared for it who will buy goods of all
+kinds, however bulky, without asking questions about them."
+
+Cyril was now in high favour with Mistress Nellie, and whenever he
+was not engaged when she went out he was invited to escort her.
+
+One day he went with her to hear a famous preacher hold forth at St.
+Paul's. Only a portion of the cathedral was used for religious
+services; the rest was utilised as a sort of public promenade, and
+here people of all classes met--gallants of the Court, citizens,
+their wives and daughters, idlers and loungers, thieves and
+mendicants.
+
+As Nellie walked forward to join the throng gathered near the pulpit,
+Cyril noticed a young man in a Court suit, standing among a group who
+were talking and laughing much louder than was seemly, take off his
+plumed hat, and make a deep bow, to which she replied by a slight
+inclination of the head, and passed on with somewhat heightened
+colour.
+
+Cyril waited until the service was over, when, as he left the
+cathedral with her, he asked,--
+
+"Who was that ruffler in gay clothes, who bowed so deeply to you,
+Mistress Nellie?--that is, if there is no indiscretion in my asking."
+
+"I met him in a throng while you were away," she said, with an
+attempt at carelessness which he at once detected. "There was a great
+press, and I well-nigh fainted, but he very courteously came to my
+assistance, and brought me safely out of the crowd."
+
+"And doubtless you have seen him since, Mistress?"
+
+Nellie tossed her head.
+
+"I don't see what right you have to question me, Master Cyril?"
+
+"No right at all," Cyril replied good-temperedly, "save that I am an
+inmate of your father's house, and have received great kindness from
+him, and I doubt if he would be pleased if he knew that you bowed to
+a person unknown to him and unknown, I presume, to yourself, save
+that he has rendered you a passing service."
+
+"He is a gentleman of the Court, I would have you know," she said
+angrily.
+
+"I do not know that that is any great recommendation if the tales one
+hears about the Court are true," Cyril replied calmly. "I cannot say
+I admire either his companions or his manners, and if he is a
+gentleman he should know that if he wishes to speak to an honest
+citizen's daughter it were only right that he should first address
+himself to her father."
+
+"Heigh ho!" Nellie exclaimed, with her face flushed with indignation.
+"Who made you my censor, I should like to know? I will thank you to
+attend to your own affairs, and to leave mine alone."
+
+"The affairs of Captain Dave's daughter are mine so long as I am
+abroad with her," Cyril said firmly. "I am sorry to displease you,
+but I am only doing what I feel to be my duty. Methinks that, were
+John Wilkes here in charge of you, he would say the same, only
+probably he would express his opinion as to yonder gallant more
+strongly than I do;" he nodded in the direction of the man, who had
+followed them out of the cathedral, and was now walking on the other
+side of the street and evidently trying to attract Nellie's
+attention.
+
+Nellie bit her lips. She was about to answer him passionately, but
+restrained herself with a great effort.
+
+"You are mistaken in the gentleman, Cyril," she said, after a pause;
+"he is of a good family, and heir to a fine estate."
+
+"Oh, he has told you as much as that, has he? Well, Mistress Nellie,
+it may be as he says, but surely it is for your father to inquire
+into that, when the gentleman comes forward in due course and
+presents himself as a suitor. Fine feathers do not always make fine
+birds, and a man may ruffle it at King Charles's Court without ten
+guineas to shake in his purse."
+
+At this moment the young man crossed the street, and, bowing deeply
+to Nellie, was about to address her when Cyril said gravely,--
+
+"Sir, I am not acquainted with your name, nor do I know more about
+you save that you are a stranger to this lady's family. That being
+so, and as she is at present under my escort, I must ask you to
+abstain from addressing her."
+
+"You insolent young varlet!" the man said furiously. "Had I a cane
+instead of a sword I would chastise you for your insolence."
+
+"That is as it may be," Cyril said quietly. "That sort of thing may
+do down at Whitehall, but if you attempt to make trouble here in
+Cheapside you will very speedily find yourself in the hands of the
+watch."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, sir," Nellie said anxiously, as several
+passers-by paused to see what was the matter, "do not cause trouble.
+For my sake, if not for your own, pray leave me."
+
+"I obey you, Mistress," the man said again, lifting his hat and
+bowing deeply. "I regret that the officiousness of this blundering
+varlet should have mistaken my intentions, which were but to salute
+you courteously."
+
+So saying, he replaced his hat, and, with a threatening scowl at
+Cyril, pushed his way roughly through those standing round, and
+walked rapidly away.
+
+Nellie was very pale, and trembled from head to foot.
+
+"Take me home, Cyril," she murmured.
+
+He offered her his arm, and he made his way along the street, while
+his face flushed with anger at some jeering remarks he heard from one
+or two of those who looked on at the scene. It was not long before
+Nellie's anger gained the upper hand of her fears.
+
+"A pretty position you have placed me in, with your interference!"
+
+"You mean, I suppose, Mistress Nellie, a pretty position that man
+placed you in, by his insolence. What would Captain Dave say if he
+heard that his daughter had been accosted by a Court gallant in the
+streets?"
+
+"Are you going to tell him?" she asked, removing her hand sharply
+from his arm.
+
+"I have no doubt I ought to do so, and if you will take my advice you
+will tell him yourself as soon as you reach home, for it may be that
+among those standing round was someone who is acquainted with both
+you and your father; and you know as well as I do what Captain Dave
+would say if it came to his ears in such fashion."
+
+Nellie walked for some time in silence. Her anger rose still higher
+against Cyril at the position in which his interference had placed
+her, but she could not help seeing that his advice was sound. She had
+indeed met this man several times, and had listened without chiding
+to his protestations of admiration and love. Nellie was ambitious.
+She had been allowed to have her own way by her mother, whose sole
+companion she had been during her father's absence at sea. She knew
+that she was remarkably pretty, and saw no reason why she, like many
+another citizen's daughter, should not make a good match. She had
+readily given the man her promise to say nothing at home until he
+gave her leave to do so, and she had been weak, enough to take all
+that he said for gospel. Now she felt that, at any rate, she must
+smooth matters over and put it so that as few questions as possible
+should be asked. After a long pause, then, she said,--
+
+"Perhaps you are right, Cyril. I will myself tell my father and
+mother. I can assure you that I had no idea I should meet him
+to-day."
+
+This Cyril could readily believe, for certainly she would not have
+asked him to accompany her if she had known. However, he only replied
+gravely,--
+
+"I am glad to hear that you will tell them, Mistress Nellie, and
+trust that you will take them entirely into your confidence."
+
+This Nellie had no idea of doing; but she said no further word until
+they reached home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+SAVED FROM A VILLAIN
+
+
+"I find that I have to give you thanks for yet another service,
+Cyril," Captain Dave said heartily, when they met the next morning.
+"Nellie tells me a young Court gallant had the insolence to try to
+address her yesterday in Cheapside, on her way back from St. Paul's,
+that you prevented his doing so, and that there was quite a scene in
+the street. If I knew who he was I would break his sconce for him,
+were he Rochester himself. A pretty pass things have come to, when a
+citizen's daughter cannot walk home from St. Paul's without one of
+these impudent vagabonds of the Court venturing to address her! Know
+you who he was?"
+
+"No; I have never seen the fellow before, Captain Dave. I do know
+many of the courtiers by sight, having, when we first came over,
+often gone down to Whitehall with my father when he was seeking to
+obtain an audience with the King; but this man's face is altogether
+strange to me."
+
+"Well, well! I will take care that Nellie shall not go abroad again
+except under her mother's escort or mine. I know, Cyril, that she
+would be as safe under your charge as in ours, but it is better that
+she should have the presence of an older person. It is not that I
+doubt your courage or your address, lad, but a ruffling gallant of
+this sort would know naught of you, save that you are young, and
+besides, did you interfere, there might be a scene that would do
+serious harm to Nellie's reputation."
+
+"I agree with you thoroughly, Captain Dave," Cyril said warmly. "It
+will be far better that you or Mrs. Dowsett should be by her side as
+long as there is any fear of further annoyance from this fellow. I
+should ask nothing better than to try a bout with him myself, for I
+have been right well taught how to use my sword; but, as you say, a
+brawl in the street is of all things to be avoided."
+
+Three or four weeks passed quietly. Nellie seldom went abroad; when
+she did so her mother always accompanied her if it were in the
+daytime, and her father whenever she went to the house of any friend
+after dusk.
+
+Cyril one day caught sight of the gallant in Tower Street, and
+although he was on his way to one of his customers, he at once
+determined to break his appointment and to find out who the fellow
+was. The man sauntered about looking into the shops for full half an
+hour, but it was apparent to Cyril that he paid little attention to
+their contents, and was really waiting for someone. When the clock
+struck three he started, stamped his foot angrily on the ground, and,
+walking away rapidly to the stairs of London Bridge, took a seat in a
+boat, and was rowed up the river.
+
+Cyril waited until he had gone a short distance, and then hailed a
+wherry rowing two oars.
+
+"You see that boat over there?" he said. "I don't wish to overtake it
+at present. Keep a hundred yards or so behind it, but row inshore so
+that it shall not seem that you are following them."
+
+The men obeyed his instructions until they had passed the Temple;
+then, as the other boat still kept in the middle of the stream, Cyril
+had no doubt that it would continue its course to Westminster.
+
+"Now stretch to your oars," he said to the watermen. "I want to get
+to Westminster before the other boat, and to be well away from the
+stairs before it comes up."
+
+The rest of the journey was performed at much greater speed, and
+Cyril alighted at Westminster while the other boat was some three or
+four hundred yards behind. Paying the watermen, he went up the
+stairs, walked away fifty or sixty yards, and waited until he saw the
+man he was following appear. The latter walked quietly up towards
+Whitehall and entered a tavern frequented by young bloods of the
+Court. Cyril pressed his hat down over his eyes. His dress was not
+the same as that in which he had escorted Nellie to the cathedral,
+and he had but small fear of being recognised.
+
+When he entered he sat down at a vacant table, and, having ordered a
+stoup of wine, looked round. The man had joined a knot of young
+fellows like himself, seated at a table. They were dissipated-looking
+blades, and were talking loudly and boisterously.
+
+"Well, Harvey, how goes it? Is the lovely maiden we saw when we were
+with you at St. Paul's ready to drop into your arms?"
+
+"Things are going on all right," Harvey said, with an air of
+consciousness; "but she is watched by two griffins, her father and
+mother. 'Tis fortunate they do not know me by sight, and I have thus
+chances of slipping a note in her hand when I pass her. I think it
+will not be long before you will have to congratulate me."
+
+"She is an heiress and only daughter, is she not, honest John?"
+another asked.
+
+"She is an only child, and her father bears the reputation of doing a
+good business; but as to what I shall finally do, I shall not yet
+determine. As to that, I shall be guided by circumstances."
+
+"Of course, of course," the one who had first spoken said.
+
+Cyril had gained the information he required. The man's name was John
+Harvey, and Nellie was keeping up a clandestine correspondence with
+him. Cyril felt that were he to listen longer he could not restrain
+his indignation, and, without touching the wine he had paid for, he
+hastily left the tavern.
+
+As he walked towards the city, he was unable to decide what he had
+better do. Were he to inform Captain Dave of what he had heard there
+would be a terrible scene, and there was no saying what might happen.
+Still, Nellie must be saved from falling into the hands of this
+fellow, and if he abstained from telling her father he must himself
+take steps to prevent the possibility of such a thing taking place.
+The more he thought of it the more he felt of the heavy
+responsibility it would be. Anxious as he was to save Nellie from the
+anger of her father, it was of far greater consequence to save her
+from the consequences of her own folly. At last he resolved to take
+John Wilkes into his counsels. John was devoted to his master, and
+even if his advice were not of much value, his aid in keeping watch
+would be of immense service. Accordingly, that evening, when John
+went out for his usual pipe after supper, Cyril, who had to go to a
+trader in Holborn, followed him out quickly and overtook him a few
+yards from the door.
+
+"I want to have a talk with you, John."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir. Where shall it be? Nothing wrong, I hope? That new
+apprentice looks to me an honest sort of chap, and the man we have
+got in the yard now is an old mate of mine. He was a ship's boy on
+board the _Dolphin_ twenty-five years back, and he sailed under the
+Captain till he left the sea. I would trust that chap just as I would
+myself."
+
+"It is nothing of that sort, John. It is another sort of business
+altogether, and yet it is quite as serious as the last. I have got
+half an hour before I have to start to do those books at Master
+Hopkins'. Where can we have a talk in a quiet place where there is no
+chance of our being overheard?"
+
+"There is a little room behind the bar at the place I go to, and I
+have no doubt the landlord will let us have it, seeing as I am a
+regular customer."
+
+"At any rate we can see, John. It is too cold for walking about
+talking here; and, besides, I think one can look at a matter in all
+lights much better sitting down than one can walking about."
+
+"That is according to what you are accustomed to," John said, shaking
+his head. "It seems to me that I can look further into the innards of
+a question when I am walking up and down the deck on night watch with
+just enough wind aloft to take her along cheerful, and not too much
+of it, than I can at any other time; but then, you see, that is just
+what one is accustomed to. This is the place."
+
+He entered a quiet tavern, and, nodding to five or six
+weather-beaten-looking men, who were sitting smoking long pipes, each
+with a glass of grog before him, went up to the landlord, who formed
+one of the party. He had been formerly the master of a trader, and
+had come into the possession of the tavern by marriage with its
+mistress, who was still the acting head of the establishment.
+
+"We have got a piece of business we want to overhaul, Peter. I
+suppose we can have that cabin in yonder for a bit?"
+
+"Ay, ay. There is a good fire burning. You will find pipes on the
+table. You will want a couple of glasses of grog, of course?"
+
+John nodded, and then led the way into the little snuggery at the end
+of the room. It had a glass door, so that, if desired, a view could
+be obtained of the general room, but there was a curtain to draw
+across this. There was a large oak settle on either side of the fire,
+and there was a table, with pipes and a jar of tobacco standing
+between them.
+
+"This is a tidy little crib," John said, as he seated himself and
+began to fill a pipe. "There is no fear of being disturbed here.
+There has been many a voyage talked over and arranged in this 'ere
+room. They say that Blake himself, when the Fleet was in the river,
+would drop in here sometimes, with one of his captains, for a quiet
+talk."
+
+A minute later a boy entered and placed two steaming glasses of grog
+on the table. The door closed after him, and John said,--
+
+"Now you can get under way, Master Cyril. You have got a fair course
+now, and nothing to bring you up."
+
+"It is a serious matter, John. And before I begin, I must tell you
+that I rely on your keeping absolute silence as to what I am going to
+tell you."
+
+"That in course," John said, as he lifted his glass to his lips. "You
+showed yourself a first-rate pilot in that last job, and I am content
+to sail under you this time without asking any questions as to the
+ship's course, and to steer according to orders."
+
+Cyril told the story, interrupted frequently by angry ejaculations on
+the part of the old bo'swain.
+
+"Dash my wig!" he exclaimed, when Cyril came to an end. "But this is
+a bad business altogether, Master Cyril. One can engage a pirate and
+beat him off if the crew is staunch, but when there is treason on
+board ship, it makes it an awkward job for those in command."
+
+"The question is this, John: ought we to tell the Captain, or shall
+we try to take the affair into our own hands, and so to manage it
+that he shall never know anything about it?"
+
+The sailor was silent for a minute or two, puffing his pipe
+meditatively.
+
+"I see it is an awkward business to decide," he said. "On one side,
+it would pretty nigh kill Captain Dave to know that Mistress Nellie
+has been steering wild and has got out of hand. She is just the apple
+of his eye. Then, on the other hand, if we undertook the job without
+telling him, and one fine morning we was to find out she was gone, we
+should be in a mighty bad fix, for the Captain would turn round and
+say, 'Why didn't you tell me? If you had done so, I would have locked
+her up under hatches, and there she would be, safe now.'"
+
+"That is just what I see, and it is for that reason I come to you. I
+could not be always on the watch, but I think that you and I together
+would keep so sharp a look-out that we might feel pretty sure that
+she could not get away without our knowledge."
+
+"We could watch sharply enough at night, Master Cyril. There would be
+no fear of her getting away then without our knowing it. But how
+would it be during the day? There am I in the shop or store from
+seven in the morning until we lock up before supper-time. You are out
+most of your time, and when you are not away, you are in the office
+at the books, and she is free to go in and out of the front door
+without either of us being any the wiser."
+
+"I don't think he would venture to carry her off by daylight," Cyril
+said. "She never goes out alone now, and could scarcely steal away
+unnoticed. Besides, she would know that she would be missed directly,
+and a hue and cry set up. I should think she would certainly choose
+the evening, when we are all supposed to be in bed. He would have a
+chair waiting somewhere near; and there are so often chairs going
+about late, after city entertainments, that they would get off
+unnoticed. I should say the most dangerous time is between nine
+o'clock and midnight. She generally goes off to bed at nine or soon
+after, and she might very well put on her hood and cloak and steal
+downstairs at once, knowing that she would not be missed till
+morning. Another dangerous time would be when she goes out to a
+neighbour's. The Captain always takes her, and goes to fetch her at
+nine o'clock, but she might make some excuse to leave quite early,
+and go off in that way."
+
+"That would be awkward, Mr. Cyril, for neither you nor I could be
+away at supper-time without questions being asked. It seems to me
+that I had better take Matthew into the secret. As he don't live in
+the house he could very well watch wherever she is, till I slip round
+after supper to relieve him, and he could watch outside here in the
+evening till either you or I could steal downstairs and take his
+place. You can count on him keeping his mouth shut just as you can on
+me. The only thing is, how is he to stop her if he finds her coming
+out from a neighbour's before the Captain has come for her?"
+
+"If he saw her coming straight home he could follow her to the door
+without being noticed, John, but if he found her going some other way
+he must follow her till he sees someone speak to her, and must then
+go straight up and say, 'Mistress Dowsett, I am ready to escort you
+home.' If she orders him off, or the man she meets threatens him, as
+is like enough, he must say, 'Unless you come I shall shout for aid,
+and call upon passers-by to assist me'; and, rather than risk the
+exposure, she would most likely return with him. Of course, he would
+carry with him a good heavy cudgel, and choose a thoroughfare where
+there are people about to speak to her, and not an unfrequented
+passage, for you may be sure the fellow would have no hesitation in
+running him through if he could do so without being observed."
+
+"Matthew is a stout fellow," John Wilkes said, "and was as smart a
+sailor as any on board till he had his foot smashed by being jammed
+by a spare spar that got adrift in a gale, so that the doctors had to
+cut off the leg under the knee, and leave him to stump about on a
+timber toe for the rest of his life. I tell you what, Master Cyril:
+we might make the thing safer still if I spin the Captain a yarn as
+how Matthew has strained his back and ain't fit to work for a bit;
+then I can take on another hand to work in the yard, and we can put
+him on watch all day. He might come on duty at nine o'clock in the
+morning, and stop until I relieve him as soon as supper is over. Of
+course, he would not keep opposite the house, but might post himself
+a bit up or down the street, so that he could manage to keep an eye
+on the door."
+
+"That would be excellent," Cyril said. "Of course, at the supper-hour
+he could go off duty, as she could not possibly leave the house
+between that time and nine o'clock. You always come in about that
+hour, and I hear you go up to bed. When you get there, you should at
+once take off your boots, slip downstairs again with them, and go
+quietly out. I often sit talking with Captain Dave till half-past
+nine or ten, but directly I can get away I will come down and join
+you. I think in that way we need feel no uneasiness as to harm coming
+from our not telling Captain Dave, for it would be impossible for her
+to get off unnoticed. Now that is all arranged I must be going, for I
+shall be late at my appointment unless I hurry."
+
+"Shall I go round and begin my watch at once, Master Cyril?".
+
+"No, there is no occasion for that. We know that he missed her
+to-day, and therefore can have made no appointment; and I am
+convinced by what he said to the fellows he met, that matters are not
+settled yet. However, we will begin to-morrow. You can take an
+opportunity during the day to tell Matthew about it, and he can
+pretend to strain his back in the afternoon, and you can send him
+away. He can come round again next morning early, and when the
+Captain comes down you can tell him that you find that Matthew will
+not be able to work for the present, and ask him to let you take
+another man on until he can come back again."
+
+Cyril watched Nellie closely at meal-times and in the evening for the
+next few days. He thought that he should be certain to detect some
+slight change in her manner, however well she might play her part,
+directly she decided on going off with this man. She would not dream
+that she was suspected in any way, and would therefore be the less
+cautious. Matthew kept watch during the day, and followed if she went
+out with her father to a neighbour's, remaining on guard outside the
+house until John Wilkes relieved him as soon as he had finished his
+supper. If she remained at home in the evening John went out
+silently, after his return at his usual hour, and was joined by Cyril
+as soon as Captain Dave said good-night and went in to his bedroom.
+At midnight they re-entered the house and stole up to their rooms,
+leaving their doors open and listening attentively for another hour
+before they tried to get to sleep.
+
+On the sixth morning Cyril noticed that Nellie was silent and
+abstracted at breakfast-time. She went out marketing with her mother
+afterwards, and at dinner her mood had changed. She talked and
+laughed more than usual. There was a flush of excitement on her
+cheeks, and he drew the conclusion that in the morning she had not
+come to an absolute decision, but had probably given an answer to the
+man during the time she was out with her mother, and that she felt
+the die was now cast.
+
+"Pass the word to Matthew to keep an extra sharp watch this afternoon
+and to-morrow, John. I think the time is close at hand," he said, as
+they went downstairs together after dinner.
+
+"Do you think so? Well, the sooner the better. It is trying work,
+this here spying, and I don't care how soon it is over. I only hope
+it will end by our running down this pirate and engaging him."
+
+"I hope so too, John. I feel it very hard to be sitting at table with
+her and Captain Dave and her mother, and to know that she is
+deceiving them."
+
+"I can't say a word for her," the old sailor said, shaking his head.
+"She has as good parents as a girl could want to have. They would
+give their lives for her, either of them, cheerful, and there she is
+thinking of running away from them with a scamp she knows nothing of
+and has probably never spoken with for an hour. I knew her head was a
+bit turned with young fellows dangling after her, and by being
+noticed by some of the Court gallants at the last City ball, and by
+being made the toast by many a young fellow in City taverns--'Pretty
+Mistress Nellie Dowsett'; but I did not think her head was so turned
+that she would act as she is doing. Well, well, we must hope that
+this will be a lesson, Master Cyril, that she will remember all her
+life."
+
+"I hope so, John, and I trust that we shall be able to manage it all
+so that the matter will never come to her parents' ears."
+
+"I hope so, and I don't see why it should. The fellow may bluster,
+but he will say nothing about it because he would get into trouble
+for trying to carry off a citizen's daughter."
+
+"And besides that, John,--which would be quite as serious in the eyes
+of a fellow of this sort,--he would have the laugh against him among
+all his companions for having been outwitted in the City. So I think
+when he finds the game is up he will be glad enough to make off
+without causing trouble."
+
+"Don't you think we might give him a sound thrashing? It would do him
+a world of good."
+
+"I don't think it would do a man of that sort much good, John, and he
+would be sure to shout, and then there would be trouble, and the
+watch might come up, and we should all get hauled off together. In
+the morning the whole story would be known, and Mistress Nellie's
+name in the mouth of every apprentice in the City. No, no; if he is
+disposed to go off quietly, by all means let him go."
+
+"I have no doubt that you are right, Master Cyril, but it goes
+mightily against the grain to think that a fellow like that is to get
+off with a whole skin. However, if one should fall foul of him some
+other time, one might take it out of him."
+
+Captain Dave found Cyril but a bad listener to his stories that
+evening, and, soon after nine, said he should turn in.
+
+"I don't know what ails you to-night, Cyril," he said. "Your wits are
+wool-gathering, somewhere. I don't believe that you heard half that
+last story I was telling you."
+
+"I heard it all, sir; but I do feel a little out of sorts this
+evening."
+
+"You do too much writing, lad. My head would be like to go to pieces
+if I were to sit half the hours that you do at a desk."
+
+When Captain Dave went into his room, Cyril walked upstairs and
+closed his bedroom door with a bang, himself remaining outside. Then
+he took off his boots, and, holding them in his hand, went
+noiselessly downstairs to the front door. The lock had been carefully
+oiled, and, after putting on his boots again, he went out.
+
+"You are right, Master Cyril, sure enough," John Wilkes said when he
+joined him, fifty yards away from the house. "It is to-night she is
+going to try to make off. I thought I had best keep Matthew at hand,
+so I bid him stop till I came out, then sent him round to have a pint
+of ale at the tavern, and when he came back told him he had best
+cruise about, and look for signs of pirates. He came back ten minutes
+ago, and told me that a sedan chair had just been brought to the
+other end of the lane. It was set down some thirty yards from
+Fenchurch Street. There were the two chairmen and three fellows
+wrapped up in cloaks."
+
+"That certainly looks like action, John. Well, I should say that
+Matthew had better take up his station at the other end of the lane,
+there to remain quiet until he hears an uproar at the chair; then he
+can run up to our help if we need it. We will post ourselves near the
+door. No doubt Harvey, and perhaps one of his friends, will come and
+wait for her. We can't interfere with them here, but must follow and
+come up with her just before they reach the chair. The further they
+are away from the house the better. Then if there is any trouble
+Captain Dave will not hear anything of it."
+
+"That will be a good plan of operations," John agreed. "Matthew is
+just round the next corner. I will send him to Fenchurch Street at
+once."
+
+He went away, and rejoined Cyril in two or three minutes. They then
+went along towards the house, and took post in a doorway on the other
+side of the street, some thirty yards from the shop. They had
+scarcely done so, when they heard footsteps, and presently saw two
+men come along in the middle of the street. They stopped and looked
+round.
+
+"There is not a soul stirring," one said. "We can give the signal."
+
+So saying, he sang a bar or two of a song popular at the time, and
+they then drew back from the road into a doorway and waited.
+
+Five minutes later, Cyril and his fellow-watcher heard a very slight
+sound, and a figure stepped out from Captain Dowsett's door. The two
+men crossed at once and joined her. A few low words were spoken, and
+they moved away together, and turned up the lane.
+
+As soon as they disappeared from sight, Cyril and John Wilkes issued
+out. The latter had produced some long strips of cloth, which he
+wound round both their boots, so as, he said, to muffle the oars.
+Their steps, therefore, as they followed, were almost noiseless.
+Walking fast, they came up to the three persons ahead of them just as
+they reached the sedan chair. The two chairmen were standing at the
+poles, and a third man was holding the door open with his hat in his
+hand.
+
+"Avast heaving, mates!" John Wilkes said. "It seems to me as you are
+running this cargo without proper permits."
+
+Nellie gave a slight scream on hearing the voice, while the man
+beside her stepped forward, exclaiming furiously:
+
+"S" death, sir! who are you, and what are you interfering about?"
+
+"I am an honest man I hope, master. My name is John Wilkes, and, as
+that young lady will tell you, I am in the employ of her father."
+
+"Then I tell you, John Wilkes, or John the Devil, or whatever your
+name maybe, that if you don't at once take yourself off, I will let
+daylight into you," and he drew his sword, as did his two companions.
+
+John gave a whistle, and the wooden-legged man was heard hurrying up
+from Fenchurch Street.
+
+"Cut the scoundrel down, Penrose," Harvey exclaimed, "while I put the
+lady into the chair."
+
+The man addressed sprang at Wilkes, but in a moment his Court sword
+was shivered by a blow from the latter's cudgel, which a moment later
+fell again on his head, sending him reeling back several paces.
+
+"Stay, sir, or I will run you through," Cyril said, pricking Harvey
+sharply in the arm as he was urging Nellie to enter the chair.
+
+"Oh, it's you, is it?" the other exclaimed, in a tone of fury. "My
+boy of Cheapside! Well, I can spare a moment to punish you."
+
+"Oh, do not fight with him, my lord!" Nellie exclaimed.
+
+"My lord!" Cyril laughed. "So he has become a lord, eh?"
+
+Then he changed his tone.
+
+"Mistress Nellie, you have been deceived. This fellow is no lord. He
+is a hanger-on of the Court, one John Harvey, a disreputable
+blackguard whom I heard boasting to his boon-companions of his
+conquest. I implore you to return home as quietly as you went. None
+will know of this."
+
+He broke off suddenly, for, with an oath, Harvey rushed at him. Their
+swords clashed, there was a quick thrust and parry, and then Harvey
+staggered back with a sword-wound through the shoulder, dropping his
+sword to the ground.
+
+"Your game is up, John Harvey," Cyril said. "Did you have your
+deserts I would pass my sword through your body. Now call your
+fellows off, or it will be worse for them."
+
+"Oh, it is not true? Surely it cannot be true?" Nellie cried,
+addressing Harvey. "You cannot have deceived me?"
+
+The fellow, smarting with pain, and seeing that the game was up,
+replied with a savage curse.
+
+"You may think yourself lucky that you are only disabled, you
+villain!" Cyril said, taking a step towards him with his sword
+menacingly raised. "Begone, sir, before my patience is exhausted, or,
+by heaven! it will be your dead body that the chairmen will have to
+carry away."
+
+"Disabled or not," John Wilkes exclaimed, "I will have a say in the
+matter;" and, with a blow with his cudgel, he stretched Harvey on the
+ground, and belaboured him furiously until Cyril dragged him away by
+force. Harvey rose slowly to his feet.
+
+"Take yourself off, sir," Cyril said. "One of your brave companions
+has long ago bolted; the other is disarmed, and has his head broken.
+You may thank your stars that you have escaped with nothing worse
+than a sword-thrust through your shoulder, and a sound drubbing.
+Hanging would be a fit punishment for knaves like you. I warn you, if
+you ever address or in any way molest this lady again, you won't get
+off so easily."
+
+Then he turned and offered his arm to Nellie, who was leaning against
+the wall in a half-fainting state. Not a word was spoken until they
+emerged from the lane.
+
+"No one knows of this but ourselves, Mistress Nellie, and you will
+never hear of it from us. Glad indeed I am that I have saved you from
+the misery and ruin that must have resulted from your listening to
+that plausible scoundrel. Go quietly upstairs. We will wait here till
+we are sure that you have gone safely into your room; then we will
+follow. I doubt not that you are angry with me now, but in time you
+will feel that you have been saved from a great danger."
+
+The door was not locked. He lifted the latch silently, and held the
+door open for her to pass in. Then he closed it again, and turned to
+the two men who followed them.
+
+"This has been a good night's work, John."
+
+"That has it. I don't think that young spark will be coming after
+City maidens again. Well, it has been a narrow escape for her. It
+would have broken the Captain's heart if she had gone in that way.
+What strange things women are! I have always thought Mistress Nellie
+as sensible a girl as one would want to see. Given a little
+over-much, perhaps, to thinking of the fashion of her dress, but that
+was natural enough, seeing how pretty she is and how much she is made
+of; and yet she is led, by a few soft speeches from a man she knows
+nothing of, to run away from home, and leave father, and mother, and
+all. Well, Matthew, lad, we sha'n't want any more watching. You have
+done a big service to the master, though he will never know it. I
+know I can trust you to keep a stopper on your jaws. Don't you let a
+soul know of this--not even your wife."
+
+"You trust me, mate," the man replied. "My wife is a good soul, but
+her tongue runs nineteen to the dozen, and you might as well shout a
+thing out at Paul's Cross as drop it into her ear. I think my back
+will be well enough for me to come to work again to-morrow," he
+added, with a laugh.
+
+"All right, mate. I shall be glad to have you again, for the chap who
+has been in your place is a landsman, and he don't know a
+marling-spike from an anchor. Good-night, mate."
+
+"Well, Master Cyril," he went on, as the sailor walked away, "I don't
+think there ever was such a good wind as that which blew you here.
+First of all you saved Captain Dave's fortune, and now you save his
+daughter. I look on Captain Dave as being pretty nigh the same as
+myself, seeing as I have been with him man and boy for over thirty
+years, and I feel what you have done for him just as if you had done
+it for me. I am only a rough sailor-man, and I don't know how to put
+it in words, but I feel just full up with a cargo of thankfulness."
+
+"That is all right," Cyril said, holding out his hand, which John
+Wilkes shook with a heartiness that was almost painful. "Captain Dave
+offered me a home when I was alone without a friend in London, and I
+am glad indeed that I have been able to render him service in return.
+I myself have done little enough, though I do not say that the
+consequences have not been important. It has been just taking a
+little trouble and keeping a few watches--a thing not worth talking
+about one way or the other. I hope this will do Mistress Nellie good.
+She is a nice girl, but too fond of admiration, and inclined to think
+that she is meant for higher things than to marry a London citizen. I
+think to-night's work will cure her of that. This fellow evidently
+made himself out to her to be a nobleman of the Court. Now she sees
+that he is neither a nobleman nor a gentleman, but a ruffian who took
+advantage of her vanity and inexperience, and that she would have
+done better to have jumped down the well in the yard than to have put
+herself in his power. Now we can go up to bed. There is no more
+probability of our waking the Captain than there has been on other
+nights; but mind, if we should do so, you stick to the story we
+agreed on, that you thought there was someone by the gate in the lane
+again, and so called me to go down with you to investigate, not
+thinking it worth while to rouse up the Captain on what might be a
+false alarm."
+
+Everything remained perfectly quiet as they made their way upstairs
+to their rooms as silently as possible.
+
+"Where is Nellie?" Captain Dave asked, when they assembled at
+breakfast.
+
+"She is not well," his wife replied, "I went to her room just now and
+found that she was still a-bed. She said that she had a bad headache,
+and I fear that she is going to have a fever, for her face is pale
+and her eyes red and swollen, just as if she had been well-nigh
+crying them out of her head; her hands are hot and her pulse fast.
+Directly I have had breakfast I shall make her some camomile tea, and
+if that does not do her good I shall send for the doctor."
+
+"Do so, wife, without delay. Why, the girl has never ailed a day for
+years! What can have come to her?"
+
+"She says it is only a bad headache--that all she wants is to be left
+alone."
+
+"Yes, yes; that is all very well, but if she does not get better soon
+she must be seen to. They say that there were several cases last week
+of that plague that has been doing so much harm in foreign parts, and
+if that is so it behoves us to be very careful, and see that any
+illness is attended to without delay."
+
+"I don't think that there is any cause for alarm," his wife said
+quietly. "The child has got a headache and is a little feverish, but
+there is no occasion whatever for thinking that it is anything more.
+There is nothing unusual in a girl having a headache, but Nellie has
+had such good health that if she had a prick in the finger you would
+think it was serious."
+
+"By the way, John," Captain Dave said suddenly, "did you hear any
+noise in the lane last night? Your room is at the back of the house,
+and you were more likely to have heard it than I was. I have just
+seen one of the watch, and he tells me that there was a fray there
+last night, for there is a patch of blood and marks of a scuffle. It
+was up at the other end. There is some mystery about it, he thinks,
+for he says that one of his mates last night saw a sedan chair
+escorted by three men turn into the lane from Fenchurch Street just
+before ten o'clock, and one of the neighbours says that just after
+that hour he heard a disturbance and a clashing of swords there. On
+looking out, he saw something dark that might have been a chair
+standing there, and several men engaged in a scuffle. It seemed soon
+over, and directly afterwards three people came down the lane this
+way. Then he fancied that someone got into the chair, which was
+afterwards carried out into Fenchurch Street."
+
+"I did hear something that sounded like a quarrel or a fray," John
+Wilkes said, "but there is nothing unusual about that. As everything
+was soon quiet again, I gave no further thought to it."
+
+"Well, it seems a curious affair, John. However, it is the business
+of the City watch and not mine, so we need not bother ourselves about
+it. I am glad to see you have got Matthew at work again this morning.
+He tells me that he thinks he has fairly got over that sprain in his
+back."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S YARN
+
+
+Mindful of the fact that this affair had added a new enemy to those
+he had acquired by the break-up of the Black Gang, Cyril thought it
+as well to go round and give notice to the two traders whose books he
+attended to in the evening, that unless they could arrange for him to
+do them in the daytime he must give up the work altogether. Both
+preferred the former alternative, for they recognised the advantage
+they had derived from his work, and that at a rate of pay for which
+they could not have obtained the services of any scrivener in the
+City.
+
+It was three or four days before Nellie Dowsett made her appearance
+at the general table.
+
+"I can't make out what ails the girl," her mother said, on the
+previous evening. "The fever speedily left her, as I told you, but
+she is weak and languid, and seems indisposed to talk."
+
+"She will soon get over that, my dear," Captain Dave said. "Girls are
+not like men. I have seen them on board ship. One day they are
+laughing and fidgeting about like wild things, the next day they are
+poor, woebegone creatures. If she gets no better in a few days, I
+will see when my old friend, Jim Carroll, is starting in his brig for
+Yarmouth, and will run down with her myself--and of course with you,
+wife, if you will go--and stay there a few days while he is unloading
+and filling up again. The sea-air will set her up again, I warrant."
+
+"Not at this time of year," Dame Dowsett said firmly. "With these
+bitter winds it is no time for a lass to go a-sailing; and they say
+that Yarmouth is a great deal colder than we are here, being exposed
+to the east winds."
+
+"Well, well, Dame, then we will content ourselves with a run in the
+hoy down to Margate. If we choose well the wind and tide we can start
+from here in the morning and maybe reach there late in the evening,
+or, if not, the next morning to breakfast. Or if you think that too
+far we will stop at Sheerness, where we can get in two tides easily
+enough if the wind be fair."
+
+"That would be better, David; but it were best to see how she goes
+on. It may be, as you say, that she will shortly gain her strength
+and spirits again."
+
+It was evident, when Nellie entered the room at breakfast-time the
+next morning, that her mother's reports had not been exaggerated. She
+looked, indeed, as if recovering from a severe illness, and when she
+said good-morning to her father her voice trembled and her eyes
+filled with tears.
+
+"Tut, tut, lass! This will never do. I shall soon hardly own you for
+my Nellie. We shall have to feed you up on capons and wine, child, or
+send you down to one of the baths for a course of strengthening
+waters."
+
+She smiled faintly, and then turning, gave her hand to Cyril. As she
+did so, a slight flush of colour came into her cheeks.
+
+"I am heartily glad to see you down again, Mistress Nellie," he said,
+"and wish you a fair and speedy recovery."
+
+"I shall be better presently," she replied, with an effort.
+"Good-morning, John."
+
+"Good-morning, Mistress Nellie. Right glad are we to see you down
+again, for it makes but a dull table without your merry laugh to give
+an edge to our appetites."
+
+She sat down now, and the others, seeing that it was best to let her
+alone for a while, chatted gaily together.
+
+"There is no talk in the City but of the war, Cyril," the Captain
+said presently. "They say that the Dutch make sure of eating us up,
+but they won't find it as easy a job as they fancy. The Duke of York
+is to command the Fleet. They say that Prince Rupert will be second.
+To my mind they ought to have entrusted the whole matter to him. He
+proved himself as brave a captain at sea as he was on land, and I
+will warrant he would lead his ships into action as gallantly as he
+rode at the head of his Cavaliers on many a stricken field. The ships
+are fitting out in all haste, and they are gathering men at every
+sea-port. I should say they will have no lack of hands, for there are
+many ships laid up, that at other times trade with Holland, and
+Dantzic, and Dunkirk, and many a bold young sailor who will be glad
+to try whether he can fight as stoutly against the Dutch under York
+and Rupert as his father did under Blake."
+
+"For my part," Cyril said, "I cannot understand it; for it seems to
+me that the English and Dutch have been fighting for the last year. I
+have been too busy to read the Journal, and have not been in the way
+of hearing the talk of the coffeehouses and taverns; but, beyond that
+it is some dispute about the colonies, I know little of the matter."
+
+"I am not greatly versed in it myself, lad. Nellie here reads the
+Journal, and goes abroad more than any of us, and should be able to
+tell us something about it. Now, girl, can't you do something to set
+us right in this matter, for I like not to be behind my neighbours,
+though I am such a stay-at-home, having, as I thank the Lord, much
+happiness here, and no occasion to go out to seek it."
+
+"There was much discourse about it, father, the evening I went to
+Dame King's. There were several gentlemen there who had trade with
+the East, and one of them held shares in the English Company trading
+thither. After supper was over, they discoursed more fully on the
+matter than was altogether pleasing to some of us, who would much
+rather that, as we had hoped, we might have dancing or singing. I
+could see that Dame King herself was somewhat put out that her
+husband should have, without her knowing of his intention, brought in
+these gentlemen. Still, the matter of their conversation was new to
+us, and we became at last so mightily interested in it that we
+listened to the discourse without bemoaning ourselves that we had
+lost the amusement we looked for. I know I wished at the time that
+you had been there. I say not that I can repeat all that I heard, but
+as I had before read some of the matters spoken of in the Journal, I
+could follow what the gentlemen said more closely. Soon after the
+coming of the King to the throne the friendship between us and the
+Spaniards, that had been weakened during the mastership of Cromwell,
+was renewed, and they gave our ships many advantages at their ports,
+while, on the other hand, they took away the privileges the Dutch had
+enjoyed there, and thus our commerce with Spain increased, while that
+of the Dutch diminished."
+
+"That is certainly true, Nellie," her father said. "We have three
+ships sailing through the Mediterranean now to one that sailed there
+ten years ago, and doubtless the Dutch must have suffered by the
+increase in our trade."
+
+"Then he said that, as we had obtained the Island of Bombay in the
+East Indies and the City of Tangier in Africa as the dowry of the
+Queen, and had received the Island of Poleron for our East India
+Company by the treaty with Holland, our commerce everywhere
+increased, and raised their jealousy higher and higher. There was
+nothing in this of which complaint could be made by the Dutch
+Government, but nevertheless they gave encouragement to their East
+and West India Companies to raise trouble. Their East India Company
+refused to hand over the Island, and laid great limitations as to the
+places at which our merchants might trade in India. The other Company
+acted in the same manner, and lawlessly took possession of Cape Coast
+Castle, belonging to our English Company.
+
+"The Duke of York, who was patron and governor of our African
+Company, sent Sir Robert Holmes with four frigates to Guinea to make
+reprisals. He captured a place from the Dutch and named it James's
+Fort, and then, proceeding to the river Gambia, he turned out the
+Dutch traders there and built a fort. A year ago, as the Dutch still
+held Cape Coast Castle, Sir Robert was sent out again with orders to
+take it by force, and on the way he overhauled a Dutch ship and found
+she carried a letter of secret instructions from the Dutch Government
+to the West India Company to take the English Fort at Cormantin.
+Seeing that the Hollanders, although professing friendship, were thus
+treacherously inclined, he judged himself justified in exceeding the
+commission he had received, and on his way south he touched at Cape
+Verde. There he first captured two Dutch ships and then attacked
+their forts on the Island of Gorse and captured them, together with a
+ship lying under their guns.
+
+"In the fort he found a great quantity of goods ready to be shipped.
+He loaded his own vessels, and those that he had captured, with the
+merchandise, and carried it to Sierra Leone. Then he attacked the
+Dutch fort of St. George del Mena, the strongest on the coast, but
+failed there; but he soon afterwards captured Cape Coast Castle,
+though, as the gentlemen said, a mightily strong place. Then he
+sailed across to America, and, as you know, captured the Dutch
+Settlements of New Netherlands, and changed the name into that of New
+York. He did this not so much out of reprisal for the misconduct of
+the Dutch in Africa, but because the land was ours by right, having
+been discovered by the Cabots and taken possession of in the name of
+King Henry VII., and our title always maintained until the Dutch
+seized it thirty years ago.
+
+"Then the Dutch sent orders to De Ruyter, who commanded the fleet
+which was in the Mediterranean, to sail away privately and to make
+reprisals on the Coast of Guinea and elsewhere. He first captured
+several of our trading forts, among them that of Cormantin, taking
+great quantities of goods belonging to our Company; he then sailed to
+Barbadoes, where he was beaten off by the forts. Then he captured
+twenty of our ships off Newfoundland, and so returned to Holland,
+altogether doing damage, as the House of Commons told His Majesty, to
+the extent of eight hundred thousand pounds. All this time the Dutch
+had been secretly preparing for war, which they declared in January,
+which has forced us to do the same, although we delayed a month in
+hopes that some accommodation might be arrived at. I think, father,
+that is all that he told us, though there were many details that I do
+not remember."
+
+"And very well told, lass, truly. I wonder that your giddy head
+should have taken in so much matter. Of course, now you tell them
+over, I have heard these things before--the wrong that the Dutch did
+our Company by seizing their post at Cape Coast, and the reprisals
+that Sir Robert Holmes took upon them with our Company's ships--but
+they made no great mark on my memory, for I was just taking over my
+father's work when the first expedition took place. At any rate, none
+can say that we have gone into this war unjustly, seeing that the
+Dutch began it, altogether without cause, by first attacking our
+trading posts."
+
+"It seems to me, Captain Dave," John Wilkes said, "that it has been
+mighty like the war that our English buccaneers waged against the
+Spaniards in the West Indies, while the two nations were at peace at
+home."
+
+"It is curious," Cyril said, "that the trouble begun in Africa should
+have shifted to the other side of the Atlantic."
+
+"Ay, lad; just as that first trouble was at last fought out in the
+English Channel, off the coast of France, so this is likely to be
+decided in well-nigh the same waters."
+
+"The gentlemen, the other night, were all of opinion," Nellie said,
+"that the matter would never have come to such a head had it not been
+that De Witt, who is now the chief man in Holland, belongs to the
+French party there, and has been urged on by King Louis, for his own
+interest, to make war with us."
+
+"That may well be, Nellie. In all our English wars France has ever
+had a part either openly or by intrigues. France never seems to be
+content with attending to her own business, but is ever meddling with
+her neighbours', and, if not fighting herself, trying to set them by
+the ears against each other. If I were a bit younger, and had not
+lost my left flipper, I would myself volunteer for the service. As
+for Master Cyril here, I know he is burning to lay aside the pen and
+take to the sword."
+
+"That is so, Captain Dave. As you know, I only took up the pen to
+keep me until I was old enough to use a sword. I have been two years
+at it now, and I suppose it will be as much longer before I can think
+of entering the service of one of the Protestant princes; but as soon
+as I am fit to do so, I shall get an introduction and be off; but I
+would tenfold rather fight for my own country, and would gladly sail
+in the Fleet, though I went but as a ship's boy."
+
+"That is the right spirit, Master Cyril," John Wilkes exclaimed. "I
+would go myself if the Captain could spare me and they would take
+such a battered old hulk."
+
+"I couldn't spare you, John," Captain Dave said. "I have been mighty
+near making a mess of it, even with you as chief mate, and I might as
+well shut up shop altogether if you were to leave me. I should miss
+you, too, Cyril," he went on, stretching his arm across the table to
+shake hands with the lad. "You have proved a real friend and a true;
+but were there a chance of your going as an officer, I would not balk
+you, even if I could do so. It is but natural that a lad of spirit
+should speak and think as you do; besides, the war may not last for
+long, and when you come back, and the ships are paid off, you would
+soon wipe off the arrears of work, and get the books into ship-shape
+order. But, work or no work, that room of yours will always stand
+ready for you while I live, and there will always be a plate for you
+on this table."
+
+"Thank you, Captain Dave. You always overrate my services, and forget
+that they are but the consequence of the kindness that you have shown
+to me. But I have no intention of going. It was but a passing
+thought. I have but one friend who could procure me a berth as a
+volunteer, and as it is to him I must look for an introduction to
+some foreign prince, I would not go to him twice for a favour,
+especially as I have no sort of claim on his kindness. To go as a
+cabin boy would be to go with men under my own condition, and
+although I do not shirk hard work and rough usage, I should not care
+for them in such fashion. Moreover, I am doing work which, even
+without your hospitality, would suffice to keep me comfortably, and
+if I went away, though but for a month, I might find that those for
+whom I work had engaged other assistance. Spending naught, I am
+laying by money for the time when I shall have to travel at my own
+expense and to provide myself necessaries, and, maybe, to keep myself
+for a while until I can procure employment. I have the prospect that,
+by the end of another two years, I shall have gathered a sufficient
+store for all my needs, and I should be wrong to throw myself out of
+employment merely to embark on an adventure, and so to make a break,
+perhaps a long one, in my plans."
+
+"Don't you worry yourself on that score," Captain Dave said warmly,
+and then checked himself. "It will be time to talk about that when
+the time comes. But you are right, lad. I like a man who steadfastly
+holds on the way he has chosen, and will not turn to the right or
+left. There is not much that a man cannot achieve if he keeps his aim
+steadily in view. Why, Cyril, if you said you had made up your mind
+to be Lord Mayor of London, I would wager that you would some day be
+elected."
+
+Cyril laughed.
+
+"I shall never set my eyes in that direction, nor do I think the
+thing I have set myself to do will ever be in my power--that is, to
+buy back my father's estate; but so long as I live I shall keep that
+in view."
+
+"More unlikely things have happened, lad. You have got first to rise
+to be a General; then, what with your pay and your share in the sack
+of a city or two, and in other ways, you may come home with a purse
+full enough even for that. But it is time for us to be going down
+below. Matthew will think that we have forgotten him altogether."
+
+Another fortnight passed. Nellie had, to a considerable extent,
+recovered from the shock that she had suffered, but her manner was
+still quiet and subdued, her sallies were less lively, and her father
+noticed, with some surprise, that she no longer took any great
+interest in the gossip he retailed of the gay doings of the Court.
+
+"I can't think what has come over the girl," he said to his wife.
+"She seems well in health again, but she is changed a good deal,
+somehow. She is gentler and softer. I think she is all the better for
+it, but I miss her merry laugh and her way of ordering things about,
+as if her pleasure only were to be consulted."
+
+"I think she is very much improved," Mrs. Dowsett said decidedly;
+"though I can no more account for it than you can. She never used to
+have any care about the household, and now she assists me in my work,
+and is in all respects dutiful and obedient, and is not for ever bent
+upon gadding about as she was before. I only hope it will continue
+so, for, in truth, I have often sighed over the thought that she
+would make but a poor wife for an honest citizen."
+
+"Tut, tut, wife. It has never been as bad as that. Girls will be
+girls, and if they are a little vain of their good looks, that will
+soften down in time, when they get to have the charge of a household.
+You yourself, dame, were not so staid when I first wooed you, as you
+are now; and I think you had your own little share of vanity, as was
+natural enough in the prettiest girl in Plymouth."
+
+When Nellie was in the room Cyril did his best to save her from being
+obliged to take part in the conversation, by inducing Captain Dave to
+tell him stories of some of his adventures at sea.
+
+"You were saying, Captain Dave, that you had had several engagements
+with the Tunis Rovers," he said one evening. "Were they ever near
+taking you?"
+
+"They did take me once, lad, and that without an engagement; but,
+fortunately, I was not very long a prisoner. It was not a pleasant
+time though, John, was it?"
+
+"It was not, Captain Dave. I have been in sore danger of wreck
+several times, and in three big sea-fights; but never did I feel so
+out of heart as when I was lying, bound hand and foot, on the ballast
+in the hold of that corsair. No true sailor is afraid of being
+killed; but the thought that one might be all one's life a slave
+among the cruel heathen was enough to take the stiffness out of any
+man's courage."
+
+"But how was it that you were taken without an engagement, Captain
+Dave? And how did you make your escape?"
+
+"Well, lad, it was the carelessness of my first mate that did it; but
+as he paid for his fault with his life let us say naught against him.
+He was a handsome, merry young fellow, and had shipped as second
+mate, but my first had died of fever in the Levant, and of course he
+got the step, though all too young for the responsibility. We had met
+with some bad weather when south of Malta, and had had a heavy gale
+for three days, during which time we lost our main topmast, and badly
+strained the mizzen. The weather abated when we were off Pantellaria,
+which is a bare rock rising like a mountain peak out of the sea, and
+with only one place where a landing can be safely effected. As the
+gale had blown itself out, and it was likely we should have a spell
+of settled weather, I decided to anchor close in to the Island, and
+to repair damages.
+
+"We were hard at work for two days. All hands had had a stiff time of
+it, and the second night, having fairly repaired damages, I thought
+to give the crew a bit of a rest, and, not dreaming of danger,
+ordered that half each watch might remain below. John Wilkes was
+acting as my second mate. Pettigrew took the first watch; John had
+the middle watch; and then the other came up again. I turned out once
+or twice, but everything was quiet--we had not seen a sail all day.
+There was a light breeze blowing, but no chance of its increasing,
+and as we were well sheltered in the only spot where the anchorage
+was good, I own that I did not impress upon Pettigrew the necessity
+for any particular vigilance. Anyhow, just as morning was breaking I
+was woke by a shout. I ran out on deck, but as I did so there was a
+rush of dark figures, and I was knocked down and bound before I knew
+what had happened. As soon as I could think it over, it was clear
+enough. The Moor had been coming into the anchorage, and, catching
+sight of us in the early light, had run alongside and boarded us.
+
+"The watch, of course, must have been asleep. There was not a shot
+fired nor a drop of blood shed, for those on deck had been seized and
+bound before they could spring to their feet, and the crew had all
+been caught in their bunks. It was bitter enough. There was the
+vessel gone, and the cargo, and with them my savings of twenty years'
+hard work, and the prospect of slavery for life. The men were all
+brought aft and laid down side by side. Young Pettigrew was laid next
+to me.
+
+"'I wish to heaven, captain,' he said, 'you had got a pistol and your
+hand free, and would blow out my brains for me. It is all my fault,
+and hanging at the yard-arm is what I deserve. I never thought there
+was the slightest risk--not a shadow of it--and feeling a bit dozy,
+sat down for five minutes' caulk. Seeing that, no doubt the men
+thought they might do the same; and this is what has come of it. I
+must have slept half an hour at least, for there was no sail in sight
+when I went off, and this Moor must have come round the point and
+made us out after that.'
+
+"The corsair was lying alongside of us, her shrouds lashed to ours.
+There was a long jabbering among the Moors when they had taken off
+our hatches and seen that we were pretty well full up with cargo;
+then, after a bit, we were kicked, and they made signs for us to get
+on our feet and to cross over into their ship. The crew were sent
+down into the forward hold, and some men went down with them to tie
+them up securely. John Wilkes, Pettigrew, and myself were shoved down
+into a bit of a place below the stern cabin. Our legs were tied, as
+well as our arms. The trap was shut, and there we were in the dark.
+Of course I told Pettigrew that, though he had failed in his duty,
+and it had turned out badly, he wasn't to be blamed as if he had gone
+to sleep in sight of an enemy.
+
+"'I had never given the Moors a thought myself,' I said, 'and it was
+not to be expected that you would. But no sailor, still less an
+officer, ought to sleep on his watch, even if his ship is anchored in
+a friendly harbour, and you are to blame that you gave way to
+drowsiness. Still, even if you hadn't, it might have come to the same
+thing in the long run, for the corsair is a large one, and might have
+taken us even if you had made her out as she rounded the point.'
+
+"But, in spite of all I could say to cheer him, he took it to heart
+badly, and was groaning and muttering to himself when they left us in
+the dark, so I said to him,--
+
+"'Look here, lad, the best way to retrieve the fault you have
+committed is to try and get us out of the scrape. Set your brains to
+work, and let us talk over what had best be done. There is no time to
+be lost, for with a fair wind they can run from here to Tunis in
+four-and-twenty hours, and once there one may give up all hope. There
+are all our crew on board this ship. The Moor carried twice as many
+men as we do, but we may reckon they will have put more than half of
+them on board our barque; they don't understand her sails as well as
+they do their own, and will therefore want a strong prize crew on
+board.'
+
+"'I am ready to do anything, captain,' the young fellow said firmly.
+'If you were to give me the word, I would get into their magazine if
+I could, and blow the ship into the air.'
+
+"'Well, I don't know that I will give you that order, Pettigrew. To
+be a heathen's slave is bad, but, at any rate, I would rather try
+that life for a bit than strike my colours at once. Now let us think
+it over. In the first place we have to get rid of these ropes; then
+we have to work our way forward to the crew; and then to get on deck
+and fight for it. It is a stiff job, look at it which way one will,
+but at any rate it will be better to be doing something--even if we
+find at last that we can't get out of this dog-kennel--than to lie
+here doing nothing.'
+
+"After some talk, we agreed that it was not likely the Moors would
+come down to us for a long time, for they might reckon that we could
+hold on without food or water easy enough until they got to Tunis;
+having agreed as to that point, we set to work to get our ropes
+loose. Wriggling wouldn't do it, though we tried until the cords cut
+into our flesh.
+
+"At last Pettigrew said,--
+
+"'What a fool I am! I have got my knife hanging from a lanyard round
+my neck. It is under my blouse, so they did not notice it when they
+turned my pockets out.'
+
+"It was a long job to get at that knife. At last I found the string
+behind his neck, and, getting hold of it with my teeth, pulled till
+the knife came up to his throat. Then John got it in his teeth, and
+the first part of the job was done. The next was easy enough. John
+held the handle of the knife in his teeth and Pettigrew got hold of
+the blade in his, and between them they made a shift to open it;
+then, after a good deal of trouble, Pettigrew shifted himself till he
+managed to get the knife in his hands. I lay across him and worked
+myself backwards and forwards till the blade cut through the rope at
+my wrist; then, in two more minutes, we were free. Then we felt
+about, and found that the boarding between us and the main hold was
+old and shaky, and, with the aid of the knife and of our three
+shoulders, we made a shift at last to wrench one of the boards from
+its place.
+
+"Pettigrew, who was slightest, crawled through, and we soon got
+another plank down. The hold was half full of cargo, which, no doubt,
+they had taken out of some ship or other. We made our way forward
+till we got to the bulkhead, which, like the one we had got through,
+was but a make-shift sort of affair, with room to put your fingers
+between the planks. So we hailed the men and told them how we had got
+free, and that if they didn't want to work all their lives as slaves
+they had best do the same. They were ready enough, you may be sure,
+and, finding a passage between the planks wider in one place than the
+rest, we passed the knife through to them, and told them how to set
+about cutting the rope. They were a deal quicker over it than we had
+been, for in our place there had been no height where we could stand
+upright, but they were able to do so. Two men, standing back to back
+and one holding the knife, made quick work of cutting the rope.
+
+"We had plenty of strength now, and were not long in getting down a
+couple of planks. The first thing was to make a regular overhaul of
+the cargo--as well as we could do it, without shifting things and
+making a noise--to look for weapons or for anything that would come
+in handy for the fight. Not a thing could we find, but we came upon a
+lot of kegs that we knew, by their feel, were powder. If there had
+been arms and we could have got up, we should have done it at once,
+trusting to seize the ship before the other could come up to her
+help. But without arms it would be madness to try in broad daylight,
+and we agreed to wait till night, and to lie down again where we were
+before, putting the ropes round our legs again and our hands behind
+our backs, so that, if they did look in, everything should seem
+secure.
+
+"'We shall have plenty of time,' one of the sailors said, 'for they
+have coiled a big hawser down on the hatch.'
+
+"When we got back to our lazaret, we tried the hatch by which we had
+been shoved down, but the three of us couldn't move it any more than
+if it had been solid stone. We had a goodish talk over it, and it was
+clear that the hatchway of the main hold was our only chance of
+getting out; and we might find that a tough job.
+
+"'If we can't do it in any other way,' Pettigrew said, 'I should say
+we had best bring enough bales and things to fill this place up to
+within a foot of the top; then on that we might put a keg of powder,
+bore a hole in it, and make a slow match that would blow the cabin
+overhead into splinters, while the bales underneath it would prevent
+the force of the explosion blowing her bottom out.'
+
+"We agreed that, if the worst came to the worst, we would try this,
+and having settled that, went back to have a look at the main hatch.
+Feeling about round it, we found the points of the staple on which
+the hatchway bar worked above; they were not fastened with nuts as
+they would have been with us, but were simply turned over and
+clinched. We had no means of straightening them out, but we could cut
+through the woodwork round them. Setting to work at that, we took it
+by turns till we could see the light through the wood; then we left
+it to finish after dark. All this time we knew we were under sail by
+the rippling of the water along the sides. The men on board were
+evidently in high delight at their easy capture, and kicked up so
+much noise that there was no fear of their hearing any slight stir we
+made below.
+
+"Very carefully we brought packages and bales under the hatchway,
+till we built up a sort of platform about four feet below it. We
+reckoned that, standing as thick as we could there, and all lifting
+together, we could make sure of hoisting the hatchway up, and could
+then spring out in a moment.
+
+"Pettigrew still stuck to his plan, and talked us into carrying it
+out, both under the fore and aft hatches, pointing out that the two
+explosions would scare the crew out of their wits, that some would be
+killed, and many jump overboard in their fright. We came to see that
+the scheme was really a good one, so set all the crew to carry out
+the business, and they, working with stockinged feet, built up a
+platform under their hatch, as well as in our den aft. Then we made
+holes in two of the kegs of powder, and, shaking a little out, damped
+it, and rubbed it into two strips of cotton. Putting an end of a slow
+match into each of the holes, we laid the kegs in their places and
+waited.
+
+"We made two other fuses, so that a man could go forward, and another
+aft, to fire them both together. Two of the men were told off for
+this job, and the rest of us gathered under the main hatch, for we
+had settled now that if we heard them making any move to open the
+hatches we would fire the powder at once, whatever hour it was. In
+order to be ready, we cut deeper into the woodwork round the staple
+till there was but the thickness of a card remaining, and we could
+tell by this how light it was above.
+
+"It don't take long to tell you, but all this had taken us a good
+many hours; and so baked were we by the heat down below, and parched
+by thirst, that it was as much as I could do to persuade the men to
+wait until nightfall. At last we saw the light in the cut fade and
+darken. Again the men wanted to be at work, but I pointed out that if
+we waited till the crew had laid down on the deck, we might carry it
+through without losing a life, but if they were all awake, some of
+them would be sure to come at us with their weapons, and, unarmed as
+we were, might do us much harm. Still, though I succeeded in keeping
+the men quiet, I felt it was hard work to put a stopper on my own
+impatience.
+
+"At last even John here spoke up for action.
+
+"'I expect those who mean to sleep are off by this time,' he said.
+'As to reckoning upon them all going off, there ain't no hope of it;
+they will sit and jabber all night. They have made a good haul, and
+have taken a stout ship with a full hold, and five-and-twenty stout
+slaves, and that without losing a man. There won't be any sleep for
+most of them. I reckon it is two bells now. I do think, Captain, we
+might as well begin, for human nature can't stand this heat and
+thirst much longer.'
+
+"'All right, John,' I said. 'Now, lads, remember that when the first
+explosion comes--for we can't reckon on the two slow matches burning
+just the same time--we all heave together till we find the hatch
+lifts; then, when the second comes, we chuck it over and leap out. If
+you see a weapon, catch it up, but don't waste time looking about,
+but go at them with your fists. They will be scared pretty well out
+of their senses, and you will not be long before you all get hold of
+weapons of some sort. Now, Pettigrew, shove your blade up through the
+wood and cut round the staple. Now, Jack Brown, get out that
+tinder-box you said you had about you, and get a spark going.'
+
+"Three or four clicks were heard as the sailor struck his flint
+against the steel lid of the tinder-box.
+
+"'All right, yer honour,' he said, 'I have got the spark.'
+
+"Then the two hands we had given the slow matches to, lit them at the
+tinder-box, and went fore and aft, while as many of the rest of us as
+could crowded under the hatch.
+
+"'Are you ready, fore and aft?' I asked.
+
+"The two men hailed in reply.
+
+"'Light the matches, then, and come here.'
+
+"I suppose it was not above a minute, but it seemed ten before there
+was a tremendous explosion aft. The ship shook from stem to stern.
+There was a moment's silence, and then came yells and screams mixed
+with the sound of timbers and wreckage falling on the deck.
+
+"'Now lift,' I said. 'But not too high. That is enough--she is free.
+Wait for the other.'
+
+"There was a rush of feet overhead as the Moors ran forward. Then
+came the other explosion.
+
+"'Off with her, lads!' I shouted, and in a moment we flung the hatch
+off and leapt out with a cheer. There was no fighting to speak of.
+The officers had been killed by the first explosion under their
+cabin, and many of the men had either been blown overboard or lay
+crushed under the timber and wreckage.
+
+"The second explosion had been even more destructive, for it happened
+just as the crew, in their terror, had rushed forward. Many of those
+unhurt had sprung overboard at once, and as we rushed up most of the
+others did the same. There was no difficulty about arms, for the deck
+was strewn with weapons. Few of us, however, stopped to pick one up,
+but, half mad with rage and thirst, rushed forward at the Moors. That
+finished them; and before we got to them the last had sprung
+overboard. There was a rush on the part of the men to the scuttle
+butt.
+
+"'Take one drink, lads,' I shouted, 'and then to the buckets.'
+
+"It took us a quarter of an hour's hard work to put out the flames,
+and it was lucky the powder had blown so much of the decks up that we
+were enabled to get at the fire without difficulty, and so extinguish
+it before it got any great hold.
+
+"As soon as we had got it out I called a muster. There was only one
+missing;--it was Pettigrew, he being the first to leap out and rush
+aft. There had been but one shot fired by the Moors. One fellow, as
+he leapt on to the rail, drew his pistol from his belt and fired
+before he sprang overboard. In the excitement and confusion no one
+had noticed whether the shot took effect, for two or three men had
+stumbled and fallen over fragments of timber or bodies as we rushed
+aft. But now we searched, and soon came on the poor young fellow. The
+ball had struck him fair on the forehead, and he had fallen dead
+without a word or a cry.
+
+"There was, however, no time to grieve. We had got to re-capture the
+barque, which had been but a cable's length away when we rushed on
+deck; while we had been fighting the fire she had sailed on,
+regardless of the shrieks and shouts of the wretches who had sprung
+overboard from us. But she was still near us; both vessels had been
+running before the wind, for I had sent John Wilkes to the tiller the
+moment that we got possession of the corsair, and the barque was but
+about a quarter of a mile ahead.
+
+"The wind was light, and we were running along at four knots an hour.
+The Moors on board the _Kate_ had, luckily, been too scared by the
+explosion to think of getting one of the guns aft and peppering us
+while we were engaged in putting out the fire; and indeed, they could
+not have done us much harm if they had, for the high fo'castle hid us
+from their view.
+
+"As soon as we had found Pettigrew's body and laid it on the hatch we
+had thrown off, I went aft to John.
+
+"'Are we gaining on her, John?'
+
+"'No; she has drawn away a little. But this craft is not doing her
+best. I expect they wanted to keep close to the barque, and so kept
+her sheets in. If you square the sails, captain, we shall soon be
+upon her.'
+
+"That was quickly done, and then the first thing was to see that the
+men were all armed. We could have got a gun forward, but I did not
+want to damage the _Kate_, and we could soon see that we were
+closing on her. We shoved a bag of musket-balls into each cannon, so
+as to sweep her decks as we came alongside, for we knew that her crew
+was a good deal stronger than we were. Still, no one had any doubt as
+to the result, and it was soon evident that the Moors had got such a
+scare from the fate of their comrades that they had no stomach for
+fighting.
+
+"'They are lowering the boats,' John shouted.
+
+"'All the better,' I said. 'They would fight like rats caught in a
+trap if we came up to them, and though we are men enough to capture
+her, we might lose half our number.'
+
+"As soon as the boats reached the water they were all pulled up to
+the starboard side, and then the helm was put down, and the barque
+came round till she was broadside on to us.
+
+"'Down with your helm, John Wilkes!' I shouted. 'Hard down, man!'
+
+"John hesitated, for he had thought that I should have gone round to
+the other side of her and so have caught all the boats; but, in
+truth, I was so pleased at the thought of getting the craft back
+again that I was willing to let the poor villains go, since they were
+of a mind to do so without giving us trouble. We had punished them
+enough, and the shrieks and cries of those left behind to drown were
+ringing in my ears then. So we brought the corsair up quietly by the
+side of the _Kate_, lashed her there, and then, with a shout of
+triumph, sprang on board the old barky.
+
+"Not a Moor was left on board. The boats were four or five hundred
+yards away, rowing at the top of their speed. The men would have run
+to the guns, but I shouted,--
+
+"'Let them go, lads. We have punished them heavily enough; we have
+taken their ship, and sent half of them to Eternity. Let them take
+the tale back to Tunis how a British merchantman re-captured their
+ship. Now set to work to get some of the sail off both craft, and
+then, when we have got things snug, we will splice the main brace and
+have a meal.'
+
+"There is no more to tell. We carried the rover into Gibraltar and
+sold her and her cargo there. It brought in a good round sum, and,
+except for the death of Pettigrew, we had no cause to regret the
+corsair having taken us by surprise that night off Pantellaria."
+
+"That was an exciting business, indeed, Captain Dave," Cyril said,
+when the Captain brought his story to a conclusion. "If it had not
+been for your good fortune in finding those kegs of powder, and
+Pettigrew's idea of using them as he did, you and John might now, if
+you had been alive, have been working as slaves among the Moors."
+
+"Yes, lad. And not the least lucky thing was that Pettigrew's knife
+and Jack Brown's tinder-box had escaped the notice of the Moors. Jack
+had it in an inside pocket sewn into his shirt so as to keep it dry.
+It was a lesson to me, and for the rest of the time I was at sea I
+always carried a knife, with a lanyard round my neck, and stowed away
+in an inside pocket of my shirt, together with a tinder-box. They are
+two as useful things as a sailor can have about him, for, if cast
+upon a desert shore after a wreck, a man with a knife and tinder-box
+may make shift to live, when, without them, he and his comrades might
+freeze to death."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE FIRE IN THE SAVOY
+
+
+The next evening John Wilkes returned after an absence of but half an
+hour.
+
+"Why, John, you can but have smoked a single pipe! Did you not find
+your cronies there?"
+
+"I hurried back, Captain, because a man from one of the ships in the
+Pool landed and said there was a great light in the sky, and that it
+seemed to him it was either a big fire in the Temple, or in one of
+the mansions beyond the walls; so methought I would come in and ask
+Cyril if he would like to go with me to see what was happening."
+
+"I should like it much, John. I saw a great fire in Holborn just
+after I came over from France, and a brave sight it was, though very
+terrible; and I would willingly see one again."
+
+He took his hat and cloak and was about to be off, when Captain Dave
+called after him,--
+
+"Buckle on your sword, lad, and leave your purse behind you. A fire
+ever attracts thieves and cut-throats, who flock round in hopes of
+stealing something in the confusion. Besides, as I have told you
+before, you should never go out after dark without your sword, even
+were it but to cross the road."
+
+Cyril ran upstairs to his room, buckled on his weapon, and ran down
+again.
+
+"The Captain is right," John Wilkes said, as he joined him at the
+door. "After your two adventures, it would be folly for you to go out
+unarmed."
+
+"Oh, I expect they have forgotten about me long ago," Cyril laughed
+lightly.
+
+"I don't know," John Wilkes said seriously. "As to Marner's gang, I
+think that there is not much fear from them, unless that young rascal
+Robert and the scoundrel who was with him have returned from Holland;
+and that they are not likely to do for some time to come. But it
+would not be in human nature if the man you call John Harvey should
+take his defeat without trying to pay you back for that wound you
+gave him, for getting Mistress Nellie out of his hands, and for
+making him the laughing-stock of his comrades. I tell you that there
+is scarce an evening that I have gone out but some fellow passes me
+before I have gone twenty yards, and, as he brushes my sleeve, turns
+his head to look at me. But yesternight I said to one who so behaved,
+'Look here, mate, this is not the first time you have run against me.
+I warn you that if it happens again I will crack your head with my
+cudgel.' The fellow went off, muttering and grumbling, but I have no
+doubt that he and the others, for it certainly was not always the
+same man, were watching for you. To-night there was no one about, or,
+if there was, he did not come near me, and it may be that, finding
+you never leave the house after nightfall, they have decided to give
+it up for the present. But I thought I heard a footfall lower down
+the street, just as we came out of the house, and it is like enough
+that we are followed now."
+
+"At any rate, they would scarce attack two of us, John, and I should
+not mind if they did. It is a stab in the back that I am afraid of
+more than an open quarrel."
+
+"You may have a better swordsman to deal with next time. The fellow
+himself would scarcely care to cross swords with you again, but he
+would have no difficulty in getting half-a-dozen cut-throats from the
+purlieus of the Temple or Westminster, professional bullies, who are
+ready to use their swords to those who care to purchase them, and who
+would cut a throat for a few crowns, without caring a jot whose
+throat it was. Some of these fellows are disbanded soldiers. Some are
+men who were ruined in the wars. Some are tavern bullies--broken men,
+reckless and quarrelsome gamblers so long as they have a shilling in
+their pockets, but equally ready to take to the road or to rob a
+house when their pockets are empty."
+
+By this time they had passed the Exchange into Cheapside. Many people
+were hurrying in the same direction and wondering where the fire was.
+Presently one of the Fire Companies, with buckets, ladders, and axes,
+passed them at a run. Even in Cheapside the glow in the sky ahead
+could be plainly seen, but it was not until they passed St. Paul's
+and stood at the top of Ludgate Hill that the flames, shooting up
+high in the air, were visible. They were almost straight ahead.
+
+"It must be at the other end of Fleet Street," Cyril said, as they
+broke into a run.
+
+"Farther than that, lad. It must be one of the mansions along the
+Strand. A fire always looks closer than it is. I have seen a ship in
+flames that looked scarce a mile away, and yet, sailing with a brisk
+wind, it took us over an hour to come up to it."
+
+The crowd became thicker as they approached Temple Bar. The upper
+windows of the houses were all open, and women were leaning out
+looking at the sight. From every lane and alley men poured into the
+street and swelled the hurrying current. They passed through the Bar,
+expecting to find that the fire was close at hand. They had, however,
+some distance farther to go, for the fire was at a mansion in the
+Savoy. Another Fire Company came along when they were within a
+hundred yards of the spot.
+
+"Join in with them," Cyril said; and he and John Wilkes managed to
+push their way into the ranks, joining in the shout, "Way there, way!
+Make room for the buckets!"
+
+Aided by some of the City watch the Company made its way through the
+crowd, and hurried down the hill from the Strand into the Savoy. A
+party of the King's Guard, who had just marched up, kept back the
+crowd, and, when once in the open space, Cyril and his companion
+stepped out from the ranks and joined a group of people who had
+arrived before the constables and soldiers had come up.
+
+The mansion from which the fire had originated was in flames from top
+to bottom. The roof had fallen in. Volumes of flame and sparks shot
+high into the air, threatening the safety of several other houses
+standing near. The Fire Companies were working their hand-pumps,
+throwing water on to the doors and woodwork of these houses. Long
+lines of men were extended down to the edge of the river and passed
+the buckets backwards and forwards. City officials, gentlemen of the
+Court, and officers of the troops, moved to and fro shouting
+directions and superintending the work. From many of the houses the
+inhabitants were bringing out their furniture and goods, aided by the
+constables and spectators.
+
+"It is a grand sight," Cyril said, as, with his companion, he took
+his place in a quiet corner where a projecting portico threw a deep
+shadow.
+
+"It will soon be grander still. The wind is taking the sparks and
+flames westwards, and nothing can save that house over there. Do you
+see the little jets of flame already bursting through the roof?"
+
+"The house seems empty. There is not a window open."
+
+"It looks so, Cyril, but there may be people asleep at the back. Let
+us work round and have a look from behind."
+
+They turned down an alley, and in a minute or two came out behind the
+house. There was a garden and some high trees, but it was surrounded
+by a wall, and they could not see the windows.
+
+"Here, Cyril, I will give you a hoist up. If you stand on my
+shoulders, you can reach to the top of the wall and pull yourself up.
+Come along here to where that branch projects over. That's it. Now
+drop your cloak, and jump on to my back. That is right. Now get on to
+my shoulders."
+
+Cyril managed to get up.
+
+"I can just touch the top, but I can't get my fingers on to it."
+
+"Put your foot on my head. I will warrant it is strong enough to bear
+your weight."
+
+Cyril did as he was told, grasped the top of the wall, and, after a
+sharp struggle, seated himself astride on it. Just as he did so, a
+window in a wing projecting into the garden was thrown open, and a
+female voice uttered a loud scream for help. There was light enough
+for Cyril to see that the lower windows were all barred. He shouted
+back,--
+
+"Can't you get down the staircase?"
+
+"No; the house is full of smoke. There are some children here. Help!
+Help!" and the voice rose in a loud scream again.
+
+Cyril dropped down into the roadway by the side of John Wilkes.
+
+"There are some women and children in there, John. They can't get
+out. We must go round to the other side and get some axes and break
+down the door."
+
+Snatching up his cloak, he ran at full speed to his former position,
+followed by Wilkes. The roof of the house was now in flames. Many of
+the shutters and window-frames had also caught fire, from the heat.
+He ran up to two gentlemen who seemed to be directing the operations.
+
+"There are some women and children in a room at the back of that
+house," he said. "I have just been round there to see. They are in
+the second storey, and are crying for help."
+
+"I fear the ladders are too short."
+
+"I can tie two or three of them together," Wilkes said. "I am an old
+sailor and can answer for the knots."
+
+The firemen were already dashing water on the lower windows of the
+front of the house. A party with axes were cutting at the door, but
+this was so massive and solid that it resisted their efforts. One of
+the gentlemen went down to them. At his orders eight or ten men
+seized ladders. Cyril snatched some ropes from a heap that had been
+thrown down by the firemen, and the party, with one of the gentlemen,
+ran round to the back of the house. Two ladders were placed against
+the wall. John Wilkes, running up one of them, hauled several of the
+others up, and lowered them into the garden.
+
+The flames were now issuing from some of the upper windows. Cyril
+dropped from the wall into the garden, and, running close up to the
+house, shouted to three or four women, who were screaming loudly, and
+hanging so far out that he thought they would fall, that help was at
+hand, and that they would be speedily rescued. John Wilkes rapidly
+tied three of the short ladders together. These were speedily raised,
+but it was found that they just reached the window. One of the
+firemen ran up, while John set to work to prepare another long
+ladder. As there was no sign of life at any other window he laid it
+down on the grass when finished.
+
+"If you will put it up at the next window," Cyril said, "I will mount
+it. The woman said there were children in the house, and possibly I
+may find them. Those women are so frightened that they don't know
+what they are doing."
+
+One woman had already been got on to the other ladder, but instead of
+coming down, she held on tightly, screaming at the top of her voice,
+until the fireman with great difficulty got up by her side, wrenched
+her hands from their hold, threw her across his shoulder, and carried
+her down.
+
+The room was full of smoke as Cyril leapt into it, but he found that
+it was not, as he had supposed, the one in which the women at the
+next window were standing. Near the window, however, an elderly woman
+was lying on the floor insensible, and three girls of from eight to
+fourteen lay across her. Cyril thrust his head out of the window.
+
+"Come up, John," he shouted. "I want help."
+
+He lifted the youngest of the girls, and as he got her out of the
+window, John's head appeared above the sill.
+
+"Take her down quick, John," he said, as he handed the child to him.
+"There are three others. They are all insensible from the smoke."
+
+Filling his lungs with fresh air, he turned into the blinding smoke
+again, and speedily reappeared at the window with another of the
+girls. John was not yet at the bottom; he placed her with her head
+outside the window, and was back with the eldest girl by the time
+Wilkes was up again. He handed her to him, and then, taking the
+other, stepped out on to the ladder and followed Wilkes down.
+
+"Brave lad!" the gentleman said, patting him on the shoulder. "Are
+there any more of them?"
+
+"One more--a woman, sir. Do you go up, John. I will follow, for I
+doubt whether I can lift her by myself."
+
+He followed Wilkes closely up the ladder. There was a red glow now in
+the smoke. Flames were bursting through the door. John was waiting at
+the window.
+
+"Which way, lad? There is no seeing one's hand in the smoke."
+
+"Just in front, John, not six feet away. Hold your breath."
+
+They dashed forward together, seized the woman between them, and,
+dragging her to the window, placed her head and shoulders on the
+sill.
+
+"You go first, John. She is too heavy for me," Cyril gasped.
+
+John stumbled out, half suffocated, while Cyril thrust his head as
+far as he could outside the window.
+
+"That is it, John; you take hold of her shoulder, and I will help you
+get her on to your back."
+
+Between them they pushed her nearly out, and then, with Cyril's
+assistance, John got her across his shoulders. She was a heavy woman,
+and the old sailor had great difficulty in carrying her down. Cyril
+hung far out of the window till he saw him put his foot on the
+ground; then he seized a rung of the ladder, swung himself out on to
+it, and was soon down.
+
+For a time he felt confused and bewildered, and was conscious that if
+he let go the ladder he should fall. He heard a voice say, "Bring one
+of those buckets of water," and directly afterwards, "Here, lad, put
+your head into this," and a handful of water was dashed into his
+face. It revived him, and, turning round, he plunged his head into a
+bucket that a man held up for him. Then he took a long breath or two,
+pressed the water from his hair, and felt himself again. The women at
+the other window had by this time been brought down. A door in the
+garden wall had been broken down with axes, and the women and girls
+were taken away to a neighbouring house.
+
+"There is nothing more to do here," the gentlemen said. "Now, men,
+you are to enter the houses round about. Wherever a door is fastened,
+break it in. Go out on to the roofs with buckets, put out the sparks
+as fast as they fall. I will send some more men to help you at once."
+He then put his hand on Cyril's shoulder, and walked back with him to
+the open space.
+
+"We have saved them all," he said to the other gentleman who had now
+come up, "but it has been a close touch, and it was only by the
+gallantry of this young gentleman and another with him that the lives
+of three girls and a woman were rescued. I think all the men that can
+be spared had better go round to the houses in that direction. You
+see, the wind is setting that way, and the only hope of stopping the
+progress of the fire is to get plenty of men with buckets out on the
+roofs and at all the upper windows."
+
+The other gentleman gave the necessary orders to an officer.
+
+"Now, young sir, may I ask your name?" the other said to Cyril.
+
+"Cyril Shenstone, sir," he replied respectfully; for he saw that the
+two men before him were persons of rank.
+
+"Shenstone? I know the name well. Are you any relation of Sir Aubrey
+Shenstone?"
+
+"He was my father, sir."
+
+"A brave soldier, and a hearty companion," the other said warmly. "He
+rode behind me scores of times into the thick of the fight. I am
+Prince Rupert, lad."
+
+Cyril doffed his hat in deep respect. His father had always spoken of
+the Prince in terms of boundless admiration, and had over and over
+again lamented that he had not been able to join the Prince in his
+exploits at sea.
+
+"What has become of my old friend?" the Prince asked.
+
+"He died six months ago, Prince."
+
+"I am sorry to hear it. I did hear that, while I was away, he had
+been suing at Court. I asked for him, but could get no tidings of his
+whereabouts. But we cannot speak here. Ask for me to-morrow at
+Whitehall. Do you know this gentleman?"
+
+"No, sir, I have not the honour."
+
+"This is the Duke of Albemarle, my former enemy, but now my good
+friend. You will like the lad no worse, my Lord, because his father
+more than once rode with me into the heart of your ranks."
+
+"Certainly not," the Duke said. "It is clear that the son will be as
+gallant a gentleman as his father was before him, and, thank God! it
+is not against Englishmen that he will draw his sword. You may count
+me as your friend, sir, henceforth."
+
+Cyril bowed deeply and retired, while Prince Rupert and the Duke
+hurried away again to see that the operations they had directed were
+properly carried out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE DUTCH
+
+
+After leaving Prince Rupert, Cyril returned to John Wilkes, who was
+standing a short distance away.
+
+"John! John!" he said eagerly, as he joined him. "Who do you think
+those gentlemen are?"
+
+"I don't know, lad. It is easy to see that they are men of importance
+by the way they order everyone about."
+
+"The one who went with us to the garden is Prince Rupert; the other
+is the Duke of Albemarle. And the Prince has told me to call upon him
+to-morrow at Whitehall."
+
+"That is a stroke of luck, indeed, lad, and right glad am I that I
+took it into my head to fetch you out to see the fire. But more than
+that, you have to thank yourself, for, indeed, you behaved right
+gallantly. You nearly had the Prince for your helper, for just before
+I went up the ladder the last time he stepped forward and said to me,
+'You must be well-nigh spent, man. I will go up this time.' However,
+I said that I would finish the work, and so, without more ado, I
+shook off the hand he had placed on my arm, and ran up after you.
+Well, it is a stroke of good fortune to you, lad, that you should
+have shown your courage under his eye--no one is more able to
+appreciate a gallant action. This may help you a long way towards
+bringing about the aim you were talking about the other night, and I
+may live to see you Sir Cyril Shenstone yet."
+
+"You can see me that now," Cyril said, laughing. "My father was a
+baronet, and therefore at his death I came into the title, though I
+am not silly enough to go about the City as Sir Cyril Shenstone when
+I am but a poor clerk. It will be time enough to call myself 'Sir'
+when I see some chance of buying back our estate, though, indeed, I
+have thought of taking the title again when I embark on foreign
+service, as it may help me somewhat in obtaining promotion. But do
+not say anything about it at home. I am Cyril Shenstone, and have
+been fortunate enough to win the friendship of Captain Dave, and I
+should not be so comfortable were there any change made in my
+position in the family. A title is an empty thing, John, unless there
+are means to support it, and plain Cyril Shenstone suits my position
+far better than a title without a guinea in my purse. Indeed, till
+you spoke just now, I had well-nigh forgotten that I have the right
+to call myself 'Sir.'"
+
+They waited for two hours longer. At the end of that time four
+mansions had been burnt to the ground, but the further progress of
+the flames had been effectually stayed. The crowd had already begun
+to scatter, and as they walked eastward the streets were full of
+people making their way homeward. The bell of St. Paul's was striking
+midnight as they entered. The Captain and his family had long since
+gone off to bed.
+
+"This reminds one of that last business," John whispered, as they
+went quietly upstairs.
+
+"It does, John. But it has been a pleasanter evening in every way
+than those fruitless watches we kept in the street below."
+
+The next morning the story of the fire was told, and excited great
+interest.
+
+"Who were the girls you saved, Cyril?" Nellie asked.
+
+"I don't know. I did not think of asking to whom the house belonged,
+nor, indeed, was there anyone to ask. Most of the people were too
+busy to talk to, and the rest were spectators who had, like
+ourselves, managed to make their way in through the lines of the
+soldiers and watch."
+
+"Were they ladies?"
+
+"I really don't know," Cyril laughed. "The smoke was too thick to see
+anything about them, and I should not know them if I met them to-day;
+and, besides, when you only see a young person in her nightdress, it
+is hard to form any opinion as to her rank."
+
+Nellie joined in the laugh.
+
+"I suppose not, Cyril. It might make a difference to you, though.
+Those houses in the Savoy are almost all the property of noblemen,
+and you might have gained another powerful friend if they had been
+the daughters of one."
+
+"I should not think they were so," Cyril said. "There seemed to be no
+one else in the house but three maid servants and the woman who was
+in the room with them. I should say the family were all away and the
+house left in charge of servants. The woman may have been a
+housekeeper, and the girls her children; besides, even had it been
+otherwise, it was merely by chance that I helped them out. It was
+John who tied the ladders together and who carried the girls down,
+one by one. If I had been alone I should only have had time to save
+the youngest, for I am not accustomed to running up and down ladders,
+as he is, and by the time I had got her down it would have been too
+late to have saved the others. Indeed, I am not sure that we did save
+them; they were all insensible, and, for aught I know, may not have
+recovered from the effects of the smoke. My eyes are smarting even
+now."
+
+"And so you are to see Prince Rupert to-day, Cyril?" Captain Dave
+said. "I am afraid we shall be losing you, for he will, I should say,
+assuredly appoint you to one of his ships if you ask him."
+
+"That would be good fortune indeed," Cyril said. "I cannot but think
+myself that he may do so, though it would be almost too good to be
+true. Certainly he spoke very warmly, and, although he may not
+himself have the appointment of his officers, a word from him at the
+Admiralty would, no doubt, be sufficient. At any rate, it is a great
+thing indeed to have so powerful a friend at Court. It may be that,
+at the end of another two years, we may be at war with some other
+foreign power, and that I may be able to enter our own army instead
+of seeking service abroad. If not, much as I should like to go to sea
+to fight against the Dutch, service in this Fleet would be of no real
+advantage to me, for the war may last but for a short time, and as
+soon as it is over the ships will be laid up again and the crews
+disbanded."
+
+"Ay, but if you find the life of a sailor to your liking, Cyril, you
+might do worse than go into the merchant service. I could help you
+there, and you might soon get the command of a trader. And, let me
+tell you, it is a deal better to walk the decks as captain than it is
+to be serving on shore with twenty masters over you; and there is
+money to be made, too. A captain is always allowed to take in a
+certain amount of cargo on his own account; that was the way I
+scraped together money enough to buy my own ship at last, and to be
+master as well as owner, and there is no reason why you should not do
+the same."
+
+"Thank you, Captain Dave. I will think it over when I find out
+whether I like a sea life, but at present it seems to me that my
+inclinations turn rather towards the plan that my father recommended,
+and that, for the last two years, I have always had before me. You
+said, the other day, you had fought the Dutch, John?"
+
+"Ay, ay, Master Cyril; but, in truth, it was from no wish or desire
+on my part that I did so. I had come ashore from Captain Dave's ship
+here in the Pool, and had been with some of my messmates who had
+friends in Wapping and had got three days' leave ashore, as the cargo
+we expected had not come on board the ship. We had kept it up a bit,
+and it was latish when I was making my way down to the stairs. I
+expect that I was more intent on making a straight course down the
+street than in looking about for pirates, when suddenly I found
+myself among a lot of men. One of them seized me by the arm.
+
+"'Hands off, mate!' says I, and I lifted my fist to let fly at him,
+when I got a knock at the back of the head. The next thing I knew
+was, I was lying in the hold of a ship, and, as I made out presently,
+with a score of others, some of whom were groaning, and some cursing.
+
+"'Hullo, mates!' says I. 'What port is this we are brought up in?'
+
+"'We are on board the _Tartar_,' one said.
+
+"I knew what that meant, for the _Tartar_ was the receiving hulk
+where they took the pressed men.
+
+"The next morning, without question asked, we were brought up on
+deck, tumbled into a small sloop, and taken down to Gravesend, and
+there put, in batches of four or five, into the ships of war lying
+there. It chanced that I was put on board Monk's flagship the
+_Resolution_. And that is how it was I came to fight the Dutch."
+
+"What year was that in, John?"
+
+"'53--in May it was. Van Tromp, at that time, with ninety-eight ships
+of war, and six fire-ships, was in the Downs, and felt so much Master
+of the Sea that he sailed in and battered Dover Castle."
+
+"Then you were in the fight of the 2nd of June?"
+
+"Ay; and in that of the 31st of July, which was harder still."
+
+"Tell me all about it, John."
+
+"Lor' bless you, sir, there is nothing to tell as far as I was
+concerned. I was at one of the guns on the upper deck, but I might as
+well have been down below for anything I saw of it. It was just load
+and fire, load and fire. Sometimes, through the clouds of smoke, one
+caught a sight of the Dutchman one was firing at; more often one
+didn't. There was no time for looking about, I can tell you, and if
+there had been time there was nothing to see. It was like being in a
+big thunderstorm, with thunderbolts falling all round you, and a
+smashing and a grinding and a ripping that would have made your hair
+stand on end if you had only had time to think of it. But we hadn't
+time. It was 'Now then, my hearties, blaze away! Keep it up, lads!
+The Dutchmen have pretty near had enough of it!' And then, at last,
+'They are running, lads. Run in your guns, and tend the sails.' And
+then a cheer as loud as we could give--which wasn't much, I can tell
+you, for we were spent with labour, and half choked with powder, and
+our tongues parched up with thirst."
+
+"How many ships had you?"
+
+"We had ninety-five war-ships, and five fire-ships, so the game was
+an equal one. They had Tromp and De Ruyter to command them, and we
+had Monk and Deane. Both Admirals were on board our ship, and in the
+very first broadside the Dutch fired a chain-shot, and pretty well
+cut Admiral Deane in two. I was close to him at the time. Monk, who
+was standing by his side, undid his own cloak in a moment, threw it
+over his comrade, and held up his hand to the few of us that had seen
+what had happened, to take no notice of it.
+
+"It was a good thing that Deane and Monk were on board the same ship.
+If it had not been so, Deane's flag would have been hauled down and
+all the Fleet would have known of his death, which, at the
+commencement of the fight, would have greatly discouraged the men.
+
+"They told me, though I know naught about it, that Rear-Admiral
+Lawson charged with the Blue Squadron right through the Dutch line,
+and so threw them into confusion. However, about three o'clock, the
+fight having begun at eleven, Van Tromp began to draw off, and we got
+more sail on the _Resolution_ and followed them for some hours, they
+making a sort of running fight of it, till one of their big ships
+blew up, about nine in the evening, when they laid in for shore.
+Blake came up in the night with eighteen ships. The Dutch tried to
+draw off, but at eight o'clock we came up to them, and, after
+fighting for four hours, they hauled off and ran, in great confusion,
+for the flats, where we could not follow them, and so they escaped to
+Zeeland. We heard that they had six of their best ships sunk, two
+blown up and eleven taken, but whether it was so or not I knew not,
+for, in truth, I saw nothing whatever of the matter.
+
+"We sailed to the Texel, and there blocked in De Ruyter's squadron of
+twenty-five large ships, and we thought that there would be no more
+fighting, for the Dutch had sent to England to ask for terms of
+peace. However, we were wrong, and, to give the Dutchmen their due,
+they showed resolution greater than we gave them credit for, for we
+were astonished indeed to hear, towards the end of July, that Van
+Tromp had sailed out again with upwards of ninety ships.
+
+"On the 29th they came in view, and we sailed out to engage them, but
+they would not come to close quarters, and it was seven at night
+before the _Resolution_, with some thirty other ships, came up to
+them and charged through their line. By the time we had done that it
+was quite dark, and we missed them altogether and sailed south,
+thinking Van Tromp had gone that way; but, instead, he had sailed
+north, and in the morning we found he had picked up De Ruyter's
+fleet, and was ready to fight. But we had other things to think of
+besides fighting that day, for the wind blew so hard that it was as
+much as we could do to keep off the shore, and if the gale had
+continued a good part of the ships would have left their bones there.
+However, by nightfall the gale abated somewhat, and by the next
+morning the sea had gone down sufficient for the main deck ports to
+be opened. So the Dutch, having the weather gauge, sailed down to
+engage us.
+
+"I thought it rough work in the fight two months before, but it was
+as nothing to this. To begin with, the Dutch fire-ships came down
+before the wind, and it was as much as we could do to avoid them.
+They did, indeed, set the _Triumph_ on fire, and most of the crew
+jumped overboard; but those that remained managed to put out the
+flames.
+
+"Lawson, with the Blue Squadron, began the fighting, and that so
+briskly, that De Ruyter's flagship was completely disabled and towed
+out of the fight. However, after I had seen that, our turn began, and
+I had no more time to look about. I only know that ship after ship
+came up to engage us, seeming bent upon lowering Monk's flag. Three
+Dutch Admirals, Tromp, Evertson, and De Ruyter, as I heard
+afterwards, came up in turn. We did not know who they were, but we
+knew they were Admirals by their flags, and pounded them with all our
+hearts; and so good was our aim that I myself saw two of the
+Admirals' flags brought down, and they say that all three of them
+were lowered. But you may guess the pounding was not all on our side,
+and we suffered very heavily.
+
+"Four men were hurt at the gun I worked, and nigh half the crew were
+killed or wounded. Two of our masts were shot away, many of our guns
+disabled, and towards the end of the fight we were towed out of the
+line. How the day would have gone if Van Tromp had continued in
+command of the Dutch, I cannot say, but about noon he was shot
+through the body by a musket-ball, and this misfortune greatly
+discouraged the Dutchmen, who fight well as long as things seem to be
+going their way, but lose heart very easily when they think the
+matter is going against them.
+
+"By about two o'clock the officers shouted to us that the Dutch were
+beginning to draw off, and it was not long before they began to fly,
+each for himself, and in no sort of order. Some of our light
+frigates, that had suffered less than the line-of-battle ships,
+followed them until the one Dutch Admiral whose flag was left flying,
+turned and fought them till two or three of our heavier ships came up
+and he was sunk.
+
+"We could see but little of the chase, having plenty of work, for,
+had a gale come on, our ship, and a good many others, would assuredly
+have been driven ashore, in the plight we were in. Anyhow, at night
+their ships got into the Texel, and our vessels, which had been
+following them, anchored five or six leagues out, being afraid of the
+sands. Altogether we had burnt or sunk twenty-six of their ships of
+war, while we lost only two frigates, both of which were burnt by
+their fire-ships.
+
+"As it was certain that they would not come out for some time again,
+and many of our ships being unfit for further contention until
+repaired, we returned to England, and I got my discharge and joined
+Captain Dave again a fortnight later, when his ship came up the
+river.
+
+"Monk is a good fighter, Master Cyril, and should have the command of
+the Fleet instead of, as they say, the Duke of York. Although he is
+called General, and not Admiral, he is as good a sea-dog as any of
+them, and he can think as well as fight.
+
+"Among our ships that day were several merchantmen that had been
+taken up for the service at the last moment and had guns slapped on
+board, with gunners to work them. Some of them had still their
+cargoes in the hold, and Monk, thinking that it was likely the
+captains would think more of saving their ships and goods than of
+fighting the Dutch, changed the captains all round, so that no man
+commanded his own vessel. And the consequence was that, as all
+admitted, the merchantmen were as willing to fight as any, and bore
+themselves right stoutly.
+
+"Don't you think, Master Cyril, if you go with the Fleet, that you
+are going to see much of what goes on. It will be worse for you than
+it was for me, for there was I, labouring and toiling like a dumb
+beast, with my mind intent upon working the gun, and paying no heed
+to the roar and confusion around, scarce even noticing when one
+beside me was struck down. You will be up on the poop, having naught
+to do but to stand with your hand on your sword hilt, and waiting to
+board an enemy or to drive back one who tries to board you. You will
+find that you will be well-nigh dazed and stupid with the din and
+uproar."
+
+"It does not sound a very pleasant outlook, John," Cyril laughed.
+"However, if I ever do get into an engagement, I will think of what
+you have said, and will try and prevent myself from getting either
+dazed or stupid; though, in truth, I can well imagine that it is
+enough to shake anyone's nerves to stand inactive in so terrible a
+scene."
+
+"You will have to take great care of yourself, Cyril," Nellie said
+gravely.
+
+Captain Dave and John Wilkes both burst into a laugh.
+
+"How is he to take care of himself, Nellie?" her father said. "Do you
+suppose that a man on deck would be any the safer were he to stoop
+down with his head below the rail, or to screw himself up on the
+leeward side of a mast? No, no, lass; each man has to take his share
+of danger, and the most cowardly runs just as great a risk as the man
+who fearlessly exposes himself."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+PRINCE RUPERT
+
+
+The next day Cyril went down to breakfast in what he had often
+called, laughingly, his Court suit. This suit he had had made for him
+a short time before his father's death, to replace the one he had
+when he came over, that being altogether outgrown. He had done so to
+please Sir Aubrey, who had repeatedly expressed his anxiety that
+Cyril should always be prepared to take advantage of any good fortune
+that might befall him. This was the first time he had put it on.
+
+"Well, truly you look a pretty fellow, Cyril," the Captain said, as
+he entered. "Don't you think so, Nellie?"
+
+The girl nodded.
+
+"I don't know that I like him better than in his black suit, father.
+But he looks very well."
+
+"Hullo, lass! This is a change of opinion, truly! For myself I care
+not one jot for the fashion of a man's clothes, but I had thought
+that you always inclined to gay attire, and Cyril now would seem
+rather to belong to the Court than to the City."
+
+"If it had been any other morning, father, I might have thought more
+of Cyril's appearance; but what you were telling us but now of the
+continuance of the Plague is so sad, that mourning, rather than Court
+attire, would seem to be the proper wear."
+
+"Is the Plague spreading fast, then, Captain Dave?"
+
+"No; but it is not decreasing, as we had hoped it would do. From the
+beginning of December the deaths rose steadily until the end of
+January. While our usual death-rate is under three hundred it went to
+four hundred and seventy-four. Then the weather setting in very
+severe checked it till the end of February, and we all hoped that the
+danger was over, and that we should be rid of the distemper before
+the warm weather set in; but for the last fortnight there has been a
+rise rather than a fall--not a large one, but sufficient to cause
+great alarm that it will continue until warm weather sets in, and may
+then grow into terrible proportions. So far, there has been no case
+in the City, and it is only in the West that it has any hold, the
+deaths being altogether in the parishes of St. Giles's, St. Andrew's,
+St. Bride's, and St. James's, Clerkenwell. Of course, there have been
+cases now and then for many years past, and nine years ago it spread
+to a greater extent than now, and were we at the beginning of winter
+instead of nearing summer there would be no occasion to think much of
+the matter; but, with the hot weather approaching, and the tales we
+hear of the badness of the Plague in foreign parts one cannot but
+feel anxious."
+
+"And they say, too, that there have been prophecies of grievous evils
+in London," Nellie put in.
+
+"We need not trouble about that," her father replied. "The
+Anabaptists prophesied all sorts of evils in Elizabeth's time, but
+naught came of it. There are always men and women with disordered
+minds, who think that they are prophets, and have power to see
+further into the future than other people, but no one minds them or
+thinks aught of their wild words save at a time like the present,
+when there is a danger of war or pestilence. You remember Bill Vokes,
+John?"
+
+"I mind him, yer honour. A poor, half-crazed fellow he was, and yet a
+good seaman, who would do his duty blow high or blow low. He sailed
+six voyages with us, Captain."
+
+"And never one of them without telling the crew that the ship would
+never return to port. He had had dreams about it, and the black cat
+had mewed when he left home, and he saw the three magpies in a tree
+hard by when he stepped from the door, and many other portents of
+that kind. The first time he well-nigh scared some of the crew, but
+after the first voyage--from which we came back safely, of
+course--they did but laugh at him; and as in all other respects he
+was a good sailor, and a willing fellow, I did not like to discharge
+him, for, once the men found out that his prophecies came to naught,
+they did no harm, and, indeed, they afforded them much amusement.
+Just as it is on board a ship, so it is elsewhere. If our vessel had
+gone down that first voyage, any man who escaped drowning would have
+said that Bill Vokes had not been without reason in his warnings, and
+that it was nothing less than flying in the face of Providence, to
+put to sea when the loss of the ship had been so surely foretold. So,
+on shore, the fools or madmen who have dreams and visions are not
+heeded when times are good, and men's senses sound, whereas, in
+troubled times, men take their ravings to heart. If all the
+scatterbrains had a good whipping at the pillory it would be well,
+both for them and for the silly people who pay attention to their
+ravings."
+
+A few minutes later, Cyril took a boat to the Whitehall steps, and
+after some delay was shown up to Prince Rupert's room.
+
+"None the worse for your exertions yester-even, young gentleman, I
+hope?" the Prince said, shaking hands with him warmly.
+
+"None, sir. The exertion was not great, and it was but the
+inconvenience of the smoke that troubled me in any way."
+
+"Have you been to inquire after the young ladies who owe their lives
+to you?"
+
+"No, sir; I know neither their names nor their condition, nor, had I
+wished it, could I have made inquiries, for I know not whither they
+were taken."
+
+"I sent round early this morning," the Prince said, "and heard that
+they were as well as might be expected after the adventure they went
+through. And now tell me about yourself, and what you have been
+doing. 'Tis one of the saddest things to me, since I returned to
+England, that so many good men who fought by my side have been made
+beggars in the King's service, and that I could do naught for them.
+'Tis a grievous business, and yet I see not how it is to be mended.
+The hardest thing is, that those who did most for the King's service
+are those who have suffered most deeply. None of those who were
+driven to sell their estates at a fraction of their value, in order
+to raise money for the King's treasury or to put men into the field,
+have received any redress. It would need a vast sum to buy back all
+their lands, and Parliament would not vote money for that purpose;
+nor would it be fair to turn men out of the estates that they bought
+and paid for. Do you not think so?" he asked suddenly, seeing, by the
+lad's face, that he was not in agreement with him.
+
+"No, sir; it does not seem to me that it would be unfair. These men
+bought the lands for, as you say, but a fraction of their value; they
+did so in the belief that Parliament would triumph, and their
+purchase was but a speculation grounded on that belief. They have had
+the enjoyment of the estates for years, and have drawn from them an
+income which has, by this time, brought them in a sum much exceeding
+that which they have adventured, and it does not seem to me that
+there would be any hardship whatever were they now called upon to
+restore them to their owners. 'Tis as when a man risks his money in a
+venture at sea. If all goes as he hopes he will make a great profit
+on his money. If the ship is cast away or taken by pirates, it is
+unfortunate, but he has no reason to curse his ill-luck if the ship
+had already made several voyages which have more than recouped the
+money he ventured."
+
+"Well and stoutly argued!" the Prince said approvingly. "But you must
+remember, young sir, that the King, on his return, was by no means
+strongly seated on the throne. There was the Army most evilly
+affected towards him; there were the Puritans, who lamented the upset
+of the work they or their fathers had done. All those men who had
+purchased the estates of the Royalists had families and friends, and,
+had these estates been restored to their rightful owners, there might
+have been an outbreak that would have shaken the throne again. Many
+would have refused to give up possession, save to force; and where
+was the force to come from? Even had the King had troops willing to
+carry out such a measure, they might have been met by force, and had
+blood once been shed, none can say how the trouble might have spread,
+or what might have been the end of it. And now, lad, come to your own
+fortunes."
+
+Cyril briefly related the story of his life since his return to
+London, stating his father's plan that he should some day take
+foreign service.
+
+"You have shown that you have a stout heart, young sir, as well as a
+brave one, and have done well, indeed, in turning your mind to earn
+your living by such talents as you have, rather than in wasting your
+time in vain hopes and in ceaseless importunities for justice. It may
+be that you have acted wisely in thinking of taking service on the
+Continent, seeing that we have no Army; and when the time comes, I
+will further your wishes to the utmost of my power. But in the
+meantime there is opportunity for service at home, and I will gladly
+appoint you as a Volunteer in my own ship. There are many gentlemen
+going with me in that capacity, and it would be of advantage to you,
+if, when I write to some foreign prince on your behalf, I can say
+that you have fought under my eye."
+
+"Thank you greatly, Prince. I have been wishing, above all things,
+that I could join the Fleet, and it would be, indeed, an honour to
+begin my career under the Prince of whom I heard so often from my
+father."
+
+Prince Rupert looked at his watch.
+
+"The King will be in the Mall now," he said. "I will take you across
+and present you to him. It is useful to have the _entree_ at Court,
+though perhaps the less you avail yourself of it the better."
+
+So saying, he rose, put on his hat, and, throwing his cloak over his
+shoulder, went across to the Mall, asking questions of Cyril as he
+went, and extracting from him a sketch of the adventure of his being
+kidnapped and taken to Holland.
+
+Presently they arrived at the spot where the King, with three or four
+nobles and gentlemen, had been playing. Charles was in a good humour,
+for he had just won a match with the Earl of Rochester.
+
+"Well, my grave cousin," he said merrily, "what brings you out of
+your office so early? No fresh demands for money, I hope?"
+
+"Not at present. And indeed, it is not to you that I should come on
+such a quest, but to the Duke of York."
+
+"And he would come to me," said the King; "so it is the same thing."
+
+"I have come across to present to your Majesty a very gallant young
+gentleman, who yesterday evening, at the risk of his life, saved the
+three daughters of the Earl of Wisbech from being burned at the fire
+in the Savoy, where his Lordship's mansion was among those that were
+destroyed. I beg to present to your Majesty Sir Cyril Shenstone, the
+son of the late Sir Aubrey Shenstone, a most gallant gentleman, who
+rode under my banner in many a stern fight in the service of your
+royal father."
+
+"I knew him well," the King said graciously, "but had not heard of
+his death. I am glad to hear that his son inherits his bravery. I
+have often regretted deeply that it was out of my power to requite,
+in any way, the services Sir Aubrey rendered, and the sacrifices he
+made for our House."
+
+His brow clouded a little, and he looked appealingly at Prince
+Rupert.
+
+"Sir Cyril Shenstone has no more intention of asking for favours than
+I have, Charles," the latter said. "He is going to accompany me as a
+Volunteer against the Dutch, and if the war lasts I shall ask for a
+better appointment for him."
+
+"That he shall have," the King said warmly. "None have a better claim
+to commissions in the Navy and Army than sons of gentlemen who fought
+and suffered in the cause of our royal father. My Lords," he said to
+the little group of gentlemen, who had been standing a few paces away
+while this conversation had been going on, "I would have you know Sir
+Cyril Shenstone, the son of a faithful adherent of my father, and
+who, yesterday evening, saved the lives of the three daughters of My
+Lord of Wisbech in the fire at the Savoy. He is going as a Volunteer
+with my cousin Rupert when he sails against the Dutch."
+
+The gentlemen all returned Cyril's salute courteously.
+
+"He will be fortunate in beginning his career under the eyes of so
+brave a Prince," the Earl of Rochester said, bowing to Prince Rupert.
+
+"It would be well if you all," the latter replied bluntly, "were to
+ship in the Fleet for a few months instead of wasting your time in
+empty pleasures."
+
+The Earl smiled. Prince Rupert's extreme disapproval of the life at
+Court was well known.
+
+"We cannot all be Bayards, Prince, and most of us would, methinks, be
+too sick at sea to be of much assistance, were we to go. But if the
+Dutchmen come here, which is not likely--for I doubt not, Prince,
+that you will soon send them flying back to their own ports--we shall
+all be glad to do our best to meet them when they land."
+
+The Prince made no reply, but, turning to the King, said,--
+
+"We will not detain you longer from your game, Cousin Charles. I have
+plenty to do, with all the complaints as to the state of the ships,
+and the lack of stores and necessaries."
+
+"Remember, I shall be glad to see you at my _levees_, Sir Cyril,"
+the King said, holding out his hand. "Do not wait for the Prince to
+bring you, for if you do you will wait long."
+
+Cyril doffed his hat, raised the King's hand to his lips, then, with
+a deep bow and an expression of thanks, followed Prince Rupert, who
+was already striding away.
+
+"You might have been better introduced," the Prince said when he
+overtook him. "Still it is better to be badly introduced than to have
+no introduction at all. I am too old for the flippancies of the
+Court. You had better show yourself there sometimes; you will make
+friends that may be useful. By the way, I have not your address, and
+it may be a fortnight or more before the _Henrietta_ is ready to
+take her crew on board." He took out his tablet and wrote down the
+address. "Come and see me if there is anything you want to ask me. Do
+not let the clerks keep you out with the pretence that I am busy, but
+send up your name to me, and tell them that I have ordered it shall
+be taken up, however I may be engaged."
+
+Having no occasion for haste, Cyril walked back to the City after
+leaving Prince Rupert. A great change had taken place in his fortunes
+in the last twenty-four hours. Then he had no prospects save
+continuing his work in the City for another two years, and even after
+that time he foresaw grave difficulties in the way of his obtaining a
+commission in a foreign army; for Sir John Parton, even if ready to
+carry out the promise he had formerly made him, might not have
+sufficient influence to do so. Now he was to embark in Prince
+Rupert's own ship. He would be the companion of many other gentlemen
+going out as Volunteers, and, at a bound, spring from the position of
+a writer in the City to that occupied by his father before he became
+involved in the trouble between King and Parliament. He was already
+admitted to Court, and Prince Rupert himself had promised to push his
+fortunes abroad.
+
+And yet he felt less elated than he would have expected from his
+sudden change. The question of money was the cloud that dulled the
+brightness of his prospects. As a Volunteer he would receive no pay,
+and yet he must make a fair show among the young noblemen and
+gentlemen who would be his companions. Doubtless they would be
+victualled on board, but he would have to dress well and probably pay
+a share in the expenses that would be incurred for wine and other
+things on board. Had it not been for the future he would have been
+inclined to regret that he had not refused the tempting offer; but
+the advantages to be gained by Prince Rupert's patronage were so
+large that he felt no sacrifice would be too great to that end--even
+that of accepting the assistance that Captain Dave had more than once
+hinted he should give him. It was just the dinner-hour when he
+arrived home.
+
+"Well, Cyril, I see by your face that the Prince has said nothing in
+the direction of your wishes," Captain Dave said, as he entered.
+
+"Then my face is a false witness, Captain Dave, for Prince Rupert has
+appointed me a Volunteer on board his own ship."
+
+"I am glad, indeed, lad, heartily glad, though your going will be a
+heavy loss to us all. But why were you looking so grave over it?"
+
+"I have been wondering whether I have acted wisely in accepting it,"
+Cyril said. "I am very happy here, I am earning my living, I have no
+cares of any sort, and I feel that it is a very serious matter to
+make a change. The Prince has a number of noblemen and gentlemen
+going with him as Volunteers, and I feel that I shall be out of my
+element in such company. At the same time I have every reason to be
+thankful, for Prince Rupert has promised that he will, after the war
+is over, give me introductions which will procure me a commission
+abroad."
+
+"Well, then, it seems to me that things could not look better,"
+Captain Dave said heartily. "When do you go on board?"
+
+"The Prince says it may be another fortnight; so that I shall have
+time to make my preparations, and warn the citizens I work for, that
+I am going to leave them."
+
+"I should say the sooner the better, lad. You will have to get your
+outfit and other matters seen to. Moreover, now that you have been
+taken under Prince Rupert's protection, and have become, as it were,
+an officer on his ship--for gentlemen Volunteers, although they have
+no duties in regard to working the ship, are yet officers--it is
+hardly seemly that you should be making up the accounts of bakers and
+butchers, ironmongers, and ship's storekeepers."
+
+"The work is honest, and I am in no way ashamed of it," Cyril said;
+"but as I have many things to see about, I suppose I had better give
+them notice at once. Prince Rupert presented me to the King to-day,
+and His Majesty requested me to attend at Court, which I should be
+loath to do, were it not that the Prince urged upon me that it was of
+advantage that I should make myself known."
+
+"One would think, Master Cyril, that this honour which has suddenly
+befallen you is regarded by you as a misfortune," Mrs. Dowsett said,
+laughing. "Most youths would be overjoyed at such a change in their
+fortune."
+
+"It would be all very pleasant," Cyril said, "had I the income of my
+father's estate at my back; but I feel that I shall be in a false
+position, thus thrusting myself among men who have more guineas in
+their pockets than I have pennies. However, it seems that the matter
+has been taken out of my own hands, and that, as things have turned
+out, so I must travel. Who would have thought, when John Wilkes
+fetched me out last night to go to the fire, it would make an
+alteration in my whole life, and that such a little thing as climbing
+up a ladder and helping to get three girls out of a room full of
+smoke--and John Wilkes did the most difficult part of the work--was
+to change all my prospects?"
+
+"There was a Providence in it, Cyril," Mrs. Dowsett said gently.
+"Why, else, should you have gone up that ladder, when, to all
+seeming, there was no one there. The maids were so frightened, John
+says, that they would never have said a word about there being anyone
+in that room, and the girls would have perished had you not gone up.
+Now as, owing to that, everything has turned out according to your
+wishes, it would be a sin not to take advantage of it, for you may be
+sure that, as the way has thus been suddenly opened to you, so will
+all other things follow in due course."
+
+"Thank you, madam," Cyril said simply. "I had not thought of it in
+that light, but assuredly you are right, and I will not suffer myself
+to be daunted by the difficulties there may be in my way."
+
+John Wilkes now came in and sat down to the meal. He was vastly
+pleased when he heard of the good fortune that had befallen Cyril.
+
+"It seems to me," Cyril said, "that I am but an impostor, and that at
+least some share in the good luck ought to have fallen to you, John,
+seeing that you carried them all down the ladder."
+
+"I have carried heavier bales, many a time, much longer distances
+than that--though I do not say that the woman was not a tidy weight,
+for, indeed, she was; but I would have carried down ten of them for
+the honour I had in being shaken by the hand by Prince Rupert, as
+gallant a sailor as ever sailed a ship. No, no; what I did was all in
+a day's work, and no more than lifting anchors and chains about in
+the storehouse. As for honours, I want none of them. I am moored in a
+snug port here, and would not leave Captain Dave if they would make a
+Duke of me."
+
+Nellie had said no word of congratulation to Cyril, but as they rose
+from dinner, she said, in low tones,--
+
+"You know I am pleased, and hope that you will have all the good
+fortune you deserve."
+
+Cyril set out at once to make a round of the shops where he worked.
+The announcement that he must at once terminate his connection with
+them, as he was going on board the Fleet, was everywhere received
+with great regret.
+
+"I would gladly pay double," one said, "rather than that you should
+go, for, indeed, it has taken a heavy load off my shoulders, and I
+know not how I shall get on in the future."
+
+"I should think there would be no difficulty in getting some other
+young clerk to do the work," Cyril said.
+
+"Not so easy," the man replied. "I had tried one or two before, and
+found they were more trouble than they were worth. There are not many
+who write as neatly as you do, and you do as much in an hour as some
+would take a day over. However, I wish you good luck, and if you
+should come back, and take up the work again, or start as a scrivener
+in the City, I can promise you that you shall have my books again,
+and that among my friends I can find you as much work as you can get
+through."
+
+Something similar was said to him at each of the houses where he
+called, and he felt much gratified at finding that his work had given
+such satisfaction.
+
+When he came in to supper, Cyril was conscious that something had
+occurred of an unusual nature. Nellie's eyes were swollen with
+crying; Mrs. Dowsett had also evidently been in tears; while Captain
+Dave was walking up and down the room restlessly.
+
+The servant was placing the things upon the table, and, just as they
+were about to take their seats, the bell of the front door rang
+loudly.
+
+"See who it is, John," Captain Dave said. "Whoever it is seems to be
+in a mighty hurry."
+
+In a minute or two John returned, followed by a gentleman. The latter
+paused at the door, and then said, bowing courteously, as he
+advanced, to Mrs. Dowsett,--
+
+"I must ask pardon for intruding on your meal, madam, but my business
+is urgent. I am the Earl of Wisbech, and I have called to see Sir
+Cyril Shenstone, to offer him my heartfelt thanks for the service he
+has rendered me by saving the lives of my daughters."
+
+All had risen to their feet as he entered, and there was a slight
+exclamation of surprise from the Captain, his wife, and daughter, as
+the Earl said "Sir Cyril Shenstone."
+
+Cyril stepped forward.
+
+"I am Cyril Shenstone, my Lord," he said, "and had the good fortune
+to be able, with the assistance of my friend here, John Wilkes, to
+rescue your daughters, though, at the time, indeed, I was altogether
+ignorant of their rank. It was a fortunate occurrence, but I must
+disclaim any merit in the action, for it was by mere accident that,
+mounting to the window by a ladder, I saw them lying insensible on
+the ground."
+
+"Your modesty does you credit, sir," the Earl said, shaking him
+warmly by the hand. "But such is not the opinion of Prince Rupert,
+who described it to me as a very gallant action; and, moreover, he
+said that it was you who first brought him the news that there were
+females in the house, which he and others had supposed to be empty,
+and that it was solely owing to you that the ladders were taken
+round."
+
+"Will you allow me, my Lord, to introduce to you Captain Dowsett, his
+wife, and daughter, who have been to me the kindest of friends?"
+
+"A kindness, my Lord," Captain Dave said earnestly, "that has been
+repaid a thousandfold by this good youth, of whose rank we were
+indeed ignorant until you named it. May I ask you to honour us by
+joining in our meal?"
+
+"That will I right gladly, sir," the Earl said, "for, in truth, I
+have scarce broke my fast to-day. I was down at my place in Kent when
+I was awoke this morning by one of my grooms, who had ridden down
+with the news that my mansion in the Savoy had been burned, and that
+my daughters had had a most narrow escape of their lives. Of course,
+I mounted at once and rode to town, where I was happy in finding that
+they had well-nigh recovered from the effects of their fright and the
+smoke. Neither they nor the nurse who was with them could give me any
+account of what had happened, save that they had, as they supposed,
+become insensible from the smoke. When they recovered, they found
+themselves in the Earl of Surrey's house, to which it seems they had
+been carried. After inquiry, I learned that the Duke of Albemarle and
+Prince Rupert had both been on the scene directing operations. I went
+to the latter, with whom I have the honour of being well acquainted,
+and he told me the whole story, saying that had it not been for Sir
+Cyril Shenstone, my daughters would certainly have perished. He gave
+credit, too, to Sir Cyril's companion, who, he said, carried them
+down the ladder, and himself entered the burning room the last time,
+to aid in bringing out the nurse, who was too heavy for the rescuer
+of my daughters to lift. Save a cup of wine and a piece of bread,
+that I took on my first arrival, I have not broken my fast to-day."
+
+Then he seated himself on a chair that Cyril had placed for him
+between Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie.
+
+Captain Dave whispered to John Wilkes, who went out, and returned in
+two or three minutes with three or four flasks of rare Spanish wine
+which the Captain had brought back on his last voyage, and kept for
+drinking on special occasions. The dame always kept an excellent
+table, and although she made many apologies to the Earl, he assured
+her that none were needed, for that he could have supped no better in
+his own house.
+
+"I hear," he said presently to Cyril, "that you are going out as a
+Volunteer in Prince Rupert's ship. My son is also going with him, and
+I hope, in a day or two, to introduce him to you. He is at present at
+Cambridge, but, having set his mind on sailing with the Prince, I
+have been fain to allow him to give up his studies. I heard from
+Prince Rupert that you had recently been kidnapped and taken to
+Holland. He gave me no particulars, nor did I ask them, being
+desirous of hurrying off at once to express my gratitude to you. How
+was it that such an adventure befell you--for it would hardly seem
+likely that you could have provoked the enmity of persons capable of
+such an outrage?"
+
+"It was the result of his services to me, my Lord," Captain Dave
+said. "Having been a sea-captain, I am but a poor hand at accounts;
+but, having fallen into this business at the death of my father, it
+seemed simple enough for me to get on without much book-learning. I
+made but a bad shape at it; and when Master Shenstone, as he then
+called himself, offered to keep my books for me, it seemed to me an
+excellent mode of saving myself worry and trouble. However, when he
+set himself to making up the accounts of my stock, he found that I
+was nigh eight hundred pounds short; and, setting himself to watch,
+discovered that my apprentices were in alliance with a band of
+thieves, and were nightly robbing me. We caught them and two of the
+thieves in the act. One of the latter was the receiver, and on his
+premises the proceeds of a great number of robberies were found, and
+there was no doubt that he was the chief of a notorious gang, called
+the 'Black Gang,' which had for a long time infested the City and the
+surrounding country. It was to prevent Sir Cyril from giving evidence
+at the trial that he was kidnapped and sent away. He was placed in
+the house of a diamond merchant, to whom the thieves were in the
+habit of consigning jewels; and this might well have turned out fatal
+to him, for to the same house came my elder apprentice and one of the
+men captured with him--a notorious ruffian--who had been rescued from
+the constables by a gang of their fellows, in open daylight, in the
+City. These, doubtless, would have compassed his death had he not
+happily seen them enter the house, and made his escape, taking
+passage in a coaster bound for Dunkirk, from which place he took
+another ship to England. Thus you see, my Lord, that I am indebted to
+him for saving me from a further loss that might well have ruined
+me."
+
+He paused, and glanced at Nellie, who rose at once, saying to the
+Earl,--
+
+"I trust that your Lordship will excuse my mother and myself. My
+father has more to tell you; at least, I should wish him to do so."
+
+Then, taking her mother's hand, she curtsied deeply, and they left
+the room together.
+
+"Such, my Lord, as I have told you, is the service, so far as I knew
+till this afternoon, Sir Cyril Shenstone has rendered me. That was no
+small thing, but it is very little to what I know now that I am
+indebted to him. After he went out I was speaking with my wife on
+money matters, desiring much to be of assistance to him in the matter
+of the expedition on which he is going. Suddenly my daughter burst
+into tears and left the room. I naturally bade my wife follow her and
+learn what ailed her. Then, with many sobs and tears, she told her
+mother that we little knew how much we were indebted to him. She said
+she had been a wicked girl, having permitted herself to be accosted
+several times by a well-dressed gallant, who told her that he was the
+Earl of Harwich, who had professed great love for her, and urged her
+to marry him privately.
+
+"He was about to speak to her one day when she was out under Master
+Cyril's escort. The latter interfered, and there was well-nigh a
+_fracas_ between them. Being afraid that some of the lookers-on
+might know her, and bring the matter to our ears, she mentioned so
+much to us, and, in consequence, we did not allow her to go out
+afterwards, save in the company of her mother. Nevertheless, the man
+continued to meet her, and, as he was unknown to her mother, passed
+notes into her hand. To these she similarly replied, and at last
+consented to fly with him. She did so at night, and was about to
+enter a sedan chair in the lane near this house when they were
+interrupted by the arrival of Master Shenstone and my friend John
+Wilkes. The former, it seems, had his suspicions, and setting himself
+to watch, had discovered that she was corresponding with this
+man--whom he had found was not the personage he pretended to be, but
+a disreputable hanger-on of the Court, one John Harvey--and had then
+kept up an incessant watch, with the aid of John Wilkes, outside the
+house at night, until he saw her come out and join the fellow with
+two associates, when he followed her to the chair they had in
+readiness for her.
+
+"There was, she says, a terrible scene. Swords were drawn. John
+Wilkes knocked down one of the men, and Master Shenstone ran John
+Harvey through the shoulder. Appalled now at seeing how she had been
+deceived, and how narrowly she had escaped destruction, she returned
+with her rescuers to the house, and no word was ever said on the
+subject until she spoke this afternoon. We had noticed that a great
+change had come over her, and that she seemed to have lost all her
+tastes for shows and finery, but little did we dream of the cause.
+She said that she could not have kept the secret much longer in any
+case, being utterly miserable at the thought of how she had degraded
+herself and deceived us.
+
+"It was a sad story to have to hear, my Lord, but we have fully
+forgiven her, having, indeed, cause to thank God both for her
+preservation and for the good that this seems to have wrought in her.
+She had been a spoilt child, and, being well-favoured, her head had
+been turned by flattery, and she indulged in all sorts of foolish
+dreams. Now she is truly penitent for her folly. Had you not arrived,
+my Lord, I should, when we had finished our supper, have told Master
+Shenstone that I knew of this vast service he has rendered us--a
+service to which the other was as nothing. That touched my pocket
+only; this my only child's happiness. I have told you the story, my
+Lord, by her consent, in order that you might know what sort of a
+young fellow this gentleman who has rescued your daughter is. John, I
+thank you for your share in this matter," and, with tears in his
+eyes, he held out his hand to his faithful companion.
+
+"I thank you deeply, Captain Dowsett, for having told me this story,"
+the Earl said gravely. "It was a painful one to tell, and I feel sure
+that the circumstance will, as you say, be of lasting benefit to your
+daughter. It shows that her heart is a true and loyal one, or she
+would not have had so painful a story told to a stranger, simply that
+the true character of her preserver should be known. I need not say
+that it has had the effect she desired of raising Sir Cyril Shenstone
+highly in my esteem. Prince Rupert spoke of him very highly and told
+me how he had been honourably supporting himself and his father,
+until the death of the latter. Now I see that he possesses unusual
+discretion and acuteness, as well as bravery. Now I will take my
+leave, thanking you for the good entertainment that you have given
+me. I am staying at the house of the Earl of Surrey, Sir Cyril, and I
+hope that you will call to-morrow morning, in order that my daughters
+may thank you in person."
+
+Captain Dave and Cyril escorted the Earl to the door and then
+returned to the chamber above.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+NEW FRIENDS
+
+
+On arriving at the room upstairs, Captain Dave placed his hand on
+Cyril's shoulder and said:
+
+"How can I thank you, lad, for what you have done for us?"
+
+"By saying nothing further about it, Captain Dave. I had hoped that
+the matter would never have come to your ears, and yet I rejoice, for
+her own sake, that Mistress Nellie has told you all. I thought that
+she would do so some day, for I, too, have seen how much she has been
+changed since then, and though it becomes me not to speak of one
+older than myself, I think that the experience has been for her good,
+and, above all, I am rejoiced to find that you have fully forgiven
+her, for indeed I am sure that she has been grievously punished."
+
+"Well, well, lad, it shall be as you say, for indeed I am but a poor
+hand at talking, but believe me that I feel as grateful as if I could
+express myself rightly, and that the Earl of Wisbech cannot feel one
+whit more thankful to you for having saved the lives of his three
+children than I do for your having saved my Nellie from the
+consequences of her own folly. There is one thing that you must let
+me do--it is but a small thing, but at present I have no other way of
+showing what I feel: you must let me take upon myself, as if you had
+been my son, the expenses of this outfit of yours. I was talking of
+the matter, as you may have guessed by what I said to the Earl, when
+Nellie burst into tears; and if I contemplated this when I knew only
+you had saved me from ruin, how much more do I feel it now that you
+have done this greater thing? I trust that you will not refuse me and
+my wife this small opportunity of showing our gratitude. What say
+you, John Wilkes?"
+
+"I say, Captain Dave, that it is well spoken, and I am sure Master
+Cyril will not refuse your offer."
+
+"I will not, Captain Dave, providing that you let it be as a loan
+that I may perhaps some day be enabled to repay you. I feel that it
+would be churlish to refuse so kind an offer, and it will relieve me
+of the one difficulty that troubled me when the prospects in all
+other respects seemed so fair."
+
+"That is right, lad, and you have taken a load off my mind. You have
+not acted quite fairly by us in one respect, Master Cyril!"
+
+"How is that?" Cyril asked in surprise.
+
+"In not telling us that you were Sir Cyril Shenstone, and in letting
+us put you up in an attic, and letting you go about as Nellie's
+escort, as if you had been but an apprentice."
+
+Cyril laughed.
+
+"I said that my father was Sir Aubrey Shenstone, though I own that I
+did not say so until I had been here some time; but the fact that he
+was a Baronet and not a Knight made little difference. It was a
+friendless lad whom you took in and gave shelter to, Captain Dave,
+and--it mattered not whether he was plain Cyril or Sir Cyril. I had
+certainly no thought of taking my title again until I entered a
+foreign army, and indeed it would have been a disservice to me here
+in London. I should have cut but a poor figure asking for work and
+calling myself Sir Cyril Shenstone. I should have had to enter into
+all sorts of explanations before anyone would have believed me, and I
+don't think that, even with you, I should have been so comfortable as
+I have been."
+
+"Well, at any rate, no harm has been done," Captain Dave said; "but I
+think you might have told me."
+
+"If I had, Captain Dave, you would assuredly have told your wife and
+Mistress Nellie; and it was much more pleasant for me that things
+should be as they were."
+
+"Well, perhaps you were right, lad. And I own that I might not have
+let you work at my books, and worry over that robbery, had I known
+that you were of a station above me."
+
+"That you could never have known," Cyril said warmly. "We have been
+poor ever since I can remember. I owed my education to the kindness
+of friends of my mother, and in no way has my station been equal to
+that of a London trader like yourself. As to the title, it was but a
+matter of birth, and went but ill with an empty purse and a shabby
+doublet. In the future it may be useful, but until now, it has been
+naught, and indeed worse than naught, to me."
+
+The next morning when Cyril went into the parlour he found that
+Nellie was busy assisting the maid to lay the table. When the latter
+had left the room, the girl went up to Cyril and took his hand.
+
+"I have never thanked you yet," she said. "I could not bring myself
+to speak of it, but now that I have told them I can do so. Ever since
+that dreadful night I have prayed for you, morning and evening, and
+thanked God for sending you to my rescue. What a wicked girl you must
+have thought me--and with reason! But you could not think of me worse
+than I thought of myself. Now that my father and mother have forgiven
+me I shall be different altogether. I had before made up my mind to
+tell them. Still, it did not seem to me that I should ever be happy
+again. But now that I have had the courage to speak out, and they
+have been so good to me, a great weight is lifted off my mind, and I
+mean to learn to be a good housewife like my mother, and to try to be
+worthy, some day, of an honest man's love."
+
+"I am sure you will be," Cyril said warmly. "And so, Mistress Nellie,
+it has all turned out for the best, though it did not seem so at one
+time."
+
+At this moment Captain Dave came in. "I am glad to see you two
+talking together as of old," he said. "We had thought that there must
+be some quarrel between you, for you had given up rating him, Nellie.
+Give her a kiss, Cyril; she is a good lass, though she has been a
+foolish one. Nay, Nellie, do not offer him your cheek--it is the
+fashion to do that to every idle acquaintance. Kiss him heartily, as
+if you loved him. That is right, lass. Now let us to breakfast. Where
+is your mother? She is late."
+
+"I told her that I would see after the breakfast in future, father,
+and I have begun this morning--partly because it is my duty to take
+the work off her hands, and partly because I wanted a private talk
+with Sir Cyril."
+
+"I won't be called Sir Cyril under this roof," the lad said,
+laughing. "And I warn you that if anyone calls me so I will not
+answer. I have always been Cyril with you all, and I intend to remain
+so to the end, and you must remember that it is but a few months that
+I have had the right to the title, and was never addressed by it
+until by Prince Rupert. I was for the moment well nigh as much
+surprised as you were last night."
+
+An hour later Cyril again donned his best suit, and started to pay
+his visit to the Earl. Had he not seen him over-night, he would have
+felt very uncomfortable at the thought of the visit; but he had found
+him so pleasant and friendly, and so entirely free from any air of
+pride or condescension, that it seemed as if he were going to meet a
+friend. He was particularly struck with the manner in which he had
+placed Captain Dave and his family at their ease, and got them to
+talk as freely and naturally with him as if he had been an
+acquaintance of long standing. It seemed strange to him to give his
+name as Sir Cyril Shenstone to the lackeys at the door, and he almost
+expected to see an expression of amusement on their faces. They had,
+however, evidently received instructions respecting him, for he was
+without question at once ushered into the room in which the Earl of
+Wisbech and his daughters were sitting.
+
+The Earl shook him warmly by the hand, and then, turning to his
+daughters, said,--
+
+"This is the gentleman to whom you owe your lives, girls. Sir Cyril,
+these are my daughters--Lady Dorothy, Lady Bertha, and Lady Beatrice.
+It seems somewhat strange to have to introduce you, who have saved
+their lives, to them; but you have the advantage of them, for you
+have seen them before, but they have not until now seen your face."
+
+Each of the girls as she was named made a deep curtsey, and then
+presented her cheek to be kissed, as was the custom of the times.
+
+"They are somewhat tongue-tied," the Earl said, smiling, as the
+eldest of the three cast an appealing glance to him, "and have begged
+me to thank you in their names, which I do with all my heart, and beg
+you to believe that their gratitude is none the less deep because
+they have no words to express it. They generally have plenty to say,
+I can assure you, and will find their tongues when you are a little
+better acquainted."
+
+"I am most happy to have been of service to you, ladies," Cyril said,
+bowing deeply to them. "I can hardly say that I have the advantage
+your father speaks of, for in truth the smoke was so thick, and my
+eyes smarted so with it, that I could scarce see your faces."
+
+"Their attire, too, in no way helped you," the Earl said, with a
+laugh, "for, as I hear, their costume was of the slightest. I believe
+that Dorothy's chief concern is that she did not have time to attire
+herself in a more becoming toilette before the smoke overpowered
+her."
+
+"Now, father," the girl protested, with a pretty colour in her
+cheeks, "you know I have never said anything of the sort, though I
+did say that I wished I had thrown a cloak round me. It is not
+pleasant, whatever you may think, to know that one was handed down a
+ladder in one's nightdress."
+
+"I don't care about that a bit," Beatrice said; "but you did not say,
+father, that it was a young gentleman, no older than Sydney, who
+found us and carried us out. I had expected to see a great big man."
+
+"I don't think I said anything about his age, Beatrice, but simply
+told you that I had found out that it was Sir Cyril Shenstone that
+had saved you."
+
+"Is the nurse recovering, my Lord?"
+
+"She is still in bed, and the doctor says she will be some time
+before she quite recovers from the fright and shock. They were all
+sleeping in the storey above. It was Dorothy who first woke, and,
+after waking her sisters, ran into the nurse's room, which was next
+door, and roused her. The silly woman was so frightened that she
+could do nothing but stand at the window and scream until the girls
+almost dragged her away, and forced her to come downstairs. The
+smoke, however, was so thick that they could get no farther than the
+next floor; then, guided by the screams of the other servants, they
+opened a door and ran in, but, as you know, it was not the room into
+which the women had gone. The nurse fell down in a faint as soon as
+she got in. The girls, as it seems, dragged her as far as they could
+towards the window, but she was too heavy for them; and as they had
+not shut the door, the smoke poured in and overpowered them, and they
+fell beside her. The rest you know. She is a silly woman, and she has
+quite lost my confidence by her folly and cowardice, but she has been
+a good servant, and the girls, all of whom she nursed, were fond of
+her. Still, it is evident that she is not to be trusted in an
+emergency, and it was only because the girls' governess is away on a
+visit to her mother that she happened to be left in charge of them.
+Now, young ladies, you can leave us, as I have other matters to talk
+over with Sir Cyril."
+
+The three girls curtsied deeply, first to their father, and then to
+Cyril, who held the door for them to pass out.
+
+"Now, Sir Cyril," the Earl said, as the door closed behind them, "we
+must have a talk together. You may well believe that, after what has
+happened, I look upon you almost as part of my family, and that I
+consider you have given me the right to look after your welfare as if
+you were a near relation of my own; and glad I am to have learned
+yesterday evening that you are, in all respects, one whom I might be
+proud indeed to call a kinsman. Had you been a cousin of mine, with
+parents but indifferently off in worldly goods, it would have been my
+duty, of course, to push you forward and to aid you in every way to
+make a proper figure on this expedition. I think that, after what has
+happened, I have equally the right to do so, and what would have been
+my duty, had you been a relation, is no less a duty, and will
+certainly be a great gratification to me to do now. You understand
+me, do you not? I wish to take upon myself all the charges connected
+with your outfit, and to make you an allowance, similar to that which
+I shall give to my son, for your expenses on board ship. All this is
+of course but a slight thing, but, believe me, that when the
+expedition is over it will be my pleasure to help you forward to
+advancement in any course which you may choose."
+
+"I thank you most heartily, my Lord," Cyril said, "and would not
+hesitate to accept your help in the present matter, did I need it.
+However, I have saved some little money during the past two years,
+and Captain Dowsett has most generously offered me any sum I may
+require for my expenses, and has consented to allow me to take it as
+a loan to be repaid at some future time, should it be in my power to
+do so. Your offer, however, to aid me in my career afterwards, I most
+thankfully accept. My idea has always been to take service under some
+foreign prince, and Prince Rupert has most kindly promised to aid me
+in that respect; but after serving for a time at sea I shall be
+better enabled to judge than at present as to whether that course is
+indeed the best, and I shall be most thankful for your counsel in
+this and all other matters, and feel myself fortunate indeed to have
+obtained your good will and patronage."
+
+"Well, if it must be so, it must," the Earl said. "Your friend
+Captain Dowsett seems to me a very worthy man. You have placed him
+under an obligation as heavy as my own, and he has the first claim to
+do you service. In this matter, then, I must be content to stand
+aside, but on your return from sea it will be my turn, and I shall be
+hurt and grieved indeed if you do not allow me an opportunity of
+proving my gratitude to you. As to the career you speak of, it is a
+precarious one. There are indeed many English and Scotch officers who
+have risen to high rank and honour in foreign service; but to every
+one that so succeeds, how many fall unnoticed, and lie in unmarked
+graves, in well-nigh every country in Europe? Were you like so many
+of your age, bent merely on adventure and pleasure, the case would be
+different, but it is evident that you have a clear head for business,
+that you are steady and persevering, and such being the case, there
+are many offices under the Crown in which you might distinguish
+yourself and do far better than the vast majority of those who sell
+their swords to foreign princes, and become mere soldiers of fortune,
+fighting for a cause in which they have no interest, and risking
+their lives in quarrels that are neither their own nor their
+country's.
+
+"However, all this we can talk over when you come back after having,
+as I hope, aided in destroying the Dutch Fleet. I expect my son up
+to-morrow, and trust that you will accompany him to the King's
+_levee_, next Monday. Prince Rupert tells me that he has already
+presented you to the King, and that you were well received by him, as
+indeed you had a right to be, as the son of a gentleman who had
+suffered and sacrificed much in the Royal cause. But I will take the
+opportunity of introducing you to several other gentlemen who will
+sail with you. On the following day I shall be going down into Kent,
+and shall remain there until it is time for Sydney to embark. If you
+can get your preparations finished by that time, I trust that you
+will give us the pleasure of your company, and will stay with me
+until you embark with Sydney. In this way you will come to know us
+better, and to feel, as I wish you to feel, as one of the family."
+
+Cyril gratefully accepted the invitation, and then took his leave.
+
+Captain Dave was delighted when he heard the issue of his visit to
+the Earl.
+
+"I should never have forgiven you, lad, if you had accepted the
+Earl's offer to help you in the matter of this expedition. It is no
+great thing, and comes well within my compass, and I should have been
+sorely hurt had you let him come between us; but in the future I can
+do little, and he much. I have spoken to several friends who are
+better acquainted with public affairs than I am, and they all speak
+highly of him. He holds, for the most part, aloof from Court, which
+is to his credit seeing how matters go on there; but he is spoken of
+as a very worthy gentleman and one of merit, who might take a
+prominent part in affairs were he so minded. He has broad estates in
+Kent and Norfolk, and spends the greater part of his life at one or
+other of his country seats. Doubtless, he will be able to assist you
+greatly in the future."
+
+"I did not like to refuse his offer to go down with him to Kent,"
+Cyril said, "though I would far rather have remained here with you
+until we sail."
+
+"You did perfectly right, lad. It will cut short your stay here but a
+week, and it would be madness to refuse the opportunity of getting to
+know him and his family better. The Countess died three years ago, I
+hear, and he has shown no disposition to take another wife, as he
+might well do, seeing he is but a year or two past forty, and has as
+pleasant a face and manner as I have ever seen. He is not the sort of
+man to promise what he will not perform, Cyril, and more than ever do
+I think that it was a fortunate thing for you that John Wilkes
+fetched you to that fire in the Savoy. And now, lad, you have no time
+to lose. You must come with me at once to Master Woods, the tailor,
+in Eastcheap, who makes clothes not only for the citizens but for
+many of the nobles and gallants of the Court. In the first place, you
+will need a fitting dress for the King's _levee_; then you will need
+at least one more suit similar to that you now wear, and three for on
+board ship and for ordinary occasions, made of stout cloth, but in
+the fashion; then you must have helmet, and breast- and back-pieces
+for the fighting, and for these we will go to Master Lawrence, the
+armourer, in Cheapside. All these we will order to-day in my name,
+and put them down in your account to me. As to arms, you have your
+sword, and there is but a brace of pistols to be bought. You will
+want a few things such as thick cloaks for sea service; for though I
+suppose that Volunteers do not keep their watch, you may meet with
+rains and heavy weather, and you will need something to keep you
+dry."
+
+They sallied out at once. So the clothes were ordered, and the Court
+suit, with the best of the others promised by the end of the week;
+the armour was fitted on and bought, and a stock of fine shirts with
+ruffles, hose, and shoes, was also purchased. The next day Sydney
+Oliphant, the Earl's son, called upon Cyril. He was a frank, pleasant
+young fellow, about a year older than Cyril. He was very fond of his
+sisters, and expressed in lively terms his gratitude for their
+rescue.
+
+"This expedition has happened in the nick of time for me," he said,
+when, in accordance with his invitation, Cyril and he embarked in the
+Earl's boat in which he had been rowed to the City, "for I was in bad
+odour with the authorities, and was like, erelong, to have been sent
+home far less pleasantly; and although the Earl, my father, is very
+indulgent, he would have been terribly angry with me had it been so.
+To tell you the truth, at the University we are divided into two
+sets--those who read and those who don't--and on joining I found
+myself very soon among the latter. I don't think it was quite my
+fault, for I naturally fell in with companions whom I had known
+before, and it chanced that some of these were among the wildest
+spirits in the University.
+
+"Of course I had my horses, and, being fond of riding, I was more
+often in the saddle than in my seat in the college schools. Then
+there were constant complaints against us for sitting up late and
+disturbing the college with our melodies, and altogether we stood in
+bad odour with the Dons; and when they punished us we took our
+revenge by playing them pranks, until lately it became almost open
+war, and would certainly have ended before long in a score or more of
+us being sent down. I should not have minded that myself, but it
+would have grieved the Earl, and I am not one of the new-fashioned
+ones who care naught for what their fathers may say. He has been
+praising you up to the skies this morning, I can tell you--I don't
+mean only as to the fire but about other things--and says he hopes we
+shall be great friends, and I am sure I hope so too, and think so. He
+had been telling me about your finding out about their robbing that
+good old sea-captain you live with, and how you were kidnapped
+afterwards, and sent to Holland; and how, in another adventure,
+although he did not tell me how that came about, you pricked a
+ruffling gallant through the shoulder; so that you have had a larger
+share of adventure, by a great deal, than I have. I had expected to
+see you rather a solemn personage, for the Earl told me you had more
+sense in your little finger than I had in my whole body, which was
+not complimentary to me, though I dare say it is true."
+
+"Now, as a rule, they say that sensible people are very disagreeable;
+but I hope I shall not be disagreeable," Cyril laughed, "and I am
+certainly not aware that I am particularly sensible."
+
+"No, I am sure you won't be disagreeable, but I should have been
+quite nervous about coming to see you if it had not been for the
+girls. Little Beatrice told me she thought you were a prince in
+disguise, and had evidently a private idea that the good fairies had
+sent you to her rescue. Bertha said that you were a very proper young
+gentleman, and that she was sure you were nice. Dorothy didn't say
+much, but she evidently approved of the younger girls' sentiments, so
+I felt that you must be all right, for the girls are generally pretty
+severe critics, and very few of my friends stand at all high in their
+good graces. What amusement are you most fond of?"
+
+"I am afraid I have had very little time for amusements," Cyril said.
+"I was very fond of fencing when I was in France, but have had no
+opportunity of practising since I came to England. I went to a
+bull-bait once, but thought it a cruel sport."
+
+"I suppose you go to a play-house sometimes?"
+
+"No; I have never been inside one. A good deal of my work has been
+done in the evening, and I don't know that the thought ever occurred
+to me to go. I know nothing of your English sports, and neither ride
+nor shoot, except with a pistol, with which I used to be a good shot
+when I was in France."
+
+They rowed down as low as Greenwich, then, as the tide turned, made
+their way back; and by the time Cyril alighted from the boat at
+London Bridge stairs the two young fellows had become quite intimate
+with each other.
+
+Nellie looked with great approval at Cyril as he came downstairs in a
+full Court dress. Since the avowal she had made of her fault she had
+recovered much of her brightness. She bustled about the house, intent
+upon the duties she had newly taken up, to the gratification of Mrs.
+Dowsett, who protested that her occupation was gone.
+
+"Not at all, mother. It is only that you are now captain of the ship,
+and have got to give your orders instead of carrying them out
+yourself. Father did not pull up the ropes or go aloft to furl the
+sails, while I have no doubt he had plenty to do in seeing that his
+orders were carried out. You will be worse off than he was, for he
+had John Wilkes, and others, who knew their duty, while I have got
+almost everything to learn."
+
+Although her cheerfulness had returned, and she could again be heard
+singing snatches of song about the house, her voice and manner were
+gentler and softer, and Captain Dave said to Cyril,--
+
+"It has all turned out for the best, lad. The ship was very near
+wrecked, but the lesson has been a useful one, and there is no fear
+of her being lost from want of care or good seamanship in future. I
+feel, too, that I have been largely to blame in the matter. I spoilt
+her as a child, and I spoilt her all along. Her mother would have
+kept a firmer hand upon the helm if I had not always spoken up for
+the lass, and said, 'Let her have her head; don't check the sheets in
+too tautly.' I see I was wrong now. Why, lad, what a blessing it is
+to us all that it happened when it did! for if that fire had been but
+a month earlier, you would probably have gone away with the Earl, and
+we should have known nothing of Nellie's peril until we found that
+she was gone."
+
+"Sir Cyril--no, I really cannot call you Cyril now," Nellie said,
+curtseying almost to the ground after taking a survey of the lad,
+"your costume becomes you rarely; and I am filled with wonder at the
+thought of my own stupidity in not seeing all along that you were a
+prince in disguise. It is like the fairy tales my old nurse used to
+tell me of the king's son who went out to look for a beautiful wife,
+and who worked as a scullion in the king's palace without anyone
+suspecting his rank. I think fortune has been very hard upon me, in
+that I was born five years too soon. Had I been but fourteen instead
+of nineteen, your Royal Highness might have cast favourable eyes upon
+me."
+
+"But then, Mistress Nellie," Cyril said, laughing, "you would be
+filled with grief now at the thought that I am going away to the
+wars."
+
+The girl's face changed. She dropped her saucy manner and said
+earnestly,--
+
+"I am grieved, Cyril; and if it would do any good I would sit down
+and have a hearty cry. The Dutchmen are brave fighters, and their
+fleet will be stronger than ours; and there will be many who sail
+away to sea who will never come back again. I have never had a
+brother; but it seems to me that if I had had one who was wise, and
+thoughtful, and brave, I should have loved him as I love you. I think
+the princess must always have felt somehow that the scullion was not
+what he seemed; and though I have always laughed at you and scolded
+you, I have known all along that you were not really a clerk. I don't
+know that I thought you were a prince; but I somehow felt a little
+afraid of you. You never said that you thought me vain and giddy, but
+I knew you did think so, and I used to feel a little malice against
+you; and yet, somehow, I respected and liked you all the more, and
+now it seems to me that you are still in disguise, and that, though
+you seem to be but a boy, you are really a man to whom some good
+fairy has given a boy's face. Methinks no boy could be as thoughtful
+and considerate, and as kind as you are."
+
+"You are exaggerating altogether," Cyril said; "and yet, in what you
+say about my age, I think you are partly right. I have lived most of
+my life alone; I have had much care always on my shoulders, and grave
+responsibility; thus it is that I am older in many ways than I should
+be at my years. I would it were not so. I have not had any boyhood,
+as other boys have, and I think it has been a great misfortune for
+me."
+
+"It has not been a misfortune for us, Cyril; it has been a blessing
+indeed to us all that you have not been quite like other boys, and I
+think that all your life it will be a satisfaction for you to know
+that you have saved one house from ruin, one woman from misery, and
+disgrace. Now it is time for you to be going; but although you are
+leaving us tomorrow, Cyril, I hope that you are not going quite out
+of our lives."
+
+"That you may be sure I am not, Nellie. If you have reason to be
+grateful to me, truly I have much reason to be grateful to your
+father. I have never been so happy as since I have been in this
+house, and I shall always return to it as to a home where I am sure
+of a welcome--as the place to which I chiefly owe any good fortune
+that may ever befall me."
+
+The _levee_ was a brilliant one, and was attended, in addition to
+the usual throng of courtiers, by most of the officers and gentlemen
+who were going with the Fleet. Cyril was glad indeed that he was with
+the Earl of Wisbech and his son, for he would have felt lonely and
+out of place in the brilliant throng, in which Prince Rupert's face
+would have been the only one with which he was familiar. The Earl
+introduced him to several of the gentlemen who would be his
+shipmates, and by all he was cordially received when the Earl named
+him as the gentleman who had rescued his daughters from death.
+
+At times, when the Earl was chatting with his friends, Cyril moved
+about through the rooms with Sydney, who knew by appearance a great
+number of those present, and was able to point out all the
+distinguished persons of the Court to him.
+
+"There is the Prince," he said, "talking with the Earl of Rochester.
+What a grave face he has now! It is difficult to believe that he is
+the Rupert of the wars, and the headstrong prince whose very bravery
+helped to lose well-nigh as many battles as he won. We may be sure
+that he will take us into the very thick of the fight, Cyril. Even
+now his wrist is as firm, and, I doubt not, his arm as strong as when
+he led the Cavaliers. I have seen him in the tennis-court; there is
+not one at the Court, though many are well-nigh young enough to be
+his sons, who is his match at tennis. There is the Duke of York. They
+say he is a Catholic, but I own that makes no difference to me. He is
+fond of the sea, and is never so happy as when he is on board ship,
+though you would hardly think it by his grave face. The King is fond
+of it, too. He has a pleasure vessel that is called a yacht, and so
+has the Duke of York, and they have races one against the other; but
+the King generally wins. He is making it a fashionable pastime. Some
+day I will have one myself--that is, if I find I like the sea; for it
+must be pleasant to sail about in your own vessel, and to go
+wheresoever one may fancy without asking leave from any man."
+
+When it came to his turn Cyril passed before the King with the Earl
+and his son. The Earl presented Sydney, who had not before been at
+Court, to the King, mentioning that he was going out as a Volunteer
+in Prince Rupert's vessel.
+
+"That is as it should be, my Lord," the King said. "England need
+never fear so long as her nobles and gentlemen are ready themselves
+to go out to fight her battles, and to set an example to the seamen.
+You need not present this young gentleman to me; my cousin Rupert has
+already done so, and told me of the service he has rendered to your
+daughters. He, too, sails with the Prince, and after what happened
+there can be no doubt that he can stand fire well. I would that this
+tiresome dignity did not prevent my being of the party. I would
+gladly, for once, lay my kingship down and go out as one of the
+company to help give the Dutchmen a lesson that will teach them that,
+even if caught unexpectedly, the sea-dogs of England can well hold
+their own, though they have no longer a Blake to command them."
+
+"I wonder that the King ventures to use Blake's name," Sydney
+whispered, as they moved away, "considering the indignities that he
+allowed the judges to inflict on the body of the grand old sailor."
+
+"It was scandalous!" Cyril said warmly; "and I burned with
+indignation when I heard of it in France. They may call him a traitor
+because he sided with the Parliament, but even Royalists should never
+have forgotten what great deeds he did for England. However, though
+they might have dishonoured his body, they could not touch his fame,
+and his name will be known and honoured as long as England is a
+nation and when the names of the men who condemned him have been long
+forgotten."
+
+After leaving the _levee_, Cyril went back to the City, and the next
+morning started on horseback, with the Earl and his son, to the
+latter's seat, near Sevenoaks, the ladies having gone down in the
+Earl's coach on the previous day. Wholly unaccustomed as Cyril was to
+riding, he was so stiff that he had difficulty in dismounting when
+they rode up to the mansion. The Earl had provided a quiet and
+well-trained horse for his use, and he had therefore found no
+difficulty in retaining his seat.
+
+"You must ride every day while you are down here," the Earl said,
+"and by the end of the week you will begin to be fairly at home in
+the saddle. A good seat is one of the prime necessities of a
+gentleman's education, and if it should be that you ever carry out
+your idea of taking service abroad it will be essential for you,
+because, in most cases, the officers are mounted. You can hardly
+expect ever to become a brilliant rider. For that it is necessary to
+begin young; but if you can keep your seat under all circumstances,
+and be able to use your sword on horseback, as well as on foot, it
+will be all that is needful."
+
+The week passed very pleasantly. Cyril rode and fenced daily with
+Sydney, who was surprised to find that he was fully his match with
+the sword. He walked in the gardens with the girls, who had now quite
+recovered from the effects of the fire. Bertha and Beatrice, being
+still children, chatted with him as freely and familiarly as they did
+with Sydney. Of Lady Dorothy he saw less, as she was in charge of her
+_gouvernante_, who always walked beside her, and was occupied in
+training her into the habits of preciseness and decorum in vogue at
+the time.
+
+"I do believe, Dorothy," Sydney said, one day, "that you are
+forgetting how to laugh. You walk like a machine, and seem afraid to
+move your hands or your feet except according to rule. I like you
+very much better as you were a year ago, when you did not think
+yourself too fine for a romp, and could laugh when you were pleased.
+That dragon of yours is spoiling you altogether."
+
+"That is a matter of opinion, Sydney," Dorothy said, with a deep
+curtsey. "When you first began to fence, I have no doubt you were
+stiff and awkward, and I am sure if you had always had someone by
+your side, saying, 'Keep your head up!' 'Don't poke your chin
+forward!' 'Pray do not swing your arms!' and that sort of thing, you
+would be just as awkward as I feel. I am sure I would rather run
+about with the others; the process of being turned into a young lady
+is not a pleasant one. But perhaps some day, when you see the
+finished article, you will be pleased to give your Lordship's august
+approval," and she ended with a merry laugh that would have shocked
+her _gouvernante_ if she had heard it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE BATTLE OF LOWESTOFT
+
+
+The Earl returned with his son and Cyril to town, and the latter
+spent the night in the City.
+
+"I do not know, Cyril," Captain Dave said, as they talked over his
+departure, "that you run much greater risk in going than do we in
+staying here. The Plague makes progress, and although it has not
+invaded the City, we can hardly hope that it will be long before it
+appears here. There are many evil prophecies abroad, and it is the
+general opinion that a great misfortune hangs over us, and they say
+that many have prepared to leave London. I have talked the matter
+over with my wife. We have not as yet thought of going, but should
+the Plague come heavily, it may be that we shall for a time go away.
+There will be no business to be done, for vessels will not come up
+the Thames and risk infection, nor, indeed, would they be admitted
+into ports, either in England or abroad, after coming from an
+infected place. Therefore I could leave without any loss in the way
+of trade. It will, of course, depend upon the heaviness of the
+malady, but if it becomes widespread we shall perhaps go for a visit
+to my wife's cousin, who lives near Gloucester, and who has many
+times written to us urging us to go down with Nellie for a visit to
+her. Hitherto, business has prevented my going, but if all trade
+ceases, it would be a good occasion for us, and such as may never
+occur again. Still, I earnestly desire that it may not arise, for it
+cannot do so without sore trouble and pain alighting on the City. Did
+the Earl tell you, Cyril, what he has done with regard to John?"
+
+"No; he did not speak to me on the subject."
+
+"His steward came here three days since with a gold watch and chain,
+as a gift from the Earl. The watch has an inscription on the case,
+saying that it is presented to John Wilkes from the Earl of Wisbech,
+as a memorial of his gratitude for the great services rendered to his
+daughters. Moreover, he brought a letter from the Earl saying that if
+John should at any time leave my service, owing to my death or
+retirement from business, or from John himself wishing, either from
+age or other reason, to leave me, he would place at his service a
+cottage and garden on his estate, and a pension of twenty pounds a
+year, to enable him to live in comfort for the remainder of his days.
+John is, as you may suppose, mightily pleased, for though I would
+assuredly never part with him as long as I live, and have by my will
+made provision that will keep him from want in case I die before him,
+it was mighty pleasant to receive so handsome a letter and offer of
+service from the Earl. Nellie wrote for him a letter in which he
+thanked the Earl for the kindness of his offer, for which, although
+he hoped he should never be forced to benefit from it, he was none
+the less obliged and grateful, seeing that he had done nothing that
+any other bystander would not have done, to deserve it."
+
+Early the next morning Sydney Oliphant rode up to the door, followed
+by two grooms, one of whom had a led horse, and the other a
+sumpter-mule, which was partly laden. Captain Dave went down with
+Cyril to the door.
+
+"I pray you to enter, my Lord," he said. "My wife will not be happy
+unless you take a cup of posset before you start. Moreover, she and
+my daughter desire much to see you, as you are going to sail with Sir
+Cyril, whom we regard as a member of our family."
+
+"I will come up right willingly," the young noble said, leaping
+lightly from his horse. "If your good dame's posset is as good as the
+wine the Earl, my father, tells me you gave him, it must be good
+indeed; for he told me he believed he had none in his cellar equal to
+it."
+
+He remained for a few minutes upstairs, chatting gaily, vowing that
+the posset was the best he had ever drank, and declaring to Nellie
+that he regarded as a favourable omen for his expedition that he
+should have seen so fair a face the last thing before starting. He
+shook hands with John Wilkes heartily when he came up to say that
+Cyril's valises were all securely packed on the horses, and then went
+off, promising to send Captain Dave a runnet of the finest schiedam
+from the Dutch Admiral's ship.
+
+"Truly, I am thankful you came up," Cyril said, as they mounted and
+rode off. "Before you came we were all dull, and the Dame and
+Mistress Nellie somewhat tearful; Now we have gone off amidst smiles,
+which is vastly more pleasant."
+
+Crossing London Bridge, they rode through Southwark, and then out
+into the open country. Each had a light valise strapped behind the
+saddle, and the servants had saddle-bags containing the smaller
+articles of luggage, while the sumpter-mule carried two trunks with
+their clothes and sea necessaries. It was late in the evening when
+they arrived at Chatham. Here they put up at an hotel which was
+crowded with officers of the Fleet, and with Volunteers like
+themselves.
+
+"I should grumble at these quarters, Cyril," Sydney said, as the
+landlord, with many apologies, showed them into a tiny attic, which
+was the only place he had unoccupied, "were it not that we are going
+to sea to-morrow, and I suppose that our quarters will be even
+rougher there. However, we may have elbow-room for a time, for most
+of the Volunteers will not join, I hear, until the last thing before
+the Fleet sails, and it may be a fortnight yet before all the ships
+are collected. I begged my father to let me do the same, but he goes
+back again to-day to Sevenoaks, and he liked not the idea of my
+staying in town, seeing that the Plague is spreading so rapidly. I
+would even have stayed in the country had he let me, but he was of
+opinion that I was best on board--in the first place, because I may
+not get news down there in time to join the Fleet before it sails,
+and in the second, that I might come to get over this sickness of the
+sea, and so be fit and able to do my part when we meet the Dutch.
+This was so reasonable that I could urge nothing against it; for, in
+truth, it would be a horrible business if I were lying like a sick
+dog, unable to lift my head, while our men were fighting the Dutch. I
+have never been to sea, and know not how I shall bear it. Are you a
+good sailor?"
+
+"Yes; I used to go out very often in a fishing-boat at Dunkirk, and
+never was ill from the first. Many people are not ill at all, and it
+will certainly be of an advantage to you to be on board for a short
+time in quiet waters before setting out for sea."
+
+On going downstairs, Lord Oliphant found several young men of his
+acquaintance among those staying in the house. He introduced Cyril to
+them. But the room was crowded and noisy; many of those present had
+drunk more than was good for them, and it was not long before Cyril
+told his friend that he should go up to bed.
+
+"I am not accustomed to noisy parties, Sydney, and feel quite
+confused with all this talk."
+
+"You will soon get accustomed to it, Cyril. Still, do as you like. I
+dare say I shall not be very long before I follow you."
+
+The next morning after breakfast they went down to the quay, and took
+a boat to the ship, which was lying abreast of the dockyard. The
+captain, on their giving their names, consulted the list.
+
+"That is right, gentlemen, though indeed I know not why you should
+have come down until we are ready to sail, which may not be for a
+week or more, though we shall go out from here to-morrow and join
+those lying in the Hope; for indeed you can be of no use while we are
+fitting, and would but do damage to your clothes and be in the way of
+the sailors. It is but little accommodation you will find on board
+here, though we will do the best we can for you."
+
+"We do not come about accommodation, captain," Lord Oliphant laughed,
+"and we have brought down gear with us that will not soil, or rather,
+that cannot be the worse for soiling. There are three or four others
+at the inn where we stopped last night who are coming on board, but I
+hear that the rest of the Volunteers will probably join when the
+Fleet assembles in Yarmouth roads."
+
+"Then they must be fonder of journeying on horseback than I am," the
+captain said. "While we are in the Hope, where, indeed, for aught I
+know, we may tarry but a day or two, they could come down by boat
+conveniently without trouble, whereas to Yarmouth it is a very long
+ride, with the risk of losing their purses to the gentlemen of the
+road. Moreover, though the orders are at present that the Fleet
+gather at Yarmouth, and many are already there 'tis like that it may
+be changed in a day for Harwich or the Downs. I pray you get your
+meals at your inn to-day, for we are, as you see, full of work taking
+on board stores. If it please you to stay and watch what is doing
+here you are heartily welcome, but please tell the others that they
+had best not come off until late in the evening, by which time I will
+do what I can to have a place ready for them to sleep. We shall sail
+at the turn of the tide, which will be at three o'clock in the
+morning."
+
+Oliphant wrote a few lines to the gentlemen on shore, telling them
+that the captain desired that none should come on board until the
+evening, and having sent it off by their boatmen, telling them to
+return in time to take them back to dinner, he and Cyril mounted to
+the poop and surveyed the scene round them. The ship was surrounded
+with lighters and boats from the dockyards, and from these casks and
+barrels, boxes and cases, were being swung on board by blocks from
+the yards, or rolled in at the port-holes. A large number of men were
+engaged at the work, and as fast as the stores came on board they
+were seized by the sailors and carried down into the hold, the
+provisions piled in tiers of barrels, the powder-kegs packed in the
+magazine.
+
+"'Tis like an ant-hill," Cyril said. "'Tis just as I have seen when a
+nest has been disturbed. Every ant seizes a white egg as big as
+itself, and rushes off with it to the passage below."
+
+"They work bravely," his companion said. "Every man seems to know
+that it is important that the ship should be filled up by to-night.
+See! the other four vessels lying above us are all alike at work, and
+may, perhaps, start with us in the morning. The other ships are busy,
+too, but not as we are. I suppose they will take them in hand when
+they have got rid of us."
+
+"I am not surprised that the captain does not want idlers here, for,
+except ourselves, every man seems to have his appointed work."
+
+"I feel half inclined to take off my doublet and to go and help to
+roll those big casks up the planks."
+
+"I fancy, Sydney, we should be much more in the way there than here.
+There is certainly no lack of men, and your strength and mine
+together would not equal that of one of those strong fellows;
+besides, we are learning something here. It is good to see how
+orderly the work is being carried on, for, in spite of the number
+employed, there is no confusion. You see there are three barges on
+each side; the upper tiers of barrels and bales are being got on
+board through the portholes, while the lower ones are fished up from
+the bottom by the ropes from the yards and swung into the waist, and
+so passed below; and as fast as one barge is unloaded another drops
+alongside to take its place."
+
+They returned to the inn to dinner, after which they paid a visit to
+the victualling yard and dockyard, where work was everywhere going
+on. After supper they, with the other gentlemen for Prince Rupert's
+ship, took boat and went off together. They had learned that, while
+they would be victualled on board, they must take with them wine and
+other matters they required over and above the ship's fare. They had
+had a consultation with the other gentlemen after dinner, and
+concluded that it would be best to take but a small quantity of
+things, as they knew not how they would be able to stow them away,
+and would have opportunities of getting, at Gravesend or at Yarmouth,
+further stores, when they saw what things were required. They
+therefore took only a cheese, some butter, and a case of wine. As
+soon as they got on board they were taken below. They found that a
+curtain of sail-cloth had been hung across the main deck, and
+hammocks slung between the guns. Three or four lanterns were hung
+along the middle.
+
+"This is all we can do for you, gentlemen," the officer who conducted
+them down said. "Had we been going on a pleasure trip we could have
+knocked up separate cabins, but as we must have room to work the
+guns, this cannot be done. In the morning the sailors will take down
+these hammocks, and will erect a table along the middle, where you
+will take your meals. At present, as you see, we have only slung
+hammocks for you, but when you all come on board there will be
+twenty. We have, so far, only a list of sixteen, but as the Prince
+said that two or three more might come at the last moment we have
+railed off space enough for ten hammocks on each side. We will get
+the place cleaned for you to-morrow, but the last barge was emptied
+but a few minutes since, and we could do naught but just sweep the
+deck down. To-morrow everything shall be scrubbed and put in order."
+
+"It will do excellently well," one of the gentlemen said. "We have
+not come on board ship to get luxuries, and had we to sleep on the
+bare boards you would hear no grumbling."
+
+"Now, gentlemen, as I have shown you your quarters, will you come up
+with me to the captain's cabin? He has bade me say that he will be
+glad if you will spend an hour with him there before you retire to
+rest."
+
+On their entering, the captain shook hands with Lord Oliphant and
+Cyril.
+
+"I must apologise, gentlemen, for being short with you when you came
+on board this morning; but my hands were full, and I had no time to
+be polite. They say you can never get a civil answer from a housewife
+on her washing-day, and it is the same thing with an officer on board
+a ship when she is taking in her stores. However, that business is
+over, and now I am glad to see you all, and will do my best to make
+you as comfortable as I can, which indeed will not be much; for as we
+shall, I hope, be going into action in the course of another ten
+days, the decks must all be kept clear, and as we have the Prince on
+board, we have less cabin room than we should have were we not an
+admiral's flagship."
+
+Wine was placed on the table, and they had a pleasant chat. They
+learnt that the Fleet was now ready for sea.
+
+"Four ships will sail with ours to-morrow," the captain said, "and
+the other five will be off the next morning. They have all their
+munitions on board, and will take in the rest of their provisions
+to-morrow. The Dutch had thought to take us by surprise, but from
+what we hear they are not so forward as we, for things have been
+pushed on with great zeal at all our ports, the war being generally
+popular with the nation, and especially with the merchants, whose
+commerce has been greatly injured by the pretensions and violence of
+the Dutch. The Portsmouth ships, and those from Plymouth, are already
+on their way round to the mouth of the Thames, and in a week we may
+be at sea. I only hope the Dutch will not be long before they come
+out to fight us. However, we are likely to pick up a great many
+prizes, and, next to fighting, you know, sailors like prize-money."
+
+After an hour's talk the five gentlemen went below to their hammocks,
+and then to bed, with much laughter at the difficulty they had in
+mounting into their swinging cots.
+
+It was scarce daylight when they were aroused by a great stir on
+board the ship, and, hastily putting on their clothes, went on deck.
+Already a crowd of men were aloft loosening the sails. Others had
+taken their places in boats in readiness to tow the ship, for the
+wind was, as yet, so light that it was like she would scarce have
+steerage way, and there were many sharp angles in the course down the
+river to be rounded, and shallows to be avoided. A few minutes later
+the moorings were cast off, the sails sheeted home, and the crew gave
+a great cheer, which was answered from the dockyard, and from boats
+alongside, full of the relations and friends of the sailors, who
+stood up and waved their hats and shouted good bye.
+
+The sails still hung idly, but the tide swept the ship along, and the
+men in the boats ahead simply lay on their oars until the time should
+come to pull her head round in one direction or another. They had not
+long to wait, for, as they reached the sharp corner at the end of the
+reach, orders were shouted, the men bent to their oars, and the
+vessel was taken round the curve until her head pointed east.
+Scarcely had they got under way when they heard the cheer from the
+ship astern of them, and by the time they had reached the next curve,
+off the village of Gillingham, the other four ships had rounded the
+point behind them, and were following at a distance of about a
+hundred yards apart. Soon afterwards the wind sprang up and the sails
+bellied out, and the men in the boats had to row briskly to keep
+ahead of the ship. The breeze continued until they passed Sheerness,
+and presently they dropped anchor inside the Nore sands. There they
+remained until the tide turned, and then sailed up the Thames to the
+Hope, where some forty men-of-war were already at anchor.
+
+The next morning some barges arrived from Tilbury, laden with
+soldiers, of whom a hundred and fifty came on board, their quarters
+being on the main deck on the other side of the canvas division. A
+cutter also brought down a number of impressed men, twenty of whom
+were put on board the _Henrietta_ to complete her crew. Cyril was
+standing on the poop watching them come on board, when he started as
+his eye fell on two of their number. One was Robert Ashford; the
+other was Black Dick. They had doubtless returned from Holland when
+war was declared. Robert Ashford had assumed the dress of a sailor
+the better to disguise himself, and the two had been carried off
+together from some haunt of sailors at Wapping. He pointed them out
+to his friend Sydney.
+
+"So those are the two scamps? The big one looks a truculent ruffian.
+Well, they can do you no harm here, Cyril. I should let them stay and
+do their share of the fighting, and then, when the voyage is over, if
+they have not met with a better death than they deserve at the hands
+of the Dutch, you can, if you like, denounce them, and have them
+handed over to the City authorities."
+
+"That I will do, as far as the big ruffian they call Black Dick is
+concerned. He is a desperate villain, and for aught I know may have
+committed many a murder, and if allowed to go free might commit many
+more. Besides, I shall never feel quite safe as long as he is at
+large. As to Robert Ashford, he is a knave, but I know no worse of
+him, and will therefore let him go his way."
+
+In the evening the other ships from Chatham came up, and the captain
+told them later that the Earl of Sandwich, who was in command, would
+weigh anchor in the morning, as the contingent from London, Chatham,
+and Sheerness was now complete. Cyril thought that he had never seen
+a prettier sight, as the Fleet, consisting of fifty men-of-war, of
+various sizes, and eight merchant vessels that had been bought and
+converted into fire-ships, got under way and sailed down the river.
+That night they anchored off Felixstowe, and the next day proceeded,
+with a favourable wind, to Yarmouth, where already a great number of
+ships were at anchor. So far the five Volunteers had taken their
+meals with the captain, but as the others would be coming on board,
+they were now to mess below, getting fresh meat and vegetables from
+the shore as they required them. As to other stores, they resolved to
+do nothing till the whole party arrived.
+
+They had not long to wait, for, on the third day after their arrival,
+the Duke of York and Prince Rupert, with a great train of gentlemen,
+arrived in the town, and early the next morning embarked on board
+their respective ships. A council was held by the Volunteers in their
+quarters, three of their number were chosen as caterers, and, a
+contribution of three pounds a head being agreed upon, these went
+ashore in one of the ship's boats, and returned presently with a
+barrel or two of good biscuits, the carcasses of five sheep, two or
+three score of ducks and chickens, and several casks of wine,
+together with a large quantity of vegetables. The following morning
+the signal was hoisted on the mast-head of the _Royal Charles_, the
+Duke of York's flagship, for the Fleet to prepare to weigh anchor,
+and they presently got under way in three squadrons, the red under
+the special orders of the Duke, the white under Prince Rupert, and
+the blue under the Earl of Sandwich.
+
+The Fleet consisted of one hundred and nine men-of-war and frigates,
+and twenty-eight fire-ships and ketches, manned by 21,006 seamen and
+soldiers. They sailed across to the coast of Holland, and cruised,
+for a few days, off Texel, capturing ten or twelve merchant vessels
+that tried to run in. So far, the weather had been very fine, but
+there were now signs of a change of weather. The sky became overcast,
+the wind rose rapidly, and the signal was made for the Fleet to
+scatter, so that each vessel should have more sea-room, and the
+chance of collision be avoided. By nightfall the wind had increased
+to the force of a gale, and the vessels were soon labouring heavily.
+Cyril and two or three of his comrades who, like himself, did not
+suffer from sickness, remained on deck; the rest were prostrate
+below.
+
+For forty-eight hours the gale continued, and when it abated and the
+ships gradually closed up round the three admirals' flags, it was
+found that many had suffered sorely in the gale. Some had lost their
+upper spars, others had had their sails blown away, some their
+bulwarks smashed in, and two or three had lost their bowsprits. There
+was a consultation between the admirals and the principal captains,
+and it was agreed that it was best to sail back to England for
+repairs, as many of the ships were unfitted to take their place in
+line of battle, and as the Dutch Fleet was known to be fully equal to
+their own in strength, it would have been hazardous to risk an
+engagement. So the ketches and some of the light frigates were at
+once sent off to find the ships that had not yet joined, and give
+them orders to make for Yarmouth, Lowestoft, or Harwich. All vessels
+uninjured were to gather off Lowestoft, while the others were to make
+for the other ports, repair their damages as speedily as possible,
+and then rejoin at Lowestoft.
+
+No sooner did the Dutch know that the English Fleet had sailed away
+than they put their fleet to sea. It consisted of one hundred and
+twelve men-of-war, and thirty fire-ships, and small craft manned by
+22,365 soldiers and sailors. It was commanded by Admiral Obdam,
+having under him Tromp, Evertson, and other Dutch admirals. On their
+nearing England they fell in with nine ships from Hamburg, with rich
+cargoes, and a convoy of a thirty-four gun frigate. These they
+captured, to the great loss of the merchants of London.
+
+The _Henrietta_ had suffered but little in the storm, and speedily
+repaired her damages without going into port. With so much haste and
+energy did the crews of the injured ships set to work at refitting
+them, that in four days after the main body had anchored off
+Lowestoft, they were rejoined by all the ships that had made for
+Harwich and Yarmouth.
+
+At midnight on June 2nd, a fast-sailing fishing-boat brought in the
+news that the Dutch Fleet were but a few miles away, sailing in that
+direction, having apparently learnt the position of the English from
+some ship or fishing-boat they had captured.
+
+The trumpets on the admiral's ship at once sounded, and Prince Rupert
+and the Earl of Sandwich immediately rowed to her. They remained but
+a few minutes, and on their return to their respective vessels made
+the signals for their captains to come on board. The order, at such
+an hour, was sufficient to notify all that news must have been
+received of the whereabouts of the Dutch Fleet, and by the time the
+captains returned to their ships the crews were all up and ready to
+execute any order. At two o'clock day had begun to break, and soon
+from the mastheads of several of the vessels the look-out shouted
+that they could perceive the Dutch Fleet but four miles away. A
+mighty cheer rose throughout the Fleet, and as it subsided a gun from
+the _Royal Charles_ gave the order to weigh anchor, and a few
+minutes later the three squadrons, in excellent order, sailed out to
+meet the enemy.
+
+They did not, however, advance directly towards them, but bore up
+closely into the wind until they had gained the weather gauge of the
+enemy. Having obtained this advantage, the Duke flew the signal to
+engage. The Volunteers were all in their places on the poop, being
+posted near the rail forward, that they might be able either to run
+down the ladder to the waist and aid to repel boarders, or to spring
+on to a Dutch ship should one come alongside, and also that the
+afterpart of the poop, where Prince Rupert and the captain had taken
+their places near the wheel, should be free. The Prince himself had
+requested them so to station themselves.
+
+"At other times, gentlemen, you are my good friends and comrades," he
+said, "but, from the moment that the first gun fires, you are
+soldiers under my orders; and I pray you take your station and remain
+there until I call upon you for action, for my whole attention must
+be given to the manoeuvring of the ship, and any movement or talking
+near me might distract my thoughts. I shall strive to lay her
+alongside of the biggest Dutchman I can pick out, and as soon as the
+grapnels are thrown, and their sides grind together, you will have
+the post of honour, and will lead the soldiers aboard her. Once among
+the Dutchmen, you will know what to do without my telling you."
+
+"'Tis a grand sight, truly, Cyril," Sydney said, in a low tone, as
+the great fleets met each other.
+
+"A grand sight, truly, Sydney, but a terrible one. I do not think I
+shall mind when I am once at it, but at present I feel that, despite
+my efforts, I am in a tremor, and that my knees shake as I never felt
+them before."
+
+"I am glad you feel like that, Cyril, for I feel much like it myself,
+and began to be afraid that I had, without knowing it, been born a
+coward. There goes the first gun."
+
+As he spoke, a puff of white smoke spouted out from the bows of one
+of the Dutch ships, and a moment later the whole of their leading
+vessels opened fire. There was a rushing sound overhead, and a ball
+passed through the main topsail of the _Henrietta_. No reply was
+made by the English ships until they passed in between the Dutchmen;
+then the _Henrietta_ poured her broadsides into the enemy on either
+side of her, receiving theirs in return. There was a rending of wood,
+and a quiver through the ship. One of the upper-deck-guns was knocked
+off its carriage, crushing two of the men working it as it fell.
+Several others were hurt with splinters, and the sails pierced with
+holes. Again and again as she passed, did the _Henrietta_ exchange
+broadsides with the Dutch vessels, until--the two fleets having
+passed through each other--she bore up, and prepared to repeat the
+manoeuvre.
+
+"I feel all right now," Cyril said, "but I do wish I had something to
+do instead of standing here useless. I quite envy the men there,
+stripped to the waist, working the guns. There is that fellow Black
+Dick, by the gun forward; he is a scoundrel, no doubt, but what
+strength and power he has! I saw him put his shoulder under that gun
+just now, and slew it across by sheer strength, so as to bear upon
+the stern of the Dutchman. I noticed him and Robert looking up at me
+just before the first gun was fired, and speaking together. I have no
+doubt he would gladly have pointed the gun at me instead of at the
+enemy, for he knows that, if I denounce him, he will get the due
+reward of his crimes."
+
+As soon as the ships were headed round they passed through the Dutch
+as before, and this manoeuvre was several times repeated. Up to one
+o'clock in the day no great advantage had been gained on either side.
+Spars had been carried away; there were yawning gaps in the bulwarks;
+portholes had been knocked into one, guns dismounted, and many
+killed; but as yet no vessel on either side had been damaged to an
+extent that obliged her to strike her flag, or to fall out of the
+fighting line. There had been a pause after each encounter, in which
+both fleets had occupied themselves in repairing damages, as far as
+possible, reeving fresh ropes in place of those that had been shot
+away, clearing the wreckage of fallen spars and yards, and carrying
+the wounded below. Four of the Volunteers had been struck down--two
+of them mortally wounded, but after the first passage through the
+enemy's fleet, Prince Rupert had ordered them to arm themselves with
+muskets from the racks, and to keep up a fire at the Dutch ships as
+they passed, aiming specially at the man at the wheel. The order had
+been a very welcome one, for, like Cyril, they had all felt
+inactivity in such a scene to be a sore trial. They were now ranged
+along on both sides of the poop.
+
+At one o'clock Lord Sandwich signalled to the Blue Squadron to close
+up together as they advanced, as before, against the enemy's line.
+His position at the time was in the centre, and his squadron, sailing
+close together, burst into the Dutch line before their ships could
+make any similar disposition. Having thus broken it asunder, instead
+of passing through it, the squadron separated, and the ships, turning
+to port and starboard, each engaged an enemy. The other two squadrons
+similarly ranged up among the Dutch, and the battle now became
+furious all along the line. Fire-ships played an important part in
+the battles of the time, and the thoughts of the captain of a ship
+were not confined to struggles with a foe of equal size, but were
+still more engrossed by the need for avoiding any fire-ship that
+might direct its course towards him.
+
+Cyril had now no time to give a thought as to what was passing
+elsewhere. The _Henrietta_ had ranged up alongside a Dutch vessel of
+equal size, and was exchanging broadsides with her. All round were
+vessels engaged in an equally furious encounter. The roar of the guns
+and the shouts of the seamen on both sides were deafening. One moment
+the vessel reeled from the recoil of her own guns, the next she
+quivered as the balls of the enemy crashed through her sides.
+
+Suddenly, above the din, Cyril heard the voice of Prince Rupert sound
+like a trumpet.
+
+"Hatchets and pikes on the starboard quarter! Draw in the guns and
+keep off this fire-ship."
+
+Laying their muskets against the bulwarks, he and Sydney sprang to
+the mizzen-mast, and each seized a hatchet from those ranged against
+it. They then rushed to the starboard side, just as a small ship came
+out through the cloud of smoke that hung thickly around them.
+
+There was a shock as she struck the _Henrietta_, and then, as she
+glided alongside, a dozen grapnels were thrown by men on her yards.
+The instant they had done so, the men disappeared, sliding down the
+ropes and running aft to their boat. Before the last leaped in he
+stooped. A flash of fire ran along the deck, there was a series of
+sharp explosions, and then a bright flame sprang up from the
+hatchways, ran up the shrouds and ropes, that had been soaked with
+oil and tar, and in a moment the sails were on fire. In spite of the
+flames, a score of men sprang on to the rigging of the _Henrietta_
+and cut the ropes of the grapnels, which, as yet--so quickly had the
+explosion followed their throwing--had scarce begun to check the way
+the fire-ship had on her as she came up.
+
+Cyril, having cast over a grapnel that had fallen on the poop, looked
+down on the fire-ship as she drifted along. The deck, which, like
+everything else, had been smeared with tar, was in a blaze, but the
+combustible had not been carried as far as the helm, where doubtless
+the captain had stood to direct her course. A sudden thought struck
+him. He ran along the poop until opposite the stern of the fire-ship,
+climbed over the bulwark and leapt down on to the deck, some fifteen
+feet below him. Then he seized the helm and jammed it hard down. The
+fire-ship had still steerage way on her, and he saw her head at once
+begin to turn away from the _Henrietta_; the movement was aided by
+the latter's crew, who, with poles and oars, pushed her off.
+
+The heat was terrific, but Cyril's helmet and breast-piece sheltered
+him somewhat; yet though he shielded his face with his arm, he felt
+that it would speedily become unbearable. His eye fell upon a coil of
+rope at his feet. Snatching it up, he fastened it to the tiller and
+then round a belaying-pin in the bulwark, caught up a bucket with a
+rope attached, threw it over the side and soused its contents over
+the tiller-rope, then, unbuckling the straps of his breast- and
+back-pieces, he threw them off, cast his helmet on the deck,
+blistering his hands as he did so, and leapt overboard. It was with a
+delicious sense of coolness that he rose to the surface and looked
+round. Hitherto he had been so scorched by the flame and smothered by
+the smoke that it was with difficulty he had kept his attention upon
+what he was doing, and would doubtless, in another minute, have
+fallen senseless. The plunge into the sea seemed to restore his
+faculties, and as he came up he looked eagerly to see how far success
+had attended his efforts.
+
+He saw with delight that the bow of the fire-ship was thirty or forty
+feet distant from the side of the _Henrietta_ and her stern half
+that distance. Two or three of the sails of the man-of-war had caught
+fire, but a crowd of seamen were beating the flames out of two of
+them while another, upon which the fire had got a better hold, was
+being cut away from its yard. As he turned to swim to the side of the
+_Henrietta_, three or four ropes fell close to him. He twisted one
+of these round his body, and, a minute later, was hauled up into the
+waist. He was saluted with a tremendous cheer, and was caught up by
+three or four strong fellows, who, in spite of his remonstrances,
+carried him up on to the poop. Prince Rupert was standing on the top
+of the ladder.
+
+"Nobly done, Sir Cyril!" he exclaimed. "You have assuredly saved the
+_Henrietta_ and all our lives. A minute later, and we should have
+been on fire beyond remedy. But I will speak more to you when we have
+finished with the Dutchman on the other side."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+HONOURABLE SCARS
+
+
+During the time that the greater part of the crew of the _Henrietta_
+had been occupied with the fire-ship, the enemy had redoubled their
+efforts, and as the sailors returned to their guns, the mizzen-mast
+fell with a crash. A minute later, a Dutch man-of-war ran alongside,
+fired a broadside, and grappled. Then her crew, springing over the
+bulwarks, poured on to the deck of the _Henrietta_. They were met
+boldly by the soldiers, who had hitherto borne no part in the fight,
+and who, enraged at the loss they had been compelled to suffer, fell
+upon the enemy with fury. For a moment, however, the weight of
+numbers of the Dutchmen bore them back, but the sailors, who had at
+first been taken by surprise, snatched up their boarding pikes and
+axes.
+
+Prince Rupert, with the other officers and Volunteers, dashed into
+the thick of the fray, and, step by step, the Dutchmen were driven
+back, until they suddenly gave way and rushed back to their own ship.
+The English would have followed them, but the Dutch who remained on
+board their ship, seeing that the fight was going against their
+friends, cut the ropes of the grapnels, and the ships drifted apart,
+some of the last to leave the deck of the _Henrietta_ being forced
+to jump into the sea. The cannonade was at once renewed on both
+sides, but the Dutch had had enough of it--having lost very heavily
+in men--and drew off from the action.
+
+Cyril had joined in the fray. He had risen to his feet and drawn his
+sword, but he found himself strangely weak. His hands were blistered
+and swollen, his face was already so puffed that he could scarce see
+out of his eyes; still, he had staggered down the steps to the waist,
+and, recovering his strength from the excitement, threw himself into
+the fray.
+
+Scarce had he done so, when a sailor next to him fell heavily against
+him, shot through the head by one of the Dutch soldiers. Cyril
+staggered, and before he could recover himself, a Dutch sailor struck
+at his head. He threw up his sword to guard the blow, but the guard
+was beaten down as if it had been a reed. It sufficed, however,
+slightly to turn the blow, which fell first on the side of the head,
+and then, glancing down, inflicted a terrible wound on the shoulder.
+
+He fell at once, unconscious, and, when he recovered his senses,
+found himself laid out on the poop, where Sydney, assisted by two of
+the other gentlemen, had carried him. His head and shoulder had
+already been bandaged, the Prince having sent for his doctor to come
+up from below to attend upon him.
+
+The battle was raging with undiminished fury all round, but, for the
+moment, the _Henrietta_ was not engaged, and her crew were occupied
+in cutting away the wreckage of the mizzen-mast, and trying to repair
+the more important of the damages that she had suffered. Carpenters
+were lowered over the side, and were nailing pieces of wood over the
+shot-holes near the water-line. Men swarmed aloft knotting and
+splicing ropes and fishing damaged spars.
+
+Sydney, who was standing a short distance away, at once came up to
+him.
+
+"How are you, Cyril?"
+
+"My head sings, and my shoulder aches, but I shall do well enough.
+Please get me lifted up on to that seat by the bulwark, so that I can
+look over and see what is going on."
+
+"I don't think you are strong enough to sit up, Cyril."
+
+"Oh, yes I am; besides, I can lean against the bulwark."
+
+Cyril was placed in the position he wanted, and, leaning his arm on
+the bulwark and resting his head on it, was able to see what was
+passing.
+
+Suddenly a tremendous explosion was heard a quarter of a mile away.
+
+"The Dutch admiral's ship has blown up," one of the men aloft
+shouted, and a loud cheer broke from the crew.
+
+It was true. The Duke of York in the _Royal Charles_, of eighty
+guns, and the _Eendracht_, of eighty-four, the flagship of Admiral
+Obdam, had met and engaged each other fiercely. For a time the
+Dutchmen had the best of it. A single shot killed the Earl of
+Falmouth, Lord Muskerry, and Mr. Boyle, three gentlemen Volunteers,
+who at the moment were standing close to the Duke, and the _Royal
+Charles_ suffered heavily until a shot from one of her guns struck
+the Dutchman's magazine, and the _Eendracht_ blew up, only five men
+being rescued out of the five hundred that were on board of her.
+
+This accident in no small degree decided the issue of the engagement,
+for the Dutch at once fell into confusion. Four of their ships, a few
+hundred yards from the _Henrietta_, fell foul of each other, and
+while the crews were engaged in trying to separate them an English
+fire-ship sailed boldly up and laid herself alongside. A moment later
+the flames shot up high, and the boat with the crew of the fire-ship
+rowed to the _Henrietta_. The flames instantly spread to the Dutch
+men-of-war, and the sailors were seen jumping over in great numbers.
+Prince Rupert ordered the boats to be lowered, but only one was found
+to be uninjured. This was manned and pushed off at once, and, with
+others from British vessels near, rescued a good many of the Dutch
+sailors.
+
+Still the fight was raging all round; but a short time afterwards
+three other of the finest ships in the Dutch Fleet ran into each
+other. Another of the English fire-ships hovering near observed the
+opportunity, and was laid alongside, with the same success as her
+consort, the three men-of-war being all destroyed.
+
+This took place at some distance from the _Henrietta_, but the
+English vessels near them succeeded in saving, in their boats, a
+portion of the crews. The Dutch ship _Orange_, of seventy-five guns,
+was disabled after a sharp fight with the _Mary_, and was likewise
+burnt. Two Dutch vice-admirals were killed, and a panic spread
+through the Dutch Fleet. About eight o'clock in the evening between
+thirty and forty of their ships made off in a body, and the rest
+speedily followed. During the fight and the chase eighteen Dutch
+ships were taken, though some of these afterwards escaped, as the
+vessels to which they had struck joined the rest in the chase.
+Fourteen were sunk, besides those burnt and blown up. Only one
+English ship, the _Charity_, had struck, having, at the beginning of
+the fight been attacked by three Dutch vessels, and lost the greater
+part of her men, and was then compelled to surrender to a Dutch
+vessel of considerably greater strength that came up and joined the
+others. The English loss was, considering the duration of the fight,
+extremely small, amounting to but 250 killed, and 340 wounded. Among
+the killed were the Earl of Marlborough, the Earl of Portland, who
+was present as a Volunteer, Rear-Admiral Sampson, and Vice-Admiral
+Lawson, the latter of whom died after the fight, from his wounds.
+
+The pursuit of the Dutch was continued for some hours, and then
+terminated abruptly, owing to a Member of Parliament named Brounker,
+who was in the suite of the Duke of York, giving the captain of the
+_Royal Charles_ orders, which he falsely stated emanated from the
+Duke, for the pursuit to be abandoned. For this he was afterwards
+expelled the House of Commons, and was ordered to be impeached, but
+after a time the matter was suffered to drop.
+
+As soon as the battle was over Cyril was taken down to a hammock
+below. He was just dozing off to sleep when Sydney came to him.
+
+"I am sorry to disturb you, Cyril, but an officer tells me that a man
+who is mortally wounded wishes to speak to you; and from his
+description I think it is the fellow you call Black Dick. I thought
+it right to tell you, but I don't think you are fit to go to see
+him."
+
+"I will go," Cyril said, "if you will lend me your arm. I should like
+to hear what the poor wretch has to say."
+
+"He lies just below; the hatchway is but a few yards distant."
+
+There had been no attempt to remove Cyril's clothes, and, by the aid
+of Lord Oliphant and of a sailor he called to his aid, he made his
+way below, and was led through the line of wounded, until a doctor,
+turning round, said,--
+
+"This is the man who wishes to see you, Sir Cyril."
+
+Although a line of lanterns hung from the beams, so nearly blind was
+he that Cyril could scarce distinguish the man's features.
+
+"I have sent for you," the latter said faintly, "to tell you that if
+it hadn't been for your jumping down on to that fire-ship you would
+not have lived through this day's fight. I saw that you recognised
+me, and knew that, as soon as we went back, you would hand us over to
+the constables. So I made up my mind that I would run you through in
+the _melee_ if we got hand to hand with the Dutchmen, or would put a
+musket-ball into you while the firing was going on. But when I saw
+you standing there with the flames round you, giving your life, as it
+seemed, to save the ship, I felt that, even if I must be hung for it,
+I could not bring myself to hurt so brave a lad; so there is an end
+of that business. Robert Ashford was killed by a gun that was knocked
+from its carriage, so you have got rid of us both. I thought I should
+like to tell you before I went that the brave action you did saved
+your life, and that, bad as I am, I had yet heart enough to feel that
+I would rather take hanging than kill you."
+
+The last words had been spoken in a scarcely audible whisper. The man
+closed his eyes; and the doctor, laying his hand on Cyril's arm,
+said,--
+
+"You had better go back to your hammock now, Sir Cyril. He will never
+speak again. In a few minutes the end will come."
+
+Cyril spent a restless night. The wind was blowing strongly from the
+north, and the crews had hard work to keep the vessels off the shore.
+His wounds did not pain him much, but his hands, arms, face, and legs
+smarted intolerably, for his clothes had been almost burnt off him,
+and, refreshing as the sea-bath had been at the moment, it now added
+to the smarting of the wounds.
+
+In the morning Prince Rupert came down to see him.
+
+"It was madness of you to have joined in that _melee_, lad, in the
+state in which you were. I take the blame on myself in not ordering
+you to remain behind; but when the Dutchmen poured on board I had no
+thought of aught but driving them back again. It would have marred
+our pleasure in the victory we have won had you fallen, for to you we
+all owe our lives and the safety of the ship. No braver deed was
+performed yesterday than yours. I fear it will be some time before
+you are able to fight by my side again; but, at least, you have done
+your share, and more, were the war to last a lifetime."
+
+Cyril was in less pain now, for the doctor had poured oil over his
+burns, and had wrapped up his hands in soft bandages.
+
+"It was the thought of a moment, Prince," he said. "I saw the
+fire-ship had steerage way on her, and if the helm were put down she
+would drive away from our side, so without stopping to think about it
+one way or the other, I ran along to the stern, and jumped down to
+her tiller."
+
+"Yes, lad, it was but a moment's thought, no doubt, but it is one
+thing to think, and another to execute, and none but the bravest
+would have ventured that leap on to the fire-ship. By to-morrow
+morning we shall be anchored in the river. Would you like to be
+placed in the hospital at Sheerness, or to be taken up to London?"
+
+"I would rather go to London, if I may," Cyril said. "I know that I
+shall be well nursed at Captain Dave's, and hope, erelong, to be able
+to rejoin."
+
+"Not for some time, lad--not for some time. Your burns will doubtless
+heal apace, but the wound in your shoulder is serious. The doctor
+says that the Dutchman's sword has cleft right through your
+shoulder-bone. 'Tis well that it is your left, for it may be that you
+will never have its full use again. You are not afraid of the Plague,
+are you? for on the day we left town there was a rumour that it had
+at last entered the City."
+
+"I am not afraid of it," Cyril said; "and if it should come to
+Captain Dowsett's house, I would rather be there, that I may do what
+I can to help those who were so kind to me."
+
+"Just as you like, lad. Do not hurry to rejoin. It is not likely
+there will be any fighting for some time, for it will be long before
+the Dutch are ready to take the sea again after the hammering we have
+given them, and all there will be to do will be to blockade their
+coast and to pick up their ships from foreign ports as prizes."
+
+The next morning Cyril was placed on board a little yacht, called the
+_Fan Fan_, belonging to the Prince, and sailed up the river, the
+ship's company mustering at the side and giving him a hearty cheer.
+The wind was favourable, and they arrived that afternoon in town.
+According to the Prince's instructions, the sailors at once placed
+Cyril on a litter that had been brought for the purpose, and carried
+him up to Captain Dowsett's.
+
+The City was in a state of agitation. The news of the victory had
+arrived but a few hours before, and the church bells were all
+ringing, flags were flying, the shops closed, and the people in the
+streets. John Wilkes came down in answer to the summons of the bell.
+
+"Hullo!" he said; "whom have we here?"
+
+"Don't you know me, John?" Cyril said.
+
+John gave a start of astonishment.
+
+"By St. Anthony, it is Master Cyril! At least, it is his voice,
+though it is little I can see of him, and what I see in no way
+resembles him."
+
+"It is Sir Cyril Shenstone," the captain of the _Fan Fan_, who had
+come with the party, said sternly, feeling ruffled at the familiarity
+with which this rough-looking servitor of a City trader spoke of the
+gentleman in his charge. "It is Sir Cyril Shenstone, as brave a
+gentleman as ever drew sword, and who, as I hear, saved Prince
+Rupert's ship from being burnt by the Dutchmen."
+
+"He knows me," John Wilkes said bluntly, "and he knows no offence is
+meant. The Captain and his dame, and Mistress Nellie are all out, Sir
+Cyril, but I will look after you till they return. Bring him up,
+lads. I am an old sailor myself, and fought the Dutch under Blake and
+Monk more than once."
+
+He led the way upstairs into the best of the spare rooms. Here Cyril
+was laid on a bed. He thanked the sailors heartily for the care they
+had taken of him, and the captain handed a letter to John, saying,--
+
+"The young Lord Oliphant asked me to give this to Captain Dowsett,
+but as he is not at home I pray you to give it him when he returns."
+
+As soon as they had gone, John returned to the bed.
+
+"This is terrible, Master Cyril. What have they been doing to you? I
+can see but little of your face for those bandages, but your eyes
+look mere slits, your flesh is all red and swollen, your eyebrows
+have gone, your arms and legs are all swathed up in bandages--Have
+you been blown up with gunpowder?--for surely no wound could have so
+disfigured you."
+
+"I have not been blown up, John, but I was burnt by the flames of a
+Dutch fire-ship that came alongside. It is a matter that a fortnight
+will set right, though I doubt not that I am an unpleasant-looking
+object at present, and it will be some time before my hair grows
+again."
+
+"And you are not hurt otherwise, Master?" John asked anxiously.
+
+"Yes; I am hurt gravely enough, though not so as to imperil my life.
+I have a wound on the side of my head, and the same blow, as the
+doctor says, cleft through my shoulder-bone."
+
+"I had best go and get a surgeon at once," John said; "though it will
+be no easy matter, for all the world is agog in the streets."
+
+"Leave it for the present, John. There is no need whatever for haste.
+In that trunk of mine is a bottle of oils for the burns, though most
+of the sore places are already beginning to heal over, and the doctor
+said that I need not apply it any more, unless I found that they
+smarted too much for bearing. As for the other wounds, they are
+strapped up and bandaged, and he said that unless they inflamed
+badly, they would be best let alone for a time. So sit down quietly,
+and let me hear the news."
+
+"The news is bad enough, though the Plague has not yet entered the
+City."
+
+"The Prince told me that there was a report, before he came on board
+at Lowestoft, that it had done so."
+
+"No, it is not yet come; but people are as frightened as if it was
+raging here. For the last fortnight they have been leaving in crowds
+from the West End, and many of the citizens are also beginning to
+move. They frighten themselves like a parcel of children. The comet
+seemed to many a sign of great disaster."
+
+Cyril laughed.
+
+"If it could be seen only in London there might be something in it,
+but as it can be seen all over Europe, it is hard to say why it
+should augur evil to London especially. It was shining in the sky
+three nights ago when we were chasing the Dutch, and they had quite
+as good reason for thinking it was a sign of misfortune to them as
+have the Londoners."
+
+"That is true enough," John Wilkes agreed; "though, in truth, I like
+not to see the' thing in the sky myself. Then people have troubled
+their heads greatly because, in Master Lilly's Almanack, and other
+books of prediction, a great pestilence is foretold."
+
+"It needed no great wisdom for that," Cyril said, "seeing that the
+Plague has been for some time busy in foreign parts, and that it was
+here, though not so very bad, in the winter, when these books would
+have been written."
+
+"Then," John Wilkes went on, "there is a man going through the
+streets, night and day. He speaks to no one, but cries out
+continually, 'Oh! the great and dreadful God!' This troubles many
+men's hearts greatly."
+
+"It is a pity, John, that the poor fellow is not taken and shut up in
+some place where madmen are kept. Doubtless, it is some poor coward
+whose brain has been turned by fright. People who are frightened by
+such a thing as that must be poor-witted creatures indeed."
+
+"That may be, Master Cyril, but methinks it is as they say, one fool
+makes many. People get together and bemoan themselves till their
+hearts fail them altogether. And yet, methinks they are not
+altogether without reason, for if the pestilence is so heavy without
+the walls, where the streets are wider and the people less crowded
+than here, it may well be that we shall have a terrible time of it in
+the City when it once passes the walls."
+
+"That may well be, John, but cowardly fear will not make things any
+better. We knew, when we sailed out against the Dutch the other day,
+that very many would not see the setting sun, yet I believe there was
+not one man throughout the Fleet who behaved like a coward."
+
+"No doubt, Master Cyril; but there is a difference. One can fight
+against men, but one cannot fight against the pestilence, and I do
+not believe that if the citizens knew that a great Dutch army was
+marching on London, and that they would have to withstand a dreadful
+siege, they would be moved with fear as they are now."
+
+"That may be so," Cyril agreed. "Now, John, I think that I could
+sleep for a bit."
+
+"Do so, Master, and I will go into the kitchen and see what I can do
+to make you a basin of broth when you awake; for the girl has gone
+out too. She wanted to see what was going on in the streets; and as I
+had sooner stay quietly at home I offered to take her place, as the
+shop was shut and I had nothing to do. Maybe by the time you wake
+again Captain Dave and the others will be back from their cruise."
+
+It was dark when Cyril woke at the sound of the bell. He heard voices
+and movements without, and then the door was quietly opened.
+
+"I am awake," he said. "You see I have taken you at your word, and
+come back to be patched up."
+
+"You are heartily welcome," Mrs. Dowsett said. "Nellie, bring the
+light. Cyril is awake. We were sorry indeed when John told us that
+you had come in our absence. It was but a cold welcome for you to
+find that we were all out."
+
+"There was nothing I needed, madam. Had there been, John would have
+done it for me."
+
+Nellie now appeared at the door with the light, and gave an
+exclamation of horror as she approached the bedside.
+
+"It is not so bad as it looks, Nellie," Cyril said. "Not that I know
+how it looks, for I have not seen myself in a glass since I left
+here; but I can guess that I am an unpleasant object to look at."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett made a sign to Nellie to be silent.
+
+"John told us that you were badly burned and were all wrapped up in
+bandages, but we did not expect to find you so changed. However, that
+will soon pass off, I hope."
+
+"I expect I shall be all right in another week, save for this wound
+in my shoulder. As for that on my head, it is but of slight
+consequence. My skull was thick enough to save my brain."
+
+"Well, Master Cyril," Captain Dave said heartily, as he entered the
+room with a basin of broth in his hand, and then stopped abruptly.
+
+"Well, Captain Dave, here I am, battered out of all shape, you see,
+but not seriously damaged in my timbers. There, you see, though I
+have only been a fortnight at sea, I am getting quite nautical."
+
+"That is right, lad--that is right," Captain Dave said, a little
+unsteadily. "My dame and Nellie will soon put you into ship-shape
+trim again. So you got burnt, I hear, by one of those rascally Dutch
+fire-ships? and John tells me that the captain of the sailors who
+carried you here said that you had gained mighty credit for
+yourself."
+
+"I did my best, as everyone did, Captain Dave. There was not a man on
+board the Fleet who did not do his duty, or we should never have
+beaten the Dutchmen so soundly."
+
+"You had better not talk any more," Mrs. Dowsett said. "You are in my
+charge now, and my first order is that you must keep very quiet, or
+else you will be having fever come on. You had best take a little of
+this broth now. Nellie will sit with you while I go out to prepare
+you a cooling drink."
+
+"I will take a few spoonfuls of the soup since John has taken the
+trouble to prepare it for me," Cyril said; "though, indeed, my lips
+are so parched and swollen that the cooling drink will be much more
+to my taste."
+
+"I think it were best first, dame," the Captain said, "that John and
+I should get him comfortably into bed, instead of lying there wrapped
+up in the blanket in which they brought him ashore. The broth will be
+none the worse for cooling a bit."
+
+"That will be best," his wife agreed. "I will fetch some more
+pillows, so that we can prop him up. He can swallow more comfortably
+so, and will sleep all the better when he lies down again."
+
+As soon as Cyril was comfortably settled John Wilkes was sent to call
+in a doctor, who, after examining him, said that the burns were doing
+well, and that he would send in some cooling lotion to be applied to
+them frequently. As to the wounds, he said they had been so skilfully
+bandaged that it were best to leave them alone, unless great pain set
+in.
+
+Another four days, and Cyril's face had so far recovered its usual
+condition that the swelling was almost abated, and the bandages could
+be removed. The peak of the helmet had sheltered it a good deal, and
+it had suffered less than his hands and arms. Captain Dave and John
+had sat up with him by turns at night, while the Dame and her
+daughter had taken care of him during the day. He had slept a great
+deal, and had not been allowed to talk at all. This prohibition was
+now removed, as the doctor said that the burns were now all healing
+fast, and that he no longer had any fear of fever setting in.
+
+"By the way, Captain," John Wilkes said, that day, at dinner, "I have
+just bethought me of this letter, that was given me by the sailor who
+brought Cyril here. It is for you, from young Lord Oliphant. It has
+clean gone out of my mind till now. I put it in the pocket of my
+doublet, and have forgotten it ever since."
+
+"No harm can have come of the delay, John," Captain Dave said. "It
+was thoughtful of the lad. He must have been sure that Cyril would
+not be in a condition to tell us aught of the battle, and he may have
+sent us some details of it, for the Gazette tells us little enough,
+beyond the ships taken and the names of gentlemen and officers
+killed. Here, Nellie, do you read it. It seems a long epistle, and my
+eyes are not as good as they were."
+
+Nellie took the letter and read aloud:--
+
+"'DEAR AND WORTHY SIR,--I did not think when I was so pleasantly
+entertained at your house that it would befall me to become your
+correspondent, but so it has happened, for, Sir Cyril being sorely
+hurt, and in no state to tell you how the matter befell him--if
+indeed his modesty would allow him, which I greatly doubt--it is
+right that you should know how the business came about, and what
+great credit Sir Cyril has gained for himself. In the heat of the
+fight, when we were briskly engaged in exchanging broadsides with a
+Dutchman of our own size, one of their fire-ships, coming unnoticed
+through the smoke, slipped alongside of us, and, the flames breaking
+out, would speedily have destroyed us, as indeed they went near
+doing. The grapnels were briskly thrown over, but she had already
+touched our sides, and the flames were blowing across us when Sir
+Cyril, perceiving that she had still some way on her, sprang down on
+to her deck and put over the helm. She was then a pillar of flame,
+and the decks, which were plentifully besmeared with pitch, were all
+in a blaze, save just round the tiller where her captain had stood to
+steer her. It was verily a furnace, and it seemed impossible that one
+could stand there for only half a minute and live. Everyone on board
+was filled with astonishment, and the Prince called out loudly that
+he had never seen a braver deed. As the fire-ship drew away from us,
+we saw Sir Cyril fasten the helm down with a rope, and then, lowering
+a bucket over, throw water on to it; then he threw off his helmet and
+armour--his clothes being, by this time, all in a flame--and sprang
+into the sea, the fire-ship being now well nigh her own length from
+us. She had sheered off none too soon, for some of our sails were on
+fire, and it was with great difficulty that we succeeded in cutting
+them from the yards and so saving the ship.
+
+"'All, from the Prince down, say that no finer action was ever
+performed, and acknowledge that we all owe our lives, and His Majesty
+owes his ship, to it. Then, soon after we had hauled Sir Cyril on
+board, the Dutchmen boarded us, and there was a stiff fight, all
+hands doing their best to beat them back, in which we succeeded.
+
+"'Sir Cyril, though scarce able to stand, joined in the fray,
+unnoticed by us all, who in the confusion had not thought of him, and
+being, indeed, scarce able to hold his sword, received a heavy wound,
+of which, however, the doctor has all hopes that he will make a good
+recovery.
+
+"'It would have done you good to hear how the whole crew cheered Sir
+Cyril as we dragged him on board. The Prince is mightily taken with
+him, and is sending him to London in his own yacht, where I feel sure
+that your good dame and fair daughter will do all that they can to
+restore him to health. As soon as I get leave--though I do not know
+when that will be, for we cannot say as yet how matters will turn
+out, or what ships will keep the sea--I shall do myself the honour of
+waiting upon you. I pray you give my respectful compliments to Mrs.
+Dowsett and Mistress Nellie, who are, I hope, enjoying good health.
+
+     "'Your servant to command,
+
+         "'SYDNEY OLIPHANT.'"
+
+The tears were standing in Nellie's eyes, and her voice trembled as
+she read. When she finished she burst out crying.
+
+"There!" John Wilkes exclaimed, bringing his fist down upon the
+table. "I knew, by what that skipper said, the lad had been doing
+something quite out of the way, but when I spoke to him about it
+before you came in he only said that he had tried his best to do his
+duty, just as every other man in the Fleet had done. Who would have
+thought, Captain Dave, that that quiet young chap, who used to sit
+down below making out your accounts, was going to turn out a hero?"
+
+"Who, indeed?" the Captain said, wiping his eyes with the back of his
+hands. "Why, he wasn't more than fifteen then, and, as you say, such
+a quiet fellow. He used to sit there and write, and never speak
+unless I spoke to him. 'Tis scarce two years ago, and look what he
+has done! Who would have thought it? I can't finish my breakfast," he
+went on, getting up from his seat, "till I have gone in and shaken
+him by the hand."
+
+"You had better not, David," Mrs. Dowsett said gently. "We had best
+say but little to him about it now. We can let him know we have heard
+how he came by his burns from Lord Oliphant, but do not let us make
+much of it. Had he wished it he would have told us himself."
+
+Captain Dave sat down again.
+
+"Perhaps you are right, my dear. At any rate, till he is getting
+strong we will not tell him what we think of him. Anyhow, it can't do
+any harm to tell him we know it, and may do him good, for it is clear
+he does not like telling it himself, and may be dreading our
+questioning about the affair."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie went into Cyril's room as soon as they had
+finished breakfast. Captain Dave followed them a few minutes later.
+
+"We have been hearing how you got burnt," he began. "Your friend,
+Lord Oliphant, sent a letter about it by the skipper of his yacht.
+That stupid fellow, John, has been carrying it about ever since, and
+only remembered it just now, when we were at breakfast. It was a
+plucky thing to do, lad."
+
+"It turned out a very lucky one," Cyril said hastily, "for it was the
+means of saving my life."
+
+"Saving your life, lad! What do you mean?"
+
+Cyril then told how Robert Ashford and Black Dick had been brought on
+board as impressed men, how the former had been killed, and the
+confession that Black Dick had made to him before dying.
+
+"He said he had made up his mind to kill me during the fight, but
+that, after I had risked my life to save the _Henrietta_, he was
+ashamed to kill me, and that, rather than do so, he had resolved to
+take his chance of my denouncing him when he returned to land."
+
+ "There was some good in the knave, then," Captain Dave said. "Yes,
+it was a fortunate as well as a brave action, as it turned out."
+
+"Fortunate in one respect, but not in another," Cyril put in, anxious
+to prevent the conversation reverting to the question of his bravery.
+"I put down this wound in my shoulder to it, for if I had been myself
+I don't think I should have got hurt. I guarded the blow, but I was
+so shaky that he broke my guard down as if I had been a child, though
+I think that it did turn the blow a little, and saved it from falling
+fair on my skull. Besides, I should have had my helmet and armour on
+if it had not been for my having to take a swim. So, you see, Captain
+Dave, things were pretty equally balanced, and there is no occasion
+to say anything more about them."
+
+"We have one piece of bad news to tell you, Cyril," Mrs. Dowsett
+remarked, in order to give the conversation the turn which she saw he
+wished for. "We heard this morning that the Plague has come at last
+into the City. Dr. Burnet was attacked yesterday."
+
+"That is bad news indeed, Dame, though it was not to be expected that
+it would spare the City. If you will take my advice, you will go away
+at once, before matters get worse, for if the Plague gets a hold here
+the country people will have nothing to do with Londoners, fearing
+that they will bring the infection among them."
+
+"We shall not go until you are fit to go with us, Cyril," Nellie said
+indignantly.
+
+"Then you will worry me into a fever," Cyril replied. "I am getting
+on well now, and as you said, when you were talking of it before, you
+should leave John in charge of the house and shop, he will be able to
+do everything that is necessary for me. If you stay here, and the
+Plague increases, I shall keep on worrying myself at the thought that
+you are risking your lives needlessly for me, and if it should come
+into the house, and any of you die, I shall charge myself all my life
+with having been the cause of your death. I pray you, for my sake as
+well as your own, to lose no time in going to the sister Captain Dave
+spoke of, down near Gloucester."
+
+"Do not agitate yourself," Mrs. Dowsett said gently, pressing him
+quietly back on to the pillows from which he had risen in his
+excitement. "We will talk it over, and see what is for the best. It
+is but a solitary case yet, and may spread no further. In a few days
+we shall see how matters go. Things have not come to a bad pass yet."
+
+Cyril, however, was not to be consoled. Hitherto he had given
+comparatively small thought to the Plague, but now that it was in the
+City, and he felt that his presence alone prevented the family from
+leaving, he worried incessantly over it.
+
+"Your patient is not so well," the doctor said to Mrs. Dowsett, next
+morning. "Yesterday he was quite free from fever--his hands were
+cool; now they are dry and hard. If this goes on, I fear that we
+shall have great trouble."
+
+"He is worrying himself because we do not go out of town. We had,
+indeed, made up our minds to do so, but we could not leave him here."
+
+"Your nursing would be valuable certainly, but if he goes on as he is
+he will soon be in a high fever; his wounds will grow angry and
+fester. While yesterday he seemed in a fair way to recovery, I should
+be sorry to give any favourable opinion as to what may happen if this
+goes on. Is there no one who could take care of him if you went?"
+
+"John Wilkes will remain behind, and could certainly be trusted to do
+everything that you directed; but that is not like women, doctor."
+
+"No, I am well aware of that; but if things go on well he will really
+not need nursing, while, if fever sets in badly, the best nursing may
+not save him. Moreover, wounds and all other ailments of this sort do
+badly at present; the Plague in the air seems to affect all other
+maladies. If you will take my advice, Dame, you will carry out your
+intention, and leave at once. I hear there are several new cases of
+the Plague today in the City, and those who can go should lose no
+time in doing so; but, even if not for your own sakes, I should say
+go for that of your patient."
+
+"Will you speak to my husband, doctor? I am ready to do whatever is
+best for your patient, whom we love dearly, and regard almost as a
+son."
+
+"If he were a son I should give the same advice. Yes, I will see
+Captain Dowsett."
+
+Half an hour later, Cyril was told what the doctor's advice had been,
+and, seeing that he was bent on it, and that if they stayed they
+would do him more harm than good, they resolved to start the next day
+for Gloucestershire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE PLAGUE
+
+
+Reluctant as they were to leave Cyril, Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter
+speedily saw that the doctor's advice was good. Cyril did not say
+much, but an expression of restful satisfaction came over his face,
+and it was not long before he fell into a quiet sleep that contrasted
+strongly with the restless and fretful state in which he had passed
+the night.
+
+"You see I was right, madam," the doctor said that evening. "The
+fever has not quite left him, but he is a different man to what he
+was this morning; another quiet night's rest, and he will regain the
+ground he has lost. I think you can go in perfect comfort so far as
+he is concerned. Another week and he will be up, if nothing occurs to
+throw him back again; but of course it will be weeks before he can
+use his arm."
+
+John Wilkes had been sent off as soon as it was settled that they
+would go, and had bought, at Epping, a waggon and a pair of strong
+horses. It had a tilt, and the ladies were to sleep in it on the
+journey, as it was certain that, until they were far away from
+London, they would be unable to obtain lodgings. A man was engaged to
+drive them down, and a sail and two or three poles were packed in the
+waggon to make a tent for him and Captain Dowsett. A store of
+provisions was cooked, and a cask of beer, another of water, and a
+case of wine were also placed in. Mattresses were laid down for the
+ladies to sit on during the day and to sleep on at night; so they
+would be practically independent during the journey. Early next
+morning they started.
+
+"It seems heartless to leave you, Cyril," Nellie said, as they came
+in to say good-bye.
+
+"Not heartless at all," Cyril replied. "I know that you are going
+because I wish it."
+
+"It is more than wishing, you tiresome boy. We are going because you
+have made up your mind that you will be ill if we don't. You are too
+weak to quarrel with now, but when we meet again, tremble, for I warn
+you I shall scold you terribly then."
+
+"You shall scold me as much as you please, Nellie; I shall take it
+all quite patiently."
+
+Nellie and her mother went away in tears, and Captain Dave himself
+was a good deal upset. They had thought the going away from home on
+such a long journey would be a great trial, but this was now quite
+lost sight of in their regret at what they considered deserting
+Cyril, and many were the injunctions that were given to John Wilkes
+before the waggon drove off. They were somewhat consoled by seeing
+that Cyril was undoubtedly better and brighter. He had slept all
+night without waking, his hands were cool, and the flush had entirely
+left his cheek.
+
+"If they were starting on a voyage to the Indies they could not be in
+a greater taking," John Wilkes said, on returning to Cyril's bedside.
+"Why, I have seen the Captain go off on a six months' voyage and less
+said about it."
+
+"I am heartily glad they are gone, John. If the Plague grows there
+will be a terrible time here. Is the shop shut?"
+
+"Ay; the man went away two days ago, and we sent off the two
+'prentices yesterday. There is naught doing. Yesterday half the
+vessels in the Pool cleared out on the news of the Plague having got
+into the City, and I reckon that, before long, there won't be a ship
+in the port. We shall have a quiet time of it, you and I; we shall be
+like men in charge of an old hulk."
+
+Another week, and Cyril was up. All his bandages, except those on the
+shoulder and head, had been thrown aside, and the doctor said that,
+erelong, the former would be dispensed with. John had wanted to sit
+up with him, but as Cyril would not hear of this he had moved his bed
+into the same room, so that he could be up in a moment if anything
+was wanted. He went out every day to bring in the news.
+
+"There is little enough to tell, Master Cyril," he said one day. "So
+far, the Plague grows but slowly in the City, though, indeed, it is
+no fault of the people that it does not spread rapidly. Most of them
+seem scared out of their wits; they gather together and talk, with
+white faces, and one man tells of a dream that his wife has had, and
+another of a voice that he says he has heard; and some have seen
+ghosts. Yesterday I came upon a woman with a crowd round her; she was
+staring up at a white cloud, and swore that she could plainly see an
+angel with a white sword, and some of the others cried that they saw
+it too. I should like to have been a gunner's mate with a stout
+rattan, and to have laid it over their shoulders, to give them
+something else to think about for a few hours. It is downright
+pitiful to see such cowards. At the corner of one street there was a
+quack, vending pills and perfumes that he warranted to keep away the
+Plague, and the people ran up and bought his nostrums by the score; I
+hear there are a dozen such in the City, making a fortune out of the
+people's fears. I went into the tavern I always use, and had a glass
+of Hollands and a talk with the landlord. He says that he does as
+good a trade as ever, though in a different way. There are no sailors
+there now, but neighbours come in and drink down a glass of strong
+waters, which many think is the best thing against the Plague, and
+then hurry off again. I saw the Gazette there, and it was half full
+of advertisements of people who said they were doctors from foreign
+parts, and all well accustomed to cure the Plague. They say the
+magistrates are going to issue notices about shutting up houses, as
+they do at St. Giles's, and to have watchmen at the doors to see none
+come in or go out, and that they are going to appoint examiners in
+every parish to go from house to house to search for infected
+persons."
+
+"I suppose these are proper steps to take," Cyril said, "but it will
+be a difficult thing to keep people shut up in houses where one is
+infected. No doubt it would be a good thing at the commencement of
+the illness, but when it has once spread itself, and the very air
+become infected, it seems to me that it will do but little good,
+while it will assuredly cause great distress and trouble. I long to
+be able to get up myself, and to see about things."
+
+"The streets have quite an empty aspect, so many have gone away; and
+what with that, and most of the shops being closed, and the dismal
+aspect of the people, there is little pleasure in being out, Master
+Cyril."
+
+"I dare say, John. Still, it will be a change, and, as soon as I am
+strong enough, I shall sally out with you."
+
+Another fortnight, and Cyril was able to do so. The Plague had still
+spread, but so slowly that people began to hope that the City would
+be spared any great calamity, for they were well on in July, and in
+another six weeks the heat of summer would be passed. Some of those
+who had gone into the country returned, more shops had been opened,
+and the panic had somewhat subsided.
+
+"What do you mean to do, Master Cyril?" John Wilkes asked that
+evening. "Of course you cannot join the Fleet again, for it will be,
+as the doctor says, another two months before your shoulder-bone will
+have knit strongly enough for you to use your arm, and at sea it is a
+matter of more consequence than on land for a man to have the use of
+both arms. The ship may give a sudden lurch, and one may have to make
+a clutch at whatever is nearest to prevent one from rolling into the
+lee scuppers; and such a wrench as that would take from a weak arm
+all the good a three months' nursing had done it, and might spoil the
+job of getting the bone to grow straight again altogether. I don't
+say you are fit to travel yet, but you should be able before long to
+start on a journey, and might travel down into Gloucestershire,
+where, be sure, you will be gladly welcomed by the Captain, his dame,
+and Mistress Nellie. Or, should you not care for that, you might go
+aboard a ship. There are hundreds of them lying idle in the river,
+and many families have taken up their homes there, so as to be free
+from all risks of meeting infected persons in the streets."
+
+"I think I shall stay here, John, and keep you company. If the Plague
+dies away, well and good. If it gets bad, we can shut ourselves up.
+You say that the Captain has laid in a great store of provisions, so
+that you could live without laying out a penny for a year, and it is
+as sure as anything can be, that when the cold weather comes on it
+will die out. Besides, John, neither you nor I are afraid of the
+Plague, and it is certain that it is fear that makes most people take
+it. If it becomes bad, there will be terrible need for help, and
+maybe we shall be able to do some good. If we are not afraid of
+facing death in battle, why should we fear it by the Plague. It is as
+noble a death to die helping one's fellow-countrymen in their sore
+distress as in fighting for one's country."
+
+"That is true enough, Master Cyril, if folks did but see it so. I do
+not see what we could do, but if there be aught, you can depend on
+me. I was in a ship in the Levant when we had a fever, which, it
+seems to me, was akin to this Plague, though not like it in all its
+symptoms. Half the crew died, and, as you say, I verily believe that
+it was partly from the lowness of spirits into which they fell from
+fear. I used to help nurse the sick, and throw overboard the dead,
+and it never touched me. I don't say that I was braver than others,
+but it seemed to me as it was just as easy to take things comfortable
+as it was to fret over them."
+
+Towards the end of the month the Plague spread rapidly, and all work
+ceased in the parishes most affected. But, just as it had raged for
+weeks in the Western parishes outside the City, so it seemed
+restricted by certain invisible lines, after it had made its entry
+within the walls, and while it raged in some parts others were
+entirely unaffected, and here shops were open, and the streets still
+retained something of their usual appearance. There had been great
+want among the poorer classes, owing to the cessation of work,
+especially along the riverside. The Lord Mayor, some of the Aldermen,
+and most other rich citizens had hastened to leave the City. While
+many of the clergy were deserting their flocks, and many doctors
+their patients, others remained firmly at their posts, and worked
+incessantly, and did all that was possible in order to check the
+spread of the Plague and to relieve the distress of the poor.
+
+Numbers of the women were engaged as nurses. Examiners were appointed
+in each parish, and these, with their assistants, paid house-to-house
+visitations, in order to discover any who were infected; and as soon
+as the case was discovered the house was closed, and none suffered to
+go in or out, a watchman being placed before the door day and night.
+Two men therefore were needed to each infected house, and this
+afforded employment for numbers of poor. Others were engaged in
+digging graves, or in going round at night, with carts, collecting
+the dead.
+
+So great was the dread of the people at the thought of being shut up
+in their houses, without communication with the world, that every
+means was used for concealing the fact that one of the inmates was
+smitten down. This was the more easy because the early stages of the
+disease were without pain, and people were generally ignorant that
+they had been attacked until within a few hours, and sometimes within
+a few minutes, of their death; consequently, when the Plague had once
+spread, all the precautions taken to prevent its increase were
+useless, while they caused great misery and suffering, and doubtless
+very much greater loss of life. For, owing to so many being shut up
+in the houses with those affected, and there being no escape from the
+infection, whole families, with the servants and apprentices, sickened
+and died together.
+
+Cyril frequently went up to view the infected districts. He was not
+moved by curiosity, but by a desire to see if there were no way of
+being of use. There was not a street but many of the houses were
+marked with the red cross. In front of these the watchmen sat on
+stools or chairs lent by the inmates, or borrowed from some house
+whence the inhabitants had all fled. The air rang with pitiful cries.
+Sometimes women, distraught with terror or grief, screamed wildly
+through open windows. Sometimes people talked from the upper stories
+to their neighbours on either hand, or opposite, prisoners like
+themselves, each telling their lamentable tale of misery, of how many
+had died and how many remained.
+
+It was by no means uncommon to see on the pavement men and women who,
+in the excess of despair or pain, had thrown themselves headlong
+down. While such sounds and sights filled Cyril with horror, they
+aroused still more his feelings of pity and desire to be of some use.
+Very frequently he went on errands for people who called down from
+above to him. Money was lowered in a tin dish, or other vessel, in
+which it lay covered with vinegar as a disinfectant. Taking it out,
+he would go and buy the required articles, generally food or
+medicine, and, returning, place them in a basket that was again
+lowered.
+
+The watchmen mostly executed these commissions, but many of them were
+surly fellows, and, as they were often abused and cursed by those
+whom they held prisoners, would do but little for them. They had,
+moreover, an excuse for refusing to leave the door, because, as often
+happened, it might be opened in their absence and the inmates escape.
+It was true that the watchmen had the keys, but the screws were often
+drawn from the locks inside; and so frequently was this done that at
+last chains with padlocks were fastened to all the doors as soon as
+the watch was set over them. But even this did not avail. Many of the
+houses had communications at the backs into other streets, and so
+eluded the vigilance of the watch; while, in other cases,
+communications were broken through the walls into other houses, empty
+either by desertion or death, and the escape could thus be made under
+the very eye of the watchman.
+
+Very frequently Cyril went into a church when he saw the door open.
+Here very small congregations would be gathered, for there was a fear
+on the part of all of meeting with strangers, for these might,
+unknown to themselves, be already stricken with the pest, and all
+public meetings of any kind were, for this reason, strictly
+forbidden. One day, he was passing a church that had hitherto been
+always closed, its incumbent being one of those who had fled at the
+outbreak of the Plague. Upon entering he saw a larger congregation
+than usual, some twenty or thirty people being present.
+
+The minister had just mounted the pulpit, and was beginning his
+address as Cyril entered. The latter was struck with his appearance.
+He was a man of some thirty years of age, with a strangely earnest
+face. His voice was deep, but soft and flexible, and in the stillness
+of the almost empty church its lowest tones seemed to come with
+impressive power, and Cyril thought that he had never heard such
+preaching before. The very text seemed strange at such a time:
+_"Rejoice ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."_ From most of
+the discourses he had heard Cyril had gone out depressed rather than
+inspirited. They had been pitched in one tone. The terrible scourge
+that raged round them was held up as a punishment sent by the wrath
+of God upon a sinful people, and the congregation were warned to
+prepare themselves for the fate, that might at any moment be theirs,
+by repentance and humiliation. The preacher to whom Cyril was now
+listening spoke in an altogether different strain.
+
+"You are all soldiers of Christ," he said, "and now is an opportunity
+given to you to show that you are worthy soldiers. When the troops of
+a worldly monarch go into battle they do so with head erect, with
+proud and resolute bearing, with flashing eye, and with high courage,
+determined to bear aloft his banner and to crown it with victory,
+even though it cost them their lives. Such is the mien that soldiers
+of Christ should bear in the mortal strife now raging round us. Let
+them show the same fearlessness of death, the same high courage, the
+same unlimited confidence in their Leader. What matter if they die in
+His service? He has told them what their work should be. He has
+bidden them visit the sick and comfort the sorrowing. What if there
+be danger in the work? Did He shrink from the Cross which was to end
+His work of love, and is it for His followers to do so? 'Though you
+go down into the pit,' He has said, 'I am there also'; and with His
+companionship one must be craven indeed to tremble. This is a noble
+opportunity for holding high the banner of Christ. There is work to
+be done for all, and as the work is done, men should see by the calm
+courage, the cheerfulness, and the patience of those that do it, that
+they know that they are doing His work, and that they are content to
+leave the issue, whatever it be, in His hands."
+
+Such was the tone in which, for half an hour, he spoke. When he had
+finished he offered up a prayer, gave the blessing, and then came
+down from the pulpit and spoke to several of the congregation. He was
+evidently personally known to most of them. One by one, after a few
+words, they left the church. Cyril remained to the last.
+
+"I am willing to work, sir," he said, as the preacher came up, "but,
+so far, no work has come in my way."
+
+"Have you father or mother, or any dependent on you?"
+
+"No one, sir."
+
+"Then come along with me; I lodge close by. I have eaten nothing
+to-day, and must keep up my strength, and I have a long round of
+calls to make."
+
+"This is the first time I have seen the church open," Cyril said, as
+they went out.
+
+"It is not my church, sir, nor do I belong to the Church of England;
+I am an Independent. But as many of the pastors have fled and left
+their sheep untended, so have we--for there are others besides myself
+who have done so--taken possession of their empty pulpits, none
+gainsaying us, and are doing what good we can. You have been in the
+war, I see," he went on, glancing at Cyril's arm, which was carried
+in a sling.
+
+"Yes; I was at the battle of Lowestoft, and having been wounded
+there, came to London to stay in a friend's house till I was cured.
+He and his family have left, but I am living with a trusty foreman
+who is in charge of the house. I have a great desire to be useful. I
+myself have little fear of the Plague."
+
+"That is the best of all preservatives from its ravages, although not
+a sure one; for many doctors who have laboured fearlessly have yet
+died. Have you thought of any way of being useful?"
+
+"No, sir; that is what is troubling me. As you see, I have but the
+use of one arm, and I have not got back my full strength by a long
+way."
+
+"Everyone can be useful if he chooses," the minister said. "There is
+need everywhere among this stricken, frightened, helpless people, of
+men of calm courage and cool heads. Nine out of ten are so scared out
+of their senses, when once the Plague enters the houses, as to be
+well-nigh useless, and yet the law hinders those who would help if
+they could. I am compelled to labour, not among those who are sick,
+but among those who are well. When one enters a house with the red
+cross on the door, he may leave it no more until he is either borne
+out to the dead-cart, or the Plague has wholly disappeared within it,
+and a month has elapsed. The sole exception are the doctors; they are
+no more exempt from spreading the infection than other men, but as
+they must do their work so far as they can they have free passage;
+and yet, so few is their number and so heavy already their losses,
+that not one in a hundred of those that are smitten can have their
+aid. Here is one coming now, one of the best--Dr. Hodges. If you are
+indeed willing so to risk your life, I will speak to him. But I know
+not your name?"
+
+"My name is Cyril Shenstone."
+
+The clergyman looked at him suddenly, and would have spoken, but the
+doctor was now close to them.
+
+"Ah! Mr. Wallace," he said, "I am glad to see you, and to know that,
+so far, you have not taken the disease, although constantly going
+into the worst neighbourhoods."
+
+"Like yourself, Dr. Hodges, I have no fear of it."
+
+"I do not say I have no fear," the doctor replied. "I do my duty so
+far as I can, but I do not doubt that, sooner or later, I shall catch
+the malady, as many of us have done already. I take such precautions
+as I can, but the distemper seems to baffle all precautions. My only
+grief is that our skill avails so little. So far we have found
+nothing that seems to be of any real use. Perhaps if we could attack
+it in the earlier stages we might be more successful. The strange
+nature of the disease, and the way in which it does its work
+well-nigh to the end, before the patient is himself aware of it, puts
+it out of our power to combat it. In many cases I am not sent for
+until the patient is at the point of death, and by the time I reach
+his door I am met with the news that he is dead. But I must be
+going."
+
+"One moment, Dr. Hodges. This young gentleman has been expressing to
+me his desire to be of use. I know nothing of him save that he was
+one of my congregation this morning, but, as he fears not the Plague,
+and is moved by a desire to help his fellows in distress, I take it
+that he is a good youth. He was wounded in the battle of Lowestoft,
+and, being as ready to encounter the Plague as he was the Dutch,
+would now fight in the cause of humanity. Would you take him as an
+assistant? I doubt if he knows anything of medicine, but I think he
+is one that would see your orders carried out. He has no relations or
+friends, and therefore considers himself free to venture his life."
+
+The doctor looked earnestly at Cyril and then raised his hat.
+
+"Young sir," he said, "since you are willing so to venture your life,
+I will gladly accept your help. There are few enough clear heads in
+this city, God knows. As for the nurses, they are Jezebels. They have
+the choice of starving or nursing, and they nurse; but they neglect
+their patients, they rob them, and there is little doubt that in many
+cases they murder them, so that at the end of their first nursing
+they may have enough money to live on without going to another house.
+But I am pressed for time. Here is my card. Call on me this evening
+at six, and we will talk further on the matter."
+
+Shaking hands with the minister he hurried away.
+
+"Come as far as my lodgings," Mr. Wallace said to Cyril, "and stay
+with me while I eat my meal. 'Tis a diversion to one's mind to turn
+for a moment from the one topic that all men are speaking of.
+
+"Your name is Shenstone. I come from Norfolk. There was a family of
+that name formerly had estates near my native place. One Sir Aubrey
+Shenstone was at its head--a brave gentleman. I well remember seeing
+him when I was a boy, but he took the side of the King against the
+Parliament, and, as we heard, passed over with Charles to France when
+his cause was lost. I have not heard of him since."
+
+"Sir Aubrey was my father," Cyril said quietly; "he died a year ago.
+I am his only son."
+
+"And therefore Sir Cyril," the minister said, "though you did not so
+name yourself."
+
+"It was needless," Cyril said. "I have no estates to support my
+title, and though it is true that, when at sea with Prince Rupert, I
+was called Sir Cyril, it was because the Prince had known my father,
+and knew that I, at his death, inherited the title, though I
+inherited nothing else."
+
+They now reached the door of Mr. Wallace's lodging, and went up to
+his room on the first floor.
+
+"Neglect no precaution," the minister said. "No one should throw away
+his life. I myself, although not a smoker, nor accustomed to take
+snuff, use it now, and would, as the doctors advise, chew a piece of
+tobacco, but 'tis too nasty, and when I tried it, I was so ill that I
+thought even the risk of the Plague preferable. But I carry camphor
+in my pockets, and when I return from preaching among people of whom
+some may well have the infection, I bathe my face and hands with
+vinegar, and, pouring some on to a hot iron, fill the room with its
+vapour. My life is useful, I hope, and I would fain keep it, as long
+as it is the Lord's will, to work in His service. As a rule, I take
+wine and bread before I go out in the morning, though to-day I was
+pressed for time, and neglected it. I should advise you always to do
+so. I am convinced that a full man has less chance of catching the
+infection than a fasting one, and that it is the weakness many men
+suffer from their fears, and from their loss of appetite from grief,
+that causes them to take it so easily. When the fever was so bad in
+St. Giles's, I heard that in many instances, where whole families
+were carried away, the nurses shut up with them were untouched with
+the infection, and I believe that this was because they had become
+hardened to the work, and ate and drank heartily, and troubled not
+themselves at all at the grief of those around them. They say that
+many of these harpies have grown, wealthy, loading themselves with
+everything valuable they could lay hands on in the houses of those
+they attended."
+
+After the meal, in which he insisted upon Cyril joining him, was
+concluded, Mr. Wallace uttered a short prayer that Cyril might safely
+pass through the work he had undertaken.
+
+"I trust," he said, "that you will come here frequently? I generally
+have a few friends here of an evening. We try to be cheerful, and to
+strengthen each other, and I am sure we all have comfort at these
+meetings."
+
+"Thank you, I will come sometimes, sir; but as a rule I must return
+home, for my friend, John Wilkes, would sorely miss my company, and
+is so good and faithful a fellow that I would not seem to desert him
+on any account."
+
+"Do as you think right, lad, but remember there will always be a
+welcome for you here when you choose to come."
+
+John Wilkes was dismayed when he heard of Cyril's intention.
+
+"Well, Master Cyril," he said, after smoking his pipe in silence for
+some time, "it is not for me to hinder you in what you have made up
+your mind to do. I don't say that if I wasn't on duty here that I
+mightn't go and do what I could for these poor creatures. But I don't
+know. It is one thing to face a deadly fever like this Plague if it
+comes on board your own ship, for there is no getting out of it; and
+as you have got to face it, why, says I, do it as a man; but as for
+going out of your way to put yourself in the middle of it, that is
+going a bit beyond me."
+
+"Well, John, you didn't think it foolish when I went as a Volunteer
+to fight the Dutch. It was just the same thing, you know."
+
+"I suppose it was," John said reluctantly, after a pause. "But then,
+you see, you were fighting for your country."
+
+"Well, but in the present case I shall be fighting for my countrymen
+and countrywomen, John. It is awful to think of the misery that
+people are suffering, and it seems to me that, having nothing else to
+do here, it is specially my duty to put my hand to the work of
+helping as far as I can. The risk may, at present, be greater than it
+would be if I stayed at home, but if the Plague spreads--and it looks
+as if all the City would presently be affected--all will have to run
+the risk of contagion. There are thousands of women now who
+voluntarily enter the houses as nurses for a small rate of pay. Even
+robbers, they say, will enter and ransack the houses of the dead in
+search of plunder. It will be a shame indeed then if one should
+shrink from doing so when possibly one might do good."
+
+"I will say nothing more against it, Master Cyril. Still, I do not
+see exactly what you are going to do; with one arm you could scarce
+hold down a raving man."
+
+"I am not going to be a nurse, certainly, John," Cyril said, with a
+laugh. "I expect that the doctor wants certain cases watched. Either
+he may doubt the nurses, or he may want to see how some particular
+drug works. Nothing, so far, seems of use, but that may be partly
+because the doctors are all so busy that they cannot watch the
+patients and see, from hour to hour, how medicines act."
+
+"When I was in the Levant, and the pest was bad there," John Wilkes
+said, "I heard that the Turks, when seized with the distemper,
+sometimes wrapped themselves up in a great number of clothes, so that
+they sweated heavily, and that this seemed, in some cases, to draw
+off the fever, and so the patient recovered."
+
+"That seems a sensible sort of treatment, John, and worth trying with
+this Plague."
+
+On calling on Dr. Hodges that afternoon, Cyril found that he had
+rightly guessed the nature of the work that the doctor wished him to
+perform.
+
+"I can never rely upon the nurses," he said. "I give instructions
+with medicines, but in most cases I am sure that the instructions are
+never carried out. The relations and friends are too frightened to
+think or act calmly, too full of grief for the sick, and anxiety for
+those who have not yet taken the illness, to watch the changes in the
+patient. As to the nurses, they are often drunk the whole time they
+are in the house. Sometimes they fear to go near the sick man or
+woman; sometimes, undoubtedly, they hasten death. In most cases it
+matters little, for we are generally called in too late to be of any
+service. The poor people view us almost as enemies; they hide their
+malady from us in every way. Half our time, too, is wasted uselessly,
+for many are there who frighten themselves into the belief that they
+are ill, and send for us in all haste. So far, we feel that we are
+working altogether in the dark; none of us can see that any sort of
+drug avails even in the slightest degree when the malady has once got
+a hold. One in twenty cases may live, but why we know not. Still the
+fact that some do live shows that the illness is not necessarily
+mortal, and that, could the right remedy befound, we might yet
+overcome it. The first thing, however, is to try to prevent its
+spread. Here we have ten or more people shut up in a house with one
+sick person. It is a terrible necessity, for it is a sentence of
+death to many, if not to all. We give the nurses instructions to
+fumigate the room by evaporating vinegar upon hot irons, by burning
+spices and drugs, by sprinkling perfumes. So far, I cannot see that
+these measures have been of any service, but I cannot say how
+thoroughly they have been carried out, and I sorely need an assistant
+to see that the system is fairly tried. It is not necessary that he
+should be a doctor, but he must have influence and power over those
+in the house. He must be calm and firm, and he must be regarded by
+the people as a doctor. If you will undertake this, you must put on a
+wig, for you know that that is looked upon as a necessary part of a
+doctor's outfit by people in general. I shall introduce you as my
+assistant, and say that you are to be obeyed as implicitly as if I
+myself were present. There is another reason why you must pass as a
+doctor, for you would otherwise be a prisoner and unable to pass in
+and out. You had best wear a black suit. I will lend you one of my
+canes and a snuff-box, and should advise you to take snuff, even if
+it is not your habit, for I believe that it is good against
+infection, and one of the experiments I wish to try is as to what its
+result may be if burnt freely in the house. Are you ready to
+undertake this work?"
+
+"Quite ready, sir."
+
+"Then come round here at eight in the morning. I shall have heard by
+that hour from the examiners of this parish of any fresh case they
+have found. They begin their rounds at five o'clock."
+
+The next day Cyril presented himself at the doctor's, dressed in
+black, with white ruffles to his shirt, and a flowing wig he had
+purchased the night before.
+
+"Here are the cane and snuff-box," Dr. Hodges said. "Now you will
+pass muster very well as my assistant. Let us be off at once; for I
+have a long list of cases."
+
+Cyril remained outside while Dr. Hodges went into three or four
+houses. Presently he came down to the door, and said to him,--
+
+"This is a case where things are favourable for a first trial. It is
+a boy who is taken ill, and the parents, though in deep grief, seem
+to have some sense left."
+
+He turned to the watchman, who had already been placed at the door.
+The man, who evidently knew him, had saluted respectfully when he
+entered the house.
+
+"This gentleman is my assistant," he said, "and you will allow him to
+pass in and out just as you would myself. He is going to take this
+case entirely in hand, and you will regard him as being in charge
+here."
+
+He then re-entered the house with Cyril, and led him to the room
+where the parents of the boy, and two elder sisters, were assembled.
+
+"This is my assistant," he said, "and he has consented to take entire
+charge of the case, though I myself shall look in and consult with
+him every morning. In the first place, your son must be taken to the
+top storey of the house. You say that you are ready to nurse him
+yourselves, and do not wish that a paid nurse should be had in. I
+commend your determination, for the nurses are, for the most part,
+worse than useless, and carry the infection all over the house. But
+only one of you must go into the room, and whoever goes in must stay
+there. It is madness for all to be going in and out and exposing
+themselves to the infection when no good can be done. When this is
+the case, one or other is sure to take the malady, and then it
+spreads to all. Which of you will undertake the duty?"
+
+All four at once offered themselves, and there was an earnest contest
+between them for the dangerous post. Dr. Hodges listened for a minute
+or two, and then decided upon the elder of the two sisters--a quiet,
+resolute-looking girl with a healthy face.
+
+"This young lady shall be nurse," he said. "I feel that I can have
+confidence in her. She looks healthy and strong, and would, methinks,
+best resist the malady, should she take it. I am leaving my assistant
+here for a time to see to the fumigation of the house. You will
+please see that his orders are carried out in every respect. I have
+every hope that if this is done the Plague will not spread further;
+but much must depend upon yourselves. Do not give way to grief, but
+encourage each other, and go about with calm minds. I see," he said,
+pointing to a Bible on the table, "that you know where to go for
+comfort and strength. The first thing is to carry the boy up to the
+room that we chose for him."
+
+"I will do that," the father said.
+
+"He had better be left in the blankets in which he is lying. Cover
+him completely over with them, for, above all, it is necessary that
+you should not inhale his breath. You had better take the head and
+your daughter the feet. But first see that the room upstairs is
+prepared."
+
+In a few minutes the lad was transferred to the upper room, the
+doctor warning the others not to enter that from which he had been
+carried until it had been fumigated and sprinkled with vinegar.
+
+"Now," he said to the girl who was to remain with the patient, "keep
+the window wide open; as there is no fireplace, keep a brazier of
+charcoal burning near the window. Keep the door shut, and open it
+only when you have need for something. Give him a portion of this
+medicine every half hour. Do not lean over him--remember that his
+breath is a fatal poison. Put a pinch of these powdered spices into
+the fire every few minutes. Pour this perfume over your handkerchief,
+and put it over your mouth and nose whenever you approach the bed. He
+is in a stupor now, poor lad, and I fear that his chance of recovery
+is very slight; but you must remember that your own life is of value
+to your parents, and that it behoves you to do all in your power to
+preserve it, and that if you take the contagion it may spread through
+the house. We shall hang a sheet, soaked in vinegar, outside the
+door."
+
+"We could not have a better case for a trial," he said, as he went
+downstairs and joined Cyril, whom he had bidden wait below. "The
+people are all calm and sensible, and if we succeed not here, there
+is small chance of our succeeding elsewhere."
+
+The doctor then gave detailed orders as to fumigating the house, and
+left. Cyril saw at once that a brazier of charcoal was lighted and
+carried upstairs, and he called to the girl to come out and fetch it
+in. As soon as she had done so the sheet was hung over the door. Then
+he took another brazier, placed it in the room from which the boy had
+been carried, laid several lumps of sulphur upon it, and then left
+the room. All the doors of the other rooms were then thrown open, and
+a quantity of tobacco, spices, and herbs, were burnt on a red-hot
+iron at the foot of the stairs, until the house was filled with a
+dense smoke. Half an hour later all the windows were opened.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+FATHER AND SON
+
+
+The process of fumigation had well-nigh suffocated the wife and
+daughter of the trader, but, as soon as the smoke cleared away, Cyril
+set them all to work to carry up articles of furniture to another
+bedroom on the top floor.
+
+"When your daughter is released from nursing, madam," he said, "she
+must at once come into this room, and remain there secluded for a few
+days. Therefore, it will be well to make it as comfortable as
+possible for her. Her food must be taken up and put outside the door,
+so that she can take it in there without any of you going near her."
+
+The occupation was a useful one, as it distracted the thoughts of
+those engaged in it from the sick room.
+
+Cyril did not enter there. He had told the girl to call him should
+there be any necessity, but said,--
+
+"Do not call me unless absolutely needful, if, for instance, he
+becomes violent, in which case we must fasten the sheets across him
+so as to restrain him. But it is of no use your remaining shut up
+there if I go in and out of the room to carry the infection to the
+others."
+
+"You have hurt your arm, doctor?" the mother said, when the
+arrangements were all made, and they had returned to the room below.
+
+"Yes," he said; "I met with an accident, and must, for a short time,
+keep my arm in a sling."
+
+"You look young, sir, to be running these fearful perils."
+
+"I am young," Cyril said, "and have not yet completed all my studies;
+but Dr. Hodges judged that I was sufficiently advanced to be able to
+be of service to him, not so much in prescribing as by seeing that
+his orders were carried out."
+
+Every half hour he went upstairs, and inquired, through the door, as
+to the state of the boy.
+
+Late in the afternoon he heard the girl crying bitterly within. He
+knocked, and she cried out,--
+
+"He is dead, sir; he has just expired."
+
+"Then you must think of yourself and the others," he said. "The small
+packet I placed on the chair contains sulphur. Close the window, then
+place the packet on the fire, and leave the room at once and go into
+the next room, which is all ready for you. There, I pray you,
+undress, and sponge yourself with vinegar, then make your clothes
+into a bundle and put them outside the door. There will be a bowl of
+hot broth in readiness for you there; drink that, and then go to bed
+at once, and keep the blankets over you and try to sleep."
+
+He went part of the way downstairs, and, in a minute or two, heard a
+door open and shut, then another door shut. Knowing that the order
+had been carried out, he went downstairs.
+
+"Madam," he said, "God has taken your boy. The doctor had but little
+hope for him. For the sake of yourself and those around you, I pray
+you all to bear up against the sorrow."
+
+The mother burst into tears, and, leaving her with her husband and
+daughter, Cyril went into the kitchen, where the maid and an
+apprentice were sitting with pale faces, and bade the servant at once
+warm up the broth, that had already been prepared. As soon as it was
+ready, he carried a basin upstairs. The bundle of clothes had already
+been placed outside the girl's room. He took this down and put it on
+the kitchen fire.
+
+"Now," he said, "take four basins up to the parlour, and do you and
+the boy each make a hearty meal. I think there is little fear of the
+Plague spreading, and your best chance of avoiding it is by keeping
+up your spirits and not fretting about it."
+
+As soon as the broth had been taken into the parlour, he went in and
+persuaded them to eat and to take a glass of wine with it, while he
+himself sat down with them.
+
+"You are all weak," he said, "for, doubtless, you have eaten nothing
+to-day, and you need strength as well as courage. I trust that your
+daughter will presently go off into a sound sleep. The last thing
+before you go to bed, take up with you a basin of good posset with a
+glass of wine in it; knock gently at her door; if she is awake, tell
+her to come out and take it in as soon as you have gone, but if she
+does not reply, do not rouse her. I can be of no further use
+to-night, but will return in the morning, when I hope to find all is
+well."
+
+The father accompanied him to the door.
+
+"You will of course bring the poor boy down to-night. It were best
+that you made some excuse to sleep in another room. Let your daughter
+sleep with her mother. When you go in to fetch him, be careful that
+you do not enter at once, for the fumes of the sulphur will scarcely
+have abated. As you go in, place a wet handkerchief to your mouth,
+and make to the window and throw it open, closing the door behind
+you. Sit at the window till the air is tolerable, then wrap the
+blankets round him and carry him downstairs when you hear the bell.
+After he has gone tell the servant to have a brazier lighted, and to
+keep up the kitchen fire. As soon as he is gone, burn on the brazier
+at the foot of the stairs, tobacco and spices, as we did before; then
+take off your clothes and burn them on the kitchen fire, and then go
+up to bed. You can leave the doors and windows of the rooms that are
+not in use open, so that the smoke may escape."
+
+"God bless you, sir!" the man said. "You have been a comfort indeed
+to us, and I have good hopes that the Plague will spread no further
+among us."
+
+Cyril went first to the doctor's, and reported what had taken place.
+
+"I will go round in the morning and see how they are," he concluded,
+"and bring you round word before you start on your rounds."
+
+"You have done very well indeed," the doctor said. "If people
+everywhere would be as calm, and obey orders as well as those you
+have been with, I should have good hopes that we might check the
+spread of the Plague; but you will find that they are quite the
+exception."
+
+This, indeed, proved to be the case. In many instances, the people
+were so distracted with grief and fear that they ran about the house
+like mad persons, crying and screaming, running in and out of the
+sick chamber, or sitting there crying helplessly, and refusing to
+leave the body until it was carried out to the dead-cart. But with
+such cases Cyril had nothing to do, as the doctor would only send him
+to the houses where he saw that his instructions would be carried
+out.
+
+To his great satisfaction, Cyril found that the precautions taken in
+the first case proved successful. Regularly, every morning, he
+inquired at the door, and received the answer, "All are well."
+
+In August the Plague greatly increased in violence, the deaths rising
+to ten thousand a week. A dull despair had now seized the population.
+It seemed that all were to be swept away. Many went out of their
+minds. The quacks no longer drove a flourishing trade in their
+pretended nostrums; these were now utterly discredited, for nothing
+seemed of the slightest avail. Some went to the opposite extreme, and
+affected to defy fate. The taverns were filled again, and boisterous
+shouts and songs seemed to mock the dismal cries from the houses with
+the red cross on the door. Robberies were rife. Regardless of the
+danger of the pest, robbers broke into the houses where all the
+inmates had perished by the Plague, and rifled them of their
+valuables. The nurses plundered the dying. All natural affection
+seemed at an end.
+
+Those stricken were often deserted by all their relatives, and left
+alone to perish.
+
+Bands of reckless young fellows went through the streets singing,
+and, dressing up in masks, performed the dance of death. The dead
+were too many to be carried away in carts at night to the great pits
+prepared for them, but the dismal tones of the bell, and the cries of
+"Bring out your dead!" sounded in the streets all day. It was no
+longer possible to watch the whole of the infected houses. Sometimes
+Plague-stricken men would escape from their beds and run through the
+streets until they dropped dead. One such man, in the height of his
+delirium, sprang into the river, and, after swimming about for some
+time, returned to the shore, marvellously cured of his malady by the
+shock.
+
+Cyril went occasionally in the evening to the lodgings of Mr.
+Wallace. At first he met several people gathered there, but the
+number became fewer every time he went. He had told the minister that
+he thought that it would be better for him to stay away, exposed as
+he was to infection, but Mr. Wallace would take no excuses on this
+score.
+
+"We are all in the hands of God," he said. "The streets are full of
+infected people, and I myself frequently go to pray with my friends
+in the earliest stages of the malady. There is no longer any use in
+precautions. We can but all go on doing our duty until we are called
+away, and even among the few who gather here of an evening there may
+be one or more who are already smitten, though unconscious yet that
+their summons has come."
+
+Among others Cyril was introduced to a Mr. and Mrs. Harvey, who were,
+the minister told him, from the country, but were staying in town on
+account of a painful family business.
+
+"I have tried to persuade them to return home and to stay there until
+the Plague ceases, but they conceive it their duty to remain. They
+are, like myself, Independents, and are not easily to be turned from
+a resolution they have taken."
+
+Cyril could easily understand that Mr. Harvey was exactly what he,
+from the description he had heard of them, had pictured to himself
+that a Roundhead soldier would be. He had a stern face, eyes deeply
+sunk in his head, high cheekbones, a firm mouth, and a square jaw. He
+wore his hair cut close. His figure was bony, and he must, as a young
+man, have been very powerful. He spoke in a slow, deliberate way,
+that struck Cyril as being the result of long effort, for a certain
+restless action of the fingers and the quick movement of the eye,
+told of a naturally impulsive and fiery disposition. He constantly
+used scriptural texts in the course of his speech. His wife was
+gentle and quiet, but it was evident that there was a very strong
+sympathy between them, and Cyril found, after meeting them once or
+twice, that he liked them far better than he thought he should do on
+their first introduction. This was, no doubt, partly due to the fact
+that Mr. Harvey frequently entered into conversation with him, and
+appeared to interest himself in him. He was, too, a type that was
+altogether new to the lad. From his father, and his father's
+companions, he had heard nothing good of the Puritans, but the
+evident earnestness of this man's nature was, to some extent, in
+accordance with his own disposition, and he felt that, widely as he
+might differ from him on all points of politics, he could not but
+respect him. The evenings were pleasant. As if by common consent, the
+conversation never turned on the Plague, but they talked of other
+passing events, of the trials of their friends, and of the laws that
+were being put in force against Nonconformists.
+
+"What think you of these persecutions, young sir?" Mr. Harvey
+abruptly asked Cyril, one evening, breaking off in the midst of a
+general conversation.
+
+Cyril was a little confused at the unexpected question.
+
+"I think all persecutions for conscience' sake are wrong," he said,
+after a moment's pause, "and generally recoil upon the persecutors.
+Spain lost Holland owing to her persecution of the people. France
+lost great numbers of her best citizens by her laws against the
+Protestants. I agree with you thoroughly, that the persecution of the
+Nonconformists at present is a grievous error, and a cruel injustice;
+but, at the same time, if you will excuse my saying so, it is the
+natural consequence of the persecution by the Nonconformists, when
+they were in power, of the ministers of the Church of England. My
+tutor in France was an English clergyman, who had been driven from
+his living, like thousands of other ministers, because he would not
+give up his opinions. Therefore, you see, I very early was imbued
+with a hatred of persecution in any form. I trust that I have not
+spoken too boldly; but you asked for my opinion, and I was forced to
+give it."
+
+"At any rate, young sir, you have spoken manfully, and I like you
+none the worse for it. Nor can I altogether gainsay your words. But
+you must remember that we had before been oppressed, and that we have
+been engaged in a desperate struggle for liberty of conscience."
+
+"Which, having won for ourselves, we proceeded to deny to others,"
+Mr. Wallace said, with a smile. "Cyril has us fairly, Mr. Harvey. We
+are reaping what our fathers sowed. They thought that the power they
+had gained was to be theirs to hold always, and they used it
+tyrannously, being thereby false to all their principles. It is ever
+the persecuted, when he attains power, who becomes the persecutor,
+and, hard as is the pressure of the laws now, we should never forget
+that we have, in our time, been persecutors, and that in defiance of
+the rights of conscience we had fought to achieve. Man's nature is, I
+fear, unchangeable. The slave longs, above all things, for freedom,
+but when he rises successfully against his master he, in turn,
+becomes a tyrant, and not infrequently a cruel and bloodthirsty one.
+Still, we must hope. It may be in the good days that are to come, we
+may reach a point when each will be free to worship in his own
+fashion, without any fear or hindrance, recognising the fact that
+each has a right to follow his own path to Heaven, without its being
+a subject of offence to those who walk in other ways."
+
+One or two of the other visitors were on the point of speaking, when
+Mr. Wallace put a stop to further argument by fetching a Bible from
+his closet, and preparing for the short service of prayer with which
+the evening always closed.
+
+One evening, Mr. Harvey and his wife were absent from the usual
+gathering.
+
+"I feel anxious about them," Mr. Wallace said; "they have never,
+since they arrived in town, missed coming here at seven o'clock. The
+bells are usually striking the hour as they come. I fear that one or
+other of them may have been seized by the Plague."
+
+"With your permission, sir, I will run round and see," Cyril said. "I
+know their lodging, for I have accompanied them to the door several
+times. It is but five minutes' walk from here. If one or other is ill
+I will run round to Dr. Hodges, and I am sure, at my request, he will
+go round at once to see them."
+
+Cyril walked fast towards the lodging occupied by the Harveys. It was
+at the house of a mercer, but he and his family had, three weeks
+before, gone away, having gladly permitted his lodgers to remain, as
+their presence acted as a guard to the house. They had brought up an
+old servant with them, and were therefore able to dispense with other
+attendants. Cyril hurried along, trying, as usual, to pay as little
+heed as he could to the doleful cries that arose from many of the
+houses. Although it was still broad daylight there was scarce a soul
+in the streets, and those he met were, like himself, walking fast,
+keeping as far as possible from any one they met, so as to avoid
+contact.
+
+As he neared the house he heard a woman scream. A moment later a
+casement was thrown open, and Mrs. Harvey's head appeared. She gave
+another piercing cry for help, and was then suddenly dragged back,
+and the casement was violently closed. Cyril had so frequently heard
+similar cries that he would have paid no attention to it had it come
+from a stranger, but he felt that Mrs. Harvey was not one to give way
+to wild despair, even had her husband been suddenly attacked with the
+Plague. Her sudden disappearance, and the closing of the casement,
+too, were unaccountable, unless, indeed, her husband were in a state
+of violent delirium. He ran to the door and flung himself against it.
+
+"Help me to force it down," he cried to a man who was passing.
+
+"You are mad," the man replied. "Do you not see that they have got
+the Plague? You may hear hundreds of such cries every day."
+
+Cyril drew his sword, which he always carried when he went out of an
+evening--for, owing to the deaths among the City watch, deeds of
+lawlessness and violence were constantly perpetrated--and struck,
+with all his strength, with the hilt upon the fastening of the
+casement next the door. Several of the small panes of glass fell in,
+and the whole window shook. Again and again he struck upon the same
+spot, when the fastening gave way, and the window flew open. He
+sprang in at once, ran through the shop into the passage, and then
+upstairs. The door was open, and he nearly fell over the body of a
+man. As he ran into the room he heard the words,--
+
+"For the last time: Will you sign the deed? You think I will not do
+this, but I am desperate."
+
+As the words left his mouth, Cyril sprang forward between the man and
+Mr. Harvey, who was standing with his arms folded, looking
+steadfastly at his opponent, who was menacing him with a drawn sword.
+The man, with a terrible oath, turned to defend himself, repeating
+the oath when he saw who was his assailant.
+
+"I let you off last time lightly, you scoundrel!" Cyril exclaimed.
+"This time it is your life or mine."
+
+The man made a furious lunge at him. Cyril parried it, and would at
+the next moment have run him through had not Mr. Harvey suddenly
+thrown himself between them, hurling Cyril's antagonist to the
+ground.
+
+"Put up your sword," he said to Cyril. "This man is my son; scoundrel
+and villain, yet still my son, even though he has raised his hand
+against me. Leave him to God."
+
+Cyril had stepped a pace back in his surprise. At first he thought
+that Mr. Harvey's trouble had turned his brain; then it flashed
+across him that this ruffian's name was indeed John Harvey. The man
+was about to rise from the floor when Cyril again sprang forward.
+
+"Drop that sword," he exclaimed, "or I will run you through. Now,
+sir," he said to Mr. Harvey, "will you draw out that pistol, whose
+butt projects from his pocket, or your son may do one of us mischief
+yet?"
+
+That such had been the man's intention was evident from the glance of
+baffled rage he threw at Cyril.
+
+"Now, sir, go," his father said sternly. "Remember that, henceforth,
+you are no son of mine. Did I do my duty I should hand you over to
+the watch--not for your threats to me, but for the sword-thrust you
+have given to Joseph Edmonds, who has many times carried you on his
+shoulder when a child. You may compass my death, but be assured that
+not one farthing will you gain thereby. 'Vengeance is mine, saith the
+Lord.' I leave it to Him to pay it. Now go."
+
+John Harvey rose to his feet, and walked to the door. Then he turned
+and shook his fist at Cyril.
+
+"Curse you!" he said. "I will be even with you yet."
+
+Cyril now had time to look round. His eye fell upon the figure of
+Mrs. Harvey, who had fallen insensible. He made a step towards her,
+but her husband said, "She has but fainted. This is more pressing,"
+and he turned to the old servant. Cyril aided him in lifting the old
+man up and laying him on the couch.
+
+"He breathes," said he.
+
+"He is wounded to death," Mr. Harvey said sadly; "and my son hath
+done it."
+
+Cyril opened the servant's coat.
+
+"Here is the wound, high up on the left side. It may not touch a
+vital part. It bleeds freely, and I have heard that that is a good
+sign."
+
+"It is so," Mr. Harvey said excitedly. "Perhaps he may yet recover. I
+would give all that I am worth that it might be so, and that, bad as
+he may be, the sin of this murder should not rest on my son's soul."
+
+"I will run for the doctor, sir, but before I go let me help you to
+lift your wife. She will doubtless come round shortly, and will aid
+you to stanch the wound till the doctor comes."
+
+Mrs. Harvey was indeed already showing signs of returning animation.
+She was placed on a couch, and water sprinkled on her face. As soon
+as he saw her eyes open Cyril caught up his hat and ran to Dr.
+Hodges. The doctor had just finished his supper, and was on the point
+of going out again to see some of his patients. On hearing from Cyril
+that a servant of some friends of his had been wounded by a robber,
+he put some lint and bandages in his pocket, and started with him.
+
+"These robberies are becoming more and more frequent," he said; "and
+so bold and reckless are the criminals that they seem to care not a
+jot whether they add murder to their other crimes. Where do you say
+the wound is?"
+
+Cyril pointed below his own shoulder.
+
+"It is just about there, doctor."
+
+"Then it may be above the upper edge of the lung. If so, we may save
+the man. Half an inch higher or lower will make all the difference
+between life and death. As you say that it was bleeding freely, it is
+probable that the sword has missed the lung, for had it pierced it,
+the bleeding would have been chiefly internal, and the hope of saving
+him would have been slight indeed."
+
+When they reached the house Cyril found that Mrs. Harvey had quite
+recovered. They had cut open the man's clothes and her husband was
+pressing a handkerchief, closely folded, upon the wound.
+
+"It is serious, but, I think, not vital," Dr. Hodges said, after
+examining it. "I feel sure that the sword has missed the lung."
+
+After cutting off the rest of the man's upper garments, he poured,
+from a phial he had brought with him, a few drops of a powerful
+styptic into the wound, placed a thick pad of lint over it, and
+bandaged it securely. Then, giving directions that a small quantity
+of spirits and water should be given to the patient from time to
+time, and, above all things, that he should be kept perfectly quiet,
+he hurried away.
+
+"Is there anything more I can do, sir?" Cyril asked Mr. Harvey.
+
+"Nothing more. You will understand, sir, what our feelings are, and
+that our hearts are too full of grief and emotion for us to speak. We
+shall watch together to-night, and lay our case before the Lord."
+
+"Then I will come early in the morning and see if there is aught I
+can do, sir. I am going back now to Mr. Wallace, who was uneasy at
+your absence. I suppose you would wish me to say only that I found
+that there was a robber in the place who, having wounded your
+servant, was on the point of attacking you when I entered, and that
+he fled almost immediately."
+
+"That will do. Say to him that for to-night we shall be busy nursing,
+and that my wife is greatly shaken; therefore I would not that he
+should come round, but I pray him to call here in the morning."
+
+"I will do so, sir."
+
+Cyril went downstairs, closed the shutters of the window into which
+he had broken, and put up the bars, and then went out at the door,
+taking special pains to close it firmly behind him.
+
+He was glad to be out of the house. He had seen many sad scenes
+during the last few weeks, but it seemed to him that this was the
+saddest of all. Better, a thousand times, to see a son stricken by
+the Plague than this. He walked slowly back to the minister's. He met
+Mr. Wallace at the door of his house.
+
+"I was coming round," the latter said. "Of course one or other of
+them are stricken?"
+
+"No, sir; it was another cause that prevented their coming. Just as I
+reached the house I heard a scream, and Mrs. Harvey appeared at the
+casement calling for help. I forced open a window and ran up. I found
+that a robber had entered the house. He had seriously wounded the old
+servant, and was on the point of attacking Mr. Harvey when I entered.
+Taken by surprise, the man fled almost immediately. Mrs. Harvey had
+fainted. At first, we thought the servant was killed, but, finding
+that he lived, I ran off and fetched Dr. Hodges, who has dressed the
+wound, and thinks that the man has a good chance of recovery. As Mrs.
+Harvey had now come round, and was capable of assisting her husband,
+they did not accept my offer to stay and do anything I could. I said
+I was coming to you, and Mr. Harvey asked me to say that, although
+they were too much shaken to see you this evening, they should be
+glad if you would go round to them the first thing in the morning."
+
+"Then the robber got away unharmed?" Mr. Wallace asked.
+
+"He was unharmed, sir. I would rather that you did not question me on
+the subject. Mr. Harvey will doubtless enter fully into the matter
+with you in the morning. We did not exchange many words, for he was
+greatly disturbed in spirit at the wounding of his old servant, and
+the scene he had gone through; and, seeing that he and his wife would
+rather be alone with their patient, I left almost directly after Dr.
+Hodges went away. However, I may say that I believe that there are
+private matters in the affair, which he will probably himself
+communicate to you."
+
+"Then I will ask no more questions, Cyril. I am well content to know
+that it is not as I feared, and that the Plague had not attacked
+them."
+
+"I said that I would call round in the morning, sir; but I have been
+thinking of it as I came along, and consider that, as you will be
+there, it is as well that I should not do so. I will come round here
+at ten o'clock, and should you not have returned, will wait until you
+do. I do not know that I can be of any use whatever, and do not wish
+to intrude there. Will you kindly say this to them, but add that
+should they really wish me to go, I will of course do so?"
+
+Mr. Wallace looked a little puzzled.
+
+"I will do as you ask me, but it seems to me that they will naturally
+wish to see you, seeing that, had it not been for your arrival, they
+might have been robbed and perhaps murdered."
+
+"You will understand better when you have seen Mr. Harvey, sir. Now I
+will be making for home; it is about my usual hour, and John Wilkes
+will be beginning to wonder and worry about me."
+
+To John, Cyril told the same story as to Mr. Wallace.
+
+"But, how was it that you let the villain escape, Master Cyril? Why
+did you not run him through the body?"
+
+"I had other things to think of, John. There was Mrs. Harvey lying
+insensible, and the servant desperately wounded, and I thought more
+of these than of the robber, and was glad enough, when he ran out, to
+be able to turn my attention to them."
+
+"Ay, ay, that was natural enough, lad; but 'tis a pity the villain
+got off scot-free. Truly it is not safe for two old people to be in
+an empty house by themselves in these times, specially as, maybe, the
+houses on either side are also untenanted, and robbers can get into
+them and make their way along the roof, and so enter any house they
+like by the windows there. It was a mercy you chanced to come along.
+Men are so accustomed now to hear screams and calls for aid, that
+none trouble themselves as to such sounds. And you still feel quite
+well?"
+
+"Never better, John, except for occasional twitches in my shoulder."
+
+"It does not knit so fast as it should do," John said. "In the first
+place, you are always on the move; then no one can go about into
+infected houses without his spirits being disturbed, and of all
+things a calm and easy disposition is essential for the proper
+healing of wounds. Lastly, it is certain that when there is poison in
+the air wounds do not heal so quickly as at other times."
+
+"It is going on well enough, John; indeed, I could not desire it to
+do better. As soon as it is fairly healed I ought to join Prince
+Rupert again; but in truth I do not wish to go, for I would fain see
+this terrible Plague come to an end before I leave; for never since
+the days of the Black Death, hundreds of years ago, was there so
+strange and terrible a malady in this country."
+
+Mr. Wallace had returned to his house when Cyril called the next
+morning.
+
+"Thinking over what you said last night, Cyril, I arrived at a pretty
+correct conclusion as to what had happened, though I thought not that
+it could be as bad as it was. I knew the object with which Mr. Harvey
+and his wife had come up to London, at a time when most men were
+fleeing from it. Their son has, ever since he came up three years
+ago, been a source of grievous trouble to them, as he was, indeed,
+for a long time previously. Some natures seem naturally to turn to
+evil, and this boy's was one of them. It may be that the life at home
+was too rigid and severe, and that he revolted against it. Certain it
+is that he took to evil courses and consorted with bad companions.
+Severity was unavailing. He would break out of the house at night and
+be away for days. He was drunken and dissolute.
+
+"At last, just after a considerable sum of money had come into the
+house from the tenants' rents, he stole it, and went up to London.
+His name was not mentioned at home, though his father learnt from
+correspondents here that he had become a hanger-on of the Court,
+where, his father being a man of condition, he found friends without
+difficulty. He was a gambler and a brawler, and bore a bad reputation
+even among the riff-raff of the Court. His father learnt that he had
+disappeared from sight at the time the Court went to Oxford early in
+June, and his correspondent found that he was reported to have joined
+a band of abandoned ruffians, whose least crimes were those of
+robbery.
+
+"When the Plague spread rapidly, Mr. Harvey and his wife determined
+to come up to London, to make one more effort to draw him from his
+evil courses. The only thing that they have been able to learn for
+certain was, that he was one of the performers in that wicked mockery
+the dance of death, but their efforts to trace him have otherwise
+failed.
+
+"They had intended, if they had found him, and he would have made
+promises of amendment, to have given him money that would have
+enabled him to go over to America and begin a new life there,
+promising him a regular allowance to maintain him in comfort. As they
+have many friends over there, some of whom went abroad to settle
+before the Civil War broke out here, they would be able to have news
+how he was going on; and if they found he was living a decent life,
+and truly repented his past course, they would in five years have had
+him back again, and reinstated him as their heir.
+
+"I knew their intentions in the matter, and have done my best to gain
+them news of him. I did not believe in the reformation of one who had
+shown himself to be of such evil spirit; but God is all-powerful, and
+might have led him out from the slough into which he had fallen.
+
+"Yesterday evening, half an hour before you went there, his father
+and mother were astonished at his suddenly entering. He saluted them
+at first with ironical politeness, and said that having heard from
+one from the same part of the country that he had seen them in
+London, he had had the streets thereabouts watched, and having found
+where they lodged, had come to pay his respects.
+
+"There was a reckless bravado in his manner that alarmed his mother,
+and it was not long before the purpose of his visit came out. He
+demanded that his father should at once sign a deed which he had
+brought drawn out in readiness, assigning to him at once half his
+property.
+
+"'You have,' he said, 'far more than you can require. Living as you
+do, you must save three-quarters of your income, and it would be at
+once an act of charity, and save you the trouble of dealing with
+money that is of no use to you.'
+
+"His father indignantly refused to take any such step, and then told
+him the plans he had himself formed for him. At this he laughed
+scoffingly.
+
+"'You have the choice,' he said, 'of giving me half, or of my taking
+everything.' And then he swore with terrible oaths that unless his
+father signed the paper, that day should be his last. 'You are in my
+power,' he said, 'and I am desperate. Do you think that if three dead
+bodies are found in a house now any will trouble to inquire how they
+came to their end? They will be tossed into the plague-cart, and none
+will make inquiry about them.'
+
+"Hearing voices raised in anger, the old servant ran in. At once the
+villain drew and ran at him, passing his sword through his body.
+Then, as if transported at the sight of the blood he had shed, he
+turned upon his father. It was at this moment that his mother ran to
+the window and called for help. He dragged her back, and as she fell
+fainting with horror and fear he again turned upon his father; his
+passion grew hotter and hotter as the latter, upbraiding him with the
+deed he had done, refused to sign; and there is no doubt that he
+would have taken his life had you not luckily ran in at this moment.
+
+"It has truly been a terrible night for them. They have passed it in
+prayer, and when I went this morning were both calm and composed,
+though it was easy to see by their faces how they had suffered, and
+how much the blow has told upon them. They have determined to save
+their son from any further temptation to enrich himself by their
+deaths. I fetched a lawyer for them; and when I left Mr. Harvey was
+giving him instructions for drawing up his will, by which every
+farthing is left away from him. They request me to go to them this
+evening with two or three of our friends to witness it, as it is
+necessary in a time like this that a will should be witnessed by as
+many as possible, as some may be carried off by the Plague; and
+should all the witnesses be dead, the will might be disputed as a
+forgery. So the lawyer will bring his clerks with him, and I shall
+take four or five of our friends.
+
+"They will return to the country as soon as their servant can be
+moved. Dr. Hodges came when I was there, and gives hopes that the
+cure will be a speedy one. We are going to place some men in the
+house. I have among my poorer friends two men who will be glad to
+establish themselves there with their wives, seeing that they will
+pay no rent, and will receive wages as long as Mr. Harvey remains
+there. There will thus be no fear of any repetition of the attempt.
+Mr. Harvey, on my advice, will also draw up and sign a paper giving a
+full account of the occurrence of last evening, and will leave this
+in the hands of the lawyer.
+
+"This will be a protection to him should his son follow him into the
+country, as he will then be able to assure him that if he proceeds to
+violence suspicion will at once fall upon him, and he will be
+arrested for his murder. But, indeed, the poor gentleman holds but
+little to his life; and it was only on my representing to him that
+this document might be the means of averting the commission of the
+most terrible of all sins from the head of his son, that he agreed to
+sign it. I gave him your message, and he prays me to say that, deeply
+grateful as he and his wife are to you, not so much for the saving of
+their lives, as for preventing their son's soul being stained by the
+crime, they would indeed rather that you did not call for a time, for
+they are so sorely shaken that they do not feel equal to seeing you.
+You will not, I hope, take this amiss."
+
+"By no means," Cyril replied; "it is but a natural feeling; and, in
+truth, I myself am relieved that such is their decision, for it would
+be well-nigh as painful to me as to them to see them again, and to
+talk over the subject."
+
+"By the way, Cyril, Mr. Harvey said that when you saw his son you
+cried out his name, and that by the manner in which he turned upon
+you it was clear that he had some cause for hating you. Is this so,
+or was it merely his fancy?"
+
+"It was no fancy, sir. It is not long since I thwarted his attempt to
+carry off the daughter of a city merchant, to whom he had represented
+himself as a nobleman. He was in the act of doing so, with the aid of
+some friends, when, accompanied by John Wilkes, I came up. There was
+a fray, in the course of which I ran him through the shoulder. The
+young lady returned home with us, and has since heartily repented of
+her folly. I had not seen the man since that time till I met him
+yesterday; but certainly the house was watched for some time, as I
+believe, by his associates who would probably have done me an ill
+turn had I gone out after nightfall."
+
+"That explains it, Cyril. I will tell Mr. Harvey, whose mind has been
+much puzzled by your recognition of his son."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+SMITTEN DOWN
+
+
+Two days later, Cyril started at his usual hour to go to Dr. Hodges';
+but he had proceeded but a few yards when a man, who was leaning
+against the wall, suddenly lurched forward and caught him round the
+neck. Thinking that the fellow had been drinking, Cyril angrily tried
+to shake him off. As he did so the man's hat, which had been pressed
+down over his eyes, fell off, and, to his astonishment, Cyril
+recognised John Harvey.
+
+"You villain! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, as he freed
+himself from the embrace, sending his assailant staggering back
+against the wall.
+
+The man's face lit up with a look of savage exultation..
+
+"I told you you should hear from me again," he said, "and I have kept
+my word. I knew the hour you went out, and I have been waiting for
+you. You are a doomed man. I have the Plague, and I have breathed in
+your face. Before twenty-four hours have passed you will be, as I am,
+a dying man. That is a good piece of vengeance. You may be a better
+swordsman than I am, but you can't fight with the Plague."
+
+Cyril drew back in horror. As he did so, a change came over John
+Harvey's face, he muttered a few words incoherently, swayed backwards
+and forwards, and then slid to the ground in a heap. A rush of blood
+poured from his mouth, and he fell over dead.
+
+Cyril had seen more than one similar death in the streets, but the
+horrible malignity of this man, and his sudden death, gave him a
+terrible shock. He felt for the moment completely unmanned, and,
+conscious that he was too unhinged for work, he turned and went back
+to the house.
+
+"You look pale, lad," John Wilkes said, as Cyril went upstairs. "What
+brings you back so soon?"
+
+"I have had rather a shock, John." And he told him of what had
+happened.
+
+"That was enough to startle you, lad. I should say the best thing you
+could do would be to take a good strong tumbler of grog, and then lay
+down."
+
+"That I will do, and will take a dose of the medicine Dr. Hodges
+makes everyone take when the infection first shows itself in a house.
+As you know, I have never had any fear of the Plague hitherto. I
+don't say that I am afraid of it now, but I have run a far greater
+risk of catching it than I have ever done before, for until now I
+have never been in actual contact with anyone with the disease."
+
+After a sleep Cyril rose, and feeling himself again, went to call
+upon Mr. Wallace.
+
+"I shall not come again for a few days," he said, after telling him
+what had happened, but without mentioning the name of John Harvey,
+"but I will send you a note every other day by John Wilkes. If he
+does not come, you will know that I have taken the malady, and in
+that case, Mr. Wallace, I know that I shall have your prayers for my
+recovery. I am sure that I shall be well cared for by John Wilkes."
+
+"Of my prayers you maybe sure, Cyril; and, indeed, I have every faith
+that, should you catch the malady, you will recover from it. You have
+neither well-nigh frightened yourself to death, nor have you dosed
+yourself with drugs until nature was exhausted before the struggle
+began. You will, I am sure, be calm and composed, and above all you
+have faith in God, and the knowledge that you have done your part to
+carry out His orders, and to visit the sick and aid those in sorrow."
+
+The next day Cyril was conscious of no change except that he felt a
+disinclination to exert himself. The next morning he had a feeling of
+nausea.
+
+"I think that I am in for it, John," he said. "But at any rate it can
+do no harm to try that remedy you spoke of that is used in the East.
+First of all, let us fumigate the room. As far as I have seen, the
+smoke of tobacco is the best preservative against the Plague. Now do
+you, John, keep a bit of tobacco in your mouth."
+
+"That I mostly do, lad."
+
+"Well, keep a bigger bit than usual, John, and smoke steadily. Still,
+that will not be enough. Keep the fire burning, and an iron plate
+heated to redness over it. Bring that into my room from time to time,
+and burn tobacco on it. Keep the room full of smoke."
+
+"I will do that," John said, "but you must not have too much of it. I
+am an old hand, and have many times sat in a fo'castle so full of
+smoke that one could scarce see one's hands, but you are not
+accustomed to it, and it may like enough make you sick."
+
+"There will be no harm in that, John, so that one does not push it
+too far. Now, how are you going to set about this sweating process?"
+
+"While you undress and get into bed I will get a blanket ready. It is
+to be dipped in boiling water, and then wrung out until it is as dry
+as we can get it. Then you are wrapped in that, and then rolled in
+five or six dry blankets to keep in the heat. You will keep in that
+until you feel almost weak with sweating; then I take you out and
+sponge you with warmish water, and then wrap you in another dry
+blanket."
+
+"You had better sponge me with vinegar, John."
+
+Cyril undressed. When he had done so he carefully examined himself,
+and his eye soon fell on a black spot on the inside of his leg, just
+above the knee. It was the well-known sign of the Plague.
+
+"I have got it, John," he said, when the latter entered with a pile
+of blankets.
+
+"Well, then, we have got to fight it, Master Cyril, and we will beat
+it if it is to be beaten. Now, lad, for the hot blanket."
+
+"Lay it down on the bed, and I will wrap myself in it, and the same
+with the others. Now I warn you, you are not to come nearer to me
+than you can help, and above all you are not to lean over me. If you
+do, I will turn you out of the room and lock the door, and fight it
+out by myself. Now puff away at that pipe, and the moment you wrap me
+up get the room full of smoke."
+
+John nodded.
+
+"Don't you bother about me," he growled. "I reckon the Plague ain't
+going to touch such a tough old bit of seasoned mahogany as I am.
+Still, I will do as you tell me."
+
+In a few minutes Cyril was in a profuse perspiration, in which even
+his head, which was above the blankets, shared.
+
+"That is grand," John said complacently.
+
+The cloud of tobacco, with which the room was soon filled, was not
+long in having the effect that John had predicted, and Cyril was soon
+violently sick, which had the effect of further increasing the
+perspiration.
+
+"You must open the window and let the smoke out a bit, John," he
+gasped. "I can't stand any more of it."
+
+This was done, and for another hour Cyril lay between the blankets.
+
+"I shall faint if I lie here any longer," he said at last. "Now,
+John, do you go out of the room, and don't come back again until I
+call you. I see you have put the vinegar handy. It is certain that if
+this is doing me any good the blankets will be infected. You say you
+have got a big fire in the kitchen. Well, I shall take them myself,
+and hang them up in front of it, and you are not to go into the room
+till they are perfectly dry again. You had better light another fire
+at once in the parlour, and you can do any cooking there. I will keep
+the kitchen for my blankets."
+
+John nodded and left the room, and Cyril at once proceeded to unroll
+the blankets. As he came to the last he was conscious of a strong
+fetid odour, similar to that he had more than once perceived in
+houses infected by the Plague.
+
+"I believe it is drawing it out of me," he said to himself. "I will
+give it another trial presently."
+
+He first sponged himself with vinegar, and felt much refreshed. He
+then wrapped himself up and lay down for a few minutes, for he felt
+strangely weak. Then he got up and carried the blankets into the
+kitchen, where a huge fire had been made up by John. He threw the one
+that had been next to him into a tub, and poured boiling water on it,
+and the others he hung on chairs round it. Then he went back to his
+room, and lay down and slept for half an hour. He returned to the
+kitchen and rearranged the blankets. When John saw him go back to his
+room he followed him.
+
+"I have got some strong broth ready," he said. "Do you think that you
+could take a cupful?"
+
+"Ay, and a good-sized one, John. I feel sure that the sweating has
+done me good, and I will have another turn at it soon. You must go at
+once and report that I have got it, or when the examiners come round,
+and find that the Plague is in the house, you will be fined, or
+perhaps imprisoned. Before you go there, please leave word at Dr.
+Hodges' that I am ill, and you might also call at Mr. Wallace's and
+leave the same message. Tell them, in both cases, that I have
+everything that I want, and trust that I shall make a good recovery."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir; I will be off as soon as I have brought you in your
+broth, and will be back here in half an hour."
+
+Cyril drank the broth, and then dozed again until John returned. When
+he heard his step he called out to him to bring the hot iron, and he
+filled the room with tobacco smoke before allowing him to enter.
+
+"Now, John, the blankets are dry, and can be handled again, and I am
+ready for another cooking."
+
+Four times that day did Cyril undergo the sweating process. By the
+evening he was as weak as a child, but his skin was soft and cool,
+and he was free from all feeling of pain or uneasiness. Dr. Hodges
+called half an hour after he had taken it for the last time, having
+only received his message when he returned late from a terrible day's
+work. Cyril had just turned in for the night.
+
+"Well, lad, how are you feeling? I am so sorry that I did not get
+your message before."
+
+"I am feeling very well, doctor."
+
+"Your hand is moist and cool," Dr. Hodges said in surprise. "You must
+have been mistaken. I see no signs whatever of the Plague."
+
+"There was no mistake, doctor; there were the black marks on my
+thighs, but I think I have pretty well sweated it out of me."
+
+He then described the process he had followed, and said that John
+Wilkes had told him that it was practised in the Levant.
+
+"Sweating is greatly used here, and I have tried it very repeatedly
+among my patients, and in some cases, where I had notice of the
+disease early, have saved them. Some bleed before sweating, but I
+have not heard of one who did so who recovered. In many cases the
+patient, from terror or from weakness of body, cannot get up the heat
+required, and even if they arrive at it, have not the strength to
+support it. In your case you lost no time; you had vital heat in
+plenty, and you had strength to keep up the heat in full force until
+you washed, as it were, the malady out of you. Henceforth I shall
+order that treatment with confidence when patients come to me whom I
+suspect to have the Plague, although it may not have as yet fully
+declared itself. What have you done with the blankets?"
+
+"I would not suffer John to touch them, but carried them myself into
+the kitchen. The blankets next to me I throw into a tub and pour
+boiling water over them; the others I hang up before a huge fire, so
+as to be dry for the next operation. I take care that John does not
+enter the kitchen."
+
+"How often have you done this?"
+
+"Four times, and lay each time for an hour in the blankets. I feel
+very weak, and must have lost very many pounds in weight, but my head
+is clear, and I suffer no pain whatever. The marks on my legs have
+not spread, and seem to me less dark in colour than they were."
+
+"Your case is the most hopeful that I have seen," Dr. Hodges said.
+"The system has had every advantage, and to this it owes its success.
+In the first place, you began it as soon as you felt unwell. Most
+people would have gone on for another twelve hours before they paid
+much attention to the first symptoms, and might not have noticed the
+Plague marks even when they went to bed. In the second place, you are
+cool and collected, and voluntarily delivered yourself to the
+treatment. And in the third place, which is the most important
+perhaps of all, you were in good health generally. You had not
+weakened yourself by swallowing every nostrum advertised, or wearing
+yourself out by vain terrors. Ninety-nine cases out of a hundred
+would be probably beyond the reach of help before they were conscious
+of illness, and be too weak to stand so severe a strain on the system
+as that you have undergone. Another thing is that the remedy could
+hardly be attempted in a house full of frightened people. There would
+be sure to be carelessness in the matter of the blankets, which,
+unless treated as you have done, would be a certain means of
+spreading the infection over the house. At any rate, I would continue
+the sweating as long as you can possibly stand it. Take nourishment
+in the shape of broth frequently, but in small quantity. I would do
+it again at midnight; 'tis well not to let the virus have time to
+gather strength again. I see you have faith in tobacco."
+
+"Yes, doctor. I never let John Wilkes into the room after I have
+taken a bath until it is full of tobacco smoke. I have twice made
+myself ill with it to-day."
+
+"Don't carry it too far, lad; for although I also believe in the
+virtue of the weed, 'tis a powerful poison, and you do not want to
+weaken yourself. Well, I see I can do nothing for you. You and your
+man seem to me to have treated the attack far more successfully than
+I should have done; for, indeed, this month very few of those
+attacked have recovered, whatever the treatment has been. I shall
+come round early tomorrow morning to see how you are going on. At
+present nothing can be better. Since the first outbreak, I have not
+seen a single case in which the patient was in so fair a way towards
+recovery in so short a time after the discovery of the infection."
+
+John Wilkes at this moment came in with a basin of broth.
+
+"This is my good friend, John Wilkes, doctor."
+
+"You ought to be called Dr. John Wilkes," the doctor, who was one of
+the most famous of his time, said, with a smile, as he shook hands
+with him. "Your treatment seems to be doing wonders."
+
+"It seems to me he is doing well, doctor, but I am afraid he is
+carrying it too far; he is so weak he can hardly stand."
+
+"Never mind that," the doctor said; "it will be easy enough to build
+him up when we have once got the Plague out of him. I have told him
+to have another turn in the blankets at twelve o'clock to-night; it
+will not do to let the malady get a fresh hold of him. But don't push
+it too far, lad. If you begin to feel faint, stop it, even if you
+have not been a quarter of an hour in the blankets. Do not cover
+yourself up too warmly when you have done; let nature have a rest. I
+shall be round between eight and nine, and no doubt you will have had
+another bath before I come. Do not sleep in the room, Wilkes; he is
+sure to go off soundly to sleep, and there is no use your running any
+needless risk. Let his window stand open; indeed, it should always be
+open, except when he gets out of his blankets, or is fumigating the
+room. Let him have a chair by the open window, so as to get as much
+fresh air as possible; but be sure that he is warmly wrapped up with
+blankets, so as to avoid getting a chill. You might place a hand-bell
+by the side of his bed to-night, so that he can summons you should he
+have occasion."
+
+When the doctor came next morning he nodded approvingly as soon as he
+felt Cyril's hand.
+
+"Nothing could be better," he said; "your pulse is even quieter than
+last night. Now let me look at those spots."
+
+"They are fainter," Cyril said.
+
+"A great deal," Dr. Hodges said, in a tone of the greatest pleasure.
+"Thank God, my lad, it is dying out. Not above three or four times
+since the Plague began have I been able to say so. I shall go about
+my work with a lighter heart today, and shall order your treatment in
+every case where I see the least chance of its being carried out, but
+I cannot hope that it will often prove as successful as it has with
+you. You have had everything in your favour--youth, a good
+constitution, a tranquil mind, an absence of fear, and a faith in
+God."
+
+"And a good attendant, doctor--don't forget that."
+
+"No, that goes for a great deal, lad--for a great deal. Not one nurse
+out of a hundred would carry out my instructions carefully; not one
+patient in a thousand would be able to see that they were carried
+out. Of course you will keep on with the treatment, but do not push
+it to extremes; you have pulled yourself down prodigiously, and must
+not go too far. Do you perceive any change in the odour when you take
+off the blankets?"
+
+"Yes, doctor, a great change; I could scarcely distinguish it this
+morning, and indeed allowed John Wilkes to carry them out, as I don't
+think I myself could have walked as far as the kitchen, though it is
+but ten or twelve paces away. I told him to smoke furiously all the
+time, and to come out of the kitchen as soon as he had hung them up."
+
+Cyril took three more baths in the course of the day, but was only
+able to sustain them for twenty minutes each, as by the end of that
+time he nearly fainted. The doctor came in late in the evening.
+
+"The spots are gone, doctor," Cyril said.
+
+"Then I think you may consider yourself cured, lad. Do not take the
+treatment again to-night; you can take it once in the morning; and
+then if I find the spots have not reappeared by the time I come, I
+shall pronounce the cure as complete, and shall begin to build you up
+again."
+
+The doctor was able to give this opinion in the morning.
+
+"I shall not come again, lad, unless you send for me, for every
+moment of my time is very precious, and I shall leave you in the
+hands of Dr. Wilkes. All you want now is nourishment; but take it
+carefully at first, and not too much at a time; stick to broths for
+the next two or three days, and when you do begin with solids do so
+very sparingly."
+
+"There was a gentleman here yesterday asking about you," John Wilkes
+said, as Cyril, propped up in bed, sipped his broth. "It was Mr.
+Harvey. He rang at the bell, and I went down to the lower window and
+talked to him through that, for of course the watchman would not let
+me go out and speak to him. I had heard you speak of him as one of
+the gentlemen you met at the minister's, and he seemed muchly
+interested in you. He said that you had done him a great service, and
+of course I knew it was by frightening that robber away. I never saw
+a man more pleased than he was when I told him that the doctor
+thought you were as good as cured, and he thanked God very piously
+for the same. After he had done that, he asked me first whether you
+had said anything to me about him. I said that you had told me you
+had met him and his wife at the minister's, and that you said you had
+disturbed a robber you found at his house. He said, quite sharp,
+'Nothing more?' 'No, not as I can think of. He is always doing good
+to somebody,' says I, 'and never a word would he say about it, if it
+did not get found out somehow. Why, he saved Prince Rupert's ship
+from being blown up by a fire-vessel, and never should we have known
+of it if young Lord Oliphant had not written to the Captain telling
+him all about it, and saying that it was the gallantest feat done in
+the battle. Then there were other things, but they were of the nature
+of private affairs.' 'You can tell me about them, my good man,' he
+said; 'I am no vain babbler; and as you may well believe, from what
+he did for me, and for other reasons, I would fain know as much as I
+can of him.' So then I told him about how you found out about the
+robbery and saved master from being ruined, and how you prevented
+Miss Nellie from going off with a rascal who pretended he was an
+earl."
+
+"Then you did very wrong, John," Cyril said angrily. "I say naught
+about your speaking about the robbery, for that was told in open
+Court, but you ought not, on any account, to have said a word about
+Mistress Nellie's affairs."
+
+"Well, your honour, I doubt not Mistress Nellie herself would have
+told the gentleman had she been in my place. I am sure he can be
+trusted not to let it go further. I took care to tell him what good
+it had done Mistress Nellie, and that good had come out of evil."
+
+"Well, you ought not to have said anything about it, John. It may be
+that Mistress Nellie out of her goodness of heart might herself have
+told, but that is no reason why anyone else should do so. I charge
+you in future never to open your lips about that to anyone, no matter
+who. I say not that any harm will come of it in this case, for Mr.
+Harvey is indeed a sober and God-fearing man, and assuredly asked
+only because he felt an interest in me, and from no idle curiosity.
+Still, I would rather that he had not known of a matter touching the
+honour of Mistress Nellie."
+
+"Mum's the word in future, Master Cyril. I will keep the hatches fast
+down on my tongue. Now I will push your bed up near the window as the
+doctor ordered, and then I hope you will get a good long sleep."
+
+The Plague and the process by which it had been expelled had left
+Cyril so weak that it was some days before he could walk across the
+room. Every morning he inquired anxiously of John how he felt, and
+the answer was always satisfactory. John had never been better in his
+life; therefore, by the time Cyril was able to walk to his easy-chair
+by the window, he began to hope that John had escaped the infection,
+which generally declared itself within a day or two, and often within
+a few hours, of the first outbreak in a house.
+
+A week later the doctor, who paid him a flying visit every two or
+three days, gave him the welcome news that he had ordered the red
+cross to be removed from the door, and the watchmen to cease their
+attendance, as the house might now be considered altogether free from
+infection.
+
+The Plague continued its ravages with but slight abatement, moving
+gradually eastward, and Aldgate and the district lying east of the
+walls were now suffering terribly. It was nearly the end of September
+before Cyril was strong enough to go out for his first walk. Since
+the beginning of August some fifty thousand people had been carried
+off, so that the streets were now almost entirely deserted, and in
+many places the grass was shooting up thickly in the road. In some
+streets every house bore the sign of a red cross, and the tolling of
+the bells of the dead-carts and piteous cries and lamentations were
+the only sounds that broke the strange silence.
+
+The scene was so disheartening that Cyril did not leave the house
+again for another fortnight. His first visit was to Mr. Wallace. The
+sight of a watchman at the door gave him quite a shock, and he was
+grieved indeed when he heard from the man that the brave minister had
+died a fortnight before. Then he went to Mr. Harvey's. There was no
+mark on the door, but his repeated knockings met with no response,
+and a woman, looking out from a window opposite, called to him that
+the house had been empty for well-nigh a month, and the people that
+were in it had gone off in a cart, she supposed into the country.
+
+"There was a gentleman and lady," she said, "who seemed well enough,
+and their servant, who was carried down and placed in the cart. It
+could not have been the Plague, though the man looked as if he had
+been sorely ill."
+
+The next day he called on Dr. Hodges, who had not been near him for
+the last month. There was no watchman at the door, and his man opened
+it.
+
+"Can I see the doctor?"
+
+"Ay, you can see him," he said; "he is cured now, and will soon be
+about again."
+
+"Has he had the Plague, then?"
+
+"That he has, but it is a week now since the watchman left."
+
+Cyril went upstairs. The doctor was sitting, looking pale and thin,
+by the window.
+
+"I am grieved indeed to hear that you have been ill, doctor," Cyril
+said; "had I known it I should have come a fortnight since, for I was
+strong enough to walk this distance then. I did indeed go out, but
+the streets had so sad an aspect that I shrank from stirring out
+again."
+
+"Yes, I have had it," the doctor said. "Directly I felt it come on I
+followed your system exactly, but it had gone further with me than it
+had with you, and it was a week before I fairly drove the enemy out.
+I ordered sweating in every case, but, as you know, they seldom sent
+for me until too late, and it is rare that the system got a fair
+chance. However, in my case it was a complete success. Two of my
+servants died; they were taken when I was at my worst. Both were dead
+before I was told of it. The man you saw was the one who waited on
+me, and as I adopted all the same precautions you had taken with your
+man, he did not catch it, and it was only when he went downstairs one
+day and found the other two servants lying dead in the kitchen that
+he knew they had been ill."
+
+"Mr. Wallace has gone, you will be sorry to hear, sir."
+
+"I am sorry," the doctor said; "but no one was more fitted to die. He
+was a brave man and a true Christian, but he ran too many risks, and
+your news does not surprise me."
+
+"The only other friends I have, Mr. Harvey and his wife, went out of
+town a month ago, taking with them their servant."
+
+"Yes; I saw them the day before I was taken ill," the doctor said,
+"and told them that the man was so far out of danger that he might
+safely be moved. They seemed very interested in you, and were very
+pleased when I told them that I had now given up attending you, and
+that you were able to walk across the room, and would, erelong, be
+yourself again. I hope we are getting to the end of it now, lad. As
+the Plague travels East it abates in the West, and the returns for
+the last week show a distinct fall in the rate of mortality. There is
+no further East for it to go now, and I hope that in another few
+weeks it will have worn itself out. We are half through October, and
+may look for cold weather before long."
+
+"I should think that I am strong enough to be useful again now, sir."
+
+"I don't think you are strong enough, and I am sure I shall not give
+you leave to do so," the doctor said. "I can hardly say how far a
+first attack is a protection against a second, for the recoveries
+have been so few that we have scarce means of knowing, but there
+certainly have been cases where persons have recovered from a first
+attack and died from a second. Your treatment is too severe to be
+gone through twice, and it is, therefore, more essential that you
+should run no risk of infection than it was before. I can see that
+you are still very far from strong, and your duty now is, in the
+first place, to regain your health. I should say get on board a hoy
+and go to Yarmouth. A week in the bracing air there would do you more
+good than six months here. But it is useless to give you that advice,
+because, in the first place, no shipping comes up the river, and,
+even if you could get down to Yarmouth by road, no one would receive
+you. Still, that is what I should do myself as soon as I could get
+away, were it not that, in my case, I have my duties here."
+
+"But, doctor, what you said to me surely applies to yourself also?"
+Cyril said, with a smile.
+
+"I know that," the doctor said good-humouredly, "and expected it, but
+it is not for a doctor to choose. He is not free, like other men; he
+has adopted a vocation in which it is his first duty to go among the
+sick, whatever their ailment may be, to do all that he can for them,
+and if, as in the present case, he can do practically nothing else,
+to set them an example of calmness and fearlessness. Still, for a
+time, at any rate, I shall be able to go no more into houses where
+the Plague is raging. 'Tis more than a month since you were cured,
+yet you are still a mere shadow of what you were. I had a much harder
+fight with the enemy, and cannot walk across the room yet without
+William's help. Therefore, it will be a fortnight or three weeks yet
+before I can see patients, and much longer before I shall have
+strength to visit them in their houses. By that time I trust that the
+Plague will have very greatly abated. Thus, you see, I shall not be
+called upon to stand face to face with it for some time. Those who
+call upon me here are seldom Plague-stricken. They come for other
+ailments, or because they feel unwell, and are nervous lest it should
+be the beginning of an attack; but of late I have had very few come
+here. My patients are mostly of the middle class, and these have
+either fled or fallen victims to the Plague, or have shut themselves
+up in their houses like fortresses, and nothing would tempt them to
+issue abroad. Therefore, I expect that I shall have naught to do but
+to gain strength again. Come here when you will, lad, and the oftener
+the better. Conversation is the best medicine for both of us, and as
+soon as I can I will visit you. I doubt not that John Wilkes has many
+a story of the sea that will take our thoughts away from this sad
+city. Bring him with you sometimes; he is an honest fellow, and the
+talk of sailors so smacks of the sea that it seems almost to act as a
+tonic."
+
+Cyril stayed for an hour, and promised to return on the following
+evening. He said, however, that he was sure John Wilkes would not
+accompany him.
+
+"He never leaves the house unless I am in it. He considers himself on
+duty; and although, as I tell him, there is little fear of anyone
+breaking in, seeing how many houses with much more valuable and more
+portable goods are empty and deserted, he holds to his purpose,
+saying that, even with the house altogether empty, it would be just
+as much his duty to remain in charge."
+
+"Well, come yourself, Cyril. If we cannot get this old watch-dog out
+I must wait until I can go to him."
+
+"I shall be very glad to come, doctor, for time hangs heavily on my
+hands. John Wilkes spends hours every day in washing and scrubbing
+decks, as he calls it, and there are but few books in the house."
+
+"As to that, I can furnish you, and will do so gladly. Go across to
+the shelves there, and choose for yourself."
+
+"Thank you very much indeed, sir. But will you kindly choose for me?
+I have read but few English books, for of course in France my reading
+was entirely French."
+
+"Then take Shakespeare. I hold his writings to be the finest in our
+tongue. I know them nearly by heart, for there is scarce an evening
+when I do not take him down for an hour, and reading him I forget the
+worries and cares of my day's work, which would otherwise often keep
+me from sleep. 'Tis a bulky volume, but do not let that discourage
+you; it is full of wit and wisdom, and of such romance that you will
+often find it hard to lay it down. Stay--I have two editions, and can
+well spare one of them, so take the one on that upper shelf, and keep
+it when you have read it. There is but little difference between
+them, but I generally use the other, and have come to look upon it as
+a friend."
+
+"Nay, sir, I will take it as a loan."
+
+"You will do nothing of the sort. I owe you a fee, and a bumping
+one."
+
+Henceforth Cyril did not find his time hang heavy on his hands. It
+seemed to him, as he sat at the window and read, that a new world
+opened to him. His life had been an eminently practical one. He had
+studied hard in France, and when he laid his books aside his time had
+been spent in the open air. It was only since he had been with
+Captain Dave that he had ever read for amusement, and the Captain's
+library consisted only of a few books of travels and voyages. He had
+never so much as dreamt of a book like this, and for the next few
+days he devoured its pages.
+
+"You are not looking so well, Cyril," Dr. Hodges said to him abruptly
+one day.
+
+"I am doing nothing but reading Shakespeare, doctor."
+
+"Then you are doing wrong, lad. You will never build yourself up
+unless you take exercise."
+
+"The streets are so melancholy, doctor, and whenever I go out I
+return sick at heart and in low spirits."
+
+"That I can understand, lad. But we must think of something," and he
+sat for a minute or two in silence. Then he said suddenly, "Do you
+understand the management of a boat?"
+
+"Yes, doctor; it was my greatest pleasure at Dunkirk to be out with
+the fishermen."
+
+"That will do, then. Go down at once to the riverside. There are
+hundreds of boats lying idle there, for there are no passengers and
+no trade, and half of their owners are dead. You are sure to see some
+men there; having nothing else to do, some will be hanging about. Say
+you want to hire a boat for a couple of months or to buy one. You
+will probably get one for a few shillings. Get one with a sail as
+well as oars. Go out the first thing after breakfast, and go up or
+down the river as the tide or wind may suit. Take some bread and meat
+with you, and don't return till supper-time. Then you can spend your
+evenings with Shakespeare. Maybe I myself will come down and take a
+sail with you sometimes. That will bring the colour back into your
+cheeks, and make a new man of you. Would that I had thought of it
+before!"
+
+Cyril was delighted with the idea, and, going down to Blackfriars,
+bought a wherry with a sail for a pound. Its owner was dead, but he
+learned where the widow lived, and effected the bargain without
+difficulty, for she was almost starving.
+
+"I have bought it," he said, "because it may be that I may get it
+damaged or sunk; but I only need it for six weeks or two months, and
+at the end of that time I will give it you back again. As soon as the
+Plague is over there will be work for boats, and you will be able to
+let it, or to sell it at a fair price."
+
+John Wilkes was greatly pleased when Cyril came back and told him
+what he had done.
+
+"That is the very thing for you," he said. "I have been a thick-head
+not to think of it. I have been worrying for the last week at seeing
+you sit there and do nothing but read, and yet there seemed nothing
+else for you to do, for ten minutes out in the streets is enough to
+give one the heartache. Maybe I will go out for a sail with you
+myself sometimes, for there is no fear of the house being broken into
+by daylight."
+
+"Not in the slightest, John. I hope that you will come out with me
+always. I should soon find it dull by myself, and besides, I don't
+think that I am strong enough yet to manage a pair of sculls for
+long, and one must reckon occasionally on having to row against the
+tide. Even if the worst happened, and anyone did break in and carry
+off a few things, I am sure Captain Dave would not grumble at the
+loss when he knew that I had wanted you to come out and help me to
+manage the boat, which I was ordered to use for my health's sake."
+
+"That he wouldn't," John said heartily; "not if they stripped the
+house and shop of everything there was in them."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE
+
+
+Having finally disposed of John Wilkes's scruples as to leaving the
+house during the daytime, Cyril thenceforth went out with him every
+day. If the tide was in flood they rowed far up the river, and came
+down on the ebb. If it was running out they went down as far as it
+would take them. Whenever the wind was favourable they hoisted the
+sail; at other times, they rowed. The fresh air, and the exercise,
+soon did their work. Cyril at first could only take one scull, and
+that only for a short time, but at the end of a fortnight was able to
+manage both for a time, or to row with one for hours. The feeling of
+lassitude which had oppressed him passed away speedily, the colour
+came back to his cheeks, his muscles strengthened, and he began to
+put on flesh.
+
+They were now in November, and needed warm garments when on the
+water, and John insisted on completely muffling him up whenever they
+hoisted the sail; but the colder weather braced him up, and he was
+often inclined to shout with pleasure as the wind drove the boat
+along before it.
+
+It was cheering to know that others were benefiting by the change. In
+the week ending October 3rd the deaths officially given were 4,328,
+though at least another thousand must be added to this, for great
+numbers of deaths from the Plague were put down to other causes, and
+very many, especially those of infants, were never counted at all. It
+was said that as many people were infected as ever, but that the
+virulence of the disease was abated, and that, whereas in August
+scarce one of those attacked recovered, in October but one out of
+every three died of the malady.
+
+In the second week of October, the number of deaths by the Plague was
+but 2,665, and only 1,250 in the third week, though great numbers
+were still attacked. People, however, grew careless, and ran
+unnecessary risks, and, in consequence, in the first week of November
+the number of deaths rose by 400. After this it decreased rapidly,
+and the people who had fled began to come back again--the more so
+because it had now spread to other large cities, and it seemed that
+there was less danger in London, where it had spent its force, than
+in places where it had but lately broken out. The shops began to open
+again, and the streets to reassume their former appearance.
+
+Cyril had written several times to Captain Dowsett, telling him how
+matters were going on, and in November, hearing that they were
+thinking of returning, he wrote begging them not to do so.
+
+"Many of those who have returned have fallen sick, and died," he
+said. "It seems to me but a useless risk of life, after taking so
+much pains to avoid infection, to hurry back before the danger has
+altogether passed. In your case, Captain Dave, there is the less
+reason for it, since there is no likelihood of the shipping trade
+being renewed for the present. All the ports of Europe are closed to
+our ships, and it is like to be a long time before they lose fear of
+us. Even the coasting trade is lost for the present. Therefore, my
+advice is very strongly against your returning for some weeks. All is
+going on well here. I am getting quite strong again, and, by the
+orders of the doctor, go out with John daily for a long row, and have
+gained much benefit from it. John sends his respects. He says that
+everything is ship-shape above and below, and the craft holding well
+on her way. He also prays you not to think of returning at present,
+and says that it would be as bad seamanship, as for a captain who has
+made a good offing in a gale, and has plenty of sea-room, to run down
+close to a rocky shore under the lee, before the storm has altogether
+blown itself out."
+
+Captain Dave took the advice, and only returned with his wife and
+Nellie a week before Christmas.
+
+"I am glad indeed to be back," he said, after the first greetings
+were over. "'Twas well enough for the women, who used to help in the
+dairy, and to feed the fowls, and gather the eggs, and make the
+butter, but for me there was nothing to do, and it seemed as if the
+days would never come to an end."
+
+"It was not so bad as that, father," Nellie said. "First of all, you
+had your pipe to smoke. Then, once a week you used to go over with
+the market-cart to Gloucester and to look at the shipping there, and
+talk with the masters and sailors. Then, on a Sunday, of course,
+there was church. So there were only five days each week to get
+through; and you know you took a good deal of interest in the horses
+and cows and pigs."
+
+"I tried to take an interest in them, Nellie; but it was very hard
+work."
+
+"Well, father, that is just what you were saying you wanted, and I am
+sure you spent hours every day walking about with the children, or
+telling them stories."
+
+"Well, perhaps, when I think of it, it was not so very bad after
+all," Captain Dave admitted. "At any rate, I am heartily glad I am
+back here again. We will open the shop to-morrow morning, John."
+
+"That we will, master. We sha'n't do much trade at present. Still, a
+few coasters have come in, and I hope that every day things will get
+better. Besides, all the vessels that have been lying in the Pool
+since June will want painting up and getting into trim again before
+they sail out of the river, so things may not be so slack after all.
+You will find everything in order in the store. I have had little to
+do but to polish up brass work and keep the metal from rusting. When
+do the apprentices come back again?"
+
+"I shall write for them as soon as I find that there is something for
+them to do. You are not thinking of running away as soon as we come
+back I hope, Cyril? You said, when you last wrote, that you were fit
+for sea again."
+
+"I am not thinking of going for some little time, if you will keep
+me, Captain Dave. There is no news of the Fleet fitting out at
+present, and they will not want us on board till they are just ready
+to start. They say that Albemarle is to command this time instead of
+the Duke, at which I am right glad, for he has fought the Dutch at
+sea many times, and although not bred up to the trade, he has shown
+that he can fight as steadily on sea as on land. All say the Duke
+showed courage and kept a firm countenance at Lowestoft, but there
+was certainly great slackness in the pursuit, though this, 'tis said,
+was not so much his fault as that of those who were over-careful of
+his safety. Still, as he is the heir to the throne, it is but right
+that he should be kept out of the fighting."
+
+"It is like to be stern work next time, Cyril, if what I hear be
+true. Owing partly to all men's minds being occupied by the Plague,
+and partly to the great sums wasted by the King in his pleasures,
+nothing whatever has been done for the Fleet. Of course, the squadron
+at sea has taken great numbers of prizes; but the rest of the Fleet
+is laid up, and no new ships are being built, while they say that the
+Dutch are busy in all their ship-yards, and will send out a much
+stronger fleet this spring than that which fought us at Lowestoft. I
+suppose you have not heard of any of your grand friends?"
+
+"No. I should have written to Sydney Oliphant, but I knew not whether
+he was at sea or at home, and, moreover, I read that most folks in
+the country are afraid of letters from London, thinking that they
+might carry contagion. Many noblemen have now returned to the West
+End, and when I hear that the Earl has also come back with his family
+it will, of course, be my duty to wait upon him, and on Prince Rupert
+also. But I hope the Prince will not be back yet, for he will be
+wanting me to go to Court again, and for this, in truth, I have no
+inclination, and, moreover, it cannot be done without much expense
+for clothes, and I have no intention to go into expenses on follies
+or gew-gaws, or to trench upon the store of money that I had from
+you, Captain Dave."
+
+They had just finished breakfast on the day before Christmas, when
+one of the apprentices came up from the shop and said that one Master
+Goldsworthy, a lawyer in the Temple, desired to speak to Sir Cyril
+Shenstone. Cyril was about to go down when Captain Dave said,--
+
+"Show the gentleman up, Susan. We will leave you here to him, Cyril."
+
+"By no means," Cyril said. "I do not know him, and he can assuredly
+have no private business with me that you may not hear."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter, however, left the room. The lawyer, a
+grave-looking gentleman of some fifty years of age, glanced at Cyril
+and the Captain as he entered the room, and then advanced towards the
+former.
+
+"My name is unknown to you, Sir Cyril," he said, "but it has been
+said that a bearer of good news needs no introduction, and I come in
+that capacity. I bring you, sir, a Christmas-box," and he took from a
+bag he carried a bundle of some size, and a letter. "Before you open
+it, sir, I will explain the character of its contents, which would
+take you some time to decipher and understand, while I can explain
+them in a very few words. I may tell you that I am the legal adviser
+of Mr. Ebenezer Harvey, of Upmead Court, Norfolk. You are, I presume,
+familiar with the name?"
+
+Cyril started. Upmead Court was the name of his father's place, but
+with the name of its present owner he was not familiar. Doubtless, he
+might sometimes have heard it from his father, but the latter, when
+he spoke of the present possessor of the Court, generally did so as
+"that Roundhead dog," or "that canting Puritan."
+
+"The Court I know, sir," he said gravely, "as having once been my
+father's, but I do not recall the name of its present owner, though
+it may be that in my childhood my father mentioned it in my hearing."
+
+"Nevertheless, sir, you know the gentleman himself, having met him,
+as he tells me, frequently at the house of Mr. Wallace, who was
+minister of the chapel at which he worshipped, and who came up to
+London to minister to those sorely afflicted and needing comfort. Not
+only did you meet with Mr. Harvey and his wife, but you rendered to
+them very material service."
+
+"I was certainly unaware," Cyril said, "that Mr. Harvey was the
+possessor of what had been my father's estate, but, had I known it,
+it would have made no difference in my feeling towards him. I found
+him a kind and godly gentleman whom, more than others there, was good
+enough to converse frequently with me, and to whom I was pleased to
+be of service."
+
+"The service was of a most important nature," the lawyer said, "being
+nothing less than the saving of his life, and probably that of his
+wife. He sent for me the next morning, and then drew out his will. By
+that will he left to you the estates which he had purchased from your
+father."
+
+Cyril gave a start of surprise, and would have spoken, but Master
+Goldsworthy held up his hand, and said,--
+
+"Please let me continue my story to the end. This act was not the
+consequence of the service that you had rendered him. He had
+previously consulted me on the subject, and stated his intentions to
+me. He had met you at Mr. Wallace's, and at once recognised your
+name, and learnt from Mr. Wallace that you were the son of Sir Aubrey
+Shenstone. He studied your character, had an interview with Dr.
+Hodges, and learnt how fearlessly you were devoting yourself to the
+work of aiding those stricken with the Plague. With his own son he
+had reason for being profoundly dissatisfied. The young man had
+thrown off his authority, had become a notorious reprobate, and had,
+he believed, sunk down to become a companion of thieves and
+highwaymen. He had come up to London solely to make a last effort to
+save him from his evil courses and to give him a chance of
+reformation by sending him out to New England.
+
+"Mr. Harvey is possessed of considerable property in addition to the
+estates purchased of your father, for, previous to that purchase he
+had been the owner of large tanneries at Norwich, which he has ever
+since maintained, not so much for the sake of the income he derived
+from them as because they afforded a livelihood to a large number of
+workmen. He had, therefore, ample means to leave to his son, should
+the latter accept his offer and reform his life, without the estates
+of Upmead. When he saw you, he told me his conscience was moved. He
+had, of course, a legal right to the estates, but he had purchased
+them for a sum not exceeding a fifth of their value, and he
+considered that in the twenty years he had held them he had drawn
+from them sums amply sufficient to repay him for the price he had
+given for them, and had received a large interest on the money in
+addition. He questioned, therefore, strongly whether he had any right
+longer to retain them.
+
+"When he consulted me on the subject, he alluded to the fact that, by
+the laws of the Bible, persons who bought lands were bound to return
+the land to its former possessors, at the end of seven times seven
+years. He had already, then, made up his mind to leave that portion
+of his property to you, when you rendered him that great service, and
+at the same time it became, alas! but too evident to him that his son
+was hopelessly bad, and that any money whatever left to him would
+assuredly be spent in evil courses, and would do evil rather than
+good. Therefore, when I came in the morning to him he said,--
+
+"'My will must be made immediately. Not one penny is to go to my son.
+I may be carried off to-morrow by the Plague, or my son may renew his
+attempt with success. So I must will it away from him at once. For
+the moment, therefore, make a short will bequeathing the estate of
+Upmead to Sir Cyril Shenstone, all my other possessions to my wife
+for her lifetime, and at her death also to Sir Cyril Shenstone.
+
+"'I may alter this later on,' he said, 'but for the present I desire
+chiefly to place them beyond my son's reach. Please draw up the
+document at once, for no one can say what half an hour may bring
+forth to either of us. Get the document in form by this evening, when
+some friends will be here to witness it. Pray bring your two clerks
+also!'
+
+"A few days later he called upon me again.
+
+"'I have been making further inquiries about Sir Cyril Shenstone,' he
+said, 'and have learnt much concerning him from a man who is in the
+employment of the trader with whom he lives. What I have learnt more
+than confirms me in my impression of him. He came over from France,
+three years ago, a boy of scarce fourteen. He was clever at figures,
+and supported his reprobate father for the last two years of his life
+by keeping the books of small traders in the City. So much was he
+esteemed that, at his father's death, Captain Dowsett offered him a
+home in his house. He rewarded the kindness by making the discovery
+that the trader was being foully robbed, and brought about the arrest
+of the thieves, which incidentally led to the breaking-up of one of
+the worst gangs of robbers in London. Later on he found that his
+employer's daughter was in communication with a hanger-on of the
+Court, who told her that he was a nobleman. The young fellow set a
+watch upon her, came upon her at the moment she was about to elope
+with this villain, ran him through the shoulder, and took her back to
+her home, and so far respected her secret that her parents would
+never have known of it had she not, some time afterwards, confessed
+it to them. That villain, Mr. Goldsworthy,' he said, 'was my son!
+Just after that Sir Cyril obtained the good will of the Earl of
+Wisbech, whose three daughters he saved from being burnt to death at
+a fire in the Savoy. Thus, you see, this youth is in every way worthy
+of good fortune, and can be trusted to administer the estate of his
+fathers worthily and well. I wish you to draw out, at once, a deed
+conveying to him these estates, and rehearsing that, having obtained
+them at a small price, and having enjoyed them for a time long enough
+to return to me the money I paid for them with ample interest
+thereon, I now return them to him, confident that they will be in
+good hands, and that their revenues will be worthily spent.'
+
+"In this parcel is the deed in question, duly signed and witnessed,
+together with the parchments, deeds, and titles of which he became
+possessed at his purchase of the estate. I may say, Sir Cyril, that I
+have never carried out a legal transfer with greater pleasure to
+myself, considering, as I do, that the transaction is alike just and
+honourable on his part and most creditable to yourself. He begged me
+to hand the deeds to you myself. They were completed two months
+since, but he himself suggested that I should bring them to you on
+Christmas Eve, when it is the custom for many to give to their
+friends tokens of their regard and good will. I congratulate you
+heartily, sir, and rejoice that, for once, merit has met with a due
+reward."
+
+"I do not know, sir," Cyril replied, "how I can express my feelings
+of deep pleasure and gratitude at the wonderful tidings you have
+brought me. I had set it before me as the great object of my life,
+that, some day, should I live to be an old man, I might be enabled to
+repurchase the estate of my father's. I knew how improbable it was
+that I should ever be able to do so, and I can scarce credit that
+what seemed presumptuous even as a hope should have thus been so
+strangely and unexpectedly realised. I certainly do not feel that it
+is in any way due to what you are good enough to call my merits, for
+in all these matters that you have spoken of there has been nothing
+out of the way, or, so far as I can see, in any way praiseworthy, in
+what I have done. It would seem, indeed, that in all these matters,
+and in the saving of my life from the Plague, things have arranged
+themselves so as to fall out for my benefit."
+
+"That is what Mr. Harvey feels very strongly, Sir Cyril. He has told
+me, over and over again, that it seemed to him that the finger of God
+was specially manifest in thus bringing you together, and in placing
+you in a position to save his life. And now I will take my leave. I
+may say that in all legal matters connected with the estate I have
+acted for Mr. Harvey, and should be naturally glad if you will
+continue to entrust such matters to me. I have some special
+facilities in the matter, as Mr. Popham, a lawyer of Norwich, is
+married to my daughter, and we therefore act together in all business
+connected with the estate, he performing what may be called the local
+business, while I am advised by him as to matters requiring attention
+here in London."
+
+"I shall be glad indeed if you and Mr. Popham will continue to act in
+the same capacity for me," Cyril said warmly. "I am, as you see, very
+young, and know nothing of the management of an estate, and shall be
+grateful if you will, in all matters, act for me until I am of an age
+to assume the duties of the owner of Upmead."
+
+"I thank you, Sir Cyril, and we shall, I trust, afford you
+satisfaction. The deed, you will observe, is dated the 29th of
+September, the day on which it was signed, though there have been
+other matters to settle. The tenants have already been notified that
+from that date they are to regard you as their landlord. Now that you
+authorise us to act for you, my son-in-law will at once proceed to
+collect the rents for this quarter. I may say that, roughly, they
+amount to seventeen hundred pounds a year, and as it may be a
+convenience to you to draw at once, if it so please you I will place,
+on Monday next, the sum of four hundred pounds to your credit with
+Messrs. Murchison and Graham, who are my bankers, or with any other
+firm you may prefer."
+
+"With the bankers you name, by all means," Cyril said; "and I thank
+you heartily for so doing, for as I shall shortly rejoin the Fleet, a
+portion, at least, of the money will be very useful to me."
+
+Mr. Goldsworthy took his hat.
+
+"There is one thing further I have forgotten. Mr. Harvey requested me
+to say that he wished for no thanks in this matter. He regards it as
+an act of rightful restitution, and, although you will doubtless
+write to him, he would be pleased if you will abstain altogether from
+treating it as a gift."
+
+"I will try to obey his wishes," Cyril said, "but it does not seem to
+me that it will be possible for me to abstain from any expression of
+gratitude for his noble act."
+
+Cyril accompanied the lawyer to the door, and then returned upstairs.
+
+"Now I can speak," Captain Dowsett said. "I have had hard work to
+keep a stopper on my tongue all this time, for I have been well-nigh
+bursting to congratulate you. I wish you joy, my lad," and he wrung
+Cyril's hand heartily, "and a pleasant voyage through life. I am as
+glad, ay, and a deal more glad than if such a fortune had come in my
+way, for it would have been of little use to me, seeing I have all
+that the heart of man could desire."
+
+He ran to the door and shouted loudly for his wife and daughter.
+
+"I have news for you both," he said, as they came in. "What do you
+think? Cyril, like the King, has come to his own again, and he is now
+Sir Cyril Shenstone, the owner of the estate of Upmead."
+
+Both broke into exclamations of surprise and pleasure.
+
+"How has the wonder come about?" Nellie asked, after the first
+congratulations were over. "What good fairy has brought this round?"
+
+"The good fairy was the Mr. Harvey whose name Cyril once mentioned
+casually, and whose life, as it now appears, he saved, though he has
+said nothing to us about it. That gentleman was, most strangely, the
+man who bought the estate from his father. He, it seems, is a wealthy
+man, and his conscience has for some time been pricked with the
+thought that he had benefited too largely from the necessities of Sir
+Aubrey, and that, having received back from the rents all the money
+he paid, and goodly interest thereon, he ought to restore the estate
+to its former owner. Possibly he might never have acted on this
+thought, but he considered the circumstance that he had so strangely
+met Cyril here at the time of the Plague, and still more strangely
+that Cyril had saved his life, was a matter of more than chance, and
+was a direct and manifest interposition of Providence; and he has
+therefore made restitution, and that parcel on the table contains a
+deed of gift to Cyril of all his father's estates."
+
+"He has done quite rightly," Mrs. Dowsett said warmly, "though,
+indeed, it is not everyone who would see matters in that light. If
+men always acted in that spirit it would be a better world."
+
+"Ay, ay, wife. There are not many men who, having got the best of a
+bargain, voluntarily resign the profits they have made. It is
+pleasant to come across one who so acts, more especially when one's
+best friend is the gainer. Ah! Nellie, what a pity some good fairy
+did not tell you of what was coming! What a chance you have lost,
+girl! See what might have happened if you had set your cap at Cyril!"
+
+"Indeed, it is terrible to think of," Nellie laughed. "It was hard on
+me that he was not five or six years older. Then I might have done
+it, even if my good fairy had not whispered in my ear about this
+fortune. Never mind. I shall console myself by looking forward to
+dance at his wedding--that is, if he will send me an invitation."
+
+"Like as not you will be getting past your dancing days by the time
+that comes off, Nellie. I hope that, years before then, I shall have
+danced at your wedding--that is to say," he said, imitating her, "if
+you will send me an invitation."
+
+"What are you going to do next, Cyril?" Captain Dave asked, when the
+laugh had subsided.
+
+"I don't know, I am sure," Cyril replied. "I have not really woke up
+to it all yet. It will be some time before I realise that I am not a
+penniless young baronet, and that I can spend a pound without looking
+at it a dozen times. I shall have to get accustomed to the thought
+before I can make any plans. I suppose that one of the first things
+to do will be to go down to Oxford to see Prince Rupert--who, I
+suppose, is with the Court, though this I can doubtless learn at the
+offices of the Admiralty--and to tell him that I am ready to rejoin
+his ship as soon as he puts to sea again. Then I shall find out where
+Sydney Oliphant is, and how his family have fared in the Plague. I
+would fain find out what has become of the Partons, to whom, and
+especially to Lady Parton, I owe much. I suppose, too, I shall have
+to go down to Norfolk, but that I shall put off as long as I can, for
+it will be strange and very unpleasant at first to go down as master
+to a place I have never seen. I shall have to get you to come down
+with me, Captain Dave, to keep me in countenance."
+
+"Not I, my lad. You will want a better introducer. I expect that the
+lawyer who was here will give you a letter to his son-in-law, who
+will, of course, place himself at your service, establishing you in
+your house and taking you round to your tenants."
+
+"Oh, yes," Nellie said, clapping her hands. "And there will be fine
+doings, and bonfires, and arches, and all sorts of festivities. I do
+begin to feel how much I have missed the want of that good fairy."
+
+"It will be all very disagreeable," Cyril said seriously; whereat the
+others laughed.
+
+Cyril then went downstairs with Captain Dave, and told John Wilkes of
+the good fortune that had befallen him, at which he was as much
+delighted as the others had been.
+
+Ten days later Cyril rode to Oxford, and found that Prince Rupert was
+at present there. The Prince received him with much warmth.
+
+"I have wondered many times what had become of you, Sir Cyril," he
+said. "From the hour when I saw you leave us in the _Fan Fan_ I have
+lost sight of you altogether. I have not been in London since, for
+the Plague had set in badly before the ships were laid up, and as I
+had naught particular to do there I kept away from it. Albemarle has
+stayed through it, and he and Mr. Pepys were able to do all there was
+to do, but I have thought of you often and wondered how you fared,
+and hoped to see you here, seeing that there was, as it seemed to me,
+nothing to keep you in London after your wounds had healed. I have
+spoken often to the King of the brave deed by which you saved us all,
+and he declared that, had it not been that you were already a
+baronet, he would knight you as soon as you appeared, as many of the
+captains and others have already received that honour; and he agreed
+with me that none deserved it better than yourself. Now, what has
+become of you all this time?"
+
+Cyril related how he had stayed in London, had had the Plague, and
+had recovered from it.
+
+"I must see about getting you a commission at once in the Navy," the
+Prince said, "though I fear you will have to wait until we fit out
+again. There will be no difficulty then, for of course there were
+many officers killed in the action."
+
+Cyril expressed his thanks, adding,--
+
+"There is no further occasion for me to take a commission, Prince,
+for, strangely enough, the owner of my father's property has just
+made it over to me. He is a good man, and, considering that he has
+already reaped large benefits by his purchase, and has been repaid
+his money with good interest, his conscience will no longer suffer
+him to retain it."
+
+"Then he is a Prince of Roundheads," the Prince said, "and I most
+heartily congratulate you; and I believe that the King will be as
+pleased as I am. He said but the other day, when I was speaking to
+him of you, that it grieved him sorely that he was powerless to do
+anything for so many that had suffered in his cause, and that, after
+the bravery you had shown, he was determined to do something, and
+would insist with his ministers that some office should be found for
+you,--though it is not an easy matter, when each of them has special
+friends of his own among whom to divide any good things that fall
+vacant. He holds a Court this evening, and I will take you with me."
+
+The King was most gracious when the Prince again presented Cyril to
+him and told him of the good fortune that had befallen him.
+
+"By my faith, Sir Cyril, you were born under a lucky star. First of
+all you saved my Lord of Wisbech's daughters; then, as Prince Rupert
+tells me, you saved him and all on board his ship from being burned;
+and now a miracle has well-nigh happened in your favour. I see, too,
+that you have the use of your arm, which the Prince doubted would
+ever altogether recover."
+
+"More still, Your Majesty," the Prince said. "He had the Plague in
+August and recovered from it."
+
+"I shall have to keep you about me, Sir Cyril," the King said, "as a
+sort of amulet to guard me against ill luck."
+
+"I am going to take him to sea first," Prince Rupert broke in, seeing
+that Cyril was about to disclaim the idea of coming to Court. "I may
+want him to save my ship again, and I suppose he will be going down
+to visit his estate till I want him. You have never seen it, have
+you, Sir Cyril?"
+
+"No, sir; at least not to have any remembrance of it. I naturally
+long to see Upmead, of which I have heard much from my father. I
+should have gone down at once, but I thought it my duty to come
+hither and report myself to you as being ready to sail again as soon
+as you put to sea."
+
+"Duty first and pleasure afterwards," the King said. "I am afraid
+that is a little beyond me--eh, Rupert?"
+
+"Very much so, I should say, Cousin Charles," the Prince replied,
+with a smile. "However, I have no doubt Sir Cyril will not grudge us
+a few days before he leaves. There are several of the gentlemen who
+were his comrades on the _Henrietta_ here, and they will be glad to
+renew their acquaintance with him, knowing, as they all do, that they
+owe their lives to him."
+
+As Cyril was walking down the High Street, he saw a student coming
+along whose face seemed familiar to him. He looked hard at him.
+
+"Surely you must be Harry Parton?" he said.
+
+"That is my name, sir; though I cannot recall where I have met you.
+Yet there seems something familiar in your face, and still more in
+your voice."
+
+"I am Cyril Shenstone."
+
+"Why, what has become of you, Cyril?" Harry said, shaking him warmly
+by the hand. "I searched for you a year ago when I was in London, but
+could obtain no tidings whatever of you, save that you had lost your
+father. We are alike there, for my father died a few months after
+yours did."
+
+"I am sorry indeed, Harry. I had not heard of it before. I was not,
+indeed, in the way of doing so, as I was working in the City and knew
+nothing of what was passing elsewhere."
+
+"This is my college, Cyril. Come up to my room; there we can talk
+comfortably, and we have much to tell each other. How is it that you
+have never been near us?" he went on, when they were seated in front
+of a blazing fire in his room. "I know that there was some quarrel
+between our fathers, but when we heard of Sir Aubrey's death, both my
+father and mother thought that you would come to see us or would have
+written--for indeed it was not until after my father's death that we
+paid a visit to London. It was then my mother asked me to search for
+you; and after great difficulty I found the quarter in which you had
+lived, and then from the parish register learned where your father
+had died. Going there, I learned that you had left the lodging
+directly after his death, but more than that the people could not
+tell me."
+
+"I should have come to see your mother and Sir John, Harry. I know
+how deeply I am indebted to them, and as long as I live shall never
+cease to be grateful for Lady Parton's kindness to me. But I had
+received so much kindness that I shrank from seeming to wish to
+presume upon it further. I had, of course, to work for my living, and
+I wanted, before I recalled myself to them, to be able to say that I
+had not come as a beggar for further favours, but that I was making
+my way independently. Sooner or later I should have come, for your
+father once promised me that if I followed out what you remember was
+my plan, of entering foreign service, he would give me letters of
+introduction that would be useful to me. Had I that favour still to
+ask I could do it without shame. But more than that I would not have
+asked, even had I wanted bread, which, thank God! was never the
+case."
+
+"I can understand your feeling, Cyril, but my mother assuredly would
+always have been pleased to see you. You know you were a favourite of
+hers."
+
+"Had you been near town, Harry, I should certainly have come to see
+her and you as soon as I had fairly established myself, but I heard
+from my father that you had all gone away into the country soon after
+the unfortunate quarrel he had with Sir John, and therefore delayed
+taking any step for the time, and indeed did not know in what part of
+the country your father's estates lay. I know that he recovered them
+as soon as he returned."
+
+"They had never been forfeited," Harry said. "My father retired from
+the struggle after Naseby, and as he had influential friends among
+the Puritans, there was no forfeiture of his estates, and we were
+therefore able, as you know, to live in comfort at Dunkirk, his
+steward sending over such monies as were required. And now about
+yourself. Your brains must have served you rarely somehow, for you
+are dressed in the latest fashion, and indeed I took you for a Court
+gallant when you accosted me."
+
+"I have been truly fortunate, Harry, and indeed everything has turned
+out as if specially designed for my good, and, in a most strange and
+unlooked-for manner, I have just come into my father's estates
+again."
+
+"I am glad indeed to hear it, Cyril. Tell me how it has all come
+about."
+
+Cyril told the story of his life since he had come to London.
+
+"You have, indeed, had strange adventures, Cyril, and, though you say
+little about it, you must have done something special to have gained
+Prince Rupert's patronage and introduction to Court; but I shall worm
+all that out of you some day, or get it from other lips. What a
+contrast your life has been to mine! Here have you been earning your
+living bravely, fighting in the great battle against the Dutch, going
+through that terrible Plague, and winning your way back to fortune,
+while I have been living the life of a school-boy. Our estates lie in
+Shropshire, and as soon as we went down there my father placed me at
+a school at Shrewsbury. There I remained till his death, and then, as
+was his special wish, entered here. I have still a year of my course
+to complete. I only came up into residence last week. When the summer
+comes I hope that you will come down to Ardleigh and stay with us; it
+will give my mother great pleasure to see you again, for I never see
+her but she speaks of you, and wonders what has become of you, and if
+you are still alive."
+
+"Assuredly I will come, and that with the greatest pleasure," Cyril
+said, "providing only that I am not then at sea, which is, I fear,
+likely, as I rejoin the ship as soon as Prince Rupert takes the sea
+against the Dutch. However, directly we return I will write to you."
+
+"If you do so, let it be to Ardleigh, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
+Should I be here when your letter arrives, my mother will forward it
+to me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+TAKING POSSESSION
+
+
+Cyril stayed a week at Oxford. He greatly enjoyed the visit; and not
+only was he most warmly received by his former comrades on board the
+_Henrietta_, but Prince Rupert spoke so strongly in his favour to
+other gentlemen to whom he introduced him that he no longer felt a
+stranger at Court. Much of his spare time he spent with Harry Parton,
+and in his rooms saw something of college life, which seemed to him a
+very pleasant and merry one. He had ascertained, as soon as he
+arrived, that the Earl of Wisbech and his family were down at his
+estate, near the place from which he took his title, and had at once
+written to Sydney, from whom he received an answer on the last day of
+his stay at Oxford. It contained a warm invitation for him to come
+down to Wisbech.
+
+"You say you will be going to Norwich to take possession of your
+estate. If you ride direct from Oxford, our place will be but little
+out of your way, therefore we shall take no excuse for your not
+coming to see us, and shall look for you within a week or so from the
+date of this. We were all delighted to get your missive, for although
+what you say about infection carried by letters is true enough, and,
+indeed there was no post out of London for months, we had begun to
+fear that the worst must have befallen you when no letter arrived
+from you in December. Still, we thought that you might not know where
+we were, and so hoped that you might be waiting until you could find
+that out. My father bids me say that he will take no refusal. Since
+my return he more than ever regards you as being the good genius of
+the family, and it is certainly passing strange that, after saving my
+sisters' lives from fire you should, though in so different a way,
+have saved me from a similar death. So set off as soon as you get
+this--that is, if you can tear yourself away from the gaieties of
+Oxford."
+
+Cyril had, indeed, been specially waiting for Sydney's answer, having
+told him that he should remain at Oxford until he received it, and on
+the following morning he packed his valise and rode for Wisbech,
+where he arrived three days' later. His welcome at the Earl's was a
+most cordial one. He spent a week there, at the end of which time
+Sydney, at his earnest request, started for Norwich with him. The
+Earl had insisted on Cyril's accepting a splendid horse, and behind
+him, on his other animal, rode a young fellow, the son of a small
+tenant on the Earl's estate, whom he had engaged as a servant. He had
+written, three days before, to Mr. Popham, telling him that he would
+shortly arrive, and begging him to order the two old servants of his
+father, whom he had, at his request, engaged to take care of the
+house to get two or three chambers in readiness for him, which could
+doubtless be easily done, as he had learnt from the deed that the
+furniture and all contents of the house had been included in the
+gift. After putting up at the inn, he went to the lawyer's. Mr.
+Popham, he found, had had a room prepared in readiness for him at his
+house, but Cyril, while thanking him for so doing, said that, as Lord
+Oliphant was with him, he would stay at the inn for the night.
+
+The next morning they rode over with Mr. Popham to Upmead, which was
+six miles distant from the town.
+
+"That is the house," the lawyer said, as a fine old mansion came in
+sight. "There are larger residences in the county, but few more
+handsome. Indeed, it is almost too large for the estate, but, as
+perhaps you know, that was at one time a good deal larger than it is
+at present, for it was diminished by one of your ancestors in the
+days of Elizabeth."
+
+At the gate where they turned into the Park an arch of evergreens had
+been erected.
+
+"You don't mean to say you let them know that I was coming home?"
+Cyril said, in a tone of such alarm that Lord Oliphant laughed and
+Mr. Popham said apologetically,--
+
+"I certainly wrote to the tenants, sir, when I received your letter,
+and sent off a message saying that you would be here this morning.
+Most of them or their fathers were here in the old time, for Mr.
+Harvey made no changes, and I am sure they would have been very
+disappointed if they had not had notice that Sir Aubrey's son was
+coming home."
+
+"Of course it was quite right for you to do so, Mr. Popham, but you
+see I am quite unaccustomed to such things, and would personally have
+been much more pleased to have come home quietly. Still, as you say,
+it is only right that the tenants should have been informed, and at
+any rate it will be a satisfaction to get it all over at once."
+
+There were indeed quite a large number of men and women assembled in
+front of the house--all the tenants, with their wives and families,
+having gathered to greet their young landlord--and loud bursts of
+cheering arose as he rode up, Sydney and Mr. Popham reining back
+their horses a little to allow him to precede them. Cyril took off
+his hat, and bowed repeatedly in reply to the acclamations that
+greeted him. The tenants crowded round, many of the older men
+pressing forward to shake him by the hand.
+
+"Welcome back to your own again, Sir Cyril!"
+
+"I fought under your father, sir, and a good landlord he was to us
+all."
+
+Such were the exclamations that rose round him until he reached the
+door of the mansion, and, dismounting, took his place at the top of
+the steps. Then he took off his hat again, and when there was silence
+he said,--
+
+"I thank you heartily, one and all, good friends, for the welcome
+that you have given me. Glad indeed I am to come down to my father's
+home, and to be so greeted by those who knew him, and especially by
+those who followed him in the field in the evil days which have, we
+may hope, passed away for ever. You all know, perhaps, that I owe my
+return here as master to the noble generosity of Mr. Harvey, your
+late landlord, who restored me the estates, not being bound in any
+way to do so, but solely because he considered that he had already
+been repaid the money he gave for them. This may be true, but,
+nevertheless, there is not one man in a hundred thousand who would so
+despoil himself of the benefits of a bargain lawfully made, and I beg
+you therefore to give three cheers, as hearty as those with which you
+greeted me, for Mr. Harvey."
+
+Three cheers, as long and loud as those that had before risen,
+responded to the appeal.
+
+"Such a man," Cyril went on, when they subsided, "must have been a
+just and good landlord to you all, and I shall do my best to give you
+no cause for regret at the change that has come about."
+
+He paused for a moment to speak to Mr. Popham, who stood beside him,
+and then went on,--
+
+"I did not know whether I could ask you to drink to my health, but I
+learn from Mr. Popham that the cellars have been left well filled;
+therefore, my first orders on coming to the house of my fathers will
+be that a cask of wine shall be speedily broached, and that you shall
+be enabled to drink my health. While that is being done, Mr. Popham
+will introduce you to me one by one."
+
+Another loud cheer arose, and then the tenants came forward with
+their wives and families.
+
+Cyril shook hands with them all, and said a few words to each. The
+elder men had all ridden by his father in battle, and most of the
+younger ones said, as he shook hands with them,--
+
+"My father fell, under Sir Aubrey, at Naseby," or "at Worcester," or
+in other battles.
+
+By the time all had been introduced, a great cask of wine had been
+broached, and after the tenants had drunk to his health, and he had,
+in turn, pledged them, Cyril entered the house with Sydney and Mr.
+Popham, and proceeded to examine it under the guidance of the old man
+who had been his father's butler, and whose wife had also been a
+servant in Sir Aubrey's time.
+
+"Everything is just as it was then, Sir Cyril. A few fresh articles
+of furniture have been added, but Mr. Harvey would have no general
+change made. The family pictures hang just where they did, and your
+father himself would scarce notice the changes."
+
+"It is indeed a fine old mansion, Cyril," Lord Oliphant said, when
+they had made a tour of the house; "and now that I see it and its
+furniture I am even more inclined than before to admire the man who
+could voluntarily resign them. I shall have to modify my ideas of the
+Puritans. They have shown themselves ready to leave the country and
+cross the ocean to America, and begin life anew for conscience'
+sake--that is to say, to escape persecution--and they fought very
+doughtily, and we must own, very successfully, for the same reason,
+but this is the first time I have ever heard of one of them
+relinquishing a fine estate for conscience' sake."
+
+"Mr. Harvey is indeed a most worthy gentleman," Mr. Popham said, "and
+has the esteem and respect of all, even of those who are of wholly
+different politics. Still, it may be that although he would in any
+case, I believe, have left this property to Sir Cyril, he might not
+have handed it over to him in his lifetime, had not he received so
+great a service at his hands."
+
+"Why, what is this, Cyril?" Sydney said, turning upon him. "You have
+told us nothing whatever of any services rendered. I never saw such a
+fellow as you are for helping other people."
+
+"There was nothing worth speaking of," Cyril said, much vexed.
+
+Mr. Popham smiled.
+
+"Most people would think it was a very great service, Lord Oliphant.
+However, I may not tell you what it was, although I have heard all
+the details from my father-in-law, Mr. Goldsworthy. They were told in
+confidence, and in order to enlighten me as to the relations between
+Mr. Harvey and Sir Cyril, and as they relate to painful family
+matters I am bound to preserve an absolute silence."
+
+"I will be content to wait, Cyril, till I get you to myself. It is a
+peculiarity of Sir Cyril Shenstone, Mr. Popham, that he goes through
+life doing all sorts of services for all sorts of people. You may not
+know that he saved the lives of my three sisters in a fire at our
+mansion in the Savoy; he also performed the trifling service of
+saving Prince Rupert's ship and the lives of all on board, among whom
+was myself, from a Dutch fire-ship, in the battle of Lowestoft. These
+are insignificant affairs, that he would not think it worth while to
+allude to, even if you knew him for twenty years."
+
+"You do not know Lord Oliphant, Mr. Popham," Cyril laughed, "or you
+would be aware that his custom is to make mountains out of molehills.
+But let us sit down to dinner. I suppose it is your forethought, Mr.
+Popham, that I have to thank for having warned them to make this
+provision? I had thought that we should be lucky if the resources of
+the establishment sufficed to furnish us with a meal of bread and
+cheese."
+
+"I sent on a few things with my messenger yesterday evening, Sir
+Cyril, but for the hare and those wild ducks methinks you have to
+thank your tenants, who doubtless guessed that an addition to the
+larder would be welcome. I have no doubt that, good landlord as Mr.
+Harvey was, they are really delighted to have you among them again.
+As you know, these eastern counties were the stronghold of
+Puritanism, and that feeling is still held by the majority. It is
+only among the tenants of many gentlemen who, like your father, were
+devoted Royalists, that there is any very strong feeling the other
+way. As you heard from their lips, most of your older tenants fought
+under Sir Aubrey, while the fathers of the younger ones fell under
+his banner. Consequently, it was galling to them that one of
+altogether opposite politics should be their landlord, and although
+in every other respect they had reason to like him, he was, as it
+were, a symbol of their defeat, and I suppose they viewed him a good
+deal as the Saxons of old times regarded their Norman lords."
+
+"I can quite understand that, Mr. Popham."
+
+"Another feeling has worked in your favour, Sir Cyril," the lawyer
+went on. "It may perhaps be a relic of feudalism, but there can be no
+doubt that there exists, in the minds of English country folks, a
+feeling of respect and of something like affection for their
+landlords when men of old family, and that feeling is never
+transferred to new men who may take their place. Mr. Harvey was, in
+their eyes, a new man--a wealthy one, no doubt, but owing his wealth
+to his own exertions--and he would never have excited among them the
+same feeling as they gave to the family who had, for several hundred
+years, been owners of the soil."
+
+Cyril remained for a fortnight at Upmead, calling on all the tenants,
+and interesting himself in them and their families. The day after his
+arrival he rode into Norwich, and paid a visit to Mr. Harvey. He had,
+in compliance to his wishes, written but a short letter of
+acknowledgment of the restitution of the estate, but he now expressed
+the deep feeling of gratitude that he entertained.
+
+"I have only done what is right," Mr. Harvey said quietly, "and would
+rather not be thanked for it; but your feelings are natural, and I
+have therefore not checked your words. It was assuredly God's doing
+in so strangely bringing us together, and making you an instrument in
+saving our lives, and so awakening an uneasy conscience into
+activity. I have had but small pleasure from Upmead. I have a house
+here which is more than sufficient for all my wants, and I have, I
+hope, the respect of my townsfellows, and the affection of my
+workmen. At Upmead I was always uncomfortable. Such of the county
+gentlemen who retained their estates looked askance at me. The
+tenants, I knew, though they doffed their hats as I passed them,
+regarded me as a usurper. I had no taste for the sports and pleasures
+of country life, being born and bred a townsman. The ill-doing of my
+son cast a gloom over my life of late. I have lived chiefly here with
+the society of friends of my own religious and political feeling.
+Therefore, I have made no sacrifice in resigning my tenancy of
+Upmead, and I pray you say no further word of your gratitude. I have
+heard, from one who was there yesterday, how generously you spoke of
+me to your tenants, and I thank you for so doing, for it is pleasant
+for me to stand well in the thoughts of those whose welfare I have
+had at heart."
+
+"I trust that Mrs. Harvey is in good health?" Cyril said.
+
+"She is far from well, Cyril. The events of that night in London have
+told heavily upon her, as is not wonderful, for she has suffered much
+sorrow for years, and this last blow has broken her sorely. She
+mourns, as David mourned over the death of Absalom, over the
+wickedness of her son, but she is quite as one with me in the
+measures that I have taken concerning him, save that, at her earnest
+prayer, I have made a provision for him which will keep him from
+absolute want, and will leave him no excuse to urge that he was
+driven by poverty into crime. Mr. Goldsworthy has not yet discovered
+means of communicating with him, but when he does so he will notify
+him that he has my instructions to pay to him fifteen pounds on the
+first of every month, and that the offer of assistance to pay his
+passage to America is still open to him, and that on arriving there
+he will receive for three years the same allowance as here. Then if a
+favourable report of his conduct is forthcoming from the magistrates
+and deacons of the town where he takes up his residence, a
+correspondent of Mr. Goldsworthy's will be authorised to expend four
+thousand pounds on the purchase of an estate for him, and to hand to
+him another thousand for the due working and maintenance of the same.
+For these purposes I have already made provisions in my will, with
+proviso that if, at the end of five years after my death, no news of
+him shall be obtained, the money set aside for these purposes shall
+revert to the main provisions of the will. It may be that he died of
+the Plague. It may be that he has fallen, or will fall, a victim to
+his own evil courses and evil passions. But I am convinced that,
+should he be alive, Mr. Goldsworthy will be able to obtain tidings of
+him long before the five years have expired. And now," he said,
+abruptly changing the subject, "what are you thinking of doing, Sir
+Cyril?"
+
+"In the first place, sir, I am going to sea again with the Fleet very
+shortly. I entered as a Volunteer for the war, and could not well,
+even if I wished it, draw back."
+
+"They are a stiff-necked people," Mr. Harvey said. "That the
+Sovereigns of Europe should have viewed with displeasure the
+overthrow of the monarchy here was natural enough; but in Holland, if
+anywhere, we might have looked for sympathy, seeing that as they had
+battled for freedom of conscience, so had we done here; and yet they
+were our worst enemies, and again and again had Blake to sail forth
+to chastise them. They say that Monk is to command this time?"
+
+"I believe so, sir."
+
+"Monk is the bruised reed that pierced our hand, but he is a good
+fighter. And after the war is over, Sir Cyril, you will not, I trust,
+waste your life in the Court of the profligate King?"
+
+"Certainly not," Cyril said earnestly. "As soon as the war is over I
+shall return to Upmead and take up my residence there. I have lived
+too hard a life to care for the gaieties of Court, still less of a
+Court like that of King Charles. I shall travel for a while in Europe
+if there is a genuine peace. I have lost the opportunity of
+completing my education, and am too old now to go to either of the
+Universities. Not too old perhaps; but I have seen too much of the
+hard side of life to care to pass three years among those who, no
+older than myself, are still as boys in their feelings. The next best
+thing, therefore, as it seems to me, would be to travel, and perhaps
+to spend a year or two in one of the great Universities abroad."
+
+"The matter is worth thinking over," Mr. Harvey said. "You are
+assuredly young yet to settle down alone at Upmead, and will reap
+much advantage from speaking French which is everywhere current, and
+may greatly aid you in making your travels useful to you. I have no
+fear of your falling into Popish error, Sir Cyril; but if my wishes
+have any weight with you I would pray you to choose the schools of
+Leyden or Haarlem, should you enter a foreign University, for they
+turn out learned men and good divines."
+
+"Certainly your wishes have weight with me, Mr. Harvey, and should
+events so turn out that I can enter one of the foreign Universities,
+it shall be one of those you name--that is, should we, after this war
+is ended, come into peaceful relations with the Dutch."
+
+Before leaving the Earl's, Cyril had promised faithfully that he
+would return thither with Sydney, and accordingly, at the end of the
+fortnight, he rode back with him there, and, three weeks later,
+journeyed up to London with the Earl and his family.
+
+It was the middle of March when they reached London. The Court had
+come up a day or two before, and the Fleet was, as Cyril learnt,
+being fitted out in great haste. The French had now, after hesitating
+all through the winter, declared war against us, and it was certain
+that we should have their fleet as well as that of the Dutch to cope
+with. Calling upon Prince Rupert on the day he arrived, Cyril learnt
+that the Fleet would assuredly put to sea in a month's time.
+
+"Would you rather join at once, or wait until I go on board?" the
+Prince asked.
+
+"I would rather join at once, sir. I have no business to do in
+London, and it would be of no use for me to take an apartment when I
+am to leave so soon; therefore, if I can be of any use, I would
+gladly join at once."
+
+"You would be of no use on board," the Prince said, "but assuredly
+you could be of use in carrying messages, and letting me know
+frequently, from your own report, how matters are going on. I heard
+yesterday that the _Fan Fan_ is now fitted out. You shall take the
+command of her. I will give you a letter to the boatswain, who is at
+present in charge, saying that I have placed her wholly under your
+orders. You will, of course, live on board. You will be chiefly at
+Chatham and Sheerness. If you call early to-morrow I will have a
+letter prepared for you, addressed to all captains holding commands
+in the White Squadron, bidding them to acquaint you, whensoever you
+go on board, with all particulars of how matters have been pushed
+forward, and to give you a list of all things lacking. Then, twice a
+week you will sail up to town, and report to me, or, should there be
+any special news at other times, send it to me by a mounted
+messenger. Mr. Pepys, the secretary, is a diligent and hard-working
+man, but he cannot see to everything, and Albemarle so pushes him
+that I think the White Squadron does not get a fair share of
+attention; but if I can go to him with your reports in hand, I may
+succeed in getting what is necessary done."
+
+Bidding farewell to the Earl and his family, and thanking him for his
+kindness, Cyril stopped that night at Captain Dave's, and told him of
+all that had happened since they met. The next morning he went early
+to Prince Rupert's, received the two letters, and rode down to
+Chatham. Then, sending the horses back by his servant, who was to
+take them to the Earl's stable, where they would be cared for until
+his return, Cyril went on board the _Fan Fan_. For the next month he
+was occupied early and late with his duties. The cabin was small, but
+very comfortable. The crew was a strong one, for the yacht rowed
+twelve oars, with which she could make good progress even without her
+sails. He was waited on by his servant, who returned as soon as he
+had left the horses in the Earl's stables; his cooking was done for
+him in the yacht's galley. On occasions, as the tide suited, he
+either sailed up to London in the afternoon, gave his report to the
+Prince late in the evening, and was back at Sheerness by daybreak, or
+he sailed up at night, saw the Prince as soon as he rose, and
+returned at once.
+
+The Prince highly commended his diligence, and told him that his
+reports were of great use to him, as, with them in his hand, he could
+not be put off at the Admiralty with vague assurances. Every day one
+or more ships went out to join the Fleet that was gathering in the
+Downs, and on April 20th Cyril sailed in the _Fan Fan_, in company
+with the last vessel of the White Squadron, and there again took up
+his quarters on board the _Henrietta_, the _Fan Fan_ being anchored
+hard by in charge of the boatswain.
+
+On the 23rd, the Prince, with the Duke of Albemarle, and a great
+company of noblemen and gentlemen, arrived at Deal, and came on board
+the Fleet, which, on May 1st, weighed anchor.
+
+Lord Oliphant was among the volunteers who came down with the Prince,
+and, as many of the other gentlemen had also been on board during the
+first voyage, Cyril felt that he was among friends, and had none of
+the feeling of strangeness and isolation he had before experienced.
+
+The party was indeed a merry one. For upwards of a year the fear of
+the Plague had weighed on all England. At the time it increased so
+terribly in London, that all thought it would, like the Black Death,
+spread over England, and that, once again, half the population of the
+country might be swept away. Great as the mortality had been, it had
+been confined almost entirely to London and some of the great towns,
+and now that it had died away even in these, there was great relief
+in men's minds, and all felt that they had personally escaped from a
+terrible and imminent danger. That they were about to face peril even
+greater than that from which they had escaped did not weigh on the
+spirits of the gentlemen on board Prince Rupert's ship. To be killed
+fighting for their country was an honourable death that none feared,
+while there had been, in the minds of even the bravest, a horror of
+death by the Plague, with all its ghastly accompaniments. Sailing out
+to sea to the Downs, then, they felt that the past year's events lay
+behind them as an evil dream, and laughed and jested and sang with
+light-hearted mirth.
+
+As yet, the Dutch had not put out from port, and for three weeks the
+Fleet cruised off their coast. Then, finding that the enemy could not
+be tempted to come out, they sailed back to the Downs. The day after
+they arrived there, a messenger came down from London with orders to
+Prince Rupert to sail at once with the White Squadron to engage the
+French Fleet, which was reported to be on the point of putting to
+sea. The Prince had very little belief that the French really
+intended to fight. Hitherto, although they had been liberal in their
+promises to the Dutch, they had done nothing whatever to aid them,
+and the general opinion was that France rejoiced at seeing her rivals
+damage each other, but had no idea of risking her ships or men in the
+struggle.
+
+"I believe, gentlemen," Prince Rupert said to his officers, "that
+this is but a ruse on the part of Louis to aid his Dutch allies by
+getting part of our fleet out of the way. Still, I have nothing to do
+but to obey orders, though I fear it is but a fool's errand on which
+we are sent."
+
+The wind was from the north-east, and was blowing a fresh gale. The
+Prince prepared to put to sea. While the men were heaving at the
+anchors a message came to Cyril that Prince Rupert wished to speak to
+him in his cabin.
+
+"Sir Cyril, I am going to restore you to your command. The wind is so
+strong and the sea will be so heavy that I would not risk my yacht
+and the lives of the men by sending her down the Channel. I do not
+think there is any chance of our meeting the French, and believe that
+it is here that the battle will be fought, for with this wind the
+Dutch can be here in a few hours, and I doubt not that as soon as
+they learn that one of our squadrons has sailed away they will be
+out. The _Fan Fan_ will sail with us, but will run into Dover as we
+pass. Here is a letter that I have written ordering you to do so, and
+authorising you to put out and join the Admiral's Fleet, should the
+Dutch attack before my return. If you like to have young Lord
+Oliphant with you he can go, but he must go as a Volunteer under you.
+You are the captain of the _Fan Fan_, and have been so for the last
+two months; therefore, although your friend is older than you are, he
+must, if he choose to go, be content to serve under you. Stay, I will
+put it to him myself."
+
+He touched the bell, and ordered Sydney to be sent for.
+
+"Lord Oliphant," he said, "I know that you and Sir Cyril are great
+friends. I do not consider that the _Fan Fan_, of which he has for
+some time been commander, is fit to keep the sea in a gale like this,
+and I have therefore ordered him to take her into Dover. If the Dutch
+come out to fight the Admiral, as I think they will, he will join the
+Fleet, and although the _Fan Fan_ can take but small share in the
+fighting, she may be useful in carrying messages from the Duke while
+the battle is going on. It seems to me that, as the _Fan Fan_ is
+more likely to see fighting than my ships, you, as a Volunteer, might
+prefer to transfer yourself to her until she again joins us. Sir
+Cyril is younger than you are, but if you go, you must necessarily be
+under his command seeing that he is captain of the yacht. It is for
+you to choose whether you will remain here or go with him."
+
+"I should like to go with him, sir. He has had a good deal of
+experience of the sea, while I have never set foot on board ship till
+last year. And after what he did at Lowestoft I should say that any
+gentleman would be glad to serve under him."
+
+"That is the right feeling," Prince Rupert said warmly. "Then get
+your things transferred to the yacht. If you join Albemarle's Fleet,
+Sir Cyril, you will of course report yourself to him, and say that I
+directed you to place yourself under his orders."
+
+Five minutes later Cyril and his friend were on board the _Fan Fan._
+Scarcely had they reached her, when a gun was fired from Prince
+Rupert's ship as a signal, and the ships of the White Squadron shook
+out their sails, and, with the wind free, raced down towards the
+South Foreland.
+
+"We are to put into Dover," Cyril said to the boatswain, a
+weatherbeaten old sailor.
+
+"The Lord be praised for that, sir! She is a tight little craft, but
+there will be a heavy sea on as soon we are beyond shelter of the
+sands, and with these two guns on board of her she will make bad
+weather. Besides, in a wind like this, it ain't pleasant being in a
+little craft in the middle of a lot of big ones, for if we were not
+swamped by the sea, we might very well be run down. We had better
+keep her close to the Point, yer honour, and then run along, under
+shelter of the cliffs, into Dover. The water will be pretty smooth in
+there, though we had best carry as little sail as we can, for the
+gusts will come down from above fit to take the mast out of her."
+
+"I am awfully glad you came with me, Sydney," Cyril said, as he took
+his place with his friend near the helmsman, "but I wish the Prince
+had put you in command. Of course, it is only a nominal thing, for
+the boatswain is really the captain in everything that concerns
+making sail and giving orders to the crew. Still, it would have been
+much nicer the other way."
+
+"I don't see that it would, Cyril," Sydney laughed, "for you know as
+much more about handling a boat like this than I do, as the boatswain
+does than yourself. You have been on board her night and day for more
+than a month, and even if you knew nothing about her at all, Prince
+Rupert would have been right to choose you as a recognition of your
+great services last time. Don't think anything about it. We are
+friends, and it does not matter a fig which is the nominal commander.
+I was delighted to come, not only to be with you, but because it will
+be a very great deal pleasanter being our own masters on board this
+pretty little yacht than being officers on board the _Henrietta_
+where we would have been only in the way except when we went into
+action."
+
+As soon as they rounded the Point most of the sail was taken off the
+_Fan Fan,_ but even under the small canvas she carried she lay over
+until her lee rail was almost under water when the heavy squalls
+swooped down on her from the cliffs. The rest of the squadron was
+keeping some distance out, presenting a fine sight as the ships lay
+over, sending the spray flying high into the air from their bluff
+bows, and plunging deeply into the waves.
+
+"Yes, it is very distinctly better being where we are," Lord Oliphant
+said, as he gazed at them. "I was beginning to feel qualmish before
+we got under shelter of the Point, and by this time, if I had been on
+board the _Henrietta,_ I should have been prostrate, and should have
+had I know not how long misery before me."
+
+A quarter of an hour later they were snugly moored in Dover Harbour.
+For twenty-four hours the gale continued; the wind then fell
+somewhat, but continued to blow strongly from the same quarter. Two
+days later it veered round to the south-west, and shortly afterwards
+the English Fleet could be seen coming out past the Point. As soon as
+they did so they headed eastward.
+
+"They are going out to meet the Dutch," Sydney said, as they watched
+the ships from the cliffs, "The news must have arrived that their
+fleet has put out to sea."
+
+"Then we may as well be off after them, Sydney; they will sail faster
+than we shall in this wind, for it is blowing too strongly for us to
+carry much sail."
+
+They hurried on board. A quarter of an hour later the _Fan Fan_ put
+out from the harbour. The change of wind had caused an ugly cross sea
+and the yacht made bad weather of it, the waves constantly washing
+over her decks, but before they were off Calais she had overtaken
+some of the slower sailers of the Fleet. The sea was less violent as
+they held on, for they were now, to some extent, sheltered by the
+coast.
+
+In a short time Cyril ran down into the cabin where Sydney was lying
+ill.
+
+"The Admiral has given the signal to anchor, and the leading ships
+are already bringing up. We will choose a berth as near the shore as
+we can; with our light draught we can lie well inside of the others,
+and shall be in comparatively smooth water."
+
+Before dusk the Fleet was at anchor, with the exception of two or
+three of the fastest frigates, which were sent on to endeavour to
+obtain some news of the enemy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE FIGHT OFF DUNKIRK
+
+
+As soon as the _Fan Fan_ had been brought to an anchor the boat was
+lowered, and Cyril was rowed on board the Admiral's ship.
+
+Albemarle was on the poop, and Cyril made his report to him.
+
+"Very well, sir," the Duke said, "I dare say I shall be able to make
+you of some use. Keep your craft close to us when we sail. I seem to
+know your face."
+
+"I am Sir Cyril Shenstone, my Lord Duke. I had the honour of meeting
+you first at the fire in the Savoy, and Prince Rupert afterwards was
+good enough to present me to you."
+
+"Yes, yes, I remember. And it was you who saved the _Henrietta_ from
+the fire-ship at Lowestoft. You have begun well indeed, young sir,
+and are like to have further opportunities of showing your bravery."
+
+Cyril bowed, and then, going down the side to his boat, returned to
+the _Fan Fan._ She was lying in almost smooth water, and Sydney had
+come up on deck again.
+
+"You heard no news of the Dutch, I suppose, Cyril?"
+
+"No; I asked a young officer as I left the ship, and he said that, so
+far as he knew, nothing had been heard of them, but news had come in,
+before the Admiral sailed from the Downs, that everything was ready
+for sea, and that orders were expected every hour for them to put
+out."
+
+"It is rather to be hoped that they won't put out for another two
+days," Sydney said. "That will give the Prince time to rejoin with
+his squadron. The wind is favourable now for his return, and I should
+think, as soon as they hear in London that the Dutch are on the point
+of putting out, and Albemarle has sailed, they will send him orders
+to join us at once. We have only about sixty sail, while they say
+that the Dutch have over ninety, which is too heavy odds against us
+to be pleasant."
+
+"I should think the Duke will not fight till the Prince comes up."
+
+"I don't think he will wait for him if he finds the Dutch near. All
+say that he is over-confident, and apt to despise the Dutch too much.
+Anyhow, he is as brave as a lion, and, though he might not attack
+unless the Dutch begin it, I feel sure he will not run away from
+them."
+
+The next morning early, the _Bristol_ frigate was seen returning
+from the east. She had to beat her way back in the teeth of the wind,
+but, when still some miles away, a puff of white smoke was seen to
+dart out from her side, and presently the boom of a heavy gun was
+heard. Again and again she fired, and the signal was understood to be
+a notification that she had seen the Dutch. The signal for the
+captains of the men-of-war to come on board was at once run up to the
+mast-head of the flagship, followed by another for the Fleet to be
+prepared to weigh anchor. Captain Bacon, of the _Bristol_, went on
+board as soon as his ship came up. In a short time the boats were
+seen to put off, and as the captains reached their respective ships
+the signal to weigh anchor was hoisted.
+
+This was hailed with a burst of cheering throughout the Fleet, and
+all felt that it signified that they would soon meet the Dutch. The
+_Fan Fan_ was under sail long before the men-of-war had got up their
+heavy anchors, and, sailing out, tacked backwards and forwards until
+the Fleet were under sail, when Cyril told the boatswain to place her
+within a few cables' length of the flagship on her weather quarter.
+After two hours' sail the Dutch Fleet were made out, anchored off
+Dunkirk. The Blue Squadron, under Sir William Berkley, led the way,
+the Red Squadron, under the Duke, following.
+
+"I will put a man in the chains with the lead," the boatswain said to
+Cyril. "There are very bad sands off Dunkirk, and though we might get
+over them in safety, the big ships would take ground, and if they did
+so we should be in a bad plight indeed."
+
+"In that case, we had best slack out the sheet a little, and take up
+our post on the weather bow of the Admiral, so that we can signal to
+him if we find water failing."
+
+The topsail was hoisted, and the _Fan Fan,_ which was a very fast
+craft in comparatively smooth water, ran past the Admiral's flagship.
+
+"Shall I order him back, your Grace?" the Captain asked angrily.
+
+Albemarle looked at the _Fan Fan_ attentively.
+
+"They have got a man sounding," he said. "It is a wise precaution.
+The young fellow in command knows what he is doing. We ought to have
+been taking the same care. See! he is taking down his topsail again.
+Set an officer to watch the yacht, and if they signal, go about at
+once."
+
+The soundings continued for a short time at six fathoms, when
+suddenly the man at the lead called out sharply,--
+
+"Three fathoms!"
+
+Cyril ran to the flagstaff, and as the next cry came--"Two
+fathoms!"--hauled down the flag and stood waving his cap, while the
+boatswain, who had gone to the tiller, at once pushed it over to
+starboard, and brought the yacht up into the wind. Cyril heard orders
+shouted on board the flagship, and saw her stern sweeping round. A
+moment later her sails were aback, but the men, who already clustered
+round the guns, were not quick enough in hauling the yards across,
+and, to his dismay, he saw the main topmast bend, and then go over
+the side with a crash. All was confusion on board, and for a time it
+seemed as if the other topmast would also go.
+
+"Run her alongside within hailing distance," Cyril said to the
+boatswain. "They will want to question us."
+
+As they came alongside the flagship the Duke himself leant over the
+side.
+
+"What water had you when you came about, sir?"
+
+"We went suddenly from six fathoms to three, your Grace," Cyril
+shouted, "and a moment after we found but two."
+
+"Very well, sir," the Duke called back. "In that case you have
+certainly saved our ship. I thought perhaps that you had been
+over-hasty, and had thus cost us our topmast, but I see it was not
+so, and thank you. Our pilot assured us there was plenty of water on
+the course we were taking."
+
+The ships of the Red Squadron had all changed their course on seeing
+the flagship come about so suddenly, and considerable delay and
+confusion was caused before they again formed in order, and, in
+obedience to the Duke's signal, followed in support of the Blue
+Squadron. This had already dashed into the midst of the Dutch Fleet,
+who were themselves in some confusion; for, so sudden had been the
+attack, that they had been forced to cut their cables, having no time
+to get up their anchors.
+
+The British ships poured in their broadsides as they approached,
+while the Dutch opened a tremendous cannonade. Besides their great
+inferiority in numbers, the British were under a serious
+disadvantage. They had the weather gauge, and the wind was so strong
+that it heeled them over, so that they were unable to open their
+lower ports, and were therefore deprived of the use of their heaviest
+guns.
+
+Four of the ships of the Red Squadron remained by the flagship, to
+protect her if attacked, and to keep off fire-ships, while her crew
+laboured to get up another topmast. More than three hours were
+occupied in this operation, but so busily did the rest of the Fleet
+keep the Dutch at work that they were unable to detach sufficient
+ships to attack her.
+
+As soon as the topmast was in place and the sails hoisted, the
+flagship and her consorts hastened to join their hard-pressed
+comrades.
+
+The fight was indeed a desperate one. Sir William Berkley and his
+ship, the _Swiftsure,_ a second-rate, was taken, as was the
+_Essex,_ a third-rate.
+
+The _Henry,_ commanded by Sir John Harman, was surrounded by foes.
+Her sails and rigging were shot to pieces, so she was completely
+disabled, and the Dutch Admiral, Cornelius Evertz, summoned Sir John
+Harman to surrender.
+
+"It has not come to that yet," Sir John shouted back, and continued
+to pour such heavy broadsides into the Dutch that several of their
+ships were greatly damaged, and Evertz himself killed.
+
+The Dutch captains drew off their vessels, and launched three
+fire-ships at the _Henry._ The first one, coming up on her starboard
+quarter, grappled with her. The dense volumes of smoke rising from
+her prevented the sailors from discovering where the grapnels were
+fixed, and the flames were spreading to her when her boatswain
+gallantly leapt on board the fire-ship, and, by the light of its
+flames, discovered the grapnels and threw them overboard, and
+succeeded in regaining his ship.
+
+A moment later, the second fire-ship came up on the port side, and so
+great a body of flames swept across the _Henry_ that her chaplain
+and fifty men sprang overboard. Sir John, however, drew his sword,
+and threatened to cut down the first man who refused to obey orders,
+and the rest of the crew, setting manfully to work, succeeded in
+extinguishing the flames, and in getting free of the fire-ship. The
+halliards of the main yard were, however, burnt through, and the spar
+fell, striking Sir John Harman to the deck and breaking his leg.
+
+The third fire-ship was received with the fire of four cannon loaded
+with chain shot. These brought her mast down, and she drifted by,
+clear of the _Henry,_ which was brought safely into Harwich.
+
+The fight continued the whole day, and did not terminate until ten
+o'clock in the evening. The night was spent in repairing damages, and
+in the morning the English recommenced the battle. It was again
+obstinately contested. Admiral Van Tromp threw himself into the midst
+of the British line, and suffered so heavily that he was only saved
+by the arrival of Admiral de Ruyter. He, in his turn, was in a most
+perilous position, and his ship disabled, when fresh reinforcements
+arrived. And so the battle raged, until, in the afternoon, as if by
+mutual consent, the Fleets drew off from each other, and the battle
+ceased. The fighting had been extraordinarily obstinate and
+determined on both sides, many ships had been sunk, several burnt,
+and some captured. The sea was dotted with wreckage, masts, and
+spars, fragments of boats and _debris_ of all kinds. Both fleets
+presented a pitiable appearance; the hulls, but forty-eight hours ago
+so trim and smooth, were splintered and jagged, port-holes were
+knocked into one, bulwarks carried away, and stern galleries gone.
+The sails were riddled with shot-holes, many of the ships had lost
+one or more masts, while the light spars had been, in most cases,
+carried away, and many of the yards had come down owing to the
+destruction of the running gear.
+
+In so tremendous a conflict the little _Fan Fan_ could bear but a
+small part. Cyril and Lord Oliphant agreed, at the commencement of
+the first day's fight, that it would be useless for them to attempt
+to fire their two little guns, but that their efforts should be
+entirely directed against the enemy's fire-ships. During each day's
+battle, then, they hovered round the flagship, getting out of the way
+whenever she was engaged, as she often was, on both broadsides, and
+although once or twice struck by stray shots, the _Fan Fan_ received
+no serious damage. In this encounter of giants, the little yacht was
+entirely overlooked, and none of the great ships wasted a shot upon
+her. Two or three times each day, when the Admiral's ship had beaten
+off her foes, a fire-ship directed its course against her. Then came
+the _Fan Fan's_ turn for action. Under the pressure of her twelve
+oars she sped towards the fire-ship, and on reaching her a grapnel
+was thrown over the end of the bowsprit, and by the efforts of the
+rowers her course was changed, so that she swept harmlessly past the
+flagship.
+
+Twice when the vessels were coming down before the wind at a rate of
+speed that rendered it evident that the efforts of the men at the
+oars would be insufficient to turn her course, the _Fan Fan_ was
+steered alongside, grapnels were thrown, and, headed by Lord Oliphant
+and Cyril, the crew sprang on board, cut down or drove overboard the
+few men who were in charge of her. Then, taking the helm and trimming
+the sails, they directed her against one of the Dutch men-of-war,
+threw the grapnels on board, lighted the train, leapt back into the
+_Fan Fan_, rowed away, and took up their place near the Admiral, the
+little craft being greeted with hearty cheers by the whole ship's
+company.
+
+The afternoon was spent in repairing damages as far as practicable,
+but even the Duke saw it was impossible to continue the fight. The
+Dutch had received a reinforcement while the fighting was going on
+that morning, and although the English had inflicted terrible damage
+upon the Dutch Fleet, their own loss in ships was greater than that
+which they had caused their adversaries. A considerable portion of
+their vessels were not in a condition to renew the battle, and the
+carpenters had hard work to save them from sinking outright.
+Albemarle himself embarked on the _Fan Fan_, and sailed from ship to
+ship, ascertaining the condition of each, and the losses its crew had
+suffered. As soon as night fell, the vessels most disabled were
+ordered to sail for England as they best could. The crew of three
+which were totally dismasted and could hardly be kept afloat, were
+taken out and divided between the twenty-eight vessels which alone
+remained in a condition to renew the fight.
+
+These three battered hulks were, early the next morning, set on fire,
+and the rest of the Fleet, in good order and prepared to give battle,
+followed their companions that had sailed on the previous evening.
+The Dutch followed, but at a distance, thinking to repair their
+damages still farther before they again engaged. In the afternoon the
+sails of a squadron were seen ahead, and a loud cheer ran from ship
+to ship, for all knew that this was Prince Rupert coming up with the
+White Squadron. A serious loss, however, occurred a few minutes
+afterwards. The _Royal Prince_, the largest and most powerful vessel
+in the Fleet, which was somewhat in rear of the line, struck on the
+sands. The tide being with them and the wind light, the rest of the
+Fleet tried in vain to return to her assistance, and as the Dutch
+Fleet were fast coming up, and some of the fire-ships making for the
+_Royal Prince_, they were forced to give up the attempt to succour
+her, and Sir George Ayscue, her captain, was obliged to haul down his
+flag and surrender.
+
+As soon as the White Squadron joined the remnant of the Fleet the
+whole advanced against the Dutch, drums beating and trumpets
+sounding, and twice made their way through the enemy's line. But it
+was now growing dark, and the third day's battle came to an end. The
+next morning it was seen that the Dutch, although considerably
+stronger than the English, were almost out of sight. The latter at
+once hoisted sail and pursued, and, at eight o'clock, came up with
+them.
+
+The Dutch finding the combat inevitable, the terrible fight was
+renewed, and raged, without intermission, until seven in the evening.
+Five times the British passed through the line of the Dutch. On both
+sides many ships fell out of the fighting line wholly disabled.
+Several were sunk, and some on both sides forced to surrender, being
+so battered as to be unable to withdraw from the struggle. Prince
+Rupert's ship was wholly disabled, and that of Albemarle almost as
+severely damaged, and the battle, like those of the preceding days,
+ended without any decided advantage on either side. Both nations
+claimed the victory, but equally without reason. The Dutch historians
+compute our loss at sixteen men-of-war, of which ten were sunk and
+six taken, while we admitted only a loss of nine ships, and claimed
+that the Dutch lost fifteen men-of-war. Both parties acknowledged
+that it was the most terrible battle fought in this, or any other
+modern war.
+
+De Witte, who at that time was at the head of the Dutch Republic, and
+who was a bitter enemy of the English, owned, some time afterwards,
+to Sir William Temple, "that the English got more glory to their
+nation through the invincible courage of their seamen during those
+engagements than by the two victories of this war, and that he was
+sure that his own fleet could not have been brought on to fight the
+fifth day, after the disadvantages of the fourth, and he believed
+that no other nation was capable of it but the English."
+
+Cyril took no part in the last day's engagement, for Prince Rupert,
+when the _Fan Fan_ came near him on his arrival on the previous
+evening, returned his salute from the poop, and shouted to him that
+on no account was he to adventure into the fight with the _Fan Fan_.
+
+On the morning after the battle ended, Lord Oliphant and Cyril rowed
+on board Prince Rupert's ship, where every unwounded man was hard at
+work getting up a jury-mast or patching up the holes in the hull.
+
+"Well, Sir Cyril, I see that you have been getting my yacht knocked
+about," he said, as they came up to him.
+
+"There is not much damage done, sir. She has but two shot-holes in
+her hull."
+
+"And my new mainsail spoiled. Do you know, sir, that I got a severe
+rating from the Duke yesterday evening, on your account?"
+
+Cyril looked surprised.
+
+"I trust, sir, that I have not in any way disobeyed orders?"
+
+"No, it was not that. He asked after the _Fan Fan_, and said that he
+had seen nothing of her during the day's fighting, and I said I had
+strictly ordered you not to come into the battle. He replied, 'Then
+you did wrong, Prince, for that little yacht of yours did yeomen's
+service during the first two days' fighting. I told Sir Cyril to keep
+her near me, thinking that she would be useful in carrying orders,
+and during those two days she kept close to us, save when we were
+surrounded by the enemy. Five times in those three days did she avert
+fire-ships from us. We were so damaged that we could sail but slowly,
+and, thinking us altogether unmanageable, the Dutch launched their
+fire-ships. The _Fan Fan_ rowed to meet them. Three of them were
+diverted from their course by a rope being thrown over the bowsprit,
+and the crew rowing so as to turn her head. On the second day there
+was more wind, and the fire-ships could have held on their course in
+spite of the efforts of the men on board the _Fan Fan_. Twice during
+the day the little boat was boldly laid alongside them, while the
+crew boarded and captured them, and then, directing them towards the
+Dutch ships, grappled and set them on fire. One of the Dutchmen was
+burned, the other managed to throw off the grapnels. It was all done
+under our eyes, and five times in the two days did my crew cheer your
+little yacht as she came alongside. So you see, Prince, by ordering
+her out of the fight you deprived us of the assistance of as boldly
+handled a little craft as ever sailed.'
+
+"'I am quite proud of my little yacht, gentlemen, and I thank you for
+having given her so good a christening under fire. But I must stay no
+longer talking. Here is the despatch I have written of my share of
+the engagement. You, Sir Cyril, will deliver this. You will now row
+to the Duke's ship, and he will give you his despatches, which you,
+Lord Oliphant, will deliver. I need not say that you are to make all
+haste to the Thames. We have no ship to spare except the _Fan Fan_,
+for we must keep the few that are still able to manoeuvre, in case
+the Dutch should come out again before we have got the crippled ones
+in a state to make sail. '"
+
+Taking leave of the Prince, they were at once rowed to the Duke's
+flagship. They had a short interview with the Admiral, who praised
+them highly for the service they had rendered.
+
+"You will have to tell the story of the fighting," he said, "for the
+Prince and myself have written but few lines; we have too many
+matters on our minds to do scribe's work. They will have heard, ere
+now, of the first two days' fighting, for some of the ships that were
+sent back will have arrived at Harwich before this. By to-morrow
+morning I hope to have the Fleet so far refitted as to be able to
+follow you."
+
+Five minutes later, the _Fan Fan_, with every stitch of sail set,
+was on her way to the Thames. As a brisk wind was blowing, they
+arrived in London twenty-four hours later, and at once proceeded to
+the Admiralty, the despatches being addressed to the Duke of York.
+They were immediately ushered in to him. Without a word he seized the
+despatches, tore them open, and ran his eye down them.
+
+"God be praised!" he exclaimed, when he finished them. "We had feared
+even worse intelligence, and have been in a terrible state of anxiety
+since yesterday, when we heard from Harwich that one of the ships had
+come in with the news that more than half the Fleet was crippled or
+destroyed, and that twenty-eight only remained capable of continuing
+the battle. The only hope was that the White Squadron might arrive in
+time, and it seems that it has done so. The account of our losses is
+indeed a terrible one, but at least we have suffered no defeat, and
+as the Dutch have retreated, they must have suffered well-nigh as
+much as we have done. Come along with me at once, gentlemen; I must
+go to the King to inform him of this great news, which is vastly
+beyond what we could have hoped for. The Duke, in his despatch, tells
+me that the bearers of it, Lord Oliphant and Sir Cyril Shenstone,
+have done very great service, having, in Prince Rupert's little
+yacht, saved his flagship no less than five times from the attacks of
+the Dutch fire-ships."
+
+The Duke had ordered his carriage to be in readiness as soon as he
+learnt that the bearers of despatches from the Fleet had arrived. It
+was already at the door, and, taking his seat in it, with Lord
+Oliphant and Cyril opposite to him, he was driven to the Palace,
+learning by the way such details as they could give him of the last
+two days' fighting. He led them at once to the King's dressing-room.
+Charles was already attired, for he had passed a sleepless night, and
+had risen early.
+
+"What news, James?" he asked eagerly.
+
+"Good news, brother. After two more days' fighting--and terrible
+fighting, on both sides--the Dutch Fleet has returned to its ports."
+
+"A victory!" the King exclaimed, in delight.
+
+"A dearly-bought one with the lives of so many brave men, but a
+victory nevertheless. Here are the despatches from Albemarle and
+Rupert. They have been brought by these gentlemen, with whom you are
+already acquainted, in Rupert's yacht. Albemarle speaks very highly
+of their conduct."
+
+The King took the despatches, and read them eagerly.
+
+"It has indeed been a dearly-bought victory," he said, "but it is
+marvellous indeed how our captains and men bore themselves. Never
+have they shown greater courage and endurance. Well may Monk say
+that, after four days of incessant fighting and four nights spent in
+the labour of repairing damages, the strength of all has well-nigh
+come to an end, and that he himself can write but a few lines to tell
+me of what has happened, leaving all details for further occasion. I
+thank you both, gentlemen, for the speed with which you have brought
+me this welcome news, and for the services of which the Duke of
+Albemarle speaks so warmly. This is the second time, Sir Cyril, that
+my admirals have had occasion to speak of great and honourable
+service rendered by you. Lord Oliphant, the Earl, your father, will
+have reason to be proud when he hears you so highly praised. Now,
+gentlemen, tell me more fully than is done in these despatches as to
+the incidents of the fighting. I have heard something of what took
+place in the first two days from an officer who posted up from
+Harwich yesterday."
+
+Lord Oliphant related the events of the first two days, and then went
+on.
+
+"Of the last two I can say less, Your Majesty, for we took no part
+in, having Prince Rupert's orders, given as he came up, that we
+should not adventure into the fight. Therefore, we were but
+spectators, though we kept on the edge of the fight and, if
+opportunity had offered, and we had seen one of our ships too hard
+pressed, and threatened by fire-ships, we should have ventured so far
+to transgress orders as to bear in and do what we could on her
+behalf; but indeed, the smoke was so great that we could see but
+little.
+
+"It was a strange sight, when, on the Prince's arrival, his ships and
+those of the Duke's, battered as they were, bore down on the Dutch
+line; the drums beating, the trumpets sounding, and the crews
+cheering loudly. We saw them disappear into the Dutch line; then the
+smoke shut all out from view, and for hours there was but a thick
+cloud of smoke and a continuous roar of the guns. Sometimes a vessel
+would come out from the curtain of smoke torn and disabled. Sometimes
+it was a Dutchman, sometimes one of our own ships. If the latter, we
+rowed up to them and did our best with planks and nails to stop the
+yawning holes close to the water-line, while the crew knotted ropes
+and got up the spars and yards, and then sailed back into the fight.
+
+"The first day's fighting was comparatively slight, for the Dutch
+seemed to be afraid to close with the Duke's ships, and hung behind
+at a distance. It was not till the White Squadron came up, and the
+Duke turned, with Prince Rupert, and fell upon his pursuers like a
+wounded boar upon the dogs, that the battle commenced in earnest; but
+the last day it went on for nigh twelve hours without intermission;
+and when at last the roar of the guns ceased, and the smoke slowly
+cleared off, it was truly a pitiful sight, so torn and disabled were
+the ships.
+
+"As the two fleets separated, drifting apart as it would almost seem,
+so few were the sails now set, we rowed up among them, and for hours
+were occupied in picking up men clinging to broken spars and
+wreckage, for but few of the ships had so much as a single boat left.
+We were fortunate enough to save well-nigh a hundred, of whom more
+than seventy were our own men, the remainder Dutch. From these last
+we learnt that the ships of Van Tromp and Ruyter had both been so
+disabled that they had been forced to fall out of battle, and had
+been towed away to port. They said that their Admirals Cornelius
+Evertz and Van der Hulst had both been killed, while on our side we
+learnt that Admiral Sir Christopher Mings had fallen."
+
+"Did the Dutch Fleet appear to be as much injured as our own?"
+
+"No, Your Majesty. Judging by the sail set when the battle was over,
+theirs must have been in better condition than ours, which is not
+surprising, seeing how superior they were in force, and for the most
+part bigger ships, and carrying more guns."
+
+"Then you will have your hands full, James, or they will be ready to
+take to sea again before we are. Next time I hope that we shall meet
+them with more equal numbers."
+
+"I will do the best I can, brother," the Duke replied. "Though we
+have so many ships sorely disabled there have been but few lost, and
+we can supply their places with the vessels that have been building
+with all haste. If the Dutch will give us but two months' time I
+warrant that we shall be able to meet them in good force."
+
+As soon as the audience was over, Cyril and his friend returned to
+the _Fan Fan_, and after giving the crew a few hours for sleep,
+sailed down to Sheerness, where, shortly afterwards, Prince Rupert
+arrived with a portion of the Fleet, the rest having been ordered to
+Harwich, Portsmouth, and other ports, so that they could be more
+speedily refitted.
+
+Although the work went on almost without intermission day and night,
+the repairs were not completed before the news arrived that the Dutch
+Fleet had again put to sea. Two days later they arrived off our
+coast, where, finding no fleet ready to meet them, they sailed away
+to France, where they hoped to be joined by their French allies.
+
+Two days later, however, our ships began to assemble at the mouth of
+the Thames, and on June 24th the whole Fleet was ready to take to
+sea. It consisted of eighty men-of-war, large and small, and nineteen
+fire-ships. Prince Rupert was in command of the Red Squadron, and the
+Duke of Albemarle sailed with him, on board the same ship. Sir Thomas
+Allen was Admiral of the White, and Sir Jeremiah Smith of the Blue
+Squadron. Cyril remained on board the _Fan Fan_, Lord Oliphant
+returning to his duties on board the flagship. Marvels had been
+effected by the zeal and energy of the crews and dockyard men. But
+three weeks back, the English ships had, for the most part, been
+crippled seemingly almost beyond repair, but now, with their holes
+patched, with new spars, and in the glory of fresh paint and new
+canvas, they made as brave a show as when they had sailed out from
+the Downs a month previously.
+
+They were anchored off the Nore when, late in the evening, the news
+came out from Sheerness that a mounted messenger had just ridden in
+from Dover, and that the Dutch Fleet had, in the afternoon, passed
+the town, and had rounded the South Foreland, steering north.
+
+Orders were at once issued that the Fleet should sail at daybreak,
+and at three o'clock the next morning they were on their way down the
+river. At ten o'clock the Dutch Fleet was seen off the North
+Foreland. According to their own accounts they numbered eighty-eight
+men-of-war, with twenty-five fire-ships, and were also divided into
+three squadrons, under De Ruyter, John Evertz, and Van Tromp.
+
+The engagement began at noon by an attack by the White Squadron upon
+that commanded by Evertz. An hour later, Prince Rupert and the Duke,
+with the Red Squadron, fell upon De Ruyter, while that of Van Tromp,
+which was at some distance from the others, was engaged by Sir
+Jeremiah Smith with the Blue Squadron. Sir Thomas Allen completely
+defeated his opponents, killing Evertz, his vice- and rear-admirals,
+capturing the vice-admiral of Zeeland, who was with him, and burning
+a ship of fifty guns.
+
+The Red Squadron was evenly matched by that of De Ruyter, and each
+vessel laid itself alongside an adversary. Although De Ruyter himself
+and his vice-admiral, Van Ness, fought obstinately, their ships in
+general, commanded, for the most part, by men chosen for their family
+influence rather than for either seamanship or courage, behaved but
+badly, and all but seven gradually withdrew from the fight, and went
+off under all sail; and De Ruyter, finding himself thus deserted, was
+forced also to draw off. During this time, Van Tromp, whose squadron
+was the strongest of the three Dutch divisions, was so furiously
+engaged by the Blue Squadron, which was the weakest of the English
+divisions, that he was unable to come to the assistance of his
+consorts; when, however, he saw the defeat of the rest of the Dutch
+Fleet, he, too, was obliged to draw off, lest he should have the
+whole of the English down upon him, and was able the more easily to
+do so as darkness was closing in when the battle ended.
+
+The Dutch continued their retreat during the night, followed at a
+distance by the Red Squadron, which was, next morning, on the point
+of overtaking them, when the Dutch sought refuge by steering into the
+shallows, which their light draught enabled them to cross, while the
+deeper English ships were unable to follow. Great was the wrath and
+disappointment of the English when they saw themselves thus baulked
+of reaping the full benefit of the victory. Prince Rupert shouted to
+Cyril, who, in the _Fan Fan_, had taken but small share in the
+engagement, as the fire-ships had not played any conspicuous part in
+it.
+
+"Sir Cyril, we can go no farther, but do you pursue De Ruyter and
+show him in what contempt we hold him."
+
+Cyril lifted his hat to show that he heard and understood the order.
+Then he ordered his men to get out their oars, for the wind was very
+light, and, amidst loud cheering, mingled with laughter, from the
+crews of the vessels that were near enough to hear Prince Rupert's
+order, the _Fan Fan_ rowed out from the English line in pursuit of
+the Dutch.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+LONDON IN FLAMES
+
+
+The sailors laughed and joked as they rowed away from the Fleet, but
+the old boatswain shook his head.
+
+"We shall have to be careful, Sir Cyril," he said. "It is like a
+small cur barking at the heels of a bull--it is good fun enough for a
+bit, but when the bull turns, perchance the dog will find himself
+thrown high in the air."
+
+Cyril nodded. He himself considered Prince Rupert's order to be
+beyond all reason, and given only in the heat of his anger at De
+Ruyter having thus escaped him, and felt that it was very likely to
+cost the lives of all on board the _Fan Fan_. However, there was
+nothing to do but to carry it out. It seemed to him that the
+boatswain's simile was a very apt one, and that, although the
+spectacle of the _Fan Fan_ worrying the great Dutch battle-ship
+might be an amusing one to the English spectators, it was likely to
+be a very serious adventure for her.
+
+De Ruyter's ship, which was in the rear of all the other Dutch
+vessels, was but a mile distant when the _Fan Fan_ started, and as
+the wind was so light that it scarce filled her sails, the yacht
+approached her rapidly.
+
+"We are within half a mile now, your honour," the boatswain said. "I
+should say we had better go no nearer if we don't want to be blown
+out of the water."
+
+"Yes; I think we may as well stop rowing now, and get the guns to
+work. There are only those two cannon in her stern ports which can
+touch us here. She will scarcely come up in the wind to give us a
+broadside. She is moving so slowly through the water that it would
+take her a long time to come round, and De Ruyter would feel ashamed
+to bring his great flag-ship round to crush such a tiny foe."
+
+The boatswain went forward to the guns, round which the men, after
+laying in their oars, clustered in great glee.
+
+"Now," he said, "you have got to make those two guns in the stern
+your mark. Try and send your shots through the port-holes. It will be
+a waste to fire them at the hull, for the balls would not penetrate
+the thick timber that she is built of. Remember, the straighter you
+aim the more chance there is that the Dutch won't hit us. Men don't
+stop to aim very straight when they are expecting a shot among them
+every second. We will fire alternately, and one gun is not to fire
+until the other is loaded again. I will lay the first gun myself."
+
+It was a good shot, and the crew cheered as they saw the splinters
+fly at the edge of the port-hole. Shot after shot was fired with
+varying success.
+
+The Dutch made no reply, and seemed to ignore the presence of their
+tiny foe. The crew were, for the most part, busy aloft repairing
+damages, and after half an hour's firing, without eliciting a reply,
+the boatswain went aft to Cyril, and suggested that they should now
+aim at the spars.
+
+"A lucky shot might do a good deal of damage, sir," he said. "The
+weather is fine enough at present, but there is no saying when a
+change may come, and if we could weaken one of the main spars it
+might be the means of her being blown ashore, should the wind spring
+up in the right direction."
+
+Cyril assented, and fire was now directed at the masts. A few ropes
+were cut away, but no serious damage was effected until a shot struck
+one of the halliard blocks of the spanker, and the sail at once ran
+down.
+
+"It has taken a big bit out of the mast, too," the boatswain called
+exultingly to Cyril. "I think that will rouse the Dutchmen up."
+
+A minute later it was evident that the shot had at least had that
+effect. Two puffs of smoke spirted out from the stern of the Dutch
+flagship, and, simultaneously with the roar of the guns, came the hum
+of two heavy shot flying overhead. Delighted at having excited the
+Dutchmen's wrath at last, the crew of the _Fan Fan_ took off their
+hats and gave a loud cheer, and then, more earnestly than before,
+settled down to work; their guns aimed now, as at first, at the
+port-holes. Four or five shots were discharged from each of the
+little guns before the Dutch were ready again. Then came the
+thundering reports. The _Fan Fan's_ topmast was carried away by one
+of the shot, but the other went wide. Two or three men were told to
+cut away the wreckage, and the rest continued their fire. One of the
+next shots of the enemy was better directed. It struck the deck close
+to the foot of the mast, committed great havoc in Cyril's cabin, and
+passed out through the stern below the water-line. Cyril leapt down
+the companion as he heard the crash, shouting to the boatswain to
+follow him. The water was coming through the hole in a great jet.
+Cyril seized a pillow and--stuffed it into the shot-hole, being
+drenched from head to foot in the operation. One of the sailors had
+followed the boatswain, and Cyril called him to his assistance.
+
+"Get out the oars at once," he said to the boatswain. "Another shot
+like this and she will go down. Get a piece cut off a spar and make a
+plug. There is no holding this pillow in its place, and the water
+comes in fast still."
+
+The sailor took Cyril's post while he ran up on deck and assisted in
+cutting the plug; this was roughly shaped to the size of the hole,
+and then driven in. It stopped the rush of the water, but a good deal
+still leaked through.
+
+By the time this was done the _Fan Fan_ had considerably increased
+her distance from De Ruyter. Four or five more shots were fired from
+the Dutch ship. The last of these struck the mast ten feet above the
+deck, bringing it down with a crash. Fortunately, none of the crew
+were hurt, and, dropping the oars, they hauled the mast alongside,
+cut the sail from its fastening to the hoops and gaff, and then
+severed the shrouds and allowed the mast to drift away, while they
+again settled themselves to the oars. Although every man rowed his
+hardest, the _Fan Fan_ was half full of water before she reached the
+Fleet, which was two miles astern of them when they first began to
+row.
+
+"Well done, _Fan Fan_!" Prince Rupert shouted, as the little craft
+came alongside. "Have you suffered any damage besides your spars? I
+see you are low in the water."
+
+"We were shot through our stern, sir; we put in a plug, but the water
+comes in still. Will you send a carpenter on board? For I don't think
+she will float many minutes longer unless we get the hole better
+stopped."
+
+The Prince gave some orders to an officer standing by him. The latter
+called two or three sailors and bade them bring some short lengths of
+thick hawser, while a strong party were set to reeve tackle to the
+mainyard. As soon as the hawsers, each thirty feet in length, were
+brought, they were dropped on to the deck of the _Fan Fan_, and the
+officer told the crew to pass them under her, one near each end, and
+to knot the hawsers. By the time this was done, two strong tackles
+were lowered and fixed to the hawsers, and the crew ordered to come
+up on to the ship. The tackles were then manned and hauled on by
+strong parties, and the _Fan Fan_ was gradually raised. The
+boatswain went below again and knocked out the plug, and, as the
+little yacht was hoisted up, the water ran out of it. As soon as the
+hole was above the water-level, the tackle at the bow was gradually
+slackened off until she lay with her fore-part in the water, which
+came some distance up her deck. The carpenter then slung himself over
+the stern, and nailed, first a piece of tarred canvas, and then a
+square of plank, over the hole. Then the stern tackle was eased off,
+and the _Fan Fan_ floated on a level keel. Her crew went down to her
+again, and, in half an hour, pumped her free of water.
+
+By this time, the results of the victory were known. On the English
+side, the _Resolution_ was the only ship lost, she having been burnt
+by a Dutch fire-ship; three English captains, and about three hundred
+men were killed. On the other hand, the Dutch lost twenty ships, four
+admirals, a great many of their captains, and some four thousand men.
+It was, indeed, the greatest and most complete victory gained
+throughout the war. Many of the British ships had suffered a good
+deal, that which carried the Duke's flag most of all, for it had been
+so battered in the fight with De Ruyter that the Duke and Prince
+Rupert had been obliged to leave her, and to hoist their flags upon
+another man-of-war.
+
+The next morning the Fleet sailed to Schonevelt, which was the usual
+_rendezvous_ of the Dutch Fleet, and there remained some time,
+altogether undisturbed by the enemy. The _Fan Fan_ was here
+thoroughly repaired.
+
+On July 29th they sailed for Ulic, where they arrived on August 7th,
+the wind being contrary.
+
+Learning that there was a large fleet of merchantmen lying between
+the islands of Ulic and Schelling, guarded by but two men-of-war, and
+that there were rich magazines of goods on these islands, it was
+determined to attack them. Four small frigates, of a slight draught
+of water, and five fire-ships, were selected for the attack, together
+with the boats of the Fleet, manned by nine hundred men.
+
+On the evening of the 8th, Cyril was ordered to go, in the _Fan
+Fan_, to reconnoitre the position of the Dutch. He did not sail
+until after nightfall, and, on reaching the passage between the
+islands, he lowered his sails, got out his oars, and drifted with the
+tide silently down through the Dutch merchant fleet, where no watch
+seemed to be kept, and in the morning carried the news to Sir Robert
+Holmes, the commander of the expedition, who had anchored a league
+from the entrance.
+
+Cyril had sounded the passage as he went through, and it was found
+that two of the frigates could not enter it. These were left at the
+anchorage, and, on arriving at the mouth of the harbour, the
+_Tiger_, Sir Robert Holmes's flagship, was also obliged to anchor,
+and he came on board the _Fan Fan_, on which he hoisted his flag.
+The captains of the other ships came on board, and it was arranged
+that the _Pembroke_, which had but a small draught of water, should
+enter at once with the five fire-ships.
+
+The attack was completely successful. Two of the fire-ships grappled
+with the men-of-war and burnt them, while three great merchantmen
+were destroyed by the others. Then the boats dashed into the fleet,
+and, with the exception of four or five merchantmen and four
+privateers, who took refuge in a creek, defended by a battery, the
+whole of the hundred and seventy merchantmen, the smallest of which
+was not less than 200 tons burden, and all heavily laden, were
+burned.
+
+The next day, Sir Robert Holmes landed eleven companies of troops on
+the Island of Schonevelt and burnt Bandaris, its principal town, with
+its magazines and store-houses, causing a loss to the Dutch,
+according to their own admission, of six million guilders. This, and
+the loss of the great Fleet, inflicted a very heavy blow upon the
+commerce of Holland. The _Fan Fan_ had been hit again by a shot from
+one of the batteries, and, on her rejoining the Fleet, Prince Rupert
+determined to send her to England so that she could be thoroughly
+repaired and fitted out again. Cyril's orders were to take her to
+Chatham, and to hand her over to the dockyard authorities.
+
+"I do not think the Dutch will come out and fight us again this
+autumn, Sir Cyril, so you can take your ease in London as it pleases
+you. We are now halfway through August, and it will probably be at
+least a month after your arrival before the _Fan Fan_ is fit for sea
+again. It may be a good deal longer than that, for they are busy upon
+the repairs of the ships sent home after the battle, and will hardly
+take any hands off these to put on to the _Fan Fan_. In October we
+shall all be coming home again, so that, until next spring, it is
+hardly likely that there will be aught doing."
+
+Cyril accordingly returned to London. The wind was contrary, and it
+was not until the last day of August that he dropped anchor in the
+Medway. After spending a night at Chatham, he posted up to London the
+next morning, and, finding convenient chambers in the Savoy, he
+installed himself there, and then proceeded to the house of the Earl
+of Wisbech, to whom he was the bearer of a letter from his son.
+Finding that the Earl and his family were down at his place near
+Sevenoaks, he went into the City, and spent the evening at Captain
+Dave's, having ordered his servant to pack a small valise, and bring
+it with the two horses in the morning. He had gone to bed but an hour
+when he was awoke by John Wilkes knocking at his door.
+
+"There is a great fire burning not far off, Sir Cyril. A man who ran
+past told me it was in Pudding Lane, at the top of Fish Street. The
+Captain is getting up, and is going out to see it; for, with such dry
+weather as we have been having, there is no saying how far it may
+go."
+
+Cyril sprang out of his bed and dressed. Captain Dave, accustomed to
+slip on his clothes in a hurry, was waiting for him, and, with John
+Wilkes, they sallied out. There was a broad glare of light in the
+sky, and the bells of many of the churches were ringing out the
+fire-alarm. As they passed, many people put their heads out from
+windows and asked where the fire was. In five minutes they approached
+the scene. A dozen houses were blazing fiercely, while, from those
+near, the inhabitants were busily removing their valuables. The Fire
+Companies, with their buckets, were already at work, and lines of men
+were formed down to the river and were passing along buckets from
+hand to hand. Well-nigh half the water was spilt, however, before it
+arrived at the fire, and, in the face of such a body of flame, it
+seemed to make no impression whatever.
+
+"They might as well attempt to pump out a leaky ship with a child's
+squirt," the Captain said. "The fire will burn itself out, and we
+must pray heaven that the wind drops altogether; 'tis not strong, but
+it will suffice to carry the flames across these narrow streets. 'Tis
+lucky that it is from the east, so there is little fear that it will
+travel in our direction."
+
+They learnt that the fire had begun in the house of Faryner, the
+King's baker, though none knew how it had got alight. It was not long
+before the flames leapt across the lane, five or six houses catching
+fire almost at the same moment. A cry of dismay broke from the crowd,
+and the fright of the neighbours increased. Half-clad women hurried
+from their houses, carrying their babes, and dragging their younger
+children out. Men staggered along with trunks of clothing and
+valuables. Many wrung their hands helplessly, while the City Watch
+guarded the streets leading to Pudding Lane, so as to prevent thieves
+and vagabonds from taking advantage of the confusion to plunder.
+
+With great rapidity the flames spread from house to house. A portion
+of Fish Street was already invaded, and the Church of St. Magnus in
+danger. The fears of the people increased in proportion to the
+advance of the conflagration. The whole neighbourhood was now
+alarmed, and, in all the streets round, people were beginning to
+remove their goods. The river seemed to be regarded by all as the
+safest place of refuge. The boats from the various landing-places had
+already come up, and these were doing a thriving trade by taking the
+frightened people, with what goods they carried, to lighters and
+ships moored in the river.
+
+The lines of men passing buckets had long since broken up, it being
+too evident that their efforts were not of the slightest avail. The
+wind had, in the last two hours, rapidly increased in strength, and
+was carrying the burning embers far and wide.
+
+Cyril and his companions had, after satisfying their first curiosity,
+set to work to assist the fugitives, by aiding them to carry down
+their goods to the waterside. Cyril was now between eighteen and
+nineteen, and had grown into a powerful, young fellow, having, since
+he recovered from the Plague, grown fast and widened out greatly. He
+was able to shoulder heavy trunks, and to carry them down without
+difficulty.
+
+By six o'clock, however, all were exhausted by their labours, and
+Captain Dave's proposal, that they should go back and get breakfast
+and have a wash, was at once agreed to.
+
+At this time the greater part of Fish Street was in flames, the
+Church of St. Magnus had fallen, and the flames had spread to many of
+the streets and alleys running west. The houses on the Bridge were
+blazing.
+
+"Well, father, what is the news?" Nellie exclaimed, as they entered.
+"What have you been doing? You are all blackened, like the men who
+carry out the coals from the ships. I never saw such figures."
+
+"We have been helping people to carry their goods down to the water,
+Nellie. The news is bad. The fire is a terrible one."
+
+"That we can see, father. Mother and I were at the window for hours
+after you left, and the whole sky seemed ablaze. Do you think that
+there is any danger of its coming here?"
+
+"The wind is taking the flames the other way, Nellie, but in spite of
+that I think that there is danger. The heat is so great that the
+houses catch on this side, and we saw, as we came back, that it had
+travelled eastwards. Truly, I believe that if the wind keeps on as it
+is at present, the whole City will be destroyed. However, we will
+have a wash first and then some breakfast, of which we are sorely in
+need. Then we can talk over what had best be done."
+
+Little was said during breakfast. The apprentices had already been
+out, and so excited were they at the scenes they had witnessed that
+they had difficulty in preserving their usual quiet and submissive
+demeanour. Captain Dave was wearied with his unwonted exertions. Mrs.
+Dowsett and Nellie both looked pale and anxious, and Cyril and John
+Wilkes were oppressed by the terrible scene of destruction and the
+widespread misery they had witnessed.
+
+When breakfast was over, Captain Dave ordered the apprentices on no
+account to leave the premises. They were to put up the shutters at
+once, and then to await orders.
+
+"What do you think we had better do, Cyril?" he said, when the boys
+had left the room.
+
+"I should say that you had certainly better go on board a ship,
+Captain Dave. There is time to move now quietly, and to get many
+things taken on board, but if there were a swift change of wind the
+flames would come down so suddenly that you would have no time to
+save anything. Do you know of a captain who would receive you?"
+
+"Certainly; I know of half a dozen."
+
+"Then the first thing is to secure a boat before they are all taken
+up."
+
+"I will go down to the stairs at once."
+
+"Then I should say, John, you had better go off with Captain Dave,
+and, as soon as he has arranged with one of the captains, come back
+to shore. Let the waterman lie off in the stream, for if the flames
+come this way there will be a rush for boats, and people will not
+stop to ask to whom they belong. It will be better still to take one
+of the apprentices with you, leave him at the stairs till you return,
+and then tie up to a ship till we hail him."
+
+"That will be the best plan," Captain Dave said. "Now, wife, you and
+Nellie and the maid had best set to work at once packing up all your
+best clothes and such other things as you may think most valuable. We
+shall have time, I hope, to make many trips."
+
+"While you are away, I will go along the street and see whether the
+fire is making any way in this direction," Cyril said. "Of course if
+it's coming slowly you will have time to take away a great many
+things. And we may even hope that it may not come here at all."
+
+Taking one of the apprentices, Captain Dave and John at once started
+for the waterside, while Cyril made his way westward.
+
+Already, people were bringing down their goods from most of the
+houses. Some acted as if they believed that if they took the goods
+out of the houses they would be safe, and great piles of articles of
+all kinds almost blocked the road. Weeping women and frightened
+children sat on these piles as if to guard them. Some stood at their
+doors wringing their hands helplessly; others were already starting
+eastward laden with bundles and boxes, occasionally looking round as
+if to bid farewell to their homes. Many of the men seemed even more
+confused and frightened than the women, running hither and thither
+without purpose, shouting, gesticulating, and seeming almost
+distraught with fear and grief.
+
+Cyril had not gone far when he saw that the houses on both sides of
+the street, at the further end, were already in flames. He was
+obliged to advance with great caution, for many people were
+recklessly throwing goods of all kinds from the windows, regardless
+of whom they might fall upon, and without thought of how they were to
+be carried away. He went on until close to the fire, and stood for a
+time watching. The noise was bewildering. Mingled with the roar of
+the flames, the crackling of woodwork, and the heavy crashes that
+told of the fall of roofs or walls, was the clang of the alarm-bells,
+shouts, cries, and screams. The fire spread steadily, but with none
+of the rapidity with which he had seen it fly along from house to
+house on the other side of the conflagration. The houses, however,
+were largely composed of wood. The balconies generally caught first,
+and the fire crept along under the roofs, and sometimes a shower of
+tiles, and a burst of flames, showed that it had advanced there,
+while the lower portion of the house was still intact.
+
+"Is it coming, Cyril?" Mrs. Dowsett asked, when he returned.
+
+"It is coming steadily," he said, "and can be stopped by nothing
+short of a miracle. Can I help you in any way?"
+
+"No," she said; "we have packed as many things as can possibly be
+carried. It is well that your things are all at your lodging, Cyril,
+and beyond the risk of this danger."
+
+"It would have mattered little about them," he said. "I could have
+replaced them easily enough. That is but a question of money. And
+now, in the first place, I will get the trunks and bundles you have
+packed downstairs. That will save time."
+
+Assisted by the apprentice and Nellie, Cyril got all the things
+downstairs.
+
+"How long have we, do you think?" Nellie asked.
+
+"I should say that in three hours the fire will be here," he said.
+"It may be checked a little at the cross lanes; but I fear that three
+hours is all we can hope for."
+
+Just as they had finished taking down the trunks, Captain Dave and
+John Wilkes arrived.
+
+"I have arranged the affair," the former said. "My old friend, Dick
+Watson, will take us in his ship; she lies but a hundred yards from
+the stairs. Now, get on your mantle and hood, Nellie, and bring your
+mother and maid down."
+
+The three women were soon at the foot of the stairs, and Mrs.
+Dowsett's face showed signs of tears; but, though pale, she was quiet
+and calm, and the servant, a stout wench, had gained confidence from
+her mistress's example. As soon as they were ready, the three men
+each shouldered a trunk. The servant and the apprentice carried one
+between them. Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter took as many bundles as
+they could carry. It was but five minutes' walk down to the stairs.
+The boat was lying twenty yards out in the stream, fastened up to a
+lighter, with the apprentice and waterman on board. It came at once
+alongside, and in five minutes they reached the _Good Venture_. As
+soon as the women had ascended the accommodation ladder, some sailors
+ran down and helped to carry up the trunks.
+
+"Empty them all out in the cabin," Captain Dave said to his wife; "we
+will take them back with us."
+
+As soon as he had seen the ladies into the cabin, Captain Watson
+called his son Frank, who was his chief mate, and half a dozen of his
+men. These carried the boxes, as fast as they were emptied, down into
+the boat.
+
+"We will all go ashore together," he said to Captain Dave. "I was a
+fool not to think of it before. We will soon make light work of it."
+
+As soon as they reached the house, some of the sailors were sent off
+with the remaining trunks and bundles, while the others carried
+upstairs those they had brought, and quickly emptied into them the
+remaining contents of the drawers and linen press. So quickly and
+steadily did the work go on, that no less than six trips were made to
+the _Good Venture_ in the next three hours, and at the end of that
+time almost everything portable had been carried away, including
+several pieces of valuable furniture, and a large number of objects
+brought home by Captain Dave from his various voyages. The last
+journey, indeed, was devoted to saving some of the most valuable
+contents of the store. Captain Dave, delighted at having saved so
+much, would not have thought of taking more, but Captain Watson would
+not hear of this.
+
+"There is time for one more trip, old friend," he said, "and there
+are many things in your store that are worth more than their weight
+in silver. I will take my other two hands this time, and, with the
+eight men and our five selves, we shall be able to bring a good
+load."
+
+The trunks were therefore this time packed with ship's instruments,
+and brass fittings of all kinds, to the full weight that could be
+carried. All hands then set to work, and, in a very short time, a
+great proportion of the portable goods were carried from the
+store-house into an arched cellar beneath it. By the time that they
+were ready to start there were but six houses between them and the
+fire.
+
+"I wish we had another three hours before us," Captain Watson said.
+"It goes to one's heart to leave all this new rope and sail cloth,
+good blocks, and other things, to be burnt."
+
+"There have been better things than that burnt to-day, Watson. Few
+men have saved as much as I have, thanks to your assistance and that
+of these stout sailors of yours. Why, the contents of these twelve
+boxes are worth as much as the whole of the goods remaining."
+
+The sailors' loads were so heavy that they had to help each other to
+get them upon their shoulders, and the other five were scarcely less
+weighted; and, short as was the distance, all had to rest several
+times on the way to the stairs, setting their burdens upon
+window-sills, or upon boxes scattered in the streets. One of the
+ship's boats had, after the first trip, taken the place of the light
+wherry, but even this was weighted down to the gunwale when the men
+and the goods were all on board. After the first two trips, the
+contents of the boxes had been emptied on deck, and by the time the
+last arrived the three women had packed away in the empty cabins all
+the clothing, linen, and other articles, that had been taken below.
+Captain Watson ordered a stiff glass of grog to be given to each of
+the sailors, and then went down with the others into the main cabin,
+where the steward had already laid the table for a meal, and poured
+out five tumblers of wine.
+
+"I have not had so tough a job since I was before the mast," he said.
+"What say you, Captain Dave?"
+
+"It has been a hard morning's work, indeed, Watson, and, in truth, I
+feel fairly spent. But though weary in body I am cheerful in heart.
+It seemed to me at breakfast-time that we should save little beyond
+what we stood in, and now I have rescued well-nigh everything
+valuable that I have. I should have grieved greatly had I lost all
+those mementos that it took me nigh thirty years to gather, and those
+pieces of furniture that belonged to my father I would not have lost
+for any money. Truly, it has been a noble salvage."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie now joined them. They had quite recovered
+their spirits, and were delighted at the unexpected rescue of so many
+things precious to them, and Captain Watson was overwhelmed by their
+thanks for what he had done.
+
+After the meal was over they sat quietly talking for a time, and then
+Cyril proposed that they should row up the river and see what
+progress the fire was making above the Bridge. Mrs. Dowsett, however,
+was too much fatigued by her sleepless night and the troubles and
+emotions of the morning to care about going. Captain Dave said that
+he was too stiff to do anything but sit quiet and smoke a pipe, and
+that he would superintend the getting of their things on deck a
+little ship-shape. Nellie embraced the offer eagerly, and young
+Watson, who was a well-built and handsome fellow, with a pleasant
+face and manner, said that he would go, and would take a couple of
+hands to row. The tide had just turned to run up when they set out.
+Cyril asked the first mate to steer, and he sat on one side of him
+and Nellie on the other.
+
+"You will have to mind your oars, lads," Frank Watson said. "The
+river is crowded with boats."
+
+They crossed over to the Southwark side, as it would have been
+dangerous to pass under the arches above which the houses were
+burning. The flames, however, had not spread right across the bridge,
+for the houses were built only over the piers, and the openings at
+the arches had checked the flames, and at these points numbers of men
+were drawing water in buckets and throwing it over the fronts of the
+houses, or passing them, by ropes, to other men on the roofs, which
+were kept deluged with water. Hundreds of willing hands were engaged
+in the work, for the sight of the tremendous fire on the opposite
+bank filled people with terror lest the flames should cross the
+bridge and spread to the south side of the river. The warehouses and
+wharves on the bank were black with spectators, who looked with
+astonishment and awe at the terrible scene of destruction.
+
+It was not until they passed under the bridge that the full extent of
+the conflagration was visible. The fire had made its way some
+distance along Thames Street, and had spread far up into the City.
+Gracechurch Street and Lombard Street were in flames, and indeed the
+fire seemed to have extended a long distance further; but the smoke
+was so dense, that it was difficult to make out the precise point
+that it had reached. The river was a wonderful sight. It was crowded
+with boats and lighters, all piled up with goods, while along the
+quays from Dowgate to the Temple, crowds of people were engaged in
+placing what goods they had saved on board lighters and other craft.
+Many of those in the boats seemed altogether helpless and undecided
+as to what had best be done, and drifted along with the tide, but the
+best part were making either for the marshes at Lambeth or the fields
+at Millbank, there to land their goods, the owners of the boats
+refusing to keep them long on board, as they desired to return by the
+next tide to fetch away other cargoes, being able to obtain any price
+they chose to demand for their services.
+
+Among the boats were floating goods and wreckage of all kinds,
+charred timber that had fallen from the houses on the bridge, and
+from the warehouses by the quays, bales of goods, articles of
+furniture, bedding, and other matters. At times, a sudden change of
+wind drove a dense smoke across the water, flakes of burning embers
+and papers causing great confusion among the boats, and threatening
+to set the piles of goods on fire.
+
+At Frank Watson's suggestion, they landed at the Temple, after having
+been some two hours on the river. Going up into Fleet Street, they
+found a stream of carts and other vehicles proceeding westward, all
+piled with furniture and goods, mostly of a valuable kind. The
+pavements were well-nigh blocked with people, all journeying in the
+same direction, laden with their belongings. With difficulty they
+made their way East as far as St. Paul's. The farther end of
+Cheapside was already in flames, and they learnt that the fire had
+extended as far as Moorfields. It was said that efforts had been made
+to pull down houses and so check its progress, but that there was no
+order or method, and that no benefit was gained by the work.
+
+After looking on at the scene for some time, they returned to Fleet
+Street. Frank Watson went down with Nellie to the boat, while Cyril
+went to his lodgings in the Savoy. Here he found his servant
+anxiously awaiting him.
+
+"I did not bring the horses this morning, sir," he said. "I heard
+that there was a great fire, and went on foot as far as I could get,
+but, finding that I could not pass, I thought it best to come back
+here and await your return."
+
+"Quite right, Reuben; you could not have got the horses to me unless
+you had ridden round the walls and come in at Aldgate, and they would
+have been useless had you brought them. The house at which I stayed
+last night is already burnt to the ground. You had better stay here
+for the present, I think. There is no fear of the fire extending
+beyond the City. Should you find that it does so, pack my clothes in
+the valises, take the horses down to Sevenoaks, and remain at the
+Earl's until you hear from me."
+
+Having arranged this, Cyril went down to the Savoy stairs, where he
+found the boat waiting for him, and then they rowed back to London
+Bridge, where, the force of the tide being now abated, they were able
+to row through and get to the _Good Venture_.
+
+They had but little sleep that night. Gradually the fire worked its
+way eastward until it was abreast of them. The roaring and crackling
+of the flames was prodigious. Here and there the glare was
+diversified by columns of a deeper red glow, showing where
+warehouses, filled with pitch, tar, and oil, were in flames. The
+heavy crashes of falling buildings were almost incessant.
+Occasionally they saw a church tower or steeple, that had stood for a
+time black against the glowing sky, become suddenly wreathed in
+flames, and, after burning for a time, fall with a crash that could
+be plainly heard above the general roar.
+
+"Surely such a fire was never seen before!" Captain Dave said.
+
+"Not since Rome was burnt, I should think," Cyril replied.
+
+"How long was that ago, Cyril? I don't remember hearing about it."
+
+"'Tis fifteen hundred years or so since then, Captain Dave; but the
+greater part of the city was destroyed, and Rome was then many times
+bigger than London. It burnt for three days."
+
+"Well, this is bad enough," Captain Watson said. "Even here the heat
+is well-nigh too great to face. Frank, you had better call the crew
+up and get all the sails off the yards. Were a burning flake to fall
+on them we might find it difficult to extinguish them. When they have
+done that, let the men get all the buckets filled with water and
+ranged on the deck; and it will be as well to get a couple of hands
+in the boat and let them chuck water against this side. We shall have
+all the paint blistered off before morning."
+
+So the night passed. Occasionally they went below for a short time,
+but they found it impossible to sleep, and were soon up again, and
+felt it a relief when the morning began to break.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+AFTER THE FIRE
+
+
+Daylight brought little alleviation to the horrors of the scene. The
+flames were less vivid, but a dense pall of smoke overhung the sky.
+As soon as they had breakfasted, Captain Watson, his son, Captain
+Dowsett, Nellie, and Cyril took their places in the boat, and were
+rowed up the river. An exclamation burst from them all as they saw
+how fast the flames had travelled since the previous evening.
+
+"St. Paul's is on fire!" Cyril exclaimed. "See! there are flames
+bursting through its roof. I think, Captain Watson, if you will put
+me ashore at the Temple, I will make my way to Whitehall, and report
+myself there. I may be of use."
+
+"I will do that," Captain Watson said. "Then I will row back to the
+ship again. We must leave a couple of hands on board, in case some of
+these burning flakes should set anything alight. We will land with
+the rest, and do what we can to help these poor women and children."
+
+"I will stay on board and take command, if you like, Watson," Captain
+Dave said. "You ought to have some one there, and I have not
+recovered from yesterday's work, and should be of little use ashore."
+
+"Very well, Dowsett. That will certainly be best; but I think it will
+be prudent, before we leave, to run out a kedge with forty or fifty
+fathoms of cable towards the middle of the stream, and then veer out
+the cable on her anchor so as to let her ride thirty fathoms or so
+farther out. We left six men sluicing her side and deck, but it
+certainly would be prudent to get her out a bit farther. Even here,
+the heat is as much as we can stand."
+
+As soon as Cyril had landed, he hurried up into Fleet Street. He had
+just reached Temple Bar when he saw a party of horsemen making their
+way through the carts. A hearty cheer greeted them from the crowd,
+who hoped that the presence of the King--for it was Charles who rode
+in front--was a sign that vigorous steps were about to be taken to
+check the progress of the flames. Beside the King rode the Duke of
+Albemarle, and following were a number of other gentlemen and
+officers. Cyril made his way through the crowd to the side of the
+Duke's horse.
+
+"Can I be of any possible use, my Lord Duke?" he asked, doffing his
+hat.
+
+"Ah, Sir Cyril, it is you, is it? I have not seen you since you
+bearded De Ruyter in the _Fan Fan_. Yes, you can be of use. We have
+five hundred sailors and dockyard men behind; they have just arrived
+from Chatham, and a thousand more have landed below the Bridge to
+fight the flames on that side. Keep by me now, and, when we decide
+where to set to work, I will put you under the orders of Captain
+Warncliffe, who has charge of them."
+
+When they reached the bottom of Fleet Street, the fire was halfway
+down Ludgate Hill, and it was decided to begin operations along the
+bottom of the Fleet Valley. The dockyard men and sailors were brought
+up, and following them were some carts laden with kegs of powder.
+
+"Warncliffe," Lord Albemarle said, as the officer came up at the head
+of them, "Sir Cyril Shenstone is anxious to help. You know him by
+repute, and you can trust him in any dangerous business. You had
+better tell off twenty men under him. You have only to tell him what
+you want done, and you can rely upon its being done thoroughly."
+
+The sailors were soon at work along the line of the Fleet Ditch. All
+carried axes, and with these they chopped down the principal beams of
+the small houses clustered by the Ditch, and so weakened them that a
+small charge of powder easily brought them down. In many places they
+met with fierce opposition from the owners, who, still clinging to
+the faint hope that something might occur to stop the progress of the
+fire before it reached their abodes, raised vain protestations
+against the destruction of their houses. All day the men worked
+unceasingly, but in vain. Driven by the fierce wind, the flames swept
+down the opposite slope, leapt over the space strewn with rubbish and
+beams, and began to climb Fleet Street and Holborn Hill and the dense
+mass of houses between them.
+
+The fight was renewed higher up. Beer and bread and cheese were
+obtained from the taverns, and served out to the workmen, and these
+kept at their task all night. Towards morning the wind had fallen
+somewhat. The open spaces of the Temple favoured the defenders; the
+houses to east of it were blown up, and, late in the afternoon, the
+progress of the flames at this spot was checked. As soon as it was
+felt that there was no longer any fear of its further advance here,
+the exhausted men, who had, for twenty-four hours, laboured, half
+suffocated by the blinding smoke and by the dust made by their own
+work, threw themselves down on the grass of the Temple Gardens and
+slept. At midnight they were roused by their officers, and proceeded
+to assist their comrades, who had been battling with the flames on
+the other side of Fleet Street. They found that these too had been
+successful; the flames had swept up to Fetter Lane, but the houses on
+the west side had been demolished, and although, at one or two
+points, the fallen beams caught fire, they were speedily
+extinguished. Halfway up Fetter Lane the houses stood on both sides
+uninjured, for a large open space round St. Andrew's, Holborn, had
+aided the defenders in their efforts to check the flames. North of
+Holborn the fire had spread but little, and that only among the
+poorer houses in Fleet Valley.
+
+Ascending the hill, they found that, while the flames had overleapt
+the City wall from Ludgate to Newgate in its progress west, the wall
+had proved an effective barrier from the sharp corner behind
+Christchurch up to Aldersgate and thence up to Cripplegate, which was
+the farthest limit reached by the fire to the north. To the east, the
+City had fared better. By the river, indeed, the destruction was
+complete as far as the Tower. Mark Lane, however, stood, and north of
+this the line of destruction swept westward to Leaden Hall, a massive
+structure at the entrance to the street that took its name from it,
+and proved a bulwark against the flames. From this point, the line of
+devastated ground swept round by the eastern end of Throgmorton
+Street to the northern end of Basinghall Street.
+
+Cyril remained with the sailors for two days longer, during which
+time they were kept at work beating out the embers of the fire. In
+this they were aided by a heavy fall of rain, which put an end to all
+fear of the flames springing up again.
+
+"There can be no need for you to remain longer with us, Sir Cyril,"
+Captain Warncliffe said, at the end of the second day. "I shall have
+pleasure in reporting to the Duke of Albemarle the good services that
+you have rendered. Doubtless we shall remain on duty here for some
+time, for we may have, for aught I know, to aid in the clearing away
+of some of the ruins; but, at any rate, there can be no occasion for
+you to stay longer with us."
+
+Cyril afterwards learnt that the sailors and dockyard men were, on
+the following day, sent back to Chatham. The fire had rendered so
+great a number of men homeless and without means of subsistence, that
+there was an abundant force on hand for the clearing away of ruins.
+Great numbers were employed by the authorities, while many of the
+merchants and traders engaged parties to clear away the ruins of
+their dwellings, in order to get at the cellars below, in which they
+had, as soon as the danger from fire was perceived, stowed away the
+main bulk of their goods. As soon as he was released from duty, Cyril
+made his way to the Tower, and, hiring a boat, was rowed to the _Good
+Venture_.
+
+The shipping presented a singular appearance, their sides being
+blistered, and in many places completely stripped of their paint,
+while in some cases the spars were scorched, and the sails burnt
+away. There was lively satisfaction at his appearance, as he stepped
+on to the deck of the _Good Venture_, for, until he did so, he had
+been unrecognised, so begrimed with smoke and dust was he.
+
+"We have been wondering about you," Captain Dave said, as he shook
+him by the hand, "but I can scarce say we had become uneasy. We
+learnt that a large body of seamen and others were at work blowing up
+houses, and as you had gone to offer your services we doubted not
+that you were employed with them. Truly you must have been having a
+rough time of it, for not only are you dirtier than any scavenger,
+but you look utterly worn out and fatigued."
+
+"It was up-hill work the first twenty-four hours, for we worked
+unceasingly, and worked hard, too, I can assure you, and that
+well-nigh smothered with smoke and dust. Since then, our work has
+been more easy, but no less dirty. In the three days I have not had
+twelve hours' sleep altogether."
+
+"I will get a tub of hot water placed in your cabin," Captain Watson
+said, "and should advise you, when you get out from it, to turn into
+your bunk at once. No one shall go near you in the morning until you
+wake of your own accord."
+
+Cyril was, however, down to breakfast.
+
+"Now tell us all about the fire," Nellie said, when they had finished
+the meal.
+
+"I have nothing to tell you, for I know nothing," Cyril replied. "Our
+work was simply pulling down and blowing up houses. I had scarce time
+so much as to look at the fire. However, as I have since been working
+all round its course, I can tell you exactly how far it spread."
+
+When he brought his story to a conclusion, he said,--
+
+"And now, Captain Dave, what are you thinking of doing?"
+
+"In the first place, I am going ashore to look at the old house. As
+soon as I can get men, I shall clear the ground, and begin to rebuild
+it. I have enough laid by to start me again. I should be like a fish
+out of water with nothing to see to. I have the most valuable part of
+my stock still on hand here on deck, and if the cellar has proved
+staunch my loss in goods will be small indeed, for the anchors and
+chains in the yard will have suffered no damage. But even if the
+cellar has caved in, and its contents are destroyed, and if, when I
+have rebuilt my house, I find I have not enough left to replenish my
+stock, I am sure that I can get credit from the rope- and sail-makers,
+and iron-masters with whom I deal."
+
+"Do not trouble yourself about that, Captain Dave," Cyril said. "You
+came to my help last time, and it will be my turn this time. I am
+sure that I shall have no difficulty in getting any monies that may
+be required from Mr. Goldsworthy, and there is nothing that will give
+me more pleasure than to see you established again in the place that
+was the first where I ever felt I had a home."
+
+"I hope that it will not be needed, lad," Captain Dave said, shaking
+his hand warmly, "but if it should, I will not hesitate to accept
+your offer in the spirit in which it is made, and thus add one more
+to the obligations that I am under to you."
+
+Cyril went ashore with Captain Dave and John Wilkes. The wall of the
+yard was, of course, uninjured, but the gate was burnt down. The
+store-house, which was of wood, had entirely disappeared, and the
+back wall of the house had fallen over it and the yard. The entrance
+to the cellar, therefore, could not be seen, and, as yet, the heat
+from the fallen bricks was too great to attempt to clear them away to
+get at it.
+
+That night, however, it rained heavily, and in the morning Captain
+Watson took a party of sailors ashore, and these succeeded in
+clearing away the rubbish sufficiently to get to the entrance of the
+cellar. The door was covered by an iron plate, and although the wood
+behind this was charred it had not caught fire, and on getting it
+open it was found that the contents of the cellar were uninjured.
+
+In order to prevent marauders from getting at it before preparations
+could be made for rebuilding, the rubbish was again thrown in so as
+to completely conceal the entrance. On returning on board there was a
+consultation on the future, held in the cabin. Captain Dave at once
+said that he and John Wilkes must remain in town to make arrangements
+for the rebuilding and to watch the performance of the work. Cyril
+warmly pressed Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie to come down with him to
+Norfolk until the house was ready to receive them, but both were in
+favour of remaining in London, and it was settled that, next day,
+they should go down to Stepney, hire a house and store-room there,
+and remove thither their goods on board the ship, and the contents of
+the cellar.
+
+There was some little difficulty in getting a house, as so many were
+seeking for lodgings, but at last they came upon a widow who was
+willing to let a house, upon the proviso that she was allowed to
+retain one room for her own occupation. This being settled, Cyril
+that evening returned to his lodging, and the next day rode down to
+Norfolk. There he remained until the middle of May, when he received
+a letter from Captain Dave, saying that his house was finished, and
+that they should move into it in a fortnight, and that they all
+earnestly hoped he would be present. As he had already been thinking
+of going up to London for a time, he decided to accept the
+invitation.
+
+By this time he had made the acquaintance of all the surrounding
+gentry, and felt perfectly at home at Upmead. He rode frequently into
+Norwich, and, whenever he did so, paid a visit to Mr. Harvey, whose
+wife had died in January, never having completely recovered from the
+shock that she had received in London. Mr. Harvey himself had aged
+much; he still took a great interest in the welfare of the tenants of
+Upmead, and in Cyril's proposals for the improvement of their homes,
+and was pleased to see how earnestly he had taken up the duties of
+his new life. He spoke occasionally of his son, of whose death he
+felt convinced.
+
+"I have never been able to obtain any news of him," he often said,
+"and assuredly I should have heard of him had he been alive.
+
+"It would ease my mind to know the truth," he said, one day. "It
+troubles me to think that, if alive, he is assuredly pursuing evil
+courses, and that he will probably end his days on a gallows. That he
+will repent, and turn to better courses, I have now no hope whatever.
+Unless he be living by roguery, he would, long ere this, have
+written, professing repentance, even if he did not feel it, and
+begging for assistance. It troubles me much that I can find out
+nothing for certain of him."
+
+"Would it be a relief to you to know surely that he was dead?" Cyril
+asked.
+
+"I would rather know that he was dead than feel, as I do, that if
+alive, he is going on sinning. One can mourn for the dead as David
+mourned for Absalom, and trust that their sins may be forgiven them;
+but, uncertain as I am of his death, I cannot so mourn, since it may
+be that he still lives."
+
+"Then, sir, I am in a position to set your mind at rest. I have known
+for a long time that he died of the Plague, but I have kept it from
+you, thinking that it was best you should still think that he might
+be living. He fell dead beside me on the very day that I sickened of
+the Plague, and, indeed, it was from him that I took it."
+
+Mr. Harvey remained silent for a minute or two.
+
+"'Tis better so," he said solemnly. "The sins of youth may be
+forgiven, but, had he lived, his whole course might have been wicked.
+How know you that it was he who gave you the Plague?"
+
+"I met him in the street. He was tottering in his walk, and, as he
+came up, he stumbled, and grasped me to save himself. I held him for
+a moment, and then he slipped from my arms and fell on the pavement,
+and died."
+
+Mr. Harvey looked keenly at Cyril, and was about to ask a question,
+but checked himself.
+
+"He is dead," he said. "God rest his soul, and forgive him his sins!
+Henceforth I shall strive to forget that he ever lived to manhood,
+and seek to remember him as he was when a child."
+
+Then he held out his hand to Cyril, to signify that he would fain be
+alone.
+
+On arriving in London, Cyril took up his abode at his former
+lodgings, and the next day at twelve o'clock, the hour appointed in a
+letter he found awaiting him on his arrival, he arrived in Tower
+Street, having ridden through the City. An army of workmen, who had
+come up from all parts of the country, were engaged in rebuilding the
+town. In the main thoroughfares many of the houses were already
+finished, and the shops re-opened. In other parts less progress had
+been made, as the traders were naturally most anxious to resume their
+business, and most able to pay for speed.
+
+Captain Dave's was one of the first houses completed in Tower Street,
+but there were many others far advanced in progress. The front
+differed materially from that of the old house, in which each story
+had projected beyond the one below it. Inside, however, there was but
+little change in its appearance, except that the rooms were somewhat
+more lofty, and that there were no heavy beams across the ceilings.
+Captain Dave and his family had moved in that morning.
+
+"It does not look quite like the old place," Mrs. Dowsett said, after
+the first greetings.
+
+"Not quite," Cyril agreed. "The new furniture, of course, gives it a
+different appearance as yet; but one will soon get accustomed to
+that, and you will quickly make it home-like again. I see you have
+the bits of furniture you saved in their old corners."
+
+"Yes; and it will make a great difference when they get all my
+curiosities up in their places again," Captain Dave put in. "We
+pulled them down anyhow, and some of them will want glueing up a bit.
+And so your fighting is over, Cyril?"
+
+"Yes, it looks like it. The Dutch have evidently had enough of it.
+They asked for peace, and as both parties consented to the King of
+Sweden being mediator, and our representatives and those of Holland
+are now settling affairs at Breda, peace may be considered as finally
+settled. We have only two small squadrons now afloat; the rest are
+all snugly laid up. I trust that there is no chance of another war
+between the two nations for years to come."
+
+"I hope not, Cyril. But De Witte is a crafty knave, and is ever in
+close alliance with Louis. Were it not for French influence the
+Prince of Orange would soon oust him from the head of affairs."
+
+"I should think he would not have any power for mischief in the
+future," Cyril said. "It was he who brought on the last war, and,
+although it has cost us much, it has cost the Dutch very much more,
+and the loss of her commerce has well-nigh brought Holland to ruin.
+Besides, the last victory we won must have lowered their national
+pride greatly."
+
+"You have not heard the reports that are about, then?"
+
+"No, I have heard no news whatever. It takes a long time for it to
+travel down to Norwich, and I have seen no one since I came up to
+town last night."
+
+"Well, there is a report that a Dutch Fleet of eighty sail has put to
+sea. It may be that 'tis but bravado to show that, though they have
+begged for peace, 'tis not because they are in no condition to fight.
+I know not how this may be, but it is certain that for the last three
+days the Naval people have been very busy, and that powder is being
+sent down to Chatham. As for the Fleet, small as it is, it is
+doubtful whether it would fight, for the men are in a veritable state
+of mutiny, having received no pay for many months. Moreover, several
+ships were but yesterday bought by Government, for what purpose it is
+not known, but it is conjectured they are meant for fire-ships."
+
+"I cannot but think that it is, as you say, a mere piece of bravado
+on the part of the Dutch, Captain Dave. They could never be so
+treacherous as to attack us when peace is well-nigh concluded, but,
+hurt as their pride must be by the defeat we gave them, it is not
+unnatural they should wish to show that they can still put a brave
+fleet on the seas, and are not driven to make peace because they
+could not, if need be, continue the war."
+
+"And now I have a piece of news for you. We are going to have a
+wedding here before long."
+
+"I am right glad to hear it," Cyril said heartily. "And who is the
+happy man, Nellie?" he asked, turning towards where she had been
+standing the moment before. But Nellie had fled the moment her father
+had opened his lips.
+
+"It is Frank Watson," her father said. "A right good lad; and her
+mother and I are well pleased with her choice."
+
+"I thought that he was very attentive the few days we were on board
+his father's ship," Cyril said. "I am not surprised to hear the
+news."
+
+"They have been two voyages since then, and while the _Good Venture_
+was in the Pool, Master Frank spent most of his time down at Stepney,
+and it was settled a fortnight since. My old friend Watson is as
+pleased as I am. And the best part of the business is that Frank is
+going to give up the sea and become my partner. His father owns the
+_Good Venture_, and, being a careful man, has laid by a round sum,
+and he settled to give him fifteen hundred pounds, which he will put
+into the business."
+
+"That is a capital plan, Captain Dave. It will be an excellent thing
+for you to have so young and active a partner."
+
+"Watson has bought the house down at Stepney that we have been living
+in, and Frank and Nellie are going to settle there, and Watson will
+make it his headquarters when his ship is in port, and will, I have
+no doubt, take up his moorings there, when he gives up the sea. The
+wedding is to be in a fortnight's time, for Watson has set his heart
+on seeing them spliced before he sails again, and I see no reason for
+delay. You must come to the wedding, of course, Cyril. Indeed, I
+don't think Nellie would consent to be married if you were not there.
+The girl has often spoken of you lately. You see, now that she really
+knows what love is, and has a quiet, happy life to look forward to,
+she feels more than ever the service you did her, and the escape she
+had. She told the whole story to Frank before she said yes, when he
+asked her to be his wife, and, of course, he liked her no less for
+it, though I think it would go hard with that fellow if he ever met
+him."
+
+"The fellow died of the Plague, Captain Dave. His last action was to
+try and revenge himself on me by giving me the infection, for,
+meeting me in the streets, he threw his arms round me and exclaimed,
+'I have given you the Plague!' They were the last words he ever
+spoke, for he gave a hideous laugh, and then dropped down dead.
+However, he spoke truly, for that night I sickened of it."
+
+"Then your kindness to Nellie well-nigh cost you your life," Mrs.
+Dowsett said, laying her hand on his shoulder, while the tears stood
+in her eyes. "And you never told us this before!"
+
+"There was nothing to tell," Cyril replied. "If I had not caught it
+from him, I should have, doubtless, taken it from someone else, for I
+was constantly in the way of it, and could hardly have hoped to
+escape an attack. Now, Captain Dave, let us go downstairs, and see
+the store."
+
+"John Wilkes and the two boys are at work there," the Captain said,
+as he went downstairs, "and we open our doors tomorrow. I have
+hurried on the house as fast as possible, and as no others in my
+business have yet opened, I look to do a thriving trade at once.
+Watson will send all his friends here, and as there is scarce a
+captain who goes in or out of port but knows Frank, I consider that
+our new partner will greatly extend the business."
+
+Captain Watson and Frank came in at supper-time, and, after spending
+a pleasant evening, Cyril returned to his lodgings in the Strand. The
+next day he was walking near Whitehall when a carriage dashed out at
+full speed, and, as it came along, he caught sight of the Duke of
+Albemarle, who looked in a state of strange confusion. His wig was
+awry, his coat was off, and his face was flushed and excited. As his
+eye fell on Cyril, he shouted out to the postillions to stop. As they
+pulled up, he shouted,--
+
+"Jump in, Sir Cyril! Jump in, for your life."
+
+Astonished at this address, Cyril ran to the door, opened it, and
+jumped in, and the Duke shouted to the postillions to go on.
+
+"What do you think, sir?--what do you think?" roared the Duke. "Those
+treacherous scoundrels, the Dutch, have appeared with a great Fleet
+of seventy men-of-war, besides fire-ships, off Sheerness, this
+morning at daybreak, and have taken the place, and Chatham lies open
+to them. We have been bamboozled and tricked. While the villains were
+pretending they were all for peace, they have been secretly fitting
+out, and there they are at Sheerness. A mounted messenger brought in
+the news, but ten minutes ago."
+
+"Have they taken Sheerness, sir?"
+
+"Yes; there were but six guns mounted on the fort, and no
+preparations made. The ships that were there did nothing. The rascals
+are in mutiny--and small wonder, when they can get no pay; the money
+voted for them being wasted by the Court. It is enough to drive one
+wild with vexation, and, had I my will, there are a dozen men, whose
+names are the foremost in the country, whom I would hang up with my
+own hands. The wind is from the east, and if they go straight up the
+Medway they may be there this afternoon, and have the whole of our
+ships at their mercy. It is enough to make Blake turn in his grave
+that such an indignity should be offered us, though it be but the
+outcome of treachery on the part of the Dutch, and of gross
+negligence on ours. But if they give us a day or two to prepare, we
+will, at least, give them something to do before they can carry out
+their design, and, if one could but rely on the sailors, we might
+even beat them off; but it is doubtful whether the knaves will fight.
+The forts are unfinished, though the money was voted for them three
+years since. And all this is not the worst of it, for, after they
+have taken Chatham, there is naught to prevent their coming up to
+London. We have had plague and we have had fire, and to be bombarded
+by the Dutchmen would be the crowning blow, and it would be like to
+bring about another revolution in England."
+
+They posted down to Chatham as fast as the horses could gallop. The
+instant the news had arrived, the Duke had sent off a man, on
+horseback, to order horses to be in readiness to change at each
+posting station. Not a minute, therefore, was lost. In a little over
+two hours from the time of leaving Whitehall, they drove into the
+dockyard.
+
+"Where is Sir Edward Spragge?" the Duke shouted, as he leapt from the
+carriage.
+
+"He has gone down to the new forts, your Grace," an officer replied.
+
+"Have a gig prepared at once, without the loss of a moment," the Duke
+said. "What is being done?" he asked another officer, as the first
+ran off.
+
+"Sir Edward has taken four frigates down to the narrow part of the
+river, sir, and preparations have been made for placing a great chain
+there. Several of the ships are being towed out into the river, and
+are to be sunk in the passage."
+
+"Any news of the Dutch having left Sheerness?"
+
+"No, sir; a shallop rowed up at noon, but was chased back again by
+one of our pinnaces."
+
+"That is better than I had hoped. Come, come, we shall make a fight
+for it yet," and he strode away towards the landing.
+
+"Shall I accompany you, sir?" Cyril asked.
+
+"Yes. There is nothing for you to do until we see exactly how things
+stand. I shall use you as my staff officer--that is, if you are
+willing, Sir Cyril. I have carried you off without asking whether you
+consented or no; but, knowing your spirit and quickness, I felt sure
+you would be of use."
+
+"I am at your service altogether," Cyril said, "and am glad indeed
+that your Grace encountered me, for I should have been truly sorry to
+have been idle at such a time."
+
+An eight-oared gig was already at the stairs, and they were rowed
+rapidly down the river. They stopped at Upnor Castle, and found that
+Major Scott, who was in command there, was hard at work mounting
+cannon and putting the place in a posture of defence.
+
+"You will have more men from London by to-morrow night, at the
+latest," the Duke said, "and powder and shot in abundance was sent
+off yesterday. We passed a train on our way down, and I told them to
+push on with all speed. As the Dutch have not moved yet, they cannot
+be here until the afternoon of to-morrow, and, like enough, will not
+attack until next day, for they must come slowly, or they will lose
+some of their ships on the sands. We will try to get up a battery
+opposite, so as to aid you with a cross fire. I am going down to see
+Sir Edward Spragge now."
+
+Taking their places in the boat again, they rowed round the horseshoe
+curve down to Gillingham, and then along to the spot where the
+frigates were moored. At the sharp bend lower down here the Duke
+found the Admiral, and they held a long consultation together. It was
+agreed that the chain should be placed somewhat higher up, where a
+lightly-armed battery on either side would afford some assistance,
+that behind the chain the three ships, the _Matthias_, the _Unity_,
+and the _Charles V._, all prizes taken from the Dutch, should be
+moored, and that the _Jonathan_ and _Fort of Honinggen_--also a
+Dutch prize--should be also posted there.
+
+Having arranged this, the Duke was rowed back to Chatham, there to
+see about getting some of the great ships removed from their moorings
+off Gillingham, up the river. To his fury, he found that, of all the
+eighteen hundred men employed in the yard, not more than half a dozen
+had remained at their work, the rest being, like all the townsmen,
+occupied in removing their goods in great haste. Even the frigates
+that were armed had but a third, at most, of their crews on board, so
+many having deserted owing to the backwardness of their pay.
+
+That night, Sir W. Coventry, Sir W. Penn, Lord Brounker, and other
+officers and officials of the Admiralty, came down from London. Some
+of these, especially Lord Brounker, had a hot time of it with the
+Duke, who rated them roundly for the state of things which prevailed,
+telling the latter that he was the main cause of all the misfortunes
+that might occur, owing to his having dismantled and disarmed all the
+great ships. In spite of the efforts of all these officers, but
+little could be done, owing to the want of hands, and to the refusal
+of the dockyard men, and most of the sailors, to do anything. A small
+battery of sandbags was, however, erected opposite Upnor, and a few
+guns placed in position there.
+
+Several ships were sunk in the channel above Upnor, and a few of
+those lying off Gillingham were towed up. Little help was sent down
+from London, for the efforts of the authorities were directed wholly
+to the defence of the Thames. The train-bands were all under arms,
+fire-ships were being fitted out and sent down to Gravesend, and
+batteries erected there and at Tilbury, while several ships were sunk
+in the channel.
+
+The Dutch remained at Sheerness from the 7th to the 12th, and had it
+not been for the misconduct of the men, Chatham could have been put
+into a good state for defence. As it was, but little could be
+effected; and when, on the 12th, the Dutch Fleet were seen coming up
+the river, the chances of successful resistance were small.
+
+The fight commenced by a Dutch frigate, commanded by Captain Brakell,
+advancing against the chain. Carried up by a strong tide and east
+wind the ship struck it with such force that it at once gave way. The
+English frigates, but weakly manned, could offer but slight
+resistance, and the _Jonathan_ was boarded and captured by Brakell.
+Following his frigate were a host of fire-ships, which at once
+grappled with the defenders. The _Matthias, Unity, Charles V._, and
+_Fort of Honinggen_ were speedily in flames. The light batteries on
+the shore were silenced by the guns of the Fleet, which then
+anchored. The next day, six of their men-of-war, with five
+fire-ships, advanced, exchanged broadsides, as they went along, with
+the _Royal Oak_ and presently engaged Upnor. They were received with
+so hot a fire from the Castle, and from the battery opposite, where
+Sir Edward Spragge had stationed himself, that, after a time, they
+gave up the design of ascending to the dockyard, which at that time
+occupied a position higher up the river than at present.
+
+The tide was beginning to slacken, and they doubtless feared that a
+number of fire-barges might be launched at them did they venture
+higher up. On the way back, they launched a fire-ship at the _Royal
+Oak_, which was commanded by Captain Douglas. The flames speedily
+communicated to the ship, and the crew took to the boats and rowed
+ashore. Captain Douglas refused to leave his vessel, and perished in
+the flames. The report given by the six men-of-war decided the Dutch
+not to attempt anything further against Chatham. On the 14th, they
+set fire to the hulks, the _Loyal London_ and the _Great James_,
+and carried off the hulk of the _Royal Charles_, after the English
+had twice tried to destroy her by fire. As this was the ship in which
+the Duke of Albemarle, then General Monk, had brought the King over
+to England from Holland, her capture was considered a special triumph
+for the Dutch and a special dishonour to us.
+
+The Duke of Albemarle had left Chatham before the Dutch came up. As
+the want of crews prevented his being of any use there, and he saw
+that Sir Edward Spragge would do all that was possible in defence of
+the place, he posted back to London, where his presence was urgently
+required, a complete panic reigning. Crowds assembled at Whitehall,
+and insulted the King and his ministers as the cause of the present
+misfortunes, while at Deptford and Wapping, the sailors and their
+wives paraded the streets, shouting that the ill-treatment of our
+sailors had brought these things about, and so hostile were their
+manifestations that the officials of the Admiralty scarce dared show
+themselves in the streets.
+
+Cyril had remained at Chatham, the Duke having recommended him to Sir
+Edward Spragge, and he, with some other gentlemen and a few sailors,
+had manned the battery opposite Upnor.
+
+The great proportion of the Dutch ships were still at the Nore, as it
+would have been dangerous to have hazarded so great a fleet in the
+narrow water of the Medway. As it was, two of their men-of-war, on
+the way back from Chatham, ran ashore, and had to be burnt. They had
+also six fire-ships burnt, and lost over a hundred and fifty men.
+
+Leaving Admiral Van Ness with part of the Fleet in the mouth of the
+Thames, De Ruyter sailed first for Harwich, where he attempted to
+land with sixteen hundred men in boats, supported by the guns of the
+Fleet. The boats, however, failed to effect a landing, being beaten
+off, with considerable loss, by the county Militia; and Ruyter then
+sailed for Portsmouth, where he also failed. He then went west to
+Torbay, where he was likewise repulsed, and then returned to the
+mouth of the Thames.
+
+On July 23rd, Van Ness, with twenty-five men-of-war, sailed up the
+Hope, where Sir Edward Spragge had now hoisted his flag on board a
+squadron of eighteen ships, of whom five were frigates and the rest
+fire-ships. A sharp engagement ensued, but the wind was very light,
+and the English, by towing their fire-ships, managed to lay them
+alongside the Dutch fire-ships, and destroyed twelve of these with a
+loss of only six English ships. But, the wind then rising, Sir Edward
+retired from the Hope to Gravesend, where he was protected by the
+guns at Tilbury.
+
+The next day, being joined by Sir Joseph Jordan, with a few small
+ships, he took the offensive, and destroyed the last fire-ship that
+the Dutch had left, and compelled the men-of-war to retire. Sir
+Edward followed them with his little squadron, and Van Ness, as he
+retired down the river, was met by five frigates and fourteen
+fire-ships from Harwich. These boldly attacked him. Two of the Dutch
+men-of-war narrowly escaped being burnt, another was forced ashore
+and greatly damaged, and the whole of the Dutch Fleet was compelled
+to bear away.
+
+While these events had been happening in the Thames, the negotiations
+at Breda had continued, and, just as the Dutch retreated, the news
+came that Peace had been signed. The Dutch, on their side, were
+satisfied with the success with which they had closed the war, while
+England was, at the moment, unable to continue it, and the King,
+seeing the intense unpopularity that had been excited against him by
+the affair at Chatham, was glad to ratify the Peace, especially as we
+thereby retained possession of several islands we had taken in the
+West Indies from the Dutch, and it was manifest that Spain was
+preparing to join the coalition of France and Holland against us.
+
+A Peace concluded under such circumstances was naturally but a short
+one. When the war was renewed, three years later, the French were in
+alliance with us, and, after several more desperate battles, in which
+no great advantages were gained on either side, the Dutch were so
+exhausted and impoverished by the loss of trade, that a final Peace
+was arranged on terms far more advantageous to us than those secured
+by the Treaty of 1667. The De Wittes, the authors of the previous
+wars, had both been killed in a popular tumult. The Prince of Orange
+was at the head of the State, and the fact that France and Spain were
+both hostile to Holland had reawakened the feeling of England in
+favour of the Protestant Republic, and the friendship between the two
+nations has never since been broken.
+
+Cyril took no part in the last war against the Dutch. He, like the
+majority of the nation, was opposed to it, and, although willing to
+give his life in defence of his country when attacked, felt it by no
+means his duty to do so when we were aiding the designs of France in
+crushing a brave enemy. Such was in fact the result of the war; for
+although peace was made on even terms, the wars of Holland with
+England and the ruin caused to her trade thereby, inflicted a blow
+upon the Republic from which she never recovered. From being the
+great rival of England, both on the sea and in her foreign commerce,
+her prosperity and power dwindled until she ceased altogether to be a
+factor in European affairs.
+
+After the Peace of Breda was signed, Cyril went down to Upmead,
+where, for the next four years, he devoted himself to the management
+of his estate. His friendship with Mr. Harvey grew closer and warmer,
+until the latter came to consider him in really the light of a son;
+and when he died, in 1681, it was found that his will was unaltered,
+and that, with the exception of legacies to many of his old employes
+at his factory, the whole of his property was left to Cyril. The
+latter received a good offer for the tanyard, and, upon an estate
+next to his own coming shortly afterwards into the market, he
+purchased it, and thus the Upmead estates became as extensive as they
+had been before the time of his ancestor, who had so seriously
+diminished them during the reign of Elizabeth.
+
+His friendship with the family of the Earl of Wisbech had remained
+unaltered, and he had every year paid them a visit, either at Wisbech
+or at Sevenoaks. A year after Mr. Harvey's death, he married Dorothy,
+who had previously refused several flattering offers.
+
+Captain Dave and his wife lived to a good old age. The business had
+largely increased, owing to the energy of their son-in-law, who had,
+with his wife and children, taken up his abode in the next house to
+theirs, which had been bought to meet the extension of their
+business. John Wilkes, at the death of Captain Dave, declined Cyril's
+pressing offer to make his home with him.
+
+"It would never do, Sir Cyril," he said. "I should be miserable out
+of the sight of ships, and without a place where I could meet
+seafaring men, and smoke my pipe, and listen to their yarns."
+
+He therefore remained with Frank Watson, nominally in charge of the
+stores, but doing, in fact, as little as he chose until, long past
+the allotted age of man, he passed quietly away.
+
+
+
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of When London Burned, by G. A. Henty
+
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+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: When London Burned
+
+Author: G. A. Henty
+
+Release Date: April, 2005  [EBook #7831]
+[This file was first posted on May 20, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO Latin-1
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, WHEN LONDON BURNED ***
+
+
+
+
+Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, S.R. Ellison, and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+WHEN LONDON BURNED
+
+BY G. A. HENTY
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+We are accustomed to regard the Reign of Charles II. as one of the
+most inglorious periods of English History; but this was far from
+being the case. It is true that the extravagance and profligacy of
+the Court were carried to a point unknown before or since,
+forming,--by the indignation they excited among the people at
+large,--the main cause of the overthrow of the House of Stuart. But,
+on the other hand, the nation made extraordinary advances in commerce
+and wealth, while the valour of our sailors was as conspicuous under
+the Dukes of York and Albemarle, Prince Rupert and the Earl of
+Sandwich, as it had been under Blake himself, and their victories
+resulted in transferring the commercial as well as the naval
+supremacy of Holland to this country. In spite of the cruel blows
+inflicted on the well-being of the country, alike by the extravagance
+of the Court, the badness of the Government, the Great Plague, and
+the destruction of London by fire, an extraordinary extension of our
+trade occurred during the reign of Charles II. Such a period,
+therefore, although its brilliancy was marred by dark shadows, cannot
+be considered as an inglorious epoch. It was ennobled by the bravery
+of our sailors, by the fearlessness with which the coalition of
+France with Holland was faced, and by the spirit of enterprise with
+which our merchants and traders seized the opportunity, and, in spite
+of national misfortunes, raised England in the course of a few years
+to the rank of the greatest commercial power in the world.
+
+                                  G. A. HENTY.
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+     I. FATHERLESS
+
+    II. A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
+
+   III. A THIEF SOMEWHERE
+
+    IV. CAPTURED
+
+     V. KIDNAPPED
+
+    VI. A NARROW ESCAPE
+
+   VII. SAVED FROM A VILLAIN
+
+  VIII. THE CAPTAIN'S YARN
+
+    IX. THE FIRE IN THE SAVOY
+
+     X. HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE DUTCH
+
+    XI. PRINCE RUPERT
+
+   XII. NEW FRIENDS
+
+  XIII. THE BATTLE OF LOWESTOFT
+
+   XIV. HONOURABLE SCARS
+
+    XV. THE PLAGUE
+
+   XVI. FATHER AND SON
+
+  XVII. SMITTEN DOWN
+
+ XVIII. A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE
+
+   XIX. TAKING POSSESSION
+
+    XX. THE FIGHT OFF DUNKIRK
+
+   XXI. LONDON IN FLAMES
+
+  XXII. AFTER THE FIRE
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+"WITH GREAT RAPIDITY THE FLAMES SPREAD FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE"
+
+"DON'T CRY, LAD; YOU WILL GET ON BETTER WITHOUT ME"
+
+"THIS IS MY PRINCE OF SCRIVENERS, MARY"
+
+"ROBERT ASHFORD, KNIFE IN HAND, ATTACKED JOHN WILKES WITH FURY"
+
+"CYRIL SAT UP AND DRANK OFF THE CONTENTS OF THE PANNIKIN"
+
+"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, SIR, DO NOT CAUSE TROUBLE"
+
+"TAKE HER DOWN QUICK, JOHN, THERE ARE THREE OTHERS"
+
+"CYRIL RAISED THE KING'S HAND TO HIS LIPS"
+
+"A DUTCH MAN-OF-WAR RAN ALONGSIDE AND FIRED A BROADSIDE"
+
+"FOR THE LAST TIME: WILL YOU SIGN THE DEED?"
+
+"WELCOME BACK TO YOUR OWN AGAIN, SIR CYRIL!"
+
+"WHAT NEWS, JAMES?" THE KING ASKED EAGERLY
+
+
+
+
+WHEN LONDON BURNED
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+FATHERLESS
+
+
+Lad stood looking out of the dormer window in a scantily furnished
+attic in the high-pitched roof of a house in Holborn, in September
+1664. Numbers of persons were traversing the street below, many of
+them going out through the bars, fifty yards away, into the fields
+beyond, where some sports were being held that morning, while country
+people were coming in with their baskets from the villages of
+Highgate and Hampstead, Tyburn and Bayswater. But the lad noted
+nothing that was going on; his eyes were filled with tears, and his
+thoughts were in the little room behind him; for here, coffined in
+readiness for burial, lay the body of his father.
+
+Sir Aubrey Shenstone had not been a good father in any sense of the
+word. He had not been harsh or cruel, but he had altogether neglected
+his son. Beyond the virtues of loyalty and courage, he possessed few
+others. He had fought, as a young man, for Charles, and even among
+the Cavaliers who rode behind Prince Rupert was noted for reckless
+bravery. When, on the fatal field of Worcester, the last hopes of the
+Royalists were crushed, he had effected his escape to France and
+taken up his abode at Dunkirk. His estates had been forfeited; and
+after spending the proceeds of his wife's jewels and those he had
+carried about with him in case fortune went against the cause for
+which he fought, he sank lower and lower, and had for years lived on
+the scanty pension allowed by Louis to the King and his adherents.
+
+Sir Aubrey had been one of the wild, reckless spirits whose conduct
+did much towards setting the people of England against the cause of
+Charles. He gambled and drank, interlarded his conversation with
+oaths, and despised as well as hated the Puritans against whom he
+fought. Misfortune did not improve him; he still drank when he had
+money to do so, gambled for small sums in low taverns with men of his
+own kind, and quarrelled and fought on the smallest provocation. Had
+it not been for his son he would have taken service in the army of
+some foreign Power; but he could not take the child about with him,
+nor could he leave it behind.
+
+Sir Aubrey was not altogether without good points. He would divide
+his last crown with a comrade poorer than himself. In the worst of
+times he was as cheerful as when money was plentiful, making a joke
+of his necessities and keeping a brave face to the world.
+
+Wholly neglected by his father, who spent the greater portion of his
+time abroad, Cyril would have fared badly indeed had it not been for
+the kindness of Lady Parton, the wife of a Cavalier of very different
+type to Sir Aubrey. He had been an intimate friend of Lord Falkland,
+and, like that nobleman, had drawn his sword with the greatest
+reluctance, and only when he saw that Parliament was bent upon
+overthrowing the other two estates in the realm and constituting
+itself the sole authority in England. After the execution of Charles
+he had retired to France, and did not take part in the later risings,
+but lived a secluded life with his wife and children. The eldest of
+these was of the same age as Cyril; and as the latter's mother had
+been a neighbour of hers before marriage, Lady Parton promised her,
+on her death-bed, to look after the child, a promise that she
+faithfully kept.
+
+Sir John Parton had always been adverse to the association of his boy
+with the son of Sir Aubrey Shenstone; but he had reluctantly yielded
+to his wife's wishes, and Cyril passed the greater portion of his
+time at their house, sharing the lessons Harry received from an
+English clergyman who had been expelled from his living by the
+fanatics of Parliament. He was a good and pious man, as well as an
+excellent scholar, and under his teaching, aided by the gentle
+precepts of Lady Parton, and the strict but kindly rule of her
+husband, Cyril received a training of a far better kind than he would
+ever have been likely to obtain had he been brought up in his
+father's house near Norfolk. Sir Aubrey exclaimed sometimes that the
+boy was growing up a little Puritan, and had he taken more interest
+in his welfare would undoubtedly have withdrawn him from the healthy
+influences that were benefiting him so greatly; but, with the usual
+acuteness of children, Cyril soon learnt that any allusion to his
+studies or his life at Sir John Parton's was disagreeable to his
+father, and therefore seldom spoke of them.
+
+Sir Aubrey was never, even when under the influence of his potations,
+unkind to Cyril. The boy bore a strong likeness to his mother, whom
+his father had, in his rough way, really loved passionately. He
+seldom spoke even a harsh word to him, and although he occasionally
+expressed his disapproval of the teaching he was receiving, was at
+heart not sorry to see the boy growing up so different from himself;
+and Cyril, in spite of his father's faults, loved him. When Sir
+Aubrey came back with unsteady step, late at night, and threw himself
+on his pallet, Cyril would say to himself, "Poor father! How
+different he would have been had it not been for his misfortunes! He
+is to be pitied rather than blamed!" And so, as years went on, in
+spite of the difference between their natures, there had grown up a
+sort of fellowship between the two; and of an evening sometimes, when
+his father's purse was so low that he could not indulge in his usual
+stoup of wine at the tavern, they would sit together while Sir Aubrey
+talked of his fights and adventures.
+
+"As to the estates, Cyril," he said one day, "I don't know that
+Cromwell and his Roundheads have done you much harm. I should have
+run through them, lad--I should have diced them away years ago--and I
+am not sure but that their forfeiture has been a benefit to you. If
+the King ever gets his own, you may come to the estates; while, if I
+had had the handling of them, the usurers would have had such a grip
+on them that you would never have had a penny of the income."
+
+"It doesn't matter, father," the boy replied. "I mean to be a soldier
+some day, as you have been, and I shall take service with some of the
+Protestant Princes of Germany; or, if I can't do that, I shall be
+able to work my way somehow."
+
+"What can you work at, lad?" his father said, contemptuously.
+
+"I don't know yet, father; but I shall find some work to do."
+
+Sir Aubrey was about to burst into a tirade against work, but he
+checked himself. If Cyril never came into the estates he would have
+to earn his living somehow.
+
+"All right, my boy. But do you stick to your idea of earning your
+living by your sword; it is a gentleman's profession, and I would
+rather see you eating dry bread as a soldier of fortune than
+prospering in some vile trading business."
+
+Cyril never argued with his father, and he simply nodded an assent
+and then asked some question that turned Sir Aubrey's thoughts on
+other matters.
+
+The news that Monk had declared for the King, and that Charles would
+speedily return to take his place on his father's throne, caused
+great excitement among the Cavaliers scattered over the Continent;
+and as soon as the matter was settled, all prepared to return to
+England, in the full belief that their evil days were over, and that
+they would speedily be restored to their former estates, with honours
+and rewards for their many sacrifices.
+
+"I must leave you behind for a short time, Cyril," his father said to
+the boy, when he came in one afternoon. "I must be in London before
+the King arrives there, to join in his welcome home, and for the
+moment I cannot take you; I shall be busy from morning till night. Of
+course, in the pressure of things at first it will be impossible for
+the King to do everything at once, and it may be a few weeks before
+all these Roundheads can be turned out of the snug nests they have
+made for themselves, and the rightful owners come to their own again.
+As I have no friends in London, I should have nowhere to bestow you,
+until I can take you down with me to Norfolk to present you to our
+tenants, and you would be grievously in my way; but as soon as things
+are settled I will write to you or come over myself to fetch you. In
+the meantime I must think over where I had best place you. It will
+not matter for so short a time, but I would that you should be as
+comfortable as possible. Think it over yourself, and let me know if
+you have any wishes in the matter. Sir John Parton leaves at the end
+of the week, and ere another fortnight there will be scarce another
+Englishman left at Dunkirk."
+
+"Don't you think you can take me with you, father?"
+
+"Impossible," Sir Aubrey said shortly. "Lodgings will be at a great
+price in London, for the city will be full of people from all parts
+coming up to welcome the King home. I can bestow myself in a garret
+anywhere, but I could not leave you there all day. Besides, I shall
+have to get more fitting clothes, and shall have many expenses. You
+are at home here, and will not feel it dull for the short time you
+have to remain behind."
+
+Cyril said no more, but went up, with a heavy heart, for his last
+day's lessons at the Partons'. Young as he was, he was accustomed to
+think for himself, for it was but little guidance he received from
+his father; and after his studies were over he laid the case before
+his master, Mr. Felton, and asked if he could advise him. Mr. Felton
+was himself in high spirits, and was hoping to be speedily reinstated
+in his living. He looked grave when Cyril told his story.
+
+"I think it is a pity that your father, Sir Aubrey, does not take you
+over with him, for it will assuredly take longer to bring all these
+matters into order than he seems to think. However, that is his
+affair. I should think he could not do better for you than place you
+with the people where I lodge. You know them, and they are a worthy
+couple; the husband is, as you know, a fisherman, and you and Harry
+Parton have often been out with him in his boat, so it would not be
+like going among strangers. Continue your studies. I should be sorry
+to think that you were forgetting all that you have learnt. I will
+take you this afternoon, if you like, to my friend, the Curé of St.
+Ursula. Although we differ on religion we are good friends, and
+should you need advice on any matters he will give it to you, and may
+be of use in arranging for a passage for you to England, should your
+father not be able himself to come and fetch you."
+
+Sir Aubrey at once assented to the plan when Cyril mentioned it to
+him, and a week later sailed for England; Cyril moving, with his few
+belongings, to the house of Jean Baudoin, who was the owner and
+master of one of the largest fishing-boats in Dunkirk. Sir Aubrey had
+paid for his board and lodgings for two months.
+
+"I expect to be over to fetch you long before that, Cyril," he had
+said, "but it is as well to be on the safe side. Here are four
+crowns, which will furnish you with ample pocket-money. And I have
+arranged with your fencing-master for you to have lessons regularly,
+as before; it will not do for you to neglect so important an
+accomplishment, for which, as he tells me, you show great aptitude."
+
+The two months passed. Cyril had received but one letter from his
+father. Although it expressed hopes of his speedy restoration to his
+estates, Cyril could see, by its tone, that his father was far from
+satisfied with the progress he had made in the matter. Madame Baudoin
+was a good and pious woman, and was very kind to the forlorn English
+boy; but when a fortnight over the two months had passed, Cyril could
+see that the fisherman was becoming anxious. Regularly, on his return
+from the fishing, he inquired if letters had arrived, and seemed much
+put out when he heard that there was no news. One day, when Cyril was
+in the garden that surrounded the cottage, he heard him say to his
+wife,--
+
+"Well, I will say nothing about it until after the next voyage, and
+then if we don't hear, the boy must do something for his living. I
+can take him in the boat with me; he can earn his victuals in that
+way. If he won't do that, I shall wash my hands of him altogether,
+and he must shift for himself. I believe his father has left him with
+us for good. We were wrong in taking him only on the recommendation
+of Mr. Felton. I have been inquiring about his father, and hear
+little good of him."
+
+Cyril, as soon as the fisherman had gone, stole up to his little
+room. He was but twelve years old, and he threw himself down on his
+bed and cried bitterly. Then a thought struck him; he went to his
+box, and took out from it a sealed parcel; on it was written, "To my
+son. This parcel is only to be opened should you find yourself in
+great need, Your Loving Mother." He remembered how she had placed it
+in his hands a few hours before her death, and had said to him,--
+
+"Put this away, Cyril. I charge you let no one see it. Do not speak
+of it to anyone--not even to your father. Keep it as a sacred gift,
+and do not open it unless you are in sore need. It is for you, and
+you alone. It is the sole thing that I have to leave you; use it with
+discretion. I fear that hard times will come upon you."
+
+Cyril felt that his need could hardly be sorer than it was now, and
+without hesitation he broke the seals, and opened the packet. He
+found first a letter directed to himself. It began,--
+
+"MY DARLING CYRIL,--I trust that it will be many years before you
+open this parcel and read these words. I have left the enclosed as a
+parting gift to you. I know not how long this exile may last, or
+whether you will ever be able to return to England. But whether you
+do or not, it may well be that the time will arrive when you may find
+yourself in sore need. Your father has been a loving husband to me,
+and will, I am sure, do what he can for you; but he is not provident
+in his habits, and may not, after he is left alone, be as careful in
+his expenditure as I have tried to be. I fear then that the time will
+come when you will be in need of money, possibly even in want of the
+necessaries of life. All my other trinkets I have given to him; but
+the one enclosed, which belonged to my mother, I leave to you. It is
+worth a good deal of money, and this it is my desire that you shall
+spend upon yourself. Use it wisely, my son. If, when you open this,
+you are of age to enter the service of a foreign Prince, as is, I
+know, the intention of your father, it will provide you with a
+suitable outfit. If, as is possible, you may lose your father by
+death or otherwise while you are still young, spend it on your
+education, which is the best of all heritages. Should your father be
+alive when you open this, I pray you not to inform him of it. The
+money, in his hands, would last but a short time, and might, I fear,
+be wasted. Think not that I am speaking or thinking hardly of him.
+All men, even the best, have their faults, and his is a carelessness
+as to money matters, and a certain recklessness concerning them;
+therefore, I pray you to keep it secret from him, though I do not say
+that you should not use the money for your common good, if it be
+needful; only, in that case, I beg you will not inform him as to what
+money you have in your possession, but use it carefully and prudently
+for the household wants, and make it last as long as may be. My good
+friend, Lady Parton, if still near you, will doubtless aid you in
+disposing of the jewels to the best advantage. God bless you, my son!
+This is the only secret I ever had from your father, but for your
+good I have hidden this one thing from him, and I pray that this
+deceit, which is practised for your advantage, may be forgiven me.
+YOUR LOVING MOTHER."
+
+It was some time before Cyril opened the parcel; it contained a
+jewel-box in which was a necklace of pearls. After some consideration
+he took this to the Curé of St. Ursula, and, giving him his mother's
+letter to read, asked him for his advice as to its disposal.
+
+"Your mother was a thoughtful and pious woman," the good priest said,
+after he had read the letter, "and has acted wisely in your behalf.
+The need she foresaw might come, has arisen, and you are surely
+justified in using her gift. I will dispose of this trinket for you;
+it is doubtless of considerable value. If it should be that your
+father speedily sends for you, you ought to lay aside the money for
+some future necessity. If he does not come for some time, as may well
+be--for, from the news that comes from England, it is like to be many
+months before affairs are settled--then draw from it only such
+amounts as are needed for your living and education. Study hard, my
+son, for so will you best be fulfilling the intentions of your
+mother. If you like, I will keep the money in my hands, serving it
+out to you as you need it; and in order that you may keep the matter
+a secret, I will myself go to Baudoin, and tell him that he need not
+be disquieted as to the cost of your maintenance, for that I have
+money in hand with which to discharge your expenses, so long as you
+may remain with him."
+
+The next day the Curé informed Cyril that he had disposed of the
+necklace for fifty louis. Upon this sum Cyril lived for two years.
+
+Things had gone very hardly with Sir Aubrey Shenstone. The King had a
+difficult course to steer. To have evicted all those who had obtained
+possession of the forfeited estates of the Cavaliers would have been
+to excite a deep feeling of resentment among the Nonconformists. In
+vain Sir Aubrey pressed his claims, in season and out of season. He
+had no powerful friends to aid him; his conduct had alienated the men
+who could have assisted him, and, like so many other Cavaliers who
+had fought and suffered for Charles I., Sir Aubrey Shenstone found
+himself left altogether in the cold. For a time he was able to keep
+up a fair appearance, as he obtained loans from Prince Rupert and
+other Royalists whom he had known in the old days, and who had been
+more fortunate than himself; but the money so obtained lasted but a
+short time, and it was not long before he was again in dire straits.
+
+Cyril had from the first but little hope that his father would
+recover his estates. He had, shortly before his father left France,
+heard a conversation between Sir John Parton and a gentleman who was
+in the inner circle of Charles's advisers. The latter had said,--
+
+"One of the King's great difficulties will be to satisfy the exiles.
+Undoubtedly, could he consult his own inclinations only, he would on
+his return at once reinstate all those who have suffered in their
+estates from their loyalty to his father and himself. But this will
+be impossible. It was absolutely necessary for him, in his
+proclamation at Breda, to promise an amnesty for all offences,
+liberty of conscience and an oblivion as to the past, and he
+specially says that all questions of grants, sales and purchases of
+land, and titles, shall be referred to Parliament. The Nonconformists
+are at present in a majority, and although it seems that all parties
+are willing to welcome the King back, you may be sure that no
+Parliament will consent to anything like a general disturbance of the
+possessors of estates formerly owned by Royalists. In a vast number
+of cases, the persons to whom such grants were made disposed of them
+by sale to others, and it would be as hard on them to be ousted as it
+is upon the original proprietors to be kept out of their possession.
+Truly it is a most difficult position, and one that will have to be
+approached with great judgment, the more so since most of those to
+whom the lands were granted were generals, officers, and soldiers of
+the Parliament, and Monk would naturally oppose any steps to the
+detriment of his old comrades.
+
+"I fear there will be much bitter disappointment among the exiles,
+and that the King will be charged with ingratitude by those who think
+that he has only to sign an order for their reinstatement, whereas
+Charles will have himself a most difficult course to steer, and will
+have to govern himself most circumspectly, so as to give offence to
+none of the governing parties. As to his granting estates, or
+dispossessing their holders, he will have no more power to do so than
+you or I. Doubtless some of the exiles will be restored to their
+estates; but I fear that the great bulk are doomed to disappointment.
+At any rate, for a time no extensive changes can be made, though it
+may be that in the distance, when the temper of the nation at large
+is better understood, the King will be able to do something for those
+who suffered in the cause.
+
+"It was all very well for Cromwell, who leant solely on the Army, to
+dispense with a Parliament, and to govern far more autocratically
+than James or Charles even dreamt of doing; but the Army that
+supported Cromwell would certainly not support Charles. It is
+composed for the most part of stern fanatics, and will be the first
+to oppose any attempt of the King to override the law. No doubt it
+will erelong be disbanded; but you will see that Parliament will then
+recover the authority of which Cromwell deprived it; and Charles is a
+far wiser man than his father, and will never set himself against the
+feeling of the country. Certainly, anything like a general
+reinstatement of the men who have been for the last ten years
+haunting the taverns of the Continent is out of the question; they
+would speedily create such a revulsion of public opinion as might
+bring about another rebellion. Hyde, staunch Royalist as he is, would
+never suffer the King to make so grievous an error; nor do I think
+for a moment that Charles, who is shrewd and politic, and above all
+things a lover of ease and quiet, would think of bringing such a nest
+of hornets about his ears."
+
+When, after his return to England, it became evident that Sir Aubrey
+had but small chance of reinstatement in his lands, his former
+friends began to close their purses and to refuse to grant further
+loans, and he was presently reduced to straits as severe as those he
+had suffered during his exile. The good spirits that had borne him up
+so long failed now, and he grew morose and petulant. His loyalty to
+the King was unshaken; Charles had several times granted him
+audiences, and had assured him that, did it rest with him, justice
+should be at once dealt to him, but that he was practically powerless
+in the matter, and the knight's resentment was concentrated upon
+Hyde, now Lord Clarendon, and the rest of the King's advisers. He
+wrote but seldom to Cyril; he had no wish to have the boy with him
+until he could take him down with him in triumph to Norfolk, and show
+him to the tenants as his heir. Living from hand to mouth as he did,
+he worried but little as to how Cyril was getting on.
+
+"The lad has fallen on his feet somehow," he said, "and he is better
+where he is than he would be with me. I suppose when he wants money
+he will write and say so, though where I should get any to send to
+him I know not. Anyhow, I need not worry about him at present."
+
+Cyril, indeed, had written to him soon after the sale of the
+necklace, telling him that he need not distress himself about his
+condition, for that he had obtained sufficient money for his present
+necessities from the sale of a small trinket his mother had given him
+before her death, and that when this was spent he should doubtless
+find some means of earning his living until he could rejoin him. His
+father never inquired into the matter, though he made a casual
+reference to it in his next letter, saying that he was glad Cyril had
+obtained some money, as it would, at the moment, have been
+inconvenient to him to send any over.
+
+Cyril worked assiduously at the school that had been recommended to
+him by the Curé, and at the end of two years he had still twenty
+louis left. He had several conversations with his adviser as to the
+best way of earning his living.
+
+"I do not wish to spend any more, Father," he said, "and would fain
+keep this for some future necessity."
+
+The Curé agreed with him as to this, and, learning from his master
+that he was extremely quick at figures and wrote an excellent hand,
+he obtained a place for him with one of the principal traders of the
+town. He was to receive no salary for a year, but was to learn
+book-keeping and accounts. Although but fourteen, the boy was so
+intelligent and zealous that his employer told the Curé that he found
+him of real service, and that he was able to entrust some of his
+books entirely to his charge.
+
+Six months after entering his service, however, Cyril received a
+letter from his father, saying that he believed his affairs were on
+the point of settlement, and therefore wished him to come over in the
+first ship sailing. He enclosed an order on a house at Dunkirk for
+fifty francs, to pay his passage. His employer parted with him with
+regret, and the kind Curé bade him farewell in terms of real
+affection, for he had come to take a great interest in him.
+
+"At any rate, Cyril," he said, "your time here has not been wasted,
+and your mother's gift has been turned to as much advantage as even
+she can have hoped that it would be. Should your father's hopes be
+again disappointed, and fresh delays arise, you may, with the
+practice you have had, be able to earn your living in London. There
+must be there, as in France, many persons in trade who have had but
+little education, and you may be able to obtain employment in keeping
+the books of such people, who are, I believe, more common in England
+than here. Here are the sixteen louis that still remain; put them
+aside, Cyril, and use them only for urgent necessity."
+
+Cyril, on arriving in London, was heartily welcomed by his father,
+who had, for the moment, high hopes of recovering his estates. These,
+however, soon faded, and although Sir Aubrey would not allow it, even
+to himself, no chance remained of those Royalists, who had, like him,
+parted with their estates for trifling sums, to be spent in the
+King's service, ever regaining possession of them.
+
+It was not long before Cyril perceived that unless he himself
+obtained work of some sort they would soon be face to face with
+actual starvation. He said nothing to his father, but started out one
+morning on a round of visits among the smaller class of shopkeepers,
+offering to make up their books and write out their bills and
+accounts for a small remuneration. As he had a frank and pleasant
+face, and his foreign bringing up had given him an ease and
+politeness of manner rare among English lads of the day, it was not
+long before he obtained several clients. To some of the smaller class
+of traders he went only for an hour or two, once a week, while others
+required their bills and accounts to be made out daily. The pay was
+very small, but it sufficed to keep absolute want from the door. When
+he told his father of the arrangements he had made, Sir Aubrey at
+first raged and stormed; but he had come, during the last year or
+two, to recognise the good sense and strong will of his son, and
+although he never verbally acquiesced in what he considered a
+degradation, he offered no actual opposition to a plan that at least
+enabled them to live, and furnished him occasionally with a few
+groats with which he could visit a tavern.
+
+So things had gone on for more than a year. Cyril was now sixteen,
+and his punctuality, and the neatness of his work, had been so
+appreciated by the tradesmen who first employed him, that his time
+was now fully occupied, and that at rates more remunerative than
+those he had at first obtained. He kept the state of his resources to
+himself, and had no difficulty in doing this, as his father never
+alluded to the subject of his work. Cyril knew that, did he hand over
+to him all the money he made, it would be wasted in drink or at
+cards; consequently, he kept the table furnished as modestly as at
+first, and regularly placed after dinner on the corner of the mantel
+a few coins, which his father as regularly dropped into his pocket.
+
+A few days before the story opens, Sir Aubrey had, late one evening,
+been carried upstairs, mortally wounded in a brawl; he only recovered
+consciousness a few minutes before his death.
+
+"You have been a good lad, Cyril," he said faintly, as he feebly
+pressed the boy's hand; "far better than I deserve to have had. Don't
+cry, lad; you will get on better without me, and things are just as
+well as they are. I hope you will come to your estates some day; you
+will make a better master than I should ever have done. I hope that
+in time you will carry out your plan of entering some foreign
+service; there is no chance here. I don't want you to settle down as
+a city scrivener. Still, do as you like, lad, and unless your wishes
+go with mine, think no further of service."
+
+"I would rather be a soldier, father. I only undertook this work
+because I could see nothing else."
+
+"That is right, my boy, that is right. I know you won't forget that
+you come of a race of gentlemen."
+
+He spoke but little after that. A few broken words came from his lips
+that showed that his thoughts had gone back to old times. "Boot and
+saddle," he murmured. "That is right. Now we are ready for them. Down
+with the prick-eared knaves! God and King Charles!" These were the
+last words he spoke.
+
+Cyril had done all that was necessary. He had laid by more than half
+his earnings for the last eight or nine months. One of his clients,
+an undertaker, had made all the necessary preparations for the
+funeral, and in a few hours his father would be borne to his last
+resting-place. As he stood at the open window he thought sadly over
+the past, and of his father's wasted life. Had it not been for the
+war he might have lived and died a country gentleman. It was the war,
+with its wild excitements, that had ruined him. What was there for
+him to do in a foreign country, without resource or employment,
+having no love for reading, but to waste his life as he had done? Had
+his wife lived it might have been different. Cyril had still a vivid
+remembrance of his mother, and, though his father had but seldom
+spoken to him of her, he knew that he had loved her, and that, had
+she lived, he would never have given way to drink as he had done of
+late years.
+
+To his father's faults he could not be blind; but they stood for
+nothing now. He had been his only friend, and of late they had been
+drawn closer to each other in their loneliness; and although scarce a
+word of endearment had passed between them, he knew that his father
+had cared for him more than was apparent in his manner.
+
+A few hours later, Sir Aubrey Shenstone was laid to rest in a little
+graveyard outside the city walls. Cyril was the only mourner; and
+when it was over, instead of going back to his lonely room, he turned
+away and wandered far out through the fields towards Hampstead, and
+then sat himself down to think what he had best do. Another three or
+four years must pass before he could try to get service abroad. When
+the time came he should find Sir John Parton, and beg him to procure
+for him some letter of introduction to the many British gentlemen
+serving abroad. He had not seen him since he came to England. His
+father had met him, but had quarrelled with him upon Sir John
+declining to interest himself actively to push his claims, and had
+forbidden Cyril to go near those who had been so kind to him.
+
+The boy had felt it greatly at first, but he came, after a time, to
+see that it was best so. It seemed to him that he had fallen
+altogether out of their station in life when the hope of his father's
+recovering his estates vanished, and although he was sure of a kindly
+reception from Lady Parton, he shrank from going there in his present
+position. They had done so much for him already, that the thought
+that his visit might seem to them a sort of petition for further
+benefits was intolerable to him.
+
+For the present, the question in his mind was whether he should
+continue at his present work, which at any rate sufficed to keep him,
+or should seek other employment. He would greatly have preferred some
+life of action,--something that would fit him better to bear the
+fatigues and hardships of war,--but he saw no prospect of obtaining
+any such position.
+
+"I should be a fool to throw up what I have," he said to himself at
+last. "I will stick to it anyhow until some opportunity offers; but
+the sooner I leave it the better. It was bad enough before; it will
+be worse now. If I had but a friend or two it would not be so hard;
+but to have no one to speak to, and no one to think about, when work
+is done, will be lonely indeed."
+
+At any rate, he determined to change his room as soon as possible. It
+mattered little where he went so that it was a change. He thought
+over various tradesmen for whom he worked. Some of them might have an
+attic, he cared not how small, that they might let him have in lieu
+of paying him for his work. Even if they never spoke to him, it would
+be better to be in a house where he knew something of those
+downstairs, than to lodge in one where he was an utter stranger to
+all. He had gone round to the shops where he worked, on the day after
+his father's death, to explain that he could not come again until
+after the funeral, and he resolved that next morning he would ask
+each in turn whether he could obtain a lodging with them.
+
+The sun was already setting when he rose from the bank on which he
+had seated himself, and returned to the city. The room did not feel
+so lonely to him as it would have done had he not been accustomed to
+spending the evenings alone. He took out his little hoard and counted
+it. After paying the expenses of the funeral there would still remain
+sufficient to keep him for three or four months should he fall ill,
+or, from any cause, lose his work. He had one good suit of clothes
+that had been bought on his return to England,--when his father
+thought that they would assuredly be going down almost immediately to
+take possession of the old Hall,--and the rest were all in fair
+condition.
+
+The next day he began his work again; he had two visits to pay of an
+hour each, and one of two hours, and the spare time between these he
+filled up by calling at two or three other shops to make up for the
+arrears of work during the last few days.
+
+The last place he had to visit was that at which he had the longest
+task to perform. It was at a ship-chandler's in Tower Street, a large
+and dingy house, the lower portion being filled with canvas, cordage,
+barrels of pitch and tar, candles, oil, and matters of all sorts
+needed by ship-masters, including many cannon of different sizes,
+piles of balls, anchors, and other heavy work, all of which were
+stowed away in a yard behind it. The owner of this store was a
+one-armed man. His father had kept it before him, but he himself,
+after working there long enough to become a citizen and a member of
+the Ironmongers' Guild, had quarrelled with his father and had taken
+to the sea. For twenty years he had voyaged to many lands,
+principally in ships trading in the Levant, and had passed through a
+great many adventures, including several fights with the Moorish
+corsairs. In the last voyage he took, he had had his arm shot off by
+a ball from a Greek pirate among the Islands. He had long before made
+up his differences with his father, but had resisted the latter's
+entreaties that he should give up the sea and settle down at the
+shop; on his return after this unfortunate voyage he told him that he
+had come home to stay.
+
+"I shall be able to help about the stores after a while," he said,
+"but I shall never be the man I was on board ship. It will be hard
+work to take to measuring out canvas and to weighing iron, after a
+free life on the sea, but I don't so much mind now I have had my
+share of adventures; though I dare say I should have gone on for a
+few more years if that rascally ball had not carried away my arm. I
+don't know but that it is best as it is, for the older I got the
+harder I should find it to fall into new ways and to settle down
+here."
+
+"Anyhow, I am glad you are back, David," his father said.
+
+"You are forty-five, and though I don't say it would not have been
+better if you had remained here from the first, you have learnt many
+things you would not have learnt here. You know just the sort of
+things that masters of ships require, and what canvas and cables and
+cordage will suit their wants. Besides, customers like to talk with
+men of their own way of thinking, and sailors more, I think, than
+other men. You know, too, most of the captains who sail up the
+Mediterranean, and may be able to bring fresh custom into the shop.
+Therefore, do not think that you will be of no use to me. As to your
+wife and child, there is plenty of room for them as well as for you,
+and it will be better for them here, with you always at hand, than it
+would be for them to remain over at Rotherhithe and only to see you
+after the shutters are up."
+
+Eight years later Captain Dave, as he was always called, became sole
+owner of the house and business. A year after he did so he was
+lamenting to a friend the trouble that he had with his accounts.
+
+"My father always kept that part of the business in his own hands,"
+he said, "and I find it a mighty heavy burden. Beyond checking a bill
+of lading, or reading the marks on the bales and boxes, I never had
+occasion to read or write for twenty years, and there has not been
+much more of it for the last fifteen; and although I was a smart
+scholar enough in my young days, my fingers are stiff with hauling at
+ropes and using the marling-spike, and my eyes are not so clear as
+they used to be, and it is no slight toil and labour to me to make up
+an account for goods sold. John Wilkes, my head shopman, is a handy
+fellow; he was my boatswain in the _Kate_, and I took him on when we
+found that the man who had been my father's right hand for twenty
+years had been cheating him all along. We got on well enough as long
+as I could give all my time in the shop; but he is no good with the
+pen--all he can do is to enter receipts and sales.
+
+"He has a man under him, who helps him in measuring out the right
+length of canvas and cables or for weighing a chain or an anchor, and
+knows enough to put down the figures; but that is all. Then there are
+the two smiths and the two apprentices; they don't count in the
+matter. Robert Ashford, the eldest apprentice, could do the work, but
+I have no fancy for him; he does not look one straight in the face as
+one who is honest and above board should do. I shall have to keep a
+clerk, and I know what it will be--he will be setting me right, and I
+shall not feel my own master; he will be out of place in my crew
+altogether. I never liked pursers; most of them are rogues. Still, I
+suppose it must come to that."
+
+"I have a boy come in to write my bills and to make up my accounts,
+who would be just the lad for you, Captain Dave. He is the son of a
+broken-down Cavalier, but he is a steady, honest young fellow, and I
+fancy his pen keeps his father, who is a roystering blade, and spends
+most of his time at the taverns. The boy comes to me for an hour,
+twice a week; he writes as good a hand as any clerk and can reckon as
+quickly, and I pay him but a groat a week, which was all he asked."
+
+"Tell him to come to me, then. I should want him every day, if he
+could manage it, and it would be the very thing for me."
+
+"I am sure you would like him," the other said; "he is a good-looking
+young fellow, and his face speaks for him without any recommendation.
+I was afraid at first that he would not do for me; I thought there
+was too much of the gentleman about him. He has good manners, and a
+gentle sort of way. He has been living in France all his life, and
+though he has never said anything about his family--indeed he talks
+but little, he just comes in and does his work and goes away--I fancy
+his father was one of King Charles's men and of good blood."
+
+"Well, that doesn't sound so well," the sailor said, "but anyhow I
+should like to have a look at him."
+
+"He comes to me to-morrow at eleven and goes at twelve," the man
+said, "and I will send him round to you when he has done."
+
+Cyril had gone round the next morning to the ships' store.
+
+"So you are the lad that works for my neighbour Anderson?" Captain
+Dave said, as he surveyed him closely. "I like your looks, lad, but I
+doubt whether we shall get on together. I am an old sailor, you know,
+and I am quick of speech and don't stop to choose my words, so if you
+are quick to take offence it would be of no use your coming to me."
+
+"I don't think I am likely to take offence," Cyril said quietly; "and
+if we don't get on well together, sir, you will only have to tell me
+that you don't want me any longer; but I trust you will not have
+often the occasion to use hard words, for at any rate I will do my
+best to please you."
+
+"You can't say more, lad. Well, let us have a taste of your quality.
+Come in here," and he led him into a little room partitioned off from
+the shop. "There, you see," and he opened a book, "is the account of
+the sales and orders yesterday; the ready-money sales have got to be
+entered in that ledger with the red cover; the sales where no money
+passed have to be entered to the various customers or ships in the
+ledger. I have made out a list--here it is--of twelve accounts that
+have to be drawn out from that ledger and sent in to customers. You
+will find some of them are of somewhat long standing, for I have been
+putting off that job. Sit you down here. When you have done one or
+two of them I will have a look at your work, and if that is
+satisfactory we will have a talk as to what hours you have got
+disengaged, and what days in the week will suit you best."
+
+It was two hours before Captain Dave came in again. Cyril had just
+finished the work; some of the accounts were long ones, and the
+writing was so crabbed that it took him some time to decipher it.
+
+"Well, how are you getting on, lad?" the Captain asked.
+
+"I have this moment finished the last account."
+
+"What! Do you mean to say that you have done them all! Why, it would
+have taken me all my evenings for a week. Now, hand me the books; it
+is best to do things ship-shape."
+
+He first compared the list of the sales with the entries, and then
+Cyril handed him the twelve accounts he had drawn up. Captain David
+did not speak until he had finished looking through them.
+
+"I would not have believed all that work could have been done in two
+hours," he said, getting up from his chair. "Orderly and well
+written, and without a blot. The King's secretary could not have done
+better! Well, now you have seen the list of sales for a day, and I
+take it that be about the average, so if you come three times a week
+you will always have two days' sales to enter in the ledger. There
+are a lot of other books my father used to keep, but I have never had
+time to bother myself about them, and as I have got on very well so
+far, I do not see any occasion for you to do so, for my part it seems
+to me that all these books are only invented by clerks to give
+themselves something to do to fill up their time. Of course, there
+won't be accounts to send out every day. Do you think with two hours,
+three times a week, you could keep things straight?"
+
+"I should certainly think so, sir, but I can hardly say until I try,
+because it seems to me that there must be a great many items, and I
+can't say how long it will take entering all the goods received under
+their proper headings; but if the books are thoroughly made up now, I
+should think I could keep them all going."
+
+"That they are not," Captain David said ruefully; "they are all
+horribly in arrears. I took charge of them myself three years ago,
+and though I spend three hours every evening worrying over them, they
+get further and further in arrears. Look at those files over there,"
+and he pointed to three long wires, on each of which was strung a
+large bundle of papers; "I am afraid you will have to enter them all
+up before you can get matters into ship-shape order. The daily sale
+book is the only one that has been kept up regularly."
+
+"But these accounts I have made up, sir? Probably in those files
+there are many other goods supplied to the same people."
+
+"Of course there are, lad, though I did not think of it before. Well,
+we must wait, then, until you can make up the arrears a bit, though I
+really want to get some money in."
+
+"Well, sir, I might write at the bottom of each bill 'Account made up
+to,' and then put in the date of the latest entry charged."
+
+"That would do capitally, lad--I did not think of that. I see you
+will be of great use to me. I can buy and sell, for I know the value
+of the goods I deal in; but as to accounts, they are altogether out
+of my way. And now, lad, what do you charge?"
+
+"I charge a groat for two hours' work, sir; but if I came to you
+three times a week, I would do it for a little less."
+
+"No, lad, I don't want to beat you down; indeed, I don't think you
+charge enough. However, let us say, to begin with, three groats a
+week."
+
+This had been six weeks before Sir Aubrey Shenstone's death; and in
+the interval Cyril had gradually wiped off all the arrears, and had
+all the books in order up to date, to the astonishment of his
+employer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
+
+
+"I am glad to see you again, lad," Captain David said, when Cyril
+entered his shop. "I have been thinking of the news you gave me last
+week, and the mistress and I have been talking it over. Where are you
+lodging?"
+
+"I have been lodging until now in Holborn," Cyril replied; "but I am
+going to move."
+
+"Yes; that is what we thought you would be doing. It is always better
+to make a change after a loss. I don't want to interfere in your
+business, lad, but have you any friends you are thinking of going
+to?"
+
+"No, sir; I do not know a soul in London save those I work for."
+
+"That is bad, lad--very bad. I was talking it over with my wife, and
+I said that maybe you were lonely. I am sure, lad, you are one of the
+right sort. I don't mean only in your work, for as for that I would
+back you against any scrivener in London, but I mean about yourself.
+It don't need half an eye to see that you have not been brought up to
+this sort of thing, though you have taken to it so kindly, but there
+is not one in a thousand boys of your age who would have settled down
+to work and made their way without a friend to help them as you have
+done; it shows that there is right good stuff in you. There, I am so
+long getting under weigh that I shall never get into port if I don't
+steer a straight course. Now, my ideas and my wife's come to this: if
+you have got no friends you will have to take a lodging somewhere
+among strangers, and then it would be one of two things--you would
+either stop at home and mope by yourself, or you would go out, and
+maybe get into bad company. If I had not come across you I should
+have had to employ a clerk, and he would either have lived here with
+us or I should have had to pay him enough to keep house for himself.
+Now in fact you are a clerk; for though you are only here for six
+hours a week--you do all the work there is to do, and no clerk could
+do more. Well, we have got an attic upstairs which is not used, and
+if you like to come here and live with us, my wife and I will make
+you heartily welcome."
+
+"Thank you, indeed," Cyril said warmly. "It is of all things what I
+should like; but of course I should wish to pay you for my board. I
+can afford to do so if you will employ me for the same hours as at
+present."
+
+"No, I would not have that, lad; but if you like we can reckon your
+board against what I now pay you. We feed John Wilkes and the two
+apprentices, and one mouth extra will make but little difference. I
+don't want it to be a matter of obligation, so we will put your board
+against the work you do for me. I shall consider that we are making a
+good bargain."
+
+"It is your pleasure to say so, sir, but I cannot tell you what a
+load your kind offer takes off my mind. The future has seemed very
+dark to me."
+
+"Very well. That matter is settled, then. Come upstairs with me and I
+will present you to my wife and daughter; they have heard me speak of
+you so often that they will be glad to see you. In the first place,
+though, I must ask you your name. Since you first signed articles and
+entered the crew I have never thought of asking you."
+
+"My name is Cyril, sir--Cyril Shenstone."
+
+His employer nodded and at once led the way upstairs. A motherly
+looking woman rose from the seat where she was sitting at work, as
+they entered the living-room.
+
+"This is my Prince of Scriveners, Mary, the lad I have often spoken
+to you about. His name is Cyril; he has accepted the proposal we
+talked over last night, and is going to become one of the crew on
+board our ship."
+
+"I am glad to see you," she said to Cyril, holding out her hand to
+him. "I have not met you before, but I feel very grateful to you.
+Till you came, my husband was bothered nearly out of his wits; he
+used to sit here worrying over his books, and writing from the time
+the shop closed till the hour for bed, and Nellie and I dared not to
+say as much as a word. Now we see no more of his books, and he is
+able to go out for a walk in the fields with us as he used to do
+before."
+
+"It is very kind of you to say so, Mistress," Cyril said earnestly;
+"but it is I, on the contrary, who am deeply grateful to you for the
+offer Captain Dave has been good enough to make me. You cannot tell
+the pleasure it has given me, for you cannot understand how lonely
+and friendless I have been feeling. Believe me, I will strive to give
+you as little trouble as possible, and to conform myself in all ways
+to your wishes."
+
+At this moment Nellie Dowsett came into the room. She was a pretty
+girl some eighteen years of age.
+
+"This is Cyril, your father's assistant, Nellie," her mother said.
+
+"You are welcome, Master Cyril. I have been wanting to see you.
+Father has been praising you up to the skies so often that I have had
+quite a curiosity to see what you could be like."
+
+"Your father is altogether too good, Mistress Nellie, and makes far
+more of my poor ability than it deserves."
+
+"And is he going to live with us, mother?" Nellie asked.
+
+"Yes, child; he has accepted your father's offer."
+
+Nellie clapped her hands.
+
+"That is good," she said. "I shall expect you to escort me out
+sometimes, Cyril. Father always wants me to go down to the wharf to
+look at the ships or to go into the fields; but I want to go
+sometimes to see the fashions, and there is no one to take me, for
+John Wilkes always goes off to smoke a pipe with some sailor or
+other, and the apprentices are stupid and have nothing to say for
+themselves; and besides, one can't walk alongside a boy in an
+apprentice cap."
+
+"I shall be very happy to, Mistress, when my work is done, though I
+fear that I shall make but a poor escort, for indeed I have had no
+practice whatever in the esquiring of dames."
+
+"I am sure you will do very well," Nellie said, nodding approvingly.
+"Is it true that you have been in France? Father said he was told
+so."
+
+"Yes; I have lived almost all my life in France."
+
+"And do you speak French?"
+
+"Yes; I speak it as well as English."
+
+"It must have been very hard to learn?"
+
+"Not at all. It came to me naturally, just as English did."
+
+"You must not keep him any longer now, Nellie; he has other
+appointments to keep, and when he has done that, to go and pack up
+his things and see that they are brought here by a porter. He can
+answer some more of your questions when he comes here this evening."
+
+Cyril returned to Holborn with a lighter heart than he had felt for a
+long time. His preparations for the move took him but a short time,
+and two hours later he was installed in a little attic in the
+ship-chandler's house. He spent half-an-hour in unpacking his things,
+and then heard a stentorian shout from below,--
+
+"Masthead, ahoy! Supper's waiting."
+
+Supposing that this hail was intended for himself, he at once went
+downstairs. The table was laid. Mistress Dowsett took her seat at the
+head; her husband sat on one side of her, and Nellie on the other.
+John Wilkes sat next to his master, and beyond him the elder of the
+two apprentices. A seat was left between Nellie and the other
+apprentice for Cyril.
+
+"Now our crew is complete, John," Captain Dave said. "We have been
+wanting a supercargo badly."
+
+"Ay, ay, Captain Dave, there is no doubt we have been short-handed in
+that respect; but things have been more ship-shape lately."
+
+"That is so, John. I can make a shift to keep the vessel on her
+course, but when it comes to writing up the log, and keeping the
+reckoning, I make but a poor hand at it. It was getting to be as bad
+as that voyage of the _Jane_ in the Levant, when the supercargo had
+got himself stabbed at Lemnos."
+
+"I mind it, Captain--I mind it well. And what a trouble there was
+with the owners when we got back again!"
+
+"Yes, yes," the Captain said; "it was worse work than having a brush
+with a Barbary corsair. I shall never forget that day. When I went to
+the office to report, the three owners were all in.
+
+"'Well, Captain Dave, back from your voyage?' said the littlest of
+the three. 'Made a good voyage, I hope?'
+
+"First-rate, says I, except that the supercargo got killed at Lemnos
+by one of them rascally Greeks.
+
+"'Dear, dear,' said another of them--he was a prim, sanctimonious
+sort--'Has our brother Jenkins left us?'
+
+"I don't know about his leaving us, says I, but we left him sure
+enough in a burying-place there.
+
+"'And how did you manage without him?'
+
+"I made as good a shift as I could, I said. I have sold all the
+cargo, and I have brought back a freight of six tons of Turkey figs,
+and four hundred boxes of currants. And these two bags hold the
+difference.
+
+"'Have you brought the books with you, Captain?'
+
+"Never a book, said I. I have had to navigate the ship and to look
+after the crew, and do the best I could at each port. The books are
+on board, made out up to the day before the supercargo was killed,
+three months ago; but I have never had time to make an entry since.
+
+"They looked at each other like owls for a minute or two, and then
+they all began to talk at once. How had I sold the goods? had I
+charged the prices mentioned in the invoice? what percentage had I
+put on for profit? and a lot of other things. I waited until they
+were all out of breath, and then I said I had not bothered about
+invoices. I knew pretty well the prices such things cost in England.
+I clapped on so much more for the expenses of the voyage and a fair
+profit. I could tell them what I had paid for the figs and the
+currants, and for some bags of Smyrna sponges I had bought, but as to
+the prices I had charged, it was too much to expect that I could
+carry them in my head. All I knew was I had paid for the things I had
+bought, I had paid all the port dues and other charges, I had
+advanced the men one-fourth of their wages each month, and I had
+brought them back the balance.
+
+"Such a hubbub you never heard. One would have thought they would
+have gone raving mad. The sanctimonious partner was the worst of the
+lot. He threatened me with the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen, and went
+on till I thought he would have had a fit.
+
+"Look here, says I, at last, I'll tell you what I will do. You tell
+me what the cargo cost you altogether, and put on so much for the
+hire of the ship. I will pay you for them and settle up with the
+crew, and take the cargo and sell it. That is a fair offer. And I
+advise you to keep civil tongues in your heads, or I will knock them
+off and take my chance before the Lord Mayor for assault and battery.
+
+"With that I took off my coat and laid it on a bench. I reckon they
+saw that I was in earnest, and they just sat as mum as mice. Then the
+little man said, in a quieter sort of voice,--
+
+"'You are too hasty, Captain Dowsett. We know you to be an honest man
+and a good sailor, and had no suspicion that you would wrong us; but
+no merchant in the City of London could hear that his business had
+been conducted in such a way as you have carried it through without
+for a time losing countenance. Let us talk the matter over reasonably
+and quietly.'
+
+"That is just what I am wanting, I said; and if there hasn't been
+reason and quiet it is from no fault of mine.
+
+"'Well, please to put your coat on again, Captain, and let us see how
+matters stand!'
+
+"Then they took their ink-horns and pens, and, on finding out what I
+had paid for the figs and other matters, they reckoned them up; then
+they put down what I said was due to the sailors and the mate and
+myself; then they got out some books, and for an hour they were busy
+reckoning up figures; then they opened the bags and counted up the
+gold we had brought home. Well, when they had done, you would hardly
+have known them for the same men. First of all, they went through all
+their calculations again to be sure they had made no mistake about
+them; then they laid down their pens, and the sanctimonious man
+mopped the perspiration from his face, and the others smiled at each
+other. Then the biggest of the three, who had scarcely spoken before,
+said,--
+
+"'Well, Captain Dowsett, I must own that my partners were a little
+hasty. The result of our calculations is that the voyage has been a
+satisfactory one, I may almost say very satisfactory, and that you
+must have disposed of the goods to much advantage. It has been a new
+and somewhat extraordinary way of doing business, but I am bound to
+say that the result has exceeded our expectations, and we trust that
+you will command the _Jane_ for many more voyages.'
+
+"Not for me, says I. You can hand me over the wages due to me, and
+you will find the _Jane_ moored in the stream just above the Tower.
+You will find her in order and shipshape; but never again do I set my
+foot on board her or on any other vessel belonging to men who have
+doubted my honesty.
+
+"Nor did I. I had a pretty good name among traders, and ten days
+later I started for the Levant again in command of a far smarter
+vessel than the _Jane_ had ever been."
+
+"And we all went with you, Captain," John Wilkes said, "every man
+jack of us. And on her very next voyage the _Jane_ was captured by
+the Algerines, and I reckon there are some of the poor fellows
+working as slaves there now; for though Blake did blow the place
+pretty nigh out of water a few years afterwards, it is certain that
+the Christian slaves handed over to him were not half those the Moors
+had in their hands."
+
+"It would seem, Captain Dowsett, from your story, that you can manage
+very well without a supercargo?" Cyril said quietly.
+
+"Ay, lad; but you see that was a ready-money business. I handed over
+the goods and took the cash; there was no accounts to be kept. It was
+all clear and above board. But it is a different thing in this ship
+altogether, when, instead of paying down on the nail for what they
+get, you have got to keep an account of everything and send in all
+their items jotted down in order. Why, Nellie, your tongue seems
+quieter than usual."
+
+"You have not given me a chance, father. You have been talking ever
+since we sat down to table."
+
+Supper was now over. The two apprentices at once retired. Cyril would
+have done the same, but Mistress Dowsett said,--
+
+"Sit you still, Cyril. The Captain says that you are to be considered
+as one of the officers of the ship, and we shall be always glad to
+have you here, though of course you can always go up to your own
+room, or go out, when you feel inclined."
+
+"I have to go out three times a week to work," Cyril said; "but all
+the other evenings I shall be glad indeed to sit here, Mistress
+Dowsett. You cannot tell what a pleasure it is to me to be in an
+English home like this."
+
+It was not long before John Wilkes went out.
+
+"He is off to smoke his pipe," the Captain said. "I never light mine
+till he goes. I can't persuade him to take his with me; he insists it
+would not be manners to smoke in the cabin."
+
+"He is quite right, father," Nellie said. "It is bad enough having
+you smoke here. When mother's friends or mine come in they are
+well-nigh choked; they are not accustomed to it as we are, for a
+respectable London citizen does not think of taking tobacco."
+
+"I am a London citizen, Nellie, but I don't set up any special claim
+to respectability. I am a sea-captain, though that rascally Greek
+cannon-ball and other circumstances have made a trader of me, sorely
+against my will; and if I could not have my pipe and my glass of grog
+here I would go and sit with John Wilkes in the tavern at the corner
+of the street, and I suppose that would not be even as respectable as
+smoking here."
+
+"Nellie doesn't mean, David, that she wants you to give up smoking;
+only she thinks that John is quite right to go out to take his pipe.
+And I must say I think so too. You know that when you have
+sea-captains of your acquaintance here, you always send the maid off
+to bed and smoke in the kitchen."
+
+"Ay, ay, my dear, I don't want to turn your room into a fo'castle.
+There is reason in all things. I suppose you don't smoke, Master
+Cyril?"
+
+"No, Captain Dave, I have never so much as thought of such a thing.
+In France it is the fashion to take snuff, but the habit seemed to me
+a useless one, and I don't think that I should ever have taken to
+it."
+
+"I wonder," Captain Dave said, after they had talked for some time,
+"that after living in sight of the sea for so long your thoughts
+never turned that way."
+
+"I cannot say that I have never thought of it," Cyril said. "I have
+thought that I should greatly like to take foreign voyages, but I
+should not have cared to go as a ship's boy, and to live with men so
+ignorant that they could not even write their own names. My thoughts
+have turned rather to the Army; and when I get older I think of
+entering some foreign service, either that of Sweden or of one of the
+Protestant German princes. I could obtain introductions through which
+I might enter as a cadet, or gentleman volunteer. I have learnt
+German, and though I cannot speak it as I can French or English, I
+know enough to make my way in it."
+
+"Can you use your sword, Cyril?" Nellie Dowsett asked.
+
+"I have had very good teaching," Cyril replied, "and hope to be able
+to hold my own."
+
+"Then you are not satisfied with this mode of life?" Mistress Dowsett
+said.
+
+"I am satisfied with it, Mistress, inasmuch as I can earn money
+sufficient to keep me. But rather than settle down for life as a city
+scrivener, I would go down to the river and ship on board the first
+vessel that would take me, no matter where she sailed for."
+
+"I think you are wrong," Mistress Dowsett said gravely. "My husband
+tells me how clever you are at figures, and you might some day get a
+good post in the house of one of our great merchants."
+
+"Maybe it would be so," Cyril said; "but such a life would ill suit
+me. I have truly a great desire to earn money: but it must be in some
+way to suit my taste."
+
+"And why do you want to earn a great deal of money, Cyril?" Nellie
+laughed, while her mother shook her head disapprovingly.
+
+"I wish to have enough to buy my father's estate back again," he
+said, "and though I know well enough that it is not likely I shall
+ever do it, I shall fight none the worse that I have such a hope in
+my mind."
+
+"Bravo, lad!" Captain Dave said. "I knew not that there was an estate
+in the case, though I did hear that you were the son of a Royalist.
+It is a worthy ambition, boy, though if it is a large one 'tis scarce
+like that you will get enough to buy it back again."
+
+"It is not a very large one," Cyril said. "'Tis down in Norfolk, but
+it was a grand old house--at least, so I have heard my father say,
+though I have but little remembrance of it, as I was but three years
+old when I left it. My father, who was Sir Aubrey Shenstone, had
+hoped to recover it; but he was one of the many who sold their
+estates for far less than their value in order to raise money in the
+King's service, and, as you are aware, none of those who did so have
+been reinstated, but only those who, having had their land taken from
+them by Parliament, recovered them because their owners had no
+title-deeds to show, save the grant of Parliament that was of no
+effect in the Courts. Thus the most loyal men--those who sold their
+estates to aid the King--have lost all, while those that did not so
+dispossess themselves in his service are now replaced on their land."
+
+"It seems very unfair," Nellie said indignantly.
+
+"It is unfair to them, assuredly, Mistress Nellie. And yet it would
+be unfair to the men who bought, though often they gave but a tenth
+of their value, to be turned out again unless they received their
+money back. It is not easy to see where that money could come from,
+for assuredly the King's privy purse would not suffice to pay all the
+money, and equally certain is it that Parliament would not vote a
+great sum for that purpose."
+
+"It is a hard case, lad--a hard case," Captain Dave said, as he
+puffed the smoke from his pipe. "Now I know how you stand, I blame,
+you in no way that you long more for a life of adventure than to
+settle down as a city scrivener. I don't think even my wife, much as
+she thinks of the city, could say otherwise."
+
+"It alters the case much," Mistress Dowsett said. "I did not know
+that Cyril was the son of a Knight, though it was easy enough to see
+that his manners accord not with his present position. Still there
+are fortunes made in the city, and no honest work is dishonouring
+even to a gentleman's son."
+
+"Not at all, Mistress," Cyril said warmly. "'Tis assuredly not on
+that account that I would fain seek more stirring employment; but it
+was always my father's wish and intention that, should there be no
+chance of his ever regaining the estate, I should enter foreign
+service, and I have always looked forward to that career."
+
+"Well, I will wager that you will do credit to it, lad," Captain Dave
+said. "You have proved that you are ready to turn your hand to any
+work that may come to you. You have shown a manly spirit, my boy, and
+I honour you for it; and by St. Anthony I believe that some day,
+unless a musket-ball or a pike-thrust brings you up with a round
+turn, you will live to get your own back again."
+
+Cyril remained talking for another two hours, and then betook himself
+to bed. After he had gone, Mistress Dowsett said, after a pause,--
+
+"Do you not think, David, that, seeing that Cyril is the son of a
+Knight, it would be more becoming to give him the room downstairs
+instead of the attic where he is now lodged?"
+
+The old sailor laughed.
+
+"That is woman-kind all over," he said. "It was good enough for him
+before, and now forsooth, because the lad mentioned, and assuredly in
+no boasting way, that his father had been a Knight, he is to be
+treated differently. He would not thank you himself for making the
+change, dame. In the first place, it would make him uncomfortable,
+and he might make an excuse to leave us altogether; and in the
+second, you may be sure that he has been used to no better quarters
+than those he has got. The Royalists in France were put to sore
+shifts to live, and I fancy that he has fared no better since he came
+home. His father would never have consented to his going out to earn
+money by keeping the accounts of little city traders like myself had
+it not been that he was driven to it by want. No, no, wife; let the
+boy go on as he is, and make no difference in any way. I liked him
+before, and I like him all the better now, for putting his
+gentlemanship in his pocket and setting manfully to work instead of
+hanging on the skirts of some Royalist who has fared better than his
+father did. He is grateful as it is--that is easy to see--for our
+taking him in here. We did that partly because he proved a good
+worker and has taken a lot of care off my shoulders, partly because
+he was fatherless and alone. I would not have him think that we are
+ready to do more because he is a Knight's son. Let the boy be, and
+suffer him to steer his ship his own course. If, when the time comes,
+we can further his objects in any way we will do it with right good
+will. What do you think of him, Nellie?" he asked, changing the
+subject.
+
+"He is a proper young fellow, father, and I shall be well content to
+go abroad escorted by him instead of having your apprentice, Robert
+Ashford, in attendance on me. He has not a word to say for himself,
+and truly I like him not in anyway."
+
+"He is not a bad apprentice, Nellie, and John Wilkes has but seldom
+cause to find fault with him, though I own that I have no great
+liking myself for him; he never seems to look one well in the face,
+which, I take it, is always a bad sign. I know no harm of him; but
+when his apprenticeship is out, which it will be in another year, I
+shall let him go his own way, for I should not care to have him on
+the premises."
+
+"Methinks you are very unjust, David. The lad is quiet and regular in
+his ways; he goes twice every Sunday to the Church of St. Alphage,
+and always tells me the texts of the sermons."
+
+The Captain grunted.
+
+"Maybe so, wife; but it is easy to get hold of the text of a sermon
+without having heard it. I have my doubts whether he goes as
+regularly to St. Alphage's as he says he does. Why could he not go
+with us to St. Bennet's?"
+
+"He says he likes the administrations of Mr. Catlin better, David.
+And, in truth, our parson is not one of the stirring kind."
+
+"So much the better," Captain Dave said bluntly. "I like not these
+men that thump the pulpit and make as if they were about to jump out
+head foremost. However, I don't suppose there is much harm in the
+lad, and it may be that his failure to look one in the face is not so
+much his fault as that of nature, which endowed him with a villainous
+squint. Well, let us turn in; it is past nine o'clock, and high time
+to be a-bed."
+
+Cyril seemed to himself to have entered upon a new life when he
+stepped across the threshold of David Dowsett's store. All his cares
+and anxieties had dropped from him. For the past two years he had
+lived the life of an automaton, starting early to his work, returning
+in the middle of the day to his dinner,--to which as often as not he
+sat down alone,--and spending his evenings in utter loneliness in the
+bare garret, where he was generally in bed long before his father
+returned. He blamed himself sometimes during the first fortnight of
+his stay here for the feeling of light-heartedness that at times came
+over him. He had loved his father in spite of his faults, and should,
+he told himself, have felt deeply depressed at his loss; but nature
+was too strong for him. The pleasant evenings with Captain Dave and
+his family were to him delightful; he was like a traveller who, after
+a cold and cheerless journey, comes in to the warmth of a fire, and
+feels a glow of comfort as the blood circulates briskly through his
+veins. Sometimes, when he had no other engagements, he went out with
+Nellie Dowsett, whose lively chatter was new and very amusing to him.
+Sometimes they went up into Cheapside, and into St. Paul's, but more
+often sallied out of the city at Aldgate, and walked into the fields.
+On these occasions he carried a stout cane that had been his
+father's, for Nellie tried in vain to persuade him to gird on a
+sword.
+
+"You are a gentleman, Cyril," she would argue, "and have a right to
+carry one."
+
+"I am for the present a sober citizen, Mistress Nellie, and do not
+wish to assume to be of any other condition. Those one sees with
+swords are either gentlemen of the Court, or common bullies, or maybe
+highwaymen. After nightfall it is different; for then many citizens
+carry their swords, which indeed are necessary to protect them from
+the ruffians who, in spite of the city watch, oftentimes attack quiet
+passers-by; and if at any time I escort you to the house of one of
+your friends, I shall be ready to take my sword with me. But in the
+daytime there is no occasion for a weapon, and, moreover, I am full
+young to carry one, and this stout cane would, were it necessary, do
+me good service, for I learned in France the exercise that they call
+the _bâton_, which differs little from our English singlestick."
+
+While Cyril was received almost as a member of the family by Captain
+Dave and his wife, and found himself on excellent terms with John
+Wilkes, he saw that he was viewed with dislike by the two
+apprentices. He was scarcely surprised at this. Before his coming,
+Robert Ashford had been in the habit of escorting his young mistress
+when she went out, and had no doubt liked these expeditions, as a
+change from the measuring out of ropes and weighing of iron in the
+store. Then, again, the apprentices did not join in the conversation
+at table unless a remark was specially addressed to them; and as
+Captain Dave was by no means fond of his elder apprentice, it was but
+seldom that he spoke to him. Robert Ashford was between eighteen and
+nineteen. He was no taller than Cyril, but it would have been
+difficult to judge his age by his face, which had a wizened look;
+and, as Nellie said one day, in his absence, he might pass very well
+for sixty.
+
+It was easy enough for Cyril to see that Robert Ashford heartily
+disliked him; the covert scowls that he threw across the table at
+meal-time, and the way in which he turned his head and feigned to be
+too busy to notice him as he passed through the shop, were sufficient
+indications of ill-will. The younger apprentice, Tom Frost, was but a
+boy of fifteen; he gave Cyril the idea of being a timid lad. He did
+not appear to share his comrade's hostility to him, but once or
+twice, when Cyril came out from the office after making up the
+accounts of the day, he fancied that the boy glanced at him with an
+expression of anxiety, if not of terror.
+
+"If it were not," Cyril said to himself, "that Tom is clearly too
+nervous and timid to venture upon an act of dishonesty, I should say
+that he had been pilfering something; but I feel sure that he would
+not attempt such a thing as that, though I am by no means certain
+that Robert Ashford, with his foxy face and cross eyes, would not
+steal his master's goods or any one else's did he get the chance.
+Unless he were caught in the act, he could do it with impunity, for
+everything here is carried on in such a free-and-easy fashion that
+any amount of goods might be carried off without their being missed."
+
+After thinking the matter over, he said, one afternoon when his
+employer came in while he was occupied at the accounts,--
+
+"I have not seen anything of a stock-book, Captain Dave. Everything
+else is now straight, and balanced up to to-day. Here is the book of
+goods sold, the book of goods received, and the ledger with the
+accounts; but there is no stock-book such as I find in almost all the
+other places where I work."
+
+"What do I want with a stock-book?" Captain Dave asked.
+
+"You cannot know how you stand without it," Cyril replied. "You know
+how much you have paid, and how much you have received during the
+year; but unless you have a stock-book you do not know whether the
+difference between the receipts and expenditure represents profit,
+for the stock may have so fallen in value during the year that you
+may really have made a loss while seeming to make a profit."
+
+"How can that be?" Captain Dave asked. "I get a fair profit on every
+article."
+
+"There ought to be a profit, of course," Cyril said; "but sometimes
+it is found not to be so. Moreover, if there is a stock-book you can
+tell at any time, without the trouble of opening bins and weighing
+metal, how much stock you have of each article you sell, and can
+order your goods accordingly."
+
+"How would you do that?"
+
+"It is very simple, Captain Dave," Cyril said. "After taking stock of
+the whole of the goods, I should have a ledger in which each article
+would have a page or more to itself, and every day I should enter
+from John Wilkes's sales-book a list of the goods that have gone out,
+each under its own heading. Thus, at any moment, if you were to ask
+how much chain you had got in stock I could tell you within a fathom.
+When did you take stock last?"
+
+"I should say it was about fifteen months since. It was only
+yesterday John Wilkes was saying we had better have a thorough
+overhauling."
+
+"Quite time, too, I should think, Captain Dave. I suppose you have
+got the account of your last stock-taking, with the date of it?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I have got that;" and the Captain unlocked his desk and
+took out an account-book. "It has been lying there ever since. It
+took a wonderful lot of trouble to do, and I had a clerk and two men
+in for a fortnight, for of course John and the boys were attending to
+their usual duties. I have often wondered since why I should have had
+all that trouble over a matter that has never been of the slightest
+use to me."
+
+"Well, I hope you will take it again, sir; it is a trouble, no doubt,
+but you will find it a great advantage."
+
+"Are you sure you think it needful, Cyril?"
+
+"Most needful, Captain Dave. You will see the advantage of it
+afterwards."
+
+"Well, if you think so, I suppose it must be done," the Captain said,
+with a sigh; "but it will be giving you a lot of trouble to keep this
+new book of yours."
+
+"That is nothing, sir. Now that I have got all the back work up it
+will be a simple matter to keep the daily work straight. I shall find
+ample time to do it without any need of lengthening my hours."
+
+Cyril now set to work in earnest, and telling Mrs. Dowsett he had
+some books that he wanted to make up in his room before going to bed,
+he asked her to allow him to keep his light burning.
+
+Mrs. Dowsett consented, but shook her head and said he would
+assuredly injure his health if he worked by candle light.
+
+Fortunately, John Wilkes had just opened a fresh sales-book, and
+Cyril told him that he wished to refer to some particulars in the
+back books. He first opened the ledger by inscribing under their
+different heads the amount of each description of goods kept in stock
+at the last stock-taking, and then entered under their respective
+heads all the sales that had been made, while on an opposite page he
+entered the amount purchased. It took him a month's hard work, and he
+finished it on the very day that the new stock-taking concluded.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A THIEF SOMEWHERE
+
+
+Two days after the conclusion of the stock-taking, Cyril said, after
+breakfast was over,--
+
+"Would it trouble you, Captain Dave, to give me an hour up here
+before you go downstairs to the counting-house. I am free for two
+hours now, and there is a matter upon which I should like to speak to
+you privately."
+
+"Certainly, lad," the old sailor said, somewhat surprised. "We shall
+be quiet enough here, as soon as the table is cleared. My dame and
+Nellie will be helping the maid do up the cabins, and will then be
+sallying out marketing."
+
+When the maid had cleared the table, Cyril went up to his room and
+returned with a large ledger and several smaller books.
+
+"I have, for the last month, Captain Dave, been making up this
+stock-book for my own satisfaction."
+
+"Bless me, lad, why have you taken all that trouble? This accounts,
+then, for your writing so long at night, for which my dame has been
+quarrelling with you!"
+
+"It was interesting work," Cyril said quietly. "Now, you see, sir,"
+he went on, opening the big ledger, "here are the separate accounts
+under each head. These pages, you see, are for heavy cables for
+hawsers; of these, at the date of the last stock-taking, there were,
+according to the book you handed to me, five hundred fathoms in
+stock. These are the amounts you have purchased since. Now, upon the
+other side are all the sales of this cable entered in the sales-book.
+Adding them together, and deducting them from the other side, you
+will see there should remain in stock four hundred and fifty fathoms.
+According to the new stock-taking there are four hundred and
+thirty-eight. That is, I take it, as near as you could expect to get,
+for, in the measuring out of so many thousand fathoms of cable during
+the fifteen months between the two stock-takings, there may well have
+been a loss of the twelve fathoms in giving good measurement."
+
+"That is so," Captain Dave said. "I always say to John Wilkes, 'Give
+good measurement, John--better a little over than a little under.'
+Nothing can be clearer or more satisfactory."
+
+Cyril closed the book.
+
+"I am sorry to say, Captain Dave, all the items are not so
+satisfactory, and that I greatly fear that you have been robbed to a
+considerable amount."
+
+"Robbed, lad!" the Captain said, starting up from his chair. "Who
+should rob me? Not John Wilkes, I can be sworn! Not the two
+apprentices for a surety, for they never go out during the day, and
+John keeps a sharp look-out upon them, and the entrance to the shop
+is always locked and barred after work is over, so that none can
+enter without getting the key, which, as you know, John always brings
+up and hands to me as soon as he has fastened the door! You are
+mistaken, lad, and although I know that your intentions are good, you
+should be careful how you make a charge that might bring ruin to
+innocent men. Carelessness there may be; but robbery! No; assuredly
+not."
+
+"I have not brought the charge without warrant, Captain Dave," Cyril
+said gravely, "and if you will bear with me for a few minutes, I
+think you will see that there is at least something that wants
+looking into."
+
+"Well, it is only fair after the trouble you have taken, lad, that I
+should hear what you have to say; but it will need strong evidence
+indeed to make me believe that there has been foul play."
+
+"Well, sir," Cyril said, opening the ledger again, "in the first
+place, I would point out that in all the heavy articles, such as
+could not conveniently be carried away, the tally of the stock-takers
+corresponds closely with the figures in this book. In best bower
+anchors the figures are absolutely the same and, as you have seen, in
+heavy cables they closely correspond. In the large ship's compasses,
+the ship's boilers, and ship's galleys, the numbers tally exactly. So
+it is with all the heavy articles; the main blocks are correct, and
+all other heavy gear. This shows that John Wilkes's book is carefully
+kept, and it would be strange indeed if heavy goods had all been
+properly entered, and light ones omitted; but yet when we turn to
+small articles, we find that there is a great discrepancy between the
+figures. Here is the account, for instance, of the half-inch rope.
+According to my ledger, there should be eighteen hundred fathoms in
+stock, whereas the stock-takers found but three hundred and eighty.
+In two-inch rope there is a deficiency of two hundred and thirty
+fathoms, in one-inch rope of six hundred and twenty. These sizes, as
+you know, are always in requisition, and a thief would find ready
+purchasers for a coil of any of them. But, as might be expected, it
+is in copper that the deficiency is most serious. Of fourteen-inch
+bolts, eighty-two are short, of twelve-inch bolts a hundred and
+thirty, of eight-inch three hundred and nine; and so on throughout
+almost all the copper stores. According to your expenditure and
+receipt-book, Captain Dave, you have made, in the last fifteen
+months, twelve hundred and thirty pounds; but according to this book
+your stock is less in value, by two thousand and thirty-four pounds,
+than it should have been. You are, therefore, a poorer man than you
+were at the beginning of this fifteen months' trading, by eight
+hundred and four pounds."
+
+Captain Dave sat down in his chair, breathing hard. He took out his
+handkerchief and wiped the drops of perspiration from his forehead.
+
+"Are you sure of this, boy?" he said hoarsely. "Are you sure that you
+have made no mistake in your figures?"
+
+"Quite sure," Cyril said firmly. "In all cases in which I have found
+deficiencies I have gone through the books three times and compared
+the figures, and I am sure that if you put the books into the hands
+of any city accountant, he will bear out my figures."
+
+For a time Captain Dave sat silent.
+
+"Hast any idea," he said at last, "how this has come about?"
+
+"I have none," Cyril replied. "That John Wilkes is not concerned in
+it I am as sure as you are; and, thinking the matter over, I see not
+how the apprentices could have carried off so many articles, some
+heavy and some bulky, when they left the shop in the evening, without
+John Wilkes noticing them. So sure am I, that my advice would be that
+you should take John Wilkes into your confidence, and tell him how
+matters stand. My only objection to that is that he is a hasty man,
+and that I fear he would not be able to keep his countenance, so that
+the apprentices would remark that something was wrong. I am far from
+saying that they have any hand in it; it would be a grievous wrong to
+them to have suspicions when there is no shadow of evidence against
+them; but at any rate, if this matter is to be stopped and the
+thieves detected, it is most important that they should have, if they
+are guilty, no suspicion that they are in any way being watched, or
+that these deficiencies have been discovered. If they have had a hand
+in the matter they most assuredly had accomplices, for such goods
+could not be disposed of by an apprentice to any dealer without his
+being sure that they must have been stolen."
+
+"You are right there, lad--quite right. Did John Wilkes know that I
+had been robbed in this way he would get into a fury, and no words
+could restrain him from falling upon the apprentices and beating them
+till he got some of the truth out of them."
+
+"They may be quite innocent," Cyril said. "It may be that the thieves
+have discovered some mode of entry into the store either by opening
+the shutters at the back, or by loosening a board, or even by delving
+up under the ground. It is surely easier to believe this than that
+the boys can have contrived to carry off so large a quantity of goods
+under John Wilkes's eye."
+
+"That is so, lad. I have never liked Robert Ashford, but God forbid
+that I should suspect him of such crime only because his forehead is
+as wrinkled as an ape's, and Providence has set his eyes crossways in
+his head. You cannot always judge a ship by her upper works; she may
+be ugly to the eye and yet have a clear run under water. Still, you
+can't help going by what you see. I agree with you that if we tell
+John Wilkes about this, those boys will know five minutes afterwards
+that the ship is on fire; but if we don't tell him, how are we to get
+to the bottom of what is going on?"
+
+"That is a difficult question, but a few days will not make much
+difference, when we know that it has been going on for over a year,
+and may, for aught we know, have been going on much longer. The first
+thing, Captain Dave, is to send these books to an accountant, for him
+to go through them and check my figures."
+
+"There is no need for that, lad. I know how careful you are, and you
+cannot have gone so far wrong as all this."
+
+"No, sir, I am sure that there is no mistake; but, for your own sake
+as well as mine, it were well that you should have the signature of
+an accountant to the correctness of the books. If you have to lay the
+matter before the magistrates, they would not take my testimony as to
+your losses, and might even say that you were rash in acting upon the
+word of a boy like myself, and you might then be obliged to have the
+accounts made up anew, which would cost you more, and cause much
+delay in the process; whereas, if you put in your books and say that
+their correctness is vouched for by an accountant, no question would
+arise on it; nor would there be any delay now, for while the books
+are being gone into, we can be trying to get to the bottom of the
+matter here."
+
+"Ay, ay, it shall be done, Master Cyril, as you say. But for the life
+of me I don't see how we are to get at the bottom of the ship to find
+out where she is leaking!"
+
+"It seems to me that the first thing, Captain Dave, is to see to the
+warehouse. As we agreed that the apprentices cannot have carried out
+all these goods under John Wilkes's eye, and cannot have come down
+night after night through the house, the warehouse must have been
+entered from without. As I never go in there, it would be best that
+you should see to this matter yourself. There are the fastenings of
+the shutters in the first place, then the boardings all round. As for
+me, I will look round outside. The window of my room looks into the
+street, but if you will take me to one of the rooms at the back we
+can look at the surroundings of the yard, and may gather some idea
+whether the goods can have been passed over into any of the houses
+abutting on it, or, as is more likely, into the lane that runs up by
+its side."
+
+The Captain led the way into one of the rooms at the back of the
+house, and opening the casement, he and Cyril leaned out. The store
+occupied fully half the yard, the rest being occupied by anchors,
+piles of iron, ballast, etc. There were two or three score of guns of
+various sizes piled on each other. A large store of cannon-ball was
+ranged in a great pyramid close by. A wall some ten feet high
+separated the yard from the lane Cyril had spoken of. On the left,
+adjoining the warehouse, was the yard of the next shop, which
+belonged to a wool-stapler. Behind were the backs of a number of
+small houses crowded in between Tower Street and Leadenhall Street.
+
+"I suppose you do not know who lives in those houses, Captain Dave?"
+
+"No, indeed. The land is not like the sea. Afloat, when one sees a
+sail, one wonders what is her nationality, and whither she is bound,
+and still more whether she is an honest trader or a rascally pirate;
+but here on land, one scarcely gives a thought as to who may dwell in
+the houses round."
+
+"I will walk round presently," Cyril said, "and gather, as far as I
+can, who they are that live there; but, as I have said, I fancy it is
+over that wall and into the alley that your goods have departed. The
+apprentices' room is this side of the house, is it not?"
+
+"Yes; John Wilkes sleeps in the room next to yours, and the door
+opposite to his is that of the lads' room."
+
+"Do the windows of any of the rooms look into that lane?"
+
+"No; it is a blank wall on that side."
+
+"There is the clock striking nine," Cyril said, starting. "It is time
+for me to be off. Then you will take the books to-day, Captain Dave?"
+
+"I will carry them off at once, and when I return will look narrowly
+into the fastenings of the two windows and door from the warehouse
+into the yard; and will take care to do so when the boys are engaged
+in the front shop."
+
+When his work was done, Cyril went round to the houses behind the
+yard, and he found that they stood in a small court, with three or
+four trees growing in the centre, and were evidently inhabited by
+respectable citizens. Over the door of one was painted, "Joshua
+Heddings, Attorney"; next to him was Gilbert Gushing, who dealt in
+jewels, silks, and other precious commodities from the East; next to
+him was a doctor, and beyond a dealer in spices. This was enough to
+assure him that it was not through such houses as these that the
+goods had been carried.
+
+Cyril had not been back at the mid-day meal, for his work that day
+lay up by Holborn Bar, where he had two customers whom he attended
+with but half an hour's interval between the visits, and on the days
+on which he went there he was accustomed to get something to eat at a
+tavern hard by.
+
+Supper was an unusually quiet meal. Captain Dave now and then asked
+John Wilkes a question as to the business matters of the day, but
+evidently spoke with an effort. Nellie rattled on as usual; but the
+burden of keeping up the conversation lay entirely on her shoulders
+and those of Cyril. After the apprentices had left, and John Wilkes
+had started for his usual resort, the Captain lit his pipe. Nellie
+signed to Cyril to come and seat himself by her in the window that
+projected out over the street, and enabled the occupants of the seats
+at either side to have a view up and down it.
+
+"What have you been doing to father, Cyril?" she asked, in low tones;
+"he has been quite unlike himself all day. Generally when he is out
+of temper he rates everyone heartily, as if we were a mutinous crew,
+but to-day he has gone about scarcely speaking; he hasn't said a
+cross word to any of us, but several times when I spoke to him I got
+no answer, and it is easy to see that he is terribly put out about
+something. He was in his usual spirits at breakfast; then, you know,
+he was talking with you for an hour, and it does not take much
+guessing to see that it must have been something that passed between
+you that has put him out. Now what was it?"
+
+"I don't see why you should say that, Mistress Nellie. It is true we
+did have a talk together, and he examined some fresh books I have
+been making out and said that he was mightily pleased with my work. I
+went away at nine o'clock, and something may have occurred to upset
+him between that and dinner."
+
+"All which means that you don't mean to tell me anything about it,
+Master Cyril. Well, then, you may consider yourself in my black books
+altogether," she said petulantly.
+
+"I am sorry that you should say so," he said. "If it were true that
+anything that I had said to him had ruffled him, it would be for him
+to tell you, and not for me."
+
+"Methinks I have treated Robert Ashford scurvily, and I shall take
+him for my escort to see His Majesty attend service at St. Paul's
+to-morrow."
+
+Cyril smiled.
+
+"I think it would be fair to give him a turn, Mistress, and I am glad
+to see that you have such a kind thought."
+
+Nellie rose indignantly, and taking her work sat down by the side of
+her mother.
+
+"It is a fine evening," Cyril said to Captain Dave, "and I think I
+shall take a walk round. I shall return in an hour."
+
+The Captain understood, by a glance Cyril gave him, that he was going
+out for some purpose connected with the matter they had in hand.
+
+"Ay, ay, lad," he said. "It is not good for you to be sitting moping
+at home every evening. I have often wondered before that you did not
+take a walk on deck before you turned in. I always used to do so
+myself."
+
+"I don't think there is any moping in it, Captain Dave," Cyril said,
+with a laugh. "If you knew how pleasant the evenings have been to me
+after the life I lived before, you would not say so."
+
+Cyril's only object in going out, however, was to avoid the necessity
+of having to talk with Dame Dowsett and Nellie. His thoughts were
+running on nothing but the robbery, and he had found it very
+difficult to talk in his usual manner, and to answer Nellie's
+sprightly sallies. It was dark already. A few oil lamps gave a feeble
+light here and there. At present he had formed no plan whatever of
+detecting the thieves; he was as much puzzled as the Captain himself
+as to how the goods could have been removed. It would be necessary,
+of course, to watch the apprentices, but he did not think that
+anything was likely to come out of this. It was the warehouse itself
+that must be watched, in order to discover how the thieves made an
+entry. His own idea was that they got over the wall by means of a
+rope, and in some way managed to effect an entry into the warehouse.
+The apprentices could hardly aid them unless they came down through
+the house.
+
+If they had managed to get a duplicate key of the door leading from
+the bottom of the stairs to the shop, they could, of course, unbar
+the windows, and pass things out--that part of the business would be
+easy; but he could not believe that they would venture frequently to
+pass down through the house. It was an old one, and the stairs
+creaked. He himself was a light sleeper; he had got into the way of
+waking at the slightest sound, from the long watches he had had for
+his father's return, and felt sure that he should have heard them
+open their door and steal along the passage past his room, however
+quietly they might do it. He walked up the Exchange, then along
+Cheapside as far as St. Paul's, and back. Quiet as it was in Thames
+Street there was no lack of animation elsewhere. Apprentices were
+generally allowed to go out for an hour after supper, the regulation
+being that they returned to their homes by eight o'clock. Numbers of
+these were about. A good many citizens were on their way home after
+supping with friends. The city watch, with lanterns, patrolled the
+streets, and not infrequently interfered in quarrels which broke out
+among the apprentices. Cyril felt more solitary among the knots of
+laughing, noisy lads than in the quiet streets, and was glad to be
+home again. Captain Dave himself came down to open the door.
+
+"I have just sent the women to bed," he said. "The two boys came in
+five minutes ago. I thought you would not be long."
+
+"I did not go out for anything particular," Cyril said; "but Mistress
+Nellie insisted that there was something wrong with you, and that I
+must know what it was about, so, feeling indeed indisposed to talk, I
+thought it best to go out for a short time."
+
+"Yes, yes. Women always want to know, lad. I have been long enough at
+sea, you may be sure, to know that when anything is wrong, it is the
+best thing to keep it from the passengers as long as you can."
+
+"You took the books away this morning, Captain Dave?" Cyril asked as
+they sat down.
+
+"Ay, lad, I took them to Master Skinner, who bears as good a
+reputation as any accountant in the city, and he promised to take
+them in hand without loss of time; but I have been able to do nothing
+here. John, or one or other of the boys, was always in the warehouse,
+and I have had no opportunity of examining the door and shutters
+closely. When the house is sound asleep we will take a lantern and go
+down to look at them. I have been thinking that we must let John
+Wilkes into this matter; it is too much to bear on my mind by myself.
+He is my first mate, you see, and in time of danger, the first mate,
+if he is worth anything, is the man the captain relies on for help."
+
+"By all means tell him, then," Cyril said. "I can keep books, but I
+have no experience in matters like this, and shall be very glad to
+have his opinion and advice."
+
+"There he is--half-past eight. He is as punctual as clockwork."
+
+Cyril ran down and let John in.
+
+"The Captain wants to speak to you," he said, "before you go up to
+bed."
+
+John, after carefully bolting the door, followed him upstairs.
+
+"I have got some bad news for you, John. There, light your pipe
+again, and sit down. My good dame has gone off to bed, and we have
+got the cabin to ourselves."
+
+John touched an imaginary hat and obeyed orders.
+
+"The ship has sprung a bad leak, John. This lad here has found it
+out, and it is well he did, for unless he had done so we should have
+had her foundering under our feet without so much as suspecting
+anything was going wrong."
+
+The sailor took his newly-lighted pipe from between his lips and
+stared at the Captain in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, it is hard to believe, mate, but, by the Lord Harry, it is as I
+say. There is a pirate about somewhere, and the books show that,
+since the stock-taking fifteen months ago, he has eased the craft of
+her goods to the tune of two thousand pounds and odd."
+
+John Wilkes flung his pipe on to the table with such force that it
+shivered into fragments.
+
+"Dash my timbers!" he exclaimed. "Who is the man? You only give me
+the orders, sir, and I am ready to range alongside and board him."
+
+"That is what we have got to find out, John. That the goods have gone
+is certain, but how they can have gone beats us altogether."
+
+"Do you mean to say, Captain, that they have stolen them out of the
+place under my eyes and me know nothing about it? It can't be, sir.
+There must be some mistake. I know naught about figures, save enough
+to put down the things I sell, but I don't believe as a thing has
+gone out of the shop unbeknown to me. That yarn won't do for me,
+sir," and he looked angrily at Cyril.
+
+"It is true enough, John, for all that. The books have been balanced
+up. We knew what was in stock fifteen months ago, and we knew from
+your sale-book what has passed out of the shop, and from your
+entry-book what has come in. We know now what there is remaining. We
+find that in bulky goods, such as cables and anchors and ships'
+boilers and suchlike, the accounts tally exactly, but in the small
+rope, and above all in the copper, there is a big shrinkage. I will
+read you the figures of some of them."
+
+John's face grew longer and longer as he heard the totals read.
+
+"Well, I'm jiggered!" he said, when the list was concluded. "I could
+have sworn that the cargo was right according to the manifest. Well,
+Captain, all I can say is, if that 'ere list be correct, the best
+thing you can do is to send me adrift as a blind fool. I have kept my
+tallies as correct as I could, and I thought I had marked down every
+package that has left the ship, and here they must have been passing
+out pretty nigh in cart-loads under my very eyes, and I knew nothing
+about it."
+
+"I don't blame you, John, more than I blame myself. I am generally
+about on deck, and had no more idea that the cargo was being meddled
+with than you had. I have been wrong in letting matters go on so long
+without taking stock of them and seeing that it was all right; but I
+never saw the need for it. This is what comes of taking to a trade
+you know nothing about; we have just been like two children, thinking
+that it was all plain and above board, and that we had nothing to do
+but to sell our goods and to fill up again when the hold got empty.
+Well, it is of no use talking over that part of the business. What we
+have got to do is to find out this leak and stop it. We are pretty
+well agreed, Cyril and me, that the things don't go out of the shop
+by daylight. The question is, how do they go out at night?"
+
+"I always lock up the hatches according to orders, Captain."
+
+"Yes, I have no doubt you do, John; but maybe the fastenings have
+been tampered with. The only way in which we see it can have been
+managed is that someone has been in the habit of getting over the
+wall between the yard and the lane, and then getting into the
+warehouse somehow. It must have been done very often, for if the
+things had been taken in considerable quantities you would have
+noticed that the stock was short directly the next order came in. Now
+I propose we light these two lanterns I have got here, and that we go
+down and have a look round the hold."
+
+Lighting the candles, they went downstairs. The Captain took out the
+key and turned the lock. It grated loudly as he did so.
+
+"That is a noisy lock," Cyril said.
+
+"It wants oiling," John replied. "I have been thinking of doing it
+for the last month, but it has always slipped out of my mind."
+
+"At any rate," Cyril said, "it is certain that thieves could not have
+got into the shop this way, for the noise would have been heard all
+over the house."
+
+The door between the shop and the warehouse was next unlocked. The
+fastenings of the shutters and doors were first examined; there was
+no sign of their having been tampered with. Each bolt and hasp was
+tried, and the screws examined. Then they went round trying every one
+of the stout planks that formed the side; all were firm and in good
+condition.
+
+"It beats me altogether," the Captain said, when they had finished
+their examination. "The things cannot walk out of themselves; they
+have got to be carried. But how the fellows who carry them get in is
+more than I can say. There is nowhere else to look, is there, John?"
+
+"Not that I can see, Captain."
+
+They went to the door into the shop, and were about to close it, when
+Cyril said,--
+
+"Some of the things that are gone are generally kept in here,
+Captain--the rope up to two inch, for example, and a good deal of
+canvas, and most of the smaller copper fittings; so that, whoever the
+thief is, he must have been in the habit of coming in here as well as
+into the warehouse."
+
+"That is so, lad. Perhaps they entered from this side."
+
+"Will you hold the lantern here, John?" Cyril said.
+
+The sailor held the lantern to the lock.
+
+"There are no scratches nor signs of tools having been used here,"
+Cyril said, examining both the lock and the door-post. "Whether the
+thief came into the warehouse first, or not, he must have had a key."
+
+The Captain nodded.
+
+"Thieves generally carry a lot of keys with them, Cyril; and if one
+does not quite fit they can file it until it does."
+
+The shutters of the shop window and its fastenings, and those of the
+door, were as secure as those of the warehouse, and, completely
+puzzled, the party went upstairs again.
+
+"There must be some way of getting in and out, although we can't find
+it," Captain Dave said. "Things can't have gone off by themselves."
+
+"It may be, Captain," John Wilkes said, "that some of the planks may
+be loose."
+
+"But we tried them all, John."
+
+"Ay, they seem firm enough, but it may be that one of them is wedged
+in, and that when the wedges are taken out it could be pulled off."
+
+"I think you would have noticed it, John. If there was anything of
+that sort it must be outside. However, we will take a good look round
+the yard to-morrow. The warehouse is strongly built, and I don't
+believe that any plank could be taken off and put back again, time
+after time, without making a noise that would be heard in the house.
+What do you think, Cyril?"
+
+"I agree with you, Captain Dave. How the thieves make an entry I
+can't imagine, but I don't believe that it is through the wall of the
+warehouse. I am convinced that the robberies must have been very
+frequent. Had a large amount been taken at a time, John Wilkes would
+have been sure to notice it. Then, again, the thieves would not come
+so often, and each time for a comparatively small amount of booty,
+unless it could be managed without any serious risk or trouble.
+However, now that we do know that they come, we shall have, I should
+think, very little difficulty in finding out how it is done."
+
+"You may warrant we will keep a sharp look-out," John Wilkes said
+savagely. "If the Captain will give me the use of a room at the back
+of the house, you may be sure I shan't close an eye till I have got
+to the bottom of the matter. I am responsible for the cargo below,
+and if I had kept as sharp an eye on the stores as I ought to have
+done, this would not have happened. Only let me catch them trying to
+board, and I will give them such a reception that I warrant me they
+will sheer off with a bullet or two in them. I have got that pair of
+boarding pistols, and a cutlass, hung up over my bed."
+
+"You must not do that, John," the Captain said. "It isn't a matter of
+beating off the pirates by pouring a broadside into them. Maybe you
+might cripple them, more likely they would make off, and we want to
+capture them. Therefore, I say, let us watch, and find out how they
+do it. When we once know that, we can lay our plans for capturing
+them the next time they come. I will take watch and watch with you."
+
+"Well, if it goes on long, Captain, I won't say no to that; but for
+to-night anyhow I will sit up alone."
+
+"Very well, let it be so, John. But mind, whatever you see, you keep
+as still as a mouse. Just steal to my room in your stockinged feet
+directly you see anything moving. Open the door and say, 'Strange
+sail in sight!' and I will be over at your window in no time. And
+now, Cyril, you and I may as well turn in."
+
+The night passed quietly.
+
+"You saw nothing, I suppose, John?" the Captain said next morning,
+after the apprentices had gone down from breakfast.
+
+"Not a thing, Captain."
+
+"Now we will go and have a look in the yard. Will you come, Cyril?"
+
+"I should like to come," Cyril replied, "but, as I have never been
+out there before, had you not better make some pretext for me to do
+so. You might say, in the hearing of the apprentices, 'We may as well
+take the measurements for that new shed we were talking about, and
+see how much boarding it will require.' Then you can call to me out
+from the office to come and help you to measure."
+
+"Then you still think the apprentices are in it?" John Wilkes asked
+sharply.
+
+"I don't say I think so, John. I have nothing against them. I don't
+believe they could come down at night without being heard; I feel
+sure they could not get into the shop without that stiff bolt making
+a noise. Still, as it is possible they may be concerned in the
+matter, I think that, now we have it in good train for getting to the
+bottom of it, it would be well to keep the matter altogether to
+ourselves."
+
+"Quite right," Captain Dave said approvingly. "When you suspect
+treachery, don't let a soul think that you have got such a matter in
+your mind, until you are in a position to take the traitor by the
+collar and put a pistol to his ear. That idea of yours is a very good
+one; I will say something about the shed to John this morning, and
+then when you go down to the counting-house after dinner I will call
+to you to come out to the yard with us."
+
+After dinner, Captain Dave went with Cyril into the counting-house.
+
+"We had an order in this morning for a set of ship's anchors, and
+John and I have been in the yard looking them out; we looked over the
+place pretty sharply, as you may be sure, but as far as we could see
+the place is as solid as when it was built, fifty years ago, by my
+father."
+
+The Captain went out into the store, and ten minutes afterwards
+re-entered the shop and shouted,--
+
+"Come out here, Cyril, and lend a hand. We are going to take those
+measurements. Bring out your ink-horn, and a bit of paper to put them
+down as we take them."
+
+The yard was some sixty feet long by twenty-five broad, exclusive of
+the space occupied by the warehouse. This, as Cyril had observed from
+the window above, did not extend as far as the back wall; but on
+walking round there with the two men, he found that the distance was
+greater than he had expected, and that there was a space of some
+twenty feet clear.
+
+"This is where we are thinking of putting the shed," the Captain said
+in a loud voice.
+
+"But I see that you have a crane and door into the loft over the
+warehouse there," Cyril said, looking up.
+
+"We never use that now. When my father first began business, he used
+to buy up old junk and such-like stores, and store them up there, but
+it didn't pay for the trouble; and, besides, as you see, he wanted
+every foot of the yard room, and of course at that time they had to
+leave a space clear for the carts to come up from the gate round
+here, so it was given up, and the loft is empty now."
+
+Cyril looked up at the crane. It was swung round so as to lie flat
+against the wooden shutters. The rope was still through the block,
+and passed into the loft through a hole cut at the junction of the
+shutters.
+
+They now measured the space between the warehouse and the wall, the
+Captain repeating the figures, still in a loud voice; then they
+discussed the height of the walls, and after some argument between
+the Captain and John Wilkes agreed that this should be the same as
+the rest of the building. Still talking on the subject, they returned
+through the warehouse, Cyril on the way taking a look at the massive
+gate that opened into the lane. In addition to a heavy bar it had a
+strong hasp, fastened by a great padlock. The apprentices were busy
+at work coiling up some rope when they passed by.
+
+"When we have knocked a door through the end there, John," Captain
+Dave said, "it will give you a deal more room, and you will be able
+to get rid of all these cables and heavy dunnage, and to have matters
+more ship-shape here."
+
+While they had been taking the measurements, all three had carefully
+examined the wall of the warehouse.
+
+"There is nothing wrong there, Cyril," his employer said, as, leaving
+John Wilkes in the warehouse, they went through the shop into the
+little office.
+
+"Certainly nothing that I could see, Captain Dave. I did not before
+know the loft had any opening to the outside. Of course I have seen
+the ladder going up from the warehouse to that trap-door; but as it
+was closed I thought no more of it."
+
+"I don't suppose anyone has been up there for years, lad. What, are
+you thinking that someone might get in through those shutters? Why,
+they are twenty feet from the ground, so that you would want a long
+ladder, and when you got up there you would find that you could not
+open the shutters. I said nobody had been up there, but I did go up
+myself to have a look round when I first settled down here, and there
+is a big bar with a padlock."
+
+Cyril thought no more about it, and after supper it was arranged that
+he and Captain Dave should keep watch by turns at the window of the
+room that had been now given to John Wilkes, and that the latter
+should have a night in his berth, as the Captain expressed it. John
+Wilkes had made some opposition, saying that he would be quite
+willing to take his watch.
+
+"You will just obey orders, John," the Captain said. "You have had
+thirty-six hours off the reel on duty, and you have got to be at work
+all day to-morrow again. You shall take the middle watch to-morrow
+night if you like, but one can see with half an eye that you are not
+fit to be on the lookout to-night. I doubt if any of us could see as
+far as the length of the bowsprit. It is pretty nearly pitch dark;
+there is not a star to be seen, and it looked to me, when I turned
+out before supper, as if we were going to have a storm."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+CAPTURED
+
+
+It was settled that Cyril was to take the first watch, and that the
+Captain should relieve him at one o'clock. At nine, the family went
+to bed. A quarter of an hour later, Cyril stole noiselessly from his
+attic down to John Wilkes's room. The door had been left ajar, and
+the candle was still burning.
+
+"I put a chair by the window," the sailor said, from his bed, "and
+left the light, for you might run foul of something or other in the
+dark, though I have left a pretty clear gangway for you."
+
+Cyril blew out the candle, and seated himself at the window. For a
+time he could see nothing, and told himself that the whole contents
+of the warehouse might be carried off without his being any the
+wiser.
+
+"I shall certainly see nothing," he said to himself; "but, at least,
+I may hear something."
+
+So saying, he turned the fastening of the casement and opened it
+about half an inch. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he
+was able to make out the line of the roof of the warehouse, which was
+some three or four feet below the level of his eyes, and some twenty
+feet away on his left. The time passed slowly. He kept himself awake
+by thinking over the old days in France, the lessons he had learnt
+with his friend, Harry Parton, and the teaching of the old clergyman.
+
+He heard the bell of St. Paul's strike ten and eleven. The last
+stroke had scarcely ceased to vibrate when he rose to his feet
+suddenly. He heard, on his left, a scraping noise. A moment later it
+ceased, and then was renewed again. It lasted but a few seconds; then
+he heard an irregular, shuffling noise, that seemed to him upon the
+roof of the warehouse. Pressing his face to the casement, he suddenly
+became aware that the straight line of the ridge was broken by
+something moving along it, and a moment later he made out a second
+object, just behind the first. Moving with the greatest care, he made
+his way out of the room, half closed the door behind him, crossed the
+passage, and pushed at a door opposite.
+
+"Captain Dave," he said, in a low voice, "get up at once, and please
+don't make a noise."
+
+"Ay, ay, lad."
+
+There was a movement from the bed, and a moment later the Captain
+stood beside him.
+
+"What is it, lad?" he whispered.
+
+"There are two figures moving along on the ridge of the roof of the
+warehouse. I think it is the apprentices. I heard a slight noise, as
+if they were letting themselves down from their window by a rope. It
+is just over that roof, you know."
+
+There was a rustling sound as the Captain slipped his doublet on.
+
+"That is so. The young scoundrels! What can they be doing on the
+roof?"
+
+They went to the window behind. Just as they reached it there was a
+vivid flash of lightning. It sufficed to show them a figure lying at
+full length at the farther end of the roof; then all was dark again,
+and a second or two later came a sharp, crashing roar of thunder.
+
+"We had better stand well back from the window," Cyril whispered.
+"Another flash might show us to anyone looking this way."
+
+"What does it mean, lad? What on earth is that boy doing there? I
+could not see which it was."
+
+"I think it is Ashford," Cyril said. "The figure in front seemed the
+smaller of the two."
+
+"But where on earth can Tom have got to?"
+
+"I should fancy, sir, that Robert has lowered him so that he can get
+his feet on the crane and swing it outwards; then he might sit down
+on it and swing himself by the rope into the loft if the doors are
+not fastened inside. Robert, being taller, would have no difficulty
+in lowering himself--There!" he broke off, as another flash of
+lightning lit up the sky. "He has gone, now; there is no one on the
+roof."
+
+John Wilkes was by this time standing beside them, having started up
+at the first flash of lightning.
+
+"Do you go up, John, into their room," the Captain said. "I think
+there can be no doubt that these fellows on the roof are Ashford and
+Frost, but it is as well to be able to swear to it."
+
+The foreman returned in a minute or two.
+
+"The room is empty, Captain; the window is open, and there is a rope
+hanging down from it. Shall I cast it adrift?"
+
+"Certainly not, John. We do not mean to take them tonight, and they
+must be allowed to go back to their beds without a suspicion that
+they have been watched. I hope and trust that it is not so bad as it
+looks, and that the boys have only broken out from devilry. You know,
+boys will do things of that sort just because it is forbidden."
+
+"There must be more than that," John Wilkes said. "If it had been
+just after they went to their rooms, it might be that they went to
+some tavern or other low resort, but the town is all asleep now."
+
+They again went close to the window, pushed the casement a little
+more open, and stood listening there. In two or three minutes there
+was a very slight sound heard.
+
+"They are unbolting the door into the yard," John Wilkes whispered.
+"I would give a month's pay to be behind them with a rope's end."
+
+Half a minute later there was a sudden gleam of light below, and they
+could see the door open. The light disappeared again, but they heard
+footsteps; then they saw the light thrown on the fastening to the
+outer gate, and could make out that two figures below were applying a
+key to the padlock. This was taken off and laid down; then the heavy
+wooden bar was lifted, and also laid on the ground. The gate opened
+as if pushed from the other side. The two figures went out; the sound
+of a low murmur of conversation could be heard; then they returned,
+the gate was closed and fastened again, they entered the warehouse,
+the light disappeared, and the door was closed.
+
+"That's how the things went, John."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," the foreman growled.
+
+"As they were undoing the gate, the light fell on a coil of rope they
+had set down there, and a bag which I guess had copper of some kind
+in it. They have done us cleverly, the young villains! There was not
+noise enough to wake a cat. They must have had every bolt and hinge
+well oiled."
+
+"We had better close the casement now, sir, for as they come back
+along the ridge they will be facing it, and if a flash of lightning
+came they would see that it was half open, and even if they did not
+catch sight of our faces they would think it suspicious that the
+window should be open, and it might put them on their guard."
+
+"Yes; and we may as well turn in at once, John. Like enough when they
+get back they will listen for a bit at their door, so as to make sure
+that everything is quiet before they turn in. There is nothing more
+to see now. Of course they will get in as they got out. You had
+better turn in as you are, Cyril; they may listen at your door."
+
+Cyril at once went up to his room, closed the door, placed a chair
+against it, and then lay down on his bed. He listened intently, and
+four or five minutes later thought that he heard a door open; but he
+could not be sure, for just at that moment heavy drops began to
+patter down upon the tiles. The noise rose louder and louder until he
+could scarce have heard himself speak. Then there was a bright flash
+and the deep rumble of the thunder mingled with the sharp rattle of
+the raindrops overhead. He listened for a time to the storm, and then
+dropped off to sleep.
+
+Things went on as usual at breakfast the next morning. During the
+meal, Captain Dave gave the foreman several instructions as to the
+morning's work.
+
+"I am going on board the _Royalist_," he said. "John Browning wants
+me to overhaul all the gear, and see what will do for another voyage
+or two, and what must be new. His skipper asked for new running
+rigging all over, but he thinks that there can't be any occasion for
+its all being renewed. I don't expect I shall be in till dinner-time,
+so anyone that wants to see me must come again in the afternoon."
+
+Ten minutes later, Cyril went out, on his way to his work. Captain
+Dave was standing a few doors away.
+
+"Before I go on board the brig, lad, I am going up to the Chief
+Constable's to arrange about this business. I want to get four men of
+the watch. Of course, it may be some nights before this is tried
+again, so I shall have the men stowed away in the kitchen. Then we
+must keep watch, and as soon as we see those young villains on the
+roof, we will let the men out at the front door. Two will post
+themselves this end of the lane, and two go round into Leadenhall
+Street and station themselves at the other end. When the boys go out
+after supper we will unlock the door at the bottom of the stairs into
+the shop, and the door into the warehouse. Then we will steal down
+into the shop and listen there until we hear them open the door into
+the yard, and then go into the warehouse and be ready to make a rush
+out as soon as they get the gate open. John will have his boatswain's
+whistle ready, and will give the signal. That will bring the watch
+up, so they will be caught in a trap."
+
+"I should think that would be a very good plan, Captain Dave, though
+I wish that it could have been done without Tom Frost being taken. He
+is a timid sort of boy, and I have no doubt that he has been entirely
+under the thumb of Robert."
+
+"Well, if he has he will get off lightly," the Captain said. "Even if
+a boy is a timid boy, he knows what will be the consequences if he is
+caught robbing his master. Cowardice is no excuse for crime, lad. The
+boys have always been well treated, and though I dare say Ashford is
+the worst of the two, if the other had been honest he would not have
+seen him robbing me without letting me know."
+
+For six nights watch was kept without success. Every evening, when
+the family and apprentices had retired to rest, John Wilkes went
+quietly downstairs and admitted the four constables, letting them out
+in the morning before anyone was astir. Mrs. Dowsett had been taken
+into her husband's confidence so far as to know that he had
+discovered he had been robbed, and was keeping a watch for the
+thieves. She was not told that the apprentices were concerned in the
+matter, for Captain Dave felt sure that, however much she might try
+to conceal it, Robert Ashford would perceive, by her looks, that
+something was wrong.
+
+Nellie was told a day or two later, for, although ignorant of her
+father's nightly watchings, she was conscious from his manner, and
+that of her mother, that something was amiss, and was so persistent
+in her inquiries, that the Captain consented to her mother telling
+her that he had a suspicion he was being robbed, and warning her that
+it was essential that the subject must not be in any way alluded to.
+
+"Your father is worrying over it a good deal, Nellie, and it is
+better that he should not perceive that you are aware of it. Just let
+things go on as they were."
+
+"Is the loss serious, mother?"
+
+"Yes; he thinks that a good deal of money has gone. I don't think he
+minds that so much as the fact that, so far, he doesn't know who the
+people most concerned in it may be. He has some sort of suspicion in
+one quarter, but has no clue whatever to the men most to blame."
+
+"Does Cyril know anything about it?" Nellie asked suddenly.
+
+"Yes, he knows, my dear; indeed, it was owing to his cleverness that
+your father first came to have suspicions."
+
+"Oh! that explains it," Nellie said. "He had been talking to father,
+and I asked what it was about and he would not tell me, and I have
+been very angry with him ever since."
+
+"I have noticed that you have been behaving very foolishly," Mrs.
+Dowsett said quietly, "and that for the last week you have been
+taking Robert with you as an escort when you went out of an evening.
+I suppose you did that to annoy Cyril, but I don't think that he
+minded much."
+
+"I don't think he did, mother," Nellie agreed, with a laugh which
+betrayed a certain amount of irritation. "I saw that he smiled, two
+or three evenings back, when I told Robert at supper that I wanted
+him to go out with me, and I was rarely angry, I can tell you."
+
+Cyril had indeed troubled himself in no way about Nellie's coolness;
+but when she had so pointedly asked Robert to go with her, he had
+been amused at the thought of how greatly she would be mortified,
+when Robert was haled up to the Guildhall for robbing her father, at
+the thought that he had been accompanying her as an escort.
+
+"I rather hope this will be our last watch, Captain Dave," he said,
+on the seventh evening.
+
+"Why do you hope so specially to-night, lad?"
+
+"Of course I have been hoping so every night. But I think it is
+likely that the men who take the goods come regularly once a week;
+for in that case there would be no occasion for them to meet at other
+times to arrange on what night they should be in the lane."
+
+"Yes, that is like enough, Cyril; and the hour will probably be the
+same, too. John and I will share your watch to-night, so as to be
+ready to get the men off without loss of time."
+
+Cyril had always taken the first watch, which was from half-past nine
+till twelve. The Captain and Wilkes had taken the other watches by
+turns.
+
+As before, just as the bell finished striking eleven, the three
+watchers again heard through the slightly open casement the scraping
+noise on the left. It had been agreed that they should not move, lest
+the sound should be heard outside. Each grasped the stout cudgel he
+held in his hand, and gazed at the roof of the warehouse, which could
+now be plainly seen, for the moon was half full and the sky was
+clear. As before, the two figures went along, and this time they
+could clearly recognise them. They were both sitting astride of the
+ridge tiles, and moved themselves along by means of their hands. They
+waited until they saw one after the other disappear at the end of the
+roof, and then John Wilkes quietly stole downstairs. The four
+constables had been warned to be specially wakeful.
+
+"They are at it again to-night," John said to them, as he entered.
+"Now, do you two who go round into Leadenhall Street start at once,
+but don't take your post at the end of the lane for another five or
+six minutes. The thieves outside may not have come up at present. As
+you go out, leave the door ajar; in five minutes you others should
+stand ready. Don't go to the corner, but wait in the doorway below
+until you hear the whistle. They will be only fifteen or twenty yards
+up the lane, and would see you if you took up your station at the
+corner; but the moment you hear the whistle, rush out and have at
+them. We shall be there before you will."
+
+John went down with the last two men, entered the shop, and stood
+there waiting until he should be joined by his master. The latter and
+Cyril remained at the window until they saw the door of the warehouse
+open, and then hurried downstairs. Both were in their stockinged
+feet, so that their movements should be noiseless.
+
+"Come on, John; they are in the yard," the Captain whispered; and
+they entered the warehouse and went noiselessly on, until they stood
+at the door. The process of unbarring the gate was nearly
+accomplished. As it swung open, John Wilkes put his whistle to his
+lips and blew a loud, shrill call, and the three rushed forward.
+There was a shout of alarm, a fierce imprecation, and three of the
+four figures at the gate sprang at them. Scarce a blow had been
+struck when the two constables ran up and joined in the fray. Two men
+fought stoutly, but were soon overpowered. Robert Ashford, knife in
+hand, had attacked John Wilkes with fury, and would have stabbed him,
+as his attention was engaged upon one of the men outside, had not
+Cyril brought his cudgel down sharply on his knuckles, when, with a
+yell of pain, he dropped the knife and fled up the lane. He had gone
+but a short distance, however, when he fell into the hands of the two
+constables, who were running towards him. One of them promptly
+knocked him down with his cudgel, and then proceeded to bind his
+hands behind him, while the other ran on to join in the fray. It was
+over before he got there, and his comrades were engaged in binding
+the two robbers. Tom Frost had taken no part in the fight. He stood
+looking on, paralysed with terror, and when the two men were
+overpowered he fell on his knees beseeching his master to have mercy
+on him.
+
+"It is too late, Tom," the Captain said. "You have been robbing me
+for months, and now you have been caught in the act you will have to
+take your share in the punishment. You are a prisoner of the
+constables here, and not of mine, and even if I were willing to let
+you go, they would have their say in the matter. Still, if you make a
+clean breast of what you know about it, I will do all I can to get
+you off lightly; and seeing that you are but a boy, and have been,
+perhaps, led into this, they will not be disposed to be hard on you.
+Pick up that lantern and bring it here, John; let us see what
+plunder, they were making off with."
+
+There was no rope this time, but a bag containing some fifty pounds'
+weight of brass and copper fittings. One of the constables took
+possession of this.
+
+"You had better come along with us to the Bridewell, Master Dowsett,
+to sign the charge sheet, though I don't know whether it is
+altogether needful, seeing that we have caught them in the act; and
+you will all three have to be at the Court to-morrow at ten o'clock."
+
+"I will go with you," the Captain said; "but I will first slip in and
+put my shoes on; I brought them down in my hand and shall be ready in
+a minute. You may as well lock up this gate again, John. I will go
+out through the front door and join them in the lane." As he went
+into the house, John Wilkes closed the gate and put up the bar, then
+took up the lantern and said to Cyril,--
+
+"Well, Master Cyril, this has been a good night's work, and mighty
+thankful I am that we have caught the pirates. It was a good day for
+us all when you came to the Captain, or they might have gone on
+robbing him till the time came that there was nothing more to rob;
+and I should never have held up my head again, for though the Captain
+would never believe that I had had a hand in bringing him to ruin,
+other people would not have thought so, and I might never have got a
+chance of proving my innocence. Now we will just go to the end of the
+yard and see if they did manage to get into the warehouse by means of
+that crane, as you thought they did."
+
+They found that the crane had been swung out just far enough to
+afford a foot-hold to those lowering themselves on to it from the
+roof. The door of the loft stood open.
+
+"Just as you said. You could not have been righter, not if you had
+seen them at it. And now I reckon we may as well lock up the place
+again, and turn in. The Captain has got the key of the front door,
+and we will leave the lantern burning at the bottom of the stairs."
+
+Cyril got up as soon as he heard a movement in the house, and went
+down to the shop, which had been already opened by John Wilkes.
+
+"It seems quiet here, without the apprentices, John. Is there any way
+in which I can help?"
+
+"No, thank you, sir. We shan't be moving the goods about till after
+breakfast, and then, no doubt, the Captain will get an extra man in
+to help me. I reckon he will have to get a neighbour in to give an
+eye to the place while we are all away at the Court."
+
+"I see there is the rope still hanging from their window," Cyril
+said, as he went out into the yard.
+
+"I thought it best to leave it there," John Wilkes replied, "and I
+ain't been up into the loft either. It is best to leave matters just
+as they were. Like enough, they will send an officer down from the
+Court to look at them."
+
+When the family assembled at breakfast, Mrs. Dowsett was looking very
+grave. The Captain, on the other hand, was in capital spirits.
+Nellie, as usual, was somewhat late.
+
+"Where is everybody?" she asked in surprise, seeing that Cyril alone
+was in his place with her father and mother.
+
+"John Wilkes is downstairs, looking after the shop, and will come up
+and have his breakfast when we have done," her father replied.
+
+"Are both the apprentices out, then?" she asked.
+
+"The apprentices are in limbo," the Captain said grimly.
+
+"In limbo, father! What does that mean?"
+
+"It means that they are in gaol, my dear."
+
+Nellie put down the knife and fork that she had just taken up.
+
+"Are you joking, father?"
+
+"Very far from it, my dear; it is no joke to any of us--certainly not
+to me, and not to Robert Ashford, or Tom Frost. They have been
+robbing me for the last year, and, for aught I know, before that. If
+it had not been for Master Cyril it would not have been very long
+before I should have had to put my shutters up."
+
+"But how could they rob you, father?"
+
+"By stealing my goods, and selling them, Nellie. The way they did it
+was to lower themselves by a rope from their window on to the roof of
+the warehouse, and to get down at the other end on to the crane, and
+then into the loft. Then they went down and took what they had a
+fancy to, undid the door, and went into the yard, and then handed
+over their booty to the fellows waiting at the gate for it. Last
+night we caught them at it, after having been on the watch for ten
+days."
+
+"That is what I heard last night, then," she said. "I was woke by a
+loud whistle, and then I heard a sound of quarrelling and fighting in
+the lane. I thought it was some roysterers going home late. Oh,
+father, it is dreadful to think of! And what will they do to them?"
+
+"It is a hanging matter," the Captain said; "it is not only theft,
+but mutiny. No doubt the judges will take a lenient view of Tom
+Frost's case, both on the ground of his youth, and because, no doubt,
+he was influenced by Ashford; but I would not give much for Robert's
+chances. No doubt it will be a blow to you, Nellie, for you seem to
+have taken to him mightily of late."
+
+Nellie was about to give an emphatic contradiction, but as she
+remembered how pointedly she had asked for his escort during the last
+few days, she flushed up, and was silent.
+
+"It is terrible to think of," she said, after a pause. "I suppose
+this is what you and Cyril were consulting about, father. I have to
+ask your pardon, Master Cyril, for my rudeness to you; but of course
+I did not think it was anything of consequence, or that you could not
+have told me if you had wished to do so."
+
+"You need not beg my pardon, Mistress Nellie. No doubt you thought it
+churlish on my part to refuse to gratify your curiosity, and I am not
+surprised that you took offence. I knew that when you learned how
+important it was to keep silence over the matter, that you would
+acquit me of the intention of making a mystery about nothing."
+
+"I suppose you knew, mother?" Nellie asked.
+
+"I knew that your father believed that he was being robbed, Nellie,
+and that he was keeping watch for some hours every night, but I did
+not know that he suspected the apprentices. I am glad that we did
+not, for assuredly we should have found it very hard to school our
+faces so that they should not guess that aught was wrong."
+
+"That was why we said nothing about it, Nellie. It has been as much
+as I have been able to do to sit at table, and talk in the shop as
+usual, with boys I knew were robbing me; and I know honest John
+Wilkes must have felt it still more. But till a week ago we would not
+believe that they had a hand in the matter. It is seven nights since
+Cyril caught them creeping along the roof, and called me to the
+window in John Wilkes's room, whence he was watching the yard, not
+thinking the enemy was in the house."
+
+"And how did you come to suspect that robbery was going on, Cyril?"
+
+"Simply because, on making up the books, I found there was a great
+deficiency in the stores."
+
+"That is what he was doing when he was sitting up at night, after you
+were in bed, Miss Nellie," her father said. "You may thank your stars
+that he took a berth in this ship, for the scoundrels would have
+foundered her to a certainty, if he had not done so. I tell you,
+child, he has saved this craft from going to the bottom. I have not
+said much to him about it, but he knows that I don't feel it any the
+less."
+
+"And who were the other men who were taken, father?"
+
+"That I can't tell you, Nellie. I went to the Bridewell with them,
+and as soon as I saw them safely lodged there I came home. They will
+be had up before the Lord Mayor this morning, and then I dare say I
+shall know all about them. Now I must go and take my watch below, and
+let John Wilkes come off duty."
+
+"Why, John, what is the matter?" Mrs. Dowsett said, when the foreman
+entered.
+
+"Nothing worth speaking of, Mistress. I got a clip over the eye from
+one of the pirates we were capturing. The thing mattered nothing, one
+way or the other, but it might have cost me my life, because, for a
+moment, it pretty well dazed me. That young villain, Bob, was just
+coming at me with his knife, and I reckon it would have gone hard
+with me if Master Cyril here hadn't, just in the nick of time,
+brought his stick down on Robert's knuckles, and that so sharply that
+the fellow dropped his knife with a yell, and took to his heels, only
+to fall into the hands of two of the watch coming from the other end
+of the lane. You did me a good turn, lad, and if ever I get the
+chance of ranging up alongside of you in a fray, you may trust me to
+return it."
+
+He held out his hand to Cyril, and gave a warm grip to the hand the
+latter laid in it.
+
+"It is a rum start, Mistress," John went on, as he sat down to his
+meal, "that two old hands like the Captain and I were sailing on, not
+dreaming of hidden rocks or sand-banks, when this lad, who I used to
+look upon as a young cockerel who was rather above his position,
+should come forward and have saved us all from shipwreck."
+
+"It is indeed, John," his mistress said earnestly, "and I thank God
+indeed that He put the thought into the minds of Captain Dave and
+myself to ask him to take up his abode with us. It seemed to us then
+that we were doing a little kindness that would cost us nothing,
+whereas it has turned out the saving of us."
+
+"Dear, dear!" Nellie, who had been sitting with a frown on her pretty
+face, said pettishly. "What a talk there will be about it all, and
+how Jane Greenwood and Martha Stebbings and the rest of them will
+laugh at me! They used to say they wondered how I could go about with
+such an ugly wretch behind me, and of course I spoke up for him and
+said that he was an honest knave and faithful; and now it turns out
+that he is a villain and a robber. I shall never hear the last of
+him."
+
+"You will get over that, Nellie," her mother said severely. "It would
+be much better if, instead of thinking of such trifles, you would
+consider how sad a thing it is that two lads should lose their
+character, and perhaps their lives, simply for their greed of other
+people's goods. I could cry when I think of it. I know that Robert
+Ashford has neither father nor mother to grieve about him, for my
+husband's father took him out of sheer charity; but Tom's parents are
+living, and it will be heart-breaking indeed to them when they hear
+of their son's misdoings."
+
+"I trust that Captain Dave will get him off," Cyril said. "As he is
+so young he may turn King's evidence, and I feel sure that he did not
+go willingly into the affair. I have noticed many times that he had a
+frightened look, as if he had something on his mind. I believe that
+he acted under fear of the other."
+
+As soon as John Wilkes had finished his breakfast he went with
+Captain Dave and Cyril to the Magistrates' Court at the Guildhall.
+Some other cases were first heard, and then the apprentices, with the
+two men who had been captured in the lane, were brought in and placed
+in the dock. The men bore marks that showed they had been engaged in
+a severe struggle, and that the watch had used their staves with
+effect. One was an elderly man with shaggy grey eyebrows; the other
+was a very powerfully built fellow, who seemed, from his attire, to
+follow the profession of a sailor. Tom Frost was sobbing bitterly.
+One of Robert Ashford's hands was bandaged up. As he was placed in
+the dock he cast furtive glances round with his shifty eyes, and as
+they fell upon Cyril an expression of deadly hate came over his face.
+The men of the watch who had captured them first gave their evidence
+as to finding them in the act of robbery, and testified to the
+desperate resistance they had offered to capture. Captain Dave then
+entered the witness-box, and swore first to the goods that were found
+on them being his property, and then related how, it having come to
+his knowledge that he was being robbed, he had set a watch, and had,
+eight days previously, seen his two apprentices getting along the
+roof, and how they had come out from the warehouse door, had opened
+the outer gate, and had handed over some goods they had brought out
+to persons unknown waiting to receive them.
+
+"Why did you not stop them in their commission of the theft?" the
+Alderman in the Chair asked.
+
+"Because, sir, had I done so, the men I considered to be the chief
+criminals, and who had doubtless tempted my apprentices to rob me,
+would then have made off. Therefore, I thought it better to wait
+until I could lay hands on them also, and so got four men of the
+watch to remain in the house at night."
+
+Then he went on to relate how, after watching seven nights, he had
+again seen the apprentices make their way along the roof, and how
+they and the receivers of their booty were taken by the watch, aided
+by himself, his foreman, and Master Cyril Shenstone, who was dwelling
+in his house.
+
+After John Wilkes had given his evidence, Cyril went into the box and
+related how, being engaged by Captain David Dowsett to make up his
+books, he found, upon stock being taken, that there was a deficiency
+to the amount of many hundreds of pounds in certain stores, notably
+such as were valuable without being bulky.
+
+"Is anything known as to the prisoners?" the magistrate asked the
+officer of the city watch in charge of the case.
+
+"Nothing is known of the two boys, your honour; but the men are well
+known. The elder, who gave the name of Peter Johnson, is one Joseph
+Marner; he keeps a marine shop close to the Tower. For a long time he
+has been suspected of being a receiver of stolen goods, but we have
+never been able to lay finger on him before. The other man has, for
+the last year, acted as his assistant in the shop; he answers closely
+to the description of a man, Ephraim Fowler, who has long been
+wanted. This man was a seaman in a brig trading to Yarmouth. After an
+altercation with the captain he stabbed him, and then slew the mate
+who was coming to his assistance; then with threats he compelled the
+other two men on board to let him take the boat. When they were off
+Brightlingsea he rowed away, and has not been heard of since. If you
+will remand them, before he comes up again I hope to find the men who
+were on board, and see if they identify him. We are in possession of
+Joseph Marner's shop, and have found large quantities of goods that
+we have reason to believe are the proceeds of these and other
+robberies."
+
+After the prisoners had left the dock, Captain Dave went up to the
+officer.
+
+"I believe," he said, "that the boy has not voluntarily taken part in
+these robberies, but has been led away, or perhaps obliged by threats
+to take part in them; he may be able to give you some assistance, for
+maybe these men are not the only persons to whom the stolen goods
+have been sold, and he may be able to put you on the track of other
+receivers."
+
+"The matter is out of my hands now," the officer said, "but I will
+represent what you say in the proper quarter; and now you had better
+come round with me; you may be able to pick out some of your
+property. We only made a seizure of the place an hour ago. I had all
+the men who came in on duty this morning to take a look at the
+prisoners. Fortunately two or three of them recognised Marner, and
+you may guess we lost no time in getting a search warrant and going
+down to his place. It is the most important capture we have made for
+some time, and may lead to the discovery of other robberies that have
+been puzzling us for months past. There is a gang known as the Black
+Gang, but we have never been able to lay hands on any of their
+leaders, and such fellows as have been captured have refused to say a
+word, and have denied all knowledge of it. There have been a number
+of robberies of a mysterious kind, none of which have we been able to
+trace, and they have been put down to the same gang. The Chief
+Constable is waiting for me there, and we shall make a thorough
+search of the premises, and it is like enough we shall come across
+some clue of importance. At any rate, if we can find some of the
+articles stolen in the robberies I am speaking of, it will be a
+strong proof that Marner is one of the chiefs of the gang, and that
+may lead to further discoveries."
+
+"You had better come with us, John," Captain Dave said. "You know our
+goods better than I do myself. Will you come, Cyril?"
+
+"I should be of no use in identifying the goods, sir, and I am due in
+half an hour at one of my shops."
+
+The search was an exhaustive one. There was no appearance of an
+underground cellar, but on some of the boards of the shop being taken
+up, it was found that there was a large one extending over the whole
+house. This contained an immense variety of goods. In one corner was
+a pile of copper bolts that Captain Dave and John were able to claim
+at once, as they bore the brand of the maker from whom they obtained
+their stock. There were boxes of copper and brass ship and house
+fittings, and a very large quantity of rope, principally of the sizes
+in which the stock had been found deficient; but to these Captain
+Dave was unable to swear. In addition to these articles the cellar
+contained a number of chests, all of which were found to be filled
+with miscellaneous articles of wearing apparel--rolls of silk,
+velvet, cloth, and other materials--curtains, watches, clocks,
+ornaments of all kinds, and a considerable amount of plate. As among
+these were many articles which answered to the descriptions given of
+goods that had been stolen from country houses, the whole were
+impounded by the Chief Constable, and carried away in carts. The
+upper part of the house was carefully searched, the walls tapped,
+wainscotting pulled down, and the floors carefully examined. Several
+hiding-places were found, but nothing of any importance discovered in
+them.
+
+"I should advise you," the Chief Constable said to Captain Dave, "to
+put in a claim for every article corresponding with those you have
+lost. Of course, if anyone else comes forward and also puts in a
+claim, the matter will have to be gone into, and if neither of you
+can absolutely swear to the things, I suppose you will have to settle
+it somehow between you. If no one else claims them, you will get them
+all without question, for you can swear that, to the best of your
+knowledge and belief, they are yours, and bring samples of your own
+goods to show that they exactly correspond with them. I have no doubt
+that a good deal of the readily saleable stuff, such as ropes, brass
+sheaves for blocks, and things of that sort, will have been sold, but
+as it is clear that there is a good deal of your stuff in the stock
+found below, I hope your loss will not be very great. There is no
+doubt it has been a splendid find for us. It is likely enough that we
+shall discover among those boxes goods that have been obtained from a
+score of robberies in London, and likely enough in the country. We
+have arrested three men we found in the place, and two women, and may
+get from some of them information that will enable us to lay hands on
+some of the others concerned in these robberies."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+KIDNAPPED
+
+
+That afternoon Captain Dave went down to the Bridewell, and had an
+interview with Tom Frost, in the presence of the Master of the
+prison.
+
+"Well, Tom, I never expected to have to come to see you in a place
+like this."
+
+"I am glad I am here, master," the boy said earnestly, with tears in
+his eyes. "I don't mind if they hang me; I would rather anything than
+go on as I have been doing. I knew it must come, and whenever I heard
+anyone walk into the shop I made sure it was a constable. I am ready
+to tell everything, master; I know I deserve whatever I shall get,
+but that won't hurt me half as much as it has done, having to go on
+living in the house with you, and knowing I was helping to rob you
+all along."
+
+"Anything that you say must be taken down," the officer said; "and I
+can't promise that it will make any difference in your sentence."
+
+"I do not care anything about that; I am going to tell the truth."
+
+"Very well, then, I will take down anything you say. But wait a
+minute."
+
+He went to the door of the room and called.
+
+"Is the Chief Constable in?" he asked a man who came up. "If he is,
+ask him to step here."
+
+A minute later the Chief Constable came in.
+
+"This prisoner wishes to make a confession, Master Holmes. I thought
+it best that you should be here. You can hear what he says then, and
+it may help you in your inquiry. Besides, you may think of questions
+on points he may not mention; he understands that he is speaking
+entirely of his own free will, and that I have given him no promise
+whatever that his so doing will alter his sentence, although no doubt
+it will be taken into consideration."
+
+"Quite so," the constable said. "This is not a case where one
+prisoner would be ordinarily permitted to turn King's evidence
+against the others, because, as they were caught in the act, no such
+evidence is necessary. We know all about how the thing was done, and
+who did it."
+
+"I want to tell how I first came to rob my master," the boy said. "I
+never thought of robbing him. When I came up to London, my father
+said to me, 'Whatever you do, Tom, be honest. They say there are
+rogues up in London; don't you have anything to do with them.' One
+evening, about a year ago I went out with Robert, and we went to a
+shop near the wall at Aldgate. I had never been there before, but
+Robert knew the master, who was the old man that was taken in the
+lane. Robert said the man was a relation of his father's, and had
+been kind to him. We sat down and talked for a time, and then Robert,
+who was sitting close to me, moved for something, and put his hand
+against my pocket.
+
+"'Hullo!' he said; 'what have you got there?'
+
+"'Nothing,' I said.
+
+"'Oh, haven't you?' and he put his hand in my pocket, and brought out
+ten guineas. 'Hullo!' he said; 'where did you get these? You told me
+yesterday you had not got a groat. Why, you young villain, you must
+have been robbing the till!'
+
+"I was so frightened that I could not say anything, except that I did
+not know how they came there and I could swear that I had not touched
+the till. I was too frightened to think then, but I have since
+thought that the guineas were never in my pocket at all, but were in
+Robert's hand.
+
+"'That won't do, boy,' the man said. 'It is clear that you are a
+thief. I saw Robert take them from your pocket, and, as an honest
+man, it is my duty to take you to your master and tell him what sort
+of an apprentice he has. You are young, and you will get off with a
+whipping at the pillory, and that will teach you that honesty is the
+best policy.'
+
+"So he got his hat and put it on, and took me by the collar as if to
+haul me out into the street. I went down on my knees to beg for
+mercy, and at last he said that he would keep the matter quiet if I
+would swear to do everything that Robert told me; and I was so
+frightened that I swore to do so.
+
+"For a bit there wasn't any stealing, but Robert used to take me out
+over the roof, and we used to go out together and go to places where
+there were two or three men, and they gave us wine. Then Robert
+proposed that we should have a look through the warehouse. I did not
+know what he meant, but as we went through he filled his pockets with
+things and told me to take some too. I said I would not. Then he
+threatened to raise the alarm, and said that when Captain Dave came
+down he should say he heard me get up to come down by the rope on to
+the warehouse, and that he had followed me to see what I was doing,
+and had found me in the act of taking goods, and that, as he had
+before caught me with money stolen from the till, as a friend of his
+could testify, he felt that it was his duty to summon you at once. I
+know I ought to have refused, and to have let him call you down, but
+I was too frightened. At last I agreed to do what he told me, and
+ever since then we have been robbing you."
+
+"What have you done with the money you got for the things?" the
+constable asked.
+
+"I had a groat sometimes," the boy said, "but that is all. Robert
+said first that I should have a share, but I said I would have
+nothing to do with it. I did as he ordered me because I could not
+help it. Though I have taken a groat or two sometimes, that is all I
+have had."
+
+"Do you know anything about how much Robert had?"
+
+"No, sir; I never saw him paid any money. I supposed that he had some
+because he has said sometimes he should set up a shop for himself,
+down at some seaport town, when he was out of his apprenticeship; but
+I have never seen him with any money beyond a little silver. I don't
+know what he used to do when we had given the things to the men that
+met us in the lane. I used always to come straight back to bed, but
+generally he went out with them. I used to fasten the gate after him,
+and he got back over the wall by a rope. Most times he didn't come in
+till a little before daybreak."
+
+"Were they always the same men that met you in the lane?"
+
+"No, sir. The master of the shop was very seldom there. The big man
+has come for the last three or four months, and there were two other
+men. They used to be waiting for us together until the big man came,
+but since then one or other of them came with him, except when the
+master of the shop was there himself."
+
+"Describe them to me."
+
+The boy described them as well as he could.
+
+"Could you swear to them if you saw them?"
+
+"I think so. Of course, sometimes it was moonlight, and I could see
+their faces well; and besides, the light of the lantern often fell
+upon their faces."
+
+The constable nodded.
+
+"The descriptions answer exactly," he said to Captain Dave, "to the
+two men we found in the shop. The place was evidently the
+headquarters of a gang of thieves."
+
+"Please, sir," the boy said, "would you have me shut up in another
+place? I am afraid of being with the others. They have sworn they
+will kill me if I say a word, and when I get back they will ask me
+who I have seen and what I have said."
+
+Captain Dave took the other two men aside.
+
+"Could you not let the boy come home with me?" he said. "I believe
+his story is a true one. He has been terrified into helping that
+rascal, Robert Ashford. Of course he himself was of no good to them,
+but they were obliged to force him into it, as otherwise he would
+have found out Robert's absences and might have reported them to me.
+I will give what bail you like, and will undertake to produce him
+whenever he is required."
+
+"I could not do that myself," the constable said, "but I will go
+round to the Court now with the boy's confession, and I have no doubt
+the Alderman will let him go. But let me give you a word of advice:
+don't let him stir out of the house after dark. We have no doubt that
+there is a big gang concerned in this robbery, and the others of
+which we found the booty at the receiver's. They would not know how
+much this boy could tell about them, but if he went back to you they
+would guess that he had peached. If he went out after dark, the
+chances would be against his ever coming back again. No, now I think
+of it, I am sure you had better let him stay where he is. The Master
+will put him apart from the others, and make him comfortable. You
+see, at present we have no clue as to the men concerned in the
+robberies. You may be sure that they are watching every move on our
+part, and if they knew that this boy was out, they might take the
+alarm and make off."
+
+"Well, if you think so, I will leave him here."
+
+"I am sure that it would be the best plan."
+
+"You will make him comfortable, Master Holroyd?"
+
+"Yes; you need not worry about him, Captain Dowsett."
+
+They then turned to the boy.
+
+"You will be moved away from the others, Tom," Captain Dave said,
+"and Mr. Holroyd has promised to make you comfortable."
+
+"Oh, Captain Dave," the boy burst out, "will you forgive me? I don't
+mind being punished, but if you knew how awfully miserable I have
+been all this time, knowing that I was robbing you while you were so
+kind to me, I think you would forgive me."
+
+"I forgive you, Tom," Captain Dave said, putting his hand on the
+boy's shoulder. "I hope that this will be a lesson to you, all your
+life. You see all this has come upon you because you were a coward.
+If you had been a brave lad you would have said, 'Take me to my
+master.' You might have been sure that I would have heard your story
+as well as theirs, and I don't think I should have decided against
+you under the circumstances. It was only your word against Robert's;
+and his taking you to this man's, and finding the money in your
+pocket in so unlikely a way, would certainly have caused me to have
+suspicions. There is nothing so bad as cowardice; it is the father of
+all faults. A coward is certain to be a liar, for he will not
+hesitate to tell any falsehood to shelter him from the consequences
+of a fault. In your case, you see, cowardice has made you a thief;
+and in some cases it might drive a man to commit a murder. However,
+lad, I forgive you freely. You have been weak, and your weakness has
+made you a criminal; but it has been against your own will. When all
+this is over, I will see what can be done for you. You may live to be
+an honest man and a good citizen yet."
+
+Two days later Cyril was returning home late in the evening after
+being engaged longer than usual in making up a number of accounts for
+one of his customers. He had come through Leadenhall Street, and had
+entered the lane where the capture of the thieves had been made, when
+he heard a footstep behind him. He turned half round to see who was
+following him, when he received a tremendous blow on the head which
+struck him senseless to the ground.
+
+After a time he was dimly conscious that he was being carried along.
+He was unable to move; there was something in his mouth that
+prevented him from calling out, and his head was muffled in a cloak.
+He felt too weak and confused to struggle. A minute later he heard a
+voice, that sounded below him, say,--
+
+"Have you got him?"
+
+"I have got him all right," was the answer of the man who was
+carrying him.
+
+Then he felt that he was being carried down some stairs.
+
+Someone took him, and he was thrown roughly down; then there was a
+slight rattling noise, followed by a regular sound. He wondered
+vaguely what it was, but as his senses came back it flashed upon him;
+it was the sound of oars; he was in a boat. It was some time before
+he could think why he should be in a boat. He had doubtless been
+carried off by some of the friends of the prisoners', partly,
+perhaps, to prevent his giving evidence against them, partly from
+revenge for the part he had played in the discovery of the crime.
+
+In a few minutes the sound of oars ceased, and there was a bump as
+the boat struck against something hard. Then he was lifted up, and
+someone took hold of him from above. He was carried a few steps and
+roughly thrust in somewhere. There was a sound of something heavy
+being thrown down above him, and then for a long time he knew nothing
+more.
+
+When he became conscious again, he was able, as he lay there, to come
+to a distinct conclusion as to where he was. He had been kidnapped,
+carried off, taken out in a boat to some craft anchored in the river,
+and was now in the hold. He felt almost suffocated. The wrap round
+his head prevented his breathing freely, the gag in his mouth pressed
+on his tongue, and gave him severe pain, while his head ached acutely
+from the effects of the blow.
+
+The first thing to do was, if possible, to free his hands, so as to
+relieve himself from the gag and muffling. An effort or two soon
+showed him that he was but loosely bound. Doubtless the man who had
+attacked him had not wasted much time in securing his arms, believing
+that the blow would be sufficient to keep him quiet until he was safe
+on board ship. It was, therefore, without much difficulty that he
+managed to free one of his hands, and it was then an easy task to get
+rid of the rope altogether. The cloak was pulled from his face, and,
+feeling for his knife, he cut the lashings of the gag and removed it
+from his mouth. He lay quiet for a few minutes, panting from his
+exhaustion. Putting up his hand he felt a beam about a foot above his
+body. He was, then, in a hold already stored with cargo. The next
+thing was to shift his position among the barrels and bales upon
+which he was lying, until he found a comparatively level spot. He was
+in too great pain to think of sleep; his head throbbed fiercely, and
+he suffered from intense thirst.
+
+From time to time heavy footsteps passed overhead. Presently he heard
+a sudden rattling of blocks, and the flapping of a sail. Then he
+noticed that there was a slight change in the level of his position,
+and knew that the craft was under way on her voyage down the river.
+
+It seemed an immense time to him before he saw a faint gleam of
+light, and edging himself along, found himself again under the
+hatchway, through a crack in which the light was shining. It was some
+hours before the hatch was lifted off, and he saw two men looking
+down.
+
+"Water!" he said. "I am dying of thirst."
+
+"Bring a pannikin of water," one of the men said, "but first give us
+a hand, and we will have him on deck."
+
+Stooping down, they took Cyril by the shoulders and hoisted him out.
+
+"He is a decent-looking young chap," the speaker went on. "I would
+have seen to him before, if I had known him to be so bad. Those
+fellows didn't tell us they had hurt him. Here is the water, young
+fellow. Can you sit up to drink it?"
+
+Cyril sat up and drank off the contents of the pannikin.
+
+"Why, the back of your head is all covered with blood!" the man who
+had before spoken said. "You must have had an ugly knock?"
+
+"I don't care so much for that," Cyril replied. "It's the gag that
+hurt me. My tongue is so much swollen I can hardly speak."
+
+"Well, you can stay here on deck if you will give me your promise not
+to hail any craft we may pass. If you won't do that I must put you
+down under hatches again."
+
+"I will promise that willingly," Cyril said; "the more so that I can
+scarce speak above a whisper."
+
+"Mind, if you as much as wave a hand, or do anything to bring an eye
+on us, down you go into the hold again, and when you come up next
+time it will be to go overboard. Now just put your head over the
+rail, and I will pour a few buckets of water over it. I agreed to get
+you out of the way, but I have got no grudge against you, and don't
+want to do you harm."
+
+Getting a bucket with a rope tied to the handle, he dipped it into
+the river, and poured half-a-dozen pailfuls over Cyril's head. The
+lad felt greatly refreshed, and, sitting down on the deck, was able
+to look round. The craft was a coaster of about twenty tons burden.
+There were three men on deck besides the man who had spoken to him,
+and who was evidently the skipper. Besides these a boy occasionally
+put up his head from a hatchway forward. There was a pile of barrels
+and empty baskets amidship, and the men presently began to wash down
+the decks and to tidy up the ropes and gear lying about. The shore on
+both sides was flat, and Cyril was surprised at the width of the
+river. Behind them was a small town, standing on higher ground.
+
+"What place is that?" he asked a sailor who passed near him.
+
+"That is Gravesend."
+
+A few minutes afterwards the boy again put his head out of the
+hatchway and shouted,--
+
+"Breakfast!"
+
+"Can you eat anything, youngster?" the skipper asked Cyril.
+
+"No, thank you, my head aches too much; and my mouth is so sore I am
+sure I could not get anything down."
+
+"Well, you had best lie down, then, with your head on that coil of
+rope; I allow you did not sleep much last night."
+
+In a few minutes Cyril was sound asleep, and when he awoke the sun
+was setting.
+
+"You have had a good bout of it, lad," the skipper said, as he raised
+himself on his elbow and looked round. "How are you feeling now?"
+
+"A great deal better," Cyril said, as he rose to his feet.
+
+"Supper will be ready in a few minutes, and if you can manage to get
+a bit down it will do you good."
+
+"I will try, anyhow," Cyril said. "I think that I feel hungry."
+
+The land was now but a faint line on either hand. A gentle breeze was
+blowing from the south-west, and the craft was running along over the
+smooth water at the rate of three or four miles an hour. Cyril
+wondered where he was being taken to, and what was going to be done
+with him, but determined to ask no questions. The skipper was
+evidently a kind-hearted man, although he might be engaged in lawless
+business, but it was as well to wait until he chose to open the
+subject.
+
+As soon as the boy hailed, the captain led the way to the hatchway.
+They descended a short ladder into the fo'castle, which was low, but
+roomy. Supper consisted of boiled skate--a fish Cyril had never
+tasted before--oaten bread, and beer. His mouth was still sore, but
+he managed to make a hearty meal of fish, though he could not manage
+the hard bread. One of the men was engaged at the helm, but the other
+two shared the meal, all being seated on lockers that ran round the
+cabin. The fish were placed on an earthenware dish, each man cutting
+off slices with his jack-knife, and using his bread as a platter.
+Little was said while the meal went on; but when they went on deck
+again, the skipper, having put another man at the tiller, while the
+man released went forward to get his supper, said,--
+
+"Well, I think you are in luck, lad."
+
+Cyril opened his eyes in surprise.
+
+"You don't think so?" the man went on. "I don't mean that you are in
+luck in being knocked about and carried off, but that you are not
+floating down the river at present instead of walking the deck here.
+I can only suppose that they thought your body might be picked up,
+and that it would go all the harder with the prisoners, if it were
+proved that you had been put out of the way. You don't look like an
+informer either!"
+
+"I am not an informer," Cyril said indignantly. "I found that my
+employer was being robbed, and I aided him to catch the thieves. I
+don't call that informing. That is when a man betrays others engaged
+in the same work as himself."
+
+"Well, well, it makes no difference to me," the skipper said. "I was
+engaged by a man, with whom I do business sometimes, to take a fellow
+who had been troublesome out of the way, and to see that he did not
+come back again for some time. I bargained that there was to be no
+foul play; I don't hold with things of that sort. As to carrying down
+a bale of goods sometimes, or taking a few kegs of spirits from a
+French lugger, I see no harm in it; but when it comes to cutting
+throats, I wash my hands of it. I am sorry now I brought you off,
+though maybe if I had refused they would have put a knife into you,
+and chucked you into the river. However, now that I have got you I
+must go through with it. I ain't a man to go back from my word, and
+what I says I always sticks to. Still, I am sorry I had anything to
+do with the business. You look to me a decent young gentleman, though
+your looks and your clothes have not been improved by what you have
+gone through. Well, at any rate, I promise you that no harm shall
+come to you as long as you are in my hands."
+
+"And how long is that likely to be, captain?"
+
+"Ah! that is more than I can tell you. I don't want to do you harm,
+lad, and more than that, I will prevent other people from doing you
+harm as long as you are on board this craft. But more than that I
+can't say. It is likely enough I shall have trouble in keeping that
+promise, and I can't go a step farther. There is many a man who would
+have chucked you overboard, and so have got rid of the trouble
+altogether, and of the risk of its being afterwards proved that he
+had a hand in getting you out of the way."
+
+"I feel that, captain," Cyril said, "and I thank you heartily for
+your kind treatment of me. I promise you that if at any time I am set
+ashore and find my way back to London, I will say no word which can
+get you into trouble."
+
+"There is Tom coming upon deck. You had better turn in. You have had
+a good sleep, but I have no doubt you can do with some more, and a
+night's rest will set you up. You take the left-hand locker. The boy
+sleeps on the right hand, and we have bunks overhead."
+
+Cyril was soon soundly asleep, and did not wake when the others
+turned in. He was alone in the cabin when he opened his eyes, but the
+sun was shining brightly through the open hatchway. He sprang up and
+went on deck. The craft was at anchor. No land could be seen to the
+south, but to the north a low shore stretched away three or four
+miles distant. There was scarcely a breath of wind.
+
+"Well, you have had a good sleep, lad," the captain said. "You had
+best dip that bucket overboard and have a wash; you will feel better
+after it. Now, boy, slip down and get your fire going; we shall be
+ready for breakfast as soon as it is ready for us."
+
+Cyril soused his head with the cold water, and felt, as the captain
+had said, all the better for it, for the air in the little cabin was
+close and stuffy, and he had felt hot and feverish before his wash.
+
+"The wind died out, you see," the captain said, "and we had to anchor
+when tide turned at two o'clock. There is a dark line behind us, and
+as soon as the wind reaches us, we will up anchor. The force of the
+tide is spent."
+
+The wind, however, continued very light, and the vessel did little
+more than drift with the tide, and when it turned at two o'clock they
+had to drop anchor again close under some high land, on the top of
+which stood a lofty tower.
+
+"That is a land-mark," the captain said. "There are some bad sands
+outside us, and that stands as a mark for vessels coming through."
+
+Cyril had enjoyed the quiet passage much. The wound at the back of
+his head still smarted, and he had felt disinclined for any exertion.
+More than once, in spite of the good allowance of sleep he had had,
+he dozed off as he sat on the deck with his back against the bulwark,
+watching the shore as they drifted slowly past it, and wondering
+vaguely, how it would all end. They had been anchored but half an
+hour when the captain ordered the men to the windlass.
+
+"There is a breeze coming, lads," he said; "and even if it only lasts
+for an hour, it will take us round the head and far enough into the
+bay to get into the tide running up the rivers."
+
+The breeze, however, when it came, held steadily, and in two hours
+they were off Harwich; but on coming opposite the town they turned
+off up the Orwell, and anchored, after dark, at a small village some
+six miles up the river.
+
+"If you will give me your word, lad, that you will not try to escape,
+and will not communicate with anyone who may come off from the shore,
+I will continue to treat you as a passenger; but if not, I must
+fasten you up in the cabin, and keep a watch over you."
+
+"I will promise, captain. I should not know where to go if I landed.
+I heard you say, 'There is Harwich steeple,' when we first came in
+sight of it, but where that is I have no idea, nor how far we are
+from London. As I have not a penny in my pocket, I should find it
+well-nigh impossible to make my way to town, which may, for aught I
+know, be a hundred miles away; for, in truth, I know but little of
+the geography of England, having been brought up in France, and not
+having been out of sight of London since I came over."
+
+Just as he was speaking, the splash of an oar was heard close by.
+
+"Up, men," the captain said in a low tone to those in the fo'castle.
+"Bring up the cutlasses. Who is that?" he called, hailing the boat.
+
+"Merry men all," was the reply.
+
+"All right. Come alongside. You saw our signal, then?"
+
+"Ay, ay, we saw it; but there is an officer with a boat-load of
+sailors ashore from the King's ship at Harwich. He is spending the
+evening with the revenue captain here, and we had to wait until the
+two men left in charge of the boat went up to join their comrades at
+the tavern. What have you got for us?"
+
+"Six boxes and a lot of dunnage, such as cables, chains, and some
+small anchors."
+
+"Well, you had better wait for an hour before you take the hatches
+off. You will hear the gig with the sailors row past soon. The tide
+has begun to run down strong, and I expect the officer won't be long
+before he moves. As soon as he has gone we will come out again. We
+shall take the goods up half a mile farther. The revenue man on that
+beat has been paid to keep his eyes shut, and we shall get them all
+stored in a hut, a mile away in the woods, before daybreak. You know
+the landing-place; there will be water enough for us to row in there
+for another two hours."
+
+The boat rowed away to the shore, which was not more than a hundred
+yards distant. A little later they heard a stir on the strand, then
+came the sound of oars, and two minutes later a boat shot past close
+to them, and then, bearing away, rowed down the river.
+
+"Now, lads," the captain said, "get the hatches off. The wind is
+coming more offshore, which is all the better for us, but do not make
+more noise than you can help."
+
+The hatches were taken off, and the men proceeded to get up a number
+of barrels and bales, some sail-cloth being thrown on the deck to
+deaden the sound. Lanterns, passed down into the hold, gave them
+light for their operations.
+
+"This is the lot," one of the sailors said presently.
+
+Six large boxes were then passed up and put apart from the others.
+Then followed eight or ten coils of rope, a quantity of chain, some
+kedge anchors, a number of blocks, five rolls of canvas, and some
+heavy bags that, by the sound they made when they were laid down,
+Cyril judged to contain metal articles of some sort. Then the other
+goods were lowered into the hold and the hatches replaced. The work
+had scarcely concluded when the boat again came alongside, this time
+with four men on board. Scarcely a word was spoken as the goods were
+transferred to the boat.
+
+"You will be going to-morrow?" one of the men in the boat asked.
+
+"Yes, I shall get up to Ipswich on the top of the tide--that is, if I
+don't stick fast in this crooked channel. My cargo is all either for
+Ipswich or Aldborough. Now let us turn in," as the boatmen made their
+way up the river. "We must be under way before daylight, or else we
+shall not save the tide down to-morrow evening. I am glad we have got
+that lot safely off. I always feel uncomfortable until we get rid of
+that part of the cargo. If it wasn't that it paid better than all the
+rest together I would not have anything to do with it."
+
+Cyril was very glad to lie down on the locker, while the men turned
+into their berths overhead. He had not yet fully recovered from the
+effects of the blow he had received, but in spite of the aching of
+his head he was soon sound asleep. It seemed to him that he had
+scarcely closed his eyes when he was roused by the captain's voice,--
+
+"Tumble up, lads. The light is beginning to show."
+
+Ten minutes later they were under way. The breeze had almost died
+out, and after sailing for some two miles in nearly a straight
+course, the boat was thrown over, two men got into it, and, fastening
+a rope to the ketch's bow, proceeded to tow her along, the captain
+taking the helm.
+
+To Cyril's surprise, they turned off almost at right angles to the
+course they had before been following, and made straight for the
+opposite shore. They approached it so closely that Cyril expected
+that in another moment the craft would take ground, when, at a shout
+from the captain, the men in the boat started off parallel with the
+shore, taking the craft's head round. For the next three-quarters of
+an hour they pursued a serpentine course, the boy standing in the
+chains and heaving the lead continually. At last the captain
+shouted,--"You can come on board now, lads. We are in the straight
+channel at last." Twenty minutes later they again dropped their
+anchor opposite a town of considerable size.
+
+"That is Ipswich, lad," the captain said. "It is as nasty a place to
+get into as there is in England, unless you have got the wind due
+aft."
+
+The work of unloading began at once, and was carried on until after
+dark.
+
+"That is the last of them," the captain said, to Cyril's
+satisfaction. "We can be off now when the tide turns, and if we
+hadn't got clear to-night we might have lost hours, for there is no
+getting these people on shore to understand that the loss of a tide
+means the loss of a day, and that it is no harder to get up and do
+your work at one hour than it is at another. I shall have a clean up,
+now, and go ashore. I have got your promise, lad, that you won't try
+to escape?"
+
+Cyril assented. Standing on the deck there, with the river bank but
+twenty yards away, it seemed hard that he should not be able to
+escape. But, as he told himself, he would not have been standing
+there if it had not been for that promise, but would have been lying,
+tightly bound, down in the hold.
+
+Cyril and the men were asleep when the captain came aboard, the boy
+alone remaining up to fetch him off in the boat when he hailed.
+
+"There is no wind, captain," Cyril said, as the anchor was got up.
+
+"No, lad, I am glad there is not. We can drop down with the tide and
+the boat towing us, but if there was a head wind we might have to
+stop here till it either dropped or shifted. I have been here three
+weeks at a spell. I got some news ashore," he went on, as he took his
+place at the helm, while the three men rowed the boat ahead. "A man I
+sometimes bring things to told me that he heard there had been an
+attempt to rescue the men concerned in that robbery. I heard, before
+I left London, it was likely that it would be attempted."
+
+There were a lot of people concerned in that affair, one way and
+another, and I knew they would move heaven and earth to get them out,
+for if any of them peached there would be such a haul as the
+constables never made in the city before. Word was passed to the
+prisoners to be ready, and as they were being taken from the
+Guildhall to Newgate there was a sudden rush made. The constables
+were not caught napping, and there was a tough fight, till the
+citizens ran out of their shops and took part with them, and the men,
+who were sailors, watermen, 'longshore-men, and rascals of all sorts,
+bolted.
+
+"But two of the prisoners were missing. One was, I heard, an
+apprentice who was mixed up in the affair, and no one saw him go.
+They say he must have stooped down and wriggled away into the crowd.
+The other was a man they called Black Dick; he struck down two
+constables, broke through the crowd, and got clean away. There is a
+great hue and cry, but so far nothing has been heard of them. They
+will be kept in hiding somewhere till there is a chance of getting
+them through the gates or on board a craft lying in the river. Our
+men made a mess of it, or they would have got them all off. I hear
+that they are all in a fine taking that Marner is safely lodged in
+Newgate with the others taken in his house; he knows so much that if
+he chose to peach he could hang a score of men. Black Dick could tell
+a good deal, but he wasn't in all the secrets, and they say Marner is
+really the head of the band and had a finger in pretty nigh every
+robbery through the country. All those taken in his place are also in
+Newgate, and they say the constables are searching the city like
+ferrets in a rabbit-warren, and that several other arrests have been
+made."
+
+"I am not sorry the apprentice got away," Cyril said. "He is a bad
+fellow, there is no doubt, and, by the look he gave me, he would do
+me harm if he got a chance, but I suppose that is only natural. As to
+the other man, he looked to me to be a desperate villain, and he also
+gave me so evil a look that, though he was in the dock with a
+constable on either side of him, I felt horribly uncomfortable,
+especially when I heard what sort of man he was."
+
+"What did they say of him?"
+
+"They said they believed he was a man named Ephraim Fowler, who had
+murdered the skipper and mate of a coaster and then went off in the
+boat."
+
+"Is that the man? Then truly do I regret that he has escaped. I knew
+both John Moore, the master, and George Monson, the mate, and many a
+flagon of beer we have emptied together. If I had known the fellow's
+whereabouts, I would have put the constables on his track. I am
+heartily sorry now, boy, that I had a hand in carrying you off,
+though maybe it is best for you that it has been so. If I hadn't
+taken you someone else would, and more than likely you would not have
+fared so well as you have done, for some of them would have saved
+themselves all further trouble and risk, by chucking you overboard as
+soon as they were well out of the Pool."
+
+"Can't you put me ashore now, captain?"
+
+"No, boy; I have given my word and taken my money, and I am not one
+to fail to carry out a bargain because I find that I have made a bad
+one. They have trusted me with thousands of pounds' worth of goods,
+and I have no reason to complain of their pay, and am not going to
+turn my back on them now they have got into trouble; besides, though
+I would trust you not to round upon me, I would not trust them. If
+you were to turn up in London they would know that I had sold them,
+and Marner would soon hear of it. There is a way of getting messages
+to a man even in prison. Then you may be sure that, if he said
+nothing else, he would take good care to let out that I was the man
+who used to carry their booty away, sometimes to quiet places on the
+coast, and sometimes across to Holland, and the first time I dropped
+anchor in the Pool I should find myself seized and thrown into limbo.
+No, lad; I must carry out my agreement--which is that I am not to
+land you in England, but that I am to take you across to Holland or
+elsewhere--the elsewhere meaning that if you fall overboard by the
+way there will be no complaints as to the breach of the agreement.
+That is, in fact, what they really meant, though they did not
+actually put it into words. They said, 'We have a boy who is an
+informer, and has been the means of Marner being seized and his place
+broken up, and there is no saying that a score of us may not get a
+rope round our necks. In consequence, we want him carried away. What
+you do with him is nothing to us so long as he don't set foot in
+England again.' 'Will Holland suit you? I am going across there,' I
+said, 'after touching at Ipswich and Aldborough.' 'It would be much
+safer for you and everyone else if it happen that he falls over
+before he gets there. However, we will call it Holland.'"
+
+"Then if I were to fall overboard," Cyril said, with a smile, "you
+would not be breaking your agreement, captain? I might fall overboard
+to-night, you know."
+
+"I would not advise it, lad. You had much better stay where you are.
+I don't say I mightn't anchor off Harwich, and that if you fell
+overboard you couldn't manage to swim ashore, but I tell you I would
+not give twopence for your life when you got back to London. It is to
+the interest of a score of men to keep Marner's mouth shut. They have
+shown their willingness to help him as far as they could, by getting
+you out of the way, and if you got back they would have your life the
+first time you ventured out of doors after dark; they would be afraid
+Marner would suppose they had sold him if you were to turn up at his
+trial, and as like as not he would round on the whole lot. Besides, I
+don't think it would be over safe for me the first time I showed
+myself in London afterwards, for, though I never said that I would do
+it, I have no doubt they reckoned that I should chuck you overboard,
+and if you were to make your appearance in London they would
+certainly put it down that I had sold them. You keep yourself quiet,
+and I will land you in Holland, but not as they would expect, without
+a penny or a friend; I will put you into good hands, and arrange that
+you shall be sent back again as soon as the trial is over."
+
+"Thank you very much, captain. I have no relations in London, and no
+friends, except my employer, Captain David Dowsett, and by this time
+he will have made up his mind that I am dead, and it won't make much
+difference whether I return in four or five days or as many weeks."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A NARROW ESCAPE
+
+
+The _Eliza_, for this Cyril, after leaving Ipswich, learnt was her
+name, unloaded the rest of her cargo at Aldborough, and then sailed
+across to Rotterdam. The skipper fulfilled his promise by taking
+Cyril to the house of one of the men with whom he did business, and
+arranging with him to board the boy until word came that he could
+safely return to England. The man was a diamond-cutter, and to him
+packets of jewellery and gems that could not be disposed of in
+England had often been brought over by the captain. The latter had
+nothing to do with the pecuniary arrangements, which were made direct
+by Marner, and he had only to hand over the packets and take back
+sums of money to England.
+
+"You understand," the captain said to Cyril, "that I have not said a
+word touching the matter for which you are here. I have only told him
+that it had been thought it was as well you should be out of England
+for a time. Of course, he understood that you were wanted for an
+affair in which you had taken part; but it matters not what he
+thinks. I have paid him for a month's board for you, and here are
+three pounds, which will be enough to pay for your passage back if I
+myself should not return. If you do not hear from me, or see the
+_Eliza_, within four weeks, there is no reason why you should not
+take passage back. The trial will be over by that time, and as the
+members of the gang have done their part in preventing you from
+appearing, I see not why they should have further grudge against
+you."
+
+"I cannot thank you too much for your kindness, captain. I trust that
+when I get back you will call at Captain Dowsett's store in Tower
+Street, so that I may see you and again thank you; I know that the
+Captain himself will welcome you heartily when I tell him how kindly
+you have treated me. He will be almost as glad as I shall myself to
+see you. I suppose you could not take him a message or letter from me
+now?"
+
+"I think not, lad. It would never do for him to be able to say at the
+trial that he had learnt you had been kidnapped. They might write
+over here to the Dutch authorities about you. There is one thing
+further. From what I heard when I landed yesterday, it seems that
+there is likely to be war between Holland and England."
+
+"I heard a talk of it in London," Cyril said, "but I do not rightly
+understand the cause, nor did I inquire much about the matter."
+
+"It is something about the colonies, and our taxing their goods, but
+I don't rightly understand the quarrel, except that the Dutch think,
+now that Blake is gone and our ships for the most part laid up, they
+may be able to take their revenge for the lickings we have given
+them. Should there be war, as you say you speak French as well as
+English, I should think you had best make your way to Dunkirk as a
+young Frenchman, and from there you would find no difficulty in
+crossing to England."
+
+"I know Dunkirk well, captain, having indeed lived there all my life.
+I should have no difficulty in travelling through Holland as a French
+boy."
+
+"If there is a war," the captain said, "I shall, of course, come here
+no more; but it may be that you will see me at Dunkirk. French brandy
+sells as well as Dutch Schiedam, and if I cannot get the one I may
+perhaps get the other; and there is less danger in coming to Dunkirk
+and making across to Harwich than there is in landing from Calais or
+Nantes on the south coast, where the revenue men are much more on the
+alert than they are at Harwich."
+
+"Are you not afraid of getting your boat captured? You said it was
+your own."
+
+"Not much, lad. I bring over a regular cargo, and the kegs are stowed
+away under the floor of the cabin, and I run them at Pin-mill--that
+is the place we anchored the night before we got to Ipswich. I have
+been overhauled a good many times, but the cargo always looks right,
+and after searching it for a bit, they conclude it is all regular.
+You see, I don't bring over a great quantity--fifteen or twenty kegs
+is as much as I can stow away--and it is a long way safer being
+content with a small profit than trying to make a big one."
+
+Cyril parted with regret from the captain, whose departure had been
+hastened by a report that war might be declared at any moment, in
+which case the _Eliza_ might have been detained for a considerable
+time. He had, therefore, been working almost night and day to get in
+his cargo, and Cyril had remained on board until the last moment. He
+had seen the diamond dealer but once, and hoped that he should not
+meet him often, for he felt certain that awkward questions would be
+asked him. This man was in the habit of having dealings with Marner,
+and had doubtless understood from the captain that he was in some way
+connected with his gang; and were he to find out the truth he would
+view him with the reverse of a friendly eye. He had told him that he
+was to take his meals with his clerk, and Cyril hoped, therefore,
+that he should seldom see him.
+
+He wandered about the wharf until it became dark. Then he went in and
+took supper with the clerk. As the latter spoke Dutch only, there was
+no possibility of conversation. Cyril was thinking of going up to his
+bed when there was a ring at the bell. The clerk went to answer it,
+leaving the door open as he went out, and Cyril heard a voice ask, in
+English, if Herr Schweindorf was in. The clerk said something in
+Dutch.
+
+"The fool does not understand English, Robert," the man said.
+
+"Tell him," he said, in a louder voice, to the clerk, "that two
+persons from England--England, you understand--who have only just
+arrived, want to see him on particular business. There, don't be
+blocking up the door; just go and tell your master what I told you."
+
+He pushed his way into the passage, and the clerk, seeing that there
+was nothing else to do, went upstairs.
+
+A minute later he came down again, and made a sign for them to follow
+him. As they went up Cyril stole out and looked after them. The fact
+that they had come from England, and that one of them was named
+Robert, and that they had business with this man, who was in
+connection with Marner, had excited his suspicions, but he felt a
+shiver of fear run through him as he recognised the figures of Robert
+Ashford and the man who was called Black Dick. He remembered the
+expression of hatred with which they had regarded him in the Court,
+and felt that his danger would be great indeed did they hear that he
+was in Rotterdam. A moment's thought convinced him that they would
+almost certainly learn this at once from his host. The letter would
+naturally mention that the captain had left a lad in his charge who
+was, as he believed, connected with them. They would denounce him as
+an enemy instead of a friend. The diamond merchant would expel him
+from his house, terrified at the thought that he possessed
+information as to his dealings with this band in England; and once
+beyond the door he would, in this strange town, be at the mercy of
+his enemies. Cyril's first impulse was to run back into the room,
+seize his cap, and fly. He waited, however, until the clerk came down
+again; then he put his cap carelessly on his head.
+
+"I am going for a walk," he said, waving his hand vaguely.
+
+The man nodded, went with him to the door, and Cyril heard him put up
+the bar after he had gone out. He walked quietly away, for there was
+no fear of immediate pursuit.
+
+Black Dick had probably brought over some more jewels to dispose of,
+and that business would be transacted, before there would be any talk
+of other matters. It might be a quarter of an hour before they heard
+that he was an inmate of the house; then, when they went downstairs
+with the dealer, they would hear that he had gone out for a walk and
+would await his return, so that he had two or three hours at least
+before there would be any search.
+
+It was early yet. Some of the boats might be discharging by
+torchlight. At any rate, he might hear of a ship starting in the
+morning. He went down to the wharf. There was plenty of bustle here;
+boats were landing fish, and larger craft were discharging or taking
+in cargo; but his inability to speak Dutch prevented his asking
+questions. He crossed to the other side of the road. The houses here
+were principally stores or drinking taverns. In the window of one was
+stuck up, "English and French Spoken Here." He went inside, walked up
+to the bar, and called for a glass of beer in English.
+
+"You speak English, landlord?" he asked, as the mug was placed before
+him.
+
+The latter nodded.
+
+"I want to take passage either to England or to France," he said. "I
+came out here but a few days ago, and I hear that there is going to
+be trouble between the two countries. It will therefore be of no use
+my going on to Amsterdam. I wish to get back again, for I am told
+that if I delay I may be too late. I cannot speak Dutch, and
+therefore cannot inquire if any boat will be sailing in the morning
+for England or Dunkirk. I have acquaintances in Dunkirk, and speak
+French, so it makes no difference to me whether I go there or to
+England."
+
+"My boy speaks French," the landlord said, "and if you like he can go
+along the port with you. Of course, you will give him something for
+his trouble?"
+
+"Willingly," Cyril said, "and be much obliged to you into the
+bargain."
+
+The landlord left the bar and returned in a minute with a boy twelve
+years old.
+
+"He does not speak French very well," he said, "but I dare say it
+will be enough for your purpose. I have told him that you want to
+take ship to England, or that, if you cannot find one, to Dunkirk. If
+that will not do, Ostend might suit you. They speak French there, and
+there are boats always going between there and England."
+
+"That would do; though I should prefer the other."
+
+"There would be no difficulty at any other time in getting a boat for
+England, but I don't know whether you will do so now. They have been
+clearing off for some days, and I doubt if you will find an English
+ship in port now, though of course there may be those who have been
+delayed for their cargo."
+
+Cyril went out with the boy, and after making many inquiries learnt
+that there was but one English vessel still in port. However, Cyril
+told his guide that he would prefer one for Dunkirk if they could
+find one, for if war were declared before the boat sailed, she might
+be detained. After some search they found a coasting scow that would
+sail in the morning.
+
+"They will touch at two or three places," the boy said to Cyril,
+after a talk with the captain; "but if you are not in a hurry, he
+will take you and land you at Dunkirk for a pound--that is, if he
+finds food; if you find food he will take you for eight shillings. He
+will start at daybreak."
+
+"Tell him that I agree to his price. I don't want the trouble of
+getting food. As he will be going so early, I will come on board at
+once. I will get my bundle, and will be back in half an hour."
+
+He went with the boy to one of the sailors' shops near, bought a
+rough coat and a thick blanket, had them wrapped up into a parcel,
+and then, after paying the boy, went on board.
+
+As he expected, he found there were no beds or accommodation for
+passengers, so he stretched himself on a locker in the cabin, covered
+himself with his blanket, and put the coat under his head for a
+pillow. His real reason for choosing this craft in preference to the
+English ship was that he thought it probable that, when he did not
+return to the house, it would at once be suspected that he had
+recognised the visitors, and was not going to return at all. In that
+case, they might suspect that he would try to take passage to
+England, and would, the first thing in the morning, make a search for
+him on board any English vessels that might be in the port.
+
+It would be easy then for them to get him ashore, for the diamond
+merchant might accuse him of theft, and so get him handed over to
+him. Rather than run that risk, he would have started on foot had he
+not been able to find a native craft sailing early in the morning.
+Failing Dunkirk and Ostend, he would have taken a passage to any
+other Dutch port, and run his chance of getting a ship from there.
+The great point was to get away from Rotterdam.
+
+The four men forming the crew of the scow returned late, and by their
+loud talk Cyril, who kept his eyes closed, judged that they were in
+liquor. In a short time they climbed up into their berths, and all
+was quiet. At daybreak they were called up by the captain. Cyril lay
+quiet until, by the rippling of the water against the side, he knew
+that the craft was under way. He waited a few minutes, and then went
+up on deck. The scow, clumsy as she looked, was running along fast
+before a brisk wind, and in an hour Rotterdam lay far behind them.
+
+The voyage was a pleasant one. They touched at Dordrecht, at
+Steenbergen on the mainland, and Flushing, staying a few hours in
+each place to take in or discharge cargo. After this, they made out
+from the Islands, and ran along the coast, putting into Ostend and
+Nieuport, and, four days after starting, entered the port of Dunkirk.
+
+Cyril did not go ashore at any of the places at which they stopped.
+It was possible that war might have been declared with England, and
+as it might be noticed that he was a foreigner he would in that case
+be questioned and arrested. As soon, therefore, as they neared a
+quay, he went down to the cabin and slept until they got under way
+again. The food was rough, but wholesome; it consisted entirely of
+fish and black bread; but the sea air gave him a good appetite, and
+he was in high spirits at the thought that he had escaped from danger
+and was on his way back again. At Dunkirk he was under the French
+flag, and half an hour after landing had engaged a passage to London
+on a brig that was to sail on the following day. The voyage was a
+stormy one, and he rejoiced in the possession of his great-coat,
+which he had only bought in order that he might have a packet to
+bring on board the scow, and so avoid exciting any suspicion or
+question as to his being entirely unprovided with luggage.
+
+It was three days before the brig dropped anchor in the Pool. As soon
+as she did so, Cyril hailed a waterman, and spent almost his last
+remaining coin in being taken to shore. He was glad that it was late
+in the afternoon and so dark that his attire would not be noticed.
+His clothes had suffered considerably from his capture and
+confinement on board the _Eliza_, and his great-coat was of a rough
+appearance that was very much out of character in the streets of
+London. He had, however, but a short distance to traverse before he
+reached the door of the house. He rang at the bell, and the door was
+opened by John Wilkes.
+
+"What is it?" the latter asked. "The shop is shut for the night, and
+I ain't going to open for anyone. At half-past seven in the morning
+you can get what you want, but not before."
+
+"Don't you know me, John?" Cyril laughed. The old sailor stepped back
+as if struck with a blow.
+
+"Eh, what?" he exclaimed. "Is it you, Cyril? Why, we had all thought
+you dead! I did not know you in this dim light and in that big coat
+you have got on. Come upstairs, master. Captain Dave and the ladies
+will be glad indeed to see you. They have been mourning for you
+sadly, I can tell you."
+
+Cyril took off his wrap and hung it on a peg, and then followed John
+upstairs.
+
+"There, Captain Dave," the sailor said, as he opened the door of the
+sitting-room. "There is a sight for sore eyes!--a sight you never
+thought you would look on again."
+
+For a moment Captain Dave, his wife, and daughter stared at Cyril as
+if scarce believing their eyes. Then the Captain sprang to his feet.
+
+"It's the lad, sure enough. Why, Cyril," he went on, seizing him by
+the hand, and shaking it violently, "we had never thought to see you
+alive again; we made sure that those pirates had knocked you on the
+head, and that you were food for fishes by this time. There has been
+no comforting my good wife; and as to Nellie, if it had been a
+brother she had lost, she could not have taken it more hardly."
+
+"They did knock me on the head, and very hard too, Captain Dave. If
+my skull hadn't been quite so thick, I should, as you say, have been
+food for fishes before now, for that is what they meant me for, and
+there is no thanks to them that I am here at present. I am sorry that
+you have all been made so uncomfortable about me."
+
+"We should have been an ungrateful lot indeed if we had not,
+considering that in the first place you saved us from being ruined by
+those pirates, and that it was, as we thought, owing to the services
+you had done us that you had come to your end."
+
+ "But where have you been, Master Cyril?" Nellie broke in. "What has
+happened to you? We have been picturing all sorts of horrors, mother
+and I. That evil had befallen you we were sure, for we knew that you
+would not go away of a sudden, in this fashion, without so much as
+saying goodbye. We feared all the more when, two days afterwards, the
+wretches were so bold as to attack the constables, and to rescue
+Robert Ashford and another from their hands. Men who would do this in
+broad daylight would surely hesitate at nothing."
+
+"Let him eat his supper without asking further questions, Nellie,"
+her father said. "It is ill asking one with victuals before him to
+begin a tale that may, for aught I know, last an hour. Let him have
+his food, lass, and then I will light my pipe, and John Wilkes shall
+light his here instead of going out for it, and we will have the yarn
+in peace and comfort. It spoils a good story to hurry it through.
+Cyril is here, alive and well; let that content you for a few
+minutes."
+
+"If I must, I must," Nellie said, with a little pout. "But you should
+remember, father, that, while you have been all your life having
+adventures of some sort, this is the very first that I have had; for
+though Cyril is the one to whom it befell, it is all a parcel with
+the robbery of the house and the capture of the thieves."
+
+"When does the trial come off, Captain Dave?"
+
+"It came off yesterday. Marner is to be hung at the end of the week.
+He declared that he was but in the lane by accident when two lads
+opened the gate. He and the man with him, seeing that they were laden
+with goods, would have seized them, when they themselves were
+attacked and beaten down. But this ingenuity did not save him. Tom
+Frost had been admitted as King's evidence, and testified that Marner
+had been several times at the gate with the fellow that escaped, to
+receive the stolen goods. Moreover, there were many articles among
+those found at his place that I was able to swear to, besides the
+proceeds of over a score of burglaries. The two men taken in his
+house will have fifteen years in gaol. The women got off scot-free;
+there was no proof that they had taken part in the robberies, though
+there is little doubt they knew all about them."
+
+"But how did they prove the men were concerned?"
+
+"They got all the people whose property had been found there, and
+four of these, on seeing the men in the yard at Newgate, were able to
+swear to them as having been among those who came into their rooms
+and frightened them well-nigh to death. It was just a question
+whether they should be hung or not, and there was some wonder that
+the Judge let them escape the gallows."
+
+"And what has become of Tom?"
+
+"They kept Tom in the prison till last night. I saw him yesterday,
+and I am sure the boy is mighty sorry for having been concerned in
+the matter, being, as I truly believe, terrified into it. I had
+written down to an old friend of mine who has set up in the same way
+as myself at Plymouth. Of course I told him all the circumstances,
+but assured him, that according to my belief, the boy was not so much
+to blame, and that I was sure the lesson he had had, would last him
+for life; so I asked him to give Tom another chance, and if he did
+so, to keep the knowledge of this affair from everyone. I got his
+answer yesterday morning, telling me to send him down to him; he
+would give him a fair trial, and if he wasn't altogether satisfied
+with him, would then get him a berth as ship's boy. So, last night
+after dark, he was taken down by John Wilkes, and put on board a
+coaster bound for Plymouth. I would have taken him back here, but
+after your disappearance I feared that his life would not be safe;
+for although they had plenty of other cases they could have proved
+against Marner, Tom's evidence brought this business home to him."
+
+Captain Dave would not allow Cyril to begin his story until the table
+had been cleared and he and John Wilkes had lighted their pipes. Then
+Cyril told his adventure, the earlier part of which elicited many
+exclamations of pity from Dame Dowsett and Mistress Nellie, and some
+angry ejaculations from the Captain when he heard that Black Dick and
+Robert Ashford had got safely off to Holland.
+
+"By St. Anthony, lad," he broke out, when the story was finished,
+"you had a narrow escape from those villains at Rotterdam. Had it
+chanced that you were out at the time they came, I would not have
+given a groat for your life. By all accounts, that fellow Black Dick
+is a desperate villain. They say that they had got hold of evidence
+enough against him to hang a dozen men, and it seems that there is
+little doubt that he was concerned in several cases, where, not
+content with robbing, the villain had murdered the inmates of lonely
+houses round London. He had good cause for hating you. It was through
+you that he had been captured, and had lost his share in all that
+plunder at Marner's. Well, I trust the villain will never venture to
+show his face in London again; but there is never any saying. I
+should like to meet that captain who behaved so well to you, and I
+will meet him too, and shake him by the hand and tell him that any
+gear he may want for that ketch of his, he is free to come in here to
+help himself. There is another thing to be thought of. I must go
+round in the morning to the Guildhall and notify the authorities that
+you have come back. There has been a great hue and cry for you. They
+have searched the thieves' dens of London from attic to cellar; there
+have been boats out looking for your body; and on the day after you
+were missing they overhauled all the ships in the port. Of course the
+search has died out now, but I must go and tell them, and you will
+have to give them the story of the affair."
+
+"I shan't say a word that will give them a clue that will help them
+to lay hands on the captain. He saved my life, and no one could have
+been kinder than he was. I would rather go away for a time
+altogether, for I don't see how I am to tell the story without
+injuring him."
+
+"No; it is awkward, lad. I see that, even if you would not give them
+the name of the craft, they might find out what vessels went into
+Ipswich on that morning, and also the names of those that sailed from
+Rotterdam on the day she left."
+
+"It seems to me, Captain, that the only way will be for me to say the
+exact truth, namely, that I gave my word to the captain that I would
+say naught of the matter. I could tell how I was struck down, and how
+I did not recover consciousness until I found myself in a boat, and
+was lifted on board a vessel and put down into the hold, and was
+there kept until morning. I could say that when I was let out I found
+we were far down the river, that the captain expressed great regret
+when he found that I had been hurt so badly, that he did everything
+in his power for me, and that after I had been some days on board the
+ship he offered to land me in Holland, and to give me money to pay my
+fare back here if I would give him my word of honour not to divulge
+his name or the name of the ship, or that of the port at which he
+landed me. Of course, they can imprison me for a time if I refuse to
+tell, but I would rather stay in gaol for a year than say aught that
+might set them upon the track of Captain Madden. It was not until the
+day he left me in Holland that I knew his name, for of course the men
+always called him captain, and so did I."
+
+"That is the only way I can see out of it, lad. I don't think they
+will imprison you after the service you have done in enabling them to
+break up this gang, bring the head of it to justice, and recover a
+large amount of property."
+
+So indeed, on their going to the Guildhall next morning, it turned
+out. The sitting Alderman threatened Cyril with committal to prison
+unless he gave a full account of all that had happened to him, but
+Captain Dowsett spoke up for him, and said boldly that instead of
+punishment he deserved honour for the great service he had done to
+justice, and that, moreover, if he were punished for refusing to keep
+the promise of secrecy he had made, there was little chance in the
+future of desperate men sparing the lives of those who fell into
+their hands. They would assuredly murder them in self-defence if they
+knew that the law would force them to break any promise of silence
+they might have made. The Magistrate, after a consultation with the
+Chief Constable, finally came round to this view, and permitted Cyril
+to leave the Court, after praising him warmly for the vigilance he
+had shown in the protection of his employer's interests. He regretted
+that he had not been able to furnish them with the name of a man who
+had certainly been, to some extent, an accomplice of those who had
+assaulted him, but this was not, however, so much to be regretted,
+since the man had done all in his power to atone for his actions.
+
+"There is no further information you can give us, Master Cyril?"
+
+"Only this, your worship: that on the day before I left Holland, I
+caught sight of the two persons who had escaped from the constables.
+They had just landed."
+
+"I am sorry to hear it," the Alderman said. "I had hoped that they
+were still in hiding somewhere in the City, and that the constables
+might yet be able to lay hands on them. However, I expect they will
+be back again erelong. Your ill-doer is sure to return here sooner or
+later, either with the hope of further gain, or because he cannot
+keep away from his old haunts and companions. If they fall into the
+hands of the City Constables, I will warrant they won't escape
+again."
+
+He nodded to Cyril, who understood that his business was over and
+left the Court with Captain Dave.
+
+"I am not so anxious as the Alderman seemed to be that Black Dick and
+Robert Ashford should return to London, Captain Dave."
+
+"No; I can understand that, Cyril. And even now that you know they
+are abroad, it would be well to take every precaution, for the others
+whose business has been sorely interrupted by the capture of that
+villain Marner may again try to do you harm. No doubt other receivers
+will fill his place in time, but the loss of a ready market must
+incommode them much. Plate they can melt down themselves, and I
+reckon they would have but little difficulty in finding knaves ready
+to purchase the products of the melting-pot; but it is only a man
+with premises specially prepared for it who will buy goods of all
+kinds, however bulky, without asking questions about them."
+
+Cyril was now in high favour with Mistress Nellie, and whenever he
+was not engaged when she went out he was invited to escort her.
+
+One day he went with her to hear a famous preacher hold forth at St.
+Paul's. Only a portion of the cathedral was used for religious
+services; the rest was utilised as a sort of public promenade, and
+here people of all classes met--gallants of the Court, citizens,
+their wives and daughters, idlers and loungers, thieves and
+mendicants.
+
+As Nellie walked forward to join the throng gathered near the pulpit,
+Cyril noticed a young man in a Court suit, standing among a group who
+were talking and laughing much louder than was seemly, take off his
+plumed hat, and make a deep bow, to which she replied by a slight
+inclination of the head, and passed on with somewhat heightened
+colour.
+
+Cyril waited until the service was over, when, as he left the
+cathedral with her, he asked,--
+
+"Who was that ruffler in gay clothes, who bowed so deeply to you,
+Mistress Nellie?--that is, if there is no indiscretion in my asking."
+
+"I met him in a throng while you were away," she said, with an
+attempt at carelessness which he at once detected. "There was a great
+press, and I well-nigh fainted, but he very courteously came to my
+assistance, and brought me safely out of the crowd."
+
+"And doubtless you have seen him since, Mistress?"
+
+Nellie tossed her head.
+
+"I don't see what right you have to question me, Master Cyril?"
+
+"No right at all," Cyril replied good-temperedly, "save that I am an
+inmate of your father's house, and have received great kindness from
+him, and I doubt if he would be pleased if he knew that you bowed to
+a person unknown to him and unknown, I presume, to yourself, save
+that he has rendered you a passing service."
+
+"He is a gentleman of the Court, I would have you know," she said
+angrily.
+
+"I do not know that that is any great recommendation if the tales one
+hears about the Court are true," Cyril replied calmly. "I cannot say
+I admire either his companions or his manners, and if he is a
+gentleman he should know that if he wishes to speak to an honest
+citizen's daughter it were only right that he should first address
+himself to her father."
+
+"Heigh ho!" Nellie exclaimed, with her face flushed with indignation.
+"Who made you my censor, I should like to know? I will thank you to
+attend to your own affairs, and to leave mine alone."
+
+"The affairs of Captain Dave's daughter are mine so long as I am
+abroad with her," Cyril said firmly. "I am sorry to displease you,
+but I am only doing what I feel to be my duty. Methinks that, were
+John Wilkes here in charge of you, he would say the same, only
+probably he would express his opinion as to yonder gallant more
+strongly than I do;" he nodded in the direction of the man, who had
+followed them out of the cathedral, and was now walking on the other
+side of the street and evidently trying to attract Nellie's
+attention.
+
+Nellie bit her lips. She was about to answer him passionately, but
+restrained herself with a great effort.
+
+"You are mistaken in the gentleman, Cyril," she said, after a pause;
+"he is of a good family, and heir to a fine estate."
+
+"Oh, he has told you as much as that, has he? Well, Mistress Nellie,
+it may be as he says, but surely it is for your father to inquire
+into that, when the gentleman comes forward in due course and
+presents himself as a suitor. Fine feathers do not always make fine
+birds, and a man may ruffle it at King Charles's Court without ten
+guineas to shake in his purse."
+
+At this moment the young man crossed the street, and, bowing deeply
+to Nellie, was about to address her when Cyril said gravely,--
+
+"Sir, I am not acquainted with your name, nor do I know more about
+you save that you are a stranger to this lady's family. That being
+so, and as she is at present under my escort, I must ask you to
+abstain from addressing her."
+
+"You insolent young varlet!" the man said furiously. "Had I a cane
+instead of a sword I would chastise you for your insolence."
+
+"That is as it may be," Cyril said quietly. "That sort of thing may
+do down at Whitehall, but if you attempt to make trouble here in
+Cheapside you will very speedily find yourself in the hands of the
+watch."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, sir," Nellie said anxiously, as several
+passers-by paused to see what was the matter, "do not cause trouble.
+For my sake, if not for your own, pray leave me."
+
+"I obey you, Mistress," the man said again, lifting his hat and
+bowing deeply. "I regret that the officiousness of this blundering
+varlet should have mistaken my intentions, which were but to salute
+you courteously."
+
+So saying, he replaced his hat, and, with a threatening scowl at
+Cyril, pushed his way roughly through those standing round, and
+walked rapidly away.
+
+Nellie was very pale, and trembled from head to foot.
+
+"Take me home, Cyril," she murmured.
+
+He offered her his arm, and he made his way along the street, while
+his face flushed with anger at some jeering remarks he heard from one
+or two of those who looked on at the scene. It was not long before
+Nellie's anger gained the upper hand of her fears.
+
+"A pretty position you have placed me in, with your interference!"
+
+"You mean, I suppose, Mistress Nellie, a pretty position that man
+placed you in, by his insolence. What would Captain Dave say if he
+heard that his daughter had been accosted by a Court gallant in the
+streets?"
+
+"Are you going to tell him?" she asked, removing her hand sharply
+from his arm.
+
+"I have no doubt I ought to do so, and if you will take my advice you
+will tell him yourself as soon as you reach home, for it may be that
+among those standing round was someone who is acquainted with both
+you and your father; and you know as well as I do what Captain Dave
+would say if it came to his ears in such fashion."
+
+Nellie walked for some time in silence. Her anger rose still higher
+against Cyril at the position in which his interference had placed
+her, but she could not help seeing that his advice was sound. She had
+indeed met this man several times, and had listened without chiding
+to his protestations of admiration and love. Nellie was ambitious.
+She had been allowed to have her own way by her mother, whose sole
+companion she had been during her father's absence at sea. She knew
+that she was remarkably pretty, and saw no reason why she, like many
+another citizen's daughter, should not make a good match. She had
+readily given the man her promise to say nothing at home until he
+gave her leave to do so, and she had been weak, enough to take all
+that he said for gospel. Now she felt that, at any rate, she must
+smooth matters over and put it so that as few questions as possible
+should be asked. After a long pause, then, she said,--
+
+"Perhaps you are right, Cyril. I will myself tell my father and
+mother. I can assure you that I had no idea I should meet him
+to-day."
+
+This Cyril could readily believe, for certainly she would not have
+asked him to accompany her if she had known. However, he only replied
+gravely,--
+
+"I am glad to hear that you will tell them, Mistress Nellie, and
+trust that you will take them entirely into your confidence."
+
+This Nellie had no idea of doing; but she said no further word until
+they reached home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+SAVED FROM A VILLAIN
+
+
+"I find that I have to give you thanks for yet another service,
+Cyril," Captain Dave said heartily, when they met the next morning.
+"Nellie tells me a young Court gallant had the insolence to try to
+address her yesterday in Cheapside, on her way back from St. Paul's,
+that you prevented his doing so, and that there was quite a scene in
+the street. If I knew who he was I would break his sconce for him,
+were he Rochester himself. A pretty pass things have come to, when a
+citizen's daughter cannot walk home from St. Paul's without one of
+these impudent vagabonds of the Court venturing to address her! Know
+you who he was?"
+
+"No; I have never seen the fellow before, Captain Dave. I do know
+many of the courtiers by sight, having, when we first came over,
+often gone down to Whitehall with my father when he was seeking to
+obtain an audience with the King; but this man's face is altogether
+strange to me."
+
+"Well, well! I will take care that Nellie shall not go abroad again
+except under her mother's escort or mine. I know, Cyril, that she
+would be as safe under your charge as in ours, but it is better that
+she should have the presence of an older person. It is not that I
+doubt your courage or your address, lad, but a ruffling gallant of
+this sort would know naught of you, save that you are young, and
+besides, did you interfere, there might be a scene that would do
+serious harm to Nellie's reputation."
+
+"I agree with you thoroughly, Captain Dave," Cyril said warmly. "It
+will be far better that you or Mrs. Dowsett should be by her side as
+long as there is any fear of further annoyance from this fellow. I
+should ask nothing better than to try a bout with him myself, for I
+have been right well taught how to use my sword; but, as you say, a
+brawl in the street is of all things to be avoided."
+
+Three or four weeks passed quietly. Nellie seldom went abroad; when
+she did so her mother always accompanied her if it were in the
+daytime, and her father whenever she went to the house of any friend
+after dusk.
+
+Cyril one day caught sight of the gallant in Tower Street, and
+although he was on his way to one of his customers, he at once
+determined to break his appointment and to find out who the fellow
+was. The man sauntered about looking into the shops for full half an
+hour, but it was apparent to Cyril that he paid little attention to
+their contents, and was really waiting for someone. When the clock
+struck three he started, stamped his foot angrily on the ground, and,
+walking away rapidly to the stairs of London Bridge, took a seat in a
+boat, and was rowed up the river.
+
+Cyril waited until he had gone a short distance, and then hailed a
+wherry rowing two oars.
+
+"You see that boat over there?" he said. "I don't wish to overtake it
+at present. Keep a hundred yards or so behind it, but row inshore so
+that it shall not seem that you are following them."
+
+The men obeyed his instructions until they had passed the Temple;
+then, as the other boat still kept in the middle of the stream, Cyril
+had no doubt that it would continue its course to Westminster.
+
+"Now stretch to your oars," he said to the watermen. "I want to get
+to Westminster before the other boat, and to be well away from the
+stairs before it comes up."
+
+The rest of the journey was performed at much greater speed, and
+Cyril alighted at Westminster while the other boat was some three or
+four hundred yards behind. Paying the watermen, he went up the
+stairs, walked away fifty or sixty yards, and waited until he saw the
+man he was following appear. The latter walked quietly up towards
+Whitehall and entered a tavern frequented by young bloods of the
+Court. Cyril pressed his hat down over his eyes. His dress was not
+the same as that in which he had escorted Nellie to the cathedral,
+and he had but small fear of being recognised.
+
+When he entered he sat down at a vacant table, and, having ordered a
+stoup of wine, looked round. The man had joined a knot of young
+fellows like himself, seated at a table. They were dissipated-looking
+blades, and were talking loudly and boisterously.
+
+"Well, Harvey, how goes it? Is the lovely maiden we saw when we were
+with you at St. Paul's ready to drop into your arms?"
+
+"Things are going on all right," Harvey said, with an air of
+consciousness; "but she is watched by two griffins, her father and
+mother. 'Tis fortunate they do not know me by sight, and I have thus
+chances of slipping a note in her hand when I pass her. I think it
+will not be long before you will have to congratulate me."
+
+"She is an heiress and only daughter, is she not, honest John?"
+another asked.
+
+"She is an only child, and her father bears the reputation of doing a
+good business; but as to what I shall finally do, I shall not yet
+determine. As to that, I shall be guided by circumstances."
+
+"Of course, of course," the one who had first spoken said.
+
+Cyril had gained the information he required. The man's name was John
+Harvey, and Nellie was keeping up a clandestine correspondence with
+him. Cyril felt that were he to listen longer he could not restrain
+his indignation, and, without touching the wine he had paid for, he
+hastily left the tavern.
+
+As he walked towards the city, he was unable to decide what he had
+better do. Were he to inform Captain Dave of what he had heard there
+would be a terrible scene, and there was no saying what might happen.
+Still, Nellie must be saved from falling into the hands of this
+fellow, and if he abstained from telling her father he must himself
+take steps to prevent the possibility of such a thing taking place.
+The more he thought of it the more he felt of the heavy
+responsibility it would be. Anxious as he was to save Nellie from the
+anger of her father, it was of far greater consequence to save her
+from the consequences of her own folly. At last he resolved to take
+John Wilkes into his counsels. John was devoted to his master, and
+even if his advice were not of much value, his aid in keeping watch
+would be of immense service. Accordingly, that evening, when John
+went out for his usual pipe after supper, Cyril, who had to go to a
+trader in Holborn, followed him out quickly and overtook him a few
+yards from the door.
+
+"I want to have a talk with you, John."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir. Where shall it be? Nothing wrong, I hope? That new
+apprentice looks to me an honest sort of chap, and the man we have
+got in the yard now is an old mate of mine. He was a ship's boy on
+board the _Dolphin_ twenty-five years back, and he sailed under the
+Captain till he left the sea. I would trust that chap just as I would
+myself."
+
+"It is nothing of that sort, John. It is another sort of business
+altogether, and yet it is quite as serious as the last. I have got
+half an hour before I have to start to do those books at Master
+Hopkins'. Where can we have a talk in a quiet place where there is no
+chance of our being overheard?"
+
+"There is a little room behind the bar at the place I go to, and I
+have no doubt the landlord will let us have it, seeing as I am a
+regular customer."
+
+"At any rate we can see, John. It is too cold for walking about
+talking here; and, besides, I think one can look at a matter in all
+lights much better sitting down than one can walking about."
+
+"That is according to what you are accustomed to," John said, shaking
+his head. "It seems to me that I can look further into the innards of
+a question when I am walking up and down the deck on night watch with
+just enough wind aloft to take her along cheerful, and not too much
+of it, than I can at any other time; but then, you see, that is just
+what one is accustomed to. This is the place."
+
+He entered a quiet tavern, and, nodding to five or six
+weather-beaten-looking men, who were sitting smoking long pipes, each
+with a glass of grog before him, went up to the landlord, who formed
+one of the party. He had been formerly the master of a trader, and
+had come into the possession of the tavern by marriage with its
+mistress, who was still the acting head of the establishment.
+
+"We have got a piece of business we want to overhaul, Peter. I
+suppose we can have that cabin in yonder for a bit?"
+
+"Ay, ay. There is a good fire burning. You will find pipes on the
+table. You will want a couple of glasses of grog, of course?"
+
+John nodded, and then led the way into the little snuggery at the end
+of the room. It had a glass door, so that, if desired, a view could
+be obtained of the general room, but there was a curtain to draw
+across this. There was a large oak settle on either side of the fire,
+and there was a table, with pipes and a jar of tobacco standing
+between them.
+
+"This is a tidy little crib," John said, as he seated himself and
+began to fill a pipe. "There is no fear of being disturbed here.
+There has been many a voyage talked over and arranged in this 'ere
+room. They say that Blake himself, when the Fleet was in the river,
+would drop in here sometimes, with one of his captains, for a quiet
+talk."
+
+A minute later a boy entered and placed two steaming glasses of grog
+on the table. The door closed after him, and John said,--
+
+"Now you can get under way, Master Cyril. You have got a fair course
+now, and nothing to bring you up."
+
+"It is a serious matter, John. And before I begin, I must tell you
+that I rely on your keeping absolute silence as to what I am going to
+tell you."
+
+"That in course," John said, as he lifted his glass to his lips. "You
+showed yourself a first-rate pilot in that last job, and I am content
+to sail under you this time without asking any questions as to the
+ship's course, and to steer according to orders."
+
+Cyril told the story, interrupted frequently by angry ejaculations on
+the part of the old bo'swain.
+
+"Dash my wig!" he exclaimed, when Cyril came to an end. "But this is
+a bad business altogether, Master Cyril. One can engage a pirate and
+beat him off if the crew is staunch, but when there is treason on
+board ship, it makes it an awkward job for those in command."
+
+"The question is this, John: ought we to tell the Captain, or shall
+we try to take the affair into our own hands, and so to manage it
+that he shall never know anything about it?"
+
+The sailor was silent for a minute or two, puffing his pipe
+meditatively.
+
+"I see it is an awkward business to decide," he said. "On one side,
+it would pretty nigh kill Captain Dave to know that Mistress Nellie
+has been steering wild and has got out of hand. She is just the apple
+of his eye. Then, on the other hand, if we undertook the job without
+telling him, and one fine morning we was to find out she was gone, we
+should be in a mighty bad fix, for the Captain would turn round and
+say, 'Why didn't you tell me? If you had done so, I would have locked
+her up under hatches, and there she would be, safe now.'"
+
+"That is just what I see, and it is for that reason I come to you. I
+could not be always on the watch, but I think that you and I together
+would keep so sharp a look-out that we might feel pretty sure that
+she could not get away without our knowledge."
+
+"We could watch sharply enough at night, Master Cyril. There would be
+no fear of her getting away then without our knowing it. But how
+would it be during the day? There am I in the shop or store from
+seven in the morning until we lock up before supper-time. You are out
+most of your time, and when you are not away, you are in the office
+at the books, and she is free to go in and out of the front door
+without either of us being any the wiser."
+
+"I don't think he would venture to carry her off by daylight," Cyril
+said. "She never goes out alone now, and could scarcely steal away
+unnoticed. Besides, she would know that she would be missed directly,
+and a hue and cry set up. I should think she would certainly choose
+the evening, when we are all supposed to be in bed. He would have a
+chair waiting somewhere near; and there are so often chairs going
+about late, after city entertainments, that they would get off
+unnoticed. I should say the most dangerous time is between nine
+o'clock and midnight. She generally goes off to bed at nine or soon
+after, and she might very well put on her hood and cloak and steal
+downstairs at once, knowing that she would not be missed till
+morning. Another dangerous time would be when she goes out to a
+neighbour's. The Captain always takes her, and goes to fetch her at
+nine o'clock, but she might make some excuse to leave quite early,
+and go off in that way."
+
+"That would be awkward, Mr. Cyril, for neither you nor I could be
+away at supper-time without questions being asked. It seems to me
+that I had better take Matthew into the secret. As he don't live in
+the house he could very well watch wherever she is, till I slip round
+after supper to relieve him, and he could watch outside here in the
+evening till either you or I could steal downstairs and take his
+place. You can count on him keeping his mouth shut just as you can on
+me. The only thing is, how is he to stop her if he finds her coming
+out from a neighbour's before the Captain has come for her?"
+
+"If he saw her coming straight home he could follow her to the door
+without being noticed, John, but if he found her going some other way
+he must follow her till he sees someone speak to her, and must then
+go straight up and say, 'Mistress Dowsett, I am ready to escort you
+home.' If she orders him off, or the man she meets threatens him, as
+is like enough, he must say, 'Unless you come I shall shout for aid,
+and call upon passers-by to assist me'; and, rather than risk the
+exposure, she would most likely return with him. Of course, he would
+carry with him a good heavy cudgel, and choose a thoroughfare where
+there are people about to speak to her, and not an unfrequented
+passage, for you may be sure the fellow would have no hesitation in
+running him through if he could do so without being observed."
+
+"Matthew is a stout fellow," John Wilkes said, "and was as smart a
+sailor as any on board till he had his foot smashed by being jammed
+by a spare spar that got adrift in a gale, so that the doctors had to
+cut off the leg under the knee, and leave him to stump about on a
+timber toe for the rest of his life. I tell you what, Master Cyril:
+we might make the thing safer still if I spin the Captain a yarn as
+how Matthew has strained his back and ain't fit to work for a bit;
+then I can take on another hand to work in the yard, and we can put
+him on watch all day. He might come on duty at nine o'clock in the
+morning, and stop until I relieve him as soon as supper is over. Of
+course, he would not keep opposite the house, but might post himself
+a bit up or down the street, so that he could manage to keep an eye
+on the door."
+
+"That would be excellent," Cyril said. "Of course, at the supper-hour
+he could go off duty, as she could not possibly leave the house
+between that time and nine o'clock. You always come in about that
+hour, and I hear you go up to bed. When you get there, you should at
+once take off your boots, slip downstairs again with them, and go
+quietly out. I often sit talking with Captain Dave till half-past
+nine or ten, but directly I can get away I will come down and join
+you. I think in that way we need feel no uneasiness as to harm coming
+from our not telling Captain Dave, for it would be impossible for her
+to get off unnoticed. Now that is all arranged I must be going, for I
+shall be late at my appointment unless I hurry."
+
+"Shall I go round and begin my watch at once, Master Cyril?".
+
+"No, there is no occasion for that. We know that he missed her
+to-day, and therefore can have made no appointment; and I am
+convinced by what he said to the fellows he met, that matters are not
+settled yet. However, we will begin to-morrow. You can take an
+opportunity during the day to tell Matthew about it, and he can
+pretend to strain his back in the afternoon, and you can send him
+away. He can come round again next morning early, and when the
+Captain comes down you can tell him that you find that Matthew will
+not be able to work for the present, and ask him to let you take
+another man on until he can come back again."
+
+Cyril watched Nellie closely at meal-times and in the evening for the
+next few days. He thought that he should be certain to detect some
+slight change in her manner, however well she might play her part,
+directly she decided on going off with this man. She would not dream
+that she was suspected in any way, and would therefore be the less
+cautious. Matthew kept watch during the day, and followed if she went
+out with her father to a neighbour's, remaining on guard outside the
+house until John Wilkes relieved him as soon as he had finished his
+supper. If she remained at home in the evening John went out
+silently, after his return at his usual hour, and was joined by Cyril
+as soon as Captain Dave said good-night and went in to his bedroom.
+At midnight they re-entered the house and stole up to their rooms,
+leaving their doors open and listening attentively for another hour
+before they tried to get to sleep.
+
+On the sixth morning Cyril noticed that Nellie was silent and
+abstracted at breakfast-time. She went out marketing with her mother
+afterwards, and at dinner her mood had changed. She talked and
+laughed more than usual. There was a flush of excitement on her
+cheeks, and he drew the conclusion that in the morning she had not
+come to an absolute decision, but had probably given an answer to the
+man during the time she was out with her mother, and that she felt
+the die was now cast.
+
+"Pass the word to Matthew to keep an extra sharp watch this afternoon
+and to-morrow, John. I think the time is close at hand," he said, as
+they went downstairs together after dinner.
+
+"Do you think so? Well, the sooner the better. It is trying work,
+this here spying, and I don't care how soon it is over. I only hope
+it will end by our running down this pirate and engaging him."
+
+"I hope so too, John. I feel it very hard to be sitting at table with
+her and Captain Dave and her mother, and to know that she is
+deceiving them."
+
+"I can't say a word for her," the old sailor said, shaking his head.
+"She has as good parents as a girl could want to have. They would
+give their lives for her, either of them, cheerful, and there she is
+thinking of running away from them with a scamp she knows nothing of
+and has probably never spoken with for an hour. I knew her head was a
+bit turned with young fellows dangling after her, and by being
+noticed by some of the Court gallants at the last City ball, and by
+being made the toast by many a young fellow in City taverns--'Pretty
+Mistress Nellie Dowsett'; but I did not think her head was so turned
+that she would act as she is doing. Well, well, we must hope that
+this will be a lesson, Master Cyril, that she will remember all her
+life."
+
+"I hope so, John, and I trust that we shall be able to manage it all
+so that the matter will never come to her parents' ears."
+
+"I hope so, and I don't see why it should. The fellow may bluster,
+but he will say nothing about it because he would get into trouble
+for trying to carry off a citizen's daughter."
+
+"And besides that, John,--which would be quite as serious in the eyes
+of a fellow of this sort,--he would have the laugh against him among
+all his companions for having been outwitted in the City. So I think
+when he finds the game is up he will be glad enough to make off
+without causing trouble."
+
+"Don't you think we might give him a sound thrashing? It would do him
+a world of good."
+
+"I don't think it would do a man of that sort much good, John, and he
+would be sure to shout, and then there would be trouble, and the
+watch might come up, and we should all get hauled off together. In
+the morning the whole story would be known, and Mistress Nellie's
+name in the mouth of every apprentice in the City. No, no; if he is
+disposed to go off quietly, by all means let him go."
+
+"I have no doubt that you are right, Master Cyril, but it goes
+mightily against the grain to think that a fellow like that is to get
+off with a whole skin. However, if one should fall foul of him some
+other time, one might take it out of him."
+
+Captain Dave found Cyril but a bad listener to his stories that
+evening, and, soon after nine, said he should turn in.
+
+"I don't know what ails you to-night, Cyril," he said. "Your wits are
+wool-gathering, somewhere. I don't believe that you heard half that
+last story I was telling you."
+
+"I heard it all, sir; but I do feel a little out of sorts this
+evening."
+
+"You do too much writing, lad. My head would be like to go to pieces
+if I were to sit half the hours that you do at a desk."
+
+When Captain Dave went into his room, Cyril walked upstairs and
+closed his bedroom door with a bang, himself remaining outside. Then
+he took off his boots, and, holding them in his hand, went
+noiselessly downstairs to the front door. The lock had been carefully
+oiled, and, after putting on his boots again, he went out.
+
+"You are right, Master Cyril, sure enough," John Wilkes said when he
+joined him, fifty yards away from the house. "It is to-night she is
+going to try to make off. I thought I had best keep Matthew at hand,
+so I bid him stop till I came out, then sent him round to have a pint
+of ale at the tavern, and when he came back told him he had best
+cruise about, and look for signs of pirates. He came back ten minutes
+ago, and told me that a sedan chair had just been brought to the
+other end of the lane. It was set down some thirty yards from
+Fenchurch Street. There were the two chairmen and three fellows
+wrapped up in cloaks."
+
+"That certainly looks like action, John. Well, I should say that
+Matthew had better take up his station at the other end of the lane,
+there to remain quiet until he hears an uproar at the chair; then he
+can run up to our help if we need it. We will post ourselves near the
+door. No doubt Harvey, and perhaps one of his friends, will come and
+wait for her. We can't interfere with them here, but must follow and
+come up with her just before they reach the chair. The further they
+are away from the house the better. Then if there is any trouble
+Captain Dave will not hear anything of it."
+
+"That will be a good plan of operations," John agreed. "Matthew is
+just round the next corner. I will send him to Fenchurch Street at
+once."
+
+He went away, and rejoined Cyril in two or three minutes. They then
+went along towards the house, and took post in a doorway on the other
+side of the street, some thirty yards from the shop. They had
+scarcely done so, when they heard footsteps, and presently saw two
+men come along in the middle of the street. They stopped and looked
+round.
+
+"There is not a soul stirring," one said. "We can give the signal."
+
+So saying, he sang a bar or two of a song popular at the time, and
+they then drew back from the road into a doorway and waited.
+
+Five minutes later, Cyril and his fellow-watcher heard a very slight
+sound, and a figure stepped out from Captain Dowsett's door. The two
+men crossed at once and joined her. A few low words were spoken, and
+they moved away together, and turned up the lane.
+
+As soon as they disappeared from sight, Cyril and John Wilkes issued
+out. The latter had produced some long strips of cloth, which he
+wound round both their boots, so as, he said, to muffle the oars.
+Their steps, therefore, as they followed, were almost noiseless.
+Walking fast, they came up to the three persons ahead of them just as
+they reached the sedan chair. The two chairmen were standing at the
+poles, and a third man was holding the door open with his hat in his
+hand.
+
+"Avast heaving, mates!" John Wilkes said. "It seems to me as you are
+running this cargo without proper permits."
+
+Nellie gave a slight scream on hearing the voice, while the man
+beside her stepped forward, exclaiming furiously:
+
+"S" death, sir! who are you, and what are you interfering about?"
+
+"I am an honest man I hope, master. My name is John Wilkes, and, as
+that young lady will tell you, I am in the employ of her father."
+
+"Then I tell you, John Wilkes, or John the Devil, or whatever your
+name maybe, that if you don't at once take yourself off, I will let
+daylight into you," and he drew his sword, as did his two companions.
+
+John gave a whistle, and the wooden-legged man was heard hurrying up
+from Fenchurch Street.
+
+"Cut the scoundrel down, Penrose," Harvey exclaimed, "while I put the
+lady into the chair."
+
+The man addressed sprang at Wilkes, but in a moment his Court sword
+was shivered by a blow from the latter's cudgel, which a moment later
+fell again on his head, sending him reeling back several paces.
+
+"Stay, sir, or I will run you through," Cyril said, pricking Harvey
+sharply in the arm as he was urging Nellie to enter the chair.
+
+"Oh, it's you, is it?" the other exclaimed, in a tone of fury. "My
+boy of Cheapside! Well, I can spare a moment to punish you."
+
+"Oh, do not fight with him, my lord!" Nellie exclaimed.
+
+"My lord!" Cyril laughed. "So he has become a lord, eh?"
+
+Then he changed his tone.
+
+"Mistress Nellie, you have been deceived. This fellow is no lord. He
+is a hanger-on of the Court, one John Harvey, a disreputable
+blackguard whom I heard boasting to his boon-companions of his
+conquest. I implore you to return home as quietly as you went. None
+will know of this."
+
+He broke off suddenly, for, with an oath, Harvey rushed at him. Their
+swords clashed, there was a quick thrust and parry, and then Harvey
+staggered back with a sword-wound through the shoulder, dropping his
+sword to the ground.
+
+"Your game is up, John Harvey," Cyril said. "Did you have your
+deserts I would pass my sword through your body. Now call your
+fellows off, or it will be worse for them."
+
+"Oh, it is not true? Surely it cannot be true?" Nellie cried,
+addressing Harvey. "You cannot have deceived me?"
+
+The fellow, smarting with pain, and seeing that the game was up,
+replied with a savage curse.
+
+"You may think yourself lucky that you are only disabled, you
+villain!" Cyril said, taking a step towards him with his sword
+menacingly raised. "Begone, sir, before my patience is exhausted, or,
+by heaven! it will be your dead body that the chairmen will have to
+carry away."
+
+"Disabled or not," John Wilkes exclaimed, "I will have a say in the
+matter;" and, with a blow with his cudgel, he stretched Harvey on the
+ground, and belaboured him furiously until Cyril dragged him away by
+force. Harvey rose slowly to his feet.
+
+"Take yourself off, sir," Cyril said. "One of your brave companions
+has long ago bolted; the other is disarmed, and has his head broken.
+You may thank your stars that you have escaped with nothing worse
+than a sword-thrust through your shoulder, and a sound drubbing.
+Hanging would be a fit punishment for knaves like you. I warn you, if
+you ever address or in any way molest this lady again, you won't get
+off so easily."
+
+Then he turned and offered his arm to Nellie, who was leaning against
+the wall in a half-fainting state. Not a word was spoken until they
+emerged from the lane.
+
+"No one knows of this but ourselves, Mistress Nellie, and you will
+never hear of it from us. Glad indeed I am that I have saved you from
+the misery and ruin that must have resulted from your listening to
+that plausible scoundrel. Go quietly upstairs. We will wait here till
+we are sure that you have gone safely into your room; then we will
+follow. I doubt not that you are angry with me now, but in time you
+will feel that you have been saved from a great danger."
+
+The door was not locked. He lifted the latch silently, and held the
+door open for her to pass in. Then he closed it again, and turned to
+the two men who followed them.
+
+"This has been a good night's work, John."
+
+"That has it. I don't think that young spark will be coming after
+City maidens again. Well, it has been a narrow escape for her. It
+would have broken the Captain's heart if she had gone in that way.
+What strange things women are! I have always thought Mistress Nellie
+as sensible a girl as one would want to see. Given a little
+over-much, perhaps, to thinking of the fashion of her dress, but that
+was natural enough, seeing how pretty she is and how much she is made
+of; and yet she is led, by a few soft speeches from a man she knows
+nothing of, to run away from home, and leave father, and mother, and
+all. Well, Matthew, lad, we sha'n't want any more watching. You have
+done a big service to the master, though he will never know it. I
+know I can trust you to keep a stopper on your jaws. Don't you let a
+soul know of this--not even your wife."
+
+"You trust me, mate," the man replied. "My wife is a good soul, but
+her tongue runs nineteen to the dozen, and you might as well shout a
+thing out at Paul's Cross as drop it into her ear. I think my back
+will be well enough for me to come to work again to-morrow," he
+added, with a laugh.
+
+"All right, mate. I shall be glad to have you again, for the chap who
+has been in your place is a landsman, and he don't know a
+marling-spike from an anchor. Good-night, mate."
+
+"Well, Master Cyril," he went on, as the sailor walked away, "I don't
+think there ever was such a good wind as that which blew you here.
+First of all you saved Captain Dave's fortune, and now you save his
+daughter. I look on Captain Dave as being pretty nigh the same as
+myself, seeing as I have been with him man and boy for over thirty
+years, and I feel what you have done for him just as if you had done
+it for me. I am only a rough sailor-man, and I don't know how to put
+it in words, but I feel just full up with a cargo of thankfulness."
+
+"That is all right," Cyril said, holding out his hand, which John
+Wilkes shook with a heartiness that was almost painful. "Captain Dave
+offered me a home when I was alone without a friend in London, and I
+am glad indeed that I have been able to render him service in return.
+I myself have done little enough, though I do not say that the
+consequences have not been important. It has been just taking a
+little trouble and keeping a few watches--a thing not worth talking
+about one way or the other. I hope this will do Mistress Nellie good.
+She is a nice girl, but too fond of admiration, and inclined to think
+that she is meant for higher things than to marry a London citizen. I
+think to-night's work will cure her of that. This fellow evidently
+made himself out to her to be a nobleman of the Court. Now she sees
+that he is neither a nobleman nor a gentleman, but a ruffian who took
+advantage of her vanity and inexperience, and that she would have
+done better to have jumped down the well in the yard than to have put
+herself in his power. Now we can go up to bed. There is no more
+probability of our waking the Captain than there has been on other
+nights; but mind, if we should do so, you stick to the story we
+agreed on, that you thought there was someone by the gate in the lane
+again, and so called me to go down with you to investigate, not
+thinking it worth while to rouse up the Captain on what might be a
+false alarm."
+
+Everything remained perfectly quiet as they made their way upstairs
+to their rooms as silently as possible.
+
+"Where is Nellie?" Captain Dave asked, when they assembled at
+breakfast.
+
+"She is not well," his wife replied, "I went to her room just now and
+found that she was still a-bed. She said that she had a bad headache,
+and I fear that she is going to have a fever, for her face is pale
+and her eyes red and swollen, just as if she had been well-nigh
+crying them out of her head; her hands are hot and her pulse fast.
+Directly I have had breakfast I shall make her some camomile tea, and
+if that does not do her good I shall send for the doctor."
+
+"Do so, wife, without delay. Why, the girl has never ailed a day for
+years! What can have come to her?"
+
+"She says it is only a bad headache--that all she wants is to be left
+alone."
+
+"Yes, yes; that is all very well, but if she does not get better soon
+she must be seen to. They say that there were several cases last week
+of that plague that has been doing so much harm in foreign parts, and
+if that is so it behoves us to be very careful, and see that any
+illness is attended to without delay."
+
+"I don't think that there is any cause for alarm," his wife said
+quietly. "The child has got a headache and is a little feverish, but
+there is no occasion whatever for thinking that it is anything more.
+There is nothing unusual in a girl having a headache, but Nellie has
+had such good health that if she had a prick in the finger you would
+think it was serious."
+
+"By the way, John," Captain Dave said suddenly, "did you hear any
+noise in the lane last night? Your room is at the back of the house,
+and you were more likely to have heard it than I was. I have just
+seen one of the watch, and he tells me that there was a fray there
+last night, for there is a patch of blood and marks of a scuffle. It
+was up at the other end. There is some mystery about it, he thinks,
+for he says that one of his mates last night saw a sedan chair
+escorted by three men turn into the lane from Fenchurch Street just
+before ten o'clock, and one of the neighbours says that just after
+that hour he heard a disturbance and a clashing of swords there. On
+looking out, he saw something dark that might have been a chair
+standing there, and several men engaged in a scuffle. It seemed soon
+over, and directly afterwards three people came down the lane this
+way. Then he fancied that someone got into the chair, which was
+afterwards carried out into Fenchurch Street."
+
+"I did hear something that sounded like a quarrel or a fray," John
+Wilkes said, "but there is nothing unusual about that. As everything
+was soon quiet again, I gave no further thought to it."
+
+"Well, it seems a curious affair, John. However, it is the business
+of the City watch and not mine, so we need not bother ourselves about
+it. I am glad to see you have got Matthew at work again this morning.
+He tells me that he thinks he has fairly got over that sprain in his
+back."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S YARN
+
+
+Mindful of the fact that this affair had added a new enemy to those
+he had acquired by the break-up of the Black Gang, Cyril thought it
+as well to go round and give notice to the two traders whose books he
+attended to in the evening, that unless they could arrange for him to
+do them in the daytime he must give up the work altogether. Both
+preferred the former alternative, for they recognised the advantage
+they had derived from his work, and that at a rate of pay for which
+they could not have obtained the services of any scrivener in the
+City.
+
+It was three or four days before Nellie Dowsett made her appearance
+at the general table.
+
+"I can't make out what ails the girl," her mother said, on the
+previous evening. "The fever speedily left her, as I told you, but
+she is weak and languid, and seems indisposed to talk."
+
+"She will soon get over that, my dear," Captain Dave said. "Girls are
+not like men. I have seen them on board ship. One day they are
+laughing and fidgeting about like wild things, the next day they are
+poor, woebegone creatures. If she gets no better in a few days, I
+will see when my old friend, Jim Carroll, is starting in his brig for
+Yarmouth, and will run down with her myself--and of course with you,
+wife, if you will go--and stay there a few days while he is unloading
+and filling up again. The sea-air will set her up again, I warrant."
+
+"Not at this time of year," Dame Dowsett said firmly. "With these
+bitter winds it is no time for a lass to go a-sailing; and they say
+that Yarmouth is a great deal colder than we are here, being exposed
+to the east winds."
+
+"Well, well, Dame, then we will content ourselves with a run in the
+hoy down to Margate. If we choose well the wind and tide we can start
+from here in the morning and maybe reach there late in the evening,
+or, if not, the next morning to breakfast. Or if you think that too
+far we will stop at Sheerness, where we can get in two tides easily
+enough if the wind be fair."
+
+"That would be better, David; but it were best to see how she goes
+on. It may be, as you say, that she will shortly gain her strength
+and spirits again."
+
+It was evident, when Nellie entered the room at breakfast-time the
+next morning, that her mother's reports had not been exaggerated. She
+looked, indeed, as if recovering from a severe illness, and when she
+said good-morning to her father her voice trembled and her eyes
+filled with tears.
+
+"Tut, tut, lass! This will never do. I shall soon hardly own you for
+my Nellie. We shall have to feed you up on capons and wine, child, or
+send you down to one of the baths for a course of strengthening
+waters."
+
+She smiled faintly, and then turning, gave her hand to Cyril. As she
+did so, a slight flush of colour came into her cheeks.
+
+"I am heartily glad to see you down again, Mistress Nellie," he said,
+"and wish you a fair and speedy recovery."
+
+"I shall be better presently," she replied, with an effort.
+"Good-morning, John."
+
+"Good-morning, Mistress Nellie. Right glad are we to see you down
+again, for it makes but a dull table without your merry laugh to give
+an edge to our appetites."
+
+She sat down now, and the others, seeing that it was best to let her
+alone for a while, chatted gaily together.
+
+"There is no talk in the City but of the war, Cyril," the Captain
+said presently. "They say that the Dutch make sure of eating us up,
+but they won't find it as easy a job as they fancy. The Duke of York
+is to command the Fleet. They say that Prince Rupert will be second.
+To my mind they ought to have entrusted the whole matter to him. He
+proved himself as brave a captain at sea as he was on land, and I
+will warrant he would lead his ships into action as gallantly as he
+rode at the head of his Cavaliers on many a stricken field. The ships
+are fitting out in all haste, and they are gathering men at every
+sea-port. I should say they will have no lack of hands, for there are
+many ships laid up, that at other times trade with Holland, and
+Dantzic, and Dunkirk, and many a bold young sailor who will be glad
+to try whether he can fight as stoutly against the Dutch under York
+and Rupert as his father did under Blake."
+
+"For my part," Cyril said, "I cannot understand it; for it seems to
+me that the English and Dutch have been fighting for the last year. I
+have been too busy to read the Journal, and have not been in the way
+of hearing the talk of the coffeehouses and taverns; but, beyond that
+it is some dispute about the colonies, I know little of the matter."
+
+"I am not greatly versed in it myself, lad. Nellie here reads the
+Journal, and goes abroad more than any of us, and should be able to
+tell us something about it. Now, girl, can't you do something to set
+us right in this matter, for I like not to be behind my neighbours,
+though I am such a stay-at-home, having, as I thank the Lord, much
+happiness here, and no occasion to go out to seek it."
+
+"There was much discourse about it, father, the evening I went to
+Dame King's. There were several gentlemen there who had trade with
+the East, and one of them held shares in the English Company trading
+thither. After supper was over, they discoursed more fully on the
+matter than was altogether pleasing to some of us, who would much
+rather that, as we had hoped, we might have dancing or singing. I
+could see that Dame King herself was somewhat put out that her
+husband should have, without her knowing of his intention, brought in
+these gentlemen. Still, the matter of their conversation was new to
+us, and we became at last so mightily interested in it that we
+listened to the discourse without bemoaning ourselves that we had
+lost the amusement we looked for. I know I wished at the time that
+you had been there. I say not that I can repeat all that I heard, but
+as I had before read some of the matters spoken of in the Journal, I
+could follow what the gentlemen said more closely. Soon after the
+coming of the King to the throne the friendship between us and the
+Spaniards, that had been weakened during the mastership of Cromwell,
+was renewed, and they gave our ships many advantages at their ports,
+while, on the other hand, they took away the privileges the Dutch had
+enjoyed there, and thus our commerce with Spain increased, while that
+of the Dutch diminished."
+
+"That is certainly true, Nellie," her father said. "We have three
+ships sailing through the Mediterranean now to one that sailed there
+ten years ago, and doubtless the Dutch must have suffered by the
+increase in our trade."
+
+"Then he said that, as we had obtained the Island of Bombay in the
+East Indies and the City of Tangier in Africa as the dowry of the
+Queen, and had received the Island of Poleron for our East India
+Company by the treaty with Holland, our commerce everywhere
+increased, and raised their jealousy higher and higher. There was
+nothing in this of which complaint could be made by the Dutch
+Government, but nevertheless they gave encouragement to their East
+and West India Companies to raise trouble. Their East India Company
+refused to hand over the Island, and laid great limitations as to the
+places at which our merchants might trade in India. The other Company
+acted in the same manner, and lawlessly took possession of Cape Coast
+Castle, belonging to our English Company.
+
+"The Duke of York, who was patron and governor of our African
+Company, sent Sir Robert Holmes with four frigates to Guinea to make
+reprisals. He captured a place from the Dutch and named it James's
+Fort, and then, proceeding to the river Gambia, he turned out the
+Dutch traders there and built a fort. A year ago, as the Dutch still
+held Cape Coast Castle, Sir Robert was sent out again with orders to
+take it by force, and on the way he overhauled a Dutch ship and found
+she carried a letter of secret instructions from the Dutch Government
+to the West India Company to take the English Fort at Cormantin.
+Seeing that the Hollanders, although professing friendship, were thus
+treacherously inclined, he judged himself justified in exceeding the
+commission he had received, and on his way south he touched at Cape
+Verde. There he first captured two Dutch ships and then attacked
+their forts on the Island of Gorse and captured them, together with a
+ship lying under their guns.
+
+"In the fort he found a great quantity of goods ready to be shipped.
+He loaded his own vessels, and those that he had captured, with the
+merchandise, and carried it to Sierra Leone. Then he attacked the
+Dutch fort of St. George del Mena, the strongest on the coast, but
+failed there; but he soon afterwards captured Cape Coast Castle,
+though, as the gentlemen said, a mightily strong place. Then he
+sailed across to America, and, as you know, captured the Dutch
+Settlements of New Netherlands, and changed the name into that of New
+York. He did this not so much out of reprisal for the misconduct of
+the Dutch in Africa, but because the land was ours by right, having
+been discovered by the Cabots and taken possession of in the name of
+King Henry VII., and our title always maintained until the Dutch
+seized it thirty years ago.
+
+"Then the Dutch sent orders to De Ruyter, who commanded the fleet
+which was in the Mediterranean, to sail away privately and to make
+reprisals on the Coast of Guinea and elsewhere. He first captured
+several of our trading forts, among them that of Cormantin, taking
+great quantities of goods belonging to our Company; he then sailed to
+Barbadoes, where he was beaten off by the forts. Then he captured
+twenty of our ships off Newfoundland, and so returned to Holland,
+altogether doing damage, as the House of Commons told His Majesty, to
+the extent of eight hundred thousand pounds. All this time the Dutch
+had been secretly preparing for war, which they declared in January,
+which has forced us to do the same, although we delayed a month in
+hopes that some accommodation might be arrived at. I think, father,
+that is all that he told us, though there were many details that I do
+not remember."
+
+"And very well told, lass, truly. I wonder that your giddy head
+should have taken in so much matter. Of course, now you tell them
+over, I have heard these things before--the wrong that the Dutch did
+our Company by seizing their post at Cape Coast, and the reprisals
+that Sir Robert Holmes took upon them with our Company's ships--but
+they made no great mark on my memory, for I was just taking over my
+father's work when the first expedition took place. At any rate, none
+can say that we have gone into this war unjustly, seeing that the
+Dutch began it, altogether without cause, by first attacking our
+trading posts."
+
+"It seems to me, Captain Dave," John Wilkes said, "that it has been
+mighty like the war that our English buccaneers waged against the
+Spaniards in the West Indies, while the two nations were at peace at
+home."
+
+"It is curious," Cyril said, "that the trouble begun in Africa should
+have shifted to the other side of the Atlantic."
+
+"Ay, lad; just as that first trouble was at last fought out in the
+English Channel, off the coast of France, so this is likely to be
+decided in well-nigh the same waters."
+
+"The gentlemen, the other night, were all of opinion," Nellie said,
+"that the matter would never have come to such a head had it not been
+that De Witt, who is now the chief man in Holland, belongs to the
+French party there, and has been urged on by King Louis, for his own
+interest, to make war with us."
+
+"That may well be, Nellie. In all our English wars France has ever
+had a part either openly or by intrigues. France never seems to be
+content with attending to her own business, but is ever meddling with
+her neighbours', and, if not fighting herself, trying to set them by
+the ears against each other. If I were a bit younger, and had not
+lost my left flipper, I would myself volunteer for the service. As
+for Master Cyril here, I know he is burning to lay aside the pen and
+take to the sword."
+
+"That is so, Captain Dave. As you know, I only took up the pen to
+keep me until I was old enough to use a sword. I have been two years
+at it now, and I suppose it will be as much longer before I can think
+of entering the service of one of the Protestant princes; but as soon
+as I am fit to do so, I shall get an introduction and be off; but I
+would tenfold rather fight for my own country, and would gladly sail
+in the Fleet, though I went but as a ship's boy."
+
+"That is the right spirit, Master Cyril," John Wilkes exclaimed. "I
+would go myself if the Captain could spare me and they would take
+such a battered old hulk."
+
+"I couldn't spare you, John," Captain Dave said. "I have been mighty
+near making a mess of it, even with you as chief mate, and I might as
+well shut up shop altogether if you were to leave me. I should miss
+you, too, Cyril," he went on, stretching his arm across the table to
+shake hands with the lad. "You have proved a real friend and a true;
+but were there a chance of your going as an officer, I would not balk
+you, even if I could do so. It is but natural that a lad of spirit
+should speak and think as you do; besides, the war may not last for
+long, and when you come back, and the ships are paid off, you would
+soon wipe off the arrears of work, and get the books into ship-shape
+order. But, work or no work, that room of yours will always stand
+ready for you while I live, and there will always be a plate for you
+on this table."
+
+"Thank you, Captain Dave. You always overrate my services, and forget
+that they are but the consequence of the kindness that you have shown
+to me. But I have no intention of going. It was but a passing
+thought. I have but one friend who could procure me a berth as a
+volunteer, and as it is to him I must look for an introduction to
+some foreign prince, I would not go to him twice for a favour,
+especially as I have no sort of claim on his kindness. To go as a
+cabin boy would be to go with men under my own condition, and
+although I do not shirk hard work and rough usage, I should not care
+for them in such fashion. Moreover, I am doing work which, even
+without your hospitality, would suffice to keep me comfortably, and
+if I went away, though but for a month, I might find that those for
+whom I work had engaged other assistance. Spending naught, I am
+laying by money for the time when I shall have to travel at my own
+expense and to provide myself necessaries, and, maybe, to keep myself
+for a while until I can procure employment. I have the prospect that,
+by the end of another two years, I shall have gathered a sufficient
+store for all my needs, and I should be wrong to throw myself out of
+employment merely to embark on an adventure, and so to make a break,
+perhaps a long one, in my plans."
+
+"Don't you worry yourself on that score," Captain Dave said warmly,
+and then checked himself. "It will be time to talk about that when
+the time comes. But you are right, lad. I like a man who steadfastly
+holds on the way he has chosen, and will not turn to the right or
+left. There is not much that a man cannot achieve if he keeps his aim
+steadily in view. Why, Cyril, if you said you had made up your mind
+to be Lord Mayor of London, I would wager that you would some day be
+elected."
+
+Cyril laughed.
+
+"I shall never set my eyes in that direction, nor do I think the
+thing I have set myself to do will ever be in my power--that is, to
+buy back my father's estate; but so long as I live I shall keep that
+in view."
+
+"More unlikely things have happened, lad. You have got first to rise
+to be a General; then, what with your pay and your share in the sack
+of a city or two, and in other ways, you may come home with a purse
+full enough even for that. But it is time for us to be going down
+below. Matthew will think that we have forgotten him altogether."
+
+Another fortnight passed. Nellie had, to a considerable extent,
+recovered from the shock that she had suffered, but her manner was
+still quiet and subdued, her sallies were less lively, and her father
+noticed, with some surprise, that she no longer took any great
+interest in the gossip he retailed of the gay doings of the Court.
+
+"I can't think what has come over the girl," he said to his wife.
+"She seems well in health again, but she is changed a good deal,
+somehow. She is gentler and softer. I think she is all the better for
+it, but I miss her merry laugh and her way of ordering things about,
+as if her pleasure only were to be consulted."
+
+"I think she is very much improved," Mrs. Dowsett said decidedly;
+"though I can no more account for it than you can. She never used to
+have any care about the household, and now she assists me in my work,
+and is in all respects dutiful and obedient, and is not for ever bent
+upon gadding about as she was before. I only hope it will continue
+so, for, in truth, I have often sighed over the thought that she
+would make but a poor wife for an honest citizen."
+
+"Tut, tut, wife. It has never been as bad as that. Girls will be
+girls, and if they are a little vain of their good looks, that will
+soften down in time, when they get to have the charge of a household.
+You yourself, dame, were not so staid when I first wooed you, as you
+are now; and I think you had your own little share of vanity, as was
+natural enough in the prettiest girl in Plymouth."
+
+When Nellie was in the room Cyril did his best to save her from being
+obliged to take part in the conversation, by inducing Captain Dave to
+tell him stories of some of his adventures at sea.
+
+"You were saying, Captain Dave, that you had had several engagements
+with the Tunis Rovers," he said one evening. "Were they ever near
+taking you?"
+
+"They did take me once, lad, and that without an engagement; but,
+fortunately, I was not very long a prisoner. It was not a pleasant
+time though, John, was it?"
+
+"It was not, Captain Dave. I have been in sore danger of wreck
+several times, and in three big sea-fights; but never did I feel so
+out of heart as when I was lying, bound hand and foot, on the ballast
+in the hold of that corsair. No true sailor is afraid of being
+killed; but the thought that one might be all one's life a slave
+among the cruel heathen was enough to take the stiffness out of any
+man's courage."
+
+"But how was it that you were taken without an engagement, Captain
+Dave? And how did you make your escape?"
+
+"Well, lad, it was the carelessness of my first mate that did it; but
+as he paid for his fault with his life let us say naught against him.
+He was a handsome, merry young fellow, and had shipped as second
+mate, but my first had died of fever in the Levant, and of course he
+got the step, though all too young for the responsibility. We had met
+with some bad weather when south of Malta, and had had a heavy gale
+for three days, during which time we lost our main topmast, and badly
+strained the mizzen. The weather abated when we were off Pantellaria,
+which is a bare rock rising like a mountain peak out of the sea, and
+with only one place where a landing can be safely effected. As the
+gale had blown itself out, and it was likely we should have a spell
+of settled weather, I decided to anchor close in to the Island, and
+to repair damages.
+
+"We were hard at work for two days. All hands had had a stiff time of
+it, and the second night, having fairly repaired damages, I thought
+to give the crew a bit of a rest, and, not dreaming of danger,
+ordered that half each watch might remain below. John Wilkes was
+acting as my second mate. Pettigrew took the first watch; John had
+the middle watch; and then the other came up again. I turned out once
+or twice, but everything was quiet--we had not seen a sail all day.
+There was a light breeze blowing, but no chance of its increasing,
+and as we were well sheltered in the only spot where the anchorage
+was good, I own that I did not impress upon Pettigrew the necessity
+for any particular vigilance. Anyhow, just as morning was breaking I
+was woke by a shout. I ran out on deck, but as I did so there was a
+rush of dark figures, and I was knocked down and bound before I knew
+what had happened. As soon as I could think it over, it was clear
+enough. The Moor had been coming into the anchorage, and, catching
+sight of us in the early light, had run alongside and boarded us.
+
+"The watch, of course, must have been asleep. There was not a shot
+fired nor a drop of blood shed, for those on deck had been seized and
+bound before they could spring to their feet, and the crew had all
+been caught in their bunks. It was bitter enough. There was the
+vessel gone, and the cargo, and with them my savings of twenty years'
+hard work, and the prospect of slavery for life. The men were all
+brought aft and laid down side by side. Young Pettigrew was laid next
+to me.
+
+"'I wish to heaven, captain,' he said, 'you had got a pistol and your
+hand free, and would blow out my brains for me. It is all my fault,
+and hanging at the yard-arm is what I deserve. I never thought there
+was the slightest risk--not a shadow of it--and feeling a bit dozy,
+sat down for five minutes' caulk. Seeing that, no doubt the men
+thought they might do the same; and this is what has come of it. I
+must have slept half an hour at least, for there was no sail in sight
+when I went off, and this Moor must have come round the point and
+made us out after that.'
+
+"The corsair was lying alongside of us, her shrouds lashed to ours.
+There was a long jabbering among the Moors when they had taken off
+our hatches and seen that we were pretty well full up with cargo;
+then, after a bit, we were kicked, and they made signs for us to get
+on our feet and to cross over into their ship. The crew were sent
+down into the forward hold, and some men went down with them to tie
+them up securely. John Wilkes, Pettigrew, and myself were shoved down
+into a bit of a place below the stern cabin. Our legs were tied, as
+well as our arms. The trap was shut, and there we were in the dark.
+Of course I told Pettigrew that, though he had failed in his duty,
+and it had turned out badly, he wasn't to be blamed as if he had gone
+to sleep in sight of an enemy.
+
+"'I had never given the Moors a thought myself,' I said, 'and it was
+not to be expected that you would. But no sailor, still less an
+officer, ought to sleep on his watch, even if his ship is anchored in
+a friendly harbour, and you are to blame that you gave way to
+drowsiness. Still, even if you hadn't, it might have come to the same
+thing in the long run, for the corsair is a large one, and might have
+taken us even if you had made her out as she rounded the point.'
+
+"But, in spite of all I could say to cheer him, he took it to heart
+badly, and was groaning and muttering to himself when they left us in
+the dark, so I said to him,--
+
+"'Look here, lad, the best way to retrieve the fault you have
+committed is to try and get us out of the scrape. Set your brains to
+work, and let us talk over what had best be done. There is no time to
+be lost, for with a fair wind they can run from here to Tunis in
+four-and-twenty hours, and once there one may give up all hope. There
+are all our crew on board this ship. The Moor carried twice as many
+men as we do, but we may reckon they will have put more than half of
+them on board our barque; they don't understand her sails as well as
+they do their own, and will therefore want a strong prize crew on
+board.'
+
+"'I am ready to do anything, captain,' the young fellow said firmly.
+'If you were to give me the word, I would get into their magazine if
+I could, and blow the ship into the air.'
+
+"'Well, I don't know that I will give you that order, Pettigrew. To
+be a heathen's slave is bad, but, at any rate, I would rather try
+that life for a bit than strike my colours at once. Now let us think
+it over. In the first place we have to get rid of these ropes; then
+we have to work our way forward to the crew; and then to get on deck
+and fight for it. It is a stiff job, look at it which way one will,
+but at any rate it will be better to be doing something--even if we
+find at last that we can't get out of this dog-kennel--than to lie
+here doing nothing.'
+
+"After some talk, we agreed that it was not likely the Moors would
+come down to us for a long time, for they might reckon that we could
+hold on without food or water easy enough until they got to Tunis;
+having agreed as to that point, we set to work to get our ropes
+loose. Wriggling wouldn't do it, though we tried until the cords cut
+into our flesh.
+
+"At last Pettigrew said,--
+
+"'What a fool I am! I have got my knife hanging from a lanyard round
+my neck. It is under my blouse, so they did not notice it when they
+turned my pockets out.'
+
+"It was a long job to get at that knife. At last I found the string
+behind his neck, and, getting hold of it with my teeth, pulled till
+the knife came up to his throat. Then John got it in his teeth, and
+the first part of the job was done. The next was easy enough. John
+held the handle of the knife in his teeth and Pettigrew got hold of
+the blade in his, and between them they made a shift to open it;
+then, after a good deal of trouble, Pettigrew shifted himself till he
+managed to get the knife in his hands. I lay across him and worked
+myself backwards and forwards till the blade cut through the rope at
+my wrist; then, in two more minutes, we were free. Then we felt
+about, and found that the boarding between us and the main hold was
+old and shaky, and, with the aid of the knife and of our three
+shoulders, we made a shift at last to wrench one of the boards from
+its place.
+
+"Pettigrew, who was slightest, crawled through, and we soon got
+another plank down. The hold was half full of cargo, which, no doubt,
+they had taken out of some ship or other. We made our way forward
+till we got to the bulkhead, which, like the one we had got through,
+was but a make-shift sort of affair, with room to put your fingers
+between the planks. So we hailed the men and told them how we had got
+free, and that if they didn't want to work all their lives as slaves
+they had best do the same. They were ready enough, you may be sure,
+and, finding a passage between the planks wider in one place than the
+rest, we passed the knife through to them, and told them how to set
+about cutting the rope. They were a deal quicker over it than we had
+been, for in our place there had been no height where we could stand
+upright, but they were able to do so. Two men, standing back to back
+and one holding the knife, made quick work of cutting the rope.
+
+"We had plenty of strength now, and were not long in getting down a
+couple of planks. The first thing was to make a regular overhaul of
+the cargo--as well as we could do it, without shifting things and
+making a noise--to look for weapons or for anything that would come
+in handy for the fight. Not a thing could we find, but we came upon a
+lot of kegs that we knew, by their feel, were powder. If there had
+been arms and we could have got up, we should have done it at once,
+trusting to seize the ship before the other could come up to her
+help. But without arms it would be madness to try in broad daylight,
+and we agreed to wait till night, and to lie down again where we were
+before, putting the ropes round our legs again and our hands behind
+our backs, so that, if they did look in, everything should seem
+secure.
+
+"'We shall have plenty of time,' one of the sailors said, 'for they
+have coiled a big hawser down on the hatch.'
+
+"When we got back to our lazaret, we tried the hatch by which we had
+been shoved down, but the three of us couldn't move it any more than
+if it had been solid stone. We had a goodish talk over it, and it was
+clear that the hatchway of the main hold was our only chance of
+getting out; and we might find that a tough job.
+
+"'If we can't do it in any other way,' Pettigrew said, 'I should say
+we had best bring enough bales and things to fill this place up to
+within a foot of the top; then on that we might put a keg of powder,
+bore a hole in it, and make a slow match that would blow the cabin
+overhead into splinters, while the bales underneath it would prevent
+the force of the explosion blowing her bottom out.'
+
+"We agreed that, if the worst came to the worst, we would try this,
+and having settled that, went back to have a look at the main hatch.
+Feeling about round it, we found the points of the staple on which
+the hatchway bar worked above; they were not fastened with nuts as
+they would have been with us, but were simply turned over and
+clinched. We had no means of straightening them out, but we could cut
+through the woodwork round them. Setting to work at that, we took it
+by turns till we could see the light through the wood; then we left
+it to finish after dark. All this time we knew we were under sail by
+the rippling of the water along the sides. The men on board were
+evidently in high delight at their easy capture, and kicked up so
+much noise that there was no fear of their hearing any slight stir we
+made below.
+
+"Very carefully we brought packages and bales under the hatchway,
+till we built up a sort of platform about four feet below it. We
+reckoned that, standing as thick as we could there, and all lifting
+together, we could make sure of hoisting the hatchway up, and could
+then spring out in a moment.
+
+"Pettigrew still stuck to his plan, and talked us into carrying it
+out, both under the fore and aft hatches, pointing out that the two
+explosions would scare the crew out of their wits, that some would be
+killed, and many jump overboard in their fright. We came to see that
+the scheme was really a good one, so set all the crew to carry out
+the business, and they, working with stockinged feet, built up a
+platform under their hatch, as well as in our den aft. Then we made
+holes in two of the kegs of powder, and, shaking a little out, damped
+it, and rubbed it into two strips of cotton. Putting an end of a slow
+match into each of the holes, we laid the kegs in their places and
+waited.
+
+"We made two other fuses, so that a man could go forward, and another
+aft, to fire them both together. Two of the men were told off for
+this job, and the rest of us gathered under the main hatch, for we
+had settled now that if we heard them making any move to open the
+hatches we would fire the powder at once, whatever hour it was. In
+order to be ready, we cut deeper into the woodwork round the staple
+till there was but the thickness of a card remaining, and we could
+tell by this how light it was above.
+
+"It don't take long to tell you, but all this had taken us a good
+many hours; and so baked were we by the heat down below, and parched
+by thirst, that it was as much as I could do to persuade the men to
+wait until nightfall. At last we saw the light in the cut fade and
+darken. Again the men wanted to be at work, but I pointed out that if
+we waited till the crew had laid down on the deck, we might carry it
+through without losing a life, but if they were all awake, some of
+them would be sure to come at us with their weapons, and, unarmed as
+we were, might do us much harm. Still, though I succeeded in keeping
+the men quiet, I felt it was hard work to put a stopper on my own
+impatience.
+
+"At last even John here spoke up for action.
+
+"'I expect those who mean to sleep are off by this time,' he said.
+'As to reckoning upon them all going off, there ain't no hope of it;
+they will sit and jabber all night. They have made a good haul, and
+have taken a stout ship with a full hold, and five-and-twenty stout
+slaves, and that without losing a man. There won't be any sleep for
+most of them. I reckon it is two bells now. I do think, Captain, we
+might as well begin, for human nature can't stand this heat and
+thirst much longer.'
+
+"'All right, John,' I said. 'Now, lads, remember that when the first
+explosion comes--for we can't reckon on the two slow matches burning
+just the same time--we all heave together till we find the hatch
+lifts; then, when the second comes, we chuck it over and leap out. If
+you see a weapon, catch it up, but don't waste time looking about,
+but go at them with your fists. They will be scared pretty well out
+of their senses, and you will not be long before you all get hold of
+weapons of some sort. Now, Pettigrew, shove your blade up through the
+wood and cut round the staple. Now, Jack Brown, get out that
+tinder-box you said you had about you, and get a spark going.'
+
+"Three or four clicks were heard as the sailor struck his flint
+against the steel lid of the tinder-box.
+
+"'All right, yer honour,' he said, 'I have got the spark.'
+
+"Then the two hands we had given the slow matches to, lit them at the
+tinder-box, and went fore and aft, while as many of the rest of us as
+could crowded under the hatch.
+
+"'Are you ready, fore and aft?' I asked.
+
+"The two men hailed in reply.
+
+"'Light the matches, then, and come here.'
+
+"I suppose it was not above a minute, but it seemed ten before there
+was a tremendous explosion aft. The ship shook from stem to stern.
+There was a moment's silence, and then came yells and screams mixed
+with the sound of timbers and wreckage falling on the deck.
+
+"'Now lift,' I said. 'But not too high. That is enough--she is free.
+Wait for the other.'
+
+"There was a rush of feet overhead as the Moors ran forward. Then
+came the other explosion.
+
+"'Off with her, lads!' I shouted, and in a moment we flung the hatch
+off and leapt out with a cheer. There was no fighting to speak of.
+The officers had been killed by the first explosion under their
+cabin, and many of the men had either been blown overboard or lay
+crushed under the timber and wreckage.
+
+"The second explosion had been even more destructive, for it happened
+just as the crew, in their terror, had rushed forward. Many of those
+unhurt had sprung overboard at once, and as we rushed up most of the
+others did the same. There was no difficulty about arms, for the deck
+was strewn with weapons. Few of us, however, stopped to pick one up,
+but, half mad with rage and thirst, rushed forward at the Moors. That
+finished them; and before we got to them the last had sprung
+overboard. There was a rush on the part of the men to the scuttle
+butt.
+
+"'Take one drink, lads,' I shouted, 'and then to the buckets.'
+
+"It took us a quarter of an hour's hard work to put out the flames,
+and it was lucky the powder had blown so much of the decks up that we
+were enabled to get at the fire without difficulty, and so extinguish
+it before it got any great hold.
+
+"As soon as we had got it out I called a muster. There was only one
+missing;--it was Pettigrew, he being the first to leap out and rush
+aft. There had been but one shot fired by the Moors. One fellow, as
+he leapt on to the rail, drew his pistol from his belt and fired
+before he sprang overboard. In the excitement and confusion no one
+had noticed whether the shot took effect, for two or three men had
+stumbled and fallen over fragments of timber or bodies as we rushed
+aft. But now we searched, and soon came on the poor young fellow. The
+ball had struck him fair on the forehead, and he had fallen dead
+without a word or a cry.
+
+"There was, however, no time to grieve. We had got to re-capture the
+barque, which had been but a cable's length away when we rushed on
+deck; while we had been fighting the fire she had sailed on,
+regardless of the shrieks and shouts of the wretches who had sprung
+overboard from us. But she was still near us; both vessels had been
+running before the wind, for I had sent John Wilkes to the tiller the
+moment that we got possession of the corsair, and the barque was but
+about a quarter of a mile ahead.
+
+"The wind was light, and we were running along at four knots an hour.
+The Moors on board the _Kate_ had, luckily, been too scared by the
+explosion to think of getting one of the guns aft and peppering us
+while we were engaged in putting out the fire; and indeed, they could
+not have done us much harm if they had, for the high fo'castle hid us
+from their view.
+
+"As soon as we had found Pettigrew's body and laid it on the hatch we
+had thrown off, I went aft to John.
+
+"'Are we gaining on her, John?'
+
+"'No; she has drawn away a little. But this craft is not doing her
+best. I expect they wanted to keep close to the barque, and so kept
+her sheets in. If you square the sails, captain, we shall soon be
+upon her.'
+
+"That was quickly done, and then the first thing was to see that the
+men were all armed. We could have got a gun forward, but I did not
+want to damage the _Kate_, and we could soon see that we were
+closing on her. We shoved a bag of musket-balls into each cannon, so
+as to sweep her decks as we came alongside, for we knew that her crew
+was a good deal stronger than we were. Still, no one had any doubt as
+to the result, and it was soon evident that the Moors had got such a
+scare from the fate of their comrades that they had no stomach for
+fighting.
+
+"'They are lowering the boats,' John shouted.
+
+"'All the better,' I said. 'They would fight like rats caught in a
+trap if we came up to them, and though we are men enough to capture
+her, we might lose half our number.'
+
+"As soon as the boats reached the water they were all pulled up to
+the starboard side, and then the helm was put down, and the barque
+came round till she was broadside on to us.
+
+"'Down with your helm, John Wilkes!' I shouted. 'Hard down, man!'
+
+"John hesitated, for he had thought that I should have gone round to
+the other side of her and so have caught all the boats; but, in
+truth, I was so pleased at the thought of getting the craft back
+again that I was willing to let the poor villains go, since they were
+of a mind to do so without giving us trouble. We had punished them
+enough, and the shrieks and cries of those left behind to drown were
+ringing in my ears then. So we brought the corsair up quietly by the
+side of the _Kate_, lashed her there, and then, with a shout of
+triumph, sprang on board the old barky.
+
+"Not a Moor was left on board. The boats were four or five hundred
+yards away, rowing at the top of their speed. The men would have run
+to the guns, but I shouted,--
+
+"'Let them go, lads. We have punished them heavily enough; we have
+taken their ship, and sent half of them to Eternity. Let them take
+the tale back to Tunis how a British merchantman re-captured their
+ship. Now set to work to get some of the sail off both craft, and
+then, when we have got things snug, we will splice the main brace and
+have a meal.'
+
+"There is no more to tell. We carried the rover into Gibraltar and
+sold her and her cargo there. It brought in a good round sum, and,
+except for the death of Pettigrew, we had no cause to regret the
+corsair having taken us by surprise that night off Pantellaria."
+
+"That was an exciting business, indeed, Captain Dave," Cyril said,
+when the Captain brought his story to a conclusion. "If it had not
+been for your good fortune in finding those kegs of powder, and
+Pettigrew's idea of using them as he did, you and John might now, if
+you had been alive, have been working as slaves among the Moors."
+
+"Yes, lad. And not the least lucky thing was that Pettigrew's knife
+and Jack Brown's tinder-box had escaped the notice of the Moors. Jack
+had it in an inside pocket sewn into his shirt so as to keep it dry.
+It was a lesson to me, and for the rest of the time I was at sea I
+always carried a knife, with a lanyard round my neck, and stowed away
+in an inside pocket of my shirt, together with a tinder-box. They are
+two as useful things as a sailor can have about him, for, if cast
+upon a desert shore after a wreck, a man with a knife and tinder-box
+may make shift to live, when, without them, he and his comrades might
+freeze to death."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE FIRE IN THE SAVOY
+
+
+The next evening John Wilkes returned after an absence of but half an
+hour.
+
+"Why, John, you can but have smoked a single pipe! Did you not find
+your cronies there?"
+
+"I hurried back, Captain, because a man from one of the ships in the
+Pool landed and said there was a great light in the sky, and that it
+seemed to him it was either a big fire in the Temple, or in one of
+the mansions beyond the walls; so methought I would come in and ask
+Cyril if he would like to go with me to see what was happening."
+
+"I should like it much, John. I saw a great fire in Holborn just
+after I came over from France, and a brave sight it was, though very
+terrible; and I would willingly see one again."
+
+He took his hat and cloak and was about to be off, when Captain Dave
+called after him,--
+
+"Buckle on your sword, lad, and leave your purse behind you. A fire
+ever attracts thieves and cut-throats, who flock round in hopes of
+stealing something in the confusion. Besides, as I have told you
+before, you should never go out after dark without your sword, even
+were it but to cross the road."
+
+Cyril ran upstairs to his room, buckled on his weapon, and ran down
+again.
+
+"The Captain is right," John Wilkes said, as he joined him at the
+door. "After your two adventures, it would be folly for you to go out
+unarmed."
+
+"Oh, I expect they have forgotten about me long ago," Cyril laughed
+lightly.
+
+"I don't know," John Wilkes said seriously. "As to Marner's gang, I
+think that there is not much fear from them, unless that young rascal
+Robert and the scoundrel who was with him have returned from Holland;
+and that they are not likely to do for some time to come. But it
+would not be in human nature if the man you call John Harvey should
+take his defeat without trying to pay you back for that wound you
+gave him, for getting Mistress Nellie out of his hands, and for
+making him the laughing-stock of his comrades. I tell you that there
+is scarce an evening that I have gone out but some fellow passes me
+before I have gone twenty yards, and, as he brushes my sleeve, turns
+his head to look at me. But yesternight I said to one who so behaved,
+'Look here, mate, this is not the first time you have run against me.
+I warn you that if it happens again I will crack your head with my
+cudgel.' The fellow went off, muttering and grumbling, but I have no
+doubt that he and the others, for it certainly was not always the
+same man, were watching for you. To-night there was no one about, or,
+if there was, he did not come near me, and it may be that, finding
+you never leave the house after nightfall, they have decided to give
+it up for the present. But I thought I heard a footfall lower down
+the street, just as we came out of the house, and it is like enough
+that we are followed now."
+
+"At any rate, they would scarce attack two of us, John, and I should
+not mind if they did. It is a stab in the back that I am afraid of
+more than an open quarrel."
+
+"You may have a better swordsman to deal with next time. The fellow
+himself would scarcely care to cross swords with you again, but he
+would have no difficulty in getting half-a-dozen cut-throats from the
+purlieus of the Temple or Westminster, professional bullies, who are
+ready to use their swords to those who care to purchase them, and who
+would cut a throat for a few crowns, without caring a jot whose
+throat it was. Some of these fellows are disbanded soldiers. Some are
+men who were ruined in the wars. Some are tavern bullies--broken men,
+reckless and quarrelsome gamblers so long as they have a shilling in
+their pockets, but equally ready to take to the road or to rob a
+house when their pockets are empty."
+
+By this time they had passed the Exchange into Cheapside. Many people
+were hurrying in the same direction and wondering where the fire was.
+Presently one of the Fire Companies, with buckets, ladders, and axes,
+passed them at a run. Even in Cheapside the glow in the sky ahead
+could be plainly seen, but it was not until they passed St. Paul's
+and stood at the top of Ludgate Hill that the flames, shooting up
+high in the air, were visible. They were almost straight ahead.
+
+"It must be at the other end of Fleet Street," Cyril said, as they
+broke into a run.
+
+"Farther than that, lad. It must be one of the mansions along the
+Strand. A fire always looks closer than it is. I have seen a ship in
+flames that looked scarce a mile away, and yet, sailing with a brisk
+wind, it took us over an hour to come up to it."
+
+The crowd became thicker as they approached Temple Bar. The upper
+windows of the houses were all open, and women were leaning out
+looking at the sight. From every lane and alley men poured into the
+street and swelled the hurrying current. They passed through the Bar,
+expecting to find that the fire was close at hand. They had, however,
+some distance farther to go, for the fire was at a mansion in the
+Savoy. Another Fire Company came along when they were within a
+hundred yards of the spot.
+
+"Join in with them," Cyril said; and he and John Wilkes managed to
+push their way into the ranks, joining in the shout, "Way there, way!
+Make room for the buckets!"
+
+Aided by some of the City watch the Company made its way through the
+crowd, and hurried down the hill from the Strand into the Savoy. A
+party of the King's Guard, who had just marched up, kept back the
+crowd, and, when once in the open space, Cyril and his companion
+stepped out from the ranks and joined a group of people who had
+arrived before the constables and soldiers had come up.
+
+The mansion from which the fire had originated was in flames from top
+to bottom. The roof had fallen in. Volumes of flame and sparks shot
+high into the air, threatening the safety of several other houses
+standing near. The Fire Companies were working their hand-pumps,
+throwing water on to the doors and woodwork of these houses. Long
+lines of men were extended down to the edge of the river and passed
+the buckets backwards and forwards. City officials, gentlemen of the
+Court, and officers of the troops, moved to and fro shouting
+directions and superintending the work. From many of the houses the
+inhabitants were bringing out their furniture and goods, aided by the
+constables and spectators.
+
+"It is a grand sight," Cyril said, as, with his companion, he took
+his place in a quiet corner where a projecting portico threw a deep
+shadow.
+
+"It will soon be grander still. The wind is taking the sparks and
+flames westwards, and nothing can save that house over there. Do you
+see the little jets of flame already bursting through the roof?"
+
+"The house seems empty. There is not a window open."
+
+"It looks so, Cyril, but there may be people asleep at the back. Let
+us work round and have a look from behind."
+
+They turned down an alley, and in a minute or two came out behind the
+house. There was a garden and some high trees, but it was surrounded
+by a wall, and they could not see the windows.
+
+"Here, Cyril, I will give you a hoist up. If you stand on my
+shoulders, you can reach to the top of the wall and pull yourself up.
+Come along here to where that branch projects over. That's it. Now
+drop your cloak, and jump on to my back. That is right. Now get on to
+my shoulders."
+
+Cyril managed to get up.
+
+"I can just touch the top, but I can't get my fingers on to it."
+
+"Put your foot on my head. I will warrant it is strong enough to bear
+your weight."
+
+Cyril did as he was told, grasped the top of the wall, and, after a
+sharp struggle, seated himself astride on it. Just as he did so, a
+window in a wing projecting into the garden was thrown open, and a
+female voice uttered a loud scream for help. There was light enough
+for Cyril to see that the lower windows were all barred. He shouted
+back,--
+
+"Can't you get down the staircase?"
+
+"No; the house is full of smoke. There are some children here. Help!
+Help!" and the voice rose in a loud scream again.
+
+Cyril dropped down into the roadway by the side of John Wilkes.
+
+"There are some women and children in there, John. They can't get
+out. We must go round to the other side and get some axes and break
+down the door."
+
+Snatching up his cloak, he ran at full speed to his former position,
+followed by Wilkes. The roof of the house was now in flames. Many of
+the shutters and window-frames had also caught fire, from the heat.
+He ran up to two gentlemen who seemed to be directing the operations.
+
+"There are some women and children in a room at the back of that
+house," he said. "I have just been round there to see. They are in
+the second storey, and are crying for help."
+
+"I fear the ladders are too short."
+
+"I can tie two or three of them together," Wilkes said. "I am an old
+sailor and can answer for the knots."
+
+The firemen were already dashing water on the lower windows of the
+front of the house. A party with axes were cutting at the door, but
+this was so massive and solid that it resisted their efforts. One of
+the gentlemen went down to them. At his orders eight or ten men
+seized ladders. Cyril snatched some ropes from a heap that had been
+thrown down by the firemen, and the party, with one of the gentlemen,
+ran round to the back of the house. Two ladders were placed against
+the wall. John Wilkes, running up one of them, hauled several of the
+others up, and lowered them into the garden.
+
+The flames were now issuing from some of the upper windows. Cyril
+dropped from the wall into the garden, and, running close up to the
+house, shouted to three or four women, who were screaming loudly, and
+hanging so far out that he thought they would fall, that help was at
+hand, and that they would be speedily rescued. John Wilkes rapidly
+tied three of the short ladders together. These were speedily raised,
+but it was found that they just reached the window. One of the
+firemen ran up, while John set to work to prepare another long
+ladder. As there was no sign of life at any other window he laid it
+down on the grass when finished.
+
+"If you will put it up at the next window," Cyril said, "I will mount
+it. The woman said there were children in the house, and possibly I
+may find them. Those women are so frightened that they don't know
+what they are doing."
+
+One woman had already been got on to the other ladder, but instead of
+coming down, she held on tightly, screaming at the top of her voice,
+until the fireman with great difficulty got up by her side, wrenched
+her hands from their hold, threw her across his shoulder, and carried
+her down.
+
+The room was full of smoke as Cyril leapt into it, but he found that
+it was not, as he had supposed, the one in which the women at the
+next window were standing. Near the window, however, an elderly woman
+was lying on the floor insensible, and three girls of from eight to
+fourteen lay across her. Cyril thrust his head out of the window.
+
+"Come up, John," he shouted. "I want help."
+
+He lifted the youngest of the girls, and as he got her out of the
+window, John's head appeared above the sill.
+
+"Take her down quick, John," he said, as he handed the child to him.
+"There are three others. They are all insensible from the smoke."
+
+Filling his lungs with fresh air, he turned into the blinding smoke
+again, and speedily reappeared at the window with another of the
+girls. John was not yet at the bottom; he placed her with her head
+outside the window, and was back with the eldest girl by the time
+Wilkes was up again. He handed her to him, and then, taking the
+other, stepped out on to the ladder and followed Wilkes down.
+
+"Brave lad!" the gentleman said, patting him on the shoulder. "Are
+there any more of them?"
+
+"One more--a woman, sir. Do you go up, John. I will follow, for I
+doubt whether I can lift her by myself."
+
+He followed Wilkes closely up the ladder. There was a red glow now in
+the smoke. Flames were bursting through the door. John was waiting at
+the window.
+
+"Which way, lad? There is no seeing one's hand in the smoke."
+
+"Just in front, John, not six feet away. Hold your breath."
+
+They dashed forward together, seized the woman between them, and,
+dragging her to the window, placed her head and shoulders on the
+sill.
+
+"You go first, John. She is too heavy for me," Cyril gasped.
+
+John stumbled out, half suffocated, while Cyril thrust his head as
+far as he could outside the window.
+
+"That is it, John; you take hold of her shoulder, and I will help you
+get her on to your back."
+
+Between them they pushed her nearly out, and then, with Cyril's
+assistance, John got her across his shoulders. She was a heavy woman,
+and the old sailor had great difficulty in carrying her down. Cyril
+hung far out of the window till he saw him put his foot on the
+ground; then he seized a rung of the ladder, swung himself out on to
+it, and was soon down.
+
+For a time he felt confused and bewildered, and was conscious that if
+he let go the ladder he should fall. He heard a voice say, "Bring one
+of those buckets of water," and directly afterwards, "Here, lad, put
+your head into this," and a handful of water was dashed into his
+face. It revived him, and, turning round, he plunged his head into a
+bucket that a man held up for him. Then he took a long breath or two,
+pressed the water from his hair, and felt himself again. The women at
+the other window had by this time been brought down. A door in the
+garden wall had been broken down with axes, and the women and girls
+were taken away to a neighbouring house.
+
+"There is nothing more to do here," the gentlemen said. "Now, men,
+you are to enter the houses round about. Wherever a door is fastened,
+break it in. Go out on to the roofs with buckets, put out the sparks
+as fast as they fall. I will send some more men to help you at once."
+He then put his hand on Cyril's shoulder, and walked back with him to
+the open space.
+
+"We have saved them all," he said to the other gentleman who had now
+come up, "but it has been a close touch, and it was only by the
+gallantry of this young gentleman and another with him that the lives
+of three girls and a woman were rescued. I think all the men that can
+be spared had better go round to the houses in that direction. You
+see, the wind is setting that way, and the only hope of stopping the
+progress of the fire is to get plenty of men with buckets out on the
+roofs and at all the upper windows."
+
+The other gentleman gave the necessary orders to an officer.
+
+"Now, young sir, may I ask your name?" the other said to Cyril.
+
+"Cyril Shenstone, sir," he replied respectfully; for he saw that the
+two men before him were persons of rank.
+
+"Shenstone? I know the name well. Are you any relation of Sir Aubrey
+Shenstone?"
+
+"He was my father, sir."
+
+"A brave soldier, and a hearty companion," the other said warmly. "He
+rode behind me scores of times into the thick of the fight. I am
+Prince Rupert, lad."
+
+Cyril doffed his hat in deep respect. His father had always spoken of
+the Prince in terms of boundless admiration, and had over and over
+again lamented that he had not been able to join the Prince in his
+exploits at sea.
+
+"What has become of my old friend?" the Prince asked.
+
+"He died six months ago, Prince."
+
+"I am sorry to hear it. I did hear that, while I was away, he had
+been suing at Court. I asked for him, but could get no tidings of his
+whereabouts. But we cannot speak here. Ask for me to-morrow at
+Whitehall. Do you know this gentleman?"
+
+"No, sir, I have not the honour."
+
+"This is the Duke of Albemarle, my former enemy, but now my good
+friend. You will like the lad no worse, my Lord, because his father
+more than once rode with me into the heart of your ranks."
+
+"Certainly not," the Duke said. "It is clear that the son will be as
+gallant a gentleman as his father was before him, and, thank God! it
+is not against Englishmen that he will draw his sword. You may count
+me as your friend, sir, henceforth."
+
+Cyril bowed deeply and retired, while Prince Rupert and the Duke
+hurried away again to see that the operations they had directed were
+properly carried out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE DUTCH
+
+
+After leaving Prince Rupert, Cyril returned to John Wilkes, who was
+standing a short distance away.
+
+"John! John!" he said eagerly, as he joined him. "Who do you think
+those gentlemen are?"
+
+"I don't know, lad. It is easy to see that they are men of importance
+by the way they order everyone about."
+
+"The one who went with us to the garden is Prince Rupert; the other
+is the Duke of Albemarle. And the Prince has told me to call upon him
+to-morrow at Whitehall."
+
+"That is a stroke of luck, indeed, lad, and right glad am I that I
+took it into my head to fetch you out to see the fire. But more than
+that, you have to thank yourself, for, indeed, you behaved right
+gallantly. You nearly had the Prince for your helper, for just before
+I went up the ladder the last time he stepped forward and said to me,
+'You must be well-nigh spent, man. I will go up this time.' However,
+I said that I would finish the work, and so, without more ado, I
+shook off the hand he had placed on my arm, and ran up after you.
+Well, it is a stroke of good fortune to you, lad, that you should
+have shown your courage under his eye--no one is more able to
+appreciate a gallant action. This may help you a long way towards
+bringing about the aim you were talking about the other night, and I
+may live to see you Sir Cyril Shenstone yet."
+
+"You can see me that now," Cyril said, laughing. "My father was a
+baronet, and therefore at his death I came into the title, though I
+am not silly enough to go about the City as Sir Cyril Shenstone when
+I am but a poor clerk. It will be time enough to call myself 'Sir'
+when I see some chance of buying back our estate, though, indeed, I
+have thought of taking the title again when I embark on foreign
+service, as it may help me somewhat in obtaining promotion. But do
+not say anything about it at home. I am Cyril Shenstone, and have
+been fortunate enough to win the friendship of Captain Dave, and I
+should not be so comfortable were there any change made in my
+position in the family. A title is an empty thing, John, unless there
+are means to support it, and plain Cyril Shenstone suits my position
+far better than a title without a guinea in my purse. Indeed, till
+you spoke just now, I had well-nigh forgotten that I have the right
+to call myself 'Sir.'"
+
+They waited for two hours longer. At the end of that time four
+mansions had been burnt to the ground, but the further progress of
+the flames had been effectually stayed. The crowd had already begun
+to scatter, and as they walked eastward the streets were full of
+people making their way homeward. The bell of St. Paul's was striking
+midnight as they entered. The Captain and his family had long since
+gone off to bed.
+
+"This reminds one of that last business," John whispered, as they
+went quietly upstairs.
+
+"It does, John. But it has been a pleasanter evening in every way
+than those fruitless watches we kept in the street below."
+
+The next morning the story of the fire was told, and excited great
+interest.
+
+"Who were the girls you saved, Cyril?" Nellie asked.
+
+"I don't know. I did not think of asking to whom the house belonged,
+nor, indeed, was there anyone to ask. Most of the people were too
+busy to talk to, and the rest were spectators who had, like
+ourselves, managed to make their way in through the lines of the
+soldiers and watch."
+
+"Were they ladies?"
+
+"I really don't know," Cyril laughed. "The smoke was too thick to see
+anything about them, and I should not know them if I met them to-day;
+and, besides, when you only see a young person in her nightdress, it
+is hard to form any opinion as to her rank."
+
+Nellie joined in the laugh.
+
+"I suppose not, Cyril. It might make a difference to you, though.
+Those houses in the Savoy are almost all the property of noblemen,
+and you might have gained another powerful friend if they had been
+the daughters of one."
+
+"I should not think they were so," Cyril said. "There seemed to be no
+one else in the house but three maid servants and the woman who was
+in the room with them. I should say the family were all away and the
+house left in charge of servants. The woman may have been a
+housekeeper, and the girls her children; besides, even had it been
+otherwise, it was merely by chance that I helped them out. It was
+John who tied the ladders together and who carried the girls down,
+one by one. If I had been alone I should only have had time to save
+the youngest, for I am not accustomed to running up and down ladders,
+as he is, and by the time I had got her down it would have been too
+late to have saved the others. Indeed, I am not sure that we did save
+them; they were all insensible, and, for aught I know, may not have
+recovered from the effects of the smoke. My eyes are smarting even
+now."
+
+"And so you are to see Prince Rupert to-day, Cyril?" Captain Dave
+said. "I am afraid we shall be losing you, for he will, I should say,
+assuredly appoint you to one of his ships if you ask him."
+
+"That would be good fortune indeed," Cyril said. "I cannot but think
+myself that he may do so, though it would be almost too good to be
+true. Certainly he spoke very warmly, and, although he may not
+himself have the appointment of his officers, a word from him at the
+Admiralty would, no doubt, be sufficient. At any rate, it is a great
+thing indeed to have so powerful a friend at Court. It may be that,
+at the end of another two years, we may be at war with some other
+foreign power, and that I may be able to enter our own army instead
+of seeking service abroad. If not, much as I should like to go to sea
+to fight against the Dutch, service in this Fleet would be of no real
+advantage to me, for the war may last but for a short time, and as
+soon as it is over the ships will be laid up again and the crews
+disbanded."
+
+"Ay, but if you find the life of a sailor to your liking, Cyril, you
+might do worse than go into the merchant service. I could help you
+there, and you might soon get the command of a trader. And, let me
+tell you, it is a deal better to walk the decks as captain than it is
+to be serving on shore with twenty masters over you; and there is
+money to be made, too. A captain is always allowed to take in a
+certain amount of cargo on his own account; that was the way I
+scraped together money enough to buy my own ship at last, and to be
+master as well as owner, and there is no reason why you should not do
+the same."
+
+"Thank you, Captain Dave. I will think it over when I find out
+whether I like a sea life, but at present it seems to me that my
+inclinations turn rather towards the plan that my father recommended,
+and that, for the last two years, I have always had before me. You
+said, the other day, you had fought the Dutch, John?"
+
+"Ay, ay, Master Cyril; but, in truth, it was from no wish or desire
+on my part that I did so. I had come ashore from Captain Dave's ship
+here in the Pool, and had been with some of my messmates who had
+friends in Wapping and had got three days' leave ashore, as the cargo
+we expected had not come on board the ship. We had kept it up a bit,
+and it was latish when I was making my way down to the stairs. I
+expect that I was more intent on making a straight course down the
+street than in looking about for pirates, when suddenly I found
+myself among a lot of men. One of them seized me by the arm.
+
+"'Hands off, mate!' says I, and I lifted my fist to let fly at him,
+when I got a knock at the back of the head. The next thing I knew
+was, I was lying in the hold of a ship, and, as I made out presently,
+with a score of others, some of whom were groaning, and some cursing.
+
+"'Hullo, mates!' says I. 'What port is this we are brought up in?'
+
+"'We are on board the _Tartar_,' one said.
+
+"I knew what that meant, for the _Tartar_ was the receiving hulk
+where they took the pressed men.
+
+"The next morning, without question asked, we were brought up on
+deck, tumbled into a small sloop, and taken down to Gravesend, and
+there put, in batches of four or five, into the ships of war lying
+there. It chanced that I was put on board Monk's flagship the
+_Resolution_. And that is how it was I came to fight the Dutch."
+
+"What year was that in, John?"
+
+"'53--in May it was. Van Tromp, at that time, with ninety-eight ships
+of war, and six fire-ships, was in the Downs, and felt so much Master
+of the Sea that he sailed in and battered Dover Castle."
+
+"Then you were in the fight of the 2nd of June?"
+
+"Ay; and in that of the 31st of July, which was harder still."
+
+"Tell me all about it, John."
+
+"Lor' bless you, sir, there is nothing to tell as far as I was
+concerned. I was at one of the guns on the upper deck, but I might as
+well have been down below for anything I saw of it. It was just load
+and fire, load and fire. Sometimes, through the clouds of smoke, one
+caught a sight of the Dutchman one was firing at; more often one
+didn't. There was no time for looking about, I can tell you, and if
+there had been time there was nothing to see. It was like being in a
+big thunderstorm, with thunderbolts falling all round you, and a
+smashing and a grinding and a ripping that would have made your hair
+stand on end if you had only had time to think of it. But we hadn't
+time. It was 'Now then, my hearties, blaze away! Keep it up, lads!
+The Dutchmen have pretty near had enough of it!' And then, at last,
+'They are running, lads. Run in your guns, and tend the sails.' And
+then a cheer as loud as we could give--which wasn't much, I can tell
+you, for we were spent with labour, and half choked with powder, and
+our tongues parched up with thirst."
+
+"How many ships had you?"
+
+"We had ninety-five war-ships, and five fire-ships, so the game was
+an equal one. They had Tromp and De Ruyter to command them, and we
+had Monk and Deane. Both Admirals were on board our ship, and in the
+very first broadside the Dutch fired a chain-shot, and pretty well
+cut Admiral Deane in two. I was close to him at the time. Monk, who
+was standing by his side, undid his own cloak in a moment, threw it
+over his comrade, and held up his hand to the few of us that had seen
+what had happened, to take no notice of it.
+
+"It was a good thing that Deane and Monk were on board the same ship.
+If it had not been so, Deane's flag would have been hauled down and
+all the Fleet would have known of his death, which, at the
+commencement of the fight, would have greatly discouraged the men.
+
+"They told me, though I know naught about it, that Rear-Admiral
+Lawson charged with the Blue Squadron right through the Dutch line,
+and so threw them into confusion. However, about three o'clock, the
+fight having begun at eleven, Van Tromp began to draw off, and we got
+more sail on the _Resolution_ and followed them for some hours, they
+making a sort of running fight of it, till one of their big ships
+blew up, about nine in the evening, when they laid in for shore.
+Blake came up in the night with eighteen ships. The Dutch tried to
+draw off, but at eight o'clock we came up to them, and, after
+fighting for four hours, they hauled off and ran, in great confusion,
+for the flats, where we could not follow them, and so they escaped to
+Zeeland. We heard that they had six of their best ships sunk, two
+blown up and eleven taken, but whether it was so or not I knew not,
+for, in truth, I saw nothing whatever of the matter.
+
+"We sailed to the Texel, and there blocked in De Ruyter's squadron of
+twenty-five large ships, and we thought that there would be no more
+fighting, for the Dutch had sent to England to ask for terms of
+peace. However, we were wrong, and, to give the Dutchmen their due,
+they showed resolution greater than we gave them credit for, for we
+were astonished indeed to hear, towards the end of July, that Van
+Tromp had sailed out again with upwards of ninety ships.
+
+"On the 29th they came in view, and we sailed out to engage them, but
+they would not come to close quarters, and it was seven at night
+before the _Resolution_, with some thirty other ships, came up to
+them and charged through their line. By the time we had done that it
+was quite dark, and we missed them altogether and sailed south,
+thinking Van Tromp had gone that way; but, instead, he had sailed
+north, and in the morning we found he had picked up De Ruyter's
+fleet, and was ready to fight. But we had other things to think of
+besides fighting that day, for the wind blew so hard that it was as
+much as we could do to keep off the shore, and if the gale had
+continued a good part of the ships would have left their bones there.
+However, by nightfall the gale abated somewhat, and by the next
+morning the sea had gone down sufficient for the main deck ports to
+be opened. So the Dutch, having the weather gauge, sailed down to
+engage us.
+
+"I thought it rough work in the fight two months before, but it was
+as nothing to this. To begin with, the Dutch fire-ships came down
+before the wind, and it was as much as we could do to avoid them.
+They did, indeed, set the _Triumph_ on fire, and most of the crew
+jumped overboard; but those that remained managed to put out the
+flames.
+
+"Lawson, with the Blue Squadron, began the fighting, and that so
+briskly, that De Ruyter's flagship was completely disabled and towed
+out of the fight. However, after I had seen that, our turn began, and
+I had no more time to look about. I only know that ship after ship
+came up to engage us, seeming bent upon lowering Monk's flag. Three
+Dutch Admirals, Tromp, Evertson, and De Ruyter, as I heard
+afterwards, came up in turn. We did not know who they were, but we
+knew they were Admirals by their flags, and pounded them with all our
+hearts; and so good was our aim that I myself saw two of the
+Admirals' flags brought down, and they say that all three of them
+were lowered. But you may guess the pounding was not all on our side,
+and we suffered very heavily.
+
+"Four men were hurt at the gun I worked, and nigh half the crew were
+killed or wounded. Two of our masts were shot away, many of our guns
+disabled, and towards the end of the fight we were towed out of the
+line. How the day would have gone if Van Tromp had continued in
+command of the Dutch, I cannot say, but about noon he was shot
+through the body by a musket-ball, and this misfortune greatly
+discouraged the Dutchmen, who fight well as long as things seem to be
+going their way, but lose heart very easily when they think the
+matter is going against them.
+
+"By about two o'clock the officers shouted to us that the Dutch were
+beginning to draw off, and it was not long before they began to fly,
+each for himself, and in no sort of order. Some of our light
+frigates, that had suffered less than the line-of-battle ships,
+followed them until the one Dutch Admiral whose flag was left flying,
+turned and fought them till two or three of our heavier ships came up
+and he was sunk.
+
+"We could see but little of the chase, having plenty of work, for,
+had a gale come on, our ship, and a good many others, would assuredly
+have been driven ashore, in the plight we were in. Anyhow, at night
+their ships got into the Texel, and our vessels, which had been
+following them, anchored five or six leagues out, being afraid of the
+sands. Altogether we had burnt or sunk twenty-six of their ships of
+war, while we lost only two frigates, both of which were burnt by
+their fire-ships.
+
+"As it was certain that they would not come out for some time again,
+and many of our ships being unfit for further contention until
+repaired, we returned to England, and I got my discharge and joined
+Captain Dave again a fortnight later, when his ship came up the
+river.
+
+"Monk is a good fighter, Master Cyril, and should have the command of
+the Fleet instead of, as they say, the Duke of York. Although he is
+called General, and not Admiral, he is as good a sea-dog as any of
+them, and he can think as well as fight.
+
+"Among our ships that day were several merchantmen that had been
+taken up for the service at the last moment and had guns slapped on
+board, with gunners to work them. Some of them had still their
+cargoes in the hold, and Monk, thinking that it was likely the
+captains would think more of saving their ships and goods than of
+fighting the Dutch, changed the captains all round, so that no man
+commanded his own vessel. And the consequence was that, as all
+admitted, the merchantmen were as willing to fight as any, and bore
+themselves right stoutly.
+
+"Don't you think, Master Cyril, if you go with the Fleet, that you
+are going to see much of what goes on. It will be worse for you than
+it was for me, for there was I, labouring and toiling like a dumb
+beast, with my mind intent upon working the gun, and paying no heed
+to the roar and confusion around, scarce even noticing when one
+beside me was struck down. You will be up on the poop, having naught
+to do but to stand with your hand on your sword hilt, and waiting to
+board an enemy or to drive back one who tries to board you. You will
+find that you will be well-nigh dazed and stupid with the din and
+uproar."
+
+"It does not sound a very pleasant outlook, John," Cyril laughed.
+"However, if I ever do get into an engagement, I will think of what
+you have said, and will try and prevent myself from getting either
+dazed or stupid; though, in truth, I can well imagine that it is
+enough to shake anyone's nerves to stand inactive in so terrible a
+scene."
+
+"You will have to take great care of yourself, Cyril," Nellie said
+gravely.
+
+Captain Dave and John Wilkes both burst into a laugh.
+
+"How is he to take care of himself, Nellie?" her father said. "Do you
+suppose that a man on deck would be any the safer were he to stoop
+down with his head below the rail, or to screw himself up on the
+leeward side of a mast? No, no, lass; each man has to take his share
+of danger, and the most cowardly runs just as great a risk as the man
+who fearlessly exposes himself."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+PRINCE RUPERT
+
+
+The next day Cyril went down to breakfast in what he had often
+called, laughingly, his Court suit. This suit he had had made for him
+a short time before his father's death, to replace the one he had
+when he came over, that being altogether outgrown. He had done so to
+please Sir Aubrey, who had repeatedly expressed his anxiety that
+Cyril should always be prepared to take advantage of any good fortune
+that might befall him. This was the first time he had put it on.
+
+"Well, truly you look a pretty fellow, Cyril," the Captain said, as
+he entered. "Don't you think so, Nellie?"
+
+The girl nodded.
+
+"I don't know that I like him better than in his black suit, father.
+But he looks very well."
+
+"Hullo, lass! This is a change of opinion, truly! For myself I care
+not one jot for the fashion of a man's clothes, but I had thought
+that you always inclined to gay attire, and Cyril now would seem
+rather to belong to the Court than to the City."
+
+"If it had been any other morning, father, I might have thought more
+of Cyril's appearance; but what you were telling us but now of the
+continuance of the Plague is so sad, that mourning, rather than Court
+attire, would seem to be the proper wear."
+
+"Is the Plague spreading fast, then, Captain Dave?"
+
+"No; but it is not decreasing, as we had hoped it would do. From the
+beginning of December the deaths rose steadily until the end of
+January. While our usual death-rate is under three hundred it went to
+four hundred and seventy-four. Then the weather setting in very
+severe checked it till the end of February, and we all hoped that the
+danger was over, and that we should be rid of the distemper before
+the warm weather set in; but for the last fortnight there has been a
+rise rather than a fall--not a large one, but sufficient to cause
+great alarm that it will continue until warm weather sets in, and may
+then grow into terrible proportions. So far, there has been no case
+in the City, and it is only in the West that it has any hold, the
+deaths being altogether in the parishes of St. Giles's, St. Andrew's,
+St. Bride's, and St. James's, Clerkenwell. Of course, there have been
+cases now and then for many years past, and nine years ago it spread
+to a greater extent than now, and were we at the beginning of winter
+instead of nearing summer there would be no occasion to think much of
+the matter; but, with the hot weather approaching, and the tales we
+hear of the badness of the Plague in foreign parts one cannot but
+feel anxious."
+
+"And they say, too, that there have been prophecies of grievous evils
+in London," Nellie put in.
+
+"We need not trouble about that," her father replied. "The
+Anabaptists prophesied all sorts of evils in Elizabeth's time, but
+naught came of it. There are always men and women with disordered
+minds, who think that they are prophets, and have power to see
+further into the future than other people, but no one minds them or
+thinks aught of their wild words save at a time like the present,
+when there is a danger of war or pestilence. You remember Bill Vokes,
+John?"
+
+"I mind him, yer honour. A poor, half-crazed fellow he was, and yet a
+good seaman, who would do his duty blow high or blow low. He sailed
+six voyages with us, Captain."
+
+"And never one of them without telling the crew that the ship would
+never return to port. He had had dreams about it, and the black cat
+had mewed when he left home, and he saw the three magpies in a tree
+hard by when he stepped from the door, and many other portents of
+that kind. The first time he well-nigh scared some of the crew, but
+after the first voyage--from which we came back safely, of
+course--they did but laugh at him; and as in all other respects he
+was a good sailor, and a willing fellow, I did not like to discharge
+him, for, once the men found out that his prophecies came to naught,
+they did no harm, and, indeed, they afforded them much amusement.
+Just as it is on board a ship, so it is elsewhere. If our vessel had
+gone down that first voyage, any man who escaped drowning would have
+said that Bill Vokes had not been without reason in his warnings, and
+that it was nothing less than flying in the face of Providence, to
+put to sea when the loss of the ship had been so surely foretold. So,
+on shore, the fools or madmen who have dreams and visions are not
+heeded when times are good, and men's senses sound, whereas, in
+troubled times, men take their ravings to heart. If all the
+scatterbrains had a good whipping at the pillory it would be well,
+both for them and for the silly people who pay attention to their
+ravings."
+
+A few minutes later, Cyril took a boat to the Whitehall steps, and
+after some delay was shown up to Prince Rupert's room.
+
+"None the worse for your exertions yester-even, young gentleman, I
+hope?" the Prince said, shaking hands with him warmly.
+
+"None, sir. The exertion was not great, and it was but the
+inconvenience of the smoke that troubled me in any way."
+
+"Have you been to inquire after the young ladies who owe their lives
+to you?"
+
+"No, sir; I know neither their names nor their condition, nor, had I
+wished it, could I have made inquiries, for I know not whither they
+were taken."
+
+"I sent round early this morning," the Prince said, "and heard that
+they were as well as might be expected after the adventure they went
+through. And now tell me about yourself, and what you have been
+doing. 'Tis one of the saddest things to me, since I returned to
+England, that so many good men who fought by my side have been made
+beggars in the King's service, and that I could do naught for them.
+'Tis a grievous business, and yet I see not how it is to be mended.
+The hardest thing is, that those who did most for the King's service
+are those who have suffered most deeply. None of those who were
+driven to sell their estates at a fraction of their value, in order
+to raise money for the King's treasury or to put men into the field,
+have received any redress. It would need a vast sum to buy back all
+their lands, and Parliament would not vote money for that purpose;
+nor would it be fair to turn men out of the estates that they bought
+and paid for. Do you not think so?" he asked suddenly, seeing, by the
+lad's face, that he was not in agreement with him.
+
+"No, sir; it does not seem to me that it would be unfair. These men
+bought the lands for, as you say, but a fraction of their value; they
+did so in the belief that Parliament would triumph, and their
+purchase was but a speculation grounded on that belief. They have had
+the enjoyment of the estates for years, and have drawn from them an
+income which has, by this time, brought them in a sum much exceeding
+that which they have adventured, and it does not seem to me that
+there would be any hardship whatever were they now called upon to
+restore them to their owners. 'Tis as when a man risks his money in a
+venture at sea. If all goes as he hopes he will make a great profit
+on his money. If the ship is cast away or taken by pirates, it is
+unfortunate, but he has no reason to curse his ill-luck if the ship
+had already made several voyages which have more than recouped the
+money he ventured."
+
+"Well and stoutly argued!" the Prince said approvingly. "But you must
+remember, young sir, that the King, on his return, was by no means
+strongly seated on the throne. There was the Army most evilly
+affected towards him; there were the Puritans, who lamented the upset
+of the work they or their fathers had done. All those men who had
+purchased the estates of the Royalists had families and friends, and,
+had these estates been restored to their rightful owners, there might
+have been an outbreak that would have shaken the throne again. Many
+would have refused to give up possession, save to force; and where
+was the force to come from? Even had the King had troops willing to
+carry out such a measure, they might have been met by force, and had
+blood once been shed, none can say how the trouble might have spread,
+or what might have been the end of it. And now, lad, come to your own
+fortunes."
+
+Cyril briefly related the story of his life since his return to
+London, stating his father's plan that he should some day take
+foreign service.
+
+"You have shown that you have a stout heart, young sir, as well as a
+brave one, and have done well, indeed, in turning your mind to earn
+your living by such talents as you have, rather than in wasting your
+time in vain hopes and in ceaseless importunities for justice. It may
+be that you have acted wisely in thinking of taking service on the
+Continent, seeing that we have no Army; and when the time comes, I
+will further your wishes to the utmost of my power. But in the
+meantime there is opportunity for service at home, and I will gladly
+appoint you as a Volunteer in my own ship. There are many gentlemen
+going with me in that capacity, and it would be of advantage to you,
+if, when I write to some foreign prince on your behalf, I can say
+that you have fought under my eye."
+
+"Thank you greatly, Prince. I have been wishing, above all things,
+that I could join the Fleet, and it would be, indeed, an honour to
+begin my career under the Prince of whom I heard so often from my
+father."
+
+Prince Rupert looked at his watch.
+
+"The King will be in the Mall now," he said. "I will take you across
+and present you to him. It is useful to have the _entrée_ at Court,
+though perhaps the less you avail yourself of it the better."
+
+So saying, he rose, put on his hat, and, throwing his cloak over his
+shoulder, went across to the Mall, asking questions of Cyril as he
+went, and extracting from him a sketch of the adventure of his being
+kidnapped and taken to Holland.
+
+Presently they arrived at the spot where the King, with three or four
+nobles and gentlemen, had been playing. Charles was in a good humour,
+for he had just won a match with the Earl of Rochester.
+
+"Well, my grave cousin," he said merrily, "what brings you out of
+your office so early? No fresh demands for money, I hope?"
+
+"Not at present. And indeed, it is not to you that I should come on
+such a quest, but to the Duke of York."
+
+"And he would come to me," said the King; "so it is the same thing."
+
+"I have come across to present to your Majesty a very gallant young
+gentleman, who yesterday evening, at the risk of his life, saved the
+three daughters of the Earl of Wisbech from being burned at the fire
+in the Savoy, where his Lordship's mansion was among those that were
+destroyed. I beg to present to your Majesty Sir Cyril Shenstone, the
+son of the late Sir Aubrey Shenstone, a most gallant gentleman, who
+rode under my banner in many a stern fight in the service of your
+royal father."
+
+"I knew him well," the King said graciously, "but had not heard of
+his death. I am glad to hear that his son inherits his bravery. I
+have often regretted deeply that it was out of my power to requite,
+in any way, the services Sir Aubrey rendered, and the sacrifices he
+made for our House."
+
+His brow clouded a little, and he looked appealingly at Prince
+Rupert.
+
+"Sir Cyril Shenstone has no more intention of asking for favours than
+I have, Charles," the latter said. "He is going to accompany me as a
+Volunteer against the Dutch, and if the war lasts I shall ask for a
+better appointment for him."
+
+"That he shall have," the King said warmly. "None have a better claim
+to commissions in the Navy and Army than sons of gentlemen who fought
+and suffered in the cause of our royal father. My Lords," he said to
+the little group of gentlemen, who had been standing a few paces away
+while this conversation had been going on, "I would have you know Sir
+Cyril Shenstone, the son of a faithful adherent of my father, and
+who, yesterday evening, saved the lives of the three daughters of My
+Lord of Wisbech in the fire at the Savoy. He is going as a Volunteer
+with my cousin Rupert when he sails against the Dutch."
+
+The gentlemen all returned Cyril's salute courteously.
+
+"He will be fortunate in beginning his career under the eyes of so
+brave a Prince," the Earl of Rochester said, bowing to Prince Rupert.
+
+"It would be well if you all," the latter replied bluntly, "were to
+ship in the Fleet for a few months instead of wasting your time in
+empty pleasures."
+
+The Earl smiled. Prince Rupert's extreme disapproval of the life at
+Court was well known.
+
+"We cannot all be Bayards, Prince, and most of us would, methinks, be
+too sick at sea to be of much assistance, were we to go. But if the
+Dutchmen come here, which is not likely--for I doubt not, Prince,
+that you will soon send them flying back to their own ports--we shall
+all be glad to do our best to meet them when they land."
+
+The Prince made no reply, but, turning to the King, said,--
+
+"We will not detain you longer from your game, Cousin Charles. I have
+plenty to do, with all the complaints as to the state of the ships,
+and the lack of stores and necessaries."
+
+"Remember, I shall be glad to see you at my _levées_, Sir Cyril,"
+the King said, holding out his hand. "Do not wait for the Prince to
+bring you, for if you do you will wait long."
+
+Cyril doffed his hat, raised the King's hand to his lips, then, with
+a deep bow and an expression of thanks, followed Prince Rupert, who
+was already striding away.
+
+"You might have been better introduced," the Prince said when he
+overtook him. "Still it is better to be badly introduced than to have
+no introduction at all. I am too old for the flippancies of the
+Court. You had better show yourself there sometimes; you will make
+friends that may be useful. By the way, I have not your address, and
+it may be a fortnight or more before the _Henrietta_ is ready to
+take her crew on board." He took out his tablet and wrote down the
+address. "Come and see me if there is anything you want to ask me. Do
+not let the clerks keep you out with the pretence that I am busy, but
+send up your name to me, and tell them that I have ordered it shall
+be taken up, however I may be engaged."
+
+Having no occasion for haste, Cyril walked back to the City after
+leaving Prince Rupert. A great change had taken place in his fortunes
+in the last twenty-four hours. Then he had no prospects save
+continuing his work in the City for another two years, and even after
+that time he foresaw grave difficulties in the way of his obtaining a
+commission in a foreign army; for Sir John Parton, even if ready to
+carry out the promise he had formerly made him, might not have
+sufficient influence to do so. Now he was to embark in Prince
+Rupert's own ship. He would be the companion of many other gentlemen
+going out as Volunteers, and, at a bound, spring from the position of
+a writer in the City to that occupied by his father before he became
+involved in the trouble between King and Parliament. He was already
+admitted to Court, and Prince Rupert himself had promised to push his
+fortunes abroad.
+
+And yet he felt less elated than he would have expected from his
+sudden change. The question of money was the cloud that dulled the
+brightness of his prospects. As a Volunteer he would receive no pay,
+and yet he must make a fair show among the young noblemen and
+gentlemen who would be his companions. Doubtless they would be
+victualled on board, but he would have to dress well and probably pay
+a share in the expenses that would be incurred for wine and other
+things on board. Had it not been for the future he would have been
+inclined to regret that he had not refused the tempting offer; but
+the advantages to be gained by Prince Rupert's patronage were so
+large that he felt no sacrifice would be too great to that end--even
+that of accepting the assistance that Captain Dave had more than once
+hinted he should give him. It was just the dinner-hour when he
+arrived home.
+
+"Well, Cyril, I see by your face that the Prince has said nothing in
+the direction of your wishes," Captain Dave said, as he entered.
+
+"Then my face is a false witness, Captain Dave, for Prince Rupert has
+appointed me a Volunteer on board his own ship."
+
+"I am glad, indeed, lad, heartily glad, though your going will be a
+heavy loss to us all. But why were you looking so grave over it?"
+
+"I have been wondering whether I have acted wisely in accepting it,"
+Cyril said. "I am very happy here, I am earning my living, I have no
+cares of any sort, and I feel that it is a very serious matter to
+make a change. The Prince has a number of noblemen and gentlemen
+going with him as Volunteers, and I feel that I shall be out of my
+element in such company. At the same time I have every reason to be
+thankful, for Prince Rupert has promised that he will, after the war
+is over, give me introductions which will procure me a commission
+abroad."
+
+"Well, then, it seems to me that things could not look better,"
+Captain Dave said heartily. "When do you go on board?"
+
+"The Prince says it may be another fortnight; so that I shall have
+time to make my preparations, and warn the citizens I work for, that
+I am going to leave them."
+
+"I should say the sooner the better, lad. You will have to get your
+outfit and other matters seen to. Moreover, now that you have been
+taken under Prince Rupert's protection, and have become, as it were,
+an officer on his ship--for gentlemen Volunteers, although they have
+no duties in regard to working the ship, are yet officers--it is
+hardly seemly that you should be making up the accounts of bakers and
+butchers, ironmongers, and ship's storekeepers."
+
+"The work is honest, and I am in no way ashamed of it," Cyril said;
+"but as I have many things to see about, I suppose I had better give
+them notice at once. Prince Rupert presented me to the King to-day,
+and His Majesty requested me to attend at Court, which I should be
+loath to do, were it not that the Prince urged upon me that it was of
+advantage that I should make myself known."
+
+"One would think, Master Cyril, that this honour which has suddenly
+befallen you is regarded by you as a misfortune," Mrs. Dowsett said,
+laughing. "Most youths would be overjoyed at such a change in their
+fortune."
+
+"It would be all very pleasant," Cyril said, "had I the income of my
+father's estate at my back; but I feel that I shall be in a false
+position, thus thrusting myself among men who have more guineas in
+their pockets than I have pennies. However, it seems that the matter
+has been taken out of my own hands, and that, as things have turned
+out, so I must travel. Who would have thought, when John Wilkes
+fetched me out last night to go to the fire, it would make an
+alteration in my whole life, and that such a little thing as climbing
+up a ladder and helping to get three girls out of a room full of
+smoke--and John Wilkes did the most difficult part of the work--was
+to change all my prospects?"
+
+"There was a Providence in it, Cyril," Mrs. Dowsett said gently.
+"Why, else, should you have gone up that ladder, when, to all
+seeming, there was no one there. The maids were so frightened, John
+says, that they would never have said a word about there being anyone
+in that room, and the girls would have perished had you not gone up.
+Now as, owing to that, everything has turned out according to your
+wishes, it would be a sin not to take advantage of it, for you may be
+sure that, as the way has thus been suddenly opened to you, so will
+all other things follow in due course."
+
+"Thank you, madam," Cyril said simply. "I had not thought of it in
+that light, but assuredly you are right, and I will not suffer myself
+to be daunted by the difficulties there may be in my way."
+
+John Wilkes now came in and sat down to the meal. He was vastly
+pleased when he heard of the good fortune that had befallen Cyril.
+
+"It seems to me," Cyril said, "that I am but an impostor, and that at
+least some share in the good luck ought to have fallen to you, John,
+seeing that you carried them all down the ladder."
+
+"I have carried heavier bales, many a time, much longer distances
+than that--though I do not say that the woman was not a tidy weight,
+for, indeed, she was; but I would have carried down ten of them for
+the honour I had in being shaken by the hand by Prince Rupert, as
+gallant a sailor as ever sailed a ship. No, no; what I did was all in
+a day's work, and no more than lifting anchors and chains about in
+the storehouse. As for honours, I want none of them. I am moored in a
+snug port here, and would not leave Captain Dave if they would make a
+Duke of me."
+
+Nellie had said no word of congratulation to Cyril, but as they rose
+from dinner, she said, in low tones,--
+
+"You know I am pleased, and hope that you will have all the good
+fortune you deserve."
+
+Cyril set out at once to make a round of the shops where he worked.
+The announcement that he must at once terminate his connection with
+them, as he was going on board the Fleet, was everywhere received
+with great regret.
+
+"I would gladly pay double," one said, "rather than that you should
+go, for, indeed, it has taken a heavy load off my shoulders, and I
+know not how I shall get on in the future."
+
+"I should think there would be no difficulty in getting some other
+young clerk to do the work," Cyril said.
+
+"Not so easy," the man replied. "I had tried one or two before, and
+found they were more trouble than they were worth. There are not many
+who write as neatly as you do, and you do as much in an hour as some
+would take a day over. However, I wish you good luck, and if you
+should come back, and take up the work again, or start as a scrivener
+in the City, I can promise you that you shall have my books again,
+and that among my friends I can find you as much work as you can get
+through."
+
+Something similar was said to him at each of the houses where he
+called, and he felt much gratified at finding that his work had given
+such satisfaction.
+
+When he came in to supper, Cyril was conscious that something had
+occurred of an unusual nature. Nellie's eyes were swollen with
+crying; Mrs. Dowsett had also evidently been in tears; while Captain
+Dave was walking up and down the room restlessly.
+
+The servant was placing the things upon the table, and, just as they
+were about to take their seats, the bell of the front door rang
+loudly.
+
+"See who it is, John," Captain Dave said. "Whoever it is seems to be
+in a mighty hurry."
+
+In a minute or two John returned, followed by a gentleman. The latter
+paused at the door, and then said, bowing courteously, as he
+advanced, to Mrs. Dowsett,--
+
+"I must ask pardon for intruding on your meal, madam, but my business
+is urgent. I am the Earl of Wisbech, and I have called to see Sir
+Cyril Shenstone, to offer him my heartfelt thanks for the service he
+has rendered me by saving the lives of my daughters."
+
+All had risen to their feet as he entered, and there was a slight
+exclamation of surprise from the Captain, his wife, and daughter, as
+the Earl said "Sir Cyril Shenstone."
+
+Cyril stepped forward.
+
+"I am Cyril Shenstone, my Lord," he said, "and had the good fortune
+to be able, with the assistance of my friend here, John Wilkes, to
+rescue your daughters, though, at the time, indeed, I was altogether
+ignorant of their rank. It was a fortunate occurrence, but I must
+disclaim any merit in the action, for it was by mere accident that,
+mounting to the window by a ladder, I saw them lying insensible on
+the ground."
+
+"Your modesty does you credit, sir," the Earl said, shaking him
+warmly by the hand. "But such is not the opinion of Prince Rupert,
+who described it to me as a very gallant action; and, moreover, he
+said that it was you who first brought him the news that there were
+females in the house, which he and others had supposed to be empty,
+and that it was solely owing to you that the ladders were taken
+round."
+
+"Will you allow me, my Lord, to introduce to you Captain Dowsett, his
+wife, and daughter, who have been to me the kindest of friends?"
+
+"A kindness, my Lord," Captain Dave said earnestly, "that has been
+repaid a thousandfold by this good youth, of whose rank we were
+indeed ignorant until you named it. May I ask you to honour us by
+joining in our meal?"
+
+"That will I right gladly, sir," the Earl said, "for, in truth, I
+have scarce broke my fast to-day. I was down at my place in Kent when
+I was awoke this morning by one of my grooms, who had ridden down
+with the news that my mansion in the Savoy had been burned, and that
+my daughters had had a most narrow escape of their lives. Of course,
+I mounted at once and rode to town, where I was happy in finding that
+they had well-nigh recovered from the effects of their fright and the
+smoke. Neither they nor the nurse who was with them could give me any
+account of what had happened, save that they had, as they supposed,
+become insensible from the smoke. When they recovered, they found
+themselves in the Earl of Surrey's house, to which it seems they had
+been carried. After inquiry, I learned that the Duke of Albemarle and
+Prince Rupert had both been on the scene directing operations. I went
+to the latter, with whom I have the honour of being well acquainted,
+and he told me the whole story, saying that had it not been for Sir
+Cyril Shenstone, my daughters would certainly have perished. He gave
+credit, too, to Sir Cyril's companion, who, he said, carried them
+down the ladder, and himself entered the burning room the last time,
+to aid in bringing out the nurse, who was too heavy for the rescuer
+of my daughters to lift. Save a cup of wine and a piece of bread,
+that I took on my first arrival, I have not broken my fast to-day."
+
+Then he seated himself on a chair that Cyril had placed for him
+between Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie.
+
+Captain Dave whispered to John Wilkes, who went out, and returned in
+two or three minutes with three or four flasks of rare Spanish wine
+which the Captain had brought back on his last voyage, and kept for
+drinking on special occasions. The dame always kept an excellent
+table, and although she made many apologies to the Earl, he assured
+her that none were needed, for that he could have supped no better in
+his own house.
+
+"I hear," he said presently to Cyril, "that you are going out as a
+Volunteer in Prince Rupert's ship. My son is also going with him, and
+I hope, in a day or two, to introduce him to you. He is at present at
+Cambridge, but, having set his mind on sailing with the Prince, I
+have been fain to allow him to give up his studies. I heard from
+Prince Rupert that you had recently been kidnapped and taken to
+Holland. He gave me no particulars, nor did I ask them, being
+desirous of hurrying off at once to express my gratitude to you. How
+was it that such an adventure befell you--for it would hardly seem
+likely that you could have provoked the enmity of persons capable of
+such an outrage?"
+
+"It was the result of his services to me, my Lord," Captain Dave
+said. "Having been a sea-captain, I am but a poor hand at accounts;
+but, having fallen into this business at the death of my father, it
+seemed simple enough for me to get on without much book-learning. I
+made but a bad shape at it; and when Master Shenstone, as he then
+called himself, offered to keep my books for me, it seemed to me an
+excellent mode of saving myself worry and trouble. However, when he
+set himself to making up the accounts of my stock, he found that I
+was nigh eight hundred pounds short; and, setting himself to watch,
+discovered that my apprentices were in alliance with a band of
+thieves, and were nightly robbing me. We caught them and two of the
+thieves in the act. One of the latter was the receiver, and on his
+premises the proceeds of a great number of robberies were found, and
+there was no doubt that he was the chief of a notorious gang, called
+the 'Black Gang,' which had for a long time infested the City and the
+surrounding country. It was to prevent Sir Cyril from giving evidence
+at the trial that he was kidnapped and sent away. He was placed in
+the house of a diamond merchant, to whom the thieves were in the
+habit of consigning jewels; and this might well have turned out fatal
+to him, for to the same house came my elder apprentice and one of the
+men captured with him--a notorious ruffian--who had been rescued from
+the constables by a gang of their fellows, in open daylight, in the
+City. These, doubtless, would have compassed his death had he not
+happily seen them enter the house, and made his escape, taking
+passage in a coaster bound for Dunkirk, from which place he took
+another ship to England. Thus you see, my Lord, that I am indebted to
+him for saving me from a further loss that might well have ruined
+me."
+
+He paused, and glanced at Nellie, who rose at once, saying to the
+Earl,--
+
+"I trust that your Lordship will excuse my mother and myself. My
+father has more to tell you; at least, I should wish him to do so."
+
+Then, taking her mother's hand, she curtsied deeply, and they left
+the room together.
+
+"Such, my Lord, as I have told you, is the service, so far as I knew
+till this afternoon, Sir Cyril Shenstone has rendered me. That was no
+small thing, but it is very little to what I know now that I am
+indebted to him. After he went out I was speaking with my wife on
+money matters, desiring much to be of assistance to him in the matter
+of the expedition on which he is going. Suddenly my daughter burst
+into tears and left the room. I naturally bade my wife follow her and
+learn what ailed her. Then, with many sobs and tears, she told her
+mother that we little knew how much we were indebted to him. She said
+she had been a wicked girl, having permitted herself to be accosted
+several times by a well-dressed gallant, who told her that he was the
+Earl of Harwich, who had professed great love for her, and urged her
+to marry him privately.
+
+"He was about to speak to her one day when she was out under Master
+Cyril's escort. The latter interfered, and there was well-nigh a
+_fracas_ between them. Being afraid that some of the lookers-on
+might know her, and bring the matter to our ears, she mentioned so
+much to us, and, in consequence, we did not allow her to go out
+afterwards, save in the company of her mother. Nevertheless, the man
+continued to meet her, and, as he was unknown to her mother, passed
+notes into her hand. To these she similarly replied, and at last
+consented to fly with him. She did so at night, and was about to
+enter a sedan chair in the lane near this house when they were
+interrupted by the arrival of Master Shenstone and my friend John
+Wilkes. The former, it seems, had his suspicions, and setting himself
+to watch, had discovered that she was corresponding with this
+man--whom he had found was not the personage he pretended to be, but
+a disreputable hanger-on of the Court, one John Harvey--and had then
+kept up an incessant watch, with the aid of John Wilkes, outside the
+house at night, until he saw her come out and join the fellow with
+two associates, when he followed her to the chair they had in
+readiness for her.
+
+"There was, she says, a terrible scene. Swords were drawn. John
+Wilkes knocked down one of the men, and Master Shenstone ran John
+Harvey through the shoulder. Appalled now at seeing how she had been
+deceived, and how narrowly she had escaped destruction, she returned
+with her rescuers to the house, and no word was ever said on the
+subject until she spoke this afternoon. We had noticed that a great
+change had come over her, and that she seemed to have lost all her
+tastes for shows and finery, but little did we dream of the cause.
+She said that she could not have kept the secret much longer in any
+case, being utterly miserable at the thought of how she had degraded
+herself and deceived us.
+
+"It was a sad story to have to hear, my Lord, but we have fully
+forgiven her, having, indeed, cause to thank God both for her
+preservation and for the good that this seems to have wrought in her.
+She had been a spoilt child, and, being well-favoured, her head had
+been turned by flattery, and she indulged in all sorts of foolish
+dreams. Now she is truly penitent for her folly. Had you not arrived,
+my Lord, I should, when we had finished our supper, have told Master
+Shenstone that I knew of this vast service he has rendered us--a
+service to which the other was as nothing. That touched my pocket
+only; this my only child's happiness. I have told you the story, my
+Lord, by her consent, in order that you might know what sort of a
+young fellow this gentleman who has rescued your daughter is. John, I
+thank you for your share in this matter," and, with tears in his
+eyes, he held out his hand to his faithful companion.
+
+"I thank you deeply, Captain Dowsett, for having told me this story,"
+the Earl said gravely. "It was a painful one to tell, and I feel sure
+that the circumstance will, as you say, be of lasting benefit to your
+daughter. It shows that her heart is a true and loyal one, or she
+would not have had so painful a story told to a stranger, simply that
+the true character of her preserver should be known. I need not say
+that it has had the effect she desired of raising Sir Cyril Shenstone
+highly in my esteem. Prince Rupert spoke of him very highly and told
+me how he had been honourably supporting himself and his father,
+until the death of the latter. Now I see that he possesses unusual
+discretion and acuteness, as well as bravery. Now I will take my
+leave, thanking you for the good entertainment that you have given
+me. I am staying at the house of the Earl of Surrey, Sir Cyril, and I
+hope that you will call to-morrow morning, in order that my daughters
+may thank you in person."
+
+Captain Dave and Cyril escorted the Earl to the door and then
+returned to the chamber above.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+NEW FRIENDS
+
+
+On arriving at the room upstairs, Captain Dave placed his hand on
+Cyril's shoulder and said:
+
+"How can I thank you, lad, for what you have done for us?"
+
+"By saying nothing further about it, Captain Dave. I had hoped that
+the matter would never have come to your ears, and yet I rejoice, for
+her own sake, that Mistress Nellie has told you all. I thought that
+she would do so some day, for I, too, have seen how much she has been
+changed since then, and though it becomes me not to speak of one
+older than myself, I think that the experience has been for her good,
+and, above all, I am rejoiced to find that you have fully forgiven
+her, for indeed I am sure that she has been grievously punished."
+
+"Well, well, lad, it shall be as you say, for indeed I am but a poor
+hand at talking, but believe me that I feel as grateful as if I could
+express myself rightly, and that the Earl of Wisbech cannot feel one
+whit more thankful to you for having saved the lives of his three
+children than I do for your having saved my Nellie from the
+consequences of her own folly. There is one thing that you must let
+me do--it is but a small thing, but at present I have no other way of
+showing what I feel: you must let me take upon myself, as if you had
+been my son, the expenses of this outfit of yours. I was talking of
+the matter, as you may have guessed by what I said to the Earl, when
+Nellie burst into tears; and if I contemplated this when I knew only
+you had saved me from ruin, how much more do I feel it now that you
+have done this greater thing? I trust that you will not refuse me and
+my wife this small opportunity of showing our gratitude. What say
+you, John Wilkes?"
+
+"I say, Captain Dave, that it is well spoken, and I am sure Master
+Cyril will not refuse your offer."
+
+"I will not, Captain Dave, providing that you let it be as a loan
+that I may perhaps some day be enabled to repay you. I feel that it
+would be churlish to refuse so kind an offer, and it will relieve me
+of the one difficulty that troubled me when the prospects in all
+other respects seemed so fair."
+
+"That is right, lad, and you have taken a load off my mind. You have
+not acted quite fairly by us in one respect, Master Cyril!"
+
+"How is that?" Cyril asked in surprise.
+
+"In not telling us that you were Sir Cyril Shenstone, and in letting
+us put you up in an attic, and letting you go about as Nellie's
+escort, as if you had been but an apprentice."
+
+Cyril laughed.
+
+"I said that my father was Sir Aubrey Shenstone, though I own that I
+did not say so until I had been here some time; but the fact that he
+was a Baronet and not a Knight made little difference. It was a
+friendless lad whom you took in and gave shelter to, Captain Dave,
+and--it mattered not whether he was plain Cyril or Sir Cyril. I had
+certainly no thought of taking my title again until I entered a
+foreign army, and indeed it would have been a disservice to me here
+in London. I should have cut but a poor figure asking for work and
+calling myself Sir Cyril Shenstone. I should have had to enter into
+all sorts of explanations before anyone would have believed me, and I
+don't think that, even with you, I should have been so comfortable as
+I have been."
+
+"Well, at any rate, no harm has been done," Captain Dave said; "but I
+think you might have told me."
+
+"If I had, Captain Dave, you would assuredly have told your wife and
+Mistress Nellie; and it was much more pleasant for me that things
+should be as they were."
+
+"Well, perhaps you were right, lad. And I own that I might not have
+let you work at my books, and worry over that robbery, had I known
+that you were of a station above me."
+
+"That you could never have known," Cyril said warmly. "We have been
+poor ever since I can remember. I owed my education to the kindness
+of friends of my mother, and in no way has my station been equal to
+that of a London trader like yourself. As to the title, it was but a
+matter of birth, and went but ill with an empty purse and a shabby
+doublet. In the future it may be useful, but until now, it has been
+naught, and indeed worse than naught, to me."
+
+The next morning when Cyril went into the parlour he found that
+Nellie was busy assisting the maid to lay the table. When the latter
+had left the room, the girl went up to Cyril and took his hand.
+
+"I have never thanked you yet," she said. "I could not bring myself
+to speak of it, but now that I have told them I can do so. Ever since
+that dreadful night I have prayed for you, morning and evening, and
+thanked God for sending you to my rescue. What a wicked girl you must
+have thought me--and with reason! But you could not think of me worse
+than I thought of myself. Now that my father and mother have forgiven
+me I shall be different altogether. I had before made up my mind to
+tell them. Still, it did not seem to me that I should ever be happy
+again. But now that I have had the courage to speak out, and they
+have been so good to me, a great weight is lifted off my mind, and I
+mean to learn to be a good housewife like my mother, and to try to be
+worthy, some day, of an honest man's love."
+
+"I am sure you will be," Cyril said warmly. "And so, Mistress Nellie,
+it has all turned out for the best, though it did not seem so at one
+time."
+
+At this moment Captain Dave came in. "I am glad to see you two
+talking together as of old," he said. "We had thought that there must
+be some quarrel between you, for you had given up rating him, Nellie.
+Give her a kiss, Cyril; she is a good lass, though she has been a
+foolish one. Nay, Nellie, do not offer him your cheek--it is the
+fashion to do that to every idle acquaintance. Kiss him heartily, as
+if you loved him. That is right, lass. Now let us to breakfast. Where
+is your mother? She is late."
+
+"I told her that I would see after the breakfast in future, father,
+and I have begun this morning--partly because it is my duty to take
+the work off her hands, and partly because I wanted a private talk
+with Sir Cyril."
+
+"I won't be called Sir Cyril under this roof," the lad said,
+laughing. "And I warn you that if anyone calls me so I will not
+answer. I have always been Cyril with you all, and I intend to remain
+so to the end, and you must remember that it is but a few months that
+I have had the right to the title, and was never addressed by it
+until by Prince Rupert. I was for the moment well nigh as much
+surprised as you were last night."
+
+An hour later Cyril again donned his best suit, and started to pay
+his visit to the Earl. Had he not seen him over-night, he would have
+felt very uncomfortable at the thought of the visit; but he had found
+him so pleasant and friendly, and so entirely free from any air of
+pride or condescension, that it seemed as if he were going to meet a
+friend. He was particularly struck with the manner in which he had
+placed Captain Dave and his family at their ease, and got them to
+talk as freely and naturally with him as if he had been an
+acquaintance of long standing. It seemed strange to him to give his
+name as Sir Cyril Shenstone to the lackeys at the door, and he almost
+expected to see an expression of amusement on their faces. They had,
+however, evidently received instructions respecting him, for he was
+without question at once ushered into the room in which the Earl of
+Wisbech and his daughters were sitting.
+
+The Earl shook him warmly by the hand, and then, turning to his
+daughters, said,--
+
+"This is the gentleman to whom you owe your lives, girls. Sir Cyril,
+these are my daughters--Lady Dorothy, Lady Bertha, and Lady Beatrice.
+It seems somewhat strange to have to introduce you, who have saved
+their lives, to them; but you have the advantage of them, for you
+have seen them before, but they have not until now seen your face."
+
+Each of the girls as she was named made a deep curtsey, and then
+presented her cheek to be kissed, as was the custom of the times.
+
+"They are somewhat tongue-tied," the Earl said, smiling, as the
+eldest of the three cast an appealing glance to him, "and have begged
+me to thank you in their names, which I do with all my heart, and beg
+you to believe that their gratitude is none the less deep because
+they have no words to express it. They generally have plenty to say,
+I can assure you, and will find their tongues when you are a little
+better acquainted."
+
+"I am most happy to have been of service to you, ladies," Cyril said,
+bowing deeply to them. "I can hardly say that I have the advantage
+your father speaks of, for in truth the smoke was so thick, and my
+eyes smarted so with it, that I could scarce see your faces."
+
+"Their attire, too, in no way helped you," the Earl said, with a
+laugh, "for, as I hear, their costume was of the slightest. I believe
+that Dorothy's chief concern is that she did not have time to attire
+herself in a more becoming toilette before the smoke overpowered
+her."
+
+"Now, father," the girl protested, with a pretty colour in her
+cheeks, "you know I have never said anything of the sort, though I
+did say that I wished I had thrown a cloak round me. It is not
+pleasant, whatever you may think, to know that one was handed down a
+ladder in one's nightdress."
+
+"I don't care about that a bit," Beatrice said; "but you did not say,
+father, that it was a young gentleman, no older than Sydney, who
+found us and carried us out. I had expected to see a great big man."
+
+"I don't think I said anything about his age, Beatrice, but simply
+told you that I had found out that it was Sir Cyril Shenstone that
+had saved you."
+
+"Is the nurse recovering, my Lord?"
+
+"She is still in bed, and the doctor says she will be some time
+before she quite recovers from the fright and shock. They were all
+sleeping in the storey above. It was Dorothy who first woke, and,
+after waking her sisters, ran into the nurse's room, which was next
+door, and roused her. The silly woman was so frightened that she
+could do nothing but stand at the window and scream until the girls
+almost dragged her away, and forced her to come downstairs. The
+smoke, however, was so thick that they could get no farther than the
+next floor; then, guided by the screams of the other servants, they
+opened a door and ran in, but, as you know, it was not the room into
+which the women had gone. The nurse fell down in a faint as soon as
+she got in. The girls, as it seems, dragged her as far as they could
+towards the window, but she was too heavy for them; and as they had
+not shut the door, the smoke poured in and overpowered them, and they
+fell beside her. The rest you know. She is a silly woman, and she has
+quite lost my confidence by her folly and cowardice, but she has been
+a good servant, and the girls, all of whom she nursed, were fond of
+her. Still, it is evident that she is not to be trusted in an
+emergency, and it was only because the girls' governess is away on a
+visit to her mother that she happened to be left in charge of them.
+Now, young ladies, you can leave us, as I have other matters to talk
+over with Sir Cyril."
+
+The three girls curtsied deeply, first to their father, and then to
+Cyril, who held the door for them to pass out.
+
+"Now, Sir Cyril," the Earl said, as the door closed behind them, "we
+must have a talk together. You may well believe that, after what has
+happened, I look upon you almost as part of my family, and that I
+consider you have given me the right to look after your welfare as if
+you were a near relation of my own; and glad I am to have learned
+yesterday evening that you are, in all respects, one whom I might be
+proud indeed to call a kinsman. Had you been a cousin of mine, with
+parents but indifferently off in worldly goods, it would have been my
+duty, of course, to push you forward and to aid you in every way to
+make a proper figure on this expedition. I think that, after what has
+happened, I have equally the right to do so, and what would have been
+my duty, had you been a relation, is no less a duty, and will
+certainly be a great gratification to me to do now. You understand
+me, do you not? I wish to take upon myself all the charges connected
+with your outfit, and to make you an allowance, similar to that which
+I shall give to my son, for your expenses on board ship. All this is
+of course but a slight thing, but, believe me, that when the
+expedition is over it will be my pleasure to help you forward to
+advancement in any course which you may choose."
+
+"I thank you most heartily, my Lord," Cyril said, "and would not
+hesitate to accept your help in the present matter, did I need it.
+However, I have saved some little money during the past two years,
+and Captain Dowsett has most generously offered me any sum I may
+require for my expenses, and has consented to allow me to take it as
+a loan to be repaid at some future time, should it be in my power to
+do so. Your offer, however, to aid me in my career afterwards, I most
+thankfully accept. My idea has always been to take service under some
+foreign prince, and Prince Rupert has most kindly promised to aid me
+in that respect; but after serving for a time at sea I shall be
+better enabled to judge than at present as to whether that course is
+indeed the best, and I shall be most thankful for your counsel in
+this and all other matters, and feel myself fortunate indeed to have
+obtained your good will and patronage."
+
+"Well, if it must be so, it must," the Earl said. "Your friend
+Captain Dowsett seems to me a very worthy man. You have placed him
+under an obligation as heavy as my own, and he has the first claim to
+do you service. In this matter, then, I must be content to stand
+aside, but on your return from sea it will be my turn, and I shall be
+hurt and grieved indeed if you do not allow me an opportunity of
+proving my gratitude to you. As to the career you speak of, it is a
+precarious one. There are indeed many English and Scotch officers who
+have risen to high rank and honour in foreign service; but to every
+one that so succeeds, how many fall unnoticed, and lie in unmarked
+graves, in well-nigh every country in Europe? Were you like so many
+of your age, bent merely on adventure and pleasure, the case would be
+different, but it is evident that you have a clear head for business,
+that you are steady and persevering, and such being the case, there
+are many offices under the Crown in which you might distinguish
+yourself and do far better than the vast majority of those who sell
+their swords to foreign princes, and become mere soldiers of fortune,
+fighting for a cause in which they have no interest, and risking
+their lives in quarrels that are neither their own nor their
+country's.
+
+"However, all this we can talk over when you come back after having,
+as I hope, aided in destroying the Dutch Fleet. I expect my son up
+to-morrow, and trust that you will accompany him to the King's
+_levée_, next Monday. Prince Rupert tells me that he has already
+presented you to the King, and that you were well received by him, as
+indeed you had a right to be, as the son of a gentleman who had
+suffered and sacrificed much in the Royal cause. But I will take the
+opportunity of introducing you to several other gentlemen who will
+sail with you. On the following day I shall be going down into Kent,
+and shall remain there until it is time for Sydney to embark. If you
+can get your preparations finished by that time, I trust that you
+will give us the pleasure of your company, and will stay with me
+until you embark with Sydney. In this way you will come to know us
+better, and to feel, as I wish you to feel, as one of the family."
+
+Cyril gratefully accepted the invitation, and then took his leave.
+
+Captain Dave was delighted when he heard the issue of his visit to
+the Earl.
+
+"I should never have forgiven you, lad, if you had accepted the
+Earl's offer to help you in the matter of this expedition. It is no
+great thing, and comes well within my compass, and I should have been
+sorely hurt had you let him come between us; but in the future I can
+do little, and he much. I have spoken to several friends who are
+better acquainted with public affairs than I am, and they all speak
+highly of him. He holds, for the most part, aloof from Court, which
+is to his credit seeing how matters go on there; but he is spoken of
+as a very worthy gentleman and one of merit, who might take a
+prominent part in affairs were he so minded. He has broad estates in
+Kent and Norfolk, and spends the greater part of his life at one or
+other of his country seats. Doubtless, he will be able to assist you
+greatly in the future."
+
+"I did not like to refuse his offer to go down with him to Kent,"
+Cyril said, "though I would far rather have remained here with you
+until we sail."
+
+"You did perfectly right, lad. It will cut short your stay here but a
+week, and it would be madness to refuse the opportunity of getting to
+know him and his family better. The Countess died three years ago, I
+hear, and he has shown no disposition to take another wife, as he
+might well do, seeing he is but a year or two past forty, and has as
+pleasant a face and manner as I have ever seen. He is not the sort of
+man to promise what he will not perform, Cyril, and more than ever do
+I think that it was a fortunate thing for you that John Wilkes
+fetched you to that fire in the Savoy. And now, lad, you have no time
+to lose. You must come with me at once to Master Woods, the tailor,
+in Eastcheap, who makes clothes not only for the citizens but for
+many of the nobles and gallants of the Court. In the first place, you
+will need a fitting dress for the King's _levée_; then you will need
+at least one more suit similar to that you now wear, and three for on
+board ship and for ordinary occasions, made of stout cloth, but in
+the fashion; then you must have helmet, and breast- and back-pieces
+for the fighting, and for these we will go to Master Lawrence, the
+armourer, in Cheapside. All these we will order to-day in my name,
+and put them down in your account to me. As to arms, you have your
+sword, and there is but a brace of pistols to be bought. You will
+want a few things such as thick cloaks for sea service; for though I
+suppose that Volunteers do not keep their watch, you may meet with
+rains and heavy weather, and you will need something to keep you
+dry."
+
+They sallied out at once. So the clothes were ordered, and the Court
+suit, with the best of the others promised by the end of the week;
+the armour was fitted on and bought, and a stock of fine shirts with
+ruffles, hose, and shoes, was also purchased. The next day Sydney
+Oliphant, the Earl's son, called upon Cyril. He was a frank, pleasant
+young fellow, about a year older than Cyril. He was very fond of his
+sisters, and expressed in lively terms his gratitude for their
+rescue.
+
+"This expedition has happened in the nick of time for me," he said,
+when, in accordance with his invitation, Cyril and he embarked in the
+Earl's boat in which he had been rowed to the City, "for I was in bad
+odour with the authorities, and was like, erelong, to have been sent
+home far less pleasantly; and although the Earl, my father, is very
+indulgent, he would have been terribly angry with me had it been so.
+To tell you the truth, at the University we are divided into two
+sets--those who read and those who don't--and on joining I found
+myself very soon among the latter. I don't think it was quite my
+fault, for I naturally fell in with companions whom I had known
+before, and it chanced that some of these were among the wildest
+spirits in the University.
+
+"Of course I had my horses, and, being fond of riding, I was more
+often in the saddle than in my seat in the college schools. Then
+there were constant complaints against us for sitting up late and
+disturbing the college with our melodies, and altogether we stood in
+bad odour with the Dons; and when they punished us we took our
+revenge by playing them pranks, until lately it became almost open
+war, and would certainly have ended before long in a score or more of
+us being sent down. I should not have minded that myself, but it
+would have grieved the Earl, and I am not one of the new-fashioned
+ones who care naught for what their fathers may say. He has been
+praising you up to the skies this morning, I can tell you--I don't
+mean only as to the fire but about other things--and says he hopes we
+shall be great friends, and I am sure I hope so too, and think so. He
+had been telling me about your finding out about their robbing that
+good old sea-captain you live with, and how you were kidnapped
+afterwards, and sent to Holland; and how, in another adventure,
+although he did not tell me how that came about, you pricked a
+ruffling gallant through the shoulder; so that you have had a larger
+share of adventure, by a great deal, than I have. I had expected to
+see you rather a solemn personage, for the Earl told me you had more
+sense in your little finger than I had in my whole body, which was
+not complimentary to me, though I dare say it is true."
+
+"Now, as a rule, they say that sensible people are very disagreeable;
+but I hope I shall not be disagreeable," Cyril laughed, "and I am
+certainly not aware that I am particularly sensible."
+
+"No, I am sure you won't be disagreeable, but I should have been
+quite nervous about coming to see you if it had not been for the
+girls. Little Beatrice told me she thought you were a prince in
+disguise, and had evidently a private idea that the good fairies had
+sent you to her rescue. Bertha said that you were a very proper young
+gentleman, and that she was sure you were nice. Dorothy didn't say
+much, but she evidently approved of the younger girls' sentiments, so
+I felt that you must be all right, for the girls are generally pretty
+severe critics, and very few of my friends stand at all high in their
+good graces. What amusement are you most fond of?"
+
+"I am afraid I have had very little time for amusements," Cyril said.
+"I was very fond of fencing when I was in France, but have had no
+opportunity of practising since I came to England. I went to a
+bull-bait once, but thought it a cruel sport."
+
+"I suppose you go to a play-house sometimes?"
+
+"No; I have never been inside one. A good deal of my work has been
+done in the evening, and I don't know that the thought ever occurred
+to me to go. I know nothing of your English sports, and neither ride
+nor shoot, except with a pistol, with which I used to be a good shot
+when I was in France."
+
+They rowed down as low as Greenwich, then, as the tide turned, made
+their way back; and by the time Cyril alighted from the boat at
+London Bridge stairs the two young fellows had become quite intimate
+with each other.
+
+Nellie looked with great approval at Cyril as he came downstairs in a
+full Court dress. Since the avowal she had made of her fault she had
+recovered much of her brightness. She bustled about the house, intent
+upon the duties she had newly taken up, to the gratification of Mrs.
+Dowsett, who protested that her occupation was gone.
+
+"Not at all, mother. It is only that you are now captain of the ship,
+and have got to give your orders instead of carrying them out
+yourself. Father did not pull up the ropes or go aloft to furl the
+sails, while I have no doubt he had plenty to do in seeing that his
+orders were carried out. You will be worse off than he was, for he
+had John Wilkes, and others, who knew their duty, while I have got
+almost everything to learn."
+
+Although her cheerfulness had returned, and she could again be heard
+singing snatches of song about the house, her voice and manner were
+gentler and softer, and Captain Dave said to Cyril,--
+
+"It has all turned out for the best, lad. The ship was very near
+wrecked, but the lesson has been a useful one, and there is no fear
+of her being lost from want of care or good seamanship in future. I
+feel, too, that I have been largely to blame in the matter. I spoilt
+her as a child, and I spoilt her all along. Her mother would have
+kept a firmer hand upon the helm if I had not always spoken up for
+the lass, and said, 'Let her have her head; don't check the sheets in
+too tautly.' I see I was wrong now. Why, lad, what a blessing it is
+to us all that it happened when it did! for if that fire had been but
+a month earlier, you would probably have gone away with the Earl, and
+we should have known nothing of Nellie's peril until we found that
+she was gone."
+
+"Sir Cyril--no, I really cannot call you Cyril now," Nellie said,
+curtseying almost to the ground after taking a survey of the lad,
+"your costume becomes you rarely; and I am filled with wonder at the
+thought of my own stupidity in not seeing all along that you were a
+prince in disguise. It is like the fairy tales my old nurse used to
+tell me of the king's son who went out to look for a beautiful wife,
+and who worked as a scullion in the king's palace without anyone
+suspecting his rank. I think fortune has been very hard upon me, in
+that I was born five years too soon. Had I been but fourteen instead
+of nineteen, your Royal Highness might have cast favourable eyes upon
+me."
+
+"But then, Mistress Nellie," Cyril said, laughing, "you would be
+filled with grief now at the thought that I am going away to the
+wars."
+
+The girl's face changed. She dropped her saucy manner and said
+earnestly,--
+
+"I am grieved, Cyril; and if it would do any good I would sit down
+and have a hearty cry. The Dutchmen are brave fighters, and their
+fleet will be stronger than ours; and there will be many who sail
+away to sea who will never come back again. I have never had a
+brother; but it seems to me that if I had had one who was wise, and
+thoughtful, and brave, I should have loved him as I love you. I think
+the princess must always have felt somehow that the scullion was not
+what he seemed; and though I have always laughed at you and scolded
+you, I have known all along that you were not really a clerk. I don't
+know that I thought you were a prince; but I somehow felt a little
+afraid of you. You never said that you thought me vain and giddy, but
+I knew you did think so, and I used to feel a little malice against
+you; and yet, somehow, I respected and liked you all the more, and
+now it seems to me that you are still in disguise, and that, though
+you seem to be but a boy, you are really a man to whom some good
+fairy has given a boy's face. Methinks no boy could be as thoughtful
+and considerate, and as kind as you are."
+
+"You are exaggerating altogether," Cyril said; "and yet, in what you
+say about my age, I think you are partly right. I have lived most of
+my life alone; I have had much care always on my shoulders, and grave
+responsibility; thus it is that I am older in many ways than I should
+be at my years. I would it were not so. I have not had any boyhood,
+as other boys have, and I think it has been a great misfortune for
+me."
+
+"It has not been a misfortune for us, Cyril; it has been a blessing
+indeed to us all that you have not been quite like other boys, and I
+think that all your life it will be a satisfaction for you to know
+that you have saved one house from ruin, one woman from misery, and
+disgrace. Now it is time for you to be going; but although you are
+leaving us tomorrow, Cyril, I hope that you are not going quite out
+of our lives."
+
+"That you may be sure I am not, Nellie. If you have reason to be
+grateful to me, truly I have much reason to be grateful to your
+father. I have never been so happy as since I have been in this
+house, and I shall always return to it as to a home where I am sure
+of a welcome--as the place to which I chiefly owe any good fortune
+that may ever befall me."
+
+The _levée_ was a brilliant one, and was attended, in addition to
+the usual throng of courtiers, by most of the officers and gentlemen
+who were going with the Fleet. Cyril was glad indeed that he was with
+the Earl of Wisbech and his son, for he would have felt lonely and
+out of place in the brilliant throng, in which Prince Rupert's face
+would have been the only one with which he was familiar. The Earl
+introduced him to several of the gentlemen who would be his
+shipmates, and by all he was cordially received when the Earl named
+him as the gentleman who had rescued his daughters from death.
+
+At times, when the Earl was chatting with his friends, Cyril moved
+about through the rooms with Sydney, who knew by appearance a great
+number of those present, and was able to point out all the
+distinguished persons of the Court to him.
+
+"There is the Prince," he said, "talking with the Earl of Rochester.
+What a grave face he has now! It is difficult to believe that he is
+the Rupert of the wars, and the headstrong prince whose very bravery
+helped to lose well-nigh as many battles as he won. We may be sure
+that he will take us into the very thick of the fight, Cyril. Even
+now his wrist is as firm, and, I doubt not, his arm as strong as when
+he led the Cavaliers. I have seen him in the tennis-court; there is
+not one at the Court, though many are well-nigh young enough to be
+his sons, who is his match at tennis. There is the Duke of York. They
+say he is a Catholic, but I own that makes no difference to me. He is
+fond of the sea, and is never so happy as when he is on board ship,
+though you would hardly think it by his grave face. The King is fond
+of it, too. He has a pleasure vessel that is called a yacht, and so
+has the Duke of York, and they have races one against the other; but
+the King generally wins. He is making it a fashionable pastime. Some
+day I will have one myself--that is, if I find I like the sea; for it
+must be pleasant to sail about in your own vessel, and to go
+wheresoever one may fancy without asking leave from any man."
+
+When it came to his turn Cyril passed before the King with the Earl
+and his son. The Earl presented Sydney, who had not before been at
+Court, to the King, mentioning that he was going out as a Volunteer
+in Prince Rupert's vessel.
+
+"That is as it should be, my Lord," the King said. "England need
+never fear so long as her nobles and gentlemen are ready themselves
+to go out to fight her battles, and to set an example to the seamen.
+You need not present this young gentleman to me; my cousin Rupert has
+already done so, and told me of the service he has rendered to your
+daughters. He, too, sails with the Prince, and after what happened
+there can be no doubt that he can stand fire well. I would that this
+tiresome dignity did not prevent my being of the party. I would
+gladly, for once, lay my kingship down and go out as one of the
+company to help give the Dutchmen a lesson that will teach them that,
+even if caught unexpectedly, the sea-dogs of England can well hold
+their own, though they have no longer a Blake to command them."
+
+"I wonder that the King ventures to use Blake's name," Sydney
+whispered, as they moved away, "considering the indignities that he
+allowed the judges to inflict on the body of the grand old sailor."
+
+"It was scandalous!" Cyril said warmly; "and I burned with
+indignation when I heard of it in France. They may call him a traitor
+because he sided with the Parliament, but even Royalists should never
+have forgotten what great deeds he did for England. However, though
+they might have dishonoured his body, they could not touch his fame,
+and his name will be known and honoured as long as England is a
+nation and when the names of the men who condemned him have been long
+forgotten."
+
+After leaving the _levée_, Cyril went back to the City, and the next
+morning started on horseback, with the Earl and his son, to the
+latter's seat, near Sevenoaks, the ladies having gone down in the
+Earl's coach on the previous day. Wholly unaccustomed as Cyril was to
+riding, he was so stiff that he had difficulty in dismounting when
+they rode up to the mansion. The Earl had provided a quiet and
+well-trained horse for his use, and he had therefore found no
+difficulty in retaining his seat.
+
+"You must ride every day while you are down here," the Earl said,
+"and by the end of the week you will begin to be fairly at home in
+the saddle. A good seat is one of the prime necessities of a
+gentleman's education, and if it should be that you ever carry out
+your idea of taking service abroad it will be essential for you,
+because, in most cases, the officers are mounted. You can hardly
+expect ever to become a brilliant rider. For that it is necessary to
+begin young; but if you can keep your seat under all circumstances,
+and be able to use your sword on horseback, as well as on foot, it
+will be all that is needful."
+
+The week passed very pleasantly. Cyril rode and fenced daily with
+Sydney, who was surprised to find that he was fully his match with
+the sword. He walked in the gardens with the girls, who had now quite
+recovered from the effects of the fire. Bertha and Beatrice, being
+still children, chatted with him as freely and familiarly as they did
+with Sydney. Of Lady Dorothy he saw less, as she was in charge of her
+_gouvernante_, who always walked beside her, and was occupied in
+training her into the habits of preciseness and decorum in vogue at
+the time.
+
+"I do believe, Dorothy," Sydney said, one day, "that you are
+forgetting how to laugh. You walk like a machine, and seem afraid to
+move your hands or your feet except according to rule. I like you
+very much better as you were a year ago, when you did not think
+yourself too fine for a romp, and could laugh when you were pleased.
+That dragon of yours is spoiling you altogether."
+
+"That is a matter of opinion, Sydney," Dorothy said, with a deep
+curtsey. "When you first began to fence, I have no doubt you were
+stiff and awkward, and I am sure if you had always had someone by
+your side, saying, 'Keep your head up!' 'Don't poke your chin
+forward!' 'Pray do not swing your arms!' and that sort of thing, you
+would be just as awkward as I feel. I am sure I would rather run
+about with the others; the process of being turned into a young lady
+is not a pleasant one. But perhaps some day, when you see the
+finished article, you will be pleased to give your Lordship's august
+approval," and she ended with a merry laugh that would have shocked
+her _gouvernante_ if she had heard it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE BATTLE OF LOWESTOFT
+
+
+The Earl returned with his son and Cyril to town, and the latter
+spent the night in the City.
+
+"I do not know, Cyril," Captain Dave said, as they talked over his
+departure, "that you run much greater risk in going than do we in
+staying here. The Plague makes progress, and although it has not
+invaded the City, we can hardly hope that it will be long before it
+appears here. There are many evil prophecies abroad, and it is the
+general opinion that a great misfortune hangs over us, and they say
+that many have prepared to leave London. I have talked the matter
+over with my wife. We have not as yet thought of going, but should
+the Plague come heavily, it may be that we shall for a time go away.
+There will be no business to be done, for vessels will not come up
+the Thames and risk infection, nor, indeed, would they be admitted
+into ports, either in England or abroad, after coming from an
+infected place. Therefore I could leave without any loss in the way
+of trade. It will, of course, depend upon the heaviness of the
+malady, but if it becomes widespread we shall perhaps go for a visit
+to my wife's cousin, who lives near Gloucester, and who has many
+times written to us urging us to go down with Nellie for a visit to
+her. Hitherto, business has prevented my going, but if all trade
+ceases, it would be a good occasion for us, and such as may never
+occur again. Still, I earnestly desire that it may not arise, for it
+cannot do so without sore trouble and pain alighting on the City. Did
+the Earl tell you, Cyril, what he has done with regard to John?"
+
+"No; he did not speak to me on the subject."
+
+"His steward came here three days since with a gold watch and chain,
+as a gift from the Earl. The watch has an inscription on the case,
+saying that it is presented to John Wilkes from the Earl of Wisbech,
+as a memorial of his gratitude for the great services rendered to his
+daughters. Moreover, he brought a letter from the Earl saying that if
+John should at any time leave my service, owing to my death or
+retirement from business, or from John himself wishing, either from
+age or other reason, to leave me, he would place at his service a
+cottage and garden on his estate, and a pension of twenty pounds a
+year, to enable him to live in comfort for the remainder of his days.
+John is, as you may suppose, mightily pleased, for though I would
+assuredly never part with him as long as I live, and have by my will
+made provision that will keep him from want in case I die before him,
+it was mighty pleasant to receive so handsome a letter and offer of
+service from the Earl. Nellie wrote for him a letter in which he
+thanked the Earl for the kindness of his offer, for which, although
+he hoped he should never be forced to benefit from it, he was none
+the less obliged and grateful, seeing that he had done nothing that
+any other bystander would not have done, to deserve it."
+
+Early the next morning Sydney Oliphant rode up to the door, followed
+by two grooms, one of whom had a led horse, and the other a
+sumpter-mule, which was partly laden. Captain Dave went down with
+Cyril to the door.
+
+"I pray you to enter, my Lord," he said. "My wife will not be happy
+unless you take a cup of posset before you start. Moreover, she and
+my daughter desire much to see you, as you are going to sail with Sir
+Cyril, whom we regard as a member of our family."
+
+"I will come up right willingly," the young noble said, leaping
+lightly from his horse. "If your good dame's posset is as good as the
+wine the Earl, my father, tells me you gave him, it must be good
+indeed; for he told me he believed he had none in his cellar equal to
+it."
+
+He remained for a few minutes upstairs, chatting gaily, vowing that
+the posset was the best he had ever drank, and declaring to Nellie
+that he regarded as a favourable omen for his expedition that he
+should have seen so fair a face the last thing before starting. He
+shook hands with John Wilkes heartily when he came up to say that
+Cyril's valises were all securely packed on the horses, and then went
+off, promising to send Captain Dave a runnet of the finest schiedam
+from the Dutch Admiral's ship.
+
+"Truly, I am thankful you came up," Cyril said, as they mounted and
+rode off. "Before you came we were all dull, and the Dame and
+Mistress Nellie somewhat tearful; Now we have gone off amidst smiles,
+which is vastly more pleasant."
+
+Crossing London Bridge, they rode through Southwark, and then out
+into the open country. Each had a light valise strapped behind the
+saddle, and the servants had saddle-bags containing the smaller
+articles of luggage, while the sumpter-mule carried two trunks with
+their clothes and sea necessaries. It was late in the evening when
+they arrived at Chatham. Here they put up at an hotel which was
+crowded with officers of the Fleet, and with Volunteers like
+themselves.
+
+"I should grumble at these quarters, Cyril," Sydney said, as the
+landlord, with many apologies, showed them into a tiny attic, which
+was the only place he had unoccupied, "were it not that we are going
+to sea to-morrow, and I suppose that our quarters will be even
+rougher there. However, we may have elbow-room for a time, for most
+of the Volunteers will not join, I hear, until the last thing before
+the Fleet sails, and it may be a fortnight yet before all the ships
+are collected. I begged my father to let me do the same, but he goes
+back again to-day to Sevenoaks, and he liked not the idea of my
+staying in town, seeing that the Plague is spreading so rapidly. I
+would even have stayed in the country had he let me, but he was of
+opinion that I was best on board--in the first place, because I may
+not get news down there in time to join the Fleet before it sails,
+and in the second, that I might come to get over this sickness of the
+sea, and so be fit and able to do my part when we meet the Dutch.
+This was so reasonable that I could urge nothing against it; for, in
+truth, it would be a horrible business if I were lying like a sick
+dog, unable to lift my head, while our men were fighting the Dutch. I
+have never been to sea, and know not how I shall bear it. Are you a
+good sailor?"
+
+"Yes; I used to go out very often in a fishing-boat at Dunkirk, and
+never was ill from the first. Many people are not ill at all, and it
+will certainly be of an advantage to you to be on board for a short
+time in quiet waters before setting out for sea."
+
+On going downstairs, Lord Oliphant found several young men of his
+acquaintance among those staying in the house. He introduced Cyril to
+them. But the room was crowded and noisy; many of those present had
+drunk more than was good for them, and it was not long before Cyril
+told his friend that he should go up to bed.
+
+"I am not accustomed to noisy parties, Sydney, and feel quite
+confused with all this talk."
+
+"You will soon get accustomed to it, Cyril. Still, do as you like. I
+dare say I shall not be very long before I follow you."
+
+The next morning after breakfast they went down to the quay, and took
+a boat to the ship, which was lying abreast of the dockyard. The
+captain, on their giving their names, consulted the list.
+
+"That is right, gentlemen, though indeed I know not why you should
+have come down until we are ready to sail, which may not be for a
+week or more, though we shall go out from here to-morrow and join
+those lying in the Hope; for indeed you can be of no use while we are
+fitting, and would but do damage to your clothes and be in the way of
+the sailors. It is but little accommodation you will find on board
+here, though we will do the best we can for you."
+
+"We do not come about accommodation, captain," Lord Oliphant laughed,
+"and we have brought down gear with us that will not soil, or rather,
+that cannot be the worse for soiling. There are three or four others
+at the inn where we stopped last night who are coming on board, but I
+hear that the rest of the Volunteers will probably join when the
+Fleet assembles in Yarmouth roads."
+
+"Then they must be fonder of journeying on horseback than I am," the
+captain said. "While we are in the Hope, where, indeed, for aught I
+know, we may tarry but a day or two, they could come down by boat
+conveniently without trouble, whereas to Yarmouth it is a very long
+ride, with the risk of losing their purses to the gentlemen of the
+road. Moreover, though the orders are at present that the Fleet
+gather at Yarmouth, and many are already there 'tis like that it may
+be changed in a day for Harwich or the Downs. I pray you get your
+meals at your inn to-day, for we are, as you see, full of work taking
+on board stores. If it please you to stay and watch what is doing
+here you are heartily welcome, but please tell the others that they
+had best not come off until late in the evening, by which time I will
+do what I can to have a place ready for them to sleep. We shall sail
+at the turn of the tide, which will be at three o'clock in the
+morning."
+
+Oliphant wrote a few lines to the gentlemen on shore, telling them
+that the captain desired that none should come on board until the
+evening, and having sent it off by their boatmen, telling them to
+return in time to take them back to dinner, he and Cyril mounted to
+the poop and surveyed the scene round them. The ship was surrounded
+with lighters and boats from the dockyards, and from these casks and
+barrels, boxes and cases, were being swung on board by blocks from
+the yards, or rolled in at the port-holes. A large number of men were
+engaged at the work, and as fast as the stores came on board they
+were seized by the sailors and carried down into the hold, the
+provisions piled in tiers of barrels, the powder-kegs packed in the
+magazine.
+
+"'Tis like an ant-hill," Cyril said. "'Tis just as I have seen when a
+nest has been disturbed. Every ant seizes a white egg as big as
+itself, and rushes off with it to the passage below."
+
+"They work bravely," his companion said. "Every man seems to know
+that it is important that the ship should be filled up by to-night.
+See! the other four vessels lying above us are all alike at work, and
+may, perhaps, start with us in the morning. The other ships are busy,
+too, but not as we are. I suppose they will take them in hand when
+they have got rid of us."
+
+"I am not surprised that the captain does not want idlers here, for,
+except ourselves, every man seems to have his appointed work."
+
+"I feel half inclined to take off my doublet and to go and help to
+roll those big casks up the planks."
+
+"I fancy, Sydney, we should be much more in the way there than here.
+There is certainly no lack of men, and your strength and mine
+together would not equal that of one of those strong fellows;
+besides, we are learning something here. It is good to see how
+orderly the work is being carried on, for, in spite of the number
+employed, there is no confusion. You see there are three barges on
+each side; the upper tiers of barrels and bales are being got on
+board through the portholes, while the lower ones are fished up from
+the bottom by the ropes from the yards and swung into the waist, and
+so passed below; and as fast as one barge is unloaded another drops
+alongside to take its place."
+
+They returned to the inn to dinner, after which they paid a visit to
+the victualling yard and dockyard, where work was everywhere going
+on. After supper they, with the other gentlemen for Prince Rupert's
+ship, took boat and went off together. They had learned that, while
+they would be victualled on board, they must take with them wine and
+other matters they required over and above the ship's fare. They had
+had a consultation with the other gentlemen after dinner, and
+concluded that it would be best to take but a small quantity of
+things, as they knew not how they would be able to stow them away,
+and would have opportunities of getting, at Gravesend or at Yarmouth,
+further stores, when they saw what things were required. They
+therefore took only a cheese, some butter, and a case of wine. As
+soon as they got on board they were taken below. They found that a
+curtain of sail-cloth had been hung across the main deck, and
+hammocks slung between the guns. Three or four lanterns were hung
+along the middle.
+
+"This is all we can do for you, gentlemen," the officer who conducted
+them down said. "Had we been going on a pleasure trip we could have
+knocked up separate cabins, but as we must have room to work the
+guns, this cannot be done. In the morning the sailors will take down
+these hammocks, and will erect a table along the middle, where you
+will take your meals. At present, as you see, we have only slung
+hammocks for you, but when you all come on board there will be
+twenty. We have, so far, only a list of sixteen, but as the Prince
+said that two or three more might come at the last moment we have
+railed off space enough for ten hammocks on each side. We will get
+the place cleaned for you to-morrow, but the last barge was emptied
+but a few minutes since, and we could do naught but just sweep the
+deck down. To-morrow everything shall be scrubbed and put in order."
+
+"It will do excellently well," one of the gentlemen said. "We have
+not come on board ship to get luxuries, and had we to sleep on the
+bare boards you would hear no grumbling."
+
+"Now, gentlemen, as I have shown you your quarters, will you come up
+with me to the captain's cabin? He has bade me say that he will be
+glad if you will spend an hour with him there before you retire to
+rest."
+
+On their entering, the captain shook hands with Lord Oliphant and
+Cyril.
+
+"I must apologise, gentlemen, for being short with you when you came
+on board this morning; but my hands were full, and I had no time to
+be polite. They say you can never get a civil answer from a housewife
+on her washing-day, and it is the same thing with an officer on board
+a ship when she is taking in her stores. However, that business is
+over, and now I am glad to see you all, and will do my best to make
+you as comfortable as I can, which indeed will not be much; for as we
+shall, I hope, be going into action in the course of another ten
+days, the decks must all be kept clear, and as we have the Prince on
+board, we have less cabin room than we should have were we not an
+admiral's flagship."
+
+Wine was placed on the table, and they had a pleasant chat. They
+learnt that the Fleet was now ready for sea.
+
+"Four ships will sail with ours to-morrow," the captain said, "and
+the other five will be off the next morning. They have all their
+munitions on board, and will take in the rest of their provisions
+to-morrow. The Dutch had thought to take us by surprise, but from
+what we hear they are not so forward as we, for things have been
+pushed on with great zeal at all our ports, the war being generally
+popular with the nation, and especially with the merchants, whose
+commerce has been greatly injured by the pretensions and violence of
+the Dutch. The Portsmouth ships, and those from Plymouth, are already
+on their way round to the mouth of the Thames, and in a week we may
+be at sea. I only hope the Dutch will not be long before they come
+out to fight us. However, we are likely to pick up a great many
+prizes, and, next to fighting, you know, sailors like prize-money."
+
+After an hour's talk the five gentlemen went below to their hammocks,
+and then to bed, with much laughter at the difficulty they had in
+mounting into their swinging cots.
+
+It was scarce daylight when they were aroused by a great stir on
+board the ship, and, hastily putting on their clothes, went on deck.
+Already a crowd of men were aloft loosening the sails. Others had
+taken their places in boats in readiness to tow the ship, for the
+wind was, as yet, so light that it was like she would scarce have
+steerage way, and there were many sharp angles in the course down the
+river to be rounded, and shallows to be avoided. A few minutes later
+the moorings were cast off, the sails sheeted home, and the crew gave
+a great cheer, which was answered from the dockyard, and from boats
+alongside, full of the relations and friends of the sailors, who
+stood up and waved their hats and shouted good bye.
+
+The sails still hung idly, but the tide swept the ship along, and the
+men in the boats ahead simply lay on their oars until the time should
+come to pull her head round in one direction or another. They had not
+long to wait, for, as they reached the sharp corner at the end of the
+reach, orders were shouted, the men bent to their oars, and the
+vessel was taken round the curve until her head pointed east.
+Scarcely had they got under way when they heard the cheer from the
+ship astern of them, and by the time they had reached the next curve,
+off the village of Gillingham, the other four ships had rounded the
+point behind them, and were following at a distance of about a
+hundred yards apart. Soon afterwards the wind sprang up and the sails
+bellied out, and the men in the boats had to row briskly to keep
+ahead of the ship. The breeze continued until they passed Sheerness,
+and presently they dropped anchor inside the Nore sands. There they
+remained until the tide turned, and then sailed up the Thames to the
+Hope, where some forty men-of-war were already at anchor.
+
+The next morning some barges arrived from Tilbury, laden with
+soldiers, of whom a hundred and fifty came on board, their quarters
+being on the main deck on the other side of the canvas division. A
+cutter also brought down a number of impressed men, twenty of whom
+were put on board the _Henrietta_ to complete her crew. Cyril was
+standing on the poop watching them come on board, when he started as
+his eye fell on two of their number. One was Robert Ashford; the
+other was Black Dick. They had doubtless returned from Holland when
+war was declared. Robert Ashford had assumed the dress of a sailor
+the better to disguise himself, and the two had been carried off
+together from some haunt of sailors at Wapping. He pointed them out
+to his friend Sydney.
+
+"So those are the two scamps? The big one looks a truculent ruffian.
+Well, they can do you no harm here, Cyril. I should let them stay and
+do their share of the fighting, and then, when the voyage is over, if
+they have not met with a better death than they deserve at the hands
+of the Dutch, you can, if you like, denounce them, and have them
+handed over to the City authorities."
+
+"That I will do, as far as the big ruffian they call Black Dick is
+concerned. He is a desperate villain, and for aught I know may have
+committed many a murder, and if allowed to go free might commit many
+more. Besides, I shall never feel quite safe as long as he is at
+large. As to Robert Ashford, he is a knave, but I know no worse of
+him, and will therefore let him go his way."
+
+In the evening the other ships from Chatham came up, and the captain
+told them later that the Earl of Sandwich, who was in command, would
+weigh anchor in the morning, as the contingent from London, Chatham,
+and Sheerness was now complete. Cyril thought that he had never seen
+a prettier sight, as the Fleet, consisting of fifty men-of-war, of
+various sizes, and eight merchant vessels that had been bought and
+converted into fire-ships, got under way and sailed down the river.
+That night they anchored off Felixstowe, and the next day proceeded,
+with a favourable wind, to Yarmouth, where already a great number of
+ships were at anchor. So far the five Volunteers had taken their
+meals with the captain, but as the others would be coming on board,
+they were now to mess below, getting fresh meat and vegetables from
+the shore as they required them. As to other stores, they resolved to
+do nothing till the whole party arrived.
+
+They had not long to wait, for, on the third day after their arrival,
+the Duke of York and Prince Rupert, with a great train of gentlemen,
+arrived in the town, and early the next morning embarked on board
+their respective ships. A council was held by the Volunteers in their
+quarters, three of their number were chosen as caterers, and, a
+contribution of three pounds a head being agreed upon, these went
+ashore in one of the ship's boats, and returned presently with a
+barrel or two of good biscuits, the carcasses of five sheep, two or
+three score of ducks and chickens, and several casks of wine,
+together with a large quantity of vegetables. The following morning
+the signal was hoisted on the mast-head of the _Royal Charles_, the
+Duke of York's flagship, for the Fleet to prepare to weigh anchor,
+and they presently got under way in three squadrons, the red under
+the special orders of the Duke, the white under Prince Rupert, and
+the blue under the Earl of Sandwich.
+
+The Fleet consisted of one hundred and nine men-of-war and frigates,
+and twenty-eight fire-ships and ketches, manned by 21,006 seamen and
+soldiers. They sailed across to the coast of Holland, and cruised,
+for a few days, off Texel, capturing ten or twelve merchant vessels
+that tried to run in. So far, the weather had been very fine, but
+there were now signs of a change of weather. The sky became overcast,
+the wind rose rapidly, and the signal was made for the Fleet to
+scatter, so that each vessel should have more sea-room, and the
+chance of collision be avoided. By nightfall the wind had increased
+to the force of a gale, and the vessels were soon labouring heavily.
+Cyril and two or three of his comrades who, like himself, did not
+suffer from sickness, remained on deck; the rest were prostrate
+below.
+
+For forty-eight hours the gale continued, and when it abated and the
+ships gradually closed up round the three admirals' flags, it was
+found that many had suffered sorely in the gale. Some had lost their
+upper spars, others had had their sails blown away, some their
+bulwarks smashed in, and two or three had lost their bowsprits. There
+was a consultation between the admirals and the principal captains,
+and it was agreed that it was best to sail back to England for
+repairs, as many of the ships were unfitted to take their place in
+line of battle, and as the Dutch Fleet was known to be fully equal to
+their own in strength, it would have been hazardous to risk an
+engagement. So the ketches and some of the light frigates were at
+once sent off to find the ships that had not yet joined, and give
+them orders to make for Yarmouth, Lowestoft, or Harwich. All vessels
+uninjured were to gather off Lowestoft, while the others were to make
+for the other ports, repair their damages as speedily as possible,
+and then rejoin at Lowestoft.
+
+No sooner did the Dutch know that the English Fleet had sailed away
+than they put their fleet to sea. It consisted of one hundred and
+twelve men-of-war, and thirty fire-ships, and small craft manned by
+22,365 soldiers and sailors. It was commanded by Admiral Obdam,
+having under him Tromp, Evertson, and other Dutch admirals. On their
+nearing England they fell in with nine ships from Hamburg, with rich
+cargoes, and a convoy of a thirty-four gun frigate. These they
+captured, to the great loss of the merchants of London.
+
+The _Henrietta_ had suffered but little in the storm, and speedily
+repaired her damages without going into port. With so much haste and
+energy did the crews of the injured ships set to work at refitting
+them, that in four days after the main body had anchored off
+Lowestoft, they were rejoined by all the ships that had made for
+Harwich and Yarmouth.
+
+At midnight on June 2nd, a fast-sailing fishing-boat brought in the
+news that the Dutch Fleet were but a few miles away, sailing in that
+direction, having apparently learnt the position of the English from
+some ship or fishing-boat they had captured.
+
+The trumpets on the admiral's ship at once sounded, and Prince Rupert
+and the Earl of Sandwich immediately rowed to her. They remained but
+a few minutes, and on their return to their respective vessels made
+the signals for their captains to come on board. The order, at such
+an hour, was sufficient to notify all that news must have been
+received of the whereabouts of the Dutch Fleet, and by the time the
+captains returned to their ships the crews were all up and ready to
+execute any order. At two o'clock day had begun to break, and soon
+from the mastheads of several of the vessels the look-out shouted
+that they could perceive the Dutch Fleet but four miles away. A
+mighty cheer rose throughout the Fleet, and as it subsided a gun from
+the _Royal Charles_ gave the order to weigh anchor, and a few
+minutes later the three squadrons, in excellent order, sailed out to
+meet the enemy.
+
+They did not, however, advance directly towards them, but bore up
+closely into the wind until they had gained the weather gauge of the
+enemy. Having obtained this advantage, the Duke flew the signal to
+engage. The Volunteers were all in their places on the poop, being
+posted near the rail forward, that they might be able either to run
+down the ladder to the waist and aid to repel boarders, or to spring
+on to a Dutch ship should one come alongside, and also that the
+afterpart of the poop, where Prince Rupert and the captain had taken
+their places near the wheel, should be free. The Prince himself had
+requested them so to station themselves.
+
+"At other times, gentlemen, you are my good friends and comrades," he
+said, "but, from the moment that the first gun fires, you are
+soldiers under my orders; and I pray you take your station and remain
+there until I call upon you for action, for my whole attention must
+be given to the manoeuvring of the ship, and any movement or talking
+near me might distract my thoughts. I shall strive to lay her
+alongside of the biggest Dutchman I can pick out, and as soon as the
+grapnels are thrown, and their sides grind together, you will have
+the post of honour, and will lead the soldiers aboard her. Once among
+the Dutchmen, you will know what to do without my telling you."
+
+"'Tis a grand sight, truly, Cyril," Sydney said, in a low tone, as
+the great fleets met each other.
+
+"A grand sight, truly, Sydney, but a terrible one. I do not think I
+shall mind when I am once at it, but at present I feel that, despite
+my efforts, I am in a tremor, and that my knees shake as I never felt
+them before."
+
+"I am glad you feel like that, Cyril, for I feel much like it myself,
+and began to be afraid that I had, without knowing it, been born a
+coward. There goes the first gun."
+
+As he spoke, a puff of white smoke spouted out from the bows of one
+of the Dutch ships, and a moment later the whole of their leading
+vessels opened fire. There was a rushing sound overhead, and a ball
+passed through the main topsail of the _Henrietta_. No reply was
+made by the English ships until they passed in between the Dutchmen;
+then the _Henrietta_ poured her broadsides into the enemy on either
+side of her, receiving theirs in return. There was a rending of wood,
+and a quiver through the ship. One of the upper-deck-guns was knocked
+off its carriage, crushing two of the men working it as it fell.
+Several others were hurt with splinters, and the sails pierced with
+holes. Again and again as she passed, did the _Henrietta_ exchange
+broadsides with the Dutch vessels, until--the two fleets having
+passed through each other--she bore up, and prepared to repeat the
+manoeuvre.
+
+"I feel all right now," Cyril said, "but I do wish I had something to
+do instead of standing here useless. I quite envy the men there,
+stripped to the waist, working the guns. There is that fellow Black
+Dick, by the gun forward; he is a scoundrel, no doubt, but what
+strength and power he has! I saw him put his shoulder under that gun
+just now, and slew it across by sheer strength, so as to bear upon
+the stern of the Dutchman. I noticed him and Robert looking up at me
+just before the first gun was fired, and speaking together. I have no
+doubt he would gladly have pointed the gun at me instead of at the
+enemy, for he knows that, if I denounce him, he will get the due
+reward of his crimes."
+
+As soon as the ships were headed round they passed through the Dutch
+as before, and this manoeuvre was several times repeated. Up to one
+o'clock in the day no great advantage had been gained on either side.
+Spars had been carried away; there were yawning gaps in the bulwarks;
+portholes had been knocked into one, guns dismounted, and many
+killed; but as yet no vessel on either side had been damaged to an
+extent that obliged her to strike her flag, or to fall out of the
+fighting line. There had been a pause after each encounter, in which
+both fleets had occupied themselves in repairing damages, as far as
+possible, reeving fresh ropes in place of those that had been shot
+away, clearing the wreckage of fallen spars and yards, and carrying
+the wounded below. Four of the Volunteers had been struck down--two
+of them mortally wounded, but after the first passage through the
+enemy's fleet, Prince Rupert had ordered them to arm themselves with
+muskets from the racks, and to keep up a fire at the Dutch ships as
+they passed, aiming specially at the man at the wheel. The order had
+been a very welcome one, for, like Cyril, they had all felt
+inactivity in such a scene to be a sore trial. They were now ranged
+along on both sides of the poop.
+
+At one o'clock Lord Sandwich signalled to the Blue Squadron to close
+up together as they advanced, as before, against the enemy's line.
+His position at the time was in the centre, and his squadron, sailing
+close together, burst into the Dutch line before their ships could
+make any similar disposition. Having thus broken it asunder, instead
+of passing through it, the squadron separated, and the ships, turning
+to port and starboard, each engaged an enemy. The other two squadrons
+similarly ranged up among the Dutch, and the battle now became
+furious all along the line. Fire-ships played an important part in
+the battles of the time, and the thoughts of the captain of a ship
+were not confined to struggles with a foe of equal size, but were
+still more engrossed by the need for avoiding any fire-ship that
+might direct its course towards him.
+
+Cyril had now no time to give a thought as to what was passing
+elsewhere. The _Henrietta_ had ranged up alongside a Dutch vessel of
+equal size, and was exchanging broadsides with her. All round were
+vessels engaged in an equally furious encounter. The roar of the guns
+and the shouts of the seamen on both sides were deafening. One moment
+the vessel reeled from the recoil of her own guns, the next she
+quivered as the balls of the enemy crashed through her sides.
+
+Suddenly, above the din, Cyril heard the voice of Prince Rupert sound
+like a trumpet.
+
+"Hatchets and pikes on the starboard quarter! Draw in the guns and
+keep off this fire-ship."
+
+Laying their muskets against the bulwarks, he and Sydney sprang to
+the mizzen-mast, and each seized a hatchet from those ranged against
+it. They then rushed to the starboard side, just as a small ship came
+out through the cloud of smoke that hung thickly around them.
+
+There was a shock as she struck the _Henrietta_, and then, as she
+glided alongside, a dozen grapnels were thrown by men on her yards.
+The instant they had done so, the men disappeared, sliding down the
+ropes and running aft to their boat. Before the last leaped in he
+stooped. A flash of fire ran along the deck, there was a series of
+sharp explosions, and then a bright flame sprang up from the
+hatchways, ran up the shrouds and ropes, that had been soaked with
+oil and tar, and in a moment the sails were on fire. In spite of the
+flames, a score of men sprang on to the rigging of the _Henrietta_
+and cut the ropes of the grapnels, which, as yet--so quickly had the
+explosion followed their throwing--had scarce begun to check the way
+the fire-ship had on her as she came up.
+
+Cyril, having cast over a grapnel that had fallen on the poop, looked
+down on the fire-ship as she drifted along. The deck, which, like
+everything else, had been smeared with tar, was in a blaze, but the
+combustible had not been carried as far as the helm, where doubtless
+the captain had stood to direct her course. A sudden thought struck
+him. He ran along the poop until opposite the stern of the fire-ship,
+climbed over the bulwark and leapt down on to the deck, some fifteen
+feet below him. Then he seized the helm and jammed it hard down. The
+fire-ship had still steerage way on her, and he saw her head at once
+begin to turn away from the _Henrietta_; the movement was aided by
+the latter's crew, who, with poles and oars, pushed her off.
+
+The heat was terrific, but Cyril's helmet and breast-piece sheltered
+him somewhat; yet though he shielded his face with his arm, he felt
+that it would speedily become unbearable. His eye fell upon a coil of
+rope at his feet. Snatching it up, he fastened it to the tiller and
+then round a belaying-pin in the bulwark, caught up a bucket with a
+rope attached, threw it over the side and soused its contents over
+the tiller-rope, then, unbuckling the straps of his breast- and
+back-pieces, he threw them off, cast his helmet on the deck,
+blistering his hands as he did so, and leapt overboard. It was with a
+delicious sense of coolness that he rose to the surface and looked
+round. Hitherto he had been so scorched by the flame and smothered by
+the smoke that it was with difficulty he had kept his attention upon
+what he was doing, and would doubtless, in another minute, have
+fallen senseless. The plunge into the sea seemed to restore his
+faculties, and as he came up he looked eagerly to see how far success
+had attended his efforts.
+
+He saw with delight that the bow of the fire-ship was thirty or forty
+feet distant from the side of the _Henrietta_ and her stern half
+that distance. Two or three of the sails of the man-of-war had caught
+fire, but a crowd of seamen were beating the flames out of two of
+them while another, upon which the fire had got a better hold, was
+being cut away from its yard. As he turned to swim to the side of the
+_Henrietta_, three or four ropes fell close to him. He twisted one
+of these round his body, and, a minute later, was hauled up into the
+waist. He was saluted with a tremendous cheer, and was caught up by
+three or four strong fellows, who, in spite of his remonstrances,
+carried him up on to the poop. Prince Rupert was standing on the top
+of the ladder.
+
+"Nobly done, Sir Cyril!" he exclaimed. "You have assuredly saved the
+_Henrietta_ and all our lives. A minute later, and we should have
+been on fire beyond remedy. But I will speak more to you when we have
+finished with the Dutchman on the other side."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+HONOURABLE SCARS
+
+
+During the time that the greater part of the crew of the _Henrietta_
+had been occupied with the fire-ship, the enemy had redoubled their
+efforts, and as the sailors returned to their guns, the mizzen-mast
+fell with a crash. A minute later, a Dutch man-of-war ran alongside,
+fired a broadside, and grappled. Then her crew, springing over the
+bulwarks, poured on to the deck of the _Henrietta_. They were met
+boldly by the soldiers, who had hitherto borne no part in the fight,
+and who, enraged at the loss they had been compelled to suffer, fell
+upon the enemy with fury. For a moment, however, the weight of
+numbers of the Dutchmen bore them back, but the sailors, who had at
+first been taken by surprise, snatched up their boarding pikes and
+axes.
+
+Prince Rupert, with the other officers and Volunteers, dashed into
+the thick of the fray, and, step by step, the Dutchmen were driven
+back, until they suddenly gave way and rushed back to their own ship.
+The English would have followed them, but the Dutch who remained on
+board their ship, seeing that the fight was going against their
+friends, cut the ropes of the grapnels, and the ships drifted apart,
+some of the last to leave the deck of the _Henrietta_ being forced
+to jump into the sea. The cannonade was at once renewed on both
+sides, but the Dutch had had enough of it--having lost very heavily
+in men--and drew off from the action.
+
+Cyril had joined in the fray. He had risen to his feet and drawn his
+sword, but he found himself strangely weak. His hands were blistered
+and swollen, his face was already so puffed that he could scarce see
+out of his eyes; still, he had staggered down the steps to the waist,
+and, recovering his strength from the excitement, threw himself into
+the fray.
+
+Scarce had he done so, when a sailor next to him fell heavily against
+him, shot through the head by one of the Dutch soldiers. Cyril
+staggered, and before he could recover himself, a Dutch sailor struck
+at his head. He threw up his sword to guard the blow, but the guard
+was beaten down as if it had been a reed. It sufficed, however,
+slightly to turn the blow, which fell first on the side of the head,
+and then, glancing down, inflicted a terrible wound on the shoulder.
+
+He fell at once, unconscious, and, when he recovered his senses,
+found himself laid out on the poop, where Sydney, assisted by two of
+the other gentlemen, had carried him. His head and shoulder had
+already been bandaged, the Prince having sent for his doctor to come
+up from below to attend upon him.
+
+The battle was raging with undiminished fury all round, but, for the
+moment, the _Henrietta_ was not engaged, and her crew were occupied
+in cutting away the wreckage of the mizzen-mast, and trying to repair
+the more important of the damages that she had suffered. Carpenters
+were lowered over the side, and were nailing pieces of wood over the
+shot-holes near the water-line. Men swarmed aloft knotting and
+splicing ropes and fishing damaged spars.
+
+Sydney, who was standing a short distance away, at once came up to
+him.
+
+"How are you, Cyril?"
+
+"My head sings, and my shoulder aches, but I shall do well enough.
+Please get me lifted up on to that seat by the bulwark, so that I can
+look over and see what is going on."
+
+"I don't think you are strong enough to sit up, Cyril."
+
+"Oh, yes I am; besides, I can lean against the bulwark."
+
+Cyril was placed in the position he wanted, and, leaning his arm on
+the bulwark and resting his head on it, was able to see what was
+passing.
+
+Suddenly a tremendous explosion was heard a quarter of a mile away.
+
+"The Dutch admiral's ship has blown up," one of the men aloft
+shouted, and a loud cheer broke from the crew.
+
+It was true. The Duke of York in the _Royal Charles_, of eighty
+guns, and the _Eendracht_, of eighty-four, the flagship of Admiral
+Obdam, had met and engaged each other fiercely. For a time the
+Dutchmen had the best of it. A single shot killed the Earl of
+Falmouth, Lord Muskerry, and Mr. Boyle, three gentlemen Volunteers,
+who at the moment were standing close to the Duke, and the _Royal
+Charles_ suffered heavily until a shot from one of her guns struck
+the Dutchman's magazine, and the _Eendracht_ blew up, only five men
+being rescued out of the five hundred that were on board of her.
+
+This accident in no small degree decided the issue of the engagement,
+for the Dutch at once fell into confusion. Four of their ships, a few
+hundred yards from the _Henrietta_, fell foul of each other, and
+while the crews were engaged in trying to separate them an English
+fire-ship sailed boldly up and laid herself alongside. A moment later
+the flames shot up high, and the boat with the crew of the fire-ship
+rowed to the _Henrietta_. The flames instantly spread to the Dutch
+men-of-war, and the sailors were seen jumping over in great numbers.
+Prince Rupert ordered the boats to be lowered, but only one was found
+to be uninjured. This was manned and pushed off at once, and, with
+others from British vessels near, rescued a good many of the Dutch
+sailors.
+
+Still the fight was raging all round; but a short time afterwards
+three other of the finest ships in the Dutch Fleet ran into each
+other. Another of the English fire-ships hovering near observed the
+opportunity, and was laid alongside, with the same success as her
+consort, the three men-of-war being all destroyed.
+
+This took place at some distance from the _Henrietta_, but the
+English vessels near them succeeded in saving, in their boats, a
+portion of the crews. The Dutch ship _Orange_, of seventy-five guns,
+was disabled after a sharp fight with the _Mary_, and was likewise
+burnt. Two Dutch vice-admirals were killed, and a panic spread
+through the Dutch Fleet. About eight o'clock in the evening between
+thirty and forty of their ships made off in a body, and the rest
+speedily followed. During the fight and the chase eighteen Dutch
+ships were taken, though some of these afterwards escaped, as the
+vessels to which they had struck joined the rest in the chase.
+Fourteen were sunk, besides those burnt and blown up. Only one
+English ship, the _Charity_, had struck, having, at the beginning of
+the fight been attacked by three Dutch vessels, and lost the greater
+part of her men, and was then compelled to surrender to a Dutch
+vessel of considerably greater strength that came up and joined the
+others. The English loss was, considering the duration of the fight,
+extremely small, amounting to but 250 killed, and 340 wounded. Among
+the killed were the Earl of Marlborough, the Earl of Portland, who
+was present as a Volunteer, Rear-Admiral Sampson, and Vice-Admiral
+Lawson, the latter of whom died after the fight, from his wounds.
+
+The pursuit of the Dutch was continued for some hours, and then
+terminated abruptly, owing to a Member of Parliament named Brounker,
+who was in the suite of the Duke of York, giving the captain of the
+_Royal Charles_ orders, which he falsely stated emanated from the
+Duke, for the pursuit to be abandoned. For this he was afterwards
+expelled the House of Commons, and was ordered to be impeached, but
+after a time the matter was suffered to drop.
+
+As soon as the battle was over Cyril was taken down to a hammock
+below. He was just dozing off to sleep when Sydney came to him.
+
+"I am sorry to disturb you, Cyril, but an officer tells me that a man
+who is mortally wounded wishes to speak to you; and from his
+description I think it is the fellow you call Black Dick. I thought
+it right to tell you, but I don't think you are fit to go to see
+him."
+
+"I will go," Cyril said, "if you will lend me your arm. I should like
+to hear what the poor wretch has to say."
+
+"He lies just below; the hatchway is but a few yards distant."
+
+There had been no attempt to remove Cyril's clothes, and, by the aid
+of Lord Oliphant and of a sailor he called to his aid, he made his
+way below, and was led through the line of wounded, until a doctor,
+turning round, said,--
+
+"This is the man who wishes to see you, Sir Cyril."
+
+Although a line of lanterns hung from the beams, so nearly blind was
+he that Cyril could scarce distinguish the man's features.
+
+"I have sent for you," the latter said faintly, "to tell you that if
+it hadn't been for your jumping down on to that fire-ship you would
+not have lived through this day's fight. I saw that you recognised
+me, and knew that, as soon as we went back, you would hand us over to
+the constables. So I made up my mind that I would run you through in
+the _mêlée_ if we got hand to hand with the Dutchmen, or would put a
+musket-ball into you while the firing was going on. But when I saw
+you standing there with the flames round you, giving your life, as it
+seemed, to save the ship, I felt that, even if I must be hung for it,
+I could not bring myself to hurt so brave a lad; so there is an end
+of that business. Robert Ashford was killed by a gun that was knocked
+from its carriage, so you have got rid of us both. I thought I should
+like to tell you before I went that the brave action you did saved
+your life, and that, bad as I am, I had yet heart enough to feel that
+I would rather take hanging than kill you."
+
+The last words had been spoken in a scarcely audible whisper. The man
+closed his eyes; and the doctor, laying his hand on Cyril's arm,
+said,--
+
+"You had better go back to your hammock now, Sir Cyril. He will never
+speak again. In a few minutes the end will come."
+
+Cyril spent a restless night. The wind was blowing strongly from the
+north, and the crews had hard work to keep the vessels off the shore.
+His wounds did not pain him much, but his hands, arms, face, and legs
+smarted intolerably, for his clothes had been almost burnt off him,
+and, refreshing as the sea-bath had been at the moment, it now added
+to the smarting of the wounds.
+
+In the morning Prince Rupert came down to see him.
+
+"It was madness of you to have joined in that _mêlée_, lad, in the
+state in which you were. I take the blame on myself in not ordering
+you to remain behind; but when the Dutchmen poured on board I had no
+thought of aught but driving them back again. It would have marred
+our pleasure in the victory we have won had you fallen, for to you we
+all owe our lives and the safety of the ship. No braver deed was
+performed yesterday than yours. I fear it will be some time before
+you are able to fight by my side again; but, at least, you have done
+your share, and more, were the war to last a lifetime."
+
+Cyril was in less pain now, for the doctor had poured oil over his
+burns, and had wrapped up his hands in soft bandages.
+
+"It was the thought of a moment, Prince," he said. "I saw the
+fire-ship had steerage way on her, and if the helm were put down she
+would drive away from our side, so without stopping to think about it
+one way or the other, I ran along to the stern, and jumped down to
+her tiller."
+
+"Yes, lad, it was but a moment's thought, no doubt, but it is one
+thing to think, and another to execute, and none but the bravest
+would have ventured that leap on to the fire-ship. By to-morrow
+morning we shall be anchored in the river. Would you like to be
+placed in the hospital at Sheerness, or to be taken up to London?"
+
+"I would rather go to London, if I may," Cyril said. "I know that I
+shall be well nursed at Captain Dave's, and hope, erelong, to be able
+to rejoin."
+
+"Not for some time, lad--not for some time. Your burns will doubtless
+heal apace, but the wound in your shoulder is serious. The doctor
+says that the Dutchman's sword has cleft right through your
+shoulder-bone. 'Tis well that it is your left, for it may be that you
+will never have its full use again. You are not afraid of the Plague,
+are you? for on the day we left town there was a rumour that it had
+at last entered the City."
+
+"I am not afraid of it," Cyril said; "and if it should come to
+Captain Dowsett's house, I would rather be there, that I may do what
+I can to help those who were so kind to me."
+
+"Just as you like, lad. Do not hurry to rejoin. It is not likely
+there will be any fighting for some time, for it will be long before
+the Dutch are ready to take the sea again after the hammering we have
+given them, and all there will be to do will be to blockade their
+coast and to pick up their ships from foreign ports as prizes."
+
+The next morning Cyril was placed on board a little yacht, called the
+_Fan Fan_, belonging to the Prince, and sailed up the river, the
+ship's company mustering at the side and giving him a hearty cheer.
+The wind was favourable, and they arrived that afternoon in town.
+According to the Prince's instructions, the sailors at once placed
+Cyril on a litter that had been brought for the purpose, and carried
+him up to Captain Dowsett's.
+
+The City was in a state of agitation. The news of the victory had
+arrived but a few hours before, and the church bells were all
+ringing, flags were flying, the shops closed, and the people in the
+streets. John Wilkes came down in answer to the summons of the bell.
+
+"Hullo!" he said; "whom have we here?"
+
+"Don't you know me, John?" Cyril said.
+
+John gave a start of astonishment.
+
+"By St. Anthony, it is Master Cyril! At least, it is his voice,
+though it is little I can see of him, and what I see in no way
+resembles him."
+
+"It is Sir Cyril Shenstone," the captain of the _Fan Fan_, who had
+come with the party, said sternly, feeling ruffled at the familiarity
+with which this rough-looking servitor of a City trader spoke of the
+gentleman in his charge. "It is Sir Cyril Shenstone, as brave a
+gentleman as ever drew sword, and who, as I hear, saved Prince
+Rupert's ship from being burnt by the Dutchmen."
+
+"He knows me," John Wilkes said bluntly, "and he knows no offence is
+meant. The Captain and his dame, and Mistress Nellie are all out, Sir
+Cyril, but I will look after you till they return. Bring him up,
+lads. I am an old sailor myself, and fought the Dutch under Blake and
+Monk more than once."
+
+He led the way upstairs into the best of the spare rooms. Here Cyril
+was laid on a bed. He thanked the sailors heartily for the care they
+had taken of him, and the captain handed a letter to John, saying,--
+
+"The young Lord Oliphant asked me to give this to Captain Dowsett,
+but as he is not at home I pray you to give it him when he returns."
+
+As soon as they had gone, John returned to the bed.
+
+"This is terrible, Master Cyril. What have they been doing to you? I
+can see but little of your face for those bandages, but your eyes
+look mere slits, your flesh is all red and swollen, your eyebrows
+have gone, your arms and legs are all swathed up in bandages--Have
+you been blown up with gunpowder?--for surely no wound could have so
+disfigured you."
+
+"I have not been blown up, John, but I was burnt by the flames of a
+Dutch fire-ship that came alongside. It is a matter that a fortnight
+will set right, though I doubt not that I am an unpleasant-looking
+object at present, and it will be some time before my hair grows
+again."
+
+"And you are not hurt otherwise, Master?" John asked anxiously.
+
+"Yes; I am hurt gravely enough, though not so as to imperil my life.
+I have a wound on the side of my head, and the same blow, as the
+doctor says, cleft through my shoulder-bone."
+
+"I had best go and get a surgeon at once," John said; "though it will
+be no easy matter, for all the world is agog in the streets."
+
+"Leave it for the present, John. There is no need whatever for haste.
+In that trunk of mine is a bottle of oils for the burns, though most
+of the sore places are already beginning to heal over, and the doctor
+said that I need not apply it any more, unless I found that they
+smarted too much for bearing. As for the other wounds, they are
+strapped up and bandaged, and he said that unless they inflamed
+badly, they would be best let alone for a time. So sit down quietly,
+and let me hear the news."
+
+"The news is bad enough, though the Plague has not yet entered the
+City."
+
+"The Prince told me that there was a report, before he came on board
+at Lowestoft, that it had done so."
+
+"No, it is not yet come; but people are as frightened as if it was
+raging here. For the last fortnight they have been leaving in crowds
+from the West End, and many of the citizens are also beginning to
+move. They frighten themselves like a parcel of children. The comet
+seemed to many a sign of great disaster."
+
+Cyril laughed.
+
+"If it could be seen only in London there might be something in it,
+but as it can be seen all over Europe, it is hard to say why it
+should augur evil to London especially. It was shining in the sky
+three nights ago when we were chasing the Dutch, and they had quite
+as good reason for thinking it was a sign of misfortune to them as
+have the Londoners."
+
+"That is true enough," John Wilkes agreed; "though, in truth, I like
+not to see the' thing in the sky myself. Then people have troubled
+their heads greatly because, in Master Lilly's Almanack, and other
+books of prediction, a great pestilence is foretold."
+
+"It needed no great wisdom for that," Cyril said, "seeing that the
+Plague has been for some time busy in foreign parts, and that it was
+here, though not so very bad, in the winter, when these books would
+have been written."
+
+"Then," John Wilkes went on, "there is a man going through the
+streets, night and day. He speaks to no one, but cries out
+continually, 'Oh! the great and dreadful God!' This troubles many
+men's hearts greatly."
+
+"It is a pity, John, that the poor fellow is not taken and shut up in
+some place where madmen are kept. Doubtless, it is some poor coward
+whose brain has been turned by fright. People who are frightened by
+such a thing as that must be poor-witted creatures indeed."
+
+"That may be, Master Cyril, but methinks it is as they say, one fool
+makes many. People get together and bemoan themselves till their
+hearts fail them altogether. And yet, methinks they are not
+altogether without reason, for if the pestilence is so heavy without
+the walls, where the streets are wider and the people less crowded
+than here, it may well be that we shall have a terrible time of it in
+the City when it once passes the walls."
+
+"That may well be, John, but cowardly fear will not make things any
+better. We knew, when we sailed out against the Dutch the other day,
+that very many would not see the setting sun, yet I believe there was
+not one man throughout the Fleet who behaved like a coward."
+
+"No doubt, Master Cyril; but there is a difference. One can fight
+against men, but one cannot fight against the pestilence, and I do
+not believe that if the citizens knew that a great Dutch army was
+marching on London, and that they would have to withstand a dreadful
+siege, they would be moved with fear as they are now."
+
+"That may be so," Cyril agreed. "Now, John, I think that I could
+sleep for a bit."
+
+"Do so, Master, and I will go into the kitchen and see what I can do
+to make you a basin of broth when you awake; for the girl has gone
+out too. She wanted to see what was going on in the streets; and as I
+had sooner stay quietly at home I offered to take her place, as the
+shop was shut and I had nothing to do. Maybe by the time you wake
+again Captain Dave and the others will be back from their cruise."
+
+It was dark when Cyril woke at the sound of the bell. He heard voices
+and movements without, and then the door was quietly opened.
+
+"I am awake," he said. "You see I have taken you at your word, and
+come back to be patched up."
+
+"You are heartily welcome," Mrs. Dowsett said. "Nellie, bring the
+light. Cyril is awake. We were sorry indeed when John told us that
+you had come in our absence. It was but a cold welcome for you to
+find that we were all out."
+
+"There was nothing I needed, madam. Had there been, John would have
+done it for me."
+
+Nellie now appeared at the door with the light, and gave an
+exclamation of horror as she approached the bedside.
+
+"It is not so bad as it looks, Nellie," Cyril said. "Not that I know
+how it looks, for I have not seen myself in a glass since I left
+here; but I can guess that I am an unpleasant object to look at."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett made a sign to Nellie to be silent.
+
+"John told us that you were badly burned and were all wrapped up in
+bandages, but we did not expect to find you so changed. However, that
+will soon pass off, I hope."
+
+"I expect I shall be all right in another week, save for this wound
+in my shoulder. As for that on my head, it is but of slight
+consequence. My skull was thick enough to save my brain."
+
+"Well, Master Cyril," Captain Dave said heartily, as he entered the
+room with a basin of broth in his hand, and then stopped abruptly.
+
+"Well, Captain Dave, here I am, battered out of all shape, you see,
+but not seriously damaged in my timbers. There, you see, though I
+have only been a fortnight at sea, I am getting quite nautical."
+
+"That is right, lad--that is right," Captain Dave said, a little
+unsteadily. "My dame and Nellie will soon put you into ship-shape
+trim again. So you got burnt, I hear, by one of those rascally Dutch
+fire-ships? and John tells me that the captain of the sailors who
+carried you here said that you had gained mighty credit for
+yourself."
+
+"I did my best, as everyone did, Captain Dave. There was not a man on
+board the Fleet who did not do his duty, or we should never have
+beaten the Dutchmen so soundly."
+
+"You had better not talk any more," Mrs. Dowsett said. "You are in my
+charge now, and my first order is that you must keep very quiet, or
+else you will be having fever come on. You had best take a little of
+this broth now. Nellie will sit with you while I go out to prepare
+you a cooling drink."
+
+"I will take a few spoonfuls of the soup since John has taken the
+trouble to prepare it for me," Cyril said; "though, indeed, my lips
+are so parched and swollen that the cooling drink will be much more
+to my taste."
+
+"I think it were best first, dame," the Captain said, "that John and
+I should get him comfortably into bed, instead of lying there wrapped
+up in the blanket in which they brought him ashore. The broth will be
+none the worse for cooling a bit."
+
+"That will be best," his wife agreed. "I will fetch some more
+pillows, so that we can prop him up. He can swallow more comfortably
+so, and will sleep all the better when he lies down again."
+
+As soon as Cyril was comfortably settled John Wilkes was sent to call
+in a doctor, who, after examining him, said that the burns were doing
+well, and that he would send in some cooling lotion to be applied to
+them frequently. As to the wounds, he said they had been so skilfully
+bandaged that it were best to leave them alone, unless great pain set
+in.
+
+Another four days, and Cyril's face had so far recovered its usual
+condition that the swelling was almost abated, and the bandages could
+be removed. The peak of the helmet had sheltered it a good deal, and
+it had suffered less than his hands and arms. Captain Dave and John
+had sat up with him by turns at night, while the Dame and her
+daughter had taken care of him during the day. He had slept a great
+deal, and had not been allowed to talk at all. This prohibition was
+now removed, as the doctor said that the burns were now all healing
+fast, and that he no longer had any fear of fever setting in.
+
+"By the way, Captain," John Wilkes said, that day, at dinner, "I have
+just bethought me of this letter, that was given me by the sailor who
+brought Cyril here. It is for you, from young Lord Oliphant. It has
+clean gone out of my mind till now. I put it in the pocket of my
+doublet, and have forgotten it ever since."
+
+"No harm can have come of the delay, John," Captain Dave said. "It
+was thoughtful of the lad. He must have been sure that Cyril would
+not be in a condition to tell us aught of the battle, and he may have
+sent us some details of it, for the Gazette tells us little enough,
+beyond the ships taken and the names of gentlemen and officers
+killed. Here, Nellie, do you read it. It seems a long epistle, and my
+eyes are not as good as they were."
+
+Nellie took the letter and read aloud:--
+
+"'DEAR AND WORTHY SIR,--I did not think when I was so pleasantly
+entertained at your house that it would befall me to become your
+correspondent, but so it has happened, for, Sir Cyril being sorely
+hurt, and in no state to tell you how the matter befell him--if
+indeed his modesty would allow him, which I greatly doubt--it is
+right that you should know how the business came about, and what
+great credit Sir Cyril has gained for himself. In the heat of the
+fight, when we were briskly engaged in exchanging broadsides with a
+Dutchman of our own size, one of their fire-ships, coming unnoticed
+through the smoke, slipped alongside of us, and, the flames breaking
+out, would speedily have destroyed us, as indeed they went near
+doing. The grapnels were briskly thrown over, but she had already
+touched our sides, and the flames were blowing across us when Sir
+Cyril, perceiving that she had still some way on her, sprang down on
+to her deck and put over the helm. She was then a pillar of flame,
+and the decks, which were plentifully besmeared with pitch, were all
+in a blaze, save just round the tiller where her captain had stood to
+steer her. It was verily a furnace, and it seemed impossible that one
+could stand there for only half a minute and live. Everyone on board
+was filled with astonishment, and the Prince called out loudly that
+he had never seen a braver deed. As the fire-ship drew away from us,
+we saw Sir Cyril fasten the helm down with a rope, and then, lowering
+a bucket over, throw water on to it; then he threw off his helmet and
+armour--his clothes being, by this time, all in a flame--and sprang
+into the sea, the fire-ship being now well nigh her own length from
+us. She had sheered off none too soon, for some of our sails were on
+fire, and it was with great difficulty that we succeeded in cutting
+them from the yards and so saving the ship.
+
+"'All, from the Prince down, say that no finer action was ever
+performed, and acknowledge that we all owe our lives, and His Majesty
+owes his ship, to it. Then, soon after we had hauled Sir Cyril on
+board, the Dutchmen boarded us, and there was a stiff fight, all
+hands doing their best to beat them back, in which we succeeded.
+
+"'Sir Cyril, though scarce able to stand, joined in the fray,
+unnoticed by us all, who in the confusion had not thought of him, and
+being, indeed, scarce able to hold his sword, received a heavy wound,
+of which, however, the doctor has all hopes that he will make a good
+recovery.
+
+"'It would have done you good to hear how the whole crew cheered Sir
+Cyril as we dragged him on board. The Prince is mightily taken with
+him, and is sending him to London in his own yacht, where I feel sure
+that your good dame and fair daughter will do all that they can to
+restore him to health. As soon as I get leave--though I do not know
+when that will be, for we cannot say as yet how matters will turn
+out, or what ships will keep the sea--I shall do myself the honour of
+waiting upon you. I pray you give my respectful compliments to Mrs.
+Dowsett and Mistress Nellie, who are, I hope, enjoying good health.
+
+     "'Your servant to command,
+
+         "'SYDNEY OLIPHANT.'"
+
+The tears were standing in Nellie's eyes, and her voice trembled as
+she read. When she finished she burst out crying.
+
+"There!" John Wilkes exclaimed, bringing his fist down upon the
+table. "I knew, by what that skipper said, the lad had been doing
+something quite out of the way, but when I spoke to him about it
+before you came in he only said that he had tried his best to do his
+duty, just as every other man in the Fleet had done. Who would have
+thought, Captain Dave, that that quiet young chap, who used to sit
+down below making out your accounts, was going to turn out a hero?"
+
+"Who, indeed?" the Captain said, wiping his eyes with the back of his
+hands. "Why, he wasn't more than fifteen then, and, as you say, such
+a quiet fellow. He used to sit there and write, and never speak
+unless I spoke to him. 'Tis scarce two years ago, and look what he
+has done! Who would have thought it? I can't finish my breakfast," he
+went on, getting up from his seat, "till I have gone in and shaken
+him by the hand."
+
+"You had better not, David," Mrs. Dowsett said gently. "We had best
+say but little to him about it now. We can let him know we have heard
+how he came by his burns from Lord Oliphant, but do not let us make
+much of it. Had he wished it he would have told us himself."
+
+Captain Dave sat down again.
+
+"Perhaps you are right, my dear. At any rate, till he is getting
+strong we will not tell him what we think of him. Anyhow, it can't do
+any harm to tell him we know it, and may do him good, for it is clear
+he does not like telling it himself, and may be dreading our
+questioning about the affair."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie went into Cyril's room as soon as they had
+finished breakfast. Captain Dave followed them a few minutes later.
+
+"We have been hearing how you got burnt," he began. "Your friend,
+Lord Oliphant, sent a letter about it by the skipper of his yacht.
+That stupid fellow, John, has been carrying it about ever since, and
+only remembered it just now, when we were at breakfast. It was a
+plucky thing to do, lad."
+
+"It turned out a very lucky one," Cyril said hastily, "for it was the
+means of saving my life."
+
+"Saving your life, lad! What do you mean?"
+
+Cyril then told how Robert Ashford and Black Dick had been brought on
+board as impressed men, how the former had been killed, and the
+confession that Black Dick had made to him before dying.
+
+"He said he had made up his mind to kill me during the fight, but
+that, after I had risked my life to save the _Henrietta_, he was
+ashamed to kill me, and that, rather than do so, he had resolved to
+take his chance of my denouncing him when he returned to land."
+
+ "There was some good in the knave, then," Captain Dave said. "Yes,
+it was a fortunate as well as a brave action, as it turned out."
+
+"Fortunate in one respect, but not in another," Cyril put in, anxious
+to prevent the conversation reverting to the question of his bravery.
+"I put down this wound in my shoulder to it, for if I had been myself
+I don't think I should have got hurt. I guarded the blow, but I was
+so shaky that he broke my guard down as if I had been a child, though
+I think that it did turn the blow a little, and saved it from falling
+fair on my skull. Besides, I should have had my helmet and armour on
+if it had not been for my having to take a swim. So, you see, Captain
+Dave, things were pretty equally balanced, and there is no occasion
+to say anything more about them."
+
+"We have one piece of bad news to tell you, Cyril," Mrs. Dowsett
+remarked, in order to give the conversation the turn which she saw he
+wished for. "We heard this morning that the Plague has come at last
+into the City. Dr. Burnet was attacked yesterday."
+
+"That is bad news indeed, Dame, though it was not to be expected that
+it would spare the City. If you will take my advice, you will go away
+at once, before matters get worse, for if the Plague gets a hold here
+the country people will have nothing to do with Londoners, fearing
+that they will bring the infection among them."
+
+"We shall not go until you are fit to go with us, Cyril," Nellie said
+indignantly.
+
+"Then you will worry me into a fever," Cyril replied. "I am getting
+on well now, and as you said, when you were talking of it before, you
+should leave John in charge of the house and shop, he will be able to
+do everything that is necessary for me. If you stay here, and the
+Plague increases, I shall keep on worrying myself at the thought that
+you are risking your lives needlessly for me, and if it should come
+into the house, and any of you die, I shall charge myself all my life
+with having been the cause of your death. I pray you, for my sake as
+well as your own, to lose no time in going to the sister Captain Dave
+spoke of, down near Gloucester."
+
+"Do not agitate yourself," Mrs. Dowsett said gently, pressing him
+quietly back on to the pillows from which he had risen in his
+excitement. "We will talk it over, and see what is for the best. It
+is but a solitary case yet, and may spread no further. In a few days
+we shall see how matters go. Things have not come to a bad pass yet."
+
+Cyril, however, was not to be consoled. Hitherto he had given
+comparatively small thought to the Plague, but now that it was in the
+City, and he felt that his presence alone prevented the family from
+leaving, he worried incessantly over it.
+
+"Your patient is not so well," the doctor said to Mrs. Dowsett, next
+morning. "Yesterday he was quite free from fever--his hands were
+cool; now they are dry and hard. If this goes on, I fear that we
+shall have great trouble."
+
+"He is worrying himself because we do not go out of town. We had,
+indeed, made up our minds to do so, but we could not leave him here."
+
+"Your nursing would be valuable certainly, but if he goes on as he is
+he will soon be in a high fever; his wounds will grow angry and
+fester. While yesterday he seemed in a fair way to recovery, I should
+be sorry to give any favourable opinion as to what may happen if this
+goes on. Is there no one who could take care of him if you went?"
+
+"John Wilkes will remain behind, and could certainly be trusted to do
+everything that you directed; but that is not like women, doctor."
+
+"No, I am well aware of that; but if things go on well he will really
+not need nursing, while, if fever sets in badly, the best nursing may
+not save him. Moreover, wounds and all other ailments of this sort do
+badly at present; the Plague in the air seems to affect all other
+maladies. If you will take my advice, Dame, you will carry out your
+intention, and leave at once. I hear there are several new cases of
+the Plague today in the City, and those who can go should lose no
+time in doing so; but, even if not for your own sakes, I should say
+go for that of your patient."
+
+"Will you speak to my husband, doctor? I am ready to do whatever is
+best for your patient, whom we love dearly, and regard almost as a
+son."
+
+"If he were a son I should give the same advice. Yes, I will see
+Captain Dowsett."
+
+Half an hour later, Cyril was told what the doctor's advice had been,
+and, seeing that he was bent on it, and that if they stayed they
+would do him more harm than good, they resolved to start the next day
+for Gloucestershire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE PLAGUE
+
+
+Reluctant as they were to leave Cyril, Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter
+speedily saw that the doctor's advice was good. Cyril did not say
+much, but an expression of restful satisfaction came over his face,
+and it was not long before he fell into a quiet sleep that contrasted
+strongly with the restless and fretful state in which he had passed
+the night.
+
+"You see I was right, madam," the doctor said that evening. "The
+fever has not quite left him, but he is a different man to what he
+was this morning; another quiet night's rest, and he will regain the
+ground he has lost. I think you can go in perfect comfort so far as
+he is concerned. Another week and he will be up, if nothing occurs to
+throw him back again; but of course it will be weeks before he can
+use his arm."
+
+John Wilkes had been sent off as soon as it was settled that they
+would go, and had bought, at Epping, a waggon and a pair of strong
+horses. It had a tilt, and the ladies were to sleep in it on the
+journey, as it was certain that, until they were far away from
+London, they would be unable to obtain lodgings. A man was engaged to
+drive them down, and a sail and two or three poles were packed in the
+waggon to make a tent for him and Captain Dowsett. A store of
+provisions was cooked, and a cask of beer, another of water, and a
+case of wine were also placed in. Mattresses were laid down for the
+ladies to sit on during the day and to sleep on at night; so they
+would be practically independent during the journey. Early next
+morning they started.
+
+"It seems heartless to leave you, Cyril," Nellie said, as they came
+in to say good-bye.
+
+"Not heartless at all," Cyril replied. "I know that you are going
+because I wish it."
+
+"It is more than wishing, you tiresome boy. We are going because you
+have made up your mind that you will be ill if we don't. You are too
+weak to quarrel with now, but when we meet again, tremble, for I warn
+you I shall scold you terribly then."
+
+"You shall scold me as much as you please, Nellie; I shall take it
+all quite patiently."
+
+Nellie and her mother went away in tears, and Captain Dave himself
+was a good deal upset. They had thought the going away from home on
+such a long journey would be a great trial, but this was now quite
+lost sight of in their regret at what they considered deserting
+Cyril, and many were the injunctions that were given to John Wilkes
+before the waggon drove off. They were somewhat consoled by seeing
+that Cyril was undoubtedly better and brighter. He had slept all
+night without waking, his hands were cool, and the flush had entirely
+left his cheek.
+
+"If they were starting on a voyage to the Indies they could not be in
+a greater taking," John Wilkes said, on returning to Cyril's bedside.
+"Why, I have seen the Captain go off on a six months' voyage and less
+said about it."
+
+"I am heartily glad they are gone, John. If the Plague grows there
+will be a terrible time here. Is the shop shut?"
+
+"Ay; the man went away two days ago, and we sent off the two
+'prentices yesterday. There is naught doing. Yesterday half the
+vessels in the Pool cleared out on the news of the Plague having got
+into the City, and I reckon that, before long, there won't be a ship
+in the port. We shall have a quiet time of it, you and I; we shall be
+like men in charge of an old hulk."
+
+Another week, and Cyril was up. All his bandages, except those on the
+shoulder and head, had been thrown aside, and the doctor said that,
+erelong, the former would be dispensed with. John had wanted to sit
+up with him, but as Cyril would not hear of this he had moved his bed
+into the same room, so that he could be up in a moment if anything
+was wanted. He went out every day to bring in the news.
+
+"There is little enough to tell, Master Cyril," he said one day. "So
+far, the Plague grows but slowly in the City, though, indeed, it is
+no fault of the people that it does not spread rapidly. Most of them
+seem scared out of their wits; they gather together and talk, with
+white faces, and one man tells of a dream that his wife has had, and
+another of a voice that he says he has heard; and some have seen
+ghosts. Yesterday I came upon a woman with a crowd round her; she was
+staring up at a white cloud, and swore that she could plainly see an
+angel with a white sword, and some of the others cried that they saw
+it too. I should like to have been a gunner's mate with a stout
+rattan, and to have laid it over their shoulders, to give them
+something else to think about for a few hours. It is downright
+pitiful to see such cowards. At the corner of one street there was a
+quack, vending pills and perfumes that he warranted to keep away the
+Plague, and the people ran up and bought his nostrums by the score; I
+hear there are a dozen such in the City, making a fortune out of the
+people's fears. I went into the tavern I always use, and had a glass
+of Hollands and a talk with the landlord. He says that he does as
+good a trade as ever, though in a different way. There are no sailors
+there now, but neighbours come in and drink down a glass of strong
+waters, which many think is the best thing against the Plague, and
+then hurry off again. I saw the Gazette there, and it was half full
+of advertisements of people who said they were doctors from foreign
+parts, and all well accustomed to cure the Plague. They say the
+magistrates are going to issue notices about shutting up houses, as
+they do at St. Giles's, and to have watchmen at the doors to see none
+come in or go out, and that they are going to appoint examiners in
+every parish to go from house to house to search for infected
+persons."
+
+"I suppose these are proper steps to take," Cyril said, "but it will
+be a difficult thing to keep people shut up in houses where one is
+infected. No doubt it would be a good thing at the commencement of
+the illness, but when it has once spread itself, and the very air
+become infected, it seems to me that it will do but little good,
+while it will assuredly cause great distress and trouble. I long to
+be able to get up myself, and to see about things."
+
+"The streets have quite an empty aspect, so many have gone away; and
+what with that, and most of the shops being closed, and the dismal
+aspect of the people, there is little pleasure in being out, Master
+Cyril."
+
+"I dare say, John. Still, it will be a change, and, as soon as I am
+strong enough, I shall sally out with you."
+
+Another fortnight, and Cyril was able to do so. The Plague had still
+spread, but so slowly that people began to hope that the City would
+be spared any great calamity, for they were well on in July, and in
+another six weeks the heat of summer would be passed. Some of those
+who had gone into the country returned, more shops had been opened,
+and the panic had somewhat subsided.
+
+"What do you mean to do, Master Cyril?" John Wilkes asked that
+evening. "Of course you cannot join the Fleet again, for it will be,
+as the doctor says, another two months before your shoulder-bone will
+have knit strongly enough for you to use your arm, and at sea it is a
+matter of more consequence than on land for a man to have the use of
+both arms. The ship may give a sudden lurch, and one may have to make
+a clutch at whatever is nearest to prevent one from rolling into the
+lee scuppers; and such a wrench as that would take from a weak arm
+all the good a three months' nursing had done it, and might spoil the
+job of getting the bone to grow straight again altogether. I don't
+say you are fit to travel yet, but you should be able before long to
+start on a journey, and might travel down into Gloucestershire,
+where, be sure, you will be gladly welcomed by the Captain, his dame,
+and Mistress Nellie. Or, should you not care for that, you might go
+aboard a ship. There are hundreds of them lying idle in the river,
+and many families have taken up their homes there, so as to be free
+from all risks of meeting infected persons in the streets."
+
+"I think I shall stay here, John, and keep you company. If the Plague
+dies away, well and good. If it gets bad, we can shut ourselves up.
+You say that the Captain has laid in a great store of provisions, so
+that you could live without laying out a penny for a year, and it is
+as sure as anything can be, that when the cold weather comes on it
+will die out. Besides, John, neither you nor I are afraid of the
+Plague, and it is certain that it is fear that makes most people take
+it. If it becomes bad, there will be terrible need for help, and
+maybe we shall be able to do some good. If we are not afraid of
+facing death in battle, why should we fear it by the Plague. It is as
+noble a death to die helping one's fellow-countrymen in their sore
+distress as in fighting for one's country."
+
+"That is true enough, Master Cyril, if folks did but see it so. I do
+not see what we could do, but if there be aught, you can depend on
+me. I was in a ship in the Levant when we had a fever, which, it
+seems to me, was akin to this Plague, though not like it in all its
+symptoms. Half the crew died, and, as you say, I verily believe that
+it was partly from the lowness of spirits into which they fell from
+fear. I used to help nurse the sick, and throw overboard the dead,
+and it never touched me. I don't say that I was braver than others,
+but it seemed to me as it was just as easy to take things comfortable
+as it was to fret over them."
+
+Towards the end of the month the Plague spread rapidly, and all work
+ceased in the parishes most affected. But, just as it had raged for
+weeks in the Western parishes outside the City, so it seemed
+restricted by certain invisible lines, after it had made its entry
+within the walls, and while it raged in some parts others were
+entirely unaffected, and here shops were open, and the streets still
+retained something of their usual appearance. There had been great
+want among the poorer classes, owing to the cessation of work,
+especially along the riverside. The Lord Mayor, some of the Aldermen,
+and most other rich citizens had hastened to leave the City. While
+many of the clergy were deserting their flocks, and many doctors
+their patients, others remained firmly at their posts, and worked
+incessantly, and did all that was possible in order to check the
+spread of the Plague and to relieve the distress of the poor.
+
+Numbers of the women were engaged as nurses. Examiners were appointed
+in each parish, and these, with their assistants, paid house-to-house
+visitations, in order to discover any who were infected; and as soon
+as the case was discovered the house was closed, and none suffered to
+go in or out, a watchman being placed before the door day and night.
+Two men therefore were needed to each infected house, and this
+afforded employment for numbers of poor. Others were engaged in
+digging graves, or in going round at night, with carts, collecting
+the dead.
+
+So great was the dread of the people at the thought of being shut up
+in their houses, without communication with the world, that every
+means was used for concealing the fact that one of the inmates was
+smitten down. This was the more easy because the early stages of the
+disease were without pain, and people were generally ignorant that
+they had been attacked until within a few hours, and sometimes within
+a few minutes, of their death; consequently, when the Plague had once
+spread, all the precautions taken to prevent its increase were
+useless, while they caused great misery and suffering, and doubtless
+very much greater loss of life. For, owing to so many being shut up
+in the houses with those affected, and there being no escape from the
+infection, whole families, with the servants and apprentices, sickened
+and died together.
+
+Cyril frequently went up to view the infected districts. He was not
+moved by curiosity, but by a desire to see if there were no way of
+being of use. There was not a street but many of the houses were
+marked with the red cross. In front of these the watchmen sat on
+stools or chairs lent by the inmates, or borrowed from some house
+whence the inhabitants had all fled. The air rang with pitiful cries.
+Sometimes women, distraught with terror or grief, screamed wildly
+through open windows. Sometimes people talked from the upper stories
+to their neighbours on either hand, or opposite, prisoners like
+themselves, each telling their lamentable tale of misery, of how many
+had died and how many remained.
+
+It was by no means uncommon to see on the pavement men and women who,
+in the excess of despair or pain, had thrown themselves headlong
+down. While such sounds and sights filled Cyril with horror, they
+aroused still more his feelings of pity and desire to be of some use.
+Very frequently he went on errands for people who called down from
+above to him. Money was lowered in a tin dish, or other vessel, in
+which it lay covered with vinegar as a disinfectant. Taking it out,
+he would go and buy the required articles, generally food or
+medicine, and, returning, place them in a basket that was again
+lowered.
+
+The watchmen mostly executed these commissions, but many of them were
+surly fellows, and, as they were often abused and cursed by those
+whom they held prisoners, would do but little for them. They had,
+moreover, an excuse for refusing to leave the door, because, as often
+happened, it might be opened in their absence and the inmates escape.
+It was true that the watchmen had the keys, but the screws were often
+drawn from the locks inside; and so frequently was this done that at
+last chains with padlocks were fastened to all the doors as soon as
+the watch was set over them. But even this did not avail. Many of the
+houses had communications at the backs into other streets, and so
+eluded the vigilance of the watch; while, in other cases,
+communications were broken through the walls into other houses, empty
+either by desertion or death, and the escape could thus be made under
+the very eye of the watchman.
+
+Very frequently Cyril went into a church when he saw the door open.
+Here very small congregations would be gathered, for there was a fear
+on the part of all of meeting with strangers, for these might,
+unknown to themselves, be already stricken with the pest, and all
+public meetings of any kind were, for this reason, strictly
+forbidden. One day, he was passing a church that had hitherto been
+always closed, its incumbent being one of those who had fled at the
+outbreak of the Plague. Upon entering he saw a larger congregation
+than usual, some twenty or thirty people being present.
+
+The minister had just mounted the pulpit, and was beginning his
+address as Cyril entered. The latter was struck with his appearance.
+He was a man of some thirty years of age, with a strangely earnest
+face. His voice was deep, but soft and flexible, and in the stillness
+of the almost empty church its lowest tones seemed to come with
+impressive power, and Cyril thought that he had never heard such
+preaching before. The very text seemed strange at such a time:
+_"Rejoice ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."_ From most of
+the discourses he had heard Cyril had gone out depressed rather than
+inspirited. They had been pitched in one tone. The terrible scourge
+that raged round them was held up as a punishment sent by the wrath
+of God upon a sinful people, and the congregation were warned to
+prepare themselves for the fate, that might at any moment be theirs,
+by repentance and humiliation. The preacher to whom Cyril was now
+listening spoke in an altogether different strain.
+
+"You are all soldiers of Christ," he said, "and now is an opportunity
+given to you to show that you are worthy soldiers. When the troops of
+a worldly monarch go into battle they do so with head erect, with
+proud and resolute bearing, with flashing eye, and with high courage,
+determined to bear aloft his banner and to crown it with victory,
+even though it cost them their lives. Such is the mien that soldiers
+of Christ should bear in the mortal strife now raging round us. Let
+them show the same fearlessness of death, the same high courage, the
+same unlimited confidence in their Leader. What matter if they die in
+His service? He has told them what their work should be. He has
+bidden them visit the sick and comfort the sorrowing. What if there
+be danger in the work? Did He shrink from the Cross which was to end
+His work of love, and is it for His followers to do so? 'Though you
+go down into the pit,' He has said, 'I am there also'; and with His
+companionship one must be craven indeed to tremble. This is a noble
+opportunity for holding high the banner of Christ. There is work to
+be done for all, and as the work is done, men should see by the calm
+courage, the cheerfulness, and the patience of those that do it, that
+they know that they are doing His work, and that they are content to
+leave the issue, whatever it be, in His hands."
+
+Such was the tone in which, for half an hour, he spoke. When he had
+finished he offered up a prayer, gave the blessing, and then came
+down from the pulpit and spoke to several of the congregation. He was
+evidently personally known to most of them. One by one, after a few
+words, they left the church. Cyril remained to the last.
+
+"I am willing to work, sir," he said, as the preacher came up, "but,
+so far, no work has come in my way."
+
+"Have you father or mother, or any dependent on you?"
+
+"No one, sir."
+
+"Then come along with me; I lodge close by. I have eaten nothing
+to-day, and must keep up my strength, and I have a long round of
+calls to make."
+
+"This is the first time I have seen the church open," Cyril said, as
+they went out.
+
+"It is not my church, sir, nor do I belong to the Church of England;
+I am an Independent. But as many of the pastors have fled and left
+their sheep untended, so have we--for there are others besides myself
+who have done so--taken possession of their empty pulpits, none
+gainsaying us, and are doing what good we can. You have been in the
+war, I see," he went on, glancing at Cyril's arm, which was carried
+in a sling.
+
+"Yes; I was at the battle of Lowestoft, and having been wounded
+there, came to London to stay in a friend's house till I was cured.
+He and his family have left, but I am living with a trusty foreman
+who is in charge of the house. I have a great desire to be useful. I
+myself have little fear of the Plague."
+
+"That is the best of all preservatives from its ravages, although not
+a sure one; for many doctors who have laboured fearlessly have yet
+died. Have you thought of any way of being useful?"
+
+"No, sir; that is what is troubling me. As you see, I have but the
+use of one arm, and I have not got back my full strength by a long
+way."
+
+"Everyone can be useful if he chooses," the minister said. "There is
+need everywhere among this stricken, frightened, helpless people, of
+men of calm courage and cool heads. Nine out of ten are so scared out
+of their senses, when once the Plague enters the houses, as to be
+well-nigh useless, and yet the law hinders those who would help if
+they could. I am compelled to labour, not among those who are sick,
+but among those who are well. When one enters a house with the red
+cross on the door, he may leave it no more until he is either borne
+out to the dead-cart, or the Plague has wholly disappeared within it,
+and a month has elapsed. The sole exception are the doctors; they are
+no more exempt from spreading the infection than other men, but as
+they must do their work so far as they can they have free passage;
+and yet, so few is their number and so heavy already their losses,
+that not one in a hundred of those that are smitten can have their
+aid. Here is one coming now, one of the best--Dr. Hodges. If you are
+indeed willing so to risk your life, I will speak to him. But I know
+not your name?"
+
+"My name is Cyril Shenstone."
+
+The clergyman looked at him suddenly, and would have spoken, but the
+doctor was now close to them.
+
+"Ah! Mr. Wallace," he said, "I am glad to see you, and to know that,
+so far, you have not taken the disease, although constantly going
+into the worst neighbourhoods."
+
+"Like yourself, Dr. Hodges, I have no fear of it."
+
+"I do not say I have no fear," the doctor replied. "I do my duty so
+far as I can, but I do not doubt that, sooner or later, I shall catch
+the malady, as many of us have done already. I take such precautions
+as I can, but the distemper seems to baffle all precautions. My only
+grief is that our skill avails so little. So far we have found
+nothing that seems to be of any real use. Perhaps if we could attack
+it in the earlier stages we might be more successful. The strange
+nature of the disease, and the way in which it does its work
+well-nigh to the end, before the patient is himself aware of it, puts
+it out of our power to combat it. In many cases I am not sent for
+until the patient is at the point of death, and by the time I reach
+his door I am met with the news that he is dead. But I must be
+going."
+
+"One moment, Dr. Hodges. This young gentleman has been expressing to
+me his desire to be of use. I know nothing of him save that he was
+one of my congregation this morning, but, as he fears not the Plague,
+and is moved by a desire to help his fellows in distress, I take it
+that he is a good youth. He was wounded in the battle of Lowestoft,
+and, being as ready to encounter the Plague as he was the Dutch,
+would now fight in the cause of humanity. Would you take him as an
+assistant? I doubt if he knows anything of medicine, but I think he
+is one that would see your orders carried out. He has no relations or
+friends, and therefore considers himself free to venture his life."
+
+The doctor looked earnestly at Cyril and then raised his hat.
+
+"Young sir," he said, "since you are willing so to venture your life,
+I will gladly accept your help. There are few enough clear heads in
+this city, God knows. As for the nurses, they are Jezebels. They have
+the choice of starving or nursing, and they nurse; but they neglect
+their patients, they rob them, and there is little doubt that in many
+cases they murder them, so that at the end of their first nursing
+they may have enough money to live on without going to another house.
+But I am pressed for time. Here is my card. Call on me this evening
+at six, and we will talk further on the matter."
+
+Shaking hands with the minister he hurried away.
+
+"Come as far as my lodgings," Mr. Wallace said to Cyril, "and stay
+with me while I eat my meal. 'Tis a diversion to one's mind to turn
+for a moment from the one topic that all men are speaking of.
+
+"Your name is Shenstone. I come from Norfolk. There was a family of
+that name formerly had estates near my native place. One Sir Aubrey
+Shenstone was at its head--a brave gentleman. I well remember seeing
+him when I was a boy, but he took the side of the King against the
+Parliament, and, as we heard, passed over with Charles to France when
+his cause was lost. I have not heard of him since."
+
+"Sir Aubrey was my father," Cyril said quietly; "he died a year ago.
+I am his only son."
+
+"And therefore Sir Cyril," the minister said, "though you did not so
+name yourself."
+
+"It was needless," Cyril said. "I have no estates to support my
+title, and though it is true that, when at sea with Prince Rupert, I
+was called Sir Cyril, it was because the Prince had known my father,
+and knew that I, at his death, inherited the title, though I
+inherited nothing else."
+
+They now reached the door of Mr. Wallace's lodging, and went up to
+his room on the first floor.
+
+"Neglect no precaution," the minister said. "No one should throw away
+his life. I myself, although not a smoker, nor accustomed to take
+snuff, use it now, and would, as the doctors advise, chew a piece of
+tobacco, but 'tis too nasty, and when I tried it, I was so ill that I
+thought even the risk of the Plague preferable. But I carry camphor
+in my pockets, and when I return from preaching among people of whom
+some may well have the infection, I bathe my face and hands with
+vinegar, and, pouring some on to a hot iron, fill the room with its
+vapour. My life is useful, I hope, and I would fain keep it, as long
+as it is the Lord's will, to work in His service. As a rule, I take
+wine and bread before I go out in the morning, though to-day I was
+pressed for time, and neglected it. I should advise you always to do
+so. I am convinced that a full man has less chance of catching the
+infection than a fasting one, and that it is the weakness many men
+suffer from their fears, and from their loss of appetite from grief,
+that causes them to take it so easily. When the fever was so bad in
+St. Giles's, I heard that in many instances, where whole families
+were carried away, the nurses shut up with them were untouched with
+the infection, and I believe that this was because they had become
+hardened to the work, and ate and drank heartily, and troubled not
+themselves at all at the grief of those around them. They say that
+many of these harpies have grown, wealthy, loading themselves with
+everything valuable they could lay hands on in the houses of those
+they attended."
+
+After the meal, in which he insisted upon Cyril joining him, was
+concluded, Mr. Wallace uttered a short prayer that Cyril might safely
+pass through the work he had undertaken.
+
+"I trust," he said, "that you will come here frequently? I generally
+have a few friends here of an evening. We try to be cheerful, and to
+strengthen each other, and I am sure we all have comfort at these
+meetings."
+
+"Thank you, I will come sometimes, sir; but as a rule I must return
+home, for my friend, John Wilkes, would sorely miss my company, and
+is so good and faithful a fellow that I would not seem to desert him
+on any account."
+
+"Do as you think right, lad, but remember there will always be a
+welcome for you here when you choose to come."
+
+John Wilkes was dismayed when he heard of Cyril's intention.
+
+"Well, Master Cyril," he said, after smoking his pipe in silence for
+some time, "it is not for me to hinder you in what you have made up
+your mind to do. I don't say that if I wasn't on duty here that I
+mightn't go and do what I could for these poor creatures. But I don't
+know. It is one thing to face a deadly fever like this Plague if it
+comes on board your own ship, for there is no getting out of it; and
+as you have got to face it, why, says I, do it as a man; but as for
+going out of your way to put yourself in the middle of it, that is
+going a bit beyond me."
+
+"Well, John, you didn't think it foolish when I went as a Volunteer
+to fight the Dutch. It was just the same thing, you know."
+
+"I suppose it was," John said reluctantly, after a pause. "But then,
+you see, you were fighting for your country."
+
+"Well, but in the present case I shall be fighting for my countrymen
+and countrywomen, John. It is awful to think of the misery that
+people are suffering, and it seems to me that, having nothing else to
+do here, it is specially my duty to put my hand to the work of
+helping as far as I can. The risk may, at present, be greater than it
+would be if I stayed at home, but if the Plague spreads--and it looks
+as if all the City would presently be affected--all will have to run
+the risk of contagion. There are thousands of women now who
+voluntarily enter the houses as nurses for a small rate of pay. Even
+robbers, they say, will enter and ransack the houses of the dead in
+search of plunder. It will be a shame indeed then if one should
+shrink from doing so when possibly one might do good."
+
+"I will say nothing more against it, Master Cyril. Still, I do not
+see exactly what you are going to do; with one arm you could scarce
+hold down a raving man."
+
+"I am not going to be a nurse, certainly, John," Cyril said, with a
+laugh. "I expect that the doctor wants certain cases watched. Either
+he may doubt the nurses, or he may want to see how some particular
+drug works. Nothing, so far, seems of use, but that may be partly
+because the doctors are all so busy that they cannot watch the
+patients and see, from hour to hour, how medicines act."
+
+"When I was in the Levant, and the pest was bad there," John Wilkes
+said, "I heard that the Turks, when seized with the distemper,
+sometimes wrapped themselves up in a great number of clothes, so that
+they sweated heavily, and that this seemed, in some cases, to draw
+off the fever, and so the patient recovered."
+
+"That seems a sensible sort of treatment, John, and worth trying with
+this Plague."
+
+On calling on Dr. Hodges that afternoon, Cyril found that he had
+rightly guessed the nature of the work that the doctor wished him to
+perform.
+
+"I can never rely upon the nurses," he said. "I give instructions
+with medicines, but in most cases I am sure that the instructions are
+never carried out. The relations and friends are too frightened to
+think or act calmly, too full of grief for the sick, and anxiety for
+those who have not yet taken the illness, to watch the changes in the
+patient. As to the nurses, they are often drunk the whole time they
+are in the house. Sometimes they fear to go near the sick man or
+woman; sometimes, undoubtedly, they hasten death. In most cases it
+matters little, for we are generally called in too late to be of any
+service. The poor people view us almost as enemies; they hide their
+malady from us in every way. Half our time, too, is wasted uselessly,
+for many are there who frighten themselves into the belief that they
+are ill, and send for us in all haste. So far, we feel that we are
+working altogether in the dark; none of us can see that any sort of
+drug avails even in the slightest degree when the malady has once got
+a hold. One in twenty cases may live, but why we know not. Still the
+fact that some do live shows that the illness is not necessarily
+mortal, and that, could the right remedy befound, we might yet
+overcome it. The first thing, however, is to try to prevent its
+spread. Here we have ten or more people shut up in a house with one
+sick person. It is a terrible necessity, for it is a sentence of
+death to many, if not to all. We give the nurses instructions to
+fumigate the room by evaporating vinegar upon hot irons, by burning
+spices and drugs, by sprinkling perfumes. So far, I cannot see that
+these measures have been of any service, but I cannot say how
+thoroughly they have been carried out, and I sorely need an assistant
+to see that the system is fairly tried. It is not necessary that he
+should be a doctor, but he must have influence and power over those
+in the house. He must be calm and firm, and he must be regarded by
+the people as a doctor. If you will undertake this, you must put on a
+wig, for you know that that is looked upon as a necessary part of a
+doctor's outfit by people in general. I shall introduce you as my
+assistant, and say that you are to be obeyed as implicitly as if I
+myself were present. There is another reason why you must pass as a
+doctor, for you would otherwise be a prisoner and unable to pass in
+and out. You had best wear a black suit. I will lend you one of my
+canes and a snuff-box, and should advise you to take snuff, even if
+it is not your habit, for I believe that it is good against
+infection, and one of the experiments I wish to try is as to what its
+result may be if burnt freely in the house. Are you ready to
+undertake this work?"
+
+"Quite ready, sir."
+
+"Then come round here at eight in the morning. I shall have heard by
+that hour from the examiners of this parish of any fresh case they
+have found. They begin their rounds at five o'clock."
+
+The next day Cyril presented himself at the doctor's, dressed in
+black, with white ruffles to his shirt, and a flowing wig he had
+purchased the night before.
+
+"Here are the cane and snuff-box," Dr. Hodges said. "Now you will
+pass muster very well as my assistant. Let us be off at once; for I
+have a long list of cases."
+
+Cyril remained outside while Dr. Hodges went into three or four
+houses. Presently he came down to the door, and said to him,--
+
+"This is a case where things are favourable for a first trial. It is
+a boy who is taken ill, and the parents, though in deep grief, seem
+to have some sense left."
+
+He turned to the watchman, who had already been placed at the door.
+The man, who evidently knew him, had saluted respectfully when he
+entered the house.
+
+"This gentleman is my assistant," he said, "and you will allow him to
+pass in and out just as you would myself. He is going to take this
+case entirely in hand, and you will regard him as being in charge
+here."
+
+He then re-entered the house with Cyril, and led him to the room
+where the parents of the boy, and two elder sisters, were assembled.
+
+"This is my assistant," he said, "and he has consented to take entire
+charge of the case, though I myself shall look in and consult with
+him every morning. In the first place, your son must be taken to the
+top storey of the house. You say that you are ready to nurse him
+yourselves, and do not wish that a paid nurse should be had in. I
+commend your determination, for the nurses are, for the most part,
+worse than useless, and carry the infection all over the house. But
+only one of you must go into the room, and whoever goes in must stay
+there. It is madness for all to be going in and out and exposing
+themselves to the infection when no good can be done. When this is
+the case, one or other is sure to take the malady, and then it
+spreads to all. Which of you will undertake the duty?"
+
+All four at once offered themselves, and there was an earnest contest
+between them for the dangerous post. Dr. Hodges listened for a minute
+or two, and then decided upon the elder of the two sisters--a quiet,
+resolute-looking girl with a healthy face.
+
+"This young lady shall be nurse," he said. "I feel that I can have
+confidence in her. She looks healthy and strong, and would, methinks,
+best resist the malady, should she take it. I am leaving my assistant
+here for a time to see to the fumigation of the house. You will
+please see that his orders are carried out in every respect. I have
+every hope that if this is done the Plague will not spread further;
+but much must depend upon yourselves. Do not give way to grief, but
+encourage each other, and go about with calm minds. I see," he said,
+pointing to a Bible on the table, "that you know where to go for
+comfort and strength. The first thing is to carry the boy up to the
+room that we chose for him."
+
+"I will do that," the father said.
+
+"He had better be left in the blankets in which he is lying. Cover
+him completely over with them, for, above all, it is necessary that
+you should not inhale his breath. You had better take the head and
+your daughter the feet. But first see that the room upstairs is
+prepared."
+
+In a few minutes the lad was transferred to the upper room, the
+doctor warning the others not to enter that from which he had been
+carried until it had been fumigated and sprinkled with vinegar.
+
+"Now," he said to the girl who was to remain with the patient, "keep
+the window wide open; as there is no fireplace, keep a brazier of
+charcoal burning near the window. Keep the door shut, and open it
+only when you have need for something. Give him a portion of this
+medicine every half hour. Do not lean over him--remember that his
+breath is a fatal poison. Put a pinch of these powdered spices into
+the fire every few minutes. Pour this perfume over your handkerchief,
+and put it over your mouth and nose whenever you approach the bed. He
+is in a stupor now, poor lad, and I fear that his chance of recovery
+is very slight; but you must remember that your own life is of value
+to your parents, and that it behoves you to do all in your power to
+preserve it, and that if you take the contagion it may spread through
+the house. We shall hang a sheet, soaked in vinegar, outside the
+door."
+
+"We could not have a better case for a trial," he said, as he went
+downstairs and joined Cyril, whom he had bidden wait below. "The
+people are all calm and sensible, and if we succeed not here, there
+is small chance of our succeeding elsewhere."
+
+The doctor then gave detailed orders as to fumigating the house, and
+left. Cyril saw at once that a brazier of charcoal was lighted and
+carried upstairs, and he called to the girl to come out and fetch it
+in. As soon as she had done so the sheet was hung over the door. Then
+he took another brazier, placed it in the room from which the boy had
+been carried, laid several lumps of sulphur upon it, and then left
+the room. All the doors of the other rooms were then thrown open, and
+a quantity of tobacco, spices, and herbs, were burnt on a red-hot
+iron at the foot of the stairs, until the house was filled with a
+dense smoke. Half an hour later all the windows were opened.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+FATHER AND SON
+
+
+The process of fumigation had well-nigh suffocated the wife and
+daughter of the trader, but, as soon as the smoke cleared away, Cyril
+set them all to work to carry up articles of furniture to another
+bedroom on the top floor.
+
+"When your daughter is released from nursing, madam," he said, "she
+must at once come into this room, and remain there secluded for a few
+days. Therefore, it will be well to make it as comfortable as
+possible for her. Her food must be taken up and put outside the door,
+so that she can take it in there without any of you going near her."
+
+The occupation was a useful one, as it distracted the thoughts of
+those engaged in it from the sick room.
+
+Cyril did not enter there. He had told the girl to call him should
+there be any necessity, but said,--
+
+"Do not call me unless absolutely needful, if, for instance, he
+becomes violent, in which case we must fasten the sheets across him
+so as to restrain him. But it is of no use your remaining shut up
+there if I go in and out of the room to carry the infection to the
+others."
+
+"You have hurt your arm, doctor?" the mother said, when the
+arrangements were all made, and they had returned to the room below.
+
+"Yes," he said; "I met with an accident, and must, for a short time,
+keep my arm in a sling."
+
+"You look young, sir, to be running these fearful perils."
+
+"I am young," Cyril said, "and have not yet completed all my studies;
+but Dr. Hodges judged that I was sufficiently advanced to be able to
+be of service to him, not so much in prescribing as by seeing that
+his orders were carried out."
+
+Every half hour he went upstairs, and inquired, through the door, as
+to the state of the boy.
+
+Late in the afternoon he heard the girl crying bitterly within. He
+knocked, and she cried out,--
+
+"He is dead, sir; he has just expired."
+
+"Then you must think of yourself and the others," he said. "The small
+packet I placed on the chair contains sulphur. Close the window, then
+place the packet on the fire, and leave the room at once and go into
+the next room, which is all ready for you. There, I pray you,
+undress, and sponge yourself with vinegar, then make your clothes
+into a bundle and put them outside the door. There will be a bowl of
+hot broth in readiness for you there; drink that, and then go to bed
+at once, and keep the blankets over you and try to sleep."
+
+He went part of the way downstairs, and, in a minute or two, heard a
+door open and shut, then another door shut. Knowing that the order
+had been carried out, he went downstairs.
+
+"Madam," he said, "God has taken your boy. The doctor had but little
+hope for him. For the sake of yourself and those around you, I pray
+you all to bear up against the sorrow."
+
+The mother burst into tears, and, leaving her with her husband and
+daughter, Cyril went into the kitchen, where the maid and an
+apprentice were sitting with pale faces, and bade the servant at once
+warm up the broth, that had already been prepared. As soon as it was
+ready, he carried a basin upstairs. The bundle of clothes had already
+been placed outside the girl's room. He took this down and put it on
+the kitchen fire.
+
+"Now," he said, "take four basins up to the parlour, and do you and
+the boy each make a hearty meal. I think there is little fear of the
+Plague spreading, and your best chance of avoiding it is by keeping
+up your spirits and not fretting about it."
+
+As soon as the broth had been taken into the parlour, he went in and
+persuaded them to eat and to take a glass of wine with it, while he
+himself sat down with them.
+
+"You are all weak," he said, "for, doubtless, you have eaten nothing
+to-day, and you need strength as well as courage. I trust that your
+daughter will presently go off into a sound sleep. The last thing
+before you go to bed, take up with you a basin of good posset with a
+glass of wine in it; knock gently at her door; if she is awake, tell
+her to come out and take it in as soon as you have gone, but if she
+does not reply, do not rouse her. I can be of no further use
+to-night, but will return in the morning, when I hope to find all is
+well."
+
+The father accompanied him to the door.
+
+"You will of course bring the poor boy down to-night. It were best
+that you made some excuse to sleep in another room. Let your daughter
+sleep with her mother. When you go in to fetch him, be careful that
+you do not enter at once, for the fumes of the sulphur will scarcely
+have abated. As you go in, place a wet handkerchief to your mouth,
+and make to the window and throw it open, closing the door behind
+you. Sit at the window till the air is tolerable, then wrap the
+blankets round him and carry him downstairs when you hear the bell.
+After he has gone tell the servant to have a brazier lighted, and to
+keep up the kitchen fire. As soon as he is gone, burn on the brazier
+at the foot of the stairs, tobacco and spices, as we did before; then
+take off your clothes and burn them on the kitchen fire, and then go
+up to bed. You can leave the doors and windows of the rooms that are
+not in use open, so that the smoke may escape."
+
+"God bless you, sir!" the man said. "You have been a comfort indeed
+to us, and I have good hopes that the Plague will spread no further
+among us."
+
+Cyril went first to the doctor's, and reported what had taken place.
+
+"I will go round in the morning and see how they are," he concluded,
+"and bring you round word before you start on your rounds."
+
+"You have done very well indeed," the doctor said. "If people
+everywhere would be as calm, and obey orders as well as those you
+have been with, I should have good hopes that we might check the
+spread of the Plague; but you will find that they are quite the
+exception."
+
+This, indeed, proved to be the case. In many instances, the people
+were so distracted with grief and fear that they ran about the house
+like mad persons, crying and screaming, running in and out of the
+sick chamber, or sitting there crying helplessly, and refusing to
+leave the body until it was carried out to the dead-cart. But with
+such cases Cyril had nothing to do, as the doctor would only send him
+to the houses where he saw that his instructions would be carried
+out.
+
+To his great satisfaction, Cyril found that the precautions taken in
+the first case proved successful. Regularly, every morning, he
+inquired at the door, and received the answer, "All are well."
+
+In August the Plague greatly increased in violence, the deaths rising
+to ten thousand a week. A dull despair had now seized the population.
+It seemed that all were to be swept away. Many went out of their
+minds. The quacks no longer drove a flourishing trade in their
+pretended nostrums; these were now utterly discredited, for nothing
+seemed of the slightest avail. Some went to the opposite extreme, and
+affected to defy fate. The taverns were filled again, and boisterous
+shouts and songs seemed to mock the dismal cries from the houses with
+the red cross on the door. Robberies were rife. Regardless of the
+danger of the pest, robbers broke into the houses where all the
+inmates had perished by the Plague, and rifled them of their
+valuables. The nurses plundered the dying. All natural affection
+seemed at an end.
+
+Those stricken were often deserted by all their relatives, and left
+alone to perish.
+
+Bands of reckless young fellows went through the streets singing,
+and, dressing up in masks, performed the dance of death. The dead
+were too many to be carried away in carts at night to the great pits
+prepared for them, but the dismal tones of the bell, and the cries of
+"Bring out your dead!" sounded in the streets all day. It was no
+longer possible to watch the whole of the infected houses. Sometimes
+Plague-stricken men would escape from their beds and run through the
+streets until they dropped dead. One such man, in the height of his
+delirium, sprang into the river, and, after swimming about for some
+time, returned to the shore, marvellously cured of his malady by the
+shock.
+
+Cyril went occasionally in the evening to the lodgings of Mr.
+Wallace. At first he met several people gathered there, but the
+number became fewer every time he went. He had told the minister that
+he thought that it would be better for him to stay away, exposed as
+he was to infection, but Mr. Wallace would take no excuses on this
+score.
+
+"We are all in the hands of God," he said. "The streets are full of
+infected people, and I myself frequently go to pray with my friends
+in the earliest stages of the malady. There is no longer any use in
+precautions. We can but all go on doing our duty until we are called
+away, and even among the few who gather here of an evening there may
+be one or more who are already smitten, though unconscious yet that
+their summons has come."
+
+Among others Cyril was introduced to a Mr. and Mrs. Harvey, who were,
+the minister told him, from the country, but were staying in town on
+account of a painful family business.
+
+"I have tried to persuade them to return home and to stay there until
+the Plague ceases, but they conceive it their duty to remain. They
+are, like myself, Independents, and are not easily to be turned from
+a resolution they have taken."
+
+Cyril could easily understand that Mr. Harvey was exactly what he,
+from the description he had heard of them, had pictured to himself
+that a Roundhead soldier would be. He had a stern face, eyes deeply
+sunk in his head, high cheekbones, a firm mouth, and a square jaw. He
+wore his hair cut close. His figure was bony, and he must, as a young
+man, have been very powerful. He spoke in a slow, deliberate way,
+that struck Cyril as being the result of long effort, for a certain
+restless action of the fingers and the quick movement of the eye,
+told of a naturally impulsive and fiery disposition. He constantly
+used scriptural texts in the course of his speech. His wife was
+gentle and quiet, but it was evident that there was a very strong
+sympathy between them, and Cyril found, after meeting them once or
+twice, that he liked them far better than he thought he should do on
+their first introduction. This was, no doubt, partly due to the fact
+that Mr. Harvey frequently entered into conversation with him, and
+appeared to interest himself in him. He was, too, a type that was
+altogether new to the lad. From his father, and his father's
+companions, he had heard nothing good of the Puritans, but the
+evident earnestness of this man's nature was, to some extent, in
+accordance with his own disposition, and he felt that, widely as he
+might differ from him on all points of politics, he could not but
+respect him. The evenings were pleasant. As if by common consent, the
+conversation never turned on the Plague, but they talked of other
+passing events, of the trials of their friends, and of the laws that
+were being put in force against Nonconformists.
+
+"What think you of these persecutions, young sir?" Mr. Harvey
+abruptly asked Cyril, one evening, breaking off in the midst of a
+general conversation.
+
+Cyril was a little confused at the unexpected question.
+
+"I think all persecutions for conscience' sake are wrong," he said,
+after a moment's pause, "and generally recoil upon the persecutors.
+Spain lost Holland owing to her persecution of the people. France
+lost great numbers of her best citizens by her laws against the
+Protestants. I agree with you thoroughly, that the persecution of the
+Nonconformists at present is a grievous error, and a cruel injustice;
+but, at the same time, if you will excuse my saying so, it is the
+natural consequence of the persecution by the Nonconformists, when
+they were in power, of the ministers of the Church of England. My
+tutor in France was an English clergyman, who had been driven from
+his living, like thousands of other ministers, because he would not
+give up his opinions. Therefore, you see, I very early was imbued
+with a hatred of persecution in any form. I trust that I have not
+spoken too boldly; but you asked for my opinion, and I was forced to
+give it."
+
+"At any rate, young sir, you have spoken manfully, and I like you
+none the worse for it. Nor can I altogether gainsay your words. But
+you must remember that we had before been oppressed, and that we have
+been engaged in a desperate struggle for liberty of conscience."
+
+"Which, having won for ourselves, we proceeded to deny to others,"
+Mr. Wallace said, with a smile. "Cyril has us fairly, Mr. Harvey. We
+are reaping what our fathers sowed. They thought that the power they
+had gained was to be theirs to hold always, and they used it
+tyrannously, being thereby false to all their principles. It is ever
+the persecuted, when he attains power, who becomes the persecutor,
+and, hard as is the pressure of the laws now, we should never forget
+that we have, in our time, been persecutors, and that in defiance of
+the rights of conscience we had fought to achieve. Man's nature is, I
+fear, unchangeable. The slave longs, above all things, for freedom,
+but when he rises successfully against his master he, in turn,
+becomes a tyrant, and not infrequently a cruel and bloodthirsty one.
+Still, we must hope. It may be in the good days that are to come, we
+may reach a point when each will be free to worship in his own
+fashion, without any fear or hindrance, recognising the fact that
+each has a right to follow his own path to Heaven, without its being
+a subject of offence to those who walk in other ways."
+
+One or two of the other visitors were on the point of speaking, when
+Mr. Wallace put a stop to further argument by fetching a Bible from
+his closet, and preparing for the short service of prayer with which
+the evening always closed.
+
+One evening, Mr. Harvey and his wife were absent from the usual
+gathering.
+
+"I feel anxious about them," Mr. Wallace said; "they have never,
+since they arrived in town, missed coming here at seven o'clock. The
+bells are usually striking the hour as they come. I fear that one or
+other of them may have been seized by the Plague."
+
+"With your permission, sir, I will run round and see," Cyril said. "I
+know their lodging, for I have accompanied them to the door several
+times. It is but five minutes' walk from here. If one or other is ill
+I will run round to Dr. Hodges, and I am sure, at my request, he will
+go round at once to see them."
+
+Cyril walked fast towards the lodging occupied by the Harveys. It was
+at the house of a mercer, but he and his family had, three weeks
+before, gone away, having gladly permitted his lodgers to remain, as
+their presence acted as a guard to the house. They had brought up an
+old servant with them, and were therefore able to dispense with other
+attendants. Cyril hurried along, trying, as usual, to pay as little
+heed as he could to the doleful cries that arose from many of the
+houses. Although it was still broad daylight there was scarce a soul
+in the streets, and those he met were, like himself, walking fast,
+keeping as far as possible from any one they met, so as to avoid
+contact.
+
+As he neared the house he heard a woman scream. A moment later a
+casement was thrown open, and Mrs. Harvey's head appeared. She gave
+another piercing cry for help, and was then suddenly dragged back,
+and the casement was violently closed. Cyril had so frequently heard
+similar cries that he would have paid no attention to it had it come
+from a stranger, but he felt that Mrs. Harvey was not one to give way
+to wild despair, even had her husband been suddenly attacked with the
+Plague. Her sudden disappearance, and the closing of the casement,
+too, were unaccountable, unless, indeed, her husband were in a state
+of violent delirium. He ran to the door and flung himself against it.
+
+"Help me to force it down," he cried to a man who was passing.
+
+"You are mad," the man replied. "Do you not see that they have got
+the Plague? You may hear hundreds of such cries every day."
+
+Cyril drew his sword, which he always carried when he went out of an
+evening--for, owing to the deaths among the City watch, deeds of
+lawlessness and violence were constantly perpetrated--and struck,
+with all his strength, with the hilt upon the fastening of the
+casement next the door. Several of the small panes of glass fell in,
+and the whole window shook. Again and again he struck upon the same
+spot, when the fastening gave way, and the window flew open. He
+sprang in at once, ran through the shop into the passage, and then
+upstairs. The door was open, and he nearly fell over the body of a
+man. As he ran into the room he heard the words,--
+
+"For the last time: Will you sign the deed? You think I will not do
+this, but I am desperate."
+
+As the words left his mouth, Cyril sprang forward between the man and
+Mr. Harvey, who was standing with his arms folded, looking
+steadfastly at his opponent, who was menacing him with a drawn sword.
+The man, with a terrible oath, turned to defend himself, repeating
+the oath when he saw who was his assailant.
+
+"I let you off last time lightly, you scoundrel!" Cyril exclaimed.
+"This time it is your life or mine."
+
+The man made a furious lunge at him. Cyril parried it, and would at
+the next moment have run him through had not Mr. Harvey suddenly
+thrown himself between them, hurling Cyril's antagonist to the
+ground.
+
+"Put up your sword," he said to Cyril. "This man is my son; scoundrel
+and villain, yet still my son, even though he has raised his hand
+against me. Leave him to God."
+
+Cyril had stepped a pace back in his surprise. At first he thought
+that Mr. Harvey's trouble had turned his brain; then it flashed
+across him that this ruffian's name was indeed John Harvey. The man
+was about to rise from the floor when Cyril again sprang forward.
+
+"Drop that sword," he exclaimed, "or I will run you through. Now,
+sir," he said to Mr. Harvey, "will you draw out that pistol, whose
+butt projects from his pocket, or your son may do one of us mischief
+yet?"
+
+That such had been the man's intention was evident from the glance of
+baffled rage he threw at Cyril.
+
+"Now, sir, go," his father said sternly. "Remember that, henceforth,
+you are no son of mine. Did I do my duty I should hand you over to
+the watch--not for your threats to me, but for the sword-thrust you
+have given to Joseph Edmonds, who has many times carried you on his
+shoulder when a child. You may compass my death, but be assured that
+not one farthing will you gain thereby. 'Vengeance is mine, saith the
+Lord.' I leave it to Him to pay it. Now go."
+
+John Harvey rose to his feet, and walked to the door. Then he turned
+and shook his fist at Cyril.
+
+"Curse you!" he said. "I will be even with you yet."
+
+Cyril now had time to look round. His eye fell upon the figure of
+Mrs. Harvey, who had fallen insensible. He made a step towards her,
+but her husband said, "She has but fainted. This is more pressing,"
+and he turned to the old servant. Cyril aided him in lifting the old
+man up and laying him on the couch.
+
+"He breathes," said he.
+
+"He is wounded to death," Mr. Harvey said sadly; "and my son hath
+done it."
+
+Cyril opened the servant's coat.
+
+"Here is the wound, high up on the left side. It may not touch a
+vital part. It bleeds freely, and I have heard that that is a good
+sign."
+
+"It is so," Mr. Harvey said excitedly. "Perhaps he may yet recover. I
+would give all that I am worth that it might be so, and that, bad as
+he may be, the sin of this murder should not rest on my son's soul."
+
+"I will run for the doctor, sir, but before I go let me help you to
+lift your wife. She will doubtless come round shortly, and will aid
+you to stanch the wound till the doctor comes."
+
+Mrs. Harvey was indeed already showing signs of returning animation.
+She was placed on a couch, and water sprinkled on her face. As soon
+as he saw her eyes open Cyril caught up his hat and ran to Dr.
+Hodges. The doctor had just finished his supper, and was on the point
+of going out again to see some of his patients. On hearing from Cyril
+that a servant of some friends of his had been wounded by a robber,
+he put some lint and bandages in his pocket, and started with him.
+
+"These robberies are becoming more and more frequent," he said; "and
+so bold and reckless are the criminals that they seem to care not a
+jot whether they add murder to their other crimes. Where do you say
+the wound is?"
+
+Cyril pointed below his own shoulder.
+
+"It is just about there, doctor."
+
+"Then it may be above the upper edge of the lung. If so, we may save
+the man. Half an inch higher or lower will make all the difference
+between life and death. As you say that it was bleeding freely, it is
+probable that the sword has missed the lung, for had it pierced it,
+the bleeding would have been chiefly internal, and the hope of saving
+him would have been slight indeed."
+
+When they reached the house Cyril found that Mrs. Harvey had quite
+recovered. They had cut open the man's clothes and her husband was
+pressing a handkerchief, closely folded, upon the wound.
+
+"It is serious, but, I think, not vital," Dr. Hodges said, after
+examining it. "I feel sure that the sword has missed the lung."
+
+After cutting off the rest of the man's upper garments, he poured,
+from a phial he had brought with him, a few drops of a powerful
+styptic into the wound, placed a thick pad of lint over it, and
+bandaged it securely. Then, giving directions that a small quantity
+of spirits and water should be given to the patient from time to
+time, and, above all things, that he should be kept perfectly quiet,
+he hurried away.
+
+"Is there anything more I can do, sir?" Cyril asked Mr. Harvey.
+
+"Nothing more. You will understand, sir, what our feelings are, and
+that our hearts are too full of grief and emotion for us to speak. We
+shall watch together to-night, and lay our case before the Lord."
+
+"Then I will come early in the morning and see if there is aught I
+can do, sir. I am going back now to Mr. Wallace, who was uneasy at
+your absence. I suppose you would wish me to say only that I found
+that there was a robber in the place who, having wounded your
+servant, was on the point of attacking you when I entered, and that
+he fled almost immediately."
+
+"That will do. Say to him that for to-night we shall be busy nursing,
+and that my wife is greatly shaken; therefore I would not that he
+should come round, but I pray him to call here in the morning."
+
+"I will do so, sir."
+
+Cyril went downstairs, closed the shutters of the window into which
+he had broken, and put up the bars, and then went out at the door,
+taking special pains to close it firmly behind him.
+
+He was glad to be out of the house. He had seen many sad scenes
+during the last few weeks, but it seemed to him that this was the
+saddest of all. Better, a thousand times, to see a son stricken by
+the Plague than this. He walked slowly back to the minister's. He met
+Mr. Wallace at the door of his house.
+
+"I was coming round," the latter said. "Of course one or other of
+them are stricken?"
+
+"No, sir; it was another cause that prevented their coming. Just as I
+reached the house I heard a scream, and Mrs. Harvey appeared at the
+casement calling for help. I forced open a window and ran up. I found
+that a robber had entered the house. He had seriously wounded the old
+servant, and was on the point of attacking Mr. Harvey when I entered.
+Taken by surprise, the man fled almost immediately. Mrs. Harvey had
+fainted. At first, we thought the servant was killed, but, finding
+that he lived, I ran off and fetched Dr. Hodges, who has dressed the
+wound, and thinks that the man has a good chance of recovery. As Mrs.
+Harvey had now come round, and was capable of assisting her husband,
+they did not accept my offer to stay and do anything I could. I said
+I was coming to you, and Mr. Harvey asked me to say that, although
+they were too much shaken to see you this evening, they should be
+glad if you would go round to them the first thing in the morning."
+
+"Then the robber got away unharmed?" Mr. Wallace asked.
+
+"He was unharmed, sir. I would rather that you did not question me on
+the subject. Mr. Harvey will doubtless enter fully into the matter
+with you in the morning. We did not exchange many words, for he was
+greatly disturbed in spirit at the wounding of his old servant, and
+the scene he had gone through; and, seeing that he and his wife would
+rather be alone with their patient, I left almost directly after Dr.
+Hodges went away. However, I may say that I believe that there are
+private matters in the affair, which he will probably himself
+communicate to you."
+
+"Then I will ask no more questions, Cyril. I am well content to know
+that it is not as I feared, and that the Plague had not attacked
+them."
+
+"I said that I would call round in the morning, sir; but I have been
+thinking of it as I came along, and consider that, as you will be
+there, it is as well that I should not do so. I will come round here
+at ten o'clock, and should you not have returned, will wait until you
+do. I do not know that I can be of any use whatever, and do not wish
+to intrude there. Will you kindly say this to them, but add that
+should they really wish me to go, I will of course do so?"
+
+Mr. Wallace looked a little puzzled.
+
+"I will do as you ask me, but it seems to me that they will naturally
+wish to see you, seeing that, had it not been for your arrival, they
+might have been robbed and perhaps murdered."
+
+"You will understand better when you have seen Mr. Harvey, sir. Now I
+will be making for home; it is about my usual hour, and John Wilkes
+will be beginning to wonder and worry about me."
+
+To John, Cyril told the same story as to Mr. Wallace.
+
+"But, how was it that you let the villain escape, Master Cyril? Why
+did you not run him through the body?"
+
+"I had other things to think of, John. There was Mrs. Harvey lying
+insensible, and the servant desperately wounded, and I thought more
+of these than of the robber, and was glad enough, when he ran out, to
+be able to turn my attention to them."
+
+"Ay, ay, that was natural enough, lad; but 'tis a pity the villain
+got off scot-free. Truly it is not safe for two old people to be in
+an empty house by themselves in these times, specially as, maybe, the
+houses on either side are also untenanted, and robbers can get into
+them and make their way along the roof, and so enter any house they
+like by the windows there. It was a mercy you chanced to come along.
+Men are so accustomed now to hear screams and calls for aid, that
+none trouble themselves as to such sounds. And you still feel quite
+well?"
+
+"Never better, John, except for occasional twitches in my shoulder."
+
+"It does not knit so fast as it should do," John said. "In the first
+place, you are always on the move; then no one can go about into
+infected houses without his spirits being disturbed, and of all
+things a calm and easy disposition is essential for the proper
+healing of wounds. Lastly, it is certain that when there is poison in
+the air wounds do not heal so quickly as at other times."
+
+"It is going on well enough, John; indeed, I could not desire it to
+do better. As soon as it is fairly healed I ought to join Prince
+Rupert again; but in truth I do not wish to go, for I would fain see
+this terrible Plague come to an end before I leave; for never since
+the days of the Black Death, hundreds of years ago, was there so
+strange and terrible a malady in this country."
+
+Mr. Wallace had returned to his house when Cyril called the next
+morning.
+
+"Thinking over what you said last night, Cyril, I arrived at a pretty
+correct conclusion as to what had happened, though I thought not that
+it could be as bad as it was. I knew the object with which Mr. Harvey
+and his wife had come up to London, at a time when most men were
+fleeing from it. Their son has, ever since he came up three years
+ago, been a source of grievous trouble to them, as he was, indeed,
+for a long time previously. Some natures seem naturally to turn to
+evil, and this boy's was one of them. It may be that the life at home
+was too rigid and severe, and that he revolted against it. Certain it
+is that he took to evil courses and consorted with bad companions.
+Severity was unavailing. He would break out of the house at night and
+be away for days. He was drunken and dissolute.
+
+"At last, just after a considerable sum of money had come into the
+house from the tenants' rents, he stole it, and went up to London.
+His name was not mentioned at home, though his father learnt from
+correspondents here that he had become a hanger-on of the Court,
+where, his father being a man of condition, he found friends without
+difficulty. He was a gambler and a brawler, and bore a bad reputation
+even among the riff-raff of the Court. His father learnt that he had
+disappeared from sight at the time the Court went to Oxford early in
+June, and his correspondent found that he was reported to have joined
+a band of abandoned ruffians, whose least crimes were those of
+robbery.
+
+"When the Plague spread rapidly, Mr. Harvey and his wife determined
+to come up to London, to make one more effort to draw him from his
+evil courses. The only thing that they have been able to learn for
+certain was, that he was one of the performers in that wicked mockery
+the dance of death, but their efforts to trace him have otherwise
+failed.
+
+"They had intended, if they had found him, and he would have made
+promises of amendment, to have given him money that would have
+enabled him to go over to America and begin a new life there,
+promising him a regular allowance to maintain him in comfort. As they
+have many friends over there, some of whom went abroad to settle
+before the Civil War broke out here, they would be able to have news
+how he was going on; and if they found he was living a decent life,
+and truly repented his past course, they would in five years have had
+him back again, and reinstated him as their heir.
+
+"I knew their intentions in the matter, and have done my best to gain
+them news of him. I did not believe in the reformation of one who had
+shown himself to be of such evil spirit; but God is all-powerful, and
+might have led him out from the slough into which he had fallen.
+
+"Yesterday evening, half an hour before you went there, his father
+and mother were astonished at his suddenly entering. He saluted them
+at first with ironical politeness, and said that having heard from
+one from the same part of the country that he had seen them in
+London, he had had the streets thereabouts watched, and having found
+where they lodged, had come to pay his respects.
+
+"There was a reckless bravado in his manner that alarmed his mother,
+and it was not long before the purpose of his visit came out. He
+demanded that his father should at once sign a deed which he had
+brought drawn out in readiness, assigning to him at once half his
+property.
+
+"'You have,' he said, 'far more than you can require. Living as you
+do, you must save three-quarters of your income, and it would be at
+once an act of charity, and save you the trouble of dealing with
+money that is of no use to you.'
+
+"His father indignantly refused to take any such step, and then told
+him the plans he had himself formed for him. At this he laughed
+scoffingly.
+
+"'You have the choice,' he said, 'of giving me half, or of my taking
+everything.' And then he swore with terrible oaths that unless his
+father signed the paper, that day should be his last. 'You are in my
+power,' he said, 'and I am desperate. Do you think that if three dead
+bodies are found in a house now any will trouble to inquire how they
+came to their end? They will be tossed into the plague-cart, and none
+will make inquiry about them.'
+
+"Hearing voices raised in anger, the old servant ran in. At once the
+villain drew and ran at him, passing his sword through his body.
+Then, as if transported at the sight of the blood he had shed, he
+turned upon his father. It was at this moment that his mother ran to
+the window and called for help. He dragged her back, and as she fell
+fainting with horror and fear he again turned upon his father; his
+passion grew hotter and hotter as the latter, upbraiding him with the
+deed he had done, refused to sign; and there is no doubt that he
+would have taken his life had you not luckily ran in at this moment.
+
+"It has truly been a terrible night for them. They have passed it in
+prayer, and when I went this morning were both calm and composed,
+though it was easy to see by their faces how they had suffered, and
+how much the blow has told upon them. They have determined to save
+their son from any further temptation to enrich himself by their
+deaths. I fetched a lawyer for them; and when I left Mr. Harvey was
+giving him instructions for drawing up his will, by which every
+farthing is left away from him. They request me to go to them this
+evening with two or three of our friends to witness it, as it is
+necessary in a time like this that a will should be witnessed by as
+many as possible, as some may be carried off by the Plague; and
+should all the witnesses be dead, the will might be disputed as a
+forgery. So the lawyer will bring his clerks with him, and I shall
+take four or five of our friends.
+
+"They will return to the country as soon as their servant can be
+moved. Dr. Hodges came when I was there, and gives hopes that the
+cure will be a speedy one. We are going to place some men in the
+house. I have among my poorer friends two men who will be glad to
+establish themselves there with their wives, seeing that they will
+pay no rent, and will receive wages as long as Mr. Harvey remains
+there. There will thus be no fear of any repetition of the attempt.
+Mr. Harvey, on my advice, will also draw up and sign a paper giving a
+full account of the occurrence of last evening, and will leave this
+in the hands of the lawyer.
+
+"This will be a protection to him should his son follow him into the
+country, as he will then be able to assure him that if he proceeds to
+violence suspicion will at once fall upon him, and he will be
+arrested for his murder. But, indeed, the poor gentleman holds but
+little to his life; and it was only on my representing to him that
+this document might be the means of averting the commission of the
+most terrible of all sins from the head of his son, that he agreed to
+sign it. I gave him your message, and he prays me to say that, deeply
+grateful as he and his wife are to you, not so much for the saving of
+their lives, as for preventing their son's soul being stained by the
+crime, they would indeed rather that you did not call for a time, for
+they are so sorely shaken that they do not feel equal to seeing you.
+You will not, I hope, take this amiss."
+
+"By no means," Cyril replied; "it is but a natural feeling; and, in
+truth, I myself am relieved that such is their decision, for it would
+be well-nigh as painful to me as to them to see them again, and to
+talk over the subject."
+
+"By the way, Cyril, Mr. Harvey said that when you saw his son you
+cried out his name, and that by the manner in which he turned upon
+you it was clear that he had some cause for hating you. Is this so,
+or was it merely his fancy?"
+
+"It was no fancy, sir. It is not long since I thwarted his attempt to
+carry off the daughter of a city merchant, to whom he had represented
+himself as a nobleman. He was in the act of doing so, with the aid of
+some friends, when, accompanied by John Wilkes, I came up. There was
+a fray, in the course of which I ran him through the shoulder. The
+young lady returned home with us, and has since heartily repented of
+her folly. I had not seen the man since that time till I met him
+yesterday; but certainly the house was watched for some time, as I
+believe, by his associates who would probably have done me an ill
+turn had I gone out after nightfall."
+
+"That explains it, Cyril. I will tell Mr. Harvey, whose mind has been
+much puzzled by your recognition of his son."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+SMITTEN DOWN
+
+
+Two days later, Cyril started at his usual hour to go to Dr. Hodges';
+but he had proceeded but a few yards when a man, who was leaning
+against the wall, suddenly lurched forward and caught him round the
+neck. Thinking that the fellow had been drinking, Cyril angrily tried
+to shake him off. As he did so the man's hat, which had been pressed
+down over his eyes, fell off, and, to his astonishment, Cyril
+recognised John Harvey.
+
+"You villain! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, as he freed
+himself from the embrace, sending his assailant staggering back
+against the wall.
+
+The man's face lit up with a look of savage exultation..
+
+"I told you you should hear from me again," he said, "and I have kept
+my word. I knew the hour you went out, and I have been waiting for
+you. You are a doomed man. I have the Plague, and I have breathed in
+your face. Before twenty-four hours have passed you will be, as I am,
+a dying man. That is a good piece of vengeance. You may be a better
+swordsman than I am, but you can't fight with the Plague."
+
+Cyril drew back in horror. As he did so, a change came over John
+Harvey's face, he muttered a few words incoherently, swayed backwards
+and forwards, and then slid to the ground in a heap. A rush of blood
+poured from his mouth, and he fell over dead.
+
+Cyril had seen more than one similar death in the streets, but the
+horrible malignity of this man, and his sudden death, gave him a
+terrible shock. He felt for the moment completely unmanned, and,
+conscious that he was too unhinged for work, he turned and went back
+to the house.
+
+"You look pale, lad," John Wilkes said, as Cyril went upstairs. "What
+brings you back so soon?"
+
+"I have had rather a shock, John." And he told him of what had
+happened.
+
+"That was enough to startle you, lad. I should say the best thing you
+could do would be to take a good strong tumbler of grog, and then lay
+down."
+
+"That I will do, and will take a dose of the medicine Dr. Hodges
+makes everyone take when the infection first shows itself in a house.
+As you know, I have never had any fear of the Plague hitherto. I
+don't say that I am afraid of it now, but I have run a far greater
+risk of catching it than I have ever done before, for until now I
+have never been in actual contact with anyone with the disease."
+
+After a sleep Cyril rose, and feeling himself again, went to call
+upon Mr. Wallace.
+
+"I shall not come again for a few days," he said, after telling him
+what had happened, but without mentioning the name of John Harvey,
+"but I will send you a note every other day by John Wilkes. If he
+does not come, you will know that I have taken the malady, and in
+that case, Mr. Wallace, I know that I shall have your prayers for my
+recovery. I am sure that I shall be well cared for by John Wilkes."
+
+"Of my prayers you maybe sure, Cyril; and, indeed, I have every faith
+that, should you catch the malady, you will recover from it. You have
+neither well-nigh frightened yourself to death, nor have you dosed
+yourself with drugs until nature was exhausted before the struggle
+began. You will, I am sure, be calm and composed, and above all you
+have faith in God, and the knowledge that you have done your part to
+carry out His orders, and to visit the sick and aid those in sorrow."
+
+The next day Cyril was conscious of no change except that he felt a
+disinclination to exert himself. The next morning he had a feeling of
+nausea.
+
+"I think that I am in for it, John," he said. "But at any rate it can
+do no harm to try that remedy you spoke of that is used in the East.
+First of all, let us fumigate the room. As far as I have seen, the
+smoke of tobacco is the best preservative against the Plague. Now do
+you, John, keep a bit of tobacco in your mouth."
+
+"That I mostly do, lad."
+
+"Well, keep a bigger bit than usual, John, and smoke steadily. Still,
+that will not be enough. Keep the fire burning, and an iron plate
+heated to redness over it. Bring that into my room from time to time,
+and burn tobacco on it. Keep the room full of smoke."
+
+"I will do that," John said, "but you must not have too much of it. I
+am an old hand, and have many times sat in a fo'castle so full of
+smoke that one could scarce see one's hands, but you are not
+accustomed to it, and it may like enough make you sick."
+
+"There will be no harm in that, John, so that one does not push it
+too far. Now, how are you going to set about this sweating process?"
+
+"While you undress and get into bed I will get a blanket ready. It is
+to be dipped in boiling water, and then wrung out until it is as dry
+as we can get it. Then you are wrapped in that, and then rolled in
+five or six dry blankets to keep in the heat. You will keep in that
+until you feel almost weak with sweating; then I take you out and
+sponge you with warmish water, and then wrap you in another dry
+blanket."
+
+"You had better sponge me with vinegar, John."
+
+Cyril undressed. When he had done so he carefully examined himself,
+and his eye soon fell on a black spot on the inside of his leg, just
+above the knee. It was the well-known sign of the Plague.
+
+"I have got it, John," he said, when the latter entered with a pile
+of blankets.
+
+"Well, then, we have got to fight it, Master Cyril, and we will beat
+it if it is to be beaten. Now, lad, for the hot blanket."
+
+"Lay it down on the bed, and I will wrap myself in it, and the same
+with the others. Now I warn you, you are not to come nearer to me
+than you can help, and above all you are not to lean over me. If you
+do, I will turn you out of the room and lock the door, and fight it
+out by myself. Now puff away at that pipe, and the moment you wrap me
+up get the room full of smoke."
+
+John nodded.
+
+"Don't you bother about me," he growled. "I reckon the Plague ain't
+going to touch such a tough old bit of seasoned mahogany as I am.
+Still, I will do as you tell me."
+
+In a few minutes Cyril was in a profuse perspiration, in which even
+his head, which was above the blankets, shared.
+
+"That is grand," John said complacently.
+
+The cloud of tobacco, with which the room was soon filled, was not
+long in having the effect that John had predicted, and Cyril was soon
+violently sick, which had the effect of further increasing the
+perspiration.
+
+"You must open the window and let the smoke out a bit, John," he
+gasped. "I can't stand any more of it."
+
+This was done, and for another hour Cyril lay between the blankets.
+
+"I shall faint if I lie here any longer," he said at last. "Now,
+John, do you go out of the room, and don't come back again until I
+call you. I see you have put the vinegar handy. It is certain that if
+this is doing me any good the blankets will be infected. You say you
+have got a big fire in the kitchen. Well, I shall take them myself,
+and hang them up in front of it, and you are not to go into the room
+till they are perfectly dry again. You had better light another fire
+at once in the parlour, and you can do any cooking there. I will keep
+the kitchen for my blankets."
+
+John nodded and left the room, and Cyril at once proceeded to unroll
+the blankets. As he came to the last he was conscious of a strong
+fetid odour, similar to that he had more than once perceived in
+houses infected by the Plague.
+
+"I believe it is drawing it out of me," he said to himself. "I will
+give it another trial presently."
+
+He first sponged himself with vinegar, and felt much refreshed. He
+then wrapped himself up and lay down for a few minutes, for he felt
+strangely weak. Then he got up and carried the blankets into the
+kitchen, where a huge fire had been made up by John. He threw the one
+that had been next to him into a tub, and poured boiling water on it,
+and the others he hung on chairs round it. Then he went back to his
+room, and lay down and slept for half an hour. He returned to the
+kitchen and rearranged the blankets. When John saw him go back to his
+room he followed him.
+
+"I have got some strong broth ready," he said. "Do you think that you
+could take a cupful?"
+
+"Ay, and a good-sized one, John. I feel sure that the sweating has
+done me good, and I will have another turn at it soon. You must go at
+once and report that I have got it, or when the examiners come round,
+and find that the Plague is in the house, you will be fined, or
+perhaps imprisoned. Before you go there, please leave word at Dr.
+Hodges' that I am ill, and you might also call at Mr. Wallace's and
+leave the same message. Tell them, in both cases, that I have
+everything that I want, and trust that I shall make a good recovery."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir; I will be off as soon as I have brought you in your
+broth, and will be back here in half an hour."
+
+Cyril drank the broth, and then dozed again until John returned. When
+he heard his step he called out to him to bring the hot iron, and he
+filled the room with tobacco smoke before allowing him to enter.
+
+"Now, John, the blankets are dry, and can be handled again, and I am
+ready for another cooking."
+
+Four times that day did Cyril undergo the sweating process. By the
+evening he was as weak as a child, but his skin was soft and cool,
+and he was free from all feeling of pain or uneasiness. Dr. Hodges
+called half an hour after he had taken it for the last time, having
+only received his message when he returned late from a terrible day's
+work. Cyril had just turned in for the night.
+
+"Well, lad, how are you feeling? I am so sorry that I did not get
+your message before."
+
+"I am feeling very well, doctor."
+
+"Your hand is moist and cool," Dr. Hodges said in surprise. "You must
+have been mistaken. I see no signs whatever of the Plague."
+
+"There was no mistake, doctor; there were the black marks on my
+thighs, but I think I have pretty well sweated it out of me."
+
+He then described the process he had followed, and said that John
+Wilkes had told him that it was practised in the Levant.
+
+"Sweating is greatly used here, and I have tried it very repeatedly
+among my patients, and in some cases, where I had notice of the
+disease early, have saved them. Some bleed before sweating, but I
+have not heard of one who did so who recovered. In many cases the
+patient, from terror or from weakness of body, cannot get up the heat
+required, and even if they arrive at it, have not the strength to
+support it. In your case you lost no time; you had vital heat in
+plenty, and you had strength to keep up the heat in full force until
+you washed, as it were, the malady out of you. Henceforth I shall
+order that treatment with confidence when patients come to me whom I
+suspect to have the Plague, although it may not have as yet fully
+declared itself. What have you done with the blankets?"
+
+"I would not suffer John to touch them, but carried them myself into
+the kitchen. The blankets next to me I throw into a tub and pour
+boiling water over them; the others I hang up before a huge fire, so
+as to be dry for the next operation. I take care that John does not
+enter the kitchen."
+
+"How often have you done this?"
+
+"Four times, and lay each time for an hour in the blankets. I feel
+very weak, and must have lost very many pounds in weight, but my head
+is clear, and I suffer no pain whatever. The marks on my legs have
+not spread, and seem to me less dark in colour than they were."
+
+"Your case is the most hopeful that I have seen," Dr. Hodges said.
+"The system has had every advantage, and to this it owes its success.
+In the first place, you began it as soon as you felt unwell. Most
+people would have gone on for another twelve hours before they paid
+much attention to the first symptoms, and might not have noticed the
+Plague marks even when they went to bed. In the second place, you are
+cool and collected, and voluntarily delivered yourself to the
+treatment. And in the third place, which is the most important
+perhaps of all, you were in good health generally. You had not
+weakened yourself by swallowing every nostrum advertised, or wearing
+yourself out by vain terrors. Ninety-nine cases out of a hundred
+would be probably beyond the reach of help before they were conscious
+of illness, and be too weak to stand so severe a strain on the system
+as that you have undergone. Another thing is that the remedy could
+hardly be attempted in a house full of frightened people. There would
+be sure to be carelessness in the matter of the blankets, which,
+unless treated as you have done, would be a certain means of
+spreading the infection over the house. At any rate, I would continue
+the sweating as long as you can possibly stand it. Take nourishment
+in the shape of broth frequently, but in small quantity. I would do
+it again at midnight; 'tis well not to let the virus have time to
+gather strength again. I see you have faith in tobacco."
+
+"Yes, doctor. I never let John Wilkes into the room after I have
+taken a bath until it is full of tobacco smoke. I have twice made
+myself ill with it to-day."
+
+"Don't carry it too far, lad; for although I also believe in the
+virtue of the weed, 'tis a powerful poison, and you do not want to
+weaken yourself. Well, I see I can do nothing for you. You and your
+man seem to me to have treated the attack far more successfully than
+I should have done; for, indeed, this month very few of those
+attacked have recovered, whatever the treatment has been. I shall
+come round early tomorrow morning to see how you are going on. At
+present nothing can be better. Since the first outbreak, I have not
+seen a single case in which the patient was in so fair a way towards
+recovery in so short a time after the discovery of the infection."
+
+John Wilkes at this moment came in with a basin of broth.
+
+"This is my good friend, John Wilkes, doctor."
+
+"You ought to be called Dr. John Wilkes," the doctor, who was one of
+the most famous of his time, said, with a smile, as he shook hands
+with him. "Your treatment seems to be doing wonders."
+
+"It seems to me he is doing well, doctor, but I am afraid he is
+carrying it too far; he is so weak he can hardly stand."
+
+"Never mind that," the doctor said; "it will be easy enough to build
+him up when we have once got the Plague out of him. I have told him
+to have another turn in the blankets at twelve o'clock to-night; it
+will not do to let the malady get a fresh hold of him. But don't push
+it too far, lad. If you begin to feel faint, stop it, even if you
+have not been a quarter of an hour in the blankets. Do not cover
+yourself up too warmly when you have done; let nature have a rest. I
+shall be round between eight and nine, and no doubt you will have had
+another bath before I come. Do not sleep in the room, Wilkes; he is
+sure to go off soundly to sleep, and there is no use your running any
+needless risk. Let his window stand open; indeed, it should always be
+open, except when he gets out of his blankets, or is fumigating the
+room. Let him have a chair by the open window, so as to get as much
+fresh air as possible; but be sure that he is warmly wrapped up with
+blankets, so as to avoid getting a chill. You might place a hand-bell
+by the side of his bed to-night, so that he can summons you should he
+have occasion."
+
+When the doctor came next morning he nodded approvingly as soon as he
+felt Cyril's hand.
+
+"Nothing could be better," he said; "your pulse is even quieter than
+last night. Now let me look at those spots."
+
+"They are fainter," Cyril said.
+
+"A great deal," Dr. Hodges said, in a tone of the greatest pleasure.
+"Thank God, my lad, it is dying out. Not above three or four times
+since the Plague began have I been able to say so. I shall go about
+my work with a lighter heart today, and shall order your treatment in
+every case where I see the least chance of its being carried out, but
+I cannot hope that it will often prove as successful as it has with
+you. You have had everything in your favour--youth, a good
+constitution, a tranquil mind, an absence of fear, and a faith in
+God."
+
+"And a good attendant, doctor--don't forget that."
+
+"No, that goes for a great deal, lad--for a great deal. Not one nurse
+out of a hundred would carry out my instructions carefully; not one
+patient in a thousand would be able to see that they were carried
+out. Of course you will keep on with the treatment, but do not push
+it to extremes; you have pulled yourself down prodigiously, and must
+not go too far. Do you perceive any change in the odour when you take
+off the blankets?"
+
+"Yes, doctor, a great change; I could scarcely distinguish it this
+morning, and indeed allowed John Wilkes to carry them out, as I don't
+think I myself could have walked as far as the kitchen, though it is
+but ten or twelve paces away. I told him to smoke furiously all the
+time, and to come out of the kitchen as soon as he had hung them up."
+
+Cyril took three more baths in the course of the day, but was only
+able to sustain them for twenty minutes each, as by the end of that
+time he nearly fainted. The doctor came in late in the evening.
+
+"The spots are gone, doctor," Cyril said.
+
+"Then I think you may consider yourself cured, lad. Do not take the
+treatment again to-night; you can take it once in the morning; and
+then if I find the spots have not reappeared by the time I come, I
+shall pronounce the cure as complete, and shall begin to build you up
+again."
+
+The doctor was able to give this opinion in the morning.
+
+"I shall not come again, lad, unless you send for me, for every
+moment of my time is very precious, and I shall leave you in the
+hands of Dr. Wilkes. All you want now is nourishment; but take it
+carefully at first, and not too much at a time; stick to broths for
+the next two or three days, and when you do begin with solids do so
+very sparingly."
+
+"There was a gentleman here yesterday asking about you," John Wilkes
+said, as Cyril, propped up in bed, sipped his broth. "It was Mr.
+Harvey. He rang at the bell, and I went down to the lower window and
+talked to him through that, for of course the watchman would not let
+me go out and speak to him. I had heard you speak of him as one of
+the gentlemen you met at the minister's, and he seemed muchly
+interested in you. He said that you had done him a great service, and
+of course I knew it was by frightening that robber away. I never saw
+a man more pleased than he was when I told him that the doctor
+thought you were as good as cured, and he thanked God very piously
+for the same. After he had done that, he asked me first whether you
+had said anything to me about him. I said that you had told me you
+had met him and his wife at the minister's, and that you said you had
+disturbed a robber you found at his house. He said, quite sharp,
+'Nothing more?' 'No, not as I can think of. He is always doing good
+to somebody,' says I, 'and never a word would he say about it, if it
+did not get found out somehow. Why, he saved Prince Rupert's ship
+from being blown up by a fire-vessel, and never should we have known
+of it if young Lord Oliphant had not written to the Captain telling
+him all about it, and saying that it was the gallantest feat done in
+the battle. Then there were other things, but they were of the nature
+of private affairs.' 'You can tell me about them, my good man,' he
+said; 'I am no vain babbler; and as you may well believe, from what
+he did for me, and for other reasons, I would fain know as much as I
+can of him.' So then I told him about how you found out about the
+robbery and saved master from being ruined, and how you prevented
+Miss Nellie from going off with a rascal who pretended he was an
+earl."
+
+"Then you did very wrong, John," Cyril said angrily. "I say naught
+about your speaking about the robbery, for that was told in open
+Court, but you ought not, on any account, to have said a word about
+Mistress Nellie's affairs."
+
+"Well, your honour, I doubt not Mistress Nellie herself would have
+told the gentleman had she been in my place. I am sure he can be
+trusted not to let it go further. I took care to tell him what good
+it had done Mistress Nellie, and that good had come out of evil."
+
+"Well, you ought not to have said anything about it, John. It may be
+that Mistress Nellie out of her goodness of heart might herself have
+told, but that is no reason why anyone else should do so. I charge
+you in future never to open your lips about that to anyone, no matter
+who. I say not that any harm will come of it in this case, for Mr.
+Harvey is indeed a sober and God-fearing man, and assuredly asked
+only because he felt an interest in me, and from no idle curiosity.
+Still, I would rather that he had not known of a matter touching the
+honour of Mistress Nellie."
+
+"Mum's the word in future, Master Cyril. I will keep the hatches fast
+down on my tongue. Now I will push your bed up near the window as the
+doctor ordered, and then I hope you will get a good long sleep."
+
+The Plague and the process by which it had been expelled had left
+Cyril so weak that it was some days before he could walk across the
+room. Every morning he inquired anxiously of John how he felt, and
+the answer was always satisfactory. John had never been better in his
+life; therefore, by the time Cyril was able to walk to his easy-chair
+by the window, he began to hope that John had escaped the infection,
+which generally declared itself within a day or two, and often within
+a few hours, of the first outbreak in a house.
+
+A week later the doctor, who paid him a flying visit every two or
+three days, gave him the welcome news that he had ordered the red
+cross to be removed from the door, and the watchmen to cease their
+attendance, as the house might now be considered altogether free from
+infection.
+
+The Plague continued its ravages with but slight abatement, moving
+gradually eastward, and Aldgate and the district lying east of the
+walls were now suffering terribly. It was nearly the end of September
+before Cyril was strong enough to go out for his first walk. Since
+the beginning of August some fifty thousand people had been carried
+off, so that the streets were now almost entirely deserted, and in
+many places the grass was shooting up thickly in the road. In some
+streets every house bore the sign of a red cross, and the tolling of
+the bells of the dead-carts and piteous cries and lamentations were
+the only sounds that broke the strange silence.
+
+The scene was so disheartening that Cyril did not leave the house
+again for another fortnight. His first visit was to Mr. Wallace. The
+sight of a watchman at the door gave him quite a shock, and he was
+grieved indeed when he heard from the man that the brave minister had
+died a fortnight before. Then he went to Mr. Harvey's. There was no
+mark on the door, but his repeated knockings met with no response,
+and a woman, looking out from a window opposite, called to him that
+the house had been empty for well-nigh a month, and the people that
+were in it had gone off in a cart, she supposed into the country.
+
+"There was a gentleman and lady," she said, "who seemed well enough,
+and their servant, who was carried down and placed in the cart. It
+could not have been the Plague, though the man looked as if he had
+been sorely ill."
+
+The next day he called on Dr. Hodges, who had not been near him for
+the last month. There was no watchman at the door, and his man opened
+it.
+
+"Can I see the doctor?"
+
+"Ay, you can see him," he said; "he is cured now, and will soon be
+about again."
+
+"Has he had the Plague, then?"
+
+"That he has, but it is a week now since the watchman left."
+
+Cyril went upstairs. The doctor was sitting, looking pale and thin,
+by the window.
+
+"I am grieved indeed to hear that you have been ill, doctor," Cyril
+said; "had I known it I should have come a fortnight since, for I was
+strong enough to walk this distance then. I did indeed go out, but
+the streets had so sad an aspect that I shrank from stirring out
+again."
+
+"Yes, I have had it," the doctor said. "Directly I felt it come on I
+followed your system exactly, but it had gone further with me than it
+had with you, and it was a week before I fairly drove the enemy out.
+I ordered sweating in every case, but, as you know, they seldom sent
+for me until too late, and it is rare that the system got a fair
+chance. However, in my case it was a complete success. Two of my
+servants died; they were taken when I was at my worst. Both were dead
+before I was told of it. The man you saw was the one who waited on
+me, and as I adopted all the same precautions you had taken with your
+man, he did not catch it, and it was only when he went downstairs one
+day and found the other two servants lying dead in the kitchen that
+he knew they had been ill."
+
+"Mr. Wallace has gone, you will be sorry to hear, sir."
+
+"I am sorry," the doctor said; "but no one was more fitted to die. He
+was a brave man and a true Christian, but he ran too many risks, and
+your news does not surprise me."
+
+"The only other friends I have, Mr. Harvey and his wife, went out of
+town a month ago, taking with them their servant."
+
+"Yes; I saw them the day before I was taken ill," the doctor said,
+"and told them that the man was so far out of danger that he might
+safely be moved. They seemed very interested in you, and were very
+pleased when I told them that I had now given up attending you, and
+that you were able to walk across the room, and would, erelong, be
+yourself again. I hope we are getting to the end of it now, lad. As
+the Plague travels East it abates in the West, and the returns for
+the last week show a distinct fall in the rate of mortality. There is
+no further East for it to go now, and I hope that in another few
+weeks it will have worn itself out. We are half through October, and
+may look for cold weather before long."
+
+"I should think that I am strong enough to be useful again now, sir."
+
+"I don't think you are strong enough, and I am sure I shall not give
+you leave to do so," the doctor said. "I can hardly say how far a
+first attack is a protection against a second, for the recoveries
+have been so few that we have scarce means of knowing, but there
+certainly have been cases where persons have recovered from a first
+attack and died from a second. Your treatment is too severe to be
+gone through twice, and it is, therefore, more essential that you
+should run no risk of infection than it was before. I can see that
+you are still very far from strong, and your duty now is, in the
+first place, to regain your health. I should say get on board a hoy
+and go to Yarmouth. A week in the bracing air there would do you more
+good than six months here. But it is useless to give you that advice,
+because, in the first place, no shipping comes up the river, and,
+even if you could get down to Yarmouth by road, no one would receive
+you. Still, that is what I should do myself as soon as I could get
+away, were it not that, in my case, I have my duties here."
+
+"But, doctor, what you said to me surely applies to yourself also?"
+Cyril said, with a smile.
+
+"I know that," the doctor said good-humouredly, "and expected it, but
+it is not for a doctor to choose. He is not free, like other men; he
+has adopted a vocation in which it is his first duty to go among the
+sick, whatever their ailment may be, to do all that he can for them,
+and if, as in the present case, he can do practically nothing else,
+to set them an example of calmness and fearlessness. Still, for a
+time, at any rate, I shall be able to go no more into houses where
+the Plague is raging. 'Tis more than a month since you were cured,
+yet you are still a mere shadow of what you were. I had a much harder
+fight with the enemy, and cannot walk across the room yet without
+William's help. Therefore, it will be a fortnight or three weeks yet
+before I can see patients, and much longer before I shall have
+strength to visit them in their houses. By that time I trust that the
+Plague will have very greatly abated. Thus, you see, I shall not be
+called upon to stand face to face with it for some time. Those who
+call upon me here are seldom Plague-stricken. They come for other
+ailments, or because they feel unwell, and are nervous lest it should
+be the beginning of an attack; but of late I have had very few come
+here. My patients are mostly of the middle class, and these have
+either fled or fallen victims to the Plague, or have shut themselves
+up in their houses like fortresses, and nothing would tempt them to
+issue abroad. Therefore, I expect that I shall have naught to do but
+to gain strength again. Come here when you will, lad, and the oftener
+the better. Conversation is the best medicine for both of us, and as
+soon as I can I will visit you. I doubt not that John Wilkes has many
+a story of the sea that will take our thoughts away from this sad
+city. Bring him with you sometimes; he is an honest fellow, and the
+talk of sailors so smacks of the sea that it seems almost to act as a
+tonic."
+
+Cyril stayed for an hour, and promised to return on the following
+evening. He said, however, that he was sure John Wilkes would not
+accompany him.
+
+"He never leaves the house unless I am in it. He considers himself on
+duty; and although, as I tell him, there is little fear of anyone
+breaking in, seeing how many houses with much more valuable and more
+portable goods are empty and deserted, he holds to his purpose,
+saying that, even with the house altogether empty, it would be just
+as much his duty to remain in charge."
+
+"Well, come yourself, Cyril. If we cannot get this old watch-dog out
+I must wait until I can go to him."
+
+"I shall be very glad to come, doctor, for time hangs heavily on my
+hands. John Wilkes spends hours every day in washing and scrubbing
+decks, as he calls it, and there are but few books in the house."
+
+"As to that, I can furnish you, and will do so gladly. Go across to
+the shelves there, and choose for yourself."
+
+"Thank you very much indeed, sir. But will you kindly choose for me?
+I have read but few English books, for of course in France my reading
+was entirely French."
+
+"Then take Shakespeare. I hold his writings to be the finest in our
+tongue. I know them nearly by heart, for there is scarce an evening
+when I do not take him down for an hour, and reading him I forget the
+worries and cares of my day's work, which would otherwise often keep
+me from sleep. 'Tis a bulky volume, but do not let that discourage
+you; it is full of wit and wisdom, and of such romance that you will
+often find it hard to lay it down. Stay--I have two editions, and can
+well spare one of them, so take the one on that upper shelf, and keep
+it when you have read it. There is but little difference between
+them, but I generally use the other, and have come to look upon it as
+a friend."
+
+"Nay, sir, I will take it as a loan."
+
+"You will do nothing of the sort. I owe you a fee, and a bumping
+one."
+
+Henceforth Cyril did not find his time hang heavy on his hands. It
+seemed to him, as he sat at the window and read, that a new world
+opened to him. His life had been an eminently practical one. He had
+studied hard in France, and when he laid his books aside his time had
+been spent in the open air. It was only since he had been with
+Captain Dave that he had ever read for amusement, and the Captain's
+library consisted only of a few books of travels and voyages. He had
+never so much as dreamt of a book like this, and for the next few
+days he devoured its pages.
+
+"You are not looking so well, Cyril," Dr. Hodges said to him abruptly
+one day.
+
+"I am doing nothing but reading Shakespeare, doctor."
+
+"Then you are doing wrong, lad. You will never build yourself up
+unless you take exercise."
+
+"The streets are so melancholy, doctor, and whenever I go out I
+return sick at heart and in low spirits."
+
+"That I can understand, lad. But we must think of something," and he
+sat for a minute or two in silence. Then he said suddenly, "Do you
+understand the management of a boat?"
+
+"Yes, doctor; it was my greatest pleasure at Dunkirk to be out with
+the fishermen."
+
+"That will do, then. Go down at once to the riverside. There are
+hundreds of boats lying idle there, for there are no passengers and
+no trade, and half of their owners are dead. You are sure to see some
+men there; having nothing else to do, some will be hanging about. Say
+you want to hire a boat for a couple of months or to buy one. You
+will probably get one for a few shillings. Get one with a sail as
+well as oars. Go out the first thing after breakfast, and go up or
+down the river as the tide or wind may suit. Take some bread and meat
+with you, and don't return till supper-time. Then you can spend your
+evenings with Shakespeare. Maybe I myself will come down and take a
+sail with you sometimes. That will bring the colour back into your
+cheeks, and make a new man of you. Would that I had thought of it
+before!"
+
+Cyril was delighted with the idea, and, going down to Blackfriars,
+bought a wherry with a sail for a pound. Its owner was dead, but he
+learned where the widow lived, and effected the bargain without
+difficulty, for she was almost starving.
+
+"I have bought it," he said, "because it may be that I may get it
+damaged or sunk; but I only need it for six weeks or two months, and
+at the end of that time I will give it you back again. As soon as the
+Plague is over there will be work for boats, and you will be able to
+let it, or to sell it at a fair price."
+
+John Wilkes was greatly pleased when Cyril came back and told him
+what he had done.
+
+"That is the very thing for you," he said. "I have been a thick-head
+not to think of it. I have been worrying for the last week at seeing
+you sit there and do nothing but read, and yet there seemed nothing
+else for you to do, for ten minutes out in the streets is enough to
+give one the heartache. Maybe I will go out for a sail with you
+myself sometimes, for there is no fear of the house being broken into
+by daylight."
+
+"Not in the slightest, John. I hope that you will come out with me
+always. I should soon find it dull by myself, and besides, I don't
+think that I am strong enough yet to manage a pair of sculls for
+long, and one must reckon occasionally on having to row against the
+tide. Even if the worst happened, and anyone did break in and carry
+off a few things, I am sure Captain Dave would not grumble at the
+loss when he knew that I had wanted you to come out and help me to
+manage the boat, which I was ordered to use for my health's sake."
+
+"That he wouldn't," John said heartily; "not if they stripped the
+house and shop of everything there was in them."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE
+
+
+Having finally disposed of John Wilkes's scruples as to leaving the
+house during the daytime, Cyril thenceforth went out with him every
+day. If the tide was in flood they rowed far up the river, and came
+down on the ebb. If it was running out they went down as far as it
+would take them. Whenever the wind was favourable they hoisted the
+sail; at other times, they rowed. The fresh air, and the exercise,
+soon did their work. Cyril at first could only take one scull, and
+that only for a short time, but at the end of a fortnight was able to
+manage both for a time, or to row with one for hours. The feeling of
+lassitude which had oppressed him passed away speedily, the colour
+came back to his cheeks, his muscles strengthened, and he began to
+put on flesh.
+
+They were now in November, and needed warm garments when on the
+water, and John insisted on completely muffling him up whenever they
+hoisted the sail; but the colder weather braced him up, and he was
+often inclined to shout with pleasure as the wind drove the boat
+along before it.
+
+It was cheering to know that others were benefiting by the change. In
+the week ending October 3rd the deaths officially given were 4,328,
+though at least another thousand must be added to this, for great
+numbers of deaths from the Plague were put down to other causes, and
+very many, especially those of infants, were never counted at all. It
+was said that as many people were infected as ever, but that the
+virulence of the disease was abated, and that, whereas in August
+scarce one of those attacked recovered, in October but one out of
+every three died of the malady.
+
+In the second week of October, the number of deaths by the Plague was
+but 2,665, and only 1,250 in the third week, though great numbers
+were still attacked. People, however, grew careless, and ran
+unnecessary risks, and, in consequence, in the first week of November
+the number of deaths rose by 400. After this it decreased rapidly,
+and the people who had fled began to come back again--the more so
+because it had now spread to other large cities, and it seemed that
+there was less danger in London, where it had spent its force, than
+in places where it had but lately broken out. The shops began to open
+again, and the streets to reassume their former appearance.
+
+Cyril had written several times to Captain Dowsett, telling him how
+matters were going on, and in November, hearing that they were
+thinking of returning, he wrote begging them not to do so.
+
+"Many of those who have returned have fallen sick, and died," he
+said. "It seems to me but a useless risk of life, after taking so
+much pains to avoid infection, to hurry back before the danger has
+altogether passed. In your case, Captain Dave, there is the less
+reason for it, since there is no likelihood of the shipping trade
+being renewed for the present. All the ports of Europe are closed to
+our ships, and it is like to be a long time before they lose fear of
+us. Even the coasting trade is lost for the present. Therefore, my
+advice is very strongly against your returning for some weeks. All is
+going on well here. I am getting quite strong again, and, by the
+orders of the doctor, go out with John daily for a long row, and have
+gained much benefit from it. John sends his respects. He says that
+everything is ship-shape above and below, and the craft holding well
+on her way. He also prays you not to think of returning at present,
+and says that it would be as bad seamanship, as for a captain who has
+made a good offing in a gale, and has plenty of sea-room, to run down
+close to a rocky shore under the lee, before the storm has altogether
+blown itself out."
+
+Captain Dave took the advice, and only returned with his wife and
+Nellie a week before Christmas.
+
+"I am glad indeed to be back," he said, after the first greetings
+were over. "'Twas well enough for the women, who used to help in the
+dairy, and to feed the fowls, and gather the eggs, and make the
+butter, but for me there was nothing to do, and it seemed as if the
+days would never come to an end."
+
+"It was not so bad as that, father," Nellie said. "First of all, you
+had your pipe to smoke. Then, once a week you used to go over with
+the market-cart to Gloucester and to look at the shipping there, and
+talk with the masters and sailors. Then, on a Sunday, of course,
+there was church. So there were only five days each week to get
+through; and you know you took a good deal of interest in the horses
+and cows and pigs."
+
+"I tried to take an interest in them, Nellie; but it was very hard
+work."
+
+"Well, father, that is just what you were saying you wanted, and I am
+sure you spent hours every day walking about with the children, or
+telling them stories."
+
+"Well, perhaps, when I think of it, it was not so very bad after
+all," Captain Dave admitted. "At any rate, I am heartily glad I am
+back here again. We will open the shop to-morrow morning, John."
+
+"That we will, master. We sha'n't do much trade at present. Still, a
+few coasters have come in, and I hope that every day things will get
+better. Besides, all the vessels that have been lying in the Pool
+since June will want painting up and getting into trim again before
+they sail out of the river, so things may not be so slack after all.
+You will find everything in order in the store. I have had little to
+do but to polish up brass work and keep the metal from rusting. When
+do the apprentices come back again?"
+
+"I shall write for them as soon as I find that there is something for
+them to do. You are not thinking of running away as soon as we come
+back I hope, Cyril? You said, when you last wrote, that you were fit
+for sea again."
+
+"I am not thinking of going for some little time, if you will keep
+me, Captain Dave. There is no news of the Fleet fitting out at
+present, and they will not want us on board till they are just ready
+to start. They say that Albemarle is to command this time instead of
+the Duke, at which I am right glad, for he has fought the Dutch at
+sea many times, and although not bred up to the trade, he has shown
+that he can fight as steadily on sea as on land. All say the Duke
+showed courage and kept a firm countenance at Lowestoft, but there
+was certainly great slackness in the pursuit, though this, 'tis said,
+was not so much his fault as that of those who were over-careful of
+his safety. Still, as he is the heir to the throne, it is but right
+that he should be kept out of the fighting."
+
+"It is like to be stern work next time, Cyril, if what I hear be
+true. Owing partly to all men's minds being occupied by the Plague,
+and partly to the great sums wasted by the King in his pleasures,
+nothing whatever has been done for the Fleet. Of course, the squadron
+at sea has taken great numbers of prizes; but the rest of the Fleet
+is laid up, and no new ships are being built, while they say that the
+Dutch are busy in all their ship-yards, and will send out a much
+stronger fleet this spring than that which fought us at Lowestoft. I
+suppose you have not heard of any of your grand friends?"
+
+"No. I should have written to Sydney Oliphant, but I knew not whether
+he was at sea or at home, and, moreover, I read that most folks in
+the country are afraid of letters from London, thinking that they
+might carry contagion. Many noblemen have now returned to the West
+End, and when I hear that the Earl has also come back with his family
+it will, of course, be my duty to wait upon him, and on Prince Rupert
+also. But I hope the Prince will not be back yet, for he will be
+wanting me to go to Court again, and for this, in truth, I have no
+inclination, and, moreover, it cannot be done without much expense
+for clothes, and I have no intention to go into expenses on follies
+or gew-gaws, or to trench upon the store of money that I had from
+you, Captain Dave."
+
+They had just finished breakfast on the day before Christmas, when
+one of the apprentices came up from the shop and said that one Master
+Goldsworthy, a lawyer in the Temple, desired to speak to Sir Cyril
+Shenstone. Cyril was about to go down when Captain Dave said,--
+
+"Show the gentleman up, Susan. We will leave you here to him, Cyril."
+
+"By no means," Cyril said. "I do not know him, and he can assuredly
+have no private business with me that you may not hear."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter, however, left the room. The lawyer, a
+grave-looking gentleman of some fifty years of age, glanced at Cyril
+and the Captain as he entered the room, and then advanced towards the
+former.
+
+"My name is unknown to you, Sir Cyril," he said, "but it has been
+said that a bearer of good news needs no introduction, and I come in
+that capacity. I bring you, sir, a Christmas-box," and he took from a
+bag he carried a bundle of some size, and a letter. "Before you open
+it, sir, I will explain the character of its contents, which would
+take you some time to decipher and understand, while I can explain
+them in a very few words. I may tell you that I am the legal adviser
+of Mr. Ebenezer Harvey, of Upmead Court, Norfolk. You are, I presume,
+familiar with the name?"
+
+Cyril started. Upmead Court was the name of his father's place, but
+with the name of its present owner he was not familiar. Doubtless, he
+might sometimes have heard it from his father, but the latter, when
+he spoke of the present possessor of the Court, generally did so as
+"that Roundhead dog," or "that canting Puritan."
+
+"The Court I know, sir," he said gravely, "as having once been my
+father's, but I do not recall the name of its present owner, though
+it may be that in my childhood my father mentioned it in my hearing."
+
+"Nevertheless, sir, you know the gentleman himself, having met him,
+as he tells me, frequently at the house of Mr. Wallace, who was
+minister of the chapel at which he worshipped, and who came up to
+London to minister to those sorely afflicted and needing comfort. Not
+only did you meet with Mr. Harvey and his wife, but you rendered to
+them very material service."
+
+"I was certainly unaware," Cyril said, "that Mr. Harvey was the
+possessor of what had been my father's estate, but, had I known it,
+it would have made no difference in my feeling towards him. I found
+him a kind and godly gentleman whom, more than others there, was good
+enough to converse frequently with me, and to whom I was pleased to
+be of service."
+
+"The service was of a most important nature," the lawyer said, "being
+nothing less than the saving of his life, and probably that of his
+wife. He sent for me the next morning, and then drew out his will. By
+that will he left to you the estates which he had purchased from your
+father."
+
+Cyril gave a start of surprise, and would have spoken, but Master
+Goldsworthy held up his hand, and said,--
+
+"Please let me continue my story to the end. This act was not the
+consequence of the service that you had rendered him. He had
+previously consulted me on the subject, and stated his intentions to
+me. He had met you at Mr. Wallace's, and at once recognised your
+name, and learnt from Mr. Wallace that you were the son of Sir Aubrey
+Shenstone. He studied your character, had an interview with Dr.
+Hodges, and learnt how fearlessly you were devoting yourself to the
+work of aiding those stricken with the Plague. With his own son he
+had reason for being profoundly dissatisfied. The young man had
+thrown off his authority, had become a notorious reprobate, and had,
+he believed, sunk down to become a companion of thieves and
+highwaymen. He had come up to London solely to make a last effort to
+save him from his evil courses and to give him a chance of
+reformation by sending him out to New England.
+
+"Mr. Harvey is possessed of considerable property in addition to the
+estates purchased of your father, for, previous to that purchase he
+had been the owner of large tanneries at Norwich, which he has ever
+since maintained, not so much for the sake of the income he derived
+from them as because they afforded a livelihood to a large number of
+workmen. He had, therefore, ample means to leave to his son, should
+the latter accept his offer and reform his life, without the estates
+of Upmead. When he saw you, he told me his conscience was moved. He
+had, of course, a legal right to the estates, but he had purchased
+them for a sum not exceeding a fifth of their value, and he
+considered that in the twenty years he had held them he had drawn
+from them sums amply sufficient to repay him for the price he had
+given for them, and had received a large interest on the money in
+addition. He questioned, therefore, strongly whether he had any right
+longer to retain them.
+
+"When he consulted me on the subject, he alluded to the fact that, by
+the laws of the Bible, persons who bought lands were bound to return
+the land to its former possessors, at the end of seven times seven
+years. He had already, then, made up his mind to leave that portion
+of his property to you, when you rendered him that great service, and
+at the same time it became, alas! but too evident to him that his son
+was hopelessly bad, and that any money whatever left to him would
+assuredly be spent in evil courses, and would do evil rather than
+good. Therefore, when I came in the morning to him he said,--
+
+"'My will must be made immediately. Not one penny is to go to my son.
+I may be carried off to-morrow by the Plague, or my son may renew his
+attempt with success. So I must will it away from him at once. For
+the moment, therefore, make a short will bequeathing the estate of
+Upmead to Sir Cyril Shenstone, all my other possessions to my wife
+for her lifetime, and at her death also to Sir Cyril Shenstone.
+
+"'I may alter this later on,' he said, 'but for the present I desire
+chiefly to place them beyond my son's reach. Please draw up the
+document at once, for no one can say what half an hour may bring
+forth to either of us. Get the document in form by this evening, when
+some friends will be here to witness it. Pray bring your two clerks
+also!'
+
+"A few days later he called upon me again.
+
+"'I have been making further inquiries about Sir Cyril Shenstone,' he
+said, 'and have learnt much concerning him from a man who is in the
+employment of the trader with whom he lives. What I have learnt more
+than confirms me in my impression of him. He came over from France,
+three years ago, a boy of scarce fourteen. He was clever at figures,
+and supported his reprobate father for the last two years of his life
+by keeping the books of small traders in the City. So much was he
+esteemed that, at his father's death, Captain Dowsett offered him a
+home in his house. He rewarded the kindness by making the discovery
+that the trader was being foully robbed, and brought about the arrest
+of the thieves, which incidentally led to the breaking-up of one of
+the worst gangs of robbers in London. Later on he found that his
+employer's daughter was in communication with a hanger-on of the
+Court, who told her that he was a nobleman. The young fellow set a
+watch upon her, came upon her at the moment she was about to elope
+with this villain, ran him through the shoulder, and took her back to
+her home, and so far respected her secret that her parents would
+never have known of it had she not, some time afterwards, confessed
+it to them. That villain, Mr. Goldsworthy,' he said, 'was my son!
+Just after that Sir Cyril obtained the good will of the Earl of
+Wisbech, whose three daughters he saved from being burnt to death at
+a fire in the Savoy. Thus, you see, this youth is in every way worthy
+of good fortune, and can be trusted to administer the estate of his
+fathers worthily and well. I wish you to draw out, at once, a deed
+conveying to him these estates, and rehearsing that, having obtained
+them at a small price, and having enjoyed them for a time long enough
+to return to me the money I paid for them with ample interest
+thereon, I now return them to him, confident that they will be in
+good hands, and that their revenues will be worthily spent.'
+
+"In this parcel is the deed in question, duly signed and witnessed,
+together with the parchments, deeds, and titles of which he became
+possessed at his purchase of the estate. I may say, Sir Cyril, that I
+have never carried out a legal transfer with greater pleasure to
+myself, considering, as I do, that the transaction is alike just and
+honourable on his part and most creditable to yourself. He begged me
+to hand the deeds to you myself. They were completed two months
+since, but he himself suggested that I should bring them to you on
+Christmas Eve, when it is the custom for many to give to their
+friends tokens of their regard and good will. I congratulate you
+heartily, sir, and rejoice that, for once, merit has met with a due
+reward."
+
+"I do not know, sir," Cyril replied, "how I can express my feelings
+of deep pleasure and gratitude at the wonderful tidings you have
+brought me. I had set it before me as the great object of my life,
+that, some day, should I live to be an old man, I might be enabled to
+repurchase the estate of my father's. I knew how improbable it was
+that I should ever be able to do so, and I can scarce credit that
+what seemed presumptuous even as a hope should have thus been so
+strangely and unexpectedly realised. I certainly do not feel that it
+is in any way due to what you are good enough to call my merits, for
+in all these matters that you have spoken of there has been nothing
+out of the way, or, so far as I can see, in any way praiseworthy, in
+what I have done. It would seem, indeed, that in all these matters,
+and in the saving of my life from the Plague, things have arranged
+themselves so as to fall out for my benefit."
+
+"That is what Mr. Harvey feels very strongly, Sir Cyril. He has told
+me, over and over again, that it seemed to him that the finger of God
+was specially manifest in thus bringing you together, and in placing
+you in a position to save his life. And now I will take my leave. I
+may say that in all legal matters connected with the estate I have
+acted for Mr. Harvey, and should be naturally glad if you will
+continue to entrust such matters to me. I have some special
+facilities in the matter, as Mr. Popham, a lawyer of Norwich, is
+married to my daughter, and we therefore act together in all business
+connected with the estate, he performing what may be called the local
+business, while I am advised by him as to matters requiring attention
+here in London."
+
+"I shall be glad indeed if you and Mr. Popham will continue to act in
+the same capacity for me," Cyril said warmly. "I am, as you see, very
+young, and know nothing of the management of an estate, and shall be
+grateful if you will, in all matters, act for me until I am of an age
+to assume the duties of the owner of Upmead."
+
+"I thank you, Sir Cyril, and we shall, I trust, afford you
+satisfaction. The deed, you will observe, is dated the 29th of
+September, the day on which it was signed, though there have been
+other matters to settle. The tenants have already been notified that
+from that date they are to regard you as their landlord. Now that you
+authorise us to act for you, my son-in-law will at once proceed to
+collect the rents for this quarter. I may say that, roughly, they
+amount to seventeen hundred pounds a year, and as it may be a
+convenience to you to draw at once, if it so please you I will place,
+on Monday next, the sum of four hundred pounds to your credit with
+Messrs. Murchison and Graham, who are my bankers, or with any other
+firm you may prefer."
+
+"With the bankers you name, by all means," Cyril said; "and I thank
+you heartily for so doing, for as I shall shortly rejoin the Fleet, a
+portion, at least, of the money will be very useful to me."
+
+Mr. Goldsworthy took his hat.
+
+"There is one thing further I have forgotten. Mr. Harvey requested me
+to say that he wished for no thanks in this matter. He regards it as
+an act of rightful restitution, and, although you will doubtless
+write to him, he would be pleased if you will abstain altogether from
+treating it as a gift."
+
+"I will try to obey his wishes," Cyril said, "but it does not seem to
+me that it will be possible for me to abstain from any expression of
+gratitude for his noble act."
+
+Cyril accompanied the lawyer to the door, and then returned upstairs.
+
+"Now I can speak," Captain Dowsett said. "I have had hard work to
+keep a stopper on my tongue all this time, for I have been well-nigh
+bursting to congratulate you. I wish you joy, my lad," and he wrung
+Cyril's hand heartily, "and a pleasant voyage through life. I am as
+glad, ay, and a deal more glad than if such a fortune had come in my
+way, for it would have been of little use to me, seeing I have all
+that the heart of man could desire."
+
+He ran to the door and shouted loudly for his wife and daughter.
+
+"I have news for you both," he said, as they came in. "What do you
+think? Cyril, like the King, has come to his own again, and he is now
+Sir Cyril Shenstone, the owner of the estate of Upmead."
+
+Both broke into exclamations of surprise and pleasure.
+
+"How has the wonder come about?" Nellie asked, after the first
+congratulations were over. "What good fairy has brought this round?"
+
+"The good fairy was the Mr. Harvey whose name Cyril once mentioned
+casually, and whose life, as it now appears, he saved, though he has
+said nothing to us about it. That gentleman was, most strangely, the
+man who bought the estate from his father. He, it seems, is a wealthy
+man, and his conscience has for some time been pricked with the
+thought that he had benefited too largely from the necessities of Sir
+Aubrey, and that, having received back from the rents all the money
+he paid, and goodly interest thereon, he ought to restore the estate
+to its former owner. Possibly he might never have acted on this
+thought, but he considered the circumstance that he had so strangely
+met Cyril here at the time of the Plague, and still more strangely
+that Cyril had saved his life, was a matter of more than chance, and
+was a direct and manifest interposition of Providence; and he has
+therefore made restitution, and that parcel on the table contains a
+deed of gift to Cyril of all his father's estates."
+
+"He has done quite rightly," Mrs. Dowsett said warmly, "though,
+indeed, it is not everyone who would see matters in that light. If
+men always acted in that spirit it would be a better world."
+
+"Ay, ay, wife. There are not many men who, having got the best of a
+bargain, voluntarily resign the profits they have made. It is
+pleasant to come across one who so acts, more especially when one's
+best friend is the gainer. Ah! Nellie, what a pity some good fairy
+did not tell you of what was coming! What a chance you have lost,
+girl! See what might have happened if you had set your cap at Cyril!"
+
+"Indeed, it is terrible to think of," Nellie laughed. "It was hard on
+me that he was not five or six years older. Then I might have done
+it, even if my good fairy had not whispered in my ear about this
+fortune. Never mind. I shall console myself by looking forward to
+dance at his wedding--that is, if he will send me an invitation."
+
+"Like as not you will be getting past your dancing days by the time
+that comes off, Nellie. I hope that, years before then, I shall have
+danced at your wedding--that is to say," he said, imitating her, "if
+you will send me an invitation."
+
+"What are you going to do next, Cyril?" Captain Dave asked, when the
+laugh had subsided.
+
+"I don't know, I am sure," Cyril replied. "I have not really woke up
+to it all yet. It will be some time before I realise that I am not a
+penniless young baronet, and that I can spend a pound without looking
+at it a dozen times. I shall have to get accustomed to the thought
+before I can make any plans. I suppose that one of the first things
+to do will be to go down to Oxford to see Prince Rupert--who, I
+suppose, is with the Court, though this I can doubtless learn at the
+offices of the Admiralty--and to tell him that I am ready to rejoin
+his ship as soon as he puts to sea again. Then I shall find out where
+Sydney Oliphant is, and how his family have fared in the Plague. I
+would fain find out what has become of the Partons, to whom, and
+especially to Lady Parton, I owe much. I suppose, too, I shall have
+to go down to Norfolk, but that I shall put off as long as I can, for
+it will be strange and very unpleasant at first to go down as master
+to a place I have never seen. I shall have to get you to come down
+with me, Captain Dave, to keep me in countenance."
+
+"Not I, my lad. You will want a better introducer. I expect that the
+lawyer who was here will give you a letter to his son-in-law, who
+will, of course, place himself at your service, establishing you in
+your house and taking you round to your tenants."
+
+"Oh, yes," Nellie said, clapping her hands. "And there will be fine
+doings, and bonfires, and arches, and all sorts of festivities. I do
+begin to feel how much I have missed the want of that good fairy."
+
+"It will be all very disagreeable," Cyril said seriously; whereat the
+others laughed.
+
+Cyril then went downstairs with Captain Dave, and told John Wilkes of
+the good fortune that had befallen him, at which he was as much
+delighted as the others had been.
+
+Ten days later Cyril rode to Oxford, and found that Prince Rupert was
+at present there. The Prince received him with much warmth.
+
+"I have wondered many times what had become of you, Sir Cyril," he
+said. "From the hour when I saw you leave us in the _Fan Fan_ I have
+lost sight of you altogether. I have not been in London since, for
+the Plague had set in badly before the ships were laid up, and as I
+had naught particular to do there I kept away from it. Albemarle has
+stayed through it, and he and Mr. Pepys were able to do all there was
+to do, but I have thought of you often and wondered how you fared,
+and hoped to see you here, seeing that there was, as it seemed to me,
+nothing to keep you in London after your wounds had healed. I have
+spoken often to the King of the brave deed by which you saved us all,
+and he declared that, had it not been that you were already a
+baronet, he would knight you as soon as you appeared, as many of the
+captains and others have already received that honour; and he agreed
+with me that none deserved it better than yourself. Now, what has
+become of you all this time?"
+
+Cyril related how he had stayed in London, had had the Plague, and
+had recovered from it.
+
+"I must see about getting you a commission at once in the Navy," the
+Prince said, "though I fear you will have to wait until we fit out
+again. There will be no difficulty then, for of course there were
+many officers killed in the action."
+
+Cyril expressed his thanks, adding,--
+
+"There is no further occasion for me to take a commission, Prince,
+for, strangely enough, the owner of my father's property has just
+made it over to me. He is a good man, and, considering that he has
+already reaped large benefits by his purchase, and has been repaid
+his money with good interest, his conscience will no longer suffer
+him to retain it."
+
+"Then he is a Prince of Roundheads," the Prince said, "and I most
+heartily congratulate you; and I believe that the King will be as
+pleased as I am. He said but the other day, when I was speaking to
+him of you, that it grieved him sorely that he was powerless to do
+anything for so many that had suffered in his cause, and that, after
+the bravery you had shown, he was determined to do something, and
+would insist with his ministers that some office should be found for
+you,--though it is not an easy matter, when each of them has special
+friends of his own among whom to divide any good things that fall
+vacant. He holds a Court this evening, and I will take you with me."
+
+The King was most gracious when the Prince again presented Cyril to
+him and told him of the good fortune that had befallen him.
+
+"By my faith, Sir Cyril, you were born under a lucky star. First of
+all you saved my Lord of Wisbech's daughters; then, as Prince Rupert
+tells me, you saved him and all on board his ship from being burned;
+and now a miracle has well-nigh happened in your favour. I see, too,
+that you have the use of your arm, which the Prince doubted would
+ever altogether recover."
+
+"More still, Your Majesty," the Prince said. "He had the Plague in
+August and recovered from it."
+
+"I shall have to keep you about me, Sir Cyril," the King said, "as a
+sort of amulet to guard me against ill luck."
+
+"I am going to take him to sea first," Prince Rupert broke in, seeing
+that Cyril was about to disclaim the idea of coming to Court. "I may
+want him to save my ship again, and I suppose he will be going down
+to visit his estate till I want him. You have never seen it, have
+you, Sir Cyril?"
+
+"No, sir; at least not to have any remembrance of it. I naturally
+long to see Upmead, of which I have heard much from my father. I
+should have gone down at once, but I thought it my duty to come
+hither and report myself to you as being ready to sail again as soon
+as you put to sea."
+
+"Duty first and pleasure afterwards," the King said. "I am afraid
+that is a little beyond me--eh, Rupert?"
+
+"Very much so, I should say, Cousin Charles," the Prince replied,
+with a smile. "However, I have no doubt Sir Cyril will not grudge us
+a few days before he leaves. There are several of the gentlemen who
+were his comrades on the _Henrietta_ here, and they will be glad to
+renew their acquaintance with him, knowing, as they all do, that they
+owe their lives to him."
+
+As Cyril was walking down the High Street, he saw a student coming
+along whose face seemed familiar to him. He looked hard at him.
+
+"Surely you must be Harry Parton?" he said.
+
+"That is my name, sir; though I cannot recall where I have met you.
+Yet there seems something familiar in your face, and still more in
+your voice."
+
+"I am Cyril Shenstone."
+
+"Why, what has become of you, Cyril?" Harry said, shaking him warmly
+by the hand. "I searched for you a year ago when I was in London, but
+could obtain no tidings whatever of you, save that you had lost your
+father. We are alike there, for my father died a few months after
+yours did."
+
+"I am sorry indeed, Harry. I had not heard of it before. I was not,
+indeed, in the way of doing so, as I was working in the City and knew
+nothing of what was passing elsewhere."
+
+"This is my college, Cyril. Come up to my room; there we can talk
+comfortably, and we have much to tell each other. How is it that you
+have never been near us?" he went on, when they were seated in front
+of a blazing fire in his room. "I know that there was some quarrel
+between our fathers, but when we heard of Sir Aubrey's death, both my
+father and mother thought that you would come to see us or would have
+written--for indeed it was not until after my father's death that we
+paid a visit to London. It was then my mother asked me to search for
+you; and after great difficulty I found the quarter in which you had
+lived, and then from the parish register learned where your father
+had died. Going there, I learned that you had left the lodging
+directly after his death, but more than that the people could not
+tell me."
+
+"I should have come to see your mother and Sir John, Harry. I know
+how deeply I am indebted to them, and as long as I live shall never
+cease to be grateful for Lady Parton's kindness to me. But I had
+received so much kindness that I shrank from seeming to wish to
+presume upon it further. I had, of course, to work for my living, and
+I wanted, before I recalled myself to them, to be able to say that I
+had not come as a beggar for further favours, but that I was making
+my way independently. Sooner or later I should have come, for your
+father once promised me that if I followed out what you remember was
+my plan, of entering foreign service, he would give me letters of
+introduction that would be useful to me. Had I that favour still to
+ask I could do it without shame. But more than that I would not have
+asked, even had I wanted bread, which, thank God! was never the
+case."
+
+"I can understand your feeling, Cyril, but my mother assuredly would
+always have been pleased to see you. You know you were a favourite of
+hers."
+
+"Had you been near town, Harry, I should certainly have come to see
+her and you as soon as I had fairly established myself, but I heard
+from my father that you had all gone away into the country soon after
+the unfortunate quarrel he had with Sir John, and therefore delayed
+taking any step for the time, and indeed did not know in what part of
+the country your father's estates lay. I know that he recovered them
+as soon as he returned."
+
+"They had never been forfeited," Harry said. "My father retired from
+the struggle after Naseby, and as he had influential friends among
+the Puritans, there was no forfeiture of his estates, and we were
+therefore able, as you know, to live in comfort at Dunkirk, his
+steward sending over such monies as were required. And now about
+yourself. Your brains must have served you rarely somehow, for you
+are dressed in the latest fashion, and indeed I took you for a Court
+gallant when you accosted me."
+
+"I have been truly fortunate, Harry, and indeed everything has turned
+out as if specially designed for my good, and, in a most strange and
+unlooked-for manner, I have just come into my father's estates
+again."
+
+"I am glad indeed to hear it, Cyril. Tell me how it has all come
+about."
+
+Cyril told the story of his life since he had come to London.
+
+"You have, indeed, had strange adventures, Cyril, and, though you say
+little about it, you must have done something special to have gained
+Prince Rupert's patronage and introduction to Court; but I shall worm
+all that out of you some day, or get it from other lips. What a
+contrast your life has been to mine! Here have you been earning your
+living bravely, fighting in the great battle against the Dutch, going
+through that terrible Plague, and winning your way back to fortune,
+while I have been living the life of a school-boy. Our estates lie in
+Shropshire, and as soon as we went down there my father placed me at
+a school at Shrewsbury. There I remained till his death, and then, as
+was his special wish, entered here. I have still a year of my course
+to complete. I only came up into residence last week. When the summer
+comes I hope that you will come down to Ardleigh and stay with us; it
+will give my mother great pleasure to see you again, for I never see
+her but she speaks of you, and wonders what has become of you, and if
+you are still alive."
+
+"Assuredly I will come, and that with the greatest pleasure," Cyril
+said, "providing only that I am not then at sea, which is, I fear,
+likely, as I rejoin the ship as soon as Prince Rupert takes the sea
+against the Dutch. However, directly we return I will write to you."
+
+"If you do so, let it be to Ardleigh, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
+Should I be here when your letter arrives, my mother will forward it
+to me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+TAKING POSSESSION
+
+
+Cyril stayed a week at Oxford. He greatly enjoyed the visit; and not
+only was he most warmly received by his former comrades on board the
+_Henrietta_, but Prince Rupert spoke so strongly in his favour to
+other gentlemen to whom he introduced him that he no longer felt a
+stranger at Court. Much of his spare time he spent with Harry Parton,
+and in his rooms saw something of college life, which seemed to him a
+very pleasant and merry one. He had ascertained, as soon as he
+arrived, that the Earl of Wisbech and his family were down at his
+estate, near the place from which he took his title, and had at once
+written to Sydney, from whom he received an answer on the last day of
+his stay at Oxford. It contained a warm invitation for him to come
+down to Wisbech.
+
+"You say you will be going to Norwich to take possession of your
+estate. If you ride direct from Oxford, our place will be but little
+out of your way, therefore we shall take no excuse for your not
+coming to see us, and shall look for you within a week or so from the
+date of this. We were all delighted to get your missive, for although
+what you say about infection carried by letters is true enough, and,
+indeed there was no post out of London for months, we had begun to
+fear that the worst must have befallen you when no letter arrived
+from you in December. Still, we thought that you might not know where
+we were, and so hoped that you might be waiting until you could find
+that out. My father bids me say that he will take no refusal. Since
+my return he more than ever regards you as being the good genius of
+the family, and it is certainly passing strange that, after saving my
+sisters' lives from fire you should, though in so different a way,
+have saved me from a similar death. So set off as soon as you get
+this--that is, if you can tear yourself away from the gaieties of
+Oxford."
+
+Cyril had, indeed, been specially waiting for Sydney's answer, having
+told him that he should remain at Oxford until he received it, and on
+the following morning he packed his valise and rode for Wisbech,
+where he arrived three days' later. His welcome at the Earl's was a
+most cordial one. He spent a week there, at the end of which time
+Sydney, at his earnest request, started for Norwich with him. The
+Earl had insisted on Cyril's accepting a splendid horse, and behind
+him, on his other animal, rode a young fellow, the son of a small
+tenant on the Earl's estate, whom he had engaged as a servant. He had
+written, three days before, to Mr. Popham, telling him that he would
+shortly arrive, and begging him to order the two old servants of his
+father, whom he had, at his request, engaged to take care of the
+house to get two or three chambers in readiness for him, which could
+doubtless be easily done, as he had learnt from the deed that the
+furniture and all contents of the house had been included in the
+gift. After putting up at the inn, he went to the lawyer's. Mr.
+Popham, he found, had had a room prepared in readiness for him at his
+house, but Cyril, while thanking him for so doing, said that, as Lord
+Oliphant was with him, he would stay at the inn for the night.
+
+The next morning they rode over with Mr. Popham to Upmead, which was
+six miles distant from the town.
+
+"That is the house," the lawyer said, as a fine old mansion came in
+sight. "There are larger residences in the county, but few more
+handsome. Indeed, it is almost too large for the estate, but, as
+perhaps you know, that was at one time a good deal larger than it is
+at present, for it was diminished by one of your ancestors in the
+days of Elizabeth."
+
+At the gate where they turned into the Park an arch of evergreens had
+been erected.
+
+"You don't mean to say you let them know that I was coming home?"
+Cyril said, in a tone of such alarm that Lord Oliphant laughed and
+Mr. Popham said apologetically,--
+
+"I certainly wrote to the tenants, sir, when I received your letter,
+and sent off a message saying that you would be here this morning.
+Most of them or their fathers were here in the old time, for Mr.
+Harvey made no changes, and I am sure they would have been very
+disappointed if they had not had notice that Sir Aubrey's son was
+coming home."
+
+"Of course it was quite right for you to do so, Mr. Popham, but you
+see I am quite unaccustomed to such things, and would personally have
+been much more pleased to have come home quietly. Still, as you say,
+it is only right that the tenants should have been informed, and at
+any rate it will be a satisfaction to get it all over at once."
+
+There were indeed quite a large number of men and women assembled in
+front of the house--all the tenants, with their wives and families,
+having gathered to greet their young landlord--and loud bursts of
+cheering arose as he rode up, Sydney and Mr. Popham reining back
+their horses a little to allow him to precede them. Cyril took off
+his hat, and bowed repeatedly in reply to the acclamations that
+greeted him. The tenants crowded round, many of the older men
+pressing forward to shake him by the hand.
+
+"Welcome back to your own again, Sir Cyril!"
+
+"I fought under your father, sir, and a good landlord he was to us
+all."
+
+Such were the exclamations that rose round him until he reached the
+door of the mansion, and, dismounting, took his place at the top of
+the steps. Then he took off his hat again, and when there was silence
+he said,--
+
+"I thank you heartily, one and all, good friends, for the welcome
+that you have given me. Glad indeed I am to come down to my father's
+home, and to be so greeted by those who knew him, and especially by
+those who followed him in the field in the evil days which have, we
+may hope, passed away for ever. You all know, perhaps, that I owe my
+return here as master to the noble generosity of Mr. Harvey, your
+late landlord, who restored me the estates, not being bound in any
+way to do so, but solely because he considered that he had already
+been repaid the money he gave for them. This may be true, but,
+nevertheless, there is not one man in a hundred thousand who would so
+despoil himself of the benefits of a bargain lawfully made, and I beg
+you therefore to give three cheers, as hearty as those with which you
+greeted me, for Mr. Harvey."
+
+Three cheers, as long and loud as those that had before risen,
+responded to the appeal.
+
+"Such a man," Cyril went on, when they subsided, "must have been a
+just and good landlord to you all, and I shall do my best to give you
+no cause for regret at the change that has come about."
+
+He paused for a moment to speak to Mr. Popham, who stood beside him,
+and then went on,--
+
+"I did not know whether I could ask you to drink to my health, but I
+learn from Mr. Popham that the cellars have been left well filled;
+therefore, my first orders on coming to the house of my fathers will
+be that a cask of wine shall be speedily broached, and that you shall
+be enabled to drink my health. While that is being done, Mr. Popham
+will introduce you to me one by one."
+
+Another loud cheer arose, and then the tenants came forward with
+their wives and families.
+
+Cyril shook hands with them all, and said a few words to each. The
+elder men had all ridden by his father in battle, and most of the
+younger ones said, as he shook hands with them,--
+
+"My father fell, under Sir Aubrey, at Naseby," or "at Worcester," or
+in other battles.
+
+By the time all had been introduced, a great cask of wine had been
+broached, and after the tenants had drunk to his health, and he had,
+in turn, pledged them, Cyril entered the house with Sydney and Mr.
+Popham, and proceeded to examine it under the guidance of the old man
+who had been his father's butler, and whose wife had also been a
+servant in Sir Aubrey's time.
+
+"Everything is just as it was then, Sir Cyril. A few fresh articles
+of furniture have been added, but Mr. Harvey would have no general
+change made. The family pictures hang just where they did, and your
+father himself would scarce notice the changes."
+
+"It is indeed a fine old mansion, Cyril," Lord Oliphant said, when
+they had made a tour of the house; "and now that I see it and its
+furniture I am even more inclined than before to admire the man who
+could voluntarily resign them. I shall have to modify my ideas of the
+Puritans. They have shown themselves ready to leave the country and
+cross the ocean to America, and begin life anew for conscience'
+sake--that is to say, to escape persecution--and they fought very
+doughtily, and we must own, very successfully, for the same reason,
+but this is the first time I have ever heard of one of them
+relinquishing a fine estate for conscience' sake."
+
+"Mr. Harvey is indeed a most worthy gentleman," Mr. Popham said, "and
+has the esteem and respect of all, even of those who are of wholly
+different politics. Still, it may be that although he would in any
+case, I believe, have left this property to Sir Cyril, he might not
+have handed it over to him in his lifetime, had not he received so
+great a service at his hands."
+
+"Why, what is this, Cyril?" Sydney said, turning upon him. "You have
+told us nothing whatever of any services rendered. I never saw such a
+fellow as you are for helping other people."
+
+"There was nothing worth speaking of," Cyril said, much vexed.
+
+Mr. Popham smiled.
+
+"Most people would think it was a very great service, Lord Oliphant.
+However, I may not tell you what it was, although I have heard all
+the details from my father-in-law, Mr. Goldsworthy. They were told in
+confidence, and in order to enlighten me as to the relations between
+Mr. Harvey and Sir Cyril, and as they relate to painful family
+matters I am bound to preserve an absolute silence."
+
+"I will be content to wait, Cyril, till I get you to myself. It is a
+peculiarity of Sir Cyril Shenstone, Mr. Popham, that he goes through
+life doing all sorts of services for all sorts of people. You may not
+know that he saved the lives of my three sisters in a fire at our
+mansion in the Savoy; he also performed the trifling service of
+saving Prince Rupert's ship and the lives of all on board, among whom
+was myself, from a Dutch fire-ship, in the battle of Lowestoft. These
+are insignificant affairs, that he would not think it worth while to
+allude to, even if you knew him for twenty years."
+
+"You do not know Lord Oliphant, Mr. Popham," Cyril laughed, "or you
+would be aware that his custom is to make mountains out of molehills.
+But let us sit down to dinner. I suppose it is your forethought, Mr.
+Popham, that I have to thank for having warned them to make this
+provision? I had thought that we should be lucky if the resources of
+the establishment sufficed to furnish us with a meal of bread and
+cheese."
+
+"I sent on a few things with my messenger yesterday evening, Sir
+Cyril, but for the hare and those wild ducks methinks you have to
+thank your tenants, who doubtless guessed that an addition to the
+larder would be welcome. I have no doubt that, good landlord as Mr.
+Harvey was, they are really delighted to have you among them again.
+As you know, these eastern counties were the stronghold of
+Puritanism, and that feeling is still held by the majority. It is
+only among the tenants of many gentlemen who, like your father, were
+devoted Royalists, that there is any very strong feeling the other
+way. As you heard from their lips, most of your older tenants fought
+under Sir Aubrey, while the fathers of the younger ones fell under
+his banner. Consequently, it was galling to them that one of
+altogether opposite politics should be their landlord, and although
+in every other respect they had reason to like him, he was, as it
+were, a symbol of their defeat, and I suppose they viewed him a good
+deal as the Saxons of old times regarded their Norman lords."
+
+"I can quite understand that, Mr. Popham."
+
+"Another feeling has worked in your favour, Sir Cyril," the lawyer
+went on. "It may perhaps be a relic of feudalism, but there can be no
+doubt that there exists, in the minds of English country folks, a
+feeling of respect and of something like affection for their
+landlords when men of old family, and that feeling is never
+transferred to new men who may take their place. Mr. Harvey was, in
+their eyes, a new man--a wealthy one, no doubt, but owing his wealth
+to his own exertions--and he would never have excited among them the
+same feeling as they gave to the family who had, for several hundred
+years, been owners of the soil."
+
+Cyril remained for a fortnight at Upmead, calling on all the tenants,
+and interesting himself in them and their families. The day after his
+arrival he rode into Norwich, and paid a visit to Mr. Harvey. He had,
+in compliance to his wishes, written but a short letter of
+acknowledgment of the restitution of the estate, but he now expressed
+the deep feeling of gratitude that he entertained.
+
+"I have only done what is right," Mr. Harvey said quietly, "and would
+rather not be thanked for it; but your feelings are natural, and I
+have therefore not checked your words. It was assuredly God's doing
+in so strangely bringing us together, and making you an instrument in
+saving our lives, and so awakening an uneasy conscience into
+activity. I have had but small pleasure from Upmead. I have a house
+here which is more than sufficient for all my wants, and I have, I
+hope, the respect of my townsfellows, and the affection of my
+workmen. At Upmead I was always uncomfortable. Such of the county
+gentlemen who retained their estates looked askance at me. The
+tenants, I knew, though they doffed their hats as I passed them,
+regarded me as a usurper. I had no taste for the sports and pleasures
+of country life, being born and bred a townsman. The ill-doing of my
+son cast a gloom over my life of late. I have lived chiefly here with
+the society of friends of my own religious and political feeling.
+Therefore, I have made no sacrifice in resigning my tenancy of
+Upmead, and I pray you say no further word of your gratitude. I have
+heard, from one who was there yesterday, how generously you spoke of
+me to your tenants, and I thank you for so doing, for it is pleasant
+for me to stand well in the thoughts of those whose welfare I have
+had at heart."
+
+"I trust that Mrs. Harvey is in good health?" Cyril said.
+
+"She is far from well, Cyril. The events of that night in London have
+told heavily upon her, as is not wonderful, for she has suffered much
+sorrow for years, and this last blow has broken her sorely. She
+mourns, as David mourned over the death of Absalom, over the
+wickedness of her son, but she is quite as one with me in the
+measures that I have taken concerning him, save that, at her earnest
+prayer, I have made a provision for him which will keep him from
+absolute want, and will leave him no excuse to urge that he was
+driven by poverty into crime. Mr. Goldsworthy has not yet discovered
+means of communicating with him, but when he does so he will notify
+him that he has my instructions to pay to him fifteen pounds on the
+first of every month, and that the offer of assistance to pay his
+passage to America is still open to him, and that on arriving there
+he will receive for three years the same allowance as here. Then if a
+favourable report of his conduct is forthcoming from the magistrates
+and deacons of the town where he takes up his residence, a
+correspondent of Mr. Goldsworthy's will be authorised to expend four
+thousand pounds on the purchase of an estate for him, and to hand to
+him another thousand for the due working and maintenance of the same.
+For these purposes I have already made provisions in my will, with
+proviso that if, at the end of five years after my death, no news of
+him shall be obtained, the money set aside for these purposes shall
+revert to the main provisions of the will. It may be that he died of
+the Plague. It may be that he has fallen, or will fall, a victim to
+his own evil courses and evil passions. But I am convinced that,
+should he be alive, Mr. Goldsworthy will be able to obtain tidings of
+him long before the five years have expired. And now," he said,
+abruptly changing the subject, "what are you thinking of doing, Sir
+Cyril?"
+
+"In the first place, sir, I am going to sea again with the Fleet very
+shortly. I entered as a Volunteer for the war, and could not well,
+even if I wished it, draw back."
+
+"They are a stiff-necked people," Mr. Harvey said. "That the
+Sovereigns of Europe should have viewed with displeasure the
+overthrow of the monarchy here was natural enough; but in Holland, if
+anywhere, we might have looked for sympathy, seeing that as they had
+battled for freedom of conscience, so had we done here; and yet they
+were our worst enemies, and again and again had Blake to sail forth
+to chastise them. They say that Monk is to command this time?"
+
+"I believe so, sir."
+
+"Monk is the bruised reed that pierced our hand, but he is a good
+fighter. And after the war is over, Sir Cyril, you will not, I trust,
+waste your life in the Court of the profligate King?"
+
+"Certainly not," Cyril said earnestly. "As soon as the war is over I
+shall return to Upmead and take up my residence there. I have lived
+too hard a life to care for the gaieties of Court, still less of a
+Court like that of King Charles. I shall travel for a while in Europe
+if there is a genuine peace. I have lost the opportunity of
+completing my education, and am too old now to go to either of the
+Universities. Not too old perhaps; but I have seen too much of the
+hard side of life to care to pass three years among those who, no
+older than myself, are still as boys in their feelings. The next best
+thing, therefore, as it seems to me, would be to travel, and perhaps
+to spend a year or two in one of the great Universities abroad."
+
+"The matter is worth thinking over," Mr. Harvey said. "You are
+assuredly young yet to settle down alone at Upmead, and will reap
+much advantage from speaking French which is everywhere current, and
+may greatly aid you in making your travels useful to you. I have no
+fear of your falling into Popish error, Sir Cyril; but if my wishes
+have any weight with you I would pray you to choose the schools of
+Leyden or Haarlem, should you enter a foreign University, for they
+turn out learned men and good divines."
+
+"Certainly your wishes have weight with me, Mr. Harvey, and should
+events so turn out that I can enter one of the foreign Universities,
+it shall be one of those you name--that is, should we, after this war
+is ended, come into peaceful relations with the Dutch."
+
+Before leaving the Earl's, Cyril had promised faithfully that he
+would return thither with Sydney, and accordingly, at the end of the
+fortnight, he rode back with him there, and, three weeks later,
+journeyed up to London with the Earl and his family.
+
+It was the middle of March when they reached London. The Court had
+come up a day or two before, and the Fleet was, as Cyril learnt,
+being fitted out in great haste. The French had now, after hesitating
+all through the winter, declared war against us, and it was certain
+that we should have their fleet as well as that of the Dutch to cope
+with. Calling upon Prince Rupert on the day he arrived, Cyril learnt
+that the Fleet would assuredly put to sea in a month's time.
+
+"Would you rather join at once, or wait until I go on board?" the
+Prince asked.
+
+"I would rather join at once, sir. I have no business to do in
+London, and it would be of no use for me to take an apartment when I
+am to leave so soon; therefore, if I can be of any use, I would
+gladly join at once."
+
+"You would be of no use on board," the Prince said, "but assuredly
+you could be of use in carrying messages, and letting me know
+frequently, from your own report, how matters are going on. I heard
+yesterday that the _Fan Fan_ is now fitted out. You shall take the
+command of her. I will give you a letter to the boatswain, who is at
+present in charge, saying that I have placed her wholly under your
+orders. You will, of course, live on board. You will be chiefly at
+Chatham and Sheerness. If you call early to-morrow I will have a
+letter prepared for you, addressed to all captains holding commands
+in the White Squadron, bidding them to acquaint you, whensoever you
+go on board, with all particulars of how matters have been pushed
+forward, and to give you a list of all things lacking. Then, twice a
+week you will sail up to town, and report to me, or, should there be
+any special news at other times, send it to me by a mounted
+messenger. Mr. Pepys, the secretary, is a diligent and hard-working
+man, but he cannot see to everything, and Albemarle so pushes him
+that I think the White Squadron does not get a fair share of
+attention; but if I can go to him with your reports in hand, I may
+succeed in getting what is necessary done."
+
+Bidding farewell to the Earl and his family, and thanking him for his
+kindness, Cyril stopped that night at Captain Dave's, and told him of
+all that had happened since they met. The next morning he went early
+to Prince Rupert's, received the two letters, and rode down to
+Chatham. Then, sending the horses back by his servant, who was to
+take them to the Earl's stable, where they would be cared for until
+his return, Cyril went on board the _Fan Fan_. For the next month he
+was occupied early and late with his duties. The cabin was small, but
+very comfortable. The crew was a strong one, for the yacht rowed
+twelve oars, with which she could make good progress even without her
+sails. He was waited on by his servant, who returned as soon as he
+had left the horses in the Earl's stables; his cooking was done for
+him in the yacht's galley. On occasions, as the tide suited, he
+either sailed up to London in the afternoon, gave his report to the
+Prince late in the evening, and was back at Sheerness by daybreak, or
+he sailed up at night, saw the Prince as soon as he rose, and
+returned at once.
+
+The Prince highly commended his diligence, and told him that his
+reports were of great use to him, as, with them in his hand, he could
+not be put off at the Admiralty with vague assurances. Every day one
+or more ships went out to join the Fleet that was gathering in the
+Downs, and on April 20th Cyril sailed in the _Fan Fan_, in company
+with the last vessel of the White Squadron, and there again took up
+his quarters on board the _Henrietta_, the _Fan Fan_ being anchored
+hard by in charge of the boatswain.
+
+On the 23rd, the Prince, with the Duke of Albemarle, and a great
+company of noblemen and gentlemen, arrived at Deal, and came on board
+the Fleet, which, on May 1st, weighed anchor.
+
+Lord Oliphant was among the volunteers who came down with the Prince,
+and, as many of the other gentlemen had also been on board during the
+first voyage, Cyril felt that he was among friends, and had none of
+the feeling of strangeness and isolation he had before experienced.
+
+The party was indeed a merry one. For upwards of a year the fear of
+the Plague had weighed on all England. At the time it increased so
+terribly in London, that all thought it would, like the Black Death,
+spread over England, and that, once again, half the population of the
+country might be swept away. Great as the mortality had been, it had
+been confined almost entirely to London and some of the great towns,
+and now that it had died away even in these, there was great relief
+in men's minds, and all felt that they had personally escaped from a
+terrible and imminent danger. That they were about to face peril even
+greater than that from which they had escaped did not weigh on the
+spirits of the gentlemen on board Prince Rupert's ship. To be killed
+fighting for their country was an honourable death that none feared,
+while there had been, in the minds of even the bravest, a horror of
+death by the Plague, with all its ghastly accompaniments. Sailing out
+to sea to the Downs, then, they felt that the past year's events lay
+behind them as an evil dream, and laughed and jested and sang with
+light-hearted mirth.
+
+As yet, the Dutch had not put out from port, and for three weeks the
+Fleet cruised off their coast. Then, finding that the enemy could not
+be tempted to come out, they sailed back to the Downs. The day after
+they arrived there, a messenger came down from London with orders to
+Prince Rupert to sail at once with the White Squadron to engage the
+French Fleet, which was reported to be on the point of putting to
+sea. The Prince had very little belief that the French really
+intended to fight. Hitherto, although they had been liberal in their
+promises to the Dutch, they had done nothing whatever to aid them,
+and the general opinion was that France rejoiced at seeing her rivals
+damage each other, but had no idea of risking her ships or men in the
+struggle.
+
+"I believe, gentlemen," Prince Rupert said to his officers, "that
+this is but a ruse on the part of Louis to aid his Dutch allies by
+getting part of our fleet out of the way. Still, I have nothing to do
+but to obey orders, though I fear it is but a fool's errand on which
+we are sent."
+
+The wind was from the north-east, and was blowing a fresh gale. The
+Prince prepared to put to sea. While the men were heaving at the
+anchors a message came to Cyril that Prince Rupert wished to speak to
+him in his cabin.
+
+"Sir Cyril, I am going to restore you to your command. The wind is so
+strong and the sea will be so heavy that I would not risk my yacht
+and the lives of the men by sending her down the Channel. I do not
+think there is any chance of our meeting the French, and believe that
+it is here that the battle will be fought, for with this wind the
+Dutch can be here in a few hours, and I doubt not that as soon as
+they learn that one of our squadrons has sailed away they will be
+out. The _Fan Fan_ will sail with us, but will run into Dover as we
+pass. Here is a letter that I have written ordering you to do so, and
+authorising you to put out and join the Admiral's Fleet, should the
+Dutch attack before my return. If you like to have young Lord
+Oliphant with you he can go, but he must go as a Volunteer under you.
+You are the captain of the _Fan Fan_, and have been so for the last
+two months; therefore, although your friend is older than you are, he
+must, if he choose to go, be content to serve under you. Stay, I will
+put it to him myself."
+
+He touched the bell, and ordered Sydney to be sent for.
+
+"Lord Oliphant," he said, "I know that you and Sir Cyril are great
+friends. I do not consider that the _Fan Fan_, of which he has for
+some time been commander, is fit to keep the sea in a gale like this,
+and I have therefore ordered him to take her into Dover. If the Dutch
+come out to fight the Admiral, as I think they will, he will join the
+Fleet, and although the _Fan Fan_ can take but small share in the
+fighting, she may be useful in carrying messages from the Duke while
+the battle is going on. It seems to me that, as the _Fan Fan_ is
+more likely to see fighting than my ships, you, as a Volunteer, might
+prefer to transfer yourself to her until she again joins us. Sir
+Cyril is younger than you are, but if you go, you must necessarily be
+under his command seeing that he is captain of the yacht. It is for
+you to choose whether you will remain here or go with him."
+
+"I should like to go with him, sir. He has had a good deal of
+experience of the sea, while I have never set foot on board ship till
+last year. And after what he did at Lowestoft I should say that any
+gentleman would be glad to serve under him."
+
+"That is the right feeling," Prince Rupert said warmly. "Then get
+your things transferred to the yacht. If you join Albemarle's Fleet,
+Sir Cyril, you will of course report yourself to him, and say that I
+directed you to place yourself under his orders."
+
+Five minutes later Cyril and his friend were on board the _Fan Fan._
+Scarcely had they reached her, when a gun was fired from Prince
+Rupert's ship as a signal, and the ships of the White Squadron shook
+out their sails, and, with the wind free, raced down towards the
+South Foreland.
+
+"We are to put into Dover," Cyril said to the boatswain, a
+weatherbeaten old sailor.
+
+"The Lord be praised for that, sir! She is a tight little craft, but
+there will be a heavy sea on as soon we are beyond shelter of the
+sands, and with these two guns on board of her she will make bad
+weather. Besides, in a wind like this, it ain't pleasant being in a
+little craft in the middle of a lot of big ones, for if we were not
+swamped by the sea, we might very well be run down. We had better
+keep her close to the Point, yer honour, and then run along, under
+shelter of the cliffs, into Dover. The water will be pretty smooth in
+there, though we had best carry as little sail as we can, for the
+gusts will come down from above fit to take the mast out of her."
+
+"I am awfully glad you came with me, Sydney," Cyril said, as he took
+his place with his friend near the helmsman, "but I wish the Prince
+had put you in command. Of course, it is only a nominal thing, for
+the boatswain is really the captain in everything that concerns
+making sail and giving orders to the crew. Still, it would have been
+much nicer the other way."
+
+"I don't see that it would, Cyril," Sydney laughed, "for you know as
+much more about handling a boat like this than I do, as the boatswain
+does than yourself. You have been on board her night and day for more
+than a month, and even if you knew nothing about her at all, Prince
+Rupert would have been right to choose you as a recognition of your
+great services last time. Don't think anything about it. We are
+friends, and it does not matter a fig which is the nominal commander.
+I was delighted to come, not only to be with you, but because it will
+be a very great deal pleasanter being our own masters on board this
+pretty little yacht than being officers on board the _Henrietta_
+where we would have been only in the way except when we went into
+action."
+
+As soon as they rounded the Point most of the sail was taken off the
+_Fan Fan,_ but even under the small canvas she carried she lay over
+until her lee rail was almost under water when the heavy squalls
+swooped down on her from the cliffs. The rest of the squadron was
+keeping some distance out, presenting a fine sight as the ships lay
+over, sending the spray flying high into the air from their bluff
+bows, and plunging deeply into the waves.
+
+"Yes, it is very distinctly better being where we are," Lord Oliphant
+said, as he gazed at them. "I was beginning to feel qualmish before
+we got under shelter of the Point, and by this time, if I had been on
+board the _Henrietta,_ I should have been prostrate, and should have
+had I know not how long misery before me."
+
+A quarter of an hour later they were snugly moored in Dover Harbour.
+For twenty-four hours the gale continued; the wind then fell
+somewhat, but continued to blow strongly from the same quarter. Two
+days later it veered round to the south-west, and shortly afterwards
+the English Fleet could be seen coming out past the Point. As soon as
+they did so they headed eastward.
+
+"They are going out to meet the Dutch," Sydney said, as they watched
+the ships from the cliffs, "The news must have arrived that their
+fleet has put out to sea."
+
+"Then we may as well be off after them, Sydney; they will sail faster
+than we shall in this wind, for it is blowing too strongly for us to
+carry much sail."
+
+They hurried on board. A quarter of an hour later the _Fan Fan_ put
+out from the harbour. The change of wind had caused an ugly cross sea
+and the yacht made bad weather of it, the waves constantly washing
+over her decks, but before they were off Calais she had overtaken
+some of the slower sailers of the Fleet. The sea was less violent as
+they held on, for they were now, to some extent, sheltered by the
+coast.
+
+In a short time Cyril ran down into the cabin where Sydney was lying
+ill.
+
+"The Admiral has given the signal to anchor, and the leading ships
+are already bringing up. We will choose a berth as near the shore as
+we can; with our light draught we can lie well inside of the others,
+and shall be in comparatively smooth water."
+
+Before dusk the Fleet was at anchor, with the exception of two or
+three of the fastest frigates, which were sent on to endeavour to
+obtain some news of the enemy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE FIGHT OFF DUNKIRK
+
+
+As soon as the _Fan Fan_ had been brought to an anchor the boat was
+lowered, and Cyril was rowed on board the Admiral's ship.
+
+Albemarle was on the poop, and Cyril made his report to him.
+
+"Very well, sir," the Duke said, "I dare say I shall be able to make
+you of some use. Keep your craft close to us when we sail. I seem to
+know your face."
+
+"I am Sir Cyril Shenstone, my Lord Duke. I had the honour of meeting
+you first at the fire in the Savoy, and Prince Rupert afterwards was
+good enough to present me to you."
+
+"Yes, yes, I remember. And it was you who saved the _Henrietta_ from
+the fire-ship at Lowestoft. You have begun well indeed, young sir,
+and are like to have further opportunities of showing your bravery."
+
+Cyril bowed, and then, going down the side to his boat, returned to
+the _Fan Fan._ She was lying in almost smooth water, and Sydney had
+come up on deck again.
+
+"You heard no news of the Dutch, I suppose, Cyril?"
+
+"No; I asked a young officer as I left the ship, and he said that, so
+far as he knew, nothing had been heard of them, but news had come in,
+before the Admiral sailed from the Downs, that everything was ready
+for sea, and that orders were expected every hour for them to put
+out."
+
+"It is rather to be hoped that they won't put out for another two
+days," Sydney said. "That will give the Prince time to rejoin with
+his squadron. The wind is favourable now for his return, and I should
+think, as soon as they hear in London that the Dutch are on the point
+of putting out, and Albemarle has sailed, they will send him orders
+to join us at once. We have only about sixty sail, while they say
+that the Dutch have over ninety, which is too heavy odds against us
+to be pleasant."
+
+"I should think the Duke will not fight till the Prince comes up."
+
+"I don't think he will wait for him if he finds the Dutch near. All
+say that he is over-confident, and apt to despise the Dutch too much.
+Anyhow, he is as brave as a lion, and, though he might not attack
+unless the Dutch begin it, I feel sure he will not run away from
+them."
+
+The next morning early, the _Bristol_ frigate was seen returning
+from the east. She had to beat her way back in the teeth of the wind,
+but, when still some miles away, a puff of white smoke was seen to
+dart out from her side, and presently the boom of a heavy gun was
+heard. Again and again she fired, and the signal was understood to be
+a notification that she had seen the Dutch. The signal for the
+captains of the men-of-war to come on board was at once run up to the
+mast-head of the flagship, followed by another for the Fleet to be
+prepared to weigh anchor. Captain Bacon, of the _Bristol_, went on
+board as soon as his ship came up. In a short time the boats were
+seen to put off, and as the captains reached their respective ships
+the signal to weigh anchor was hoisted.
+
+This was hailed with a burst of cheering throughout the Fleet, and
+all felt that it signified that they would soon meet the Dutch. The
+_Fan Fan_ was under sail long before the men-of-war had got up their
+heavy anchors, and, sailing out, tacked backwards and forwards until
+the Fleet were under sail, when Cyril told the boatswain to place her
+within a few cables' length of the flagship on her weather quarter.
+After two hours' sail the Dutch Fleet were made out, anchored off
+Dunkirk. The Blue Squadron, under Sir William Berkley, led the way,
+the Red Squadron, under the Duke, following.
+
+"I will put a man in the chains with the lead," the boatswain said to
+Cyril. "There are very bad sands off Dunkirk, and though we might get
+over them in safety, the big ships would take ground, and if they did
+so we should be in a bad plight indeed."
+
+"In that case, we had best slack out the sheet a little, and take up
+our post on the weather bow of the Admiral, so that we can signal to
+him if we find water failing."
+
+The topsail was hoisted, and the _Fan Fan,_ which was a very fast
+craft in comparatively smooth water, ran past the Admiral's flagship.
+
+"Shall I order him back, your Grace?" the Captain asked angrily.
+
+Albemarle looked at the _Fan Fan_ attentively.
+
+"They have got a man sounding," he said. "It is a wise precaution.
+The young fellow in command knows what he is doing. We ought to have
+been taking the same care. See! he is taking down his topsail again.
+Set an officer to watch the yacht, and if they signal, go about at
+once."
+
+The soundings continued for a short time at six fathoms, when
+suddenly the man at the lead called out sharply,--
+
+"Three fathoms!"
+
+Cyril ran to the flagstaff, and as the next cry came--"Two
+fathoms!"--hauled down the flag and stood waving his cap, while the
+boatswain, who had gone to the tiller, at once pushed it over to
+starboard, and brought the yacht up into the wind. Cyril heard orders
+shouted on board the flagship, and saw her stern sweeping round. A
+moment later her sails were aback, but the men, who already clustered
+round the guns, were not quick enough in hauling the yards across,
+and, to his dismay, he saw the main topmast bend, and then go over
+the side with a crash. All was confusion on board, and for a time it
+seemed as if the other topmast would also go.
+
+"Run her alongside within hailing distance," Cyril said to the
+boatswain. "They will want to question us."
+
+As they came alongside the flagship the Duke himself leant over the
+side.
+
+"What water had you when you came about, sir?"
+
+"We went suddenly from six fathoms to three, your Grace," Cyril
+shouted, "and a moment after we found but two."
+
+"Very well, sir," the Duke called back. "In that case you have
+certainly saved our ship. I thought perhaps that you had been
+over-hasty, and had thus cost us our topmast, but I see it was not
+so, and thank you. Our pilot assured us there was plenty of water on
+the course we were taking."
+
+The ships of the Red Squadron had all changed their course on seeing
+the flagship come about so suddenly, and considerable delay and
+confusion was caused before they again formed in order, and, in
+obedience to the Duke's signal, followed in support of the Blue
+Squadron. This had already dashed into the midst of the Dutch Fleet,
+who were themselves in some confusion; for, so sudden had been the
+attack, that they had been forced to cut their cables, having no time
+to get up their anchors.
+
+The British ships poured in their broadsides as they approached,
+while the Dutch opened a tremendous cannonade. Besides their great
+inferiority in numbers, the British were under a serious
+disadvantage. They had the weather gauge, and the wind was so strong
+that it heeled them over, so that they were unable to open their
+lower ports, and were therefore deprived of the use of their heaviest
+guns.
+
+Four of the ships of the Red Squadron remained by the flagship, to
+protect her if attacked, and to keep off fire-ships, while her crew
+laboured to get up another topmast. More than three hours were
+occupied in this operation, but so busily did the rest of the Fleet
+keep the Dutch at work that they were unable to detach sufficient
+ships to attack her.
+
+As soon as the topmast was in place and the sails hoisted, the
+flagship and her consorts hastened to join their hard-pressed
+comrades.
+
+The fight was indeed a desperate one. Sir William Berkley and his
+ship, the _Swiftsure,_ a second-rate, was taken, as was the
+_Essex,_ a third-rate.
+
+The _Henry,_ commanded by Sir John Harman, was surrounded by foes.
+Her sails and rigging were shot to pieces, so she was completely
+disabled, and the Dutch Admiral, Cornelius Evertz, summoned Sir John
+Harman to surrender.
+
+"It has not come to that yet," Sir John shouted back, and continued
+to pour such heavy broadsides into the Dutch that several of their
+ships were greatly damaged, and Evertz himself killed.
+
+The Dutch captains drew off their vessels, and launched three
+fire-ships at the _Henry._ The first one, coming up on her starboard
+quarter, grappled with her. The dense volumes of smoke rising from
+her prevented the sailors from discovering where the grapnels were
+fixed, and the flames were spreading to her when her boatswain
+gallantly leapt on board the fire-ship, and, by the light of its
+flames, discovered the grapnels and threw them overboard, and
+succeeded in regaining his ship.
+
+A moment later, the second fire-ship came up on the port side, and so
+great a body of flames swept across the _Henry_ that her chaplain
+and fifty men sprang overboard. Sir John, however, drew his sword,
+and threatened to cut down the first man who refused to obey orders,
+and the rest of the crew, setting manfully to work, succeeded in
+extinguishing the flames, and in getting free of the fire-ship. The
+halliards of the main yard were, however, burnt through, and the spar
+fell, striking Sir John Harman to the deck and breaking his leg.
+
+The third fire-ship was received with the fire of four cannon loaded
+with chain shot. These brought her mast down, and she drifted by,
+clear of the _Henry,_ which was brought safely into Harwich.
+
+The fight continued the whole day, and did not terminate until ten
+o'clock in the evening. The night was spent in repairing damages, and
+in the morning the English recommenced the battle. It was again
+obstinately contested. Admiral Van Tromp threw himself into the midst
+of the British line, and suffered so heavily that he was only saved
+by the arrival of Admiral de Ruyter. He, in his turn, was in a most
+perilous position, and his ship disabled, when fresh reinforcements
+arrived. And so the battle raged, until, in the afternoon, as if by
+mutual consent, the Fleets drew off from each other, and the battle
+ceased. The fighting had been extraordinarily obstinate and
+determined on both sides, many ships had been sunk, several burnt,
+and some captured. The sea was dotted with wreckage, masts, and
+spars, fragments of boats and _débris_ of all kinds. Both fleets
+presented a pitiable appearance; the hulls, but forty-eight hours ago
+so trim and smooth, were splintered and jagged, port-holes were
+knocked into one, bulwarks carried away, and stern galleries gone.
+The sails were riddled with shot-holes, many of the ships had lost
+one or more masts, while the light spars had been, in most cases,
+carried away, and many of the yards had come down owing to the
+destruction of the running gear.
+
+In so tremendous a conflict the little _Fan Fan_ could bear but a
+small part. Cyril and Lord Oliphant agreed, at the commencement of
+the first day's fight, that it would be useless for them to attempt
+to fire their two little guns, but that their efforts should be
+entirely directed against the enemy's fire-ships. During each day's
+battle, then, they hovered round the flagship, getting out of the way
+whenever she was engaged, as she often was, on both broadsides, and
+although once or twice struck by stray shots, the _Fan Fan_ received
+no serious damage. In this encounter of giants, the little yacht was
+entirely overlooked, and none of the great ships wasted a shot upon
+her. Two or three times each day, when the Admiral's ship had beaten
+off her foes, a fire-ship directed its course against her. Then came
+the _Fan Fan's_ turn for action. Under the pressure of her twelve
+oars she sped towards the fire-ship, and on reaching her a grapnel
+was thrown over the end of the bowsprit, and by the efforts of the
+rowers her course was changed, so that she swept harmlessly past the
+flagship.
+
+Twice when the vessels were coming down before the wind at a rate of
+speed that rendered it evident that the efforts of the men at the
+oars would be insufficient to turn her course, the _Fan Fan_ was
+steered alongside, grapnels were thrown, and, headed by Lord Oliphant
+and Cyril, the crew sprang on board, cut down or drove overboard the
+few men who were in charge of her. Then, taking the helm and trimming
+the sails, they directed her against one of the Dutch men-of-war,
+threw the grapnels on board, lighted the train, leapt back into the
+_Fan Fan_, rowed away, and took up their place near the Admiral, the
+little craft being greeted with hearty cheers by the whole ship's
+company.
+
+The afternoon was spent in repairing damages as far as practicable,
+but even the Duke saw it was impossible to continue the fight. The
+Dutch had received a reinforcement while the fighting was going on
+that morning, and although the English had inflicted terrible damage
+upon the Dutch Fleet, their own loss in ships was greater than that
+which they had caused their adversaries. A considerable portion of
+their vessels were not in a condition to renew the battle, and the
+carpenters had hard work to save them from sinking outright.
+Albemarle himself embarked on the _Fan Fan_, and sailed from ship to
+ship, ascertaining the condition of each, and the losses its crew had
+suffered. As soon as night fell, the vessels most disabled were
+ordered to sail for England as they best could. The crew of three
+which were totally dismasted and could hardly be kept afloat, were
+taken out and divided between the twenty-eight vessels which alone
+remained in a condition to renew the fight.
+
+These three battered hulks were, early the next morning, set on fire,
+and the rest of the Fleet, in good order and prepared to give battle,
+followed their companions that had sailed on the previous evening.
+The Dutch followed, but at a distance, thinking to repair their
+damages still farther before they again engaged. In the afternoon the
+sails of a squadron were seen ahead, and a loud cheer ran from ship
+to ship, for all knew that this was Prince Rupert coming up with the
+White Squadron. A serious loss, however, occurred a few minutes
+afterwards. The _Royal Prince_, the largest and most powerful vessel
+in the Fleet, which was somewhat in rear of the line, struck on the
+sands. The tide being with them and the wind light, the rest of the
+Fleet tried in vain to return to her assistance, and as the Dutch
+Fleet were fast coming up, and some of the fire-ships making for the
+_Royal Prince_, they were forced to give up the attempt to succour
+her, and Sir George Ayscue, her captain, was obliged to haul down his
+flag and surrender.
+
+As soon as the White Squadron joined the remnant of the Fleet the
+whole advanced against the Dutch, drums beating and trumpets
+sounding, and twice made their way through the enemy's line. But it
+was now growing dark, and the third day's battle came to an end. The
+next morning it was seen that the Dutch, although considerably
+stronger than the English, were almost out of sight. The latter at
+once hoisted sail and pursued, and, at eight o'clock, came up with
+them.
+
+The Dutch finding the combat inevitable, the terrible fight was
+renewed, and raged, without intermission, until seven in the evening.
+Five times the British passed through the line of the Dutch. On both
+sides many ships fell out of the fighting line wholly disabled.
+Several were sunk, and some on both sides forced to surrender, being
+so battered as to be unable to withdraw from the struggle. Prince
+Rupert's ship was wholly disabled, and that of Albemarle almost as
+severely damaged, and the battle, like those of the preceding days,
+ended without any decided advantage on either side. Both nations
+claimed the victory, but equally without reason. The Dutch historians
+compute our loss at sixteen men-of-war, of which ten were sunk and
+six taken, while we admitted only a loss of nine ships, and claimed
+that the Dutch lost fifteen men-of-war. Both parties acknowledged
+that it was the most terrible battle fought in this, or any other
+modern war.
+
+De Witte, who at that time was at the head of the Dutch Republic, and
+who was a bitter enemy of the English, owned, some time afterwards,
+to Sir William Temple, "that the English got more glory to their
+nation through the invincible courage of their seamen during those
+engagements than by the two victories of this war, and that he was
+sure that his own fleet could not have been brought on to fight the
+fifth day, after the disadvantages of the fourth, and he believed
+that no other nation was capable of it but the English."
+
+Cyril took no part in the last day's engagement, for Prince Rupert,
+when the _Fan Fan_ came near him on his arrival on the previous
+evening, returned his salute from the poop, and shouted to him that
+on no account was he to adventure into the fight with the _Fan Fan_.
+
+On the morning after the battle ended, Lord Oliphant and Cyril rowed
+on board Prince Rupert's ship, where every unwounded man was hard at
+work getting up a jury-mast or patching up the holes in the hull.
+
+"Well, Sir Cyril, I see that you have been getting my yacht knocked
+about," he said, as they came up to him.
+
+"There is not much damage done, sir. She has but two shot-holes in
+her hull."
+
+"And my new mainsail spoiled. Do you know, sir, that I got a severe
+rating from the Duke yesterday evening, on your account?"
+
+Cyril looked surprised.
+
+"I trust, sir, that I have not in any way disobeyed orders?"
+
+"No, it was not that. He asked after the _Fan Fan_, and said that he
+had seen nothing of her during the day's fighting, and I said I had
+strictly ordered you not to come into the battle. He replied, 'Then
+you did wrong, Prince, for that little yacht of yours did yeomen's
+service during the first two days' fighting. I told Sir Cyril to keep
+her near me, thinking that she would be useful in carrying orders,
+and during those two days she kept close to us, save when we were
+surrounded by the enemy. Five times in those three days did she avert
+fire-ships from us. We were so damaged that we could sail but slowly,
+and, thinking us altogether unmanageable, the Dutch launched their
+fire-ships. The _Fan Fan_ rowed to meet them. Three of them were
+diverted from their course by a rope being thrown over the bowsprit,
+and the crew rowing so as to turn her head. On the second day there
+was more wind, and the fire-ships could have held on their course in
+spite of the efforts of the men on board the _Fan Fan_. Twice during
+the day the little boat was boldly laid alongside them, while the
+crew boarded and captured them, and then, directing them towards the
+Dutch ships, grappled and set them on fire. One of the Dutchmen was
+burned, the other managed to throw off the grapnels. It was all done
+under our eyes, and five times in the two days did my crew cheer your
+little yacht as she came alongside. So you see, Prince, by ordering
+her out of the fight you deprived us of the assistance of as boldly
+handled a little craft as ever sailed.'
+
+"'I am quite proud of my little yacht, gentlemen, and I thank you for
+having given her so good a christening under fire. But I must stay no
+longer talking. Here is the despatch I have written of my share of
+the engagement. You, Sir Cyril, will deliver this. You will now row
+to the Duke's ship, and he will give you his despatches, which you,
+Lord Oliphant, will deliver. I need not say that you are to make all
+haste to the Thames. We have no ship to spare except the _Fan Fan_,
+for we must keep the few that are still able to manoeuvre, in case
+the Dutch should come out again before we have got the crippled ones
+in a state to make sail. '"
+
+Taking leave of the Prince, they were at once rowed to the Duke's
+flagship. They had a short interview with the Admiral, who praised
+them highly for the service they had rendered.
+
+"You will have to tell the story of the fighting," he said, "for the
+Prince and myself have written but few lines; we have too many
+matters on our minds to do scribe's work. They will have heard, ere
+now, of the first two days' fighting, for some of the ships that were
+sent back will have arrived at Harwich before this. By to-morrow
+morning I hope to have the Fleet so far refitted as to be able to
+follow you."
+
+Five minutes later, the _Fan Fan_, with every stitch of sail set,
+was on her way to the Thames. As a brisk wind was blowing, they
+arrived in London twenty-four hours later, and at once proceeded to
+the Admiralty, the despatches being addressed to the Duke of York.
+They were immediately ushered in to him. Without a word he seized the
+despatches, tore them open, and ran his eye down them.
+
+"God be praised!" he exclaimed, when he finished them. "We had feared
+even worse intelligence, and have been in a terrible state of anxiety
+since yesterday, when we heard from Harwich that one of the ships had
+come in with the news that more than half the Fleet was crippled or
+destroyed, and that twenty-eight only remained capable of continuing
+the battle. The only hope was that the White Squadron might arrive in
+time, and it seems that it has done so. The account of our losses is
+indeed a terrible one, but at least we have suffered no defeat, and
+as the Dutch have retreated, they must have suffered well-nigh as
+much as we have done. Come along with me at once, gentlemen; I must
+go to the King to inform him of this great news, which is vastly
+beyond what we could have hoped for. The Duke, in his despatch, tells
+me that the bearers of it, Lord Oliphant and Sir Cyril Shenstone,
+have done very great service, having, in Prince Rupert's little
+yacht, saved his flagship no less than five times from the attacks of
+the Dutch fire-ships."
+
+The Duke had ordered his carriage to be in readiness as soon as he
+learnt that the bearers of despatches from the Fleet had arrived. It
+was already at the door, and, taking his seat in it, with Lord
+Oliphant and Cyril opposite to him, he was driven to the Palace,
+learning by the way such details as they could give him of the last
+two days' fighting. He led them at once to the King's dressing-room.
+Charles was already attired, for he had passed a sleepless night, and
+had risen early.
+
+"What news, James?" he asked eagerly.
+
+"Good news, brother. After two more days' fighting--and terrible
+fighting, on both sides--the Dutch Fleet has returned to its ports."
+
+"A victory!" the King exclaimed, in delight.
+
+"A dearly-bought one with the lives of so many brave men, but a
+victory nevertheless. Here are the despatches from Albemarle and
+Rupert. They have been brought by these gentlemen, with whom you are
+already acquainted, in Rupert's yacht. Albemarle speaks very highly
+of their conduct."
+
+The King took the despatches, and read them eagerly.
+
+"It has indeed been a dearly-bought victory," he said, "but it is
+marvellous indeed how our captains and men bore themselves. Never
+have they shown greater courage and endurance. Well may Monk say
+that, after four days of incessant fighting and four nights spent in
+the labour of repairing damages, the strength of all has well-nigh
+come to an end, and that he himself can write but a few lines to tell
+me of what has happened, leaving all details for further occasion. I
+thank you both, gentlemen, for the speed with which you have brought
+me this welcome news, and for the services of which the Duke of
+Albemarle speaks so warmly. This is the second time, Sir Cyril, that
+my admirals have had occasion to speak of great and honourable
+service rendered by you. Lord Oliphant, the Earl, your father, will
+have reason to be proud when he hears you so highly praised. Now,
+gentlemen, tell me more fully than is done in these despatches as to
+the incidents of the fighting. I have heard something of what took
+place in the first two days from an officer who posted up from
+Harwich yesterday."
+
+Lord Oliphant related the events of the first two days, and then went
+on.
+
+"Of the last two I can say less, Your Majesty, for we took no part
+in, having Prince Rupert's orders, given as he came up, that we
+should not adventure into the fight. Therefore, we were but
+spectators, though we kept on the edge of the fight and, if
+opportunity had offered, and we had seen one of our ships too hard
+pressed, and threatened by fire-ships, we should have ventured so far
+to transgress orders as to bear in and do what we could on her
+behalf; but indeed, the smoke was so great that we could see but
+little.
+
+"It was a strange sight, when, on the Prince's arrival, his ships and
+those of the Duke's, battered as they were, bore down on the Dutch
+line; the drums beating, the trumpets sounding, and the crews
+cheering loudly. We saw them disappear into the Dutch line; then the
+smoke shut all out from view, and for hours there was but a thick
+cloud of smoke and a continuous roar of the guns. Sometimes a vessel
+would come out from the curtain of smoke torn and disabled. Sometimes
+it was a Dutchman, sometimes one of our own ships. If the latter, we
+rowed up to them and did our best with planks and nails to stop the
+yawning holes close to the water-line, while the crew knotted ropes
+and got up the spars and yards, and then sailed back into the fight.
+
+"The first day's fighting was comparatively slight, for the Dutch
+seemed to be afraid to close with the Duke's ships, and hung behind
+at a distance. It was not till the White Squadron came up, and the
+Duke turned, with Prince Rupert, and fell upon his pursuers like a
+wounded boar upon the dogs, that the battle commenced in earnest; but
+the last day it went on for nigh twelve hours without intermission;
+and when at last the roar of the guns ceased, and the smoke slowly
+cleared off, it was truly a pitiful sight, so torn and disabled were
+the ships.
+
+"As the two fleets separated, drifting apart as it would almost seem,
+so few were the sails now set, we rowed up among them, and for hours
+were occupied in picking up men clinging to broken spars and
+wreckage, for but few of the ships had so much as a single boat left.
+We were fortunate enough to save well-nigh a hundred, of whom more
+than seventy were our own men, the remainder Dutch. From these last
+we learnt that the ships of Van Tromp and Ruyter had both been so
+disabled that they had been forced to fall out of battle, and had
+been towed away to port. They said that their Admirals Cornelius
+Evertz and Van der Hulst had both been killed, while on our side we
+learnt that Admiral Sir Christopher Mings had fallen."
+
+"Did the Dutch Fleet appear to be as much injured as our own?"
+
+"No, Your Majesty. Judging by the sail set when the battle was over,
+theirs must have been in better condition than ours, which is not
+surprising, seeing how superior they were in force, and for the most
+part bigger ships, and carrying more guns."
+
+"Then you will have your hands full, James, or they will be ready to
+take to sea again before we are. Next time I hope that we shall meet
+them with more equal numbers."
+
+"I will do the best I can, brother," the Duke replied. "Though we
+have so many ships sorely disabled there have been but few lost, and
+we can supply their places with the vessels that have been building
+with all haste. If the Dutch will give us but two months' time I
+warrant that we shall be able to meet them in good force."
+
+As soon as the audience was over, Cyril and his friend returned to
+the _Fan Fan_, and after giving the crew a few hours for sleep,
+sailed down to Sheerness, where, shortly afterwards, Prince Rupert
+arrived with a portion of the Fleet, the rest having been ordered to
+Harwich, Portsmouth, and other ports, so that they could be more
+speedily refitted.
+
+Although the work went on almost without intermission day and night,
+the repairs were not completed before the news arrived that the Dutch
+Fleet had again put to sea. Two days later they arrived off our
+coast, where, finding no fleet ready to meet them, they sailed away
+to France, where they hoped to be joined by their French allies.
+
+Two days later, however, our ships began to assemble at the mouth of
+the Thames, and on June 24th the whole Fleet was ready to take to
+sea. It consisted of eighty men-of-war, large and small, and nineteen
+fire-ships. Prince Rupert was in command of the Red Squadron, and the
+Duke of Albemarle sailed with him, on board the same ship. Sir Thomas
+Allen was Admiral of the White, and Sir Jeremiah Smith of the Blue
+Squadron. Cyril remained on board the _Fan Fan_, Lord Oliphant
+returning to his duties on board the flagship. Marvels had been
+effected by the zeal and energy of the crews and dockyard men. But
+three weeks back, the English ships had, for the most part, been
+crippled seemingly almost beyond repair, but now, with their holes
+patched, with new spars, and in the glory of fresh paint and new
+canvas, they made as brave a show as when they had sailed out from
+the Downs a month previously.
+
+They were anchored off the Nore when, late in the evening, the news
+came out from Sheerness that a mounted messenger had just ridden in
+from Dover, and that the Dutch Fleet had, in the afternoon, passed
+the town, and had rounded the South Foreland, steering north.
+
+Orders were at once issued that the Fleet should sail at daybreak,
+and at three o'clock the next morning they were on their way down the
+river. At ten o'clock the Dutch Fleet was seen off the North
+Foreland. According to their own accounts they numbered eighty-eight
+men-of-war, with twenty-five fire-ships, and were also divided into
+three squadrons, under De Ruyter, John Evertz, and Van Tromp.
+
+The engagement began at noon by an attack by the White Squadron upon
+that commanded by Evertz. An hour later, Prince Rupert and the Duke,
+with the Red Squadron, fell upon De Ruyter, while that of Van Tromp,
+which was at some distance from the others, was engaged by Sir
+Jeremiah Smith with the Blue Squadron. Sir Thomas Allen completely
+defeated his opponents, killing Evertz, his vice- and rear-admirals,
+capturing the vice-admiral of Zeeland, who was with him, and burning
+a ship of fifty guns.
+
+The Red Squadron was evenly matched by that of De Ruyter, and each
+vessel laid itself alongside an adversary. Although De Ruyter himself
+and his vice-admiral, Van Ness, fought obstinately, their ships in
+general, commanded, for the most part, by men chosen for their family
+influence rather than for either seamanship or courage, behaved but
+badly, and all but seven gradually withdrew from the fight, and went
+off under all sail; and De Ruyter, finding himself thus deserted, was
+forced also to draw off. During this time, Van Tromp, whose squadron
+was the strongest of the three Dutch divisions, was so furiously
+engaged by the Blue Squadron, which was the weakest of the English
+divisions, that he was unable to come to the assistance of his
+consorts; when, however, he saw the defeat of the rest of the Dutch
+Fleet, he, too, was obliged to draw off, lest he should have the
+whole of the English down upon him, and was able the more easily to
+do so as darkness was closing in when the battle ended.
+
+The Dutch continued their retreat during the night, followed at a
+distance by the Red Squadron, which was, next morning, on the point
+of overtaking them, when the Dutch sought refuge by steering into the
+shallows, which their light draught enabled them to cross, while the
+deeper English ships were unable to follow. Great was the wrath and
+disappointment of the English when they saw themselves thus baulked
+of reaping the full benefit of the victory. Prince Rupert shouted to
+Cyril, who, in the _Fan Fan_, had taken but small share in the
+engagement, as the fire-ships had not played any conspicuous part in
+it.
+
+"Sir Cyril, we can go no farther, but do you pursue De Ruyter and
+show him in what contempt we hold him."
+
+Cyril lifted his hat to show that he heard and understood the order.
+Then he ordered his men to get out their oars, for the wind was very
+light, and, amidst loud cheering, mingled with laughter, from the
+crews of the vessels that were near enough to hear Prince Rupert's
+order, the _Fan Fan_ rowed out from the English line in pursuit of
+the Dutch.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+LONDON IN FLAMES
+
+
+The sailors laughed and joked as they rowed away from the Fleet, but
+the old boatswain shook his head.
+
+"We shall have to be careful, Sir Cyril," he said. "It is like a
+small cur barking at the heels of a bull--it is good fun enough for a
+bit, but when the bull turns, perchance the dog will find himself
+thrown high in the air."
+
+Cyril nodded. He himself considered Prince Rupert's order to be
+beyond all reason, and given only in the heat of his anger at De
+Ruyter having thus escaped him, and felt that it was very likely to
+cost the lives of all on board the _Fan Fan_. However, there was
+nothing to do but to carry it out. It seemed to him that the
+boatswain's simile was a very apt one, and that, although the
+spectacle of the _Fan Fan_ worrying the great Dutch battle-ship
+might be an amusing one to the English spectators, it was likely to
+be a very serious adventure for her.
+
+De Ruyter's ship, which was in the rear of all the other Dutch
+vessels, was but a mile distant when the _Fan Fan_ started, and as
+the wind was so light that it scarce filled her sails, the yacht
+approached her rapidly.
+
+"We are within half a mile now, your honour," the boatswain said. "I
+should say we had better go no nearer if we don't want to be blown
+out of the water."
+
+"Yes; I think we may as well stop rowing now, and get the guns to
+work. There are only those two cannon in her stern ports which can
+touch us here. She will scarcely come up in the wind to give us a
+broadside. She is moving so slowly through the water that it would
+take her a long time to come round, and De Ruyter would feel ashamed
+to bring his great flag-ship round to crush such a tiny foe."
+
+The boatswain went forward to the guns, round which the men, after
+laying in their oars, clustered in great glee.
+
+"Now," he said, "you have got to make those two guns in the stern
+your mark. Try and send your shots through the port-holes. It will be
+a waste to fire them at the hull, for the balls would not penetrate
+the thick timber that she is built of. Remember, the straighter you
+aim the more chance there is that the Dutch won't hit us. Men don't
+stop to aim very straight when they are expecting a shot among them
+every second. We will fire alternately, and one gun is not to fire
+until the other is loaded again. I will lay the first gun myself."
+
+It was a good shot, and the crew cheered as they saw the splinters
+fly at the edge of the port-hole. Shot after shot was fired with
+varying success.
+
+The Dutch made no reply, and seemed to ignore the presence of their
+tiny foe. The crew were, for the most part, busy aloft repairing
+damages, and after half an hour's firing, without eliciting a reply,
+the boatswain went aft to Cyril, and suggested that they should now
+aim at the spars.
+
+"A lucky shot might do a good deal of damage, sir," he said. "The
+weather is fine enough at present, but there is no saying when a
+change may come, and if we could weaken one of the main spars it
+might be the means of her being blown ashore, should the wind spring
+up in the right direction."
+
+Cyril assented, and fire was now directed at the masts. A few ropes
+were cut away, but no serious damage was effected until a shot struck
+one of the halliard blocks of the spanker, and the sail at once ran
+down.
+
+"It has taken a big bit out of the mast, too," the boatswain called
+exultingly to Cyril. "I think that will rouse the Dutchmen up."
+
+A minute later it was evident that the shot had at least had that
+effect. Two puffs of smoke spirted out from the stern of the Dutch
+flagship, and, simultaneously with the roar of the guns, came the hum
+of two heavy shot flying overhead. Delighted at having excited the
+Dutchmen's wrath at last, the crew of the _Fan Fan_ took off their
+hats and gave a loud cheer, and then, more earnestly than before,
+settled down to work; their guns aimed now, as at first, at the
+port-holes. Four or five shots were discharged from each of the
+little guns before the Dutch were ready again. Then came the
+thundering reports. The _Fan Fan's_ topmast was carried away by one
+of the shot, but the other went wide. Two or three men were told to
+cut away the wreckage, and the rest continued their fire. One of the
+next shots of the enemy was better directed. It struck the deck close
+to the foot of the mast, committed great havoc in Cyril's cabin, and
+passed out through the stern below the water-line. Cyril leapt down
+the companion as he heard the crash, shouting to the boatswain to
+follow him. The water was coming through the hole in a great jet.
+Cyril seized a pillow and--stuffed it into the shot-hole, being
+drenched from head to foot in the operation. One of the sailors had
+followed the boatswain, and Cyril called him to his assistance.
+
+"Get out the oars at once," he said to the boatswain. "Another shot
+like this and she will go down. Get a piece cut off a spar and make a
+plug. There is no holding this pillow in its place, and the water
+comes in fast still."
+
+The sailor took Cyril's post while he ran up on deck and assisted in
+cutting the plug; this was roughly shaped to the size of the hole,
+and then driven in. It stopped the rush of the water, but a good deal
+still leaked through.
+
+By the time this was done the _Fan Fan_ had considerably increased
+her distance from De Ruyter. Four or five more shots were fired from
+the Dutch ship. The last of these struck the mast ten feet above the
+deck, bringing it down with a crash. Fortunately, none of the crew
+were hurt, and, dropping the oars, they hauled the mast alongside,
+cut the sail from its fastening to the hoops and gaff, and then
+severed the shrouds and allowed the mast to drift away, while they
+again settled themselves to the oars. Although every man rowed his
+hardest, the _Fan Fan_ was half full of water before she reached the
+Fleet, which was two miles astern of them when they first began to
+row.
+
+"Well done, _Fan Fan_!" Prince Rupert shouted, as the little craft
+came alongside. "Have you suffered any damage besides your spars? I
+see you are low in the water."
+
+"We were shot through our stern, sir; we put in a plug, but the water
+comes in still. Will you send a carpenter on board? For I don't think
+she will float many minutes longer unless we get the hole better
+stopped."
+
+The Prince gave some orders to an officer standing by him. The latter
+called two or three sailors and bade them bring some short lengths of
+thick hawser, while a strong party were set to reeve tackle to the
+mainyard. As soon as the hawsers, each thirty feet in length, were
+brought, they were dropped on to the deck of the _Fan Fan_, and the
+officer told the crew to pass them under her, one near each end, and
+to knot the hawsers. By the time this was done, two strong tackles
+were lowered and fixed to the hawsers, and the crew ordered to come
+up on to the ship. The tackles were then manned and hauled on by
+strong parties, and the _Fan Fan_ was gradually raised. The
+boatswain went below again and knocked out the plug, and, as the
+little yacht was hoisted up, the water ran out of it. As soon as the
+hole was above the water-level, the tackle at the bow was gradually
+slackened off until she lay with her fore-part in the water, which
+came some distance up her deck. The carpenter then slung himself over
+the stern, and nailed, first a piece of tarred canvas, and then a
+square of plank, over the hole. Then the stern tackle was eased off,
+and the _Fan Fan_ floated on a level keel. Her crew went down to her
+again, and, in half an hour, pumped her free of water.
+
+By this time, the results of the victory were known. On the English
+side, the _Resolution_ was the only ship lost, she having been burnt
+by a Dutch fire-ship; three English captains, and about three hundred
+men were killed. On the other hand, the Dutch lost twenty ships, four
+admirals, a great many of their captains, and some four thousand men.
+It was, indeed, the greatest and most complete victory gained
+throughout the war. Many of the British ships had suffered a good
+deal, that which carried the Duke's flag most of all, for it had been
+so battered in the fight with De Ruyter that the Duke and Prince
+Rupert had been obliged to leave her, and to hoist their flags upon
+another man-of-war.
+
+The next morning the Fleet sailed to Schonevelt, which was the usual
+_rendezvous_ of the Dutch Fleet, and there remained some time,
+altogether undisturbed by the enemy. The _Fan Fan_ was here
+thoroughly repaired.
+
+On July 29th they sailed for Ulic, where they arrived on August 7th,
+the wind being contrary.
+
+Learning that there was a large fleet of merchantmen lying between
+the islands of Ulic and Schelling, guarded by but two men-of-war, and
+that there were rich magazines of goods on these islands, it was
+determined to attack them. Four small frigates, of a slight draught
+of water, and five fire-ships, were selected for the attack, together
+with the boats of the Fleet, manned by nine hundred men.
+
+On the evening of the 8th, Cyril was ordered to go, in the _Fan
+Fan_, to reconnoitre the position of the Dutch. He did not sail
+until after nightfall, and, on reaching the passage between the
+islands, he lowered his sails, got out his oars, and drifted with the
+tide silently down through the Dutch merchant fleet, where no watch
+seemed to be kept, and in the morning carried the news to Sir Robert
+Holmes, the commander of the expedition, who had anchored a league
+from the entrance.
+
+Cyril had sounded the passage as he went through, and it was found
+that two of the frigates could not enter it. These were left at the
+anchorage, and, on arriving at the mouth of the harbour, the
+_Tiger_, Sir Robert Holmes's flagship, was also obliged to anchor,
+and he came on board the _Fan Fan_, on which he hoisted his flag.
+The captains of the other ships came on board, and it was arranged
+that the _Pembroke_, which had but a small draught of water, should
+enter at once with the five fire-ships.
+
+The attack was completely successful. Two of the fire-ships grappled
+with the men-of-war and burnt them, while three great merchantmen
+were destroyed by the others. Then the boats dashed into the fleet,
+and, with the exception of four or five merchantmen and four
+privateers, who took refuge in a creek, defended by a battery, the
+whole of the hundred and seventy merchantmen, the smallest of which
+was not less than 200 tons burden, and all heavily laden, were
+burned.
+
+The next day, Sir Robert Holmes landed eleven companies of troops on
+the Island of Schonevelt and burnt Bandaris, its principal town, with
+its magazines and store-houses, causing a loss to the Dutch,
+according to their own admission, of six million guilders. This, and
+the loss of the great Fleet, inflicted a very heavy blow upon the
+commerce of Holland. The _Fan Fan_ had been hit again by a shot from
+one of the batteries, and, on her rejoining the Fleet, Prince Rupert
+determined to send her to England so that she could be thoroughly
+repaired and fitted out again. Cyril's orders were to take her to
+Chatham, and to hand her over to the dockyard authorities.
+
+"I do not think the Dutch will come out and fight us again this
+autumn, Sir Cyril, so you can take your ease in London as it pleases
+you. We are now halfway through August, and it will probably be at
+least a month after your arrival before the _Fan Fan_ is fit for sea
+again. It may be a good deal longer than that, for they are busy upon
+the repairs of the ships sent home after the battle, and will hardly
+take any hands off these to put on to the _Fan Fan_. In October we
+shall all be coming home again, so that, until next spring, it is
+hardly likely that there will be aught doing."
+
+Cyril accordingly returned to London. The wind was contrary, and it
+was not until the last day of August that he dropped anchor in the
+Medway. After spending a night at Chatham, he posted up to London the
+next morning, and, finding convenient chambers in the Savoy, he
+installed himself there, and then proceeded to the house of the Earl
+of Wisbech, to whom he was the bearer of a letter from his son.
+Finding that the Earl and his family were down at his place near
+Sevenoaks, he went into the City, and spent the evening at Captain
+Dave's, having ordered his servant to pack a small valise, and bring
+it with the two horses in the morning. He had gone to bed but an hour
+when he was awoke by John Wilkes knocking at his door.
+
+"There is a great fire burning not far off, Sir Cyril. A man who ran
+past told me it was in Pudding Lane, at the top of Fish Street. The
+Captain is getting up, and is going out to see it; for, with such dry
+weather as we have been having, there is no saying how far it may
+go."
+
+Cyril sprang out of his bed and dressed. Captain Dave, accustomed to
+slip on his clothes in a hurry, was waiting for him, and, with John
+Wilkes, they sallied out. There was a broad glare of light in the
+sky, and the bells of many of the churches were ringing out the
+fire-alarm. As they passed, many people put their heads out from
+windows and asked where the fire was. In five minutes they approached
+the scene. A dozen houses were blazing fiercely, while, from those
+near, the inhabitants were busily removing their valuables. The Fire
+Companies, with their buckets, were already at work, and lines of men
+were formed down to the river and were passing along buckets from
+hand to hand. Well-nigh half the water was spilt, however, before it
+arrived at the fire, and, in the face of such a body of flame, it
+seemed to make no impression whatever.
+
+"They might as well attempt to pump out a leaky ship with a child's
+squirt," the Captain said. "The fire will burn itself out, and we
+must pray heaven that the wind drops altogether; 'tis not strong, but
+it will suffice to carry the flames across these narrow streets. 'Tis
+lucky that it is from the east, so there is little fear that it will
+travel in our direction."
+
+They learnt that the fire had begun in the house of Faryner, the
+King's baker, though none knew how it had got alight. It was not long
+before the flames leapt across the lane, five or six houses catching
+fire almost at the same moment. A cry of dismay broke from the crowd,
+and the fright of the neighbours increased. Half-clad women hurried
+from their houses, carrying their babes, and dragging their younger
+children out. Men staggered along with trunks of clothing and
+valuables. Many wrung their hands helplessly, while the City Watch
+guarded the streets leading to Pudding Lane, so as to prevent thieves
+and vagabonds from taking advantage of the confusion to plunder.
+
+With great rapidity the flames spread from house to house. A portion
+of Fish Street was already invaded, and the Church of St. Magnus in
+danger. The fears of the people increased in proportion to the
+advance of the conflagration. The whole neighbourhood was now
+alarmed, and, in all the streets round, people were beginning to
+remove their goods. The river seemed to be regarded by all as the
+safest place of refuge. The boats from the various landing-places had
+already come up, and these were doing a thriving trade by taking the
+frightened people, with what goods they carried, to lighters and
+ships moored in the river.
+
+The lines of men passing buckets had long since broken up, it being
+too evident that their efforts were not of the slightest avail. The
+wind had, in the last two hours, rapidly increased in strength, and
+was carrying the burning embers far and wide.
+
+Cyril and his companions had, after satisfying their first curiosity,
+set to work to assist the fugitives, by aiding them to carry down
+their goods to the waterside. Cyril was now between eighteen and
+nineteen, and had grown into a powerful, young fellow, having, since
+he recovered from the Plague, grown fast and widened out greatly. He
+was able to shoulder heavy trunks, and to carry them down without
+difficulty.
+
+By six o'clock, however, all were exhausted by their labours, and
+Captain Dave's proposal, that they should go back and get breakfast
+and have a wash, was at once agreed to.
+
+At this time the greater part of Fish Street was in flames, the
+Church of St. Magnus had fallen, and the flames had spread to many of
+the streets and alleys running west. The houses on the Bridge were
+blazing.
+
+"Well, father, what is the news?" Nellie exclaimed, as they entered.
+"What have you been doing? You are all blackened, like the men who
+carry out the coals from the ships. I never saw such figures."
+
+"We have been helping people to carry their goods down to the water,
+Nellie. The news is bad. The fire is a terrible one."
+
+"That we can see, father. Mother and I were at the window for hours
+after you left, and the whole sky seemed ablaze. Do you think that
+there is any danger of its coming here?"
+
+"The wind is taking the flames the other way, Nellie, but in spite of
+that I think that there is danger. The heat is so great that the
+houses catch on this side, and we saw, as we came back, that it had
+travelled eastwards. Truly, I believe that if the wind keeps on as it
+is at present, the whole City will be destroyed. However, we will
+have a wash first and then some breakfast, of which we are sorely in
+need. Then we can talk over what had best be done."
+
+Little was said during breakfast. The apprentices had already been
+out, and so excited were they at the scenes they had witnessed that
+they had difficulty in preserving their usual quiet and submissive
+demeanour. Captain Dave was wearied with his unwonted exertions. Mrs.
+Dowsett and Nellie both looked pale and anxious, and Cyril and John
+Wilkes were oppressed by the terrible scene of destruction and the
+widespread misery they had witnessed.
+
+When breakfast was over, Captain Dave ordered the apprentices on no
+account to leave the premises. They were to put up the shutters at
+once, and then to await orders.
+
+"What do you think we had better do, Cyril?" he said, when the boys
+had left the room.
+
+"I should say that you had certainly better go on board a ship,
+Captain Dave. There is time to move now quietly, and to get many
+things taken on board, but if there were a swift change of wind the
+flames would come down so suddenly that you would have no time to
+save anything. Do you know of a captain who would receive you?"
+
+"Certainly; I know of half a dozen."
+
+"Then the first thing is to secure a boat before they are all taken
+up."
+
+"I will go down to the stairs at once."
+
+"Then I should say, John, you had better go off with Captain Dave,
+and, as soon as he has arranged with one of the captains, come back
+to shore. Let the waterman lie off in the stream, for if the flames
+come this way there will be a rush for boats, and people will not
+stop to ask to whom they belong. It will be better still to take one
+of the apprentices with you, leave him at the stairs till you return,
+and then tie up to a ship till we hail him."
+
+"That will be the best plan," Captain Dave said. "Now, wife, you and
+Nellie and the maid had best set to work at once packing up all your
+best clothes and such other things as you may think most valuable. We
+shall have time, I hope, to make many trips."
+
+"While you are away, I will go along the street and see whether the
+fire is making any way in this direction," Cyril said. "Of course if
+it's coming slowly you will have time to take away a great many
+things. And we may even hope that it may not come here at all."
+
+Taking one of the apprentices, Captain Dave and John at once started
+for the waterside, while Cyril made his way westward.
+
+Already, people were bringing down their goods from most of the
+houses. Some acted as if they believed that if they took the goods
+out of the houses they would be safe, and great piles of articles of
+all kinds almost blocked the road. Weeping women and frightened
+children sat on these piles as if to guard them. Some stood at their
+doors wringing their hands helplessly; others were already starting
+eastward laden with bundles and boxes, occasionally looking round as
+if to bid farewell to their homes. Many of the men seemed even more
+confused and frightened than the women, running hither and thither
+without purpose, shouting, gesticulating, and seeming almost
+distraught with fear and grief.
+
+Cyril had not gone far when he saw that the houses on both sides of
+the street, at the further end, were already in flames. He was
+obliged to advance with great caution, for many people were
+recklessly throwing goods of all kinds from the windows, regardless
+of whom they might fall upon, and without thought of how they were to
+be carried away. He went on until close to the fire, and stood for a
+time watching. The noise was bewildering. Mingled with the roar of
+the flames, the crackling of woodwork, and the heavy crashes that
+told of the fall of roofs or walls, was the clang of the alarm-bells,
+shouts, cries, and screams. The fire spread steadily, but with none
+of the rapidity with which he had seen it fly along from house to
+house on the other side of the conflagration. The houses, however,
+were largely composed of wood. The balconies generally caught first,
+and the fire crept along under the roofs, and sometimes a shower of
+tiles, and a burst of flames, showed that it had advanced there,
+while the lower portion of the house was still intact.
+
+"Is it coming, Cyril?" Mrs. Dowsett asked, when he returned.
+
+"It is coming steadily," he said, "and can be stopped by nothing
+short of a miracle. Can I help you in any way?"
+
+"No," she said; "we have packed as many things as can possibly be
+carried. It is well that your things are all at your lodging, Cyril,
+and beyond the risk of this danger."
+
+"It would have mattered little about them," he said. "I could have
+replaced them easily enough. That is but a question of money. And
+now, in the first place, I will get the trunks and bundles you have
+packed downstairs. That will save time."
+
+Assisted by the apprentice and Nellie, Cyril got all the things
+downstairs.
+
+"How long have we, do you think?" Nellie asked.
+
+"I should say that in three hours the fire will be here," he said.
+"It may be checked a little at the cross lanes; but I fear that three
+hours is all we can hope for."
+
+Just as they had finished taking down the trunks, Captain Dave and
+John Wilkes arrived.
+
+"I have arranged the affair," the former said. "My old friend, Dick
+Watson, will take us in his ship; she lies but a hundred yards from
+the stairs. Now, get on your mantle and hood, Nellie, and bring your
+mother and maid down."
+
+The three women were soon at the foot of the stairs, and Mrs.
+Dowsett's face showed signs of tears; but, though pale, she was quiet
+and calm, and the servant, a stout wench, had gained confidence from
+her mistress's example. As soon as they were ready, the three men
+each shouldered a trunk. The servant and the apprentice carried one
+between them. Mrs. Dowsett and her daughter took as many bundles as
+they could carry. It was but five minutes' walk down to the stairs.
+The boat was lying twenty yards out in the stream, fastened up to a
+lighter, with the apprentice and waterman on board. It came at once
+alongside, and in five minutes they reached the _Good Venture_. As
+soon as the women had ascended the accommodation ladder, some sailors
+ran down and helped to carry up the trunks.
+
+"Empty them all out in the cabin," Captain Dave said to his wife; "we
+will take them back with us."
+
+As soon as he had seen the ladies into the cabin, Captain Watson
+called his son Frank, who was his chief mate, and half a dozen of his
+men. These carried the boxes, as fast as they were emptied, down into
+the boat.
+
+"We will all go ashore together," he said to Captain Dave. "I was a
+fool not to think of it before. We will soon make light work of it."
+
+As soon as they reached the house, some of the sailors were sent off
+with the remaining trunks and bundles, while the others carried
+upstairs those they had brought, and quickly emptied into them the
+remaining contents of the drawers and linen press. So quickly and
+steadily did the work go on, that no less than six trips were made to
+the _Good Venture_ in the next three hours, and at the end of that
+time almost everything portable had been carried away, including
+several pieces of valuable furniture, and a large number of objects
+brought home by Captain Dave from his various voyages. The last
+journey, indeed, was devoted to saving some of the most valuable
+contents of the store. Captain Dave, delighted at having saved so
+much, would not have thought of taking more, but Captain Watson would
+not hear of this.
+
+"There is time for one more trip, old friend," he said, "and there
+are many things in your store that are worth more than their weight
+in silver. I will take my other two hands this time, and, with the
+eight men and our five selves, we shall be able to bring a good
+load."
+
+The trunks were therefore this time packed with ship's instruments,
+and brass fittings of all kinds, to the full weight that could be
+carried. All hands then set to work, and, in a very short time, a
+great proportion of the portable goods were carried from the
+store-house into an arched cellar beneath it. By the time that they
+were ready to start there were but six houses between them and the
+fire.
+
+"I wish we had another three hours before us," Captain Watson said.
+"It goes to one's heart to leave all this new rope and sail cloth,
+good blocks, and other things, to be burnt."
+
+"There have been better things than that burnt to-day, Watson. Few
+men have saved as much as I have, thanks to your assistance and that
+of these stout sailors of yours. Why, the contents of these twelve
+boxes are worth as much as the whole of the goods remaining."
+
+The sailors' loads were so heavy that they had to help each other to
+get them upon their shoulders, and the other five were scarcely less
+weighted; and, short as was the distance, all had to rest several
+times on the way to the stairs, setting their burdens upon
+window-sills, or upon boxes scattered in the streets. One of the
+ship's boats had, after the first trip, taken the place of the light
+wherry, but even this was weighted down to the gunwale when the men
+and the goods were all on board. After the first two trips, the
+contents of the boxes had been emptied on deck, and by the time the
+last arrived the three women had packed away in the empty cabins all
+the clothing, linen, and other articles, that had been taken below.
+Captain Watson ordered a stiff glass of grog to be given to each of
+the sailors, and then went down with the others into the main cabin,
+where the steward had already laid the table for a meal, and poured
+out five tumblers of wine.
+
+"I have not had so tough a job since I was before the mast," he said.
+"What say you, Captain Dave?"
+
+"It has been a hard morning's work, indeed, Watson, and, in truth, I
+feel fairly spent. But though weary in body I am cheerful in heart.
+It seemed to me at breakfast-time that we should save little beyond
+what we stood in, and now I have rescued well-nigh everything
+valuable that I have. I should have grieved greatly had I lost all
+those mementos that it took me nigh thirty years to gather, and those
+pieces of furniture that belonged to my father I would not have lost
+for any money. Truly, it has been a noble salvage."
+
+Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie now joined them. They had quite recovered
+their spirits, and were delighted at the unexpected rescue of so many
+things precious to them, and Captain Watson was overwhelmed by their
+thanks for what he had done.
+
+After the meal was over they sat quietly talking for a time, and then
+Cyril proposed that they should row up the river and see what
+progress the fire was making above the Bridge. Mrs. Dowsett, however,
+was too much fatigued by her sleepless night and the troubles and
+emotions of the morning to care about going. Captain Dave said that
+he was too stiff to do anything but sit quiet and smoke a pipe, and
+that he would superintend the getting of their things on deck a
+little ship-shape. Nellie embraced the offer eagerly, and young
+Watson, who was a well-built and handsome fellow, with a pleasant
+face and manner, said that he would go, and would take a couple of
+hands to row. The tide had just turned to run up when they set out.
+Cyril asked the first mate to steer, and he sat on one side of him
+and Nellie on the other.
+
+"You will have to mind your oars, lads," Frank Watson said. "The
+river is crowded with boats."
+
+They crossed over to the Southwark side, as it would have been
+dangerous to pass under the arches above which the houses were
+burning. The flames, however, had not spread right across the bridge,
+for the houses were built only over the piers, and the openings at
+the arches had checked the flames, and at these points numbers of men
+were drawing water in buckets and throwing it over the fronts of the
+houses, or passing them, by ropes, to other men on the roofs, which
+were kept deluged with water. Hundreds of willing hands were engaged
+in the work, for the sight of the tremendous fire on the opposite
+bank filled people with terror lest the flames should cross the
+bridge and spread to the south side of the river. The warehouses and
+wharves on the bank were black with spectators, who looked with
+astonishment and awe at the terrible scene of destruction.
+
+It was not until they passed under the bridge that the full extent of
+the conflagration was visible. The fire had made its way some
+distance along Thames Street, and had spread far up into the City.
+Gracechurch Street and Lombard Street were in flames, and indeed the
+fire seemed to have extended a long distance further; but the smoke
+was so dense, that it was difficult to make out the precise point
+that it had reached. The river was a wonderful sight. It was crowded
+with boats and lighters, all piled up with goods, while along the
+quays from Dowgate to the Temple, crowds of people were engaged in
+placing what goods they had saved on board lighters and other craft.
+Many of those in the boats seemed altogether helpless and undecided
+as to what had best be done, and drifted along with the tide, but the
+best part were making either for the marshes at Lambeth or the fields
+at Millbank, there to land their goods, the owners of the boats
+refusing to keep them long on board, as they desired to return by the
+next tide to fetch away other cargoes, being able to obtain any price
+they chose to demand for their services.
+
+Among the boats were floating goods and wreckage of all kinds,
+charred timber that had fallen from the houses on the bridge, and
+from the warehouses by the quays, bales of goods, articles of
+furniture, bedding, and other matters. At times, a sudden change of
+wind drove a dense smoke across the water, flakes of burning embers
+and papers causing great confusion among the boats, and threatening
+to set the piles of goods on fire.
+
+At Frank Watson's suggestion, they landed at the Temple, after having
+been some two hours on the river. Going up into Fleet Street, they
+found a stream of carts and other vehicles proceeding westward, all
+piled with furniture and goods, mostly of a valuable kind. The
+pavements were well-nigh blocked with people, all journeying in the
+same direction, laden with their belongings. With difficulty they
+made their way East as far as St. Paul's. The farther end of
+Cheapside was already in flames, and they learnt that the fire had
+extended as far as Moorfields. It was said that efforts had been made
+to pull down houses and so check its progress, but that there was no
+order or method, and that no benefit was gained by the work.
+
+After looking on at the scene for some time, they returned to Fleet
+Street. Frank Watson went down with Nellie to the boat, while Cyril
+went to his lodgings in the Savoy. Here he found his servant
+anxiously awaiting him.
+
+"I did not bring the horses this morning, sir," he said. "I heard
+that there was a great fire, and went on foot as far as I could get,
+but, finding that I could not pass, I thought it best to come back
+here and await your return."
+
+"Quite right, Reuben; you could not have got the horses to me unless
+you had ridden round the walls and come in at Aldgate, and they would
+have been useless had you brought them. The house at which I stayed
+last night is already burnt to the ground. You had better stay here
+for the present, I think. There is no fear of the fire extending
+beyond the City. Should you find that it does so, pack my clothes in
+the valises, take the horses down to Sevenoaks, and remain at the
+Earl's until you hear from me."
+
+Having arranged this, Cyril went down to the Savoy stairs, where he
+found the boat waiting for him, and then they rowed back to London
+Bridge, where, the force of the tide being now abated, they were able
+to row through and get to the _Good Venture_.
+
+They had but little sleep that night. Gradually the fire worked its
+way eastward until it was abreast of them. The roaring and crackling
+of the flames was prodigious. Here and there the glare was
+diversified by columns of a deeper red glow, showing where
+warehouses, filled with pitch, tar, and oil, were in flames. The
+heavy crashes of falling buildings were almost incessant.
+Occasionally they saw a church tower or steeple, that had stood for a
+time black against the glowing sky, become suddenly wreathed in
+flames, and, after burning for a time, fall with a crash that could
+be plainly heard above the general roar.
+
+"Surely such a fire was never seen before!" Captain Dave said.
+
+"Not since Rome was burnt, I should think," Cyril replied.
+
+"How long was that ago, Cyril? I don't remember hearing about it."
+
+"'Tis fifteen hundred years or so since then, Captain Dave; but the
+greater part of the city was destroyed, and Rome was then many times
+bigger than London. It burnt for three days."
+
+"Well, this is bad enough," Captain Watson said. "Even here the heat
+is well-nigh too great to face. Frank, you had better call the crew
+up and get all the sails off the yards. Were a burning flake to fall
+on them we might find it difficult to extinguish them. When they have
+done that, let the men get all the buckets filled with water and
+ranged on the deck; and it will be as well to get a couple of hands
+in the boat and let them chuck water against this side. We shall have
+all the paint blistered off before morning."
+
+So the night passed. Occasionally they went below for a short time,
+but they found it impossible to sleep, and were soon up again, and
+felt it a relief when the morning began to break.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+AFTER THE FIRE
+
+
+Daylight brought little alleviation to the horrors of the scene. The
+flames were less vivid, but a dense pall of smoke overhung the sky.
+As soon as they had breakfasted, Captain Watson, his son, Captain
+Dowsett, Nellie, and Cyril took their places in the boat, and were
+rowed up the river. An exclamation burst from them all as they saw
+how fast the flames had travelled since the previous evening.
+
+"St. Paul's is on fire!" Cyril exclaimed. "See! there are flames
+bursting through its roof. I think, Captain Watson, if you will put
+me ashore at the Temple, I will make my way to Whitehall, and report
+myself there. I may be of use."
+
+"I will do that," Captain Watson said. "Then I will row back to the
+ship again. We must leave a couple of hands on board, in case some of
+these burning flakes should set anything alight. We will land with
+the rest, and do what we can to help these poor women and children."
+
+"I will stay on board and take command, if you like, Watson," Captain
+Dave said. "You ought to have some one there, and I have not
+recovered from yesterday's work, and should be of little use ashore."
+
+"Very well, Dowsett. That will certainly be best; but I think it will
+be prudent, before we leave, to run out a kedge with forty or fifty
+fathoms of cable towards the middle of the stream, and then veer out
+the cable on her anchor so as to let her ride thirty fathoms or so
+farther out. We left six men sluicing her side and deck, but it
+certainly would be prudent to get her out a bit farther. Even here,
+the heat is as much as we can stand."
+
+As soon as Cyril had landed, he hurried up into Fleet Street. He had
+just reached Temple Bar when he saw a party of horsemen making their
+way through the carts. A hearty cheer greeted them from the crowd,
+who hoped that the presence of the King--for it was Charles who rode
+in front--was a sign that vigorous steps were about to be taken to
+check the progress of the flames. Beside the King rode the Duke of
+Albemarle, and following were a number of other gentlemen and
+officers. Cyril made his way through the crowd to the side of the
+Duke's horse.
+
+"Can I be of any possible use, my Lord Duke?" he asked, doffing his
+hat.
+
+"Ah, Sir Cyril, it is you, is it? I have not seen you since you
+bearded De Ruyter in the _Fan Fan_. Yes, you can be of use. We have
+five hundred sailors and dockyard men behind; they have just arrived
+from Chatham, and a thousand more have landed below the Bridge to
+fight the flames on that side. Keep by me now, and, when we decide
+where to set to work, I will put you under the orders of Captain
+Warncliffe, who has charge of them."
+
+When they reached the bottom of Fleet Street, the fire was halfway
+down Ludgate Hill, and it was decided to begin operations along the
+bottom of the Fleet Valley. The dockyard men and sailors were brought
+up, and following them were some carts laden with kegs of powder.
+
+"Warncliffe," Lord Albemarle said, as the officer came up at the head
+of them, "Sir Cyril Shenstone is anxious to help. You know him by
+repute, and you can trust him in any dangerous business. You had
+better tell off twenty men under him. You have only to tell him what
+you want done, and you can rely upon its being done thoroughly."
+
+The sailors were soon at work along the line of the Fleet Ditch. All
+carried axes, and with these they chopped down the principal beams of
+the small houses clustered by the Ditch, and so weakened them that a
+small charge of powder easily brought them down. In many places they
+met with fierce opposition from the owners, who, still clinging to
+the faint hope that something might occur to stop the progress of the
+fire before it reached their abodes, raised vain protestations
+against the destruction of their houses. All day the men worked
+unceasingly, but in vain. Driven by the fierce wind, the flames swept
+down the opposite slope, leapt over the space strewn with rubbish and
+beams, and began to climb Fleet Street and Holborn Hill and the dense
+mass of houses between them.
+
+The fight was renewed higher up. Beer and bread and cheese were
+obtained from the taverns, and served out to the workmen, and these
+kept at their task all night. Towards morning the wind had fallen
+somewhat. The open spaces of the Temple favoured the defenders; the
+houses to east of it were blown up, and, late in the afternoon, the
+progress of the flames at this spot was checked. As soon as it was
+felt that there was no longer any fear of its further advance here,
+the exhausted men, who had, for twenty-four hours, laboured, half
+suffocated by the blinding smoke and by the dust made by their own
+work, threw themselves down on the grass of the Temple Gardens and
+slept. At midnight they were roused by their officers, and proceeded
+to assist their comrades, who had been battling with the flames on
+the other side of Fleet Street. They found that these too had been
+successful; the flames had swept up to Fetter Lane, but the houses on
+the west side had been demolished, and although, at one or two
+points, the fallen beams caught fire, they were speedily
+extinguished. Halfway up Fetter Lane the houses stood on both sides
+uninjured, for a large open space round St. Andrew's, Holborn, had
+aided the defenders in their efforts to check the flames. North of
+Holborn the fire had spread but little, and that only among the
+poorer houses in Fleet Valley.
+
+Ascending the hill, they found that, while the flames had overleapt
+the City wall from Ludgate to Newgate in its progress west, the wall
+had proved an effective barrier from the sharp corner behind
+Christchurch up to Aldersgate and thence up to Cripplegate, which was
+the farthest limit reached by the fire to the north. To the east, the
+City had fared better. By the river, indeed, the destruction was
+complete as far as the Tower. Mark Lane, however, stood, and north of
+this the line of destruction swept westward to Leaden Hall, a massive
+structure at the entrance to the street that took its name from it,
+and proved a bulwark against the flames. From this point, the line of
+devastated ground swept round by the eastern end of Throgmorton
+Street to the northern end of Basinghall Street.
+
+Cyril remained with the sailors for two days longer, during which
+time they were kept at work beating out the embers of the fire. In
+this they were aided by a heavy fall of rain, which put an end to all
+fear of the flames springing up again.
+
+"There can be no need for you to remain longer with us, Sir Cyril,"
+Captain Warncliffe said, at the end of the second day. "I shall have
+pleasure in reporting to the Duke of Albemarle the good services that
+you have rendered. Doubtless we shall remain on duty here for some
+time, for we may have, for aught I know, to aid in the clearing away
+of some of the ruins; but, at any rate, there can be no occasion for
+you to stay longer with us."
+
+Cyril afterwards learnt that the sailors and dockyard men were, on
+the following day, sent back to Chatham. The fire had rendered so
+great a number of men homeless and without means of subsistence, that
+there was an abundant force on hand for the clearing away of ruins.
+Great numbers were employed by the authorities, while many of the
+merchants and traders engaged parties to clear away the ruins of
+their dwellings, in order to get at the cellars below, in which they
+had, as soon as the danger from fire was perceived, stowed away the
+main bulk of their goods. As soon as he was released from duty, Cyril
+made his way to the Tower, and, hiring a boat, was rowed to the _Good
+Venture_.
+
+The shipping presented a singular appearance, their sides being
+blistered, and in many places completely stripped of their paint,
+while in some cases the spars were scorched, and the sails burnt
+away. There was lively satisfaction at his appearance, as he stepped
+on to the deck of the _Good Venture_, for, until he did so, he had
+been unrecognised, so begrimed with smoke and dust was he.
+
+"We have been wondering about you," Captain Dave said, as he shook
+him by the hand, "but I can scarce say we had become uneasy. We
+learnt that a large body of seamen and others were at work blowing up
+houses, and as you had gone to offer your services we doubted not
+that you were employed with them. Truly you must have been having a
+rough time of it, for not only are you dirtier than any scavenger,
+but you look utterly worn out and fatigued."
+
+"It was up-hill work the first twenty-four hours, for we worked
+unceasingly, and worked hard, too, I can assure you, and that
+well-nigh smothered with smoke and dust. Since then, our work has
+been more easy, but no less dirty. In the three days I have not had
+twelve hours' sleep altogether."
+
+"I will get a tub of hot water placed in your cabin," Captain Watson
+said, "and should advise you, when you get out from it, to turn into
+your bunk at once. No one shall go near you in the morning until you
+wake of your own accord."
+
+Cyril was, however, down to breakfast.
+
+"Now tell us all about the fire," Nellie said, when they had finished
+the meal.
+
+"I have nothing to tell you, for I know nothing," Cyril replied. "Our
+work was simply pulling down and blowing up houses. I had scarce time
+so much as to look at the fire. However, as I have since been working
+all round its course, I can tell you exactly how far it spread."
+
+When he brought his story to a conclusion, he said,--
+
+"And now, Captain Dave, what are you thinking of doing?"
+
+"In the first place, I am going ashore to look at the old house. As
+soon as I can get men, I shall clear the ground, and begin to rebuild
+it. I have enough laid by to start me again. I should be like a fish
+out of water with nothing to see to. I have the most valuable part of
+my stock still on hand here on deck, and if the cellar has proved
+staunch my loss in goods will be small indeed, for the anchors and
+chains in the yard will have suffered no damage. But even if the
+cellar has caved in, and its contents are destroyed, and if, when I
+have rebuilt my house, I find I have not enough left to replenish my
+stock, I am sure that I can get credit from the rope- and sail-makers,
+and iron-masters with whom I deal."
+
+"Do not trouble yourself about that, Captain Dave," Cyril said. "You
+came to my help last time, and it will be my turn this time. I am
+sure that I shall have no difficulty in getting any monies that may
+be required from Mr. Goldsworthy, and there is nothing that will give
+me more pleasure than to see you established again in the place that
+was the first where I ever felt I had a home."
+
+"I hope that it will not be needed, lad," Captain Dave said, shaking
+his hand warmly, "but if it should, I will not hesitate to accept
+your offer in the spirit in which it is made, and thus add one more
+to the obligations that I am under to you."
+
+Cyril went ashore with Captain Dave and John Wilkes. The wall of the
+yard was, of course, uninjured, but the gate was burnt down. The
+store-house, which was of wood, had entirely disappeared, and the
+back wall of the house had fallen over it and the yard. The entrance
+to the cellar, therefore, could not be seen, and, as yet, the heat
+from the fallen bricks was too great to attempt to clear them away to
+get at it.
+
+That night, however, it rained heavily, and in the morning Captain
+Watson took a party of sailors ashore, and these succeeded in
+clearing away the rubbish sufficiently to get to the entrance of the
+cellar. The door was covered by an iron plate, and although the wood
+behind this was charred it had not caught fire, and on getting it
+open it was found that the contents of the cellar were uninjured.
+
+In order to prevent marauders from getting at it before preparations
+could be made for rebuilding, the rubbish was again thrown in so as
+to completely conceal the entrance. On returning on board there was a
+consultation on the future, held in the cabin. Captain Dave at once
+said that he and John Wilkes must remain in town to make arrangements
+for the rebuilding and to watch the performance of the work. Cyril
+warmly pressed Mrs. Dowsett and Nellie to come down with him to
+Norfolk until the house was ready to receive them, but both were in
+favour of remaining in London, and it was settled that, next day,
+they should go down to Stepney, hire a house and store-room there,
+and remove thither their goods on board the ship, and the contents of
+the cellar.
+
+There was some little difficulty in getting a house, as so many were
+seeking for lodgings, but at last they came upon a widow who was
+willing to let a house, upon the proviso that she was allowed to
+retain one room for her own occupation. This being settled, Cyril
+that evening returned to his lodging, and the next day rode down to
+Norfolk. There he remained until the middle of May, when he received
+a letter from Captain Dave, saying that his house was finished, and
+that they should move into it in a fortnight, and that they all
+earnestly hoped he would be present. As he had already been thinking
+of going up to London for a time, he decided to accept the
+invitation.
+
+By this time he had made the acquaintance of all the surrounding
+gentry, and felt perfectly at home at Upmead. He rode frequently into
+Norwich, and, whenever he did so, paid a visit to Mr. Harvey, whose
+wife had died in January, never having completely recovered from the
+shock that she had received in London. Mr. Harvey himself had aged
+much; he still took a great interest in the welfare of the tenants of
+Upmead, and in Cyril's proposals for the improvement of their homes,
+and was pleased to see how earnestly he had taken up the duties of
+his new life. He spoke occasionally of his son, of whose death he
+felt convinced.
+
+"I have never been able to obtain any news of him," he often said,
+"and assuredly I should have heard of him had he been alive.
+
+"It would ease my mind to know the truth," he said, one day. "It
+troubles me to think that, if alive, he is assuredly pursuing evil
+courses, and that he will probably end his days on a gallows. That he
+will repent, and turn to better courses, I have now no hope whatever.
+Unless he be living by roguery, he would, long ere this, have
+written, professing repentance, even if he did not feel it, and
+begging for assistance. It troubles me much that I can find out
+nothing for certain of him."
+
+"Would it be a relief to you to know surely that he was dead?" Cyril
+asked.
+
+"I would rather know that he was dead than feel, as I do, that if
+alive, he is going on sinning. One can mourn for the dead as David
+mourned for Absalom, and trust that their sins may be forgiven them;
+but, uncertain as I am of his death, I cannot so mourn, since it may
+be that he still lives."
+
+"Then, sir, I am in a position to set your mind at rest. I have known
+for a long time that he died of the Plague, but I have kept it from
+you, thinking that it was best you should still think that he might
+be living. He fell dead beside me on the very day that I sickened of
+the Plague, and, indeed, it was from him that I took it."
+
+Mr. Harvey remained silent for a minute or two.
+
+"'Tis better so," he said solemnly. "The sins of youth may be
+forgiven, but, had he lived, his whole course might have been wicked.
+How know you that it was he who gave you the Plague?"
+
+"I met him in the street. He was tottering in his walk, and, as he
+came up, he stumbled, and grasped me to save himself. I held him for
+a moment, and then he slipped from my arms and fell on the pavement,
+and died."
+
+Mr. Harvey looked keenly at Cyril, and was about to ask a question,
+but checked himself.
+
+"He is dead," he said. "God rest his soul, and forgive him his sins!
+Henceforth I shall strive to forget that he ever lived to manhood,
+and seek to remember him as he was when a child."
+
+Then he held out his hand to Cyril, to signify that he would fain be
+alone.
+
+On arriving in London, Cyril took up his abode at his former
+lodgings, and the next day at twelve o'clock, the hour appointed in a
+letter he found awaiting him on his arrival, he arrived in Tower
+Street, having ridden through the City. An army of workmen, who had
+come up from all parts of the country, were engaged in rebuilding the
+town. In the main thoroughfares many of the houses were already
+finished, and the shops re-opened. In other parts less progress had
+been made, as the traders were naturally most anxious to resume their
+business, and most able to pay for speed.
+
+Captain Dave's was one of the first houses completed in Tower Street,
+but there were many others far advanced in progress. The front
+differed materially from that of the old house, in which each story
+had projected beyond the one below it. Inside, however, there was but
+little change in its appearance, except that the rooms were somewhat
+more lofty, and that there were no heavy beams across the ceilings.
+Captain Dave and his family had moved in that morning.
+
+"It does not look quite like the old place," Mrs. Dowsett said, after
+the first greetings.
+
+"Not quite," Cyril agreed. "The new furniture, of course, gives it a
+different appearance as yet; but one will soon get accustomed to
+that, and you will quickly make it home-like again. I see you have
+the bits of furniture you saved in their old corners."
+
+"Yes; and it will make a great difference when they get all my
+curiosities up in their places again," Captain Dave put in. "We
+pulled them down anyhow, and some of them will want glueing up a bit.
+And so your fighting is over, Cyril?"
+
+"Yes, it looks like it. The Dutch have evidently had enough of it.
+They asked for peace, and as both parties consented to the King of
+Sweden being mediator, and our representatives and those of Holland
+are now settling affairs at Breda, peace may be considered as finally
+settled. We have only two small squadrons now afloat; the rest are
+all snugly laid up. I trust that there is no chance of another war
+between the two nations for years to come."
+
+"I hope not, Cyril. But De Witte is a crafty knave, and is ever in
+close alliance with Louis. Were it not for French influence the
+Prince of Orange would soon oust him from the head of affairs."
+
+"I should think he would not have any power for mischief in the
+future," Cyril said. "It was he who brought on the last war, and,
+although it has cost us much, it has cost the Dutch very much more,
+and the loss of her commerce has well-nigh brought Holland to ruin.
+Besides, the last victory we won must have lowered their national
+pride greatly."
+
+"You have not heard the reports that are about, then?"
+
+"No, I have heard no news whatever. It takes a long time for it to
+travel down to Norwich, and I have seen no one since I came up to
+town last night."
+
+"Well, there is a report that a Dutch Fleet of eighty sail has put to
+sea. It may be that 'tis but bravado to show that, though they have
+begged for peace, 'tis not because they are in no condition to fight.
+I know not how this may be, but it is certain that for the last three
+days the Naval people have been very busy, and that powder is being
+sent down to Chatham. As for the Fleet, small as it is, it is
+doubtful whether it would fight, for the men are in a veritable state
+of mutiny, having received no pay for many months. Moreover, several
+ships were but yesterday bought by Government, for what purpose it is
+not known, but it is conjectured they are meant for fire-ships."
+
+"I cannot but think that it is, as you say, a mere piece of bravado
+on the part of the Dutch, Captain Dave. They could never be so
+treacherous as to attack us when peace is well-nigh concluded, but,
+hurt as their pride must be by the defeat we gave them, it is not
+unnatural they should wish to show that they can still put a brave
+fleet on the seas, and are not driven to make peace because they
+could not, if need be, continue the war."
+
+"And now I have a piece of news for you. We are going to have a
+wedding here before long."
+
+"I am right glad to hear it," Cyril said heartily. "And who is the
+happy man, Nellie?" he asked, turning towards where she had been
+standing the moment before. But Nellie had fled the moment her father
+had opened his lips.
+
+"It is Frank Watson," her father said. "A right good lad; and her
+mother and I are well pleased with her choice."
+
+"I thought that he was very attentive the few days we were on board
+his father's ship," Cyril said. "I am not surprised to hear the
+news."
+
+"They have been two voyages since then, and while the _Good Venture_
+was in the Pool, Master Frank spent most of his time down at Stepney,
+and it was settled a fortnight since. My old friend Watson is as
+pleased as I am. And the best part of the business is that Frank is
+going to give up the sea and become my partner. His father owns the
+_Good Venture_, and, being a careful man, has laid by a round sum,
+and he settled to give him fifteen hundred pounds, which he will put
+into the business."
+
+"That is a capital plan, Captain Dave. It will be an excellent thing
+for you to have so young and active a partner."
+
+"Watson has bought the house down at Stepney that we have been living
+in, and Frank and Nellie are going to settle there, and Watson will
+make it his headquarters when his ship is in port, and will, I have
+no doubt, take up his moorings there, when he gives up the sea. The
+wedding is to be in a fortnight's time, for Watson has set his heart
+on seeing them spliced before he sails again, and I see no reason for
+delay. You must come to the wedding, of course, Cyril. Indeed, I
+don't think Nellie would consent to be married if you were not there.
+The girl has often spoken of you lately. You see, now that she really
+knows what love is, and has a quiet, happy life to look forward to,
+she feels more than ever the service you did her, and the escape she
+had. She told the whole story to Frank before she said yes, when he
+asked her to be his wife, and, of course, he liked her no less for
+it, though I think it would go hard with that fellow if he ever met
+him."
+
+"The fellow died of the Plague, Captain Dave. His last action was to
+try and revenge himself on me by giving me the infection, for,
+meeting me in the streets, he threw his arms round me and exclaimed,
+'I have given you the Plague!' They were the last words he ever
+spoke, for he gave a hideous laugh, and then dropped down dead.
+However, he spoke truly, for that night I sickened of it."
+
+"Then your kindness to Nellie well-nigh cost you your life," Mrs.
+Dowsett said, laying her hand on his shoulder, while the tears stood
+in her eyes. "And you never told us this before!"
+
+"There was nothing to tell," Cyril replied. "If I had not caught it
+from him, I should have, doubtless, taken it from someone else, for I
+was constantly in the way of it, and could hardly have hoped to
+escape an attack. Now, Captain Dave, let us go downstairs, and see
+the store."
+
+"John Wilkes and the two boys are at work there," the Captain said,
+as he went downstairs, "and we open our doors tomorrow. I have
+hurried on the house as fast as possible, and as no others in my
+business have yet opened, I look to do a thriving trade at once.
+Watson will send all his friends here, and as there is scarce a
+captain who goes in or out of port but knows Frank, I consider that
+our new partner will greatly extend the business."
+
+Captain Watson and Frank came in at supper-time, and, after spending
+a pleasant evening, Cyril returned to his lodgings in the Strand. The
+next day he was walking near Whitehall when a carriage dashed out at
+full speed, and, as it came along, he caught sight of the Duke of
+Albemarle, who looked in a state of strange confusion. His wig was
+awry, his coat was off, and his face was flushed and excited. As his
+eye fell on Cyril, he shouted out to the postillions to stop. As they
+pulled up, he shouted,--
+
+"Jump in, Sir Cyril! Jump in, for your life."
+
+Astonished at this address, Cyril ran to the door, opened it, and
+jumped in, and the Duke shouted to the postillions to go on.
+
+"What do you think, sir?--what do you think?" roared the Duke. "Those
+treacherous scoundrels, the Dutch, have appeared with a great Fleet
+of seventy men-of-war, besides fire-ships, off Sheerness, this
+morning at daybreak, and have taken the place, and Chatham lies open
+to them. We have been bamboozled and tricked. While the villains were
+pretending they were all for peace, they have been secretly fitting
+out, and there they are at Sheerness. A mounted messenger brought in
+the news, but ten minutes ago."
+
+"Have they taken Sheerness, sir?"
+
+"Yes; there were but six guns mounted on the fort, and no
+preparations made. The ships that were there did nothing. The rascals
+are in mutiny--and small wonder, when they can get no pay; the money
+voted for them being wasted by the Court. It is enough to drive one
+wild with vexation, and, had I my will, there are a dozen men, whose
+names are the foremost in the country, whom I would hang up with my
+own hands. The wind is from the east, and if they go straight up the
+Medway they may be there this afternoon, and have the whole of our
+ships at their mercy. It is enough to make Blake turn in his grave
+that such an indignity should be offered us, though it be but the
+outcome of treachery on the part of the Dutch, and of gross
+negligence on ours. But if they give us a day or two to prepare, we
+will, at least, give them something to do before they can carry out
+their design, and, if one could but rely on the sailors, we might
+even beat them off; but it is doubtful whether the knaves will fight.
+The forts are unfinished, though the money was voted for them three
+years since. And all this is not the worst of it, for, after they
+have taken Chatham, there is naught to prevent their coming up to
+London. We have had plague and we have had fire, and to be bombarded
+by the Dutchmen would be the crowning blow, and it would be like to
+bring about another revolution in England."
+
+They posted down to Chatham as fast as the horses could gallop. The
+instant the news had arrived, the Duke had sent off a man, on
+horseback, to order horses to be in readiness to change at each
+posting station. Not a minute, therefore, was lost. In a little over
+two hours from the time of leaving Whitehall, they drove into the
+dockyard.
+
+"Where is Sir Edward Spragge?" the Duke shouted, as he leapt from the
+carriage.
+
+"He has gone down to the new forts, your Grace," an officer replied.
+
+"Have a gig prepared at once, without the loss of a moment," the Duke
+said. "What is being done?" he asked another officer, as the first
+ran off.
+
+"Sir Edward has taken four frigates down to the narrow part of the
+river, sir, and preparations have been made for placing a great chain
+there. Several of the ships are being towed out into the river, and
+are to be sunk in the passage."
+
+"Any news of the Dutch having left Sheerness?"
+
+"No, sir; a shallop rowed up at noon, but was chased back again by
+one of our pinnaces."
+
+"That is better than I had hoped. Come, come, we shall make a fight
+for it yet," and he strode away towards the landing.
+
+"Shall I accompany you, sir?" Cyril asked.
+
+"Yes. There is nothing for you to do until we see exactly how things
+stand. I shall use you as my staff officer--that is, if you are
+willing, Sir Cyril. I have carried you off without asking whether you
+consented or no; but, knowing your spirit and quickness, I felt sure
+you would be of use."
+
+"I am at your service altogether," Cyril said, "and am glad indeed
+that your Grace encountered me, for I should have been truly sorry to
+have been idle at such a time."
+
+An eight-oared gig was already at the stairs, and they were rowed
+rapidly down the river. They stopped at Upnor Castle, and found that
+Major Scott, who was in command there, was hard at work mounting
+cannon and putting the place in a posture of defence.
+
+"You will have more men from London by to-morrow night, at the
+latest," the Duke said, "and powder and shot in abundance was sent
+off yesterday. We passed a train on our way down, and I told them to
+push on with all speed. As the Dutch have not moved yet, they cannot
+be here until the afternoon of to-morrow, and, like enough, will not
+attack until next day, for they must come slowly, or they will lose
+some of their ships on the sands. We will try to get up a battery
+opposite, so as to aid you with a cross fire. I am going down to see
+Sir Edward Spragge now."
+
+Taking their places in the boat again, they rowed round the horseshoe
+curve down to Gillingham, and then along to the spot where the
+frigates were moored. At the sharp bend lower down here the Duke
+found the Admiral, and they held a long consultation together. It was
+agreed that the chain should be placed somewhat higher up, where a
+lightly-armed battery on either side would afford some assistance,
+that behind the chain the three ships, the _Matthias_, the _Unity_,
+and the _Charles V._, all prizes taken from the Dutch, should be
+moored, and that the _Jonathan_ and _Fort of Honinggen_--also a
+Dutch prize--should be also posted there.
+
+Having arranged this, the Duke was rowed back to Chatham, there to
+see about getting some of the great ships removed from their moorings
+off Gillingham, up the river. To his fury, he found that, of all the
+eighteen hundred men employed in the yard, not more than half a dozen
+had remained at their work, the rest being, like all the townsmen,
+occupied in removing their goods in great haste. Even the frigates
+that were armed had but a third, at most, of their crews on board, so
+many having deserted owing to the backwardness of their pay.
+
+That night, Sir W. Coventry, Sir W. Penn, Lord Brounker, and other
+officers and officials of the Admiralty, came down from London. Some
+of these, especially Lord Brounker, had a hot time of it with the
+Duke, who rated them roundly for the state of things which prevailed,
+telling the latter that he was the main cause of all the misfortunes
+that might occur, owing to his having dismantled and disarmed all the
+great ships. In spite of the efforts of all these officers, but
+little could be done, owing to the want of hands, and to the refusal
+of the dockyard men, and most of the sailors, to do anything. A small
+battery of sandbags was, however, erected opposite Upnor, and a few
+guns placed in position there.
+
+Several ships were sunk in the channel above Upnor, and a few of
+those lying off Gillingham were towed up. Little help was sent down
+from London, for the efforts of the authorities were directed wholly
+to the defence of the Thames. The train-bands were all under arms,
+fire-ships were being fitted out and sent down to Gravesend, and
+batteries erected there and at Tilbury, while several ships were sunk
+in the channel.
+
+The Dutch remained at Sheerness from the 7th to the 12th, and had it
+not been for the misconduct of the men, Chatham could have been put
+into a good state for defence. As it was, but little could be
+effected; and when, on the 12th, the Dutch Fleet were seen coming up
+the river, the chances of successful resistance were small.
+
+The fight commenced by a Dutch frigate, commanded by Captain Brakell,
+advancing against the chain. Carried up by a strong tide and east
+wind the ship struck it with such force that it at once gave way. The
+English frigates, but weakly manned, could offer but slight
+resistance, and the _Jonathan_ was boarded and captured by Brakell.
+Following his frigate were a host of fire-ships, which at once
+grappled with the defenders. The _Matthias, Unity, Charles V._, and
+_Fort of Honinggen_ were speedily in flames. The light batteries on
+the shore were silenced by the guns of the Fleet, which then
+anchored. The next day, six of their men-of-war, with five
+fire-ships, advanced, exchanged broadsides, as they went along, with
+the _Royal Oak_ and presently engaged Upnor. They were received with
+so hot a fire from the Castle, and from the battery opposite, where
+Sir Edward Spragge had stationed himself, that, after a time, they
+gave up the design of ascending to the dockyard, which at that time
+occupied a position higher up the river than at present.
+
+The tide was beginning to slacken, and they doubtless feared that a
+number of fire-barges might be launched at them did they venture
+higher up. On the way back, they launched a fire-ship at the _Royal
+Oak_, which was commanded by Captain Douglas. The flames speedily
+communicated to the ship, and the crew took to the boats and rowed
+ashore. Captain Douglas refused to leave his vessel, and perished in
+the flames. The report given by the six men-of-war decided the Dutch
+not to attempt anything further against Chatham. On the 14th, they
+set fire to the hulks, the _Loyal London_ and the _Great James_,
+and carried off the hulk of the _Royal Charles_, after the English
+had twice tried to destroy her by fire. As this was the ship in which
+the Duke of Albemarle, then General Monk, had brought the King over
+to England from Holland, her capture was considered a special triumph
+for the Dutch and a special dishonour to us.
+
+The Duke of Albemarle had left Chatham before the Dutch came up. As
+the want of crews prevented his being of any use there, and he saw
+that Sir Edward Spragge would do all that was possible in defence of
+the place, he posted back to London, where his presence was urgently
+required, a complete panic reigning. Crowds assembled at Whitehall,
+and insulted the King and his ministers as the cause of the present
+misfortunes, while at Deptford and Wapping, the sailors and their
+wives paraded the streets, shouting that the ill-treatment of our
+sailors had brought these things about, and so hostile were their
+manifestations that the officials of the Admiralty scarce dared show
+themselves in the streets.
+
+Cyril had remained at Chatham, the Duke having recommended him to Sir
+Edward Spragge, and he, with some other gentlemen and a few sailors,
+had manned the battery opposite Upnor.
+
+The great proportion of the Dutch ships were still at the Nore, as it
+would have been dangerous to have hazarded so great a fleet in the
+narrow water of the Medway. As it was, two of their men-of-war, on
+the way back from Chatham, ran ashore, and had to be burnt. They had
+also six fire-ships burnt, and lost over a hundred and fifty men.
+
+Leaving Admiral Van Ness with part of the Fleet in the mouth of the
+Thames, De Ruyter sailed first for Harwich, where he attempted to
+land with sixteen hundred men in boats, supported by the guns of the
+Fleet. The boats, however, failed to effect a landing, being beaten
+off, with considerable loss, by the county Militia; and Ruyter then
+sailed for Portsmouth, where he also failed. He then went west to
+Torbay, where he was likewise repulsed, and then returned to the
+mouth of the Thames.
+
+On July 23rd, Van Ness, with twenty-five men-of-war, sailed up the
+Hope, where Sir Edward Spragge had now hoisted his flag on board a
+squadron of eighteen ships, of whom five were frigates and the rest
+fire-ships. A sharp engagement ensued, but the wind was very light,
+and the English, by towing their fire-ships, managed to lay them
+alongside the Dutch fire-ships, and destroyed twelve of these with a
+loss of only six English ships. But, the wind then rising, Sir Edward
+retired from the Hope to Gravesend, where he was protected by the
+guns at Tilbury.
+
+The next day, being joined by Sir Joseph Jordan, with a few small
+ships, he took the offensive, and destroyed the last fire-ship that
+the Dutch had left, and compelled the men-of-war to retire. Sir
+Edward followed them with his little squadron, and Van Ness, as he
+retired down the river, was met by five frigates and fourteen
+fire-ships from Harwich. These boldly attacked him. Two of the Dutch
+men-of-war narrowly escaped being burnt, another was forced ashore
+and greatly damaged, and the whole of the Dutch Fleet was compelled
+to bear away.
+
+While these events had been happening in the Thames, the negotiations
+at Breda had continued, and, just as the Dutch retreated, the news
+came that Peace had been signed. The Dutch, on their side, were
+satisfied with the success with which they had closed the war, while
+England was, at the moment, unable to continue it, and the King,
+seeing the intense unpopularity that had been excited against him by
+the affair at Chatham, was glad to ratify the Peace, especially as we
+thereby retained possession of several islands we had taken in the
+West Indies from the Dutch, and it was manifest that Spain was
+preparing to join the coalition of France and Holland against us.
+
+A Peace concluded under such circumstances was naturally but a short
+one. When the war was renewed, three years later, the French were in
+alliance with us, and, after several more desperate battles, in which
+no great advantages were gained on either side, the Dutch were so
+exhausted and impoverished by the loss of trade, that a final Peace
+was arranged on terms far more advantageous to us than those secured
+by the Treaty of 1667. The De Wittes, the authors of the previous
+wars, had both been killed in a popular tumult. The Prince of Orange
+was at the head of the State, and the fact that France and Spain were
+both hostile to Holland had reawakened the feeling of England in
+favour of the Protestant Republic, and the friendship between the two
+nations has never since been broken.
+
+Cyril took no part in the last war against the Dutch. He, like the
+majority of the nation, was opposed to it, and, although willing to
+give his life in defence of his country when attacked, felt it by no
+means his duty to do so when we were aiding the designs of France in
+crushing a brave enemy. Such was in fact the result of the war; for
+although peace was made on even terms, the wars of Holland with
+England and the ruin caused to her trade thereby, inflicted a blow
+upon the Republic from which she never recovered. From being the
+great rival of England, both on the sea and in her foreign commerce,
+her prosperity and power dwindled until she ceased altogether to be a
+factor in European affairs.
+
+After the Peace of Breda was signed, Cyril went down to Upmead,
+where, for the next four years, he devoted himself to the management
+of his estate. His friendship with Mr. Harvey grew closer and warmer,
+until the latter came to consider him in really the light of a son;
+and when he died, in 1681, it was found that his will was unaltered,
+and that, with the exception of legacies to many of his old employés
+at his factory, the whole of his property was left to Cyril. The
+latter received a good offer for the tanyard, and, upon an estate
+next to his own coming shortly afterwards into the market, he
+purchased it, and thus the Upmead estates became as extensive as they
+had been before the time of his ancestor, who had so seriously
+diminished them during the reign of Elizabeth.
+
+His friendship with the family of the Earl of Wisbech had remained
+unaltered, and he had every year paid them a visit, either at Wisbech
+or at Sevenoaks. A year after Mr. Harvey's death, he married Dorothy,
+who had previously refused several flattering offers.
+
+Captain Dave and his wife lived to a good old age. The business had
+largely increased, owing to the energy of their son-in-law, who had,
+with his wife and children, taken up his abode in the next house to
+theirs, which had been bought to meet the extension of their
+business. John Wilkes, at the death of Captain Dave, declined Cyril's
+pressing offer to make his home with him.
+
+"It would never do, Sir Cyril," he said. "I should be miserable out
+of the sight of ships, and without a place where I could meet
+seafaring men, and smoke my pipe, and listen to their yarns."
+
+He therefore remained with Frank Watson, nominally in charge of the
+stores, but doing, in fact, as little as he chose until, long past
+the allotted age of man, he passed quietly away.
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, WHEN LONDON BURNED ***
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