THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
Yule-Tide Yarns
" The quartermaster fired his two pistols, and the man fell.'
Page 181.
Yule-Tide Yarns
Edited by
G. A. Henty
With Forty-five Illustrations
Longmans, Green, and Co,
39 Paternoster Row, London
New York and Bombay
1899
All rights reserved
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CONTENTS
PAGE
CHATEAU AND SHIP. By G. A. HENTY i
Illustrated by GORDON BROWNE.
ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT. By JOHN BLOUNDELLE-BURTON . 54
Illustrated by ENOCH WARD.
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES. By W. C. WHISTLER ... 90
Illustrated by J. FINNEMORE.
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE." By Lieut-Col. PERCY GROVES . 123
Illustrated by J. B. GREENE.
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES. By ROBERT LEIGHTON . 160
Illustrated by W. S. STACEY.
A SOLDIER'S VOW. By DAVID KER 193
Illustrated by J. A. SYMINGTON.
IN LUCK'S WAY. BY FRED. WHISHAW 228
Illustrated by R. WHEELWRIGHT.
629939
viii CONTENTS
i A.. i
"SAMANA KAY." By HARRY COLLING WOOD 268
Illustrated by LANCELOT SPEED.
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT. By E. F. POLLARD ... 296
Illustrated by F. FEELER.
A JUNGLE DRAMA. By GEORGE MANVILLE FENK . . .332
Illustrated by LANCELOT SPEED.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
" The quartermaster fired his two pistols, and the man fell " Frontispiece
PAGE
"The two valets had at night carried off his body" . ... 4
" Lower your flag or I will sink you " 10
" It is I, Peter Vignerolles " 14
" Running forward, stepped into the water" 29
" Open the cover a little way to look at the compass " . .36
"At them, lads" 39
" We buried them at the spot that we agreed on " . . . .48
" Stab you under the shoulder in a dark alley " 61
" Kiss my hand do something lover-like" . 68
" I want your company " 74
" Fighting across the body of a third who lay prone and prostrate
with Giles' foot upon his body " 83
" This is the son of your king. I charge you with his care " . .96
" Master Peel," she cried ; the house is empty and all in disorder" 108
" I shouted, and tried to reach my dagger" 116
" I got a fair blow at him from aloft " 119
" Knocked him fairly off his legs " 131
" I shall try to stop them " 1 37
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
MCI
" Major Warrington ?" he said 146
" You are our prisoner " '55
" The sight and sounds that met him were such as he had never
before encountered " 167
" The woman shrank from him " 174
"The quartermaster fired his two pistols, and the man fell " . .180
"You have come back to your senses, eh ?" 189
" That hand no good cut thumb off" 198
"Jist tie my 'ands agin, will yer, Tom?" 203
"The two men met like conflicting whirlwinds" . . . -'5
"Is it ah'angel?" 222
" Kittle, who played a much stronger game " 230
" You may have a visit from the blackguards before the night's out '' 235
" The passing of a body of Mashona or Matabele warriors on the
warpath" 245
"Bruce felt impelled to look upon Uncle Ben's body once more
before leaving it " 255
"The lad picked up a stone to throw at the evil-looking creature" . 265
" Suddenly there arose a wild yell aloft of ' Man overboard ! '" .. 272
" Ned seemed to stumble or throw himself backwards over the gun-
wale of the boat " 285
" I met with nothing remarkable until I reached its farther
extremity" 291
" You'll know me when you next see me " ..... 305
"Good sport! good sport!" 310
" In a second he would have torn Lindsay to pieces" . . . 31 5
" He shall not be hanged " 323
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi
PAGE
" Hari Ram, if you make one step forward, I will shoot you like a
dog" 326
" They walked down to the bamboo landing-stage at the river-
side" 335
" Of course : we must go on " . . . . . . . . 343
" The butt of his double gun crashed against the side of the tyrant's
head" 361
" The girls dashed along the bank " 363
"Crack!" ... . 365
CHATEAU AND SHIP
A TALE OF THE TERROR
BY G. A. HENTY
THE Alert, a handsome schooner of some 200 tons
burden, was in April 1793 cruising along the
southern shore of France. She had been captured
a fortnight before by his Majesty's frigate Tartar, a week
after the declaration of war between France and England.
As she was a very fast vessel, the captain of the Tartar
had placed thirty men on board her, under the command
of his senior midshipman, Vignerolles, in order that he
might gather news of the movements of any hostile craft
from Toulon or Marseilles, and pick up any French mer-
chantmen returning from abroad and ignorant that war
had begun. The young commander was standing on the
quarter-deck with his glass fixed upon a large chateau
standing some four miles back from the sea on a lofty
eminence.
" The baron must be mad," he said, as he lowered
the glass, " to remain there with his wife and two
daughters, when he might long .ago have managed to
escape with them across the frontier into Italy. If he
is so pig-headed as to determine to stop there himself,
and have his head chopped off by the guillotine, he might
at least have sent them to a place of safety. I have been
brought up to admire the French nobles, but upon my
word, if they are all like him they well deserve the fate
that is falling upon them. Of course those who emigrate
A
2 CHATEAU AND SHIP
have their estates forfeited, hut it is a good deal better
to lose your estate than your estate and head abo."
Vignerolles belonged to an old Huguenot f;iiiiily
which had emigrated to England -upon the revocation of
the edict of Nantes. They had sold their property, and
possessed considerable means when they arrived in Eng-
land. Chiefly for the sake of as^ting the many exiles ot
their religion, they had joined two or three others in
erecting a silk manufactory at Spitallields. As time went
on, the heirs of those who had joined them m the enter-
prise had gone out of it, and the de Vignerolles of the time
had become sole proprietor of the silk factory. It had
gone down from father to son in unbroken succession.
The younger sons had gone out into the world and made
their wavs in other directions, but it had become a tradition
that the eldest son should take the biisme-s, which was
now a very flourishing one. They had dropped the French
prelix, and now simply called themselves Vignerolles.
Their branch of the family had been the younger one.
The Barons de Vignerolles had remained Catholics, and
had pos-M-sM/d their wide estates in peace, being among tin-
largest landowners m I'rovence. The connection between
the two branches had been always m. untamed, and from
time to time members of the English branch went out
for a visit to the ancestral chateau, where they were
always hospitably entertained ; the fact that they had
gone into trade, which would have been considered a
terrible disgrace in France, being condoned on the ground
that being among a nation of traders it was only natural
they should do as their neighbours did.
Once or twice only had members of the senior branch
paid a visit to London, and then not from any desire for
travel, but simply because they were members of their
embassy in London. These had brought back news that
the Vignerolles held a high place in the Huguenot colony,
that they lived in a fine old house at Hampstead, and
CHATEAU AND SHIP 3
were generally liked and respected among the great
families who lived near them.
The Tartar had for the last three years been on
the Mediterranean station. Although the English people
regarded with the utmost horror the events that were
taking place in France, there was no open breach between
the two nations, and it was only when the king was
brought to trial, and executed on 2ist January 1793, that
the popular feeling reached a height that rendered war
inevitable ; the French ambassador was ordered to leave
England, and on ist February the National Convention
declared war.
During the three previous years Vignerolles had twice
been granted a fortnight's leave of absence to visit the
chateau of his distant kinsman, and he had thoroughly
enjoyed his stay there. The midshipman was as strange
to the baron and his family as they were to him. The
baron was a typical specimen of French noble : he was
kindly by nature, and an easy lord to his tenants ; but
he exercised all the seigneurial rights of his ancestors,
regarded the lower class with supreme contempt, and
was an uncompromising opponent of the changes that
were being instituted by the States-general.
" They are ruining France ! " he exclaimed. " The
idea of a parliament of advocates and doctors, men of low
birth, giving laws to France, and treating the chambers
of the lords and clergy as if they were of no account,
is monstrous. Were I the king I would send down a
couple of regiments, close the chamber, and hang a score
of their leaders."
Still greater did his indignation become when he
heard of the capture of the Bastile, and that the king
had been brought by the mob from Versailles to Paris.
He himself at once posted off to the capital, and was
one of the party of nobles who had implored the
king to call upon the army to restore order, or at least
4 CHATEAU AND SHIP
to bring in two or three regiments to form a royal
guard. He was one of those who had fought to the
last against the mob when they stormed the Tuileries,
and had been left for dead. The two valets he had
taken with him had at night carried off his body, which
they were permitted to do by the mob, under the Ivlirt
" The two valets had at night carried off his tody."
that he was dead. He had, however, recovered, and find-
ing that the king had refused to countenance any attempt
to rescue him by force, had returned to his chateau. He
was no longer violent, but remained in a state of the most
profound depression, seldom speaking, and wandering
about the house murmuring, " Poor France, poor France!"
In vain his friends represented to him that the nobles
CHATEAU AND SHIP 5
were everywhere being seized, and that for the sake of
his wife and girls he ought to cross the frontier into
Italy while there was yet time. He only replied, " It
shall never be said that a de Vignerolles fled before this
canaille. They can murder us, but they cannot make
cowards of us." The baroness was a bright and kindly
woman, and her daughters charming girls, though with
some little of their father's pride of ancestry. The formal
service of the house, the strict etiquette, and what the
midshipman considered ridiculous pomposity, surprised
and amused him as much as did his utter disregard
of ceremony, his lively ways, merry and unrestrained
laughter, amuse his far-away cousins. The baron, who
might have been offended by it, paid no attention to what
was going on around him, and his presence acted rather
as a damper upon his visitor's high spirits ; but when
alone with the girls and their mother, he was free to say
and do what he liked, and they felt their life, which was
now an anxious one, brightened by his visits.
When Peter Vignerolles was appointed to the com-
mand of the newly captured schooner, the captain of the
Tartar said to him : " As senior midshipman I should in
any case have given you the command of the Alert, but I
know that you will be specially pleased to be in command
of her now. There can be no question that the position of
your friends at the chateau is a most precarious one, and
the 'baron himself must be mad to compel his family to
run such a frightful risk. If he likes to throw away his
own life, well and good ; but he has no right to expose
his family to such frightful dangers ; and he has not the
excuse of ignorance, for scores of noble ladies have been
murdered by this bloodthirsty mob. It may be that at
the last moment there will be a chance for them to
escape, and if you can in any way assist them to do so
without running too much risk, I think that you will be
justified in acting.
6 CHATEAU AND SHIP
" I do not authorise you to take any action, because I
know nothing of the circumstances; but our general in-
structions always have been to give shelter to French
royalists, and to carry them to the nearest port where they
can be landed with safety to themselves, and I certainly
should not myself hesitate to send a boat ashore to take them
off. You know the first time that you paid them a visit after
we came out here you brought the baroness and her two
daughters to see the frigate, and I feel therefore personally
interested in them, and shall be glad to hear that they
have made their escape ; so that if you get a me
saying that they will come down to the shore you will In-
more than justified in sending a boat for them, and even
in running a certain amount of risk. However, I must
leave the matter to your discretion."
"Thank you, sir ; but I am afraid that the baron will
neither take any step for his own safety, nor permit
them to leave the chateau without him ; still I shall do
anything that I possibly can to look after them."
" I shall send young Harding with you, and the boat-
swain's mate. If you capture any prizes you had best
turn the crews adrift in their own boats with a couple of
oars ; we don't want to cumber ourselves with prisoners.
You had better keep the prizes with you until we come
across you again ; in that case five men would be-
enough to man one of them, while if you were to send
them down to Gibraltar you would want a petty officer
and eight or ten men. Don't cumber yourself with worth-
less prizes, burn or sink any small craft ; but, of course, it
you get hold of a ship returning full of goods from one
of their colonies, she would be worth convoying there
at once."
And so Peter Vignerolles had sailed away in the Alert,
the crew being as pleased as he was at the prospect of an
expedition on their own account away from the frigate.
" It is disgusting isn't it, Peter?" Harding, who
CHATEAU AND SHIP 7
two years junior to Vignerolles, said, after he too had
taken a look at the chateau through the glass " to think
that your friends are there, and that the ' reds ' from Mar-
seilles may go up there any day and drag them off to
prison."
"The brutes !" Peter said savagely. " Look here, Hard-
ing ; I mean to land to-night and go up and see the ladies.
I shall not see the baron. I regard him as half-cracked,
and he would be just as likely as not to take it into his
head that now the two countries are at war, it would be
his duty to hand me over to the authorities. Besides, it is
just as well to keep him in the dark about it altogether. I
want to let them know that I am in command of this
schooner. Of course I am supposed to cruise generally
along the French coast ; but I intend to keep pretty close
here, of course running out to sea and picking up any
craft that are making for Marseilles or Cette. The Tartar
will be watching Toulon, and although my orders are for
general cruising, I know by what the captain said that he
will not be put out if I keep a good deal in this neighbour-
hood, where, indeed, I have a better chance of picking up
prizes than I should have if I went farther west. Anyhow, I
want to let them know that we are here, and shall be
ready to take them off if necessary. If they want to speak
to us, I shall tell the girls to hang out a red curtain from
their window ; if they want to come off, they are to hang
out a white one. We can make them out plainly enough
with a glass from here. Of course I cannot guarantee
that we shall be here when we are most needed, for no
doubt the gunboats from Cette and Marseilles will both be
patrolling the coast ; besides, we may be a hundred miles
away in pursuit of a prize. However, it will be a satisfac-
tion for me to know that I have done all that is possible,
and it may be some comfort to them to know that if they
can find their way down to the shore, and signal from there
when they see us, they will have a chance of escape."
8 CHATEAU AND SHIP
" Will you go in disguise ? "
" Yes. We took two or three suits of clothes from that
fishing-boat that we overhauled yesterday. I did so on
purpose. You see, if one was going on such a busino^
among what you might call civilised people, I should ,140
in uniform, for then if 1 were caught I should not be shot
as a spy; but among these ruffians the uniform would In-
no protection for me, and I shall therefore go in one of the
fishermen's suits. You see I speak French as well a^
English, and shall run very small risk. Of course 1 >hall
take a brace of pistols and a good heavy stick, and if any
one interferes with me they must take the con^equen
After proceeding a mile farther along the coast the
schooner's head was turned seaward, and she ran twenty
miles off the coast. Just as Vignerolle^ was about to
give the order to bring her head round again, the look-
out from the cross-trees shouted down, "A sail on the
weather-bow."
" What does she look like ?" Peter asked.
" 1 can't make her out yet, sir, her upper saiK are only
just up, but 1 should say that she was a large craft."
Peter gave the order to lower the top-sails. " \Ve had
better keep out of her sight as long a^ we can, Harding ;
she may be a French frigate or man-of-war making for
Toulon, and as she has the wind pretty nearly free, it
would be as well to give her a wide berth. If she i-> a
merchantman, we will sail out to meet her. It is not likely
that she has got news yet of war being declared, and she
won't suspect any harm until too late."
It wa^ s. une time before the man at the inaM-head
again hailed them.
"She is a three-masted ship, sir, but I don't fancy
from the cut of her sails that she is a ship of war."
"I will come up and have a look at her myself," IVtcr
said, and slinging his glass over his shoulder he made his
way aloft.
CHATEAU AND SHIP 9
" Yes, she is certainly a trader/' he said, after a long
look at her. " Let her go two points more off the wind.
Mr. Harding, we shall cross her course a little ahead of
her, and that will put Cette nearly dead astern of us, and
she will suppose that we have only just come out and are
making for Corsica."
The top-sails were hoisted again, and the schooner ran
along fast, for the breeze just suited her, being sufficiently
strong to carry all sail with comfort. They rose the other
ship fast. There was no longer any doubt whatever as to
her being a trader. They could presently make out that
she carried twelve guns, six on each side. Peter went to
the man at the wheel
" Keep her up a point," he said ; " we will pass a
couple of cable lengths under his stern."
In the meantime the guns had been loaded, and all
the crew save ten ordered to sit down under the shelter of
the bulwarks, so that those watching her should not see
that she carried more hands than the usual company of
a craft of her size. The manner in which the vessel kept
on her course without making any alteration in her sail
spread, showed that there was no suspicion whatever in the
minds of her officers that she was an enemy. The Alert
was flying the French flag.
" Get the ensign ready for hoisting," Peter said, when
within a quarter of a mile of the Frenchman. The course
had been accurately laid, and she crossed the trader's stern
at a distance of some ten lengths ; then the helm was put
up, the sheets eased off, and in half a minute she was
in the Frenchman's wake, laying her course north.
" Bring her up alongside of her to windward," Peter
ordered, at the same moment the tricolour was lowered
and the white ensign run up. The instant this was done
loud shouts were raised on board the Frenchman ; there
was a tramp of many feet, and it was evident that the
wildest confusion reigned. The Alert went so fast through
10
CHATEAU AND SHIP
the water that in three or four minute^ ->he was alongside.
Peter sprang on to the rail and shouted
" Lower your flag or I will sink you." The order
" Lower your flag or I will sink you."
was not obeyed. " Take her alongside," he said to the
helmsman ; and then to the crew, " Now, men, prepare
for boarding her." The sight of the thirty sailors armed
CHATEAU AND SHIP n
to the teeth completed the alarm on board the Frenchman,
and their flag came fluttering down just as the sailors
sprang on the deck. Numerically the French crew were
considerably stronger than the British, but they were
taken hopelessly by surprise. A few had caught up arms,
and the tarpaulins had been hastily dragged from the
guns, but the ammunition had not yet been brought on
deck.
" What is the meaning of this, sir ? " the French cap-
tain exclaimed, as Peter leapt down on to the deck.
" It means, sir, that there is a state of war between
England and France, and that you are my lawful prize."
The captain uttered a string of French oaths and dashed
his cap down on the deck in comic despair. " It is the
fortune of war, monsieur," Peter said quietly. " I have
no doubt that if you had been prepared you would
have offered a gallant resistance, but you see it has been
a complete surprise, and of course a very unpleasant one.
What ship is this ? "
"The Martinique, 800 tons burden, laden with coffee
and other colonial produce."
" Thank you, captain. She is a prize worth taking ;
she looks a new vessel."
" It is her first voyage," the captain said.
" How many hands do you carry ? "
" Forty-five all told, and, as you see, twelve guns. Ah,
monsieur, if we had had time to load and arm ourselves
you would have had a different reception."
" No doubt, no doubt ; but you see we sail three feet
to your two, which more than counterbalances the differ-
ence in strength, and it would have been a pity indeed
to have knocked such a fine ship about and to have killed
a good many of your men when it would have come to
the same thing at last. Now, I should like to have a look
at your papers."
The prize was indeed a valuable one, for although she
12 CHATEAU AND SHIP
had filled up at the French islands, she had previously
traded along the South American coast, and was laden
to her utmost capacity. The crew had been ordered into
the forecastle, and a heavy cable had been coiled against
the door.
"We will run in, Harding, to within ten or fifteen
miles of the land, then we will lay her to. It will be d;irk
by that time. I will leave you with twelve men in charge
of her. You will, of course, bring up ammunition and
load the guns. 1 shall run in and anchor as close as I can
to the land of course showing no lights and then make
my way up to the chateau. It will take me an hour to
go there and an hour to return. I may have some little
difficulty in getting speech with them, but certainly in two
hours I shall be on my way back. With this wind I
ought to get ashore by half-past eight, and by half-past
twelve shall be on board again. Show no lights till two
o'clock, and then hoist one above another. I shall know
by looking at the list the captain gave me, win-re the Tartar
is likely to be to-morrow, and shall make straight for her,
and cruise about until she comes up. The ship and her
contents are worth, I should say, from twenty to twenty-
five thousand pounds. 1 shall hand her over to the
Tartar, and let them put a prize crew in her. It would
never do to weaken ourselves by sending ten or twelve
men in her to Gib. No doubt the Tartar will convoy
her till she is off the coast of Spain."
Consulting the list that his captain had given him, he
found that the Tartar was to put in for fresh provisions at
Genoa, and intended to be back on the following day and
take up her station outside the southernmost of the Isles
of Hyeres.
" It could not be better," he said to Harding. " I
doubt with this wind whether she will be there, but we
shall only have to keep on east till we meet her."
"Then you won't land the prisoners to-night?"
-" It is I, Peter Vigncrolles.
CHATEAU AND SHIP 15
" No ; they would make their way to Marseilles, and it
would soon be known that this schooner is English, of
which at present they must be in doubt, as we have always
kept the French flag flying. If we don't fall in with the
Tartar to-morrow we will land them east of Toulon ; the
authorities there are not so likely to worry themselves over
a merchantman being captured as they are at Marseilles."
This arrangement was carried out, and it was just
half-past eight when the Alert dropped anchor half a mile
off the shore, and repeating his order that no lights
should be shown, Peter was rowed ashore by eight well-
armed sailors.
" Lie off a couple of hundred yards till you hear my
call. You had better drop your grapnel, or you will
drift along and have to keep on rowing, and I might have
a difficulty in finding you."
When within thirty yards of the shore they stopped
and listened for a minute or two. No sound was heard,
and rowing ashore, Peter leapt out. There was no
moon, but the stars were bright, and he had no diffi-
culty in keeping his course towards the chateau.
He was anxious to be back on board again, and on
striking a road broke into a run, and in three-quarters
of an hour stood outside the house. There were lights
in the window of the room in which the girls slept, and
taking a handful of small stones he threw them up against
the casement. He saw a figure appear and then go away
again. He threw up a second shower of pebbles, and
two figures now came to the window and opened it.
" It is I, Peter Vignerolles," he said ; " I want urgently
to speak to you."
There were two exclamations of surprise ; then the
eldest of the girls leaned out. "We will come down in
ten minutes. Go to the window of the dining-room. We
cannot come until we are sure that every one has retired
to bed."
16 CHATEAU AND SHIP
" All right," he said ; " only don't be longer than you
can help ; I have a boat waiting to take me oft again."
In a few minutes the window, which extended down to
the ground, opened, and the two girls stepped out.
"Isn't it very dangerous your landing, Peter," the
younger one said, "now that your people are at war
with us ? "
"That is to say, at war with your enemies, Julie. No,
I don't think that there is any danger in it. Did you
notice a schooner coming along the coast at ten o'clock
this morning ?"
"Yes," the girls answered together, "a I'Yench
schooner."
"Well, she was French, but just at present she is
British, and is tender to the Tartar, and I am in command
of her. Now what I have come ashore for is to arrange
for you to make signals to us if you want either to see me
or to come on board with your mother. 1 know that it is
hopeless to expect your father to accompany you."
"There is no hope of that," she said. "Since the
king's murder he has been worse than ever. I do think
that he is going out of his mind. Nothing would induce
him to fly. He has armed all the servants, and declares
that he will defend the chateau till the la-t. "
" It is most unfortunate, Julie, for only one end can
come of it ; the place is not defensible for a moment. I
suppose that there is no hope of persuading your mother
and you to come at once."
"Not in the least, and we would not ask her," the
elder girl replied. "We are de Vignerolles too, and if
our father thinks it right to remain here, we shall cer-
tainly do so. We can die as hundreds of other noble
ladies have done."
"Well, as long as your father is here I suppose you
cannot leave, but if the ' reds ' come there is no reason
why you and your mother should not fly ; throwing away
CHATEAU AND SHIP 17
your lives will benefit neither France nor your house.
When this chateau is once taken, and your father a
prisoner, there would be no common-sense in your
hesitating about making your escape if there were an
opportunity of doing so."
" No ; then we would escape if we could ; but once in
the hands of the ' reds,' there will be little chance of that."
" Well, that would be my business. At any rate I
want you to arrange signals. We can see the window of
your room from the sea. I shall be cruising backwards
and forwards ; sometimes I may be away for two or three
days, because I have to attend to my duty. At any rate
I want you to hang out a red curtain when you see us
come along, if you wish to see me, and to hang out a
white curtain as a signal that these scoundrels are
approaching the chateau or have taken it. If I see the
white curtain I shall be pretty sure that you will already
be prisoners in their hands. Then of course I shall be
guided by circumstances. But my advice and my earnest
prayer is, that if the 'reds' are coming, and your father
still persists in his mad idea of defending the house, you
and your mother should have disguises ready, and, after
having hung out the signal, slip out and conceal your-
selves until they have gone. Another thing : I should
advise your mother at once to pack up all the family
jewels, and the title-deeds, and other valuables, and that
you should bury them in the shrubbery without loss of
time ; then we could dig them up later, and they will
come in useful to you indeed should you escape to Eng-
land. It would be a good thing for you to fix upon the
spot where you will bury them now, so that I may be able
to come for them without its being necessary for one of
you to act as a guide to the place."
" I think that is a very good plan," Melanie said.
" Even if we are carried away and murdered, it would
be a satisfaction to us to know that our jewels and you
B
i8 CHATEAU AND SHIP
know that they are very valuable have not fallen into the
hands of these wretches, but that they will still be the
property of one of our family."
" You didn't think, Melanie," Peter said, in a tone of
pain, " that I ever dreamt of such a tiling when I made
the suggestion."
"Of course not," the girl said indignantly. "How
could you fancy such a monstrous thing! Of course
you were only thinking of us ; but at the same turn- what
I say is true, that we should all be very glad to know
that these canaille have not got the de Vignerolles jewels.
Now let us choose a pla
They went out into the shrubbery at the side of the
house, and fixed upon a spot within lorty or fifty paces of
the trunk of a large tree.
" We will bury the things here."
" Do it at night, Melanie."
"Certainly ; we will come. down, as we have- done now,
when the house is all asleep. \Ve will get a shovel
during the day, and hide it in readiness. We won't forget
the signals. Of course we shall not want to si-r you
unless, which is not likely, our father consents to K-.ive
the country with us."
" I fear that is hopeless indeed, Melanie ; still there
is a possibility ; and if I see the signal you may be sure
that 1 shall be up here the same evening."
They had by this time returned to the window. " I
must be off now," he said ; "we have captured a valuable
prize to-day, and I shall be anxious about her safety until
we are alongside of her again. Keep a sharp look-out for
us. W T hen I do come I shall try to pass along the coast
here between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning, ->o that
you will know when to look out for me. (lod Ness you
both. I wish that I could .L;et a month's have and stay
here; then 1 could make pretty sure of saving you and
your mother."
CHATEAU AND SHIP 19
" Good-bye, Peter. If we never see you again we
shall remember to the last how kind you were and how
you did your best to save us."
He kissed them both for the first time, and as he knew,
perhaps for the last. He then, as they closed the window,
turned and ran hastily away, with his cheeks wet with
tears. He had been gone little over two hours when he
again reached the shore and hailed the boat. Two men
were on watch, and the rest, who were stretched in the
bottom, at once scrambled up. The grapnel was speedily
hauled in and the boat rowed to shore. Peter jumped in.
" Back all," he said ; " now pull bow and three, then
lay out, for I want to be on board as soon as I can."
" We were not expecting you back so soon, sir," the
man who was rowing the stroke oar said apologetically,
" or else we should all have been on the look-out."
" No ; I have been fortunate, and have not been more
than half the time I expected to be."
As soon as he was on board, the anchor was run up
to the bow, the sails hoisted, and the Alert was under way
again. Peter went to the wheel.
" Be very careful with your steering," he said ; " the
course is south-east by south, a half south. They will
not have shown her lights by the time we get there, so we
must mind that we don't miss her."
When he judged that they were within a couple of
miles of the barque, the same signal was hoisted that the
latter was to have shown, and a minute later two lights
appeared straight ahead of them, and they presently heard
the clank of the windlass.
" Nothing happened, Mr. Harding ? "
" No, sir, all has been quiet. The prisoners have tried
the door once or twice, and I had to threaten to fire
through it ; since then they have been quiet. We made
you out just before you showed your lights, and it was a
relief when you did so ; for although you were coming
20 CHATEAU AND SHIP
from the right direction it might have been an enemy, and
I had just told the men to stand to quarters."
" Quite right ; and now is your anchor up ? "
" Yes, it is at the cat-head, sir."
" Well, get sail on her as quickly as you can, and then
steer east by south. I will keep near you. You may as
well show a light at your stern."
Ten minutes later the vessels were both on the course
given, and the schooner under reduced sail following the
prize. By twelve o'clock the next day they were off
Toulon, with the Isles of Hyeres ahead of them. When
off the most southern of these they lay to. The wind was
now very light, and they had during the List half-hour
made but little way through the water.
"They are signalling on that island," Harding said.
"Yes, I see they are, Harding. If I had known
that the wind was going to drop so light I would have
kept farther off . The worst of it is, that what tide there is,
has just turned against us, and the wind is dropping everv
minute. In half-an-hour it will be a st.uk calm, and I
should not be surprised if they send gunboats out from
Toulon when they hear that a schooner and a barque, tin-
latter probably a prize, are lying here becalmed. If BO,
we shall have to fight for it. Johnson, take mv ijlass, and
go up to the mast-head and see if you can make out tlu
Tartar:'
" I can see the top-sails of a squ.ire-rii^ed craft st.nie
twenty miles away, sir; I have no doubt that it is the
Tartar:'
" Is there any sign of wind ? "
"No, sir, there does not seem to be a cat's-paw on
the water anywheres."
"This is an awkward place to be becalmed, Harding,"
Peter said to the midshipman, who had just rowed on
board from the barque. "If it were not for the pn/e we
might get all the men in the boats and tow the schooner.
CHATEAU AND SHIP 21
We could get two and a half knots out of her, I should
say, with the three boats ahead, but we can't tow her and
the barque too ; and I don't suppose that all hands would
take that craft through the water more than a knot an
hour, and divided between us the gain would be so little
that it would not be worth while fatiguing the men. There
is one thing, it is- some thirty miles from where we are
lying to Toulon, and as likely as not the naval people
there won't think it worth while to send a gunboat out
here when a breeze may spring up before they are half-way
out. It is not as if it were in summer, when a calm will
last for a week. Before an hour has passed we may have
the wind coming down from the north with strength
enough to take our mast out of us. No, I should say
that the chances are that they will leave us alone, unless
there happens to be a gunboat or two lying somewhere
in shelter among these islands."
Half-an-hour later the look-out at the mast-head
hailed again
" It seems to me that there is a dark line coming
across the water from the north, sir, and some fishing-
boats close in shore have just lowered some of their sails."
" You had better go on board again at once, Harding ;
take five more men with you ; we can manage very well
with fifteen here. Get her royals and topgallant-sails
furled, and it will be as well if you take a reef in your
top-sails too. These squalls come down desperately hard,
though they don't last long. We will keep together. If
by any chance we get separated, make for Genoa that is,
if you cannot join the Tartar. However, I hope that it is
not going to blow as hard as all that. I want to hand
her over as soon as I can."
Five men were ordered into the boat, and in a couple
of minutes they were on board the barque, which was
lying only a few lengths away. Sail was shortened on
board both vessels, and in a quarter of an hour they
22 CHATEAU AND SHIP
were under very reduced canvas. Peter ran up the
ratlines for some distance.
" It is coming along like a racehorse, Mr. Harding,"
he shouted. " You had better put two or three men in ;i
boat alongside, and get her head round, so that it will
take her aft."
The vessels were still becalmed, and although the
white line of water mM -till a mile .i\vav, tin- ^mnd o!
the ripple was plainly perceptible. The Mjlu HURT'S head
was also taken round, and both craft were ready for the
squall when it struck them. It was well that they had
been got round in time, for lying motionless they might
have been capsized before they could get way on them,
had they been caught broadside to the wind. As it v.
both were driven down until the water almost came over
the bows ; then as they gathered way they sprang forward.
" I don't think that it is going to last long, Jamieson,"
Peter said to the gunner's mate.
" No, I don't think so, sir ; these squalls which begin
so hard generally blow themselves out in half-an-hour, or
else settle down into a steady breeze."
After running for half-an-hour the squall had so far
abated that they were put on their course again, and ran
rapidly down to the frigate, the wind dropping gradually,
until when within a mile of the Tartar, which was still lying
becalmed, it left them altogether. Peter ordered eight
men into the cutter with the tow-rope, Harding did the
same, and after an hour's rowing the craft were within
hailing distance of the Tartar. Peter got into the boat
and was rowed on board.
" So you have taken a prize I see, Mr. Vignerolles," the
captain said.
" Yes, sir, and she is a valuable one ; she is loaded with
colonial products, coffee, sugar, tobacco, and so on. I
thought that I had better bring her straight to you, for I
should have weakened my crew too much if I had sent
CHATEAU AND SHIP 23
her down to Gibraltar. I have brought her manifest on
board. She is a new vessel, and carries twelve guns. We
took her by surprise without a blow being struck. This
is the report of her capture," and he handed the document
that he had written out, together with the ship's papers, to
the captain. The latter glanced down both papers.
" Very smartly done, Mr. Vignerolles, the surprise was
very well managed ; for had they had a suspicion that you
were an enemy, it might have cost you some hard fighting
before you took her, as her guns are heavier than yours
are, and her crew stronger ; besides, you might have
knocked her about, and as she is a new vessel that would
have been a pity. She is a very valuable prize. I sup-
pose you want me to take her in charge, and to let you
have your crew again ? "
" If you please, sir ; we are not very strong-handed
now, and if I had to put men on board another prize I
should be quite crippled even now I can hardly work
all my guns."
The captain smiled. " That is to say that you would
like ten more men, Mr. Vignerolles ? "
" I should indeed, sir, if you would be kind enough to
give them to me."
" Well, as you have brought us in a prize worth, I
should say at least, twenty thousand pounds, I think that
I must let you have them. How about your prisoners ?"
" They are shut up in the fo'castle, sir ; we have a heavy
coil of rope against the door. Mr. Harding tells me that
they have tried to break out twice, and that he has had to
threaten to fire upon them."
" We will take charge of them."
The master and mate with fifteen men were at once
sent~on board the prize. Harding with his crew returned
to the schooner, and ten more men from the frigate were
sent on board her. Then the Alert dipped her ensign and
laid her course west ; while the frigate, escorting the
24 CHATEAU AND SHIP
pri/e, headed south-west, as the captain intended to see her
well past the French coast before he left her ; for although
no French men-of-war had, M> far as IK- had learned, put
out from Toulon, it was certain that French privateer^
would very soon be fitted out to prey upon British
commerce. The breeze had sprung up again, and the
schooner, slipping fast through the water, soon drew away
from the others. A large ship was seen coming out from
Toulon, but the Alert, .sailing much taster, soon lost sight
of her. Four days later, returning from the westward,
the Alert, rounding a headland, came in sight of the
chateau. Peter uttered an exclamation as his eye tell
upon her, and he caught up the gL
"Good Heavens, Harding, the chateau is on lire, there
is smoke pouring out of two of the lower window,
and Yes, I can make out a white sheet or some-
thing outside the window where the signal was to be
shown. I am afraid the chateau is in the hands of those
ruffians of Marseilles. No doubt, directly they were si-en
coming the girls hung it out, though they would know
that we should not be along here until eleven o'clock.
Probably the place was taken some hours ago. You
may be sure that the scoundrels would not set it on
fire until they had sacked it from top to bottom. Tin-
only chance is that they may be hiding somewhere near
the shore."
He threw the schooner up into the wind, and for an
hour she lay there while the two midshipmen examined
every stone and tree near the water through their glasses,
but without seeing the slightest sign of any one hiding
there.
"It is no use waiting any longer," IVter said at last.
" If they had escaped before the place was taken they
would have been here long ago, and would, of course,
have signalled as soon as they saw us. We will make
straight out to sea for the present, we can do nothing
CHATEAU AND SHIP 25
until it gets dark. I don't know, though. Put her head to
the west again ; I must go and see what is going on up
there, and must run the risk of being caught. There is a
battery in the next bay, and two or three villages farther on,
so I must go at once. Get a boat down with four hands
in it, while I run down and put on that fishing suit again.
As soon as you pick the boat up make out to sea, and be
here again at seven. Don't send the boat ashore unless
you see me come down to the water's edge. If I am not
there, stand off again, and come back two hours later ; I
may be detained. If I am not there then, come back at
ten o'clock and send a boat in. Unless I come off then,
you will know that I have got into some sort of mess.
Cruise along as usual, and don't come back till evening
the day after to-morrow. Then if I am not there, you
had better find the Tartar, tell the captain that I went
on shore to see if I could get my friends out of the
hands of these scoundrels, and that as I have not returned
I must certainly have been taken prisoner."
He ran down below and hastily put on his disguise,
hid two brace of pistols under the blouse, and went up
again. The boat was already alongside. Harding was
examining the shore with his glass.
" I don't see a soul moving, sir."
" Throw her up into the wind at once ; if you go any
farther they will make us out from the fort beyond the
headland."
The sailors were armed with pistols and cutlasses.
" Now, lads, take me ashore as quickly as you can, so that
I can get well into the wood before any one who happens
to see the boat come off can get there."
The sailors rowed at racing speed to the shore. All
was still quiet. Peter jumped on to the beach, bidding
the men row back as fast as they could ; then he started
at a quick run through the wood. When he approached
the chateau he saw a crowd of some four or five hundred
26 CHATEAU AND SHIP
men in front of him. All were armed, some with muskets,
others with pikes, while some carried swords. Casks of
wine had been brought up from tin- cellars, and half-a-
dozen of these had been broached, and the men wen-
gathered thickly round them.
"Drink away, you brutes," Peter muttered to him*elt.
"I wish I could drop a couple of handful* nf ar^eim
into each of those barrels not many of you would get
back to Marseilles."
As Peter could speak French as well as Kn^li>h he
had no fear of his disguise being .suspected, and he
sauntered up boldly to the crowd. No one paid any
attention to him. It was natural enough that fishermen,
seeing the flames which were now pouring out from
almost every window in the house, should come up and
see what was going on. Very many of the crowd were
already showing signs that their draughts had been deep
ones. They were shouting out scraps of the revolutionary
songs; some were howling, "Death to the aristocrats!"
In front of the principal entrance a pike was stuck up
with a head upon it. Peter strolled towards it, and,
as he had feared, soon recognised the features of the
baron. Passing by, he came to the entrance ; a dozen
dead bodies were lying there. It was evident that the
baron had, as he said he would, defended it with his
servants, and that all had fallen, but not until they had
killed at least an equal number of their assailant*.
Looking about he saw a small group of men standing
apart from the house. He directed his steps in that
direction, and saw sitting on the ground in their midst
the baroness and her two daughters. One of the men
who were guarding them came up to him.
" Have you just come up from the sea, comrade ?"
" Yes ; we were in our boat and saw the flames, so I
landed to see what was the matter."
" You see the tyrant is dead. He has saved the
CHATEAU AND SHIP 27
guillotine trouble. As for the women, justice will be
done on them."
" No doubt, no doubt," Peter said ; " but aristocrats
though they are, they were kind to tenants on their estate."
" Bah ! when every sou had been wrung from them
they flung a few back. What goodness was there in that?
The aristocrats must be stamped out root and branch ;
they have fattened too long on the people."
" Yes, the de Vignerolles have been here a long
time hundreds of years they say."
" Yes ; think of that, draining the life-blood of France
for hundreds of years. However, it is our turn now.
Well, by to-morrow morning they will be lodged in the
prison, to-morrow they will be tried, and the next
morning the guillotine will have the last word with them
we don't waste time with these people. Go over there
and get a drink they have got wine, the nobles have,
while we who tend the vines are obliged to drink water."
"When will you start, comrade?"
" Not for three or four hours yet. We left Marseilles
at midnight, and had well-nigh twenty miles to march,
and the men must have a rest before they go back."
Peter had now learned all that he wanted to know ;
but he felt that it were better that he should linger for
a while, so he sauntered across to one of the groups.
A cup of wine was held out to him by one of the men
who had installed himself as server.
" Drink death to all tyrants, my friend," he said.
" That will I heartily. l Death to all tyrants,' " and he
drank off the wine.
" You will soon be on board a ship righting the
English," the Frenchman said. "There was an order
yesterday that all fishermen were to repair at once to
Toulon to man the ships there."
" We have not received it yet," Peter said ; " but I
for one shall not be sorry to be on the deck of one of the
28 CHATEAU AND SHIP
ships of war now at Toulon. Fishing is all very well, but
that will soon be spoiled if the English war vessels come
cruising along the coast; besides, now all the aristocrats
are being killed, we shall get but poor prices for our fish."
He remained for another half-hour watching what
was going on. There was scarce one of the crowd that
had not some portion of the booty about him ; costlv
curtains, rich hangings, and even ladies' drc rs wen
wrapped round and round their bodies, or tied up ><> a>
to form scarves over their shoulders. Some had made
up bundles to be carried on their muskets. One ruffian
was swaggering along with the Haron's hat on his he.nl.
Many had already lain down on the gras> to sleep off tin-
effects of the wine and the fatigue of their ni^ht march.
One party of men, more drunk than others, had joined
hand-in-hand, and were dancing round the pike on which
was the baron's head, singing a a ira. Peter's fingers
itched to grasp his pistols, but he restrained his fury
until he reached the farthest group, and then walked at
a leisurely pace away into the shrubbery.
As soon as he was out of sight he dashed off, and did
not pause until he reached the shore. The schooner \\ i
a mile away, heading straight in. Glancing to the right,
he saw a party of soldiers marching along the beach.
They evidently came from the fort beyond the headland,
and were about three or four hundred yards away from
him. As he stopped they halted, and were evidently
watching the schooner. Without hesitation he threw off
his blouse and fisherman's boots, threw down his pa-
tois, and, running forward, stepped into the water. He
went easily for some twenty yards when he heard a shout
and knew that he was seen. He now swam his hardest,
and by the time the soldiers came up, was sixty or
seventy yards from shore. They at once opened fire ;
but he dived and swam straight on under water, coming
up occasionally to breathe, and then diving again until
CHATEAU AND SHIP 31
he was a couple of hundred yards out, and beyond the
reach of any chance ball. The schooner was now thrown
up into the wind, and a boat had been lowered, and was
rowing towards him. The schooner was, as usual, flying
the French flag. In a few minutes the boat came up
and took him in.
" That was a close shave," he said to the cockswain ;
" if I had not swam out you would never have been able
to take me off."
" We made them out, sir, and thinking, I suppose,
that you could not get off nohow while they were there,
Mr. Harding had given the word to go about, when we
saw you run out and take to the water. We were not
long in getting the boat down and starting, you may
be sure."
" What is the news, Peter ? " Harding asked, as he
stepped on to the deck.
" Just what I expected, Harding. The villains have
murdered the baron and taken the ladies prisoners, and
they are going to march with them to Marseilles this
afternoon. The scoundrels were drinking heavily, and
I don't think they will move until five o'clock, then
I expect there will be a good many left behind. We
will stand out to sea now. We daren't land till dusk,
for you may be sure those soldiers who were firing at
me will be watching us. I expect they don't know
what to make of it. No doubt they have had their eye
on the schooner for the last week, and I should think
that they have' put us down as a privateer from Marseilles
or Toulon. I hope they will think that I was one of
the crew who had been landed to see what was going
on at the chateau, though it will puzzle them, why in
that case I risked being shot.
" Yes, that is certain to rouse their suspicions."
" Well, we will keep right out, and run in after it gets
dark, seven or eight miles along the coast land, and take
32 CHATEAU AND SHIP
post on the road from the chateau to Marseilles. As I have
ridden over it two or three times I know it pretty well, and
there is one point where it comes within a mile of the SIM.
It is pretty well dark by seven o'clock, and even if they start
at five and 1 don't think that there is much chance of
that we shall he there before they come along, for they
won't be able to go more than two and a half, or at most
three miles, an hour."
" 1 wish 1 could go with you, Peter?"
" I wish you could, but you see you must remain on
board. It would never do to leave the ship without an
officer ; besides, I may want your guns to cover out retreat.
1 have no fear of being able to rescue the ladies by a
sudden attack, but the brutes will no doubt follow us up
closely. I shall leave the boats when a good mile oil
shore ; but you must come in as C!CM as von can. Keep
the lead going, and anchor with only a foot or two of water
under your keel ; what tide there is will be rising. When
we get to the edge of the steep ground going down to the
beach I shall send half the men down with the ladies to
get into the boats, and to stand ready to push them off. 1
will take a blue light with me, and will tire it, and drop it
as soon as we make our rush down. Then you uill In-
able to make them out, and open with grape over our
heads. Perhaps the first shot or two had better be with
ball, grape are apt to scatter too much ; but as soon as we
are fairly away from the shore you can give them scrape.
" How many men will you take with you ?"
"Thirty; it was for that that I got the extra ten hands
from the captain. There are three or four hundred < if them,
and about half their number have got muskets. I don't
expect that they will be in a condition to shoot very
straight ; but half-drunk as most of them will be, they mav
try to rush us, and thirty men won't be any too many.
The men were presently told off for the work, and as
soon as they learned that it was to be a landing party they
CHATEAU AND SHIP 33
set to cleaning muskets and pistols, and getting a sharper
edge put on their cutlasses. The general idea was that they
were going to storm a battery, and perhaps cut out some
craft of which the captain might have heard when he was
ashore. Every hand was required, and the cook and
steward were both to go with the landing party, and, with
two seamen, were to act as boat-keepers when the others
landed, and in this way Harding would have ten men all
capable of working the guns left with him. When the
Alert's head was again turned towards shore, Peter called
the men aft.
" Now, lads," he said, " you are going on an expedi-
tion which as British sailors you will, I know, like. The
ruffians from Marseilles have burned that chateau you
saw in flames, they have murdered its owner, and they
are taking back with them his wife and two daughters,
and of a certainty these will share the fate that has
befallen so many other ladies of noble families. Now,
my men, my object in going ashore is to rescue these
three ladies from the hands of these blood-stained
villains. There are something like three hundred of these
fellows ; but as the best part of them will be more or less
drunk, I don't think the odds are too great for you, espe-
cially as we shall have the advantage of a surprise, and
shall be able to carry off the ladies before they can rally ;
but we may expect some hard fighting on our way back.
" The spot where we shall attack them will be about a
mile from the shore, and no doubt they will try pretty hard
to arrest our progress. We must keep together without
straggling, loading as we retire, and turning and giving them
a volley from time to time. If they make a rush upon us,
sling your muskets behind your backs, and go at them
with cutlass and pistol. The great thing will be to ensure
that we do not miss our way as we come back. We will
take eight lanterns with us, and put one down at each
gate or opening as we go along, so that we shall only
C
34 CHATEAU AND SHIP
have to follow the line of lights. On our return, Mr.
Jamieson, you with four men will act as a special guard
to the ladies ; you will keep some twenty yards ahead of
us as we fall back, halting when we halt, and closing up
to us if they get between us and the shore.
" I hope that they won't do this ; they will be taken so
much by surprise that we shall get a considerable start
before they can get under way to pursue us, and as, ot
course, we shall go at the double, we may be half-wav
before they will be near enough to make any serious
attack on us. We shall take six stretchers with us ; the
ladies will be utterly worn out after the fatigues of such a
terrible day, and possibly one or all of them will need
to be carried. At any rate, we shall want stretchers in <.
any are wounded ; we must not allow anyone to fall alive
into the hands of these bloodthirsty scoundrels. Now, my
lads, you know what you have got to do, and how you
have to do it. I know that there is not one of you who
will not be glad to have a chance at once of saving the lives
ol these ladies, and of striking a Mow at the men who have
been murdering their fellow-countrymen and women by
thousands. As to you who remain on board ship, you will
have your share in the affair : it will he your duty to
cover us with the fire of the guns as we come down to
the boats, and it may possibly be that one of the gunboats
from Marseilles will come along while we are away, and
in that case you will have harder work than we -hall."
A cheer broke from the whole of the men, for tho->e
who had before been greatly disappointed that they wen
not to take part in the expedition, were satisfied now
that they learned that they would not be altogether idle.
Fortunately there was a haze on the water as tin -un
went down, and they were therefore able to approach tin-
shore earlier than Peter had expected, and sounding care-
fully as they went, they dropped anchor some two hundred
yards from the shore an hour after sunset. The greater
CHATEAU AND SHIP 35
part of the sails had already been lowered, but had not
been stowed, so that they could be hoisted at the shortest
notice ; the boats had been lowered, in order not only to
save time, but because the sound of the tackle might be
heard by any one on shore.
" Take your places quietly in the boats," Peter said.
" Let the men told off to carry the lanterns and
stretchers get in first." Then when all the men had taken
their places in the boat, he turned to his comrade
" Remember, Harding, if the gunboat should unfor-
tunately come along, you must fight at anchor. You
have got a good stock of hand-grenades if they should try
and board you by boats ; and as they won't know how
weak your crew is, it will be a case of big guns for some
time. If the worst comes to the worst, and should they
lay her alongside and board you, we shall do our best to
recapture you. The wind is very light now, and even if
they tried to tow you off, we should be able to overtake
you. I hope it won't come to that, but it is just as well to
arrange for all contingencies. Don't show a light on any
account unless you find that you are getting the worst of
it, then hang one over the stern in order that we may be
able to follow when they get up sail."
So saying, he stepped down the accommodation ladder,
and took his place in the stern-sheets of the largest boat.
" Row on," he said, " but be as quiet as you can."
The oars had all been muffled, and the men rowed so
silently that scarce a sound was heard. " Easy all," Peter
ordered when they were within twenty yards of shore, " the
way will carry us in. Keep a sharp look-out in the bow,
there may be rocks sticking up anywhere ; we don't know
what the coast is like." No obstacles were met with, and
the boats ran quietly on to the sand.
" Keep them some fifty yards off," Peter said to
the four men who were to remain, two in each boat.
" If you hear any one coming along the shore, lie down,
3 6
CHATEAU AND SHIP
and don't make any answer if they hail you. Row neau-r
in as soon as you hear us coming, but don't come in dis-
till we run down; they will know that we must have onm
from boats, and some of them may run on ahead to cap-
ture them before we arrive."
The ground rose somewhat steeply for fifty yards.
On reaching the level a lantern was placed there, then the
" Open the cover a little way to look at the compass."
men formed fours and marched along. Peter, who eai i u d
with him a compass, went ahead. The lanterns wen- all in
canvas covers to prevent their being seen until wanted, and
a man carrying one walked by the side of Peter, so that
he could occasionally open the cover a little way to look at
the compass. From time to time the cover was removed
from a lantern, and it was left on the ground. After
twenty minutes' walking they arrived at the road. There
CHATEAU AND SHIP 37
was no wall or hedge, and they kept along it until they
came to a small copse. It was an hour before any
sound was heard, and Peter began to get very anxious
lest the " reds " should have gone past before he arrived.
At last far away along the road they saw a dull glow, and
in another ten minutes made out a number of lights.
" They have got torches and lanterns," he said to
Jamieson, who was standing next to him. " Now, my lads,
all crouch or kneel down as you like. You have got your
muskets slung behind you ? "
" Ay, ay, sir," ran along the line.
" Remember not a shot is to be fired until the ladies are
in our hands. I shall pass the word along quietly. Get
through the bushes as noiselessly as you can. When I say
' Now' make a rush at them, and use your cutlasses as freely
as you like. The moment Jamieson and his party have
surrounded the ladies I will fire a pistol ; you might not
hear my voice in the din. The moment you hear it, cease
your attack, run back to the corner of this copse, and as
soon as Jamieson with the ladies has got ahead of you, make
straight for the lantern. Luckily we put the last one on
a big stone, and we can just see it from here. Keep in
good order, and run in a double line."
Peter remained on his feet, a bush in front of him being
sufficiently high to conceal him altogether. There was a
roar of voices as the "reds" came along. They could hardly
be said to be singing, but each was howling or yelling
the Carmagnole. They were not so drunk as Peter had
hoped they would be, the six-mile walk from the chateau
having enabled them to partially shake off the effects of
the wine they had imbibed ; and indeed, their leaders had
broken up the casks and spilled all the liquor two hours
before the start was made. Many of them carried torches,
while some had lanterns, for they had left Marseilles at
midnight. They were a strange, wild-looking lot : all wore
either red caps or cockades in their hats, their long hair
38 CHATEAU AND SHIP
hung down on to their shoulders, and the plunder they
bore added to the savagery of their appi-.ir.uKH-. About a
hundred passed along ; then came M.MK- nu-n with pikes.
At their head walked one holding aloft the head ! the
baron, and six others followed him with those of the
servants that had fallen.
Immediately behind these came twenty men with
muskets marching in two lines, and between them were
the baroness and her (laughters. Though we.ik with
grief and fatigue they walked along unaided, holding their
heads erect, and without casting a look to the right or
leit. As the pikemen came along Pet. 1 tlu- woid,
and the sailors crawled out through the buslu-s. anv n
they made being deadened by the roar oi the mob. Then
Peter shouted "At them, lads." and in a moment the
sailors weie among the men with the muskets, the whole
i>t whom were cut down before they had time to tin- a
shot. Then, according to the orders they had received,
half turned each way; one party fell upon the j
men with their ghastly burdens, the other on those follow-
ing the men with muskets. Peter, followed clo^-ly by
Jamie. son and his four men, had sprung at once to tin-
ladies' side.
"Thank God I have rescued you," he exclaimed. " lint
there is no time for talk now keep with these men we
will cover your retreat. If you are unable- to walk they
have stretchers to carry you along."
They were clinging together bewildered by the sudden
combat that had broken out around them.
" Robbins," Peter called to a sailor close by him, "do
you join Jamieson's party, then there will be two to each
stretcher. Directly you get off the road, put the ladies
on to them, go off at a trot ; you will take them along a
great deal faster than they can walk."
He hurried the ladies off the road. The stretchers wen-
laid down on the ground.
CHATEAU AND SHIP 41
" Please lie down on them at once," he said, " there is
not a moment to be lost."
Almost mechanically they did as he told them, and
the six men caught up their burdens and went off at a
swinging trot, the weight being hardly felt by them. Peter
ran back on to the road. At present it could scarcely be
said that there was any fighting ; taken wholly by surprise,
astounded at finding themselves attacked by British sailors,
those near them thought at first only of flight, and the
tars were chasing and cutting them down ruthlessly, mad-
dened by the sight of the heads carried on the pikes.
Peter waited for a minute and then fired his pistol. In a
moment the pursuit ceased ; the two parties of sailors came
running back, fell into two lines, and, headed by him, fol-
lowed the direction taken by the first party. For two or
three minutes confusion reigned among the mob. Those
in front and those behind were alike ignorant of the nature
of the fray which had suddenly taken place in the centre ;
but some of the more intelligent of their leaders shouted
that it was but a handful of sailors that had attacked them,
and starting with those round them, took up the pursuit,
the others following them, though as yet without any clear
comprehension of what had taken place, many discharging
their muskets wildly in the direction in which the fugitives
had made off. When they reached the first lantern Peter
dashed it to the ground. He and his men had now come
up with the first party, and moderated their pace. They
had gone fully half a mile before the crowd came up to
within fifty yards of them, then they began to fire.
" When I give the word the rear line will turn and
fire a volley. Aim low, lads ; don't be in any hurry ; take
steady aim ; never mind about being all together. Slacken
down your pace a bit now ; we will let them come up to
within twenty yards."
Three minutes later he gave the word, " Rear line,
halt, face round, take steady aim, fire." Twelve muskets
42 CHATEAU AND SHIP
flashed out, and yells of pain and fury rose from the
mob.
"Second line, halt; first line, take place behind them,
and load."
As soon as this uas done, he gave the order,
"Steady, aim, lire," and twelve more bullets were sent
into the thick of the mob. But though almost every shot
told, and those among whom the volleys had been fired,
first hesitated and then ran back, those on the tl.mks
sitll pressed on ; but as soon as the sailors tired they
continued their retreat, running fast now to overtake
Jamie-on s party. When they did so they completed
their loading, and again their volleys kept the crowd in
check. Three times this was repeated, and then urged
on by their leaders the crowd rushed forward.
"Sling your muskets, out pistols and cutlass, charge,"
Peter shouted, and with a cheer the men rushed at their
pursuers. For a moment t IK-SI- stood their ground, but
the attack was too fierce for them. Keeping well to-
gether, the sailors burst their way through them, cutla-s
and pistol doing their work, till at last the crowd they had
charged turned and fled.
"Any one down ?" Peter asked, as he halted the men.
" Bill Hopkins has got a ball in his leg, sir."
"Well, four of you catch him up and carry him. That
is right ; now, on we go again."
They were now not far from the shore, and the
leaders shouted to the mob to run on and cut their
enemies off from their boats. Fortunately they were in
ignorance that the ladies with their escorts had been
taken straight on, Peter having before he charged told
them to make the best of the way forward. The sailors
were now running fast. A few of the swiftest runners
of the mob had got ahead of them, but tlu-se did not
venture to oppose the rush of the sailors, .md the latter-
broke into a loud cheer as they reached the edge of the
CHATEAU AND SHIP 43
level ground and saw the sea before them. Peter called
for a lantern, lighted a blue light, threw it on to the ground,
and then rushed down to the boat. On each side of the
party were a number of their foes, but these dared not
close with them until joined by the rest. The ladies had
already been placed in the largest of the two boats.
" Stand on the thwarts and fire over our heads," Peter
shouted. " Take your places quietly, men, two by two ; the
rest face round." But as a mass of men appeared on the
crest behind them there was a loud report, a ball hummed
over their heads and plumped into the crowd behind, and
another followed ; the Marseillais recoiled, and the men
rapidly took their places in the boat. But the sight of
their prey escaping them was too much, and the infuriated
crowd rushed down the slope ; then gun after gun was
discharged from the schooner, and the grape-shot swept
through the mob. The volley from the boats completed
their discomfiture, and leaving numbers of their com-
panions behind, they rushed back for shelter ; while, as
the boats pushed off from shore, a shout of triumph rose
from the sailors, and stretching to the oars, they were
soon alongside the schooner, which was sending round
after round of grape in the direction which the fugitives
had taken.
The ladies were helped up the ladder. The two girls
had several times asked their carriers to set them down,
as they were able now to walk ; but the sailors replied,
" We have orders to carry you down, miss, and you are
no weight at all. We would much rather go on as we
are ; it will be time enough to set you down if there is
any fighting to be done." Peter at once led them into
his cabin.
" Now, Madame la Baronne, this will be your cabin,
and the two facing it will be for the girls. I have no time
to talk now," he said, as they endeavoured to thank him ;
" I have to get the vessel under way, this firing may bring
44 CHATEAU AND SHIP
the gunboats from Marseilles upon us. As soon as we
arc off I will get some coffee made ; 1 .1111 sure that you
must want it terribly ; the steward will bring it to you.
As soon as you have drunk it go to bed. You will have
plenty of time to talk in the morning."
So saying, he left them at once and went up on deck,
seeing they were M> shaken that they would break down
altogether unless left to themselves. The anchor was at
once got up, the sails hoisted, and the schooner made her
way out to sea. The wind was very light, and IVtei
said
"You have had s, ,me hard work, lads, but you must do
a little more ; we must get well ott shore before morning.
Even if they have not heard the guns at Marseilles, some
of those fellows will soon be theie with the news, and thev
will be sending a couple <>f gunboats after us, and in so
light a wind they will be more than a match for u>, BO you
must tow her out. The ten men who have been on board
will man one of the boats, and ten of you the other ; after
a couple of hours the other twenty will take their pl.t
Don't let any wounded man be among the fust ten ; we
must look to them, and see who i^ lit for servi>
Ordering the course to be set south-west, he and
Harding proceeded to examine the wounds. With the
exception of Bill Hopkins's broken leg, none of these
serious. Two had tlesh wounds from musket balls, time
or four had received cuts from swords, or thrusts with
pikes, but none of these required more than bandaging.
As soon as day broke a man was sent to the mast-head.
"There are two black specks behind, sir; they have
both lug-sails, and I fancy that they are rowing."
" Get two of the guns well aft," Peter ordered, " so as
to fire over the taffrail. I hope we shall have some wind
soon ; and at any rate they are likely to find that they have
caught a tartar."
In an hour and a half the gunboats were near enough
CHATEAU AND SHIP 45
to open fire, and two balls struck the water at a short dis-
tance from the schooner. Peter called the men in from
the boats. " We have got to fight now, my lads, and you
may as well rest your arms for half-an- hour, for you will
want your strength if they get alongside."
" Shall we open fire, sir ? " Jamieson, who was in
charge of the two guns, asked.
" No, I think their guns are heavier than ours ; we
had better wait till we are sure that they are well within
our range."
"There is a sail ahead, sir," the man at the mast-head
shouted down. " I think it is the frigate."
" Thank God for that, Harding ! We might tackle one
of those gunboats ; but I don't think that we should have
much chance with two of them. I expect they each carry
double the number of men that we do."
" The frigate has changed her course, sir," Harding
said; "she is heading straight for us now. She must have
heard the guns, and she looks as if she was bringing down
a breeze with her."
" I hope that the gunboats will not get sight of her
until it is too late for them to escape ; but I fear that is
too good to be even hoped for. I feel sure we can
manage to keep them at bay until she comes up, unless
indeed they knock away some important spar ; and we are
more likely to hit them than they are to damage us, for
you don't get so quiet a platform in a boat that is being
rowed as you do in one moving with sails only. Now
then, Jamieson, suppose we give them a taste of your
quality. I should lay both guns on the same craft, for if
we can but cripple one we can fight it out with the other."
The first shot passed through the gunboat's sails. The
second was received with loud cheers by the crew of the
Alert, for striking the water some twenty yards in front of
the gunboat, it ricochetted along the line of oars on one
side, smashing the whole of them short off.
46 CHATEAU AND SHIP
" Well done," Peter exclaimed. That is almost as
good as if you had knocked one of her masts over."
Several more shots were fired, but with less success.
At last one struck the foremast just above the deck and
brought it down.
"That puts them out of it, Harding. I don't say that
if they cut the gear away at once, and rowed with halt
their oars on each side they would not ^> faster through
the water than we are doing, but it must cause a delay.
and as, no doubt, they think the other fellow strong
enough to do the work alone, it is likely enough that they
will set to work to get up a jury-mast before they do
anything else."
The other gunboat was now fast closing up. Jamie-on
had knocked two or three holes in her how, and they
could see by the confusion caused that two of the shot
at least swept the whole length of the deck one of the
guns having been dismounted, and several men killed.
To Peter's satisfaction he saw from the course that the
gunboat was taking that her commander intended to tight
him broadside to broadside before endeavouring to hoard.
As she came nearly abreast, the oars were laid in, and for
half-an-hour the two craft lay to and hammered each
other, at a distance of fifty yards apart.
As soon as the gunboats had been seen, Peter had
run below, and called through the doors for the ladies
to get up and dress at once, as two gunboats had come
out from Marseilles.
" They won't be within gunshot for another hour," he
said, and the steward will have breakfast for you as soon
as you are ready, and after that we will take you down
to a place in the hold where you will be quite out of
reach of shot."
As soon as the steward told him that the ladies had
left their cabin he ran down again.
" My dear Peter," the baroness In-^an.
CHATEAU AND SHIP 47
" You must really defer your thanks for the present,
madame, especially as you have by no means made your
escape yet. We are going to have a bout with two
gunboats behind us. No doubt they were sent off from
Marseilles as soon as that mob of scoundrels returned
there."
" But you will beat them off, will you not, Peter ? "
Melanie said confidently.
" Well, I shall try my best," Peter replied. " I fancy
that we have every chance of doing so. My gunner is a
capital shot, and it will be very hard if he does not cripple
one of them, and I think that we shall be men enough to
thrash the other. Besides, I think it very likely that the
Tartar will be along this morning. She was going to
convoy a prize we took, and it is about time for her to be
back again, and you may be sure that the gunboats will
make off as fast as they can if they see her coming. I am
going to breakfast with you," he went on " in the first
place, because I want breakfast ; and in the second place,
because very likely you would eat next to nothing if I were
not here with you."
"We saw you come along at eleven o'clock yesterday'
morning," Julie said. " We were able to get a view of
the sea between our guards. We saw you sail away from
the shore, and it cheered us very much, for we felt sure
that you would try to do something "
" I was close to you an hour later, Julie. I landed in
disguise directly I saw your signal and the smoke rising
from the lower windows, and stayed an hour talking
with those wretches. Of course what one wanted to
learn was the time at which they would start with you
for Marseilles. As soon as I had learned that, I got on
board again at once. Everything worked well. We
came back after dark, set an ambush on the road,
carried you off, and took you on board. How about
the jewels ? "
48 CHATK.M* AND SHIP
" \Ve buried them at the >pot that \\v agreed on,"
Julie said ; "ours and ninth-
"That is good. 1 will make a trip and bring them
off the next time we come along here. Now 1 mu>t run
" \Ve buried them at the spot that we agreed on."
up again. You need not go down till the first gun is
fired."
"We would much rather " Julie began.
" Excuse me, but I would much rather that you went
down below. It would make me very uncomfortable did
I know that you were exposed to danger, and we are now
CHATEAU AND SHIP 49
in the most dangerous part of the ship, for it is just at
those stern-windows that the enemy will be aiming."
At the end of the half-hour, during which a furious
cannonade continued, both vessels had suffered a good
deal, the gunboat's cannon being of heavier metal than
those of the schooner ; but at close quarters this advan-
tage was not very great, and was more than counter-
balanced by the much greater speed with which the
English sailors handled their guns. The sides of both
vessels were torn and splintered ; there were yawning
holes in the bulwarks ; the sails, dropping idly, for the
wind had entirely failed them, were riddled with holes ;
the gaff of the gunboat's mainsail had been shot asunder,
and the foremast had been so badly wounded that it would
certainly be carried away directly a breeze rilled the sail.
The schooner's bowsprit had been carried away, and the
gaff halliards of the main-sail cut asunder. The execution
among the French crew was very much heavier than
that among the British, as there were so many more of
them on deck. It became evident at last that the French-
men were getting the worst of the duel, for their fire
suddenly slackened and the sweeps were run out again.
" Clap a charge of grape in over your shot," Peter
shouted.
It was no easy matter for the Frenchmen to get along-
side, owing to the vessels being so close together. At first
they rowed on both sides, but the power of the helm was
not sufficient to bring her suddenly round ; and instead of
coming alongside, she crossed the schooner's bows. The
guns of the larboard side of the Alert were trained as far
forward as possible, and poured their contents into the gun-
boat as she swept across them ; while as soon as, with the
greatest difficulty, the lugger brought her head round in
order to board on the starboard side, the guns here swept
their decks, killing great numbers of the men at the sweeps.
At last, after suffering very heavy loss, the French captain
D
50 CHATEAU AND SHIP
brought his craft alongside. The moment that he did so
Peter and his crew leapt on board her with a loud cheer.
The French were already greatly disheartened at the
terrible loss that they had suffered, and although greatly
superior in numbers, they gave way foot by foot ; and
when their captain, who had fought gallantly, got a bullet
through his head, they threw down their amis, and
rushed below. Hatches were clapped over them, and
then Peter, for the first time, was .ible to look round.
The other gunboat was rowing away with all speed ; but
a mile away the frigate, bringing down a fresh bree/e with
her, and with the water foaming at her bow, w.i^ sueepmg
along at a rate which would bring her alongside the gun-
boat long before the hitter could reach Marseilles. As
she neared tin- schooner the Tartar ran up the signal,
"Well done, Altrt" and her crew gave a heaity cl
which wa^ responded to by the crew ol the schooner.
The latter had lost eight men killed, and no le-^ than
twenty-three wounded, chiefly by splinters. As soon as
the frigate had passed, Peter ran down In-low. The ladies
had just come up into the cabin.
"We heard your men cheering and knew that you
had won," the baroness said.
" Yes, we have captured one of them, and the i\\
will have the other. It is well that she came up when
she did, for if the second boat, instead of ^topping to repair
damages, had rowed up to aid her consort, it would have
gone hard with us."
"You are wounded, I see!" Julie exclaimed.
"Oh, it is only a flesh wound," he said; "a splinter
struck me in the shoulder ; a bandage will set that all
right in a day or two. I wish that none of my men had
worse wounds."
The frigate returned in an hour with the second gun-
boat, which, seeing escape impossible and resistance
useless, had lowered her ensign as soon as the Tartar
CHATEAU AND SHIP 51
opened fire upon her. When the Tartar came along-
side, the captain hailed the schooner, and told Peter to
come on board.
"There is not a boat that can swim either on board
us or the gunboat, sir."
" Very well, then, I will come to you and bring the
doctor with me. I am afraid that you have a heavy list
of casualties."
" I am sorry to say that we have, sir, and the French-
men have three times as many."
The captain was at once rowed on board with the
surgeon. The latter immediately set to work to attend to
the wounded, while the captain learned from Peter the
events that had taken place.
" I congratulate you heartily, Mr. Vignerolles," he
said when he heard the story, " and I am glad indeed
that you succeeded in rescuing the ladies. You say you
had no one killed in doing so ? "
" No, sir ; there was only one man seriously hurt."
" Well, of course, you must report that affair as well
as the fight, but I should cut that part of the business as
short as possible, and merely say that you landed a party
and rescued the Baroness de Vignerolles and her daughters
from the hands of a mob from Marseilles, and brought
them on board without any loss of life among your party,
but with a very heavy loss to the mob. Of course we
have general orders to give shelter to Royalists trying to
make their escape from France, but the Admiralty might
not perhaps approve of quite such a dangerous expedition
as that you undertook. I will send a couple of boat-
loads of men on board to help your fellows to repair
the damages to the schooner and her prize. It is
clear that you must go down to Gibraltar for repairs. I
will man both the prizes and send them down with you ;
and even if you come across a couple of French privateers,
they will hardly venture to attack you."
52 CHATEAU AND SHIP
By evening the damage was sufficiently repaired. The
more seriously wounded of the Alerts men were taken on
board the frigate, and an equal number of men sent to
take their places. Twenty men were placed on board
each of the gunboats, and the Tartar then sailed eastward,
while the other three craft started for Gibraltar.
"There is no getting your jewels now, madanu -."
Peter said, as, after sail was made, he went down into tin-
cabin. " Next time I cruise along here I will get them
for you ; but at present I am under orders for Gibraltar,
and must go straight there. I shall have- no difficult v in
arranging passages for you to England, and you may be
sure of a most hospitable reception when you get to my
father's. It is perhaps just as well that you should not
take the jewels with you, for it is possible that tin- ve^-l
you go home from Gib by may be captured by French
pn\ Indeed I should recommend your staying at
Gibraltar until a convoy is made up then-, say under tin-
protection of a frigate; and in the meantime I shall
course, be your banker. I shall hold your jewels, you see,
curity for the loan."
On arriving at Gibraltar they found quite a fleet of
merchantmen there wa:' a convoy, and before tin-
repairs on board the .-//*;-/ were executed he had the
satisfaction of seeing the three ladies comfortably settled
on board a large ship which with the others sailed on
the following morning for England under the convoy of a
frigate and two gun-brigfc iVter had been highly com-
plimented by the naval officer commanding tin- station,
and two days afterwards passed his examination, and was
at once promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Ten days
later he sailed again, and arriving after dark one evening
at his old anchorage off the chateau, again landed in dis-
guise, and accompanied by a couple of sailors, made his way
up to the ruins, dug up the box, and brought it on board,
and the first time he saw the lartat he handed it to the
CHATEAU AND SHIP 53
captain, asking him to send it to England by the first
frigate or man-of-war going home.
" I am afraid to keep it on board, sir, for the contents
are valuable, and it would be a heavy weight upon my
mind if we got into action with a superior force. It con-
tains the family jewels of the de Vignerolles."
A month later the box reached its destination, and some
time afterwards a letter from his father informed him that
he had disposed of the greater portion of the jewels at the
request of the baroness, and that she and her daughters
were now established at a house within a few minutes'
walk of his. Four years later Peter returned home with
the rank of commander; and two marriages took place
while he was at home on leave, his elder brother marrying
Melanie de Vignerolles, while he and Julie paired off to-
gether. Five years later Peter, now a post-captain, retired
from active service on half-pay, a cannon-ball having
carried his right leg off just below the knee. Julie, far
from regretting the event, declared openly that she con-
sidered the wound to be a most fortunate one, for that the
war might go on for any time, and it was vastly better to
have him at home, even with half a leg, than to be in
constant anxiety lest she should hear that he had fallen.
The jewels had fetched a large sum, and the greater
portion of this the baroness divided between her two
daughters, she herself taking up her residence, at Peter's
earnest request, with him and Julie, until her death, which
took place ten years later.
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
BY JOHN BLOUNDELLE-BURTON
CHAPTER I
AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE
I, ADRIAN TRENT, now known as Lord Trent, and a
captain of Les Mousquetaires Gris, sat in my little
salon in the Lion d'Or, in the Rue Louis le Grand
in Paris, on Midsummer Day, in the year of our Lord
1726. And in my hand I held a little perfumed billet,
which I had turned over in my fingers a dozen times, and
had, perhaps, read twice as often. For it recalled to me
a strange meeting, and some strange scenes in which I
had been concerned when I was but a porte-dmpeau. Also
it recalled to me some other things far sweeter, which, to
a young man, must needs be pleasant recollections to
wit, things such as a lovely face flushed now and again
with the colour that adorns the blushing rose of Provence ;
dark eyes, sometimes as soft as velvet, and sometimes
sparkling like ice beneath the winter sun ; black hair that
once in an awful moment of fear and extremity I had
seen adown the owner's back, almost to her feet ; a supple
girlish form, and other charms. A girl whom, although I
had not seen her for five years, I had never forgotten, but
whom I always strove to forget, because she was wealthy
and I was poor ; because, although I was a man of good
rank in my own country, she was almost of the very
highest in hers ; because she was, in truth, as far above
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 55
me as the sun is above the earth. Yet once, for a little
while, that girl and I had been the best of friends ; once,
too, it seemed as if that friendship had been very near to
a softer and more tender emotion, and as if Adrian Trent
and Ana, Princesa de Carbajal, were falling in love with
each other if they had not already done so.
Whereupon, thinking over all these things, I again
turned the letter in my hands, and again I read it.
" So you are back in Paris, I hear," it ran ; " and would
you not like to see a girl called Damaris whom once
you knew ? I think you would perhaps in memory
of having saved that girl's life on one occasion ; l of also
having once called her by the prettiest epithet a man can
bestow on any woman, and of having been much teased
and pestered by that girl. If so, then come to the Marais.,
to the Rue des Vraies Femmes, and to the house which
bears the name of my family, and if you come at the
proper time I will give you some chocolate and a bonbon.
I wonder if you are much changed, and if you will find
me so ! DAMARIS."
The prettiest epithet a man can bestow on any woman !
So she remembered it ! remembered that I had called
her " sweetheart " in all the impudence of boyhood and
the possession of my guidon in the mousquetaires, and
when I did not know that she was a princess of one of
the most ancient and powerful families in Catalonia, and
in possession of enormous estates and great wealth.
But did she remember another thing also namely,
that after being highly indignant with me for my pre-
sumption, she had laughed and whispered that pretty
word to me in return ? Did she remember that ? If not,
I did. And now I would see for it.
An hour later I was outside the great door of the
1 See " Yule Logs," 1898 (Longmans & Co.), " The King of Spain's Will."
56 THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
Hotel de Carbajal, and a lackey answering my summons,
I learned that the Princess was within. Whereon I bade
him say that Lord Trent waited below to pay his devoirs
to her, if it might be that she would receive him.
" Her Highness expects milor," the man said. Will
milor give himself the trouble to follow me ? "
Whereon "milor," attired in his best black >atin suit
for, alas ! he had but recently returned from Kngland,
and the funeral of his father and silver lace, did follow
the man through the great gloomy house, and along
corridor after corridor, he thinking all the time of what
the fellow had said that "her Highness expected him."
" So," " milor" said to himself, " she knew I would come.
Then the door opened, and the footman announced
" Milor Trent," and for some reason the midsummer sun
seemed to dazzle my eyes, and 1 saw a figure spring that
is the word, " spring " from a deep fauteuil, and I felt two
slim hands in mine, and I heard a well-remembered voice
say, " So you have come, my lord."
" Yes, I have come, your Highness. You knew very
well that I should come. Yet, yet," for, somehow, I at
once began to grow bold, "there was no word of ' High-
ness ' nor of ' lord ' in the old days. Then you were ' a
girl called Damaris,' and
"And," she interrupted, with a soft laugh, "you were
an impudent young soldier called Blue Eyes. But now
we are old, staid people. I am twenty-four."
"And I am twenty-five," I interrupted in my turn.
"Wherefore we have grown sober and steady. Still,
notwithstanding that, you may tell me if you choose
whether you think I have aged very much."
Aged very much ! Yes, she had aged, if being more
beautiful than ever meant having aged. For now the
sun dazzled me no longer, and I could see all her loveli-
ness, I could observe that the tall, slim form had grown a
little, just a little, more womanly ; that the soft dark eyes
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 57
had just a little more of calmness in their gaze ; that the
scarlet lips were as full, and the small white teeth, which I
had always admired so much, as brilliant.
" But all the same," she said, while I surveyed her,
" you need not hold my hand so long. One does not
look at another with their fingers."
Then, when I had released that hand, which, I protest,
I did not know I was holding, she bade me sit down by
her side, she herself taking a seat upon a great Segovian
ottoman close by, and drawing up to her a little ebony
table upon which was a little gilt coach, with the doors
and windows of glass, and with four little silver horses
to it, and a coachman and footman in gold. And she
opened one of the doors of this little coach and popped
her long slim fingers in and drew out a bonbon, and, I
thought, was going to pop it in my mouth too. But, if
that had been her intention, she considered better of it,
perhaps because she was now " sober and steady," and so.
instead, laid it gravely down on the ebony table, and
pointed to it, and said, " Eat it ; " which I did.
" Now," she said, " we will drink something, a la bonne
chance. I drink chocolate ; but since you are a great big
mousquetaire you may have some wine if you choose.
Let me see ; there is Florence wine, and Lunel and
Muscadine, and
" I shall drink the chocolate or nothing," I said firmly,
since I was not going to sit toping like a rude mousque-
taire before my Princess while she drank the other.
Whereon she told me to ring the bell and order the
chocolate, and in ten minutes we were discussing that
beverage, and the footman had left us alone.
" Oh ! " she exclaimed volatilely, " do you remember,
Blue Eyes I mean, my lord when I sat on the table in
the inn at Toulouse and drank wine out of your cup, sur-
rounded by you and your huge troopers, and when I was
supposed to be a wandering vagrant girl called Damaris ? "
58 THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
"You will always be Damaris to me. / shan't call
you 'Princess' nor 'Highness/ and I wish you would not
call me by that silly title of ' lord.' And I've only been
one a month, and have not grown used to it."
" But what am I to call you ? I mustn't call you
Blue Eyes any more, because we are now grave and
staid ; and Adrian is too familiar. I should poniard you
if you we're to call me Ana."
"There was another name exchanged between us
once," I said "one alluded to in your letter received
by me to-day."
" Ah ! " she said, with a little shriek, " don't recall
that. How dare you ! I only wrote it to bring my>. -It
back to your memory."
"Oh!" I said, "did you? Well, now, what did
your high I mean you, Damaris send for me for at all,
if it was only to be so haughty and distant ? There are
no more burning houses to save you from ; and as for
for old. Alberoni "
" Monseigneur the Cardinal Alberoni, if you please."
"As for Monseigneur the Cardinal Alberoni well!
what has become of him ? He has finished his sch
politics I suppose ? "
" He lives the life of a saint at Piacenza. But but
I did not send for you to talk about his Eminence."
" What then, Da I mean well ! you understand ? "
" You remember," she said, " that you did save my life
once ? Of course you do ; you have but just referred to it."
" Is it in danger now ? And am I to save it again ? "
" My happiness is. I want you to save me from a
man a man who, though perhaps it may surprise you,
wants to marry me."
" Ah ! bah ! " I said, forgetting my manners and jump-
ing out of my chair, and beginning to walk about the
room. " Bah ! A man warfts to marry you, indeed ! " and
I felt quite angry at the very idea of such a thing.
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 59
" It is strange that he should desire to do so, is it
not ? " she said, with a queer little, but very pretty,
grimace. " All the same, it's the truth. It is indeed,
Blue I mean, my lord."
"Who is the fellow?"
" Oh ! " she said, with another of her little shrieks.
" The fellow ! Why er -Lord Trent he is one of the
scions of our royal house of Austria and Spain."
" Shall I run him through ? I will if he wants to
marry you and and you bid me do so."
" You might have to run more than one through, at
that rate, Blue Eyes," and this time she forgot to correct
herself, which, if I remember rightly, seemed to please
me ; " I think you might, indeed. But, no ! I imagine
you can do better than that."
" How ? I'll do it."
" Will you, my lord ? " (" Vengeance confound that
title ! " thought I.) " I wonder if you will ?"
"What shall I do? Tell me and it shall be done,
Damaris," forgetting myself also in my agitation.
" I suppose," she said, speaking slowly, and with a
wondrous look in those witching eyes, " you would not
condescend to play at being my lover, would you ? only
for a little while say for a week or so."
" Wouldn't I ! Try me ! But but am I to have
all the privileges of a lover during that week or so ? Eh,
Damaris ? "
" Don't call me Damaris ; it is not respectful. Yes,
you may have all the privileges of a lover in public."
" Oh ! in public. But in private ! Then
" Then I am the Princesa de Carbajal and you are
Lord Trent."
" What are a lover's privileges in public I mean
with princesses and scions of ancient houses ? He has
to be a kind of slave, a worshipper, does he not ? "
" He does as a rule; but then, you see, Blu my lord,"
60 THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
and while she spoke she held a bonbon out tantalisingly
before my eyes, " you have got to play a different part
from the ordinary one of a lover to a princess. You will
play it, won't you Adrian ? "
" I'll play anything," I said, much agitated by the last
word she uttered.
" Bueno ! Well, now, see. You must be a humble
lover one beneath me, with whom 1 have fallen in love
in a manner discreditable to my rank. And, thereby, you
will make my suitor jealous oh ! so jealous because
we will play such tricks upon him that he will renounce
me. Oh ! I have invented such schemes to make him do
so. Neither Quevedo nor Vega ever thought of such
tricks."
" It will be a dangerous game," I said meditatively.
" Dangerous ! Dangerous ! " she exclaimed. " Why,
Blue Eyes, you are not afraid of a Spanish don although
he is of the royal house, are you ? Fie ! and you a
soldier."
" That isn't the danger I meant," I replied quietly,
so quietly that she guessed my meaning in a moment,
as I saw by the rich crimson which mantled her cheek
instantly, and the increased brilliancy of her lovely, star-
like eyes.
" Dangerous to whom, pray ? " she demanded.
"To me!" I answered boldly; "because I shall
lo
" Hsh ! hsh ! hsh ! " she said, putting her hand up
quickly. " None of that ! none of that ! Yet, neverthe-
less, there will be danger to
" Whom ? " I asked now.
"To you, of course. Oh! not to me, Blue Eyes.
Oh no ! no ! " she continued somewhat nervously, 1
thought. " Not to me. Oh no. Think not that, my
lord."
" I can think what I like," I said. " Even a slaves
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
61
thoughts are his own. But where's the danger, if you
mean ordinary danger ? "
" He is great," she almost whispered now, " and
powerful, even in Paris. He is, too, enormously rich,
richer than I am, and can hire people to do whatsoever
"Stab you under the shoulder in a dark alley."
he wishes. He might hire vagabonds to assault you
to to oh ! Adrian ! throw you into the Seine with
your throat cut, or stab you under the shoulder in a dark
alley, and and all because you do this out of friendship
for me, and with no hope of reward." .
" I shall get my reward," I said quietly.
62 THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
For a moment she regarded me calmly ; then she said,
" You are very confident, very masterful."
" Yes," I replied, " very confident, and well ! very
masterful. "
CHAPTER I I
DANGER AHEAD
IN looking back upon the events of those days as I now
do from the calm autumn of my life 1 ;im always struck
by the extraordinary fact that I am still alive. For, from
tlu- moment that it began to be whispered about in the
fashionable parts of Paris that the Princesa Ana dc Car-
bajal was tricking his Highness the Prince of Csaba (in
Hungary) and Miranda Vitoria (in Spain), who, although
of the l\oyal House of Austria, intended to espouse her
morganatically if he- possibly could, my life began to be
in danger. That is to say, it would begin to be in dan
directly the Prince of Csaba learned, as he very soon must
learn, that the Princess was being gallanted about by an
Englishman, who was considered to be so far her inferior
as to cause it to be said that she had contracted a love
affair with a person beneath her.
For these haughty, arrogant Spanish-Austrians living
in Paris had the impertinence to state that I, Adrian Trent,
an English gentleman (to say nothing of my being also an
English nobleman and an officer of French MOHuyiMftMm),
was beneath the Princess, or or Damans, as 1 always
thought of her. It made my blood boil, I can tell you,
when I learned such was the case (and I hope it makes
yours boil, too, who read, if you are a countryman of
mine), and if there had ever been on my part any idea of
drawing back from the part I had agreed to play with
Damaris which, in solemn truth, there was not it only
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 63
confirmed me all the more in the determination to play
that part out to the very end.
I would, I swore to myself, so enact the part of the
girl's lover that Csaba should have nothing left to do but
to retire from his position of pretendu and aspirant and
resign all claims to her hand ; and also, which I hoped
would be the case, I would so irritate his absurd hidalgo
pride as to draw him into an embroglio with me ; and
then even though- he were forty times the hidalgo and
don he was, and had forty times the blood of Charles qui
triche and of that murderer, Philip II. in his veins I would
so humiliate him and 'all his following that they would
never dare to be insolent to any English gentleman again.
Only I forgot one thing. Or, perhaps, I did not
know one thing which I should have known. I should
not have forgotten that no descendant of Philip, nor any
one who was related to him, was likely to meet me in a
fair and open way. Not they ! Be sure of that. And it
was from this lack of knowledge, or this forgetfulness, that
I nearly got caught in a trap, that I was nearly done
barbarously to death, and that I nearly lost the great
happiness of my life. However, this you shall read.
But Damaris knew, and, knowing, she did not mean
to have me fall into the trap. And all this you are to read
as well.
" Now, my lord," she said to me one fine night, when
I had waited on her, " this is the very occasion when we
are to begin to arouse the demon of jealousy in Csaba's
manly bosom. To-night we are going to sow the poison
seed. Therefore prepare yourself."
" I am prepared. What is to be done ? "
" I am going to the ball at the Hotel d'Aragon, his
house. But you are not yet you wilt be there. See,
here is his invitation to Monsieur blank. That blank is
left because I forced him to give me an invitation for a
friend of mine, whose name I would fill up. Observe,
64 THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
nton anti, I fill it up with yours." Whereon, stooping over
a scrutoire, she wrote in the name of Lord Trent.
" It will be pleasant to go to the ball," I said. " I
presume I shall have one dance with you ? "
"You will not go to the ball, and you will not dance
with me."
" What am I to do then ? Go to bed, perhaps :
" Nor that either. In a manner of speaking, indeed,
you will go the ball, but only to pass through the gre.it
apartments, making your obeisance to Csaba as you do s< ;
then well, then you will go out into the garden and
wait until I come to you. Wait by a fountain in the
middle of the garden within it, in the centre, a rcpresrn-
tation of Hercules destroying the Hydra. Wait, and do
ily what I tell you."
" Shall you be alone ? "
"Nay, nay," she replied, with one of her usual smiles.
"Ah no, he will he with me. But of that take m> notice.
Do exactly what I tell you when we meet and when
he overhears what I s.i\ .
" W T hen he overhears !
"'Tis so. Now, for last instructions, take these. Come
not to the Hotel d'Aragon till midnight stnkcs. I shall he
there earlier, but come not yourself till then.
"And ?"
" Take your cue from me."
At midnight I was there, outside the great doors of the
H6tel d'Aragon, descending from my c/misf-nni/iin/i- and
seeing a few late arrivals like myself pass in, as well as
perceiving through those wide open doors a mighty great
assembly within. Whereon I, too, went in, the Prince's
menials bawling out my name, though, as not one of them
pronounced it aright, simple though it was, they might as
well not have done so at all.
Through a vast crowd of ladies and of gentlemen in
wigs and scarlet coats, with, for the former, flowered die
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 65
and hoops and panniers and Heaven knows what, I passed,
looking right and left for where the Prince might be.
Then, suddenly, on a little da'is I saw him seated with, for
companion by his side, Damaris, or rather Ana, Princess
of Carbajal ; and he was bending over her, talking with
what our beloved friends call empressement, and it seemed
to me as though he were utterly oblivious of every other
person there.
But, since I stood at the foot of the da'is waiting to
attract his attention and then pay my respects to him, I
observed that she my confederate or rather she whose
confederate I was gave a slight start, and into her face
there came a lovely, heavenly tinge of red, while from
between her parted lips I heard the whispered word
" Adrian." Also I saw her left hand, which lay along her
dress, clutch a fold or so of that dress as though in agita-
tion extreme.
And the Prince heard the word too, since, after a
momentary glance at her, he cast his eyes in my direction
and then again bent them on the girl.
" Monseigneur," she said, " it is the gentleman for
whom I demanded an invitation."
" Ha !" he said, rising and bowing somewhat stiffly to
me I thought. " Ha ! a gentleman named Adrian."
" Nay," she replied ; " a gentleman, an English noble-
man, called Lord Trent."
" I ask a thousand pardons," he said, bending low
before her. " I thought you uttered the name Adrian."
Then he turned to me, saying coldly, " My lord, you are
welcome," after which he turned away and began talking
to his companion again, whereon I sought the garden as
she had bid me do.
" Was she acting ? " I asked myself, as I passed through
the windows to the gardens beyond, to find and take up
my station by the fountain in which was the statue of
Hercules killing the Hydra; "was she acting when she
E
66 THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
whispered my name and when she made that slight but
perceptible clutch at her dn As for the tinge of red,
I doubted if she could act that, since, so far as 1 knew, it
was not to be accomplished no ! not even by La Gautii r,
whom 1 had seen often enough in the past ;it the Oil. on.
Still, I remembered she was a good actress had she not
impersonated a wandering singing-girl from Provence
when 1 iirst knew her ; and had she not deceived even BO
astute a beast as Marcieu, the spy who tried to arrest her !
So I could not answer the question, but went on down the
alttts, and past stone fauns and s.ityrs. and gentlemen in
togas and ladies in well! not in gowns made by court
furnishers and, at last, in the centre of a great nW,
covered with crushed shells and tiny pebbles that hurt the
feet, I came upon the fountain and the figure of Hercules.
Then, being there, 1 sat me down on the high stone rim
of the basin, into which the water was falling from the
hydra heads with a vastly cool and pleasing splash, and
waited, beneath the moon, which sailed clear and cloud 1.^
in the skies, for the denouement. That, however, was ;i
little while in coming, and though more than one couple-
passed me, the vizard-masked face of the cavalier being
almost invariably bent down over the upturned vizard-
masked face of the accompanying dame (so that one might
well guess it was the eternal romance being whispered in
willing ears), she for whom 1 waited did not hris.-li
appear.
Not for a little while, as I have said yet, at last.
Down one of the little pleached alleys I heard the
rustle of a woman's robe, and saw the long, lithe figure
that 1 knew so well that I had never forgotten since 1
Iirst saw it in the spangled dress of the mountebank she
pretended to be. 1 saw, too, the moonbeams glint upon
the lovely face, and recognised it instantly, though she,
too, wore her vizard-mask. Then she was close to me,
close to where I had stepped out on to the shell-stivwn
" Ki>- my liaml do something lover-like."
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 69
path, and calling " Adrian " somewhat loudly, as I
thought while she drew near.
" I am here," I said, joining her.
Then, speaking in a lower tone now, she said, "He
is close behind behind a bosquet in the alley. He is
watching us, I know. Kiss my hand do something lover-
like call me by some lover's name of endearment. And
speak in French ; he knows no English."
" A la fin! ma tnt'e," I said, falling in with her cue
at once, and going on in the tongue she bade me speak.
" I thought you would never come ; " after which, re-
membering her injunction, I stooped and kissed her hand,
holding it to my lips for some seconds, while all the
time the great jewels on her fingers sparkled in the moon-
light.
" Farewell," she said, " I may not stay. " To-night
to-night," and now she spoke loudly again, clearly, so
that none within fifty paces of us could fail to hear her
words " to-night at two o'clock come to supper with me
at my house. I await you. Till then, adieu. And come
to the side-door, that opening on to the Rue des Fleurs.
Till then, adieu."
" Do you mean it ? " I whispered now, wondering if
this was play-acting too. " Do you mean it, Damaris ? "
" Ay, I mean it. We must play the comedy out.
But," and now she spoke in English, and her voice sunk
to its deepest whisper, " forget not your rapier. You may
need it."
" I shall not forget." Then, while again she had
given me her hand, which, at this moment, she was
making great pretence of withdrawing from my grasp, I
whispered, also in English, " But this has got to be paid
for, Damaris ; and the reward I shall demand will be
enormous."
But she only laughed, showing her little white teeth,
and went swiftly back up the alley she had come
70 THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
down, turning once and saying in a fairly clear voice,
Remember."
Whereon, when she had gone and joined her com-
panion, as I could tell very well by overhearing them
talking as they withdrew, I sat me down on the stone
edge of the fountain and fell a-musing.
" Bring my rapier, she said," I muttered to my-clt.
" Ay, and so I will. But not this plaything by my side,
tit only to match a court suit. Instead, my good Flam-
berg. 'Ware that, my illustrious rival, if you come near
me ! Ay, I will in truth bring it. And so so so I
ihall win her. For though Damaris were forty thousand
tinic^ a Spanish and Austrian Princess, this thing h;t> -one
too far to stop here. She has got to sink her title now
in a lowlier one, namely, that of the Viscountess Trent,
or _or "
I paused. Adown another path than that along which
she had come to me there was advancing a tall and
stately gentleman, alone. A man with a peaked beard,
and dressed all in black satin like myself; a man who
walked with gravity extreme. Then, as he drew close
to me, he removed the hat he wore, and standing stock-
still before me, said in French
" Have I the honour to address the Milord Trent ''. "
"That, sir, is my name," I said, rising from my M-at
and removing also my hat, since I could not allow im
to be outdone in politeness by a foreigner, by which I
mean a man who was not an Englishman.
" I have a little message," he proceeded, " from my
master, the Prince of Csaba and Miranda Vitoria from
your host of the moment."
" I shall be honoured to receive it, sir."
" It is," the grave and courteous gentleman said,
warning, a hint. The Prince, my master, desires me to
tell you that it will not be for your good to go out to
supper to-night not for the good of your health."
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 71
" The Prince, your master, being aware, sir," I
demanded, " that it is to an Englishman he sends this
message ? "
" I imagine his Highness may be aware that such is
the case."
" Will you, sir, then, in your courtesy, constitute your-
self the bearer of my reply ? "
" I am your servant, sir ; I shall deem it an honour
to do so."
" Sir, you place me in your debt. And, such being
the case, will you please to tell the Prince, your master,
that I look forward with eagerness to my supper to-night,
to which I shall proceed without fail ; also that my
health is most excellent, as are both my appetite and
digestion ; and, likewise, that when I require a doctor's
advice I shall not insult so illustrious a person as the
Prince by asking him to take so humble a function as that
on himself ? Sir, I salute you."
Whereon, with the exchange of most polite bows
between us, I strode away, leaving him alone.
CHAPTER III
DANGER CLOSE AT HAND
BY now it was half after one o'clock, and I, leaning out
of my salon window in the Lion d'Or, knew that it was
time for me to be away ; to reach Damaris " my
Damaris " I called her now, since I had resolved that
mine she had got to be and see what sort of a supper
she proposed to offer me. For my part, I thought the
dishes were as like as not to consist of some unwholesome
cold steel, or a leaden bullet out of a Spanish trabuco or
musquetoon that is to say, offered but not accepted, if I
was to have any word in the matter.
72 THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
Dallying idly over the window-sill, I thought, I say, of
all this, while at the same time there rose ever before me
the beauteous features and the laughing eyes of the
Princess. And I wondered if she would laugh if she
heard the clash of arms outside her side-door in the Rue
des Fleurs. Likewise, I wondered if slit- would laugh,
too, when she learnt, after this pleasing little entertain nu-nt
of the small hours was over, of how masterful an indi-
vidual I could be it was her own term, you will please
to remember; her very own! and how I was the M>rt <>t
man who would know how to turn this " playing " at
being her lover into being her lover in true and actual
fact. Poor Damans ! Poor, stately, yet roguish Damans,
what a come-down it would seem to her! to give up
her great position to become my wife.
But would it ? Would it ? Well ! I did not quite
know. She was a Spaniard, and the Spaniards had the
reputation of being very firm in their affections when
once they were set in a certain direction. And I thought,
only thought though, perhaps, 1 hoped too that tht^r
affections were set more or less in my direction. And
now, to-night, I was going to see.
I had brought back to Paris from England with me
a servant : a rough, queer creature, with an enormous
appetite and a desire for sleep which I had never seen
equalled ; yet one who had served my dear father for many
years, and had followed him about over Europe in tli
pilgrimages which I once told you he had been in the
habit of making, in the footsteps of our King, James III.
At Rome this man had been, also in Spain, and in tlu-M-
places he had picked up a smattering of tongues other
than his own, as well as having the French very well ;
while, as he had earlier ridden trooper in the regiment of
Blues, and, still earlier, had been a sailor for a time, he
\v.is a brave and valiant fellow. A rough kind of spaniel
thing he was, which would cling close to its master's hecN,
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 73
yet yap and snap and sniff at every one a-nigh that master
until sure that such person boded no ill to him. Now, I
went to wake him for, as always, he slept when he had
no work to do from his slumbers in a cupboard on the
landing.
" Get up, Giles " (for Giles Bates was his name, and a
good honest English one, too, though it had no spot of
Norman in it), I cried, stamping on the floor at the same
time to w r ake him. " Get up at once."
"Is the house afire ?" he asked, yawning and rubbing
his eyes all the time. " I would not be surprised if 'twere
so in this silly land. Or is the breakfast ready ? I am
mortal hungry. Oh ! " he exclaimed, seeing me, his
master," it is you, my lord. What is to do now, my
lord ? "
" I am going to supper at a lady's house, or, at least, I
am going to a lady's house. Don't roll your eyes up like
that, you fool ! the lady will be my wife ere long, I hope.
Meanwhile, I have enemies, rivals, and may be attacked,
and I want your company."
In a minute he was up off his pallet and had seized
his sword and was buckling it on to him, his gooseberry-
looking eyes gleaming with delight ; for Giles Bates loved
a fight as well as any of our island breed, and was ever
ready for one.
For myself, I needed no buckling on of my blade. I
had, since I returned from the Hotel d'Aragon, changed
my clothes, putting off my fashionable suit of black, and
assuming a plainer one in which I travelled. My Flam-
berg was also already on my thigh, wherefore I felt equal
to meeting any of the Prince of Csaba's Spanish asesinos
whom he might see fit to send out to attack me in the
neighbourhood of my sweetheart's house. That they
would be Spanish I felt sure, for more reasons than one ;
the first of many such reasons being that the Prince was
surrounded by a train of Spaniards ; and the second, that
74
THE ADVEN 7 TURES OF A NIGHT
he would have had no time to procure Frenchmen, even
if Frenchmen would have served him, which, since the
French are not midnight cut-throats, whatever their other
failings may be, I did not think very likely.
A little later and we drew near to where the Paris
mansion of the Carbajals stood in the Marais, it being by
this time hard on two o'clock of the morning, and all the
" I want your company."
streets around very still beneath the light of the moon as
she sailed above. The revellers and wassailers seemed to
have gone to their beds, and we scarce passed any one as
we approached nearer and nearer to the spot we were
making for, and all was very calm except for the barking
of a dog once and again. Yet, notwithstanding the peace-
fulness of the night and the desolation of the streets, I
observed my mastiff keeping his eyes ever open warily, and
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 75
glinting first one and then the other into dark corners and
up alleys and ruelles.
" A sweet fine night," he muttered to himself, " for a
fight. Oh ! 'twould make a shark sob " (he had been a
sailor, amongst other things, as I have said) "to think we
should not come to loggerheads with some one on such
a night as this."
" Be still," I said ; " we draw near to the house,
to-
" My lady's bower ! " he murmured, regarding me
with his fish-like eyes, so that I knew not whether he meant
to be impertinent which I did not think he did or was
quoting from some of the sheets of love-ballads I had
more than once caught him poring over. " Oh, love !
love ! love ! "
" Peace, fool ! " I said, " and hold your silly tongue.
We are there."
And so we were ; we being now outside a small oak
door let into the side of the Carbajal mansion, which stood
up grey and solemn in the moonlight.
"Now," I continued, "to get in."
" Ay, my lord," said Giles ; " and to get out again
afterwards. Do I enter with you ? "
"You shall know later. Meanwhile, stand back in
the shadow. And take my cloak ; 'twill but encumber
me if there should be any sword-play inside."
"And serve as guard for my arm if twisted round
it," said Giles, as he took the cloak, " if there should
be any outside. 'Tis four years since I fleshed a
Spaniard. 'Twas by the Puerta del Sol, and he was
attacking a Northumbrian Jacobite gentleman, who,
alas ! was lurching about like the Royal Sovereign in a
gale
" Silence," I said. " See, the wicket opens ; " as in
truth it did, and through the bars I saw a moment or so
later a pair of soft roguish eyes glistening in the moon-
76 THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
light eyes that I knew well and loved to see, they
making then, as always they have made, a summer in my
heart by their glances.
"Are you alone, Adrian?" a gentle voice, equally
dear to me as the eyes, whispered.
"Alone," I whispered back, "except for a fool
mastiff creature, who is, however, faithful, and can ii^ht
as well as be trusted."
"Ay, he can," I heard my follower mutter to himself,
"and will not be contented if he fight not to-night."
"Come in," Damans said, opening now the door (in
which the wicket was) about half a foot, so that I might
squeeze in, "and leave your watch-dog there. He may
be attacked
"So much the better," growled Giles, he hearing all.
You understand ? " I said to him ; " you understand ''.
You may be attacked."
"Ay, my lord, I understand. I am not afeard. Yet
1 wish 1 had the wherewithal for supper. I am pat Ion-
hungry "
"Bah! Keep watch well." Whereon I entered by
the half-open door, and joined Damaris.
It was quite dark in the passage when I ^ot there
except for the rays of the moon, which glinted and
glistened from windows on high there being no lights
in the house so far as I could see. Then, while I wa>
noting this, my girl whispered to me, "There are two in
the garden now. I have seen them ! have been close to
them ! Do you know what they are here for, in their
long cloaks and vizard-masks ? "
" I can guess well enough. Who are they ? "
"Menials, I take it. Menial- come to to O
Adrian ! "
" I understand.. Damaris, you have got to pay me
for this service."
" I thought," she whispered, " that English gentlemen,
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 77
English noblemen, did not ask payment from ladies for
services rendered."
" One payment it is always permissible to ask. I
mean to have it too."
" It is impossible," she said " impossible."
" I intend to make it possible. You told me I was
very masterful, and I shall be if I live through this
night."
Whereon she only whispered again, " O Adrian ! " and
then said, "Come and see these men ; and and loosen
your sword in its sheath."
"Never fear," said I. "That's ready."
After which I followed her along the dark corridor or
passage, and through a hall, large and lofty they had
built good houses in the old days in that portion of Paris
known as the Marais from out of which there opened the
reception saloons, as well as a great salle or banqueting-
room. Now, into that hall there shone, from two great
windows high up on either side of it, the full moon, so
that I could perceive the form of my young princess
almost as clearly as I might have done in daylight, and to
my intense astonishment I observed that she was very
little like a princess now, if such personages are to be
judged by the garb they wear. For, now, she was arrayed
in the dark Nimes serge of a waiting-maid ; upon her head
was the provincial cap worn by so many of those women,
hers being the head-dress of Brittany, which, as all the
travelled world knows, hides every hair upon a woman's
head and quite destroys any good looks that a serving-girl
may happen to possess. And I noticed, too, that her
hands were no longer adorned with flashing gems ; nor
were they either the little white snowflakes I had always
gazed upon with such rapture since now they were
of a discoloured yellow-brown hue, and the nails dis-
coloured also.
" More play-acting," I said to her, " more play-acting.
78 THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
Tis like the night in Toulouse when you played a
part."
"Ay, 'tis," she answered ; "and, I protect, a-> necessary
now as then that I should play it well. And," she went
on, " I am going to play one, and you shall see me do it.
Now," she continued, " I must leave you, as I am about
to go into the garden."
"Then I go too," I said. "Why! suppose one is
Csaba the Prince."
"Well! he would not hurt me. He pretends to love
me does love me."
" He might carry you off."
"Might he! What! with my faithful Adrian looking
at him out of the darkness of this room, and ready to
spring forth like a great fierce English lion that great
lion that is so dominating and contemptuous over all tl it-
other beasts and fowls of Europe. Might he ? Not he.
Nor will he while I have this," and, in the moonbeams, I
saw her draw a little stiletto from out the pocket of her
serving- woman's gown. " Now," she said, " you stay here
till I come back. Be a good boy, Blue Eyes, and do what
I tell you."
"You do love me, don't you, Damaris ? That's
understood."
" It is understood that you do as I tell you. Now
I go."
Whereon she went through the door from the hall
and into the great salle, and then down the huge stt-ps
It-ading from the verandah on to the broad walk, on which
there stood large tubs, having in them oleanders and
orange and lemon trees. And be sure that, creeping after
her, I followed as far as I might without exposing HUM If
to the view of any who might be in the garden ; and then,
from behind the heavy window-hangings, 1 ga/ed out,
while listening with all my ears.
Now, no sooner had my girl gotten down some yards
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 79
upon the broad walk she having, as she went, thrown a
common kind of hood, such as Spanish peasant women
wear in the streets over her head than she commenced,
gently, but still audibly, to say, " Hst ! hst ! Isidore. I
am here. Isidore, where are you ? Have you kept tryst ?
Isidore, I say ! " and then gave a little kind of muffled
shriek as a figure, enshrouded in a cloak and wearing a
mask (and followed by another attired in a similar manner),
stepped out from behind a lemon-tree tub and seized her
by the arm.
CHAPTER IV
A FINALE
THAT figure stepped forth and seized her by the arm while
saying, in tones quite loud enough for me to hear, " What
are you making that noise for here ? and who are you ?
and who, in the fiend's name, is Isidore ? "
" O kind sir ! O monsieur ! " I heard the girl
answer. " Oh ! please, sir, don't kill me, and don't wake
the Princess. Oh ! what are you doing in her garden at
this hour ?"
" Who is Isidore ? " the masked one asked sternly.
" O kind sir, he is the coachman. We are to be
married soon, and we make a little tryst at night when it
is fine above. O sir, if the Princess should wake ?''
" Wake ! How should she be asleep ? Is she not
entertaining some Englishman to supper to-night ? "
" Ah, monsieur ! Ah, mon Dieu ! You believe that !
'Tis a cold supper then ! Look, monsieur, at the salle-a-
manger."
" Bah ! She has a boudoir, I suppose ? "
" Ah ! monsieur, would you believe that of the Prin-
cess ! And all because she played a little jest upon a
8o THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
foolish Englishman who pesters her with his attentions,
a poor half-witted thing, who even now, at this moment,
is dilly-dallying at the side-door, thinking he will be let in.
Peste ! he will wait a long while," and she began to sing a
song out of Regnard's new comedy about a man waiting
for a lady under an elm, and waiting a mighty long time
too
" Attendez-moi sous 1'orme," she sang, " vous m'atten-
drez longtemps."
"A little jest," the cloaked and masked man said,
turning round to his companion ; " a little jest. And the
animal is by the side-door. Is this the truth ? " re-turning
his face towards the girl.
" Ah ! monsieur. The truth ! How can it be aught
else when when the Prince of Csaba and Miranda
Vitoria honours her with his admiration."
" Come," the man said to his companion now. " Come.
We, too, will go round to the side-door and see this ardent
lover and, perhaps, punish his insolence. These English
are insupportable. As for you go to your Isidore, your
coachman."
" Oh ! non, monsieur, non ! He will not come now.
There will be no Isidore to-night. He is timorous. If
he has seen monsieur, he will have shrunk away."
" Go then to your bed, and stay in it ; and, above
all, say nothing to the Princess of our being in this garden
to-night."
" For certain, monsieur, otherwise I should have to
say I was here too. Good-night, monsieur." Then, as
the man turned to move away, she suddenly stopped him
by catching the end of his cloak, and, thereby, forcing
him to turn ; he saying somewhat haughtily, " What is it,
good woman ? What ? "
" Only that monsieur will not laugh at the poor Eng-
lishman, will not deride him. They cannot bear that ! "
" Xo," the other said, " I will not laugh at him. Rely
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 81
on me. There will be no laughing," and again he turned
and went upon his way, accompanied by the other.
" You have done a fine thing for poor Giles," I said
to the Princess, as now she rejoined me in the great salle.
" A fine thing. I must get back to him at once and lend
a hand if I would not find him hacked to pieces by those
two cut-throats sent out by your precious Prince."
" Why," she said calmly, " I thought you said he was
a fighter. Is he not so ? " she went on, while all the time
she was unwrapping the hood from her head and next
taking off the horrible Brittany cap which hid her
beautiful hair that, now it was no longer obscured,
gleamed a superb dark chestnut in the rays of the moon.
" He is that," I replied, " and a good one, as most
men who have been soldier and sailor both, to say nothing
of wandering about Europe as an adherent of an unhappy
cause, are like to be. But the man is a good tilter who
can hold his own against two."
" Perhaps he will not have to fight two of them," she
said, still very calmly. " One has, I imagine, no fighting
in him."
" What makes you think that ? "
" Oh ! Oh ! Well, let us wait and see. Perhaps
well ! I can't say."
" You observed that fellow well, anyhow. And heard
his voice."
"Yes, yes ! " she said ; " yes, but it was no Come,"
she said, " let us go and look after the watchdog."
Whereon we now retraced our steps, passing out of
the great hall and down the corridor towards where the
side-door with the little wicket in it was.
And then, as we drew near that door, we heard (and
more especially we did so because Damaris had forgotten
to close the little wicket after she had looked through it at
me, so that noises outside, if any, might plainly be dis-
F
82 THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
tinguished) the clash of arms, a sound sweet enough to
a soldier's ears.
" Hark ! " I said, redoubling my pace as I did so, and
catching hold of the girl's hand, whereby she was com-
pelled also to move more swiftly, though, in sober truth,
I think she was as anxious to reach the door and get it
open as I was myself. " Hark ! they have set upon him.
And there were two. Oh ! this is cowardly, murderous !
I must take my share."
" Pray Heaven he, your man, kills not two of them.
That would cause a terrible stir, and and and would
part us for ever, Adrian."
"Nothing shall do that," I muttered determinately,
perhaps grimly, through my lip>. "Nothing!"
Then, we being by this time close to the door, I
seized the latch and opened it, running out into the little
(pen />/(!(< in front of it, which was Hooded by the glorious
splendour of the full moon.
What a strange scene it was upon which my eyes lit,
even as I heard my sweetheait murmur, "God be priced !
he, at least, is not slain yet."
A strange scene indeed, though with a ludicrous side
to it ; one that might have made me laugh, maybe, at
any other time, and if I had not myself been concerned
deeply in all that was a-doing. For there was my brave,
courageous servitor, this man who had been a wandering
sailor as well as soldier, and also a faithful follower of a
hardly-treated race, standing up manfully against another
swordsman who was making swift passes at him, they
fighting across the body of a third who lay prone and
prostrate with Giles's foot upon his body.
And that last was the fact which would have made me
laugh in any other circumstance, for, swiftly, I recalled
how in the days of my childhood this very Giles had taken
me to see Barton Booth in one of Mr. Sotherne's beautiful
tragedies at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and how,
" Fighting across the body of a third who lay prone and prostrate
with Giles's foot upon his body."
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 85
when the actor struck the villain down exactly in the
middle of the stage ! he had placed his foot upon his
chest, and waved his triumphant sword over the fallen
one. I recalled, too, how Giles had applauded, and had
said, " O Master Adrian, Master Adrian, that is the way
to conquer, to subdue a villain ! "
And now the poor faithful, honest fool had himself
struck a villain down, and with his foot upon that villain's
chest in a splendid, tragic, and theatrical manner was
as like to strike another one down ere long ; for, even as
I tore open the little door, and rushed out followed by
Damaris, he disarmed the other fighter, lunged at him,
and, missing his heart, yet brought him to his knee, while
he drew back his sword once more to plunge it through
the other's body.
" Stop ! " rang out the Princess's voice, clear and
imperious ; " stop, man, I command you. Adrian, forbid
him. It is the Prince," she whispered in my ear ; " I
recognised his voice easily in the garden."
" Why ? " 1 asked, hot and excited myself now,
" why stop ? Why should he, this midnight assassin, be
spared ? "
" 'Tis Csaba, I tell you," she said. " 'Tis the Prince.
If he is slain there can never be," and she lowered her
voice more deeply still, " any union betwixt England and
Spain."
" Hold your weapon, Giles," I cried, understanding
in a moment what she would convey, and, in honest truth,
not deeming this contemptible Prince's life worth the cost
of a broken union 'twixt an Englishman and a Spanish girl
who loved each other. " Hold up. Be still, I say."
And, obedient to my command, perhaps obedient
also to those earlier, haughtier commands uttered in the
girl's clear tones, Giles did hold, yet muttering while
doing so that he would have been through the other's
lungs in a moment.
86 THE ADVENTURES OF A NKIHT
"So, monseigneur," my sweetheart said, addressing the
masked Prince, who now rose from off the knee on to
which he had been beaten, "you are content to play the
part of murderer, are you ? And on a serving-man ! For
shame ! "
" He wore his master's cloak," a deep, muffled voice
said. " Until that master appeared just now at your side
I thought I was fighting with him."
"Therefore you and your confederate, and I glanced
at the dead man at our feet, "Bought to murder me.
Wherefore?"
" Ay, wherefore ?" repeated Damans.
" Because you loved him, and and I loved you."
"Nay," she said softly, "I did not love him then ;
I I do not think 1 did, though, in honesty, 1 will say 1
deemed him the brightest, most worthy, pleasant man I
have ever known. But now
"Now!" came from both our pairs of lips, from
Csaba's and from mine.
" Now I love him, and no other man shall ever have
my heart."
For a moment there was silence amongst us all, though
I stole my hand towards that of Damaris, and, finding it,
held it fast ; yet but a little later Csaba muttered
" It is impossible. He is beneath you."
Now, though I had heard those sweet words of the
girl's only a moment before, these latter ones angered me,
drove me beside myself, for I was weary of hearing so
often that I, an Englishman, was unworthy to be the mate
of any one, no matter how high that one might be placed.
Wherefore, furious, and stepping up to this man, this
prince who skulked about in the night with secret murder
in his heart, I said, bending my face forward so that it
was very near to his, and doing so with a desire to give
weight to my words -
" Hark you, I have heard these words before. But
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 87
now, unless you are an arrant cur such as assassins
always are you shall retract them, or I will cram them
down your throat. For if you say that not only I, but
also any Englishman, high or low, gentle or simple, is not
the equal of any foreigner, even though he be a prince of
Austria or of Spain, then you lie. I say, you lie. Do
you hear you lie."
While, even as he started and staggered back, clutching
his cloak convulsively with the hand that held its folds
together, I continued
" Now, if there is any fight left in you after the defeat
you have received at the hands of this simple, honest
English peasant, take your sword in hand and let us see
whether you will justify your words or swallow mine.
Then, turning to Giles, I said, " Pick up this fellow's
weapon and give it to him."
" No," exclaimed Damaris ; while, looking round as
Giles did as I bade him, I saw her standing by me, pale,
and like a statue, yet with her beautiful eyes ablaze.
" No, you shall not fight with him, Adrian. Prince as
he is, and, alas ! of my land, he is unworthy to cross
swords with you. As for you," she said, addressing Csaba,
" begone. Begone from off this place, which belongs to
my hotel and is mine, and let me never see your face
again. Go," she said, stamping her foot on the rough
cobblestones ; " go, I say."
Yet still he did not move, but, instead, stood there
looking like some great black statue in his long cloak and
mask, and with his head bent towards the ground, so
that I concluded he knew not what to do, but, in his pride
and rage, was determined not to quit the ground at her
orders.
And she, seeing this, and, as she told me afterwards,
understanding very well the tempest that must be raging
in his heart, said, " Come, Adrian. Since he will not go,
we must."
88 THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT
Wherefore we went back to her house followed by
Giles, and leaving the Prince of Csaba and Miranda
Vitoria still standing in the open space before the little
door.
Now the story is done done, that is, unless you
would desire me to tell you what you doubtless can very
well imagine ; namely, that it was not long before the
Princess and I became man and wife. Yet hard enough
that marriage was in making, I can assure you, and one
which I thought would never be completed. For, al-
though my girl, having once acknowledged that she loved
me, was as willing to be my wife as I was eager to have
her, the forms and ceremonies we had to go through to
get what Giles called " triced up " were enough to irritate
one of Damaris's own saints ; for there was the Consul
of Spain the Consul of the, by her, hated Philip V. to
be invoked, and the English ambassador to be consulted,
who, since he represented King George, was not agreeable
to me ; and the permission of the Archbishop of Lyons,
Primate of France, to be obtained, and a permission sent
over from England from the Archbishop of Canterbury,
the head of my church. And we went through all kinds
of ceremonies, and were half-married a week before we
were finally allowed to consider ourselves man and wife,
while I became very irritable through it all, and Damaris
muttered all kinds of strange little expletives in Spanish
through her pretty teeth and scarlet lips, which, she told
me afterwards, would not have sounded so nicely in
English. Also, I should not forget to say that Giles
signed countless papers and parchments as a witness,
and looked very important over it all, and whispered lines
of love-ballads to me at intervals to cheer me up, and ate
enormously at every opportunity which offered.
However, done it was at last, and we were wedded.
And, although my wife could not take me to any of her
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT 89
great possessions because she would not set foot in Spain
while Philip ruled, and I could not take her to my home
in Staffordshire (where the Trent rises) because of my
political principles, we were very well content since we
were both young and hopeful ! and so we settled down
in the old Paris house of the Carbajals in the Marais,
and have, up to now, lived happy ever after, as the chap-
books say; a happiness which, you may be very sure, was
not ruffled when we heard that the Prince of Csaba and
Miranda Vitoria had married a princess of the ancient
house of Ponte-Casoria (which is allied to the greater
house of Bourbon), who was extremely rich, but as wizened
as a monkey (as my wife told me), and who, report de-
clared, led Csaba a terrible life.
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
BY W. C. WHISTLER
" --OREST-DWELLER and outlaw I may he, Master
I""* Cork," I said ; "but I would have you remember
that I was an honest man before I was driven here,
and an honest man I am still, though I must needs be in
hiding for speaking up for the weaker side."
" Honest men don't slay the king's deer," sneered Cork.
" It seems to me that you have run into a fair noose by
this time, for all your fine talk, seeing that deer-slaying is
a hanging matter for the king is the king, whether you
choose to own him or not."
" Hungry men cannot stay to think of that," I answered
shortly. But I knew that he was right, and that I must
needs, with every honest door closed to me, go on sinking
in the mire, as it were.
" Hungry forsooth ! " he said. " And gold to be had
to-night for the picking up ! Come with me, I say, and
the forest will know you no longer. Listen ! yonder fall
more bedizened nobles, with good gold nobles in their
purses moreover to prove their nobility ! "
I had heard plainly enough. The cold wind of May-
time set from far-off Hexham level to where we were stand-
ing under the shadow of Blockhill, and not for the first
time that day the heavy sound of cannon came down it,
like and yet unlike thunder. There was another battle on
hand between the white rose and the red. Margaret of
Anjou was making one more struggle, for herself and her
son and husband, against Edward of York.
90
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 91
" Outlaw and fallen as 1 am," I said bitterly, " I will
have no share in robbing the dead."
And then the thought of what this ruffian had pro-
posed to me came over me in all its horror that he and
I should prowl over the field of battle when night fell, and
seek for riches among the quiet slain and I shrank from
him. Whereat he grinned evilly, and that turned my
contempt to wrath, so that my hand went to the hilt of
the broad forester's hanger that I wore.
" Away with you," I said, " I will have no more of you."
" Well, well ; be not so hasty, I pray you. I did but
jest," he stammered, giving back a pace or two.
But I knew better. No true man jests with such things,
and I told him so, once more bidding him begone.
" Well, I will go," he growled ; " but, mind you, there
is a reward for him who brings a deer-slayer to justice."
" You can do as you like about earning that," I
answered. " It seems all one to you how you get wealth,
so that it comes easily."
So he went, looking back now and then to see, I
suppose, if I was in earnest. I took my bow from the
tree where I had set it, and plucked the arrow from the
slain deer at my feet, at which he hastened to put as many
tree trunks between me and himself as possible, and I lost
sight of him.
I fell to brittling the deer quickly when he was gone,
for I was by no means so sure that he would not set the
sheriff on me, as he had hinted. I did not think it likely
that that quiet old worthy would trouble himself about me,
with a battle raging at his very doors, as one might say ;
but so far he had heard nothing of me, and I could come
and go into the town pretty freely when I would, though
the chance of some Yorkist from my own country seeing
me was an ever-present danger that kept me out of sight
as much as possible if I did go. Still there were things
that I needed that must be bought there now and then,
92 AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
and it would be hard to have the place closed to me.
Now, I thought it just as well to get the deer I had killed
to my cave, in case I had to go into hiding ; and I was
glad that some old distrust of this man Cork had kept me
from telling him of it when I first knew him.
That was about two years ago, when I had to fly from
Yorkshire with a price on my head as a Lancastrian, while
those who had come to take me lighted my way north
across the moors by burning my own stronghold, the little
Peel tower of which I had been as proud as of the old
name of Barvill that I dared own no longer, behind me.
I had taken no part in the strife of the Roses, having
enough fighting from time to time with the Scots raiders
who had slain my father six years ago. But I had always
been brought up to reverence King Henry, and made no
secret thereof, which was quite enough to ruin me in the
days when York first had the upper hand and meant to
keep it.
So at last I had wandered to these Hexham moor-
lands, where none knew me, and where game was in
plenty on hillside and in forest, and whence the rangers
and their lords had gone by reason of the wars. Here,
too, I had found by chance the cave of which I had
spoken, under the slope of Blockhill, and close to the brook
that runs in the valley. It was so warm and dry, and so
easily hidden, that I bided in it the first winter of my out-
lawry, and taking kindly to the forest life, as a strongman
of twenty-two who loves the open, and has none to think
for but himself, will. Here I had bided for a second winter,
ranging the country widely in the summer, even as far as
the Scottish border, gathering thereby knowledge of the
by-paths that was to be useful to others besides myself in
time. Maybe I should have joined the company of some
Border knight at last, for a good spear is always welcome
without question ; but there was to be another service for
me, as will be seen.
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 93
There were other men, outlaws also, whom I would
meet in the forest ; but being a Barvill, and proud, I had
nought much to do with them. Some were men ruined
by the wars, like myself, but more were robbers at the best,
and outlawed for their misdeeds. These kept away from
the town, laying wait for harmless travellers and packmen
in the wild passes ; but there were other ways of making
what money one needed wherewith to buy bread and
arrowheads, wine, or clothing, than by robbery, and
herein Master Cork saw his chance of profit, if not in any
very honest way. He was a small householder on the
outskirts of the town, and would buy our stolen deerskins
or game at his own prices, and sell them at some distant
market, doubtless to his great advantage. Therefore he
was useful to me, and I saw him often enough, though, as
I say, I always distrusted him.
To-day the woods were full of deer, and I had killed
nearer home than usual, for I suppose that the great battle
of Hedgley, of which I had heard, had driven them hither
in terror. Now, with this fresh battle on hand, our woods
would be deserted by them, and therefore I had taken the
first chance that came. Thus Cork had stumbled across
me first on his way to find some associate for his night's
work. He had told me that it was not myself whom he
was seeking specially, and made a great show of friendship
in telling me his plan. After he had gone, I got my
venison to my cave, and cooked some for my supper.
Then I sat on the stream bank and watched the birds and
beasts for a while before I slept. The sounds of battle had
long ceased, and I mind that I heard the cuckoo that even-
ing for the first time that year. It was late, even for the
North. Then I went into my cave, built up its mouth in the
way I had found the best, and troubled no more about
anything.
I suppose that it was an hour after I had gone to
sleep, with darkness, when my dog growled and woke me,
94 AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
and I roused at once and quieted him. Then I went to
the little opening that I left for fresh air in the stones with
which I closed the cave, and listened. At first I heard
nothing, though the night was clear and still. There was
wind coming, however, for the clouds were racing across
the sky under the bright moon. But the dog was not
wont to rouse me for nothing, and I was sure that there
must be somewhat to find out.
Then as I waited there came a far-off shout, and then,
clear through the air, a woman's scream. Then more
shouting, and silence.
If it had been shouting only, I should have thought
little of it, for I knew that the pursuit of the flying might pasa
this way. But the woman's voice roused me, and without
staying to think, I armed myself, and hurried away to-
wards the place whence the noise seemed to come. An
ancient trackway, worn by ages of timber hauling, lay in
that direction, and it was likely that some fugitives who
had taken it as a road away from the pursuers, might have
fallen in with some of the robber outlaws. At least I
might be able to help the side that had a woman to
protect if things went badly for them.
I went very quickly, knowing the woods so well, but I
heard nothing more until I reached a little rise that over-
looked the hollow in which the old lane ran. Then the
voices, as of men quarrelling, were plain enough now and
then to my left as I stood still to listen. The woman's
voice was not to be heard among them, however, and I
began to think that there was no need for me to trouble
about the business. Still, I waited for a few minutes, and
then my dog warned me that some one was at hand, and I
turned.
A woman was coming straight towards me across a
little glade, leading with her a boy, whose feet seemed to
fail for weariness, and I surely thought for a moment, as
the moonlight glinted on her rich dress and showed her,
" This is the son of your king. I charge you with his can-."
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 97
tall and stately, and seeming unafraid, that I saw a vision
of Our Lady, so wondrous looked this one as she neared
me unfaltering. For indeed had they but now escaped
from the hands of the men I had heard, to meet with
myself, armed and wild-looking as I was, with the un-
kempt locks and beard of forest life, might well have been
fresh cause for fear to two such helpless ones. Yet the
woman never stayed, though she must have seen me plainly
as I saw her. A cloud passed over the moon for a
moment, and when the light came again, she was close on
me. Then I saw that her dress was torn and disordered,
and that she had indeed been in no gentle hands. But
for all that, I could do naught but doff my steel cap before
her, for she was the most queenly woman that I had ever
seen.
Then she spoke to me, low and quickly, drawing the
slender, handsome boy before her and towards me.
" Friend, I am Margaret the Queen. This is the son
of your king. I charge you with his care see that you
are worthy of such an honour."
And then, as I stared at her in amazement, stepping
back a pace, she added, " Hide him in your forest till
danger is past, and hereafter his palace shall be free to
you baron of England shall you be if you will. See !
Is it fitting that a Prince of Wales should wander with no
attendants ? "
But I was on one knee before her by this time, needing
and thinking of no promise of reward or honour. It was
enough that I was asked for help by her who had been,
and to me yet was, the highest in the land. And my
heart ached that she should have to seek for succour
from such as I.
" On my life be it, Queen Margaret," I stammered, " I
will give life for you willingly."
But then as the dog growled fiercely at some fresh
burst of noise that came from the road, making the young
G
98 AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
prince shrink from him, I leapt up, rousing to the danger-
close at hand, for the Queen would be sought for directly.
" Follow me, I pray you, Madam," I said, " it is not
far to a safe place. Come, my prince, you are weary ; fear
not the good hound, but let me carry you."
" Aye, friend, I am aweary," he said, with a little
smile, " but I am sorely heavy for you, and you are armed
moreover."
But the weight of a slight boy of twelve is nothing,
and I took him up, laughing to reassure him. The Queen
followed me without a word, and we went back to my
place by the way I had come surely the strangest, saddest
little company in all England.
I marvel how our Queen kept up in that rough \v;ilk
until the cave was reached, but she never faltered. Once
I pressed on her the boar spear that I carried, that sin
might use it as a staff, but she would not have it, and she
never so much as put out her hand to my arm when
she stumbled over root or jutting rock. It was a rough
road for her, but I dared take no path lest we should he
more easily followed. And all the way I listened for the
voices of men who hunted us, but I heard none.
So we came to my cave without mischance and were
safe. I set the half-sleeping prince on a heather-covered
bank while 1 pulled away the stones of its entrance, and
the Queen stood by him watching him, and I thought
how any other woman had surely sunk down to rest after
that weary flight. But she seemed tireless in this as in all
else that she took in hand.
When the way was clear, I prayed her to enter, and
she took the hand of the prince and led him in without a
word, while I followed, hanging the great wild bull's skin
that I used as a curtain across the as yet unblocked door-
way, that no light might betray the place.
The fire still smouldered in its far corner, where some
fathomless cleft in the rock took its smoke far into the
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 99
heart of the hill and lost it there, and I stirred it to a
blaze. I had long ago so screened it with a stone wall
from the doorway that I might use it safely, for I had a
mind to be in comfort when I spent the winter here.
And indeed, to me at least, the cave seemed homelike
enough. There was my couch of springy heather, skin-
covered and warmly-blanketed, and the flat-topped stones
that were my seats and table were set in order, and deer-
skins were on them also. My bows and quiver and
spare arms were on the walls, with an antlered skull or
two, and I was used to bare stone walls in my old tower
in the bygone days. Yet, as I watched the weary face
of the Queen, I knew how wretched all would seem
to her.
" It is no fit place for you, Madam," I said, " but it is
safe. When daylight comes again your people will be
searching for you, and I will meet them and bring them
to you, and all will be well."
" They fled from me even now," she said in a cold
voice, " and here I do not even know the name of the
friend who has come by chance to me."
" My name is Richard Barvill, Madam," I said and
it was good to own the honest old name once more " I
will say, even before my Queen, that I have no cause to
be ashamed of it, being a forest dweller only because of
the troubles."
This 1 added, lest the thought of being in the hands of
some wrong-doer might cause her trouble presently when
I left her and passed beyond her sight. One could not
tell what fears of treachery might come into her mind.
" Because of the troubles," she repeated softly, " and
they say that I am the main cause of them all. Yet I
have my share in bearing them for his sake," and she
looked towards the young prince, who was now asleep in
earnest on my couch, where he had thrown himself at
once when we came in.
ioo AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
I made no answer, for all this was beyond me, though
I did think that now perhaps for the first time the Queen
understood rightly the plight of many whom the wars had
ruined. Instead of replying I busied myself in bringing
out and setting on my table the best food that I had in the
place, and then stood to wait her pleasure. There was
cold venison and good wheaten bread and one flask of red
wine, if the platters were wooden and the cups of pewter,
and it was no bad meal for one who was hungry with a
forest hunger.
When the Queen saw that all was ready she rose up
from the seat she had taken beside the fire and thanked
me as she roused the prince. Then I served them both
as best I knew how, and presently the Queen spoke to me
of what we might do next.
" Now I am outlaw and forester even as yourself,
friend," she said with a wan smile. " For once I have no
plans in my mind, for I am helpless here. Tell me what
we can do."
Now I had been thinking of that even as we crossed
the forest, and there were one or two things that I must
know. So I begged leave to ask her somewhat, and she
gave it.
Then I learnt how she had fled from the battle with
but few attendants, and those of no rank, carrying with
her some of the crown jewels and other treasure, and
meaning to make for the Scotch border. In the old lane
her servants had fled at the first attack, and both she and
the prince had been dragged from their horses and roughly
handled for the sake of their jewels. Then their captors
had forgotten them in a quarrel over the treasure in the
waggon, and she had been able to slip away with the
prince.
" Then, friend, we met with you. I thought you
another of the robbers, but a Queen learns to read faces,
and there was that in yours which told me that I could
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 101
trust you. So I am here in safety and some day you
shall know that Margaret of Anjou does not forget her
friends."
" Queen Margaret," I said, " there are many things to
be seen before I deserve such a name from you, but I will
try to earn it."
And then, because I did not rightly know what else to
say, I asked if these plunderers were Yorkists.
" Outlaws rather," she answered decidedly. " York's
men had not let me escape, for to take me had been worth
more than treasure to them. Nor was there one who wore
the badge of the white rose. I heard the name of their
leader they called him Cork and I shall not forget
him."
So this man must have followed the treasure, if not
the Queen, from the field, and if he knew her there might
be trouble in store. But I saw that if ever the red rose
bloomed again Cork's case would be a hard one.
But at least the Yorkists were not scouring the woods
in search of the Queen, and that was good hearing. Pro-
bably I was the only man who knew that she was in them,
unless Cork guessed that the woman who had slipped
through his hands were she. If he did so, however, he
would be likely to keep the knowledge to himself, in order
to have all the credit of what he would expect to be an
easy capture presently.
" Madam," I said, " I think that there will be no great
search for you as yet. The Yorkists will believe you to
have escaped, and your servants will take word that you
are a prisoner. It will be a long day before those mis-
takes are found out. The army of York will pass on, and
your people will scatter, and go north in little parties, and
I shall meet with them. Here you are safe, and you
may sleep in peace, even were you to hear voices of men
searching for you close at hand, for the secret of this cave
is mine only. Now I must go, and I pray you to be con-
102 AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
tent until I return with news in the morning. I must
close the cave carefully, and thereafter answer no call save
that of my name, Barvill, for that is known here to none
save yourself."
Then I knelt and kissed her hand, and was going, but
she asked me, very kindly
" Friend Barvill, what of yourself ? We have taken
your place, and for our sakes again you are homeless."
"'I have other hiding-places, if I need them," I an
swered, " but now I have work to do, for your sake and
the prince's."
I went out of the cave and built up the doorway, as I
was wont when I left it for some long time, with the
Queen's words of thanks in my ears. More than all else
that might bind me to her was this, that not so much as
by a look did she show one sign of distrust of me or
of my word.
When my work was done, so that even from a yard
or two away one might not tell that any cave was there, I
went away and left my dog in a hollow tree that was one
of my hiding-places to which he was used, and then took
my way to Hexham, to learn what I might.
It was close on midnight when I came there, and yet
the town was alive with men, as if it were fair-time. Every
house was lighted up, and great fires, round which were
gathered groups of noisy men, burned in the market-place
and in the wider streets. One would have thought that
all the army was gathered there to drink after victory, but
these were only stragglers, for the camp was on the battle-
field, some miles to the southward. All of these men
wore the badge of the white rose, however, in some form
or other, and to mix with them I must do likewise.
When I found that out, I had not far to seek for what
I needed. A man lay in a dark doorway sleeping after
overmuch ale, and I borrowed from him. He did not so
much as stir when I took the twisted scrap of rag that
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 103
stood for the proud rose of York from his arm and pinned
it to my own.
So marked, I went boldly to the market-place, and
followed a press of men into the chief inn of the place in
order to get a can of ale, that I might be welcome at one
of the fires, where I should best hear what was to be told.
Inside the tavern all was confusion, the good old host and
his tapster being hard put to with a noisy crowd throng-
ing them for ale that could not be drawn fast enough.
I knew the old man by repute, but well I knew his
orphan niece, fair Mistress Annot, whose face, when she
stayed at a mill, where I was welcome, made me feel my
loneliness overmuch at times, for she did not scorn a forest
man with whom her cousin, the miller, had friendly deal-
ings. So as the throng shouted aud pushed round me,
the thought of the girl's terror with this wild mob in the
house came over me. But I could do nothing for her,
and presently I got a can of ale and went out and across
to a big fire, and sat down in a place left vacant when a
man rose. None heeded me, for there was constant
coming and going.
There were many things that were not all of revelry
after victory that I saw as I sat and listened. One or two
houses had been wrecked those of known Lancastrians,
as one would think and one was burning out, fired early
in the day. Many times I saw parties bringing in wounded
men, and more than once a hush fell on those who drank
and wrangled, as the sound of a little silver bell came
down the street, and a priest and his servers passed, bearing
the last sacrament to some man who had been brought
here to die. There were more things to be seen also,
and it was a heavy tale that I must take back with morn-
ing. The Lancastrian forces had been utterly scattered,
and some said that the King had been taken. The great
Duke of Somerset had been taken and beheaded here that
evening, and it would seem that most of the Queen's best
io 4 AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
followers had been slain or were prisoners. The only good
hearing was that the Queen was thought to have escaped
altogether, and that the army was to march on Bam-
borough Castle at once, for it was her best stronghold,
and a likely rallying place. The way for her flight would
soon be clear, therefore.
Then, all in a moment, I forgot even the Queen, for
from the tavern came the noise of a riot, and some leapt
up and ran thither, I with the fear for Annot again. Men
came tumbling out of the doorway, and I asked a grey-
haired and well-armed man, who almost upset me in hi>
haste, what was amiss.
" The butts are a*ll empty," he said, " and the sorry
knaves have struck down the host for telling them so
have slain him, I think. Then some struck his slayer,
and now there is fighting enough."
The man was plainly an honest soldier, and sober, and
I told him, therefore, that there was a lone girl in the
house, who would be frightened, adding, " Maybe they
will wreck the house yet."
" Likely enough, for they are camp followers, with
none over them. Do you know the house ? "
" Not well, but the yard is down yon lane, and the
back-door opens into it. I know the girl's friends, if you
will help me to get her away."
He nodded, and we went into the lane, which was
empty now, by reason of the noise in the market-place,
which had drawn all thither. We reached and tried the
back-door, but it was locked, and now there was a sound
as of wild wrecking in the house that made it useless to
knock, and told us to hurry. So I put my shoulder to the
door and it flew open, letting us into a long passage, from
which opened larders and the like, and at the end of which
was a great inner door, which plainly led to the giu^t
room, where the riot was going on. And as the moon-
light streamed in I saw a white figure at this door. It
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 105
was Annot herself ; and she was putting up the heavy bar
that was used to keep house and tavern apart, as one
might say, if the great room were full of wild drovers and
the like at fair-time.
She turned in terror when the door burst open, but
my companion spoke quickly to reassure her.
" Eh, my lass, that is well done, and bravely thought
of ! But the place is over-noisy for you now, and we have
come to take you into a safer. See, here is a friend of
yours, if I make no mistake."
He had almost to shout, so wild was the clamour on
the other side of the door, and though she answered, we
could not hear what she said ; but I saw that she knew
me at least.
" Get her away," my comrade howled in my ear ;
" they will be round to the back directly."
Then blows fell on the door that had just been barred,
and Annot started away from it towards us. And at that
my comrade, not in the least knowing who this girl was, and
most likely thinking her but a servant, want close to her.
" Come away, lass, I tell thee. The master is slain,
and the knaves will likely burn the house."
She turned to me with a blanched face, as if to ask if
this could be true, and I could only nod in assent, and 1
thought that she was about to faint ; so did my comrade,
and we took her arms and led her out into the yard, where
the noise was less.
" Come, Mistress Annot," I said, " it may not be so
bad as that, but it is true that you must leave here. Let
us take you to the miller, and I will come back for your
uncle."
" I am frightened," she said, " and cannot rightly
understand. Were you sent for me ? "
" Ay sent both of us," answered the soldier
promptly. " Miller could not come himself, in times
like these. Quickly, mistress, or they will catch us."
io6 AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
" I will go with you," she said, " but it is cold, and I
would find a clo;ik."
But there was no time for that now. The barred
door was splintering as men swung a bench against it,
and that sight decided her. She bade us lead her, and
we hurried out into the lane, and away down it in the
direction opposite to that in which the market-place lay.
Across that end of the lane the crowd that the ->cutlK
had attracted was gathering thickly, and for that reason,
perhaps, the lane was empty. But I knew that it would
not be long before outsiders would take part in wrecking
a tavern, and then a rush would be made to the back,
of course.
Outside the gate the soldier halted.
" Any more lasses in the house ? " he asked.
" They have all gone," Annot answered. " I and
uncle, and the man, were all who stayed when the
cannons began this morning. The rest left us."
" Thy uncle ? eh ! poor lass, poor lass ! come away,"
he said on that. "Where do we take her, comrade ? "
" Out of the town, to a mill a mile or more eastward
down the river. It will be safe going enough, for we can
get away by by-lanes."
So we went on hastily, meeting few people at that
hour in the dark alleys of the town, and were soon across
a breach in the old useless walls, and in the quiet meadow^
along the Tyne side. Annot walked quickly and firmly
enough, though she was hard put to it not to weep now
and then.
We had hardly gone the breadth of two meadows
beyond the last cottages, when a trumpet call rang
sharply through the night, and the soldier pricked up
his ears.
" Ho, comrade, I am wanted, and must get back.
That call is for guard changing, and my name is never
missing on roll-call," he said. "Good luck go with yon,
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 107
you are safe now. Forgive me, pretty lass, if I told you
bad news over-roughly just now but you can but ken
the worst once."
With that he nodded to me, and was off, but he
turned to call once more, " Name of John Sykes of
Birkbeck's company. Bring me word how you fare."
There were more half-lost words about ale-drinking
over the adventure, but he was running fast, and I hardly
listened, for Annot was speaking to me, calling me by the
name I had taken when my own was not to be used any
longer. They were wont to call me " Barvill of the
Peel " in the old days, and so I kept some remembrance
of the name, as it were.
" Master Peel," she said, " is all true that the soldier
said ? "
" True it is, Mistress Annot, I fear. But presently I
will go back and find that out for certain."
She sobbed a little, and hurried on, and it was not
long before we saw the mill, and heard the rush of the
water through its sluices.
As one might have expected, there were no lights
to be seen about the house, but when we came to the
door, we found that open, which seemed strange, and,
to me at least, of ill omen at such a time of trouble.
But Annot, who knew the ways of the place, went into
the dark entry and called softly. There was no answer,
and she came out to me again.
" I suppose that miller has gone to see to the sluices,
leaving the door open, as he often will. He will be back
anon. I will go up to the wife's room and wake her,
that she may not be frightened." And then she added,
" I think that I have much to thank you for, Master Peel,
but I must not stay now."
I tried to say that no thanks were needed, but she
was gone into the darkness of the stairway, and I would
not call after her. But I lingered, for I did not like the
io8
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
silence and open door at all. And I was right in doing
so, for in a few minutes she was back, calling to me with
fear in her voice.
She had found a lantern in some accustomed place,
and had lighted it, and in its dim light I saw that she \va-
more terrified than even in the town.
"Master Peel," she cried breathlessly; "the housr is
" Master Peel," she cried ; " the house
is empty and all in disorder."
empty and all in disorder. What can be wrong, and
what shall I do ? "
It was plain to me then that the poor folk had fled
from some raid of the Yorkist troops. Possibly the house
had been searched for fugitives, and the miller arrested,
with some unfortunate found on the place, as a sympathiser.
But I would not say so at once.
" Let us make certain," I said ; " maybe all are in
the mill."
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 109
We went round the buildings and called, but there
was no answer anywhere. And all the while 1 was
thinking what I could do now for this poor girl who was
thus dependent on me. Perhaps she had other friends in
the town, but, if they lived in the broad streets, I dared
not take her back through a mob whose ways would not
grow quieter as night went on. If she had any other
refuge outside the town it were well.
But she had not ; nor was there any house to which
she dared go in Hexham now. I had to ask her this
directly, for it was plain that the mill was deserted. And
I will say that she met the trouble bravely.
" 1 will bide here," she said. " Mayhap they will come
back now* that all is quiet."
At first that plan seemed good, but then I remembered
that the first place where the purveyors for the army
would seek for forage of all sorts would be in a miller's
stores. There would be no real refuge here for more
than the few hours of darkness left. Then, of course,
as I thought of keeping guard here, the remembrance of
what my cave held came back to me plainly. I cannot
say that it had ever been forgotten, but this trouble had
seemed but a passing one. Now that I found it more
than that, the other duty came forward again.
Even as I realised that I owed all to the Queen first,
I saw what I might do both for her and Annot. The
girl had trusted me, and I would trust her entirely, for
with her as an attendant our Queen would at least feel
her captivity less.
" Annot," I said, " there is one place to which I can
take you where you will be safe till all is quiet again, and
there you will be with a lady who is a fugitive like yourself
from these people."
She looked at me eagerly, and answered at once
" Take me there, I pray you, Master Peel. I trust
myself to you in all things."
no AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
" Ay, and now the trust must be altogether on my side,
for, if I take you to this lady, I am putting the greatest
of secrets in your charge."
" If some poor lady is hiding alone, let me go to her,"
she answered ; " then I may feel that my own trouble
has brought help to another. Truly I have trusted you,
good friend, for, from the moment we came here, I knew
that you could not have been sent for me, as the soldier
said."
" I will answer with trust for trust," I said. " Come,
we will borrow some cloak or blanket from the mill, that
you may go warmly."
Then we u nt in. The place had not been plundered,
and I gathered things that would be of use to the Queen
also. I was glad of the chance of thus getting food and
other comforts without having to ask for them, and so,
perhaps, drawing suspicion on me. At last I asked Annot
if the miller had any wine by some chance.
" Plenty," she said, wondering ; " but we must not take
that."
" You may need it," I said, " but the lady will need it
more. And she is one to whom nothing must be refused."
"Almost do you speak as if she were the Queen
herself."
" I am speaking of the Queen," I said plainly.
" And she is alone ! " the girl said, with wide sad eyes.
" Oh, had you asked me to go to her, even from my
uncle's house, I would have gone."
Then she too gathered things and hurried me, and
at last we were on our way to my cave. And as we went
I told her how I had met with the Queen, and gave her
many instructions as to the care of the hiding and the
like, that I might have the less to say in the Queen's
presence. It was a long way, and the day was breaking
when we came there, and the Queen answered from
within to the call of my own name.
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES in
Now how those two met I can hardly say, for I told
the Queen whom I had brought as I opened the cave
mouth, and when I saw the look of thanks she gave me,
and saw Annot fall on her knees and kiss her hand, I
turned away with a sort of lump in my throat, for even
that night alone in the place that was home to me had
brought a look to the face of Margaret of Anjou that was
terrible.
So I went aside a little way and sat down until Annot
called me, and then went back and spoke long with her
and the Queen. All that we said need not be set down,
nor how the Queen mourned over the news that I must
needs give her. But the end of it all was that I was to
seek out the Sire de Breze, the leader of her Angevin
levies, and bring him here. She could be patient now
with Annot to cheer her.
Therefore I went all day among our outlaws, hearing
what they knew of the flight, and at last heard of De
Breze, as the foreigner who had passed through the
forest. Then I saw the march of the Yorkist army from
Hexham towards the coast, and my heart grew lighter
for their going. None had seen Cork that day, and so
he had not been scouring the wood, but presently I went
to the place where the Queen had been robbed, and the
waggon was yet in the lane, empty. Cork and his men
must have gone away with the plunder.
I went into Hexham at nightfall, and the place was
in confusion and wretchedness. There were many who
had been plundered of all, and I learnt without going
to the market-place that Annot's uncle was indeed slain.
The tavern had been wrecked, but no worse, though
they told me that several men had lost their lives in the
riot before the provost marshal had ended it too late.
Now as I passed down a lane on my way back to the
forest, I came suddenly on two men who sat under a
hedge, and I heard a word or two of their talk before
ii2 AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
they saw me. They were not speaking English, and at
once I hoped that I had found some of De Breze's men.
So I gave them good-night, using passwords that the
Queen had taught me words that spoke of hope to the
cause of the red rose if a man knew them made in
troubles like these two years ago.
" Good-even, friends. One had wished for a brighter
sunset."
"Ay, but the morn may be redder," one answered in
good English enough.
"A red morning is a sign of storm," I said, passing on.
" A storm is needed to clear the air," he replied ;
" then the rose may bloom once more."
With that the two leapt up and followed me, and
when they caught me up they passed another word or
two for certainty, and then spoke freely enough. Then
I learnt that I had met with none other than De Brez6
himself and his squire Varennes, who had come back to
seek their lost Queen, leaving their few followers in some
nook of the hills to wait their return.
What their joy was when they heard all that I had
to tell them, and how they met the Queen, is beyond my
writing ; but I had heavy news for poor Annot, which filled
my thoughts now that the care of the Queen seemed to
be shifted from my shoulders for a little.
She bore them very bravely, having made up her mind
for the worst, and she told me that now she would bide
with the Queen as long as she had need of her. I had
promised the same to De Breze, for I could guide the
flight across the moors well, and so I was content, for
I should be at hand to help Annot if need was, while
doubtless the Queen would find her some place in a great
house in Scotland, were she asked.
Now Varennes went to his men presently and all
was planned well, so that in the grey of the next morning
we rode safely northwards, joining presently the Duke
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 113
of Exeter, and some other nobles with their men, thus
making a strong party against any attack. And even as
I thought that all was well, there rose one shadow to dim
my content, though I hardly knew why.
Across the moor rode toward us one man, who
hastened to put a stretch of boggy land between us and
him before he met us, and that was natural enough in
that place and time, so that we paid no heed to him.
But, as we passed nearer, I knew him, and it was Cork
himself ; and I thought, as he reined up and stared after
us, that he recognised the Queen as his captive, and that
what he had found in the waggon had told him whom
he had lost. I said nothing, however, for we had no time
to waste in chasing him, and I could not see what harm
he could do, since, ride as hard as he might, he could
not bring any force on us in time to stay our pass-
ing the border. Yet, as I say, he brought me a feeling
as of ill omen, and I was uneasy until we could see
him no longer. I thought that he lingered as if watching
us, though indeed one might have wondered if any man
did not do so.
Now our journey was safe and unhindered, and
well was I thanked for my guidance. I thought that I
should be dismissed when we reached Scotland, but
the Queen herself asked me if I would not remain in
her service, taking my place as a Barvill should among
her gentlemen-at-arms, for she would prove that she
was not ungrateful for what I had done for her and
the prince. And one >nay suppose that I gladly did
so, the more willingly that I should be near Annot, if
the truth is told.
Thus, for good or ill, my fortunes were cast in with
Margaret of Anjou, and I thought that my troubles were
over.
Maybe one may say that they were, for the trouble
to come yet was the Queen's, and though I had part in it,
H
H 4 AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
that is a different matter to being an outlaw on one's
own account. Outlaw, as it were, in truth our poor
mistress was yet, but in sharing her distress was truest
honour.
For no sooner were we over the border than we learnt
that all that the Queen could hope for was to be unnoticed
at the most. The surrender of Berwick, that should have
made Scotland her lasting friend, had been forgotten in
new treaties made with York, and she was warned that
she might even be given up to him. So we rode west-
ward along the border until we came to Kirkcudbright,
where the Queen had been in hiding before, and there
bided in poor lodgings enough as nothing more than a
noble Lancastrian lady with her household. None knew
her to be the Queen, but even were she to be recognised,
we supposed that the Scots king would hear no morv
than he knew already of her whereabout-.
So resting there we passed a quiet week, and then one
day as I wandered on the town quay, watching the vessels
alongside, the remembrance of Cork was brought back to
me by the walk and bearing of a man who was boarding
a small trading buss. His back \va^ towards me, and he
seemed to be a seaman altogether, but, I suppose because
the thought of Cork was always unpleasant to me, I asked
who yon man might be, and was told that he was master
of the buss,-and given his name also. So I was somewhat
angry with myself for letting such a ruffian as my former
acquaintance trouble my mind at all, and thought no more
of him.
That evening I went in attendance on De Brcx- beyond
the town to the house of a friend of the cause, in order to
learn whether there were any better tidings for the Queen
from Edinburgh. There were none, and we walked back
to the town by the same roads we had passed in going,
which is a thing that an outlaw learns not to do, for plain
reasons enough. It was not very dark, and the road was
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 115
not lonely as we came near the town, for two men struck
it from a by-path, and remained some fifty yards behind
us, talking and laughing freely, so that we thought them
lively company.
Just where the street down which we passed comes to
the quay it grows narrow, and at the corner house three
men were quarrelling in a half -drunken sort of way.
However, they stumbled aside as we came near them, and
lest I should oblige my leader to pass too close to them,
I dropped back a pace or two, and we went quickly.
Then one of the men seemed to push another, and sent
him falling right across de Breze's feet, causing him to
stumble heavily. I sprang forward to save him from
the fall, and in a moment was down also, with the
weight of several men on me. The two men had run
up from behind us and had thrown me. I shouted,
and tried to reach my dagger, but I was pinioned and
gagged quickly, and De Breze was being treated in the
same way.
Then the men set us on our feet, and the first man my
eyes lit on was Cork himself. He did not know me because
half my face was covered with a thick cloth, and besides
that I no longer wore the wild hair and beard of the
forest. Then I knew that it was indeed he whom I had
seen this morning, and now we were in his hands and
helpless, as his men dragged us across the quay and to his
vessel. The place was deserted, for the townsfolk did not
love late hours.
They took us on board the buss, and half threw us into
a small ill-smelling fore-peak under the high forecastle,
through a low door under the break of the deck and down
three steps. Bound as I was, I stumbled and could not
save myself, and so fell headlong, with De Breze on me.
My head came heavily against a timber, and that was all
I knew for a time.
When I came round I was free so far as bonds were
u6
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
concerned, hut I was in the same place, and De Breze was
beside me, in the dark. The vessel was certainly at sea,
and making her way against a light head-wind, for though
she was steady she went about and rolled me against my
comrade. Whereat I asked pardon.
" Why, that is well," he answered in a low voice, " for
your senses have suffered no hurt. I thought your neck
" I shouted, and tried to reach
might be broken, for when I had managed to wrench my
own bonds off and free you, you never stirred. Now,
what may all this mean ? We put to sea directly after we
were taken, and have been out of harbour for two hours
or so."
I told him what I knew of Cork, and then it seemed
plain to us that he had trapped us for the sake of the
price that was on our heads, that for De Breze's taking
being very great, as one might suppose. We should
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 117
therefore be on our way to England, which was no
pleasant thought, considering the fate of so many of the
Queen's best followers. I think it likely that I was taken
for Varennes, who was far more valuable, as one might
say, than myself.
" Why, then," said De Breze, " they will come presently
and offer us our freedom if we will promise to behave
ourselves. Then we may see if anything can be done to
make the bargain not all on one side, as we have the use
of our hands already."
I saw what he meant, and we began to plan many ways
of surprising our captors. It seemed as well to be slain
in making a bold try for liberty as to be given up to York
to be beheaded. But we must wait for daylight, and so
we tried to sleep in turns, though I do not know if either
of us did so.
Presently the sun rose, and the light streamed through
the chinks of the bulkhead that closed the break of the
deck, and I crept to one of them and looked aft. There
were but three men to be seen, one of whom was Cork,
and another the helmsman on the high poop. Cork and
the third man were on the main deck, leaning against the
rail that was all the bulwark that went round the waist,
and both were armed. How many more men there might
be I could not tell, but the vessel was small, and I thought
lhat the five who had taken us might be the whole crew.
De Breze came and peered out also.
" So far there are only two to one," he said, " for the
helmsman cannot leave his place. If we can settle with
these two with a rush the rest comes easily enough. But
where shall we find weapons ?"
All that I could see were the sweeps of the vessel,
twenty-foot oars that rested on chocks amidships and
were not lashed. I pointed these out, saying that one
might handle them well as one uses a border spear, and
at that De Breze made up his mind.
u8 AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
" They thought us so well bound that the door is only
latched," he said with a chuckle. " Are you ready ? "
" At your word," I answered.
" Well, then, I go first and take an oar from the right
side of the mast and make for the right-hand man. Do
you take the left, and then we shall clear one another."
He turned up his long~ r sleeves, shook hands with me,
and was out through the low door in a moment with
myself at his heels, and we had the long oars in our
hands and were charging the two men before they knew
that we were not some of their own crew. Then Cork
shouted and drew his sword, making for me just as my
comrade's levelled weapon struck his man fairly in the
chest, so that he doubled up with a howl and was hurled
under the rail into the sea. Perhaps the sudden shifting
of the deck as the helmsman threw the vessel's head into
the wind put me out, for I missed Cork, and in a moment
he was inside my guard, and I had hard work for a time
to keep away from his sword, using the oar as a quarter-
staff.
Then I got a fair blow at him from aloft, and that ended
all scores between me and him in good time, for De Breze
was fighting two more men who had come on deck from
a forward hatch. He had the sword of the first man he
had set on, and one might see that he was a master of the
weapon.
Two to one was unfair, however, and I thought that
the helmsman might take part, so I swept one of these
two overboard with a lucky swing of the oar, and de Breze
ended the matter with the other at once. Whereon the
helmsman cried for quarter, and it was plain that there were
no more men on board. Then as De Breze and I looked
at one another, the door of the cabin under the high poop
opened, and in it, frightened and pale, stood Annot her-
self. She gave a little cry of relief when she saw me, and
I sprang towards her.
I got a fair blow at him trom aloft."
AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES 121
" What is it all, Richard ? " she said, using my name
for the first time thus.
" How are you here ?" I answered.
But before either of us had replied, a stately figure
crossed the rough threshold of the cabin, and the Queen
herself was before me, looking on the bodies of the slain
with disdainful eyes, in which was no fear, for the field
of battle was not new to her.
"There is ever hope for the Red Rose while I have
such arms to strike for me," she said, as De Breze and I
knelt before her in wonder.
Then we learnt that almost as soon as we were taken
both Queen and prince had been decoyed from the house
by some crafty message purporting to come from a dying
Lancastrian who would fain see them before he* passed.
Varennes had gone to Edinburgh to seek for tidings of
the king, and so taking only Annot with her, the Queen
had gone out, only to be seized and hurried on board the
buss, which had at once put to sea. Doubtless Cork had
meant to take his captives to England for the sake of the
great reward that would be his, but if my forebodings
concerning him were justified, he had met his deserts at
my hand.
Then we made the helmsman put about, and were soon
back in harbour with the light breeze that had kept the
vessel in sight of land in our favour.
Now in a few days Varennes returned, and it was plain
that no help could be looked for from Scotland, nor was
it known where the king was for many a long day. Then
we must wander from place to place in hiding always,
until at last, on a short sea passage on the east coast, stress
of storm took us to Flanders, and then came the end of
troubles, for though the Duke of Burgundy was a foe, he
was a noble one, and sent our Queen home to her own
people in Angers in all honour, at last.
Here I and Annot my wife serve her yet, looking back
122 AN OUTLAW'S FORTUNES
with content to the troubled days when we first learnt to
love one another. For if it must be that we shall not see
England again, our home is where the Queen is, and that
is enough, and has been so since we served her for the
first time in the cave under the shadow of the Hexham
moors.
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE;"
OR, HOW I BECAME A LIGHT DRAGOON
BY LiEUT.-Cou PERCY GROVES, ROYAL GUERNSEY ARTILLERY
(LATE 27TH INNISKILLINGS)
CHAPTER I
IWAS born in 1795, at the Kentish village of Charfield,
of which my father, the Rev. James Wilmot, was
patron and rector. My mother died before I was
a week old, commending me with her latest breath to
the care of a trusted servant, the wife of our factotum
John Fowles " Corporal Jack," as the villagers commonly
called him. Nancy Fowles had also charge of my sister
Kate, who was six years my senior.
In his youth my father had held a cornet's commis-
sion in the i yth Light Dragoons, but being severely
wounded at Bunker's Hill, he was invalided home. He
then retired from the service, went to Oxford, took his
degree, was ordained, got married, and on the death of
his father, in 1788, succeeded to our family living.
When my father returned from America he was
accompanied by Corporal John Fowles (who had also
received a wound while rescuing his disabled cornet from
the enemy), and on quitting the army he purchased the
corporal's discharge, and took him as his body-servant.
Three years before I was born, Fowles married my
mother's maid, Nancy Buck ; they never had children, so
continued in their respective situations.
124 " A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE"
A strong, healthy child, I grew into a strong, healthy
boy, with more than a fair share of animal spirits, and a
most impetuous temper. I loved to " roam the fields for
health unhought," to box and play single-stick with John
Fowles, ride about the country with my sister, and take
an occasional cruise in a Deal lugger for Deal was barely
an hour's walk from Charfield Rectory, and I knew nearly
every fisherman on that part of the coast. Meanwhile
my education was not neglected, as I studied daily with
our curate, and with Mademoiselle Hettier, Kate's gover-
ness, an emigre'e whose relatives had all perished during
the " Terror." Thus passed my life until I attained my
fourteenth year, by which time I was well instructed in
the " three Rs," history and geography, could speak
French fluently and with a tolerable accent, knew a very
little Latin, and was able to stammer through the Greek
alphabet.
" I wish to speak about your future," said my father
one evening when I bade him good-night. " You are
now fourteen, and it is quite time that I expressed my
views on that subject. My great desire is, that you should
take orders and eventually succeed to the living. Do you
like the prospect ? "
" Ye es, sir," I hesitatingly replied ; " yes, I think
so that is, if it wasn't for Latin and Greek. I am very
poor at them, you know."
''That's not altogether your fault, my boy," was his
rejoinder. " Mr. Scott owns he does not possess the gift
of teaching, but he is leaving us, on preferment, next
week, and the new curate I have engaged is a very com-
petent tutor. You have heard me mention my nephew
Septimus Blagg?"
" Yes, father."
" Well Septimus is a sound classical scholar, and has
coached men at Oxford. He has just been ordained, and
is coming here as curate and your tutor. He will soon
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 125
bring you on, and when you're sufficiently prepared you
shall go up for matriculation. Good-night, Dick."
" Good-night, sir." And I retired, not quite sure
whether I felt pleased or the contrary.
Septimus Blagg arrived at Charfield in due course.
He was a lanky, sallow-faced, red-haired young man, with
a fawning manner and a low purring voice. From the
very first, Kate and I disliked and mistrusted him. The
new tutor was, no doubt, a fine scholar, and apparently
took considerable pains to instruct me ; but somehow or
other, I did not seem to make much progress with my
classical studies ; we were always doing the same work
over and over again ; never going ahead. At the end of
twelve months, Septimus informed my father that I had
no talent whatever for Latin or Greek, and recommended
him to choose for me some profession in which a know-
ledge of classics was not indispensable.
" No, nephew, no ! Dick must stick to the Church,"
was the decided reply. " He's still but a boy, and I'll
wager he will easily matriculate when the time comes.
With you for his tutor he is certain to succeed," my
father added ; for he had a high opinion of his curate, who
made himself useful in many ways, and had completely
hoodwinked his easy-going rector.
" As you please, sir," responded Septimus. " It was
my duty to warn you of the possibility, nay, I must say
the probability of failure ; but of course I will continue to do
my utmost for dear Richard." And the subject dropped.
Now Kate chanced to overhear this conversation, and
asked me whether I really tried to profit by our cousin's
teaching.
" Honestly I do, Kate," I answered. " With other work
I get on well enough, as you know ; but, though I try
hard to pick up Latin and Greek, I never seem to make
any progress. It's always the same work over and over
again, until I'm fairly sick of it ! If Cousin Septimus
126 "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE"
would only let me go ahead I'm sure I'd do better, but
really I sometimes fancy he .
" Keeps you back on purpose," interposed Kate, taking
the words out of my mouth. "That is exactly what /
think, Dick. I believe the wretch will do all he can to
prevent you taking orders, in the hope of getting Charfield
for himself. That is the reason you do not get on with
your classics ! "
" Egad ! you're right," I exclaimed. " What shall we
do speak to father ? "
" No, dear boy ; we have no proof, and may be wrong
in our suspicions," my sister replied. " We must try to
outwit the man. Do your utmost, Dick, to master Latin
and Greek in spite of his endeavours to hinder you ; pick
up all you can from him, but trust chiefly to your own
efforts. Ma'moiselle could, I am sure, help you with
Latin, for she is so clever at languages. I will speak to
her."
I followed Kate's advice to the letter, and never hinted
to my father that I doubted Mr. Blagg's good faith ; but
setting to work with a determination to succeed, by dint
of hard study and the assistance of Mademoiselle Hettier
who still lived with us as Kate's companion I made such
progress that in a year's time all doubt of my being able
to matriculate and subsequently take a respectable degree
was removed. My father was delighted ; my tutor un-
mistakably puzzled and discomfited though he received
with complaisance the compliments of his unsuspecting
uncle, for Kate and I kept our secret.
Foiled in his attempt to retard my classical studies,
Septimus Blagg tried other means to attain his end : he
sought to blacken my character, knowing well that my
father had too much respect for his cloth to permit a
reputed ne'er-do-well to enter the Church. Septimus was
far too wary to speak against me himself, so he bribed his
landlord, Joseph Dobbs, the parish constable, to do his
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 127
dirty work. Dobbs was a cowardly, bullying jack-in-
office, quite unscrupulous ; in fact the very man for the
job. This rascal now began to play the spy upon me,
and to report, with gross exaggerations, every boyish
escapade. My father, however, knew Mr. Dobbs of old,
and paid little heed to his reports. Indeed, on one
occasion, when the fellow brought a palpably false charge
against me, my indignant sire rated him soundly, threat-
ened to deprive him of his office, and ordered John
Fowles to turn him off the premises an order which
the ex-corporal cheerfully obeyed, and even exceeded by
giving the slanderer a sound thrashing, on the plea that
he " resisted the escort."
At this time I had no suspicion that Septimus Blagg
was the instigator of these malicious charges, or I should
certainly have shown him up.
For a few months after his warm reception at the
rectory, Dobbs let me alone, but he was only biding his
opportunity, and ere long he and his scoundrelly employer
succeeded in landing me in a rare scrape.
In the month of March 1812, my father, Kate, and
Mademoiselle Hettier went on a visit to Bingley Manor,
twenty odd miles from Charfield. On Tuesday, March
the nth I have good reason to remember the day!
I rode over to Bingley with an important letter, and did
not reach home until after dark. As I entered the village
Septimus Blagg stopped me.
" I am glad you have returned, Richard ; in fact, I
have been watching for you," he said. " There is painful
news to tell you."
" Painful news, cousin ! " I exclaimed.
" Yes, Richard," he rejoined. " Your young servant
Harry Symes has been arrested on a very grave charge."
Now Harry Symes was a particular favourite of mine.
He had been in our service some three- years, but I had
known him since childhood. His father was one of the
128 "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE"
most skilful and daring boatmen on the coast ; he \v.i>
also, unhappily, a notorious smuggler a man who would
stick at nothing when his blood was up. Hut though a
determined law-breaker himself, William Symes had no
wish that his only son should follow in his footsteps, so
he had begged my father to take Harry into his service,
and accordingly the lad was taken on as under-groom and
to make himself generally useful indoors and out.
"What is Harry accused of?" I anxiously inquired.
" Nothing disgraceful, I'll swear ! "
" His father and other smuggler attempted to run
a cargo before daybreak this morning, and were surprised
by the Preventive Service officers. They made a de
perate resistance, lives being lost on both sule>. William
Symes managed to escape, and came here to borrow some
money from his son. He was seen by Joseph Dobbs,
who very properly arrested him, but Harry interfered,
assaulted Dobbs and his assistant with a hay-fork, and
enabled his father to get clear away."
" And Harry was arrested ? "
"Certainly he was, Richard, but not before he had
dealt Dobbs a severe blow on the head, rendering him
nearly insensible," answered Septimus. " He is now in
the village cage, and I am uneasy lest any of hi> iriends
should attempt to rescue him. I shall advise Dobbs
to keep watch over the cage all night, and remove the
prisoner to Deal in the morning."
"Better mind your own business," I muttered; adding
aloud, " Isn't the cage guarded at present ? "
" No, Richard. Your father being absent, Dobbs
has gone to Mr. Hardy's to report the arrest and ask
for instructions ; while his assistants, I believe, are on
William Symes's track. Poor Harry ! I fear he has
committed a capital offence, and if so, his days are
numbered."
These last words decided me. For aught I knew
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 129
to the contrary, Harry Symes's life was in imminent
peril, and I must save him if possible. The Charfield
cage was an old ramshackle place, and if it was not
watched I might be able to release my humble friend
before Dobbs returned from the magistrate's. There
was not a moment to lose, so bidding Septimus a curt
good-night, I hastened to the stable and stalled and fed
my mare without troubling the groom. Then, having
procured a small crowbar from the tool-house, I ran to
the cage, which stood quite apart from other buildings,
and within five hundred yards of the rectory.
Not a soul was about, as far as I could see, so I
whistled softly.
" That you, Master Dick ? " whispered Harry, looking
through the narrow grated window.
" Yes ; I've come to release you. Keep very quiet."
The door of the cage was secured by a massive-
looking staple and padlock, but both were old and eaten
with rust ; so a vigorous application of the crowbar
wrenched them off. Pushing open the door, I entered
the cage.
" Master Dick, you shouldn't have done this," Harry
exclaimed. " You'll get yourself into rare trouble, I'm
feared."
" Hush, you foolish fellow," I answered under my
breath. "Take this money and cut away while the road's
clear. I will meet you at the Dragon, Canterbury, early
to-morrow, and we
" Not so fast, Master Wilmot," said a gruff voice,
while a heavy hand fell on my shoulder, and turning
quickly round, I found myself confronted by Dobbs
and Septimus Blagg, behind whom stood the former's
assistants William Herd and Seth Fogg.
" I arrest you, Richard Wilmot, for attempting to
rescue my prisoner," continued Dobbs. " Shove the
darbies on t'other one, Bill, and do you, Seth, fetch the
I
I 3 o "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE"
cart. We'll take these young devils to Dover jail this
very night. Look sharp, both on ye."
Fogg went off on his errand with evident reluctance,
and Herd, after fumbling in his pockets, declared that
he must have left the handcuffs at home. Harry and
I were so taken aback at the unexpected appearance of
Dobbs and his companions that we stood stock-still,
offering neither resistance nor remon>tance ; but now
Septimus Blagg came cringing up to me and, with well-
feigned emotion, said: "Richard! Richard! has it conn-
to this ? Alas ! what will my poor deluded uncle say ? "
The sound of his hated voice roused me in a moment.
Looking him fair in the face, I saw that his expression
was one of triumph rather than regret. Then a sudden
thought flashed across my mind I had been betrayed
by that fawning hypocrite !
"You hound!" I shouted in a fury. "You have set
a trap for me I'll swear it ! "
" I reckon ye're not far wrong, Master Dick," muttered
William Herd, casting an angry glance at the now trem-
bling curate. " A darned dirty job it 1
The man's remark, and my tutor's confusion, con-
vinced me I had hit the right nail on the head --that
Dodds and Septimus had deliberately planned to tempt
me to rescue Harry Symes, there could be no reasonable
doubt and losing all control of my temper, and utterly
regardless of the consequences, I rushed at Septimus
Blagg and knocked him fairly off his legs. In falling
his head came in violent contact with the half-open door,
and he rolled over stunned and bleeding profusely.
" The young vill'n's killed the parson!" cried Dobbs,
seizing me by the collar. " Help ! Murder ! Help ! "
Snatching up a stool the only piece of furniture in
the cage Harry Symes flew to my aid, and with a
swashing blow stretched Dobbs senseless on the floor.
" Ecod ! ye've done for the pair of 'em, I do believe,"
; Knocked him fairly off his legs."
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 133
said Herd in scared tones, as he stooped to examine
Dobbs's prostrate form. " Ye shouldn't have hit so mortal
hard, lad ; though it serves the rascal right."
" Is he dead, Bill ? " asked poor Harry anxiously.
" I'm feared so, lad," replied the old man, looking up.
" Ye must get clear of the country both on ye, for it'll
be a hangin' job if ye're cotched. Be off, lads, afore
Seth Fogg comes back, and put a score of miles betwixt
ye and Charfeld by mornin'."
" But you will get into trouble if we escape now,
William," I said, hesitating to act on his advice.
" Never fear, Master Dick," he rejoined. " How
could an old chap like me stop a couple of active lads
such as ye be ? Not as how I'd try, if I was as strong
as Samson."
" That's true, sir," put in Harry ; " and everybody
in Charfield '11 know it."
" In course they will," said Herd. " Come, be off
afore 'tis too late, and I'll take mighty good care that
ye gets a fair start. And look ye, Master Dick," the
old fellow went on, " I'll see that Parson Wilmot knows
the rights of this business, never you fear. Now away
ye goes, lads, and good luck go with ye ! " And with
that he pushed us out of the cage.
CHAPTER II
FAIRLY dismayed at our unfortunate position, we went
off like hares, and turning out of the road, made our way
across country in the direction of Ashford. It was a
moonlight night and we could see our way fairly well,
so on we ran until we were a good league from Char-
field, when, hearing no sounds of pursuit, we threw our-
selves down under a hay-stack to draw breath.
" This be a precious bad job, sir," said Harry ; " I do
134 " A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE"
wish you'd let me stop in the cage. Fancy you getting
into such a scrape for the likes of me ! "
" What is done cannot be undone, worse luck ! " I
answered dejectedly. " It is really my fault that we're
in such a horrible mess, for had I not lost my temper
and struck Mr. Blagg, I do believe they would have let
us both go."
"Surely, Master Dick, they'd never have done that ?"
"I think they would for then own >akes, Harry.
You see, they knew I had guessed their plot, and that
William Herd had an inkling of it, and I feel sure they
would have gladly released us on our promising to hold
our tongues."
"There's something in that, sir," a^ented my com-
panion. Mr. Blagg was regular skeert when you spoke
your mind to him, and that's for sure."
"Yes; and had I only kept my hands off him, it
would have been all right ; but now the wretched att'air
cannot possibly be hushed up, and if we wish to save
our liberty if not our lives we must fly the country."
In my excited state it never occurred to me that after
all Blagg and Dobbs might not have been fatally injured ;
on the contrary, I made sure that Dobbs was dead, and
thought it more than probable that my tutor, if not killed
outright, would not survive. But for this firm impression,
I should have made the best of way to Bingley Manor,
and confessed everything to my father, leaving him to
decide what was to be done ; as it was, the bare idea of
being tried for murder, or even manslaughter, filled me
with horror, and I resolved to endure any hardships or
privations rather than the disgrace of appearing in the
prisoner's dock on such a terrible charge. How bitterly
I reproached myself for that fatal burst of passion !
that mad blow which had brought such dire trouble
upon Harry and myself ; ruining our prospects and com-
pelling us to fly from home and friends. I thought, with
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 135
hot tears streaming down my cheeks, of my poor father
and sister, how keenly they would feel the disgrace, and
what fearful anxiety they would endure on my account.
These mournful reflections were at length interrupted by
Harry Symes.
" Don't you think, sir, that we should have made sure
that Mr. Blagg was killed afore we run off ? " he said.
" Herd declared that Dobbs was dead, and if caught
we should be tried for his murder," I answered. " As
far as our fate goes, it matters little whether my cousin
is alive or not. I hope most sincerely that he is, poor
fellow, though it would not save us."
" But you did not kill Dobbs, Master Dick," rejoined
Harry. "That was my doing may God forgive me for
it ! and they can't punish you for my crime. Look ye,
sir, let me go back and give myself up, and I'll warrant
they won't trouble themselves about you once they gets
hold of me."
This, of course, I would not hear of, and I told Harry
that we were both in the same boat, and would sink or
swim together. We were now fairly rested, so I proposed
that we should continue on our way.
" Where are we bound for, sir ? " he inquired.
" I hardly know, Harry. Suppose we make for Ash-
ford and catch the early coach to London ? I have five
or six pounds with me, and my watch is worth as much
more."
" I doubt Ashford would be safe, Master Dick," he
replied. "As like as not the news of our escape will
be brought by the early coach, and you're well known
in Ashford. If we make for London we'd best take
another road. But, sir, what'll we do in London when
we get there ? I reckon them Bow Street runners, as
they talks so much of, will soon run us to ground."
" We must get out of England as soon as possible,
and to do that we shall have to enlist or go to sea. I
136 "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICK
think London will be a good place either to take the
shilling or get a berth on board some ship."
"Surely you never means to go for a soldier, Master
Dick ?" cried Harry aghast.
" Better that than be tried for murder at next assizes,"
I answered ; adding, " Unless you would rather go to
sea ? "
"Not I, sir," was the reply. "Taint of myself I'm
thinkin' ; it's you, Master Dick. But if so be as your
mind is made up, I'm with you. I'd as lief be a soldier
as anything."
"Then come along, Harry; we'll take 'the kind's
shilling' together. Now, which way had we better
follow ? "
"The Maidstone road, I think, sir. Yon's Sheldon
wood, and the lane as skirts it leads into the highway near
Squire Cotton's, about two mile from here."
"True ; we cannot do better. Come, lad ! it is dose
on eleven o'clock, and we must be far on our way by
daybreak."
"Beg pardon, sir," said my companion, touching his
hat ; " but hadn't you best take your spurs off in case
we meets any folk ? "
" Egad ! I quite forgot I had them on," I laughed.
"There! now we will put our best foot foremost."
CHAPTER III
IN less than half-an-hour we reached the high-road, along
which we proceeded at a brisk pace. Occupied with our
thoughts they were not of a pleasant nature we con-
versed but little ; in fact, we had walked in absolute silence
for the last couple of miles, when Harry suddenly stopped
and clapped hand to ear.
" What is it ? " I asked.
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE"
137
"There's a carriage coming up behind us, sir," he
replied. " At a hard pace too."
Turning round, I attentively listened, and, sure enough,
heard the rattle of wheels and the sound of horses gallop-
" I shall try to stop them."
ing furiously. The road was quite straight, and we had
a clear view of a quarter of a mile or more. In a few
moments a post-chaise came in sight, the horses tearing
along, and evidently not under control.
138 "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE"
" See, Master Dick, there's no post-hoy," cried my
companion. " It's a runaway ! "
Now, not fifty yards beyond where we stood \v.i- .1
very steep hill, and I knew that if the horses took the
chaise down that hill at the pace they were going, a serious
accident would be the almost inevitable result nothing
short of a miracle could prevent it. To stop the horses
before they reached the hill would be a risky job, but in
my present mood I cared very little about risk to life or
limb, ;md so determined to make the attempt.
" Harry, lad, I shall try to stop them."
"Right, sir, I'm with you," was the prompt rq>ly.
"You take the near horse and I'll go for the off. Come-
on, sir."
We moved a few yards up the road, and the moment
the horses came abreast of us we made a dash at them.
Running by the near horse's head, I managed to catch hi->
bridle close by the bit ; at the same time throwing my
right arm over his withers, I got a firm grip of the collar,
and hung on like grim death. Harry was equally fortunate,
and, after being dragged a short distance, \ve succeeded in
bringing the runaways to a standstill, just as they reached
the brow of the hill. As soon as the horses stopped the
door of the chaise was flung open, and a gentleman, wear-
ing an undress cavalry uniform, jumped out.
" Splendidly done, lads ! " he exclaimed, clapping me
on the shoulder. " You have undoubtedly saved me from
a serious, if not fatal accident, and I thank you heartily.
You're not hurt, I hope ? "
"A bit shaken, that's all, thank you, sir," I answered.
" Are you all right, Harry ? "
" Yes, Master Dick. Twas a near thing, though !
Another ten yards, and we'd gone full tear down the
hill."
" I am Major Warrington, of the I4th Light Dragoons,"
said the officer, shaking me warmly by the hand. " May I
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 139
ask your name, young gentleman, and that of your your
companion ? "
" My name is Wilmot, sir," I replied, somewhat hesi-
tatingly, for, under the circumstances, I did not much care
to tell my name to a stranger.
" And I am Mr. Wilmot's servant, your honour," said
Harry.
" Well, Mr. Wilmot, and you, my brave lad, I am very
grateful for the service you have rendered me," rejoined
Major Warrington ; " very grateful indeed. To say nothing
of my escape from bodily injury, I am thankful that the
horses and chaise have not been damaged, as it is of the
utmost importance that my journey should not be hin-
dered. I am hastening to Northfleet, to join a transport
which sails for Lisbon at ten o'clock in the morning, and
even now I shall be pushed for time." Then with a laugh
he added, " I suppose I must ride post myself, or else
drive from the perch, for the rest of the stage, as there's
small chance of my post-boy turning up."
" Was he thrown, sir ? " I asked.
" No. What happened was this," the major replied.
" I was fast asleep, when the sudden stopping of the chaise
roused me. Looking out, I saw the boy knocking at the
door of a cottage. Before I had time to inquire what he
wanted, the door opened, and startled, I presume, by
the flash of light the horses went off at full speed. Of
course, it was impossible for me to stop them, so I let
down the windows, covered myself with cloak, rug, and
cushions, and awaited events. We must have come full
six miles, at almost racing speed ; and I certainly never
expected to get clear of the chaise with whole bones."
" And what became of the post-boy ? " I asked.
" When the horses bolted he was at the cottage door,
and possibly he may have followed me, but I cannot wait
on the chance of his coming up. I must get forward to
the next stage without delay, and be my own post-boy."
i 4 o "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE"
"Beg pardon, sir," Harry chimed in, "Master Dick
and I are going London way, and it willn't be much out
of our road, if we come with you as far as Shelwick-
that's the next stage, sir. I can ride post, if you'll take-
Master Dick in the chay ? I know the road well."
Harry's most unexpected suggestion took me fairly
aback, and annoyed me not a little ; but I did not like to
offer any objection, so held my tongue. Major Warring-
ton, too, was evidently surprised at the proposal, and
looked inquiringly first at me and then at Harry.
" That will suit me admirably, Mr. Wilmot," he said,
after an awkward pause. " It will be a pleasure to have
your company as far as Shelwick ; or farther, if our roads
lie together. What say you ? "
"I am willing, Major Warrington," I replied in a halt-
hearted manner ; but seeing that he appeared hurt at my
reluctant assent, I added, " Indeed I shall be very glad to
accompany you."
"Then we'll be off at once," he rejoined. "Jump up,
my lad."
"One moment, your honour," said Harry. " Master
Dick, will you put the shoe on ? We shall want it going
down the hill." And as I went round the chaise to fix
the drag-shoe, he whispered, " Tell the gentleman every-
thing, sir. I'm sure he'll give you good advice, and maybe
help us."
CHAPTER IV
" DRIVE on," said Major Warrington, stepping into the
chaise and seating himself beside me. "Twenty past
one "-looking at his watch "have you any idea how
far we are from Shelwick ? "
" Nearly six miles from the posting-house, which is
some little distance beyond the village," I answered.
"Well, I hope they'll be able to give me four
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 141
posters," the major said. " I could only get a pair at
the last stage."
" Have you come far to-night, sir ?" I inquired.
" From Bingley, Mr. Wilmot. I have been staying
with my brother-in-law, Lord Buckland, at Buckland Court.
My servant started with the baggage for Northfleet on
Monday, but urgent business detained me until this, or
rather last evening. By the way, do you know Colonel
Gascoigne of Bingley Manor ? I ask because there is a
Mr. Wilmot, a clergyman, staying at the Manor ; probably
you are related to him ? "
" This was indeed a home question ! What should I
say ? Should I follow Harry Symes's advice, and make
a clean breast of everything to the major ? I hesitated ;
then for I could not bring myself to deny my father I
said, almost in a whisper, " I am Mr. Wilmot's son." And,
unable to control my emotion, I burst into tears.
" My dear boy ! " exclaimed Major Warrington, laying
his hand on my arm, " what is wrong with you ? I fear
you have got into some trouble is it not so ? "
" Into very great trouble, sir ; but I I dare not tell
you what it is."
" Nonsense, Wilmot," he rejoined ; " do not be foolish.
Tell everything without reserve, and if it is in my power
to help you I will. Anyhow, you may be sure that I will
respect your confidence. Remember, my dear boy," he
went on, seeing that I hesitated, " I am under great obliga-
tions to you and your servant, and it will be a pleasure
to me to assist or advise you. Come ! confide in me
without fear."
So, touched by his kind manner and evident desire to
help me, I told the whole story.
" Umph ! You and Harry Symes are certainly in an
awkward scrape," said Major Warrington, when I had
finished ; " but I do not consider you have done anything
disgraceful."
I 4 2 "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE'
"Thank you for saying that, sir," I murmured.
"You have acted foolishly very foolishly! by
walking, almost with your eyes open, into the tnip set
for you by those scoundrels the tutor and his con-
federate," the major went on; "and thereby have com-
mitted a serious offence against the law. As for tin-
tutor and parish-constable," he added, " their conduct was
most disgraceful, and they richly deserve punishment,
in addition to the rough handling they got from you."
" But, sir, I fear the constable was killed in the
scuffle," I put in, thinking he might not have understood
me. " His assistant, William Herd, said "
" Never mind what William Herd said ; it is more
than probable he was mistaken," interrupted Major
Warrington. "You do not know the fellow was killed,
and in discussing this affair it is better that we should
stick to facts, and facts only. We do know that you
have committed a serious legal offence by breaking into
the Charfield lock-up and assisting a prisoner to escape,
and what we have to consider is how you are to be
saved from the consequences of your foolish action.'
"What do you advise, sir?" I asked anxiously, after
a brief silence.
" No doubt I ought to advise you to return home
and surrender yourselves, but such a step would place
your father in a very painful position as a magistrate
he must of necessity commit you to prison ; the more
so, because you are his son. Once you are arrested, the
law must take its course, and I am afraid it would go
hard with you both."
" I am afraid it would," I sighed.
"On the other hand," pursued the major, "I believe
that if you can avoid arrest for a time, and proper
influence is brought to bear, the matter may be hushed
up. Therefore I advise you to keep out of the way for
a time, and if possible leave the country."
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 143
"That was our intention, sir," I rejoined. "We are
going up to London to enlist."
" You need not go to London, my boy," said Major
Warrington. " I am both able and willing to assist you,
and my proposal is that you and Symes should accom-
pany me to the Peninsula. Now what say you to that ? "
" Can such an arrangement be made ? " I exclaimed
half incredulously.
" Certainly it can," was the reply, " otherwise I
should not have made the offer. I am in command of
the drafts going out in the Morning Star, and nobody
will raise any objection if I choose to take a couple of
likely recruits with me. The question is are you willing
to come ? "
" Indeed I am, Major Warrington ! " I answered joy-
fully. " Thank you most heartily for the offer ; you are
truly ' a friend in need ' ! "
" And the lad Symes will he care to go on active
service ? "
" Yes, sir. I can answer for that."
" Then that point is settled," said the major. " Symes
will enlist in the i4th, and you shall join us as a gentle-
man volunteer ; the colonel will, I am sure, accept you
on my recommendation. Before we embark," he con-
tinued, " I will write to your father, explaining how I
chanced to fall in with you, and my reasons for advising
you to take this step. You, too, must send him a dutiful
letter, giving full particulars of the fracas at Charfield, and
stating your reasons for supposing that your tutor and
the constable laid a trap for you."
" William Herd promised to tell my father everything,
sir," I interposed ; " but, of course, I will write as you
suggest."
" I shall also send a full account of the case to Lord
Buckland, and beg him to use all his influence to get the
affair hushed up," the major went on. " No doubt his
144 "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE'
friendship with Mr. Wilmot will induce him to do all 1 it-
can ; but the fact of your having rendered me so great a
service, at the risk of your life, will make- him doubly
anxious to help you. I feel pretty confident that the
matter will be satisfactorily settled, and in a few months
you will be able to return home without fear."
" I think, sir, that once in the army I should like to
stick to it," I remarked. " My father would not object,
as after this scrape I couldn't very well enter tin. Church,
and if all goes well I shall beg him to get me a com-
mission. We're at the bottom of the hill now ; I will
jump out and take off the shoe."
CHAPTER V
" ROCK of Lisbon's just sighted, gentlemen," the sti -ward
informed us as we sat at breakfast in the cuddy of the
Morning Star, a wall-sided old brig which the transport
authorities considered quite good enough to convey ln^
Majesty's troops from the Thames to the Tagus.
Three weeks and five days had elapsed since we
embarked at Northfleet, and we were all heartily sick of
being cooped up in our dirty " floating home." The
voyage had been unusually tedious, owing to bad weather,
head winds, and the wretched sailing of the brig, so the
prospect of once more stretching our legs on terra finna
was very welcome.
" We should be at anchor before dusk," said Major
Warrington.
"What a blessing!" ejaculated Frank Bradley, a newly
fledged cornet, and the only I4th officer on board besides
the major.
" Praise the saints ! we'll be clear of this ould flea-
trap in a few hours," exclaimed Doctor Mulcahy, the
surgeon in medical charge of the drafts. " I give
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 145
ye me word of honour, major, that since I came on
board, me life's been one prolonged scratch ! As for the
poor fellows on the troop-deck, their state just beggars
description."
" Then pray don't attempt to describe it, doctor,"
laughed the major. "We know by experience that
your descriptions are sometimes rather too vivid. Come
on deck, Wilmot, and take your first look at Portugal."
Major Warrington had treated me with the greatest
kindness and generosity, and but for my anxiety to
receive some news from home, I should have felt per-
fectly happy and contented despite the discomforts of
the voyage. As I had only a few pounds with me, and
no " kit " except what I stood up in, the major insisted
on being my banker until I could get remittances from
my father. I had purchased some necessaries at North-
fleet, and young Bradley was very glad to part with
superfluous articles of the preposterous outfit with which
a London tailor had saddled him ; thus I was able to pre-
sent a respectable appearance as a gentleman volunteer.
The Morning Star anchored in the Tagus, just abreast
of Belem, in the afternoon of the 5th April. Hardly
was our anchor down when we were hailed from the
deck of a British corvette which lay in the river half a
cable's length ahead of us.
" What brig is that ? "
" Mornin' Star, transport; with drafts of the I4th
Light Dragoons and 3rd and 66th Regiments. One
hundred and fifty-eight all told," shouted our skipper.
" Three weeks out of the Thames."
"Have you a Major Warrington of the I4th on
board ? " was the next question.
" We has," bawled the skipper. " He commands the
troops."
" What can they want with me ? " said the major,
who had just come on deck.
K
146
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE"
"You'll soon know, major," observed Bradley, "for
they're sending a boat off. Here she comes ! Look at
the Portuguese bumboats scuttling out of her way ! "
" Major Warrington ? " he said.
And the next minute the corvette's gig ran alongside,
and a smart little midshipman sprang up the accommoda-
tion ladder.
" Major Warrington ? " he said, looking inquiringly
round.
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 147
" My name is Warrington, young gentleman," the
major answered, stepping forward.
" Captain Calvert's compliments, sir, and will you
kindly come on board the Alacrity. He has brought out
a packet of letters for you."
" Dp you belong to the Alacrity ? " said the major in
a tone of surprise. "Why, when did she sail from
Portsmouth ? "
"On the 25th of last month, sir, and anchored here
this morning," the middy replied. " We met with beastly
weather in the Bay, or should have got in two days ago."
Then with an impudent look on his chubby face, he said
to our skipper, "You left the Thames on the i2th, I
believe ? By George ! your old hooker has taken her
time over the passage. How many knots can she do at
a pinch ? " But the surly old shellback walked forward
without vouchsafing an answer, beyond growling some-
thing about the " cheek of them young reefers."
Telling the middy that he would be with him in five
minutes, Major Warrington took me aside, and informed
me that Captain Calvert of the Alacrity was Lord Buckland's
cousin, and that probably the letters he had brought out
referred to my case.
" Would they have had time to write, sir ? " I ques-
tioned.
"Before the Alacrity sailed? yes, I think so," he replied.
"The letters we wrote from Northfleet must have reached
your father and Buckland by the i4th, and you may be
sure they would not let the grass grow under their feet.
I met Captain Calvert at Buckland, and he was then under
orders to sail on the 3oth March, but it appears he had
to put to sea on the 25th. No doubt Lord Buckland
knew of this, and took the opportunity to forward our
letters."
" I hope they bring good news," I sighed. " I feel
very anxious, major."
i4 "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICK '
"Nonsense, boy ; keep up your spirits, and I'll wager
a guinea I shall be able to tell you that everything has
been satisfactorily arranged as far as you are concerned.
If it were bad news my brother-in-law would not have
been in a hurry to write. Now I must not keep the
captain's gig waiting, so I am off."
The major proved a true prophet. In less than half-
an-hour he returned to the brig, bringing me a letter from
my father. The letter was couched in most affectionate
terms, without a single word of reproach. To my great
relief I now learned that neither Septimus Hlagg nor
Dobbs had been seriously injured ; but the latter got such
a shock, that thinking he was dying he made a full con-
fession of the plot which he and Septimus had hatched
against me. As to wishing to prosecute, the two scoun-
drels were thankful to escape being indicted for conspiracy.
My father wound up by saying that I could return home
at once if I chose, but he thought that now I had started
on a military career it would be well for me to keep to it,
at any rate for the present. Harry Symes could go back
to the rectory, or remain with me as he pleased. A
banker's bill for 200 was enclosed, and the letter con-
cluded with affectionate wishes for my welfare.
" Now, my boy," said Major Warrington, when I had
finished reading the letter, "you will commence your
military life with an easy mind ! I have one more piece
of news for you," he added. " Buckland has seen Lord
L , and obtained a promise that you shall have the
first vacant cornetcy in the i4th. So, Wilmot, we must
pray that there be no change in the Ministry for some
little time to come."
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 149
CHAPTER VI
MUCH to our annoyance, we were detained at Lisbon
until the first week in July, when an order arrived for the
draft to proceed at once to Salamanca. Lord Wellington
had entered Salamanca at the end of June, and his forces
were in position on the south bank of the Douro, while
the French under Marmont occupied the northern. It
was the general opinion there would be warm work before
long, and we hoped to join the regiment in time to take
part in it. During my four months' sojourn in the Portu-
guese capital I had made great progress with my drills,
and Major Warrington pronounced me quite competent
to command a troop or take charge of a picket or
patrol.
About three weeks before we left Lisbon I received
the welcome news of my appointment to a cornetcy in
the 1 4th thanks to the influence of Lord Buckland with
his friend the Cabinet Minister.
" I wish you all success, my dear Wilmot," said Major
Warrington when congratulating me on my good fortune.
" After all, the trouble you got into has proved a blessing
in disguise, for you have now a noble career before you,
and I predict that you will make an excellent light-cavalry
officer. " Entre nous," he added with a smile, " I don't
think you were ever cut out for a parson. To my mind
no man should enter the Church unless he has a very
decided leaning that way."
" I agree with you, sir," I replied ; " and judging
by his letter, my father seems to be of similar opinion.
He must look out for a more worthy successor to our
family living."
" Well, I trust he will not bestow it on Mr. Septimus
Blagg," laughed the major.
" Little fear of that," I rejoined. " Cousin Septimus
150 "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE"
is now, so my sister writes, an usher in a London school.
I wish the poor boys joy of the fellow ! "
I will pass over our long march, for we met with no
adventures worth recording. Harry Symes proved an
excellent servant on the line of march, and one might
have thought he had been campaigning all his life, so
smart and intelligent was he. I urged him to go in for
promotion, but he declared he would rather be my servant
than regimental sergeant-major.
We arrived at Salamanca about nine o'clock on tin-
evening of the 22nd July, just too late to share in the
glorious victory in which our comrades had distinguished
themselves. We, however, pushed on without delay, and
came up with the regiment shortly after it had ceased
from pursuing the flying enemy.
The officers of the I4th Light Dragoons welcomed
me very cordially, the colonel being especially warm in
his greeting.
" I am sorry you missed the fight to-day," said he.
" It was a glorious affair, and we have given Marmont a
thorough trouncing. Our losses are severe, and the 14111
have to deplore the death of several gallant comrades.
We shall follow up the French to-morrow, so you may
have an opportunity of seeing a little fighting after all."
" He will see plenty of it before the campaign is over,
colonel," observed Major Warrington.
The brigade to which the i4th belonged it consisted
of ourselves and the ist Hussars of the German Legion-
advanced next morning, and early on the 25th reached
Arevalo. Here we halted and bivouacked. Patrols were
sent out on the several roads, and, to my great delight, I
was ordered to take charge of one, consisting of a sergeant
and four men of the I4th, and four German hussars.
My instructions were to proceed towards Blanche? Sancho,
a small town some distance from Arevalo, and ascertain
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 151
whether it was occupied by the enemy. Before we marched
off, Major Warrington gave me a few words of advice and
caution, and wished me good luck.
" You will hardly have a chance of distinguishing
yourself," he concluded; "but it will please the colonel,
who is already very well disposed towards you, if you
carry out the duty intelligently, and do not get into a
scrape."
The sergeant of my little party was a fine old soldier,
William Hanley by name, who had been with the I4th
at the passage of the Douro at Barca de Avinta, in May
1809, and in every engagement in which the regiment had
fought since that date. He knew that part of the country
well, and could speak a little Spanish. After riding four
or five miles, we came to a small village its name I
forget where I called a halt, as our horses were rather
fatigued. The alcalde of the village welcomed us with
many expressions of good feeling for the British and
hatred for the French.
"As the old fellow seems so friendly, we might ask
him to get a feed of corn for the horses," suggested
Sergeant Hanley. " Poor beasts ! they've had short
rations and hard work these last four days, and we've a
goodish distance to travel yet. Shall I ask him, sir ? "
" Certainly, sergeant," I assented. " We might get
some information from him as well."
The alcalde readily acceded to our modest request,
and in a few minutes the corn was brought into the prafa,
where we sat. Having posted one of the German hussars
on the church top, with orders to keep a sharp look-out,
I gave the word to unbridle and feed. While the horses
were feeding, Sergeant Hanley and I questioned the
alcalde as to the whereabouts of the French, and he assured
us that they were at Blanchez Sancho in some force.
The horses refreshed, we mounted and resumed our
journey ; three men being sent forward in advance, one
152 "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE"
fifty paces in front, the second fifty to the right, and the
third fifty to the left front. Their orders were to halt the
moment they came in sight of the enemy, a town, or any
strange object.
The advance moved on in this order until they reached
the summit of a hill overlooking Blanchez Sancho, when
in accordance with my instructions they halted. I beckoned
them to fall back, and then ordered my men to dismount.
Accompanied by Sergeant Hanley, I now walked up to
the summit of the hill, and from that coign of vant
perceived a column of French infantry drawn up to the
east of the town.
"They're being inspected, Mr. Wilmot," observed the
sergeant, looking through my field-glass a present from
Major Warrington. "They'll be moving off directly, I
reckons. Ah ! I thought so." As he spoke, the column
took ground to its right, broke into the Madrid road, and
in about ten minutes disappeared from our view.
We waited a quarter of an hour or so, then hurrying
down the hill, rejoined our men. I gave the word to
mount, and away we galloped towards the town, making
for that side of it from which the column had marched.
I have called Blanchez Sancho a town, but it was little
more than a village, with one straggling street, standing
on an open plain, and without hedges, walls, or inclosun >
of any kind.
Cautiously we rode down the street, keeping a sharp
look-out for stragglers or followers of the column. At
the end of the street the road turned to the right, and we
now descried three dismounted dragoons running from
a barley-field towards a house which stood isolated on the
plain. We gave chase, and quickly caught them up. On
my questioning them, they informed me that they belonged
to a picket occupying the solitary house, and had been out
to get forage. I inquired the strength of the picket.
"A sotis-officicr and ten dragoons, beside ourselves,
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 153
m'sieur," was the reply, after a moment's hesitation.
" Our comrades are now feeding their horses."
I interpreted the answer to Sergeant Hanley, and
suggested that we might capture the entire picket if we
could only take them by surprise.
" We can make the attempt, anyhow, Mr. Wilmot,"
the sergeant rejoined ; " but, you'll excuse me, sir, we
mustn't take all these chaps say for gospel. If they gives
the strength of their party at fourteen, we'd best be pre-
pared to tackle double that number."
"Ja wohl, mein herr," muttered one of the German
troopers, nodding his head approvingly.
" And we'd better put it out of the power of these
fellows to give the alarm," continued Sergeant Hanley.
" With your leave we'll gag and pinion them."
This was quickly done, and placing the prisoners
under charge of a hussar, we rode towards the house.
It was a one-storeyed building, and in its rear was a high
wall extending from its gable-ends, forming a yard or
fodder-shed for feeding cattle in. This yard had only
one means of ingress or egress, and that was by the door
of the house through a narrow passage. We reached
this door without being observed, and found it locked.
It was quickly burst open. The French dragoons were
in the yard feeding their horses and attending to stable
duties for the night so far our prisoners had spoken the
truth. At the sound of the crash several of them rushed
into the passage. Five of my men had dismounted, and
they immediately opened fire with their carbines.
" Keep up a brisk fire, lads," I called to them, " and
the enemy will think our strength is greater than it is."
Two or three of the Frenchmen returned our fire, but
without effect, and they soon retired from the passage
into the yard. While this was going on, I remained on
horseback, giving orders as occasion required. Close to
me was the open window of a room on the ground-floor,
154 "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE'
and suddenly an officer, springing up from beneath the
window-sill, discharged a pistol at my head, the ball
passing through my shako, or cap as we called it in those
days. Harry Symes was standing beside me, and seizing
the officer, he dragged him through the window.
" Rendez vous, tn'sieurf" I exclaimed, presenting a pistol.
" You are our prisoner."
"It is the fortune of war!" he said, shrugging his
shoulders ; and unbuckling his sword he handed it
to me.
This was an important capture, and I determined to
make the most of it.
" M'sieur," I said to the lieutenant, for such was our
prisoner's rank, " the brigade to which we belong is
close at hand, and I call upon you to order your men to
surrender before its arrival."
" What if they refuse ?" he replied.
" I shall fire the premises, and not a man will
escape."
" Sapristie ! you must be a Spaniard, not an English-
man," he exclaimed. " I am in your power and must
obey you."
" Bien, nfsieur" I answered ; and calling one of the
Germans who spoke French fluently, I bade him escort
the officer to the yard.
In a few minutes they returned and informed me that
the whole picket had surrendered, and awaited my further
orders. After a short consultation with Sergeant Hanley,
I told the officer to call upon his men to come out one by
one, each leading his horse, but leaving his sword in the
yard. There was just room in the passage for a man and
horse to pass. My order was obeyed ; and as each
dragoon passed through the door his carbine was taken
from him, the butt smashed, and the pieces thrown aside.
In this manner the whole picket numbering twenty-
eight sous-qfficiers and troopers passed out, and formed
"You are our prisoner."
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 157
up in ranks of four ; each man standing at his horse's
head, and his stirrups being crossed over his saddle. As
soon as all the Frenchmen were out of the yard I gave
the word to march, and we moved off ; Sergeant Hanley
and a German hussar heading the little column, three
men riding on either flank, and Harry Symes and I, with
the officer whom I allowed to ride between us, bringing
up the rear.
The French dragoons marched very slowly, and it was
nearly dark before we came in sight of the village where
we had baited our horses on the way to Blanchez Sancho.
The French officer now expressed his surprise that we
had not fallen in with the brigade. I returned an evasive
answer, and thinking it would be well to halt at the village
for the night at the pace we were travelling we should
not have reached Arevalo before daybreak I called
Sergeant Hanley and told him to gallop on to the village
and request our friend the alcalde to provide a secure
resting-place for our prisoners, and, if possible, refresh-
ment for man and beast.
" I fear the officer suspects that the brigade is not so
near at hand as we led him to believe," I said in an under-
tone, " and it would be a risky job to march all these
prisoners to Arevalo by night."
" True, sir," was the reply ; " if they took it into their
heads to make a sudden rush we'd have a warm time with
'em. I'll see the alcalde, sir, and arrange for their accom-
modation to-night, and then get a dozen or so of the
villagers to come back with me and help guard 'em until
we reach the village. There's nothing like being on the
safe side ! "
He then galloped off, and returned in about an hour's
time accompanied by a score of villagers armed with
sticks, pitchforks, and one or two old fowling-pieces.
" Mais, msieurl who are these rascals?" cried the
Frenchman in some alarm.
158 "A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE"
" Do not fear, lieutenant," I answered, " these good
people are the ' brigade ' ; they have come to escort you
to the village."
" Sacre you have deceived me ! " he hissed, with all
the venom of a Frenchman.
" Un ruse de guerre, won ami, that is all," I retorted.
" All is fair in love and war."
The Frenchman, however, was very sulky, and bitterly
reproached me for the trick I had played him ; it was not
until we were seated in the alcalde's house, discu^ii
flask of good wine and a capital ham, that he recovered
his good-humour.
At daybreak on the following morning \vr resumed
our journey, and I had the satisfaction of bringing in my
prisoners to Arevalo in safety.
I will here bring my story to a close, for my adven-
tures in the Peninsula would fill a small volume. I served
with the gallant i4th Light Dragoons until the Peace of
1814 ; and as I am now an old man, I hope the reader
will not accuse me of vanity when I say that Major VVar-
rington's prediction was fulfilled, and I gained the reputa-
tion of being " an excellent light-cavalry officer."
The 1 4th returned to England in July 1814; and as
soon as I could obtain leave of absence I hastened to
Charfield, Harry Symes accompanying me. The whole
village turned out to welcome us, and we felt fully repaid
for the hardships and dangers we had experienced by the
affectionate greeting we received.
I remained in the army until 1830, when having
entered into the married state, I thought it time to retire
and settle down to private life. My father attained a ripe
old age, and before he died had the satisfaction of seeing
his grandson, the Rev. Richard Warrington son of
Colonel Sir Charles Warrington by his marriage with my
"A FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" 159
sister Kate installed as Rector of Charfield ; so the living
did not go out of the family after all.
Harry Symes is now a prosperous farmer, and lives
within a mile of our gates. He often pays me an evening
visit to chat over the days " when we went soldiering,"
and I am sure that neither of us has ever regretted our
" Flight from Justice."
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
BY ROBERT LEIGHTON
I
"'' I 'IS our best chance," Ben said, as he dipped the
quill into the captain's silver ink-pot. " Nay, ti^
our only chance."
The brig was labouring heavily on the sweeping swell
of the North Atlantic. From where he vit. lacing tin-
square stern windows that looked out upon the lu-lpK-^
vessel's wake, Ben could see the dark, pursuing roller
they loomed up against the lighter rack of leaden cloud*..
All was silent, terribly silent, on board. There was no
sound now of busy seamen's voices, no measured tread of
patrolling feet upon the decks ; nothing but the slow,
monotonous creaking of the ship's oaken timber a-> ^he
lazily slid into the furrow and buoyantly rose to mount
the glassy slope of the next on-coming wave.
" Yes, 'tis our only chance," the boy repeated, as he
drew towards him the blank leaf of paper that he had torn
from the log-book. "God grant that it may be of some
avail ! "
The plaintive cry of a distant gull startled him in his
loneliness. It was like the cry of one of his dead ship-
mates calling upon him from another world. He glanced
nervously through the open door of the captain's room,
where the captain lay silent in his last sleep. Again he
dipped the quill into the ink, and began to write the
words that he had already prepared in his mind
" God send specdie help to his Majesties brig Aurora, li<m-
160
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES 161
ward bound fr. S. John's to Plimouthe and in dyer distresse.
N. Lat. 58, W. Long. 10 as nere as can be made out. Ben-
jamin Clews 2 7 July 1746."
This was the message upon which he rested his firmest
hopes. And when it was written and the ink was dry, he
folded up the paper, wrapped it in a piece of oilskin, and
inclosed the packet in a little box-like boat which he had
fashioned for the purpose. On the tightly fitting lid of
the box he had carved the words " Pleas open," so that
no one finding it should doubt there was something
precious within.
It was already dusk when he carried the box from the
cabin and strode forward along the brig's desolate deck.
Mounting to the forecastle, he climbed up on one of the
guns, and, leaning over the stout bulwarks, peered down
into the darkening sea, with its flickering, phosphorescent
lights. The vessel was still drifting, drifting eastward with
the ocean current, as she had been drifting for many days.
" It may never be found," the lad sighed, as he flung
the box far out upon the waves. " And even if perchance
it be picked up, nothing may come of it." He walked
slowly aft again. " 'Tis not for myself that I care," he
mused ; " I'd die like the rest of 'em. But the brig is the
King's. She is in my charge, so to speak, and I must save
her if I can."
He glanced aloft at the close-reefed maintop-sail and
at the two storm stay-sails, and wished in his heart that he
had the skill and strength to unfurl more canvas, and thus
bring the vessel more speedily to land. Sail had been
shortened in the gale of twelve days before, when there
had yet been seamen alive and well enough to work the
ship. But the gale had fallen to a calm, and now the few
small sails that were set only served to keep the brig
before the light breeze that came from the westward over
the sea.
Ben walked aft to the helm, luffed the Aurora up to
L
1 62 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
the wind, and again lashed the tiller. Then he went below
to the cook's galley, where a fire was still burning, and
lighted two lanterns. He left one of them on the deck
outside the galley door, and taking the other in his hand,
strode forward and descended to the lower deck.
Silently entering the petty officers' quarters, he ap-
proached one of the hammocks the only one that was
not empty and gently rested his hand upon it. A slight
movement satisfied him.
" How are you now, Mr. Avison ?" he inquired, hold-
ing up the lantern.
The man turned and looked over the hammock's side.
His face was unsightly with the eruption of the terrible
disease that had decimated the Aurora's crew.
"Thank'ee, Ben, I'm a bit easier now," he answered,
in a thin, weak voice. " What's o'clock ? Tis after sun-
down, I see."
" It's five bells in the first night watch," said Hen.
" You've been asleep these two watches. Could you eat
something, think you, quartermaster ? There's a canful
of soup in the galley. 'Twould do you a vast of good.
I could warm it, if you'd take a drop. Will you ?"
" Well, my lad," returned the quartermaster, " I might
try to manage just a little, if you'd be so kind. But you're
too weary to do cook's work now, sure. How long might
it be since you had a rest ? "
Ben smiled a sickly smile. " Never mind me," he said,
" I'm all right. I'd a watch below the day before yester-
day, after the captain was past my help. Doctor Rayner
forced me to have a snooze on top of his box ; said he'd
not forgive me unless I did. I tied a lanyard to my wrist
and gave him the other end of it, so that he might haul
tight and wake me if he wanted me for anything. He
never did haul, though. When I awoke he'd slipped his
moorings and sailed off on the long voyage, as Tom
Harkiss would have said."
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES 163
'
The quartermaster drew a sharp breath and leaned
over, gazing at the boy with bleared and lustreless eyes.
" Dead ? " he cried. " The surgeon dead ? "
Ben nodded.
" God help us, then ! " said the quartermaster. " And
do you say, boy, that there's only me and you left ? "
"That's all," answered Ben sadly. And then he
added more cheerfully, " Now I'll lay aft and fetch that
soup."
Some few minutes later Ben Clews returned with the
flagon of warm soup, and proceeded slowly to feed his sick
companion spoonful by spoonful. Very soon the quarter-
master fell back exhausted.
" That's enough, boy," said he ; "I can't manage no
more. You'd best take what's left for yourself, and then
get into your bunk. The brig's all safe for a day or two,
so long as there's no wind. But if a wind should spring
up, look you, we shall be as good as a derelict, short-
handed as we are, and maybe be blown back again into the
Roarin' Forties. You may lay we shan't run aground at
the rate we're goin' now, though. I daresay I shall be
well again afore we make land. I've got over the worst
of it, and '11 be able to lend a hand in a day or two.
Then we must see about givin' the poor cap'n and the
surgeon a decent buryin', as befits gen'lemen." He paused
to take breath. " Of course, Ben, there aren't no sort of
sign of land yet, eh ? You've kep' a good look-out, I
suppose ? "
Ben was sitting on the corner of a sea-chest pulling
off his boots. He leaned wearily back, and answered with
a yawn
" I can't say as I've seen any real sign," he said.
" But somehow it seems to me we can't be very far off.
A school of gulls flew over us this morning, and one of
'em quite a young one perched on the taffrail. She
looked as if she'd just come off her roost."
164 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
"That should be a kind of sign," agreed the quarter-
master. " What did the cap'n say when the last reckonin'
was took ? Did he give any word as to where we might
make a landfall ? "
Ben drowsily answered, " Somewheres off the west of
Ireland, if I remember aright."
The quartermaster was silent for many moments. He
was mentally calculating the chances of the Aurora reach-
ing land in safety.
" Ben," he said presently, " d'ye think you could put
your hand on a chart and find out our bearings ? "
But Ben did not answer. He was sound asleep.
And while he slept, the message that he had cast upon
the waters went drifting eastward. It drifted for many
days, but always steadily eastward in the grip of the great
Gulf Stream. And at last it \v:is found. It was picked
up by an Orkney fisherman off the west coast of Pomona
Island. The slip of paper was duly passed from hand to
hand until it came into the possession of Captain Speed-
ing, whose little frigate the Firebrand, twenty-eight guns,
was at that time stationed in Stromness Bay for the pro-
tection of fisheries and of trade.
Of course Captain Speeding could not think of quitting
his comfortable quarters and sailing off on what, after all,
was probably a wild-goose chase. How could he tell that
the message was genuine ? It might well be a mere hoax,
a wily ruse of one of the Scapa Flow smugglers, or even
(which was quite likely) a clever trick of John Goff, the
redoubtable pirate of the Pentland Firth, to get his
Majesty's ship Firebrand and her bristling guns temporarily
away from the islands, so that he might run in his ill-
gotten cargo undisturbed. Captain Speeding had been in
active search of John Goff and his freebooting crew for
months past, and it was not his intention to let the rascals
slip through his fingers.
And yet, considering the matter from the point of view
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES 165
of duty, he dared not ignore the summons that had come
to him from across the sea. The distressed ship was one
of his Majesty's, and if the writing of the appealing letter
was to be credited, succour was urgent.
" Look here, Brown," cried the captain of the Fire-
brand, flinging the torn and sea-stained slip of paper across
the wardroom table to his first lieutenant "this thing
troubles me. If there's anything in it, 'tis my bounden
duty, I take it, to send relief of some sort eh ? Read it
over again. Read it, and tell me if you think 'tis genuine."
Mr. Brown spread out the flimsy sheet in front of
him, screwed up his eyes, and read aloud, slowly and
deliberately, the words inscribed upon it
'' God send speedy help to his Majesty's brig Aurora,
homeward bound from St. John's to Plymouth, and in
dire distress. North latitude 58 degrees, west longitude
10 degrees, as near as can be made out. Benjamin Clews,
2yth July 1746."
" Well ? " interrogated the captain.
" I'd lay my life 'tis genuine," said Mr. Brown. " I
know the Aurora. I saw her in Chatham dockyard three
years ago. What's more, I believe my old messmate
Arthur Vincent sailed with her on this same cruise. The
only thing that troubles me is the writing on this thing."
He tapped the paper with his fingers. " This is a
youngster's hand some swab of a ship's boy. Why
didn't one of the officers write it ? That's what I want
to know."
Captain Speeding took a turn aft along the cabin floor
with his hands clasped behind his back, and stood at the
open port meditatively looking out across the calm, sunlit
bay to where a faint film of blue peat smoke floated above
the quaint old gabled houses of Stromness. Then he
returned to the table, hastily took out his watch, and said
decisively
" Brown, get the chart of the North Atlantic. Find
1 66 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
the brig's position at the time when the word was sent
off ; allow for her being disabled, and calculate where she
may be found. I am going to despatch Moreland in
search with the cutter. The craft can't be far off, for,
you see, this message has only been in the water fourteen
days."
" I have already consulted the chart," remarked Mr.
Brown. " I make out that the Aurora is somewhere in
the neighbourhood of the St. Kilda Islands."
"I never heard of them," confessed the captain.
" Are they inhabited ? "
"God knows," said Mr. Brown.
II
" D'YE hear, Ben ? D'ye hear ? "
Ben woke up with a start and rubbed his eyes.
" Did you speak, quartermaster ? "
" Speak ? Lor' bless you, lad, I've been a-speakin' this
half-hour past. What in thunder's all that noise ? Listen !
I've heard it ever since daybreak. I can't make it out
nohow."
Ben sat up and listened. A prolonged half-roaring,
half-musical sound filled the air from without.
" It do sound queer, don't it ? " he said. " I wonder
what 'tis ? "
"Best tumble up and find out," advised the quarter-
master. " I'd say 'twas birds if it wasn't so loud. Birds
couldn't make all that row."
Ben pulled on his boots and went up to the forecastle
deck. The sight and sounds that met him were such as
he had never before encountered in all his three years'
voyaging.
A fresh westerly breeze was blowing, filling the vessel's
few sails. The sun was rising in the east, over a grey-
The sight and sounds that met him were such as he had ne% r er
before encountered."
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
blue sea, and between it and the brig, scarcely, as it
seemed, a mile away, lay a group of jagged, rocky islands,
whose tallest point was a green-topped mountain, shining
bright in the early sunlight like an emerald set in ebony.
Above the islands there whirled in ceaseless movement,
even as specks in a sunbeam, thousands and thousands of
clamorous sea-birds. All around the ship, and as far as
the boy's amazed sight could reach, the sea was dotted
with swimming puffins and kittiwakes, gannets and ful-
mars. A green-backed shag was preening its feathers on
the extremity of the Aurora's bowsprit; a fearless eider-
duck strutted across the deck ; along the rail a school of
puffins sat, like charity children in their black tippets and
white bibs.
But Ben Clews thought less of the sea-birds and their
noisy voices than of the one great fact that land was near.
He hurried below.
" Land, ho ! " he cried, and again, " Land ho ! "
" Where away ? " called the quartermaster, in a feeble
voice from his hammock.
" Right under our bows," answered Ben. " An island
three islands I counted, and we're drifting on to them,
hand over hand ! "
" Then if that be so, 'tis no place for you down here,
my hearty," declared the quartermaster. " Don't think of
me, but take your trick at the helm and look arter the
ship ; for you're cap'n, and crew as well, till I can move,
God mend me ! Our fate's in your hands for good or
bad, and you may lay to that."
" Ay, ay," returned Ben ; " but there aren't no hurry
just yet a bit, quartermaster. There's time and to spare
for me to see you snug. 'Tarn't as if we was bowling
along under full sail. Why, we aren't making above a
knot an hour at best, and the nearest land's a good mile
off yet."
The boy lost no time, however, in making his com-
170 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
panion comfortable. Placing a prescribed dose of medi-
cine, a dipper of water, and a softened biscuit within the
quartermaster's easy reach, he returned to the deck and
took up his post at the helm, heading the brig towards
the lee side of the largest island. The rate at which the
Aurora was drifting was less than he had calculated, and
her distance from the land was greater. Yet slow though
her progress was, the islands became more and more
distinct with every half-hour. At first it had seemed that
there were but three separate islands a high, isolated
rock, whose splintered outline with its many spires and
pinnacles gave it the appearance of a great Gothic cathe-
dral rising out of the blue sea on the larboard bow; to
the southward, a smaller islet with a rounded, grassy top ;
and between these two sentinels, the long stretch of the
main island with its dark, precipitous sides ascending to
verdant slopes. But as the brig drew nearer still, many
detached stacks and smaller rocks appeared, the frown-
ing cliffs revealed their yawning caves and caverns, and
thousands of tiny specks, that at first had looked like white
pebbles in the rock, resolved themselves into roosting -
birds.
Ben's alert eyes sought for an anchorage, and soon,
near the western headland of the largest island, he caught
a glimpse of sandy beach, and the gleaming white ribbon
of a watercourse. The beach sloped down to a channel
of calm sea that was sheltered behind the hill of a pro-
tecting island. The calm bay seemed to offer a likely
refuge, and towards it Ben steered the brig. Another
hour's slow sailing brought the little vessel into the safety
of this roadstead, where she lost her headway and rode
for the time secure on the swell of the clear green water.
Already Ben Clews had realised the impossibility of
casting the heavy anchors. He was only a weak boy,
and his weakness was greater than ordinary now, for he
had but lately recovered from his own attack of the fell
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES 171
disease which had been fatal to the Aurora's crew, and
which now held the quartermaster helpless in his ham-
mock. Ben had been the first in the ship's company to
be laid up by the awful visitation. It had been caught
from a distressed slave-ship which they had boarded off
the Newfoundland Banks, and each of the brig's crew had
taken it in his turn. Ben's attack had been only a slight
one ; but his face still told its tale, and his limbs were yet
weak. But if he had not strength to move the anchor,
he at least had the ingenuity to devise a workable substi-
tute in the use of a pair of stout hawsers, which he paid
out fore and aft, lashing them taut round convenient
rocks, which he reached by the means of the ship's
smallest boat.
In the afternoon the Aurora lay so snug at her moor-
ings that even the quartermaster, when he heard Ben's
report, was forced to express satisfaction.
" You have done well, boy," said he, with an approv-
ing nod ; " but now that we've fetched land," he added,
fixing his bleared eyes on the lad's marred face, " what
d'ye mean for to do ? Tell me that ! It don't seem to me,
lookin' at the matter all round, as you might say, that
we're any better off than we was before. We've got
victuals enough to last us for months, I know ; but
barrin' the cannibal savages, you can't say as we're in
anywise more fortunate than that chap Robisson Crusoe.
We haven't saved the Aurora yet, look you. You'd look
queer if a gale was to spring up and her be smashed to
pieces on them rocks you speak of, wouldn't you ? "
" I was thinking we might manage to get a crew
together," ventured Ben, somewhat downcast.
" A crew of auks and gannets, I suppose ? " sneered
the quartermaster.
" No," returned Ben ; " I mean men, of course."
The quartermaster had been sitting up in his ham-
mock to listen to the boy's account of how he had brought
172 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
the brig into the bay, but now he leaned back and lay
watching the play of the reflected sunlight on the timbers
above him.
" I thought you said as how you had made out no
signs of houses ? " he pursued.
Ben admitted that he had discovered no dwelling-
places on the land. For all he knew, indeed, the islands
might never have known human inhabitants. Certainly
no fields nor growing crops were visible from this west
bay. " But," he added more hopefully, " 1 saw a dead
sheep on the hillside when I rowed ashore with the bight
of the hawser ; and where there's sheep, d'ye see, there's
pretty sure to be men."
" I'll allow that," agreed the quartermaster. " But
even if so be you find your men, you can't force 'em to
come aboard a plague ship."
Ben lapsed into silence at this sane remark ; but
presently, as if a bright thought had struck him, he said
"Anyhow, I've a mind to make a trip in the dingey
and see if I can find some people. From what I can
make out, these here islands must belong to Great Britain
somehow ; and if there's any one living on 'em, why,
they'll speak our own tongue and tell us where we are,
and that's something."
So when he had cooked some food and prepared
a meal for himself and his companion, he set off upon his
voyage of discovery. He pulled the little boat round
under the tremendous cliffs of the north coast of the
island, but sought in vain for a landing-place or for a
sign of habitation. Sea-birds were everywhere on the
ledges of the cliffs, and in the long dark caverns ; they
filled the sunlit air, they speckled the sea, and the outlying
skerries were white with them. The cries they made were
mingled in a strange musical harmony that was like the
pealing of a church organ. The short shrill treble of the
auks and puffins, the trumpet cry of the wild swans, the
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES 173
mewing notes of the kittiwakes, the tenors of the divers
and guillemots, and the deep bass croaking of the cor-
morants and ravens united in a prolonged symphony, and
through it all was the profound roar of the sea from the
throats of countless caves.
If Ben had been a naturalist, instead of an ill-informed
ship's boy, he would have recognised this as a paradise of
birds. But he only thought of his sick companion on
board the Aurora, and of how he might find human help.
He rowed along the coast for some two miles without dis-
covering even so much as a yard of beach. Once he came
upon a floating log of driftwood the remnant of some
bygone shipwreck. Once, too, he heard what he took to
be the bleating of a sheep, but there were no signs of
human inhabitants. His little voyage was useless. So he
went about, and returned disappointed towards the brig,
resolving to make his next journey of exploration by land.
As he came again into the bay where the Aurora lay
at her moorings, he glanced up the little glen that led up
between the hills. The land was bare of trees a barren
moor, with tufts of purple heather growing among the
boulders on the higher ground, and level beds of grass
marking the course of a fresh-water stream.
On the heights he saw the figure of a man.
For a moment Ben questioned within himself if it
would be wise to prolong his absence from the brig and
go up to the man and speak with him ; but as the
stranger was only a short distance away, he decided to
go ashore and follow him. He brought the boat in to
the beach, pulled her up a yard or two above the tide,
and set off in pursuit.
When he reached the spot where he had first seen
him, the man had disappeared. Ben was about to turn
and walk back to the boat when a movement near him on
the heather attracted his eye. A dog approached him,
smelt at his heels, and then scampered away. Ben
174 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
followed the animal over the brow of the hill, and at this
point he came within view of the farther end of the island,
and a wide bay that opened out between two great rocky
headlands. He stood for a time contemplating the scene,
almost forgetting the Aurora and her sick quartermaster.
"The woman shrank from him."
A voice at his elbow startled him. It was a woman's
voice, strangely gentle and sweet.
" You are a stranger here," she said. " Where have
you come from ? "
Ben turned. At sight of his scarred face the woman
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES 175
shrank from him, and then the lad remembered the infec-
tion that was upon him.
" Stand back from me ! " he cried. " I have been ill
it is the smallpox, as they call it and all my shipmates
are dead of it ; all except one, who is now aboard the brig,
across the hill there, in the bay." He stepped back as he
spoke, and put her to the windward of him, so that the
infection might not reach her.
" A ship ! " she cried in agitation, clasping her hands.
" At last ! at last ! And you can rescue me. You can
carry me across to Scotland, and I shall no longer pine
and languish on this barren, heaven-forsaken rock ! "
The boy marvelled at her words, not understanding
her meaning. He even wondered if she were in her
right senses.
" How do you name these islands, ma'am ?" he asked,
as if to test her sanity.
She looked about her nervously, as though half afraid
that the very birds should overhear her.
"This where we now are is called Hirta," she answered.
" The rock to the north is Borrera. The one to the west
is Soa. They are the St. Kilda islands, and they lie
out some fourscore miles west from the mainland of
Scotland."
As Ben listened to her voice, and contemplated her
delicate hands and her refined face, he knew almost by
instinct that, in spite of her coarse, homespun clothing, she
was not of the common sort, but a woman of good birth.
He stood silently watching her, wondering how it happened
that a gentlewoman should be in such a place.
" From what land do you come ? " she questioned.
" You are English by your tongue."
"We are from Newfoundland," explained Ben. "But
our ship is English his Majesty's brig-of-war Aurora.
And you, ma'am, how do it happen as a lady like you
is here ?"
176 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
" I am a prisoner," she answered. " I am Rachel
Chiesley. My husband has imprisoned me here because I
knew his secrets his secrets that would be the hanging of
him if they were known to the King. He told people that
I was dead, and they believed him. There was a public
funeral, but the coffin was filled with stones, and 1, who
was supposed to be buried, was secretly carried off by his
agents and brought over here to St. Kilda. I have been
here for five long years, living among islanders who are
little more than savages, and who understand no word
that I speak. No ship have I seen during all that time.
But now yours has come. God has sent you, and you
will rescue me ! "
Ben hesitated for an instant. Then he said awk-
wardly
" It might be done, ma'am, if so be you could get
some of your savages to make up -a crew and work our
ship home to Plymouth. We're short-handed, d'ye see.
In fact, barring myself, and the quartermaster, what's
lying ill with the smallpox, there aren't nobody aboard to
trim the sails or do anything."
The marooned woman made a step towards the boy,
but he waved her back.
" Don't come nigh me ! " he cried, " 'tis dangerous."
She shook her head. " I am not afraid," she said,
"and I would risk any danger to get away from this
horrible place." She glanced swiftly westward to where
a vast cloud of sea-birds now darkened the sky. " Some-
thing has disturbed the gulls," she added.
At the same moment the report of a firearm sounded
faintly from the distance.
" It must be the shipwrecked seamen," explained the
lady. " Their ship was broken on the crags in the storm
last week, and they have been living in one of the caves.
They are evil-looking men, and the islanders fear them."
"The shot seemed to me to come from where the
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES 177
Aurora is lying," cried Ben in alarm. " I'll engage 'tis the
quartermaster signalling to me to go back." And giving
a hasty seaman's salute, he abruptly left his strange com-
panion, and ran across the moor in the direction of the
brig. An unaccountable dread of some impending disaster
oppressed him as he ran. From the top of the hill he
saw that the Aurora was still riding safe at her moorings ;
but his quick eye discovered the figures of two men mov-
ing upon her quarter-deck. Who could they be ? He
made his way down to the beach. He glanced at the
water's edge where he had left his boat, but the boat was
gone.
Ill
" I'M not by half so ill as Ben thinks," ruminated the
quartermaster, as he lay in his lonely hammock pondering
over the situation during Ben's absence. " I do believe I'm
fit even now to take watch and watch about with him.
'Tis hard on the lad to leave him to do all the work, and
me able to lend a hand." He glanced towards the open
port, through which he could see a snowy-white seagull
calmly floating on the green water. Then looking down
at the deck below him, he added, " Blamed if I don't get
out of this and see what I can do." He sat up, dangling
his trembling legs over the side of his hammock ; his toes
were but a dozen inches from the flooring.
" I believe I can do it," he went on ; and turning over,
he gripped the hammock with his two hands, and swung
himself slowly and cautiously down until his feet touched
the boards.
His limbs were shaky, and his head seemed to swim ;
but stepping out, he succeeded in tottering across to the
nearest bulkhead. Supporting himself by his outstretched
hands, he went step by step along the gangway to the foot
of the companion-way. Slowly he mounted the stairs,
M
178 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
until the fresh sea-air played upon his bare head. He sat
on the top stair for a long time, drinking in the sweet cool
atmosphere, and looking up into the blue sky and its sail-
ing white clouds.
" Seems to me I'd best step aft to the cap'n's room,"
he muttered to himself. " 'Tis no place for the likes o*
me to enter, certainly ; but being as Ben and me are in
charge of the biig, why, 'tis no court-martial matter. Nay,
now I come to think of it, 'tis my duty to go in." And
rising with difficulty to his feet, he staggered aft and boldly
but respectfully entered.
The first tiling that caught his eye was the captain's
silver ink-pot on the table ; then it was the mingled red
and blue folds of the Union Jack lying across the dead
body of the captain in the inner sleeping-room.
" Good boy, Ben," he said. " You haven't forgot
what's due to a king's officer. You and me'll have to act
the parson soon, too, if we can lay our hands on a prayer-
book. Mayhap you know the words without the book ;
you must ha' heard 'em pretty often lately. But I don't
know 'em, except 'We therefore commit his body to the
deep until the sea shall give up her dead
An unexpected sound startled the quartermaster in hi-
ruminations. It was a man's gruff voice, and it came from
outside, below the brig's counter.
" I don't know what you bullies think," it said, " but
it looks to me as if the crew 'd all gone off on a holiday.
Pull round to the gangway ladder, Alick, and let's get
aboard of her. Crew or no crew, King's ship or mer-
chantman, I'm going to take her, and the Jolly Roger shall
fly at her gaff peak before
The quartermaster did not hear what limit of time the
man allowed himself for the accomplishment of his daring
proposal ; but a thrill of terror ran through him as he
realised what manner of men these were.
" God ! Where is Ben ? " he cried, and he looked
" The quartermaster fired his two pistols, and the man fell.'
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES 181
round the cabin for some weapon with which to defend
himself and the ship. The captain's pistols were in their
rack. With what speed his bodily weakness allowed him,
he went to them and took a pair of them down. They
were already loaded.
" It's one sick man against a boatload of pirates ! " he
said. " But, God helping me, they shall not take the ship
while I'm alive!" As he passed to the door he caught
sight of the reflection of his own face in the captain's
mirror, and started back appalled. But the remembrance
of the scourge that had killed off the Auroras company
leapt to his mind. " We've got at least one strong ally,
me and the King," he cried, as he staggered out to the
doorway under the poop. He stood there, steadying him-
self with one foot on the companion-ladder, not ventur-
ing to go nearer to the open gangway, where already he
could hear the talk of the strangers on the ladder as they
climbed up from their boat.
The quartermaster listened intently, trembling the
while.
" Tumble up ! " cried the one in authority. " Make
for the quarter-deck."
A man sprang in upon the deck a tall, evil-looking
man, with a bushy black beard and bedraggled clothing,
a naked cutlass in his hand. He was followed by three
others, and then a fifth. The fifth man was young and
handsome, and his blue coat was adorned with tarnished
gold braid. The five of them advanced towards the poop.
The quartermaster levelled his pistol at their bodies.
" Stand back ! " he commanded. " Who are you ?
and what is your business on this ship ? 'Tis King George's
ship, look you, and
" Shut your ugly face ! " cried the tall black-bearded
man, with an oath.
The quartermaster fired his two pistols, and the man
fell. His four companions hesitated, staring at the quarter-
1 82 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
master's disease - scarred countenance. None of them
carried firearms ; or if they did so, they were without
ammunition. Their leader, the youngest of the band,
stepped forward, sword in hand. The quartermaster,
already exhausted, retreated into the cabin, banging to
and bolting the door.
The pirates (for such he was now assured that they
were) went up to the poop-deck, and from this point of
vantage surveyed the ship.
"You're right, Goff," said one of them, addre^sin^ tin-
leader. " The craft's got no crew none, at least, except
that strawberry-faced lubber that has shot poor Tom."
" It seems so, Alick," returned GofT. " But some of
'em must have gone ashore in the boat. They'll have
gone across to St. Kilda village. One of you had better
pull ashore to the cave and bring off our men while then. -'s
time. Phillips, go you. But you might take a bitter
boat than the one we found. There's plenty of them, see.
Lend a hand there, Flett, and you, Dewson, and launch
that starboard boat. Gad," he continued speaking to the
man named Alick, "she's a real goddess, this Aurora. Not
very clean about the decks, 'tis true, but well found, in a
double sense, eh ? 1 wonder how she came in here ?
She doesn't seem to have suffered much in the gale that
was so fatal to our poor ship. But 'tis a mystery how
she came to be so short-handed. Why, they've not even
anchored her ! "
He strode towards the men who were launching the
boat, and gave them some directions, while Alick stepped
to the skylight, and leaning over it, peered down into the
cabin where the quartermaster had temporarily entrenched
himself.
It was at this moment that Ben Clews came down to
the beach and discovered that the brio's boat had dis-
appeared. From behind the rock near which he had left
it, he looked over at the Aurora in terrified ama/ement.
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES 183
Who were these men that were aboard of her ? And what
was the meaning of the shot that he had heard ? Surely
there was something wrong ! He blamed himself now for
having left the brig. While he watched, he saw a boat
put out from her, with one man at the oars, and his heart
leapt with hope at the thought that it was coming shore-
ward for himself. He waved his hand ; but the rower
did not see, or disregarded, his signal, and pulled with
steady, measured stroke through the sound in the direc-
tion of the western headland of the bay, soon to be lost
to sight beyond the cliffs, where the homing sea-birds
screamed.
Ben noted the drift of the current, and calculated the
distance that divided him from the brig. The vessel's
wide square stern was towards him, and from over her
taffrail the stout hawser was stretched to the isolated rock
round which he had bound it. The bight of the rope
dipped into the water, making a rippled track as the brig
rose and fell on the ocean swell. The rock was but a
dozen yards away from him, separated from him by a
deep channel of calm sea. Ben was not a great swimmer,
but he thought he could cross those dozen yards ; and
reaching the rock, he would then be able to gain the ship,
dragging himself hand over hand along the hawser. He
pulled off his heavy sea-boots and left them on the shingle,
waded breast deep into the sea, and throwing himself for-
ward, struck out. The current was sweeping strong, but
he had allowed for its carrying him out of the straight
course. After a tough struggle, he came within a few feet
of the rock. The tide was taking him past it, but he
grabbed at a tangle of seaweed, caught it, and dragged
himself into safety.
He rested for many minutes on the rock, shivering.
Then he climbed up to the hawser and prepared for the
final battle. With hands and legs at work, he slipped
down the incline of the rope until his body was again in
1 84 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
the water. Hand over hand he pulled himself along.
The upward ascent was more difficult, for his limbs were
already tired and sore. Very soon he found that the task
of swarming up to the brig's rail was impossible. Ik-sides,
he was not sure that the strange men were not Mill on
the quarter-deck. So he dropped once again into the si-a,
and swam round to the Aurora's larboard side, where
the small boat was dragging at her painter at the foot of
the gangway ladder.
Exhausted and breathing heavily, he at last caught at
a rung of the ladder, and climbed up a few steps. When
he had rested and recovered his free breathing, he mounted
farther, and peeped in through the open gangway. No
one was in sight. Yet, what was that lying on the main
deck? He shuddered as his eyes rested on the prostrate
form of the huge black-bearded man, and the wet crimson
stain that lay about it, and converged in two thin lines
that ended at the scupper.
At sight of the dead man the boy drew back in horror.
Murder had been committed, and he had not the courage
to enter upon the deck. As he turned to go down the
ladder a few steps, he looked towards the shore and saw
the woman Rachel Chiesley standing there at the wat
edge, waving her hand in signal to the ship. Ben de-
scended and quietly stepped into the boat. No one in
the brig saw him as he rowed away to where the woman
waited.
" Take me with you ! " she implored, as the boat's keel
grounded on the shingle. " In mercy take me away in
your ship ! "
Ben bade her get into the dingey, and she obeyed.
He felt that, with a human companion to encourage him,
he could now go on board the brig with all his lost bold-
ness. Neither spoke as the little craft was pulled back to
the vessel's side. When he had secured the boat he got out
and climbed the ladder, signing to the woman to follow.
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES 185
He crept on board, rose to his feet, and sped forward
and down the stairs to the lower deck. At the foot of
the stairs he paused until Rachel Chiesley joined him ;
and there he pointed towards the open door of a tiny
dark cabin, telling her to enter and remain in there until
he should see that all was safe on board.
His heart seemed to cease its beating when, on going
into the compartment where he had left the quartermaster,
he discovered that the sick man's hammock was empty.
What had happened ? What was to be done ?
He saw a cup of rum and water that the quartermaster
had left untouched in the forenoon on the top of a chest.
He drank some and it revived him. Leaving the cabin,
he made his way through a dark passage along the lower
deck to the gunner's storeroom ; and there he provided
himself with a cutlass, a brace of small pistols, a full
powder-flask, and a handful of shot. He carefully charged
the pistols, and when he was thus armed he returned to
the main-deck and stole aft to the poop. The door of
the captain's quarters was open now, and the splintered
lock told its own tale. Voices came from within. Ben
listened, crouching down on his hands and knees.
" You'd best come out of there, Mr. Strawberry-face,"
Goff was saying, " unless you want us to break in the
door and drag you out. We'll not harm you. Come
out and have a drink with us. 'Tis charming brandy,
this." Th-ere was a clink of glasses. " Come," he added
persuasively. " Join us in a glass, and tell us your yarn.
We can get nothing from this silent shipmate of yours in
the bunk here." Ben knew that the man was referring
to the dead surgeon. " 'Twas the King's ship, you say.
You may well say ' was ' ; for 'tis his no longer, but
mine ! mine ! And I mean to set sail and be off on a
glorious cruise so soon as my men come aboard. We'll
run up the Jolly Roger and scour the seas, and send
Jimmy Speeding and his Firebrands to the bottom of the
1 86 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
Pentland Firth to play with the mermaids. Won't we,
Alick ? "
"That we will," gurgled Alick into the mouth of his
glass of brandy. "And Strawberry -face shall be our
master-gunner, and share in the swag with the rest
of us."
The quartermaster's voice came faintly from within
the captain's sleeping-room.
" I'll see you all hanged first ! " he growled with a
fierce seaman's oath. " Wait till my mates come aboard.
They'll let you know what it means to trespass on a king's
ship."
" Mates ? " cried Goff with a short laugh. " There
can't be many of 'em if they all went ashore in the cockle-
shell we found on the beach ! "
Ben knew now what these men were ; knew, too, that
the quartermaster was still alive and game. He crept
out from his place of concealment, stole up to the quarter-
deck, climbed over the rail, and with the help of a rope
lowered himself down to the port-hole of the room in
which the quartermaster had ensconced himself. The port-
hole was open. He saw the quartermaster sitting on the
edge of the dead captain's bunk with a pistol gripped
in each hand.
"I'm here, quartermaster," whispered Ben. "Come
to the port-hole."
" Thank God ! " cried the quartermaster. And with-
out preface or questioning he added in a whisper, " You
see what these rats of pirates are up to. They're in
possession, as you might say, and there's more of 'em
coming. But we've got to save the brig, Ben, come
what may. Listen ! Have you got your pistols ? " Ben
nodded. " Right. Well, crawl round to the poop door.
Stay there till you hear me cough. Then run in and
let fly at 'em. Pick your men and be smart. I'll do
the same. When we've killed 'em the four of 'em
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES 187
one of the carronades '11 help us to keep the others from
boarding us, d'ye see ? "
" I understand," returned Ben, and he moved quietly
away to obey his instructions.
Many minutes passed before he heard the quarter-
master's signal. From where he crouched in the shadow
of the passage he saw the inner door of the captain's
bedroom flung open. A moment afterwards four shots
were fired, and three of the pirates fell. The fourth, Goff
himself, had seen the quartermaster's uplifted pistols.
One was levelled at himself. With the quickness of
thought he snatched his dagger from its sheath and
dexterously hurled it across the room. The flashing
weapon turned in its flight and the point plunged into the
quartermaster's bared throat. The pistol-shot, intended
for Goff, buried itself in a cross-beam of the cabin
ceiling.
Ben Clews and the pirate leader were now alone
together. Ben gripped his cutlass and rushed forward
in a desperate charge, but tripping over the body of
one of the two men he himself had shot dead, he gave
a false thrust. His cutlass was snatched from his grip
by the pirate's left hand, while at the same instant a full
brandy bottle, wielded as a bludgeon, came down upon
his head with a blow that stunned him.
IV
When Ben returned to consciousness he still lay
upon the cabin floor. The blood from cuts made by the
broken glass was dry upon his face. He heard the thud
of waves against the brig's quarter. The vessel was heel-
ing over, pitching as she sailed under a fresh breeze
upon the open sea. From the deck above him came
the sound of feet, the splash of water, and the scrubbing
1 88 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
of holystones. A shaft of sunlight came in through the
stern windows, shedding light about the cabin. The
door of the captain's inner room was open ; the Union
Jack coverlet was gone, and the bed was vacant. The
surgeon's body and the bodies of the dead quartermaster
and the three pirates had also been removed. On the table
a white cloth was laid, and upon it were the remains of
a meal. It was evident that the pirates were making
themselves thoroughly at home, and that they had taken
possession of the brig in good earnest.
Ben anxiously looked at the great iron-bound chest
in which, as he knew, there had been inclosed certain
State documents of greatest importance to the Govern-
ment. The iron bands and the hinder- had been tampered
with, but they had withstood the assault, and the client
and its precious contents were still satr.
Some one entered the cabin. It was John Goff. He
had apparently been helping himself to the captain's
wardrobe, for he was now attired in the full naval costume
of the time.
" So ho ! my lad," said he, seeing that Ben had
recovered. " You have come back to your senses, eh ?
That's good. Now you can tell me all about this ship.
Where was she bound for ? "
" Plymouth," answered Ben. " From St. John's.
Newfoundland." And then, in response to further ques-
tioning, the boy told the whole history of the voyage,
omitting only such facts as he deemed too sacred to betray.
And when he had come to the end of the story the
pirate thanked him, said he was a good lad, and that
he should now be rated as a junior quarter-deck officer.
Ben did not demur to this, but while seeming to agree to
the proposal, resolved in his mind still to do what lay
in his power to retake the brig and bring her into an
English port. And for the days that followed he per-
formed such duties as were expected of him, always
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
189
remembering that he was a servant of the King, and that
the safety of the Aurora now depended solely upon his
own life and his own integrity.
As soon as he was at liberty to move unsuspected
about the ship, he made his way to the little cabin where
he had left Rachel Chiesley. She had not yet been dis-
" You have come back to your senses, eh ?"
covered by Goff or his men. Ben conducted her to a yet
safer hiding-place in the ship where she could remain
secure from the pirates ; and every morning the lad
secretly brought her food and attended to her wants. On
one occasion when he was with her she told him more
of her history, and he learned that Rachel Chiesley was
but the name of her girlhood, and that her title now was
190 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
Lady Grange. Her husband was a notorious Jacobite, and
it was because she had threatened to betray an evil plot
which he was hatching that he had cruelly marooned her
on the sea-girt rock of St. Kilda. This knowledge made
Ben glad that he had chanced thus far to be of service to
her, and for her sake, as well as for the sake of preserving
the precious State documents that were in the cabin, he
prayed that he might be able at last to save the ship.
He learned by degrees that it was Goff's intention
to keep the brig beating about in the open sea until his
crew of eleven men should have time so to disguise the
vessel, by altering her rig and painting out her \\hiu-
stripe, that no one might recognise her again. Thi
plan was helped by the fact that the bri^ was amply
provisioned and was in good seaworthy trim. But the
work progressed slowly, and ten days had gone by before
Goff deemed it expedient to make a direct course and
steer for the Orkneys.
Ben had been watching the crew day by day, little
doubting that sooner or later the plague of which so
many of his messmates had died would again assert
itself. Already he observed that some of the men wen-
beginning to move languidly and to look haggard and
sick. On the twelfth day one of them took to his
hammock. In the evening of the same day two others
fell ill. Bold and careless of danger though these pirates
were when it was a question of waylaying a merchant
ship or engaging in an action with a vessel of war, they
were one and all panic-stricken in contemplation of
smallpox.
On the thirteenth day the Aurora was again within
sight of the St. Kilda islands, giving them, however, a
wide berth. Late in the evening Ben was in the watch
on deck, when he espied a sail on the starboard bow.
He did not report it, although it was the first that he had
seen for many weeks. Instead, he strolled to the flag
LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES 191
locker, took out a white ensign, and boldly ran it up,
reversed, to the gaff peak. The signal of distress was
answered by the approaching vessel. Then Ben hauled
down his flag, lest Goff, coming up on deck, should see
it and guess its meaning. So far, none but the man
at the helm had observed this action, and he, as it
chanced, was so far advanced in the sickness that he
minded nothing. Ben glanced into his face.
"Y'are looking sick, Allen," said he. "Give me the
tiller for a spell, and go you below."
The man relinquished it willingly enough, and Ben,
now alone on deck, steered the brig down upon the
on-coming stranger. He had a brace of loaded pistols
in his belt, prepared to fire upon Goff if he should appear
from below and interfere.
When the two vessels drew nearer, Ben recognised,
to his joy, that the stranger was a man-of-war's cutter.
He waited until they drew within hailing distance of each
other, then suddenly put over the helm, throwing the
brig's sails aback. She lost her headway, and the cutter
dropped alongside.
" Ahoy, there ! " cried the young lieutenant from her
bow. " What ship are you ? "
Ben answered at the fullest pitch of his voice
" His Majesty's brig Aurora. For the love of God
stand by us ! "
" The very craft we're in search of," returned Captain
Speeding's messenger. "Throw us a line, and I'll come
aboard you ! "
Ben flung a coil of rope ; but before he could see
whether or not it had been caught, John Goff had run
up on deck, furious and cursing.
" You young traitor ! " he cried, seeing what was going
on. " What are you up to ? "
" I'm up to saving his Majesty's ship," coolly returned
Ben, levelling his pistol at the pirate. " Stand back, John
192 LONGITUDE TEN DEGREES
Goff, or you're a dead man ! " For full ten minutes he
kept the man at bay. Perhaps he could not have done
so if Goff had not been in the first stage of the sickness
and too languid to act the bully. Once, indeed, Goff
made a step forward as if with the intention of wresting
the weapon from the boy's hand. Ben altered his aim
a few inches and pulled the trigger. The shot entered
Goff 1 s shoulder. Ben took out his other pistol.
At this juncture the cutter's lieutenant leapt upon
the brig's bulwarks, and in another moment appeared
on the quarter-deck.
Lowering his weapon, Ben turned and saluted him.
The lieutenant, however, had caught sight of the pirate
and recognised him.
" Goff ! " he cried.
"Ay, Goff," returned the pirate with meek submission.
" You've got me at last, Master Firebrand thanks to
this meddlesome swab. I suppose I must surrender. I
wouldn't do so if 'twere not that my men are all ill.
This blessed craft's plague-stricken, Mr. Moreland. You'd
best take care of your crew. Work the brig into Strom-
ness, or any other handy port even into Execution Dock
if you will. I'll not interfere. I haven't the strength."
How Lieutenant Moreland succeeded in taking the
Aurora into Stromness without endangering the health
of his men ; how the brig was there disinfected, re-
manned, and sent home to Plymouth, need not here be
told. Lady Grange found that her evil husband had died
a week before the ship brought her home, and she took
possession of his estates, none questioning her rights ;
and she proved a good friend to Ben Clews, who was
recompensed for his conduct by promotion to the quarter-
deck, and as midshipman, lieutenant, and finally captain,
served in the King's navy through war and through peace
for many, many years, and always with honour.
BY DAVID KER
CHAPTER I
HOW THE VOW WAS MADE
" T F they're a-goin' to kill me, why don't they look sharp
| and git it over ? If / 'ad the killin' o' them, I'd be
quick enough about it, I knows that ! "
So growled a solitary prisoner in the " black-hole " of
a British outpost in Upper Bengal one hot May morning
in 1803.
Though dark compared with the blistering glare out-
side, the cell was light enough to show its tenant in all
his squalid and savage disorder. With his clothes almost
torn from his back, his face smeared-with dust and blood,
and a scowl of sullen desperation on his hard, low-browed,
ruffianly features, he looked like what too many of the
Company's soldiers 'were, in days when it drew its recruits
chiefly from the prison and the hulks, and often enough
from the gallows itself.
His mouth was parched with thirst (for no one had
thought of bringing him water), his bruised limbs were all
one pain, his bound hands kept him from defending him-
self against the flies that swarmed around his wounded
face, hardly to be scared away by incessant jerkings of his
aching head. Well, what did it all matter ? He would
soon be past pain and thirst, and feeling of any kind ; or,
193 N
194 A SOLDIER'S VOW
if there really was anything after that well, God couldn't
be harder on him than the colonel had been, anyhow.
They would shoot him, of course ; for he knew what
a charge of "attempting to stir up mutiny" meant at a
time when England's half-formed power in the East stood
like a rock amid a thousand roaring waves, with all India
raging around it. Well, let them ! he would at least die
game, and spite " Old Blue-Beard," who would want to
see him flinch.
Just then a clear, childish voice was heard outside
the voice of the colonel's only child, a bright little lad of
seven, who was the pet of the whole barrack, and even
more loved (if such a thing could be) than Ins father was
hated.
"Oh, please let me in ; I do want to see poor
Bob ! "
" Can't, lovey, can't indeed," replied the sentry's deep
tones; "it's yer par's orders as no one's to pass in. I'd
let yer in if I could, I would indeed ; but orders is orders,
you know."
And the voices died away.
The doomed man's face softened for a moment into
such a look as he might have worn long ago, when he was
a child himself.
" He thought o 1 me, then, the little 'un did ! " he
muttered. " Bless his 'art for a kind little chap ! "
Meanwhile his comrades outside, with a fellow-soldier's
life swaying in the balance, were laughing loudly at the
tricks of a native juggler, who had begged and obtained
leave to enter the barrack-yard.
And why not ? The same sudden and violent death
might be their own lot any day. Ignorant, debauched,
reckless, they, like too many of those who had cemented
with their blood the foundations of Britain's Kastern
empire, found their chief enjoyment in the mad whirl of
A SOLDIER'S VOW 195
battle, and their chief ambition to be able to "git drunk
and forget it all ! "
The juggler, who was the centre of attraction, was a
very remarkable-looking man, not at all like the average
of his class. His tall, sinewy frame had a tiger-like
elasticity in every movement, and through the fawning
servility of his manner broke ever and anon a flash of
something bolder and fiercer, which would have betrayed
to any keen observer that he was not what he seemed.
But no such observer was to be found among the
reckless soldiers, who were firmly convinced (like most
" true Britons " of that age) that no one who had not had
the luck to be born an Englishman could possess either
courage or any other virtue a theory to which the great
Mahratta war of 1803 was just about to give the lie in a
very startling way.
The juggler began by exhibiting some of the familiar
feats that have amused India in all ages, including the
swallowing of a sword and the famous " mango trick,"
which consisted in planting a mango-seed in a tiny basket
of earth and then covering it with a cloth, the withdrawal
of which a moment later showed the first green shoot
already springing up. At the second lifting of the cloth,
this shoot was seen to have grown into a miniature tree,
on which, when uncovered once more, hung a tiny fruit,
which the conjurer plucked and gave to one of the
spectators to eat, as a proof that it was genuine.
Then the juggler turned to the nearest of the lookers-
on, and said
" Hey, Inglis sojeer ! s'pose me give you one rupee,
what you do ? "
" Why, I'd take it, o' course," cried the soldier, with a
loud laugh at the absurdity of such a question, hoarsely
echoed by all the rest.
The other held out a silver coin, upon which the
soldier's strong hand closed eagerly ; but he opened it
196 A SOLDIER'S VOW
again instantly with a start and an exclamation of disgust,
and out fell a large, fat, wriggling worm, amid a fresh roar
of laughter from his comrades.
Then the conjurer stepped forth into the midst, and
called out
" Look, see ! you sojeer say you all plenty brave men."
" Say we are ? " echoed a soldier angrily ; " why, do
you mean for to say as we am'/, you lyin', coffee-coloured
thief ? "
" No, no, not speak one such word ! " said the Hindu
humbly. " Inglis man no fear nothing, me sabbee (know)
plenty well. S'pose Inglis sojeer hold out hand, me put
lemon on sojeer hand ; cut lemon in half wid sword.
Who come first ? "
But no one seemed in any haste to do so ; for, bold
as they were, such a challenge made even these reckless
men look grave.
Though they had all heard of this feat, none of them
had ever seen it done ; and to lay one's bare hand beneath
a >\vord-stroke that would certainly hew it off if the juggler
happened to miss the lemon (and very possibly whether
he did or not), was a matter about which the boldest man
might well think twice.
" What ? are ye all afeared ? " cried a tall, sturdy,
rather good-looking young fellow, with a markedly reck-
less and defiant air, as he shouldered his way to the front.
" Well, no man shan't ever say as Tom Tuffen showed
the white feather afore a blackamoor ! Go ahead, old
'un, 'ere's tny 'and to work on ; but mind, if yer cuts it
off, I'll kill yer with t'other 'and afore ye can sing out
'Help!'"
The gleam of stern joy that shone for a moment in
the seeming juggler's keen, black eyes, \vas strangely out
of keeping with his cringing manner ; and there was a
perceptible change in his tone as he said, while putting
back the soldier's extended right hand
" That hand no good cut thumb off."
A SOLDIER'S VOW . 199
" That hand no good cut thumb off, try wid him
give other."
The soldiers laughed again, thinking that the Hindu
was going to " back out " ; but Tom offered his left hand
without a word, and the juggler, laying the lemon on the
open palm, drew his short tulwar (sword).
The ring of spectators gave a sudden heave, and the
boldest man among them held his breath as the Hindu
stepped forward with uplifted weapon ; but the young
Englishman looked him full in the eyes, and held the
extended hand as firm as a rock.
A flash a whiz a sudden chill across Tom's open
hand, like the fall of a drop of cold water, and the lemon
rolled on the ground in two clear halves, leaving the
young soldier unharmed. 1
A shout of applause from the lookers-on made the air
ring, and under cover of it the pretended juggler, bending
forward as if to satisfy himself that Tom's hand was indeed
unhurt, said a few emphatic words to him, so low that no
one else could hear them.
Whatever those words were, they seemed greatly to
startle the hearer, who was about to reply, when the
Hindu signed to him to be silent, and, letting drop, in
passing, a second emphatic whisper (destined to bear,
later on, strange and terrible fruit), glided by him and
was gone.
All the rest of that day " Wild Tom " was unwontedly
silent and thoughtful ; and his gravity appeared to have
infected his special crony, Sam Black (the man on whom
the rupee trick had been played), with whom Tom had
some talk apart as soon as the juggler had gone.
Meanwhile the prisoner in the " black hole " was fast
sinking into a heavy torpor, which seemed proof against
1 I need hardly say that this feat is quite authentic. D. K.
200 A SOLDIER'S VOW
even the ceaseless torment of the swarming Hies, when
the sound of a well-known and hated voice outside his
prison roused him like the sudden shock of a blow.
" We shall be well rid of the rascal ; such a fellow is
a disgrace to the name of Englishman !
"Am I ?" growled Bob Burton through his set teeth.
" And what are you ? "
But just then his attention was diverted to a strange,
rustling, scraping noise overhead, as if something were
dragging itself along the roof of his prison. What could
it be ? A rat ? a snake ? and his hands were tied !
But the next moment appeared at the air-hole, high
above him, a fresh, child-like face, framed in golden hair
the face of little Freddy Hardman, the colonel's son. An
instant more, and the boy's shin figure had wormed itsdl
through the opening (which was only just wide enough
to let it pass), and had dropped lightly down on to tin-
floor at Bob Burton's side.
"They wouldn't let me in to see you," said the little
hero, with a gleeful laugh ; "but I'd made up my mind
that I would come, so I just went up into the store-housi-.
and climbed through the window down on to this roof,
and then squeezed through the air-hole, and here I am.
Poor old Bob ! why, your face is all bleeding, I declare ;
and how those horrid flies must have been plaguing you !
Let me tie it up for you with my handkerchief."
And the kind little fingers tenderly wiped the dust
and blood from the hurt, and bound it up dexterously
enough.
" Ah ! if only they was all like you ! " said Burton
brokenly ; " you doesn't preach and jaw at a chap you
jist loves him ! "
No words could have better summed up the secret < >i
that power by which One whose very name poor Bob had
never heard, save in the form of an oath, had conquered
the whole world.
A SOLDIER'S VOW 201
" And here's a banana that I've brought you, for I
knew how thirsty you must be, shut up in this hot place,"
went on Freddy, as he tugged from his pocket a huge
ripe plantain.
As Burton awkwardly held out his bound hands to
take it, the boy saw for the first time that they were
knotted together at the wrists, and flushed up indignantly.
" What ? have they really tied your hands ? What a
shame ! Well, eat this banana first, and then I'll untie
them for you."
The thirsty man's parched lips sucked in the juicy
pulp with a wolfish eagerness that told its own story ;
and then Freddy, eager to help him, went to work man-
fully upon the cruel cord, which at first resisted all his
efforts.
" Best let it be," said Bob Burton gruffly. " Thank'ee
all the same, little 'un ; but ye'll only 'urt them little
fingers o' your'n."
But the brave little champion was not to be so easily
balked of his kind purpose ; and, bruise his fingers as he
might, he persevered gallantly, till at length the hastily
and clumsily tied knot gave way, and Burton's stiffened,
aching hands were free.
Free once more ! And then, with that sense of
recovered strength, the wild beast in that perverted nature
started into life again, and there came to him a thought
from hell.
His worst enemy's only son was alone with him,
and wholly in his power ; and' one strangling clutch of
his strong hands on that slender throat would acquit at
once and for ever the heavy debt of revenge that he had
so long hungered to repay. Ah ! to see that hard, pitiless
man's face as he bent over the corpse of his only child !
and to watch him writhe, and mock his agony !
It was but for a moment, and then the hideous tempta-
tion was past and gone like the phantom of a nightmare ;
202 A SOLDIER'S VOW
but its tremendous reaction turned the overwrought man
sick and faint, and he sank dizzily hack against the wall.
The boy eyed him anxiously for an instant, and then,
climbing on to his knee, began to wipe off, with the end of
the sash that served him as a waist-belt, the big drop^ ot
moisture that beaded the tortured face.
" Do you know what this reminds me of, Bob ?" said
he ; " of a picture I saw once of Christ nailed to the
Cross, and a little tiny bird that was sorry for Him,
trying hard with its poor wee beak to pull the nails out
of His hands, and set Him free. I used to think I should
like to be that bird ; and now I /HI;Y been like it in a sort
of a way, for I've set ymtr hands tree, haven't I ? "
A long shiver ran through the soldier's hardy frame,
and he was about to speak, when a measured tramp was
heard outside, a short, sharp order was given, and then the
door swung back, revealing the uniforms of a corporal's
guard.
But when the soldiers saw Freddy (whose absence
had already been noticed and wondered at) in the cell
with the prisoner, they exchanged looks of blank ama/c-
ment, not wholly untinged with superstitious awe.
Was he indeed, then, what they had often called him
an angel sent down to undo the evil wrought by the
merciless harshness of his iron-hearted father ? How else
could he have come into this lockfast place, with a --entry
at its door, and (as they thought) no other available
access ?
One of the men entered the cell to bring out the
prisoner, and Burton recognised his chum Tom Tuftcn.
" What'll they do with me, Tom ? " asked he in a
whisper; " dose o' lead pills, eh ?"
" No such luck, Bob," replied the other gloomily, in
the same low tone ; " down to the dep6t at Kalipur ! "
" Then I knows wot I've got to expect," said the
doomed man with a sickly smile. " That's wot they calls
A SOLDIER'S VOW 203
commutin' the death-penalty/ I s'pose ; if they'd com-
"Jist tie my 'ands agin, will yer, Tom?"
muted the penalty to death, there j'ud ha' been more sense
in it ! Jist tie my 'ands agin, will yer, Tom ? I don't
204 A SOLDIER'S VOW
want the little chap to git into trouble for undoin'
em
" There's my father, and I must go to him," called
out Freddy at that moment. " Good-bye, dear Bob-
good-bye ! "
" Good-bye, little 'un I won't forget yer ; and" (with
a terrific scowl at the tall, upright, soldierly figure toward
which the boy flew with outstretched hands) " I won't
forget 'im, neither ! " l
CHAPTER II
HOW THE VOW WAS kl M.WED
A FEW days later startling news came to the garrison ut"
Huttee-Ghur (Elephant's Home).
An armed escort on its way down the valley from the
fort to the town of Kalipur, with some empty stou-
waggons (taking Bob Burton with them as a prisoner),
had been attacked on the march, just as evening was
closing in, by a large body of native soldiers, or of native
robbers (which meant very much the same thing), who
were not beaten off without a sharp fight, in which the
English lost several men, including Bob Burton himself,
as well as Sam Black and Tom Tuffen.
Nor was this all. Several of the native drivers were
nowhere to be found after the fighting was done, and
1 To show that I have not overstated the condition of the East India Com-
pany's armies during the rise of England's Eastern empire, it is sufficient to quote
the description given by a great historian of the soldiers with whom Clivc achieved
the capture of Covelong and Chingleput : "The only force available for thi^
purpose was of such a description that no one but Clive would risk his reputation
by commanding it. It consisted of five hundred newly levied Sepoys, and two
hundred recruits who had just landed from England, and who were the worst
and lowest wretches that the Company's crimps could pick up in the ' flash-
houses ' of London."
A SOLDIER'S VOW 205
were believed to have gone over to the enemy in the
confusion. Moreover, three or four of the soldiers stoutly
declared that the leader of their assailants was the famous
robber-chief Kala-Bagh (Black Tiger), the terror of the
whole district, and further, that he was no other than the
pretended juggler whose tricks had amused their barrack-
square only a week before !
This would have been unwelcome news at any time ;
but it was doubly ominous just then.
The great war that had been threatening so long had
fairly broken out at last. The Mahratta hosts were
sweeping over the great central plain, the English troops
advancing to meet them ; and all Northern India was
holding its breath, as it were, to see which would win.
A single disaster to the British arms, and all the subject
provinces would blaze at once into open insurrection ;
and the unheard-of boldness of these native banditti in
daring to attack British soldiers in open daylight, plainly
showed which of the two parties they thought more likely
to get the best of it.
But the English officers at Huttee-Ghur hailed this
prospect of open war as a positive relief from the night-
mare feeling that had haunted them for weeks and months
past, of being dogged at every step by secret treachery
and sleepless murder, and slowly but surely entangled in
an ever-tightening net of silent, viewless, implacable
hatred.
In truth, there is no sorer trial of nerve on the face
of the earth than to know, and never for a moment forget
that you know, that the meek little water-carrier who fills
your bath is probably in a plot to take your life that the
cook who dresses your dinner so well may have sprinkled
poison on it that the smart groom who obeys so promptly
and intelligently your orders about your favourite horse,
is calculating all the while how much he can get for it
after he has cut your throat and that the humble peasants
206 A SOLDIER'S VOW
who crouch in the dust at your feet, hailing you as
" protector of the poor/' and whiningly calling you " their
father and their mother/' are just preparing to fire your
house over your head, and burn or murder all within.
Let any man be compelled to live for a time in ;i spot
where the whole air is heavy with yellow fever or cholera,
and where, whenever two men meet, each looks nervously
in the other's face for the first signs of the fell destroyer
and he will know how it feels to be quartered in the
midst of a disaffected Eastern population.
Not a word said Colonel Hardman when this
attack, and the juggler's identity with the bandit chief who
had led it, were reported to him. But the best of his
native scouts, a jungle veteran, who had slain as many
tigers as he had seen birthdays, knew enough of his
master's ways to remark shrewdly to his comrades that
evening
"Brothers, there is evil in store for these Dacoits
(robbers), \vhoe\er they be. When the Colonel Sahib
looks fierce, and speaks angry words, it is as a strong wind
that sweeps by and is gone ; but when he says nothing, it
is the hush before the thunderstorm."
In fact, the colonel (who, like Lord Goring, " alw.ivs
kept his temper when he was really angry"), had fully
made up his mind that the "rabble of black thieves " \\lio
had dared to molest Englishmen should pay dearly for
their insolence ; and the means were ready to his hand,
for the garrison had just been strongly reinforced, it being
of the last importance, in the disturbed state of the whole
country, to secure so important a post as Huttee-Ghur,
which, so long as the English held it, would be an effectual
curb on the surrounding population.
The old soldier's eye sparkled with stern approval as
he saw filing into the fort three or four squadrons of
Rajput horse (than whom there were no better riders or
harder fighters in all India), and several companies of
A SOLDIER'S VOW 207
Rohilla foot men whom their greatest leader had rightly
declared to be "the best of all Sepoys at the cold steel."
With such men at his back, the colonel would have
faced a whole native army ; and he lost no time in scour-
ing the jungle in quest of his skulking roes.
His style of campaigning would have sorely displeased
those learned gentlemen who, sitting at home in England
over their books and diagrams, lay down the law about
" throwing out flankers," and performing this or that
manoeuvre amid thickets as dense as themselves, through
which you may struggle for hours without sight or sound
of an enemy, while passing again and again so close to the
hidden foe whom you are hunting, that he could touch
you with his spear if he chose. (A fact.) But, unscientific
as it might be, the colonel's mode of fighting was emi-
nently successful, as the jackals and vultures of the jungle
could have told for many a day.
The savage chief himself, indeed, managed to escape;
but he was almost the only survivor of his band, and there
was no more trouble with the Dacoits that season.
But hardly was the work done when a wild legend
began to creep abroad, that the three slain British soldiers,
Bob Burton, Sam Black, and Tom Tuffen had come to
life again, and had been seen fighting in the ranks of the
brigands ! Several of Colonel Hardman's native followers
had recognised them, and all told the same story.
But when the English Grenadiers heard the tale, they
laughed it to scorn.
" Rubbish ! " growled a hard-faced old fellow, whose
scarred visage looked like an ill-drawn railway map. " Rise
from the dead, indeed ! if / was once dead, I'd never be
sitch a fool as to git up and 'ave it all over agin, I knows
that ! They've jist desarted, and j'ined Kala Bagh. I
remember now as I see'd him, when he was made-up as
a juggler, say some'at to Tom, and to Sam Black too.
They've desarted, that's wot they've done ; and if it warn't
208 A SOLDIER'S VOW
for the shame of herdin' with sitch scum as them coffee-
coloured thieves yonder, I'm blowed if / wouldn't depart
too."
"And so would I," muttered more than one of his
hearers.
The story at last reached the ears of Colonel Hardman,
who, at any other time, would have been goaded to frenzy
by the very thought of any of his men deserting, and, woi ><.
still, deserting to join a gang of Hindu robbers. Hut he
soon had something else to think of ; for as the summer
was drawing to a close, his little Freddy fell suddenly ill.
Then was seen a change such as the fort had never
known since British redcoats first garrisoned it. No more
songs and laughter, no more coarse jokes or boisterous
oaths. The rough soldiers went to and fro as si lent lv as
shadows the officers sat over their evening cigars without
uttering a word ; and no man who crossed the barrack
square after dark ever failed to look up instinctively at the
light that burned in an upper room of the colonel's quar-
ters, showing where life and death were contending for the
bright-eyed boy whom they all knew and loved.
But, as if to sweep away their last hope, the heat of that
memorable summer endured longer than the oldest man
could recollect. Even the nights wen- as sultry as the
days, and, slowly but surely, the poor little life withered
away, though the kind-hearted doctor (who had always
been a special friend of their little favourite) wore himself
to a shadow in striving to save him, and the stern father
never quitted for an instant, save when his duty called
him, the sick-bed on which lay all that he had left to
love.
" As if there warn't men enough 'ere to die, and plenty
as could be better spared ! " growled a bi^ soldier one
evening ; "and then to go and pick out '/;;/ .' "
"Hold yer jaw, can't yer ? " broke in a second man
- t\ iLjely ; "he shan't die, not if Death was to come for to
A SOLDIER'S VOW 209
fetch him hisself, with a full-strength battalion o' devils to
back him ! "
" I wish I knowed how to pray, so as I could pray for
'im ! " muttered a third one of the wildest and worst men
in the whole regiment.
" Well, look 'ere, boys ! " cried a fourth ; " s'pose we
all volunteer to be put down on God's black list instead,
mayhap He'll let the little 'un off for this once ; for, who-
ever He is, He surely wouldn't be too hard on a sweet
little chap like that ! "
And then, doffing his cap as if in the presence of a
superior, the rough fellow said, in a voice that he vainly
tried to steady
" O God, jist let 'im off this once, and do what you
like with all of us. Amen."
" Amen ! " echoed all his comrades with one voice ;
and, having offered up that strange supplication, the poor
fellows actually felt somewhat less despondent, without
knowing why.
Just then Colonel Hardman's tall form was seen to
issue from the door of his quarters, and come straight
toward them.
" 'Ere he comes ! " said one of the men eagerly ; " I'll
go and ax how the little 'un is."
" Are you crazy, Jim ? " cried the man beside him,
catching him by the arm. " Don't be a fool, lad ; if he's
worse'n a tiger in the or'nary way, what d'ye s'pose he'll
be now ? "
"I don't care," said Jim Barlow desperately; "here goes."
And stepping right up to the dreaded commandant, he
saluted, and said huskily
" Beg pardon, sir ;s he any better ?"
The white, rigid face looked vacantly at him for a
moment, like one just aroused from sleep, and hardly
understanding yet what was said to him ; and then the
grim man replied, in a low, weak voice
O
2io A SOLDIER'S VOW
"Thank you, my man, for asking. No, he is no
better."
And Jim went hack to his comrades in the lowest stage
of depression.
" I'm afeared it's all up, boys," said he, " or Old Blue-
Beard 'ud never have spoke to me so civil."
In truth, during those last few days, the stricken father's
misery was such that even those who hated him most
deeply might well have pitied him ; for no torture on earth
can compare with the unendurable- torment of being forced
to witness the sufferings of a helpless child, when power-
less to alleviate them in any way. I have seen strong men
die in agony, with none to help them ; but they, at least,
knew what was in store for them, and faced it like men,
neither pitying themselves nor asking pity from others.^
But a child cannot tell why it suffers, or why its suffering
cannot be removed ; and it looks instinctively to you for
relief, unable to conceive that you are not powerful enough
to help it. I have seen such a sight only too oi'ten ; I pray
God I may never see the like again.
And now as if this iron man were doomed to feel, in
his turn, the full bitterness of the pain that his nn-rci >
harshness had so often inflicted upon others the poor
little sufferer's ceaseless cry was for " dear old Bob Burton,"
the very man whom his listening father's ill-judged severity
had driven forth into the jungle to herd with thieves
and murderers, and perhaps to die like the beasts that
perish.
" O Bob, dear Bob, do put your hand on my head
and cool it ; it does burn so ! "
"Doctor, can't you do anything?" said the colonel in
a fierce whisper, seizing the other's wrist in a convulsive
clutch that made the very joint crackle. " He was always
fond of you can't you help him somehow ? "
" God knows I would if I could ! " replied the doctor
despairingly ; " but this is beyond me. There is only one
A SOLDIER'S VOW 211
man in all India who could deal with such a case, and I
don't even know where he is just now."
Another night and another day went by, and brought
the end nearer still. The over-wrought doctor (who was
on the point of breaking down himself) crept out about
nightfall for a breath of the fresh air that he so much
needed.
But ere he had been gone five minutes, he came
hurrying back, with a face so startlingly changed that the
colonel sprang up from his place by the sick-bed and
caught him by both hands, though the question that he
would have asked died upon his lips.
" God be thanked ! " said the doctor, " there is a chance
for us yet. I've just got word tjiat my friend Skilman
(whom I spoke of yesterday as the only man here that
could deal with this case) has suddenly arrived at Kalipur.
We must send off a swift messenger for him at once."
" I'll go myself," said Hardrnan, stepping towards the
door.
" But " began the dismayed doctor, through whose
mind flashed instantly all the possible consequences of the
commandant's absence from his post just when it might
be attacked at any moment.
The colonel put aside the strong man like an infant,
and said, in a tone which, though barely above a whisper,
was terribly distinct
" Don't talk to me I'm going."
And, a few minutes later, he rode out of the fort into
the deepening darkness, attended only by a Rajput trooper
and his veteran scout, Lai Singh (Red Lion).
When the two Hindus saw their leader turn off from
the high-road into the native path that led through the
jungle to Kalipur, both knew well that although this way
would save fully half the distance, they carried their lives
in their hands by taking it, it being perilous not only from
wild beasts and snakes, but from worse things still for
212 A SOLDIER'S VOW
the robbers were said to be astir again at the far end of
the valley.
But, trained to exact obedience, there was no thought
in their gallant hearts of wavering or hanging back. Had
the whole Mahratta army barred their path, they would
have simply repeated their usual formula, "Johooknm " (it is
an order), and gone without a murmur to certain death.
From first to last, that match against time with death
was like one of those wild and feverish dreams, in which
you are for ever rushing at full speed over a boundless
waste, without advancing a single foot nearer to the goal.
On, on, mile after mile passing with bewildering sudden-
ness from darkness to moonlight, and from moonlight into
darkness again now splashing through a swollen stream,
now plunging down into a gloomy hollow, now bursting
with a crash through a mass of tangled creepers, now
checking their hor>e>, barely in time, on the brink of a
yawning chasm.
Once, the lights waved by the Hindus made a kind of
broken rainbow on the scaly bulk of a monstrous snake,
which, coiled round a tree above them, thrust out its huge
flat head with an angry hiss, only to draw it back in affright
at the sudden glare. Farther on, two flaming eyes broke
the gloom for an instant, and then a long, gaunt, striped
body vanished ghost-like into the surrounding blackne^,
with a snarl of mingled terror and rage ; and, a few
minutes later, a pack of prowling jackals, scared by the
hoof-tramp and the lights, flitted spectrally away into the
thickets, whimpering like frightened children.
But all this passed unheeded by Colonel Hardman. In
place of the moonlit forest and the threatening monsters,
his eyes saw only a sick-room that lay already miles be-
hind him, where a tiny golden head was tossing in weary
pain upon its restless pillow ; and he clenched his teeth in
desperation at the thought that the aid which he
perilling his life to bring might come too late after all.
A SOLDIER'S VOW 213
But now they were more than half-way to Kalipur
and now but a quarter of the distance was left and now,
as they drew nearer and nearer to the goal, the father's
heavy heart began to wax lighter with an ever-growing
hope.
Ha ! what was that red fire-glow that broke suddenly
upon them from an open space just ahead ? and what
were these wild forms that sprang up around it, like
spectres starting from their graves ?
" Sahib," said Lai Singh as coolly as ever, " there are
robbers in our path."
" Thank God," said the colonel.
So tremendous was the suppressed emotion that quiv-
ered through those half-whispered words, so ghastly this
sudden revelation of that inward torment which could hail
as a positive relief the piospect of blood and wounds, and
death itself, that even the iron-nerved Hindu felt awed.
But there was no time to think of it. Fixing themselves
firmly in their saddles, the three men rushed upon the
nineteen as tigers spring upon a herd of deer. 1
Like a stone through a pane of glass, they broke
through the straggling line of their enemies. Crushed
beneath the horse-hoofs fell grim Ali Shere ; Mulhar Rao's
strong right hand spun six feet from his body, hewn off
like a twig ; gasping on the ground lay fierce Haji Ismail,
cloven through neck and shoulder ; and by him, with his
whole side laid open, writhed his brother Abd'-Allah.
Lai Singh and the Rajput had each killed his man ;
and the three, slashing right and left like giants, were
already almost clear of their foes, when there came a
sudden crackle of shots from the rear, and Lai Singh
dropped dead without a cry, while the Rajput's horse sank
under him, mortally wounded !
Quick as thought, Colonel Hardman turned in his
1 There are still men in India who can testify that this exploit, marvellous as
it may appear to outsiders, has had more than one parallel. D. K.
214 A SOLDIER'S VOW
saddle, and, seizing his trusty follower's arm, dragged him
up on to his own horse.
A tall bandit sprang at them both with uplifted weapon,
only to fall dead instantly, cut down through cap and
skull to the very teeth; but Hardman 's >\v<>rd snapped
with the force of the blow, and the robber-chief him>elt,
the terrible " Black Tiger," thinking him disarmed and at
his mercy, flew at the Englishman's throat with a laugh of
savage joy.
The two men met like conflicting whirlwinds. A tla-h
of steel a whiz a red stain on the colonel's white ^1
a dull thud a crunch like the breaking of a snow-cm>t
and Kala Bagh, the most dreaded bandit of the district,
lay dead on the trampled earth, with his skull smashed in
like an egg-shell, while over his corpse the colonel's hor^e
and its double burden dashed away into the deeper
shadows beyond.
For many a day after, the superstitious Mussulmans
of Kalipur told to their friends, with bated breath and
looks of awe, how, in the first grey of dawn, the Angel of
Death had come rushing through their town in the like-
ness of an English warrior stained with blood, and with
a dead man behind him on his black horse and had
carried away the Hakeem Ingres (English doctor) along
with him. But, in the end, their angel of death proved
to be an angel of life ; for the new doctor did his work
well, and the sick boy was saved !
The robbers, cowed by their formidable leader's fall,
made no attempt at pursuit, and, in truth, there were but
lew of them left to pursue ; for, out of nineteen men,
six had been slain outright, and four more desperately
wounded.
But, over and above the nineteen who had taken so
active a part in the fray, there were three more of the
gang who had been strangely backward from first to last.
: The two men met like conflicting whirlwinds."
A SOLDIER'S VOW 217
All three were in Eastern dress, and almost as dark as
their dusky comrades ; but, had they been black as
negroes, their speech would have told at once what they
really were.
" Well done the old regiment ! " cried the tallest of
the three, with a look of savage and reluctant admiration
after the vanishing form of the colonel. " It's hard to
beat yet ain't it, Tom ? "
" Right you are, Sam," replied Tom Tuffen ; " and
the old country's 'ard to beat, too ! One true Englishman
agin a dozen o' these coffee-coloured thieves, any day ! "
" I believe you, my boy," said Sam Black. " Did yer
see that last blow o' his'n ? how he did up Kala Bagh
hisself with one lick of his sword-handle, arter the blade
was broke ! That's wot / calls fightin' ! "
" Same here ! " cried Tom. " Don't I remember how
Kala Bagh said to me, when he fust axed me to jine his
gang (that time he corned among us as a juggler, ye
know), ' If thou fearest the colonel sahib/ he says to me,
'thou shalt see, when he and I meet in fight, that I am
the stronger,' says he. Blow his Hindu impudence ! he's
found out by this time, I take it, whether Old Blue-Beard's
stronger than 'im or not ! "
Then the third man spoke for the first time, breaking
at length, with a visible effort, the moody silence in which
he had seemed to be sunk while his two comrades were
talking.
" Look 'ere, Tom," said he, " why didn't you kill him
when you had the chance ? "
" Well, if it comes to that, Bob, why didn't you ? "
cried the other. " You've swore to do it, once and agin
I've heerd yer myself ! "
Bob Burton made no answer for a moment, and his
hard face worked convulsively. Then he looked up, and
said fiercely, as if the words were wrung from him by a
sudden spasm of pain
218 A SOLDIER'S VOW
"I couldn't!"
"No more couldn't I neither," said Tom Tutlen, visibly
relieved by this frank admission on the part of his com-
rade. " I tell yer, boys, \\hen he came chargm' in among
us like that, and knockin' over them niters like nine-pins
by Jingo, I almost forgot to hate him !"
"Aye, that's jist 'ow I felt too," put in Sam Black
gruffly. " I had my gun all ready to let fly at him, but
when I see'd him a-fightin' the whole lot of 'cm like a
hero and lickin' 'em too why, I felt a-> if, s'po^e 1 \\;i->
to pull trigger on him then, the very bullet 'ud turn round
and hit me instead ! "
"You're right, Sam," said Bob Burton with grim em-
phasis. " He's a thunderin' old tyrant, he is, and I hate
him worse than Old Nick and when I git another chance
to pay him out, I won't let it slip so easy but, curse him,
he's a man every inch of him ! "
Note. This supposed desertion of British soldiers to join the
ranks of Eastern marauders has, unhappily (as I have already shown
in ''The Boy Slave in Bokhara") only too much foundation in fact.
During my first journey through Central Asia, not so many years
ago, I was told of several Englishmen (my informants said seven)
who were then serving in the so-called "army" of the Khan of
Kokan ; and all of these were deserters from British India. I). K.
CHAPTER III
HOW THE VOW WAS KKl'T
A YEAR had gone by since that memorable night, and had
brought great events in its train.
The power at which all India had so lately trembled
was now broken at once and for ever. At Delhi, at Las-
waree, at Assaye, at Argaum, the Mahratta conquerors of
A SOLDIER'S VOW 219
Central India, with all odds of numbers and artillery in
their favour, had fought gallantly to maintain their well-
won renown ; but numbers and artillery alike, and the
utmost efforts of reckless valour, were all vain against
the unconquerable " white faces from the West." From
the Indian Ocean to the Bay of Bengal, not one native
army was left that could look the soldiers of England in
the face ; and, both at home and throughout India, all
men were full of the marvellous exploits of a promising
young British commander, then known only as General
Wellesley, but ere long to fill the whole world with the
fame of the Duke of Wellington.
The East India Company's army had been increased
by the formation of several new regiments ; and one of the
best of these was now commanded by Colonel Hardman,
who had been transferred to a newly-built fort about a day's
march from his former post at Huttee-Ghur.
Freddy was by this time quite well and strong again ;
but his father from whose mind the haunting terror of
that fearful summer was never wholly absent had fully
made up his mind to deprive himself of his son's company
altogether, rather than take the risk of keeping him any
longer in the fatal climate of India ; and it had been
settled that as soon as the country was quiet enough to
make travelling safe, the boy should be sent down to
Calcutta, and put on board of the first ship for England.
Evening was just beginning to darken into night, when
a gaunt, haggard, wild-looking man in native dress, with a
long gun on his shoulder, dragged his weary limbs heavily
out of the matted thickets that fringed both sides of the
road leading north-eastward to the border of Oude, and
threw himself on the ground with a surly oath, which was
hoarsely echoed by two other figures, as ragged and dusty
as himself, that came creeping out after him.
Curiously enough, though all three were dressed as
220 A SOLDIER'S VO\V
Hindus, and were very nearly as dark in complexion, they
all spoke in English.
41 Plenty o' dead wood for a tire, anyhow," growled
the first man ; " but wot's the use ? It's jist like our luck,
ain't it, Tom, to have a good fire and nothin' to cook at
it!"
" Well, it'll keep the tigers off, if it docs nothin 1 else,"
said Tom Tuffen ; "though, if they was to eat us, Hob,"
added he, with a meaning glance at his own lean hands,
"they'd have pretty nigh as poor a supper as we're a-goin'
to have ourselves."
"Why, there's some o' them c'nnfxitti,-* (thin Hour
cakes) left yet, ain't there, Sam?" cried Hob Hm ton
sharply.
"Two apiece, Bob that's all!" replied Sain Hlack,
producing the scanty provisions as he spoke, while his two
comrades hastily scraped together and set on fire a heap
of dead twigs and withered leaves, round which tin- wan-
derers stretched themselves in moody silence.
The meagre meal was eaten without a word ; and, in
truth, the three outcasts had but too good reason to be so
silent and gloomy.
After the breaking up of the robber band which they
had joined, they had taken service with one native prince
after another, and had passed through all the vicissitudes
of wild Eastern warfare. Now revelling in short-lived
luxury now fighting for their lives against terrible odds
now heading a mutiny for arrears of pay, and sacking
the palace of their so-called master one week filling their
pockets with precious stones and gold run/tins (to be in-
stantly flung away in the wildest freaks of excess), and
then a week later, struggling half-starved through swamp
and jungle, with a swarm of merciless foes in hot pursuit
they had compressed into those few months the perils
and adventures of a whole lifetime.
And what had all this profited them? Nothing. All
A SOLDIER'S VOW 221
their rich gains, all their daring feats, had left them as
poor, and destitute, and hopeless as before.
In fact, their future seemed even darker than their
past ; for no one knew better than they that the savage
despot of Oude for whose court they were now making,
as a last resource even should he admit them among his
soldiers, might any day reward them for their services by
torturing them to death, or flinging them to the crocodiles
of the Goomtee. 1
" I'll tell yer wot hurts me most," muttered Bob Burton
at last, in the tone of a man thinking aloud, rather than
actually addressing his comrades ; " to think o' them pals
of our'n in the old regiment fightin' like men agin them
coffee-coloured' heathens, one agin a dozen and lickin'
'em too, every time and every one in the old country's
a-praisin' them, and calling 'em 'eroes ; and we wot have
we been doin' all the while ? Why, thievin' and murderin'
along with a lot o' sneakin' blackamoors ! "
"Aye," cried Tom Tuffen fiercely, "that's jist how /
felt that time at Krishnabad, when I axed that old sepoy
as corned there with the major, to give me a drink o'
water. D'ye remember wot the old chap said ? ' Ismail
Beg gives his lotah (brass cup) to no man who is not
worthy. I am a nimmuk-wallah 2 I have been true to
my salt ; but what art thou ? ' Now, how do you think a
Englishman feels when he finds out that even a common
blackamoor's ashamed of him ! "
" And d'ye see that 'ere flag yonder ? " added Sam
Black grimly, as he pointed to the, British colours that
waved jauntily in the last gleam of sunset, above the low
1 It was not till 1856 (under the rule of Lord Dalhousie) that Oude was an-
nexed to the British dominions ; and, up to that time, the misrule of its native
princes was the byword of all India. A favourite pastime with one of these
model sovereigns was the sudden letting loose of a number of venomous snakes
in the midst of a crowd of market-people !
- Literally " salt fellow " a phrase implying that a man has been, as the
Hindus say, " true to his salt."
222 A SOLDIER'S VOW
white wall of a fort not more than a mile away. "That's
the English flag, that is ; and here be three Englishmen
as daren't show their faces a-nigh it ! "
Then followed a long and gloomy silence, each of the
three unhappy men being wholly absorbed in ln> own
sombre thoughts, as if they had now begun to realise, for
" Is it a h 'angel ? "
the first time, the full depth of their degradation, and
felt at last the whole bitterness of the harrowing contrast
between what they might have been and what they were.
" It's all /it's fault ! " muttered Bob Burton at length,
his voice sounding strange and hollow amid the deepening
darkness. " If he hadn't druv us to it, we wouldn't have
j'ined Kala Bagh's riff-raff ; and if we hadn't took up with
A SOLDIER'S VOW 223
them, we shouldn't ha' been where we are now. By
Jingo, if I could have a wish granted me just this very
minute, I knows wot it 'ud be ! "
"To cotch 'tin somewhere by hisself, and pay him out
once for all eh, Bob ? " said Tom Tuffen, in a hoarse
whisper.
Burton nodded silently, and Sam Black gave an
assenting growl, as deadly in its meaning as the hiss of
a rattlesnake.
But that menacing sound died away into a stifled gasp
of terror, as there started out all at once from the encir-
cling blackness into the ring of light cast by the fire
plain before the startled eyes of all three a slender white
figure, and a bright, smooth, child-like face, framed in
golden hair !
" Is it a h'angel, Bob ? " asked Sam Black, in a tremu-
lous whisper.
" A h'angel, you fool ! " said Burton, with grim scorn ;
" what have h'angels got to do with the likes of us ? It's
the devil as we b'longs to, and he'll have his own some
day ! "
But, at the sound of Burton's voice, the apparition
sprang forward and called out joyfully, in accents that
were familiar to them all
" Is that you, Bob ? Oh, I am so glad ! Come along
with me, quick ! "
And the desperate man suddenly felt his hard, bony
hand clutched by the small, soft fingers of a child.
" Why, if it ain't the little 'un hisself ! " cried Sam
Black, in a tone of joyful recognition, as he laid his strong
hand caressingly on the boy's shoulder.
" How come you here, laddie, all by yourself?" asked
Tom Tuffen, stepping forward on the other side.
"Father come and help father!" was Freddy's only
reply, as he caught hold of Tom's arm with his other
hand.
224 A SOLDIER'S VOW
"What, is he with you ?" cried Burton, with a sudden
and terrible change on his worn face, which was instantly
answered by a murderous gleam in the eyes of his two
comrades.
"The horse came down with us it took fright at
your fire, I think and my father fell with his leg under
it and I tried to pull him out, and couldn't ; so then I
ran to fetch help."
The three castaways exchanged looks of terrible mean-
ing, without uttering a word.
Seldom indeed have such men been tried by Mich a
temptation. Here was the vengeance for which they had
just been longing, placed all at once within their very grasp.
Here was the man whom they most hated in all the world,
lying bruised and helpless, and wholly at their mercy ; and
even if they did not care to kill him themselves, all that
was needed was simply to leave him to his fate. But then
the boy the boy !
" Make haste how slow you are!" cried Freddy im-
periously. "Come and get him out quick !
And, as if his overwhelming excitement had really made
him stronger, for the moment, than the two big, hardy men
whom he was urging on, both made a step forward as he
spoke, with the mechanical, unconscious movement of men
walking in their sleep.
But hardly had they turned toward the high-road
(close beside which lay the hollow wherein the colonel
and his horse had fallen), when the whole forest shook
with a terrific roar the roar of a hungry tiger springing
on its prey. 1
"Oh, the tiger the tiger!" screamed Freddy, "he'll
get father ! "
And he flew like an arrow in the direction of the sound.
1 The presence of a tiger so close to a lx;nten road is (as I can l>ear \vitm->-
from my own experience) not at all an unheard-of thing in Northern India cvm
at the present day. D. K.
A SOLDIER'S VOW 225
If ever Bob and his comrades had run in their lives,
they did so then. But ere they could reach the fatal spot,
there came a second roar, louder and fiercer than the last
a wild, despairing cry and then all was still.
When the tiger made his spring upon the prostrate
horse and rider, the cool old soldier, unarmed and helpless
as he was, did not give himself up for lost even then,
shrewdly guessing that between a large and well-fed
horse and a lean dried-up man, the monster's choice
would be soon made.
And so it proved. One crunch of the destroyer's
mighty jaws broke the poor beast's neck, and in a moment
more the tiger was rending the yet quivering carcass with
tooth and claw.
And now, could the colonel have lain still where he
was, all might yet have gone well. The tiger, when
gorged, would probably have gone off without troubling
itself about him; nay, it might perhaps have dragged away
the dead horse to serve it for a second meal, and thus
have freed the imprisoned man from the weight that kept
him down.
But it was not to be. The pain of that heavy pressure
on his hurt limb made him impatient ; and his hitherto
unyielding nerves were sorely shaken (as, in truth, they
might well be) by thus hearing, close to his very face, the
tearing of his favourite horse piecemeal by the cruel
fangs that might at any moment be buried in his own
flesh. Feeling the pressure of the dead beast lightened
for an instant as the tiger tugged at it and rocked it to
and fro, he imprudently attempted to drag himself out
from beneath it.
It was a fatal error. The moment he stirred, the tiger
was upon him !
For one instant, while his thick military cloak ham-
pered the monster's teeth, he saw the fierce yellow eyes
P
226 A SOLDIER'S VOW
glare into his, and felt the hot, foul, rank breath steaming
on his face. Instinctively he uttered one last cry for help
and then !
There was a trample of hurrying feet a hoarse shout
the crackle of three shots fired in quick succession
and the terror of the jungle lay dead over his victim's
body, just as a native patrol, alarmed by the noise, came
racing up to the spot.
Hardman was promptly freed, and, to his son's vast
relief, proved to have escaped with unbroken bones,
though sorely bruised and shaken ; for the tiger's fangs
had not reached him, and the trench into which he had
fallen had saved him from the full weight of the horse's
body.
The lights carried by the patrol, as well as the cloud-
less splendour of the rising moon, made the whole scene
as clear as day ; and Colonel Hardman at once recognised
his three rescuers, who, seeing that he knew them, and
cut off from escape by the coming-up of the native-
soldiers, stood waiting in sullen silence to hear what he
would say.
" I don't ask who you are, and I don't want to know,"
said the colonel to them, with a peculiar emphasis which
all three fully understood. " I can see that you are
Englishmen, and that you have been down on your luck ;
and, at all events, I owe you a good turn for saving my
life. You look like the sort of fellows that I should like
to have as recruits for my new regiment what do you
say?"
What they said no one heard save themselves and the
colonel. But when, thirty-two years later, Colonel Hard-
man (General Hardman by that time), was laid at rest
beneath the elms of the quiet English churchyard of his
native village, foremost among those who bore him to the
grave walked, side by side with his famous son, Major
Frederick Hardman, a stalwart, grey-haired, soldier-like
A SOLDIER'S VOW 227
man named Bob Burton, who had nursed the dying
general, night and day, through the last hours of his
final illness, and had felt amply repaid for all by the light
of grateful affection that shone for a moment in the
sunken eyes of his old enemy, just ere they settled into
stillness for ever.
IN LUCK'S WAY
BY FRED. WHISHAW
MATTERS were proceeding satisfactorily enough at
Gerstonville, a farm lying some thirty miles north-
east of Buluwayo, in Rhodesia. Richard Gerston
had had the luck to peg out a fairly rich claim when,
after the finish of the first Matabele war and the fall of
old Lobengula, Buluwayo and the surrounding territoru >
fell into the hands of the Company. Gerston had taken
an honourable share in the fighting, and shared also in the
privileges held out towards those who had been actively
engaged in the war ; and though his hopes or dreams, as
perhaps it would be more correct to call them his dreams
of finding gold upon his claim had not been realised, or
had remained practically unrealised (for there were signs of
gold here and there, though the precious metal had not
been found in paying quantities), yet the soil was excel-
lent, and his crops and his live-stock were doing wonders
so well indeed, that after a few months Gerston had
felt justified in sending for his wife and two children from
the Cape, where, for the present, they had remained wait-
ing in anxious expectancy for the message which would
enable them to start northwards in order to begin a new
life in a new home in this new country.
For a year or two everything flourished. The farm
had become a bit of England, though with African sur-
roundings. Gerston's son Bruce, a lad of fifteen, was a^
much help to his father in the farm during working hours
aa8
IN LUCK'S WAY 229
as his sister Kittie was to her mother in the house ; while
in the evening English outdoor games were the vogue ;
squash cricket especially, in which all the family took
part, including Mrs. Gerston, who, however, according to
the dictum of Bruce, " wasn't much good," and Kittie,
who " played a much stronger game." Bruce had even
attempted to teach a few Mashona labourers employed on
the farm to wield the willow, but the result had been con-
spicuous failure ; for not one of them displayed the smallest
capacity for understanding the rules of the game, nor much
inclination to run about or exert themselves after the
fatigues of the day's work on the farm.
It was a beautiful summer's evening, during one of
these games of " squash cricket," which was played on the
rough turf outside the house, that a stranger strolled into
the enclosure, an Englishman, though a hot and unkempt
one, and stood still for a moment or two as his eye fell
upon the unusual scene (in this part of the world) being
enacted before him.
"Lord!" he muttered, "that's good! It does one
good to see it."
Then he came forward, and Gerston, who was batsman
on this occasion, catching sight of him, handed his bat to
Kittie, and advanced to meet the stranger.
" You're welcome," he said. " Have you come far ?
We don't often have a visitor here afoot."
The stranger was an elderly man, though evidently
wiry and active as a cat. He carried a rifle, and was
dressed in "veldt" boots and the usual and appropriate
costume of the country, much travel-stained and out of
repair ; his bearded face was lined and worn ; he looked
in need of rest, though obviously a hard man.
" I've come a goodish number of miles, mate, one way
or another, and on my feet all the way ; pretty well all
over Rhodesia, you might say, and I've spent two years
and more in doing it. Ah, and spent 'em well, too ! " he
230
IN LUCK'S WAY
" Kittie, who played a much stronger game."
added, with a wink, "and don't you make any mistake
about it."
IN LUCK'S WAY 231
Gerston smiled.
" Prospecting, I daresay," he said.
The stranger nodded. " I don't choose my claim in a
hurry," he continued ; " I prefer to go the round and look
about me. This seems a nice place. Any gold ? "
"Not much," laughed Gerston ; "just enough to keep
us hoping for more ; but the land's Ai, and I'm not
doing so badly."
" Ah ! " ejaculated the other. " Good, good ; you
employ these Mashona rascals, I see. Well, look out if
you're wise."
Gerston laughed again.
" Oh yes," he said, " I will look out ; my Mashona
boys are thoroughly domesticated ; besides, they know
when they are well off."
" Maybe," said the stranger ; " but there is trouble in
the air. I have not tramped all Rhodesia for nothing. I
have seen what I have seen, and I have heard what I have
heard."
Gerston received this Sphinx - like pronouncement
with a smile, and the pair having by this time reached the
house, the stranger was shown to his room, as naturally as
though he had been an invited and expected guest.
There was no question of his begging a bed, or of any
expression by Gerston of apologetical regret that the house
was full ; his welcome was a matter of course, for in the
veldt open house is kept after the old-established Dutch
fashion, and no one possessing a white skin and a smatter-
ing of European civilisation need sleep out in the air for
want of a bed and a meal inside of four walls, if there be
a settler's dwelling within ken.
The stranger gave his name as " Uncle Ben," and
stayed for several days. He paid, as he expressed it, for
his keep by giving Gerston the benefit of his experience as
a prospector for gold, tramping the claim from end to end,
accompanied by the boy Bruce, to whom he seemed to
232 IN LUCK'S WAY
%
take a great fancy ; but though this odd pair visited to-
gether every corner of the estate, and examined carefully
every little kopje and gully in the place, Uncle Ben's ver-
dict was quite unfavourable. There wasn't gold enough
in the claim, he said, so far as he could judge, to coin
a five-dollar piece, and the whole claim, from the point
of view of the gold-seeker, was " not worth a tinker's
curse."
As he delivered himself of this doleful dictum, the
stranger suddenly produced a tobacco pouch, which he
opened forthwith and held out to his host.
" See here," he said, " thafs gold now the real article,
and I know well, I know what I know."
"Which means, I suppose, that you could tell me
where to find more of it," laughed Gerston. "Well,
you're a lucky chap, and I wish you all success. When
you want a partner to work the place you can come along
to me."
"Ah !" said Uncle Ben sagely, "who knov
And Gerston, talking over this conversation after-
wards with his wife, laughingly declared that he believed
if the old fellow's pockets were overhauled, certain mys-
terious hieroglyphics intended to form a rough map would
be found, and that this map would be the clue to some
valuable gold shaft of which he had discovered, or imagined
that he had discovered, the existence.
"There are plenty in Mashonaland," Gerston ended,
" if only one could hit upon them."
Uncle Ben, as he insisted upon being called, proved a
grand acquisition in the evenings, for he possessed a won-
derful fund of stories, experiences of his own mostly ; and
these he was never tired of airing for the benefit of his
listeners, of whom he had four in this house, all of the
kind most charming to the narrator, because they were
frankly and obviously interested and amused.
If his tales were to be believed and the old man was
IN LUCK'S WAY 233
accustomed to vow most solemnly that the experiences
narrated were absolutely authentic he had certainly been
through every kind of adventure that the ingenuity of a
humorous destiny could have invented at his expense :
adventures with lions, with elephants, with Matabele
warriors ; perils by water and by land ; in a word, every
kind of experience likely to interest and enthral a listener
had been his ; and though, perhaps, listeners of the age of
Bruce were the most delighted by his tales, they pleased
almost equally listeners of any age, for they bore the
stamp of truth.
It was natural, therefore, that young Bruce soon began
to look upon the sturdy old stranger as a hero of the first
water, a king among men, a person to be admired and
loved and imitated, if the opportunity should ever arise ;
a mental condition on the part of Bruce which was con-
firmed by each new story of triumph over lions or other
beasts, or of barely escaped capture by Matabeles or other
bad characters.
It was while in the midst of an exciting tale of a night
spent in the bare veldt within a hundred or two paces of
an entire Matabele impt, during the whole of which time he
dared not sleep, and scarcely allowed himself to breathe
lest they should hear him ; and of how at a critical
moment he had sneezed it was, in fact, exactly as Uncle
Ben had reached this most critical point in his story that
the sound of galloping hoofs suddenly became distinctly
audible in the breathless silence into which the old man
had been pouring out his yarns.
" Stop one minute, mate," said Gerston, rising ; " let
us see who this is. The letter-carrier, I daresay, though
he doesn't generally ride that pace."
Gerston rose and went to the door. A moment later
the panting horse of the new arrival pulled up at the
garden gate, and the rider threw the reins over his animal's
neck.
234 IN LUCK'S WAY
"Give me a drink, mate," he said, " I'm dead parched.
Anything will do water, or milk, or cold tea. I've
brought awful news, but I can't speak till I've drunk."
" Brandy and water ? " suggested Gerston ; and the
stranger nodding acquiescence, he was soon in possession
of the "long" drink he craved.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, setting down the empty gla-^,
"that's better. Well, the natives are up; they have HM-M,
and are murdering the English wherever they can Imd
them. Are you well armed here ? Can you hold the
house against a siege ? You may have a visit from the
blackguards before the night's out."
The communication, absolutely unexpected by most
of those present, fell like a bomb into the midst of the
company. Gerston drew in his breath with a gasp, glaiu -
ing at his wife and young Kittie, both of whom looked
white and scared, though Mrs. Gerston showed her spirit
by answering in a moment and with brave words her
husband's eloquent glance
"We've plenty of weapons and ammunition, and both
Kittie and I can shoot a bit, if required," she said. " \\Y
shall know how to give you a helping hand, Dick ; and
we are not afraid, are we, Kittie ? "
"Oh no, father," said Kittie, whose trembling lips
proved, however, that she had not quite recovered the
shock of the news.
"Well, ladies, you're a pair of the right sort, if I may
say so," continued the new-comer, "and let me tell you,
you'll want all your pluck and all your powder, for they
can't relieve you from Buluwayo for several days ; and
you'll have to remember these blackguards don't spare
women and children. I found poor Smithson and his
wife both murdered and their house burned this very
morning, before I got to their place to warn them. I'm
on my rounds warning the farmers about ; but God knows
whether I can go any farther, for see here I've lost
IN LUCK'S WAY 235
some blood ; and to tell the truth, what with that and
"You may have a visit from the blackguards before the night's out."
fatigue, I don't rightly know whether I'm standing on my
heels or my head."
236 IN LUCK'S WAY
The stranger turned as he spoke, revealing a stained
bandage beneath his Norfolk-coat at the neck.
"A spent assegai," he explained ; "it caught me just
in the fleshy bit between shoulder and neck ; it was shied
from an ambush as I galloped by ; a few more inches one
way and I should have been done for. That's the party
which is heading in this direction."
"How far off was that?" asked Gerston, while his
wife ran for warm water and a clean bandage.
"Ten miles," said the other, "more or less. You'd
better begin fixing up your zareba at once. What's the
nearest farm to yours, going east ? "
"There isn't one nearer than Thomson's at the Black
Kopje, twenty-five miles away ; several places ;ire bought
up in between, but the owners haven't settled in yet. "
" So much the better for them. Twenty-live miles y
Lord ! I don't know how I'm going to do it. You'd swop
a horse for mine, no doubt ; but in plain truth I'm fagged
out, and this infernal wound is burning like fire and fury
just now 1 "
" Let me go instead of him, father ! " suddenly ex-
claimed young Bruce. " 1 know the way, every inch
of it ; I could ride Donald over in an hour and a
half."
Gerston looked pleased, but shook his head
" No, no, my boy," he said, " that wouldn't do ; you're
not man enough yet, though I'm glad to see you've the
spirit to offer. I shall ride across myself, for it's clear
our poor friend here can go no farther to-day. Be
getting Donald ready for me, Bruce lad, while I start
with the defences."
But neither his wife nor Kittie would hear of allowing
Gerston to leave them and go out upon this dangerous
enterprise. He must stay, whoever else went, and look
after his property and the lives of those who were dear to
him.
IN LUCK'S WAY 237
" Let Bruce go rather than you," the mother ended,
her eyes full of tears and a choke in her voice.
" Yes, do, father ; let me go ! " said Bruce.
" With apologies for interrupting family arrangements,"
began the old stranger, who chose to be called Uncle
Ben, " I am the one that's got to go, and as soon as some
of you have explained the road and lent me a nag, I'm
off. You may be proud of this youngster of yours, boss ;
he's a lad of spirit, and he'll do well. Now which way
do I go north, south, east, or west ? "
" I really don't know that we ought to allow you to
risk your life," Gerston began hesitatingly. " The road's
difficult to find if you don't know it, and it wouldn't do
to get one's self lost in the veldt with those confounded
chaps about, looking for white bodies to chuck their
assegais at. You'd better let me go, mother ; I can take
pretty good care of myself ; I shall be back by morning."
" Excuse me, mate," said Uncle Ben, " but I ain't one
to be put off from his purpose by the danger of meeting a
few Mashona fellows with assegais ; I've something here
that shoots straighter and harder and farther, in case it's
wanted. Come, how does one steer, and what about a
horse ? "
It was obviously useless to waste argument upon the
old fellow. His mind was made up, and it was quickly
decided to let him have his way ; the more so since, as a
matter of fact, it was convenient enough that he should
go, rather than Gerston, whose place was undoubtedly
at the side of his wife and daughter, and at the head of
those who would assist him to defend their lives and his
property.
So Uncle Ben was duly instructed as to the road to
Thomson's farm ; and now it became evident that descrip-
tions intended to direct a ride of twenty-five miles over
the veldt are apt to bewilder as much as to enlighten, and
that the old fellow's mind had been considerably mixed
238 IN LUCK'S WAY
by his instructions as to the way he should go on reach-
ing this belt of jungle or that kopje.
" You'd better let me go with him, father ! " said
persistent Bruce ; " the cleverest veldt-traveller might lose
his way between here and Thomson's. I shail surely be
all right with Uncle Ben. You can give me a revolver in
case of accidents."
" You can bet your last sovereign nothing '11 happen
to him while old Ben Caldecott's breath is in his body ! "
added the old fellow. " If he's going to be hurt, then I'm
dead first, mind you ; but the Mashona beggars won't
catch me napping, you may bet. Besides, the lad would
run quite as much risk at home to-day as riding over
the veldt, seeing as how you ain't going to be let alone to
sleep comfortably in your beds."
And presently, after some little opposition from his
weeping mother, hotly combated by Bruce himself, and
almost as hotly by Kittie, who was all for giving Bruce a
chance of showing his spirit and distinguishing himself,
the lad was allowed to get himself ready for departure.
Preparations were in full swing for the defence of the house
as the adventurous pair rode out upon their dangerous
enterprise. Every scrap of cover within one hundred
and fifty yards of the house was being cut down and
removed, in order that the niggers, when they came,
must advance over an open area well watched and easily
swept by the bullets of the defenders.
Besides this, barbed wire was stretched here and there
across the open space and tightly fastened to pegs about
one foot in height, in order to trip up the enemy in case
of a rush, when, in the confusion of their overthrow, the
defenders would have the opportunity to fire several times
into "the brown," as Gerston expressed it, before they
should have recovered themselves.
Within the house everything was made as secure as
possible against assault and battery, and every rifle and
IN LUCK'S WAY 239
shot-gun (including two magazine rifles) was loaded and
placed in the position laid down for it, only three windows
being left unshuttered, for the use of sharpshooters. It
had been intended to run up some kind of earthworks,
surmounted by barbed wire, one hundred yards from the
house, as a first line of defence ; but when the native
labourers were summoned to help in the work, not one
of them was to be found, a significant fact which caused
Gerston to look very grave.
" The rascals have had news of the rising, then," he
said ; " their messenger must have arrived almost as soon
as ours eh, Botley ? "
Botley was the last arrival, he who had brought the
disconcerting news of danger threatening.
" Before, probably," he replied. " I shouldn't wonder
if it was one of your beauties that treated me to this little
hole in the shoulder, on his way to join some murderous
band which he and his fellows will presently bring down
here to knock your head off, in gratitude for benefits con-
ferred the set of scurvy, thankless, godless black devils
that they are ! "
Without the native labourers it was quite impossible
to undertake anything requiring so much expenditure in
time and hard labour as earth defences, and the scheme
had therefore to be abandoned.
Meanwhile we may leave Gerston and his little group
of brave English hearts to defend their home and their
lives as best they can against any overwhelming force that
might be brought against them. Their good British spirit
will not quail, we may assure ourselves, though they must
fight against odds which might well appal hearts less easily
daunted than theirs.
We therefore leave them with confidence to their enter-
prise, while we follow the steps of the oddly assorted pair
to whose share has fallen the duty of riding out into un-
known dangers, maybe to unavoidable disaster and death,
240 IN LUCK'S WAY
in order to carry the message of coming peril to their
unsuspecting compatriots twenty-five miles away, rather
than allow a neighbour to be surprised, and perhaps fallen
upon and ruthlessly murdered, he and his, for want of a
word of warning.
It was late in the afternoon when the two set out
upon their journey, well armed with rifle and revolver,
and mounted upon the two fastest horses that Gerston's
stables could supply. Young Bruce was wild with delight,
scarcely, perhaps, realising the full peril of the enterprise
in which he had been so eager to take a part. They spoke
but little during the first half-hour's ride, being anxious to
push on as fast as possible during the waning daylight.
Bruce led the way, and rode so rapidly that after a while
his companion bade him pull up a bit.
" It's bad policy, youngster," he whispered, " to box
all your strength away in the first round. Look at my
beast, he's badly blown."
This was the case. The horses were not accustomed
to the present headlong method of travelling. They were
used to quiet jogging about the farm-lands, or carrying
their master from settlement to settlement at a respectable
rate of progression ; they were not in training for this
kind of emergency riding.
"We'd better climb down and let them breathe a
minute or two," said Uncle Ben gravely. " See here."
He had loosened the bridle, and his horse instantly
lowered its neck until its distended nostrils almost reached
the ground, panting and wheezing in a state of breathless-
ness bordering upon actual distress.
" That's Donald," said Bruce ; " he's a good goer, too,
but he isn't used to this pace."
"Well, he shall have three minutes' law," said Uncle
Ben, "or more if he needs it. Sit down a bit and we'll
talk, but don't speak up at full voice. How d'you like
this yer adventure, sonnie ? "
IN LUCK'S WAY 241
" I love it," said Bruce ; " it's exactly the kind of thing
I do like."
" Ah ever been in a fight, or had to struggle for your
life?"
" Oh no, not yet," said Bruce. " I'm a bit young ; but
I hope to."
" Nor seen blood, and so on ? " continued the old
fellow.
" Oh, accidents and that kind of thing. I don't mind
the look of blood, if that's what you mean."
" Well, I tell you, this is no child's play we're at,
sonnie ; recollect that. We may be caught in an am-
bush and assegaied before we rightly know we've been
done."
" I shan't mind so much if only I can get the revolver
off at them first ! " said truculent Bruce.
" We may be chased and surrounded."
" Not on horseback. They don't ride, these Mashona
fellows ; they've no horses. We can always ride them
down and be off, even if we're surrounded."
" Ain't you afraid ? " persisted Uncle Ben. " Mind
you, it isn't too late to go home even now. I could find
the way from here."
" What are you playing at ? Why d'you want me to
go back ? " said Bruce indignantly. " There isn't anything
to be afraid of yet."
" Ah, but there may be ! " said the other.
" Well, wait till there is, and then see if I funk, before
you insult me ! " replied Bruce ; and in his indignation he
spoke no more for the next five minutes, though Uncle
Ben said he was a likely lad, and attempted to conciliate
him with other similar compliments.
He descended, however, from the lofty pedestal of
offended dignity when Uncle Ben suddenly stopped in the
middle of a sentence and stood silent, listening.
"What is it? What d'you hear?" asked Bruce, for-
Q
242 IN LUCK'S WAY
getting dignity and everything else in the excitement of the
moment.
Uncle Ben remained silent for a full minute.
" Don't you hear it ? " he said. " Listen carefully.
There ; d'you catch it ? "
Bruce listened with all his ears ; but those organs,
not having been tutored, as were his companion's, to
catch every little sound of veldt life, could detect nothing
as yet.
"You'll hear in a minute, for they're coming this
way ! " said Uncle Ben. " But they're a mile off or
more."
" Who, who ? " muttered Bruce, his throat quite dry
with excitement. " The Mashona fellows ? "
Uncle Ben nodded.
" Now listen again ! " he said.
Bruce did so, and this time he distinctly heard the
rhythmical tread of a body of men apparently moving at
a quick march.
"Trotting and coming straight for us along this path,"
whispered the older man. " You hear them now, I see.
Well, there's no cover for the horses hereabouts ; wlmt -
to be done with them ? "
" Why can't we charge right through the niggers ? "
asked Bruce, partly in ignorance, but partly in bravado, for
he desired to prove to his elder that he felt no fear.
" Nonsense. Not unless you're tired of life ! At any
rate I ain't, though I've had more of it than you. There
may be a couple of hundred men here. What's to be
done about the horses, that's the point ? We can hide
our selves and let the rascals pass, but you can't hi( li-
the horses. Will you ride yours back, and then mine
'ud follow ? You'd be able to warn them, too, up at
your dad's place."
" They don'-t need warning ; they're expecting an
attack," said Bruce hotly. " I'm not going back, I tell
IN LUCK'S WAY 243
you. The horses will go by themselves if we can't keep
them. They are often sent home that way when we are
out a long distance from the house and don't want them
hanging about all day. Let them loose and you'll
see."
"Very well stop for the last time, now's your
chance to go back ; you'll be doing a service in warning
the folks at home, and no one '11 suspect your pluck."
Uncle Ben did not finish his sentence ; for before he
had delivered himself of it, Bruce had knotted the bridle
over his horse's neck, turned the animal's head home-
wards, given it a sounding smack on the quarter, and the
intelligent creature was in full trot for its stable, tossing
its head and grunting with pleasure.
" Well," muttered the older man, " I've said all I can ;
it won't be my fault if you run your head into mischief after
this ! " And having thus absolved his conscience of all
responsibility for his young companion's rashness, he fol-
lowed the example of that determined young person, and
sent his own horse careering after its companion upon the
road for home.
" Now, sonnie, come off the path," he said, " and get
behind the scrub with me. We'll see the rascals pass in
five minutes, and when they're gone we'll push forward
more safely."
" Aren't we going to have a shot at them as they pass ? "
asked Bruce.
The old man looked at his companion in surprise, not
unmingled with admiration.
" Well," he said, " of all the gamecocks ever I met,
you're the pluckiest. Give me your hand, sonnie. I'm
sorry I spoke to offend you ; it wasn't meant. No, we
ain't going to shoot them as they pass, for we ain't
anxious, either of us, for Kingdom Come. We might kill
half-a-dozen maybe if we were lucky, but you may take
your last oath that they'd kill two. Now, see here, I'm to
244 IN LUCK'S WAY
be boss of this campaign, and you're to obey orders ;
don't you shoot, now or ever, until you're told. You're
a fine lad for courage, but there ain't enough solid wisdom
and experience in you to stop a bad tooth. Now, down
with you behind this rock ; they'll be out of that scrub
and in sight in a minute."
Uncle Ben and his young companion ducked behind
their cover none too soon, for hardly had they done so
when, scarcely a couple of hundred yards away, there
came a line of dusky forms, four or five abreast, that broke
out of the scrub cover into the open, followed at a few
paces by other lines, in what appeared to Bruce to be
interminable numbers. Uncle Ben, watching the lad's
face, saw it flush and pale and then iiush again ; his hand
went to the revolver at his belt, but there the old man's
nervous grip arrested it.
" No, no," he whispered, " no fooling ; not if you
value your life."
Bruce tried to whisper back that he only nu-ant to
prepare in case of emergency, but he found hiiiiM/lt tongue-
tied, not precisely by fear, but by a numbing sensation
which was the result of the sudden realisation of actual
danger for the first time in his life. The feeling passed
off in a few seconds, and Bruce became master once more
of his nerves. And now he was able to enjoy a very
unique and peculiar spectacle, the passing of a body of
Mashona or Matabele warriors on the warpath. Puffing,
groaning, moaning, and wheezing they went, running at
a jog-trot ; and almost every man of the hundred or
so of them relieved his exhausted energies by uttering
sounds of one description or another, from a low grunt to
a loud wailing cry, all of which seemed very weird and
alarming to Bruce's wondering intelligence.
" Off to your dad's ! " whispered Uncle Ben, as the
strange body of black fellows disappeared in the gathering
dusk. " Come, we will waste no more time ! "
" The passing of a body of Mashona or Matabele warriors on the warpath."
IN LUCK'S WAY 247
Then the pair moved quickly forward ; there were still
fifteen miles to go, and every step of it must be done on
foot, and quickly.
" Are you man enough to jog-trot a bit now and then,"
asked the older man, and Bruce, for reply, struck into a
run, and led the way so quickly that his companion was
glad enough when he stopped again for breath and walked.
Darkness came on, and Bruce became uncertain of the
way, though he knew it well by daylight.
" There's a ford, five miles from Thomson's place,"
he said ; " if we could only hit upon that I should find the
road from there on much easier."
" Take the direction as near as you can get it," said
Uncle Ben, " and maybe we shall strike the river above
or below the ford."
So on they trudged, now jogging at a trot, now slowing
into a walk, but covering the ground quickly ; for they
remembered that upon their speed might hang for all
they knew the lives of men and women.
A lion roared in the veldt, within a mile of the scudding
humans. Bruce shuddered but went on, resolved that his
companion should not see that he was frightened.
Presently the brute roared a second time, almost
paralysing poor Bruce's limbs with terror ; for undoubtedly
the animal was much nearer at this second time of roaring.
With difficulty dragging his limbs, but resolved to go
through with the matter, Bruce jogged on.
He heard his companion click his rifle behind him.
Suddenly there came a rush and a scurry of many swift
feet, some hundred yards in front of them. The scudding
throng of animals passed across the path and away, and
Bruce heard a third and a fourth roar, and knew that the
old lion had made his spring and had failed, and was angry
over his discomfiture.
He stopped and sat down suddenly, too frightened to
move forward.
248 IN LUCK'S WAY
" Ah," said Uncle Ben kindly, " you're pumped out,
lad ; we'll have a bit of a rest."
" No, it's the lion," said Bruce truthfully ; " 1 never
heard one so close before ; it is awful will he attack u
" Not he ; he won't be such a fool ; if he did, we
could smash him in a minute, never fear. Why, lad, if
you ain't afraid of the Matabeles, you needn't mind him !
There he goes again, farther away, you see ; he's thinking
of his antelopes, not of u^."
So up jumped Bruce and away he sped again, guessing
the road as best he could by the direction, and presently
the pair reached the bank of a precipitous nullah, and
Bruce nearly " took a header " over the rocky edge.
" Ah ! " said Uncle Ben, " good ; follow the line of the
nullah, it will be sure to lead us to the river."
This proved to be the case, and a mile or two farther
on the river itself was reached, but at a point either above
or below the ford, Bruce could not tell which.
" Why, Lord, what does it matter, we'll soon find the
ford," said Uncle Ben ; " you're a clever lad to have struck
the river ; I'm darned if I ever met a lad I liked better ;
work up to the left a mile or two, and if that's wrong
we'll come back and try the other way, it's only a matter
of a few minutes."
Bruce was getting very tired, and sighed to think that
he might have to travel several unnecessary miles up and
down the river ; but he pulled himself together and
trudged on, looking out keenly for the ford, which he
should recognise if he saw it.
Once a company of antelopes maybe they were his
old friends gave him a great scare. They had come
down to drink, and the startled creatures nearly knocked
him down as they rushed madly, stampeding and mobbing,
from the waterside when surprised by the wanderers.
A mile was covered and part of another, and Bruce
thought he began to recognise the look of the river.
IN LUCK'S WAY 249
" I think we are getting near the ford," he said over
his shoulder.
"Good; good, lad!" replied his companion laconically,
saving his breath.
But now suddenly confronted them the most crucial
moment of the enterprise.
"Stop, lad !" hissed Uncle Ben from behind; "stop a
moment, I hear something."
Bruce drew up instantly, crouching down as he saw
his companion do.
"Listen," whispered Uncle Ben; "I think it's the
Mashona fellows again ; they are fording the river ; we
must be close to the ford ; or it may be a hippopotamus or
a crocodile."
Bruce listened, his heart thumping loudly at his
breast. He heard splashing and grunting ; a moment
later came the sound of measured running.
" It is the niggers," whispered Uncle Ben hurriedly ;
" we cannot go back, and I see no cover inland ; we must
take to the water ; quickly, lad, follow me into the reeds ;
never mind the cold, go right up to your neck if need be!"
Very quickly Uncle Ben waded into the water ; it was
not very cold, but the bank shelved rapidly, and a few
yards out the pair were up to their chests.
The reeds were thick, and formed a good cover.
" Bend, and let the water cover you to the mouth,"
whispered the old man ; " go right under if they seem to
hear or see us, and stay under as long as your breath
lasts."
Bruce nodded, shivering.
The pair of submerged Britons were not much too
soon in assuming their uncomfortable position, for in a
moment the Matabele fellows were practically upon them,
passing abreast of them at full run, groaning and grunting
after their fashion, travelling in irregular lines of three,
four, or six.
250 IN LUCK'S WAY
Unfortunately the body of " niggers " had hut half
passed hy when some creature of the water took occasion
to splash loudly several times in close proximity to our
submerged friends, but whether a crocodile, or a fish, or
some animal which had waded in to drink, Bruce never
knew.
" Down under water, quick ! " muttered Uncle Ben ;
and Bruce, taking in a great gulp of breath, obeyed in-
stantly.
As he did so he became aware of a sudden stinging
sensation in the upper part of his arm. Putting his
hand to the place, under water, he felt that his coat
was torn.
" I must have rubbed it against a stake as I ducked,"
thought Bruce, and dismissing the subject, he devoted
all his energy to economising the stock of breath he had
laid in.
When that was exhausted, at the end of thirty or forty
seconds, which seemed an eternity to him, Bruce cautiously
raised the upper part of his head in order to take in a
new supply. As he did so he observed the last row or
two of Matabele fellows halted upon the bank, and one
or two of them in the act of throwing their assegais at
some object beyond him on the left. Down went Bruce
again very quickly, and it was nearly a minute later that
his yellow head made its reappearance above the surface.
This time he saw no Matabeles, they had gone on ; but
the old man, Uncle Ben, had seized his arm somewhat
violently, and was muttering.
Bruce shook the water out of his ears to listen.
" Come ashore quickly," said Uncle Ben. " Are you
wounded, lad ? "
" Wounded ? Not I," said Bruce. " Why ? Are you ?
Did they shy those assegais- at us ? Why, then, it may
have been one that touched my arm."
" Ah, you have a scratch I see ! " said the older man ;
IN LUCK'S WAY 251
but he spoke in so strange a voice, that Bruce looked up
from his own torn coat and slightly bleeding arm to see
what ailed his companion.
" What's up, Uncle Ben ? " he said. " Are you feeling
bad ? Why, you're never hit, are you ? "
" Just a bit," gasped the old fellow " here in the
side. The blade of the darned thing's in me now. O
Lord, the pain of it. I'll lie down awhile, that may make
me better."
" O Uncle Ben, I'm so sorry. What can I do ? Is
it very bad ? " cried poor Bruce weakly. He felt utterly
helpless and frightened.
" I may be all right presently," said Uncle Ben. " Just
give me a hand while I lie down. Oh ! so, that's it ; now
I shall soon be better." And as though to prove how
much better he felt for the change of position, the wounded
man then and there fainted away.
Then Bruce, in his utter helplessness and misery, began
to think how vain a thing is self-confidence and the pride
of mere animal courage in an inexperienced lad of fifteen
years. He had been ready and anxious to undertake the
dangerous enterprise all by himself. What if he had been
allowed to do so ?
Well, he would probably have fallen into the hands of
the enemy within half-an-hour of the start ; if he had
escaped the first danger, he would, maybe, have died of
terror when within a stone's throw of the roaring lion.
Again, he might have lost his way when, in the darkness,
he missed the track ; and now again, but for Uncle Ben's
experience and alertness, he would assuredly have been
caught and murdered by the Matabeles.
Sitting, helpless and miserable, over his unconscious
companion, Bruce quickly realised all this, and with the
realisation came a flood of tears, the first he had shed for
many a day, and wrung from him-; now, not by fear, but
by the sense of helplessness in this crisis.
252 IN LUCK'S WAY
What ought he to do what could he do ? Leave
poor wounded old man to recover consciousness or to
die, or to fall, maybe, into the hands of a third band of
rebel niggers, to be mutilated in their barbarous fashion
before the breath was out of his body ; to leave him lying
here, and hasten up to Thomson's farm in order to warn
the family ? He could find the way from here easily
enough. Or should he let the farm people take care of
themselves, and attend to the duty which lay to his hand ;
namely, to keep faithful watch and ward over his wounded
companion until day at any rate, when he might settle
him comfortably somewhere under cover, and proceed
upon his journey ?
Bruce was no fool, and it occurred to him at this
point of the reflections which passed in a kind of dazed
procession through his brain that the last band of Mata-
beles had probably come from Thomson's. They had
crossed the ford as though travelling from his farm ; the
chance was that Thomson was either already aware of tin
rebellion and in full defence of his property, or murdered,
he and all his folk.
" No," thought Bruce, " I shall stay by Uncle Ben
until he dies or recovers, and then go on by myself."
Bruce's fit of crying did him good. He put up a
prayer for help in his terrible position, and that did him
good also ; and when at length old Ben sighed and opened
his eyes, poor Bruce was feeling brave and confident once
more, and ready to face destiny, whatever it might have
in store for him. But he soon saw that there was little
in the old man's condition to encourage him. Uncle Ben
lay on his back quite still, gazing up at the stars, and
Bruce sat still also, unwilling to disturb or perhaps
startle him.
"Are you there, lad?" muttered the old man pre-
sently. " I don't feel as if I could move to look
about me."
IN LUCK'S WAY 253
" I'm here, Uncle Ben," said Bruce. "Are you lying
comfortable ? Do you feel bad ? "
" I'm going to die, lad, and that's the truth. Give me
a drop of water in your cap. Ah ! now you listen to what
I have to say, my boy. You be off at once to the farm
and warn them. If they like to send down to fetch me
when convenient, why, they may ; if not, I'd as soon die
here."
" I think [these last Matabeles have been up there
already," said Bruce, " else what were they doing at this
ford ? It isn't any use going there ; I'd rather stay with
you here, and see to you."
" Well, God bless you for the wish anyhow, lad ; it's
kind in you, and you may be right about the Matabeles.
Stay on a bit if you like. I don't think I shall keep you
long. Give me another drink. Lord ! I'm hot, burning
hot. Is the sun out ? " The old man began to ramble
in his talk, and Bruce, in his despair and inexperience,
allowed him to wander on, saying nothing, but only
dabbing a little water occasionally upon the old fellow's
brow.
Suddenly Uncle Ben's manner changed. He spoke
quietly and rationally once more.
" Are you still there, lad Bruce ? " he asked. Bruce
laid a cool, wet hand upon his forehead by way of
reply.
" You're a darned good lad," continued the old man,
" one of the best. I wish I had a son like you, you've
stood by me till I died. Now, see here, sonnie ; in my
inner pocket is my baccy pouch ; take it before you go
away and leave me ; it's full of gold dust ; but that's
of little account ; what's more important is a paper with a
map scrawled upon it. I did it before we started, case of
accidents. The name of the village marked with a cross
is Umdhana, thirteen miles north of Salisbury. The map'll
tell you the rest. Lord, I can't talk any more. It's all
254 IN LUCK'S WAY
yours when I'm gone, for you're a good lad, one of the
best ! "
" Maybe you won't die, Uncle Ben ! " said Bruce
weakly ; he knew there was not much doubt of it, but could
think of nothing wiser to say.
Uncle Ben did not reply, but lay with closed eyes.
After a while Bruce saw his lips move, and heard him
muttering, but concluded that he was praying, and did
not interrupt him. When he looked again the old man
was still, nor though Bruce watched him care-fully for
nearly half-an-hour could he detect the slightest move-
ment of breathing.
Then a great horror came over the boy, for he looked
upon death for the first time ; his heart failed him, and
he trembled, and went away where he could not see the
body; and here he sat awhile in nervek -ss tenor, unable to
collect his thoughts or to decide what was In -st to be done.
He sat, helpless and dazed, for an hour, by which
time dawn was beginning to make faint promises of a day
to come with its joy and brightness in its own j^ood time.
"I will wait," thought Bruce, "until it is broad day-
light, and then I will go to Thomson's farm. 1
Then he lay down and tried to fall asleep, but super-
stitious fears kept him mostly awake, though he do/ed at
intervals. Once or twice he heard stealthy noises, ;i>
though the beasts of the forest came timidly to the water
to drink ; but he was startled by no roarings of the greater
animals, and there was nothing to alarm him save the pre-
sence, near by, of grim death. Nevertheless, when light came
Bruce felt impelled to approach and look upon Uncle Ben's
body once more before leaving it, and he was surprised to
find that this time, and in God's fair light of day, he minded
much less. He even bent and laid his hand in farewell
upon the old fellow's cold forehead, and as he did so he
remembered Uncle Ben's request that he would secure his
"baccy pouch " and its contents. Bruce easily found this
IN LUCK'S WAY
255
" Bruce felt impelled to look upon Uncle Ben's body once more
before leaving it."
pouch, and he pocketed it without much thought of its
value, if any ; and having thus secured his legacy, accord-
256 IN LUCK'S WAY
ing to the testator's wish, he certainly thought no more
about it.
Then the lad made for the ford, which was hut .1
hundred yards or so away ; and here an immense surprise
was in store for him ; for in the very act of crossing
the ford there came towards him a figure which at first
sight he took for that of a native, a Matahele warrior,
though clothed, it appeared, in the tattered relics of an
English suit a flannel shirt and Norfolk coat and tn>u-
and carrying over his shoulder a rifle, and at his belt a
long and a short assegai.
For an instant Bruce's heart failed him. He stopped
dead and crouched, intending to drop upon his stomach
and crawl into cover.
But the stranger, it seemed, was quick-eyed, and had
already seen him.
"Aha!" he called out, "young boy Englishman ! do
not hide; I am not one to hurt those that have white skins!"
Bruce was soon upon his feet again at the sound of
his own language, though it was spoken in an odd, guttural
way, and with a peculiar accent. He stared at the stranger
coming splashing through the shallow water.
" Who are you ? " he blurted ; " and why do you
speak so curiously ? "
" I am Umkopo, the white witch of the Matabele.
English born, Matabele bred. What are you doing here?
It is a wonder that you are alive. Death is abroad, death
to the English. What do you want here, 1 -ay ? "
Bruce had heard of tins man Umkopo, "The White
Witch " as he was called. No one as yet, however, knew
much about the mysterious individual, who was seen from
time to time indeed, and had often befriended English-
men in moments of danger and distress, but as to wh<
identity the vaguest and most varied opinions prevailed.
Since the day on which Bruce met him in the manner
described his history has become well known both in
IN LUCK'S WAY 257
Rhodesia and in England ; but this is not the place to
recapitulate his romantic story, which, if he desires to
know it, the reader may find elsewhere.
" I am on my way to Thomson's farm to warn them
that the natives are up," said Bruce ; " perhaps you have
been upon the same errand ? "
"Thomson is dead murdered ; so is his partner and
the wife of his partner. Yesterday they were surprised
and murdered. Bah ! good English blood spilt by dogs
of Matabele. Bah ! I have done with them ; I go with
them no more ; from this day I am an Englishman."
" Thomson murdered, and Hewetson and Mrs. Hewet-
son also ! " ejaculated Bruce. " Then I am too late !
Oh, how glad I am that father was warned in time ! "
" Who is your father ? " asked Umkopo.
" His name is Gerston. We farm the claim called
Gerstonville
" I know," interrupted Umkopo ; " and he sent you
on here alone to warn Thomson. Does he hate you ? "
" Rot ! " said Bruce ; " of course not. I was not alone ;
my companion is dead."
" Dead ? What, killed by these dogs, like Thomson
and the others ? For each one I will kill ten Matabele,
I swear it ; and how have you escaped ? "
" We hid in the water. Something splashed as they
passed, and they threw an assegai and killed poor Uncle
Ben ; he lies just here, quite close."
" Ah, ah ! show me ! show me ! " said Umkopo.
Bruce led his new friend to the place where lay the
dead man, looking as though he slept quietly by the river-
side, weary with travelling.
" Oh," cried Umkopo, with something very like a sob
in his voice, " I knew him well ; I have hunted with him.
He was a good man a brave man. I have learned from
him many things."
To Bruce's immense surprise Umkopo threw himself
R
258 IN LUCK'S WAV
upon the ground, and lay rolling and groaning a while,
evidently overcome with grief.
Suddenly he rose.
" Come," he said, " we will make a hole, and put him
in it. If they find him here they will cut and tear his
body, because he was better than they, and braver and
wiser. They shall not have him."
So with a little help from Bruce poor old Uncle Ben
received burial at the hands of Umkopo, and right glad
was Bruce that it was not destined that his friend should
be left to be mutilated by savage enemies, or to be eaten
by savage beasts or vultures.
" Now," said Umkopo, when this good work \va>
finished, " we go together to Gerstonville. If they were
warned in time, they will not yet be overcome ; and if they
still hold out, you shall see what will happen when the
Mashona dogs see that Umkopo has come."
Bruce did not quite like the stranger. His manner of
speaking was so strange, and his appearance so weird and
even alarming ; but he was evidently friendly disposed,
and it was certainly comforting to have an escort or a
companion Bruce preferred the word companion as far
as Gerstonville.
But his half-fear of the man and every feeling of dis-
like soon passed away in wonder and curiosity as, on the
way homewards, Umkopo waxed garrulous, and spoke of
his own career of his deeds among the great beasts of
the veldt ; of his bearding, on a certain occasion, of the
terrible old King Lobengula, whom all the world feared,
excepting, apparently, this wonderful fellow ; and of many
adventures and struggles with the Matabele people, who
would not, for many years, acknowledge him as their
principal " Witch " or magician.
" It was this that persuaded them in the end," said
Umkopo, concluding his story, and patting lovingly the
butt of his rifle : " this is the real witch, not I."
IN LUCK'S WAY 259
So interesting and absorbing was the conversation of
his new friend that Bruce scarcely had time to realise
that he was terribly tired, as indeed he had every right
to be ; and the pair had come within a mile or so of
home, when Umkopo suddenly stopped and assumed an
attitude of listening. When he did so Bruce listened also,
and distinctly heard the sound of shooting, continuous
shooting.
" Ah ! " said Umkopo, " good ! the dogs have not got
into your father's kennel ; now you shall see how Umkopo
will sweep them away like the leaves that fly in wind-
time ! Come."
Umkopo seized the boy's hand, and set off at so rapid
a run that even Bruce as active a lad as you would find
in all Rhodesia could scarcely keep up with him, and
was obliged indeed to pant to him presently to stop.
" No, no, not stop," said Umkopo, " not far now-
run ; Umkopo has learned from the springbok ! "
Bruce pulled himself together, took deep breaths, and
struggled gamely on. Once they stopped for a moment
or two, Umkopo having glanced in the lad's face, and
seeing that he was really distressed for breath. During
those moments Bruce caught sight of Umkopo's expres-
sion, and was astonished and almost supernaturally
alarmed at it. Umkopo's eyes were wild and blazing
with a weird lustre ; he held his chin high and his
shoulders back, and muttered words, as he gazed straight
in front of him, which Bruce did not understand, and
which he concluded were in the Matabele lingo. He
looked, Bruce thought, like an inspired prophet, the White
Witch all over, excepting that his skin was scarcely to be
described as " white," being, as a matter of fact, about
half-way between that pale tint and the hue of the
Mashona native.
Then on they scudded once more, and in a minute
or two they had reached a spot within a furlong of the
2 6o IN LUCK'S WAY
farmhouse, from which they saw plainly all that was being
enacted at or about the building.
There were three separate groups of attacking natives,
each hidden from the house by protecting cover of scrub
or rock. Now and again a dark form or two rushed
headlong towards the building, when a shot from an
upper window would send the rash fellow either hurrving
back into the cover or head first into the earth, where he
would writhe and kick for a moment, and then lie still.
Numbers of still, dark forms dotted the ground at all
distances from the house, while a grim heap of the slain
within forty yards of it, proved that some charge of the
enemy en masse had with difficulty been stopped in time.
"Come," said Tmkopo, suddenly and unexpectedly,
" now you shall see ! "
He started to walk rapidly towards the nearest body
of natives. Bruce hesitated to follow, not quite compre-
hending his intentions, and more than half-mistrusting
the wisdom of the proceeding.
" Come, I say ! " repeated Umkopo, looking back over
his shoulder; "fear nothing; I am Umkopo, the great
White Witch!" And Bruce, rather than appear to be
afraid, gripped his rifle and followed.
The Matabeles apparently recognised Umkopo at the
instant of his appearance, for they sent up a babel of
noise, every tongue of the two hundred there assembled
seeming to contribute to the din of welcome, or the
reverse of delight or of rage, Bruce could not tell
which, for the noise was deafening, and individual voice-
quite undistinguishable.
" They are angry," said Umkopo, " for they know
that they act against my commands. What matter ! "
A few individuals rushed forward, as though to fall
upon Umkopo as he came ; two threw assegais.
Without seeming to take aim Umkompo instantly
shot both men ; they fell dead almost at the same moment.
IN LUCK'S WAY 261
Then Umkopo said a few words in the native tongue,
words which immediately raised a babel of din even
louder than the first. Again Umkopo held up his hand
and spoke, spoke fiercely and solemnly, as it seemed to
Bruce, who could not, however, understand a word.
One or two assegais were thrown, and again the aggressors
were shot dead, almost before their weapons had left the
hands that hurled them.
Then suddenly the whole body of men, with howls
and yells and angry grimaces, turned and moved away,
Umkopo standing, like implacable Fate, watching their
departure. In five minutes they were a quarter of a
mile away ; in ten, they had disappeared out of sight.
" Go into the house, you," said Umkopo ; " you have
seen what you have seen. Tell them Umkopo will
drive away the other dogs as he has driven these."
Full of wonder and admiration, Bruce did as Umkopo
suggested. Yet, anxious as he was to see his parents and
tell his story, he could not forbear to wait and watch
Umkopo's dealings with the next batch of niggers be-
fore finally turning his back and hastening towards the
house.
Here, it may be believed, a rapturous greeting awaited
him ; for, the horses having returned riderless, it had
been a matter of miserable doubt to his parents whether
Bruce was alive or dead.
Bruce enjoyed greatly the praise which was certainly
his deserved portion, and he was still in the midst of the
tale of his experiences when Umkopo suddenly re-
appeared. The White Witch made no greeting to any one
present. He merely inquired " where the cartridges
were kept Winchester," and being shown the place,
helped himself liberally and departed almost without a
word. He did, however, honour Bruce with a whack
on the shoulder.
" Aha ! " he said, " we shall meet one day ; you shall
262 IN LUCK'S WAY
be a fine Englishman when you are grown full-si/e -like
Umkopo ! "
There was no more trouble at Gerstonville that day
from the rebel natives ; but the family did not, on that
account, relax in the slightest degree their watchfuhu
for though Umkopo had apparently frightened these
bands away, there was no certainty that they, or others,
would not return.
But 'on the following afternoon a body of Englishmen,
many of them known to Gerston, rode in from Buluwayo,
and these were greatly relieved to find that derston and
his family were safe ; they had not expected it, they said.
11 You are luckier than many," said the leader, "and
that's the sad truth ; this rising's a very serious busim-s^.
Get your light valuables together and come along, all ;
Buluwayo itself's in danger, but you'll be safer there than
here."
"What, leave my house, and farm, and all I have to
the mercy of any rascally niggers that come along to
loot and burn ! " exclaimed Gerston ; " not 1 ! "
" It's unpleasant, I own ; but you'll have to do it,
mate. Better that than certain outrage and murder."
"We could hold out for a week ! " persisted (ierston,
unwilling to surrender his house and his gopds.
"Very likely. But after that week, what then?
This rising won't be quelled for many a week, my friend,
take my word for it. You'll have to come. I tell you
we expect to be attacked in Buluwayo itself."
"Then maybe we are as safe here as there," said
poor Gerston, feeling that his argument was untenable,
and that he must indeed, as Bromley said, leave all and
retire with these good fellows to the capital. His
house and farm, his furniture and goods, valued English
things, which had come so far and cost so much, and
which represented, in fact, his all it was hard indeed to
surrender them ; but the lives of his wife and children
IN LUCK'S WAY 263
were dearer still, and must be saved at all costs, and he
knew it, though in argument he fought awhile against the
inevitable.
So poor Gerston collected his money and his papers,
set his live-stock free to roam where they would,
until the " Matabele thieves " should find and appropriate
them, and set out for Buluwayo, in which growing city
he was obliged perforce to remain until the native dis-
turbance, which developed practically into a small war,
was quelled.
Afterwards, as soon as he could do so safely, he lost
no time in riding over with Bruce to the place where,
until those evil days, had stood the homestead, with its
farm-buildings and comfortable, though simply built,
house and adequate cowsheds and stables. But alas ! he
found no trace of the home in which he had taken so
great a pride and delight, excepting, indeed, sundry heaps
of ashes and bits of blackened wood and twisted iron.
Gerston stood and surveyed the scene of ruin and
desolation. His heart felt very heavy, though he had
scarcely expected to find any more favourable a state of
affairs than this.
" I thought so, Bruce," he muttered ; " we are ruined,
my lad, through no fault of ours. We shall have to
begin life over again. It is hard, but we will do it ; the
land is ours, but our capital has gone."
" We can have a try for Uncle Ben's gold, father,"
said Bruce unexpectedly. " Let you and I ride up north
to the place shown in his map ; mother and Kittie are all
safe in Buluwayo. It's worth trying. He seemed very
serious about his gold."
Gerston reflected. " I don't much believe in Rhodesian
gold," he said ; " but if your heart is set upon it, we may
as well go. Meanwhile the authorities can be deciding
what compensation is to be given to poor chaps who
are ruined by their mismanagement of the natives."
264 IN LUCK'S WAY
So up northward went father and son, the latter full
of sanguine hope, the former depressed and gloomy,
having little belief in his lucky star, which seemed to h;ivo
set so completely that it would never rise again. To the
village called Umdhana they went, and there, using the old
man's map, they searched far and wide for the old deserted
gold shaft which, according to his scribbled directions,
existed in this place, four miles from the village, at a spot
designated in his rough plan. It WHS a wild-looking spot.
Rank vegetation grew high and dense on every side,
rendering the search for any object, especially when its
location, within a few hundred yards, was uncertain, very
difficult and discouraging.
For two days Bruce and his father wandered de-
jectedly about the veldt, hoping against hope that in the
end they would stumble upon the old native crushing
stones and the remains of the furnace which I'ncK Hen's
notes declared to be still in existence, and marking the
very spot where, at a distant date, some enterprising
Matabele fellow had endeavoured to exploit a vein of the
precious metal, leaving it scarcely touched.
After two days of failure Gerston was tired of the
search. He disbelieved in this gold mine. It existed, la-
said, only in the brain of a half-crazy old man, who
imagined he had found what never actually existed.
"We shall employ our time better, sonnie, felling trees
at home, and building a new house where our poor old
shanty stood."
" Perhaps, father !" Bruce sadly assented. He would
much rather have stayed another day or two, being young
and sanguine. " But I don't think Uncle Ben was even
a bit crazy. We can't go on looking for ever, though."
Bruce was angry and depressed. A vulture sat blinking
upon a rock close by, and the lad picked up a stone to
throw at the evil-looking creature, by way of working off
his disappointment and chagrin.
" The lad picked up a stone to throw at the evil-looking creature."
IN LUCK'S WAY 267
He picked up his stone to throw it, but the vulture
noticed his movement and heavily took wing. Bruce
remained with the stone in his hand ; it was a curious-
looking stone, and he first glanced and then gazed
carefully at it.
" Father," he said presently, " look at this ; is it
anything particular I mean, is it, could it possibly be "
Bruce's face had gone red with a certain wild idea that
suddenly entered his brain ; his voice sounded dry and
curious.
Gerston took the stone and looked carefully al it.
" By all that's happy and wonderful, Bruce," he exclaimed,
" I do believe it's a nugget."
A nugget it was ; and though the old disused gold
mine, which they presently found close to this very spot,
proved, like most of the Rhodesian gold veins, somewhat
disappointing, yet it yielded, together with Bruce's nugget,
more than sufficient to enable Gerston to rebuild his
house and farm buildings, and to stock and furnish both
in a manner quite superior to their former style.
And when the Company " came down handsome "
with a good sum for compensation, Gerston felt that
things were rosy indeed, and that when young Bruce
made friends one memorable afternoon with poor old
Uncle Ben he had indeed been, little as he expected it,
" in luck's way."
As for Uncle Ben's baccy pouch and the untidy
hieroglyphic which did duty for a map or a plan, they
are Bruce's very most treasured possessions. He would
not part with them for the wealth of the Transvaal !
"SAMANA KAY'
BY HARRY COLLINGWOOD
I WAS within a few days of reaching my twenty-third
birthday when it was my fortune to secure a berth as
only mate aboard a very smart and handsome little
brig of two hundred and sixty-five tons, named the Lanca-
shire Witch, hailing out of Liverpool, and bound from that
port to Kingston, Jamaica, with a cargo of sugar-mill
machinery and Manchester goods.
We sailed on the twenty-eighth of January 18 , with
a piping, north-easter blowing over our taffrail that swept
us right away from the Bar Lightship into the north-east
trades without obliging us to start tack or sheet, brace or
halliard, from the moment when our " old man " took his
departure from the Saltees light. The trade-winds were
blowing fresh too, so that we made a phenomenally quick
but otherwise uneventful run across the Atlantic until we
arrived within some three hundred miles of the Turks
Islands, where the wind suddenly failed us, and we fell
in with light, ha/y, rainy weather, with occasional short
spells of flat calm, and variable shifting airs that obliged
us to take in all our studding-sails and jockey the little
hooker along as best we could under all plain sail. It
was tedious, irritating work, for there was so much box-
hauling of the yards that the watch could find time for
nothing but tending the braces, and all hands of us, fore
and aft, were driven nearly frantic.
At length, on the fourth day of this kind of work, the
sky gradually thickened up in the southern board, the sun
268
"SAMANA KAY" 269
became a pallid, shapeless blotch of watery light in the
heavens, and there were other signs that a change of
weather was brewing. Yet there was nothing to indicate
that the change was imminent ; we therefore contented
ourselves with the maintenance of a watchful eye upon
the signs of the times, and left all our flying kites abroad,
in order that we might derive the utmost possible advan-
tage from the languid and scarcely perceptible breathings
of the atmosphere that reached us we scarcely knew from
where, so light and evanescent were they.
Thus matters went with us throughout the day, the
aspect of the sky altering so subtly and gradually, that it
was only at the change of the watches, after a four hours'
spell below, that one was able to detect any very marked
difference. When, however, I was called at eight bells
of the afternoon watch I at once noted so pronounced an
increase in the threatening aspect of the sky that I felt
assured of the near approach of the impending change ;
and as the skipper did not seem disposed to take the
initiative, I suggested that all hands should go to work
at once to snug down the ship and prepare her for the
coming conflict. Unfortunately, however, the " old man "
did not take the same view of the matter that I did ; he
had been on deck the whole afternoon, and the menacing
appearance that had at once impressed me had been
occurring so gradually and subtly that he had scarcely
noticed it ; moreover, there was now a small, hot breeze
coming up from the southward that was fanning the
nimble little brig along at a speed of nearly four knots,
and he was evidently disinclined to forego so great an
advantage.
" Yes," he said, when I expressed the opinion that we
should have an outburst before long, " it is coming, slowly
but surely ; but I don't think we shall have it for another
hour or two. I don't notice much difference from what
it was at noon, except that the sun has vanished, and
270 "SAMANA KAY"
there is perhaps a little more movement in the muck
overhead. I believe we may venture to hang on for
another half-hour or so ; we shall still have plenty of time
to snug down before dark."
I felt rather doubtful of this ; but the skipper was a
dreadfully opinionated, obstinate man, and I knew that
argument, or anything approaching it, would be worse
than useless with him. I therefore made no reply, but
walked to the skylight, and took a peep at the barometer
that hung there. The mercury had fallen more than
half an inch since I had last glanced at it just before
inning to my cabin after dinner.
"Well," inquired the skipper, as 1 turned away, "what
does it say ?"
" Twenty -eight, thirty-five," I replied.
"Ay," he remarked, "it is going down steadily; it
will be a regular teaser when it comes."
Yet he did not as I hoped he would give the order
to shorten sail, although the wind was now steadily
freshening in puffs, while the sky to windward was darken-
ing and growing ever more threatening of aspect even as
one watched it. Meanwhile all hands were on deck, evi-
dently standing by for a call, and casting increasingly
anxious glances alternately aft and to windward.
At length one bell struck ; and while the sound was
still vibrating in the air, the skipper his obstinate spirit
perhaps satisfied now that he had held on for the half-
hour he had mentioned gave the order for all hands to
shorten sail.
" Clew up and furl everything except the main-topsail,
which you may close-reef, Mr. Hurt," he said to me, " and
let the hands look smart about it."
" Ay, ay, sir," I answered. Then to the men : " Let
go the royal, top-gallant, and fore-topsail sheets and hal-
liards, also your jib, staysail, and main-topsail halliards ;
man your clew-lines, bunt-lines, and down-hauls, and get
"SAM AN A KAY" 271
the canvas off her as quickly as you can. A couple of
hands aloft each to the fore and main royals and roll them
up, stowing the top-gallant sails and the main-royal and
top-gallant staysails on your way down ; and, hark ye, lads,
see that you make a snug stow of it, so that nothing
blows adrift by-and-by in the darkness, to give us trouble.
Now bowse out the reef tackles of your main-topsail ; and
after you have done that, man your fore and main clew-
garnets, and get the courses snugged well up to the yards.
Hurrah, bullies, be as lively as you like ; let us get the
barkie snug while we have light enough to see what we
are about ! "
The men, who had evidently been impatiently awaiting
these orders, sprang about the decks like wild-cats, letting
go, clewing up, and hauling down fore and aft with frantic
energy, yet working with the method of men who not
only knew thoroughly what they were about, but were also
perfectly aware of the vital importance of getting through
their work in the shortest possible amount of time. In a
few minutes, therefore, every sail was off the ship, except
the main-topsail, and the hands were on the yards, rolling
up the canvas as though for dear life, while the skipper
held the wheel, and I dashed hither and thither, letting
go this rope and dragging upon that, as called upon by
the men aloft. Meanwhile, to facilitate the operation of
reefing and furling, the brig was kept broad away, or very
nearly dead before the wind.
Suddenly there arose a wild yell aloft of " Man over-
board ! " and glancing up from what I was about at the
moment, I was just in time to catch a glimpse of the body
of a man flashing downward apparently from the lar-
board mainyard-arm ere it vanished, with scarce a splash,
into the leaden-hued water alongside.
Quick as thought the skipper whipped out his knife,
and cut adrift a life-buoy that hung over the port quarter,
letting it drop into the water within a fathom or two of
272
"SAMANA KAY"
where a small blot of foam marked the spot of the man's
disappearance ; while I, forgetful of everything else, sprang
to the port-quarter boat, and slashed away with my knife
at the gripes that held her. In another moment I was
joined by two men from aloft who had come down by
way of the backstays ; and while the skipper jammed the
wheel hard down and brought the brig to the wind, with
Suddenly there arose a wild yell aloft of " Man overlx>arfl ! "
the canvas that remained unfurled, slatting and thrashing
as though it would jerk the sticks out of her, the three
of us lowered the boat somehow, and tumbled over the
side into her, unhooking the tackles, and getting hand-
somely away from the ship without a mishap, although
it was by this time bree/ing up fresh, and the brig must
have been going through it at a speed of fully six knots.
The two men who were with me threw out their
"SAMANA KAY" 273
oars and got the boat's head round, while I, grasping the
yoke-lines, stood up in the stern-sheets watching for the
man. Presently I caught sight of him ; but heavens !
what a long distance he was away from us, half a mile
at least, and dead to windward, with the breeze freshen-
ing every moment, and a nasty, short, choppy sea getting
up that seemed to stop the boat dead every time that a
wave struck her.
" Pull, men ! " I exclaimed anxiously ; " bend your
backs to it and put her along, or we shall lose the poor
fellow after all. By the way, who is he ? "
" Sam Pilcher, sir," answered the fellow who was pulling
stroke. " He was at the yard-arm, and we was rollin' up
the mainsail. The sail was thrashin' about a goodish bit,
and it must ha' jerked him off."
" Perhaps so," I agreed. But I did not pursue the
conversation, for I was getting terribly anxious ; I had lost
sight of the man of whom we were in search, and feared
that he had gone down ; the sky was momentarily growing
blacker and assuming a more threatening appearance to
windward ; the wind and the sea were rising like magic ;
and the brig was driving away to leeward like smoke from
a galley funnel. The men, too, were glancing anxiously
over their shoulders and dragging away at the heavy oars
like demons ; it was evident that they fully shared the
uneasiness that had taken possession of me, and were
longing to complete their task and get the boat's nose
round pointing toward the brig.
" See anything of him, sir ? " at length demanded the
man who had previously spoken.
" Not just at this moment," answered I, " but I expect
we shall find him hanging on to the life-buoy. Ay, there
is the buoy," I continued, as the small white circle swung
up on the breast of a sea, " and yes yes there is the
man clinging to it. Give way, bullies ; another five
minutes and we shall have him ! "
S
274 "SAMANA KAY"
The two men toiled at their oars with superhuman
energy, their laboured breathing and the sweat that literally
poured off them bearing eloquent witness to their exertions,
while the boat " squashed " viciously into every sea that
met her, flinging the spray right aft and drenching us to
the skin ; yet despite it all we seemed to make little or no
headway, and when a full five minutes had sped we were
still quite fifty fathoms away from the man. Then I
suddenly lost sight of the poor fellow. He was clinging to
the buoy when it sank behind the crest of an on-coming
sea ; but when the buoy swept into view again on the next
slope it was empty.
At this trying moment the sky suddenly darkened into
a deeper and more menacing gloom, and the next moment
I saw a dense rain-squall sweeping along toward us. The
men noticed it too, and one of them anxiously inquired
" How fur is he off now, Mr. Hurt? Is there any chance
of our gettih' hold of him afore that squall strikes us ? "
" If we don't I doubt it's all up with un, for I can't
keep on at this here game much longer," muttered the
other.
"Try another spurt, lads!" I exclaimed; "another
dozen strokes will do it ! "
My little crew responded gallantly to my adjuration ;
but in another moment the squall wa> upon us, the rain
descending like a cataract, and in an instant everything
beyond the length of the boat was hidden by the dense
curtain of falling water.
The rain lasted for nearly ten minutes, beating the sea
down until its surface was like oil, and the men availed
themselves of the opportunity to get a little more way
upon the boat ; but presently I bade them cease pulling,
feeling convinced that we must be quite close to the buoy,
although I could see nothing of it. Then the rain suddenly
ceased, and the wind with it, revealing the buoy right under
the boat's bows ; but, alas, the man was gone ! We re-
"SAM AN A KAY" 275
covered the buoy, and then all stood up to see if we could
discover our missing shipmate, and presently we saw his
cap floating some ten fathoms away ; but the owner had
vanished. We shouted several times, thinking that pos-
sibly the poor fellow might have been washed off the buoy,
yet be still afloat somewhere not far distant, although
undistinguishable in the rapidly deepening gloom ; but no
answer came. Then I suddenly bethought me that night
and storm were together closing down upon us, and I
turned to look for the brig. There she was, just dis-
tinguishable in the thickness to leeward, with far too much
of her canvas still blowing loose from her yards and stays,
and I turned suddenly sick with anxiety for our own fate
as I noticed that she was nearly three miles away.
Meanwhile the two men who constituted my boat's
crew had risen to their feet and were, like myself, peering
anxiously hither and thither in the hope of discovering the
missing man. Failing to find him, however, we again
shouted, and then paused, fruitlessly listening for a reply.
It was while we were thus breathlessly listening that a
faint, low, moaning wail gradually made itself audible,
strengthening and deepening in tone even as we listened,
until within the space of a few seconds the sound had
resolved itself into the unmistakable piping of rapidly rising
wind. Instinctively our glances went, with one accord,
into the fast-deepening blackness that loured in the southern
quarter, and as we looked I saw a long line of pallid white
stretching along the horizon and sweeping toward us at
terrific speed. At the same instant one of the men with
me yelled
" O my God ! look to wind'ard, Mr. Burt ! See that
white squall comin' down upon us, sir ! What had we
better do ? It's no good tryin' to fetch the brig ; she's a
good three mile away, and the wind '11 be on us in another
two minutes ! "
" No, no," I answered ; " we must weather it out as
276 "SAM AN A KAY"
best we can. Lay the two oars together and bend the end
of the painter round the pair of them in the middle, then
veer them away as a floating anchor to keep her head to
wind. It is our only chance."
No sooner said than done ; but not a moment too soon ;
we had barely time to complete even these brief and si m pit-
preparations when the gale swept down upon us with a
screaming yell that was absolutely terrifying, and in an
instant we were enveloped in a gloom that was not ni^ht,
but that yet resembled it in so far that we could scarcely
see each other, while the white water boiled in over both
gunwales, and the air was thick with scud-water that lashed
our faces and hands so cruelly that we could not face it,
but were fain to crouch in the bottom of the boat and
allow our arched shoulders to take the full brunt of the
pelting. As to attempting to do anything for the preserva-
tion of the boat and our own lives, it was out of the ques-
tion ; the wind smote us with such merciless fury that it
was positively difficult for us to breathe, and had we been
foolish enough to endeavour to use an oar it would have
been torn from our grasp in an instant. Fortunately for
us no such effort was needed, our impromptu sea-anchor
kept the boat's head to the wind, and although the foam
and scud-water were gradually tilling our little craft, the
process was so slow that I was not very seriously alarmed
at it, believing that the squall would be over before our
danger from that source became imminent.
The first spite of the squall lasted about ten minutes,
after which it moderated to the strength of a strong gale,
when the sea at once began to rise, and very soon it was
breaking over the boat so vindictively that it kept the three
of us busy baling all the time, and even then it was with
the utmost difficulty that we were able to keep her free.
Meanwhile the night had fallen upon us, dark as the inside
of a cavern, and as for the brig, we had seen nothing of
her since the first outburst of the squall. We were drenched
"SAM AN A KAY" 277
to the skin, and were both hungry and thirsty, with not a
drop of fresh water or the smallest fragment of anything
eatable in the boat, and no prospect of obtaining either
until we should be picked up. Our plight was therefore
by no means an enviable one. The two men who consti-
tuted my crew presently began to discuss the probability
of the brig returning in search of us ; but I must say that,
for my own part, I had very little hope of any such thing,
and still less that, in the event of the skipper undertaking
such a search, he would be successful. But I did not
think he would make any such attempt ; he would prob-
ably believe that the boat had been swamped and all hands
of us drowned at the outburst of the squall, and being
now short-handed, he would consequently deem it his duty
to waste no time upon what he would regard as an utterly
useless search, but to make the best of his way to his port
of destination. The two others thought differently, and
were so completely overwhelmed with consternation at the
mere suggestion that their view might be a wrong one, that
I did not further attempt to rob them of the small fragment
of hope to which, they so desperately clung. Besides, there
was the possibility just the bare possibility that the dawn
might prove their surmise to be correct.
In about two hours' time from the outburst of the
squall the gale broke, and by midnight as nearly as it
was possible for us to guess at the time the wind had
dwindled away to a fresh breeze, while the sea had so far
gone down that it no longer broke into the boat, which
we were consequently now enabled to bale dry.
With all the skipper's faults he had his good points,
and one of them much more common nowadays than
it was at the period of my adventure was to keep every
item of a boat's equipment in her ; and the great import-
ance and advantage of this was now very strongly brought
home to us. For not only had we with us the full com-
plement of oars, rowlocks, and other ordinary fittings, but
278 "SAMANA KAY"
there was also the boat's mast and sails a sprit mainsail
and foresail snugly enwrapped in a painted canva- case
and securely lashed to the thwarts. The moment, therefore,
that it was safe to do so, we had the means to make sail.
It would probably be about two bells in the morning
watch when, having stepped the mast, we bore up under
a double-reefed mainsail, and ran away to the northward
in search of the brig, which we hoped to find some ten
miles to leeward of us. An hour later a brightening t>f
the sky along the eastern horizon heralded the dawn, and
shortly afterward the sun rose brilliantly, Hushing the >kv
around him with a thousand delicate, evanescent tints of
pink and gold, the presage of a fine day.
We at once inaugurated a keen look-out for the bri<4,
or some other craft I was in no wise particular, so
long as we were picked up ; but when we had run an
estimated distance of ten miles to leeward the horizon was
still bare. Then came the question of what was the next
thing to be done whether we should continue to run to
leeward in further search of the brig ; whether we should
remain where we were, in the hope that she would shortly
heave into view in search of us ; or whether we should
haul up on a westerly course and endeavour to intercept
her. The latter was my suggestion, founded upon the
opinion I had formed that the skipper had probably given
us up as lost ; but the idea conveyed was so unwelcome
to my companions that eventually we determined to heave
to and remain where we were, that the brig might have
every chance to find us if the skipper should undertake
the search. Accordingly we hauled the foresheet over to
windward, lashed the helm hard down, and stripped for
a wash-down in sea-water while our clothes were drying in
the sun. One of the seamen was for going overboard for
a swim, but I dissuaded him ; and it was probably fortu-
nate for him that he listened to me, for while we were still
engaged upon our ablutions two big sharks made their
"SAMANA KAY" 279
appearance close alongside the boat, and began to circle
round her with a persistency and deliberation that un-
pleasantly suggested the impression that they had come
to stay.
Meanwhile, with the appearance of the sun the wind
dropped fast, until by about eight o'clock it had died away
to a flat calm, leaving the water oil-smooth everywhere,
save where the fins of the persistent sharks cleft the sur-
face into two thin, wedge-like ripples as they lazily cruised
to and fro, never widening the space between them and
the boat by more than half-a-dozen fathoms.
Eight o'clock ! breakfast time ! and here were we three
unfortunate men, keenly hungry, and our throats parched
with a rapidly increasing thirst that threatened to quickly
become a torment, without the smallest morsel of bread
or the merest sip of water to divide between us, and with
no hope of getting any either so long as the calm lasted
unless, indeed, we could find a ship by searching for her.
Obviously this was the only thing to be done ; so, not
without a muttered curse or two at the cruelty of fortune,
we rolled up the sails, unstepped the mast, threw out the
oars, and headed the boat to the northward, in which
direction we thought the brig might possibly be found.
And, as we pulled, the two sharks doggedly followed
us, swimming side by side, with their snouts about a
fathom astern of the aftermost edge of the rudder, which
distance they maintained as truly as though they had
been in tow.
Noon arrived and passed, finding us still with nothing
in sight, ravenously hungry, and with our mouths slimy
with a thirst so imperious that the man who was pulling
the bow oar suddenly stooped over the side, scooped up
a little salt water in his palm, and quickly drank it, ex-
claiming in answer to my warning cry
" I was bound to do it, Mr. Burt, even if I has to suffer
for it a'terwards. This here thirst is just maddenin' ! "
280 "SAMANA KAY"
" Ay, Joey, it is that," agreed the other man. " Have
your sup o' salt water done yer any good, mate ? "
" No, I don't know as it have, Ned ; I didn't take
enough of it for that," was the reply.
No more was said ; but about half-an-hour afterwards
" Joey " snatched another sip, despite everything I could
say to dissuade him ; and a little later his mate followed
his example.
" It's no good talkin', Mr. Hurt," he replied to my
expostulations; "drinkin* salt water may perhaps make
a man mad, but I shall pretty soon go mad if I don I drink
something, so what's the odds ? And where's the brig ;
what's the 'old man ' up to with her ? why ain't he lookin'
for us ? He ain't lookin' for us, tint's sartin, or we should
have hove the old hooker into view long afore this. Dash
me if I don't begin to think as you're right, Mr. Hurt,
about his havin' give us up for lost, or else where is he ?
He ain't hereabouts nowheres, and so he must be headin 1
for his port, leavin' us here to die o' hunger and thirst !
It's murder, that's what it is ; downright murder, and
nothin' else ! What right have he to go and suppose that
this here boat foundered in the squall and drownded
us ? And what are we to do now, 'bandoned out here in
the Hatlantic with never a bite nor a sup to keep the life
in us ?"
"There is no doubt in my mind," I answered, "that
our best plan will be to head to the south'ard and west'ard
for the Caycos Passage, and so give ourselves a chance to
be picked up by either an outward or a homeward bound
ship, for we shall be running right into the track of both.
It is, of course, most unfortunate that it has fallen calm
with us, but I do not believe it will last long ; and when
once a breeze springs up a sail may heave into view at
any moment and pick us up."
It was difficult to fully persuade these two untutored
men of the uselessness of searching further for the brig ;
"SAMANA KAY" 281
but eventually I won them round to my view, and we at
once hauled up on a south-west course as nearly as we
could hit it off by the sun pulling hard until sunset, in
the hope that the brig might be found in this new direc-
tion, for we were convinced that she must be at no great
distance from us. But at sunset the horizon was still bare,
and the disappointment was so bitter that we were unable
to resist any longer the exhaustion that had been steadily
growing upon us all day, so the oars were laid in, and with
one consent the three of us flung ourselves down in the
bottom of the boat, with the result that I instantly fell into
a deep slumber.
I slept all through the night, but was awakened next
morning, just as the day was dawning, by the man Ned,
who, I found, was shaking me furiously by the shoulder
as he shouted, in terrified accents
" Mr. Burt, Mr. Burt, wake up, sir ! Where's Joey,
where's Joey ? He ain't in the boat ! Lord ha' mussy
upon us ! have he gone overboard, d'ye think, sir ? "
1 started to my feet, vaguely comprehending that
something was wrong, but scarcely realising what it was.
I found that there was a pleasant little breeze blowing
from the north-east - that could only have sprung up very
recently, from the look of the water, which was merely
rippled, without any sea and that poor Ned, gaunt and
cadaverous of feature, with his deeply-sunken eyes glow-
ing with the scorching fever of long-continued thirst, was
glaring at me with an expression of terror that was near
akin to madness.
" What is the matter, Ned ? Why are you glaring at
me like that, man ? and what is it you are saying about
Joey ? " I stammered, in the confusion of a sudden and
violent awakening out of a profound sleep.
" What am I sayin' about Joey ? " reiterated the fellow.
" Why, I am sayin', Mr. Burt, that he ain't in the boat,
and where is he ? what's happened to 'im ? "
282 "SAM AN A KAY"
Then I fully realised, for the first time, that there were
but two of us in the boat, and that the man known as
Joey had vanished as completely as though he had never
been, leaving no sign or indication of what had become of
him. One thing was certain, he was not in the boat, and
that fact meant that he had gone overboard. Involuntarily
I glanced astern, as though expecting to see him swimming
near us ; but there was no sign of him. There was a
horribly significant fact, however, that instantly caught my
attention, and that was, that whereas yesterday there had
been two sharks following us, there was now but one !
" Ned," said I, " what is the use of asking me what has
become of Joey ; how do / know ? I have been asleep
the whole night until now ; and when we all stretched out
together you know as well as I do that Joey was with us.
How long have .yaw been awake ?"
" Not five minutes, Mr. Hurt, sir," answered Ned. " I
just woke up, looked round, saw that Joey wasn't in the
boat, and then I called you, sir, right off the reel."
" Well," said I, " there can be no doubt whatever as
to poor Joey's fate, although neither of us happened to
witness it ; he has gone overboard, most probably during
a fit of madness induced by drinking salt water. Let his
fate be a lesson to you not to indulge that fatal practice,
however greatly you may be tempted. And now, since
poor Joe is gone, and we can do nothing to help him, let
us get the canvas on the boat and make the best of this
fine fair wind."
Sail was made upon the boat, and we soon had the
satisfaction of finding ourselves sliding along before the
wind at a speed of between four and five knots. I took
the yoke-lines, believing that I could steer a truer course
than Ned, while he maintained a sharp look-out for a sail.
Hour after hour dragged wearily by however, and still
the ocean remained deserted, save for our own tiny sail ;
and meanwhile our hunger and thirst grew apace, until
"SAMANA KAY" 283
there were times when my torment was so exquisitely
keen that I felt sorely tempted to follow Joey's example,
and end it all.
As for Ned, although the springing up of the fair wind
seemed to hearten him up a bit at first, I noticed that, as
the day wore on without result, despair was taking an
ever stronger clutch upon him ; and several times he cried
out that it was all over with us, and we might as well give
up, finishing off with a whole string of bitter curses upon
the skipper and his shipmates for deserting him. It was
curious to note the intense selfishness that misfortune had
so quickly developed in the man ; he spoke of the mis-
fortune as his, not ours; and he execrated the captain and
crew for deserting him, not us.
And so the day dragged wearily on, and night cool,
placid, and brilliant with the countless millions of stars
that jewelled the sky fell upon us, finding us still alone
and unrescued. Ned, with the new-born selfishness bred
in him by his sufferings, coiled himself away in the bows
of the boat and fell asleep or seemed to do so as soon
as it fell dark, without excuse, apology, or offer to relieve
me at the yoke-lines, although I had been steering all day.
He remained thus for about an hour and a half, betraying
great restlessness, and then, rising to his feet, half stumbled,
half crawled aft into the stern-sheets.
" I can't sleep, so I might as well give up trying," he
muttered. "You give me the lines, and lie down your-
self, Mr. Burt ; maybe you'll be luckier than me, and get
a bit of a nap."
"Thanks, Ned, I will," answered I ; and without further
ado I stretched myself at his feet in the bottom of the boat,
and straightway fell asleep.
I do not think I could have slept, however, more than ten
minutes when I suddenly found myself broad awake again,
with every nerve a-tingle and every muscle braced, as though
I had suddenly and without warning been brought face to
284 "SAMANA KAY"
face with some awful, deadly peril. I opened my eyes,
and the first object that met my sight was the star-glint
upon the long blade of a sheath-knife which my com-
panion was poising above my breast. Another second,
and the blade flashed downward, my hand instinctively
dashing upward to meet and ward off the blow, and the
next instant Ned and I were fighting together for life, my
antagonist being uppermost, while my right hand gripped
his right wrist so powerfully that presently he dropped
his knife with a cry, and flinging himself upon me, strove
to seize my throat with his disengaged hand. In 1 1 it-
struggle that ensued I somehow managed to Bramble to
my feet, despite the efforts of my antagonist to keep me
down, and my next endeavour was to force N'ed forward
into the eyes of the boat, so that 1 might securely lash
him with the painter until the frenzy that seemed to have
suddenly seized him should have passed off. Then God
knows how it happened, I swear it was not intentional on my
part all in a moment Ned seemed to stumble or throw
himself backwards over the gunwale of the boat, and before
I could do anything to save him he was gone. Instantly
there was a savage rush and a furious swirl in the water
alongside, the boat was struck a violent blow beneath her
water-line, and in the icy starlight I distinctly saw the
white gleam of ' shark's belly as he turned on his side
to seize my unfortunate shipmate. Then came another
momentary swirl of water, in the midst of which the
monster without doubt the same shark that had been
following us so persistently disappeared, dragging the
unfortunate seaman with him; and there was I, sick and
faint with horror, left alone in the wide waste of waters.
What happened to me immediately upon the occur-
rence of this dreadful tragedy I do not know ; but when I
came to myself I found that I had somehow made my
way back into the stern-sheets of the boat, and that I was
grasping the yoke-lines and the mainsheet, while quite
"SAMANA KAY" 285
unconsciously, and by instinct I was keeping the little
craft dead before the wind.
I have only a very confused impression of how I spent
the remainder of that terrible night ; I think that horror
and privation combined must have made me delirious, for
I have a vague recollection of having caught myself
"Ned seemed to stumble or throw himself backwards over the gunwale
of the boat. "
alternately crying, laughing, cursing, and singing ; with
the one fixed idea that the boat must be kept dead before
the wind predominating over everything else. I remember
also complaining bitterly, aloud, at the inordinate length of
the night, and then being dully surprised at the reappear-
ance of the sun.
With the return of daylight, however, I seemed to get
better again, in so far as that my senses fully returned to
286 "SAMANA KAY"
me ; but the anguish I endured from hunger and thirst is
not to be described in words. And still, look where I
would, the horizon remained bare ; it really seemed as
though I had unaccountably drifted into some spot of
ocean unknown to navigation, yet I knew that I was
actually in a well-frequented highway.
Suddenly, when the sun was about two hours high, I
caught sight of a small floating object almost directly ahead
and at no great distance from the boat, and, curiosity
prompting me, I shifted my helm for it. At first I could
not guess what it was, but when within half-a-do/en
fathoms of it I saw that it w.i^ .1 Miiall turtle, asleep.
With infinite caution I steered the boat so as to pass it
within arm's reach, and as I ranged up alongside I
fortunate enough to seize it by a fin, whereby 1
enabled to lift it into the boat. The creature probably
weighed about six pounds, but in my exhausted condition
it taxed my strength to the utmost to M.-CUM- it. No
sooner was it in the boat, however, than I cut off its head
with Ned's knife, and drank the blood, which restored nn
in a truly marvellous manner ; then, with a lavish ex-
penditure of time and trouble, 1 at length contrived to ^ct the
shells apart and to make a sparing meal of the ra\v tle-li.
Doubtless it was a sufficiently disgusting repast, but in my
famished condition it seemed that I had never in all my
life tasted anything half so delicious. Toward evening I
devoured the remainder of the flesh, despite the fact that
it had already grown perceptibly putrid ; and then 1 must
have fallen asleep, and slept soundly throughout the ni^ht,
for when consciousness returned I was astonished to find
that the day was breaking.
My good fortune of the previous day led me now to
maintain a bright lookout for turtles as well as ships ;
but the day proved a blank in regard to both, as did the
next day also, by the evening of which I seemed to be in
as pitiable a condition as though I had never caught a
"SAM ANA KAY" 287
turtle at all. Then ensued a period of steadily increasing
torment, that at length so far robbed me of reason that I
lost all count of time, day and night becoming simply
alternate eternities of indescribable anguish. Whether I
instinctively retained control of the boat, or whether I
allowed her to drift along at her own sweet will, I shall
never know ; but my next recollection is of awaking out
of a kind of stupor to see in a hazy, uncertain, dream-
like manner a blotch of greyish-green upon the horizon
ahead, to which I at first attached no significance, but which
as the boat gradually neared it, impressed itself at length
upon my semi-paralysed consciousness as land. Yet even
when I comprehended thus much I still failed to realise the
tremendous importance of my discovery, and I can only
attribute it to instinct rather than reason that I took the
boat round to the lee side of the island before beaching her.
But when, as I rounded the low point and hauled up to
the wind, I caught my first whiff of the land and what
was growing upon it, my senses seemed to revive, and I
looked about me, with a glimmer of returning intelligence,
for a suitable spot at which to land.
And, as I looked, the gleam and sparkle of water
trickling down the beach caught my eye ; and instantly I
seemed to go quite mad with joy, springing to my feet
and laughing, shouting, singing, crying, dancing, and, in
short, behaving like the demented being that I was. I
headed the boat straight for that particular spot, and as
she grounded I fell headlong overboard and crawled upon
hands and knees through the shallow water and up the
beach until I reached the tiny rivulet, into which I at
once plunged my face.
Oh, the exquisite, indescribable delight and enjoyment
of that first drink ! I shall never forget it ! Since then I
have tasted the choicest vintages, and have partaken of
beverages cunningly compounded to afford the utmost
gratification to the palate, but never have I tasted any-
288 "SAMANA KAY
thing half so inexpressibly delicious as that draught of
pure spring water ! I fortunately had sense enough to
drink very slowly and sparingly, and thus escaped the ill
effects that would; undoubtedly have otherwise ensued ;
and my next business was to look for something to eat.
This presented itself in the form of a quantity of shell-
fish, which I gathered] without difficulty along the water'-
edge, and roasted in a fire kindled with the assistance of
my flint and steel.
The absolute ease with which I had thus at once
obtained food and water assured me that 1 need have no
apprehension upon that score ; and, with my mind thus
relieved, I flung myself down upon the hot, dry sand,
under the protecting shadow of an overhanging bush, and
at once fell into a profound sleep.
It was within about an hour of sunset when I awoke,
greatly refreshed, but with a ravenous appetite ; and I had
just time to procure, prepare, and consume another meal
of roast shell-fish, and to take a long, satisfying draught of
water, when night fell, and I again Hung myself upon the
sand, where I had previously rested, to sleep soundly until
morning.
My first care when 1 awoke next morning was to lind
a spot where I might bathe without fear <>t -harks ; and
this was discovered at no great distance, in a large rock
pool, deep enough to allow of my swimming in it.
Greatly refreshed by my dip, I next set about providing
breakfast ; and when 1 had at length satisfied my appetite,
I deemed it advisable to effect a thorough exploration of
my island kingdom. My territory was of s< limited an
extent that this exploration was effectually accomplished
by noon ; the islet being of the kind known in the \V
Indies as a "Kay," with nothing very remarkable about it,
except that in one part it rose to a height of about one
hundred feet, and was covered with vegetation right down
to high-water mark. These islets are frequently low ; and
"SAMANA KAY" 289
I considered myself fortunate in having come ashore upon
one of some height, as I should thus be afforded an excep-
tional opportunity to survey the ocean and maintain a
look-out for passing vessels.
I thought I could not better employ the afternoon
than in ascending to the summit of this hill ; and accord-
ingly, as soon as I had provided and partaken of another
meal, I started out from my " camp " with this intention.
The ground was so densely overgrown everywhere that
there appeared to be but scant choice as to route ; I
therefore plunged straight into the bush and began to
force my way upward as well as I could, and a very hot
and fatiguing task I found it. I made fairly good pro-
gress, however, for about half-an-hour ; and then suddenly,
and without any warning, I found myself sinking down-
ward through a dense carpet of creepers, and before I
could do anything to save myself, down I went, a dis-
tance of perhaps twenty feet, falling so heavily that I was
stunned for several minutes, and when I revived I found
that my head was cut and bleeding.
I was in profound darkness ; but after sitting quietly
for a time to recover my scattered senses I became con-
scious of a very faint and feeble glimmer of light, following
which I eventually came to a mass of broken and fallen
rock, through which the light filtered, and by working at
this diligently for something like two hours I at length
succeeded in removing enough to enable me to creep into
the open air once more, when I found myself upon the
weather side of the island, at the base of a low, crumbling,
rocky cliff. I carefully noted the spot, determining to
return on the morrow with torches to explore the cavern
thus strangely discovered, and then made the best of my
way back to my camp.
On the following morning I carried out my resolution,
finding as my experiences of the previous day had led
me to suppose that the cavern was of considerable
T
2 9 o "SAMANA KAY
extent; hut I met with nothing remarkable until I reached
its farther extremity close to the spot where I had fallen
through when I suddenly came upon several skeletons,
clad in the ragged remains of what had once been cloth-
ing, and girt with leather belts, to which were buckled
old-fashioned, rusty hangers, and into which, in most
cases, were thrust one or a pair of rusty flintlock pistols.
Moreover, several of these grisly relics of humanity grasped
long, dagger - shaped knives or pistols in their bony
hands ; and after surveying their attitude and general
grouping for some time, it gradually dawned upon me
that I was gazing upon the result of a savage and pro-
tracted fight! Indeed, it looked as though a fierce and
deadly quarrel had arisen over a gambling transaction of
some sort, for a closer scrutiny revealed the fact that the
sandy floor was strewn with gold and silver coins, which I
subsequently discovered were Spanish.
My first impulse was to beat a precipitate retreat ; my
second to still further investigate. The second impulse
prevailed ; and richly was I rewarded, for right at the far
extremity of the cavern I came upon a number of massive
chests, which, upon breaking them open, I found to con-
tain gold in coin, bars, and cups, vases, candlesticks,
crosses, and other products of the goldsmith's art, all the
articles being of most beautiful and elaborate workman-
ship, while many of them were thickly encrusted with
gems that, to my inexperienced eye, seemed to be of
almost fabulous value ! There was no doubt about it, I
had literally fallen upon one of those pirate hoards that
one so often reads about but so very seldom discovers.
Having completed my survey, I filled my pockets with
gold coin, and returned to my camp to think matters
over, taking care to block and conceal the entrance to the
cave behind me.
My discovery had not robbed me of all appetite, and
as I returned I industriously gathered shell-fish for my
" I met with nothing remarkable until I reached its farther extremity."
"SAMANA KAY" 293
dinner. It was while thus employed that, happening to
instinctively glance at the horizon, as I repeatedly did, my
gaze met the white upper canvas of a ship just showing
above the ocean's edge. For a full quarter of an hour I
watched her, at the end of which time it became evident
that she would pass my island at a distance of some ten
or twelve miles. In an instant my resolution was taken ;
and forgetting all about dinner, I dashed at full speed for
my boat, flung myself into her, and pushed off to intercept
the stranger. The course that she was steering favoured
me ; and at eight bells that afternoon I was standing on
the deck of the barque British Queen, telling my story
except that part relating to the treasure, which I kept
most religiously to myself. The British Queen happened
to be bound to Kingston, and four days later I landed
upon the wharf there, having meanwhile ascertained that
my island was that known as Samana Kay. The Lanca-
shire Witch had not arrived, nor was she ever afterwards
heard of, the inference being that she had foundered in
the squall which was the beginning of my adventure.
My first anxiety now was to convert my Spanish coin
into British currency ; and this, by the exercise of con-
siderable patience and caution, I contrived to accomplish
in about a week, without arousing any suspicion, so far as
I was aware ; the result being that I found myself the
possessor of one hundred and twenty pounds sterling,
which I have since had reason to believe was rather less
than half what I ought to have received. With this sum,
however, I had no difficulty in chartering and fitting out
a stout little falucha of some forty tons, manned by four
negroes one of whom was her owner in which, about a
fortnight after my arrival in Kingston, I sailed for Samana
Kay.
It took us eight days to reach the Kay, under the lee
of which the falucha came to an anchor ; and I lost no
time in making my way to the cavern. I was terribly
294 "SAMANA KAY "
afraid that although it had evidently remained undis-
covered for so many years somebody might have found
it and carried off the treasure during my absence ; but
no, everything was still there, just as I had left it ; and
little by little I conveyed the whole aboard the falucha
and stowed it away in the stout cases I had provided, the
negro crew taking no notice of me ; indeed, when they
were informed that I did not require their assistance, they
needed no further encouragement to sleep all day. The
labour of transferring the whole of the treasure to the
falucha kept me busy for a trifle over three weeks ; but I
did not grudge it, for when at length we weighed for
Kingston, with the whole of it in the falucha's hold, I con-
sidered that I was not far short of being a millionaire !
That same night or, rather, during the small hours
of the following morning while I was vainly striving to
sleep in the small, hot, cockroach-haunted cabin of the
falucha, a terrific hubbub and shouting suddenly arose on
deck, and as I leapt out of my bunk to ascertain the cause
of the outcry, the little hooker staggered and reeled almost
to her beam-ends under a violent blow, accompanied by
the sounds of crashing and rending timber, and the loud
inrush of a large volume of water. There was no need,
now, for investigation ; we had been run down ; and,
feeling that the falucha was rapidly sinking beneath my
feet, I made a spring for the companion-ladder, and some-
how contrived to claw my way on deck. While I \v;is
doing this the shouting on deck suddenly ceased, and as I
emerged from the companion-way I was just in time to
see the dark bulk of a large ship sliding rapidly away on
a taut bowline. I shouted loudly for help, but the craft
was already some fifty fathoms to windward, and my
shouting evoked no reply. And while I had my hands to
my mouth, and was taking breath for another hail, the
falucha quietly cocked up her stern and plunged to the
bottom, bows foremost, taking all my treasure with her,
"SAMANA KAY" 295
and dragging me down for a considerable distance after
her. At length, however, all but suffocated, I rose to the
surface again, and found floating quite close to me the
falucha's mast, with the yard and sail attached, and to this
I held on until close upon noon next day, when the British
ship Duchess of Devonshire, homeward bound, picked me
up. Six weeks later I stepped ashore on the wharf of
London Dock, with two pounds in my pockets, the joint
contribution of the skipper and mates of the Duchess oj
Devonshire, and with the clothes I stood up in.
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
BY E. F. POLLARD
Author of " Rogtr the Ranger" " A New England Raid" &(. &f.
CHAPTER I
" I I URRAH ! you are a brick, Frank!" and Gilbert
I I Lindsay sprang across the room and came down
with an energetic thud on his brother's shoulder.
" Gently," said the young man, " no need to damage
me by way of gratitude. I'm just as pleased as you are,
lad." '
" When shall we start ? " asked Gilbert cheerily.
" As soon as we can get our outfit," said Frank, " and
we will set about that to-day. I'm off to the city ; you
had better come with me."
So the two brothers started together in good spirits.
Frank Lindsay was considerably relieved by the fact that
he was not to be separated from Gilbert, his mother's
last charge to him. He was himself only five-and-twenty,
had been educated as an engineer, and was already noted
as a man of promise. This had resulted in an offer of
an appointment as chief engineer to the Ganges Coal
mine, in the Damuda district of Bengal. He had, how-
ever, hesitated to accept what most men would have
jumped at, as it meant separation from Gilbert, who was
at an age when a boy needs either a father or brother's
control. Gilbert was sixteen, still at school, with no home
where he could spend his vacations, for the two brothers
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 297
were virtually alone in the world. Frank had therefore
almost decided to make the sacrifice and throw the appoint-
ment over, when Gilbert said carelessly
" Why not take me with you ? I mean to be an
engineer like yourself, and I might just as well begin my
apprenticeship with you as go on grinding at school."
Frank said nothing at the time, but the next day he
spoke to Mr. Jacob, one of the managers of the Com-
pany, who, having boys of his own, understood Frank's
scruples. He therefore .facilitated matters, and it was
settled that Gilbert should accompany his brother to India
as an articled pupil, and, as soon as he was of definite use,
to receive suitable remuneration.
It was with a certain sense of elation that Gilbert
bade his masters and schoolfellows farewell. Going to
India was a step in life ; he felt no longer a schoolboy,
but a man.
" You'll be tiger and leopard hunting whilst we're
grinding away at Homer and Virgil, scanning verses and
all that rot," said his especial chum Harry Marsden, as
they strolled round the old playground together for the
last time.
" You shall have my first skin, Harry," answered
Gilbert with magnanimous generosity.
"Thanks," answered Harry; but the prospect did not
console him for the loss of his friend.
Both Frank and Gilbert soon found their sea-legs, and
after the first few days thoroughly enjoyed the voyage.
On reaching Calcutta Frank found a telegram await-
ing him, requesting him to use all possible despatch to
reach the mines.
Upon inquiry he found there was a train leaving Cal-
cutta at nine o'clock for Giridhi, the terminus of the East
Indian Railway branch line running up to the Ganges
298 "HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
Coal-mines. He decided, therefore, to start that same
night, by which means they would reach their destination
the following morning about six o'clock, and arrive at the
mines a couple of hours later.
"We've the whole day before us," said Frank, "so I
think I'll hunt up my old friend Fergusson ; he's in tin-
police ; and I'm pretty sure he's in Calcutta at the present
time. I've got his address somewhere."
He looked in his pocket-book, where he found it, and
calling a ghari, drove to Circular Road. Fergusson \vas
delighted to see them ; but when he heard where they
were bound for, he burst out laughing and exclaimed :
" Well, you're going into a nice hornet's nest, a district
which is giving Government at this moment more trouble
than any in the Presidency ! "
"Indeed," said Frank, "and why?"
" It's overrun with Dacoits," answered Fergusson. " At
their head they have a notorious rascal, named Hari Ram.
Rumour runs that he is a sort of Robin Hood. He
plunders the rich, and shares his booty with the poor, who
consequently protect him in such a fashion that we cannot
lay our hands on him ; he just slips through our fingers.
He politely declares he will do the English no harm, and
so far he has kept his word. I have not heard of a single
case of an Englishman being attacked ; but the native
merchants are having a bad time of it. He waylays their
carts, carries off their bullocks, and robs them of their
cotton, or cocoons, as the case may be. Not a day
passes but what we have reports of Hari Ram's mis-
doings."
" Rather a bad look-out," said Frank. " It seems absurd
that the Government cannot lay hands on him."
" It won't seem so absurd to you when you know the
country better," answered Fergusson, " especially the native
class ; but, of course, it must be put a stop to. Caught
he must be, and punished pretty severely, or the country
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 299
won't long be habitable ; in its present state it's wholly
unsafe."
Gilbert had listened to this conversation with consider-
able zest. He had not imagined there could be anything
so delightful as Robin Hoods in India. Tigers and leopards
he was prepared for, but to chase a real live robber was
an adventure beyond his wildest imaginings.
" What do you call these robbers, sir ? " he asked.
" Dacoits," answered Fergusson. " Are you inclined
to gijVe this one a chase ? " he said with a smile. " I
think you'll find him too tough for you. He's up, they
say, to every imaginable dodge ; no one can get near his
hiding-place. Government is thinking of offering a reward
for his capture ; but I doubt if even that will have the least
effect in his case. If he makes a haul he shares it with
his fellows, so they have nothing to gain, indeed much to
lose, by his capture."
" It would be decidedly mean of them," exclaimed
Gilbert indignantly.
"That's of no account," said Fergusson, laughing.
" An Indian's standard is considerably below par ; as a
rule, he will do anything for money. But now I must
show you Calcutta."
It was already late in the afternoon and the heat had
somewhat subsided, so ordering his ghari, he drove them
to Garden Reach, and altogether entertained them with
Anglo-Indian hospitality. In due time he accompanied
them to the station at Hooghly to meet the nine o'clock
express. So they parted with mutual satisfaction, and the
hope of meeting at some future time. It was scarcely six
o'clock when the Lindsays reached Giridhi, a most desolate
sort of terminus. Frank was beginning to wonder how
he should get to his destination, when a native came up
and salaamed to him, talking rapidly. Being perfectly un-
acquainted with Hindustanee, Frank failed to understand
a word he said, and only caught the repeated title "Sahib."
300 "HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
" What does the fellow want ? " he asked, turning to
one of the railway officials for explanation.
" He says he has been sent to meet you, sir, with a
shari and ponies, and they are waiting outside the station ;
the ponies are very impatient.
" What about our luggage ? " asked Frank.
" Coolies will carry it for you. You had better start
without delay."
Following this advice, the two brothers signed to the
chaprassi, and pointed out the different packet's on the
platform as being their possessions, to all of which tin-
man acquiesced by salaaming, which amused Gilbert
considerably.
On leaving the station they saw a small vehicle on
high wheels, which rolled from side to side according as
the prancing and kicking of the ponies jerked it first one
way, then the other. The two young men looked at it
curiously, questioning in their own minds how they were
even so much as to get into it.
" Well ! " said Gilbert, " if we're not thrown out of this
concern before we've travelled a quarter of a mile we may
think ourselves lucky."
" It does seem risky," said Frank ; " but I suppose
it's all right."
The syce had already sprung into his seat. There
was much noise and screaming, and tramping of ponies'
feet, but somehow Frank and Gilbert, being agile, managed
to scramble into the vehicle. Then the ponies' heads
were let loose and the animals dashed off, obliging the
occupants to hold tight to the sides for fear of being
thrown out. After a short time, however, they settled
down, and became aware that though the mode of loco-
motion was intensely uncomfortable, it was by no means
so dangerous as it seemed.
The country through which they passed was perfectly
wild ; there was indeed no main road, only what the
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 301
natives call a chachha road, which means a rough, un-
made path.
After a short time the conveyance drew up before a
bungalow, and the syce sprang to the ground.
" I suppose this is our destination," said Frank, and
forthwith he and Gilbert swung themselves out of their
rickety chariot with a certain thankful feeling at finding
themselves once more on terra firma.
" Mr. Lindsay," said an English voice, and looking
round, Frank recognised a fellow-countryman.
" I'm afraid you've had rather a bad time of it," the
speaker continued.
" Oh ! not at all," answered Frank, " it is a mere matter
of habit ; after the first we stuck on pretty firmly and
felt no further alarm."
" Wretched concern," said their new acquaintance,
" but I thought it better than a palki ; at least it was
quicker, and we want you badly. I must introduce
myself James Dickson, overseer," and he held out his
hand, which both Frank and Gilbert shook heartily.
" I got a fright yesterday," continued Dickson ; " we
had a sort of slip in the mine and the machinery seemed
to give way. But it's a shame to talk business after your
journey, before you have had a bath and got some refresh-
ment. Here, you fellows, show the sahibs to their rooms
and see that the baths are ready, then we'll breakfast."
" We shall certainly be glad of both," said Frank ; " but
at the same time, if you consider my presence at the mine
necessary, I'm quite ready to accompany you there at once."
" When you have had your baths and changed your
clothes you will find me on the verandah," said Dickson.
We will breakfast and talk business at the same time ;
there are a few things I should like to explain to you
before you go to the mines."
" Very good," said Frank, " we will not keep you
waiting long."
3 02 "HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
CHAPTER II
THE next few days Gilbert found himself cast on his own
resources, for the condition of the mine was such as to
require Frank's uninterrupted attention, and the lad, of
course, could be of no use ; the mere fact of seeing after
him would have been a hindrance. The expldit-> <>t
Han Ram still retained their charm for him ; he \vas
never tired of talking of him, and he went about with
the police officer gathering information as to the man 's
doings, to the great amusement of the station.
Scarcely a day passed but complaints were brought of
robberies committed in the district by Han Ram's Ljang.
The authorities seemed perfectly incapable of tackling
these men. They were utterly fearless, and roved about
with impunity. In appearance and dress if a dhoti 1 can
be dignified by that name they were just like the ordinary
native, so it was difficult to identify them. . . .
" Gilbert Lindsay ! "
The lad started up in bed, and by the light of the
moon saw Jenkins, the police superintendent, standing in
the doorway.
" We've had a notice," he said, " and we're off, if you
like to come with us."
" Rather ! " answered Gilbert.
"Then hurry up," said Jenkins, "there's no time to
be lost."
Gilbert needed no second bidding, slipped into his
clothes, saying as he passed Frank's door
" I'm off with Jenkins, Frank."
" Keep out of mischief," called out the elder brother.
" All right," answered Gilbert, and he joined the
officer on the verandah.
A tumtum was waiting to take them to the neighbour-
1 Loin cloth.
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 303
ing station some miles off, from whence news had been
received that a native merchant's house had been de-
spoiled ; it was believed .the robbers were still lurking
about in hiding. Superintendent Jenkins was in high
spirits, for a runner had brought the news, so no time
had been lost.
" We must nab some of them this time ! " he said
cheerily. " I wanted a clue to their whereabouts ; now
I've got it, and need only follow it up."
It was midnight when they started, and they were
more than half-way to their destination, driving at a good
pace through the jungle, when suddenly two naked figures
leaped out from behind a group of trees, and springing
at the horse's head, caused it to rear and prance, so as
to endanger the safety of the occupants of the tumtum.
The superintendent stood up, pistol in hand, shouting
" Let go, you rascals, or I'll fire ! " and suiting the
action to the word, he cocked his pistol and fired at the
foremost figure. The shot missed, and almost instantane-
ously he perceived that the horse was loose he guessed
at once that the traces must have been cut ; the tumtum
swerved and turned on its side, depositing the superin-
tendent on the road.
Like lightning the thought crossed Gilbert's mind
" They want to prevent our reaching the village.' If
only I could checkmate them ! "
With that he started at a quick run, trusting that in
the still dim light he might escape observation. He had
often won pretty stiff races at school, but he was out of
training now, and had hardly covered half a mile when
he heard the swift sound of naked feet gaining upon him.
Still he would not give in. He knew, from having driven
over the ground before, that he was on the road to a tea-
planter's bungalow. If he could only reach that he could
give the alarm ; but the hope was soon squashed. He
felt himself caught in a vigorous pair of arms.
304 "HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
"Now, young sahib, lie still; no harm happen to you.
Hari Ram never hurt sahibs, only they must not stop his
way or hinder his work."
" So you are Hari Ram, the great Dacoit ?" said
Gilbert. " I'm delighted to see you ; at the same time 1
would rather you hadn't upset the tumtum and perhaps
killed my friend. What are you going to do with me,
may I ask?"
" Keep you quiet till evening ; it is not good for
sahibs to be out in the heat; then I'll put you on your
way back to the mines. I mean you no harm. You
wanted to catch the men who took some of the maha-
jan's 1 money, only a little, and they gave half to the
poor ; now I have stopped you doing so. These maha-
jans are bigger thieves than we are, and make the poor
suffer ; it is the will of Eshwar that they should be
punished." Gilbert could just see that he was a tall
muscular man with handsome features, the bold black
eyes shining under his white turban ; he was quite naked
save for the dhoti, and his dark mahogany skin shone,
from the frequent application of oil, like a well-polished
piece of furniture. He stood Gilbert's scrutinising exa-
mination with perfect good-humour.
"You'll know me when you next see me," he said.
"Yes, I should know you anywhere," answered
Gilbert.
Just at that moment they heard the clatter of hoist-,
feet.
"It's the Miss Sahiba ! " said Hari Ram, and instantly
bolted. Turning round, Gilbert saw a girl coming quickly
over the brushwood, mounted on a splendid horse and
followed by a syce.
"This is luck!" thought Gilbert. The rider saw him,
and checked her horse, asking
" Has anything happened ? It's unusual for an
1 Rich merchant.
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 305
Englishman to be alone in the jungle at this time in the
morning."
Rapidly Gilbert recounted what had taken place. The
girl listened attentively.
" You'll know me when you next see me."
" Then you don't know what has become of your
friend ? " she said.
" Only that he was knocked over," said Gilbert.
" And you have been quietly entertaining Hari Ram ? "
she continued with a smile.
" Yes," said Gilbert ; " but I am sorry to say he has
U
306 "HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
escaped. He was going to take me with him, but you
startled the hare, and he was off like a shot."
" Oh ! he always is," answered the girl. " But now
we had better see after your friend. How far do you
suppose he is from here ? "
" Not half a mile," answered Gilbert. " If you will
ride forward I will follow."
All this has been long to tell, but had really occupied
but a short time. When Gilbert and the girl reached the
spot where the attack had been made, they found the
driver had secured the horse, but could not proceed
because of the damage the tumtum had sustained ; also
Superintendent Jenkins had been considerably injured.
He had fallen on his head and his face was badly cut
about, but he was conscious.
When Jenkins saw Gilbert returning with a companion
he was greatly relieved, and called out
" Well, youngster, you've managed at least to fall on
your feet."
" By a mere fluke," said Gilbert. " What shall we do
now?"
"Do!" exclaimed the superintendent. "We're within
a few miles of Pokharia, and if you hurry up you'll be
there in no time. Let the police know what's happened,
and that the rascal is on the loose somewhere in the
neighbourhood ; tell them to turn out as many men as
they can and beat the jungle. Off with you, there's no
time to lose ! "
"All right," said Gilbert, and he prepared to go.
" I'll turn back with you to my father's house," said
the girl ; " it lies on your way." Then bending down to
Jenkins she added, "We will send a palki as quickly as
possible for you ; it will not be long ; " and therewith she
and Gilbert went off.
"It's just as well you're not alone," she said, "as
Hari Rfim might pounce on you again to prevent your
"HARI RAM/' THE DACOIT 307
getting on ; he may be watching us now, so we'll take a
cross road. I always ride the first thing in the morning,"
she continued, " the earlier the better ; it's fortunate for
you I started to-day even earlier than usual."
" It most certainly is," said Gilbert. " A minute later
and I should have been far away in the jungle. I wonder
where Hari Ram puts up."
" Anywhere and everywhere," answered his companion.
" You're lucky to have seen him. I wish I had. He's
an awfully fine fellow, you know, if he weren't a Dacoit.
Other people may hear of his misdoings, but there's not
a day passes but I hear of his kindnesses to his fellow-
countrymen, and the natives worship the ground he treads
on. We shall never catch him, and if the truth's told, I
don't want him to be caught."
" Rank treason," said Gilbert laughing.
"There's our bungalow," said the girl, pointing to
an unusually large thatched building, just distinguishable
through the trees.
The syce had run all the way back, and told his master
that some Englishmen had been attacked by the Dacoits,
and that a young sahib had only just escaped being carried
away by Hari Ram himself. Mr. Macgregor was on the
point of starting to see what had happened when the two
young people entered the compound.
"Hullo, Vansie, what's up?" he called out. "Is this
the young man who was beset by the Dacoits ? "
"Yes, father," said Vansie, springing lightly to the
ground. " He's all right, but there's a smashed-up tumtum,
and the police superintendent badly hurt. You must send
for him at once."
The Scotchman whistled.
" I wonder what the Government is about, to let this
thing go on ? "
" It's a shameful state of affairs ! a perfect disgrace ! "
said Mr. Macgregor indignantly. " Walk in, sir," and he
308 "HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
was leading the way into the bungalow, when his daughter
interfered, saying
" Father, you must send a palki off at once."
"Allah Baksh," called out Mr. Macgregor, "see that
two palkis and bearers are got ready sharp. Tell Mi^-
Sahiba's syce to go with you, he knows the place."
" If you will excuse me," said Gilbert, " I'll go on to
Fokharia without delay. It i-> important that the people-
there should know we were coming with help, and how
we have been stopped."
" Of course it is," said Mr. Macgregor, " but you
cannot go alone. As soon as we've had breakfast, I'll go
with you."
Though loth to delay, Gilbert could not very well
refuse. It was still quite early, and it would not take
more than half-an-hour to reach 1'okharia. The khan-
samah was already laying the table on the verandah, and
preparing chottA hazari. 1 Mr. Macgregor was impatient,
for he was very angry. These continual raids of the
Dacoits, though they did not personally attack hint, kept
the whole country in a state of turmoil. He was a large
tea-planter, a widower, and Vansie, the girl we have just
introduced to our readers, was his only child. She wa>.
tall and lithe, only sixteen years of age, and yet she was a
perfect woman, with a delicate olive complexion, of that
peculiar whiteness consequent upon the climate. Her
features were straight and delicate, the lips well cut and
marvellously red ; her eyes were dark, with a certain
languor in them, made more so by the long curled eye-
lashes, and delicately-pencilled eyebrows. Gilbert thought
he had never seen anything so beautiful.
" Why do you go to Pokharia ; the men are sure to
have escaped, and we know Hari Ram is far away by this
time," she said to her father.
" That's not so certain," he answered ; " he's pretty
1 Little breakfast.
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 309
daring, and is as likely as not to remain in the neighbour-
hood out of bravado."
Vansie pouted.
" Well, I think it's a horrid thing to be chasing a man
who, after all, does us no harm."
" Do you call it doing no harm attacking the super-
intendent ? " said her father. " Nonsense, Vansie ; it's
ridiculous for you to stand up for a thief and a robber ! "
The girl moved away from the table, with a smile on
her lips.
" Well, one thing is certain : you're not likely to catch
him," she said. " I'll go and order the rooms to be got
ready for the gentleman," and nodding to Gilbert as if
they were old friends, she entered the house.
At that moment the horses came round.
" If you're ready we'll start at once," said Mr. Mac-
gregor. " But you have not yet told me your name."
" Gilbert Lindsay. I'm brother to the new engineer
of the Ganges mines."
" I've heard of him," said Macgregor, " I shall be glad
to make his acquaintance."
" I'll tell him so," said Gilbert. " He has been much
occupied since we came, but I'm sure he'll be delighted
to know you."
When they mounted to ride away ; Gilbert turned to
look back at the bungalow, and saw Vansie standing on
the steps. She waved her hands and called out mock-
ingly-
" Good sport ! good sport ! "
Her father shook his fist at her, and said laughingly,
"The misdeeds of this Hari Ram have fascinated her.
I believe she would be quite angry if he were caught."
" He's a very handsome fellow," said Gilbert, " if he
were only clothed like a Christian. He was by no means
discourteous to me. I almost wish he had carried me off.
I should like to have seen a little more of him."
3 io
"HARI RAM/' THE DACOIT
"Well, I'd like to see him before a magistrate," said
Macgregor, " hear him sentenced to a good term of im-
prisonment, and sent to the Andaman Islands ; that's the
only way we shall be rid of him and his whole gang ;
they would never hold together without him."
" Good sport ! good sport ! "
They were not long reaching Pokharia, and rode
straight to the missionary's house.
"You are too late," said Mr. M'Call. "The rascals
have got off again. The robbery took place early la>t
evening just after sunset. Pooran was the man robbed.
He happened to be out, and when he came back he found
his house regularly looted. I sent a runner straight off
to Damtidd for the police, but this delay has given the
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 311
Dacoits time to betake themselves to the hills or the
jungle."
" Well, I propose we telegraph straight to head-quar-
ters," said Macgregor. " I'm quite willing myself to ride
to the first telegraphic station to send the message.
Something must be done without delay."
Two or three of the principal natives of the village
dropped in one man who owned several carts, and
who did a large business in raw cocoons, complained
bitterly of the difficulty of transport. "The natives are
half-hearted," he said. " Hari Ram is so open-handed
amongst the poor that they think there is more to be
lost than gained if he were apprehended. We, the
mahajans, are obedient servants to Government, there-
fore Government ought to protect us."
" Of course it ought," said Macgregor ; " but it's no
use sending a couple of men ; we must have a score,
and that soon. I think the fact of the agent being
injured in this last fray will have some effect. I'm will-
ing to take the responsibility myself and ride at once
to the telegraphic station if some of you will accompany
me. I hardly think it safe for me to go alone."
" We will go with you, only don't let the servants
hear," said Pooran. "They make a perfect idol of Hari
Ram ; he has spies all over the place."
The heat was too great to think of starting before
evening, so they remained at the mission station. Then
Mr. Macgregor, accompanied by two native merchants
and their servants, set out. Gilbert with the missionary,
who was also somewhat of a doctor, went to Macgregor's
place to see after the wounded man. As they approached
the house they saw an Indian woman crossing the com-
pound, carrying a child on her hip. The missionary
turned and looked at her.
" I know that woman," he said ; " she was at Pokharia
last week."
312 "HARJ RAM," THE DACOIT
They found Jenkins the superintendent in a great
measure recovered from his accident.
" I shall be all right to-morrow, and able to return to
DamudaV' he said.
"Who was that handsome Indian woman we met as
we came into the compound ? " asked Gilbert of Vansie as
they sat together on the verandah.
" She's Rajhani, my foster-sister ; her mother was my
dhai. She married and left the district, and I had not
seen her for the last three or four years, when suddenly
one day not long ago she appeared bringing me her baby,
who was ill. I gave it some simple remedy, at least my
ayah did, but to-day she came for her husband, who, she
said, was down with fever. I asked her where she came
from, and who her husband was, but she gave me no
answer, and went off with barely a thank you."
"She is splendidly handsome," said Gilbert, " but ha>
an evil face for all that."
" I think not," replied Vansie. " She rather looks as
if she had some trouble. She seems to have heard of last
night's attack, for she asked me how the sahibs were. I
told her they were not much injured, but that I was afraid
the Government would take active measures for finding
Hari Ram.
" ' They'll not get him, they'll never get him ! ' she said
passionately, and I thought I saw tears in her eyes.
" ' Do you know him, Rajhani ? ' I asked.
" ' I've seen him,' she answered sullenly. Her manner
was so strange that it struck me as just possible her hus-
band might belong to the gang.
" ' Well,' I said, ' perhaps you might warn him that he
is going a little too far, and that he'll be caught some day
unless he mends his ways.
" ' He'll never do that as long as he is free,' she ex-
claimed, and went off." . . .
" You'll come out soon and see us again," Vansie said
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 313
to Gilbert the following morning before he left, "and
bring your brother with you. Father will give you both
some good shooting in the jungle."
" Certainly I will," said Gilbert, with a sense of plea-
sure at having found a place which was so homelike.
A week later, Superintendent Jenkins came into
Frank's bungalow in a very irate state of mind.
"There," he said, throwing down a letter, "that's all
the reward a man gets for doing his duty. The Commis-
sioner declares we must be shilly-shallying with the natives,
and he will himself come down and see whether he can't
catch this Hari Ram."
" Let him ; he'll soon find out his mistake," said Frank.
" I was up with Gilbert at Macgregor's the day before yes-
terday, and he says it will be .tremendous work to nab
him. He's protected by all the natives, and can pass from
one village to the other without fear of being betrayed."
" Well, that remains to be proved," said Jenkins. " At
all events the Commissioner is coming in full force with a
whole army of police."
" Ah ! well, you must put the best face on it you can,"
said Frank. " If Hari Ram is caught it will be a good
thing for the country. My opinion is that he's hovering
somewhere about here. Let who will catch him, I'm glad
it's not my business. I much prefer the prospect of a
shooting party with Macgregor next week. He is really a
nice fellow. Came over and asked Gilbert and me to go
there. Of course we have accepted."
" I can understand it is preferable. Hunting Dacoits
is not in your line of business," said Jenkins, and with
that they parted.
314 "HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
CHAPTER III
ON the day fixed Frank and Gilbert rode to Mr. Mac-
gregor's place in the cool of the evening, arriving in time
for dinner. The tiger hunt had been arranged for the
following morning ; there was known to be an almost
impenetrable covert of vines and creepers in the thickest
part of the jungle, and several natives affirmed that it
was the lair of a tiger of unusual size and ferocity. He
had been very destructive and had done considerable
mischief in the neighbouring villages, so that the killing of
him excited much interest.
Mr. Macgregor had invited two or three other gentle-
men, planters like himself, to join the party; thus making
up half-a-dozen Englishmen with breech-loaders and
pistols ; a dozen natives were told off to accompany them,
so that it was a fairly large party.
The following morning when they started, Frank
Lindsay and Mr. Macgregor rode foremost, a syce run-
ning before them. By degrees they found themselves
some distance in advance of their party, and wishing to
keep together, Mr. Macgregor rode back to tell the others
to hurry up ; thus Frank and the syce were, so to speak,
isolated. At that very moment a tiger sprang upon the
syce. Frank instantaneously flung himself off his horse
and struck the animal across the loins with the butt of
his heavy riding-whip. Dropping his prey, the tiger
turned on his assailant, seized him by the thigh and
hurled him to the ground. Instinctively Frank threw his
arms round the head of the enraged animal, but in a second
he would have been torn to pieces, had not a man
leaped out of the jungle and fired at the tiger, who once
more dropped his prey and retreated with an ominous
growl into the thick jungle.
"In a second he would have torn Lindsay to pieces."
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 317
The man who did this deed of daring courage stood
for a second over Frank and just asked
" Are you all right, sahib ? " to which Frank answered,
" I'm alive, but desperately hurt, I'm afraid."
Then his rescuer drew himself up, waved his hand,
and threw himself back into the thick jungle. Frank was
quickly surrounded by his friends ; he was in great agony,
his leg was fearfully mauled and was bleeding profusely.
The syce he had risked his life to save was dead. Mac-
gregor, with the help of his friends, did his utmost to
stop the bleeding, and ordered some of the natives to
make a sort of stretcher with the branches of the trees ;
others he sent back to the bungalow to warn Vansie, and
to get a doctor.
Gilbert was in despair ; it was piteous to see his white
agonised face as he held his brother in his arms.
" Will the brute come back ? " he asked.
" Not likely," answered Macgregor. " I should think
he was mortally wounded ; the man took good aim."
" Do you know who he was ? " asked Gilbert.
" No, but now I come to think of it, being a native
he had no right to firearms ; he must have been one of
those outlaws."
" Pray don't quarrel with him. It's a mercy he was
armed," said Frank with a groan.
" No, indeed we won't," answered Mr. Macgregor,
" even if we came across him, we should have to let him
go scot free, I think. There, are you easier now ? "
With infinite care they slipped Frank on to the stretcher,
but nevertheless the agony was so great that he lost con-
sciousness. Gilbert thought he was dead; Macgregor
laid his hand on his shoulder and said kindly
" Steady, lad, he's only fainted."
" Oh ! " said Gilbert with a short gasp, as he rose and
stood on one side to let the bearers lift their burden.
Of course the hunt was over for that day. Two or
318 "HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
three of the party went into the jungle with some of the
natives and found the tiger had fallen dead a couple of
hundred yards from where he had been shot. He was a
huge creature, and other men had to be fetched to enable
them to skin him and take the trophy home.
The young native doctor, called in the emergency to
attend Frank, assured Gilbert that though the wound \v;is
severe and likely to lay his brother up for some time,
it was not mortal. As he could not be moved, Mr.
Macgregor begged the brothers to consider his house
their home ; a chaprassi was therefore despatched to fetch
clothes, &c., from their own bungalow and to notify
Frank's accident to the authorities.
" Do you know who saved my brother's life ?" Gilbert
asked Vansie, the first time they found themselves alone.
" No, how should I ? " she answered ; " do you
know ? "
" It was Hari Ram himself," answered Gilbert. " I
recognised him as he stood over my brother and then
rushed back into the jungle. I was close to him, I think
he saw me, for he smiled and waved his hand to me."
Vansie's eyes shone.
"I'm not surprised; it was exactly the sort of tiling
he'd do," she said.
" I was just going to call out ' Hari Ram ' when I
remembered he was an outlaw, and that every man's
hand was against him, so I checked myself," continued
Gilbert ; " and now, whatever happens, I'll never run that
man down or put any one on his tr;uk. '
" Hari R&m does not understand he is doing wrong by
taking the law into his own hands, and I do not suppose
he ever will," said Vansie.. " He knows the native mer-
chants are liars and greedy after gain, and that Govern-
ment winks at their extortions, so he settles the matter
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 319
according to his own ideas. I'm glad you have made up
your mind not to meddle in the matter ; let them catch
him if they can." '
Gilbert agreed with her, and so the matter dropped.
" Frank, has Miss Vansie told you the news ? " and
Gilbert threw himself into a chair beside his brother's
invalid couch on the verandah.
" No, what news ? " he said.
" The Commissioner arrived yesterday at Damtida, his
camp was pitched, and there was a great display of police
about the place. He was questioning everybody, he even
rode to Pokharia and interviewed the people there. He
says he expects to catch his man and clear the country in
a fortnight."
" I hope he may not be disappointed," said Frank
dryly. " What does Jenkins say ? "
He had hardly put the question when they saw the
superintendent enter the compound. A syce ran to hold
his horse from which he flung himself, and then the
brothers saw he had a broad grin on his face and seemed
immensely amused.
"What's up ?" said Gilbert.
" The Commissioner's in a fine rage," he said. " Hari
Ram has just done him in the neatest possible manner,"
and sitting down he burst out laughing.
The sound of merriment brought Vansie out.
" What is it ? " she asked.
"A new exploit of Hari Ram's," said Frank; "come
and hear it." She looked unusually serious.
" I wish he would stop or go away," said Gilbert ;
" he'll get himself hanged. What has he done now ? "
"A perfect Robin Hood's exploit," said the superin-
tendent. " It must 'have got to his ears that the Commis-
sioner scoffed at him, and he determined he would give
him a taste of his prowess, and he just has ! Last night,
320 "HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
notwithstanding the cordon of police, he managed to
wriggle himself into the Commissioner's tent, to carry off
his watch, shirt studs, and all his money ; not satisfied
with this, he tickled the Commissioner's feet without awak-
ing him, but he succeeded in making him wriggle his legs
apart in such a fashion that Hari Ram drew his sword and
stuck it up to the hilt through the mattress ; this teat ac-
complished, he went off as silently as he came. Imagine
the Commissioner's feelings when he awoke and saw the
position he was in ! He was in a white rage, I promise
you, and to make matters worse, before he had recovered
himself, a native policeman rode up and presented him
with a small parcel which had been just left at the
office, to be delivered immediately. Upon opening it he
found his watch, chain, studs, and money, and on a slip
of paper was written : 'With Hari Ram'-> humblest saluta-
tions to his High Mightiness Commissioner (iibson.' You
should have seen his face, it was as good as a plav :
"It was cheek!" said Gilbert, rubbing his hands in a
state of high delight. " What's the Commissioner going
to do ? "
" Move heaven and earth to catch his man," answered
Jenkins. "It's already posted up at the mines: '500
rupees reward for whoever unearths Hari Ram, or gives
information as to his whereabouts.' "
" It won't do," said Vansie. " The natives will never
betray him."
" Well, they are not doing him really any kindness,"
said Jenkins, " for he'll only get a heavier punishment in
the long run. At present he might escape with imprison-
ment, but presently it will mean hanging."
" He'd rather run the risk, I expect," said Frank.
After six weeks Frank was still invalided, so Gilbert
went every day down to the mines, brought messages
and queries in the evening, carrying back his orders the
following morning.
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 321
He and Vansie grew to be great friends ; they quarrelled
and they made it up like girl and boy as they were.
Great excitement ensued when the reward was offered
for the apprehension of Hari Ram ; the subject caused
endless discussion. Days and even weeks went by without
producing any result ; whether the warning had driven
Hari Ram out of the district, or caused him to take extra
precautions, the result was the same, nothing was heard of
him. The Commissioner fumed and fretted.
" The man must be taken," he declared.
" My Lord, you will not do this thing ; if you do, you
will be caught and hung up like a dog."
So spake Rajhani, lying prostrate at the feet of her
lord and husband, Hari Ram. He looked down upon her,
frowning.
" Go hence ! " he said ; " who art thou to speak thus ? "
"The Miss Sahiba told me yesterday that the Commis-
sioner was like a raging lion, his men are everywhere ; she
bade me tell you so, if you are caught you will be hanged,"
said Rajhani.
In a fit of blind anger, Hari Ram stretched out his
foot and kicked the woman.
" Dost think I will suffer that thief of a mahajan to
go on draining the people ? He is rich and he will not
pay his drivers the price other merchants do. I will there-
fore stop his well-laden carts and pay them for him. Get
thee gone ! " and with another kick he turned away.
With a mingled expression of sorrow and anger in her
face, Rajhani rose. She was not quite like other Indian
women. Till her mother died she had been brought up
with Vansie, then her father married her to Hari Ram and
she left the district. Her nature was gentle and she had
imbibed a certain amount of religious knowledge, but an
Eastern woman is a thing with no personality, a creature
to be driven to and fro like the leaves in autumn. So she
had suffered and her soul was ofttimes angry within her.
x
322 "HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
Her love for Hari Ram was so strong and of so jealous
a nature that she could not endure to be parted from him,
but would follow him from place to place though the
journeys were long and difficult. But for her cunning
and great care it is doubtful whether he would so long
have escaped detection.
Now she rose from the ground, and her large eyes
were full of fierce passion and determination. She picked
the little naked baby up from the floor of the mud hut,
bound it on to her hip, muttering
" He shall not be hanged," and went forth.
"Of course, if there is any fear of the man being
attacked we must send him protection. You h;ul better
tell off a dozen men. At the same time I should keep the
matter quiet. Let the mahajan start a-> if he knew nothing ;
but be in the neighbourhood, and if he is attacked >ho\v
yourselves," the Commissioner spoke thus in answer to a
report Superintendent Jenkins had just brought in.
At that very moment the tent curtain was pu-Oied on
one side and a chaprasM entered, followed by an Indian
woman.
"Sahib," he said, salaaming, "this woman says she
must speak with your Mightiness, so I have brought her
to you."
The Commissioner looked up, and for a second
examined the woman, who had stepped forward, and with
outstretched hands, salaaming to the ground, said
" 1 have news for you, my lord."
"Who is she? Do you know her, Jenkins?" a^ked
the Commissioner.
" No, sir ; and yet I have seen her somewhere more
than once," he answered.
" I will tell the sahibs my name when I have made
known my business," she said, speaking in English, and
she drew forth a paper. " I come for that," she continued,
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 323
laying on the table before the Commissioner a large sheet,
advertising the Government reward for the apprehension
of Hari Ram.
" Well, have you come to inform upon the man ? "
said the Commissioner.
" If you take him, will you hang him ? " she asked
sullenly.
" We certainly shall if we take him red-handed, unless
" He shall not be hanged."
we shoot him first ; but we should prefer getting hold of
him and sending him out of the country. A man like
Hari Ram does not care when death overtakes him ; the
galleys are a worse punishment."
" But they come back from there," said the woman.
" Oh yes," answered the Commissioner with a smile.
" Are you thinking of saving his life ? "
" I am Hari Ram's wife," she answered, drawing her-
324 "HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
self up proudly and looking the Commissioner in the
face.
The two officials glanced at each other in astonishment.
" And you have come to tell us where we can find your
husband ? You're a nice young woman," ^;iid Jenkins.
Under the dark skin the woman's face Mushed.
" You will give me money and you will not kill him ? "
she said.
"Yes, we will give you the reward promised here,"
said the Commissioner; "and if we can take him quietly
we will not hurt him."
"You speak truly, the Sahib Ix>g do not lie. \\Yigh
me out the five hundred rupees and I will take you to his
hiding-place."
The Commissioner did as she asked ; the money was
weighed out, Rajhani watching the silver with a stern l.u e
as it was poured into a bag she had evidently brought with
her for the purpose.
" She might be Judas," said Jenkins, turning away
with disgust.
She heard him, and lifted her beautiful pathetic
for a second, then lowered them quickly, as the last rupee
joined its fellows.
" I am ready," she said.
" I should like to see the end of this affair," said the
Commissioner. "Tell off a squad, Jenkins; you had
better come too."
He was in high spirits at the prospect before him.
"Just keep your eye on the woman," he said in a low-
voice to a subaltern ; but Rajhani heard, and called out
" You need have no fear, my lord sahib ; life is better
than death. What I have said I will do."
"There, you have but to go and take him," and Raj-
hani pointed to a mud hut, hidden in the very thickest
part of the jungle.
1 Jari Ram, if you make one step forward, I will shoot you like a
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 327
" Let me not see my lord," she cried bitterly, and
threw herself face downwards on the earth.
It was early morning, the Commissioner and his party
had encamped for a few hours, to start again before
dawn.
" Two of you stay behind and guard the woman in
case she has played us false," commanded Superintendent
Jenkins.
Through the long jungle grass the party advanced till
within a few yards of the Dacoit's retreat, then they made
a rush towards a narrow passage leading to the hut, and
were met by a man, stark naked, brandishing a sword in
his hand.
" Hari Ram, if you make one step forward I will shoot
you like a dog," shouted the Commissioner, whilst two of
his men sprang upon the Dacoit, seized him by the throat,
tore the sword out of his hand, and tripped him to the
ground. Where he fell he lay, a vanquished lion.
Whilst they were pinioning him he just asked
" A woman betrayed me ; is it not so ? "
" Your own wife ; none other. She preferred five
hundred rupees to a husband who beats her," said one of
the men laughing.
" You lie ! I did not beat, I only kicked her," said
Hari Ram. " Well, she has had her revenge ; surely I
shall have mine."
He was standing up now, his hands and feet manacled ;
looking round, as if he thought to see her, but he was
disappointed. Just as his captors were marching him off,
a child crept out of the hut and raised a piteous wail.
" The cub," said one of the men ; " must we take
him too ? "
" No need," whispered another, " the tigress is not
far off."
Hari Ram heard, and, lifting up his voice, shouted
something in Hindustanee which made Rajhani shiver as
328 "HARI RAM," THE DACOIT
she lay on the ground ; but she rose boldly and called
back
"Be of good courage, Hari Ram, my beloved, life is
better than death. In captivity thou wilt learn wisdom."
" Five years at the penal settlement in the Andaman
Island ; that's the sentence, and every one says it's far
more lenient than he deserves. Perhaps it is, but I'm
awfully sorry for him. After the trial I went to see him
in prison, and told him so. He thanked me in his courto >us
way, saying, ' I shall not die, I am strong. When I come
out Rajhani may not perhaps think life i> better than
death,' and he smiled grimly."
Such was Gilbert's tale. He had just returned with
Mr. Macgregor from attending Hari Rain's trial, the result
of which both Vansie and Frank had anxiously awaited
all day.
"What could possess her to do it?" Vansie repeated
for the twentieth time.
"I have told you before," said Frank, the Commis-
sioner was spreading a net to catch him, and sooner or
later, unless he desisted from his predatory habits, he
would have fallen into his enemies' hands. If he were
taken in the act of robbery, and may be of murder, his
wife knew he would be hanged. From this she determined
to save him, and she certainly has done so. She acted
according to her lights ; what more could be expected
of her ? "
"I said as much to Hari Ram," put in Gilbert ; "but
he answered
" ' A woman cannot think a woman has no soul.' "
" What a shame ! " said Vansie.
Frank turned and looked at her, and their eyes met.
"Yes, it is a shame," he said, smiling.
Gilbert saw the look.
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 329
" Oh, that's it," he thought. " Well, it will be pleasant
to have her for my sister at least."
In due time this very thing came to pass. Frank's
long convalescence threw him and Vansie so much together
that it was not difficult to foresee the result. Frank fell
desperately in love with the planter's daughter, and though
socially he might have aimed higher if he had bided his
time, he nevertheless considered himself the most fortunate
of men when Vansie consented to be his wife. A few
days before the marriage, Gilbert came to him and said
" I don't think I will be an engineer, Frank ; one in
the family is enough. Mr. Macgregor has offered to take
me on his estate, initiate me into the secrets of tea and
coffee growing, and in time make me a partner. You
know I have a few hundreds of my own when I come of
age, so, if you'll consent, I should like to accept his offer.
I'm sure the life will suit me better."
Frank hesitated ; he would have preferred Gilbert
following a profession, but he saw he was set upon the
new plan, so he consented ; and when Vansie came to
live at Frank's bungalow, Gilbert took up his residence
with Mr. Macgregor. But long before this happened,
Hari Ram had been sent off to the Andaman Island to
work out his sentence ; and then a strange thing hap-
pened. Rajhani purchased carts and bullocks, and hired
men to load them at the mines and transport the coal to
the terminus at Giridhi. By degrees the business grew,
and she managed it with such energy that the company
decided to employ no one else for the conveyance of coal,
and every one said she would soon be a rich woman, that
the 500 rupees for which she had sold her husband were
daily multiplying by her wise administration. But her
existence was a hard one ; she was hated and despised by
her own people. More than once her life was threatened,
but the order had gone forth among the natives
" Let her alone ; Hari Ram will be his own avenger."
330 "HARI RAM/' THE DACOIT
A few months after her husband's banishment she
suddenly appeared before Vansie leading her eldest boy
by the hand and with a new-born babe slung at her side.
" See," she said proudly, " I have given him life and
two sons, and now I will make him so rich that when he
comes back he can give of his own to the poor, and need
be no longer a Dacoit."
And so her motive became clear to Vansie. She
laboured by night and by day to increase her store, living
meanwhile poorly, denying herself all save the very neo >-
saries of existence. A hunted look came into her eyes,
and as time went on she faded into a mere shadow of 1 in-
former self ; but the wealth increased, and her boys grew,
and were finer and handsomer than their fellows.
" My lord, thy servant craves forgiveness ; behold, I
received 500 rupees for selling thee into captivity. I
bring thee 5000 rupees, with bullocks and carts ; thou
left me with but one son, I bring thee two."
So spake Rajhnni, lying prostrate at Hari RAm's k-rt,
as he landed after his long exile. The remembrance of
those five years of misery was fresh upon him, the iron
had entered into his soul, and he spurned her from him ;
but a young man touched his arm and called him by his
name
"Are you blind, Hari Ram?" he said; "surely she
has done wisely. She has laboured for you in love and
patience ; you must see she betrayed you for very love, to
save your life."
The Hindu stood as one dazed ; through the mist of
superstition and anger a faint gleam of something better
crept into his soul. He had himself thought to redress
wrongs, had failed, and had suffered. He turned and
looked fixedly first at the woman still lying prostrate
before him, then at Gilbert Lindsay, who had spoken.
" Sahib," he said, and his voice trembled.
"HARI RAM," THE DACOIT 331
" You are too brave a man to despise her for what
she has done, Hari Ram," Gilbert continued. " See, she has
come to you in all humility, with children and wealth, so
that from henceforth you may live prosperously. Five
years is but a little span in a man's life. Lift her up
and go home with her and your children ; let this hour
be as the rising of the sun at the dawn of a new day."
Slowly, as a man feeling his way, Hari Ram stretched
out his hand, and lo ! it rested on the head of his eldest
born. A smile crept over the stern features.
"You speak as a god, sahib," he said. "The evil day
has surely passed away ; she was right, it is good to
live."
A JUNGLE DRAMA
BY GEO. MANVILLE FENN
CHAPTER I
" VI7 7ELL," said the major, " I hardly know what to
\Y do. It's very hot."
" Awful, sir," said Hollins, making an effort
to take out his handkerchief to wipe his face. " I feel as if
I were being stewed."
" Do you good," said the major smiling. " You'd be*
all the better for losing two stone weight."
" Yes," the great fellow sighed, in a melancholy tone,
and he looked down at his huge proportions and gently
shook his head.
" I should have thought you would have been content
to sit under a shady tree, and if you must kill something,
have a shot or two at the crocs as they come down to
meet the tide, or fish for whatever there is from the
banks."
"That's just what I should like, sir," said Hollins pathe-
tically. " I don't want to go. It's all Heecher's doin^.
He's such a restless little beggar. I have told him over
and over again that it's too hot to do anything."
Beecher looked up sharply and smiled.
The speakers were in their camp on the banks of the
Loongie River, stationed there to overawe a couple of the
native sultans, who had been trying to oust another Malay
potentate, and divide his dominions between them. The
said Rajah had appealed to the governor of the Straits
33'
A JUNGLE DRAMA 333
Settlements for help, and a couple of companies of the
Sooth Light Infantry were sent up the river in the Flash
gunboat to settle the matter, whereupon the two sultans
slunk back into their own dominions on either side of the
river. The troops were landed, and went into camp at
Ijong, the persecuted Rajah's capital of bamboo and woven
palm. The gunboat went up the river as far as she could
go, and, as Rob Rollins said, let off her poppers to startle
the crows, and then went back to Penang, leaving the
military to go on overawing the pugnacious Malays, which
they did by going on parade every morning to make a
show, after which they ate, drank, smoked, slept, and
played games, leading a lazy life in a country which seems
to have been made on purpose to do nothing in with all
your might.
" Humph ! " ejaculated the major, with his eyes half
closed.
" He's just like a mongoose,' grumbled Hollins slowly ;
"always jumping up and poking his nose into everything."
The major grunted.
" Look here, you two boys," he said, " I must have a
nap, and your chatter's a nuisance. Do you want to get
fever and sunstroke ? "
Beecher laughed.
" I only want to go up the river in one of the bigger
boats, sir, to be rowed up to the clear water beyond the
tideway. We should be under the attap awning all the
time, and I want to see if there are any fish to be caught,
or any birds or beasts to be shot."
" Well, I suppose you must. You'll be back before
dark, of course ? "
" Oh no ; I meant for us to camp for the night, and
come back to-morrow. There wouldn't be time to go up
far enough without."
" You'll get fever," said the major shortly. " The
jungle teems with it."
334 A JUNGLE DRAMA
" We should sleep in the boat," said Beecher.
" Humph ! Well, take care of yourselves, and don't
get into any trouble with the people."
" No fear, sir. Come along, Rob."
The big lieutenant rose with a sigh, the major sank
back in his seat under the awning stretched in front of the
native house he had made his head-quarters, and the sentry
on duty, the barrel of whose rifle was hot as he presented
arms, looked longingly at the young men as tiny walked
down to the bamboo landing-stage at the river side, and
selected one of the smallest and most attractive looking of
the nagas or dragon boats swinging by its fibre rope to a
post, with its crew of six on board squatting under the
palm-leaf awning, and chewing betel till their protruding
lips were scarlet with the juice.
Negotiations were opened up directly by Beecher, who
had picked up enough of the Malay language to converse
with a certain amount of ease; and he was all eagerness
and animation as he spoke, while the tawny Malay bo. it-
men remained apathetic in the extreme, and calmly enough
gave the young man to understand that it was hot, that
the work would be hard, and that it would be much better
to sit as they were on their heels chewing sireh, lime, and
betel-nut.
" But there'll be plenty of sport," said Beecher. " We
shall shoot and fish, and take any amount of provisions,
so that we can camp out comfortably high up the river
for the night."
That would be quite out of the question, it seemed.
The whole six would want to be back at the campong at
sunset.
" Why ? " asked Beecher impatiently.
Because they must be. What would their wives sav '?
"Gammon!" cried Beecher, flashing out the word in
a way that made the men stare. Not that they understood
its meaning, but they did the words in their own tongue
" They walked down to the bamboo landing-stage at the river side."
A JUNGLE DRAMA 337
which followed it. " I don't believe you've any one of you
got a wife."
The young officer's haphazard shot had gone home,
for a smile which broadened into a grin appeared on face
after face, as the boatmen looked at each other, their
sleepy eyes brightened, and, after a few words had been
exchanged among themselves, the Malay who seemed most
in authority turned to Beecher, and the negotiations were
at an end.
" Get plenty of food for your own use," said the young
officer. " We'll send our servants down with what we
want, and we'll start in an hour."
The Malay nodded, and the officers turned away.
" Lazy beggars," said Hollins slowly. " How you can
manage 'em, Dick ! I couldn't have done that."
" You could if you liked to try," said Beecher.
" Now then, let's see about our guns and tackle.
Where are those fellows of ours ? Never here when
they're wanted."
Beecher was wrong, for a keen-looking young fellow
who had been watching them ever since they left the
major's side, suddenly stepped forward and saluted.
" Want me, sir ? "
" Oh, there you are, Jerry. Here, we're going."
" Up the river, sir ? Yes, sir ; all right, sir. Guns,
rods and tackle, landing net. Reevolvers and cartridges.
Take anything to heat, sir ? "
" Yes, of course ; a good basketful of provisions.
Coffee, kettle, and cups."
" I see, sir."
" And we shall sleep in the boat to-night."
" Exactly, sir. Skeeter net, blankets, and waterproof.
Won't take a thin mattress, I suppose, sir ? "
"Oh no : that will be enough. Where's Mr. Hollins's
servant ? "
" 'Sleep, sir. Going to take him too ? "
Y
338 A JUNGLE DRAMA
"Oh yes," broke in Hollins ; "we'll have him. Can
you wake him up, Jerry, and tell him to get my traps
together, the same as you get for your master ? "
"Can I, sir?" said the man, with a peculiar smile.
" Oh yes, sir, I can wake him up."
"That's right ; then I needn't trouble about it."
"No, sir; of course not, sir. I'll sex- that everything's
put on board."
"The sooner the better," said Beecher. "Off with
you."
In little more than an hour everything was on board the
naga, which wa- pushed off from the landing-stage, the
officers and their servants being under the light palm-leaf
awning, and the crew sending the long light boat through
the water at a pretty good rate, for the tide was with
them, and in a very short time a bend in the river had
hidden boats, native huts and houses, and the l.i^t trace-
of the little military camp.
CHAPTER II
THERE was a certain amount of monotony about tin-
banks of the muddy winding river, but to Beecher, whose
high spirits seemed to effervesce within his veins and
through his nerves, all was bright and beautiful, and he
laughed to himself as he noted now that the Malays
seemed quite transformed, and they toiled away to force
the boat through the water, chattering till one of them
started a low sweet minor air, keeping time to the beat
of the oars, and the rest joining in.
"Come, old chap," cried Beecher; "rouse up and
load ; we may get a shot at something soon."
" All right ; you shoot then," answered Hollins, with a
yawn. " I'll wait till it isn't so hot."
A JUNGLE DRAMA 339
" It will be dark then, and you will not get a chance."
"All right. Don't want one. You shoot, and I'll
look on."
" Ugh ! what a lazy beggar you are ! "
" Tis my nature to, dear boy ; but I say, load my
gun while you're at it."
" What for, if you're not going to shoot ? "
" Perhaps I am, boy. Anyhow, I'll be ready. I've
been thinking."
" Sleeping, you mean."
" No, I don't. Thinking with my eyes shut."
" Well, what have you been thinking ? "
" I've been thinking that we're a pair of jolly fools."
" Of course ; but why ? "
" To trust ourselves with these cut-throat scoundrels
of Malays. Each one has his horrible wavy kris tucked
in the folds of his sarong."
" Pooh ! What of that ? Custom of the country."
" Yes, and it's the custom to dig it into any one they
don't like. Argal, as the chap in the play says, they don't
like us."
" Rubbish ! Aren't we going to feed them and give
them silver dollars ? "
" Yes, but they'd prefer to kris us for a set of infidels,
and pitch us overboard to the crocs."
"You've no faith in them, then ?"
" Not a bit."
The men kept on as if their thews and sinews were of
steel, and would have continued to send the boat along at
the same speed had not Beecher interfered and explained
to the Malay leader that as the tide was in their favour all
that was necessary was for two of the men to dip their
oars from time to time so as to keep the naga's head
straight. By this there would be more chance of a shot
or two being obtained, while they would all be fresher
when they reached the end of the tidal flow, where the
340 A JUNGLE DRAMA
river was shallower, and they would have the stream to
contend against.
The men laid in their oars, and for the next two
or three hours of the glowing day the boat drifted
steadily on, with the banks growing more and more
beautiful, and shot after shot offering itself in the shape
of gaily plumaged bird, monkey, or crocodile ; but
Beecher seemed to have grown as dreamy and thought-
ful as his companion, and let chance after chance slip by.
" Why, you're not half bloodthirsty to-day, young
'un," said Hollins, rousing himself up a little at last.
" Why don't you shoot ? "
"Don't know," was the reply. " Perhaps it's ln-cau^e
everything is so beautiful. It seems .1 shame to fire.
It's like ^lidiii}4 along in some dream."
"Was," said Hollins, quite briskly. "I feel more
awake now. There's another of those crocs ! Going
to fire?"
"No, I don't want to kill anything now.'
"More do I," said Hollins. "Let's have something
to eat."
" Yes, sir ; directly, sir," came from the stern of the
boat, proving that every word uttered had been heard.
" Now Joey, stir about and help."
The two men rapidly unpacked the basket of pro-
visions, and a few minutes later the young officers were
hard at work with knife and fork, while the Malay boat-
men looked on curiously and wondered what Jerry meant
to do with the wine bottle that he had been cooling by
wrapping it up in wet flannel, dipping it in the river
from time to time, and exposing it afterwards to the full
force of the sun as if to keep it warm.
By this time the progress of the boat had grown
slower and slower, the water less muddy, and as the
young officers bade their servants give certain portions
of the provisions to the boatmen and make their own
A JUNGLE DRAMA 341
meal, they noted with satisfaction that the end of the
tide had been reached. Thenceforth the river began
to grow bright and clear, there was a cessation of muddy
deposit upon the leaves and twigs which dipped below
the surface, and the oars were laid in by the men who
had been using them, a couple taking their places, one
in front, the other astern, each armed with a long bamboo
pole, with which they thrust the boat along against the
clear rippling stream, now broken up into shallows and
swirling deeps.
They had very little so-called sport, but plenty of
enjoyment in spite of Hollins's growls ; and that evening
they cast their rough anchor beneath the shady trees
of a little island in mid-stream, and soon after made them-
selves comfortable for the night, sleeping soundly, in spite
of their novel position and the savage noises which came
from the jungle on either side.
CHAPTER III
" Now then, wake up, old fellow ! " cried Beecher ;
" breakfast's nearly ready."
Rollins started up, to find that Jerry was making
the coffee ashore on the island, and soon after an excel-
lent meal was enjoyed, before the boat was poled up
stream once more.
" Likely places for fish," said Hollins again and again,
as the boat glided by some beautiful dark pool.
" Why don't you have a try, then ? " said Beecher.
"Oh, I don't know. Seems a pity to get lugging
the poor things out of the cool water into this broiling
sunshine."
" You'd have to catch them first," said Beecher drily.
" Yes, and I'm such an unlucky beggar with a rod.
342 A JUNGLE DRAMA
You look out, and if you see anything like a big trout
or a salmon basking, blow him out of the water."
"No fear," said Beecher coolly. "Nothing of the
kind here. I don't suppose there's much beside those
little gudgeony five-barbed fish they call Ikan Sambi-
lang."
"Ikan Sambilang!" said the head-boatin;ui, nodding,
smiling, and pointing downwards.
"You hit the bull's-eye, boy," said Hollins. "\\V11,
I'm not going to wet a line for the sake of catching fish
like them. But what rubbish to come."
" Rubbish, man ? Look on both sides. Did you
ever see anything more beautiful?" cried Beecher
enthusiastically.
" H'm ! tidy," said Hollins.
"Tidy! It's glorious. Fancy all this lovely line of
bank on either side, and no one to live here. What a
home for a country gentleman anywhere."
"Bah! All humbug, lad. Looks very pretty from a
boat, but inside it's all impenetrable jungle ; soppy and
squishy, and without a path."
The day glided by as they went gently onward higher
and higher up the river, whose sides still looked like vast
walls of verdure. They fished a little and shot less, for in
spite of all that they said the beauties around seemed to
have the effect of checking their desire to slay, so that
very few birds fell to their guns.
" But it's very jolly all the same," said Beecher, as the
great heat of the day began to grow less. " We don't get
many adventures, and I must shoot something. Why
hullo ! What does this mean ?"
Hollins made no answer, but started from his place
to look up the river, as a couple of banks of oars churned
up the surface, sending a large prahu round a broad bend
of the stream a quarter of a mile away.
"Don't know," said Hollins slowly. "She's full of
A JUNGLE DRAMA 343
armed men, for you can see the spear heads glistening.
Well, we mustn't go back, or they'll think we're afraid."
" Of course : we must go on."
" Yes, tell them to go on rowing or poling."
" Come, look sharp," cried Beecher. " Pull away, but
give that big prahu plenty of room."
" Of course : we must go on."
The men turned to their leader, who was frowning
and looking as if he had not heard, gazing the while
down stream.
" Do you hear me ? " cried the young officer angrily.
" Pull all of you, pull."
But the Malays sat perfectly still, looking gloomy and
sullen, while Beecher's eyes began to flash with resentment.
"Steady, boy," growled Hollins. "This is a trap."
" A trap ! What do you mean ? "
344 A JUNGLE DRAMA
" Look behind you, my lad, and don't jump out of
your skin."
"Another prahu ! " ejaculated the young officer, be-
tween his teeth, as he saw a vessel which looked to In-
fellow to the one gliding down stream, coming rapidly up
from some five hundred yards below. " Why, win-re did
that come from ? "
" Some tree-curtained inlet, I suppose," growled
Hollins. "What are we going to do?"
"Go on shooting; they're nothing to do with us."
"Aren't they? I'm afraid they are."
" Why do you say that ? " said Beecher huskily.
"Look at our men no: don't seem to notice them.
I'm afraid it's like this: we asked them to take us up tin
river into a trap, and the beggars have done it. Dick, lad,
they've uncovered the hilts of their krises cleared for
action."
" No, no, they wouldn't dare, with our men lying at
the camp."
" I don't know that. It looks bad. Our lads can't
help us now."
"Then we must help ourselves," said Beecher, through
his teeth. " If that dog there has betrayed us into the
hands of the enemy, curse him ! he shall have the con-
tents of my gun."
"Steady!" said Hollins gravely. "He know^ what
you are saying by your tone, and his right hand has stolen
to the hilt of his kris. This is a time for diplomacy.
We're not strong enough to fight."
" Strong or weak, I'm not going to give up without
making some one pay for it. Here, Jerry, you two get
hold of those revolvers, and if it comes to the worst, use
them."
"Got hold on 'em, sir. I've been slipping in the cart-
ridges ever since I see that boat."
"Then keep them out >f >ight," growled Hollins, in a
A JUNGLE DRAMA 345
deep voice. "We're not the first Englishmen who have
been in a tight place. Dick, lad, one of us'll have to
come the British officer and do a bit of the bully. What's
a Rajah or a Sultan to an officer of Her Majesty out for
his pleasure ? "
"That's the right form, Rob," said Beecher huskily.
"You must do the talking, then. They'll be afraid of
you."
" All right ; only stand by me and tell me what to
say."
"A kreasy boat in front, and a kreasy boat behind,
and six of these here smudgy beggars waiting to cut our
throats. Joey, this is coming out for a day's pleasure ! "
whispered Jerry. " I say, are you awake now ? "
" Never more wide in my life, lad. All right : never
say die. Form square."
CHAPTER IV
HOLLINS'S man supplemented his muttered command
" Form square ! " with a sharp double click made by the
lock of the pistol he held with one hand in his breast, and
this sound gave the final touch to his master's rousing up
to act with decision in what was evidently a very critical
case.
The next moment Beecher glanced at his friend ad-
miringly, for, to use his own words, " Rob was all there,"
and the calm British officer was speaking.
" Keep that pistol quiet and out of sight, sir," he said
sharply. " Sit down both of you."
And as his order was promptly obeyed he turned to
Beecher.
" Throw your gun in the hollow of your arm, old lad,"
he said softly. " We're out shooting. I think I shall
know what to say."
346 A JUNGLE DRAMA
As he spoke he began to fill his pipe, keeping his eyes
averted from the coming prahus, and then struck a match
and lit up, calmly sending forth great clouds of smoke,
before turning to watch the nearest boat, which was
coming with a rush.
"They'll run us down, Rob," whispered Beecher
huskily.
" No, they won't," was the calm reply. " They couldn't
come here at all ; the water's too shallow. Row well,
don't they ? " he continued, watching the prahu critically.
" Oh, how should I know ? " cried Beecher.
" Look then," said Hollins coolly. " Why, they've got
two brass pop-guns in their bows Lr/ahs, don't they call
them?"
" Look here, Rob," said Beecher hoarsely ; "what's
the good of going on like that ? We must make a running
fight of it. I'm going to present my two barrels at these
fellows of ours, and tell them to row for their lives. It
will be all down stream now.
" You're going to do nothing of the sort, my lad,"
growled Hollins. " We have not come to fi^ht. It would
only mean throwing away our lives. At the first menace
on your part these brown beggars would chance the crocs
and go overboard to swim to the nearest prahu. We must
brazen it out. Funk means failure, so cucumbers must
be red-hot pokers to the coolness we've got to show."
Almost as he spoke the prahu that was descending the
stream crowded with men and bristling with ra/or-edged
spears, was suddenly checked, the rowers then uttering a
shout and backing water in obedience to a sharp tap on
a gong.
So well was this managed that the light vessel was
brought up where the channel ran deep, a dozen yards
from the officers' boat, and kept there by means of
bamboo poles thrust down fore and aft.
The next moment an order was shouted to the boat-
A JUNGLE DRAMA 347
men, who lowered their oars with alacrity, and took a few
strokes to lay the little naga alongside the prahu.
" Now's your time, Dick ; let 'em have it. Ask what
the devil are they up to, in Malay."
" I thought I was to coach you," said Beecher in a
low tone ; " but all right ; " and he rose to the occasion,
shouting angrily at their men, and then as the naga grazed
against the sides of the prahu, he faced the swarthy-look-
ing fellow in gay plaid sarong and natty scarlet cap who
was frowning down at them.
" Hullo, old fellow," he cried. " What is it ? "
" Come on board, all of you," was the fierce answer.
" All right ; keep it up," said Hollins coolly, as he
puffed away at his pipe.
" I'm not going on that miserable craft as a prisoner,"
said Beecher stubbornly.
" No, but we must go as visitors. Needs must when
somebody drives. Keep it up, boy : we're fencing as to
who shall go first. All right, then, I will," he cried
cheerily, and, double gun in hand, pipe fast between his
teeth, he stepped up and sprang oyer the side on to the
split bamboo deck, facing the captain of the prahu and the
fierce-looking crew of Malays, and closely followed by
Beecher and their two men.
As Hollins, big, broad-shouldered, and manly, looking
the very perfection of a muscular young Englishman,
stepped on the deck, smiling, half-a-dozen of the spear-
armed crew darted forward, and as many hands were
outstretched to seize him by the shoulders, two of the
men catching hold of his gun.
In an instant his aspect was changed. A fierce frown
darkened his brows, and with an angry roar he swung
himself round, snatching his gun from the detaining
grasps, and clearing a space round him, as he cried in
English
" Keep back, you insolent dogs ! "
348 A JUNGLE DRAMA
Beecher's heart seemed to rise to his throat, as he
dropped the barrels of his own gun in his left hand, in
answer to the movement on the part of the Malays, , t
dozen spears being levelled at him, while the captain
looked on frowning, his hand resting upon his kris.
"Tell the captain here that we are British officers up
the river shooting, Dick, my lad, and say he is to order
his men to treat us with respect.
Beecher turned to the captain, and spoke to him
haughtily in the native tongue, making the- Malay frown
and sign to the men, who raised their spears on the
instant.
" Whose men are you ? " continued Beecher. " Sultan
Salah's ? "
The captain answered in the affirmative.
" Take us to him then at once."
The captain hesitated for a moment.
" Do you hear me ? " cried Beecher sharply.
The Malay made a gesture, gave an order or two, and
a couple of the men descended into the officers' boat, made
it fast astern, and as tjie second prahu came up, the first
was already in motion. Then a brief colloquy ensued
between the captains of the two vessels as they glided by,
and the second followed them down stream.
" Very prettily fired off, Dick, lad," said Hollins ; " but
put in a little more powder next time. There's nothing
like making a good bang."
" I'm not such a big gun as you are," said Beecher.
" You fire sharply, though, my lad. There : come
along ; let's look round the boat. Take it coolly ; we're
not krissed yet, and if we give it the sultan in his bamboo
palace in the same way he'll drop us both as 'taters too
hot for handling."
" I only hope he may."
The fierce-looking Malay crew looked puzzled as the
young men began to saunter about the prahu, as coolly
A JUNGLE DRAMA 349
as if they were invited visitors, examining the rolled-up
matting sails, the long sweeps used, and pausing long by
the two little brass swivel guns.
" Ask him how far these will carry ? " said Hollins.
Beecher turned to the captain and put the question,
making the man frown ; but he laughed directly after,
and replied.
"Humph! poor clumsy things," growled Hollins
contemptuously. " I could make better practice with a
big gas-pipe plugged at one end."
" I'm not going to tell him that," said Beecher ; " and I
shouldn't like to stand at the plugged-up end."
" No," said Hollins with a laugh. " It wouldn't be
very safe. Do best for a rocket-tube. Here, hold hard !
Look at those two paroquets, Dick. We must have
them."
A couple of brightly plumaged birds were crossing
the river at a goodly height and quite fifty yards away,
and quick as thought, Hollins raised his gun, fired right
and left, and brought them down, when a murmur of
surprise and admiration ran along the deck, as the birds
fell into the gliding stream, and lay fluttering and splash-
ing the surface.
" Tell our men to pick 'em up, lad. Bah ! Too
late ! " For all at once a hideous head appeared above
the surface, there was a sharp snap repeated, the birds
were gone, and the crocodile's head disappeared.
" Gone," said Hollins coolly, as he thrust in a couple
more cartridges. " Hullo ! where are we for now ? Going
to run us ashore ? "
Beecher looked up as wonderingly as his companion,
for the men, in obedience to an order, began to pull short,
doubling their strokes, and the head of the prahu was
turned for the leafy curtain on the right bank. Directly
after swish, swish, they were driving right through the
pendant boughs, which swept over the deck of the vessel,
350 A JUNGLE DRAMA
lightly brushing the heads of rowers and armed men, and
a minute later they were in a wide sluggish branch of the
river, of whose existence a stranger would have been per-
fectly ignorant, it being as thoroughly concealed by the
dense jungle as the clump of palm and bamboo built
houses in the distance, which formed the campong or
town.
At the first glimpse seen through the winding inlet
this seemed to be small ; but fresh houses and slu-ds
kept opening out, the sluggish stream widened, showing
scores of boats of various sizes, and to the young men's
surprise seven or eight elephants could be seen tethered
by the hind-leg to the stumps of tree-.
A loud shout arose as the prahu, closely followed by its
companion, glided into sight, and later on a few men came
running towards them from a crowd gathered in an open
space before one of the largest buildings, which looked
like an ornamental barn raised up on post-.
Something important was evidently going on, for there
was a strong body of armed men, some of whom were
gaily dressed, their natty caps, sarongs, and kerchiefs being
of brightly coloured silks, while their weapons Hashed in
the sunshine.
" Drawn up in honour of their English guests," said
Hollins, laughing.
" No, they have two men bound in the middle there.
Prisoners, I suppose," replied Beecher.
They had not much time given them for thought, the
prahu being cleverly steered alongside a row of bamboo
posts, upon which a kind of rough landing-stage had been
made, and the captain advanced to his prisoners and bade
them disembark.
"Certainly," said Hollins smiling. "Ask him where
his chief is."
The captain pointed, and as he did so a stunted sickly-
looking man, more quietly dressed than those around,
A JUNGLE DRAMA 351
detached himself from the crowd and came towards the
prahu, followed by about a dozen attendants and guards,
some bearing krises by the blade with the ornamental
handles resting upon their shoulders, while spearmen
closed up behind.
The party on leaving the prahu was followed also by a
guard of spearmen, and as they neared the chief approach-
ing from the crowd, the captain gave a peremptory order
and the party stopped short. But to his anger and astonish-
ment Hollins turned to his companion.
" Come on, lad," he said ; " we're not going to be
marched up as prisoners. We're visitors to his swarthy
highness," and he strode on with his gun resting in the
hollow of his arm.
" Beg pardon, sir," came from behind, in Jerry's voice ;
" aren't we to come too ? "
"Yes, of course," cried Hollins. "Both of you.
Come on."
"There, didn't I say so ? " cried Jerry, apostrophising
one of the spearmen, who checked his advance. " Don't
you hear what the guv'nors say ? "
Without a moment's hesitation the two servants made
a rush forward and took their places behind their masters,
who strode up at once to the group in front, the sultan
looking puzzled and clapping his hand to his kris, while
his guards levelled their spears.
"Never mind their skewers, lad," said Hollins; "come
straight on, and offer to shake hands. Tell him we're
English officers, and his men have brought us to see him.
I'll do the bounce and show."
Beecher played his part to the letter, and the puzzled
chief shook hands, unwillingly enough, and then as if
forced by his strange guests to offer them a friendly
welcome, he led them to the large house, signed to
them to enter, and in a few minutes later sultan and
guests were seated upon the mat-covered bamboo floor,
352 A JUNGLE DRAMA
partaking of a light meal, surrounded by attendants, the
two English servants well to the front and can-fully
supplying their masters' wants.
CHAPTER V
" WHAT'S going to be the end of this ? " said Beeclu r
at last, as they sat sipping excellent coffee and smoking
huge cigarettes, the tobacco being inclosed in a sheath
of palm sprout.
"Don't know yet," replied Hollins coolly. "Tin-
sultan will give us some tiger-shooting off his elephant >.
perhaps. No, no, not now, old chap," he added quickly.
" It's too hot, and too soon after lunch. What does he
say, boy ? "
"That he wishes us to come out and see something
that we stopped, by arriving as we did."
"Oh, very well. If he really is going to treat us
civilly we are at his service," cried Hollins, rearing his
bulky v form above the sultan, as he rose to his
" Here, give me your hand, my royal personage."
The sultan shrank as if staggered by his visitor's
freedom, but the great hand was extended before him,
and as if there were magnetic influence at work he slowly
raised his own, allowed it to be grasped, and by its help
rose erect.
" Come," he said, in his own tongue.
"Yes, I understand that," said Hollins.
" Be careful," whispered Beecher. " Don't overdo it,
man."
" Not lay it on too thick ? Must, or we shall never
make them understand the colour of the paint. Here,
you two lads keep close behind us," he cried, " and if
they try to stop you, call to me."
The sultan led the way out to the crowd, which
A JUNGLE DRAMA 353
remained evidently waiting for their chief's return, for
a low murmur arose as they approached, while the two
men kneeling bound in the midst, surrounded by guards,
raised their heads to gaze with a half-stupefied, half-wistful
stare in their direction.
" What does it mean ? " said Hollins, in a low voice, as
they followed the sultan's example and sat upon the seats
placed ready. " We didn't interrupt an execution, did we ? "
" Execution ? Oh no. Punishment of some kind,
though. Look at them. It can't be anything very bad,
for they're chewing their betel calmly enough."
" So bad, I'm afraid, that I shouldn't like to change
places with them. Well," he said aloud to a couple of
the Malays who like most of their fellows were glaring at
them fiercely, " what do you think of an Englishman ? "
"Think they don't like the look of you, old fellow,"
said Beecher smiling. " You're too big for their taste."
For every face they encountered was shadowed by an
unpleasant scowl, and it seemed as if at a word every
man's hand would have been raised against them.
" I don't know that we want to see these poor wretches
punished," whispered Beecher.
"No," said Hollins in a low growl ; "but we're in for
it now."
" But it is evidently serious. There's a man behind
them who looks like the executioner."
" Ah, that one," said Hollins. " I believe you're right :
but they all look like executioners to me, and as if they'd
make us take our turn next. Look here, lad, if they do
begin any of their tricks, I'm going to turn ugly and make
a rush for our boat. There she is, tied on to the stern of
the prahu."
" Pst ! Look," whispered Beecher, for the sultan
glanced towards them, smiled, and then made a sign to
his men.
Quick as thought a couple of Malays seized one of the
z
354 A JUNGLE DRAMA
fettered men, jerked him forward, and then forced him
back into a kneeling position.
The poor wretch was bare save for the cluck >aron^
bound about his loins, and he made no resistance, going
on calmly chewing his scrap of betel-nut, and remaining
erect in his kneeling position, as the men on cither side
hung away, holding each by his upper arm.
What followed was as rapid as it was horrible, the
executioner going through a series of movements with a
skill which seemed to prove him to be well accustomed to
his dreadful t.i-k.
Beecher longed to retreat, but sat there as if fascinated,
while the operator stepped swiftly and silently behind the
victim culprit, enemy, or murderer, who could say ? In
one hand the man had a tuft of white cotton-wool, in tin-
other a small pistol-handled kris, with a thin perfectly
straight blade.
He placed the cotton-wool like a pad upon the
prisoner's shoulder with his left hand, just in the hollow
by the collar-bone. Then with his right he passed the
sharp point of his straight kris between the finders which
held the cotton pad in its place, closing them so that the
little kris stood perfectly upright like a great nail waiting
to be driven home.
The next instant the right hand delivered a sharp blow
upon the hilt of the kris, and it was driven right down the
victim's chest, and as sharply drawn out again through the
cotton-wool, which wiped away every trace of blood, a^
the wretched creature fell forward upon his face without a
struggle pierced through the heart.
Beecher sat firm as a rock ; but as the kris was with-
drawn a spasm seemed to shoot through his own brea-t.
and a thick mist gathered before his eyes like a veil.
It was apparently minutes before the cloud lifted, and
Beecher once more saw clearly, shuddering as if with
cold, as the executioner was withdrawing hi> kri> through
A JUNGLE DRAMA 355
the cotton pad, and he uttered a faint gasp as he realised
the fact that this was the second victim falling forward
upon his face.
There was a peculiar hissing noise behind where
Beecher sat, as if some one had drawn his breath sharply
through his teeth, and he turned quickly, to see the two
regimental servants looking very white ; but their faces
were as hard as if cut in wood.
" Horrible ! " said Rollins, in a low, hoarse voice ;
" and the people all looking on as if it were a fete ! Ugh !
I can stand leading our lads in a charge, and get warm at
it, but this gives me the chilly blues."
" Yes, horrible ! " said Beecher ; " and that Rajah sits
smiling as if he enjoyed it."
"Well, you haven't much room to talk; you 'sat
through it all as coolly."
" I ? " exclaimed Beecher.
" Yes ; I watched you. Well, I suppose it's all over,
and we may as well come to an understanding with my
lord here. I want to go. But I say, I hope he didn't see
me showing the white feather. Did he ? "
" The white feather ! Nonsense ! You didn't move a
muscle."
" Couldn't if I'd wanted to. Here : the sultan's
speaking to you."
Beecher turned and faced the smiling chief.
"There are more to die," said the latter coolly.
It was on the tip of the young man's tongue to say,
" After we have gone ! " but he checked himself, feeling
that they would lose all the prestige they had earned by
shrinking now, and he simply bowed his head, rising as
the sultan did, and walking in company with his string of
attendants, some of whom bore the stools upon which they
had been seated.
" Where are they going now ? " growled Hollins ; " to
one of the prahus ? "
356 A JUNGLE DRAMA
It seemed like it, for the sultan stopped short opposite
one of the vessels lying off the inlet shore.
Beecher caught his lower lip between his teeth, and
gave a quick glance about him, taking in all he could with-
out moving his head. There were the two prahus in front,
crowded on the shore side with men, and a short distance
to the left was the boat in which they had ascended the
river, quite empty, for the crew were now in the first
prahu. There were plenty of other boats near, lying tied
up to posts, or the trees which overshadowed much of the
inlet ; but nothing seemed to offer an easy way of escape
unless they could reach their boat after dark, cast off, and
trust to the stream to bear them down to their camp.
"Seems to me," growled Hollins softly, breaking in
upon his companion's musings, " that we fellows have only
to put on a good face and bounce about a bit, to make
these swarthy scoundrels respect us. I want \<> know.
though, whether his High and Mightiness here will let us
go peaceably after he has finished his show. Why, Dick,
lad, we seem to have dropped in upon jail delivery day."
" What do you mean ? " said Beecher sharply, as he
heard Jerry once more draw a sharp hissing breath.
" More prisoners. They're bringing them out from
that hut yonder."
" Ah ! " exclaimed Beecher, in a low excited whisper ;
" the wretches, the fiends ! They're surely not going to
kill those two girls. Oh, I can't stand this ! "
" Quiet, man ! " growled Hollins. " It's as much as
our lives are worth to interfere."
" My life will be nothing to me if I sit here and see
this horror. Here, Rajah. Those women ; they are not
going to be killed ? "
" Yes," said the sultan, showing his teeth in a pleasant
smile. "They escaped, and were brought back. My
wives."
" But to be killed ? "
A JUNGLE DRAMA 357
" Yes. They will go to the river ; and there "
He laughed pleasantly, and placed his hands together,
the wrists touching, the palm and fingers widely apart,
and then brought them together sharply, in imitation of
the closing of a crocodile's jaws.
" But it is horrible ! " cried Beecher excitedly. " The
English Government will never allow this."
" Quiet, man," whispered Hollins excitedly. " What
can the English Government do now ? "
" It's duty," whispered back Beecher excitedly. " We
represent it : two officers of her Majesty's forces."
" Four of us altogether," said Hollins sternly, " stand-
ing on the edge of danger ourselves. Why, man, there
must be five hundred of the sultan's people here."
" I don't care if there are five thousand," said Beecher
hoarsely. " I say it shall not go on."
" I thought I was to do the brag and bullying, lad ? "
" Will you stand by me ?" panted Beecher.
" Of course."
" Your gun is loaded ? "
" Yes."
" Jerry Joe."
" Yes, sir," said the former sharply, and his com-
panion's lips moved.
" You have the revolvers ? "
" Yes, sir."
"Loaded?"
" Every chamber, sir."
" Stand by us, then, if we have to fight."
" Right, sir," said the man coolly, and Hollins's man
nodded his head and tightened his lips till they looked
like a thin red line drawn tightly over the lower part of
his face.
" It's horribly rash, my lad, and we've no right to inter-
fere with a Rajah's domestic institutions," said Hollins in a
dry, harsh voice that did not sound like his own.
358 A JUNGLE DRAMA
" You can't sit still and see those two women
murdered."
" Don't suppose I can," was the reply. "What shall
I do ? Shoot the Rajah ? "
" I don't know yet. Wait and see. Yes, I know.
Here, Jerry."
"Sir."
" There are crocodiles in this part of the river ? "
"Yes, sir, waiting to take them two poor things under.
Both pretty, sir, and don't look sixteen."
" Listen, then. If I give the word, dare you *\vnn to
our boat and cut it loose ?"
" No, sir."
" What ? "
" Don't dare, sir, because of them great ugly eft* ; hut
you're my officer, sir; just you order me to, and I'm
blessed if I don't try."
" Good words, matey," said Joe huskily. " If you don't,
I will."
"Then if it comes to the worst, and I say, ' In
the Queen's name/ dash in, cut the rope, and bring
the boat ashore. Open your knife in your pocket
now."
" Tis open, sir 'case I wanted to stick it into one of
these brutes o' niggers."
" Good. Wait till the people are watching those
women, and slip the revolver into my hand."
" Right, sir."
Almost at that moment, while the two wretched girl*
were being brought, shrinking and trembling, toward-,
where the sultan was seated, one of them seemed to have-
suddenly realised the horrible fate which awaited her :
possibly she caught her first glimpse of the Hushing water,
and she uttered a wild shriek that as Jerry afterward-,
said went through him like a knife.
"That's done it, Dick," growled Hollins in a whisper.
A JUNGLE DRAMA 359
"That's done it. I'm wound up now. Say when you're
ready."
In the midst of the excitement, and every one's atten-
tion centred upon the girls, the second following her
companion's example shrieking and struggling wildly,
as each was dragged towards the sultan by a couple of
his followers, Beecher felt the handle of a revolver thrust
into his hand, which closed upon it, and placed it in the
waistband of his trousers.
The shrieks of the two unfortunate victims were now
horrible, and as they were dragged close up to where the four
Englishmen sat, thrilling with horror, panting with sup-
pressed energy, they saw the girls stretch out their arms
to the master whose wretched slaves they were, and
mingled with their shrieks, which pierced the utter silence
around, were inarticulate appeals for mercy.
The next moment the cries ceased as if a hand had
been laid upon each pair of quivering lips, for Beecher
suddenly sprang to his feet, shouting " Stop ! " and turned
to the sultan.
" Sir," he cried hoarsely, " we your guests appeal to
you as Englishmen to pardon and spare these poor
women, however much they have offended against you."
Every eye was fixed now upon the speaker, as he
stood there bareheaded and quivering with excitement,
and looking for the first time in his life, big, almost grand,
his face flushed, his breast heaving, every inch an English-
man and soldier of his Queen.
" Sit down," said the sultan, smiling up at the speaker
in the most imperturbable manner ; and though Beecher
did not see it, Rollins did : his hand stole softly to the
folds of his silken sarong, where it rested upon his kris.
" Sit down."
' And see this cruel murder ? I cannot, sir. I appeal
to you to spare their lives."
" Sit down," said the sultan in the same low tone ;
360 A JUNGLE DRAMA
hut the smile was as ferocious as that of some beast of
prey. " Sit down, or
His eyes flashed luridly now, and there was an omin-
ous rustle from behind, which made Hollins give a sharp
look back at the guards.
44 Then In the Queen's Name ! " shouted Beecher, raising
his double gun, and before the words had left his lips
Jerry leaped past him, and in a series of bounds reached
the edge of the water to disappear with a tremendous
splash.
As Jerry made his first bound his m.isU-r was in the
act of rushing towards where the two girls were lu-in^ now
held down upon their knees by the men who had di.iu
them to the sultan's feet, when quick as lightning tlu-
savage chief made a blow at him with his kris, which Ml
short, for, driven with the full force of Hollins s tremendous
arms, the butt of his double gun crashed against tlu- side
of the tyrant's head, and he rolled over and over among
his attendants.
This dating attack on majesty seemed to have a
paralysing effect upon the group of spearmen and sword
bearers, who hung together for a few moments in uttci
wonder and dismay.
They were moments well utilised, for in that brief
space of time the men who held the girls went over, two
from blows dealt by Hollins with the butt of his gun, the
others from strokes delivered by Beecher and Joe with t la-
revolver he had drawn.
All this without a shot being fired, and for the moment
the prisoners were free.
Fortunately for their would-be defenders, the girls
were not timid creatures ready to faint, or cripple the
arms of those who fought. For they sprang to their feet
and looked wildly round for an opening by which to
escape.
" To the naga to the naga ! " shouted Beecher, who
A JUNGLE DRAMA
363
saw his man in the act of reaching the bows of the light
boat, and as an arm rose above the water there was the
flash of a knife-blade in the sunshine, and the boat was
free and being urged with the stream towards the shore.
The girls dashed along the bank, fully grasping the
fact that escape lay in that direction, and it was time, for
" The girls dashed along the bank."
a yell of suppressed rage now arose, as the Malays re-
covered from their panic, spears were levelled, krises
flashed in the light, and they commenced their attack.
But their movements were slow and stealthy like those
of the tiger preparing to spring, for three Englishmen
faced them, each with deadly weapons ready to flash out
destruction, as they backed in the direction of their boat.
" Don't fire, boys ; don't fire," growled Rollins. " Give
364 A JUNGLE DRAMA
the girls time to get on board. Look back, Joe, has
Jerry got it ashore ? "
" Pretty close, sir," said the man shortly. " Hooroar !
One of the girls has jumped in. Yes, there goes the
other. Won't leave us in the lurch, will they ? No.
Hooroar again ! they've took to the oars and are holding
her in. Jerry's getting ashore again, legs and all, sir
not touched."
"Here you are, gents," came in that individuals
familiar accents. "Let 'm have it hot, and make a run
for it."
"No!" roared Hollins. "Keep your formation till
we're abreast ; then retire singly. You first, Joe."
There was a bristling hedge of spear-points approach-
ing, and a snarling roar of foioa POM^ while suddenly a
spear was thrown from the first pi aim, but only to fall
short of the retreating party, yards away upon the bank.
Still that was the signal for a shower.
"They won't hurt," growled Hollins. "But if the-e
brutes begin Ah, I expected it. Steady ! From the left.
-Fire ! "
A shot flashed from Beecher's gun as the spears began
to fall about them, and a man dropped. Another fell
from Hollins's fire, and another as Joe's revolver cracked.
Then Beecher fired his second barrel, and drew his
revolver.
At the same moment a dripping hand snatched the
empty gun from his grasp, and a couple of cartridges
from his sporting bandoleer.
"Good man and true," growled Hollins, as he lired.
" Aboard now, Jerry ; take more cartridges, and cover
our retreat. Steady, and keep up a good covering lire.
Steady, Joe, steady."
The firing was kept up, and the next minute they were
abreast of the boat, which was held to the shore by the
two brave girls.
A JUNGLE DRAMA
365
" Right, man. Aboard now," cried Hollins calmly, as
a shot from the boat's stern told that Jerry had begun
work ; and directly after a sharp crack came from the
bows, telling that Joe had reached his place, men drop-
ping at every carefully aimed shot.
" Hah ! " ejaculated Beecher, as a spear passed through
his sleeve.
"Crack !"
"Hurt, lad?" growled Hollins. "Aboard if you
can."
" Nothing much. Follow quickly," said Beecher,
between his teeth, and .the next moment Hollins stood
alone upon the shore, to fire both barrels of his reloaded
gun in succession, before turning and leaping aboard, the
impetus given by his heavy body sending the boat yards
from the bank, while the two girls began to row.
366 A JUNGLE DRAMA
As soon as the last man left the bank the Malays
rushed forward and began to hurl their spears, nearly
every one striking the boat, till at a word from Hollins a
little volley was fired, and, four less in number, the enemy
shrank back.
" Now lads," said Hollins coolly, " let us have your
pieces ; we'll keep up the fire. You take two of the oars,
and help the girls. Send her along with a ru>h, for
they're beginning to unmoor that first prahu. Dick, lad,
we must begin practice now on the men at the sweeps, or
the game will soon be up. Oh, for half a company of
our brave lads ! But good heavens, man ! are you much
hurt ? "
"No; only a cut, which bleeds a deal. Tie your hand-
kerchief round, and I can fire steadily enough. They're
unmooring the prahu. Can you hit that man casting off
the rope there ashore ? "
Crack !
" Yes, that's downed him," said Hollins coolly reload-
ing. " Hah ! we're out of the reach of spears for the
present.
" Till the prahu comes after us to run us down,"
muttered Beecher. " Well, if ever they hear of it at
home they'll say it was bravely done."
CHAPTER VI
" CEASE firing," said Hollins, after carefully wiping the
breech of his piece, " and no bugle to sound. Are you
all charged ? "
" Yes yes, sir," was the reply.
"That's right. I'd better relieve one of these ladies,
for we must row for our lives. Hut how are you, Dick ? "
" Sick as a dog, old chap," said the young man
smiling ; " but I haven't time to faint. I can take a shot
A JUNGLE DRAMA 367
now and then, though, when they come in sight again."
For as he spoke they swept round a bend, and the busy
scene of excitement about the prahus and sampans, into
which armed men were springing, passed from their sight.
" Good ; I'll pull then. Wish we had a pair of sculls
that I could take so as not to interfere."
" Why not put one of these oars over and I'll steer ? "
said Beecher faintly.
" We want no steering now, my lad," cried Hollins ;
"the thing is to go full speed for the hanging boughs,
and rush through into the open river. Here, hi ! What's
the matter ? " he cried excitedly.
" Better come and pull, sir," said Jerry excitedly ;
" these here dark misses want to go another way, I think."
The men had seized oars, and the girls dipped theirs
vigorously, one of them pulling a few strokes with all her
might, and then raising her blade and turning to look
ahead, saying a word or two at intervals to her toiling
sister in distress, who, after a few more dips, began to
pull again with all her might.
The result was that the next minute the prow of their
light boat was straight for what seemed to be the tree-
studded bank, into which they rushed, with a sharp
rustling sound as the hanging boughs swept over the
roof of the palm-leaf awning, and they glided on into
the gloomy shadow of a winding waterway some ten
yards wide, the rowers softly dipping their oars, and
one of them holding up a hand to enforce silence.
The sign was needed, for not many minutes had
elapsed before there were shouts, the heavy beating of
sweeps, and it was as evident to those in the boat as if
they could see that a prahu had gone by the hidden
opening through which they had passed, and was making
at full speed for the river.
Hollins drew a deep breath, and passed his hand
across his forehead.
368 A JUNGLE DRAMA
" A respite, lad," he said ; " but as soon as they see
the main river clear they'll be back. Ask the girls if the
men are to row again."
The question was not necessary, for one of the pair
now signed to the two servants to resume their pulling, and
the boat's speed was redoubled, while Beecher changed
the form of his question, and the girl laughed.
"No," she said, shaking her head. " Prahu can't
come along here. Water not deep enough."
" But the sampans ? "
1 Yes, and boats like this," said the girl. "Then you
shoot and kill."
As she spoke she signed to the men to stop rowing,
and the naga was turned into a side opening, and altn
a few minutes into another and another. For to the sur-
prise of the young officers they found that this side of
the river was one wide swamp full of dense vegetation,
through which there was a perfect network of sluggish
streams, forming a very labyrinth, in and out of whose
mazy waterways they now rowed on and on in almost
perfect silence, not a sound being heard but the dip of
the oars and the soft washing of the agitated water among
the straight columnar trunks which rose out of the bl.uk
mud.
They went on for hours, till with the darkness the
strange croaking and shrieking night sounds of the forest
began. After many windings, they were amongst hanging
boughs again which swept the top of their palm cabin,
and the next minute were clear, with the bright stars over-
head and the boat being carried seaward by the rush in-
stream.
Suddenly Hollins started and pointed to a light about
a hundred yards away, and the girls began to row towards
the opposite bank to avoid what was evidently the mooring
light of a good-sized vessel anchored in mid-stream.
The moments which followed seemed to be the most
A JUNGLE DRAMA
crucial through which they had passed, for they were
forced by the sharp current very near a prahu, whose
sKies loomed up darkly, and at any moment it seemed
that spears might come whirring into the boat
But they cleared it unseen, to encounter fresh dangers
from sunken trees, shoals, and other obstacles which they
jould not avoid in the darkness, and before they had
drifted many hundred yards below the enemy there was
a sharp jerk, a grinding sound, and they were fast upon a
shoa , the boat only becoming more immovable with the
efforts made to get her free.
There was nothing for it but to wait till daylight, when
their mortification they found that a thrust or two in
right direction was sufficient to set them free. Then
the oars were seized and once more they rowed for life
and in full expectation of seeing the prahu they had passed
:ommg at full speed round one of the bends.
Within an hour their expectation was fulfilled, for one
the girls suddenly started up and pointed to the long
light vessel with its oars flashing in the rising sunlight as
she came on at a speed double that which with every
nerve strained they could get up in the naga.
"The game's up after all, Dick," muttered Hollins.
" Well, we must do what we can with the guns. Plenty
of cartridges, haven't we ? "
Beecher looked at him wistfully, and slowly shook his
head, but the next moment a thrill ran through his breast,
and he rose up in his place, waving his hat.
"Saved!" he shouted. "Pull, lads, they'll see us
soon."
Beecher was right, for a signal was made from a large
boat a quarter of a mile down stream, manned by many
rowers, and with the barrels of rifles glistening in the sun.
For at the first sign of day breaking a strong party
with the regimental surgeon had started under the major
in search of the missing officers, and it was none too soon,
2 A
370 A JUNGLE DRAMA
the help arriving in the midst of a brave defence
made by the occupants of the naga.
A few shots from the rifles of the rescue party win-
sufficient though, to turn the tables, the prahu, after tin-
loss of about a dozen men, beating a retreat up stream.
Two days later the sultan sent a couple of prahus full
of armed men to demand the return of his wivi
Hollins and Beecher were both present when the
sultan's officers were received in audience, and Beeclu-i ,
whose arm was in a sling, acted as interpreter between
them and the major.
" If I did what I liked, sir," said the young officer.
" I'd bid them tell their master to come and fetch the f^irls."
" Well, that's not a bad i; . cher, " said the
major, smiling ; "it sounds British. Tell them that.'
Beecher spoke out at once, and the embassy went
as Hollins said, " with a flea in its ear."
THE IAD
Printed by BAI.LANTYNK, HANSON & Co.
Edinburgh & London
3 ' 158 00903 1864
