ALY ae,
Fae
Fn pn en Postpone ao Pe Nae fie ae et ae : rte = iN 5 ie le ties
he RR ante Falta ghee Ne tialht nT Reg h Dee taiac gt Ae” Bey Go ete
a ee 5 Fas tag hye te To Tae Cai im = f :
aa a Aree te ice eam - et Petetof ess reps ne PR Ki Heo Fr he Beatin tact Mite AO EP be oils A-line ge Mua atte lm lak Meln Maite Taher hied afta late het Mote stoheh eh Micbs hs
Se Feast ohn he the RM mieten en ata a Pe F ta aed : Baim Bret Nagai x Ms Tes Poe Ren Se Mn Rag ph Raw ag aE whe tin ae Pe ig hen ee fen hilt walle Pee TT i on Gotha Me BH ial Pew Rk THe Maha he Dalia Ah ae Rod Ped of Ahm Meehan ® Airset
’ Tee Sin Su Stes Pag Ban at Ink ean hr tes Mth Fm Tim tes th eae a Pan i Mano Ps rn mi Moe He So hap is ae a Mae hn an ot COM 2 Me Tae a TaN hem anf eg Ba an Pactra Bf et Pei act ete in nd ow Ba ol shim Wet eT aig Hime Hae atin Doral tty Tete SoH
PaP RFRA ah Shea Ee ha Pee Reser Be fie PP Pa Pa ae en a Papa Ng TS n> Banas achat ee ti a Beals lc tn Ps Henle Pe deMigg OS -Poha Sele. Pa Pave tasy Ha Pah aRe Watt a ile Pate Tse Neo Heel al <fortn ir itn Heth Gia te hein ite“ ne »
Bn htig PaPin Nathan Tee Paria Sn Nem Ds ibis ag Po Sic Ma te Tig Phen Be ce iS ag Tea Tae Pa eas hs Say Be lhe Tale ate he fine aR haite a ht tothe Cee eel bie eel ag Fon Pea? ic gt gt He Better Oe Nee othe lhe Nar tn Ha P= leet eH
So inn Moos Sells Sas Tem aw Wwe Rigs a Ds Ma Sin De can IS Hie am Be Eaton Fat tn Bi ase an tm e Pinle e a hs Pans a <n ea Pane athe Pon fos Oe aa He lo Ha Cec in Fam Nm Baai th Pain Co its ee
5s Ya Mh Pan nt gD Man Jat Sesh ng Hn Pm Fn Pi hon sn Mie Mr Ws Haas Ma Bn fT ate Mas Hie Mie et gg a DMM cc Hie Ph
Nas T= Dm eantha We, FBO fis thag fy ec Ho fs Pa Ha hn "ha Mt at Won Pre a Te ain Ms Pr Masta Pte Tea Maite a Hagin Hn Ma Matta ee Rn ae Panton Te ap ee tn ae Bas Pasa Tin Ha Hoenn de mpeg
a5 PSTN a Tree Pip Fin? aS La Oa aT a Te Bn is Pine Mit Ttsilhn ae Tas Ths nt Men hth aa ha ar a ig Hem Pr ae gate nn ae eae Paar is Tale Same a hella
Pa De Be he Rm Tas sa a Rage fa Mh Hw hn Sng Pla aa ha Ean hp a ig Pv tw hs Ps ee ae = Pm Fe Ba En Mine Hin Reg Marlin he Be ne gS Te Hen Bip es Pee oa Rem eS ther
wc Jonas Teen Mag sem teed w Rea Massy Pe he le hm Pains a Rest hee Ba Hta Praee ee ti ig tP aTR Tet ge hag By Flom nage Sam Tae hae PS Per Hah ae RSet age thn Man oe the Fam Tom
Ax ag Pafhe the To Mn he Pe Mag ttin Pathe Ma Ho Teg Bes Pe awe Baer lin Pasta See sid Pm tea Pam Mes es the Ma TS Tas hn Him em Pe ate cc Pa ins ian em mite hoe ag eg Mn Mes Me Pom
Mae ig Uin Nan ea ais Bhs a BS Rahs Halles ne in Ban Bag Pra thn Nas Sing ho ST Mie tgs Heer Sie Bisa Ui Sin Hage Tee Ming Foe aa ad Re a ie Ma tgs Mas aw Paes ashe ie!
Se Mfit a
Fate eit
YeagePhes Fhe Fg Beet ee
= Res nn, Os Rw Ths Cas Pe ae ; t
He Fea me Mg PFT a an BF eee Me a oP Men tm ab ae Raha Bp ag BF he Net Fig Pan Pn PT Ta Ma al alte Fae iy Sei ta tie Ta a hg ie ane Fang Fete Fig Pah an ae Rae Se FNPF The Par ae Pn ae la ree Thin a Fn Se Feta
True eth ethan Tefen Ss Nr Thm Som Pim Fi Haglan To igs eng Ma Pe Mie Tm Mee Pe Fee Po eet eR a a a hp a Py en an i tee he Pan Po ee en tee Mat
eae Hagley ding a Sm eee Pit he Bh ae am Name a 1 2 Sines hae ae Done Hew The ae Fines FF mM age Pig Rae a Ha Me hw hm Te gs Pn he Nigel in T=!
ae
as
Se ee
~peralet-i-P-!
‘J w- rhePefeb fo F
ten aK
2. ete ae Fae =
sg Te Roa ie Pein Bate aT oP
nF eR RE he ahi, Hn a Se et LEGO a of Megs Fo BNR tS eh
TaMag tia Manin H en ata cata Regh aM gS EM as Seine Fin tin Mie a Rh Min Ts
2 ad | =
Cae ot Fie a
Tas itg Sm Pn Bem TEP aie Ta tae Pe Hele Me RE . :
. Sn Fha Seah es et ‘7 NN agi gC Gel Rath SaetheoT a ht>
Ft el Rit HIN Rieti n ete Betis a tele
PAV LOA Ting OP Fo TAL elt Shara Rye Veet Need.
eet eh Me Teh ate eta P Mate T Ne al to Feat fete
aR Ret Rig Sg-AA? Aylin
Fath Ate it
Heal te hah
3 a
£ Dak SAvhete
he Piet"
Y taatied bal gel7
: fT wit Ps linits ts?
9 Ree ahs a ben ele thot Ree he tine el + RP eh a ne
Sa eis Rote BNR Fe A Sth Pe Bel. Nett Phe tggitn ee
ne frets fie the he Bot Pe Ss Figs eee te
By ethane ihr’ Baa Gato BP Fee Pa
ela SIL 2 Mele a ten Ptah SPS
BRKT ae ge Meg tate Gant Fo Mee
ee ee
ao BF hia RS Be a ew
Fat aE ie tee eet
Fo aXe &
ine ange Fe Pe Tee Tel ig eit
tn tg RPS haat Pee
Toes Faget Ene Pies Dm tn In Th Mins Peay gg Pe Pine Has Fs M8 Fe eg aR TO en MG Bim the Ra eet PTF as i mis thn Rew Pea Bi 2 z
igs Fag, Pc Hae Tree Wi Phan Tae nie Ec Bea than BS nee sing Oe ag Hag He Tha Fan Ia the ge Inn FP eae He Min Mae Min Dp iy hay Tea ihe Tin Teton Mel ny Fit Ben ae ig PH ’ Y te yn Hm noi Rigt ” Sie Pa Matar Mags
Pty Bate ts yee he eo He all ig Pa Pn een ee aie aah ~ Oat aa he Metts Para Pacino eas Nate Pg ag Be Minn toe iw a ns ee ge he A i y > at
ihn Fit
Danae Bee tae? SS Tae Re KPa there? Bente eta tet aie
. = Wag ihn ce Pen tien Hee Meas en 2 Om, Bap mine Pes Manito Pennings tot Vw tee ane, Reiter 8 pt ef AE ee A,
ee ae he She Fee ep is Ree thn Rapti th Pn tn Satie Mae Page Ta ts. Hg Pag hate Rg Ise -* . l= en: rE
> Shey Say Fe ta ee BS Rie i Miah on Mee Se an Reg Eo Se he? a nF i a oe Pe a ay iy Pi Mh Yaga eT a Tie Toa ee Sg ah Fea he Tm Tm teen he Mg Nm tre tragy hee ae A gh Bae oS Nae il ny ane a HE hae a hae So a
as Py Oe ee ete. * VRP La Re he ease oe eet Pea eRe Fe efi NS Mig Hr — a Fe MR ge Fy ny Be cag En Nig Han ie att oe a HS MM Bc Noi Tze Eis fm
=: : Paha im mi eH BENT ME the Sat I Sem Gn lm Nah ms Sty Sm hee Fao
an Tea Gi hens ag ge Pig oh Re aye ee ae hw et a eae ey
eatin Ne ee Eh Es r
Aetitntsae
ae
rp te Ihe the Fo Me FF ag Pm = 2
ee ie Ta Tn Rae PH Bees a fa He ta hy TE Pee
a PME hfe tks Po Fe tete? = toRaP SPetess
ote ele iie Pepe = fee tel Meds tel
12 tale talin Gen Bote he AAMg?
Sy AR Ae
Bh nana Cal oPget ote tee
i Mtat
Pe cbc Behe Beco P= tha eee Mn fee eet he Pn ha highs Poe Po FP He ee ‘ - : : : . a Po lashed i ip Sacer all . : aFasetonehey—"
n pm hn ne eather aK nie Ba Cefn vic Ra ercit ogi tedr —o
a
apt es ion Bis miter oa ace ge to Matty Cente 8 a8 og ANG ot Ete ne To i A i ae
Yan th Di ag i Bag ee a Pe eh ee ae ete “aM
heii in: ae im Ds fo Gee gO eX * Hotes fan tte
ae, r 2 5 im Wag as Hea ke Bie Pte ee 2 2 Be Rea foe etn he ae fe on aa 5 tan es nella Py a Ra tn ea Tei Fant oi . Comte a Siete Veh 2
Aslirete Ue Pee Fos Sn the fie hile? MP mete Re = mpm Dc Rig YP ala D hPa tele tela PAPAS EAE Pe tee es el ha ’
nape pat oP te Bata eRgt ia Nethe i ndaPy PEP hatioe FP
2 PTs tt
A iy! oad 4 - sai 2
rhage 5-47 usta firneras eB Sz ; p : : 6 hae, Es
wanda nt Ty acimancet ell seer : F TBA ass eR ERS bE HS PERE AN bt rent aty es aa es
TAR
ee vie ane ie
| vi
Ui, ik ret Mi lanh ve ria Hon ne "
il la Kt ies { a Ne
aA ie | ‘
‘¥ ‘)
i) \
i]
vt a a
Os, eae. 4
Vin) Bey op dd
LJ
=
¥
- ‘qual =
-
Mf
““¢MY EMPEROR!’ HE SAID, ‘MY EMPEROR!’ ”’—(See page 275).
SPRINGHAVEN
A Gale of the Great War
) sae”
By RY Di BLACKMORE
AUTHOR OF
“LORNA DOONE”’ “CRIPPS THE CARRIER” ‘ ALICE LORRAINE ”’
‘““THE MAID OF SKER”’ ETC.
"Eriynsopat apgpotipwy dpmoiwc
ILLUSTRATED
BY ALFRED PARSONS AND F, BARNARD
NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE
1887
i ee
=
Se SSS
R. D. BLACKMORE’S NOVELS.
ALICE LORRAINE. A Tale of the South Downs. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents.
CHRISTOWELL. 4to, Paper, 20 cents. |
CLARA VAUGHAN. 4to, Paper, 15 cents.
CRADOCK NOWELL. 8vo, Paper, 60 cents.
CRIPPS, THE CARRIER. A Woodland Tale. Illustrated. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents.
EREMA; or, My Father’s Sin. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents.
LORNA DOONE. 8vo, Paper, 25 cents ; 12mo, Cloth, $1 00.
MARY ANERLEY. A Yorkshire Tale. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00 ; 4to, Paper, 15 cents.
SPRINGHAVEN. 4to, Paper, 25 cents ; 12mo, Cloth, Illustrated, $1 50.
THE MAID OF SKER. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents.
SIR THOMAS UPMORE. 16mo, Paper, 35 cents; Cloth, 50 cents; 4to, Paper,
20 cents.
—
PuspiisHep BY HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.
Ba>- Any of the above works sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the
United States or Canada, on receipt of the price.
of & © et 2 oe8 © r
Oo 5 ee os se’ e: iwi @
Ce ee Ss @ ~@@ @60@ @ ©
¢ @eeee @e?® Ge ©
© @ ee ee © eee cee
: : ) Be eC ;
rae . : ec : ee : ; e%e of6 Sat 3° ee esis ef ee e
eS @ @ Se cee es : . Oe 9058 205%, 5 ose
6. O70 Nee O ls 8 © ete tants eo, @ e © @e @
@e@ oeec @ %e” eo o@ ee e e CGO @ © €e6@ © e @
@ © ©. 6@60 0, © © @6 @,0 ee e e
© eo? _ fee i © ee e ¢ eas @@ @ oe @
J @ og. e%e © © Cee Ce © @ @ ce G
ee ose per Co € eG ©, « OF ce 00
© @6 “e® e e-ce¢ @6¢€6 €°e@ ¢¢6¢ e
Exchange
hibrary of Supreme Council AAS
Aug iQ, 1940 :
fo the sRemorn
OF
MY BELOVED FRIEND
PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE
OF
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
PE WHEN THe: Sap GComEes.: HOM ges whee eines ac ceee cee 1
TIA Wirt: HER CREW AND? CARGOS. 51 eee ee haere ne ae 7
TTA Het LRU COMMANDER occ jeuts es pecan ce Pe we 12
LVcAND Hen VATTHYUY. CHAPLAING eon e nace hs nl antes 15
VV MOPINION, NAb ANIY PRMALIG, oOo al cn tit as gals nua 19
EO eis SPT ITIL EGE CLS 570 aracatecw une i OEE a iete cde ook ETI ea 23
Vite Ac SOUADRON IN, THES DOWNS: oataccae.s os We eee wom cet oe eee 29
WEL Tt ae ESSONG ING (DHE) AUN ELD. cer ob tale a's wr ewe atm ary cake alates 36
DX Chie NEAROGNS son. ven tat ere eine aaa sb xe oes ee eee 42
x. AGHOSS. THE -STEPPING-STONHS . .'¢cca. fea, oo pe it onic cee ase ae fi
PNG PROMOTION . iets anne cus od 8 ry Pate Renae 1 ge 54
EL ek te TH Be) We ERE foe tc eet ae ee oe a efaisin Sia ase ante the aakeet one 61
XT WHENCE, AND. WHEREBORE oy oece0 5.600 0 Uhiee ays oceans 68
UV dts FLORRINLIS= OUGGESTION canes ccedtess ms. copes as aaa Coheed 75
XV, ORDEAL,.OF -AUDIT....>..*: Bet ee 82
RW MAVNO ETRE F Wern crn Crear aah Get doh gra scene eg ua won aie Alaiye hc aR 91
AVL ios SSA CHT PERL ADGIN Gis Go ates ns mate Seti ee crores bids Ul eine reeled cee 103
vel PRENCH, ANIe LENGLIGH face > om ve op a ccoe ate = kes scapes 109
el CPM A TET EMIS CB, PER ee ao ges rately aleveas) sini e 4a aid acento ottawa 115
PA ROEA MONG: EET: LADIES: ACs .cmccls den an eosin Gmteiletckeite tales fa 120
Per EER CLO AS NEES ES Oh nics sae a cee e Rate amd aan ata id eutiea ae 128
ORE oA res CEA Ser ree Wy, oe Ph ct enim seiner vehi rea Pointe els Std oan ae 136
NL Laue) HET EA CIeM OED ba cremate tin fs Sera Poe's wise RANA Se Fh dt ae niehaie aR ee 142
Ae Vic CCORDING |TO ‘GONTRACT 1.\autlec's adhe Wane sha oceania “Matron 149
eae YOON Gs CONCERN OP: OURS! 65s es kite e's de aewes Whew ae DNR eeere 158
XXVI. LonG-pipe TIMES....... Sided. she ROL eo at en's ake «| al Poe ee 169
CMa VOD STE AT Tee EME CETHU IY otto yo eu, ai aera aes Girl wee SPT ie i 176*
Pee ed big: PON Ei INGE RAOTION Gra, sie cases Hedieee cule beh ae ay we hgare eta 183
Don LANA T RRM ALA. IULOQUENGE ck. ci'cle 4 fhiow Gauiet wi abit atecie ka tee 192
LL AT RATES ESISCIPLINE ole Gne bette ce eo en na oe ob wet eke 198
SEN NS Lee SON RSL BME TATIONS « foo hood «cot ok bee eee CLS cea doe 205
vi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
SENT Tae TRA Of CV ATES: 2 .6cn se ese eee ones sonee tees 211
XXXII. FAREWELL, DANIEL... 2. i. ce cece renee e ccc ceeeeeecenas 218.
SN. CAULIFLOWERS. 60% oa cb a Fae ers be tile wee ate oes eee 226
RMX. LOYAL, AYU, LOYAL... ocean dees eek ae a oe ae Pe re 234
Moe V1. PAIR: CRITICIOM.. so. oc. 62> ao os ae Rees bees oe ee eee 246
eV. NeEIVHER AT GOME o.50...3.<0-kvs a wal Oo mk ee pe eee 259
aoe LiL, EVERYBODY'S MABTYWR. 6. icce ace <2 dee ob pete mite geen 268
RCPS. RoNNING THE GAUNTUBE 265 sce osis os tig onions ae eee eae riers
XL, SHELFING THE QUESTION.......<.. wa: 5 cat is a i liaty cater oh ne age 287
XLI. Lisreners Hear No Goon....... ) este et eee ee 295
KLIL ANSWERING THE QURSTIGN >... 20S oes se eee pee ee ee 303
XLII. Lirrte AND GREAT PEOPLE..... POE ere yee 514
XLIV. Down AMONG THE DEAD MEN........ | aS cree ea ee 326
XV. FATHER ABD ORILD...S%'. ca cows te 0 on okee eee ne 334
XLVI. CATAMARANS....... ERE. A a Go 340
VELEN Pie AND SESS. aus eee poe hal Dace Bane Eee 346
XLVIII. MorHER SCUDAMORE........0.-. 52s eee ee ere eee eeee recs 359d
ALIX. Evin ‘COMMUNICATIONS: <2. c. <Savnae ieee nls oo meso ee 361
1. Firs BAVAGE OPEL So Goon oeoe cs end Soe ote ee te ee eee 372
Li. SrRANeGw CRAM SA aes s aoe eee. eee 378
LY. ‘Kina INQUrRing... ooo S22 ake se oro ee 387
LIE. ‘Fiuam Anp PpACH i.02 Sere. site we cose eele eens oe een 397
LIV. In a Sap “PGW R i352. 5 aoe eee eee eet ee 406
LY. In SAVAGE’ Guise ths .0555 heise oes ae ee eee 417
LV: Tam Sicver: VoIicts: i... .ca ee eee eee ee 423
LVil;Bevow rum Ling 332255 427 ee ei ae ae ee ee 432
Vili? is tne HArcy Morne oe ee eee 440
DEX. ‘Near Our: SHORESH 602+ tin sce oh awe ae eer ae 445
LX: No Danowr, Guntimmen<f o.. Oyaes es oe ee 452
LXF. DiscuarceD. FROM DUTY Ais:se ic oe eee ee eee 459
LAV. THe: Way Our “oF lr: 2.25.22 eee eee 468
LAT Tae FAvan SMP fl: oh ocdve cock fee re pee eee eee 478
LXV, WRATH AND SORKOW sc $i 205555 5... boca ee 489
RV TRAPAWGAR. (1) Sees ates eons wooed eee dian 496
LXVI. THe Lasr BuLLETIN......... oS cei ee Fac pais eee ee 502
‘LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
“+ My Emperor !’ he said, ‘my Emperor occ... cc cece Frontispiece.
tshing-smacks at thetr Moorings... nea nt cst ces ct ses eeeceaee 1
Dear Vale 07 Springndvems 2 20e. ste, oe ont oes ORO <a ewe Sele
Horatio Dorothy Darling. .5 105 tet Che hay toed 6 Det ee eed eee 6
Garman Levedear d ugiell Fa kc aw aah se onda cithat ak cee tein 11
aE SIUC AN, the AdINiPals no a ve ane doe ae Viet h tala aoa + alae 24
« Shake hands, my'dear young friend”? voi vide occ aa eee ek ce ctees 25
“ Here was beautiful cantering-ground”.... 0c cece cece eee eeees 33
TOUT OTE GHEN Cea ctag Ree Bees Mor eM pate ely LER OEY oer BD
S-What wonderfully good -0Y8?”. cara viaievints ceadt eds vues ceee as aie 39
ne Pretty Ladies. 6 eee Ce eA ee ae AMEE AS TER eee 41
NOTE UIE OF pe oc ve 6 Bhan hd cepa PORE TL OEE Plate he Oe he Oe 53
ORCHID GLEQOTY 476s Gade so ACES Poe ease eh beam Cone ale es 55
“ What they may do at Littlehampton is beyond my knowledge”...... 65
ECAP EN CUIET OR rg ahead recat ane Oa EERO ee eM TEM ON eG eines 69
WA fter that, there is nothing more.to be said”... 0.6 ccc cece eeee 82
sure Cheeseman and Caryl Carney Gas Phe De 20st ee KOI ae 87
OTHE CBB. RAL O ac oF ew Ok bao iy elon takai gah SAVES S Tree oe 93
Bee LG IRELL 28 OAR ee sae Barner hate SANS orate @ Supe ye 8 eee eae 94
ECO NS EDUGT Oy a da A ak EA mag ae SONS ad Beek OLE oss HME 95
be ray your bills, first, said’ the Admiral Me. vst cts oi ce Wiel yw o's 97
Pe LOG ce tar ovat Lee a Ree AE MOTE cE EEE RES Oe Ba 99
pious Lavish [could help yours Se oii ee 5 ole chases ae 3h eg ERO Nt aad 127
Looking at the Battle from the Watch-potit.......c0e cee ce ce eeees 131
a Plal Ema? OUELOUSLCT= POL AP ae wit rome es nh es OR e Sen ces ai Menok S 133
“Tam not at all happy at losing dear friends”. ...........0200008 139
Rl 17 AS 2 COM OF- the WOVE. v6 Vee Soh os od ae eels Ween ee 145
Eanere was no one igho could say her inay. .sicwecsecceee ee dosent 162
menor, Miss, 1 am sure I begs-your pardon” .... cece ce ese le veuse 164
‘A favourite place for a sage cock-pheasant”...... SESE 166
Dan Tugwell Meets with an Impediment...... 000.0 cece eee eens 177
Rigs.
vill LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
The Postern-gate, Carne Castle... ...ceeccccscvereccscccccsccees 187
Mr. Twemlow Gets a Side View. i .6. 000. os ose oe oe ene wees ees 190
“ Oh, Dan, do ’e think of things as cousarneth your homer life”..... 197
pet carey TL OW t So) siete 5 hie ie oo ee 2s Se ow het 203
“ For God’s sake, Miss, do keep Miss Dolly out of the way of Squire
Carne Te 22 5 ates BPE eee eet Ae te eek ee eee 225
“ The grand old cock, whose name was ‘ Bill, led the march”........ 229
“ So your ladyship have come to take the air in my poor garden” .... 233
“ The Admiral, with officers crowding round, read as follows”....... 247
“ Faith had tried, as a matter of duty, to peruse this book” ......... 249
Quiword Applications... Sines oso he ae W alemels os elem inne ee 250
“This appears to be your hat, and it was on its way to a pool of salt-
LC ie Ne Ure S aww yor ce 255
“Tt must have been by reason of the weight I give”... 1... cee eee. -- 268
“Oaryl Carne waited in the shelter of a tree”. os. <i Riaes Seas amet 271
“The poet of the whole stood singing — the simple-minded thrush”... . 291
cwroobar 13a. stuged. east 64 wa “taal CoG ar se Oe ee eee 301
“ She felt that the spring of the year was with her”... 0.06 cece cee 311
WAU the gaffers were Wenig. cise sesle = Bae een) 317
“ How beautiful Springhaven must be looking now! .. 6... cece ees 323
Make for daylight in close order); yo... S55; «.02.c1ns. <)>, 4 333
“Fle was a man who knows his own mind”). .; .. cea lanes ae Pear"
“ Now don’t be in a hurry, dear, to beg my pardon”... 1... ..0e cee 363
dn the distance two British erupsers shoe... is 2.2 5 oe eee 369
SAm. Ito read every word, papal” ob 23. ase ise: oe 373
“In a few minutes the mysterious little craft disappeared” .......... 385
“ Here were banks of earth and thicket, shadowy dells where the prim-
OFOSE YEG”. Ss be ees ae DRE OR ee Oe oh: eleehigee 393
“Why, Dolly! what a hurry you are inl. ..ccccccccccc cee cseees 395
“ His old friend the ox trotted down to the corner”. .....0.0+.0000 411
“ We may be triumphant with their ladies”. 2.60. ..45. Pe. 419
“ But the other gently laid the rod across his breast”. ..........+.-. 425
* Carne.arose quickly, and bolted themoor 0.42. ahs Sa wee es 465
“ The two strong men rolled on the grass, fighting like two bull-dogs”.. 469
Corpse-walk’ Pit... ve. ws «| epee. Sa Be Us ee ea i in ee ae 475
Where the Furst Snowdrops Grew... o.. i names cee es ee 509
al 7
“ 1M
ivismeee |
TTI s Po
SPRINGHAVEN.
CHAPTER I.
WHEN THE SHIP COMES HOME.
sry In the days when Eng-
a & land trusted mainly to the
> vigour and valour of one
man, against a world of en-
emies, no part of her coast
was in greater peril than
the fair vale of Spring-
haven. But lying to the
west of the narrow seas,
and the shouts both of
menace and vigilance, the
quiet little village in the
tranquil valley forbore to
be uneasy.
For the nature of the
place and race, since
time has outlived
memory, continual-
ly has been, and
must be, to let
the world pass
easily. Little
to talk of, and
nothing to do,
is the healthy
: — condition of
mankind just there. To all who love repose and shelter,
freedom from the cares of money and the cark of fashion,
and (in lieu of these) refreshing air, bright water, and green.
country, there is scarcely any valley left to compare with -
1 : for ta
*
2 SPRINGHAVEN.
that of Springhaven. This valley does not interrupt the
land, but comes in as a pleasant relief to it. No glaring
chalk, no grim sandstone, no rugged flint outface it; but
deep rich meadows, and foliage thick, and cool areades of
ancient trees defy the noise that men make.- And above
the trees, in shelfing distance, rise the crests of upland, a
soft gray lias, where orchards thrive, and greensward strokes
down the rigour of the rocks, and quick rills laee the bosom
of the slope with tags of twisted silver.
In the murmur of the valley twenty little waters meet,
and discoursing their way to the sea, give name to the bay
that receives them and the anchorage they make. And here
no muddy harbour reeks, no foul mouth of rat-haunted drains,
no slimy and scraggy wall runs out, to mar the meeting of
sweet and salt. With one or two mooring posts to watch
it, and a course of stepping-stones, the brook slides into the
peaceful bay, and is lost in larger waters. Even so, how-
ever, it is kindly still, for it forms a tranquil haven.
Because, where the ruffle of the land stream merges into
the heavier disquietude of sea, slopes of shell sand and white
gravel give welcome pillow to the weary keel. No southerly
tempest smites the bark, no long groundswell upheaves her;
for a bold point, known as the ‘‘ Haven-head,”’ baffles the
storm in the offing, while the bulky rollers of a strong spring-
tide, that need no wind to urge them, are broken by the shift-
ing of the shore into a tier of white-frilled steps. So the
deep-waisted smacks that fish for many generations, and
even the famous ‘‘ London trader” (a schooner of five-and-
forty tons), have rest from their labours, whenever they
wish or whenever they can afford it, in the arms of the land,
and the mouth of the water, and under the eyes of Spring-
haven.
At the c6érner of the wall, where the brook comes down,
and pebble turns into shingle, there bas always been a good
whité gate, respected (as a white gate always is) from its
Strong declaration of purpose. Outside of it, things may
belong to the Crown, the Admiralty, Manor, or Trinity
_Brethren, or perhaps the sea itself—according to the latest
ebb or flow of the fickle tide of Law Courts—but inside that
gate everything belongs to the fine old family of Darling.
Concerning the origin of these Darlings divers tales are
told, according to the good-will or otherwise of the diver.
The Darlings themselves contend and prove that stock and
name are Saxon,and the true form of the name is *‘ Deerlung,”
bet Voie
pote
My
i
eet:
sii
Up ae y
LAH
THE FAIR VALE OF SPRINGHAVEN, — J
4 | SPRINGHAVEN.
as witness the family bearings. But the foes of the race,
and especially the Carnes, of ancient Sussex lineage, declare
that the name describes itself. Forsooth, these Darlings are
nothing more, to their contemptuous certainty, than the off-
set of some court favourite, too low to have won nobility, in
the reign of some light-affectioned king.
If ever there was any truth in that, it has been worn out
long ago by friction of its own antiquity. Admiral Darling
owns that gate, and all the land inside it, as far as a Pre-
ventive man can see with his spyglass upon the top bar of
it. And this includes nearly all the village of Springhaven,
and the Hall, and the valley, and the hills that make it.
And how much more does all this redound to the credit of
the family when the gazer reflects that this is nothing but
their younger tenement! For this is only Springhaven Hall,
while Darling Holt, the headquarters of the race, stands far
inland, and belongs to Sir Francis, the Admiral’s elder
brother.
When the tides were at their spring, and the year 1802 of
-our era in the same condition, Horatia Dorothy Darling,
younger daughter of the aforesaid Admiral, choosing a very -
quiet path among thick shrubs and underwood, came all
alone to a wooden building, which her father called his”
Round-house. In the war, which had been patched over
now, but would very soon break out again, that veteran
officer held command of the coast-defence (westward of Nel-
son’s charge) from Beachy Head to Selsey Bill. No real
danger had existed then, and no solid intent. of invasion,
but many sharp outlooks had been set up, and gmong them
was this at Springhaven.
Here was established under thatch, and with Sidin ¢ lights
before it, the Admiral’s favourite Munich glass, mounted by
an old ship's carpenter (who had followed the fortunes of
his captain) on a stand, which would have puzzled anybody
but the maker, with the added security of a lanyard from
the roof. The gear, though rough, was very strong and
solid, and afforded more range and firmer rest to the seven-
feet tube and adjustments than a costly mounting by a Lon- >
don optician would have been likely to supply. It was a
pleasure to look through such a glass, so clear, and full of
light, and firm; and one who could have borne to be looked
at through at, or examined even by a microscope, came now
to enjoy that pleasure.
Miss Dolly Darling could not be happy—though her chief
SPRINGHAVEN. 5
point was to be so—without a little bit of excitement, though
it were of her own construction. Her imagination, being
bright and tender and lively, rather than powerful, was com-
pelled to make its own material, out of very little stuff some-
times. She was always longing for something ‘sweet, and
thrilling, and romantic, and what chance of finding it in this
dull place, even with the longest telescope? For the war,
with all its stirring rumours and perpetual motion on shore
and sea, and access of gallant visitors, was gone for the mo-
ment, and dull peace was signed.
This evening, as yet, there seemed little chance of any-
thing to enliven her. The village, in the valley and up the
stream, was hidden by turns of the land and trees; her fa-
ther’s house beneath the hill crest was out of sight and hear-
ing; not even a child was on the beach; and the only move-
ment was of wavelets leisurely advancing towards the sea-
wall fringed with tamarisk. The only thing she could hope
to see was the happy return of the fishing-smacks, and per-
haps the ‘‘ London trader,” inasmuch as the fishermen (now
released from fencible duty and from French alarm) did their
best to return on Saturday night to their moorings, their
homes, the disposal of fish, and then the deep slumber of
Sunday. If the breeze should enable them to round the
Head, and the tide avail for landing, the lane to the vil-
lage, the beach, and even the sea itself, would swarm with
life, and bustle, and flurry, and incident. But Dolly’s de-
sire was for scenes more warlike and actors more august
than these.
Beauty, however, has an eye for beauty, beyond its own
looking-glass. Deeply as Dolly began to feel the joy of her
own loveliness, she had managed to learn, and to feel as
well, that so far as the strength and vigour of beauty may
compare with its grace and refinement, she had her own
match at Springhaven. Quite a hard-working youth, of no
social position and no needless education, had such a fine
countenance and such bright eyes that she neither could
bear to look at him nor forbear to think of him. And she
knew that if the fleet came home she would see him on board
of the Rosalie. ~ —
Flinging on a shelf the small white hat which had scarce-
ly covered her dark brown curls, she lifted and shored with
a wooden prop the southern casement of leaded glass. This
being up, free range was given to the swinging telescope
along the beach to the right and left, and over the open sea
«
= NORATIA DOROTHY DARLING.
for miles, and into the measureless haze of air. She could
manage this glass to the best advantage, through her father’s
teaching, and could take out the slide and clean the lenses,
and even part the object-glass, and refix it as well as pos-
sible. She belonged to the order of the clever virgins, but
scarcely to that of the wise ones.
SPRINGHAVEN. rf
CHAPTER II.
WITH HER CREW AND CARGO.
Lone after the time of those who write, and those who
read this history, the name of Zebedee Tugwell will be flour-
ishing at Springhaven.
To “achieve unmerited honour is the special gift of ‘nom
sands, but to deserve and win befalls some few in every cen-
tury, and one of these few was Zebedee. To be the head-
man of any other village, and the captain of its fishing fleet,
might prove no lofty eminence; but to be the leader of
Springhaven was true and arduous greatness. From Selsey
Bill to Orfordness, taking in all the Cinque Ports and all
the port of London, there was not a place that insisted on,
and therefore possessed, all its own rights so firmly as this
village did. Not less than seven stout fishing-smacks—six
of them sloops, and the seventh a dandy
power of this place, and behaved as one multiplied by seven.
All the bold fishermen held their line from long-established
ancestry, and stuck to the stock of their grandfathers, and
their wisdom and freedom from prejudice. Strength was
condensed into clear law with them—as sinew boils down
into jelly—-and character carried out its force as the stamp
of solid impress. What the father had been, the son became,
as the generation squared itself; and the slates for the chil-
dren to do their copies were the tombstones of their grand-
dads. Thus brave Etruria grew, and thus the Rome, which
was not built in a day, became the flower of the world, and
girt in unity of self seven citadels.
There was Roman blood—of the Tenth Legion, per haps—
in the general vein of Springhaven. There was scarcely a
man who pretended to know much outside of his own busi-
ness, and there was not a woman unable to wait (when her
breath was quite gone) for sound reason. Solidity, self-re-
speet, pure absence of frivolous humour, ennobled the race,
and enabled them to hold together; so that everybody not
born in Springhaven might lament, but never repair, his loss.
This people had many ancient rules befitting a fine cor-
- NE ee
8 SPRINGHAVEN.
poration, and among them were the following: * Never do
a job for a stranger; sleep in your own bed, when you can;
be at home in good time on a Saturday; never work harder
than you need; throw your fish away rather than undersell
it; answer no question, but ask another; spend all your
money among your friends; and, above all, never let any
stranger come anigh your proper fishing ground nor land
any fish at Springhaven.”
These were golden laws, and made a snug and plump
community. From the Foreland to the Isle of Wight their
nets and lines were sacred, and no other village could be
found so thriving, orderly, well-conducted, and almost well-
contented. For the men were not of rash enterprise, hot
labour, or fervid ambition ; and although they counted things
by money, they did not count one another so. They never
encouraged a friend to work so hard as to grow too wealthy, |
and if he did so, they expected him to grow more generous
than he liked to be. And as soon as he failed upon that
point, instead of adoring, they growled at him, because every
one of them might have had as full a worsted stocking if bis
mind had been small enough to forget the difference betwixt
the land and sea, the tide of labour and the time of leisure.
To these local and tribal distinctions they added the lofty
expansion of sons of the sea. The habit of rising on the
surge, and faliing into the trough behind it, enables a biped,
as soon as he lands, to take things that are flat with indiffer-
ence. His head and legs have got into a state of firm confi-
dence in one another; and all these declare—with the rest of
the body performing as chorus gratis—that now they are
come to a smaller affair, upon which they intend to enjoy
themselves. So that, while strenuous and quick of move-
ment—whenever they could not help it—and sometimes even
brisk of mind (if anybody strove to cheat them), these men
generally made no griefs beyond what they were born to.
Zebedee Tugwell was now their chief, and well deserved
to be so. Every community of common-sense demands to
have somebody over it, and nobody could have felt ashamed
to be under Captain Tugwell. He had built with his own
hands, and bought—for no man’s work is his own until he
has paid for as well as made it—the biggest and smartest of
all the fleet, that dandy-rigged smack, the Rosalie. He-was
proud of her, as he well might be, and spent most of his time
in thinking of her ; but even she was scarcely up to the size
of his ideas. ‘‘ Stiff in the joints,” he now said daily—‘“‘ stiff
SPRINGHAVEN. 9
in the joints is my complaint, and I never would have be-
lieved it. But, forall that, you shall see, my son, if the Lord
should spare you long enough, whether I don’t beat her out
and out with the craft as have been in my mind this ten
year.”
But what man could be built to beat Zebedee himself, in
an age like this, when yachts and men take the prize by pro-
fundity of false keel? Tugwell yearned for no hot speed in
his friends, or his house, or his wife, or his walk, or even his
way of thinking. He had seen more harm come from one
hour’s hurry than a hundred years of care could cure, and
the longer he lived, the more loath he grew to disturb the air
around him.
‘* Admirable Nelson,” he used to say—for his education
had not been so large as the parts allotted to receive it—‘‘to
my mind he is a brave young man, with great understand-
ing of his dooties. But he goeth too fast, without clearing
of his way. With aman like me ’longside of ’un, he'd have
brought they boats out of Bulong. See how I brings my
boats in, most particular of a Saturday!”
It was Saturday now, when Miss Dolly was waiting to see
this great performance, of which she considered herself, as .
the daughter of an Admiral, no mean critic. And sure
enough, as punctual as in a well-conducted scheme of war,
and with nice forecast of wind and tide, and science of the
supper-time, around the westward headland came the bold
fleet of Springhaven!
Seven ships of the line—the fishing line--arranged in per-
fect order, with the Rosalie as the flag-ship leading, and
three upon either quarter, in the comfort and leisure of the
new-born peace, they spread their sails with sunshine. Even
the warlike Dolly could not help some thoughts of peaceful-
ness, and a gentle tide of large good-will submerged the
rocks of glory.
‘‘ Why should those poor men all be killed?” she asked
herself, as a new thing, while she made out by their faces,
hats, fling of knee or elbow, patch upon breeches, or sprawl
of walking towards the attentive telescope, pretty nearly who
everybody of them was, and whatever else there was about
him. ‘‘ After all, it is very hard,” she said, ‘‘ that they
should have to lose their lives because the countries fight
so.”
But these jolly fellows had no idea of losing their lives,
or a hair of their heads, or anything more than their appe-
10 SPRINGHAVEN.
tites after waging hot war upon victuals. Peace was pro-
claimed, and peace was reigning; and the proper British
feeling of contempt for snivelly Frenchmen, which produces
the entente cordiale, had replaced the wholesome dread of
them. Not that Springhaven had ever known fear, but still
it was glad to leave off terrifying the enemy. Lightness of .
heart and good-will prevailed, and every man’s sixpence was
going to be a shilling.
In the tranquil afternoon the sun was making it clear to
the coast of Albion that he had crossed the line once more,
and rediscovered a charming island. After a chilly and
foggy season, worse than a brave, cold winter, there was joy
in the greeting the land held out, and in the more versatile
expression of the sea. And not beneath the contempt of
one who strives to get into everything were the creases and
patches of the sails of smacks, and the pattern of the resin-
wood they called their masts, and even the little striped
things (like frogs with hats on, in the distance) which had
grown to believe themselves the only object the sun was
made to shine upon.
But he shone upon the wide sea far behind, and the broad
stretch of land before them, and among their slowly gliding
canvas scattered soft touches of wandering light. Espe-
cially on the spritsail of the Rosalie, whereunder was sit-
ting, with the tiller in his hand and a very long pipe in his
mouth, Captain Zebedee Tugwell. His mighty legs were
‘spread at ease, his shoulders solid against a cask, his breast
(like an elephant’s back in width, and bearing a bright blue
crown tattooed) shone out of the scarlet woolsey, whose
plaits were filled with the golden shower of a curly beard,
untouched with gray. And his face was quite as worthy as
the substance leading up to it, being large and strengthful
and slow to move, though quick to make others do so. The
forehead was heavy, and the nose thickset, the lower jaw
backed up the resolution of the other, and the wide apart
eyes, of a bright steel blue, were as steady as a brace of pole-
stars.
“What a wonderful man,” fair Dolly thought, as the
great figure, looking even grander in the glass, came rising
upon a long slow wave—‘‘ what.a wonderful man that Tug-
well is! So firmly resolved to have his own way, so
thoroughly dauntless, and such a grand beard! Ten times
more like an admiral than old Flapfin or my father is, if he
only knew how to hold his pipe. There is something about
CAPTAIN ZEBEDEE TUGWELL.
him so dignified, so calm, and so majestic ; but, for all that,
I like the young man better. I havea great mind to take
half a peep at him: somebody might ask whether he was
there or not.” ,
Being a young and bashful maid, as well as by birth a
lady, she had felt that it might be a very nice thing to con-
template sailors in the distance, abstract sailors, old men
who pulled ropes, or lounged on the deck, if there was one.
But to steal an unsuspected view at a young man very well
known to her, and acknowledged (not only by his mother
and himself, but also by every girl in the parish) as the
Adonis of Springhaven—this was a very different thing,
and difficult to justify even to oneself. The proper plan,
therefore, was to do it, instead of waiting to consider it.
‘‘ How very hard upon him it does seem,” she whispered
to herself, after a good gaze at him, ‘‘that he must not even _
dream of having any hope of me, because he has not hap-
pened to be born a gentleman! But he looks a thousand
times more like one than nine out of ten of the great gen-
tlemen I know—or at any rate he would if his mother didn’t
make his clothes.”
“12. SPRINGHAVEN.
Fror Zebedee Tugwell had a son called *‘ Dan,” as like
him as a tender pea can be like a tough one; promising also
to be tough, in course of time, by chafing of the world and
weather. But at present Dan Tugwell was as tender to the
core as a marrowfat dallying till its young duck should be
ready; because Dan was podding into his first love. To the
sympathetic telescope his heart was low, and his mind gone
beyond astronomical range, and his hand (instead of brisk-
ly pairing soles) hung asunder, and sprawled like a star-
fish.
‘“Tndeed he does laok sad,” said Miss Dolly; ‘‘he is think-
ing of me, as he always does; but I don’t see how any-
body can blame me. But here comes daddy, with dear old
Flapfin! I am not a bit afraid of either of them; but
perhaps I had better run away.” .
dh)
CHAPTER III.
AND HER TRUE COMMANDER.
THE nature of ‘‘ Flapfin’—as Miss Dolly Darling and
other young people were pleased to call him—was to make
his enemies run away, but his friends keep very near to him.
He was one of the simplest-minded men that ever trod the
British oak. Whatever he thought he generally said; and
whatever he said he meant and did. Yet of tricks and
frauds he had quick perception, whenever they were tried
against him, as well as a marvellous power of seeing the
shortest way to everything. He enjoyed a little gentle
piece of vanity; not vainglory, and he never could see any
justice in losing the credit of any of his exploits. More-
over, he was gifted with the highest faith in the hand of
the Almighty over him (to help him in all his righteous
deeds), and over his enemies, to destroy them. Though he
never insisted on any deep piety in his own behaviour, he
had a good deal in his heart, when time allowed, and the
linstocks were waiting the signal. His trust was supreme
“in the Lord and himself; and he loved to be called ‘‘ My
Lord Admiral.”
And a man of this noble type deserved to be met with his
own nobility. But the English government, according to
its lights—which appear to be everlasting--regarded him as
the right man, when wanted, but at other times the wrong
ee en
SPRINGHAVEN. . 13
one. They liked him to do them a very good turn, but
would not let him do himself one; and whenever he longed
for some fair chance of a littlessnug prize-money, they took
him away from the likely places, and set him to hard work
and hard knocks. But his sense of duty and love of coun-
try enabled him to bear it, with grumbling.
‘*T don’t care a rope’s end,” he was saying, with a truth-
fulness simple and solid as beefsteak is, ‘‘ whether we have
peace or war; but let us have one or the other of them. I
love peace—it is a very fine thing—and I hate to see poor
fellows killed. All I want is to spend the rest of my life
ashore, and lay out the garden. You must come and see
what a bridge I have made to throw across the fish-pond.
I can do well enough with what I have got, as soon as my
farm begins to pay, and I hope I may never hear another
shotted cannon; but, my dear Lingo, you know as well as
I do how much chance there is of that.” __ :
‘“Laudo manentem. Let us praise her while we have
got her.. Parson Twemlow keeps up my Latin, but you
have forgotten all yours, my friend. I brought you down
here to see the fish come in, and to choose what you like
best for dinner. In the days when you were my smallest
youngster, and as proud as Punch to dine with me, your
taste was the finest in the ship, because your stomach was
the weakest. How often I thought that the fish would eat
you! and but for your wonderful spirit, my friend, that
must have happened long ago. But your nature was to
fight, and you fought through, as you always will do. A
drumstick for your praise of peace!”
Admiral Darling, a tall, stout man in the sixty-fifth year
of his age, looked down at his welcome and famous guest
as if he knew a great deal more of his nature than the own-
er did. And this made that owner, who thought very
highly of his own perception, look up and laugh.
‘‘ Here comes the fish!” he cried. ‘‘Come along, Darling.
Never lose a moment—that’s my rule. You can’t get along
as fastasIcan. Ill go and settle all the business for you.”
‘“Why should you be in such a hurry always? You will
never come to my age if you carry on so. You ought to
tow a spar astern. Thank God, they don’t know who he is,
and I'll take good care not to let them know. If this is
what comes of quick promotion, I am glad that I got on
slowly. Well, he may do as he likes for me. He always
does—that’s one thing.”
%
14 SPRINGHAVEN.
Stoutly grumbling thus, the elder and far heavier Ad-
miral descended the hill to the white gate slowly, as be-
hoved the owner. And, bygthe time he halted there, the
other had been upon the beach five minutes, and taken com-
mand of the fishing fleet.
‘‘Starboard there! Brail up your gaff! Is that the way
to take the ground? Ease helm, Rosalie. Smartly, smart-
ly. Haveacare, you lubber there. Fenders out! So, so.
Now stand by, all! There are two smart lads among you,
and no more. All the rest are no better than a pack of
Crappos. You want six months in a man-of-war’s launch.
This is what comes of peace already !”
The fishermen stared at this extraordinary man, who had
taken all the business out of Master Tugwell’s hands; but
without thinking twice about it, all obeyed him with a speed
that must have robbed them of a quantity of rust. For al-
though he was not in uniform, and bore no sword, his dress
Was conspicuous, as he liked to have it, and his looks and
deeds kept suit with it. For he wore a blue coat (very
badly made, with gilt buttons and lappets too big for him),
a waistcoat of dove-coloured silk, very long, coming over the
place where his stomach should have been, and white plush
breeches, made while he was blockading Boulogne in 1801,
and therefore had scarcely any flesh upon his bones. Peace
having fattened him a little, these breeches had tightened
upon him (as their way is with a boy having six weeks’
holiday); but still they could not make his legs look big,
though they showed them sharp and muscular. Below
them were brisk little sinewy calves in white silk hose, with
a taper descent to ankles as fine as a lady's, and insteps
bright with large silver buckles. Yet that which surpassed
all the beauty of the clothes was the vigour of the man in-
side them, who seemed to quicken and invigorate the whole,
even to the right sleeve, doubled up from the want of any
arm inside it. But the Joss of the right arm, and the right
eye also, seemed to be of no account to the former owner, so
hard did he work with the residue of his body, and so much
did he express with it.
His noble cocked hat was in its leathern box yet, for he
was only just come from Merton; but the broad felt he wore
was looped up in front, and displayed all the power of his
countenance, or rather the vigour—for power is heavy—and
his face was light and quickness. Softness also, and a
melancholy gift of dreaminess and reflection, enlarged and
SPRINGHAVEN. 15
impressed the effect of a gaze and a smile which have con-
quered history.
‘““Why don’t ’e speak up go ’un, Cap’en Zeb?” cried
young Harry Shanks, of the Peggy, the smartest smack
next to the Rosalie. ‘* Whoever can ’a be, to make thee so
dumb? Doth ’a know our own business afore our own
selves? If ’e don’t speak up to ’un, Cap’en Zeb, Pll never
take no more commands from thee.”
‘‘ Harry Shanks, you was always a fool, and you always
will be,” Master Tugwell replied with his deep chest voice,
which no gale of wind could blow away. ‘* Whether he
be wrong or right—and I won’t say but what I might have
done it better--none but a fool like you would dare to set
his squeak up against Admirable Lord Nelson.” :
CHAPTER IV.
AND HER FAITHFUL CHAPLAIN.
‘*T AM not a man of the world, but a man of the Word,”
said Parson Twemlow, the Rector of Springhaven; ‘‘and I
shall not feel that I have done my duty unless I stir him up
to-morrow. His valour and glory are nothing to me, nor
even his value to the country. He does his duty, and I
shall do mine. It is useless to talk to me, Maria; I never
Shall have such a chance again.”
‘“ Well, dear, you know best,” replied Mrs. Twemlow;
‘‘and duty is always the highest and best and most sacred
consideration. But you surely should remember, for Eliza’s
sake, that we never shall dine at the Hall again.”
‘‘T don’t care a snap for their dinners, or the chance of
Eliza catching some young officer; and very few come
while this peace goes on. I won't shirk my duty for any
of that.” 7
‘‘Nothing would ever make you shirk your duty, Joshua.
And I hope that you know me too well to suppose that I
ever would dream of suggesting it. But I do want to see
you a Canon, and I know that he begins to have influence
in the Church, and therefore the Church is not at all the
place to allude to his private affairs in. And, after all,
what do we know about them? It does seem so low to be
led away by gossip.”
_ *‘Maria,” said the Rector, severely sorry, ‘‘I must beg
16 SPRINGHAVEN.
you to leave me to my conscience. I shall not refer to his
private affairs. I shall put leading truths in a general way,
and let him make the home application.”
“Put the cap on-if it fits. Very well; you will injure
yourself, and do no one any good. Lord Nelson won’t know
it; he is too simple-minded. But Admiral Darling will
never forgive us for insulting him while he is staying at
the Hall.”
‘Maria! Well, I have long given up all attempts at
reasoning with you. If Isee a man walking into a furnace,
do I insult him by saying, ‘ Beware’ ?”
‘As I am beyond all reason, Joshua, it is far above me
to understand that. But if you escape insulting him, what
you do is far worse, and quite unlike a gentleman. You
heap a whole pile of insults upon your own brother clergy-
men.”
‘‘T do not at all understand you, Maria: you fly off in
such a way from one thing to another!”
‘“Not at all. Anybody who is not above paying atten-
tion must understand me. When he is at Merton he goes
to church, and his Rector is bound to look after him.
When he is at sea, he has his Chaplain, who preaches when-
ever the weather permits, and dare not neglect his duties.
But the strongest point of all is this—his very own father
and brother are clergymen, and bound to do their best for
him. All these you insult, and in so many words condemn
for neglecting their duty, because you are unable to resist
the pleasure of a stray shot at a celebrated man when he
comes down here for hospitality.” |
‘My dear, you,have put the matter in a new light,” said
the Rev. Joshua Twemlow; ‘‘I would be the last man in
the world to cast a slur upon any brother clergyman. But
it is a sad denial to me, because I had put it so neatly, and
a line of Latin at the end of it.”
‘* Never mind, dear. That will do for some one else who
deserves it, and has got no influence. And if you could
only put instead of it one of your beautifully turned ex-
pressions about our debt of gratitude to the noble defender
of our country—”
‘“No, no, Maria!” said her husband, with a smile; ‘‘ be
content without pushing your victory further than Nelson
himself would push it. It may be my duty to spare him;
but I will not fall down and worship him.” .
Joshua Twemlow, Bachelor of Divinity, was not very
SPRINGHAVEN. L7
likely to worship anybody, nor even to admire, without
due cause shown. He did not pretend to be a learned man,
any more than he made any other pretence which he could
not justify. But he loved a bit of Latin, whenever he
could find anybody to share it with him, and even in Jack
of intelligent partners he indulged sometimes in that utter-
ance. This was a grievance to the Squire of the parish, be-
cause he was expected to enjoy at ear-shot that which had
passed out of the other ear in boyhood, with a painful echo
behind it. But the Admiral had his revenge by passing the
Rector’s bits of Latin on—when he could remember them—
to some one entitled to an explanation, which he, with a
pleasant smile, vouchsafed. This is one of the many bene-
fits of a classical education.
But what are such little tags, compared with the pith and
marrow of the man himself ?. Parson Twemlow was no
prig, no pedant, and no popinjay, but a sensible, upright,
honourable man, whose chief defect was a quick temper. In
parish affairs he loved to show his independence of the
Hall, and having a stronger will than Admiral Darling, he
mostly conquered him. But he knew very well how far to
go, and never pressed the supremacy of the Church beyond
endurance. 7
His wife, who was one of the Carnes of Carne Castle,
some few miles to the westward, encouraged him strongly
in holding his own when the Admiral strove to override
him. That was her manner of putting the case; while Ad-
miral Darling would rather have a score of nightmares
than override any one. But the Carnes were a falling as
much as the Darlings were a rising family, and offence
comes down the hill like stones dislodged by the upward
traveller. Mrs. Twemlow knew nothing she disliked so
much as any form of haughtiness; it was so small, so petty,
so opposed to all true Christianity. And this made ker
think that the Darlings were always endeavoring to patro-
nise her—a thing she would much rather die than put up with.
This excellent couple had allowed, however, their only
son Erle, a very fine young man, to give his heart entirely
to Faith Darling, the Admiral’s eldest daughter, and to win
hers to an equal extent; and instead of displaying any
haughtiness, her father had simply said: ‘‘ Let them wait
two years; they are both very young, and may change their
minds. If they keep of the same mind for two years, they
are welcome to one another.”
18 SPRINGHAVEN.
For a kinder-hearted man than Admiral Darling never
saw the sun. There was nothing about him wonderful in
the way of genius, heroism, large-mindedness, or unselfish-
ness. But people liked him much better than if he com-
bined all those vast rarities; because he was lively, genial,
simple, easily moved to wrath or grief, free-handed, a little
fond, perhaps, of quiet and confidential brag, and very fond
of gossip.
‘‘T tell you,” he said to Lord Nelson now, as they walked
down the hill to the church together that lovely Sunday
morning, ‘‘ you will not have seen a finer sight than our
fishermen in church—I dare say never. Of course they
don’t all go. Nobody could expect it. But as many as a
reasonable man could desire come there, because they know
I like it. Twemlow thinks that they come to please him;
but he finds a mighty difference in his congregation when I
and my daughters are out of the parish. But if he goes
away, there they are all the same, or perhaps even more, to
get a change from him. That will show which of us they
care about pleasing.”
‘‘ And they are quite right. I hate the levelling system,”
the hero of the Nile replied. ‘‘A man should go to church
to please his landlord, not to please the parson. Is the
Chaplain to settle how many come to prayers ?”
‘That is the right way to look at the thing,” said the
larger-bodied Admiral; ‘‘and I only wish Twemlow could
have heard you. JI asked him to dine with us yesterday, as
you know, because you would have done him so much good;
but he sent some trumpery excuse, although his wife was
asked to come with him. She stopped him, no doubt; to
look big, I dare say; as if they could dine with a Lord Nel-
son every day !”
_ “They can do that every day, when they dine with a man
who has done his duty. But where is my pretty godchild
Dolly? Horatia seems too long for you. What a long
name they gave me! It may have done very well for my
granduncle. But, my dear Lingo, look sharp for your Dol-
ly. She has no mother, nor even a duenna—she has turned
her off, she said yesterday. Your daughter Faith is an an-
gel, but Dolly—”
‘*My Dolly isa little devil, suppose! You always found
out everything. What have you found my Dolly at ? -Per-
haps she got it at her baptism.” A word against his pet
child was steel upon flint to Admiral Darling.
sala
SPRINGHAVEN. 19
‘““T am not concerned with your opinion,” Lord Nelson
answered, loftily. ‘*‘ But Horatia Dorothy Darling is my
godchild by baptism, and you will find her down in my
will for a thousand pounds, if she behaves well, and if it
should please the Lord to send me some of the prize-money
I deserve.” ad
This was announced in such a manner, with the future
testator’s useful eye bearing brightly on his comrade, and
his cocked hat lifted as he spoke of the great Awarder of
prizes, that no one able to smile could help a friendly and
simple smile at him. So Admiral Darling forgot his wrath,
which never had long memory, and scorning even to look
round for Dolly, in whom he felt such confidence, took the
mighty warrior by the good arm and led him towards the
peaceful belis.
‘‘Hurry, we shall be late,” he said. ‘‘ You remember
when we called you ‘ Hurry,’ because of being always fore-
most? But they know better than to stop the bells till they
see me in the church porch. Twemlow wanted to upset
that, for the parsons want to upset everything. And Isaid:
“Very well; then I shall square it by locking the gate from
your shrubbery. That will give me five minutes to come
down the hill.’ For my grandfather put up that gate, you
must know, and of course the key belongs to me. It saves
Twemlow a cable’s-length every time, and the parsons go to
church so often now, he would have to make at least anoth-
er knot a month. So the bells go on as they used to do.
How many bells do you make it, Mr. Nelson ?”
‘Hight bells, sir,” Lord Nelson replied, saluting like the
middy in charge of the watch. And at this little turn they
both laughed, and went on, with memory of ancient days,
to church.
CHAPTER V.
OPINION, MALE AND FEMALE.
_ THE fine young parsons of the present generation are too
fond of asking us why we come to church, and assigning
fifty reasons out of their own heads, not one of which is
to our credit or theirs; whereas their proper business is to
cure the fish they have caught, instead of asking how they
caught them. Mr. Twemlow had sense enough for this, and
treated the largest congregation he had ever preached to as
‘
20 SPRINGHAVEN.
if they were come for the good of their souls, and should
have it, in spite of Lord Nelson. But, alas! their bodies
fared not so well, and scarcely a man got his Sunday din-
ner according to his liking. Never a woman would stay
by the fire for the sake of a ten-pound leg of mutton; and
the baker put his shutters up at half past ten, against every
veal pie and every loin of pork. Because in the church
there would be seen this day (as the servants at the Hall
told every one) the man whom no Englishman could behold
without pride, and no Frenchman with it-—the victor of the .
Nile, and of Copenhagen, and countless other conflicts.
Knowing that he would be stared at well, he was equal to
the occasion, and the people who saw him were so proud of
the sight that they would talk of it now if they were alive.
But those who were not there would exhibit more confi-
dence than conscience by describing every item of his rai-
ment, which verily even of those who beheld it none could
do well, except a tailor ora woman. Enough that he shone
in the light of the sun (which came througk a windowful
of bull’s-eyes upon him, and was surprised to see stars by
daylight), but the glint of his jewels and glow of his gold
diverted no eye from the calm, sad face which in the day of
battle could outflash them all. That sensitive, mild, eom-
plaisant face (humble, and even homely now, with scathe
and seald and the lines of middle age) presented itself as a
great surprise to the many who came to gaze at it. With
its child-like simplicity and latent fire, it was rather the face
of a dreamer and poet than of a warrior and hero.
Mrs. Cheeseman, the wife of Mr. Cheeseman, who kept
the main shop in the village, put this conclusion into better
English, when Mrs. Shanks (Harry’s mother) came on Mon-
day to buy a rasher and compare opinions.
‘“Tf I could have fetched it to my mind,” she said, ‘‘ that
Squire Darling were a tarradiddle, and all his wenches liars
—which some of them be, and no mistake—and if I could
refuse my own eyes about gold-lace, and crown-jewels, and
arms off, happier would I sleep in my bed, ma’am, every
night the Lord seeth good for it. I would sooner have
found hoppers in the best ham in the shop than have gone
to church so to delude myself. But, there! that Cheeseman
would make me doit. I did believe as we had somebody
' fit to do battle for us against Boney, and I laughed about
all they invasion and scares. But now—why, ’a can’t say
bo to a goose! If’a was to come and stand this moment
SPRINGHAVEN. ea
where, you be a-standing, and say, ‘ Mrs. Cheeseman, I want
a fine rasher,’ not a bit of gristle would I trim out, nor put
it up in paper for him, as I do for you, ma’am.”’
And Widow Shanks quite agreed with her.
‘‘ Never can I tell you what my feelings was when I
seed him a-standing by the monument, ma’am. But I said
to myself, ‘Why, my poor John, as is now in heaven, poor
fellow, would ’a took you up with one hand, my lord, stars
and garters and crowns and all, and put you into his sow-
west pocket.’ And so he could have done, Mrs. Cheese-
man,”’
But the opinion of the men was different, because they
knew a bee from a bull’s foot.
‘‘He may not be so very big,” they said, ‘‘nor so out-
rageous thunderin’ as the missus looked out for from what
she have read. They always goes by their own opinions,
and wrong a score of times out of twenty. But any one
with a fork to his leg can see the sort of stuff he is made of.
He ‘tended his duty in the house of the Lord, and he
wouldn’t look after the women; but he kept his live eye
upon every young chap as were fit for a man-of-war’s man
—Dan Tugwell especial, and young Harry Shanks. You
see if he don’t have both of they afore ever the war comes
on again!”
Conscious of filling the public eye, with the privilege of
_ being upon private view, Lord Nelson had faced the posi-
tion without flinching, and drawn all the fire of the enemy.
After that he began to make reprisals, according to his
manner, taking no trouble to regard the women—which
debarred them from thinking much of him—but settling
with a steady gaze at each seafaring man, whether he was
made of good stuff or of pie crust. And to the credit of the
place it must be said that he found very little of that soft
material, but plenty of good stuff, slow, perhaps, and heavy,
but needing only such a soul as his to rouse it.
‘‘ What a fine set of fellows you have in your village!”
he said to Miss Darling after dinner, as she sat at the head
of her father’s table, for the Admiral had long been a wid-
ower. ‘The finest I have seen on the south coast any-
where. And they look as if they had been under some
training. I suppose your father had most of them in the
Fencibles last summer ?” .
“Not one of them,” Faith answered, with a sweet smile
of pride. ‘‘They have their own opinions, and nothing
*
22 SPRINGHAVEN.
will disturb them. Nobody could get them to believe fora
moment that there was any danger of invasion. And they
carried on all their fishing business almost as calmly as
they do now. For that, of course, they may thank you,
Lord Nelson; but they have not the smallest sense of the
obligation.”
‘‘T am used to that, as your father knows; but more
among the noble than the simple. For the best thing I ever
did I got no praise, or at any rate very little. As to the
Boulogne affair, Springhaven was quite right. There was
never much danger of invasion. I only wish the villains
would have tried it. Horatia, would you like to see your
godfather at work? I hope not. Young ladies should be
peaceful.”
‘“Then I am not peaceful at all,” cried Dolly, who was
sitting by the maimed side of her ‘‘ Flapfin,” as her young
brother Johnny had nicknamed him. ‘‘ Why, if there was
always peace, what on earth would any but very low people
find to do? There could scarcely be an admiral, or a gen-
eral, or even a captain, or—well, a boy to beat the drums.”
‘But no drum would want to be beaten, Horatia,” her
elder sister Faith replied, with the superior mind of twenty-
one; ‘‘and the admirals and the generals would have to be—”
‘*Doctors, or clergymen, .or something of that sort, or
perhaps even worse—nasty lawyers.” Then Dolly (whose
name was ‘‘ Horatia” only in presence of her great godfa-
ther) blushed, as befitted the age of seventeen, at her daring,
and looked at her father. |
‘‘That last cut was meant for me,” Frank Darling, the
eldest of the family, explained from the opposite side of the
table. ‘‘ Your lordship, though so well known to us, can
hardly be expected to know or remember all the little par-
ticulars of our race. We are four, as you know; and the
elder two are peaceful, while the younger pair are warlike.
And I am to be the ‘nasty lawyer,’ called to the bar in the
fulness of time—which means after dining sufficiently—to
the great disgust of your little godchild, whcse desire from
her babyhood has been to get me shot.”
‘* Little, indeed! What a word to use about me! You
told a great story. But now you'll make it true.”
‘To wit—as we say at Lincoln’s Inn—she has not longed
always for my death in battle, but henceforth will do so;
but I never shall afford her that gratification. I shall keep
out of danger as zealously as your lordship rushes into it.”
SPRINGHAVEN. 25
‘‘Yrankie going on, I suppose, with some of his usual
nonsense,’’ Admiral Darling, who was rather deaf, called
out from the bottom of the table. ‘* Nobody pays much
attention to him, because he does not mean a word of it.
He belongs to the peace—peace—peace-at-any-price lot.
But when a man wanted to rob him last winter, he knocked
him down, and took him by the throat, and very nearly
killed him.”
‘‘That’s the only game to play,” exclaimed Lord Nelson,
who had been looking at Frank Darling with undisguised
disgust. ‘*My young friend, you are not such a fool after
all. And why should you try to be one ?”
‘“My brother,” said the sweet-tempered Faith, ‘‘ never
tries to be a fool, Lord Nelson; he only tries to be a poet.”
This made people laugh; and Nelson, feeling that he had
been rude to a youth who could not fairly answer him,
jumped from his chair with the lightness of a boy, and went
round to Frank Darling, with his thin figure leaning for-
ward, and his gray unpowdered hair tossed about, and upon
his wrinkled face that smile which none could ever resist,
because it was so warm and yet so sad.
** Shake hands, my dear young friend,” he cried, ‘‘ though
I cannot offer the right one. I was wrong to call you a
fool because you don't look at things as I do. Poets are
almost as good as sailors, and a great deal better than sol-
diers. I have felt a gift that way myself, and turned out
some very tidy lines. But I believe they were mainly about
myself, and I never had time to go on with them.”
Such little touches of simplicity and kindness, from a man
who never knew the fear of men, helped Jargely to produce
that love of Nelson which England felt, and will always feel.
‘‘My lord,” replied the young man, bending low—for he
was half a cubit higher than the mighty captain—‘ it is
good for the world that you have no right arm, when you
disarm it so with your left one.”
CHAPTER VI.
AS OTHERS SEE US.
ADMIRAL DARLING was very particular in trying to keep
his grounds and garden tolerably tidy always. But he nev-
er succeeded, for the simple reason that he listened to every
5,
24 SPRINGHAVEN.
one’s excuses; and not understanding a walk or a lawn
half so well as the deck of a battle-ship, he was always de-
feated in argument.
‘‘Here’s a state of things!” he used to say in summer-
time; ‘‘thistles full of seed within a biscuit-heave of my
front door, and other things—I forget their names—with
heads like the head of a capstan bursting, all as full of seeds
as a purser is of lies!” |
‘“Your lordship do not understand them subjects,” Mr.
Swipes, the head gardener, was in the habit of replying;
‘‘and small blame to you, in my opin-
, ion, after so many years upon the briny
é wave. Ah! they can’t grow them
* ( things there.”
i ‘‘ Swipes, that is true, but
sa to my mind not at all a sat-
A IF OE ie Fae N _ isfactory reason
pee 3 < ‘s for growing them
here, just in front
#/) of the house and
‘i? the windows.
Y 48.21 don’t mind a
“Gc few in the kitch-
en- garden ;_ but
you know as well
as I do, Swipes,
y that they can
“ have no proper
business here.”’
‘*T did hear tell
down to the Club,
last night,” Mr.
Ss Ae Swipes would re-
= ply, after wiping
his forehead as if his whole mind were perspired away,
‘though I don’t pretend to say how far true it may be, that
all the land of England is to be cultivated for the public
good, same as on the continence, without no propriety or
privacy, my lord. But I don’t altogether see how they be
todo it. SoI thought I'd better ask your lordship.”
‘For the public good! The public-house good, you
mean,’ the Admiral answered nine times out of ten, be-
ing easily led from the track of his wrath, and tired of
telling Swipes that he was not alord. ‘‘ How many times
S
oe
ee. eee ee eee ee ay eS ee UTE ee eee ee ey bee eae Raion tb f
26 SPRINGHAVEN.
more must I tell you, Swipes, that I hate that Jacobin asso-
ciation? Can you tell me of one seaman belonging to it?
A set of fish-jobbers, and men with barrows, and cheap-jacks
from upthe country. Notone of my tenants would be such
a fool as to go there, even if I allowed him. . I make great
allowances for you, Swipes, because of your obstinate nat-
~ ure. But don't let me hear of that Club any more, or you
may go and cultivate for the public good.”
‘*Your lordship knows that I goes there for nothing, ex-
cept to keep up my burial. And with all the work there is
upon this place, the Lord only knows when I may be re-
quiring of it. Ah! I never see the like; Inever did. And
a blade of grass the wrong way comes down on poor old
Swipes!”
Hereupon the master, having done his duty, was relieved
from overdoing it, and went on other business with a peace-
ful mind. The feelings, however, of Mr. Swipes were not
to be appeased so lightly, but demanded the immediate sat-
isfaction of a pint of beer. And so large was his charity
that if his master fell short of duty upon that point, he ac-
credited him with the good intention, and enabled him to
discharge it.
‘‘My dear soul,” he said, with symptoms of exhaustion,
to good Mrs. Cloam, the house-keeper, who had all the keys
at her girdle, about ten o’clock on the Monday morning,
‘‘ what a day we did have yesterday !”
‘“A merey upon me, Mr. Swipes,” cried Mrs. Cloam, who
was also short of breath, *‘ how you did exaggerate my poor
narves, a-rushing up so soft, with the cold steel in both your
hands!”
‘‘Ah, ma'am, it have right to be a good deal wuss than
that,” the chivalrous Swipes made answer, with the scythe
beside his ear. ‘‘It don’t consarn what the masters say,
though enough to take one's legs off. But the ladies, Mrs.
Cloam, the Jadies—it’s them as takes our heads off.”
‘‘Go ‘long with you, Mr. Swipes! You are so disastrous
at turning things. And how much did he say you was to
have this time? MHere’s Jenny Shanks coming up the pas-
sage.”
‘‘ Well, he left itto myself; he have that confidence in me.
And little it is I should ever care to take, with the power
of my own will, ma’am. Why, the little brown jug, ma’am,
is aS much as I can manage even of our small beer now.
Ah! I know the time when I would no more have thought
SPRINGHAVEN. 27
‘ef rounding of my mouth for such small stuff than of your
gerowing up, ma’am, to be a young woman, with the sponsor-
ship of this big place upon you. Wonderful! wonderful!
And only yesterday, as a man witha gardening mind looks
at it, you was the prettiest young maiden on the green, and
the same—barring marriage—if you was to encounter with
the young men now.”
‘*Oh,” said Mrs. Cloam, who was fifty, if a day, ‘‘how
you do make me think of sad troubles, Mr. Swipes! Jenny,
take the yellow jug with the three beef-eaters on it, and go
to the third cask from the door—the key turns upside down,
mind—and Jet me hear you whistle till you bring me back
the key. Don’t tell me nonsense about your lips being dry.
You can whistle like a blackbird when you choose.”
‘*Here’s to your excellent health, Mrs. Cloam, and as
blooming as it finds you now,ma’am! As pretty a tap as I
taste since Christmas, and another dash of malt would ’a
made it worthy amost to speak your health in. Well,
ma'am, a leetle drop in crystal for yourself, and then for my
business, which is to inquire after your poor dear health to-
day. Blooming as you are, ma’am, you must bear in mind
that beauty is only skin-deep, Mrs. Cloam; and the purtier
a flower is, the more delicate it grows. Ive a-been a-think-
ing of you every night, ma’am, knowing how you must ’a
been put about and driven. The Admiral have gone down
to the village, and Miss Dolly to stare at the boats going out.”
‘‘Then I may speak a word for once at ease, Mr. Swipes,
though the Lord alone knows what a load is on my tongue.
It requires a fine gardener, being used to delicacy, to enter
into half the worry we have to put up with. Heroes of the
Nile indeed, and bucklers of the country! Why, he could
not buckle his own shoe, and Jenny Shanks had to do it
for him. Not that I blame him for having one arm, and a
brave man he is to have lost it; but that he might have said
something about the things I got up at a quarter to five
every morning to make up for him. For cook is no more
than a smoke-jack, Mr. Swipes; if she keeps the joint turn-
ing, that’s as much as she can do.”
‘‘Anda little too fond of good beer, I’m afeard,” replied
Mr. Swipes, having emptied his pot. ‘*‘Men’s heads was
made for it, but not women’s, till they come to superior sta-
tions in life. But, oh, Mrs. Cloam, what a life we lead with
the crotchets of the gentry!”
_. “Itisn’t that so-much,-Mr. Swipes, if only there was any
28 SPRINGHAVEN.
way of giving satisfaction. I wish everybody who is born
to it to have the very best of everything, likewise all who
have fought up to it. But to make all the things and have
nothing made of them, whether indigestion or want of ap-
petite, turns one quite into the Negroes almost, that two or
three people go on with.”
‘‘T don’t look at what he hath aten or left,’ Mr. Swipes
made answer, loftily; ‘‘ that heth between him and his own
stommick. But what hath ’a left for me, ma'am? He hath
looked out over the garden when he pleased, and this time
of year no weeds is up, and he don't know enough of things
to think nothing of them. When his chaise come down I
was out by the gate with a broom in my hand, and I pulled
off my hat, but his eye never seemed to lay hold of me.”
‘* His eye lays hold of everything, whether he makes ’em
feel orno. One thing I’m sure of—he was quite up to Miss
Dolly, and the way she earries on with you know who every
blessed Sunday. If that is what they go to church for—”
‘‘ But, my dear soul,” said the genial Swipes, whose heart
was enlarged with the power of good beer, ‘‘ when you and
I was young folk, what did we go to church for? I ean't
speak for you, ma’am, being ever so much younger, and a
baby in the gallery in long clothes, if born by that time;
but so far as myself goes, it was the girls I went to look at,
and most of ’em come as well to have it done to them.”
‘‘That never was my style, Mr. Swipes, though I know
there were some not above it. And amongst equals I won't
say that there need be much harm in it. But for a young
man in the gallery, with a long stick of the vile-base in his
hand, and the only clean shirt of the week on his back, and
nothing but a plank of pitch to keep him, however good-
looking he may be, to be looking at the daughter, and the
prettiest one too, though not the best, some people think, of
the gentleman that owns all the houses and the haven—pre-
sumption is the smallest word that I can find to use for it;
and for her to allow it, fat—fat something in the nation.”
‘‘ Well, ma’am,” said Mr. Swipes, whose views were loose
and liberal, ‘‘it seems a little shock at first to those on trust
in families. But Dannel is a brave boy, and might fight
his way to glory, and then they has the pick of the femmels
up to a thousand pound a year. You know what happened
the miller’s son, no further off than Upton. And if it hadn’t
been for Dannel, when she was a little chit, where would
proud Miss Dolly be, with her feathers and her furbelows ?
SPRINGHAVEN. 29
Natur’ is the thing I holds by, and I sees a deal of it.. And
betwixt you and me and the bedpost, ma’am, whoever hath
Miss Dolly will have to ride to London on this here scythe.
Miss Faith is the lass for a good quiet man, without no airs
and graces, and to my judgment every bit as comely, and
more of her to hold on by. But the Lord ’a mercy upon us,
Mrs. Cloam, you’ve a-been married like my poor self; and
you knows what we be, and we knows what you be. Looks
‘ain't much to do with it, after the first week or two. It's
the cooking, and the natur’, and the not going contrairy.
B'lieve Miss Dolly would go contrairy to a hangel, if her
was jined to him three days.”
‘*Prejudice! prejudice!” the house-keeper replied, while
shaking her finger severely athim. ‘* You ought to be above
such opinions, Mr. Swipes, a superior man, such as you are.
If Miss Faith came into your garden reading books, and
finding fault here and there, and sniffing at the flowers a
quarter so often as pretty Dolly does, perhaps you wouldn't
make such a perfect angel of her, and run down her sister in
comparison. But your wonderful Miss Faith comes peeping
here and poking there into pots and pans, and asking the
maids how their mothers are, as if her father kept no house-
keeper. She provoked me so in the simple-room last week,
as if I was hiding thieves there, that I asked her at last
whether she expected to find Mr. Erle there. And you
should have seen how she burst out crying; for something
had turned on her mind before.”
‘Well, I couldn’t have said that to her,” quoth the ten-
der-hearted Swipes—‘‘not if she had come and routed out
every key and every box, pot, pan, and panier in the tool-
house and stoke-hole and vinery! The pretty dear! the
pretty dear! And such a lady as she is! Ah, you women
are hard-hearted to one another, when your minds are up!
But take my word for it, Mrs. Cloam, no one will ever have
the chance of making your beautiful Miss Dolly ery by ask-
ing her where her sweetheart is.”
CHAPTER VII.
A SQUADRON IN THE DOWNS.
‘My dear girls, all your courage is gone,” said Admiral
Darling to his daughters at luncheon, that same Monday;
30 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘‘departed perhaps with Lord Nelson and Frank. I hate
the new style of such come-and-go visits, as if there was no
time for anything. Directly a man knows the ways of the
house, and you can take him easily, off he goes. Just like
Hurry, he never can stop quiet. He talks as if peace was
the joy of his life, and a quiet farm his paradise, and very
likely he believes it. But my belief is that a year of peace
would kill him, now that he has made himself so famous,
When that sort of thing begins, it seems as if it must go
on.”
‘But, father dear,” exclaimed the elder daughter, *‘ you
could have done every single thing that Lord Nelson has
ever contrived to do, if you had only happened to be there,
and equally eager for destruction. I have heard you say.
many times, though not of course before him, that you could
have managed the battle of the Nile considerably better than
he did. And instead of allowing the great vessel to blow
up, you would have brought her safe to Spithead.”
‘‘My dear, you must have quite misunderstood me. Be
sure that you never express such opinions, which are entire-
ly your own, in the presence of naval officers. Snoney I
~ will not say that they are quite without foundation.”
‘Why, pa,” cried Miss Dolly, who was very truthful,
when her own interests were not involved, *‘ you have often
said twice as much as that. How well I remember having
heard you say—”
‘* You young people always back up one another, and you
don’t care what you make your poor father say. I wonder
you don’t vow that I declared I could jump over the moon
with my uniform on. But [1] tell you what we’ll do, to
bring back your senses—we will go for a long ride this fine
afternoon. Ivea great mind to go as far as Stonnington.”
‘“Now how many times have you told us that? I won't
believe it till we get there,” young Dolly answered, with her
bright eyes full of joy. ‘* You must be ashamed of Eiio
self, papa, for neglecting your old friend’s son so long.”
“Well, to tell. you the truth, I am, my dear,’ eoniicased
the aod natured Admiral; ‘‘ but no one but myself has the
least idea of the quantity of things I have to do.”
** Exactly what old Swipes said this very morning, only
much more impr essively. AndI really did believe him, till I
saw a yellow jug, and a horn that holds a pint, in the summer-
house. He thr ew his coat over them, bit it was too late.”
_ ** Dolly, I shall have to put. you in the black hole. .You
SPRINGHAVEN. 31
belong too much to the rising generation, or the upstart
generation is the proper word. What would Lord Nelson
say? I must have him back again. He is the man for
strict discipline.”
‘*Oh, I want to ask one thing about my great godfather.
You know he only came down with one portmanteau, and
his cocked-hat box, and two hampers. But when I went
into his bedroom to see, as a goddaughter should, that his
pillow was smooth, there he had got tacked up at the head
of his bed a picture of some very beautiful lady, and anoth-
er at the side, and another at the foot!) And Jenny Shanks,
who couldn't help peeping in, to see how a great hero goes
to sleep, wishes that she may be an old maid forever if she
did not see him say his prayers to them. Now the same fate
befall me if I don’t find out who itis! You must know,
papa, so you had better tell at once.”
‘“That hussy shall leave the house to-morrow. I never
heard of anything so shameless. Mrs. Cloam seems to have
no authority whatever. And you too, Dolly, had no busi-
ness there. If any one went to see the room comfortable, it
should have been Faith, as the lady of the house. Ever
Since you persuaded me that you were too old for a govern-
ess, you seem to be under no discipline at all.”
‘‘Now you know that you don’t mean that, papa. You
say those cruel things just to make me kiss you,” cried Dol-
ly, with the action suited to the word, and with her bright
hair falling upon his snowy beard the father could not help
returning the salute. ‘* But I must know who that lady is.
And what can he want with three pictures of her ?”
‘“How should I know, Dolly? Perhaps it is his mother,
or perhaps it is the Queen of Naples, who made a Duke of
him for what he did out there. Now be quick, both of you,
or no ride to-day. It is fifteen long miles to Stonnington, f
am sure, and I am not going to break my neck. As it is,
we must put dinner off till half past six, and we shall all be
starved by that time. Quick, girls, quick! Ican only give
you twenty minutes.”
The Admiral, riding with all the vigour of an ancient mar-
iner, looked well between his two fair daughters, as they
turned their horses’ heads inland, and made over the downs
for Stonnington. Here was beautiful cantering ground,
without much furze or many rabbit-holes, and lovely air
flowing over green waves of land, to greet and to deepen the
rose upon young cheeks. Behind them was the broad sea,
32 SPRINGHAVEN.
looking steadfast, and spread with slowly travelling tints;
before them and around lay the beauty of the earth, with
the goodness of the sky thrown over it. The bright world
quivered with the breath of spring, and her smile was shed
on everything.
‘“What a lovely country we have been through! I
should like to come here every day,” said Faith, as they
struck into the Loudon road again. ‘‘If Stonnington is as
nice as this, Mr. Seudamore must be happy there.”
‘“Well, we shall see,” her father answered. ‘‘ My busi-
ness has been upon the coast so much that I know very lit-
tle about Stonnington. But Scudamore has such a happy
nature that nothing would come much amiss to him. You
know why he is here, of course ?”
‘‘No, I don’t, papa. You are getting so mysterious that
you never tell us anything now,” replied Dolly. “I only
know that he was in the navy, and now he is in @& grammar-
school. The last time I saw him he was about a yard high.”
‘‘He isa good bit short of two yards now,” said the Ad-
miral, smiling as he thought of him; ‘‘ but quite tall enough
for a sailor, Dolly, and the most active young man I ever
saw in my life, every inch of him sound and quick and
true. I shall think very little of your judgment unless you
like him heartily; not at first, perhaps, because he is so shy,
but as soon as you begin to know him. I mean to ask him
to come down as soon as he can get a holiday. His captain
told me, when he served in the Diomede, that there was not
a man in the ship to come near him for nimbleness and
quiet fearlessness.”
‘Then what made him take to his books again? Oh,how
terribly dull he must find them! Why, that must be Ston-
nington church, on the hill!”
‘Yes, and the old grammar-school close by. I was very
near going there once myself, but they sent me to Win-
chester instead. It was partly through me that he got his
berth here, though not much to thank me for, I am afraid.
Sixty pounds a year and his rations isn’t much for a man
who has been at Cambridge. But even that he could not get
in the navy when the slack time came last year. He held
no commission, like many other fine young fellows, but had
entered as a first-class volunteer. And so he had no rating
when this vile peace was patched up—excuse me, my dear,
what I meant to say was, when the blessings of tranquillity
were restored. Aud before that his father, my dear old
‘HERE WAS BEAUTIFUL CANTERING GROUND.”
34 SPRINGHAVEN.
friend, died very suddenly, as you have heard me say, with-
out leaving more than would bury him. Don’t talk any
more of it. It makes me sad to think of it.”
‘‘ But,” persisted Dolly, ‘‘I could never understand why
a famous man like Sir Edmond Scudamore—a physician in
large practice, and head doctor to the King, as you have of-
ten told us—could possibly have died in that sort of way,
without leaving any money, or at least a quantity of valua-
ble furniture and jewels. And he had not a number of
children, papa, to spend all his money, as I do yours, when-
ever I get the chance; though you are growing so dreadful-
ly stingy now that I never can look even decent.”
‘“My dear, it is a very long sad story. Not about my
stinginess, I mean—though that is a sad story, in another
sense, but will not move my compassion. As to Sir Edmond,
I can only tell you now that, while he was a man of great
scientific knowledge, he knew very little indeed of money-
matters, and was not only far too generous, but what is a
thousand times worse, too trustful. Being of an honourable
race himself,and an honourable sample of it, he supposed that
a man of good family must be a gentleman; which is not
always the case. He advanced large sums of money, and
signed bonds for a gentleman, or rather a man of that rank,
whose name does not concern you; and by that man he was
vilely betrayed; and I would rather not tell you the rest of
it. Poor Blyth had to leave Cambridge first, where he was
sure to have done very well indeed,and at his own wish he was
sent afloat, where he would have done even better; and then
as his father’s troubles deepened, and ended in his death of
heart-complaint, the-poor boy was left to keep his broken-
hearted mother, upon nothing but a Latin Grammar. And
I fear it is like a purser’s dip. But here we are at Stonning-
ton—a long steep pitch. Let us slacken sail, my dears, as
we have brought no coxswain. Neither of you need land,
you know; but I shall go into the school-room.”’
‘*One thing I want to know,” said the active-minded Dol-
ly, as the horses came blowing their breath up the hill: ‘‘if
his father was Sir Edmond, and he is the only child, accord-
ing to all the laws of nature he ought to be Sir Blyth Seud-
amore.”
‘It shows how little you have been out—as good Mrs.
Twemlow expresses it—that you do not even understand the
laws of nature as between a Baronet and a Knight.”
‘*Oh, to be sure; I recollect! How very stupid of me!
“HOUNHO NOLININOLS
36 SPRINGHAVEN.
The one goes on, and the other doesn’t, after the individual
stops. But whose fault is it that I go out so little? So you
see you are caught in your own trap, papa.”
CHAPTER VIII.
A LESSON IN THE AINEID.
IN those days Stonnington was a very pretty village, and
such it continued to be until it was ravaged by a railway.
With the railway came all that is hideous and foul, and
from it fled all that is comely. The cattle-shed, called by
rail-highwaymen ‘‘the Station,” with its roof of iron Pan-
pipes and red bull’s-eyes stuck on stack-poles, whistles and
stares where the grand trees stood and the village green. lay
sleeping. On the site of the gray-stone grammar-school is
an ‘‘Operative Institute,” whose front (not so thick as the
skin of a young ass) is gayly tattooed with a ringworm of
wind-bricks. And the old manor-house, where great au-
thors used to dine, and look out with long pipes through
the ivy, has been stripped of every shred of leaf, and paint-
ed red and yellow, and barge-boarded into ‘‘ the Temper-
ance Tap.”
Kre ever these heathen so furiously raged, there was peace
and content, and the pleasure of the eyes, and of neighbourly
feeling abundance. The men never burst with that bubble
of hurry which every man now is inflated with; and the
women had time enough to mind one another's affairs,
without which they grow scandalous. And the trees, that
kept company with the houses, found matter for reflection
in their calm blue smoke, and the green crop that promised
a little grove upon the roof. So that as the road went up
the hill, the traveller was content to leave his legs to nature,
while his eyes took their leisure of pleasant views, and of
just enough people to dwell upon.
At the top of the hill rose the fine old church, and next
to it, facing on the road itself, without any kind of fence
before it, stood the grammar-school of many generations.
This was a long low building, ridged with mossy slabs, and
ribbed with green, where the drip oozed down the buttresses.
But the long reach of the front was divided by a gable pro-
jecting a little into the broad high-road. And here was the
way, beneath a Iow stone arch, into a porch with oak beams
ee ee
SPRINGHAVEN. 37
bulging and a bell-rope dangling, and thence with an oaken
door flung back into the dark arcade of learning.
This was the place to learn things in, with some possi-
bility of keeping them, and herein lay the wisdom of our
ancestors. Could they ever have known half as much as
they did, and ten times as much as we know, if they had let
the sun come in to dry it all up, as we do?) Will even the
fourteen-coated onion root, with its bottom exposed to the
sun, or will a clever puppy grow long ears in the power of
strong daylight ? |
The nature and nurture of solid learning were better un-
derstood when schools were built from which came Shaks-
peare and Bacon and Raleigh; and the glare of the sun was
not let in to baffle the light of the eyes upon the mind.
And another consideration is that wherever there is light,
boys make a noise, which conduces but little to doctrine;
whereas in soft shadow their muscles relax, and their minds
become apprehensive. Thus had this ancient grammar-
school of Stonnington fostered many scholars, some of whom
had written grammars for themselves and their posterity.
The year being only at the end of March, and the day go-
ing on for five o'clock, the light was just right, in the long
low room, for correction of manners and for discipline.
Two boys had been horsed and brushed up well, which had
strengthened the conscience of all the rest, while sobs and
rubs of the part affected diffused a tender silence. Doc-
tor Swinks, the head-master, was leaning back in his cano-
pied oaken chair, with the pride inspired by noble actions.
‘* What wonderfully good boys!” Dolly whispered, as she
peeped in through the dark porch with Faith, while her
father was giving the horses in charge to the hostler from
the inn across the way; ‘‘I declare that I shall be frightened
even to look at Mr. Scudamore, if this is a specimen of what
he does. There is scarcely a boy looking off his book. But
how old he does look! I suppose it must be the effect of so
much hard teaching.”
‘* You silly thing,” her sister answered; ‘‘ you are looking
at the great head-master. Mr. Scudamore is here at the
bottom of the school. Between these big hinges you can
see him; and he looks as young as you do.”’
Miss Dolly, who dearly loved any sly peep, kept her light
figure back and the long skirt pulled in, as she brought her
bright eyes to the slit between the heavy black door and the
stone-work. And she speedily gave her opinion.
88 SPRINGHAVEN.
' “He is nothing but a regular frump. I declare I am
dreadfully disappointed. No wonder the title did not come
on! He is nothing but a very soft-natured stupe. Why,
the boys can do what they like with him!”
Certainly the scholars of the Virgil ‘class, which Blyth
Scudamore was dealing with, had recovered from the queri-
monies of those two sons of Ovid, on the further side of
Ister, and were having a good laugh at the face of ‘‘ Captain
Scuddy,” as they called their beloved preceptor. For he,
being gifted with a gentle sense of humour, together with a
patient love of the origin of things, was questing in his
quiet mind what had led a boy to render a well-known
line as follows: ‘‘Such a quantity of salt there was, to
season the Roman nation.” Presently he hit upon the
clue to this great mystery. ‘‘ Mola, the salted cake,” he
said; ‘‘and the next a little error of conjugation. You
have looked out your words, Smith, but chanced upon the
wrong ones.”
‘Oh, Captain Scuddy,” cried the head boy, grinning
wisely, though he might have made just the same blunder
himself; ‘‘ after that, do tell us one of your sea-stories. It
will strike five in about five minutes. Something about
Nelson, and killing ten great Frenchmen.”
‘“Oh, do!” cried the other little fellows, crowding round
him. ‘‘It is ever so much better than Virgil, Captain
Scuddy.”’
‘‘T am not Captain Scuddy, as I tell you every day. I’m
afraid I am a great deal too good-natured with you. Ishall
have to send a dozen of you up to be caned.”’
‘“No, you couldn’t do that if you tried, Captain Scuddy.
But what are you thinking of all this time? There are two
pretty ladies in riding-habits peeping at you from the bell
porch. Why, you have got sweethearts, Captain Scuddy !
What a shame of you never to have told us!”
The youngest and fairest of all the boys there could
scarcely have blushed more deeply than their classical tutor
did as he stooped for his hat, and shyly went between the
old desks to the door in the porch. All the boys looked
after him with the deepest interest, and made up their minds
to see everything he did. This was not at all what he de-
sired, and the sense of it increased his hesitation and con-
fusion. Of the Admiral’s lovely daughters he had heard
while in the navy, and now he was frightened to think
that perhaps they were come here to reconnoitre him.
“WHAT WONDERFULLY GOOD Boys!” | ,
40 SPRINGHAVEN.
But luckily the Admiral was by this time to the fore, and
he marched into the school-room and saluted the head-
master.
‘‘ Dr. Swinks,” he said, ‘‘ I am your very humble servant,
Vice-Admiral of the Blue, Charles Darling, and beg a thou-
sand pardons for intrusion on deep learning. But they tell
me that your watch is over in some half a minute. Allow
me to ask for the son of an old friend, Blyth Scudamore,
late of the Diomede frigate, but now of this ancient and
Jearned grammar-school. When his labours are over, I
would gladly speak with him.”
‘‘Boys may go,” the head-master pronounced, as the old
clock wheezed instead of striking. ‘‘Sir, my valued young
coadjutor is advancing from the fourth form towards you.”
The Doctor was nice in his choice of words, and prided
himself on Johnsonian precision, but his young coadjutor’s |
advance was hardly to be distinguished from a fine retreat.
Like leaves before the wind, the boys rushed out by a back
door into the play-ground, while the master solemnly passed
to his house, with a deep slow bow to the ladies; and there
was poor Scudamore—most diffident of men whenever it
came to lady-work—left to face the visitors with a pleasing
knowledge that his neckcloth was dishevelled and his hair
sheafed up, the furrows of his coat broadcast with pounce,
and one of his hands gone to sleep from holding a heavy
Delphin for three-quarters of an hour.
As he came out thus into the evening lheght, which dazed
his blue eyes for a moment, Miss Dolly tur ned away to hide
a smile, but Faith, upon her father’s introduction, took his
hand and looked at him tenderly. Forshe was a very soft-
hearted young woman, and the tale of his troubles and good-
ness to his mother had moved her affection towards him,
while as one who was forever pledged—according to her
own ideas—to a hero beyond comparison, she was able to
regard young men with mercy, and with pity, if they had
none to love. ‘‘How hard you have been at work!” she
said; ‘‘it makes us seem so lazy! But we never can find
any good thing to do.”
‘*That’s a cut at me,” cried the Admiral. ‘Scudamore,
when you come to my age, be wiser than to have any
daughters. Sure enough, they find no good to do; and they
not only put all the fault of that on me, but they make me
the victim of all the mischief they invent. Dolly, my
darling, wear that cap if it fits. But you have not shaken
THE PRETTY LADIES.
42 : SPRINGHAVEN.
hands with Mr. Scudamore yet. I hope you will do so, some
hundreds of times.”
‘‘Not all at once, papa; or how thankful he would be!
But stop, I have not got half my glove off; this fur makes
them stick so.” : |
Miss Dolly was proud of her hands, and lost few chances
of getting them looked at. Then with a little smile, partly
at herself for petulance, partly to him for forgiveness, she
offered her soft, warm, rich white hand, and looked at him
beautifully as he took it. Alack and alas for poor ‘‘ Cap-
tain Seuddy”!
His eyes, with a quick, shy glance, met hers, and hers with
soft inquiry answered, ‘‘I wonder what you think of me 2”
Whenever she met a new face this was her manner of con-
sidering: it.
‘‘Scudamore, I shall not allow you any time to think
about it,” Admiral Darling broke in suddenly, so that the
young man almost jumped. ‘‘ Although you have cut the
service for a while, because of our stingy peacefulness, you
are sure to come back to us again when England wants
English, not Latin and Greek. I am your commanding
officer, and my orders are that you come to us from Satur-
day till Monday. I shall send a boat—or at least I mean a
buggy—to fetch you, as soon as you are off duty, and re-_
turn you the same way on Monday. Come, girls, ’twill be
dark before we are home; and since the patrols were with-
drawn, I hear there’s a highwayman down this road again.
That is one of the blessings of peace, Scudamore, even as
Latin and Greek are. ‘ Apertis otia portis’—Open the gates
for laziness. Ah, I should have done well at old Winton,
they tell me, if I had not happened to run away to sea.”
CHAPTER IX.
THE MAROON.
IF yet there remained upon our southern coast a home for
the rarer virtues, such as gratitude, content, liberality (not
of other people’s goods alone), faith in a gracious Provi-
dence, and strict abstinence from rash labour, that home and
stronghold was Springhaven. To most men good success
brings neither comfort, nor tranquillity, nor so much as a
stool to sit upon; but comes as a tread-mill which must be
SPRINGHAVEN, 43
trodden without any getting to the top of it. Not so did
these wise men take their luck. If ever they came from
the fickle wave-bosom to the firm breast of land on a Satur-
day, with a fine catch of fish, and sold it well—and such
was their sagacity that sooner would they keep it for canni-
bal temptation than sell it badly—did they rush into the
waves again before they had dried their breeches? Not
they; nor did their wives, who were nearly all good women,
stir them up to be off again. Especially at this time of
year, with the days pulling out, and the season quickening,
and the fish coming back to wag their tails upon the shal-
lows, a pleasant race of men should take their pleasure, and
leave flints to be skinned by the sons of flint.
This was the reason why Miss Dolly Darling had watched
in vain at the Monday morning tide for the bold issue of the
fishing fleet. The weariless tide came up and lifted the
bedded keel and the plunged forefoot, and gurgled with a
quiet wash among the straky bends, then lurched the boats
to this side and to that, to get their heft correctly, and dan-
dled them at last with their bowsprits dipped and their little
mast-heads nodding. Every brave smack then was mount-
ed, and riding, and ready for a canter upon the broad sea:
but not a blessed man came to set her free. Tethered by
head and by heel, she could only enjoy the poised pace of
the rocking-horse, instead of the racer’s delight in career ing
across the ‘free sweep of the distance.
Springhaven had done so well last week that this week
it meant to do still better, by stopping at home till the mon-
ey was gone, and making short work afterwards. Every
man thoroughly enjoyed himself, keeping sober whenever
good manners allowed, foregoing all business, and saunter-
ing about to see the folk hard at work who had got no
money. On Wednesday, however, an order was issued by
Captain Zebedee Tugwell that all must be ready for a three
days’ trip, when the tide should serve, which would be at
the first of the ebb, about ten in the morning. The tides
were slackening now, and the smacks had required some
change of berth, but still they were not very far from the
Admiral’s white gate.
‘IT shall go down to see them, papa, if you please,” Dolly
said to her father at breakfast-time. ‘*They should have
gone on Monday; but they were too rich; and I think it.
very shameful of them. I dare say they have not got a
halfpenny left, and that makes them look so lively. Of
44 SPRINGHAVEN.
course they’ve been stuffing, and they won’t move fast, and
they can’t expect any more dinner till they catch it. But
they have got so much bacon that they don’t care.”
‘‘What could they have better, I should like to know ?”
asked the Admiral, who had seen hard times. ‘‘ Why, I
gave seven men tlree dozen apiece for turning their noses
up at salt horse, just because he whisked his tail in the cop-
per. Lord bless my soul! what is the nation coming to,
when a man can’t dine upon cold bacon 2”
‘‘No, it is not that, papa. They are very good in that
way, as their wives will tell you. Jenny Shanks tells me
the very same thing, and of course she knows all about
them. She knew they would never think of going out on
Monday, and if I had asked her I might have known it too.
But she says that they are sure to catch this tide.”
‘“ Very well, Dolly. Go you and catch them. You are
never content’ without seeiug something. Though what
there is to see in a lot of lubberly craft pushing off with
punt-poles—”
‘‘Hush, papa, hush! Don’t be so contemptuous. What
did my godfather say the other day? And I suppose he un-
dersiands things.”
‘‘Don’t quote your godfather against your father. It
was never intended in the Catechism. And if it was, I
would never put up with it.”
Dolly made off; for she knew that her father, while proud
of his great impartiality, candor, and scorn of all trumpery
feeling, was sometimes unable to make out the reason why
a queer little middy of his own should now stand upon the
giddy truck of fame, while himself, still ahead of him in
the Navy List, might pace his quarter-deck and have hats
touched to him, but never a heart beat one pulse quicker..
Jealous he was not; but still, but still, at least in his own
family—
Leaving her dear father to his meditations—which Faith
ran up to kiss away—fair Dolly put on a plain hat and scarf,
quite good enough for the fishermen, and set off in haste for
the Round-house, to see the expedition start. By the time
she was there, and had lifted the sashes, and got the spy-
glass ready, the flow of the tide was almost spent, and the
brimming moment of the slack was nigh. For this all the
folk of the village waited, according to the tradition of the
place; the manhood and boyhood, to launch forth; old age,
womanhood, and childhood, to contribute the comfort of
SPRINGHAVEN. 45
kind looks and good-bye. | The tides, though not to be com-
pared to the winds in fickleness, are capricious here, having
sallies of irregularity when there has been a long period of
northeast winds, bringing a counter-flow to the Atlantic in-
flux. Andaman must be thoroughly acquainted with the
coast, as well as the moon and the weather, to foretell how
the water will rise and fall there. For the present, however,
there was no such puzzle. The last lift of the quiet tide
shone along the beach in three straight waves, shallow steps
that arose inshore, and spent themselves without breaking.
‘‘Toorn o’ the tide!” the Captain shouted; ‘‘all aboord,
aboord, my lads! The more ’e bide ashore, the wuss ’e be.
See to Master Cheeseman’s craft! Got a good hour afront
of us. Dannel, what be mooning at? Fetch’un a clout on
his head, Harry Shanks; or, Tim, you run up and do it.
Doubt the young hosebird were struck last moon, and his
brains put to salt in a herring-tub. Home with you, wife!
And take Dan, if you will. He’d do more good at the chip-
ping job, with the full moon in his head so.”’
‘“Then home I will take my son, Master Tugwell,” his
wife answered, with much dignity, for all the good wives of
Springhaven heard him, and what would they think of her
if she said nothing? ‘‘Home I will take my son and yours,
and the wisest place for him to abide in, with his father set
agin him so. Dannel, youcomealong of me. I won't have
my eldest boy gainsayed so.” |
Zebedee Tugwell closed his lips, and went on with his
proper business. All the women would side with him, if he
left them the use of their own minds, and the sound of his
wife’s voice last; while all the men in their hearts felt wis-
dom. But the young. man, loath to be left behind, came
doubtfully down to the stern of the boat, which was pushing
off for the Rosalie. And he looked at the place where he
generally sat, and then at his father and the rest of them.
‘‘No gappermouths here!” cried his father, sternly. ‘‘ Get
theezell home with the vemmelvolk. Shove off without
him, Tim! How many more tides would ’e lose 2”
Young Dan, whose stout legs were in the swirling water,
snatched up his striped woolsey from under the tiller, threw
it on his shoulder, and walked off, without a farewell to any
one. The whole of Springhaven that could see saw it, and
they never had seen such a thing before. Captain Zeb
_ stood up and stared, with his big forehead coming out under
his hat, and his golden beard shining in the morning sun;
pee:
Bie
_
46 | SPRINGHAVEN:
but the only satisfaction for his eyes was the back of his son
growing smaller and smaller.
“Chip of the old block!” ‘“Sarve ’e right, Cap’en!”
‘‘ Starve ’un back to his manners again!” the inferior chief-
tains of the expedition cried, according to their several
views of life. But Zebedee Tugwell paid no heed to thoughts
outside of his own hat and coat. ‘“‘Spake when I ax you,”
he said, urbanely, but with a glance which conveyed to any
too urgent sympathizer that he would be knocked down,
when accessible.
But, alas! the less-disciplined women rejoiced, with a wink
at their departing lords, as Mrs. Zebedee set off in chase of
her long-striding Daniel. The mother, enriched by home
affections, and course of duties well performed, was of a
rounded and ample figure, while the son was tall, and as thin
as might be one of strong and well-knit frame. And the
sense of wrong would not permit him to turn his neck, or
take a glance at the enterprise which had rejected him. __
‘* How grand he does look! what a noble profile!” thought
Dolly, who had seen everything without the glass, but now
brought it to bear upon his countenance. ‘ He is like the
centurion in the painted window, or a Roman medallion
with a hat on. But that old woman will never catch him.
She might just as well gohomeagain. He is walking about
ten miles an hour, and how beautifully straight his legs are!
W hat a shame that he should not be a gentleman! He is
ten times more like one than most of the officers that used
to come bothering me so. I wonder how far he means to
go? Ido hope he won't make away with himself. It is al-
most enough to make him do it, to be so insulted by his own
father, and disgraced before all the village, simply because
he can’t help having his poor head so full of me! Nobody
shall ever say that I did anything to give him the faintest
encouragement, because it would be so very wicked and so
cruel, considering all he has done for me. But if he comes
back, when his father is out of sight, and he has walked off
his righteous indignation, and all these people are gone to
dinner, it might give a turn to his thoughts if I were to put
on my shell-coloured frock and the pale blue sash, and just
go and see, on the other side of the stepping-stones, how
much longer they mean to-be with that boat they began so
long ago.’
SPRINGHAVEN. 4?
CHAPTER X.
ACROSS THE STEPPING-STONES.
VERY good boats were built at this time in the south of
England, stout, that is to say, and strong, and fit to ride over
a heavy sea, and plunge gallantly into the trough of it. But
as the strongest men are seldom swift of foot or light of
turn, so these robust and sturdy boats must have their own
time and swing allowed them, ere ever they would come
round or step out. Having meta good deal of the sea, they
knew, likea man who has felt a good deal of the world, that
heavy endurance and patient bluffness are safer to get
through the waves somehow than sensitive fibre and elegant
frame.
But the sea-going folk of Springhaven had learned, by
lore of generations, to build a boat with an especial sheer
forward, beam far back, and deep run of stern, so that she
was lively in the heaviest of weather) and strong enough to
take a good thump smiling, when unable to dance over it.
Yet as a little thing often makes all the difference in great
things, it was very difficult for anybody to find out exactly
the difference between a boat built here and a boat built ten
or twenty miles off, in imitation of her. The sea, however,
knew the difference in a moment between the true thing
and the counterfeit, and encouraged the one to go merrily
on, while it sent back the other staggering. The secret lay
chiefly in a hollow curve forward of nine or ten planks upon
either side, which could only be compassed by skilful use of
adze and chisel, frame-saw and small tools, after choice of
the very best timber, free from knots, tough and flexible.
And the best judge of these points was Zebedee Tugwell.
Not having cash enough just at present (by reason of
family expenses, and the high price of bread and of every-
thing else) to set upon the stocks the great smack of the
future, which should sail round the Rosalie, Captain Tugwell
was easing his mind by building a boat for stormy weather,
such as they very seldom have inshore, but are likely to
meet with outside the Head. As yet there were not many
48 SPRINGHAVEN.
rowing boats here fit to go far in tumbling water, though the
few that could do it did it well, and Tugwell’s intention was
to beat them all in power and spring and buoyancy. The
fame of his meaning was spread for as much as twenty
leagues along the coast; and jealous people laughed, instead
of waiting for him to finish it.
Young Daniel had been well brought up in the mysteries
of his father’s craft, and having a vigorous turn of wrist, as
well as a true eye and quick brain, he was even outgrowing
the paternal skill, with experiments against experience. He
had beautiful theories of his own, and felt certain that he
could prove’them, if any one with cash could be brought to
see their beauty. His father admitted that he had good
ideas, and might try them, if any fool would find the money.
Wroth as he had been at the sharp rebuff and contumely
of his father, young Daniel, after a long, strong walk, began
to look at things more peaceably. The power of the land,
and the greatness of the sea, and the gocdness of the sky un-
angered him, and the air that came from some oyster beds,
as the tide was falling, hungered him. Home he went, in
good time for dinner, as the duty of a young man is; and in-
stead of laughing when he came by, the maids of Spring-
haven smiled at him. This quite righted him in his own
opinion, yet leaving him the benefit of the doubt which
comes from a shake in that cradle lately. He made a good
dinner, and shouldered his adze, with a frail of tools hang-
ing on the neck of it; and troubled with nothing but love—
which is a woe of self-infliction—whistled his way to the
beach, to let all the women understand that he was not a
bit ashamed. And they felt for him all the more ——
he stood up for himself a little.
Doubtful rights go cheap; and so the foreshore ee
of the brook being claimed by divers authorities, a tidy little
cantle of it had been leased by Admiral Darling, lord of the
manor, to Zebedee Tugwell, boat-builder, for the yearly
provent of two and sixpence sterling. The Admiral’s man
of law, Mr. Furkettle, had strongly advised, and well pre-
pared the necessary instrument, which wouid grow into
value by-and-by as evidence of title. And who could serve
summary process of ejectment upon an interloper in a man-
ner so valid as Zebedee’s would be? Possession was certain
as long as he lived; ousters and filibusters, in the form of
railway companies and communists, were a bubble as yet in
the womb of ages.
Py one
~
SPRINGHAVEN. 49
This piece of land, or sand, or rush seemed very unlikely
to be worth dispute. If seisin corporeal, user immemorial,
and prescription for levance and couchance conferred any
title indefeasible, then were the rabbits the owners in fee
simple, absolute, paramount, and source of pedigree. But
they, while thoroughly aware of this, took very little heed
to go into it, nor troubled their gentle natures much about
a few yards of sand or grass, as the two-legged creatures
near them did. Inasmuch as they had soft banks of herb
and vivid moss to sit upon, sweet crisp grass and juicy clo-
ver for unlaboured victuals—as well as a thousand other
nibbles which we are too gross to understand—and for bev-
erage not only all the abundance of the brook (whose brill-
lance might taste of men), but also a little spring of their
own which came out of its hole like a rabbit; and then for
scenery all the sea, with strange things running over it, as
well as a great park of their own having countless avenues
of rush, ragwort, and thistle-stump—where would they have
deserved to be if they had not been contented? Content
they were, and even joyful at the proper time of day. Joy-
ful in the morning, because the sun was come again; joyful
in the middle day to see how well the world went; and in
the evening merry with the tricks of their own shadows.
Quite fifteen stepping-stones stepped up—if you counted
three that were made of wood—to soothe the dignity of the
brook in its last fresh-water moments, rather than to gratify
the dry-skin’d soles of gentlefolk. For any one, with a five-
shilling pair of boots to terminate in, might skip dry-footed
across the sandy purlings of the rivulet. And only when a -
flood came down, or the head of some spring-tide came up,
did any but playful children tread the lichened cracks of
the stepping-stones. And nobody knew this better than
Horatia Dorothy Darling.
The bunnies who lived to the west of the brook had rec-
onciled their minds entirely now to the rising of that boat
among them. At-first it made a noise, and scratched the
sand, and creaking things came down to it; and when the
moon came through its ribs in the evening, tail was the
quarter to show to it. But asit went on naturally growing,
seldom appearing to make much noise, unless there was a
man very near it, and even then keeping him from doing
any harm—outside the disturbance that he lives in—without
so much as a council ealled, they tolerated this encroach-
ment. Some of the bolder fathers came and sat inside to
3 :
\
50 SPRINGHAVEN.
consider it, and left their compliments aljl round to the mas-
ters of the enterprise. And even when Daniel came to
work, as he happened to do this afternoon, they carried on
their own work in its highest form—that of play—upon the
premises they lent him.
Though not very large, it was a lively, punctual, well-
conducted, and pleasant rabbit-warren. Sudden death was
avoidable on the part of most of its members, nets, ferrets,
gins, and wires being alike forbidden, foxes scarcely ever
seen, and even guns a rare and very memorable visitation.
The headland staves the southern storm, sand-hills shevelled
with long rush disarm the western fury, while inland gales
from north and east leap into the clouds from the uplands.
Well aware of all their bliss, and feeling worthy of it, the
blameless citizens pour forth, upon a mild spring evening,
to give one another the time of day, to gaze at the labours of
men upon the sea, and to take the sweet leisure, the breeze,
and the browse. The gray old coneys of curule rank, prime
senators of the sandy beach, and fathers of the father-land,
hold a just session upon the head borough, and look like
brown loaves in the distance. But these are coneys of great
mark and special character, full of light and leading, be-
cause they have been shot at, and understand how to avoid
it henceforth. They are satisfied to chew very little bits of
stuff, and particular to have no sand in it, and they hunch
their round backs almost into one another, and double up
their legs to keep them warm, and reflect on their friends’
gray whiskers. And one of their truest pleasures is, sitting
snug at their own doors, to wateh their children’s gambols.
For this is the time, with the hght upon the slope, and the
freshness of salt flowing in from the sea, when the spirit of
youth must be free of the air, and the quickness of life is
abounding. Without any heed of the cares that are com-
ing, or the prick-eared fears of the elders, a fine lot of young
bunnies with tails on the frisk scour everywhere over the
warren. Up and down the grassy dips and yellow piles of
wind-drift, and in and out of the ferny coves and tussocks
of rush and ragwort, they scamper, and caper, and chase
one another, in joy that the winter is banished at last, and
the glorious sun come back again. |
Suddenly, as at the wave of a wand, they all stop short
and listen. The sun is behind them, low and calm, there is
not a breath of wind to stir their flax, not even the feather
of a-last year’s bloom has moved, unless they moved it. Yet
a =
45.
“rae
SPRINGHAVEN. . 51
signal of peril has passed among them; they curve their soft
ears for the sound of it, and open their sensitive nostrils,
and pat upon the ground with one little foot to encourage
themselves against the panting of their hearts and the trai-
torous length of their shadows.
Ha! Not for nothing was their fear this day. An active
and dangerous specimen of the human race was coming,
lightly and gracefully skimming the moss, above salt-water
reach, of the stepping-stones. The steps are said to be a
thousand years old, and probably are of half that age, be-
longing to a time when sound work throve, and a monasterv
flourished in the valley. Even though they come down
from great Hercules himself, never have they been crossed
by a prettier foot or a fairer form than now came gaily over
them. But the rabbits made no account of that. To the
young man with the adze they were quite accustomed, and
they liked him, because be minded his own business, and
eared nothing about theirs; but of this wandering maiden
they had no safe knowledge, and judged the worst, and all
rushed away, some tenscore strong, giving notice to him as
they passed the boat that he also had better be cautious.
Daniel was in a sweet temper now, by virtue of hard la-
bour and gratified wit. By skill, and persistence, and bodily
strength he had compassed a curve his father had declared
impossible without a dock-yard. Three planks being fixed,
he was sure of the rest, and could well afford to stop, to ad-
mire the effect, and feel proud of his werk, and of himself
the worker. Then the panic of the coneys made him turn
his head, and the quick beat of his heart was quickened by
worse than bodily labour.
Miss Dolly Darling was sauntering sweetly, as if there
were only one sex in the world, and that an entirely divine
one. The gleam of spring sunset was bright im her hair,
and in the soft garnish of health on her cheeks, and the vig-
orous play of young life in her eyes; while the silvery
glance of the sloping shore, and breezy ruffle of the darken-
ing sea, did nothing but offer a foil for the form of the shell-
coloured frock and the sky-blue sash.
Young Daniel fell back upon his half-shaped work, and
despised it, and himself, and everything, except what he was"
afraid to look at. In the hollow among the sand-hills, where
the cradle of the boat was, fine rushes grew, and tufts of
ragwort, and stalks of last year’s thistles, and sea-osiers
where the spring oozed down. Through these the white ribs
52 SPRINGHAVEN.
of the rising boat shone forth like an elephant’s skeleton;
but the builder entertained some hope, as well as some fear,
of being unperceived.
But a far greater power than his own was here. Curved
and hollow ships are female in almost all languages, not
only because of their curves and hollows, but also because
they are craft—so to speak.
‘‘Oh, Captain Tugwell, are you at work still? Why, you
really ought to have gone with the smacks. But perhaps
you sent your son instead. Lam so glad to see you! It is
such nice company to hear you! I did not expect to be left
alone, like this.”
es If you please, miss, it isn’t father atall. Father is gone
with the fishing long ago. It is only me, Daniel, if you
please, miss.”
‘‘No, Daniel, lam not pleased at all. Iam quite surprised
that you should work so late. It scarcely seems respect-
able.”
At this the young man was so much stud that he could
only stare, while she walked off, until the clear duty of right-
ing himself in her good opinion struck him. Then he threw
on his coat and ran after her:
‘‘Tf you please, Miss Dolly—will you please, Miss Dolly ?”
he called, as she made olf for the stepping-stones; but she
did not turn round, though her name was ‘** Miss Dolly” all
over Springhaven, and she liked it. ‘‘ You are bound to
stop, miss,” he said, sternly; and she stopped, and cried,
‘What do you mean by such words to me ?”
‘‘Not any sort of harm, miss,” he answered, humbly, in-
asmuch as she had obeyed him; “‘and I ask your pardon
for speaking so. But if you think twice, you are bound to
explain what you said concerning me, now just.”
**Oh, about your working so late, you mean. I offered
good advice to you.. I think it is wrong that you should
go on, when everybody else has left off long ago. But per-
haps your father makes you.”
‘‘ Father is a just man,” said young Tugwell, drawing up
his own integrity; ‘‘now and then he may take a erooked
twist,or such like; but he never goeth out of fair play to his
knowledge. He hath a-been hard upon me this day; but
the main of it was to check mother of her ways. You un-
derstand, miss, how the women-folk go on in a house, till
the other women hear of it. And then out-of-doors they
are the same as lambs.”
a _
SPRINGHAVEN, dd
‘Tt is most ungrateful and traitorous of you to your own
mother to talk so. Your mother spoils you, and this is all
‘the thanks she gets! Wait till you have a wife of your
own, Master Daniel.”
“Wait till Iam dead then I may, Miss Dolly,” he an-
swered, with a depth of voice which frightened her for a
moment; and then he smiled and said, ‘‘ I beg your pardon,”
as gracefully as any gentleman could say it; “‘but let me
see you safe to your own gate; there are very rough people
about here now, and the times are not quite as they used to
be when we were a-fighting daily.”
He followed her at a respectful distance, and then ran for-
ward and opened the white gate. ‘‘Good-night, Daniel,”
the young lady said, as he lifted his working cap to her,
showing his bright curls against the darkening sea; ‘‘I am
very much obliged to you, and I do hope I have not said
anything to vex you. Ihave never forgotten all you did for
me, and you must not mind the way I have of saying things.”
‘“What a shame it does appear—what a fearful shame it
” she whispered to herself, as she hurried through the trees
—‘‘that he should be nothing but a fisherman! He is a
gentleman in everything but birth and education; and SO
strong, and so brave, and so good-looking!”
> ly
vafn/
54 SPRINGHAVEN.
CHAPTER XI.
NO PROMOTION.
‘“Do it again now, Captain Scuddy; do it again; you
know you must.”
‘You touched the rim with your shoe last time. You
are bound to do it clean once more.” .
‘“No, he didn’t. You are a liar; it was only the ribbon
of his shoe.”
‘‘T1l punch your head if you say that again. It was his
heel, and here’s the mark.”
‘“Oh, Seuddy dear, don’t notice them. You can do it
fifty times running, if you like. Nobody can run or jump
like you. Do it just once more to please me.”’
Kitty Fanshawe, a boy with large blue eyes and a purely
gentle face, looked up at Blyth Scudamore so faithfully,
that to resist him was impossible.
‘*Very well, then; once more for Kitty,” said the sweetest-
tempered of mankind, as he vaulted back into the tub.
‘“But you know that I always leave off at a dozen. Thir-
teen—thirteen, I could never stop at. I shall have to do
fourteen at least; and it is too bad, just after dinner. Now
all of you watch whether I touch it anywhere.”
A barrel almost five feet in height, and less than a yard
in breadth, stood under a clump of trees in the play-ground;
and Blyth Scudamore had made a clean leap one day, for
his own satisfaction, out of it. Sharp eyes saw him, and
sharp wits were pleased, and a strong demand had arisen
that he should perform this feat perpetually. Good nerve
as well as strong spring, and compactness of power are
needed for it; and even in this athletic age there are few
who find it easy.
‘“Come, now,” he said, as he landed lightly, with both
heels together; ‘‘one of you big fellows come and do it.
You are three inches taller than Iam. And you have only
got to make up your minds.”
But all the big fellows hung back, or began to stimulate
one another, and to prove to each other how easy it was, by
joe
—
SPRINGHAVEN. 5D
every proof but practice. ‘‘ Well, then, I must do it once
more,” said Blyth, ‘‘for I dare not leave off at thirteen, for
fear of some great calamity, such as I never could jump
out of.”
But before he could get into the tub again, to prepare for
the clear spring out of it, he beheld a man with silver but-
tons coming across the playing-field. His heart fell into
his heels, and no more agility remained in him. He had
made up his mind that Admiral Dar-
ling would forget all about him by
Saturday; and though the fair im-
age of Dolly would abide in that
quiet mind for a long while, the
balance of his wishes (cast by
shyness) was heavily against
this visit. And the
boys, who under-
stood his nature,
~~? with a poignant love
—like that of our
friends when they
find us in a fix—
began to probe his
tender places.
“One more
jump, Captain
Scuddy ! You
rs must; to show
“> the flunky what
=> yoyoucando.”
7 ‘' Obas dont. E
wish I was go-
ing? He'll have
turtle soup, and
venison, and two
men behind his
eiradt..”
‘‘And the beautiful young ladies looking at him every
time he takes a mouthful.”
‘‘But he dare not go courting after thirteen jumps. And
he has vowed that he will have another. Come, Captain
Scuddy, no time to lose.”
But Scudamore set off to face his doom, with his old hat
hanging on the back of his head, as it generally did, and
56 oa SPRINGHAVEN.
his ruddy face and mild blue eyes full of humorous diffi-
dence and perplexity.
‘Tf you please, sir, his honour the Hadmiral have sent
me to fetch’e and your things; and hoss be baiting along of
the Blue Dragon.”
‘-T am sorry to say that I forgot all about it, or, at least,
I thought that he would. How long before we ought to
start ?” 7
‘‘My name is Gregory, sir—Coachman Gregory—accus-
tomed always to a pair, but doesn’t mind a single boss, to
oblige the Hadmiral, once ina way. About half an hour,
sir, will suit me, unless they comes down to the skittle-
alley, as ought to be always on a Saturday afternoon; but
not a soul there when I looked in.”
Any man in Scudamore’s position, except himself, would
have grieved and groaned. For the evening dress of that
time, though less gorgeous than of the age before, was still
an expensive and elaborate affair; and the young man, in
this ebb of fortune, was poorly stocked with raiment. But
he passed this trouble with his usual calmness and disregard
of trifles. ‘‘If I wear the best I have got,” he thought, “‘I
cannot be charged with disrespect. The Admiral knows
what a sailor is; and, after all, who will look at me?” Ac-
cordingly he went just as he was, for he never wore an
overcoat, but taking a little canvas kit, with pumps and silk
stockings for evening wear, and all the best that he could
muster of his Voiunteer equipment.
The Admiral came to the door of the Hall, and met him
with such hearty warmth, and a glance of such kind ap-
proval at his open throat and glowing cheeks, that the
young man felt a bound of love and tender veneration to-
wards him, which endured for lifetime.
‘“Your father was my dearest friend, and the very best
man [ ever knew. I must call you ‘ Blyth,’” said the Ad-
miral, ‘‘for if I call you ‘Scudamore,’ I shall think per-
petually of my loss.”
At dinner that day there was no other guest, and nothing
to disturb the present one, except a young lady’s quick
e@lances, of which he endeavoured to have no knowledge.
Faith Darling, a gentle and beautiful young woman, had
taken a natural liking to him, because of his troubles, and
simplicity, and devotion to his widowed mother. But to
the younger, Dolly Darling, he was only a visitor, dull and
stupid, requiring, without at all repaying, the trouble of
“Se
ee ee a ee
SPRINGHAVEN. 57
some attention. He was not tall, nor handsome, nor of
striking appearance in any way; and although he was clearly
a gentleman, to her hasty judgment he was not an accom-
plished or even a clever one. His inborn modesty and shy-
ness placed him at great disadvantage, until well known; and
the simple truth of his nature forbade any of the large talk
and bold utterance which pleased her as yet among young
officers.
‘“ What a plague he will be all day to-morrow!” she said
to her sister in the drawing-room. ‘** Father was obliged, I
suppose, to invite him; but what can we do with him all
the day? Sundays are dull enough, I am sure, already,
without our having to amuse a gentleman who has scarcely
got two ideas of his own, and is afraid to say ‘bo’ to a goose,
I do believe. Did you hear what he said when I asked him
whether he was fond of riding ?” .
‘“Yes; and I thought it so good of him to answer so
straightforwardly. He said that he used to be very fond of
it, but was afraid that he should fall off now.”
‘*T should like to see him. I tell you what we’ll do. We
will make him ride back on Monday morning, and put him
on ‘Blue Bangles,’ who won't have seen daylight since Fri-
day. Won't he jump about a bit? What a shame it is,
not to let us ride on Sundays!”
Ignorant of these kind intentions, Scudamore was enjoy-
ing himself in his quiet, observant way. Mr. Twemlow, the
rector of the parish, had chanced—as he often chanced on a
Saturday, after buckling up a brace of sermons—to issue his
mind (with his body outside it) for a little relief of neigh-
bourhood. And these little airings of his chastening love
—for he loved everybody, when he had done his sermon—
came, whenever there was a fair chance of it, to a glass of
the fine old port which is the true haven for an ancient
_ Admiral. |
‘* Just in time, Rector,” cried Admiral Darling, who had
added by many a hardship to hisinborn hospitality. ‘‘ This
is my young friend Blyth Scudamore, the son of one
of my oldest friends. You have heard of Sir Edmond
Scudamore ?”
‘“And seen him and felt him. And to him I owe, under
a merciful Providence, the power of drinking in this fine
port the health of his son, which I do with deep pleasure,
for the excellence both of end and means.”’
The old man bowed at the praise of his wine, and the
3* .
58 SPRINGHAVEN.
young one at that of his father. Then, after the usual pinch
of snuff from the Rector’s long gold box, the host returned
to the subject he had been full of before this interruption.
‘* The question we have in hand is this: What is to be done
with our young friend Blyth? He was getting on famously,
till this vile peacecame. T’'wemlow, you called it that your-
self, so that argument about words is useless. Blyth’s lieu-
tenancy was on the books, and the way they carry things
on now, and shoot poor fellows’ heads off, he might have
been a post-captain in a twelvemonth. And now there
seems nothing on earth before him better than Holy Orders.”
‘‘ Admiral Darling is kind enough to think,” said Scuda-
more, in his mild, hesitative way, blushing outwardly, but
smiling inwardly, ‘‘that I am too good to be a clergyman.”
‘“And so you are, and Heaven knows it, Blyth, unless
there was a chance of getting on by goodness, which there
is in the Navy, but not in the Church. Twemiow, what is
your opinion ?”
‘“Tt would not be modest in me,” said the Rector, ‘‘ to
stand up too much for my own order. We do our duty,
and we don't get on.”
‘‘Exactly. You could not have put it better. You get
no vacancies by shot and shell, and being fit for another
world, you keep out of it. Have you ever heard me tell the
story about Gunner MacCrab, of the Bellerophon 2”
‘Fifty times, and more than that,” replied the sturdy
parson, who liked to make a little cut at the Church some-
times, but would not allow any other hand to doit. ‘* But
now about our young friend here. Surely, with all that we
know by this time of the character of that Boney, we can see
that this peace is a mere trick of his to bamboozle us
while he gets ready. In six months we shall be at war
again, hammer and tongs, as sure as my name is Twem-
low.”
‘“So be it!” cried the Admiral, with a stamp on his oak
floor, while Scudamore’s gentle eyes flashed and fell; ‘‘if it
is the will of God, so be it. But if it once begins again, God
alone knows where France will be before you and I are in
our graves. They have drained all our patience, and our
pockets very nearly; but they have scarcely put a tap into
our energy and endurance. But what are they? <A gang
of slaves rammed into the cannon by a Despot.”
‘‘They seem to like it, and the question is forthem. But
the struggle will be desperate; mcuntains of carnage, oceans
<a
SPRINGHAVEN. 59
of blood, universal mourning, lamentation, and woe. And
I have had enough trouble with my tithes already.”
‘‘Tithes are dependent on the will of the Almighty,” said
the Admiral, who paid more than he altogether liked; “ but
a war goes by reason and good management. It encourages
the best men of the day, and it brings out the difference be-
tween right and wrong, which are quite smothered up in
peace time. It keeps out a quantity of foreign rubbish and
stuff only made to be looked at, and it makes people trust
one another, and know what country they belong to, and
feel how much they have left to be thankful for. And
what is the use of a noble fleet, unless it can get some fight-
ing? Blyth, what say you? You know something about
that.” }
‘No, sir; I have never been at close quarters yet. AndI
doubt—or at least I am certain that I should not like it. I
,am afraid that I should want to run down below.”
Mr. Twemlow, having never smelled hostile powder,
gazed at him rather loftily, while the young man blushed
at his own truth, yet looked up bravely to confirm it.
‘‘Of all I have ever known or met,” said Admiral Dar-
ling, quietly, ‘‘there are but three-—Nelson and two others,
and one of those two was half-witted—who could fetch up
muzzle to muzzle without a feeling of that sort. The true
courage lies in resisting the impulse, more than in being free
from it. I know that I was in a precious fright the first
time I was shot at, even at a decent distance; and I don’t
pretend to like iteven now. But Iam pretty safe now from
any furtherchance, I fear. When we cut our wisdom-teeth,
they shelf us. Twemlow, how much wiser you are in the
Church! The older a man gets, the higher they promote
him.” |
‘“Then let them begin with me,” the Rector answered,
smiling; “I am old enough now for almost anything, and
the only promotion I get is stiff joints, and teeth that crave
peace from an olive. Placitam pact; Mr. Scudamore knows
the rest, being fresh from the learned Stonnington. But,
Squire, you know that Iam content. I love Springhaven,
Springhaven loves me, and we chasten one another.” )
‘*A man who knows all the Latin you know, Rector-—for
I own that you beat me to the spelling-book—should be at
least an Archdeacon in the Church, which is equal to the
rank of Rear-Admiral. But you never have pushed as you
should do; and you let it all off in quotations. Those are
60 SPRINGHAVEN.
very comforting to the mind, but I never knew a man do
good with them, unless they come out of the Bible. When
Gunner Matthew of the Hrigdoupos was waiting to have
his leg off, with no prospect before him—except a better
world—you know what our Chaplain said to him; and the
effect upon his mind was such that I have got him to this
day upon my land.” °
‘*Of course you have—the biggest old poacher in the -
county. He shoots half your pheasants with his wooden
leg by moonlight. What your Chaplain said to him was
shockingly profane in the turn of a text of Holy Writ; and it
shows how our cloth is spoiled by contact with yours’—for
the Admiral was laughing to himself at this old tale, which
he would not produce before young Scudamore, but loved
to have out with the Rector—‘‘ and I hope it will be a good
warning to you, Squire, to settle no more old gunners on
your property. You must understand, Mr. Scudamore, that,
the Admiral makes a sort of Naval Hospital, for all his old
salts, on his own estates.”
‘‘T am sure it is wonderfully kind of him,” the young
man answered, bravely, ‘‘for the poor old fellows are thrown
to the dogs by the country, when it has disabled them. I
have not seen much of the Service, but quite enough to
know that, Mr. Twemlow.”
‘‘T have seen a great deal, and I say that it is so. And
my good friend knows it as well as I do, and is one of the
first to lend a helping hand. In all such cases he does
more than I do, whenever they come within his knowledge.
But let us return to the matter in hand. Here is a young
man, a first-rate sailor, who would have been under my
guardianship, I know, but for—but for sad circumstances.
Is he to be grinding at Virgil and Ovid, till all his spirit goes
out of him, because we have patched up a-very shabby
peace? It can never last long. Every Englishman hates
it, although it may seem to save his pocket. Twemlow, I
am no politician. You read the papers more than I do.
How much longer will this wretched compact hold? You
have predicted the course of things before.”
‘‘And so I will again,” replied the Rector. ‘‘ Atheism,
mockery, cynicism, blasphemy, lust, and blood-thirstiness
cannot rage and raven within a few leagues of a godly and
just nation without stinking in their nostrils. Sir, it is our
mission from the Lord to quench Boney, and to conquer the
bullies of Europe. We don’t look like doing it now, I con-
SPRINGHAVEN. 61
fess. But do it we shall, in the end, as sure as the name of
our country is England.”
‘‘T have no doubt of it,” said the Admiral, simply; ‘‘ but
there will be a deal of fighting betwixt this and then.
Blyth, will you leave me to see what I can do, whenever
we get to work again ?”
‘*T should think that I would, sir, and never forget it. I
am not fond of fighting; but how I have longed to feel my-
self afloat again !”
CHAPTER XII.
ANT, TEE Wo 1 By
ALL the common-sense of England, more abundant in
those days than now, felt that the war had not been fought
out, and the way to the lap of peace could only be won by
vigorous use of arms. Some few there were even then,
as now there is a cackling multitude, besotted enough to
believe that facts can be undone by blinking them. But our
forefathers on the whole were wise, and knew that nothing
is trampled more basely than right that will not right itself.
Therefore they set their faces hard, and toughened their
hearts like knotted oak, against all that man could do to
them. There were no magnificent proclamations, no big
vaunts of victory at the buckling on of armour, but the
quiet strength of steadfast wills, and the stern resolve to
strike when stricken, and try to last the longest. And so
their mother-land became the mother of men and freedom.
In November, 1802, the speech from the Throne apprised
the world that England was preparing. The widest, longest,
and deadliest war, since the date of gunpowder, was lower-
ing; and the hearts of all who loved their kin were heavy,
but found no help for it.
The sermon which Mr. Twemlow preached in Springhaven
church was magnificent. Some parishioners, keeping mem-
ory more alert than conscience, declared that they had re-
ceived it all nine, or it might be ten, years since, when the
fighting first was called for. If so, that proved it none the
worse, but themselves, for again requiring it. Their Rector
told them that they thought too much of their own flesh-
pots and fish-kettles, and their Country might go to the bot-
tom of the sea,-if it left them their own fishing-grounds,
62 SPRINGHAVEN.
And he said that they would wake up some day and find
themselves turned into Frenchmen, for all things were pos-
sible with the Lord; and then they might smite their
breasts, but must confess that they had deserved it. Neither
would years of prayer and fasting fetch them back into
decent Englishmen; the abomination of desolation would
be set up over their doorways, and the scarlet woman of
Babylon would revel in their sanctuaries.
‘‘Now don’t let none of us be in no hurry,” Captain Tug-
well said, after dwelling and sleeping upon this form of
doctrine; ‘‘a man knoweth his own trade the best, the very
same way as the parson doth. And I never knew no good
to come of any hurry. Our lives are given us by the Lord.
And He never would ’a made ’em threescore and ten, or for
men of any strength fourscore, if His will had been to jerk
us over them. Never did I see no Frenchman as could be
turned to an Englishman—not if he was to fast and pray all
day, and cut himself with knives at the going down of the
sun. My opinion is that Parson Twemlow were touched
up by his own conscience for having a nephew more French
than English; and ‘Caryl Carne’ is the name thereof, with
more French than English sound to it.”
‘“Why, he have been gone for years and years,”’ said the
landlord of the Darling Arms, where the village was hold-
ing council; ‘‘he have never been seen in these parts since
the death of the last Squire Carne, to my knowledge.”
‘And what did the old Squire die of, John Prater? Not
that he were to be called old—younger, I dare say, than I
be now. What did he die of, but marrying with a long out-
landish ’ooman ?—a femmel as couldn’t speak a word of
English, to be anyhow sure of her meaning! Ah, them
was bad times at Carne Castle; and as nice a place as need
be then, until they dipped the property. Six gray horses
they were used to go with to London Parliament every year,
before the last Squire come of age, as I have heered my fa-
ther say scores of times, ahd no lie ever come from his
mouth, no more than it could from mine, almost. Then |
they dropped to four, and then to two, and pretended that
the roads was easier.”
‘When I was down the coast, last week, so far as Little-
hampton,” said a stout young man in the corner, ‘‘a very
coorous thing happened me, leastways by my own opinion,
and glad shall I be to have the judgment of Cappen Zeb
consarning it. There come in there a queer-rigged craft of
ie)
SPRINGHAVEN. 63
some sixty ton from Halvers, desiring to set up trade again,
or to do some smoogling, or spying perhaps. Her name
was the Doctor Humm, which seem a great favourite with
they Crappos, and her skipper had a queer name too, as if
he was two men in one, for he called himself ‘ Jacks’; a fel-
low about forty year old as I hauled out of the sea with a
boat-hook one night on the Varners. Well, he seemed to
think a good deal of that, though contrary to their nature,
and nothing would do but I must go to be fated with him
every where, if the folk would change his money. He had
picked up a decent bit of talk, from shipping in the oyster
line before the war; and I put his lingo into order for him,
for which he was very thankful.”
‘* And so he was bound to be. But you had no eall to do
it, Charley Bowles.” Captain Tugwell spoke severely, and
the young man felt that he was wrong, for the elders shook
their heads at him, as a traitor to the English language.
‘‘ Well, main likely, I went amiss. But he seemed to
take it so uncommon kind of me hitching him with a boat-
hook that we got on together wonderful, and he called me
‘Friar Sharley,’ and he tried to take up with our manners
and customs; but his head was outlandish for English grog.
One night he was three sheets in the wind, at a snug little
crib by the river, and he took to the brag as is born with
them. ‘All dis contray in one year now,’ says he, nod-
ding over his glass at me, ‘shall be of the grand nashong,
and I will make a great man of you, Friar Sharley. Do you
know what prawns are, my good friend?’ Well, I said I
had caught a good many in my time; but he laughed and
said, ‘Prawns will catch you dis time. One tousand
prawns, all with two hondred men inside him, and the leetle
prawns will come to land at your house, Sharley. Booti-
ful place, quiet sea, no bad rocks. Youlook out in the
morning, and the white coast is made black with them.’
Now what do you say to that, Cappen Tugwell ?”
‘*Tve a-heered that style of talk many times afore,” Mas-
ter Tugwell answered, solidly; ‘‘and all I can say is that I
should have punched his head. And you deserve the same
thing, Charley Bowles, unless you’ve got more than that to
tell us.”
‘“So I might, Cappen, and I won't deny you there. But
the discourse were consarning Squire Carne now just, and
the troubles he fell into, before I was come to my judgment
yet. Why, an uncle of mine served footman there—Jere-
64 SPRINGHAVEN.
miah Bowles, known to every one, until he was no more
heard of.”
Nods of assent to the fame of Jeremiah encouraged the
stout young man in his tale, and a wedge of tobacco re-
kindled him.
‘“Yes, it were a coorous thing indeed, and coorous for me
to hear of it, out of all mast-head of Springhaven. Says
Moosoo Jacks to me, that night, when I boused him up un-
pretending: ‘ You keep your feather eye open, my tear,’ for
such was his way of pronouncing it, ‘and you shall arrive
to laglore, laglore-—and what is still nobler, de monnay.
In one two tree month you shall see a young captain re-
turned to his contray dominion, and then you will go to
his side and Bay, Jacks, and he will make present to you a
sack of silver.’ Well, I hailed the chance of this pretty
smart, you may suppose, and I asked him what the sailor’s
name would be, and surprised I was when he answered
Carne, or Carny, for he gave it in two syllables. Next
morning's tide, the Doctor Humm cleared out, and I had no
other chance of discourse with Moosoo Jacks. But I want
to know what you think, Cappen Zeb.”
‘So you shall,” said the captain of Springhaven, sternly.
‘‘T think you had better call your Moosoo Jacks ‘ Master
Jackass’ or ‘Master Jackanapes,’ and put your own name
on the back of him. You been with a Frenchman hob and
nobbing, and you don’t even know how they pronounce
themselves, unchristian as it is todo so. ‘Jarks,’ were his
name, the very same as Navy beef, and a common one in
that country. But to speak of any Carne coming nigh us
with French plottings, and of prawns landing here at Spring-
haven, ’tis as likely as I should drop French money into
the till of this bacey-box. And you can see that I be not
going to play such a trick as that, John Prater.”
‘“Why, to my mind there never was bigger stuff talked,”
the landlord spoke out, without fear of offence, for there
was no other sign-board within three miles, ‘‘ than to carry
on in that way, Charley. What they may do at Little-
hampton is beyond my knowledge, never having kept a
snug crib there, as you was pleased to call it. But at Spring-
haven ’twould be the wrong place for any hatching of
French treacheries. We all know one another a deal too
well for that, I hope.”
‘*Prater, you are right,” exclaimed Mr. Cheeseman, owner
of the main shop in the village, and universally respected.
« TNGATIMONH AN GNOAGA SI NOIdNVHATLIIT LY Od AVW AYHL LVYHM ,,
66 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘“ Bowles, you must have an imagination the same as your
uncle Jerry had. *And to speak of the Carnes in a light
way of talking, after all their misfortunes, is terrible. Why,
I passed the old castle one night last week, with the moon
to one side of it, and only me in my one-horse shay to the
other, and none but a man with a first-rate conscience would
have had the stomach to do so. However, I seed no ghosts
that time, though I did hear some noises as made me use
the whip; and the swing of the ivy was black as a hearse.
A little drop more of my own rum, hoe less it gives me quite
a chill to think of it.”
‘“T don’t take much account of or people say,” Harry
Shanks, who had a deep clear voice, observed, ‘* without it is
in my own family. But my own cousin Bob was coming
home one night from a bit of sweethearting at Pebbler idge,
when, to save the risk of rabbit-holes in the ‘dark—for he put
out his knee-cap one time—what does he do but take the
path inland through the wood below Carne Castle, the op-
posite side to where you was, Master Cheeseman, and the
same side as the moon would be, only she wasn’t up that .
night. Well, he had some misgivings, as anybody must;
still he pushed along, whistling and swinging his stick, and
saying to himself that there was no such thing as cowardice
in our family, till just at the corner where the big yew-tree
is that we sometimes starboard helm by when the tide is
making with a nor’west wind, there Bob seed a sight as
made his hair crawl. But I won’t say another word about
it now, and have to go home in the dark by myself arter’-
ards.”
‘‘Come, now, Harry!” ‘‘Oh, we can’t stand that!”
‘“We’ll see you to your door, lad, if you out with it fair
and forcible.”
Of these and other exhortations Harry took no notice, but
folded his arms across his breast, and gazed at something
which his mind presented.
‘*Harry Shanks, you will have the manners’—Captain
Tugwell spoke impressively, not for his own sake, for he
knew the tale, and had been consulted about it, but from
sense of public dignity—‘‘to finish the story which you be-
gan. ‘To begin a yarn of your own accord, and then drop
it all of a heap, is not respectful to present company.
Springhaven never did allow such tricks, and will not put
up with them from any young fellow. If your meaning
was to drop it, you should never have begun.”
a es sO
SPRINGHAVEN. 67
Glasses and even pipes rang sharply upon the old oak
table in applause of this British sentiment, and the young
- man, with a ues look, submitted to the voice of the
public.
“Well, then, all of you know where the big yew-tree
stands, at ‘the break of the hill about half a mile inland, and
how black it looms among the other stuff. But Bob, with
his sweetheart in his head, no doubt, was that full of cour-
age that he forgot all about the old tree, and the murder
done inside it a hundred and twenty years ago, they say,
until there it was, over his head a’most, with the gaps in it
staring like ribs at him. ’Bout ship was the word, pretty
sharp, you may be sure, when he come to his wits consarn-
ing it, and the purse of his lips, as was whistling a jig, went
as dry as a bag with the bottom out. Through the gray of
the night there was sounds coming to him such as had no
right to be in the air, and a sort of a shiver laid hold of his
heart, like a cold hand flung over his shoulder. As hard
as he could lay foot to the ground, away he went down hill,
forgetting of his knee-cap, for such was the condition of his
mind and body.
‘You must understand, mates, that he hadn't seen noth-
_ ing to skeer him, but only Heard sounds, which come into
his ears to make his hair rise; and his mind might have put
into them more than there was, for the want of intarpreting.
Perhaps this come across him,as soon as he felt at a better
distance with his wind short; anyhow, he brought up again’
a piece of rock-stuff in a hollow of the ground, and begun
to look skeerily backwards. For a bit of a while there was
nothing to distemper him, only the dark of the hill and the
trees, and the gray light a-coming from the sea in front.
But just as he were beginning for to call himself a fool, and
to pick himself onto his legs for trudging home, he seed a
thing as skeered him worse than ever, and fetched him flat
upon his lower end.
“From the black of the yew-tree there burst a big light,
brighter than a light-house or a blue thunder-bolt, and fly-
ing with a long streak down the hollow, just as if all the
world was a-blazing. Three times it come, with three dif-
ferent colours, first blue, and then white, and then red as
new blood; and poor Bob was in a condition of mind must
be seen before saying more of it. If he had been brought
up to follow the sea, instead of the shoemaking, maybe his
wits would have been more about him, and the narves of
68 SPRINGHAVEN.
his symptom more ship-shape. But it never was borne into
his mind whatever to keep a lookout upon the offing, nor —
even to lie snug in the ferns and watch the yew-tree. All
he was up for was to make all sail the moment his sticks
would carry it; and he feared to go nigh his sweetheart ey,
more, till she took up with another fellow.”
Y And sarve him quite right,” was the judgment of the
room, in high fettle with hot rum and water, ‘‘ to be skeered
of his life by asmuggler’s signal! Eh, Cappen Zebedee, you
know that were it ?”
But the Captain of Springhaven shook his head.
CHAPTER. XML.
WHENCE, AND WHEREFORE ?
AT the rectory, too, ere the end of that week, there was
no little shaking of heads almost as wise as Zebedee Tug-
well’s. Mrs. Twemlow, though nearly sixty years of age,
and acquainted with many a sorrow, was as lively and busy
and notable as ever, and even more determined to be the
mistress of the house. For by this time her daughter Eliza,
beginning to be twenty-five years old—a job which takes
some years in finishing—began at the same time to approve
her birth by a vigorous aim at the mastery. Yor, as every-
body said, Miss Eliza was a Carne in blood and breed and
fibre. There was little of the Twemlow stock about her—
for the Twemlows were mild and humorous—but plenty
of the strength and dash and wildness and contemptuous
spirit of the ancient Carnes.
‘‘Carne comes a carne,’ as Mr. Twemlow said, when his
wife was inclined to be masterful—a derivation confirmed by
the family motto, ‘‘ Carne non caret carne.” In the case,
however, of Mrs. Twemlow, age, affliction, experience, affec-
tion, and perhaps above all her good husband’s larger benev-
olence and placidity, had wrought a great change for the
better, and made a nice old lady of her. She was tall and
straight and slender still, and knew how to make the most,
by grave attire and graceful attitude, of the bodily excel-
lence entailed for ages on the lineage of Carne. Of
moral goodness there had not been an equally strict settle-
ment, at least in male heredity. So that Mrs. Twemlow’s
thoughts about her kith and kindred were rather sad
a
THE BIG YEW-TREE.
70 SPRINGHAVEN.,
than proud, unless some ignorance was shown about
them.
‘*Poor as Iam,” said Mr. Twemlow, now consulting with
_ her, ‘‘and poor as every beneficed clergyman must be, if
this war returns, I would rather have lost a hundred pounds
than have heard what you tell me, Maria.”’.
‘* My dear, I cannot quite see that,” his wife made thought-
ful answer; ‘‘if he only had money to keep up the place,
and clear off those nasty encumbrances, I should rejoice at
his coming back to live where we have been for centuries.”
‘‘My dear, you are too poetical, though the feeling is a
fine one. Within the old walls there can scarcely be a
room that has a sound floor to it. And as for the roof,
when that thunder-storm was, and I took shelter with my
pony—well, you know the state I came home in, and all my
best clothes on for the Visitation. Luckily there seems to.
be no rheumatism in your family, Maria; and perhaps he
is too young as yet to pay out for it till he gets older. But
if he comes for business, and to see to the relics of his proper-
ty, surely he might have a bedroom here, and come and go
at his liking. After all his foreign fanglements, a course
of quiet English life and the tone of English principles
might be of the greatest use to him. He would never wish
to see the Continent again.”
‘It is not to be thought of,” said Mrs. Twemlow. ‘‘I
would not have him to live in this house for fifty thousand
pounds a year. You are a great deal wiser than I am,
Joshua; but of his nature you know nothing, whereas I
know it thoroughly. And Eliza is so strong-willed and
stubborn—you dislike, of course, to hear me say it, but it
is the fact; it is, my dear. And I would rather stand by
our daughter’s grave than see her fall in love with Caryl
Carne. You know what a handsome young man he must
be now. and full of French style and frippery. Iam sure.
it is most kind of you to desire to help my poor family; but
you would rue the day, my dear, that brought him beneath
our quiet roof. I have lost my only son, as it seems, by the
will of the Lord, who afflicts us. But I will not lose my
only daughter by any such folly of my own.”
Tears rolled down Mrs. Twemlow’s cheeks as she spoke of
her mysterious affliction; and her husband, who knew that
she was not weak-minded, consoled her by sharing her sor-
row.
‘It shall be exactly as you like,” he said, after a quiet
iil
SPRINGHAVEN. et
interval. ‘‘ You say that no answer is needed; and there is
no address to send one to. We shall hear of it, of course,
when he takes possession, if, indeed, he is allowed to do so.”
‘Who is to prevent him from coming, if he chooses, to
live in the home of his ancestors? The estates are ali mort-
gaged, and the park is gone, turned into a pound for Scotch
cattle-breeding. But the poor old castle belongs to us still,
_ because no one would take the expense of it.”
‘* And because of the stories concerning it, Maria. Your
nephew Caryl is a brave young fellow if he means to live
there all alone, and I fear he can afford himself no com-
pany. You understand him so much better: what do you
Suppose his motive is ?”
‘‘T make no pretence to understand him, dear, any more
than his poor father could. My dear brother was of head-
strong order, and it did him no good to contradict him, and
indeed it was dangerous to doso; but his nature was as sim-
ple as a child’s almost, to any one accustomed to him. If
he had not married that grand French lady, who revelled in
every extravagance, though she knew how we all were im-
poverished, he might have been living and in high position
now, though a good many years my senior. And the worst
of it was that he did it at a time when he ought to have
known so much better. However, he paid for it bitterly
enough, and his only child was set against him.”
i: A very sad case altogether,” said the Rector. ‘*I remem-
ber, as if it were yesterday, how angry poor Montagu was
with me. You remember what words he used, and his
threat of attacking me with his horsewhip. But he begged
my pardon most humbly as soon as he saw how thoroughly
night I was. You are like him in some things, as I often
notice, but not quite so generous in confessing you were
wrong.”
‘* Because I don’t do it as he did, Joshua. You would
never understand me if I did. But of course fora man you
can make allowance. My rule is to do it both for men and
women, quite as fairly as if one was the other.”
‘Certainly, Maria—certainly. And therefore you can do
it, and have always done it, even for poor Josephine. No
doubt there is much to be pleaded, by a candid and gentle
mind, on her behalf.”
+3 What! that dreadful creature who ruined my poor
brother, and called herself the Countess de Lune, or some
such nonsense! No, Joshua, no! I have not so entirely
(2 SPRINGHAVEN.
lost all English principle as to quite do that. Instead of
being largeness, that would be mere looseness.”
‘“There are many things, however, that we never under-
stood, and perhaps never shall in this world,” Mr. Twemlow
continued, as if talking to himself, for reason on that sub-
ject would be misaddressed to her; ‘‘and nothing is more
natural than that young Caryl should side with his mother,
who so petted him, against his poor father, who was violent
and harsh, especially when he had to pay such bills. But
perhaps our good nephew has amassed some cash, though
there seems to be but little on the Continent, after all this
devastation. Is there anything, Maria, in his letter to
enable us to hope that he is coming home with money ?”
‘“Not a word, I am afraid,” Mrs. Twemlow answered,
sadly. ‘‘But take it, my dear, and read it to me slowly.
You make things so plain, because of practice every Sunday.
Oh, Joshua, I never can be sure which you are greatest in—
the Lessons, or the Sermon. But before you begin, I will
shoot the bolt a little, as if it had caught by accident.
Eliza does rush in upon us sometimes in the most unbe-
coming, unladylike way. And I never can get you to re-
prove her.”
‘* It would be as much as my place is worth, as the maids
say when imagined to have stolen sugar. And I must not
read this letter so loud as the Lessons, unless you wish
Lizzie to hear every word, for sue has all her mother’s quick
senses. There is not much of it, and the scrawl seems
hasty. We might have had more for three and fourpence.
But Iam not the one to grumble about bad measure—as the
boy said about old Busby. Now, Maria, listen, but say noth-
ing —if feminine capacity may compass it. Why, bless
my heart, every word of it is French!” The Rector threw —
down his spectacles, and gazed at his wife reproachfully.
But she smiled with superior innocence.
‘“ What else could you expect, after all his years abroad ?
I cannot make out the whole of it, for certain. But surely
it is not beyond the compass of masculine capacity.”
‘Yes, it is, Maria; and you know it well enough. No
honest Englishman can endure a word of French. Latin,
or Greek, or even Hebrew—though I took to that rather late
in life. But French is only fit for women, and very few of
them can manage it. Let us hear what this Frenchman
says.”
‘‘Heis nota Frenchman, Joshua. He is an Englishman,
SPRINGHAVEN. 03
and probably a very fine one. I won't be sure about all of
his letter, because it is so long since I was at school; and
French books are generally unfit to read. But the general
meaning is something like this:
‘MY BELOVED AND HIGHLY VALUED AUNT,—Since I heard
from you there are many years now, but I hope you have
held me in memory. I have the intention of returning to
the country of England, even in this bad time of winter,
when the climate is most funereal. I shall do my best to
call back, if possible, the scattered ruins of the property, and
to institute again the name which my father made dis-
pleasing. In this good work you will, I have faith, afford
me your best assistance, and the influence of your high con-
nection in the neighbourhood. Accept, dear Aunt, the as-
surance of my highest consideration, of the most sincere and
the most devoted, and allow me the honour of writing my-
self your most loving and respectful nephew,
‘CARYL CARNE.’
Now, Joshua, what do you think of that ?”
‘‘Fine words and no substance; like all French stuff.
And he never even mentions me, who gave him a top, when
he should have had the whip. I will not pretend to under-
stand him, for he always was beyond me. Dark and ex-
citable, moody and capricious, haughty and sarcastic, and
devoid of love for animals. You remember his pony, and
what he did to it, and the little dog that crawled upon her
stomach towards him. For your sake I would have put up
with him, my dear, and striven to improve his nature, which
is sure to be much worse at six-and-twenty, after so many
years abroad. But I confess it is a great relief to me that
you wisely prefer not to have him in this house, any more
at least than we’can help it. But who comes here? What
a hurry wearein! Lizzie, my darling, be patient.”
‘‘ Here’s this plague of a door barred and bolted again!
Am I not to have an atom of breakfast, because I just hap-
pened to oversleep myself? The mornings get darker and
darker; it is almost impossible to see to dress oneself.”’
‘*There is plenty of tinder in the house, Eliza, and plenty
of good tallow candles,” Mrs. Twemlow replied, having put
away the letter, while her husband let the complainant in.
‘‘ Hor the third time this week we have had prayers without
you, and the example is shocking for the servants. We
4
V4 SPRINGHAVEN.
shall have to establish the rule you suggest—too late to
pray for food, too late to get it. But I have kept your help
of bacon hot, quite hot, by the fire. And the teapot is un-
der the cozy.”
‘‘Thank you, dear mother,” the young lady answered,
careless of words, if deeds were in her favour, and too clever
to argue the question. ‘‘I suppose there is no kind of news
this morning to reward one for getting up so early.”
‘‘ Nothing whatever for you, Miss Lizzie,” said her father,
as soon as he had kissed her. ‘‘ But the paper is full of the
prospects of war, and the extent of the preparations. If
we are driven to fight again, we shall do it in earnest, and
not spare ourselves.”
‘‘Nor our enemies either, I do hope with all my heart.
How long are we to be afraid of them? We have always
invaded the French till now. And for them to talk of in-
vading us! There is not a bit of spirit left in this island,
except in the heart of Lord Nelson.” |
‘* What a hot little patriot this child is!” said the father,
with aquiet smile at her. ‘‘ What would she say to an Eng-
lishman who was more French than English, and would
only write French letters? And yet it might be possible to
find such people.”
‘‘Tf such a wretch existed,” cried Miss Twemlow, ‘‘I
should like to crunch him as I crunch this toast. For a
Frenchman I can make all fair allowance, because he can-
not help his birth. But for an Englishman to turn French-
man—”
‘“However reluctant we may be to allow it,” the candid
Rector argued, ‘‘they are the foremost nation in the world
just now for energy, valour, decision, discipline, and I fear
I must add patriotism. The most wonderful man who has
appeared in the world for centuries is their leader, and by
land his success has been almost unbroken. If we must
have war again, as I fear we must, and very speedily, our
chief hope must be that the Lord will support His cause
against the scoffer and the infidel, the libertine and the
assassin.”
“You see how beautifully your father puts it, Eliza; but
he never abuses people. That is a habit in which, I am
sorry to say, you indulge too freely. You show no good
feeling to anybody who differs from you in opinion, and
you talk as if Frenchmen had no religion, no- principles,
and no humanity. And what do you know about them,
SPRINGHAVEN. 75
pray? Have you ever spoken toa Frenchman? Have you
ever even seen one? Would you know one if you even set
eyes upon him 2”
‘“Well, I am not at all sure that I should,” the young
lady replied, being thoroughly truthful; ‘‘and I have no
wish for the opportunity. But I have seen a French wom-
an, mother; and that is quite enough for me. If they
are so, what must the men be 2”
‘‘There is a name for this process of feminine reasoning,
this cumulative and syncopetic process of the mind, entirely
feminine (but regarded by itself as rational), a name which
I used to know well in the days when [I had the ten Falla-
cies at my fingers’ ends, more tenaciously perhaps than the
Decalogue. Strange to say, the name is gone from my
memory; but—but—”
‘‘But then you had better go after it, my dear,” his wife
suggested with authority. ‘‘If your only impulse when you
hear reason is to search after hard names for it, you are
safer outside of its sphere altogether.”
‘*T am struck with the truth of that remark,” observed the
Rector; ‘‘and the more so because I descry a male member
of our race approaching, with a hat—at once the emblem
and the crown of sound reason. Away with all fallacies;
it is Church-warden Cheeseman !”
(OE ATER Boch Ve
A HORRIBLE SUGGESTION.
‘*CaN you guess what has brought me down here in this
hurry ?” Lord Nelson asked Admiral Darling, having jumped
like a boy from his yellow post-chaise, and shaken his old
friend’s broad right hand with his slender but strenuous left
one, even as a big bellisswung by athin rope. ‘‘I haveno
time to spare—not a day, not an hour; but I made up my
mind to see you before I start. I cannot expect to come
home alive, and except for one reason I should not wish it.”
~ “* Nonsense!” said the Admiral, who was sauntering near
his upper gate, and enjoying the world this fine spring morn-
ing; ‘you are always in such aconfounded hurry! When
you come to my time of life you will know better. What
is it this time? The Channel fleet again 2”
‘‘No, no; Billy Blue keeps that, thank God! I hate
16 SPRINGHAVEN.
looking after aschool of herring-boats. The Mediterranean
for me, my friend. I received the order yesterday, and
shall be at sea by the twentieth.”
‘‘T am very glad to hear it, for your sake. If ever there
was a restless fellow—in the good old times we were not like
that. Come up to the house and talk about it; at least they
must take. the horses out. They are not like you; they
can’t work forever.”
‘‘ And they don’t get knocked about like me, though one
of them has lost his starboard eye, and he sails and steers
all the better for it. Let them go up to the stable, Darling,
while you come down to the beach with me. I want to
show you something.”
‘* What crotchet is in his too active brain now ?” the elder
and stronger man asked himself, as he found himself hooked
by the right arm, and led down a track through the trees
scarcely known to himself, and quite out of sight from the
village. ‘‘ Why, this is not the way to the beach! How-
ever, it is never any good to oppose him. He gets his own
way so, because of his fame. Or perhaps that’s the way he
got his fame. But to show me about over my own land!
But let him go on—-let him go on.”
‘“ You are wondering, I dare say, what Iam about,” cried
Nelson, stopping suddenly, and fixing his sound eye—
which was wonderfully keen, though he was always in a
fright about it—upon the large and peaceful blinkers of his
ancient commander; ‘‘ but now I shall be able to convince
you, though I am not a land-surveyor, nor even a general
of land-forees. If God Almighty prolongs my life—which
is not very likely—it will be that I may meet that scoundrel,
Napoleon Bonaparte, on dry land. I hear that he is eager
to encounter me on the waves, himself commanding a line-
of-battle ship. I should send him to the devil in a quarter
of an hour. And ashore I could astonish him, I think, a
little, if I had agood army to back me up. Remember what
I did at Bastia, in the land that produced this monster, and
where I was called the Brigadier; and again, upon the coast
of Italy, I showed that I understood all their dry-ground
business. Tush! I can beat him, ashore and afloat; and I
shall, if I live long enough. But this time the villain is in
earnest, I believe, with his trumpery invasion; and as soon
as he hears that I am gone, he will make sure of having his
own way. We know, of course, there are fifty men as good
as myself to stop him, including you, my dear Darling; but
SPRINGHAVEN. 77
everything goes by reputation—the noise of the people—
praise-puff. That’s all I get, while the luckier fellows, like
Cathcart, get the prize-emoney. But I don’t want to grum-
ble. Now what do you see ?”
‘“ Well, I see you, for one thing,” the Admiral answered,
at his leisure, being quite inured to his friend’s quick fire,
‘‘and wearing a coat that would be a disgrace to any other
man in the navy. And further on I see some land that I
never shall get my rent for; and beyond that nothing but
the sea, with a few fishing-craft inshore, and in the offing
a sail, an outward-bound EKast-Indiaman—some fool who
wouldn't wait for convoy, with war as good as proclaimed
again.”
‘Nothing but the sea, indeed? The sweep of the land,
and the shelter of the bay, the shoaling of the shore without
a rock to break it, the headland that shuts out both wind
and waves; and outside the headland, off Pebbleridge, deep
water for a fleet of line-of-battle ships to anchor and com-
mand the land approaches—moreover, a stream of the purest
water from deep and never-failing springs—Darling, the
place of all places in England for the French to land is op-
posite to your front door.”
‘‘T am truly obliged to you for predicting, and to them
for doing it, if ever they attempt such impudence. If they
find out that you are away, they can also find out that Iam
here, as commander of the sea defences, from Dungeness to
Selsey Bill.”
‘‘That will make it all the more delightful to land at
your front door, my friend; and all the easier to doit. My
own plan is to strike with all force at the headquarters of
the enemy, because the most likely to be unprepared. About
a year ago, when I[ was down here, a little before my dear
father’s death, without your commission I took command of
your fishing-craft coming home for their Sunday, and showed
them how to take the beach, partly to confirm my own sus-
picions. There is no other landing on all the south coast,
this side of Hayling Island, fit to be compared with it
for the use of flat-bottomed craft, such as most of Boney’s
are. And remember the set of the tide, which makes the
fortunes of your fishermen. To be sure, he knows nothing
of that himself; but he has sharp rogues about him. If
they once made good their landing here, it would be diffi-
cult to dislodge them. It must all be done from the land
side then, for even a forty-two-gun frigate could scarcely
78 SPRINGHAVEN.
come near enough to pepper them. They love shoal water,
the skulks, and that has enabled them to baffle me so often.
Not that they would conquer the country—all brag—pbut
still it would be a nasty predicament, and scare the poor
cockneys like the very devil.”
‘*But remember the distance from Boulogne, Hurry. If
they cannot cross twenty-five miles of channel in the teeth
of our ships, what chance would they have when the dis-
tance is nearer eighty ?”
‘‘A much better chance, if they knew how to doit. All
our cruisers would be to the eastward. One afternoon per-
haps, when a haze is on, they make a feint with hght craft
towards the Scheldt—every British ship crowds sail after
them. Then, at dusk, the main body of the expedition slips
with the first of the ebb to the westward; they meet the
flood tide in mid-Channel, and using their long sweeps are
in Springhaven, or at any rate the lightest of them, by the
top of that tide, just when you are shaving. You laugh at
such a thought of mine. I tell you, my dear friend, that
with skill and good luck it is easy; and do it they should, if
they were under my command.”
If anybody else had even talked of such a plan as within
the bounds of likelihood, Admiral Darling would have been
almost enraged. But now he looked doubtfully, first at the
sea (as if it might be thick with prames already), and then
at the land—which was his own—as if the rent might go
into a Frenchman’s pocket, and then at his old and admired
friend, who had ruined his sleep for the summer.
‘‘ Happily they are not under your command, and they
have no man to compare with you;” he spoke rather ner-
vously; while Nelson smiled, for he loved the praise which
he had so well earned; ‘‘and if it were possible for you to
talk nonsense, I should say that you had done it now. But
two things surely you have overlooked. In the first place,
the French can have no idea of the special opportunities
this place affords. And again, if they had, they could do
nothing without a pilot well acquainted with the spot.
Though the landing is so easy, there are shoals outside very
intricate and dangerous, and known to none except the na-
tives of the place, who are jealous to the last degree about
their knowledge.”
‘That is true enough; and even I should want a pilot
here, though I know every spit of sand eastward. But
away fly both your difficulties if there should happen to be
a local traitor.”
~
SPRINGHAVEN. 19
‘“A traitor at Springhaven! Such a thing is quite im-
possible. You would laugh at yourself, if you only knew
the character of our people. There never has been, and
there never will be, a Springhaven man capable of treach-
ery.”
‘‘ That is good news, ay, and strange news too,” the visit-
or answered, with his left hand on his sword, for he was now
in full though rather shabby uniform. ‘‘There are not
many traitors in England, I believe; but they are as likely
to be found in one place as another, according to my experi-
ence. Well, well, 1am very glad you have no such scoun-
drels here. JI won't say a single word against your people,
who are as fine a lot as any in the south of England, and as
obstinate as any I could wish to see. Of an obstinate man
Ican always make good; witha limp one I can do nothing.
But bear in mind every word you have heard me say, be-
cause [came down on purpose about it; and I generally pen-
etrate the devices of the enemy, though they lead me on a
wild-goose chase sometimes, but only when our own folk back
them up, either by les or stupidity. Now look once more,
for you are slower as well as a great deal wiser than I am.
You see how this land-locked bight of Springhaven seems
made by the Almighty for flat-bottomed craft, if once they
ean find their way into it; while the trend of the coast to-
wards Pebbleridge is equally suited for the covering fleet,
unless a gale from southwest comes on, in which case they
must run for it. And you see that the landed force, by
crowning the hill above your house and across the valley,
might defy our noble Volunteers, and all that could be
brought against them, till a hundred thousand cut-throats
were established here. And Boney would make his head-
quarters at the Hall, with a French cook in your kitchen,
and a German butler in your cellar, and my pretty god-
child to wait upon him, for the rogue loves pretty maidens.”
‘*That will do. That is quite enough. No wonder you
have written poems, Nelson, as you told us the last time you
were here. If my son had only got your imagination—but
perhaps you know something more than you have told me.
Perhaps you have been told—”
‘* Never mind about that,” the great sea-captain answered,
turning away as if on springs; ‘‘it is high time for me to be
off again, and my chaise has springs on her cables.”
‘‘Not she. I have ordered her to be docked. Dine with
us you shall this day, if we have to dine two hours earler,
80 SPRINGHAVEN.
and though Mother Cloam rage furiously. How much
longer do you suppose you can carry on at this pace? Look
at me. I have double your bodily substance; but if I went
on as you do—you remember the twenty-four-pounder old
Hotecoppers put into the launch, and fired it, in spite of all I
could say to him? Well, youare justthesame. You have
not got the scantling for the metal you carry and are always
working. You will either blow up or else scuttle yourself.
Look here, how your seams are opening!” Here Admiral
Darling thrust his thumb through the ravelled seam of his
old friend’s coat, which made him jump back, for he loved
his old coat. ‘‘ Yes, and you will go in the very same way.
I wonder how any coat lasts so much as a month, with you
inside it.”
‘“This coat,” said Nelson, who, was most sweet-tempered
with any one he loved, though hot as pepper when stirred
up by strangers—‘‘this coat is the one I wore at Copenha-
gen, and a sounder and kinder coat never came on a man’s
back. Charles Darling, you have made a bad hit this time.
If 1am no more worn out than this coat is, Iam fit to go to
sea for a number of years yet. And I hope to show it toa
good many Frenchmen, and take as many ships, every time
they show fight, as there are buttons on it.” |
‘‘Then you will double all your captures at the Nile;”
such a series of buttons had this coat, though many lay slack
to their moorings, for his guardian angel was not ‘‘do-
mestic:” ‘* but you may be trusted not to let them drift so.
You have given me a lesson in coast-defence, and now you
shall be boarded by the ladies. You possess some gifts of the
tongue, my friend, as well as great gifts of hand and eye;
but I will back my daughters to beat you there. Come up
to the house. No turning of tail.”
‘‘T spoke very well in the House of Lords,” said Nelson,
in his simple way, ‘‘in reply to the speech of his Majesty,
and again about the Commissioner's Bill; or at least every-
body tells me so. But in the House of Ladies I hold my
tongue, because there is abundance without it.”
. This, however, he failed to do when the matter came to
the issue; for his godchild Horatia, more commonly called
Dolly, happened to be in the mood for taking outrageous
liberties with him. She possessed very little of that gift—
most preciousamong women—the sense of veneration ; and to
her a hero was only a man heroic in acts of utility. “He
shall do it,” she said to Faith, when she heard that he was
SPRINGHAVEN. , 81
come again; ‘‘if I have to-kiss him, he shall do it; and I
don’t like kissing those old men.”
‘‘ Hush!” said her elder sister. ‘‘Dolly, you do say
things so recklessly. One would think that you liked to
kiss younger men! But I am sure that is not your mean-
ing. I would rather kiss Lord Nelson than all the young
men in the kingdom.”
‘“Well done, Faith! All the young men in the kingdom!
How recklessly you do say things! And you can’t kiss him
—he is my godfather. But just see how I get round hin, if
you have wits enough to understand it.”
So these two joined i in their kind endeavour to make the
visitor useful, the object being so good that doubtful means
might be excused for it. In ‘different ways and for divers
reasons each of these young ladies now had taken tolike Blyth
Scudamore. Faith, by power of pity first, and of grief for
her own misfortunes, and of admiration for his goodness to
his widowed mother—which made his best breeches shine
hard at the knees; and Dolly, because of his shy adoration
and dauntless defence of her against a cow (whose calf was
on the road to terminate in veal), as well as his special skill
with his pocket-knife in cutting out figures that could dance
and almost sing; also his great gifts, when the tide was out,
of making rare creatures run after him. What avails to
explore female reason precisely ?—their minds were made up
that he must be a captain, if Nelson had to build the ship
with his one hand for him.
‘‘ After that, there is nothing more to be said,” confessed
the vanquished warrior; ‘‘ but the daughters of an Admiral
‘should know that no man can be posted until he has served
his time as lieutenant; and this young hero of yours has
never even held the King’s commission yet. But as he has
‘seen some service, and is beyond the age of a middy, in the
present rush he might get appointed as junior lieutenant, if
he had any stout seconders. Your father is the man; he is
always at hand, and can watch his opportunity. He knows
more big-wigs than I do, and he has not given offence where
Ihave. Get your father, my dears, to attend to it.”
But the ladies were not to be so put off, for they under-
stood the difference of character. Lord Nelson was as sure
to do a thing as Admiral Darling was to drop it if it grew
too heavy. Hence it came to pass that Blyth Scudamore,
though failing of the Victory and Amphton—which he
would have chosen, if the choice were his—received with
4* |
‘AFTER THAT, THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO BE SAID.”
that cheerful philosophy which had made him so dear ta
the school-boys, and was largely required among them, his
appointment as junior lieutenant to the thirty-eight-gun
frigate Leda, attached to the Channel fleet under Corn-
wallis, whose business it was to deal with the French flotilla
of invasion.
CHAPTER XV.
ORDEAL OF AUDIT.
ENGLAND saw the growing danger, and prepared, with an
even mind and well-girt body, to confront it. As yet stood
up no other country to help or even comfort her, so cowed
SPRINGHAVEN. “83
was all the Continent by the lash and spur of an upstart.
Alone, encumbered with the pack of Ireland, pinched with
hunger and dearth of victuals, and cramped with the colic
of Whiggery, she set her strong shoulder to the wheel of
fortune, and so kept it till the hill was behind her. Some
nations (which owe their existence to her) have forgotten
these things conveniently; an Englishman hates to speak
of them, through his unjust abhorrence of self-praise; and
so does a Frenchman, by virtue of motives equally respect-
able.
But now the especial danger lay in the special strength
of England. Scarcely any man along the coast, who had
ever come across a Frenchman, could be led (by quotations
from history or even from newspapers) to believe that there
was any sense in this menace of his to come and conquer us.
Even if he Janded—which was not likely, for none of them
could box the compass—the only thing he took would be a
jolly good thrashing, and a few pills of lead for his garlic.
This lofty contempt on the part of the seafaring men had
been enhanced by Nelson, and throve with stoutest vigour
in the enlightened breasts of Springhaven.
Yet military men thought otherwise, and so did the own-
ers of crops and ricks, and so did the dealers in bacon and
egos and crockery, and even hardware. Mr. Cheeseman,
for instance, who left nothing unsold that he could turn a
penny by, was anything but easy in his mind, and dreamed
such dreams as he could not impart to his wife—on account
of her tendency to hysterics—but told with much power to
his daughter Polly, now the recognised belle of Springhaven.
This vigilant grocer and butter man, tea, coffee, tobacco, and
snuff man, hosier also, and general provider for the outer as
well as the inner man, had much of that enterprise in his
nature which the country believes to come from London.
His possession of this was ascribed by all persons of a
thoughtful turn to his ownership of that well-built schooner
the London Trader. Sailing as she did, when the weather
was fine, nearly every other week, for London, and return-
ing with equal frequency, to the women who had never
been ten miles from home she was a mystery and a watch-
word. Not one of them would allow lad of hers to join this
romantic galleon, and tempt the black cloud of the distance;
neither did Mr. Cheeseman yearn (for reasons of his own
about city prices) to navigate this good ship with natives.
Moreover, it was absurd, as he said, with a keen sense of his
84 SPRINGHAVEN.
own cheapness, to suppose that he could find the funds to
buy and ply such a ship as that!
Truth is a fugitive creature, even when she deigns to be
visible, or even to exist. The truth of Mr. Cheeseman’s
statement had existed, but was long since flown. Such was
his worth that he could now afford to buy the London
Trader three times over, and pay ready money every time.
But when he first invested hard cash in her—against the
solid tears of his prudent wife—true enough it was that he
could only scrape together one-quarter of the sum required.
Mrs. Cheeseman, who was then in a condition of absorbing
interest with Polly, made it her last request in this world-—-
for she never expected to get over it—that Jemmy should
not run in debt on a goose-chase, and fetch her poor spirit
from its grave again. James Cheeseman was compelled—
as the noblest man may be—to dissemble and even deny his
intentions until the blessed period of caudle-cup, when, the
weather being pleasant and the wind along the shore, he
found himself encouraged to put up the window gently.
The tide was coming in with a long seesaw, and upon it,
like the baby in the cradle full of sleep, lay rocking anoth-
er little stranger, or rather a very big one, to the lady’s con-
ception. ?
Let by-gones be by-gones. There were some reproaches;
but the weaker vessel, Mrs. Cheeseman, at last struck flag,
without sinking, as she threatened todo. And when little
Polly went for her first airing, the London Trader had ac-
complished her first voyage, and was sailing in triumphantly
with a box of ‘‘tops and bottoms” from the ancient firm in
Threadneedle Street which has saved so many infants from —
the power that cuts the thread. After that, everything
went as it should go, including this addition to the commer-
cial strength of Britain, which the lady was enabled soon to
talk of as ‘‘ our ship,” and to cite when any question rose of
the latest London fashion. But even now, when a score of
years, save one, had made their score and gone, Mrs. Cheese-
man only guessed and doubted as to the purchase of her ship.
James Cheeseman knew the value of his own counsel, and
so kept it; and was patted on both shoulders by the world,
while he patted his own butter.
He wore an apron of the purest white, with shoulder-straps
of linen tape, and upon his counter he had a desk, with a
carved oak rail in front of it and returned at either end.
The joy of his life was here to stand, with goodly shirt sleeves
SPRINGHAVEN. 85
shining, his bright cheeks also shining in the sun, unless it
were hot enough to hurt his goods. He was not a great
man, but a good one—in the opinion of all who owed him
nothing, and even in his own estimate, though he owed so
much to himself. It was enough to make any one who pos-
sessed a shilling hungry to see him so clean, so ready and
ruddy, among the many good things which his looks and
manner, as well as his words, commended. And as soon as
he began to smack his rosy lips, which nature had fitted up
on purpose, over a rasher, or a cut of gammon, or a keg of
best Aylesbury, or a fine red herring, no customer having a
penny in his pocket. might struggle hard enough to keep it
there. For the half-hearted policy of fingering one’s money,
and asking a price theoretically, would recoil upon the con-
stitution of the strongest man, unless he could detach from
all co-operation the congenial researches of his eyes and nose.
When the weather was cool and the air full of appetite, and
a fine smack of salt from the sea was sparkling on the mar-
gin of the plate of expectation, there was Mr. Cheeseman,
with a knife and fork, amid a presence of hungrifying goods
that beat the weak efforts of imagination. Hams of the first
rank and highest education, springs of pork sweeter than the
purest spring of poetry, pats of butter fragrant as the most
delicious flattery, chicks with breast too ample to require to
be broken, and sometimes prawns from round the headland
fresh enough to saw one another’s heads off but for being
boiled already.
Memory fails to record one-tenth of all the good things
gathered there. And why? Because hope was the power
aroused, and how seldom can memory endorse it! Even in
the case of Mr. Cheeseman’s wares, there were people who
said, after making short work with them, that short weight
had enabled them to do so. And every one living in the
village was surprised to find his own scales require balancing
again every time he sent his little girl to Cheeseman’s.
This upright tradesman was attending to his business one
cold day of May, 1808, soon after Nelson sailed from Ports-
mouth, and he stood with his beloved pounds of farm-house
butter, bladders of lard, and new-laid eggs, and squares of
cream-cheese behind him, with a broad butter-spathe of white
wood in his hand, a long goose-pen tucked over his left ear,
and the great copper scales hanging handy. So strict was
his style, though he was not above a joke, that only his own
hands might serve forth an ounce of best butter to the pub-
86 SPRINGHAVEN.
lic. And whenever this was weighed, and the beam adjust-
ed handsomely to the satisfaction of the purchaser, down
went the butter to be packed upon a shelf uninvaded by the
public eye. Persons too scantily endowed with the greatest
of all Christian virtues had the hardihood to say that Mr.
Cheeseman here indulged in a process of high art discovered
by himself. Discoursing of the weather, or the crops, or per-
haps the war, and mourning the dishonesty of statesmen
nowadays, by dexterous undersweep of keen steel blade,
from the bottom of the round, or pat, or roll, he would have
away a thin slice, and with that motion jerk it into the bar-
rel which he kept beneath his desk.
‘Is this, then, the establishment of the illustrious Mr.
Cheeseman?” The time was yet early, and the gentleman
who put this question was in riding dress. The worthy
tradesman looked at him, and the rosy tint of conscience on
his cheeks was touched with changes.
‘‘This is the shop of the ‘umble James Cheeseman,” he —
answered, but not with the alacrity of business. ‘‘ All things
good that are in season, and nothing kept unseasonable.
With what can I have the honour of serving you, sir?”
‘* With a little talk.” The stranger’s manner was not un-
pleasantly contemptuous, but lofty, and such as the English
shopman loves, and calls ‘‘ aristocratic.”
‘“To talk with a gentleman is a pleasure as well as an
honour,” said Cheeseman. |
‘‘But not in this public establishment.” The visitor
waved both hands as he spoke, in a style not then common
with Englishmen, though they are learning eloquent ges-
ticulation now. ‘‘It is fine, Mr. Cheeseman; but it is not—
bah! I forget your English words.”
‘‘Tt is fine, sir, as you are good enough to observe’”—the
humble James Cheeseman was proud of his shop—“ but not,
as you remarked, altogether private. That can hardly be
expected where business is conducted to suit universal re-
quirements. Polly, my dear, if your mother can spare you,
come and take my place at the desk a few minutes. I have
business inside with this gentleman. You may sell almost
anything, except butter. If any one wants that, they must
wait till I come back.”
Axvery pretty damsel, with a cap of foreign lace both
adorning and adorned by her beautiful bright hair, came
shyly from a little door behind the counter, receiving with
a quick blush the stranger’s earnest gaze, and returning with
aa
ie
MR. CHEESEMAN AND CARYL CARNE.
a curtsey the courteous flourish of his looped-up riding-hat.
‘What a handsome gentleman!” said Polly to herself; ‘‘ but
there is something very sad and very wild in his appear-
ance.” Her father’s conclusion was the same, and his heart
misgave him as he led in this unexpected guest.
‘“There is no cause for apologies. This place is a very
good one,” the stranger replied, laying down his heavy whip
on the table of a stone-floored room, to which he had been
shown. ‘‘ You are a man of business, and I am come upon
dry business. You can conjecture—is it not so?—who I am
by this time, although I am told that I do not bear any
strong resemblance to my father.”
He took off his hat as he spoke, shook back his long black
hair, and fixed his jet-black eyes upon Cheeseman. That
upright dealer had not recovered his usual self-possession
yet, but managed to look up—for he was shorter by a head
than his visitor—with a doubtful and enquiring smile.
‘‘T am Caryl Carne, of Carne Castle, as you are pleased to
eallif. Ihave not been in England these many years; from
the death of my father I have been afar; and now, for causes
of my own, I am returned, with hope of collecting the frag-
88 SPRINGHAVEN.
ments of the property of my ancestors. It appears to have |
been their custom to scatter, but not gather up again. My
intention is to make a sheaf of the relics spread by squan-
derers, and snapped up by scoundrels.”
‘“To be sure, to be sure,” cried the general dealer; ‘this
is vastly to your credit, sir, and I wish you all success, sir,
and so will all who have so long respected your ancient and
honourable family, sir. Take a chair, sir—please to take a
chair.”
‘‘T find very little to my credit,” Mr. Carne said, dryly, as
he took the offered chair, but kept his eyes still upon Cheese-
man’s; ‘‘but among that little is a bond from you, given
nearly twenty years agone, and of which you will retain, no
doubt, a vivid recollection.”
‘A bond, sir—a bond!” exclaimed the other, with his
bright eyes twinkling, as in some business enterprise. ‘‘I
never signed a bond in all my life, sir. Why, a bond re-
quires sureties, and nobody ever went surety for me.”
‘*Bond may not be the proper legal term. It is possible.
I know nothing of the English law. But a document it is,
under hand and seal, and your signature is witnessed, Mr.
Cheeseman.”
‘‘Ah,well! Let meconsider. I begin to remember some-
thing. But my memory is not as it used to be, and twenty
years makes a great hole in it. Will you kindly allow me
to see this paper, if you have it with you, sir ?”
‘It is not a paper; it is written upon parchment, and I
have not brought it with me. But I have written down the
intention of it, and it is as follows:
‘**This indenture made between James Cheeseman (with
a long description), of the one part, and Montagu Carne
(treated likewise), of the other part, after a long account of
some arrangement made between them, witnesseth that in
consideration of the sum of £300 well and truly paid by the
said Montagu Carne to Cheeseman, he, the said Cheeseman,
doth assign, transfer, set over, and so on, to the said Carne,
etc., one equal undivided moiety, and one half part of the
other moiety of and in a certain vessel, ship, trading craft,
and so forth, known or thenceforth to be known as the Lon-
don Trader, of Springhaven, in the county of Sussex, by way
of security for the interest at the rate of five per cent. per
annum, payable half-yearly, as well as for the principal sum
of £300, so advanced as aforesaid.’ ”’
‘If it should prove, sir, that money is owing,” Mr.
SPRINGHAVEN. 89
Cheeseman said, with that exalted candor which made a
weak customer misdoubt his own eyes and nose, ‘‘no effort
on my part shall be wanting, bad as the times are, to pro-
cure it and discharge it. In every commercial transaction
I have found, and my experience is now considerable, that
confidence, as between man and man, is the only true foot-
ing togoupon. And how can true confidence exist, unless—”’
‘‘Unless a man shows some honesty. And aman who
keeps books such as these,” pursued the visitor, suggesting
a small kick to a pile of ledgers, ‘‘can hardly help knowing
whether he owes a large sum, or whether he has paid it.
But that is not the only question now. In continuation of
that document I find a condition, a clause provisional, that
it shall be at the option of the aforesaid Montagu Carne, and
his representatives, either to receive the interest at the rate
before mentioned and thereby secured, or, if he or they
should so prefer, to take for their own benefit absolutely
three-fourths of the net profits, proceeds, or other increment
realized by the trading ventures, or other employment from
time to time, of the said London Trader. Also there is a
covenant for the insurance of the said vessel, and a power
of sale, and some other provisions about access to trading
books, ete., with which you have, no doubt, a good acquaint-
ance, Mr. Cheeseman.”
That enterprising merchant, importer of commodities, and
wholesale and retail dealer was fond of assuring his numer-
ous friends that ‘‘ nothing ever came amiss to him.” But
some of them now would have doubted about this if they
had watched his face as carefully as Caryl Carne was watch-
ing it. Mr. Cheeseman could look a hundred people in the
face, and with great vigour too, when a small account was
running. But the sad, contemptuous, and piercing gaze—
as if he were hardly worth penetrating—and the twirl of the
black tuft above the lip, and the firm conviction on the
broad white forehead that it was confronting a rogue too
common and shallow to be worth frowning at—all these,
and the facts that were under them, came amiss to the true
James Cheeseman.
‘‘T scarcely see how to take this,” he said, being clever
enough to suppose that a dash of candor might sweeten the
embroilment. ‘‘I will not deny that I was under obligation
to your highly respected father, who was greatly beloved for
his good-will to his neighbours. ‘Cheeseman,’ he used to say,
‘IT will stand by you. You are the only man of enterprise
90 SPRINGHAVEN.
in these here parts. Whatever you do is for the good of
Springhaven, which belonged to my family for centuries be-
fore those new-fangled Darlings came. And, Cheeseman,
you may trust to the honour of the Carnes not to grind down
a poor man who has his way tomake.’ Them were his words,
sir; how well I recollect them!”
‘*Too well almost,” replied the young man, coldly, ‘‘ con-
sidering how scanty was your memory just now. But it
may save time, and painful efforts of your memory, if I tell
you at once that I am not concerned in any way with the
sentiments of my father. I owe him very little, as you must
be well aware; and the matter betwixt you and me is strict-
ly one of business. The position in whieh I am left is such
that I must press every legal claim to the extremest. And
having the option under this good document, I have deter-
mined to insist upon three-quarters of the clear proceeds of
this trading ship, from the date of the purchase until the
present day, as well as the capital sum invested on this
security.”
‘‘ Very well, sir, if you do, there is only one course left
me—to go into the Court of Bankruptcy, see all my little
stock in trade sold up, and start in hfe again at the age of
fifty-seven, with a curse upon all old families.”
‘“Your curse, my good friend, will not add sixpence to
your credit. And the heat you exhibit is not well adapted
for calculations commercial. There is one other course
which I am able to propose, though I will not give a promise
yet to do so—a course which would relieve me from taking
possession of this noble ship which has made your fortune,
and perhaps from enforcing the strict examination of your
trading books, to which Lam entitled. But before I propose
any such concession, which will be a grand abdication of
rights, one or two things become necessary. For example,
I must have some acquaintance with your character, some
certitude that you can keep your own counsel, and not di-
vulge everything that arrives within your knowledge; also
that you have some courage, some freedom of mind from
small insular sentiments, some desire to promote the true |
interests of mankind, and the destruction of national prej-
udices.”’
‘“Certainly, sir; all of those I can approve of. They are
very glorious things,” cried Cheeseman—a man of fine, lib-
eral vein, whenever two half-crowns were as good as a crown.
‘“We are cramped and trampled and down-trodden by the
SPRINGHAVEN. 91
airs big people give themselves, and the longing of such of
us as thinks is to speak our minds about it. Upon that point
of freedom, sir, I can heartily go with you, and every stick
upon my premises is well insured.”
‘‘Including, I hope, the London Trader, according to
your covenant. And that reminds me of another question
—is it well-found, well-manned, and a good, rapid ship to
make the voyage? No falsehood, if you please, about this”
matter.”
“She is the fastest sailer on the English coast, built at
Dunkirk, and as sound as a bell. She could show her taff-
rail, in ight weather, to any British cruiser in the Channel.
She could run a fine cargo of French cognac and foreign
laces any day.”’
‘‘Tt is not my desire,” Caryl Carne replied, ‘‘ to cheat the
British Revenue. For that purpose exist already plenty of
British tradesmen. For the present [impress upon you one
thing only, that you shall observe silence, a sacred silence,
regarding this conversation. For your own sake you will
be inclined to do so, and that is the only sake a man pays
much attention to. . But how much for your own sake you
are obliged to keep your counsel you will very soon find out
if you betray it.”
CHAPTER XVI.
FOX-HILL.
WHEN it was known in this fine old village that young
Squire Carne from foreign parts was come back to live in
the ancient castle, there was much larger outlay (both of
words and thoughts) about that than about any French in-
vasion. ‘‘ Let them land if they can,” said the able-bodied
men, in discussion of the latter question; ‘‘ they won’t find
it so easy to get away again as they seem to put into their
reckoning. But the plague of it all is the damage to the
fishing.”
Not that the squadron of Captain Tugwell was shorn as
yet of its number, though all the young men were under
notice to hold Hicmiseiaed ready as ‘‘Sea-Hencibles.”’ The
injury to their trade lay rather in the difficulty of getting
to their fishing-grounds, and in the disturbance of these by
cruisers, with little respect for their nets and lines. Again,
92 SPRINGHAVEN.
as the tidings of French preparation waxed more and more ~
outrageous, Zebedee had as much as he could do to keep all
his young hands loyal. All their solid. interest lay (as he
told them every morning) in sticking to the Springhaven
flag—a pair of soles couchant, herring salient, and mackerel
regardant, all upon a bright sea-green—rather than in hank-
ering after roll of drum and Union-Jack. What could come
of these but hardship, want of victuals, wounds, and death;
or else to stump about on one leg, and hold out a hat fora
penny with onearm? They felt that it was true; they had
seen enough of that; it had happened in all their own
families.
Yet such is the love of the native land and the yearning
to stand in front of it, and such is the hate of being tri-
umphed over by fellows who kiss one another and weep,
and such is the tingling of the knuckles for a blow when
the body has been kicked in sore places, that the heart will
at last get the better of the head—or at least it used to be so
in England. Wherefore Charley Bowles was in arms al-
ready against his country’s enemies; and Harry Shanks
waited for little except a clear proclamation of prize-money ;
and even young Daniel was tearing at his kedge like a lively
craft riding in a brisk sea-way. He had seen Lord Nelson,
and had spoken to Lord Nelson, and that great man would
have patted him on the head—so patriotic were his senti-
ments—if the great man had been a little taller.
But the one thing: that kept Dan Tugwell firm to his
moorings at Springhaven was the deep hold of his steadfast
heart in a love which it knew to be hopeless. To die for
his country might become a stern duty, about which he
would rather not be hurried; but to die for Miss Dolly would.
be a wild delight; and how could he do it unless he were at
hand? And now there were so many young Officers again,
landing in boats, coming in post-chaises, or charging down
the road on horseback, that Daniel, while touching up the
finish of his boat with paint and varnish and Venetian red,
was not so happy as an artist should be who knows how to
place the whole. Sometimes, with the paint stirred up and
creaming, and the ooze of the brush trimmed warily, through
the rushes and ragwort and sea-willow his keen, unconquer-
able eyes would spy the only figure that quelled them, far
away, Shown against the shining water, or shadowed upon
the flat mirror of the sand.. But, alas! there was always
another figure near it, bigger, bulkier, framed with ugly
“ATLSVO ANAVO
DAN TUGWELL.
angles, jerking about with the elbow sticking out, instead of
gliding gracefully. Likely enough the lovely form, brought
nearer to the eyes and heart by love, would flit about beau-
tifully for two sweet moments, filling with rapture all the
flashes of the sea and calm of the evening sky beyond; and
then the third moment would be hideous. For the figure
of the ungainly foe would stride across the delicious vision,
huge against the waves like Cyclops, and like him gesticu-
lant, but unhappily not so single-eyed that the slippery fair
might despise him. Then away would fly all sense of art
and joy in the touch of perfection, and a very nasty feeling
would ensue, as if nothing were worth living for, and no-
body could be believed in. |
~
\ SPRINGHAVEN. 95.
That plaguesome Polypheme was Captain Stubbard, be-
girt with a wife, and endowed with a family almost in ex-
cess of benediction, and dancing attendance upon Miss Dolly,
too stoutly for his own comfort, in the hope of procuring
for his own Penates something to eat and to sit upon.
Some evil genius had whispered, or rather trumpeted, into
his ear—for he had but one left, and that worked very sel-
dom, through alarm about the bullet which had carried off
its fellow--that if he desired, as he did with heart and stom-
ach, to get a clear widening by £200 of his strait ways
and restricted means, through Admiral Darling it might be
done, and Miss Dolly was the proper one to make him do it.
For the Inspectorship of Sea-Fencibles from Selsey Bill to
Dungeness was worth all that money in hard cash yearly;
and the late Inspector having quitted this life—through pork
CAPTAIN STUBBARD,
96 SPRINGHAVEN.
boiled in a copper kettle—the situation was naturally vacant;
and the Admiral being the man for whose check the In-
spectorship was appointed, it is needless to say that (in the
spirit of fair play) the appointment was vested in the Ad-
miral.
The opinion of all who knew him was that Captain Stub-
bard was fairly entitled to look for something higher. And
he shared that opinion, taking loftier aim than figures could
be made to square with, till the latter prevailed, as they gen-
erally do, because they can work without victuals. For al-
though the brave Captain had lost three ribs—or at any
rate more than he could spare of them (not being a pig)—in
the service of his country, he required as much as ever to
put inside them; and his children, not having inherited that
loss as scientifically as they should have done, were hard to
bring up upon the £15 yearly allowed by Great Britain for
each of the gone bones. From the ear that was gone he
derived no income, having rashly compounded for £25.
In the nature of things, which the names have followed,
the father is the feeder; and the world is full of remarks un-
less he becomes a good clothier also. But everything went
against this father, with nine little Stubbards running after
him, and no ninepence in any of his pockets, because he was
shelved upon half-pay, on account of the depression of the
times and of his ribs. But Miss Dolly Darling was resolved
to see him righted, for she hated all national meanness.
‘* What is the use of having any influence,” she asked her
good father, ‘‘unless you employ it for your own friends ?
I should be quite ashamed to have it said of me, or thought,
that I could get a good thing for any one I was fond of, and
was mean enough not to do it, for fear of paltry jealousy.
Mean is much too weak a word; it is downright dishonest,
and what is much worse, cowardly. What is the govern-
ment meant for, unless it is to do good to people ?”
‘Certainly, my dear child, certainly. To the people at
large, that is to say, and the higher interests of the country.”
‘‘Can there be any people more at large than Captain
Stubbard and his wife and children? Their elbows are com-
ing out of their clothes, and they have scarcely got a bed to
sleep upon. My income is not enough to stop to count,
even when [ get it punctually. But every farthing I re-
ceive shall go—that is to say, if it ever does come—into the
lap of Mrs. Stubbard, anonymously and respectfully.”
‘*Pay your bills first,” said the Admiral, taking the wea-
““pay YOUR BILLS, FIRST,’ SAID THE ADMIRAL.”
ther-gage of the discussion; ‘‘a little bird tells me that you
owe a good trifle, even in Springhaven.”
‘*Then the little bird has got a false bill,” replied Dolly,
who was not very easy to fluster. ‘‘ Who is there to spend
sixpence with in a little hole of this kind? Iam not a cus-
tomer for tea, coffee, tobacco, snuff, or pepper, nor even for
whiting, soles, or conger. Old Cheeseman imports all the
5
98 SPRINGHAVEN.
fashions, as he says, but Igo by my own judgment. And
trumpery aS my income is, very little of it goes into his till.
But I should like to know who told you such a wicked story,
father ?”
‘‘Things are mentioned in confidence, and I put them
together,” said the Admiral. ‘‘ Don’t say another word, or
look as if you would be happier if you had something to cry
about. Your dear mother used to do it, and it beats me al-
ways. I have long had my eye upon Captain Stubbard, and
Il remember well that gallant action when his three ribs flew
away. We called him Adam, because of his wife coming
just when his middle rib went, and his name was Adam
Stubbard, sure enough. Such men, in the prime of their
life, should be promoted, stead of being disabled, for a
scratch like that. Why, he walks every bit as well as I do,
and his wateh ribbon covers it. And nine children! Lord
bless my heart, I scarcely know which way to turn, with
only four!”
Within a short fortnight Captain Stubbard was appoint-
ed, with an office established at the house of Widow
Shanks—though his real office naturally was at the public-
house—and Royal Proclamations aroused the valour of near-
ly everybody who could read them. Nine httle Stubbards
soon were rigged too smart to know themselves, as the style
is of all dandies; and even Mrs. Stubbard had a new belt
made to go round her, when the weather was elastic.
‘“These are the things that prove the eye of an All-wise
Providence over us,” said the Captain to the Admiral, point-
ing out six pairs of short legs, galligaskined from one roll
of cloth; ‘‘ these are the things that make one feel the force
of the words of David.”
‘* Certainly, yes, to be sure!” replied the gallant senior
officer, all at sea as to the, passage suggested. ‘* Good legs
they have got, and no mistake; like the polished corners of
the Temple. Let them go and dip them in the sea, while
you give me the benefit of your opinion here. - Not here, I
mean, but upon Fox-hill yonder; if Mrs. Stubbard will
spare you for a couple of hours, most kindly.”
Of the heights that look down with a breezy air upon the
snug nest of Springhaven, the fairest to see from a distance,
and to tread with brisk foot, is Fox-hill. For the downs,
which are channelled with the springs that form the brook,
keep this for their own last spring into the air before bath-
ing in the vigorous composure of the sea. All the other
ed es ET ss. =,
ON FOX-HILL.
hills fall back a little, to let Fox-hill have the first choice of
aspect—or bear the first brunt, as itself would state the mat-
ter. And to anybody coming up, and ten times to a stran-
ger, this resolute foreland offers more invitation to go home
again than to come visiting. For the bulge of the breast is
100 SPRINGHAVEN.
steep, and ribbed with hoops coming up in denial, conerete
with chalk, muricated with flint, and thornily crested with
good stout furze. And the forefront of the head, when
gained, is stiff with brambles, and stubbed with sloes, and
mitred with a choice band of stanch sting-nettles.
‘“It would take a better Frenchman,” said the Admiral,
with that brevity which is the happy result of stoutness up
steep hill, ‘‘than any of ‘they flat-bottoms,’as Swipes, my
gardener, calls them, to get through these prickles, Stub-
bard, without Sark-blewing, such a wonderfully thin-
skinned lot they are! Did I ever tell you the story of our
boatswain’s mate? But that takes a better sailing breeze
than I’ve got now. You see where we are, don’t you ?”
‘Certainly, Admiral,” replied Captain Stubbard, disdain-
ing to lay hand to his injured side, painfully as it yearned
for pressure; ‘‘we have had a long pull, and we get a fine
outlook over the country for leagues, and the Channel. How
close at hand everything looks! I suppose we shall have
rain, and we want it. I could thump that old castle among
the trees into smash, and your church looks as if I could put
a shot with a rifle-gun into the bell-chamber.”
‘‘And so you could. What I want to show you is that.
very point, and the importance of it. With a battery of
long twenty-fours up here, the landing, the bay, and all the
roads are at our mercy. My dear old friend Nelson drew
my attention to it.”
‘It is plain as a pikestaff to Tom, Dick, or Harry:”
Captain Stubbard was a frank, straightforward man, and
much as he owed to the Admiral’s aid, not a farthing would
he pay in flattery. ‘‘ But why should we want to command
this spot? There is nothing to protect but a few common
houses, and some half-score of fishing craft, and a schooner
that trades to London, and yonder old church, and—oh yes,
to be sure, your own house and property, Admiral.”
‘*Those must take their chance, like others. I hope I
know better than to think of them in comparison with the
good of the country. - But if we fail to occupy this impor-
tant post, the enemy might take us by surprise, and do so.”
‘* Possible, but most improbable. This little place lies,
by the trend of the coast, quite out of their course from Bou-
logne to London; and what is there here to tempt them ?
No rich town to sack, no gr eat commerce to rob, no valuable
shipping to lay hands on.’
Ses but there’s my house and my two girls; and I don't
eq "Sey
SPRINGHAVEN. 101
want my old roof burned, and my daughters put to wait on
Boney. But to think of self-interest is below contempt,
with our country going through such trials. Neither should
we add any needless expense to a treasury already overbur-
dened.” |
“Certainly not. It would be absolutely wicked. We
have a long and costly war before us, and not a shilling
should be spent except in case of clear necessity.”
‘“T am very glad indeed to find your opinion so decided,
so untainted with petty self-interest.” As Admiral Darling
spoke he closed a little silver telescope, with which he had
been gazing through the wooded coronet of the hill. ‘TI
thought it my duty to consult you, Stubbard, before despatch-
ing this letter, which, being backed by Nelson’s opinion,
would probably have received attention. If a strong bat-
tery were thrown up here, as it would be in a fortnight from
the receipt of this bit of foolscap, the appointment of com-
mandant would rest with me, and I could appoint nobody .
but your good self, because of your well-known experience
in earthworks. The appointment would have doubled your
present pay, which, though better than nothing, is far below
your merits. But your opinion settles the question other-
wise, and I must burn my letter. Let us lose no more time.
Mrs. Stubbard will call me a savage for keeping you away
so long.”
‘‘Tmportant business,” replied the Captain, ‘‘ will not wait
even for ladies, or, rather, they must try to wait for it, and
give way to more reasonable urgency. Some time is re-
quired for considering this matter, and deciding what is
most for the interest of the nation. Oblige me with your
spy-glass, Admiral. There is one side on which I have neg-
lected to look out, and that may of all be the most impor-
tant. A conclusion arrived at by yourself and Nelson is
not to be hastily set aside. Your knowledge of the country
is so far beyond mine, though I may have had more to do
with land-works. We ought to think twice, sir, if the gov-
ernment will pay for it, about a valuable job of this kind.”
With these words Captain Stubbard began to use the tele-
scope carefully, forming his opinion through it, and wisely
shaking his head, now and then, with a longer and longer
focus. Then he closed the glass, and his own lips firmly—
whereby a man announces that no other should open his
against them—and sternly striding the yard exact, took
measurement for the battery. The hill was crowned witha
102 SPRINGHAVEN.
ring of Scotch firs, casting a quiet shade upon the warlike
haste of the Captain. If Admiral Darling smiled, it. was to
the landscape and the offing, for he knew that Stubbard was
of rather touchy fibre, and relished no jokes unless of home
production. His slow, solid face was enough to show this,
and the squareness of his outline, and the forward thrust of
his knees as he walked, and the larkspur impress of his lin-
gering heels. And he seldom said much, without something
to say.
‘“Well,” cried the Admiral, growing tired of sitting so long
upon a fallen trunk, ‘‘ what conclusion do you feel inclined
to come to? ‘Tis a fine breezy place to clear the brain, and
a briny air to sharpen the judgment.”
‘“Only one tree need come down—this crooked one at the
southeast corner.” Captain Stubbard began to swing his
arms about, like a windmill uncertain of the wind. ‘‘ All
gentlemen hate to have a tree cut down, all blackguards de-
light in the process. Admiral, we will not hurt your trees.
They will add to our strength by masking it. Six long
twenty-fours of the new make here in front, and two eight-
eens upon either flank, and I should like to see the whole
of the Boulogne flotilla try to take yonder shore by day-
light. That is to say, of course, if I commanded, with good
old salts to second me. With your common artillery offi-
cers, landlubbers, smell-the-wicks, cross-the-braces sons of
guns, there had better not be anything at all put up. They
can’t make 4 fortification; and when they have made it, they
ean’t work it. Admiral Darling, you know that, though
you have not had the bad luck to deal with them as I have.
I may thank one of them for being up here on the shelf.”
‘Of one thing you may be quite certain,” replied the
commander of the sea defence: ‘‘if we have any battery on
this Fox-hill, it shall be constructed and manned by blue-
jackets. I have a large draft of them now at discretion.
Every man in Springhaven will lend a hand, if paid for it.
It would take at least a twelvemonth to get it done from
Woolwich. A seaman does a thing before a landsman
thinks about it.”
ae
SPRINGHAVEN,. 103
CHAPTER XVII.
SEA-SIDE LODGINGS.
To set a dog barking is easier than to stop him by the
soundest reasoning. Even if the roof above his honest head,
growing loose on its nails, is being mended, he comes out to
ask about the matter, and in strong terms proclaims his
opinion to the distance.
After this kind behaved the people about to be protected
by this battery. They had dreamed of no danger till they
saw their houses beginning to be protected, and for this—
though it added to their importance—they were not truly
thankful. They took it in various ways, according to their
rich variety of reflection; but the way in which nobody took
it was that of gratitude and humility.
“Everything upside down,” they said, ‘‘everything gone
clean topsy-turvy! And the deep meaning of it is to rob
our fishing, under pretence of the Nationals. It may bring
a good bit of money to the place, for the lining of one or
two pockets, such as John Prater’s and Cheeseman’s; but I
never did hold so much with money, when shattery ways
comes along of it. No daughter of mine stirs out-of-doors
after sundown, I ean tell them.”
Thus were the minds of the men disturbed, or at any rate
those of the elder ones; while the women, on the whole,
were pleased, although they pretended to be contemptuous.
‘““T’ll tell you what I think, ma’am,”’ Mrs. Cheeseman said
to Widow Shanks quite early, ‘‘if you take a farthing less
than half a guinea a week for your dimity-parlour, with the
window up the hill, and the little door under the big sweet-
- briar, I shall think that you are not as you used to be.”
‘And right you would be, ma’am, and too right there;”
Mrs. Shanks sighed deeply as she thought of it. ‘“* There is
nobody but you can understand it, and I don’t mind saying
‘it on that account to you. Whenever I have wanted for a
little bit of money, as the nature of lone widows generally
does, it has always been out of your power, Mrs. Cheeseman,
to oblige me, and quite right of you. But I have a good
104 SPRINGHAVEN.
son, thank the Lord, by the name of Harry, to provide for
me; and a guinea a week is the agreement now for the dim-
ity-parlour, and the three-legged bed, and cold dinner to be
paid for extra, such as I might send for to your good shop,
with the money ready in the hand of my little girl, and jug
below her apron for refreshment from the Darling.”
‘‘ Well, I never! _My dear soul, you have taken all my
breath away. Why, it must be the captain of all the gun-
ners. How gunpowder do pay, to be sure!”
‘Lor, ma'am, why, don’t you know,” replied Mrs. Shanks,
with some contempt, ‘‘that the man with three ribs is the
eaptain of the gunners—the man in my back sitting-room ?
No dimity-parlour for him with his family, not for a guinea
and a half a week. But if I was to tell you who the gen-
tleman is, and one of the highest all round these parts,
truthful as you know me, Mrs. Cheeseman, you would say
to yourself, what a har she is!”
‘Mrs. Shanks, I never use coarse expressions, even to
myself in private. And perhaps I could tell you a thing or
two would astonish you more than me, ma’am. Suppose I
should tell you, to begin with, who your guinea lodger is ?”
‘‘That you could never do, Mrs. Cheeseman, with all your
time a-counting changes. He is not of the rank for a two-
penny rasher, or a wedge of cheese packed in old petti-
eqgat,”’
These two ladies now looked at one another. They had
not had a quarrel for almost three months, and a large ar-
rear of little pricks on either side was pending. Sooner or
later it would have to be fought out (like a feud between
two nations), with a houseful of loss and woe to either side,
but a thimbleful of pride and glory. Yet so mueh wiser
were these women than the most sagacious nations, that
they put off to a cheaper time their grudge against each
other.
‘‘His rank may be royal,” said the wife of Mr. Cheese-
man, ‘‘though a going-down-hill kind of royalty, perhaps,
and yet he might be glad, Mrs. Shanks, to come where
the butter has the milk spots, and none is in the cheese,
ma’am.”
‘‘Tf such should be his wish, ma’am, for supper or for
breakfast, or even for dinner on a Sunday when the rain
comes through the Castle, you may trust me to know where
to send him, but not to guarantee him at all of his money.”
‘‘ They high ones is very apt to slip in that,” Mrs. Cheese-
SPRINGHAVEN. 105
man answered, thoughtfully; ‘‘ they seem to be less particu-
lar in paying for a thing than they was to have it good. But
a burnt child dreads the fire, as they say; and a young man
with a castleful of owls and rats, by reason of going for these
hundred years on credit, will have it brought home to him
to pay ready money. But the Lord be over us! if I don’t
see him agoing your way already! (Good-bye, my dear soul
—good-bye, and preserve you; and if at any time short of ta-
ble or bed linen, a loan from an old friend, and coming back
well washed, and it sha’n’t be, as the children sing, ‘ A friend
with a loan has the pick of your bone, and he won't let you
very long alone.’”
‘‘Many thanks to you for friendly meaning, ma’am,” said
the widow, as she took up her basket to go home, ‘‘and glad
I may be to profit by it, with the time commanding. But
as yet I have had neither sleepers or feeders in my little
house but the children. Though both of them reserves the
right to do it, if nature should so compel them—the three-
ribbed gentleman with one ear, at five shillings a week, in
the sitting-room, and the young man up over him. Their
meaning is for business, and studying, and keeping of ac-
counts, and having of a quiet place in bad weather, though
feed they must, sooner or later, I depend; and then who is
there but Mr. Cheeseman ?”
‘‘How grand he do look upon that black horse, quite as
solid as if he was glued to it!’ the lady of the shop replied,
as she put away the money; ‘‘and to do that without vict-
uals is beyond a young man’s power. He looks like what
they used to call a knight upon an errand, in the picture-
books, when I was romantic, only for the hair that comes
under his nose. Ah! his errand will be to break the hearts
of the young ladies that goes down upon the sands in their
blue gowns, I’m afraid, if they can only manage with the
hair below his nose.”
‘‘And do them good, some of them, and be a judgment
from the Lord, for the French style in their skirts is a shock-
ing thing to see. What should we have said when you and
I were young, my dear? But quick step is the word for me,
for I expect my Jenny home on her day out from the Ad-
miral, and no Harry in the house to look after her. Ah!
dimity-parlours is a thing as may happen to cut both ways,
Mrs. Cheeseman.” ;
Widow Shanks had good cause to be proud of her cot-
tage, which was the prettiest in Springhaven, and one of the
5*
106 SPRINGHAVEN.
most commodious. She had fought a hard fight, when her
widowhood began, and the children were too young to help
her, rather than give up the home of her love-time, and the
cradle of her little ones. Some of her neighbours (who
wanted the house) were sadly pained at her stubbornness, and
even dishonesty, as they put it, when she knew that she nev-
er could pay her rent. But ‘‘ never is a long time,” accord-
ing to the proverb; and with the forbearance of the Admiral,
the kindness of his daughters, and the growth of her own
children, she stood clear of all debt now, except the sweet
one of gratitude.
And now she could listen to the moaning of the sea (which
used to make her weep all night) with a milder sense of the
cruel woe that it had drowned her husband, and a lull of
sorrow that was almost hope; until the dark visions of
wrecks and corpses melted into sweet dreams of her son
upon the waters, finishing his supper, and getting ready for
his pipe. For Harry was making his own track well in the
wake of his dear father.
Now if she had gone inland to dwell, from the stroke of
her great calamity—as most people told her to make haste
and do—not only the sympathy of the sea, but many of the
little cares, which are the ants that bury heavy grief, would
have been wholly lost to her. And amongst these eares the
foremost always, and the most distracting, was that of keep-
ing her husband’s cottage—as she still would eall it—tidy,
comfortable, bright, and snug, as if he were coming on Sat-
urday.
W here the brook runs into the first hearing of the sea, to
defer its own extinction it takes a lively turn inland, leay-
ing a pleasant breadth of green between itself and its des-
tiny. At the breath of salt the larger trees hang back, and
turn their boughs up; but plenty of pretty shrubs come
forth, and shade the cottage garden. Neither have the eot-
tage walls any lack of leafy mantle, where the summer sun
works his own defeat by fostering cool obstruction. For
here are the tamarisk, and jasmine, and the old-fashioned
corchorus flowering all the sammer through, as well as the
myrtle that loves the shore, with a thicket of stiff young
sprigs arising, slow of growth, but hiding yearly the havoc
made in its head and body by the frost of 1795, when the
mark of every wave upon the sands was ice. And a vine,
that seems to have been evolved from a miller, or to have
prejected him, clambers with gray silver pointrels through —
;
SPRINGHAVEN. 107
the more glossy and darker green. And over these you be-
hold the thatch, thick and long and parti-coloured, eaved
with little windows, where a bird may nest forever.
But it was not for this outward beauty that Widow Shanks
stuck to her house, and paid the rent at intervals. To her
steadfast and well-managed mind the number of rooms,
and the separate staircase which a solvent lodger might en-
joy, were the choicest grant of the household gods. The
times were bad—as they always are when conscientious peo-
ple think of them—and poor Mrs. Shanks was desirous of
paying her rent, by the payment of somebody. Every now
and then some well-fed family, hungering (after long car-
nage) for fish, would come from village pastures or town
shambles to gaze at the sea, and to taste its contents. For
in those days fish were still in their duty, to fry well, to boil
well, and to go into the mouth well, instead of being disso-
lute—as nowadays the best is—with dirty ice, and flabby
with arrested fermentation. In the pleasant dimity-parlour
then, commanding a fair view of the lively sea and the
stream that sparkled into it, were noble dinners of sole, and
mackerel, and smelt that smelled of cucumber, and dainty
dory, and pearl-buttoned turbot, and sometimes even the
crisp sand-lance, happily for himself, unhappily for white-
bait, still unknown in London. Then, after long rovings
ashore or afloat, these diners came back with a new light
shed upon them—that of the moon outside the house, of the
supper candles inside. There was sure to be a crab or lobster
ready, and a dish of prawns sprigged with parsley; if the sea
were beginning to get cool again, a keg of philanthropic
oysters; or if these were not hospitably on their hinges yet,
certainly there would be choice-bodied creatures, dried with.
a dash of salt upon the sunny shingle, and lacking of per-
fection nothing more than to be warmed through upon a
toasting-fork.
By none, however, of these delights was the newly won
lodger tempted. All that he wanted was peace and quiet,
time to go through a great trunk full of papers and parch-
ments, which he brought with him, and a breath of fresh air
from the downs on the north and the sea to the south to en-
liven him. And in good truth he wanted to be enlivened,
as Widow Shanks said to her daughter Jenny; for his eyes
were gloomy, and his face was stern, and he seldom said any-
thing good-natured. He seemed to avoid all company, and
to be wrapped up wholly in hisown concerns, and to take little
108 SPRINGHAVEN.
pleasure in anything. As yet he had not used the bed at his
lodgings, nor broken his fast there to her knowledge, though
he rode down early every morning and put up his horse at
Cheeseman’s, and never rode away again until the dark had
fallen. Neither had he cared to make the acquaintance of
Captain Stubbard, who occupied the room. beneath his for a
Royal Office—as the landlady proudly entitled it; nor had he
received, to the best of her knowledge, so much as a single
visitor, though such might come by his private entrance
among the shrubs unnoticed. All these things stirred with
deep interest and wonder the enquiring mind of the widow.
‘‘And what do they say of him up at the Hall?” she
asked her daughter Jenny, who was come to spend holiday
athome. ‘‘ What do they say of my new gentleman, young
Squire Carne from the Castle? The Carnes and the Darlings
was never great friends, as every one knows in Spring-
haven. Still, it do seem hard and unchristianlike to keep
up them old enmities; most of all, when the one side is down
in the world, with the owls and the bats and the coneys.”
‘“No, mother, no. They are nota bit like that,” replied
Jenny—a maid of good loyalty; ‘‘it is only that he has not
called upon them. All gentlefolks have their proper rules
of behaviour. You can’t be expected to understand them,
mother.” |
‘* But why should he go to them more than they should
come to him,particular with young ladies there? And him
with only one horse to their seven or eight. I am right,
you may depend upon it, Jenny; and my mother, your
grandmother, was a lady’s-maid in a higher family than
Darling—it depends upon them to come and look him up
first, and he have no call to knock at their door without it.
Why, it stands to reason, poor young man! And nota bit
hath he eaten from Monday.”
“Well, I believe lam right; but I'll ask Miss Dolly. She
is that sharp, she knows everything, and I don’t mind what
I say to her, when she thinks that she looks handsome. And
it takes a very bad dress, I can teli you, to put her out of
that opinion.”
‘She is right enough there:” Mrs. Shanks shook her head
at her daughter for speaking in this way. ‘‘ The ugliest
frock as ever come from France couldn’t make her any but
a booty. And the Lord knows the quality have come to
queer shapes now. Undecent would be the name for it in
our ranks of women. Why, the last of her frocks she gave
|
SPRINGHAVEN. 109
you, Jenny, how much did I put on, at top and bottom, and
you three inches shorter than she is! And the slips they
ties round them—oh dear! oh dear! as if that was to hold
them up and buckle them together! Won’t they have the
groanings by the time they come to my age?”
CHAPTER XVIII.
FRENCH AND ENGLISH.
ADMIRAL DARLING was now so busy and so continually
called from home by the duties of his commandership that
he could not fairly be expected to call upon Mr. Caryl Carne.
Yet that gentleman, being rather sensitive—which some-
times means very spiteful—resented as a personal slight this
failure; although, if the overture had been made, he would
have ascribed it to intrusive curiosity, and a low desire to
behold him in his ruins. But truly in the old man’s kindly
heart there was no sour corner for ill blood to lurk in, and
no dull fibre for ill-will to feed on. He kept on meaning to
go and call on Caryl Carne, and he had quite made up his
mind to do it, but something always happened to prevent
him.
Neither did he care a groat for his old friend Twemlow’s
advice upon that subject. ‘‘ Don’t go near him,” said the
Rector, taking care that his wife was quite safe out of hear-
ing; ‘‘it would ill become me to say a word against my dear
wife’s own nephew, and the representative of her family.
And to the utmost of my knowledge there is nothing to be
said against him. But I can’t get on with him at all. I
don’t know why. He has only honoured us with a visit
twice, and he would not even come to dinner. Nice man-
ners they learn on the Continent! But none of us wept
when he declined; not even his good aunt, my wife; though
he must have got a good deal to tell us, and an extraordi-
nary knowledge of foreign ways. But instead of doing that,
he seems to sneer at us. I can look at a question from ev-
ery point of view, and I defy anybody to call me narrow-
minded. But still one must draw the line somewhere, or
throw overboard all principles; and I draw it, my dear Ad-
miral, against infidels and against Frenchmen.”
‘‘No rational person can do otherwise’—the Admiral’s
opinion was decisive—‘‘ but this young man is of good Eng-
110 SPRINGHAVEN.
lish birth, and one can't help feeling sorry for his cireum-
stances. And I assure you, Twemlow, that I feel respect as
well for the courage that he shows and the perseverance in
coming home and facing those vile usurers. And your own
wife’s nephew! Why, you ought to take his part through
thick and thin, whatever you may think of him. From all
I hear he must be a young man of exceedingly high princi-
ple; and I shall make a point of calling upon him the first
half-hour Iean get to spare. To-morrow, if possible; or if
not, the day after, at the very latest.”
But the needful half-hour had not yet been found; and
Carne, who was wont to think the worst of everybody, con-
cluded that the Darling race still cherished the old grudge,
which had always been on his own side. For this he cared
little, and perhaps was rather glad of it. For the old dwell-
ing-place of his family (the Carne Castle besieged by the
Roundheads a hundred and sixty years agone) now threat-
ened to tumble about the ears of any one knocking at the
gate too hard. Or rather the remnants of its walls did so;
the greater part, having already fallen, lay harmless, and
produced fine blackberries.
As a castle, it had been well respected in its day, though
not of mighty bulwarks or impregnable position. Standing
on a knoll, between the ramp of high land and the slope of
shore, it would still have been conspicuous to traveller and
to voyager but for the tall trees around it. These hid the
moat, and the relics of the drawbridge, the groined archway,
and cloven tower of the keep—which had twice been struck
by lightning—as well as the windows of the armoury, and
the chapel hushed with ivy. The banqueting hall was in
better repair, for the Carnes had been hospitable to the last;
but the windows kept no wind off, neither did the roof re-
pulse the rain. In short, all the front was in a pretty state
of ruin, very nice to look at, very nasty to live in, except
for toads, and bats, and owls, and rats, and efts, and brindled
slugs with yellow stripes; or on a summer eve the cock-
roach and the carrion-beetle.
At the back, however, and above the road which Cheese-
man travelled in his pony-chaise, was a range of rooms still
fit to dwell in, though poorly furnished, and floored with
stone. In better times these had been the domain of the
housekeeper and the butler, the cook, and the other upper
servants, who had minded their duty and heeded their com-
fort more truly than the master and mistress did. For the
|
|
|
|
:
‘
SPRINGHAVEN, 111
downfall of this family, as of very many others, had been
chiefly caused by unwise marriage. Instead of choosing
sensible and active wives to look after their home affairs and
regulate the household, the Carnes for several generations
now had wedded flighty ladies of good birth and pretty man-
ners, none of whom brought them a pipkinful of money,
while all helped to spend a potful. Therefore their de-
scendant was now living in the kitchens, and had no idea
how to make use of them, in spite of his French education;
of comfort also he had not much idea, which was all the
better for him; and he scarcely knew what it was to earn
and enjoy soft quietude.
~ One night, when the summer was in full prime, and the
weather almost blameless, this young Squire Carne rode
slowly back from Springhaven to his worn-out castle. The
beauty of the night had kept him back, for he hated to meet
people-on the road. The lingering gossips, the tired fagot-
bearers, the youths going home from the hay-rick, the man
with a gun who knows where the hares play, and beyond
them all the truant sweethearts, who cannot have enough
of one another, and wish ‘‘ good-night” at-every corner of
the lane, till they tumble over one another's cottage steps—
all these to Caryl Carne were a smell to be avoided, an eye-
sore to shut the eyes at. He let them get home, and pull
their boots off, and set the frying-pan a-bubbling—for they
ended the day with a bit of bacon, whenever they could
cash or credit it—and then he set forth upon his lonely
ride, striking fear into the heart of any bad child that lay
awake.
‘“Almost as good as France is this,” he muttered in
French, though for once enjoying the pleasure of good Eng-
lish air; ‘‘and better than France would it be, if only it
were not cut short so suddenly. There will come a cold
wind by-and-by, or a chilly black cloud from the east, and
then all is shivers and rawness. But if it only remained
like this, I could forgive it for producing me. After all, it
is my native land; and I saw the loveliest girl to-day that
ever I set eyes on. None of their made-up and highly fin-
ished demoiselles is fit to look at her—such simple beauty,
such charms of nature, such enchanting innocence!. Ah,
that is where those French girls fail—they are always
studying how they look, instead of leaving us to think of it.
Bah! What odds tome? Ihave higher stakes to play for.
But according to old Twemlow’s description, she must be
112 SPRINGHAVEN.
the daughter of that old bear Darling, with whom I shall
have to pick a bone some day. Ha! How amusing is that
battery to me! How little John Bull knows the nature of
French troops! To-morrow we are to have a grand prac-
tice-day; and I hope they won't shoot me in my new lodg-
ings. Nothing is impossible to such an idiot as Stubbard.
What a set of imbeciles I have found to do with! They
have scarcely wit enough to amuse oneself with. Pest of
my soul! Is that you, Charron? Again you have broken
my orders.”
‘“Names should be avoided in the open air,” answered
the man who was swinging on a gate with the simple de-
light of a Picard. ‘‘The climate is of France so much to-
night that I found it my duty to encourage it. For what
reason shall I not do that? It is not so often that I have
occasion. My dear friend, scold not, but accept the com-
pliment very seldom truthful to your native land. There
are none of your clod-pates about to-night.”
‘‘Come in at once. The mere sound of your breath is
enough to set the neighbourhood wondering. Could I ever
have been burdened with a more French Frenchman, though
you speak as good English as I do?”
‘*It was all of that miserable Cheray,” the French gentle-
man said, when they sat in the kitchen, and Jerry Bowles
was feeding the fine black horse. ‘‘Fruit is a thing that
my mouth prepares for, directly there is any warmth in the
sun. It puts itself up, it is elevated, it will not have meat,
or any substance coarse. Wine of the softest and fruit of
the finest is what it must then have, or unmouth itself.
That miserable Cheray, his- maledictioned name put me
forth to be on fire for the good thing he designs. Cherays
you call them, and for cherays I despatched him, suspended
between the leaves in the good sun. Bah! there is nothing
ever fit to eat in England. The cherays look very fine,
very fine indeed; and so many did I consume that to travel
on a gate was the only palliation. Would you have me
stay all day in this long cellar? No diversion, no solace,
no change, no conversation! Old Cheray may sit with his
hands upon his knees, but to Renaud Charron that is not
sufficient. How much longer before I sally forth to do the
things, to fight, to conquer the nations? Where is even
my little ship of despatch ?”
‘* Captain,” answered Caryl Carne, preparing calmly for
y]
his frugal supper, ‘‘you are placed under my command, and
:
1
SPRINGHAVEN. 113
another such speech will despatch you to Dunkirk, bound
hand and foot, in the hold of the Little Corporal, with
which I am now in communication. Unless by the time I
have severed this bone you hand me your sword in submis-
sion, my supper will have to be postponed, while I march
you to the yew-tree, signal for a boat, and lay you strapped
beneath the oarsmen.”
Captain Charron, who had held the command of a French
corvette, stared furiously at this man, younger than himself,
so strongly established over him. Carne was not concerned
to look at him; all he cared about was to divide the joint
of a wing-rib of cold roast beef, where some good pickings
lurked in the hollow. Then the Frenchman, whose chance
would have been very small in a personal encounter with
his chief, arose and took a naval sword, short but rather
heavy, from a hook which in better days had held a big
dish-cover, and making a salute rather graceful than gra-
cious, presented the fringed handle to the carver. ‘
‘“This behaviour is sensible, my friend, and worthy of
your distinguished abilities.” Carne’s resolute face seldom
yielded to a smile, but the smile when it came was a sweet
one. ‘*Pardon me for speaking strongly, but my instruc-
tions must be the law to you. If you were my commander
(as, but for local knowledge, and questions of position here,
you would be), do you think then that you would allow me
to rebel, to grumble, to wander, to demand my own pleas-
ure, when you knew that it would ruin things 2?”
‘‘Bravo! Itis well spoken. My captain, I embrace you.
In you lives the spirit of the Grand Army, which we of the
sea and of the ships admire always, and always desire to
emulate. Ah, if England possessed many Englishmen like
you, she would be hard to conquer.”
The owner of this old English castle shot a searching
glance at the Frenchman for any sign of irony in his words.
Seeing none, he continued, in the friendly vein:
‘‘Our business here demands the greatest caution, skill,
reserve, and self-denial. We are fortunate in having no
man of any keen penetration in the neighbourhood, at least
of those in authority and concerned with public matters.
As one of an ancient family, possessing the land for cen-
turies, I have every right to be here, and to pursue my pri-
vate business in privacy. But if it once gets talked about
that a French officer is with me, these stupid people will
awake their suspicion more strongly by their own stupidity.
&
114 SPRINGHAVEN.
In this queer island you may do what you like till the
neighbourhood turns against you; and then, if you revolve
upon a pin, you cannot suit them. You understand? You
have heard me before. It is this that I never can knock
into you.”
Renaud Charron, who considered himself—as all French-
men did then, and perhaps do now—far swifter of intellect
than any Englishman, found himself not well pleased at
this, and desired to know more about it.
‘Nothing can be simpler,” the Englishman replied; ‘‘and
therefore nothing surer. You know the old proverb—‘ Ev-
erything in turn, except scandal, whose turn is always.’
And again another saying of your own land—‘ The second
side of the bread takes less time to toast.’ We must not let
the first side of ours be toasted; we will shun all the fire of
suspicion. And to do this, you must not be seen, my dear
friend. I may go abroad freely; you must hide your gal-
lant head until matters are ripe for action. You know that
you may trust me not to keep you-in the dark a day longer
than is needful. I have got the old shopkeeper under my
thumb, and can do what I please with his trading ship. But
before I place you in command I must change some more of
the crew, and do it warily. There is an obstinate Cornish-
man to get rid of, who sticks to the planks like a limpet.
If we throw him overboard, we shall alarm the others; if
we discharge him without showing cause, he will go to the
old Admiral and tell all his suspicions. He must be got rid
of in London with skill, and then we ship three or four
Americans, first-rate seamen, afraid of nothing, who will
pass here as fellows from Lancashire. After that we may
run among the cruisers as we like, with the boldness and
skill of a certain Captain Charron, who must be ill in his
cabin when his ship is boarded.”
‘It is famous, it is very good, my friend. The patience I
will have, and the obedience, and the courage; and so much
the more readily because my pay is good, and keeps itself
going on dry land as well as sea.”
|
|
|
SPRINGHAVEN. 115
CHAPTER XIX.
IN THE LINE OF FIRE.
No wonder there had been a great deal of talking in the
village all that evening, for the following notice had ap-
peared in a dozen conspicuous places, beginning with the
gate of the church-yard, and ending with two of the biggest
mooring posts, and not even sparing the Admiral’s white
gate, where it flapped between the two upper rails. It was
not printed, but written in round hand, with a liberal sup-
ply of capitals, on a stiff sheet of official paper, stamped with
the Royal Arms at the top. And those who were in the
secret knew that Master Bob Stubbard, the Captain’s eldest
son, had accomplished this great literary feat at a guerdon
of one shilling from the public service funds every time he
sucked his pen at the end of it.
‘“By order of his Majesty King George ITI. To-morrow
being Wednesday, and the fishing-boats at sea, Artillery
practice from Fox-hill fort will be carried on from twelve
at noon until three P.M. at a mark-boat moored half a mile
from the shore. Therefore his Majesty’s loyal subjects are
warned to avoid the beach westward of the brook between
the white flag-staffs, as well asthe sea in front of it, and not
to cross the line of fire below the village but at their own
risk and peril.
‘* (Signed) ADAM JACKSON STUBBARD, R.N.,
commanding Fox-hill Battery.”
Some indignation was aroused by this; for Mrs. Caper
junior (who was Mrs. Prater’s cousin) had been confined,
out of proper calculation, and for the very first time, the
moment the boats were gone on Monday; and her house,
being nearest to the fort, and in a hollow where the noise
would be certain to keep going round and round, the effect
upon her head, not to mention the dear baby’s, was more
than any one dared to think of, with the poor father so far
away. And if Squire Darling had only been at home, not
116 SPRINGHAVEN.
a woman who could walk would have thought twice about
it, but gone all together to insist upon it that he should stop
this wicked bombardment. And this was most unselfish of
all of them, they were sure, because they had so long looked
forward to putting cotton-wool in their ears, and seeing how
all the enemies of England would be demolished. But Mrs.
Caper junior and Caper natu minimus fell fast asleep to-
gether, as things turned out, and heard not a single bang
of it.
And so it turned out, in another line of life, with things
against all calculation, resenting to be reckoned as they al-
ways do, like the countless children of Israel. For Admirai
Darling was gone far away inspecting, leaving his daugh-
ters to inspect themselves.
‘You may just say exactly what you consider right, dear,”
said Miss Dolly Darling to her sister Faith; ‘‘and I dare
say it makes you more comfortable. But you know as well
as I do that there is no reason in it. Father is a darling;
but he must be wrong sometimes. And how can he tell
whether he is wrong or right, when he goes away fifty miles
to attend to other people? Of course I would never disobey ~
his orders any more than you would. But facts change
according to circumstances, and I feel convinced that if he
were here he would say, ‘Go down and see it, Dolly.’”
‘“We have no right to speculate as to what he might
say,” repled Faith, who was very clear-headed. ‘* His or-
ders were detinite: ‘Keep within the grounds when notice
is given of artillery practice.’ And those orders I mean.to
obey.”
‘‘And so do I; but not to misunderstand them. The
beach is a part of our grounds, as I have heard him say fifty
times in argument, when people tried to come encroaching.
And I mean to go on that part of his grounds, because I
can’t see well from the other part. That is clearly what he
meant, and he would laugh at us if we could tell him noth-
ing when he comes home. Why, he promised to take us
as far as Portsmouth to see some artillery practice.”
‘“That is a different thing altogether, because we should
be under his control. If you disobey him, it is at your own
risk, and I shall not let one of the servants go with you, for
Iam mistress of the household, if not of you.”
‘‘ What trumpery airs you do give yourself! One would
think you were fifty years old at least. Stay at home, if
you are such a coward. I am sure dear daddy would be
SPRINGHAVEN. 112
quite. ashamed of you. They are popping already, and J
mean to watch them.” |
‘You won't go so very far, I am quite sure of that,” an-
swered Faith, who understood her sister. ‘‘You know
your own value, darling Dolly, and you would not go at all
if you had not been forbidden.”
‘“When people talk like that, it goads me up to almost
anything. I intend to go and stand as near as can be in
the middle of the space that is marked off ‘ dangerous.’ ”
‘*Do, that’s a dear. I will lend you my shell-silk that
measures twenty yards, that you may be sure of being hit,
dear.”
‘‘Inhuman, selfish, wicked creature!” cried Dolly, and it
was almost crying; ‘‘you shall see what comes of your
cold-bloodedness. I shall pace to and fro in the direct line
of fire, and hang on my back the King’s proclamation, inside
out, and written on it in large letters—‘ By order of my sis-
ter I do this.’ Then what will be said of you if they only
kill me? My feelings might be very sad, but I should not
envy yours, Faith.”
‘** Kiss me, at any rate, before you perish, in token of for-
giveness;” and Dolly (who dearly loved her sister at the
keenest height of rebellion) ran up and kissed Faith, with a
smile for her, and a tear for her own self-sacrifice. ‘‘I shall
put on my shell-pink,” she said, ‘‘and they won’t have the
heart to fire shells at it.”
The dress of the ladies of the present passing period had
been largely atfected by the recent peace, which allowed the
‘‘French babies’—as the milliners’ dolls were called—to
come in as quickly as they were conceived. . In war time
scores of these ‘‘doxy-dummies’’—as the rough tars called
them—were tossed overboard from captured vessels or set up
as a mark for tobacco-juice, while sweet eyes’in London
wept for want of them. And even Mr. Cheeseman had
failed to bring any type genuinely French from the whole-
sale house in St. Mary’s Axe, which was famed for canon-
ical issue. But blessed are the patient, if their patience lasts
long enough. The ladies of England were now in full en-
joyment of all the new French discoveries, which proved to
be the right name, inasmuch as they banished all reputable
forms of covering. At least so Mrs. Twemlow said; and
the Rector went further than she did, obtaining for his sym-
pathy a recommendation to attend to his own business.
But when he showed the Admiral his wife’s last book of
118 ' SPRINGHAVEN.
patterns—from a drawer which he had no right to go to—
great laughter was held between the twain, with some
glancing over shoulders, and: much dread of bad example.
‘“ Whatever you do, don’t let my girls see it; I'll be bound
you won't let your Eliza,” said the Admiral, after a pinch
of snuff to restore the true balance of his principles. ‘‘ Faith
would pitch it straight into the fire; but lam not quite so
sure that my Dolly would. She loves a bit of finery, and
she looks well in it.”
‘‘Tonnish females,” as the magazine of fashion called the
higher class of popinjays, would have stared with contempt
at both Faith and Dolly Darling in their simple walking
dress that day. Dowdies would have been the name for
them, or frumps, or frights, or country gawks, because
their attire was not statuesque or classic, as it should have
been, which means that they were not half naked.
Faith, the elder sister, had meant to let young Dolly take
the course of her own stubbornness; but no sooner did she
see her go forth alone than she threw on cloak and hat, and
followed. The day was unsuited for classic apparel, as
English days are apt to be, and a lady of fashion would
have looked more foolish and even more indecent than
usual. A brisk and rather crisp east wind had arisen,
which had no respect for persons, and even Faith and Dolly
in their high-necked country dresses had to handle their
tackle warily.
Dolly had a good start, and growing much excited with
the petulance of the wind and with her own audacity, crossed
the mouth of the brook at a very fine pace, with the east-
erly gusts to second her. She could see the little mark-boat
well out in the offing, with a red flag flaring merrily, defy-
ing all the efforts of the gunners on the hill to plunge it
into the bright dance of the waves. And now and then she
heard what she knew to be the rush of a round shot far above
her head, and following the sound saw a little silver fountain
leap up into the sunshine and skim before the breeze; then
glancing up the hill she saw the gray puff drifting, and
presently felt the dull rumble of the air. At the root of the
smoke-puffs once or twice slre descried a stocky figure
moving leisurely, and in spite of the distance and huddle of
vapour could declare that it was Captain Stubbard. Then
a dense mass of smoke was brought down by an eddy of
wind, and set her coughing. |
‘‘Come away, come away this very moment, Dolly!” cried
SPRINGHAVEN. ; 119
Faith, who bad hurried up and seized her hand. ‘‘ You are
past the danger-post, and I met a man back there who says
they are going to fire shells, and they have got two short
guns on purpose. He says it will be very dangerous till
they get the range, and he begged me most earnestly not to
come on here. If I were anybody else, he said, he would
lay hands on me and hold me back.”
“Some old fisherman, no doubt. What do they know
about gun practice? I can see Captain Stubbard up
there; he would rather shoot himself than me, he said yes-
terday.”’
While Dolly was repeating this assurance, the following
words were being exchanged upon the smoky parapet: ‘‘If
you please, sir, I can see two women on the beach, half-way
between the posts a’most.” ‘*Can’t help it—wouldn’t stop
for all the petticoats in the kingdom. If they choose to go
there, they must take their chance. <A bit more up, and to
you, my good man. Are you sure you put in twenty-three ?
Steady ! so, so-—that’s beautiful.”
‘‘ What a noisy thing! What does it come here for? I
never saw it fall. There must be some mistake. I hope -
there’s nothing nasty inside it. Run for your life, Faith;
it means to burst, I do believe.”
‘*Down on your faces!” cried a loud, stern voice; and
Dolly obeyed in an instant. But Faith stood calmly, and
said to the man who rushed past her, ‘‘I trust in the Lord,
sir.”’
There was no time toanswer. The shell had left off roll-
ing, and sputtered more fiercely as the fuse thickened. The
man laid hold of this, and tried to pull it out, but could not,
and jumped with both feet on it; while Faith, who quite ex-
pected to be blown to pieces, said to herself, ‘‘ What pretty
boots he has!”
‘‘A fine bit of gunnery!” said the young man, stooping
over it, after treading the last spark into the springy sand.
The little artillery man is wanted here. Ladies, you may .
safely stay here now. They will not make two hits in
proximity to each other.”
‘You shall not go,” said Faith, ashe was hurrying away,
‘until we know who has been so reckless of his life to save
the lives of others. Both your hands are burned—very
seriously, I fear.”
‘‘ And your clothes, sir,” cried Dolly, running up in hot
terror, as soon as the danger was over—*‘ your clothes are
120 SPRINGHAVEN.
spoiled sadly. Oh, how good it was of you! And the
whole fault was mine—-or at least Captain Stubbard’s. He
will never dare to face me again, I should hope.”
‘“Young ladies, if I have been of any service to you,”
said the stranger, with a smile at their excitement, ‘‘I beg
you to be silent to the Captain Stubbard concerning my
share in this occasion. He would not be gratified by the
interest I feel in his beautiful little bombardments, especially
that of fair ladies. Ha, there goes another shell! They
will make better aim now; but you must not delay. I be-
seech you to hasten home, if you would do me kindness.”
The fair daughters of the Admiral had enjoyed enough
of warfare to last them till the end of their honeymoon, and
they could not reject the entreaty of a man who had risked
his life to save them. Trembling and bewildered, they made
off at the quickest step permitted by maiden dignity, with
one or two kindly turns of neck to show that he was meant
to follow them. But another sulphurous cloud rushed down
from the indefatigable Stubbard, and when it had passed
them they looked back vainly for the gentleman who had
spoiled his boots. |
CHAPTER XX.
AMONG THE LADIES.
IT would have surprised the stout Captain Stubbard, who
thought no small beer of his gunnery, to hear that it was
held in very light esteem by the ‘ Frenchified young man
overhead,” as he called Caryl Carne to his landlady. And
it would have amazed him to learn that this young man
was a captain of artillery in the grand army mustering
across the sea, and one of the most able among plenty of
ability, and favoured by the great First Consul.
In the gully where the Tugwell boats were built, behind a°
fringe of rough longshore growth, young Carne had been
sitting with a good field-glass, observing the practice of the
battery. He had also been able to observe unseen the dis-
obedient practices of young ladies, when their father is wide-
ly out of sight. Upon Faith, however, no blame could fall,
for she went against her wish, and only to retrieve the
rebellious Dolly. |
Secure from the danger, these two held council in the
SPRINGHAVEN. 121
comfort of the Admiral’s Round-house. There Miss Dolly,
who considered it her domain, kept sundry snug appliances
congenial to young ladies, for removing all traces of sudden
excitement, and making them fit to be seen again. Simple
and unfashionable as they were in dress, they were sure to
have something to do to themselves after the late derange-
ment, ere ever they could run the risk of meeting any of the
brave young officers who were so mysteriously fond of com-
ing for orders to Springhaven Hall.
‘You look well enough, dear,” said Faith at last, ‘‘and
much better than you deserve to look, after leading me such
a dance by your self-will. But one thing must be settled
before we go back—are we to speak of this matter or not ?”
‘*How can you ask such a question, Faith ?’ Miss Dolly
loved a bit of secrecy. ‘‘ Of course we must rather bite our
tongues out than break the solemn pledges which we have
given.” She had cried a good deal, and she began to cry again.
‘‘Don’t cry, that’s a darling,” said the simple-hearted sis-
ter. ‘‘ You make the whole world seem so cruel when you
cry, because you look so innocent. It shall be as you please,
if I can only think it right. But I cannot see how we gave
a pledge of any sort, considering that we ran away without
speaking. The question is, have we any right to conceal
it, when father has a right to know everything.”
‘*He would be in such asad passion,” pleaded Dolly, with
a stock of fresh tears only waiting, ‘‘and he never would
look again at poor Captain Stubbard, and what would be-
come of all his family ?”
‘Father is a just and conscientious man,” replied the
daughter who inherited those qualities; ‘‘he would not
blame Captain Stubbard ; he would blame us, and no others.”’
‘*Oh, I could not bear to hear you blamed, Faith. I
should have to say that it was all my fault. And then how
I should catch it, and be punished for a month! Confined
to the grounds for a month at least, and never have a bit of
appetite. But I am not thinking of myself, I am quite sure
of that. You know that I never do that much. I am
thinking of that heroic gentleman who stamped out the
sparks so cleverly. All the time I lay on the sand I watched
him, though I expected to be blown to pieces every single
moment. Oh! what a nasty sensation it was! I expected
to find all my hair turned grey. But, thank Heaven, I don’t
see a streak in it!” To make sure of that she went to the
glass again.
’
122 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘‘Tf all mine had turned grey ‘twould be no odds to no-
body—as Captain Zeb says about his income—because I
am intended for an old maid.” Miss Darling, whose beauty
still lacked many years of its prime, turned away for a mo-
ment, because her eyes were glistening, and her sister was
tired of the subject. ‘‘ But for yours there are fifty to weep,
Dolly. Especially perhaps this young gentleman towards
whom you feel so much gratitude.”
‘“How unkind you are, Faith! All the gratitude I owe
him is for saving your life. As for myself, I was flat upen
the sand, with a heap of sea-weed between me and the thing.
If it had gone off, it would have gone over me; but you
chose to stand up, like a stupid. Your life was saved, be-
yond all doubt, by him; and the way you acknowledge it
is to go and tell his chief enemy that he was there observing
him!”
‘Well, never!” Faith exclaimed, with more vigour than
grace of language. ‘‘A minute ago you knew nothing of
him, and even wondered who he was, and now you know
all about his enemies! Iam afraid that you stick at noth-
ing.”
‘‘T don’t stick thinking, as you do, miss,” Dolly answered,
without abashment, and knowing that the elder hated to be
so addressed; ‘‘but things come to me by the light of nat-
ure, without a twelvemonth of brown-study. When I said
what you remind me of, in such a hurry, it was perfectly
true—so true that you need have no trouble about it, with
all your truth. But since that a sudden idea flashed across
me, the sort of idea that proves itself. Your hero you are
in such a hurry to betray can be nobody but the mysterious
lodger in Widow Shanks’s dimity-parlour, as she calls it;
and Jenny has told me all she knows about him, which is a
great deal less than she ought to know. I meant to have
told you, but you are so grand in your lofty contempt of
what you call gossip, but which I call good neighbourly in-
tercourse. You know that he is Mr. Caryl Carne, of course.
Everybody knows that, and there the knowledge seems to
terminate. Even the Twemlows, his own aunt and uncle,
are scarcely ever favoured with his company; and I, who
am always on the beach or in the village, have never had
‘the honour of beholding him, until—until it came to this "—
chere she imitated with her lips the spluttering of the fuse so
well that her sister could not keep from laughing. ‘He
never goes out, and he never asks questions, any more than
.
SPRINGHAVEN. 123
he answers them, and he never cares to hear what fish they
have caught, or anything else, about anybody. He never
eats or drinks, and he never says a word about the flowers
they put upon his table; and what he does all day long no-
body knows, except that he has a lot of books with him.
Widow Shanks, who has the best right to know all about
him, has made up her mind that his head has been turned
by the troubles of his family, except for his going without
dinner, which no lunatic ever does, according to her knowl-
edge. And he seems to have got ‘Butter Cheeseman,’ as
they call him, entirely at his beck and call. He leaves his
black horse there every morning, and rides home at night
to his ancestral ruins. There, now, you know as much as
I do.”
‘‘There is mischief at the bottom of all this,” said Faith;
“in these dangerous times it must not be neglected. We
are bound, as you say, to consider his wishes, after all that
he has done for us. But the tale about us willbe over the
place in a few hours at the latest. The gunners will have
known where their bad shot fell, and perhaps they will have
seen us with their glasses. How will it be possible to keep
this affair from gossip ?”
‘“They may have seen us, without seeing him at all, on
account ef the smoke that came afterwards. At any rate,
let us say nothing about it until we hear what other people
-say. The shell will be washed away or buried in the sand,
for it fell upon the shingle, and then rolled towards the sea;
and there need be no fuss unless we choose to make it, and
so perhaps ruin Captain Stubbard and his family. And bis
wife has made such pretty things for us! If he knew what
he had done, he would go and shoot himself, he is so ex-
cessively humane and kind.”
‘“We will not urge his humanity to that extreme. I hate
all mystery, as you know well. But about this affair I will
say nothing, unless there is cause to do so, at least until fa-
ther comes back; and then I shall tell him if it seems to be
my duty.”
‘Tt won’t be your duty, it can’t be your duty, to get good
people into trouble, Faith. I find it my duty to keep out of
trouble, and I like to treat others the same as myself.” »
‘“You are such a lover of duty, dear Dolly, because ev-
erything you like becomes your duty. And now your next
duty is to your dinner. Mrs. Twemlow is coming—lI forgot
to tell you—as well as Eliza, and Mrs. Stubbard. And if
124. SPRINGHAVEN,
Johnny comes home in time from Harrow, to be Jack
among the ladies, we shall hear some wonders, you may be
quite sure.”
‘‘Oh, I vow, I forgot all about that wicked Johnny.
What a blessing that he was not here just now! Itis my
black Monday when his holidays begin. Instead of getting
steadier, he grows more plaguesome. And the wonder of it
is that he would tie your kid shoes, while he pulls out my
jaconet, and sits on my French hat. How I wish he was
old enough for his commission! To-morrow he will be
dancing in and out of every cottage, boat, or gun, or rabbit-
hole, and nothing shall be hidden from his eyes and ears.
Let him come. ‘I am aceustomed to have all things go
awry,’ as somebody says in some tragedy. The only chance
is to make him fall in love, deeply in love, with Miss Stub-
bard. He did it with somebody for his Easter week, and
became as harmless as a sucking dove, till he found his
nymph eating onions raw with a poeketful of boiled lim-
pets. Maggie Stubbard is too perfect in her style for that.
She is twelve years old, and has lots of hair, and eyes as
large as oysters. I shall introduce Johnny to-morrow, and
hope to keep him melancholy all his holidays.”
‘*Perhaps it will be for his good,” said Faith, ‘‘ because,
without some high ideas, he gets into such dreadful scrapes;
and certainly it will be for our good.”
After making light of young love thus, these girls de-
served the shafts of Cupid, in addition to Captain Stubbard’s
shells. And it would have been hard to find fairer marks
when they came down dressed for dinner. Mrs. Twemlow
arrived with her daughter Eliza, but without her husband,
who was to fetch her in the evening; and Mrs. Stubbard
came quite alone, for her walkable children—as she called
them—were all up at the battery. ‘‘ Can't smell powder too
young in such days as these,” was the Captain’s utterance;
and, sure enough, they took to it like sons of guns.
‘‘T should be so frightened,” Mrs. Twemlow said, when
Johnny (who sat at the foot of the table representing his fa-
ther most gallantly) had said grace in Latin, to astonish
their weak minds, ‘‘so nervous all the time, so excessively
anxious the whole time that dreadful din was proceeding!
It is over now, thank goodness! But how can you have
endured it, how can you have gone about your household
duties calmly, with seven of your children—I think you
said—going about in that fiery furnace?” |
SPRINGHAVEN. 125
‘Because, ma'am,” replied Mrs. Stubbard, who was dry
of speech, and fit mother of heroes, ‘‘the cannons are so
made, if you can understand, that they do not shoot out of
their back ends.”
“We are quite aware of that’—Miss Twemlow came to
her mother’s relief very sharply-—‘‘ but still they are apt to
burst, or to be overloaded, or badly directed, or even to fly
back suddenly, as I have heard on good authority.”
‘‘ Very likely, miss, when they are commanded by young
women.”’
Kliza Twemlow coloured, for she was rather quick of tem-
per; but she did not condescend to pay rudeness in kind.
‘It would hardly be a lady-like position, I suppose,” she
answered, with a curve of her graceful neck—the Carnes
had been celebrated for their necks, which were longer than
those of the Darlings; ‘‘ but even under the command of a
most skilful man, for instance Captain Stubbard, little ae-
cidents will happen, like the fall of a shell upon the beach
this afternoon. Some people were close to it, according to
the rumour; but luckily it did not explode.”
‘* How providential!” cried Mrs. Twemlow; ‘‘ but the stu-
pid people would have gone without much pity, whatever
had befallen them, unless they were blind, or too ignorant
to read. Don’t you think so, Faith, my dear?”
‘‘T don’t believe a single word of that story,” Mrs. Stub-
bard cut short the question; ‘‘for the simple reason that it
never could have happened. My husband was to direct ev-
ery gun himself. Is it likely he would have shelled the
beach ?”
‘“ Well, the beach is the proper place for shells; but if I
had only known it, wouldn’t I have come a few hours ear-
lier?” said Johnny. ‘‘Kven now there must be something
left to see; and Lam bound to understand that sort of thing.
Ladies, I entreat you not to think me rude, if I go as soon
as ever you can do without me. I think I have got you
nearly everything you want; and perhaps you would rath-
er be without me.”’
With many thanks and compliments—such a pretty boy
he was—the ladies released him gladly; and then Mrs.
Twemlow, having reasons of her own, drew nigh to Mrs.
Stubbard with lively interest in her children. At first she
received short answers only; for the Captain’s wife had
drawn more sour juices than sweet uses from adversity.
But the wife of the man of peace outflanked the better half
126 SPRINGHAVEN.
of the man of war, drove in her outposts, and secured the
key of all her communications.
‘‘T can scarcely believe that you are so kind. My dear
Mrs. Twemlow, how good you are! My Bob is a nice boy,
so manly and clever, so gentle and well-behaved, even
when he knows that Iam not likely to find him out. But
that you should have noticed it is what surprises me—so
few people now know the difference! But in the House of
God—as you so well observe—you can very soon see what
a boy is. When I tell him that he may ride your grey pony,
I wish you could be there to watch the fine expression of
his face. How he does love dumb animals! It was only
last Saturday he knocked down a boy nearly three times
his own size for poking a pin into a poor donkey with the
fish. And Maggie to have a flower-bed on your front lawn! —
They won't let her touch a plant at our cottage, though she
understands gardening so thoroughly. She won’t sleep a
wink to-night, if I tell her, and I had better keep that for
the morning. Poor children! They have had a hard time
of it; but they have come out like pure gold from the fire—
I mean as many of them as can use their legs. But to be on
horseback—what will Bob say ?”
‘You must have met with very little kindness, Mrs.
Stubbard, to attach any importance to such perfect trifles.
It makes me blush to think that there can be a spot in Eng-
land where such children as yours could pass unnoticed.
It is not a question of religious feeling only. Far from it;
in fact, quite the opposite; though my husband, of course,
is quite right in insisting that all our opinions and actions
must be referred to that one standard. But I look at things
also from a motherly point of view, because I have suffered
such sad trials. Three dear ones in the church-yard, and
the dearest of all—the Almighty only knows where he is.
Sometimes it is more than I can bear, to live on in this dark
and most dreadful uncertainty. My medical man has for-
bidden me to speak of it. But how can he know what it is
to be a mother? But hush! Or darling Faith may hear
me. Sometimes I lose all self-command.”
Mrs. Twemlow’s eyes were in need of wiping, and stout
Mrs.Stubbard’s in the same condition. ‘‘ How I wish I could
help you,” said the latter, softly: ‘‘is there anything in the
world that I can do?”
‘‘No, my dear friend; I wish there was, for I’m sure that
it would be a pleasure to you. But another anxiety, though
|
|
< WY ie ; | aN
=) an
S) Zi
vt
Nye
“WOW I WISH I COULD HELP YOU.”’
far less painful, is worrying me as well just now. My poor
brother’s son is behaving most strangely. He hardly ever
comes near us, and he seems to dislike my dear husband.
Hehas taken rooms over your brave husband’s office, and
he comes and goes very mysteriously. It is my duty to
know something about this; but I dare not ask Captain
Stubbard.”
‘“My dear Mrs. Twemlow, it has puzzled me too. But
thinking that you knew all about it, I concluded that every-
thing must be quite right. -What you tell me has surprised
me more than I can tell. I shall go to work quietly to find
out all about it. Mystery and secrecy are such hateful
things ; and a woman is always the best hand at both of
them,”
CHAPTER XXI.
A GRACIOUS MEROY.
AS a matter of course, every gunner at the fort was ready
to make oath by every colour of the rainbow that never
shot, shell, wad, sponge, or even powder-flakes could by
any possibility have fallen on the beach. And before they
had time to grow much more than doubly positive—that is
to say, within three days’ time—the sound of guns fired in
earnest drowned all questions of bad practice.
For the following Sunday beheld Springhaven in a state
of excitement beyond the memory of the very oldest inhab-
itant, or the imagination of the youngest. Excitement is a
crop that, to be large, must grow—though it thrives all the
better without much root—and in this particular field it be-
gan to grow before noon of Saturday. For the men who
were too old to go to sea, and the boys who were too young,
and the women who were never of the proper age, all these
kept looking from the best lookouts, but nothing could they
see to enable them to say when the kettle, or the frying-
pan, or gridiron would be wanted. They rubbed their
eyes grievously, and spun round three times, if time had
brought or left them the power so to spin; and they pulled
an Irish halfpenny, with the harp on, from their pockets,
and moistened it with saliva—which in English means spat
on it—and then threw it into the pocket on the other side of
body. But none of these accredited appeals to heaven put
a speck upon the sea where the boats ought to have been, or
cast upon the clouds a shade of any sail approaching. Un-
easily wondering, the grannies, wives, and little ones went
home, when the nightfall quenched all eyesight, and told
one another ancient tales of woe.
Yet there is a salve for every sore, a bung for every bung-
hole. Upon the Sunday morning, when the tide was com-
ing in, and a golden haze hung upon the peaceful sea, and
the seven bells of the old grey church were speaking of the
service cheerfully, suddenly a deep boom moved the bosom
of distance, and palpitated all along the shore. Six or seven
|
;
7
|
;
—_— |
SPRINGHAVEN. 129
hale old gaffers (not too stiff to walk, with the help of a
staff, a little further than the rest) were coming to hear par-
son by the path below the warren, where a smack of salt
would season them for doctrine. They knew from long
’ experience, the grandmother of science, that the mist of the
sea, coming on at breakfast-time, in the month of August
(with the wind where it was and the tides as they were),
would be sure to hold fast until dinner-time. Else, good as
they were, and preparing punctually once a week for a bet-
ter world, the hind buttons of their Sunday coats would
have been towards the church, and the front ones to the
headland. For the bodies of their sons were dearer to them,
substantially dearer, than their own old souls.
They were all beginning to be deaf, or rather going on
with it very agreeably, losing thereby a great deal of dis-
turbance, and gaining great room for reflection. And now
when the sound of a gun from the sea hung shaking in the
web of vapour, each of these wise men gazed steadfastly at
the rest, to see his own conclusion reflected or concluded.
A gun it was indeed—a big well-shotted gun, and no deaf-
ness could throw any doubt on it. There might not be any-
thing to see, but still there would be plenty to hear, at the
headland—a sound more arousing than the parson’s voice, a
roar beyond that of all the gallery. ‘‘’Tisa battle!” said
one, and his neighbour cried, ‘‘ A rare one!” They turned
to the parish church the quarters of farewell, and those of
salutation to the battle out at sea.
It was all over the village, in the time it takes to put a
hat on, that the British and the French fleets were hammer
and tongs at it, within the distance you may throw an apple
off Springhaven headland.
Even the young women knew that this was quite impos-
sible, because there was no water there for a collier brig to
anchor; nevertheless, in the hurry and scare, the thoughts
of that new battery, and Lord Nelson, and above all in the
fog, they believed it. So that there was scarcely any room
to stand, at the Watch-point, inside the Shag-rock; while in
church there was no one who could help being there, by
force of holy office or example.
These latter were not in a devout frame of mind, and (but
for the look of it) would have done more good by joining
the other congregation. Forthe sound of cannon-shot came
into their ears, like balls of unadulterated pepper, and every
_ report made them look at one another, and whisper—‘‘ Ah!
6*
150 SPRINGHAVEN.
there goes some poor fellow’s head.” For the sacred build-
ing was constructed so that the sounds outside of it had
more power than the good things offered in the inside.
However, as many, or as few, as did their duty, by join-
ing the good company of the minister, found themselves all —
the better for it, and more fresh for a start than the runa-
gates. Inasmuch as these latter had nearly got enough of
listening without seeing anything, while the steady church-
goers had refreshed the entire system by looking about with-
out listening. And to show the truant people where their
duty should have bound them, the haze had been thickening
all over the sea, while the sun kept the time on the old
church dial. This was spoken of for many years, through-
- out the village, as a Scriptural token of the proper thing to
do.
‘“Well,and what have ’e seen ?” asked the senior church-
warden—not Cheeseman, who was only the junior, and had
neither been at church nor on the headland—but Farmer
Graves, the tenant of the Glebe and of Up-farm, the Ad-
miral’s best holding; ‘‘ what have ’e seen, good people all,
to leave parson to prache to hisself a’most a sarmon as he’s
hathn’t prached for five year, to my knowledge? Have ’e
seen fat bulls of Basan 2”
‘*Naw, but us have heer’d un roar,” replied one who was
sure tosay something. ‘‘ Wust of it is, there be no making
out what language un do roar in.”
‘One Englishman, I tell ’e, and two Frenchmen,” said an
ancient tar who had served under Keppel; ‘‘ by the ring of
the guns I could swear to that much. And they loads them
so different, that they do.”
Before the others had well finished laughing at him, it be-
came his turn to laugh at them. The wind was in the east,
and the weather set fair, and but for the sea-mist the power
of the sun would have been enough to dazzle all beholders.
Already this vapour was beginning to clear off, coiling up
in fleecy wisps above the glistening water, but clinging still
to any bluff or cliff it could lay hold on.
‘*‘ Halloa, Jem! Where be going of now?” shouted one
or two voices from the Oar-stone point, the furthest outlook
of the Havenhead hill.
‘To see them Frenchy hoppers get a jolly hiding,” Jem
Prater replied, without easing his sculls. He was John
Prater’s nephew, of the ‘‘ Darling Arms,” and had stopped
behind the fishing to see his uncle’s monthly beerin. ‘‘ You -
AT THE BATTLE FROM THE WATCH POINT.
132 SPRINGHAVEN.
can’t see up there, I reckon, the same as I do here. One
English ship have got a job to tackle two Crappos. But, by
George! she’ll do it, mates. Good-bye, and the Lord defend
ou!”
i He had nobody but his little brother Sam, who was hold-
ing the tiller, to help him, and his uncle’s boat (which he
had taken without leave) was neither stout nor handy. But
the stir of the battle had fetched him forth, and he meant to
see the whole of it without taking harm. Every English-
man had a full right to do this, in a case of such French au-
dacity, and the English sea and air began to give him fair
occasion. For now the sun had swept the mist with a besom
of gold wire, widening every sweep, and throwing brilliant
prospect down it. The gentle heave of the sea flashed forth
with the white birds hovering over it, and the curdles of
fugitive vapour glowed like pillars of fire as they floated off.
Then out of the drift appeared three ships, partly shrouded
in their own fog.
The wind was too light for manceuvring much, and the
combatants swung to their broadsides, having taken the
breath of the air away by the fury of their fire. All three
were standing to the north-northwest, under easy sail, and
on the larboard tack, but scarcely holding steerage-way,
and taking little heed of it. Close quarters, closer and
closer still, muzzle to muzzle, and beard to beard, clinched
teeth, and hard pounding, were the order of the day, with
the crash of shattered timber and the cries of dying men.
And still the ships came onward, forgetting where they
were, heaving too much iron to have thought of heaving
lead, ready to be shipwrecks if they could but wreck the
enemy. _
Between the bulky curls of smoke could be seen the scars
of furious battle, splintered masts, and shivered yards, tatter-
ed sails and yawning bulwarks, and great gaps even of the
solid side; and above the ruck of smoke appeared the tri-
color flag upon the right hand and the left, and the Union-
Jack in the middle.
‘“She’ve a-got more than she can do, I reckon,” said an
old man famous in the lobster line; ‘‘ other a one of they is
as big as she be, and two to one seemeth onfair odds. Wish
her well out of it—that’s all as can be done.”
‘‘Kelks, you’rea fool,” replied theancient nayyman, steady-
ing his spy-glass upon a ledge of rock. ‘‘In my time we made
very little of that; and the breed may be slacked off a little,
SPRINGHAVEN. 133
but not quite so bad as that would be. Ah! you should ’a
heard what old Keppel—on the twenty-seventh day of July
it was, in the year of our Lord 1778. Talk about Nelson! to
my mind old Keppel could have boxed his compass back-
ward. Not but what these men know how to fight quite as
well as need be nowadays. Why, if I was aboard of that
there frigate, I couldn’t do much more than she have done.
She’ll have one of them, you see if she don’t, though she
look to have the worst of it, till you comes to understand.
The Leader her name is, of thirty-eight guns, and she’ll lead
one of they into Portsmouth, to refit.”
It was hard to understand the matter, in its present as-
pect, at all as the ancient sailor did; for the fire of the Leda
ceased suddenly, and she fell behind the others, as if ham-
pered with her canvas. A thrill of pain ran through all
the gazing Britons.
‘*How now, old Navy-Mike 2?” cried the lobster man.
‘*Strike is the word, and no mistake. And small blame to
her either. She hathn’t got a sound thread to draw, I do
believe. Who is the fool now, Mike? Though vexed I be
to ask it.”
‘Wait a bit, old lobster-pot. Ah, there now, she breezes!
Whistle for a wind, lads, whistle, whistle. Sure as I’m a
sinner, yes! She’s laying her course to board the French-
man on the weather quarter. With a slant of wind she'll
do it, too, if it only holds two minutes. Whistle on your
nails, my boys, for the glory of old England.”
“WAIT A BIT, OLD LOBSTER-POT.”
184 SPRINGHAVEN.
In reply to their shrill appeal—for even the women tried
to whistle—or perhaps in compulsory sequence of the sun,
the wind freshened briskly from the sunny side of east.
The tattered sails of the brave ship filled, with the light
falling through them upon one another, the head swung
round at the command of helm, the pennons flew gaily and
the ensign flapped, and she bore down smoothly on the
outer and therefore unwounded side of the enemy.
‘“That’s what I call judgmatical,” old Mike shouted, with
a voice that rivalled cannon; ‘‘ whoever thought of that de-
serves three epulets, one on each sboulder and one upon his
head. Doubt if old Keppel would have thought of that
now. You see, mates, the other Crappo can’t fire at her
without first hitting of her own consort. And better than
that—ever so much better—the tilt of the charge will throw
her over on her wounds. Master Muncher hath two great
holes ’twixt wind and water on his starboard side, and won’t
they suck the briny, with the weight of our bows upon the
larboard beam? ‘Twill take fifty hands to stop leaks, in-
stead of stopping boarders.”
The smoke was drifting off, and the sun shone bravely.
The battle had been gliding towards the feet of the spectators;
and now from the height of the cliff they could desery the
decks, the guns, the coils of rope, the turmoil, and dark
rush of men to their fate. Small fights, man to man, de-
manded still the power of a telescope, and distance made
the trenchant arms of heroes, working right and left, appear
like the nippers of an earwig. The only thing certain was
that men were being killed, and glory was being manufac-
tured largely.
‘‘She’ve a-doed it, she’ve a-doed it rarely. There’s nota
d——d froggy left to go to heaven; or if there be so, he’s
a-battened down below,” old Mike shouted, flourishing his
spy-glass, which rattled in its joints as much as he did.
‘*Down comes the blood, froth, and blue blazes, as they
call the Republican emrods, and up goes the Union-Jack,
my hearties. Three cheers! three cheers! Again! again!
again |”
From the sea far below, and far away, came also the vol-
ume of a noble English shout, as the flag began to flutter in
the quickening breeze, and the sea arose and danced with
sunshine. No one who had got all his blood left in him
could think of anything but glory.
‘* My certy, they had better mind their soundings, though !”
a
SPRINGHAVEN. 135
said the old navy man, with a stitch in his side and a.lump
in his throat from loud utterance; “‘ five fathoms is every
inch of it where they-be now, and the tide making strong,
and precious little wind to claw off with. Jem Prater! Jem
Prater! oar up, and give signal. Ah! he’s too far off to
doany good. In five minutes more they’ll be on the White
Pig, where no ship ever got off again. Oh, thank the Lord,
mates! thank the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever!
The other froggy is stuck hard and fast, and our lads will
just fetch out in time.” |
Old Navy-Mike had made no mistake. The consort of
the captured frigate, a corvette of twenty-four guns, had
boldly stood on with the intention of rounding to the wind,
crossing the bows of the other twain, and retrieving the
fortunes of the day, perhaps, by a broadside into the shatter-
ed upper works of the terribly hampered British ship. The
idea was clever and spirited, and had a very fair chance of
-suecess; but the land below the sea forefended it. Full of
fine ardour and the noble thirst for fame, speeding on for
the palm of high enterprise and the glory of the native land,
alas! they stuck fast in a soft bit of English sand! It was
in their power now to swear by all they disbelieved in, and
in everything visible and too tangible; but their power was
limited strictly to that; and the faster they swore, the faster
they were bound to stick. .
Springhaven dined well, with its enemy so placed, and a
message from the Leda, by Jem Prater, that the fishing fleet
was rescued, and would be home to early supper, and so
much to be talked about all dinner-time, that for once in
his life nearly everybody found it more expedient to eat
with his fork than his knife. Then all who could be spared
from washing up, and getting ready for further cookery,
went duly to church in the afternoon to hear the good
Rector return humble thanks for a Gracious Mercy to the
British arms, and to see a young man, who had landed
with despatches, put a face full of gunpowder in at a
window to learn whether Admiral Darling was there. |
CHAPTER XXII.
A SPECIAL URGENOY.
ADMIRAL DARLING was not in church. His duty to his
country kept him up the hill, and in close consultation with
Captain Stubbard, who was burning to fire his battery.
‘¢T never knew such bad luck in all my life. The devil
has been appointed First Lord of the weather ever since I :
came to Springhaven.” As Stubbard declared these great
truths he strode about in his little fortress, delivering a kick
at the heels of things which had no right to be lumbering
there. ‘‘ Tothink that I should never have seen those beg-
gars, when but for the fog I could have smashed them right
and left! Admiral, these things make a Christian an
infidel.”
‘* Nonsense, sir!” said the Admiral, sternly, for a man of
his kind nature; ‘‘ you forget that without the fog, or rather
the mist—for it was only that—those fellows would never
have come within range. We have very great blessings to
be thankful for, though the credit falls not to our battery.
The Frenchmen fought wonderfully well—as well as the
best Englishman could have done—and to capture them both
is a miracle of luck, if indeed we can manage to secure them.
My friend, young Honyman, of the Leda, has proved him-
self just what I said he would be, and has performed a very
gallant exploit, though I fear he is severely wounded. But
we shall know more now, for I see a young fellow jumping
up the hill, ike a kangaroo, and probably he comes for
orders. One thing we have learned, Stubbard, and must
take the hint to-morrow—put a hut on the Haven head, and
keep a watchman there. Why, bless my heart, it is Blyth
Scudamore that’s coming! There is nobody else that can
skip like that.”
The young lieutenant entered between two guns—the
gunners were dismissed in great disgust to dinner—with his
pleasant face still a little grimed with gunpowder, and flushed
by his hurry up the steep hill-side.
‘This for you, sir,” he said, saluting the Admiral, pre-
SPRINGHAVEN. Se
senting his letter, and then drawing back; ‘‘and I am to
wait your convenience for reply.”
‘What next will the service come to,” asked the Admiral
of Captain Stubbard, ‘‘when a young man just commis-
- sioned gives himself such mighty airs? Shake hands, Blyth,
and promise you will come and dine with us, unless you are
ordered to return on board at once. How is your good cap-
tain? I knew him when he wore Nankins. Jem Prater
brought word that he was wounded. I hope it is not
serious.”
‘‘No, sir; not much to speak of. He has only lost three
fingers. That was why [had to write this letter—or report,
I ought to call it, if anybody else had written it. Oh, sir, I
cannot bear to think of it! I was fifth luff when the fight
began, and now there is only one left above me, and he is in
command of our biggest prize, the Ville d@ Anvers. But,
Admiral, here you will find it all, as I wrote it, from the lips,
when they tied up the fingers, of Captain Honyman.”
‘‘How could you tie them up when they were gone ?”
Captain Stubbard inquired, with a sneer at such a youth.
He had got on very slowly in his early days, and could not
bear to see a young man with such vacancies before him.
‘Why, you are the luckiest lad ever saw! Sure to go up
at least three steps! How well you must have kept out of
it! And how happy you must feel, Lieutenant Scudamore !”’
‘‘T am not at all happy at losing dear friends,” the young
man answered, gently, as he turned away and patted the
breech of a gun, upon which there was a little rust next day.
‘That feeling comes later in life, I suppose.”
The Admiral was not attending to them now, but absorbed
in the brief account of the conflict, begun by Captain Hony-
man in his own handwriting, and finished by his voice, but
not his pen. Any one desirous to read this may do so in
the proper place. For the present purpose it is enough to
say that the modesty of the language was scarcely surpassed
by the brilliance of the exploit. Andif anything were need-
ed to commend the writer to the deepest good-will of the
reader, it was found in the fact that this enterprise sprang
from warm zeal for the commerce of Springhaven. The
Leda had been ordered on Friday last to protect the peace-
ful little fishing fleet from a crafty design for their capture,
and this she had done with good effect, having justice on
her side, and fortune. The particulars of the combat were
not so clear, after the captain’s three fingers were gone; but
138 SPRINGHAVEN.
if one made proper allowance for that, there was not very
much to complain of. The Admiral considered it a very
good report; and then put on his spectacles, and thought it
still better.
“Why! why! why!” he said—for without affectation
many officers had caught the style of his then Gracious
Majesty—‘‘ what’s this? what’s this? Something on the
other side, in a different man’s handwriting, and impossi-
ble to read, in my opinion. Stubbard, did you ever see such
a scrawl! Make it out for me. You have good eyes,
like a hawk, or the man who saw through a milestone.
Scudamore, what was hisname? You know.”
‘“Three fingers at five pounds apiece per annum as long
as he lives!” Captain Stubbard computed on his own; ‘ fif.
teen pounds a year perhaps for forty years, as you seem to
say how young he is; that comes to just £600, and his hand.
as good as ever”—(‘‘T’'ll be hanged if it is, if he wrote this!”
the Admiral interjected)—‘‘and better, I may say, from a
selfish point of view, because of only two nails left to clean,
and his other hand increased in value. Why, the scale is dis-
graceful, iniquitous, boobyish, and made without any knowl-
edge of the human frame, and the comparative value of its
members. Lieutenant Scudamore, look at me. Here you
see me without an ear, damaged in the fore-hatch, and with.
the larboard bow stove in—and how much do I get, though
so much older 2”
‘“ Well, if you won’t help me, Stubbard,” said the Ad--
miral, who knew how long his friend would carry on upon
that tack, ‘‘I must even get Scudamore to read it, though it
seems to have been written on purpose toelude him. Blyth,
my dear boy, can you explain it 2” |
“Tt was—it was only something, sir’—the lieutenant.
blushed, and hesitated, and looked into an eighteen-pounder
“ which I asked Captain Honyman to leave out, because—
Seems it had nothing to do with it. I mean, because it
was of no importance, even if he happened to have that
opinion. His hand was tied up so that I did not like to say.
too much, and I thought that he would go to sleep, because.
the doctor had made him drink a poppy head boiled down
with pigtail. But it seems as if he had got up after that—
for he always will have his own way—while I was gone to
put this coat on; and perhaps he wrote that with his left.
hand, sir. But it is no part of the business.”
‘Then we will leave it,” said Admiral Darling, ‘‘ for
aan
a
. ~
2 \ ‘ LF 'f 4%
“T AM NOT AT ALL HAPPY AT LOSING DEAR FRIENDS.”
140 SPRINGHAVEN.
younger eyes than mine to read. Nelson wrote better with
his left hand than ever he did with his right, to my think-
ing, the very first time that he tried it. But we can’t expect
everybody to do that. There is no sign of any change of
weather, is there, Stubbard? My orders will depend very
much upon that. I must go home and look at the quick-
silver before I know what is best to do. You had better
come with me, Scudamore.”’
Admiral Darling was quite right inthis. Everything de-
pended upon the weather; and although the rough autumn
was not come yet, the prime of the hopeful year was past.
The summer had not been a grand one, such as we get about
once in a decade, but of loose and uncertain character, such
as an Englishman has to make the best of. It might be
taking up for a golden autumn, ripening corn and fruit
and tree, or it might break up into shower and tempest, sod-
den earth, and weltering sky.
‘“Your captain refers to me for orders,” said Admiral
Darling to Scudamore, while they were hastening to the
Hall, ‘‘as Commander of the Coast Defence, because he has
been brought too far inshore, and one of the Frenchmen is
stranded. The frigate you boarded and carried is the Ville
d Anvers, of forty guns. Thecorvette that took the ground,
so luckily for you, when half of your hands were aboard the
prize, is the Blonde, teak-built, and only launched last year.
We must try to have her, whatever happens. She won't
hurt where she is, unless it comes on to blow. Our sands
hold fast without nipping. as you know, like a well-bred
sheep-dog, and the White Pig is the toughest of all of them.
She may stay there till the equinox, without much mischief,
if the present light airs continue. But the worst job will be
with the prisoners; they are the plague of all these affairs,
and we can’t imitate Boney by poisoning them. On the
whole, it had better not have happened, perhaps. Though
you must not tell Honyman that I said so. It was a very
gallant action, very skilful, very beautiful; and I hope he
will get a fine lift for it; and you too, my dear Blyth, for
you must have fought well.”
‘*But, Admiral, surely you would have been grieved if so
many of your tenants, and their boats as well, had been
swept away into a French harbour. What would Spring-
' haven be without its Captain Zebedee 2?”
“You are right, Blyth; I forgot that for the moment.
There would have been weeping and wailing indeed, even in
SPRINGHAVEN. 141
our own household. But they could not have kept them
long, though the loss of their boats would have been most
terrible. But I cannot make out why the French should
have wanted to-catch- a few harmless fishing-smacks.
Aquila non captat muscas, as you taught the boys at Ston-
nington. And two ships despatched upon a paltry job of
that sort! Either Captain Honyman was strangely misin-
formed, or there is something in the background entirely
beyond our knowledge. Pay attention to this matter, and
let me know what you hear of it—as a friend, Blyth, as a
friend, mean. But here we are! You must want feeding.
Mrs. Cloam will take care of you, and find all that is needful
for a warrior’s clean-up. I must look at the barometer, and
consider my despatches. Let us have dinner, Mrs. Cloam, in
twenty minutes, if possible. For we stand in real need of it.”
Concerning that there could be no doubt. Glory, as all
English officers know, is no durable stay for the stomach.
The urgency of mankind for victuals may roughly be gauged
by the length of the jaw. Captain Stubbard had jaws of
tremendous length, and always carried a bag of captain’s
biscuits, to which he was obliged to have recourse in the
height of the hottest engagement. Scudamore had short
jaws, well set up, and powerful, without rapacity. But
even these, after twelve hours of fasting, demanded some-
thing better than gunpowder. He could not help thinking
that his host was regarding the condition of affairs very
calmly, until he remembered that the day was Sunday, when
no Briton has any call to be disturbed by any but sacred in-
sistency. At any rate, he was under orders now, and those
orders were entirely to his liking. So he freshened up his
cheerful and simple-minded face, put his sailor-knot neck-
cloth askew, as usual, and with some trepidation went down
to dinner. |
The young ladies would not have been young women if
they had not received him warmly. Kind Faith, who
loved him as a sister might—for she had long discovered his
good qualities—had tears in her beautiful eyes as she gave
him both hands, and smiled sweetly at his bashfulness. And
even the critical Dolly, who looked so‘sharply at the outside
of everything, allowed her fair hand to stay well in his, and
said something which was melody to him. Then Johnny,
who was of a warlike cast, and hoped soon to destroy the
French nation, shook hands with this public benefactor al-
ready employed in that great work.
142 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘*T shall scarcely have time for a bit of dinner,” said Admi-
yal Darling, as they sat down. ‘‘I have sent word to have
the Protector launched, and to give little Billy a feed of corn.
All you young people may take your leisure. Youth is the
time that commands time and space. But for my part, if I
can only manage this plate of soup, and a slice of that fish,
and then one help of mutton, and just an apple-fritter, or
some trifle of that sort, I shall be quite as lucky as I can hope
to be. Duty perpetually spoils my dinner, and I must get
some clever fellow to invent a plate that will keep as hot as
duty is in these volcanic times. But I never complain; I
am so used to it. Eat your dinners, children, and don’t think
of mine.”
Having scarcely-afforded himself an hour, the Admiral, in
full uniform, embarked upon little Billy, a gentle-minded
pony from the west country, who conducted his own diges-
tion while he consulted that of his rider. At the haven they
found the Protector ready, a ten-oared galley manned by
Captain Stubbard’s men, good samples of Sea-Fencibles.
And the Captain himself was there, to take the tiller, and do
any fighting if the chance should arise, for he had been dis-
appointed allthe morning. The boat which brought Scuda-
more had been recalled by signal from the Leda, and that
active young officer having sought her vainly, and thereby
missed the Protector, followed steadily in Mr. Prater’s boat,
with the nephew, Jem, pulling the other oar, and Johnny
Darling, who raged at the thought of being left behind,
steering vaguely. And just as they rounded the harbour-
head, the long glassy sweep of the palpitating sea bore in-
ward and homeward the peaceful squadron so wistfully
watched for and so dearly welcome.
CHAPTER XXIII.
YOH-HEAVE-OH!
‘‘HER condition was very bad, as bad as could be, with-
out going straight to the bottom,” the Admiral said to the
Rector that night, as they smoked a pipe together; ‘‘and to
the bottom she must have gone, if the sea had got up, before
wwe thrummed her. Honyman wanted to have her brought
inside the Head; but even if we could have got her there,
she would ground at low. water and fill with the tide. And
rere
SPRINGHAVEN. 143
what could we do with all those prisoners? With our fresh
hands at the pumps, we very soon fetched the water out of
her, and made her as tight as we could; and I think they
will manage to take her to Portsmouth. She has beautiful
lines. I never saw a smarter ship. How she came to the
wind, with all that water in her! The wind is all right for
Portsmouth, and she will be a fine addition to the Navy.”
‘* But what is become of the other vessel, craft, corvette,
or whatever you call her? You say that she is scarcely
hurt at all. And if she gets off the White Pig’s back in the
night, she may come up and bombard us. Not that I am
afraid; but my wife is nervous, and the rectory faces the sea
so much. If you have ordered away the Leda, which seems
to have conquered both of them, the least you can do is to
keep Captain Stubbard under arms all night in his bat-
tery.”
_‘*T have a great mind to do so; it would be a good idea,
for he was very much inclined to cut up rough to-day. But
he never would forgive me, he is such a hog at hammock-—
as we used to say, until we grew tooelegant. And he knows
that the Blonde has hauled down her colours, and Scuda-
more is now prize-captain. IJ have-sent away most of her
crew in the Leda, and I am not at all sure. that we ought
not to blow her up. In the end, we shall have to do so, no
doubt; for nothing larger than a smack has ever got off
that sand, and floated. But let our young friend try; let
him have a fair trial. He has the stuff of a very fine sea-
maninhim. And if he should succeed, it would be scored
with a long leg for him. MHalloa! Why, I thought the
girls were fast asleep long ago!” —
‘‘As if we could sleep, papa, with this upon our minds!”
Dolly waved an open letter in the air, and then presented it.
‘Perhaps Faith might, but Iam sure I never could. You
defied us to make out this which is on the other leaf; and
then, without giving us fair play, you took it to the desk in
your Oak-room, and there you left it. Well, I took the
liberty of going there for it, for there can’t be any secret
about a thing that will be printed; and how are they to print
it if they can’t contrive to read it? How much will you
pay me for interpreting, papa? Mr. Twemlow, I think I
ought to have a guinea. Can you read it now, with all
your learning, and knowledge of dead languages ?”
‘‘My dear, it is not my duty to read it, and not at all my
business. . It seems to be written with the end of a stick by
144 : SPRINGHAVEN.
a boy who was learning his letters. If you can interpret it,
you must be almost a Daniel.”
‘‘Do you hear that, papa, you who think I am so stupid ?
Faith gave it up; she has no perseverance, or perhaps no
curiosity. And I was very nearly beaten too, till a very
fine idea came into my head, and I have made out every
word except three, and perhaps even those three, if Captain
Honyman is not very particular in his spelling. Can you
tell me anything about that, papa?”
‘Yes, Dolly, just what you have heard from me before.
Honyman is a good officer; a very good one, as he has just
proved. No good officer ever spells well, whether in the
army orthenavy. Look at Nelson’s letters. Jam inclined
to ascribe my own slow promotion to the unnatural accuracy
of my spelling, which offended my lords, because it puzzled
them.”
‘‘Then all is straight sailing, as you say, papa. But I
must tell you first how I found it out, or perhaps you won’t
believe me. I knew that Captain Honyman wrote this post-
script, or whatever it is, with his left hand, so I took a pen
in my own left hand, and practised all the letters, and the
way they join, which is quite different from the other hand.
And here is the copy of the words, as my left hand taught
my right to put them down, after inking ever so many
fingers:
‘** We never could have done it without Scudamore. He
jumped a most wonderful jump from our jib-boom into her
mizzen chains, when our grappels had slipped, and we could
get no nyer, and there he made fast, though the enemy
came at him with cutlashes, pikes, and muskets. By this
means we borded and carried the ship, with a loss as above
reported. When I grew faint from a trifling wound, Lutf
Scudamore led the borders with a cool courige that discom-
forted the fo.’” ,
‘‘Robert Honyman all over!” cried the Admiral, with
delight. ‘‘I could swear that he wrote it, if it was written
with his toes. “Twas an old joke against him, when he was
lieutenant, that he never could spell his own title; and he
never would put an e after anoin any word. He is far too
straightforward a man to spell well; and now the loss of
three fingers will cut his words shorter than ever, and be a
fine excuse for him. He was faint again, when I boarded
the Leda, partly no doubt through strong medical measures ;
for the doctor, who is an ornament to his profession, had
LN ERS ta
se i .
: :
nee,
“AND HERE IS A COPY OF THE WORDS.”
cauterized his stumps with a marlin-spike, for fear of inflam-
mation. And I heard that he had singed the other finger
off. But I hope that may prove incorrect. At any rate, I
could not bear to disturb him, but left written orders with
Scudamore; for the senior was on board the prize. Dolly,
be off to bed, this moment.”
‘“ Well, now,” said the Rector, drawing near, and filling
another deliberative pipe, ‘‘I have no right to ask what your
orders were, and perhaps you have noright totell me. But
as to the ship that remains in my parish, or at any rate on
its borders, if you can tell me anything, I shall be very
grateful, both as a question of parochial duty and also be-
cause of the many questions I am sure to have to answer
from my wife and daughter.”
7
146 SPRINGHAVEN.
“There is no cause for secrecy; I will tell you every-
thing;” the Admiral hated mystery. ‘‘ Why, the London
papers will publish the whole of it, and a great deal more
than that, in three days’ time. I have sent off the Leda
with her prize to Portsmouth. With this easterly breeze
and smooth water, they will get there, crippled as they are,
in some twenty-four hours. There the wounded will be
cared for, and the prisoners drafted off. The Blonde, the
corvette which is aground, surrendered, as you know, when
she found herself helpless,and within range of our new bat-
tery. Stubbard’s men longed to have a few shots at her;
but of course we stopped any such outrage. Nearly all her
officers and most of her crew are on board the Leda, having
given their parole to attempt no rising; and Frenchmen are
always honourable, unless they have some very wicked
leader. But we left in the corvette her:captain, am exceed-
ingly fine fellow, and about a score of hands who volunteer-
ed to stay to help to work the ship, upon condition that if we
can float her they shall have their freedom. And we puta
prize crew from the Leda on board her, only two-and-twenty
hands, which was all that could be spared, and in command
of them our friend Blyth Scudamore. I sent him to ask
Robert Honyman about it, when he managed to survive the
doctor, for a captain is the master of his own luffs; and he
answered that it was exactly what he wished. Our gallant
frigate lost three lieutenants in this very spirited action,
two killed and one very heavily wounded. And the first
is in charge of the Ville d’ Anvers, so there was nobody for
this enterprise except the gentle Scuddy, as they call him.
He is very young for such a business, and we must do all we
can to help him.”
‘‘] have confidence in that young man,” said Mr. Twem-
low, as if it were a question of theology; ‘‘he has very
sound views, and his principles are high; and he would have
taken holy orders, I believe, if his father’s assets had permit-
ted it. He perceives all the rapidly growing dangers with
which the Church is surrounded, and when I was in doubt
about a‘line of Horace, he showed the finest diffidence, and
yet proved that I was right. The ‘White Pig,’ as the name
of a submarine bank, is most clearly of classic origin. We
find it in Homer, and in Virgil too; and probably the Ro-
mans, who undoubtedly had a naval station in Springhaven,
and exterminated the oyster, as they always did—”’
‘“Come, come, Twemlow,” said the Admiral, with a smile
SPRINGHAVEN. 147
which smoothed the breach of interruption, ‘‘ you carry me
out of my depth so far that I long to be stranded on my pil-
low. When your great book comes out, we shall have in
perfect form all the pile of your discoveries, which you break
up into little bits too liberally. The Blonde on the Pig is
like Beauty and the Beast. If gentle Scuddy rescues her, it
won't be by Homer, or Horace, or even holy orders, but by
hard tugs and stout seamanship.’
‘With the blessing of the Lord, it shall be done,” said the
Rector, knocking his pipe out; *‘ and I trust that Providence
may see fit to have it done very speedily; for I dread the
effect which so many gallant strangers, all working in their
shirt-sleeves and apparently in peril, may produce upon the
females of this parish.”
But the Admiral laughed, and said, ‘‘ Pooh, pooh!” for he
had faith in the maids of Springhaven.
up and down everywhere, people running in and out with
some new news, before they could get their hats on, the ket-
tle to boil half a dozen times a day, and almost as much to
see as they could talk of. At every high-water that came
by daylight—and sometimes there were two of them—every
maid in the parish was bound to run to the top of a sand-hill
high enough to see over the’neck of the Head, and there to
be.up among the rushes all together, and repulse disdainful-
ly the society of lads. These took the matter in a very dif-
ferent light, and thought it quite a pity and a piece of fickle-
mindedness, that they might go the round of crab-pots, or of
inshore lug-lines, without anybody to watch them off, or
come down with a basket to meet them.
For be it understood that the great fishing fleet had not
Jaunched forth upon its labours. Their narrow escape from
the two French cruisers would last them a long time to think
over, and to say the same thing to each other about it that
each other had said to them every time they met. And they
knew that they could not do this so well as to make a new
credit of it every time, when once they were in the same
craft together, and could not go asunder more than ten
yards anda half. And better, far better, than all these rea-
sons for staying at home and enjoying themselves, was the
great fact that they could make more money by leisure than
by labour in this nobly golden time.
Luck fostered skill in this great affair, which deserves to
be recorded for the good of any village gifted with like op-
148 SPRINGHAVEN.
portunity. It appears that the British Admiralty had long
been eager for the capture of the Blonde, because of her
speed and strength and beauty, and the mischief she had
done to English trade. To destroy her would be a great
comfort, but to employ her aright would be glorious; and
her proper employment was to serve as a model for Eng-
lish frigates first, and then to do mischief to French trade.
Therefore, no sooner did their lordships hear what had hap-
pened at Springhaven than they sent down a rider express
to say that the ship must be saved at any price. And as
nothing could be spared from the blockading force, or the
fleet in the Downs, or the cruising squadron, the Commander
of the coast-defence was instructed to enrol, impress, or
adapt somehow all the men and the matter available.
Something was said about free use of money in the service
of His Majesty, but not a penny was ‘sent to begin upon.
But Admiral Darling carried out his orders, as if he had re-
ceived them framed in gold. ‘‘ They are pretty sure to pay
me in the end,” he said; ‘‘and if they don’t, it won’t break
me. I would give £500, on my own account, to earry that
corvette to Spithead. And it would be the making of Seuda-
more, who reminds me of his father more and more every
time I come across him.”
The fleet under Captain Tugwell had quite lately fallen
off from seven to five, through the fierce patriotism of some
younger members, and their sanguine belief in bounty-
money. Captain Zeb had encountered them with his experi-
ence in a long harangue—nearly fifty words long—and they
looked as if they were convinced by it. However, in the
morning they were gone, having mostly had tiffs with their
sweethearts—which are fervent incentives to patriotism—
and they chartered themselves, and their boats were num-
bered for the service of their Country. They had done
their work well, because they had none to do, except to
draw small wages, and they found themselves qualified
now for more money, and came home at the earliest chance
of it.
Two guineas a day for each smack and four hands were
the terms offered by the Admiral, whose hard-working con-
science was twitched into herring-bones by the strife be-
tween native land and native spot. ‘‘I have had many
tussles with uncertainty before,” he told Dolly, going down
one evening, ‘‘ but never such vexation of the mind as now.
All our people expect to get more for a day than a month
; a
SPRINGHAVEN. 149
of fine fishing would bring them; while the Government
goes by the worst time they make, and expects them to throw
in their boats for nothing. ‘The same as our breeches,’
Tugwell said to me; ‘whenever we works, we throws in
they, and we ought to do the very same with our boats.’
This makes it very hard for me.”
But by doing his best he got over the Nerashie as people
generally do. He settled the daily wages as above, with a
bonus of double that amount for the day ‘that saw the Blonde
upon her legs again. Indignation prevailed, or pretended
to do so; but common-sense conquered, and all set to work.
Hawsers, and chains, and buoys, and all other needful gear
and tackle were provided by the Admiralty from the store-
house built not long ago for the Fencibles. And Zebedee
Tugwell, by right of position, and without a word said for
it—because who could say a word against it ?—became the
commander of the Rescue fleet, and drew double pay natu-
rally for himself and family.
‘I does it,” he said, ‘‘if you ask me why I does it, with-
out any intention of bettering myself, for the Lord hath
placed me above thought of that; but mainly for the sake of
discipline, and the respectability of things. Suppose I was
under you, sir, and knew you was getting no more than I
was, why, my stomach would fly every time that you gave
me an order without a ‘ Please, Zebedee!’ But as soon as I
feels that you pocket a shilling in the time I takes pocketing
twopence, the value of your brain ariseth plain before me;
and instead of thinking what you says, I does it.”
CHAPTER XXIV.
- ACCORDING TO CONTRACT.
WHEN the Blonde had been on the White Pig for a week,
in spite of all the science of Scudamore, ready money of the
Admiral, and efforts of the natives, there began to be signs
of a change in the weather. The sea was as smooth, and
the sky as bright, and the land as brown as ever; but the
feel of the air was not the same, and the sounds that came
through it were different. ‘‘ Rain afore Friday,” said Cap-
tain Zeb, ‘‘ and a blow from sowwest afore Sunday. ‘Twill
break up the Blunder, I reckon, my lads.”
With various aspects they looked at him, all holding sweet
150 SPRINGHAVEN.
converse at the Darling Arms, after the manifold strug-
gles of the day. The eyes of the younger men were filled
with disappointment and anger, as at a sure seer of evil; the
elder, to whom cash was more important, gazed with anxiety
and dismay; while a pair, old enough to be sires of Zebedee,
nodded approval, and looked at one another, expecting to re-
ceive, but too discreet to give,a wink. Then a lively dis-
course arose and throve among the younger; and the elders
let them hold it, while they talked of something else.
On the following morning two dialogues were held upon
different parts of Springhaven shore, but each of great im-
port to the beautiful captive still fast aground in the offing.
The first was between Captain Zebedee Tugwell and Lieu-
tenant Scudamore. The gentle Scuddy, still hoping against
hope, had stuek fast to his charge, upon whose fortunes so
much of his own depended. If he could only succeed in
floating and carrying her into Portsmouth, his mark would
be made, his position secured far quicker than by ten gallant
actions; and that which he eared for a hundredfold, the com-
fort of his widowed mother, would be advanced and estab-
lished. For upon the valuation of the prizes, a considerable
sum would fall to him, and every farthing of it would be
sent to her. Bright with youthful hope, and trustful in the
rising spring of tide, which had all but released them yes-
terday, according to his firm belief, he ran from the Hall
through the Admiral’s grounds, to meet the boat which was
waiting for him while he was having breakfast and. council
with his chief. Between the Round-house and the old white
gate he heard a low whistle from a clump of shrubs, and
turning that way, met Tugwell. With that prince of fisher-
men he shook hands, aceording to the manner of Spring-
haven, for he had learned to admire the brave habit of the
man, his strong mind, and frank taciturnity. And Tugwell
on his part had taken a liking to the simple and cheerful
young officer, who received his suggestions, was kind to all
hands, and so manfully bore the daily disappointment.
‘* Nobody in there ?” asked Zeb, with one finger pointing
to the Round-house; ‘then sit down on this bit of bank, sir,
a minute. Less chance to be shot at by any French ship.”
The bit of bank really was a bit of hollow, where no one
could see them from the beach, or lane, or even from the
Round-house. Scudamore, who understood his man, obeyed ;
and Tugwell came to his bearings on a clump of fern before
him. |
ee ee ae a oe
SPRINGHAVEN. 151
‘How much will Government pay the chaps as fetches
her out of that snug little berth? For division to self and
partners, how much? For division to self and family, how
much ?”
‘‘T have thought about that,” the lheutenant answered,
with little surprise at the question, but much at the secrecy
thrown around it; ‘‘and I think it would be very unsafe to
count upon getting a penny beyond the Admiral’s terms—
double pay for the day that we float her.”
Captain Zebedee shook his head, and the golden sheaf of
his Olympian beard ruffled and crisped, as to an adverse wind.
‘“Can’t a’most believe it,” he replied, with his bright eyes
steadily settled on Scudamore’s. ‘* The English country, as
I belongs to, can’t quite ’a coom to that yet!”
‘*T fear that it has indeed,” Blyth answered, very gravely ;
‘fat least I am sure of this, Master Tugwell, that you must
not look forward to any bounty, bonus, or premium, or what-
ever it is called, from the Authorities who should provide it.
But for myself, and the difference it will make to me whether
we succeed or fail, I shall be happy, and will give my word,
to send you £50, to be divided at your discretion among the
smacks. I mean, of course, as soon as I get paid.”
Scudamore was frightened by the size of his own promise;
for he had never yet owned £50 in the solid. And then he
was scared at the wholesale loss of so large a sum to his
mother.
‘* Never fear, lad,” honest Tugwell replied, for the young
man’s face was fair to read; ‘‘ we'll not take a farden of thy
hard airnings, not a brass farden, so help me Bob! Gentle-
folks has so much call for money, as none of us know noth-
ing of. And thou hast helped to save all the lot of us
from Frenchies, and been the most forrardest, as I hear tell.
But if us could ’a got £50 out of Government, why, so much
more for us, and none the less for they. Buta Englishman
must do his duty, in reason, and when ’a don’t hurt his self
by the same. There’s a change in the weather, as forbids
more sport. You shall have the Blunder off to-morrow,
lad. Wouldn’t do to be too sudden like.”
‘‘T fear I am very stupid, Master Tugwell. But I don’t
see how you can manage it so surely, after labouring nine
days all in vain.”
Zebedee hesitated half a moment, betwixt discretion and
the pride of knowledge. Then the latter vanquished and
relieved his mind.
152 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘‘T trust in your honour, sir, of course, to keep me clear.
I might have brought ’e off the Pig, first day, or second to
the latest, if it were sound business. But with winter-time
coming, and the week’s fishing lost, our duty to our families
and this place was to pull’e on harder, sir, to pull’e aground
firmer; and with the help of the Lord we have a-doed it well.
We wasn’t a-going to kill the goose as laid the golden eggs.
No offence to you, sir; it wasn’t you as was the goose.”
Master Tugwell rubbed his pockets with a very pleasant
smile, and then put his elbows on his great square knees,
and complacently studied the lieutenant’s smaller mind.
‘‘T can understand how you could do such a thing,” said
Seudamore, after he had rubbed his eyes, and then looked
away for fear of laughing, “‘but I cannot understand by
what power on earth you are enabled to look at me and tell
me this. For nine days you have been paid every night,
and paid pretty well, as you yourself acknowledge, to haula
ship off a shoal; and all the time you have been hauling her
harder upon it!”
_ “Young man,” replied Tugwell, with just indignation,
“‘a hofficer should be above such words. But I forgive ’e,
and hope the Lord will do the same, with allowance for
youth and ill-convenience. I might ’a knowed no better,
at your age and training.”
‘‘But what were you paid for, just answer me that, unless
it was to pull the Blonde off the sand-bank? And how
can you pretend that you have done an honest thing by pull-
ing her further upon the bank ?”
“<T won't ask ’ e, sir, to beg my pardon for saying what
never man said to me, without reading the words of the con-
traction ;” Zeb pulled out a paper from his hat, and spread it,
and laid astoneat every corner. ‘‘ This contraction was sign-
ed by yourself and Squire Darling, for and on behalf of the
kingdom; and the words are for us to give our services, to
pull, haul, tow, warp, or otherwise as directed, release, relieve,
set free, and rescue the aforesaid ship, or bark, or vessel,
craft, or—” |
‘* Please not to read all that,” cried Seuddy, ‘‘or a gale of
wind may come before you are half-way through. It was
Admiral Darling’s lawyer, Mr. Furkettle, who prepared it,
to prevent any chance of misunderstanding.”
‘* Provided always,” continued Tugwell, slowly, ‘‘and the
meaning, condition, purport, object, sense, and intention of
this agreement is, that the aforesaid Zebedee Tugwell shall
SPRINGHAVEN, 153
submit in everything to the orders, commands, instructions,
counsel, directions, injunctions, authority, or discretion,
whether in writing or otherwise, of the aforesaid—”
‘‘T would not interrupt you if I could help it’”—Secuda-
more had a large stock of patience (enhanced by laborious
practice at Stonnington), but who might abide, when time
was precious, to see Zebedee feeling his way with his fingers
along the bottom and to the end of every word, and then
stopping to congratulate himself at the conquest of every
one over two syllables? ‘°* But excuse me for saying that I
know all these conditions; and the tide will be lost, if we
stop here.”
‘Very good, sir; then you see how it standeth. Who
hath broken them? Notus! We was paid forto haul; and
haul us did, according to superior orders. She grounded
from the south, with the tide making uppard, somewhere
about three-quarter flow; and the Squire, and you, and all
the rest of ’e, without no knowledge of the Pig whatsomever,
fastens all your pulley-haulies by the starn, and says, ‘Now,
pull! And pull us did, to the tune of sixteen guineas a day,
for the honour and comfort of Springhaven.”’
‘‘And you knew all the time that it was wrong! Well,
I never came across such people. But surely some one of
you would have had the honesty—I beg pardon, I mean the
good-will—to tell us. I can scarcely imagine some forty
men and boys preserving such a secret for nine whole days,
hauling for their lives in the wrong direction, and never even
by a wink or smile—”’
‘*Springhaven is like that,” said Master Tugwell, proudly.
‘“We does a thing one and all together, even if us reasons con-
sarning it. And over and above that, sir, there is but two
men in Springhaven as understands the White Pig, barring
my own self. The young ’uns might’a smelt a rat, but they
knew better than to say so. Where the Blunder grounded
—and she hath airned her name, for the good of the dwellers
in this village—is the chine of the Pig; and he hath a dou-
ble back, with the outer side higher than the inner one.
She came through a narrow nick in his outer back, and then
plumped, stem on, upon the inner one. You may haul at
her forever by the starn, and there shé’ll ‘bide, or lay up
again on the other back. But bring her weight forrard, and
tackle her by the head, and off she comes, the very next fair
tide; for she hath berthed herself over the biggest of it, and
there bain’t but a basketful under her forefoot.”
They
154 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘‘Then, Master Tugwell, let us lose no time, but have at
her at once, and be done with it.” Scudamore jumped up,
to give action to his words; but Tugwell sate aground still,
as firmly as the Blonde.
‘‘Begging of your pardon, sir, I would invite of you not
to be in no sart of hurry hasting forrardly. Us must come
off gradual, after holding on so long there, and better to have
Squire Darling round the corner first, sir. Not that he
knoweth much about it, but ’a might make believe to do so.
And when ’a hath seen us pull wrong ways a hundred and
twenty guineas’ worth, ’a might grudge us the reward for
pulling right ways. Ive a-knowed ’un get into that state
of mind, although it was his own tenants.”
The lieutenant was at length compelled to Jaugh, though
for many reasons loth to do so. But the quiet contempt for
the Admiral’s skill, and the brief hint about his character,
touched his sense of the ludicrous more softly than the ex-
planation of hisown mishaps. Then the Captain of Spring-
haven smiled almost imperceptibly; for he was a serious
man, and his smiles were accustomed to be interior.
‘*T did hear tell,” he said, stroking his beard, for fear of
having discomposed it, ‘‘that the Squire were under com-
pulsion to go a bit westward again to-morrow. And when
he cometh back he would be glad to find us had managed
the job without him. No fear of the weather breaking up
afore Friday, and her can’t take no harm for a tide or two.
If you thinks well, sir, let us heave at her to-day, as afore,
by superior orders. Then it come into your mind to try
tother end a bit, and you shift all the guns and heavy lum-
ber forrard to give weight to the bows and lift the starn, and
off her will glide at the first tug to-morrow, so sure as my
name is Zebedee. But mind one thing, sir, that you keep
her when you’ve got her. She hath too many furriner na-
tives aboard of her to be any way to my liking.”
‘*Oh, there need be no doubt about them,” replied Blyth ;
‘‘we treat them like ourselves, and they are all upon their
honour, which no Frenchman ever thinks of breaking.
But my men will be tired of waiting for me. I shall leave
you to your own plans, Tugwell.” ,
‘‘Ah, I know tlie natur’ of they young men,” Captain
Zebedee mused, as he sate in his hollow till Seudamore’s boat
was far away; “‘they be full of scruples for themselves and
faith in other fellows. He’ll never tell Squire, nor no one
else here, what I laid him under, and the laugh would go
SPRINGHAVEN. 155
again’ him if he did. We shall get to-day’s money, I reck-
on, as well as double pay to-morrow, and airn it. Well, it
might ’a been better, and it might be wuss.”
About two miles westward of the brook some rocks marked
the end of the fine Springhaven sands and the beginning
of a far more rugged beach, the shingles and flint shelves of
Pebbleridge. Here the chalk of the Sussex backbone (which
has been plumped over and sleeked by the flesh of the valley)
juts forth, like the scrags of a skeleton, and crumbles in low
but rugged cliffs into the flat domain of sea. Here the
landing is bad, and the anchorage worse, for a slippery
shale rejects the fluke, and the water is usually kept in a
fidget between the orders of the west wind and scurry of
the tide.
This very quiet morning, with the wind off shore, and
scarcely enough of it to comb the sea, four smart-looking
Frenchmen, with red caps on their heads, were barely hold-
ing way upon the light gig of the Blonde, while their Cap-
tain was keeping an appointment with a stranger not far
from the weed-strewn line of waves. In a deep rocky
channel where a land-spring rose (which was still-born ex-
cept at low water), and laver, and dilsk, and claw-coral
showed that the sea had more dominion there than the sky,
two men stood facing each other; and their words, though
belonging to the most polite of tongues, were not so courte-
ous as might be. Each man stood with his back to a rock—
not touching it, however, because it was too wet; one was
as cold and as firm as the rock, the other like the sea, tu-
multuous. The passionate man was Captain Desportes, and
the cold one Caryl Carne.
‘‘Then you wish me to conclude, monsieur,” Carne spoke
as one offering repentance, ‘‘that you will not do your duty
to your country in the subject set before you? I pray you
to deliberate, because your position hangs upon it.”
‘‘Never! Never! Once more, Captain, with all thanks
for your consideration, I refuse. My duty to my own
honour has first place. After that my duty to my country.
Speak of it no more, sir; it quite is to insult me.”
‘‘No, Captain Desportes, it is nothing of that kind, or I
should not be here to propose it. Your parole is given
only as long as your ship continues upon the sand. The
moment she floats, you are liberated. Then is the time for
a noble stroke of fortune. Is it not so, my dear friend ?”
‘‘No, sir. This affair is impossible. My honour has been
156 SPRINGHAVEN.
pledged, not until the ship is floating, but until Iam myself
set free in France. Iam sorry not to see things as you see
them for me; but the question is for my own consideration.”
Captain Desportes had resented, as an honest man must
do, especially when more advanced in years, the other’s
calm settlement, without invitation, of matters which con-
cerned his own conscience. And as most mankind—if at
all perceptive—like or dislike one another at a glance, Des-
portes, being very quick and warm of nature, had felt at
first sight a strong repulsion from the cold and arrogant
man who faced him. His age was at least twice that of
Carne, he had seen much service in the better days of
France, and had risen slowly by his own skill and valour;
he knew that his future in the service depended upon his
decision in this matter, and he had a large family to main-
tain. But his honour was pledged, and he held fast by it.
‘‘ There is one consideration,” Carne replied, with rancour
slowly kindling in his great black eyes, ‘‘ which precedes
all others, even that of honour, in the mind of a trusted offi-
. eer. It is not that of patriotism—which has not its usual
weight with monsieur—but it is that of obedience, discipline,
loyalty, faith towards those who have placed faith in him.
Captain Desportes, as commander of a ship, is entrusted
with property; and that confidence is the first debt upon
his honour.”
To Desportes, as to most men of action, the right was
plainer than the reason. He knew that this final plea was
unsound, but he did not see how to contest it. So he came
back to fact, which was easier for him.
‘“How am I to know, monsieur, what would be the wishes
of those who have intrusted me with my position? You
are placed in authority by some means here, in your own
country, but against it. That much you have proved to
me by papers. But your credentials are general only.
They do not apply to this especial case. If the Chief of the
State knew my position, he would wish me to act, as I mean
to act, for the honour and credit of our nation.”
‘Are you then acquainted with his signature? If so,
perhaps you will verify this, even if you are resolved to
reject it.”
Carne drew a letter from an inner pocket, and carefully
unfolded it. There were many words and minute directions
upon various subjects, written by the hand of the most
minute, and yet most comprehensive, of mankind.
SPRINGHAVEN. 157
‘‘There is nothing in this that concerns you,” he said,
after showing the date, only four days old, ‘‘except these
few words at the end, which perhaps you may like to read
before you make final decision. The signature of the Chief
is clear.”
Captain Desportes read aloud: ‘‘It is of the utmost im-
portance to me that the Blonde should not be captured by
the enemy, as the Ville d’Anvers has been. You tell me
that it is ashore near you, and the Captain and crew upon
parole, to be liberated if they assist in the extrication of the
vessel. This must not be. In the service of the State, I
demand that they consider not at all their parole. The
well-known speed and light draught of that vessel have
rendered her almost indispensable to me. When the vessel
is free, they must rise upon the enemy, and make for the
nearest of our ports without delay. Upon this I insist, and
place confidence in your established courage and manage-
ment to accomplish it to my satisfaction.”
‘“Your orders are clear enough,” said Caryl Carne.
‘*What reason can you give, as an officer of the Republic,
for disobeying them 2”
Desportes looked at his ship in the distance, and then at
the sea and the sky, with a groan, as if he were bidding
farewell to them. Carne felt sure that he had prevailed,
and a smile shed light, but not a soft light, on his hard, pale
countenance.
‘*Be in no rash haste,” said the French sea-captain, and
he could not have found words more annoying to the cold,
proud man before him; ‘‘I do not recognise in this mandate
the voice of my country, of the honourable France, which
would never say, ‘Let my sons break their word of honour!’
This man speaks, not as Chief of a grand State, not as leader
of noble gentlemen, but as Emperor of a society of serfs.
France is no empire; she is a grand nation of spirit, of
valour, above all, of honour. The English have treated
me, as I would treat them, with kindness, with largeness,
with confidence. In the name of fair France I will not do
this thing.”
Carne was naturally pale, but now he grew white with
rage, and his black eyes flashed.
“ France will be an empire within six months; and your
honour will be put upon prison diet, while your family
starve for the sake of it.”
‘‘Tf I ever meet you under other circumstances,” replied
158 SPRINGHAVEN.
the brave Frenchman, now equally pale, ‘I shall demand
reparation, sir.”
‘‘“With great pleasure,” replied Carne, contemptuously ;
‘‘meanwhile monsieur will have enough to do to repair his
broken fortunes.”
Captain Desportes turned his back, and gave a whistle for
his crew, then stepped with much dignity into his boat.
‘“To the Blonde, lads,” he cried, ‘‘ to the unsullied Blonde.”
Then he sate, looking at her, and stroked his grizzled beard,
into which there came trickling a bitter tear or two, as he
thought of his wife and family. He had acted well; but,
according to the measure of the present world, unwisely.
CHAPTER XXV.
NO CONCERN OF OURS,
THE very next morning it was known to the faithful of
Springhaven that the glory of the place would be trebled
that day, and its income increased desirably. That day
the fair stranger (which had so long awakened the admira-
tion of the women and the jealousy of the men) would by
the consummate skill of Captain Zeb-—who had triumphed
over all the officers of the British Navy—fioat forth mag-
nificently from her narrow bed, hoist her white sails, and
under British ensign salute the new fort, and shape a course
for Portsmouth. That she had stuck fast and in danger so
long was simply because the cocked hats were too proud to
give ear to the wisdom in an old otter-skin. Now Admiral
Darling was baffled and gone; and Captain Tugwell would
show the world what he could do, and what stuff his men
were made of,if they only had their way. From old Daddy
Stakes, the bald father of the village, to Mrs. Caper junior’s
baby—equally bald, but with a crop as sure of coming as
mustard and cress beneath his flannel—some in arms, some
on legs, some upon brave crutches, all were abroad in the soft
air from the west, which had stolen up under the stiff steel
skirt of the east wind, exactly as wise Captain Zeb predicted.
‘“My dear,” said Mrs. Twemlow to the solid Mrs. Stub-
bard—for a very sweet friendship had sprung up between
these ladies, and would last until their interests should hap-
pen to diverge—‘‘ this will be a great day for my dear hus-
band’s parish. Perhaps there is no other parish in the
SPRINGHAVEN. 159
kingdom capable of acting as Springhaven has, so obedient,
so disciplined, so faithful to their contract! Iam told that
they even pulled the vessel more aground, in preference to
setting up their own opinions. Iam told that as soon as
the Admiral was gone—for between you and me he is a lit-
tle overbearing, with the very best intentions in the world,
but too confident in his own sagacity—then that clever but
exceedingly modest young man, Lieutenant Scudamore,
was allowed at last to listen to our great man Tugwell, who
has long been the oracle of the neighbourhood about the
sea, and the weather, and all questions of that kind. And
between you and me, my dear, the poor old Admiral seems a
little bit jealous of his reputation. And what do you think
he said before he went, which shows his high opinion of his
own abilities? Tugwell said something in his rough and
ready way, which, I suppose, put his mightiness upon the
high ropes, for he shouted out, in everybody’s hearing, ‘ T’11
tell you what it is, my man, if you can get her off, by any
of your’-—something I must not repeat—‘ devices, I'll give
you fifty guineas: five-and-twenty for yourself, and the rest
to be divided among these other fellows.’ Then Zebedee
pulled out a Testament from his pocket, for he is a man of
deep religious convictions, and can read almost all the easy
places, though he thinks most of the hard ones, and he made
his son Dan (who is a great scholar, as they say, and a very
fine-looking youth as well) put down at the end what the
Admiral had said. Now, what do you think of that, dear
Mrs. Stubbard ?”
“T think,” replied that strong-minded lady, ‘‘that Tug-
well is an arrant old fox; and if he gets the fifty guineas,
he will put every farthing into his own pocket.”
‘‘Oh no! He is honest as the day itself. He will take
his own twenty-five, and then leave the rest to settle wheth-
er he should share in their twenty-five. But we must be
quick, or we shall lose the sight. Quite a number of people
are come from inland. How wonderfully quickly these
things spread! They came the first day, and then made up
their minds that nothing could be done, and so they stopped
at home. But now, here they are again, as if by magic!
If the ship gets off, it will be known half-way to London
before nightfall. But I see Captain Stubbard going up the
hill to your charming battery. That shows implicit faith
in Tugwell, to return the salute of the fair captive. It is
indeed a proud day for Springhaven !”
160 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘But it isn’t done yet. And perhaps it won’t be done.
I would rather trust officers of the navy than people who
catch crabs and oysters. I would go up to the battery, to
laugh at my husband, but for the tricks the children play
me. My authority is gone, at the very first puff of smoke.
How children do delight in that vile gunpowder!”
‘“So they ought, in the present state of our country, and
with five hundred thousand of Frenchmen coming. My dear
Mrs. Stubbard, how thankful we. should be to have children
who love gunpowder!”
‘But not when they blow up their mother, ma’am.”
‘“Oh, here comes Eliza!” cried Mrs. Twemlow. ‘‘I am
so glad, because she knows everything. I thought we had
missed her. My dear child, where are Faith and Dolly
Darling gone? There are so many strangers about to-day
that the better class should keep together.”
‘‘Here are three of us, at any rate,” replied the young
lady, who considered her mother old-fashioned: ‘enough
to secure one another’s sanctity from the lower orders.
Faith has gone on to the headland, with that heroic manni-
kin, Johnny. Dolly was to follow, with that Shanks maid
to protect her, as soon as her hat was trimmed, or some such
era. But Ill answer for it that she loses herself in the
crowd, or some fib of that sort.”
‘* Eliza!” said her mother, and very severely, because Mrs.
Stubbard was present, ‘‘I am quite astonished at your talk-
ing so. You might do the greatest injury to a very lively
and harmless, but not over-prudent girl, if any one heard
you who would repeat it. We all know that the Admiral
is so wrapped up in Dolly that he lets her do many things
which a mother would forbid. But that is no concern of
ours; and once for all, if such things must be said, I beg
that they may not be said by you.”
In the present age, Mrs. Twemlow would have got sharp
answer. But her daughter only looked aggrieved, and
glanced at Mrs. Stubbard, as if to say, ‘* Well, time will
show whether I deserve it.”” And then they hastened on,
among the worse class, to the headland.
Not only all the fishing-smacks, and Captain Stubbard’s
galley, but every boat half as sound as a hat, might now be
seen near the grounded vessel, preparing to labour or look
on. And though the White Pig was allowed to be three-
quarters of a mile from the nearest point, the mighty voice
of Captain Zeb rode over the flickering breadth of sea, and
SPRINGHAVEN. 161
through the soft babble of the waves ashore. The wind was
light from southwest, and the warp being nearly in the
same direction now, the Blonde began to set her courses, to
catch a lift of air when the tide should come busily work-
ing under her. And this would be the best tide since she
took the ground, last Sunday week, when the springs were
going off. As soon as the hawsers were made fast, and the
shouts of Zebedee redoubled with great strength (both of
sound and of language), and the long ropes lifted with a
flash of splashes, and a creak of heavy wood, and the cry
was, “* With a will! with a will, my gay lads!” every body
having a sound eye in it was gazing intently, and every
heart was fluttering, except the loveliest eyes and quickest
heart in all Springhaven.
Miss Dolly had made up her mind to go, and would have
had warm words ready for any one rash enough to try to
stop her. But a very short note which was put into her
hand about 10 A.M. prevented her.
‘If you wish to do me a real service, according to your
kind words of Saturday, be in the upper shrubbery at half
past eleven; but tell no one except the bearer. You will
see all that happens better there than on the beach, and
J will bring a telescope.”
Dolly knew at once who had written this, and admired it
all the more because it was followed by no signature. For
years she had longed for a bit of romance; and the common-
sense of all the world irked her. She knew as well as possi-
ble that what she ought to do was to take this letter to her
sister Faith, and be guided by her advice about it. Faith
was her elder by three years or more, and as steadfast as a
rock, yet as tender as young moss. There was no fear that
Faith would ride the high horse with her, or lay down the
law severely; she was much more likely to be too indulgent,
though certain not to play with wrong.
All this the younger sister knew, and therefore resolved
to eschew that knowledge. She liked her own way, and
she meant to have it, in a harmless sort of way; her own
high spirit should be her guide, and she was old enough
now to be her own judge. Mr. Carne had saved her sis-
ter’s life, when she stood up in that senseless style; and if
Faith had no gratitude, Dolly must feel and endeavour to
express it for her.
Reasoning thus, and much better than this, she was very
particular about her hat,and French pelerine of fluted lawn,
162 SPRINGHAVEN.
and frock of pale violet trimmed on either side with gather:
ed muslin. Her little heart fluttered at being drawn in,
when it should have been plumped up to her neck, and very
nearly displayed to the public; but her father was stern
upon some points, and never would hear of the classic dis-
coveries. She had not even Grecian sandals, nor a ‘‘sur-
“THERE WAS NO ONE WHO COULD SAY HER NAY.”
prise fan” to flutter from her wrist, nor hair oiled into flat
Lesbian coils, but freedom of rich young tresses, and of
graceful figure, and taper limbs. There was no one who
could say her nay, of the lovers of maiden nature.
However, maidens must be discreet, even when most ad-
venturous; and so she took another maid to help her, of re-
spected but not romantic name—Jenny Shanks, who had
SPRINGHAVEN. 163
brought her that letter. Jenny was much prettier than her
name, and the ground she trod on was worshipped by many,
even when her shoes were down at heel. Especially in this
track remained the finer part of Charley Bowles’s heart
(while the coarser was up against the Frenchmen), as well
as a good deal of Mr. Prater’s nephew's, and of several other
sole-fishers. This enabled Jenny to enter kindly into ten-
der questions. And she fetched her Sunday bonnet down
the trap-ladder where she kept it—because the other maids
were so nasty—as soon as her letter was delivered.
‘Your place, Jenny, is to go behind,” Miss Dolly said,
with no small dignity, as this zealous attendant kept step
for step with her, and. swung her red arm against the lady’s
fair one. ‘‘I am come upon important business, Jenny,
such as you cannot understand, but may stay at a proper
distance.”’
‘‘Lor, miss, [am sure I begs your pardon. I thought it
was a kind of coorting-match, and you might be glad of my
experience.’
‘Such things I never do,and have no idea what you mean.
T shall be much obliged to you, Jenny, if you will hold your
tongue.” :
‘Oh yes, miss; no fear of my telling anybody. Wild
horses would never pull a syllable out of me. The young
men is so aggravating that I keep my proper distance from
them. But the mind must be made up, at one time or other.”
Dolly looked down at her with vast contempt, which she
would not lower herself by expressing, even with favour of
time and place. Then turning a corner of the grassy walk,
between ground-ash and young larches, they came upon an
opening planted round with ilex, arbutus, juniper, and laurel,
and backed by one of the rocks which form the outworks of
the valley. From a niche in this rock, like the port-hole of
a ship, a rill of sparkling water poured, and beginning to
make a noise already, cut corners—of its own production—
short, in its hurry to be a brook, and then to help the sea.
And across its exit from the rock (like a measure of its in-
significance) a very comfortable seat was fixed, so that any
gentleman—or even a lady with divided skirts—might free-
ly sit with one foot on either bank of this menacing but not
yet very formidablestream. So that on the whole this nook
of shelter under the coronet of rock was a favourite place for
a sage cock-pheasant, or even a woodcock in wintry weather.
Upon that bench (where the Admiral loved to sit, in the
“LOR, MISS, I AM SURE I BEGS YOUR PARDON.”
afternoon of peace and leisure, observing with a spy-glass
the manceuvres of his tranquil fishing fleet) Caryl Carne
was sitting now, with his long and strong legs well spread
out, his shoulders comfortably settled back, and his head cast
a little on one side, as if he were trying to compute his prop-
erty. Then, as Dolly came into the opening, he arose, made
a bow beyond the compass of any true Briton, and swinging
his hat, came to meet her. Dolly made a curtsey in the
= -
SPRINGHAVEN. 165
style impressed upon her by her last governess but one—a
French lady of exceedingly high ancestry and manners—and
Carne recognised it as a fine thing out of date.
‘* Jenny, getaway!” said Dolly—words not meant for him
to hear, but he had grave command of countenance.
‘‘ This lays me under one more obligation: Carne spoke
in a low voice, and with a smile of diffidence which remind-
ed her of Scudamore, though the two smiles were as differ-
entasnightandday. ‘I have taken a great liberty in ask-
ing you to come, and that multiplies my gratitude for your
good-will. For my own sake alone I would not have dared
to sue this great favour from you, though I put it so, in ter-
ror of alarming you. But it is for my own sake also, since
anything evil to you would be terrible to me.”’
‘“No one can wish to hurt me,” she answered, looking up
at him bravely, and yet frightened by his gaze, ‘‘ because I
have never harmed any one. And I assure you, sir, that I
have many to defend me, even when my father is gone from
home.”
‘‘It is beyond doubt. Who would not rush to do so?
But it is from those who are least suspected that the danger
comes the worst. The most modest of all gentlemen, who
blushes like a damsel, or the gallant officer devoted to his
wife and children, or the simple veteran with his stars and
sears and downright speech—these are the people that do
the wrong, because no one believes it is in them.”
‘“Then which of the three is to carry me off from home
and friends and family—Lieutenant Scudamore, Captain
Stubbard, or my own godfather, Lord Nelson ?”
This young man nourished a large contempt for the in-
tellect of women, and was therefore surprised at the quickness
and spirit of the girl whom he wished toterrify. <A sterner
tone must be used with her.
‘*T never deal in jokes,” he said, with a smile of sad sym-
pathy for those who do; ‘‘my life is one perpetual peril,
and that restrains facetiousness. But I can make allowance
_ for those who like it.”’
Miss Dolly, the pet child of the house, and all the peo-
ple round it—except the gardener, Mr. Swipes, who found
her too inquisitive—quick as she was, could not realise at
once the possibility of being looked down upon.
‘*T am sorry that you have to be so grave,” she said, ‘‘ be-
cause it prevents all enjoyment. But why should you be
in such continual danger? You promised to explain it, on
“4 FAVOURITE PLACE FOR A SAGE COCK-PHEASANT.”’
Saturday, only you had no time then. We are all in dan-
ger from the French, of course, if they ever should succeed
in landing. But you mean something more than that; and
it seems so hard, after all your losses, that you should not
be safe from harm.”
With all her many faults—many more than she dreamed
ee —"
SPRINGHAVEN. 167
of—fair Dolly had a warm and gentle heart, which filled
her eyes with tender loveliness whenever it obtained com-
mand of them. Carne, who was watching them steadfastly
for his own purpose, forgot that purpose, and dropped his
dark eyes, and lost the way to tell a lie.
‘‘Tf I may ask you,” he said, almost stammering, and
longing without knowledge for the blessing of her touch,
‘‘to—to allow me just to lead you to this seat, I may per-
haps be able—I will not take the hberty of sitting at your
side—but I may perhaps be able to.explain as much of my
affairs as you can wish to hear of them, and a great deal
more, I fear, a great deal more, Miss Darling.”
Dolly blushed at the rich tone in which he pronounced
her name, almost as if it were an adjective; but she allowed
him to take her hand, and lead her to the bench beneath the
rock. Then, regardless of his breeches, although of fine
padusoy, and his coat, though of purple velvet, he sat
down on the bank of the rill at her feet, and waited for her
to say something. The young lady loved mainly to take
the lead, but would liefer have followed suit just now.
‘“You have promised to tell me,” she said, very softly,
and with an unusual timidity, which added to her face and
manner almost the only charm they lacked, ‘‘some things
which I do not understand, and which I have no right tg
ask you of, except for your own offer. Why should you,
without injuring any one, but only having suffered loss of
all your family property, and of all your rights and com-
forts, and living in that lonely place which used to be full
of company—why should you be in danger now, when you
have nothing more to be robbed of? I beg your pardon—I
mean when all your enemies must have done their worst ?”
‘“You are too young yet to understand the world,” he
answered, with a well-drawn sigh; ‘‘and I hope most truly
that you may never do so. In your gentle presence I can-
not speak with bitterness, even if I could feel it. I will not
speak harshly of any one, however I may have been treat-
ed. But you will understand that my life alone remains
betwixt the plunderers and their prey, and that my errand
here prevents them from legally swallowing up the spoil.”
Miss Dolly’s idea of the law, in common with that of
most young ladies, suggested a horrible monster ravening
to devour the fallen. And the fall of the Carnes had long
been a subject of romantic interest to her.
‘*Oh, I see!” she exclaimed, with a look of deep wisdom.
168 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘‘T can quite understand a thing like that, from what I have
heard about witnesses. I hope you will be very careful.
My sister owes so much to you, and so do I.”
‘“You must never speak of that again, unless you wish to
grieve me. I know that I have said too much about my-
self; but you alone care to know anything about me; and
that beguiles one out—out of one’s wits. If I speak bad
English, you will forgive me. I have passed so many years
on the Continent, and am picking up the language of my
childhood very slowly. You will pardon me when I am
misled by—by my own signification.”’
‘Well done!” cried the innocent Dolly. ‘‘ Now that is
the very first piece of bad English you have used, to the best
of my belief, and Iam rather quick in that. But you have
not yet explained to me my own danger, though you asked
me to come here for that purpose, I believe.”’
‘‘But you shall not be so; you shall not be in danger.
My life shall be given for your defence. What imports my
peril compared with yours? I am not of cold blood. I
will sacrifice all. Have faith in me purely, and all shall be
done.”
‘* All what?” Dolly asked, with a turn of common-sense,
which is the most provoking of all things sometimes; and
‘she looked at him steadily, to follow up her question.
—**You cannot be persuaded that you are in any danger.
It is possible that I have been too anxious. Do you speak
the French language easily? Do you comprehend it, when
spoken quickly ?”
‘‘Not a word of it. I have had to learn, of course, and
can pronounce very well, my last mistress said; but 1 can-
not make it out at all in the way the French people pro-
nounce it when one comes to talk with them.”
‘‘Tt is very wrong of them, and the loss is theirs. They
expect us to copy them even in their language, because we
do it in everything else. Pardon me—one moment. May
I look at the great enterprise which is to glorify Spring-
haven? It is more than kind of you to be here instead of
there. But this, as I ventured to say, is a far better place to
observe the operation. Your words reminded me of Cap-
tain Desportes, who has been, I think, your father’s guest.
A very gallant sailor, and famed for the most unexpected
exploits. Without doubt, he would have captured all three
ships, if he had not contrived to run his own aground.”
‘* How could he capture his own ship? I thought that
|
.
SPRINGHAVEN. 169
you never dealt in jokes. But if you dislike them, you
seem to be fond of a little mystery. I like the French cap-
tain very much, and he took the trouble to speak slowly for
me. My father says that he bears his misfortune nobly, and
like a perfect gentleman. Mr. Scudamore admires him, and
they are great friends. And yet, sir, you seem inclined to
hint that I am in danger from Captain Desportes!”
‘‘Ha! she is afloat! They have succeeded. I thought
that they had so arranged it. The brave ship spreads her
pinions. How clever the people of Springhaven are! If
you will condescend to look through this glass, you will see
much embracing of the Saxon and the Gaul, or rather, I
should say, of the Saxon by the Gaul. Old Tugwell is not
fond to be embraced.”
‘*Oh, let me see that! Imust see that!” cried Dolly, with
all reserve and caution flown; ‘to see Capp’en Zeb in the
arms of a Frenchman—yes, I declare, two have got him, if
not three, and he puts his great back against the mast to dis-
entangle it. Oh, what will he do next? He has knocked
down two, in reply to excessive cordiality. What wonder-
ful creatures Frenchmen are! How kind it is of you to
show me this! But excuse me, Mr. Carne; there will be
twenty people coming to the house before I can get back al-
most. And the ship will salute the battery,and the bat-
tery will return it. Look! there goes a great puff of smoke
already! They can see me up here, when they get to that
corner.”
‘‘ But this spot is not private? I trust that I have not in-
truded. Your father allows a sort of foot-path through
this upper end of his grounds ?”
‘Yes, to all the villagers, and you are almost one of them;
but there is no right of way at all; and they very seldom
come this way, because it leads to nowhere. Faith is fond
of sitting here, to watch the sea, and think of things. And
so am I—sometimes, I mean.
CHAPTER XXVI.
LONG-PIPE TIMES.
_ DAILY now the roar and clank of war grew loud and
louder across the narrow seas, and up the rivers, and around
the quiet homes of England. If any unusual cloud of dust,
8
170 SPRINGHAVEN.
any moving shade, appeared afar, if the tramp of horses in
the lane were heard, or neigh of a colt from the four cross-
roads, people at dinner would start up and ery, *‘ The French,
the French have landed!” while the men in the fields would
get nearer the hedge to peep through it, and then run away
down the ditch.
But the nation at large and the governing powers cer-
tainly were not inany great fright. Nay, rather they erred,
if at all, on the side of tranquillity and self-confidence; as
one who has been fired at with blank-cartridge forgets that
the click of the trigger will not tell him when the bullet has
been dropped in. The bullet was there this time; and it
missed the heart of Britannia only through the failure of —
the powder to explode all at once.
It was some years before all this was known; even Nel-
son had no perception of it; and although much alarm was
indulged in on the sly, the few who gave voice to it were
condemned as faint-hearted fellows and ‘‘alarmists.” How
then could Springhaven, which never had feared any ene-
mies, or even neighbours, depart from its habits, while still
an eye-witness of what had befallen the Frenchman? And
in this state of mind, having plenty to talk of, it did not (as
otherwise must have been done) attach any deep importance
to the strange vagaries of the London Trader.
That great Institution, and Royal Exchange, as well as
central embassy of Fashion, had lately become most uncer-
tain in its dates, which for years had announced to loose-
reckoning housewives the day of the week and the hour to
buy candles. Instead of coming home on a Saturday eve
in the van of all the fishing fleet, returning their cheers and
those of customers on the beach, the London Trader arrived
anywhen, as often in the dark as daylight, never took the
ground at all, and gave a very wide berth to Captain Zeb
Tugwell, his craft, and his crews. At times she landed
packages big and bulky, which would have been searched
(in spite of London bills of lading) if there had been any
Custom-house here, or any keen Officer of Customs. But
these were delivered by daylight always, and carted by Mr.
Cheeseman’s horse direct to his master’s cellars; and Cheese-
man had told everybody that his wife, having come into a
little legacy, was resolved, in spite of his advice, to try a bit
of speculation in hardware, through her sister miles away at
Uckfield. Most of the neighbours liked Mrs. Cheeseman, be-
cause she gave good weight (scarcely half an ounce short,
a a
SPRINGHAVEN. 171
with her conscience to her family thrown in against it), as
well as the soundest piece of gossip to be had for the money
in Springhaven. And therefore they wished her well, and
boxed their children’s ears if they found them poking nose
into her packages. Mrs. Cheeseman shook her head when
enquired of on the subject, and said with grave truth that
the Lord alone can tell how any poor woman is to turn an
honest penny.
Some other things puzzled the village, and would in more
sensible times have produced a sensation. Why did Mr.
Cheeseman now think nothing of as much as three spots on
his white linen apron, even in the first half of the week ?
“Why was he seldom at John Prater’s now, and silent in a
corner even when he did appear? What was become of the
ruddy polish, like that of a Winter Redstrake, on his cheeks,
which made a man long for a slice of his ham? Why, the
only joke he had made for the last three months was a ter-
rible one at his own expense. He had rushed down the
street about ten o’clock one morning, at a pace quite insane
for a middle-aged man, with no hat on his head and no coat
on his back, but the strings of his apron dashed wild on the
breeze, and his biggest ham-carver making flashes in his
hand. It was thought that some boy must have run off
with a penny, or some visitor changed a bad shilling; but
no, there was no such good reason to give for it.
The yearning of all ages, especially dotage, is for a relapse
to the infantile state when all playthings were held in com-
mon. And this wisest of all places (iu its own opinion)
had a certain eccentric inclination towards the poetic per-
fection when it will be impossible to steal, because there
will be nothing left worth stealing. Still everybody here
stuck to his own rights, and would knock down anybody
across them, though finding it very nice to talk as if others
could have no such standing-point. Moreover, they had
sufficient common-sense to begin with the right end fore-
most, and to take a tender interest in one another’s goods,
movable, handy, and divisible; instead of hungering after
hungry land, which feeds nobody, until itself well fed and
tended, and is as useless without a master as a donkey or a
man is. The knowledge of these rudiments of civilization
was not yet iost at Springhaven; and while everybody felt
and even proved his desire to share a neighbour’s trouble,
nobody meddled with any right of his, save his right to be
assisted.
172 SPRINGHAVEN.
Among them throve the old English feeling of respect
for ancient families, which is nowadays called *‘toadyism”’
by those whom it baulks of robbery. To trade upon this
good-will is almost as low a thing as any man can do, even
when he does it for good uses. But to trade upon it for the
harm of those who feel it, and the ruin of his country, is
without exception the very lowest—and this was what Caryl
‘Carne was at.
He looked at the matter in a wholly different light, and
would have stabbed any man who put it as above; for his
sense of honour was as quick and hot as it was crooked and
misguided. His father had been a true Carne, of the old
stamp — hot-blooded, headstrong, stubborn, wayward, nar-
row-minded, and often arrogant; but—to balance these
faults and many others—truthful, generous, kind-hearted,
affectionate, stanch to his friends, to his inferiors genial,
loyal to his country, and respectful to religion. And he
might have done well, but for two sad evils—he took a bur-
dened property, and he plunged into bad marriage.
His wife, on the other hand, might have done well, if she
had married almost anybody else. But her nature was too
like his own, with feminine vanity and caprice, French con-
ceit, and the pride of noble birth—in the proudest age of
nobility—hardening all her faults, and hammering the riv-
ets of her strong self-will. To these little difficulties must
be added the difference of religion; and though neither of
them cared two pins for that, it was a matter for crossed
daggers. A pound of feathers weighs as much as (and in
some poise more than) a pound of lead, and the leaden-head-
ed Squire and the feather-headed Madame swung always at
opposite ends of the beam, until it broke between them.
Tales of rough conflict, imprisonment, starvation, and even
vile blows, were told about them for several years; and
then ‘‘ Madame la Comtesse” (as her husband disdainfully
called her) disappeared, carrying off her one child, Caryl.
She was still of very comely face and form; and the Squire
made known to all whom it concerned, and many whom it
did not concern, that his French wife had run away with a
young Frenchman, according to the habit of her race and
kind. In support of this charge he had nothing whatever
to show, and his friends disbelieved it, knowing him to be
the last man in the world to leave such a wrong unre-
sented. i
During the last three generations the fortunes of the
SPRINGHAVEN. 173
Carnes had been declining, slowly at first, and then faster
and faster; and now they fell with the final crash. The
lady of high birth and great beauty had brought nothing
else into the family, but rather had impoverished it by her
settlement, and wild extravagance afterwards. Her hus-
band Montagu Carne staved off the evil day, just for the
present, by raising a large sum upon second mortgage and
the security of a trustful friend. But this sum was dissi-
pated like the rest; for the Squire, being deeply wounded
by his wife’s desertion, proved to the world his indifference
about it by plunging into still more reckless ways. He had
none to succeed him; for he vowed that the son of the adul-
teress—as he called her—should never have Carne Castle;
and his last mad act was to buy five-and-twenty barrels of
powder, wherewith to blow up his ancestral home. But ere
he could accomplish that stroke of business he stumbled
and fell down the old chapel steps, and was found the next
morning by faithful Jeremiah, as cold as the ivy which had
caught his feet, and as dead as the stones he would have
sent to heaven.
No marvel that his son had no love for his memory, and
little for the land that gave him birth. In very early days
this boy had shown that his French blood was predominant.
He would bite, and kick, and scratch, instead of striking, as
an English child does, and he never cared for dogs or horses,
neither worshipped he the game-keeper. France was the
proper land for him, as his mother always said with a sweet
proud smile, and his father with a sneer, or a brief word
now condemned. And France was the land for him (as
facts ordained) to be nourished, and taught, and grown into
tall manhood, and formed into the principles and habitude
and character which every nation stamps upon the nature
of its members.
However, our strong point—like that of all others—is ab-
solute freedom from prejudice; and the few English people
who met Caryl Carne were well pleased with his difference
from themselves. Even the enlightened fishermen, imbued
with a due contempt for Crappos, felt a kindly will towards
him, and were touched by his return to a ruined home and
a lonely life. But the women, romantic as they ought to»
be, felt a tender interest in a young man so handsome and
so unlucky, who lifted his hat to them, and paid his way.
Among the rising spirits of the place, who liked to take a
larger view, on the strength of more education, than their
174 SPRINGHAVEN.
fathers had found confirmed by life, Dan Tugwell was per-
haps the foremost. In the present days he might have
been a hot radical, even a socialist; but things were not
come to that pass yet among people brought up to their
duty. And Dan’s free sentiments had not been worked by
those who make a trade of such work now. So that he was
pleased and respectful, instead of carping and contradictory,
when persons of higher position than his own would dis-
cuss the condition of the times with him. Carne had dis-
covered this, although as a rule he said little to his neigh-
bours, and for reasons of his own he was striving to get
a good hold upon this young fellow. He knew that it
could not be done in a moment, nor by any common cor-
ruption, the mind of the youth being keen, clear-sighted,
and simple—by reason of soundness. Then Carne acci-
dentally heard of something which eneouraged and helped
him in his design upon Dan.
Business ‘was slack upon the sea just now, but unusually
active upon land, a tide of gold having flowed into Springha-
ven, and bubbled up in frying-pans and sparkled in new
bonnets. The fishing fleet had captured the finest French
frigate—according to feminine history—that ever endeav-
oured to capture them. After such a prisoner, let the fish
go free, till hunger should spring again in the human
breast, or the part that stands up under it. The hero of
the whole (unlike most heroes) had not succeeded in ruin-
ing himself by his serviees to his country, but was able to
go about patting his pocket, with an echo in his heart, ev-
ery time it tinkled, that a quantity more to come into it was
lying locked up in a drawer at home. These are the things
that breed present happiness in a noble human nature, all
else being either of the future or the past; and this is the
reason why gold outweighs everything that can be said
against it. |
Captain Tugwell, im his pithy style, was wont to divide
all human life into two distinctive tenses—the long-pipe
time and the short-pipe time. The long-pipe time was of
ease and leisure, comfort in the way of hot victuals and
cool pots, the stretching of legs without strain of muscle,
and that ever-fresh well-spring of delight to the hard work-
er, the censorial but not censorious contemplation of equal-
ly fine fellows, equally lazy, yet pegging hard, because of
nothing in their pockets to tap. Such were the golden
periods of. standing, or, still better, sitting with his back
SPRINGHAVEN. 175
against a tree, and a cool yard of clay between his gently
smiling lips, shaving with his girdle-knife a cake of rich
tobacco, and then milling it complacently betwixt his
horny palms, with his resolute eyes relaxing into a gentle
gaze at the labouring sea, and the part (where his supper
soon would be) warming into a fine condition for it by
good-will towards all the world. As for the short-pipe
times, with a bitter gale dashing the cold spray into his
eyes, legs drenched with sleet, and shivering to the fork,
and shoulders racked with rheumatism against the groan-
ing mast, and the stump of a pipe keeping chatter with his
teeth—away with all thought of such hardship now, except
what would serve to fatten present comfort.
But fatherly feeling and sense of right compelled Captain
Zeb to check idle enjoyment from going too far—z. e., fur-
ther than himself. Every other member of his family but
himself, however good the times might be, must work away
as hard as ever, and earn whatever victuals it should please
the Lord tosend them. There was always a job to be found—
he knew that—if a young man or maid had a mind for it;
and ‘‘ no silver no supper” was the order of his house. His
eldest son Dan was the first to be driven—for a good exam-
ple to the younger ones—and now he was set to work, full
time and overtime, upon a heavy job at Pebbleridge.
* Young Daniel was not at all afraid of work, whenever
there was any kind of skill to be shown or bodily strength
to be proved by it. But the present task was hateful to
him; for any big-armed yokel or common wood-hewer
might have done as much as he could do, and perhaps more,
at it, and could have taken the same wage over it. Mr.
Coges, of Pebbleridge, the only wheelwright within ten
miles of Springhaven, had taken a Government contract to
supply within a certain time five hundred spoke-wheels for
ammunition tumbrils, and as many block-wheels for small
artillery; and to hack out these latter for better men to fin-
ish was the daily task of Dan Tugwell.
This job swelled his muscles and enlarged his calves, and
fetched away all the fat he had been enabled to form in
loftier walks of art; but these outward improvements were
made at the expense of his inner and nobler qualities. To
hack and hew timber by the cubic foot, without any grow-
ing pleasure of proportion or design, to knit the brows hard
for a struggle with knots, and srhile the stern smile of de-
struction; and then, after a long and rough walk in the
175* SPRINGHAVEN.
dark—for the equinox now was impending—to be joked at
by his father (who had lounged about all day), and have
all his money told into the paternal pocket, with narrow
enquiries, each Saturday night. But, worst of all, to know
that because he was not born with a silver spoon in his
mouth, he had no heart—no heart that he could offer where
he laid it; but there it must lie, and be trodden on in si-
lence, while rakish-looking popinjays But this reflection
stopped him, for it was too bitter to be thought out, and
fetched down his quivering hand upon his axe. Or some-
times coming home, along the shore, through the lonely
nightfall, he would sing for comfort and for company a
song of a rakish and reckless order then popular among
the fishermen; to wit,
THE BALLAD OF BARBARIE.
Three gallant fishermen had a house of their own at Charbury,
And a smart little smack, called the Z7y-again, and a sweetheart named
Miss Barbarie.
Sing hi for the wind, and ho for the boat,
And the three brave men aboard her!
As long as they only had one coat,
They kept their minds in order.
But the mackerel and white herrings came for a summer month to Char-
bury,
And the three young men had such a game that they all proposed to Bar-
barie.
With a so for the nets, and an oh for the fish,
And the three young men at the landing!
How happy they were till they began to wish
Beyond their understanding !
“ How glad I should be, if I could have all three !’’ was the answer of Miss
Barbarie ;
“But that is beyond propriety, in England, or in Charbury.”
With a fie for the she, and a sigh for the three,
And their hearts tied up in a kinkle!
They were much worse off than a John Doree,
Because he is dead in a twinkle.
But the three men spoke with one accord— Then we must be off, Miss
Barbarie ;
We are bound to hold fast by the laws of the Lord, and of England, and
of Charbury.”
SPRINGHAVEN. 176
Give a sigh for the laws that are cruel to those
Who have no heart left to sigh with ;
For a young man is not allowed to propose,
Until he has enough to die with.
“Tn that case, I shall be glad,” said she, “‘to have something settled
varbary—
I will marry the man that brings to me the prettiest fish in Charbury.”
With a puff for the wind, and a pooh for the sky,
When it comes to a woman’s consistence !
It is better to let their bait swim by,
And keep a respectful distance.
“Oh, Miss!” they exclaimed in sore amaze; but they went to do their
cleverest,
While they counselled about women’s ways, which are like the waves that
never rest.
Sing hush for the hooks, and tush for the fish,
And the trouble there is to catch them!
When will they be taught to swim into the dish
By the wiseacres that hatch them ?
Then back they came with baskets three, and presented them most
cadgery ;
“You may lift the cloths yourselves,” said she, “for there might be
snakes, or a badgery !”
Sing up for the cover, and out for the brock,
And hiss for the snakes suspected !
No man ever knows how to read the clock
Until he has been rejected.
Said fisherman Harry—‘ Here’s a dish! There never was the like in
Charbury,
As bright as a rainbow every fish, or a honeymoon, Miss Barbarie !”
Heigho for the mackerel, smelts, and brill,
That she scorned to lay her hands on!
If you give them a rainbow, they fret still
For the pot of gold it stands on.
Said fisherman Bob—“ To my mind now, a fish for to eat is foolery ;
And the right thing for them anyhow, is to turn their flesh to jew’lery.”
Heigho for the coral, and the pearls, and jet,
And the sparkling eyes that love them!
If you give them the rainbow and the gold, they fret
For the dove that soars above them.
176* SPRINGHAVEN.
But fisherman Willie just unpiled his coverlet from the moidery,
And his sister’s baby peepedand smiled, like a moss-rose through its broidery!
Sing peep for the baby, and boh for his smile
At the dream of the world before him,
With the Joy of the heart that knew no guile,
And the hand of the Lord spread o’er him!
“Oh Willie!” the maiden cried, “ here lies the prettiest fish in Charbury ;
The heart is lord of the mouth and eyes, and you have caught your Bar.
barie.”
Three cheers for the one who got the wife,
And the two who went without it!
They managed to lead a very happy life,
Because they never thought about it.
CHAPTER XXVII.
FAIR IN THEORY.
ONE Saturday evening, when the dusk was just begin-
ning to smooth the break of billow and to blunt the edge
of rock, young Dan Tugwell swung his axe upon his shoul-
der, with the flag basket hanging from it in which his food
had been, and in a rather crusty state of mind set forth
upon his long walk home to Springhaven. As Harry Shanks
had said, and almost everybody knew, an ancient foot-path,
little used, but never yet obstructed, cut off a large bend of
the shore, and saved half a mile of plodding over rock and
shingle. This path was very lonesome, and infested with
dark places, as well as waylaid with a very piteous ghost,
who never would keep to the spot where he was murdered,
but might appear at any shady stretch or woody corner.
Dan Tugwell knew three courageous men who had seen
this ghost, and would take good care to avoid any further
interview, and his own faith in ghosts was as stanch as in
gold; yet such was his mood this evening that he deter-
mined to go that way and chance it, not for the saving of
distance, but simply because he had been told in the yard
that day that the foot-path was stopped by the land-owner.
‘We'll see about that,” said Dan; and now he was going to
see about it. . |
For the first field or two there was no impediment, except
the usual stile or gate; but when he had crossed a little
woodland hollow, where the fence of the castle grounds ran
===
Fi 4
i
SI
DAN TUGWELL MEETS WITH AN IMPEDIMENT,
178 SPRINGHAVEN.
down to the brow of the cliff, he found entrance barred..
Three stout oak rails had been nailed across from tree to
tree, and on a board above them was roughly painted:
‘‘No thoroughfare. Trespassers will be prosecuted.” For
a moment the young man hesitated, his dread of the law
being virtuously deep, and his mind well assured that his
father would not back him up against settled authorities.
But the shame of turning back, and the quick sense of wrong,
which had long been demanding some outlet, conquered his
calmer judgment, and he cast the basket from his back.
Then swinging his favourite axe, he rushed at the oaken
bars, and with a few strokes sent them rolling down the
steep bank-side.
‘‘That for your stoppage of a right of way!” he cried;
‘Cand now perhaps you'll want to know who done it.”
To gratify this natural curiosity he drew a piece of chalk
from his pocket, and wrote on the notice-board, in large
round hand, ‘* Daniel Tugwell, son of Zebedee Tugwell, of
Springhaven.” But suddenly his smile of satisfaction fled,
and his face turned as white as the chalk in his hand. At
the next turn of the path, a few yards before him, in the
gray gloom cast by an ivy-mantled tree, stood a tall, dark
figure, with the right arm raised. The face was indistinct,
but (as Dan’s conscience told him) hostile and unforgiving;
there was nothing to reflect a ray of light,and there seemed
to be a rustle of some departure, like the spirit fleeing.
The ghost! What could it be but the ghost? Ghosts
ought to be white; but terror scorns all prejudice. Probably
this murdered one was buried in his breeches. Dan’s heart
beat quicker than his axe had struck; and his feet were off
to beat the ground still quicker. But no Springhaven lad
ever left his baggage. Dan leaped aside first to catch up
his basket, and while he stooped for it, he heard a clear
strong voice.
‘‘ ‘Who are you, that have dared to come and cut my fence
down 2?”
No ghost could speak like that, even if he could put a
fence up. The inborn courage of the youth revived, and
the shame of his fright made him hardier. He stepped for-
ward again, catching breath as he spoke, and eager to meet
any man in the flesh.
‘“T am Daniel Tugwell, of Springhaven. And no living
man shall deny me of my rights. I have a right to pass
here, and I mean to do it.”
SPRINGHAVEN. 179
Caryl Carne, looking stately in his suit of black velvet,
drew sword and stood behind the shattered barrier. ‘‘ Are
you ready to run against this?’ he asked. ‘‘ Poor peasant,
go back; what are your rights worth ?”
‘*T could smash that skewer at a blow,” said Daniel, flour-
ishing his axe as if to do it; ‘‘ but my rights, as you say, are
not worth the hazard. What has a poor man to do with
rights? Would you stop a man of your own rank, Squire
Carne 2” ,
‘‘ Ah, that would be a. different thing indeed! Justice
wears a sword, because she is of gentle birth. Work-people
with axes must not prate of rights, or a prison will be their
next one. Your right is to be disdained, young man, be-
cause you were not born a gentleman; and your duty is to
receive scorn with your hat off. You like it, probably, be-
cause your father did. But come in, Daniel; I will not
‘deny you of the only right an English peasant has—the
right of the foot to plod in his father’s footsteps. The right
of the hand, and the tongue, and the stomach, even the
right of the eye, is denied him; but by some freak of law he
has some little right of foot, doubtless to enable him to go
and serve his master.”
Dan was amazed, and his better sense aroused. Why
should this gentleman step out of the rank of his birth to
talk in this way? Now and then Dan himself had indulged
‘in such ideas, but always with a doubt that they were wicked,
and not long enough to make them seem good in his eyes.
He knew that some fellows at ‘*‘ the Club” talked thus; but
they were a lot of idle strangers, who came there chiefly to
corrupt the natives, and work the fish trade out of their
hands. These wholesome reflections made him doubt about
accepting Squire Carne’s invitation; and it would have been
good for him if that doubt had prevailed, though he trudged
a thousand miles for it.
‘“What! Break down a fence, and then be afraid to en-
ter! That is the style of your race, friend Daniel. That is
why you never get your rights, even when you dare to talk
of them. I thought you were made of different stuff. Go
home and boast that you shattered my fence, and then feared
to come through it when I asked you.” Carne smiled at
his antagonist, and waved his hand.
Dan leaped in a moment through the hanging splinters,
and stood before the other, with a frown upon his face.
‘‘Then mind one thing, sir,” he said, with a look of defi-
182 | SPRINGHAVEN.
should be broken, my property invaded, the distinction so
pleasing to me set aside, simply because I consider it a false
one? No, no, friend Daniel; it is not for me to move. The
present state of things is entirely in my favour. And I
never give expression to my sense of right and wrong, un-
less it is surprised from me by circumstances. Your bold
and entirely just proceedings have forced me to explain why
I feel no resentment, but rather admiration, at a thing which
any other land-owner in England would not rest in his bed
until he had avenged. He would drag you before a bench
of magistrates and fine you. Your father, if I know him,
would refuse to pay the fine; and to prison you would go,
with the taint of it to le upon your good name forever.
The penalty would be wrong, outrageous, ruinous; no rich
man would submit to it, but a poor man must. Is this the
truth, Daniel, or is it what it ought to be—a scandalous
misdescription of the laws of England ?”
‘* No, sir; it is true enough, and too true, lam afraid. I
never thought of consequences when I used my axe. I only
thought of what was right and fair and honest, as between
a man who has a right and one who takes it from him.”
‘‘That is the natural way to look at things, but never per-
mitted in this country. You are fortunate in having to
deal with one who has been brought up in a juster land,
where all mankind are equal. But one thing I insist upon;
and remember it is the condition of my forbearance. Not
a single word to any one about your dashing exploit. No
gentleman in the county would ever speak to me again, if
I were known to have put up with it.”
‘‘T am sure, sir,” said Daniel, in a truly contrite tone, ‘‘I
never should have done such an impudent thing against
you if I had only known what a nice gentleman you are.
I took you for nothing but a haughty land-owner, without
a word to fling at a poor fisherman. And now you go ever
so far beyond what the Club doth, in speaking of the right
that every poor man hasn’t. I could listen to you by the
hour, sir, and learn the difference between us and abroad.”
“Tugwell, I could tell you things that would make a real
man of you. But whyshouldI? You are better as you are;
and so are we who get all the good out of you. And besides, I
have no time for politics at present. All my time is occupied
with stern business—collecting the ruins of my property.”
‘But, sir—but you come down here sometimes from the
castle in the evening; and if I might cross, without claiming
SPRINGHAVEN. 183
right of way, sometimes I might have the luck to meet
ou.”
‘*Certainly you may pass, as often as you please, and so
may anybody who sets value on hisrights. And if I should
meet you again, I shall be glad of it. You can open my
eyes, doubtless, quite as much as I can yours. Good-night,
my friend, and better fortunes to you!”
‘‘Tt was worth my while to nail up those rails,” Carne
said to himself,as he went home to his ruins. ‘‘I have
hooked that clod as firm as ever he hooked a cod. But,
thousand thunders! what does he mean by going away
without touching his hat to me?”
CHAPTER XXVIII.
FOUL IN PRACTICE.
‘*T HOPE, my dear, that your ride has done you good,” said
the Rector’s wife to the Rector, as he came into the hall with
a wonderfully red face one fine afternoon in October. ‘‘If
colour proves health, you have gained it.”
‘‘Maria, I have not been so upset for many years. Un-
wholesome indignation dyes my cheeks, and that is almost
as bad as indigestion. I have had quite a turn—as you wom-
en always put it. I am never moved by little things, as
you know well, and sometimes to your great disgust; but to-
day my troubles have conspired to devour me. Jam notso
young as I was, Maria. And what will the parish come to,
if I give in?” |
‘Exactly, dear; and therefore you must not give in.”
Mrs. Twemlow replied with great spirit, but her hands were
trembling as she helped him to pull off his new riding-coat.
‘*Remember your own exhortations, Joshua—I am sure they
were beautiful—last Sunday. But take something, dear, to
restore your circulation. A reaction in the system is so dan-
gerous.”’ ,
‘Not anything at present,” Mr. Twemlow answered, firm-
ly; ‘‘these mental cares are beyond the reach of bodily re-
freshments. Let me sit down, and be sure where I am, and
then you may give me a glass of treble X. In the first
place, the pony nearly kicked me off, when that idiot of a
Stubbard began firing from his battery. What have I done,
or my peaceful flock, that a noisy set of guns should be set
184 SPRINGHAVEN.
up amidst us? However, I showed Juniper that he had a
master, though I shall find it hard to come down-stairs to-.
morrow. Well, the next thing was that I saw James
Cheeseman, Church-warden Cheeseman, Buttery Cheese-
man, as the bad boys call him, in the lane, in front of me
not more than thirty yards, as plainly as I now have the
pleasure of seeing you, Maria; and while I said ‘kuck’ to
the pony, he was gone! I particularly wished to speak to
Cheeseman, to ask him some questions about things I have
observed, and especially his sad neglect of public worship—
a most shameful example on the part of a church-warden—
and I was thinking how to put it, affectionately yet firmly,
when, to my great surprise, there was no Cheeseman to re-
ceive it! Icalled at his house on my return, about three
hours afterwards, having made up my mind to have it out
with him, when they positively told me—or at least Polly
Cheeseman did—that I must be mistaken about her ‘dear
papa,’ because he was gone in the pony-shay all the way to
Uckfield, and would not be back till night.”
“The nasty little story-teller!’ Mrs. Twemlow cried.
‘But I am not at all surprised at it, when I saw how she
had got her hair done up last Sunday.” }
‘“No; Polly believed it. I am quite sure of that. But
what I want to tell you is much stranger and more impor-
tant, though it cannot have anything at all to do with
Cheeseman. You know I told you I was going for a good
long ride; but I did not tell you where, because I knew that
you would try to stop me. But the fact was that I had
made up my mind to see what Caryl Carne is at, among his
owls and ivy. You remember the last time I went to the
old place I knocked till I was tired, but could get no answer,
and the window was stopped with some rusty old spiked
railings, where we used to be able to get in at the side. All
the others are out of reach, as you know well; and being of
a yielding nature, I came sadly home. And at that time I
still had some faith in your friend Mrs. Stubbard, who prom-
ised to find out all about him, by means of Widow Shanks
and the dimity-parlour. But nothing has come of that.
Poor Mrs. Stubbard is almost as stupid as her husband; and
as for Widow Shanks, I am quite sure, Maria, if your neph-
ew were plotting the overthrow of King, Church, and Gov-
ernment, that deluded woman would not listen to a word
against him.”
“She calls him a model, and a blessed martyr”—Mrs.
SPRINGHAVEN. 185
Twemlow was smiling at the thought of it—‘‘and she
says she is a woman of great penetration, and never will
listen to anything. But it only shows what I have al-
ways said, that our family has a peculiar power, a sort of
attraction, a superior gift of knowledge of their own minds, |
which makes them— But there, you are laughing at me,
Joshua!”
‘“Not I; but smiling at my own good-fortune that ever
I get my own way at all. But, Maria, you are right; your
family has always been distinguished for having its own
way—a masterful race, and a mistressful. And so much
the more do the rest of mankind grow eager to know all
about them. In an ordinary mind, such as mine, that feel-
ing becomes at last irresistible; and finding no other way to
gratify it, | resolved to take the bull by the horns, or rather
by the tail, this morning. The poor old castle has been
-breaking up most grievously, even within the last twenty
years, and you, who have plaved as a child among the ruins
of the ramparts, would scarcely know them now. You can-
not bear to go there, which is natural enough, after all the
sad things that have happened; but if you did, you would
be surprised, Maria; and I believe a great part has been
knocked down on purpose. But you remember the little
way in from the copse, where you and I, five-and-thirty
years ago—”’
‘‘Of course I do, darling. It seems but yesterday; and I
have a flower now which you gathered for me there. It
grew at a very giddy height upon the wall, full of cracks
and places where the evening-star came through; but up
you went, like a rocket or a race-horse; and what a fright
I was in until you came down safe! I think that must
have made up my mind to have nobody except my Joshua.”
‘Well, my dear, you might have done much worse. But
I happened to think of that way in, this morning, when you
put up your elbow, as you made the tea, exactly as you used
to do when I might come up there. And that set me think-
ing of a quantity of things, and among them this plan which
I resolved to carry out. I took the trouble first to be sure
that Caryl was down here for the day, under the roof of
Widow Shanks; and then I set off, by the road up the hill,
for the stronghold of all the Carnes. Without further peril
than the fight with the pony, and the strange apparition of
Cheeseman about half a mile from the back entrance, I
came to the copse where the violets used to be, and the sor-.
186 SPRINGHAVEN.
rel, and the lords and ladies. There I tethered our friend
Juniper in a quiet little nook, and crossed the soft ground,
without making any noise, to the place we used to call our
little postern. It looked so sad, compared with what it
used to be, so desolate and brambled up and ruinous, that I
-searcely should have known it, except for the gray pedestal
of the prostrate dial we used to moralize about. And the
ground inside it, that was nice turf once, with the rill run-
ning down it that perhaps supplied the moat—all stony
now, and overgrown, and tangled, with ugly-looking elder-
bushes sprawling through the ivy. Toa painter it might
have proved very attractive; but to me it seemed so dreary,
and so sombre and oppressive, that although I am not sen-
timental, as you know, I actually turned away, to put my
little visit off until I should be in better spirits for it. And
that, my dear Maria, would in all probability have been
never.
‘*But before I had time to begin my retreat, a very ex-
traordinary sound, which I cannot describe by any word I
know, reached my ears. It was not a roar, nor a clank,
nor a boom, nor a clap, nor a crash, nor a thud, but if you
have ever heard a noise combining all those elements, with
a small percentage of screech to enliven them, that comes
as near it as I can contrive to tell. We know from Holy
Scripture that there used to be such creatures as dragons,
though we have never seen them; but I seemed to be hear-
ing one as I stood there. It was just the sort of groan you
might have expected from a dragon who had swallowed
something highly indigestible.”
‘“My dear! And he might have swallowed you, if you
had stopped. How could you help running away, my Josh-
ua? I should have insisted immediately upon it. But you
are so terribly intrepid!”
‘Far from it, Maria. Quite the contrary, I assure you.
In fact, I did make off, for a considerable distance; not rap-
idly, as a youth might do, but with self-reproach at my tar-
diness. But the sound ceased coming; and then I remem-
bered how wholly we are in the hand of the Lord. A sense
of the power of right rose within me, backed up by a strong
curiosity ; and I said to myself that if I went home, with noth-
ing more than that to tell you, I should not have at all
an easy time of it. Therefore I resolved to face the question
again, and ascertain, if possible, without self-sacrifice, what
was going on among the ruins. You know every stick and
ae
rer
off pe
“ye? SN
Z
Ni
ZEA
LZ yy \\ f
5 pe
yn
1
ane
Le eniaetey 4
AOS LA was titi a
9a ad ee ITLL. |
Le We f
T
HE POSTERN-GATE, CARNE CASTLE
188 SPRINGHAVEN.
stone, as they used to be, but not as they are at present;
therefore I must tell you. The wall at the bottom of the
little Dial-court, where there used to be a sweet-briar hedge
to come through, is entirely gone, either tumbled down or
knocked down—the latter I believe to be the true reason of
it. Also, instead of sweet-briar, there is now a very flour-
ishing crop of sting-nettles. But the wall at the side of the
little court stands almost as sound as ever; and what sur-
prised me most was to see, when I got further, proceeding
of course very quietly, that the large court beyond (which
used to be the servants’ yard, and the drying-ground, and
general lounging-place) had a timber floor laid down it,
with a rope on either side, a long heavy rope on either side;
and these ropes were still quivering, as if from a heavy
strain just loosened. All this I could see, because the high
door with the spikes, that used to part the Dial-court from this
place of common business, was fallen forward from its upper
hinge, and splayed out so that I could put my fist through.
‘‘ By this time I had quite recovered all my self-command,
and was as calm as I am now, or even calmer, because I
was under that reaction which ensues when a sensible man
has made a fool of himself. I perceived, without thinking, -
that the sound which had so scared me proceeded from this
gangway, or timberway, or staging, or whatever may be
the right word for it; and I made up my mind to stay
where I was, only stooping a little with my body towards
the wall, to get some idea of what might be going forward.
And then I heard a sort of small hubbub of voices, such as
foreigners make when they are ordered to keep quiet, and
have to carry on a struggle with their noisy nature.
‘‘This was enough to settle my decision not to budge an
inch until I knew what they were up to. I could not see
round the corner, mind—though ladies seem capable of do-
ing that, Maria—and so these fellows, who seemed to be in
two lots, some at the top and some at the bottom of the
plankway, were entirely out of my sight as yet, though I
had a good view of their sliding-plane. But presently the
ropes began to strain and creak, drawn taut—as our fisher-
men express it—either from the upper or the lower end,
and I saw three barrels come sliding down—sliding, not
rolling, you must understand, and not as a brewer delivers
beer into a cellar. These passed by me; and after a little
while there came again that strange sepulchral sound, which
had made me feel so uneasy.
SPRINGHAVEN. 189
‘Maria, you know that I can hold my own against al-
most anybody in the world but you; and although this
place is far outside my parish boundaries, I felt that as the
uncle of the present owner—so far at least as the lawyers
have not snapped him up—and the brother-in-law of the
previous proprietor, I possessed an undeniable legal right—
quo warranto, or whatever it is called—to look into all pro-
ceedings on these premises. Next to Holy Scripture, Hor-
ace is my guide and guardian; and I called to mind a well-
known passage, which may roughly be rendered thus: ‘If
the crushed world tumble on him, the ruins shall strike him
undismayed.’ With this in my head, I went softly down
the side-wall of the Dial-court (for there was no getting
through the place where I had been peeping) to the bottom,
where there used to be an old flint wall, and a hedge of
sweet-briar in front of it. You remember the pretty con-
ceit I made, quaint and wholesome as one of Herrick’s,
when you said something —but I verily believe we were
better in those days than we ever have been since. Now
don’t interrupt me about that, my dear.
‘“Some of these briars still were there, or perhaps some of
their descendants, straggling weakly among the nettles, and
mullein, and other wild stuff, but making altogether a pret-
ty good screen, through which I could get a safe side-view
of the bottom of the timber gangway. ‘So I took of my
hat, for some ruffian fellows like foreign sailors were stand-
ing below, throwing out their arms, and making noises in
their throats, because not allowed to scream as usual. It
was plain enough at once, to any one who knew the place,
that a large hole had been cut in the solid castle wall, or,
rather, a loophole had been enlarged very freely on either
side, and brought down almost to the level of the ground
outside. On either side of this great opening stood three
heavy muskets at full cock, and it made my blood run cold
to think how likely some fatal discharge appeared. If I
had been brought up to war, Maria, as all the young people
are bound to be now, I might have been more at home with
such matters, and able to reconnoitre calmly; but I thought
of myself, and of you, and Eliza, and what a shocking thing
it would be for all of us—but a merciful Providence was
over me.
‘“Too late I regretted the desire for knowledge which
had led me into this predicament, for I durst not rush off
from my very sad position, for my breath would soon fail
MR. TWEMLOW GETS A SIDE VIEW.
me, and my lower limbs are thick from the exercise of hos-
pitality. How I longed for the wings of a dove, or at any
rate for the legs of Lieutenant Blyth Scudamore! And
my dark apprehensions gained double force when a stone
was dislodged by my foot (which may have trembled), and
rolled with a sharp echo down into the ballium, or whatever
it should be called, where these desperadoes stood. In an
instant three of them had their long guns pointed at the
very thicket which sheltered me, and if I had moved or at-
tempted to make off, there would have been a vacancy in
this preferment. But luckily a rabbit, who had been lying
SPRINGHAVEN. 191
as close as I had, and as much afraid of me perhaps as I
was of those ruffians, set off at full speed from the hop of the
stone, and they saw him, and took him for the cause of it.
This enabled me to draw my breath again, and consider the
best way of making my escape, for I cared to see nothing
more, except my own house-door.
‘‘Happily the chance was not long in coming. At a
shout from below-—which seemed to me to be in English,
and sounded uncommonly like ‘now, then !’—all those fel-
lows turned their backs to me, and began very carefully to
lower, one by one, the barrels that had been let down the
incline. And other things were standing there, besides bar-
rels: packing-cases, crates, very bulky-looking boxes, and
low massive wheels, such as you often see to artillery. You
know what a vast extent there is of cellars and vaults below
your old castle, most of them nearly as sound as ever, and
occupied mainly by empty bottles, and the refuse of past
hospitality. Well, they are going to fill these with some-
thing—French wines, smuggled brandy, contraband goods
of every kind you can think of, so long as high profit can
be made of them. That is how your nephew Caryl means
to redeem his patrimony. No wonder that he has been so
dark and distant! It never would have done to let us get
the least suspicion of it, because of my position in the
Church and in the Diocese. By this light a thousand
things are clear to me which exceeded all the powers of the
Sphinx till now.’
‘*But how did you get away, my darling Noshas 2? Mrs.
Twemlow inquired, as behooved her. ‘‘So fearless, so de-
voted, so alive to every call of duty—how could you stand
there, and let the wretches shoot at you ?”
‘By taking good care not to do it,” the Rector answered;
simply. ‘‘No sooner were all their backs towards me than
I said to myself that the human race happily is not spider-
ine. I girt up my loins, or rather fetched my tails up un-
der my arms very closely, and glided away, with the silence
of the serpent and the craft of the,enemy of our fallen race.
Great care was needful, and I exercised it; and here you
behold me, unshot and unshot-at, and free from all anxiety,
except a pressing urgency for a bowl of your admirable
soup, Maria, and a cut from the saddle I saw hanging in the
cellar.”
CHAPTER XXIX.
MATERNAL ELOQUENCE.
SUFFICIENT for the day is the evil thereof; and more than
sufficient with most of us. Mr. Twemlow and his wife re-
solved discreetly, after a fireside council, to have nothing to
say to Carne Castle, or about it, save what might be forced
out of them. They perceived most clearly, and very deeply
felt, how exceedingly wrong it is for anybody to transgress,
or even go aside of, the laws of his country, as by Statute
settled. Still, if his ruin had been chiefly legal; if he had
been brought up under different laws, and in places where
they made those things which he desired to deal in; if it was
clear that those things were good, and their benefit might
be extended to persons who otherwise could have no taste
of them; above all, if it were the first and best desire of ali
who heard of it to have their own fingers in the pie—then
let others stop it, who by duty and interest were so minded;
the Rector was not in the Commission of the Peace—though
he ought to have been there years ago—and the breach of
the law, if it came to that, was outside of his parish boundary.
The voice of the neighbourhood would be with him for not
turning against his own nephew, even if it ever should come
to be known that he had reason for suspicions. —
It is hard to see things in their proper light, if only one
eye has a fly in it; but if both are in that sad condition, who
shall be blamed for winking? Not only the pastor, but all
his flock, were in need of wire spectacles now, to keep their
vision clear and their foreheads calm. Thicker than flies
around the milk-pail rumours came flitting daily; and even
the night—the fair time of thinking—was busy with buzz-
ing multitude. }
‘‘Long time have I lived, and a sight have I seed,” said
Zebedee Tugwell to his wife, ‘‘of things as I couldn’t make
no head nor tail of; but nothing to my knowledge'‘ever coom
nigh the sort of way our folk has taken to go on. Parson
Twemlow told us, when the war began again, that the Lord
could turn us all into Frenchmen if we sinned against Him
SPRINGHAVEN. 193
more than He could bear. I were fool enough to laugh
about. it then, not intaking how it could be on this side of
Kingdom Come, where no distinction is of persons. But
now, there it is—a thing the Almighty hath in hand; and
who shall say Him nay, when He layeth His hand to it ?”
‘‘T reckon ’a hath begun with you too, Zeb,” Mrs. Tug-
well would answer, undesirably. ‘‘To be always going on
so-about trash trifles,as a woman hath a right to fly up at,
but noman! Surely Dan hath a right to his politics and his
parables,as much as any Jame old chap that sitteth on a
bench. He works hard all day, and he airns his money;
and any man hath a right to wag his tongue of night-time,
when his arms and his legs have been wagging all day.”
“*Depends upon how he wags ‘un.” The glance of old
Tugwell was stern as he spoke, and his eyebrows knitted
over it. ‘‘If for a yarn to plaise children or maidens, or a
bit of argyment about his business, or talk about his neigh-
bours, or aught that consarns him—why, lads must be fools,
and I can smoke my pipe and think that at his age I was
like him. But when it comes to talking of his betters, and
the Government, and the right of everybody to command
the ship, and the soup—soup, what was it ?”
‘‘Superior position of the working classes, dignity of la-
bour, undefeasible rights of mankind to the soil as they was
born in, and soshallistick—something.”
‘*So—shall—I—stick equality,” Mr. Tugwell amended,
triumphantly; ‘‘and so shall I stick him, by the holy poker,
afore the end of the week is out. Ive a-been fool enough
to leave off ropes-ending of him now for a matter of two
years, because ’a was good, and outgrowing of it like, and
because you always coom between us. But mind you,
mother, I'll have none of that next time. Business [
means, and good measure it shall be.” :
‘* Zeb Tugwell,” said his wife, longing greatly to defy him,
but frightened by the steadfast gaze she met, ‘‘ you can never
mean to say that you would lay your hand on Dan—a grown
man, a’most as big as yourself, and a good half-head taller!
Suppose he was to hit you back again!”
‘‘ If he did, I should just kill him,” Zeb answered, calmly.
‘‘He would be but a jellyfish in my two hands. But there,
Ill not talk about it, mother. Noneed to trouble you with
it. “Tis none of my seeking—the Lord in heaven knows—
but a job as He hath dutified for me to do. Tl go out, and
have my pipe, and dwell on it.”
194 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘‘ And I may lay a deal of iton myself,” Mrs. Tugwell be-
gan to moan, as soon as he was gone; ‘‘for I have cockered
Dan up, and there’s no denying it, afore Tim, or Tryphena,
or Tabby, or Debby, or even little Solomon; because he
were the first, and so like his dear father afore he got on in
the world so. Oh, it all comes of that, all the troubles comes
of that, and of laying up of money, apart from your wife,
and forgetting almost of her Christianname! And the very
same thing of it—money, money, and the getting on with
breeches that requireth no mending, and the looking over
Church-books at gay young ladies—all of it leadeth to the
same bad end of his betters, and the Government, and the
Soshallistick Quality.
‘“Why, with all these mercies,” continued Mrs. Tugwell,
though not in a continuous frame of mind, as Daniel came
in with a slow, heavy step,and sat down by the fire in si-
lence, ‘‘ all these mercies, as are bought and paid for, from
one and sixpence up to three half-crowns, and gives no more
trouble beyond dusting once a week—how any one can lay
his eyes on other people's property, without consideration of
his own, as will be after his poor mother’s time, is to me
quite a puzzle and a pin-prick. Not as if they was owing
for, or bought at auction, or so much as beaten down by six-
pence, but all at full price and own judgment, paid for by
airnings of labour and perils of the deep, and as Widow
Shanks said, the last time she was here, by spoiling of the
enemies of England, who makes us pay tremenjious for ’most
everything we lives on. And I know who would under-
stand them crackeries, and dust them when I be gone to dust,
and see her own pretty face in them, whenever they has the
back-varnish.”’
Dan knew that the future fair owner and duster designed
by his mother was Miss Cheeseman, towards whom he had
cherished tender yearnings in the sensible and wholesome
days. And if Polly Cheeseman had hung herself on high
—which she might have done without a bit of arrogance—
perhaps she would still have been to this young man the
star of fate and glory, instead of a dip, thirty-two to the
pound, the like whereof she sold for a farthing. Distance
makes the difference.
‘‘He that won’t allow heed shall pay dear in his need ;”
the good mother grew warm, as the son began to whistle;
‘‘and to my mind, Master Dan, it won’t be long afore you
have homer things to think of than politics. ‘Politics is
SPRINGHAVEN. 195
fiddle-sticks’ was what men of my age used to say; sensible
men with a house and freehold, and a pig of their own, and
experience. Andsuch a man I might have had, and sensi-
ble children by him, children as never would have whistled
at their mother, if it hadn’t been for your poor father, Dan.
Misguided he may be, and too much of his own way, and
not well enough in his own mind to take in a woman’s, but
for all that he hath a right to be honoured by his children,
and to lead their minds in matters touching of the King, and
Church, and true religion. Why, only last night—no, the
night afore last—I met Mrs. Prater, and I said to her—” —
- “Vou told me all that, mother; and it must have been a
week ago; for I have heard it every night this week. What
is it you desire that I should do, or say, or think ?” |
‘‘Holy mercy!” cried Mrs. Tugwell, ‘‘ what a way to put
things, Dan! All I desire is for your good only, and so
leading on to the comfort of the rest. For the whole place
goes wrong, and the cat sits in the corner, when you go on
with politics as your dear father grunts at. No doubt it
may all be very fine and just, and worth a man giving his
life for, if he don’t care about it, nor nobody else; but even
if it was to keep the French out,and yourn goeth nearer to
letting them in, what difference of a button would it make to
us, Dan, compared to our sticking together, and feeding with
a knowledge and a yielding to the fancies of each other ?”
‘‘J am sure it’s no fault of mine,” said Daniel, moved from
his high ropes by this last appeal: ‘‘ to me it never matters
twopence what I have for dinner, and you saw me give Tim
_ all the brown of the baked potatoes the very last time I had
my dinner here. But what comes above all those little
bothers is the necessity for insisting upon freedom of opin-
ion. I don’t pretend to beso old as my father, nor to know
so much as he knows about the world in general. But I
- have read a great deal more than he has, of course, because
he takes a long time to get a book with the right end to him;
and [ have thought, without knowing it, about what I have
read, and I have heard very clever men (who could have
no desire to go wrong, but quite the other way) carrying
on about these high subjects, beyond me, but full of plain
language. And I won't be forced out of a word of it by fear.”
‘‘But for love of your mother you might keep it under,
and think it all inside you, without bringing of it out in the
presence of your elders. You know what your father is—
aman as never yet laid his tongue to a thing without doing
196 SPRINGHAVEN.
of it, right or wrong—right or wrong; and this time he hath
right, and the law, and the Lord, and the King himself, to
the side of him. And a rope’s-end in his pocket, Dan, as I
tried to steal away, but he were too wide-awake. Such a
big hard one you never did see!”
‘‘A rope’s-end for me, well turned twenty years of age!”
cried Daniel, with a laugh, but not a merry one; ‘“‘two can
play at that game,mother. Ill not be ropes-ended by nobody.”
‘*Then you'll be rope-noosed ;” the poor mother fell into
the settle, away from the fire-light, and put both hands over
her eyes, to shut out the spectacle of Dan dangling; ‘‘or else
vour father will be, for you. Ever since the Romans, Dan,
there have been Tug wells, and respected ten times more than
they was. Oh do’e, do’e think; and not bring us all to the
grave, and then the gallows! Why,I can mind the time, no
more agone than last Sunday, when you used to le here in
the hollow of my arm, without a stitch of clothes on, and
kind people was tempted to smack you in pleasure, because
vou did stick out so prettily. For a better-formed baby
there never was seen, nora finer-tempered one, when he had
his way. And the many nights I walked the floor with you,
Dan, when your first tooth was coming through, the size of
a horse-radish, and your father most wonderful to put up
with my coo to you, when he had not had a night in bed for
nigh three weeks—oh, Dan, do ’e think of things as consarn-
eth your homer life, and things as is above all reason; and
let they blessed politics go home to them as trades in them.”
Mrs. Tue well’s tender recollections had given hera pain in
the part where Dan was nursed, and driven her out of true
logical course; but she came back to it before Dan had time —
to finish the interesting pictures of himself which she had
suggested.
‘“Now can you deny a word of that, Dan? And if not,
what is there more to say? -You was smacked as a little |
babe by many people kindly, when ever so much tenderer
than you now can claim to be. And in those days you
never could have deserved it yet, not having framed a word
beyond ‘ Mam,’ and ‘ Da,’ and both of those made much of,
because doubtful. There was nothing about the Constitoo-
shun then, but the colour of the tongue and the condition of
the bowels; and if any fool had asked you what polities was,
you would have sucked your thumb, and offered them to
suck it; for generous you always was, and just came after.
And what ery have bigger folk, grown upright and wicked,
“OH, DAN, DO ’E THINK OF THINGS AS CONSARNETH YOUR HOMER LIFE,”
to make about being smacked, when they deserve it, for
meddling with matters outside of their business, by those in
authority over them ?”
‘‘ Well, mother, I dare say you are right, though I don’t
altogether see the lines of it. But one thing I will promise
you—whatever father does to me, I will not lift a hand
against him. But I must be off. Iam late already.”
‘‘Where to, Dan? Where to? I always used to know,
even if you was going courting. Go a-courting, Dan, as
much as ever you like, only don’t make no promises. But
whatever you do, keep away from that bad, wicked, Free
and Frisky Club, my dear.”
‘* Mother, that’s the very place I am just bound to. After
all you have said, I would have stayed away to-night, ex-
cept for being on the list, and pledged in honour to twen-
ty-eight questions, all bearing upon the grand issues of the
age.”
‘‘T don’t know no more than the dead what that means,
Dan. But I know what your father has got in his pocket
for you. And he said the next time you went there, you
should have it.”
CHAPTER XXX.
PATERNAL DISCIPLINE.
“THe Fair, Free, and Frisky ’—as they called themselves,
were not of a violent order at all, neither treasonable, nor
even disloyal. Their Club, if it deserved the name, had not
been of political, social, or even convivial intention, but had
lapsed unawares into all three uses, and most of all that
last mentioned. The harder the times are, the more confi-
dential (and therefore convivial) do Englishmen become;
and if Free-trade survives with us for another decade, it
will be the death of total abstinence. But now they had
bad times without Free-trade—that Goddess being still in
the goose-egg—and when two friends met, without a river
between them, they were bound to drink one another's
health, and did it, without the unstable and cold-blooded
element. The sense of this duty was paramount among the
‘“Pree and Frisky,” and without it their final cause would
have vanished long ago, and therewith their former one.
None of the old-established folk of the blue blood of
Springhaven, such as the Tugwells, the Shankses, the Pra-
ters, the Bowleses, the Stickfasts, the Blocks, or the Ked-
gers, would have anything to do with this Association,
which had formed itself among them, like an anti-corn-law
league, for the destruction of their rights and properties.
Its origin had been commercial, and its principles ageres-
sive, no less an outrage being contemplated than the pur-
chase of fish at low figures on the beach, and the speedy
distribution of that slippery ware among the nearest vil-
lages and towns. But from time immemorial the trade had
been in the hands of a few stanch factors, who paid a price
governed by the seasons and the weather, and sent the com-
modity as far as it would go with soundness and the hope
of freshness. Springhaven believed that it supplied all
London, and was proud and blest in so believing. With
these barrowmen, hucksters, and pedlers of fish it would
have no manifest dealing; but if the factors who managed
the trade chose to sell their refuse or surplus to them, that
—_—
SPRINGHAVEN. 199
was their own business. In this way perhaps, and by bar-
gains on the sly, these petty dealers managed to procure
enough to carry on their weekly enterprise, and for a cer-
tain good reason took a room and court-yard handy to the
Darling Arms, to discuss other people's business and their
own. The good reason was that they were not allowed to
leave the village, with their barrows or trucks or baskets,
until the night had fallen, on penalty of being pelted with
their own wares. Such was the dignity of this place, and
its noble abhorrence of anything low.
The vision of lofty institutions which one may not par-
ticipate in inspires in the lower human nature more jealousy
than admiration. These higglers may have been very hon-
est fellows in all but pecuniary questions, and possibly con-
tinued to be so in the bosom of their own families. But
here in Springhaven, by the force of circumstances, they
were almost compelled to be radicals, even as the sweetest
cow's milk turns sour when she can just reach red clover
with her breath, but not her lips. But still they were not
without manners, and reason, and good-will to people who
had patience with them. This enabled them to argue lofty
questions without black eyes, or kicking, or even tweak of
noses; and a very lofty question was now before them.
To get once into Admiral Darling’s employment was
to obtain a vested interest, so kind was his nature and so
forgiving, especially when he had scolded anybody. Mr.
Swipes, the head gardener for so many years, held an estate
of freehold in the garden—although he had no head, and
would never be a gardener till the hanging gardens of
Babylon should be hung on the top of the tower of Babel—
with a vested remainder to his son, and a contingent one to
all descendants. Yet this man, although his hands were
generally in his pockets, had not enough sense of their
linings to feel that continuance, usage, institution, orderly
sequence, heredity, and such like, were the buttons of his
coat and the texture of his breeches, and the warmth of his
body inside them. Therefore he never could hold aloof
from the Free and Frisky gatherings, and accepted the
chair upon Bumper-nights, when it was a sinecure benefice.
This was a Bumper-night, and in the chair sat Mr. Swipes,
discharging gracefully the arduous duties of the office,
which consisted mainly in calling upon members for a
speech, a sentiment, or a song, and in default of mental sat-
isfaction, bodily amendment by a pint all round. But as
200 -SPRINGHAVEN.
soon as Dan Tugwell entered the room, the Free-and-Frisk-
ies with one accord returned to loftier business. Mr. Swipes,
the gay Liber of the genial hour, retired from the chair,
and his place was taken by a Liberal—though the name
was not yet invented—estranged from his own godfather.
This was a hard man, who made salt herrings, and longed
to cure everything fresh in the world.
Dan, being still a very tender youth, and quite unaccus-
tomed to public speaking, was abashed by these tokens of
his own importance, and heartily wished that he had_
stopped at home. It never occurred to his simple mind
that his value was not political, but commercial; not ‘ an-
thropological,” but fishy, the main ambition of the Free
and Frisky Club having long been the capture of his father.
If once Zeb Tugwell could be brought to treat, a golden era
would dawn upon them, and a boundless vision of free-
trade, when a man might be paid for refusing to sell fish,
as he now is for keeping to himself his screws. Dan knew
not these things, and his heart misgave him, and he wished
that he had never heard of the twenty-eight questions set
down in his name for solution.
However, his disturbance of mind was needless, concern-
ing those great issues. All the members, except the chair-
man, had forgotten all about them; and the only matter
they cared about was to make a new member of Daniel. A
little flourish went on about large things (which nobody
knew or cared to know), then the table was hammered with
the heel of a pipe, and Dan was made a Free-and-Frisky—
an honorary member, with nothing to pay, and the honour
on their side, they told him; and every man rose, with his
pot in one hand and his pipe in the other, yet able to stand,
and to thump with his heels, being careful. Then the Pres-
ident made entry in a book, and bowed, and Dan was re-
quested to sign it. In the fervour of good-will, and fine
feeling, and the pride of popularity, the young man was not
old enough to resist, but set his name down firmly. Then
all shook hands with him, and the meeting was declared to
be festive, in honour of a new and noble member.
It is altogether wrong to say—though many people said
it—that young Dan Tugwell was even a quarter of a sheet
in the wind when he steered his way home. His head was
as solid as that of his father, which, instead of growing light,
increased in specific, generic, and differential gravity, under
circumstances which tend otherwise, with an age like ours,
SPRINGHAVEN. 201
that insists upon sobriety, without allowing practice. All
Springhaven folk had long practice in the art of keeping
sober, and if ever a man walked with his legs outside his
influence, it was always from defect of proper average quite
lately. |
Be that as it may, the young man came home with an
enlarged map of the future in his mind, a brisk and elastic
rise in his walk, and his head much encouraged to go on
with liberal and indescribable feelings. In accordance with
these, he expected his mother to be ready to embrace him at
the door, while a saucepan simmered on the good-night of
the wood-ash, with just as much gentle breath of onion from
the cover as a youth may taste dreamily from the lips of
love. But oh, instead of this, he met his father, spread out
and yet solid across the doorway, with very large arms bare
and lumpy in the gleam of a fireplace uncrowned by any pot.
Dan’s large ideas vanished, like a blaze without a bottom.
‘‘Rather late, Daniel,” said the captain of Springhaven,
with a nod of his great head, made gigantic on the ceiling.
‘“ All the rest are abed, the proper place for honest folk. I
suppose you’ve been airning money, overtime ?”
‘‘Not I,” said Dan; ‘‘I work hard enough all day. I
just looked in at the Club, and had a little talk of politics.”
‘“The Club, indeed! The stinking barrow-grinders! Did
I tell you, or did I forget to tell you, never to go there no
more ?”
‘“You told me fast enough, father; no doubt about’ that.
But I am not aboard your boat, when I happen on dry land,
and I am old enough now to have opinions of my own.”
‘Oh, that’s it,is it? And to upset all the State, the King,
the House of Lords, and the Parliamentary House, and all
as is descended from the Romans? Well, and what did
their Wusships say to you? Did they anoint you king of
slooshingss ?”
‘Father, they did this—and you have a right to know
it;” Dan spoke with a grave debative tone, though his voice
became doubtful, as he saw that his father was quietly seek-
ing for something; ‘‘almost before I knew what was com-
ing, they had made me a member, and I signed the book.
They have no desire to upset the kingdom; I heard no talk
of that kind; only that every man should have his own
opinions, and be free to show what can be said for them.
And you know, father, that the world goes on by reason,
and justice, and good-will, and fair play—”
Q*
202 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘“No, it don’t,” eried the captain, who had found what
he wanted; ‘‘if it had to wait for they, it would never go
on at all. It goes on by government, and management,
and discipline, and the stoppmg of younkers from their
blessed foolery, and by the ten commandments, and the
proverbs of King Solomon. You to teach your father how
the world goes on! Off with your coat,and I'll teach you.”
‘*HWather,” said Dan, with his milder nature trembling at
the stern resolution in his father’s eyes, as the hearth-fire
flashing up showed their stronger flash, *‘ you will never do
such a thing, at my age and size ?”
‘“Won’t 1?” answered Zebedee, cracking in the air the
three knotted tails of the stout hempen twist. ‘* As for
your age, why, it ought to know better; and as for your
size, why, the more room for this!”
It never came into Daniel’s head that he should either
resist or run away. But into his heart came the deadly
sense of disgrace at being flogged, even by his own father,
at full age to have a wife and even children of his own.
‘*Father,” he said, as he pulled off his coat and red striped
shirt, and showed his broad white back, ‘‘if you do this
thing, you will never set eyes on my face again—so help me
God!”
‘Don’t care if I don’t,” the captain shouted. ‘‘ You was
never son of mine, to be a runagate and traitor. How oid
be you, Master Free-and-Frisky, to larn me how the world
goes on ?”
‘‘As if you don’t know, father! The fifteenth of last
March I was twenty years of age.”
‘*Then one for each year of your life, my lad, and anoth-
er to make a man of thee. This little tickler hath three
tails; seven threes is twenty-one—comes just right.”
When his father had done with him, Dan went softly up
the dark staircase of old ship timber, and entering his own
little room, struck a light. He saw that his bed was turned
down for him by the loving hand of his mother, and that
his favourite brother Solomon, the youngest of the Tugwell
race, was sleeping sweetly in the opposite cot. Then he
caught a side view of his own poor back in the little black-
framed looking-glass, and was quite amazed; for he had not
felt much pain, neither flinched, nor winced, nor spoken.
In a moment self-pity did more than pain, indignation, out-
rage, or shame could do; it brought large tears into his
softened eyes, and a long sob into his swelling throat.
ERA Z
¥ AK, ae
Mitte ei
Hi i} LY 2
OU)
Y ayy wy
ay}
SA {
a W “DON’T CARE IF I DONT.”
4 Xs
He had borne himself like a man when flogged; but now
he behaved in the manner of a boy. ‘‘ He shall never hear
the last of this job,” he muttered, ‘‘as long as mother has a
tongue in her head.” To this end he filled a wet sponge
with the red proofs of his scourging, laid it where it must be
seen, and beside it a leaf torn from his wage-book,.on which
he had written with a trembling hand: ‘‘ Hesays that lam no
204 SPRINGHAVEN.
son of his, and this looks like it. Signed, Daniel Tugwell,
or whatever my name ought to be.”
Then he washed and dressed with neat’s-foot oil all of his
wounds that he could reach, and tied a band of linen over
them, and in spite of increasing smarts and pangs, dressed
himself carefully in his Sunday clothes. From time to time
he listened for his father’s step, inasmuch as there was no
bolt to his door, and to burn a hght so late was against all
law. But nobody came to disturb him; his mother at the
end of the passage slept heavily, and his two child-sisters in
the room close by, Tabby and Debby, were in the land of
dreams, as far gone as little Solly was. Having turned out
his tools from their flat flag basket, or at least all but three
or four favourites, he filled it with other clothes likely to be
needed, and buckled it over his hatchet-head. Then the
beating of his heart was like a flail inside a barn, as he stole
along silently for one terrible good-bye.
This was to his darling pet of all pets, Debby, who wor-
shipped this brother a great deal more than she worshipped
her heavenly Father; because, as she said to her mother,
when rebuked—‘‘I can see Dan, mother, but I can’t see
Him. Can I sit in His lap, mother, and look into His face,
and be told pretty stories, and eat apples all the time?”
Tabby was of different grain, and her deity was Tim; for
she was of the Tomboy kind, and had no imagination. But
Debby was enough to make a sound and seasoned heart to
ache, as she lay in her little bed, with the flush of sleep
deepening the delicate tint of her cheeks, shedding bright
innocence fresh from heaven on the tranquil droop of eye-
lid and the smiling curve of lip. Her hair lay fluttered, as
if by play with the angels that protected her; and if she
could not see her heavenly Father, it was not because she
was out of His sight.
A better tear than was ever shed by self-pity, or any other
selfishness, ran down the cheek she had kissed so often, and
fell upon her coaxing, nestling neck. Then Dan, with his
eandle behind the curtain, set a long light kiss upon the
forehead of his darling, and with a heart so full, and yet so
empty, took one more gaze at her, and then was gone.
With the basket in his hand, he dropped softly from his
_ window upon the pile of sea-weed at the back of the house
—collected to make the walls wholesome—and then, caring
little what his course might be, was led perhaps by the force
of habit down the footpath towards the beach. So late at
SPRINGHAVEN. 205
night, it was not likely that any one would disturb him
there, and no one in the cottage which he had left would
miss him before the morning. The end of October now
was near, the nights were long, and he need not hurry.
He might even lie down in his favourite boat, the best of
her size in Springhaven, the one he had built among the
rabbits. There he could say good-bye to all that he had
known and loved so long, and be off, before dawn, to some
place where he might earn his crust and think his thoughts.
CHAPTER XXXII.
SORE TEMPTATION.
WHEN a man’s spirit and heart are low, and the world
seems turned against him, he had better stop both ears than .
hearken the sound of the sad sea waves at night. Even
if he can see their movement, with the moon behind them,
drawing paths of rippled light, and boats (with white sails
pluming shadow, or thin oars that dive for gems), and per-
haps a merry crew with music, coming home not all sea-
sick—well, even so, in the summer sparkle, the long low
fall of the waves is sad. But how much more on a winter
night, when the moon is away below the sea, and weary
waters roll unseen from a vast profundity of gloom, fall un-
reckoned, and are no more than a wistful moan, as man is!
The tide was at quarter-ebb, and a dismal haze lay thick
on shore and sea. It was not enough to be called a fog, or
even a mist, but quite enough to deaden the gray light, al-
ways flowing along the boundary of sky and sea. But over
the wet sand and the white frill of the gently gurgling waves
more of faint light, or rather, perhaps, less of heavy night,
prevailed. But Dan had keen eyes, and was well accus-
tomed to the tricks of darkness; and he came to take his
leave forever of the fishing squadron, with a certainty of
knowing all the five, as if by daylight—for now there were
only five again.
As the tide withdrew, the fishing-smacks (which had
scarcely earned their name of late) were compelled to make
the best of the world until the tide came back again. To
judge by creakings, strainings, groanings, and even grindings
of timber millstones (if there yet lives in Ireland the good-
will for a loan to us), all these little craft were making
206 SPRINGHAVEN.
dreadful hardship of the abandonment which man and nat-
ure inflicted on them every thirteenth hour. But ail things
do make more noise at night, when they get the chance (per-
haps in order to assert their own prerogative), and they
seem to know that noise goes further, and assumes a higher
character, when men have left off making it.
The poor young fisherman’s back was getting very sore
by this time, and he began to look about for the white side-
Streak which he had painted along the water-line of that
new boat, to distract the meddlesome gaze of rivals from
the peculiar curve below, which even Admiral Darling had
not noticed when he passed her on the beach; but Nelson
would have spied it out in half a second, and known all
about it in the other half. Dan knew that he should find a
very fair berth there, with a roll or two of stuff to lay his
back on, and a piece of tarpauling to draw over his legs.
In the faint light that hovered from the breaking of the
wavelets he soon found his boat, and saw a tall man stand-
ing by her.
‘* Daniel,” said the tall man, without moving, ‘“‘my sight
is very bad at night, but unless it is worse than usual, you
are my admired friend Daniel. A young man in a thou-
sand—one who dares to think.”
‘“ Yes, Squire Carne,” the admired friend replied, with a
touch of hat protesting against any claim to friendship;
‘“Dan Tugwell, at your service. And I have thought too
much, and been paid out for it.”’
‘You see me ina melancholy attitude, and among melan-
choly surroundings.” Caryl Carne offered his hand as he
spoke, and Dan took it with great reverence. ‘‘The truth
is, that anger at a gross injustice, which has just come to
my knowledge, drove me from my books and sad family
papers, in the room beneath the roof of our good Widow
Shanks. And I needs must come down here to think be-
side the sea, which seems to be the only free thing in Eng-
land. But I little expected to see you.”
‘‘And I little expected to be here, Squire Carne. But
if not making too bold to ask—was it anybody that was —
beaten ?”
‘‘ Beaten is not the right word for it, Dan; cruelly flogged
and lashed, a dear young friend of mine has been—as fine
a young fellow as ever lived—and now he has not got a
sound place on his back. And why? Because he was poor,
and dared to lift his eyes to a rich young lady.”
SPRINGHAVEN. 207
‘But he was not flogged by his own father ?” asked Dan,
deeply interested in this romance, and rubbing his back,
as the pain increased with sympathy.
‘‘Not quite so bad as that,” replied the other; ‘‘such a
thing would be impossible, even in England. No; his fa-
ther took his part, as any father in the world would do; even
if the great man, the young lady’s father, should happen to
be his own landlord.”
A very black suspicion crossed the mind of Dan, for Carne
possessed the art of suggesting vile suspicions: might Ad-
miral Darling have discovered something, and requested
Dan’s father to correct him? It was certain that the Ad-
miral, so kind of heart, would never have desired such se-
verity; but he might have told Captain Tugwell, with whom
he had a talk almost every time they met, that his eldest son
wanted a little discipline; and the Club might have served
as a pretext for this, when the true crime must not be de-
clared, by reason of its enormity. Dan closed his teeth, and
English air grew bitter in his mouth, as this belief ran
throu oh him.
“Good: night, my young fone I am beginning to re-
cover,’ ’ Carne continued, briskly, for he knew that a nail
snaps in good oak when the hammer falls too heavily.
‘What is a little bit of outrage, after all? When I have
been in England a few years more, I shall laugh at myself
for having loved fair play and self-respect, in this innocent
young freshness. We must wag as the world does; and
you know the proverb, What makes the world wag, but the
weight of the bag ?” :
‘But if you were more in earnest, sir—or at least—I mean,
if you were not bound here by property and business, and an
ancient family, and things you could not get away from, and
if you wanted only to be allowed fair play, and treated as a
man by other men, and be able to keep your own money
when you earned it, or at least to buy your own victuals
with it—what would you try to do, or what part of the
country would you think best to go to ?”
‘“Dan, you must belong to a very clever family. It is
useless to shake your head—you must; or you never could
put such questions, so impossible to answer. In all this
blessed island, there is no spot yet discovered where such
absurd visions can be realized. Nay, nay, my romantic
friend; be content with more than the average blessings of
this land. You are not starved, you are not imprisoned,
2()8 Wade SPRINGHAVEN,
you are not even beaten; and if you are not allowed to
think, what harm of that? If you thought ali day, you
would never dare to act upon your thoughts, and so you
are better without them. Tush! an Englishman was never
born for freedom. Good-night.”
‘* But, sir, Squire Carne,” cried Dan, pursuing him, “‘ there
is one thing which you do not seem to know. Iam driven
away from this place to-night; and it would have been
so kind of you to advise me where to go to.”
‘‘Driven away !’’exclaimed Carne, with amazement. ‘‘ The
pride of the village driven out of it! You may be driv-
ing yourself away, Tugwell, through some scrape, or love
affair; but when that blows over you will soon come
back. What would Springhaven do without you? And
your dear good father would never let you go.”
‘‘T am not the pride, but the shame, of the village.” Dan
forgot all his home-pride at last. ‘‘And my dear good fa-
ther is the man who has done it. He has leathered me-
worse than the gentleman you spoke of, and without half
so much to be said against him. For nothing but going to
the Club to-night, where I am sure we drank King George’s
health, my father has lashed me so that [am ashamed to tell
it. And Iam sure that I never meant to tell it, until your
kindness, in a way of speaking, almost drove it out of me.”
‘Daniel Tugwell,” Carne answered, with solemnity, ‘‘this
is beyond belief, even in England. You must have fallen
asleep, Dan, in the middle of large thoughts, and dreamed
this great impossibility.”
‘“My back knows whether it has been a dream, sir. I
never heard of dreams as left one-and-twenty lines behind
them. But whether it be one, or whether it be twenty,
makes no odds of value. The disgrace it is that drives me
out.”
‘‘Is there no way of healing this sad breach 2?’ Carne
asked, in a tone of deep compassion; ‘‘if your father could
be brought to beg your pardon, or even to say that he was
sorry—”
‘‘He, sir! If such a thing was put before him, his an-
swer would be just to do it again, if I were fool enough to
go near him. You are too mild of nature, sir, to under-
stand what father is.”
‘‘ Tt is indeed horrible, too horrible to think of ”»—the voice
of this kind gentleman betrayed that he was shuddering.
‘If a Frenchman did such a thing, he would be torn to
SPRINGHAVEN, 209
pieces. But no French father would ever dream of such
atrocity. He would rather flog himself within an inch of
his own life.”
‘‘Are they so much better, then, and kinder, than us Eng-
lishmen 2?” In spite of all his pain and grief, Dan could not
help smiling at the thought of his father ropes-ending him-
self. ‘‘So superior to us, sir, in every way ?”
‘‘In almost every way, I am sorry to confess. I fear,
indeed, in every way, except bodily strength, and obstinate,
ignorant endurance, miscalled ‘courage,’ and those rough
—qualities—whatever they may be—which seem needful for
the making of aseaman. But in good manners, justice, the
sense of what is due from one man to another, in dignity, -
equality, temperance, benevolence, largeness of feeling, and
quickness of mind, and above all in love of freedom, they
are very, very sadly far beyond us. And indeed I have
been led to think from some of your finer perceptions, Dan,
that you must have a share of French blood in your veins.”
‘‘Me, sir!” cried Dan, jumping back, in a style which
showed the distance between faith and argument; ‘‘ no, sir,
thank God there was never none of that; but all English,
with some of the Romans, who was pretty near equal to us,
from what I hear. I suppose, Squire Carne, you thought
that low of me because I made a fuss about being larruped,
the same as a Frenchman I pulled out of the water did about
my doing of it, as if I could have helped it. No English-
man would have said much about that; but they seem to
make more fuss than we do. And I dare say it was French-
like of me, to go on about my hiding.”
‘* Daniel,” answered Caryl Carne, in alarm at this British
sentiment, “‘as a man of self-respect, you have only one
course left, if your father refuses to apologize. You must
cast off his tyranny; you must prove yourself a man; you
must begin life upon your own account. No more of this
drudgery, and slavery for others, who allow you no rights in
return. Buta nobler employment among free people, with
a chance of asserting your courage and manhood, and a cer-
tainty that no man will think you his bond-slave because
you were born upon his land, or in his house. My father
behaved to me—well, it does not matter. He might have
repented of it, if he had lived longer; and I feel ashamed to
speak of it, after such a case as yours. But behold, how
greatly it has been for my advantage! Without that, I
might now have been a true and simple Englishman!”
210 SPRINGHAVEN.
Carne (who had taken most kindly to the fortune which
made him an untrue Englishman) clapped his breast with
both hands; not proudly, asa Frenchman does, nor yet with
that abashment and contempt of demonstration which make
a true Briton very clumsy in such doings; while Daniel Tug-
well, being very solid, and by no means ‘‘ emotional”’—as
people call it nowadays—was looking at him, to the utmost
of his power (which would have been greater by daylight),
with gratitude, and wonder, and consideration, and some
hesitation about his foreign sentiments.
‘“ Well, sir,” said Dan, with the usual impulse of the
British workman, ‘‘is there any sort of work as you could
find for me, to earn my own living, and be able to think
afterwards ?”’
‘‘There is work of a noble kind, such as any man of high
nature may be proud to share in, to which it is possible that
I might get an entrance for you, if there should be a va-
eancy; work of high character, such as admits of no hig-
gling and haggling, and splitting of halfpence, but an mde-
pendent feeling, and a sense of advancing the lhberty of
mankind, without risking a penny, but putting many
guineas into one’s own pocket, and so becoming fitted for
a loftier line of life.”
‘Ts it smuggling, sir?” Daniel asked, with sore misgiv-
ings, for he had been brought up to be very shy of that.
‘*Many folk consider that quite bonest; but father calls it
roguery—though I never shal] hear any more of his opin-
ions now.”
‘Sigh not, friend Daniel; sigh not so heavily at your
own emancipation.” Carne never could resist the ehance
of a little bit of sarcasm, though it often injured his own
plots. ‘‘Smuggling is a very fine pursuit, no doubt, but
petty in comparison with large affairs like ours. No, Dan
Tugwell, I am not a smuggler, but a high politician, and
a polisher of mankind. How soon do you think of leaving
this outrageous hole ?”
Despite the stupid outrage upon himself, Dan was too
loyal and generous of nature to be pleased with this de-
scription of his native place. But Carne, too quick of tem-
per fora really fine intriguer, cut short his expostulations.
‘*Call it what you please,” he said; ‘‘only make your
mind up quickly. If you wish to remain here, do so: a
man of no spirit is useless to me. But if you resolve to
push your fortunes among brave and lofty comrades, stir-
SPRINGHAVEN. 211
ring scenes, and brisk adventures, meet me at six to-mor-
row evening, at the place where you chopped down my
rails. All you want will be provided, and your course of
promotion begins at once. But remember, all must be
honour bright. No shilly-shallying, no lukewarmness, no
indifference to a noble cause. Faint heart never won fair
lady.”
The waning moon had risen, and now shone upon Carne’s
face, ighting up all its gloomy beauty, and strange power
of sadness. Dan seemed to lose his clear, keen sight be-
neath the dark influence of the other's gaze; and his will,
though not a weak one, dropped before a larger and stronger. —
‘“He knows all about me and Miss Dolly,” said the poor
young fisherman to himself; “‘I thought so before, and I
am certain of it now. And, for some reason beyond my
knowledge, he wishes to encourage it. Oh, perhaps because
the Carnes have always been against the ee I
never thought of that before.”’
This was a bitter reflection to him, and might have in-
clined him the right way, if time had allowed him to work
it out. But no such time was afforded; and in the con-
fusion and gratitude of the moment, he answered, “‘Sir,
I shall be always at your service, and do my very best in
every way to please you.” Caryl Carne smiled; and the
church clock of Springhaven solemnly struck midnight.
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE CRIALS OR BATH,
THE following day, the 27th of October, was a dark one
in the calendar of a fair and good young lady. Two years
would then have passed since Faith Darling, at the age of
twenty, had received sad tidings, which would make the rest
of her life flow on in shadow. So at least she thought,
forgetful (or rather perhaps unconscious, for she had not
vet fresencd the facts of life) that time and the tide of years
submer ge the loftiest youthful sorrow. Toa warm and stead-
fast heart like hers, and a nature strong but self-controlled,
no casual change, or light diversion, or sudden interest in
other matters, could take the place of the motive lost. There-
fore being of a deep true faith, and stanch in the belief of
a great God, good to all who seek His goodness, she never
a
212 SPRINGHAVEN.
went away from what she meant, that faith and hope should
feed each other.
This saved her from being a trouble to any one, or damp-
ing anybody’s cheerfulness, or diminishing the gaiety around
her. She took a lively interest in the affairs of other people,
which a ‘‘ blighted being” declines to do; and their pleasures
ministered to her own good cheer without, or at any rate
beyond, her knowledge. Therefore she was liked by every-
body, and beloved by all who had any heart for a brave
and pitiful story. Thus a sweet flower, half closed by the
storm, continues to breathe forth its sweetness.
However, there were times when even Faith was lost in
sad remembrance, and her bright young spirit became de-
pressed by the hope deferred that maketh sick the heart. As
time grew longer, hope grew less; and even the cheerful
Admiral, well versed in perils of the deep, and acquainted
with many a wandering story, had made up his mind that
Krle Twemlow was dead, and would never more be heard of.
The Rector also, the young man’s father, could hold out no
longer against that conclusion; and even the mother, dis-
daining the mention, yet understood the meaning, of despair.
And so among those to whom the subject was the most in-
teresting in the world, 1t was now the strict rule to avoid it
with the lips, though the eyes were often filled with it.
Faith Darling at first scorned this hard law. ‘‘It does
seem so unkind,” she used to say, ‘‘that even his name
should be interdicted, as if he had disgraced himself. If he
is dead, he has died with honour. None who ever saw him
can doubt that. But he is not dead. He will come back
to us, perhaps next week, perhaps to-morrow, perhaps even
while we are afraid to speak of him. If it is for my sake
that you behave thus, Iam not quite so weak as to require it.”’
The peculiar circumstances of the case had not only baffled
inquiry, but from the very beginning precluded it. The man
with the keenest eyes, sharpest nose, biggest ears, and.longest
head, of all the many sneaks who now conduct what they
call ‘special inquiries,’ could have done nothing with a
case like this, because there was no beginning it. Even now,
in fair peace, and with large knowledge added, the matter
would not have been easy; but in war universal, and blank
ignorance, there was nothing to be done but to sit down
and think. And the story invited a good deal of thinking,
because of its disappointing turn.
During the negotiations for peace in 1801, and before any
SPRINGHAVEN. 23
articles were signed, orders were sent to the Cape of Good
Hope for the return of a regiment of the line, which had not
been more than three months there. But the Cape was like-
ly to be restored to Holland, and two empty transports re-
turning from India were to call under convoy, and bring
home these troops. One of the officers was Captain Erle
Twemlow, then about twenty-five years of age, and under
probation, by the Admiral’s decree, for the hand of the maid-
en whose heart had been his from a time to itself immemorial.
After tiresome days of impatience, the transports arrived un-
der conduct of a frigate; and after another week, the soldiers
embarked with fine readiness for their native land.
But before they had cleared the Bay, they met a brig-of-
war direct from Portsmouth, carrying despatches for the
officer in command of the troops, as well as for the captain
of the frigate. Some barbarous tribes on the coast of Guinea,
the part that is called the Ivory Coast, had plundered and
burned a British trading-station within a few miles of Cape
Palmas, and had killed and devoured the traders. These
natives must be punished, and a stern example made, and
a negro monarch of the name of Hunko Jum must have
his palace burned, if he possessed one; while his rival,
the king of the Crumbo tribe, whose name was Bande-
liah, who had striven to protect the traders, must be reward-
ed,and havea treaty made with him, if he could be brought
to understand it. Both sailors and soldiers were ready
enough to undertake this little spree, as they called it, ex-
pecting to have a pleasant run ashore, a fine bit of sport
with the negroes, and perhaps a few nose-rings of gold to
take home to their wives and sweethearts.
But, alas! the reality was not so fine. The negroes who
had done all the mischief made off, carrying most of their
houses with them; and the palace of Hunko Jum, if he pos-
sessed one, was always a little way farther on, The Colonel
was a stubborn man, and so was the sea-captain—good
Tories both, and not desirous to skulk out of scrapes, and
leave better men to pick up their clumsy breakages. Blue
and red vied with one another to scour the country, and
punish the natives—if only they could catch them--and to
vindicate, with much strong language, the dignity of Great
Britain, and to make an eternal example.
But white bones are what the white man makes, under
that slimy sunshine and putrefying moon. Weary, slack-
jointed, low-hearted as they were, the deadly coast-fever fell
214 SPRINGHAVEN.
upon them, and they shivered, and burned, and groaned,
and raved, and leaped into holes, or rolled into camp fires.
The Colonel died early, and the Naval Captain followed
him; none stood upon the order of their going; but man
followed man, as in a funeral, to the grave, until there was
no grave to go to. The hand of the Lord was stretched out
against them; and never would one have come back to
England, out of more than five hundred who landed, ex-
cept for the manhood and vigour of a seaman, Captain South-
combe, of the transport Gwalior.
This brave and sensible man had been left with his ship
lying off to be signalled for, in case of mishap, while his | ~
consort and the frigate were despatched in advance to a
creek, about twenty leagues westward, where the land-force
triumphant was to join them. Captain Southcombe, with
every hand he could muster, traced the unfortunate party
inland, and found them led many leagues in the wrong direc-
tion, lost among quagmires breathing death, worn out with
vermin, venom, and despair, and hemmed in by savages
lurking for the night, to rush in upon and make an end
of them. What need of many words? This man, and his
comrades, did more than any other men on the face of this
earth could have done without British blood in them. They
buried the many who had died without hope of the decent
concealment which our life has had, and therefore our
. death longs for; they took on their shoulders, or on cane
wattles, the many who had made up their minds to die, and
were in much doubt about having done it, and they
roused up and worked up by the scruff of their loose places
the few who could ‘get along on their own legs. And so,
with great spirit, and still greater patience, they managed
to save quite as many as deserved it.
Because, when they came within signal of the Gwalior,
Captain Southecombe, marching slowly with his long limp
burdens, found ready on the sand the little barrel, about as
big as a kilderkin, of true and unsullied Stockholm pitch,
which he had taken, as his brother took Madeira, for ripe-
ness and for betterance, by right of change of climate.
With a little of this given choicely and carefully at the back
of every sick man’s tongue, and a little more spread across
the hollow of his stomach, he found them so enabled in the
afternoon that they were glad to sit up in the bottom of
a boat, and resign themselves to an All-wise Providence.
Many survived, and blest Captain Southcombe, not at
’
,
SPRINGHAVEN. 21D
first cordiall y—for the man yet remains to be discovered who
is grateful to his doctor—but gradually more and more, and
with that healthy action of the human bosom which is
called expectoration, whenever grateful memories were re-
kindled by the smell of tar. But this is a trifle; many use-
ful lives were saved, and the Nation should have thanked
Captain Southcombe, but did not.
After these sad incidents, when sorrow for old friends was
tempered by the friendly warmth afforded by their shoes, a
muster was held by the Major in command, and there was
only one officer who could neither assert himself alive, nor
be certified as dead. That one was Erle Twemlow, and the
regiment would rather have lost any other two officers. Ur-
gent as it was, for the safety of the rest, to fly with every
feather from this pestilential coast, sails were handed, boats
despatched, and dealings tried with Hunko Jum, who had
reappeared with promptitude the moment he was not want-
ed. From this noble monarch, and his chiefs, and all his
nation, it was hard to get any clear intelligence, because their
own was absorbed in absorbing. They had found upon the
sands a cask of Admiralty rum, as well as a stout residue of
unadulterated pitch. Noses, and tongues, and historical ro-
mance—for a cask had been washed ashore five generations
since, and set up for a god, when the last drop was licked—
induced this brave nation to begin upon the rum; and fash-
ion (as powerful with them as with us) compelled them to
drink the tar likewise, because they had seen the white men
doing it. This would have made it hard to understand them,
even if they had been English scholars, which their igno-
rance of rum proved them not to be; and our sailors very
nearly went their way, after sadly ascertaining nothing, ex-
cept that the cask was empty.
But luckily, just as they were pushing off, a very large,
black head appeared from behind a vegetable-ivory tree, less
than a quarter of a mile away, and they knew that this be-
Jonged to Bandeliah, the revered king of the Crumbos, who
had evidently smelled rum far inland. With him they were
enabled to hold discourse, partly by signs, and partly by
means of an old and highly polished negro, who had been the
rat-catcher at the factory now consumed; and the conclu-
sion, or perhaps the confusion, arrived at from signs, grunts,
grins, nods, waggings of fingers and twistings of toes, trans-
lated grandiloquently into broken English, was not far from
being to the following effect:
216 SPRINGHAVEN.
To wit, that two great kings reigned inland, either of them
able to eat up Hunko Jum and Bandeliah at a mouthful, but
both of them too proud to set foot upon land that was flat,
or in water that was salt. They ruled over two great na-
tions called the Houlas and the Quackwas, going out of sight
among great rivers and lands with clear water standing over
them. And if the white men could not understand this, it
was because they drank salt-water.
Moreover, they said that of these two kings, the king of
the Houlas was a woman, the most beautiful ever seen in
all the world, and able to Jump over any man’s head. But
the king of the Quackwas was a man, and although he had
more than two thousand wives, and was taller by a joint of
a bamboo than Bandeliah—whose stature was at least six
feet four—yet nothing would be of any use to him, unless he
could come to an agreement with Mabonga, the queen of the
Houlas, to split a durra straw with him. But Mabonga was
coy, and understanding men, as well as jumping over them,
would grant them no other favour than the acceptance of
their presents. However, the other great king was deter-
mined to have her for his wife, if he abolished all the rest,
and for this reason he had caught and kept the lost English-
man as a medicine-man; and it was not likely that he would
kill him, until he failed or succeeded.
To further inquiries Bandeliah answered that to rescue
the prisoner was impossible. If it had been his own newest
wife, he would not push out a toe for her. The great king
Golo lived up in high places that overlooked the ground,
as he would these white men, and his armies went like
wind and spread like fire. None of his warriors ate
white man’s flesh; they were afraid it would make them
cowardly. |
A brave heart is generally tender in the middle, to make
up for being so firm outside, even as the Durian fruit is.
Captain Southcombe had walked the poop-deck of the Gwa-
lior many a time, in the cool of the night, with Erle Twem-
low for his companion, and had taken a very warm liking
to him. So that when the survivors of the regiment were
landed at Portsmouth, this brave sailor travelled at his own
cost to Springhaven, and told the Rector the whole sad story,
making it clear to him beyond all doubt that nothing what-
ever could be done to rescue the poor young man from those
Savages, or even to ascertain his fate. For the Quackwas
were an inland tribe, inhabiting vast regions wholly un-
SPRINGHAVEN., 217
known to any European, and believed to extend to some
mighty rivers, and lakes resembling inland seas.
Therefore Mr. Twemlow, in a deep, quiet voice, asked Cap-
tain Southcombe one question only—whether he might keep
any hope of ever having, by the mercy of the Lord, his only
son restored to him. And the sailor said—yes; the mistake
would be ever to abandon such a hope, for at the moment
he least expected it, his son might stand before him. He
pretended to no experience of the western coast of Africa,
and niggers he knew were a very queer lot, acting according
to their own lights, which differed according to their natures.
But he was free to say, that in such a condition he never
would think of despairing, though it might become very
hard not to do so, as time went on without bringing any
news. He himself had been in sad peril more than once, and
once it appeared quite hopeless; but he thought of his wife
and his children at home, and the Lord had been pleased to
deliver him. |
The parson was rebuked by this brave man’s faith, who
made no pretence whatever to piety; and when they said
Good-bye, their eyes were bright with the good-will and pity
of the human race, who know trouble not inflicted as yet
upon monkeys. Mr. Twemlow’s heart fell when the sailor
was gone, quite as if he had lost his own mainstay; but he
braced himself up to the heavy duty of imparting sad news
to his wife and daughter, and worst of all to Faith Darling.
But the latter surprised him by the way in which she bore it;
for while she made no pretence to hide her tears, she was
speaking as if they were needless. And the strangest thing
of all, in Mr. Twemlow’s opinion, was her curious persistence
about Queen Mabonga. Could any black woman—and she
supposed she must be that—be considered by white people to
be beautiful? Had Captain Southcombe ever even seen her;
and if not, how could he be in such raptures about her at-
tractions? She did not like to say a word, because he had
been so kind and so faithful to those poor soldiers, whom it
was his duty to bring home safe; but if it had not been for
that, she might have thought that with so many children and
a wife at Limehouse, he should not have allowed his mind
to dwell so fondly on the personal appearance of a*negress!
The Rector was astonished at this injustice, and began to
revise his opinion about Faith as the fairest and sweetest
girl in all the world; but Mrs. Twemlow smiled, when she
had left off crying, and said that she liked the dear child all
10
218 SPRINGHAVEN.
the better for concluding that Ponga—or whatever her name
was—must of necessity and at the first glance fall desperate-
ly in love with herown Erle. Then the Rector cried, ‘‘ Oh,
to be sure, that explained it! But he never could have
thought of that, without his wife’s assistance.”
Two years now, two years of quiet patience, of busy cheer-
fulness now and then, and of kindness to others always, had
made of Faith Darling a lady to be loved for a hundred
years, and forever. The sense of her sorrow was never far
from her, yet never brought near to any other by herself;
and her smile was as warm, and her eyes as bright, as if
there had never been a shadow on her youth. To be greeted
by her, and to receive her hand, and one sweet glance of her
large good-will, was enough to make an old man feel that he
must have been good at some time, and a young man hope
that he should be so by-and-by; though the tendency was
generally contented with the hope.
CHAPTER XXXII.
FAREWELL, DANIEL.
THOUGHTFUL for others as she always was, this lovely
and lovable young woman went alone, on the morning of
the day that was so sorrowful for her, to bear a little share
of an elder lady’s sorrow, and comfort her with hopes, or
at any rate with kindness. They had shed tears together
when the bad news arrived, and again when a twelvemonth
had weakened feeble hope; and now that another year had
well-nigh killed it in old hearts too conversant with the
cruelties of the world, a little talk, a tender look, a gentle
repetition of things that had been said at least a hundred
times before, might enter by some subtle passage to the cells
of comfort. Who knows how the welted vine leaf, when
we give it shade and moisture, crisps its curves again, and
breathes new bloom upon its veinage? And who can tell
how the flagging heart, beneath the cool mantle of time,
revives, shapes itself into keen sympathies again, and spreads
“itself GOfenially to the altered light ?
Without thinking about it, but only desiring to doa little
good, if possible, Faith took the private way through her
father’s grounds leading to the rectory, eastward of the vil-
lage. It was scarcely two o'clock, and the sun was shining, —
SPRINGHAVEN. 219
and the air clear and happy, as it can be in October. She
was walking rather fast, for fear of dropping into the brood-
ing vein, when in the little fir plantation a man came forth
on her path, and stood within a few yards in front of her.
She was startled for an instant, because the place was lonely,
and Captain Stubbard’s battery crew had established their
power to repulse the French by pounding their fellow-
countrymen. But presently she saw that it was Dan Tug-
well, looking as unlike himself as any man can do (without
the aid of an artist), and with some surprise she went on to
meet him.
Instead of looking bright, and bold, and fearless, with the
freedom of the sea in his open face, and that of the sun in his ©
clustering curls, young Daniel appeared careworn and bat-
tered, not only unlike his proper self, but afraid of and
ashamed of it. He stood not firmly on the ground, nor light-
ly poised like a gallant sailor, but loosely and clumsily like
a ploughman who leaves off at the end of his furrow to
ease the cramp. His hat looked as if he had slept in it, and
his eyes as if he had not slept with them.
Miss Darling had always been fond of Dan, from the days
when they played on the beach together, in childhood’s con-
tempt of social law. Her old nurse used to shut her eyes,
after looking round to make sure that there was ‘*‘ nobody
coming to tell on them,” while as pretty a pair of chil-
dren as the benevolent sea ever prattled with were making
mirth and music and romance along its margin. And
though in ripe boyhood the unfaithful Daniel transferred
the hot part of his homage to the more coquettish Dolly,
Faith had not made any grievance of that, but rather
thought all the more of him, especially when he saved her
sister’s life in a very rash boating adventure.
So now she went up to him with a friendly mind, and
asked him softly and pitifully what trouble had fallen
upon him. At the sweet sound of her voice, and the bright
encouragement of her eyes, he felt as if he were getting better.
‘‘Tf you please, miss,” he said, with a meek salutation,
which proved his panisic ideas to be not properly wrought
into his system as yet—‘‘if you please, miss, things are very
hard upon me.”
‘‘Tsit money ?” she asked, with the true British instinct that
all common woes have their origin there; ‘‘if it is, I shall
be so glad that I happen to have a good bit put by just now.”
But Dan shook his head with such dignified sadness that
220 SPRINGHAVEN.
Faith was quite afraid of having hurt his feelings. ‘‘ Oh,
I might have known,” she said, ‘‘ that it was nothing of that
kind. You are always so industrious and steady. But
whatcan it be? Is it anything about Captain Stubbard and
his men, because I know you do not like them, and none of
the old Springhaven people seem to do so? Have you been
obliged to fight with any of them, Daniel ?”
‘‘No, miss, no. I would not soil my hand by laying it
on any of such chaps as those. Unless they should go for
to insult me, I mean, or any one belonging to me. No,
miss, no. It is ten times worse than money, or assault
and battery.”
‘“Well, Daniel, I would not on any account,” said Faith,
with her desire of knowledge growing hotter by delay, as
a kettle boils by waiting—‘‘on no account would I desire
to know anything that you do not seem to think my advice
might help you to get out of. Iam notin a hurry, but still
my time is getting rather late for what I have todo. By
the time I come back from the rectory, perhaps you will
have made up your mind about it. Till then, good-bye to
you, Daniel.”
He stepped out of the path, that she might go by, and
only said, ‘Then good-bye, miss; I shall be far away when
you come back.”
This was more than the best-regulated or largest—which
generally is the worst-regulated—feminine mind could put
up with. Miss Darling came back, with her mind made up
to learn all, or to know the reason why.
‘Dan, this is unworthy of you,” she said, with her sweet
voice full of sorrow. ‘‘Have I ever been hard or unkind
to you, Dan, that you should be so afraid of me?”
‘“No, miss, never, But too much the other way. That
makes it so bad for me to say good-bye. I am going away,
miss. I must be off this evening. Inever shall see Spring-
haven no more, nor you, miss—nor nobody else.”
‘It is quite impossible, Dan. You must be dreaming.
You don’t look at all like yourself to-day. You have been
doing too much over-time. I have heard all about it, and
how very hard you work. I have been quite sorry for you
on Sundays, to see you in the gallery, without a bit of rest,
still obliged to give the time with your elbow. I have often
been astonished that your mother could allow it. Why,
Dan, if you go away, you will break her heart, and I don’t
know how many more in Springhaven.”
SPRINGHAVEN. oot
‘‘No; miss, no. They very soon mendsthem. Itistheone
- as goes away that gets a deal the worst of it. JI am sure I
don’t know whatever I shall do, without the old work to at-
tend to. But it will get on just as well without me.”
‘*No, it won't,” replied Faith, looking at him very sadly,
and shaking her head at such cynical views; ‘‘ nothing will
be the same, when you are gone, Daniel; and you ought to
have more consideration.”
‘‘T am going with a good man, at any rate,” he an-
swered; ‘‘the freest-minded gentleman that ever came to
these parts. Squire Carne, of Carne Castle, if you please,
miss.”
‘“Mr. Caryl Carne!” cried Faith, in a tone which made
Daniel look at her with some surprise. ‘‘Is he going away ?
Oh, I am so glad!”
‘No, miss; not Squire Carne himself. Only to provide
for me work far away, and not to be beholden any more
to my own people. And work, where a man may earn and
keep his own money, and hold up his head while a-doing of
eh
‘“Oh, Dan, you know more of such things than I do.
And every man has a right to be independent, and ought to
be so, and I should despise him otherwise. But don’t be
driven by it into the opposite extreme of dishking the people
in a different rank—”’
‘‘ No, miss, there is no fear of that—the only fear is liking
some of them too much.”
‘‘ And then,” continued Faith,who was now upon one of
her favourite subjects past interruption, ‘‘ you must try to
remember that if you work hard, so do we, or nearly all of
us. From the time my father gets up in the morning, to
the time when he goes to bed at night, he has not got five
minutes—as he tells us every day—for attending to anything
but business. Even at dinner, when you get a good hour,
and won’t be disturbed—now will you 2?”
‘‘No, miss; not if all the work was tumbling down. No
workman as respects himself would take fifty-nine minutes
for sixty.”
‘Exactly so; and you are right. You stand up for your
rights. Your dinner you have earned, and you will have
it. And the same with your breakfast, and your supper
too, and a good long night to get over it. Do you jump up
in bed, before you have shut both eyes, hearing or fancying
you have heard the bell, that calls you out into the cold,
222 SPRINGHAVEN.
and the dark, and a wet saddle, from a warm pillow? And
putting that by, as a trouble of the war, and the chance of
being shot at by dark tall men’”—here Faith shuddered at
her own presentment, as the image of Caryl Carne passed
before her—‘‘ have you to consider, at every turn, that what-
ever you do—though you mean it for the best—will be
twisted and turned against you by some one, and made into
wickedness that you never dreamed of, by envious people,
whose grudge against you is that they fancy you look down
on them? Though I am sure of one thing, and that is that
my father, instead of looking down upon any honest man
because he is poor, looks up to him; and so do I; and so does
every gentleman or lady. And any one who goes about to
persuade the working-people—as they are called, because
they have to use their hands more—that people like my
father look down upon them, and treat them like dogs, and
all those wicked stories—all I can say is, any man who does
it deserves to be put in the stocks, or the pillory, or even
to be transported as an enemy to his country.”
Dan looked at the lady with great surprise. He had al-
ways known her to be kind and gentle, and what the old
people called ‘‘ mannersome,” to every living body that came
near her. But to hear her put, better than he could put
them, his own budding sentiments (which he thought to
be new, with the timeworn illusion of young Liberals), and
to know from her bright cheeks, and brighter eyes, that her
heart was in every word of it, and to feel himself rebuked
for the evil he had thought, and the mischief he had given
ear to—all this was enough to make him angry with himself,
and uncertain how to answer.
‘“T am certain that you never thought of such things,”
Miss Darling continued, with her gentle smile returning;
‘‘you are much too industrious and sensible for that. But
I hear that some persons are now in our parish who make
it their business, for some reason of their own, to spread
ill-will and jealousy and hatred everywhere, to make us
all strangers and foes to one another, and foreigners to our
own country. We have enemies enough, by the will of the
Lord (as Mr. Twémlow says), for a sharp trial to us, and a
lesson to our pride, and a deep source of gratitude, and char-
ity, and good-will—though I scarcely understand how they
come in—and, above all, a warning to us to stick together,
and not exactly hate, but still abhor, everybody who has
a word to say against his own country at a time like this.
SPRINGHAVEN. 223
And ten thousand times as much, if he is afraid to say it,
but crawls with crafty poison into simple English bosoms.”
‘‘There is nothing of that, miss, to my knowledge, here,”
the young fisherman answered, simply. ‘‘Springhaven
would never stand none of that; and the club drinks the
health of King George every night of their meeting, and
stamps on the floor for him. But I never shall help to do
that any more. I must be going, miss—and thank you.”
‘‘Then you will not tell me why you go? You speak
of it as if it was against your will, and yet refuse to say
what drives you. Have you been poaching, Dan? Ah,
that is it! But I can beg you off immediately. My father
is very good even to strangers, and as for his doing any-
thing to you—have no fear, Dan; you shall not be charged
with it, even if you have been in Brown Bushes.”
Brown Bushes, a copse about a mile inland, was the Ad-
miral’s most sacred spot, when peace allowed him to go
shooting, because it was beloved by woodcocks, his favourite
birds both for trigger and for fork. But Daniel only shook
his head; he had not been near Brown Bushes. Few things
perhaps will endure more wear than feminine curiosity.
But when a trap has been set too long, it gets tongue-bound,
and grows content without contents. | ;
‘*Daniel Tugwell,” said Miss Darling, severely, ‘‘if you
have not been fighting,or conspiring against society, or
even poaching, I can well understand that you may have
reasons for not desiring my assistance or advice. And I
only wonder that under such circumstances you took the
trouble to wait for me here, as you appear to have done.
Good-bye.”
‘*Oh, don’t be cross, miss! please not to be cross,” cried
Daniel, running after her. ‘‘I would tell you all about it
this very instant moment, if it were behooving to me. You
will hear all about it when you get to Parson Twemlow’s,
for I saw mother going there, afore she had her breakfast,
though I was not concernable to Jet her see me. If the
Squire had been home, she would have gone up to Hall first.
No, miss, no. I done nothing to be ashamed of; and if you
turn back on me, you'll be sorry afterwards.”
Faith was more apt to think that she had been too sharp
than to be so in behaviour to any one. She began at once,
with a blush for her bad ideas, to beg Dan’s pardon, and
he saw his way to say what he was come to say.
‘“You always were too good, Miss Faith, too good to be
224 SPRINGHAVEN.
hard upon any one, and I am sure you have not been hard
upon me; for I know that I look disrespectable. But I
couldn’t find words to say what I wanted, until you spoke
so soft and kind. And perhaps, when I say it, you’ll be an-
gry with me, and think that I trespass upon you.”
‘‘No, I won't, Dan; I will promise you that. You may
tell me, as if I were Mr. Swipes, who says that he never lost
his temper in his life, because he is always right, and other
people wrong.”
‘* Well, miss, I’m afraid that I am not like that, and that
makes me feel so uncomfortable with the difference be-
tween us. Because it is all about Miss Dolly, and I might
seem so impudent. But you know that I would go through
fire and water to serve Miss Dolly, and I durstn’t go away
forever without one message to her. If I was in her own
rank of life,God Almighty alone should part us, whether
I was rich or whether I was poor, and I’d like to see any
one come near her! But being only an ignorant fellow
without any birth or book-learning,I am not such a fool
as to forget that the breadth of the world hes between us.
Only I may wish her well, all the same—I may wish her
well and happy, miss ?”’
‘Certainly you may.” Faith blushed at the passion of
his words, and sighed at their despair. ‘‘ You have saved
her life. She respects and likes you, the same as my father
and Ido. You may trust me with your message, Dan.”
‘‘T suppose it would not be the proper thing for me to see
her once before I go; just for one minute, with you standing
by her, that I might—that she might—” |
‘‘No,” answered Faith, though it grieved her to say it;
‘‘we must not think of that, Dan. It could do you no
good, and it might do her harm. But if you have any mes-
sage, to be useful to her—”’
‘The useful part of it must be through you, miss, and not
sent to her at all, I think, or it would be very imper-
tinent. The kind part is to give her my good-bye, and say
that I would die to help her. And the useful part is for
yourself. For God’s sake, miss, do keep Miss Dolly out of
the way of Squire Carne! He hath a tongue equal to any
woman, with the mind of a man beneath it. He hath got-
ten me body and soul; because I care not the skin of a dab
what befalls me. But oh, miss, he never must get Miss
Dolly. He may be a very good man in some ways, and
he is wonderful free-minded; but any young lady as marries
we ein ee
— Frere
Pe
= = am
SA5
~
SS
SS
——
“FOR GOD’S SAKE, MISS, DO KEEP MISS DOLLY OUT OF THE WAY OF SQUIRE
CARNE !”’
24
226 SPRINGHAVEN.
him had better have leaped into the Culver Hole. Fare-
well, miss, now that I have told you.” He was gone before
Faith could even offer him her hand, but he took off his
hat and put one finger to his curls, as he looked back from
the clearing; and her eyes filled with tears, as she waved
her hand and answered, ‘‘ Farewell, Daniel!”
CHAPTER XXXIV.
CAULIFLOWERS.
‘‘THEY cocks and hens,” Mr. Swipes used to say in the
earlier days of his empire—‘“‘ bless you, my lord, they cocks
and hens knows a good bit of gardening as well as I do.
They calls one another, and they comes to see it, and they
puts their heads to one side and talks about it, and they say
to one another, ‘Must be something good there, or he
wouldn’t have made it so bootiful’; and then up go their
combs, and they tear away into it, like a passel of Scotch-
men at a scratching-match. If your lordship won’t put
a lock on the door, you will never taste a bit of good vege-
table.”
Admiral Darling was at length persuaded to allow Mr.
Swipes the privilege of locking himself in the kitchen-gar-
den; and then, for the purpose of getting at him, a bell
was put in the gable of the tool-house, with a long handle
hanging outside the door in the court-yard towards the
kitchen. Thus he was able to rest from his labours, with-
out incurring unjust reproach; and gradually as he de-
clined, with increasing decision, to answer the bell when
it rang, according to the highest laws of nature it left off
ringing altogether. So Mr. Swipes in the walled kitchen- —
garden sought peace and insured it.
One quiet November afternoon, when the disappearance
of Dan Tugwell had been talked out and done with, a sad
mishap befell this gardener, during the performance, or, to
speak more correctly, the contemplation of his work. A
yawn of such length and breadth and height and profundity
took possession of him that the space it had so well oc-
cupied still retained the tender memory. In plainer words,
he had ricked his jaw, not from general want of usage, but
. from the momentary excess.
‘“Sarves me right,” he muttered, ‘‘for carrying on so,
- SPRINGHAVEN. 227
without nothing inside of ’un. Must go to doctor, quick
step, and no mistake.”’
In this strait he set off for John Prater’s (for it was a
matter of luck to get ale at the Hall, and in such emer-
gency he must not trust to fortune), and passing hastily
through the door, left it unlocked behind him. Going down
the hill he remembered this, and had a great mind to go
back again, but the unanimous demand of his system for beer
impelled him downwards. He never could get up that hill
again without hydraulic pressure.
All might have gone well, and all would have gone
well, except for the grievous mistake of Nature in furnishing
women with eyes whose keenness is only exceeded by that
of their tongues. The cook at the Hall, a superior person—
though lightly esteemed by Mrs. Cloam—had long been
ambitious to have a voice in the selection of her raw ma-
terial. If anything was good, who got the credit? Mr.
Swipes, immediately. But if everything was bad, as more’
often happened, who received the blame? Mary Knuckle-
down. Her lawful name was ‘‘ Knuckleup,” but early mis-
fortunes had reduced her to such mildness that her name
became converted—as she expressed it—in harmony with her
nature. Facts having generally been adverse to her, she
found some comfort in warm affection for their natural
enemies and ever-victorious rivals—words. Any words
coming with a brave rush are able to scatter to the winds
the strongest facts; but big words—as all our great orators
know—knock them at once on the head and cremate them.
But the cook was a kind-hearted woman, and liked both ht-
tle and big words, without thinking of them.
She had put down her joint, a good aitch-bone, for roast-
ing—than which, if well treated, are few better treats—to re-
volve in the distant salute of the fire (until it should ripen
for the close embrace, where the tints of gold and chestnut
vie), when it came into her provident mind with a flash that
neither horse-radish nor cauliflower had yet been delivered
by Mr.Swipes. She must run out and pull the long handle
in the yard, and remind him gently of her needs, for she
stood in some awe of his character, as a great annalist of
- little people’s lives.
Leaving the small dog Dandolo with stern orders to keep
the jack steadily going, with a stick on the dresser to intim-
idate one eye, and a sop in the dripping-pan to encourage
the other, Mrs. Knuckledown ran into the court-yard, just in
228 SPRINGHAVEN.
time to see the last swing of the skirt of that noble garden-
er’s coat, as he turned the wall corner on his march towards
the tap. She longed to call him back, but remembered just
in time how fearfully cross that had made him once before,
and she was yielding with asigh to her usual bad luck, when
an eager and triumphant cluck made her look about. The
monarch and patriarch of cocks, a magnificent old Dorking,
not idly endowed with five claws for the scratch, had dis-
covered something great, and was calling all his wives, and
even his sons, as many as yet crowed not against him, to
share this special luck of fortune, or kind mood of Provi-
dence. Ina minute or two he had levied an army, some half-
hundred strong, and all spurring the land, to practise their
liberal claws betimes for the gorgeous joy of scattering it.
Then the grand old cock, whose name was “Bill,” made
them all fall in behind him, and strutting till he almost
tumbled on his head, led the march of destruction to the
garden door.
But, alas, he had waited for his followers too long, eager
as they were for rapine. When he came to his portal of
delight, there stood, stout as Britannia herself, and sweep-
ing a long knife for her trident, the valiant cook, to protect
her cauliflowers. ‘‘ You be off, Bill,” she cried. ‘’I don’t
want to hurt you, because you have been a good bird in your
time, but now you be growing outrageous.” Bill made a
rush for it, but losing a slice of his top-heavy comb, retired.
‘“Now’s my opportunity,” said Mary to herself, ‘for to
cut my own cabbage for once in my life, and to see what
that old beast does in here. Ohmy! The old villain, and
robber that he is! Bamboozlement is the language for it.”
Embezzlement she should have said, and to one who knew
-as she did how badly the table of the master was supplied,
the suspicion was almost unavoidable. For here she saw in
plenteous show, and appetizing excellence,a many many of
the very things she had vainly craved from Mr. Swipes.
And if it was so now in November, what must it have been
two months ago? Why, poor Miss Faith—Mary Knuckle-
down’s idol, because of her kindness and sad disappoint-
ment—had asked a little while ago for a bit of salsify, not
for herself—she never thought of herself—but for a guest
who was fond of it; also the Admiral himself had called
out for a good dish of skirrets. But no; Mr. Swipes said the
weather and the black blight had destroyed them. Yet here
they were; Mary could swear to them both, with their necks
230 SPRINGHAVEN.
above-ground, as if waiting for the washing! Cauliflowers
also (as the cooks call broccoli of every kind), here they were
in abundance, ten long rows all across the middle square,
very beautiful to behold. Some were just curling in their
crinkled coronets, to conceal the young heart that was form-
ing, as Miss in her teens draws her tresses around the first
peep of her own palpitation; others were showing their
broad candid bosoms, with bold sprigs of nature’s green lace
crisping round; while others had their ripe breasts shielded
from the air by the breakage of their own broad fringe upon
them.
Mary knew that this was done by Mr. Swipes himself,
because he had brought her some in that condition; but the
unsuspicious master had accepted his assurance that ‘‘ they
was only fit for pigs as soon as the break-stalk blight come
on ’em’’; and then the next day he had bought the very same,
perhaps at ninepence apiece, from Mr. Cheeseman’s window,
trimmed and shorn close, like the head of amonk. ‘‘Tll
see every bit of ‘un, now that I be here.” Mrs. Knuckle-
down spoke aloud, to keep up her courage. ‘‘ Too bad for
that old beast to keep us locked out from the very place us
ought to have for pmmylarding, because he saith all the
fruit would go into our pockets. And what goes into his’en,
I should like to know? Suppose I lock him out, as he hath
locked us out. He won't be back yet for half an hour, any-
way. Wish I could write—what a list I would make, if it
was only of the things he denieth he hath got!”
Strong in her own honesty and loyalty to her master, the
cook turned the key in the lock, and left Swipes to ring him-
self into his own garden, as he always called it. That is to
say,if he should return, which was not very likely, before
she had time for a good look round. But she saw such a
sight of things she had longed for, to redeem her repute in the
vegetable way, as well as such herbs for dainty stuffing, of
which she knew more than cooks generally do, that her cap
nearly came off her head with amazement, and.time flew by
unheeded, until she was startled and terrified sadly by the
loud, angry clang of the bell in the gable. Not only was
Mr. Swipes come back, but he was in a furious rage outside,
though his fury was chilled with some shivers of fear. At
first, when he found the door locked against him, he thought
that the Admiral must have come home unexpected, and fail-
ing to find him at work, had turned the key against him,
while himself inside. If so, his situation would be in sad
SPRINGHAVEN. 251
peril, and many acres of lies would be required to redeem it.
For trusting in his master’s long times of absence, and full
times of public duty when at home, Mr. Swipes had grown
more private stock, as he called it, and denied the kitchen
more, than he had ever done before, in special preparation
for some public dinners about to be given at the Darling
Arms, by military officers to naval, and in turn by the lat-
ter to the former; for those were hospitable days, when all
true Britons stuck their country’s enemy with knife and
fork, as well as sword.
But learning, as he soon did at the stables, that the Ad-
miral was still away, and both the young ladies were gone
for a ride with Miss Twemlow, the gardener came back in
a rage, and rang the bell. ‘‘ Oh, whatever shall I do?” the
trembling Mary asked herself. ‘‘ Best take the upper hand
if Ican. MHe’s a thief, and a rogue, and he ought to be
frighted. Does he know I can’t write? No, for certain he
dothn’t. One of his big lies about me was a letter I wrote
to poor Jonadab.”’
With her courage renewed by the sense of that wrong, she
opened the door, and stood facing Mr. Swipes, with a piece
of paper in her hand, which a woman’s quick wit bade her
fetch from her pocket.
‘* Halloa, madam!” the gardener exclaimed, with a sweep
of his hat and a low salute, which he meant to be vastly
satirical; ‘‘so your ladyship have come to take the air in my
poor garden, instead of tending the spit. And what do your
ladyship think of it,so please you? Sorry as I had any
dung about, but hadn’t no warning of this royal honour.”
‘*Sir,” said Mrs. Knuckledown, pretending to be frighten-
ed a great deal more than she was—‘‘oh, sir, forgive me!
I am sure I meant no harm. But the fowls was running
in, and I ran up to stop them.”
‘*Oh, that was how your ladyship condescended; and to
keep out the fowls, you locked out me! Allow me the royal
and unapparelled honour of showing your ladyship to her
carriage; and if I ever catch her in here again, [ll pitch
you down the court-yard pretty quick. Be. off, you dir ty
baggage, or I won’t answer for it now!”
_ ‘Oh, you are too kind, Mr. Swipes; I am sure you are
too gentle, to forgive me, like of that! And the little lst I
made of the flowers in your garden, I shall put it in a teapot
till the Quality wants something.”
Mr. Swipes gave a start, and his overwatered eyes could
232 SPRINGHAVEN.
not meet those of Mary, which were mildly set upon them.
‘* List!’ he muttered—‘‘ little list! What do you please to
mean, miss ?”
‘‘Well, the ‘dirty baggage’ means nothing unparalleled,
sir, but just the same as anybody else might do. Some peo-
ple calls it a Inventionary, and some an Emmarandum, and
some a Catalogue. It don’t interfere with you, Mr. Swipes;
only the next time as Miss Dolly asks, the same as she was
doing the other day—”
‘Oh, she was, was she? The little !” Mr. Swipes
used a word concerning that young lady which would have
insured his immediate discharge, together with one from
the Admiral’s best toe. ‘‘ And pray, what was her observa-
tions, ma’am ?”
‘‘It was Charles told me, for he was waiting at dinner.
Seems that the turnip was not to her liking, though I picked
out the very best of what few you sent in, so she looks up
from her plate, and she says: ‘ Well, I cannot understand it!
To me it is the greatest mistress in the world,’ she says, * that
we never can get a bit of vegetable fit for eating. We've
got,’ she says, ‘a kitchen-garden close upon two acres, and
a man who calls himself head gardener, by the name of
Swipes’—my pardoning to you, Mr. Swipes, for the young
lady’s way of saying it—‘and his two sons, and his nephew,
and I dare say soon his grandsons. Well, and what comes
of it?) says she. ‘Why, that we never has a bit of any
kind of vegetable, much less of fruit, fit to lay a fork to!
Charles was a-pricking up his ears at this, because of his own
grumbles, and the master saw it, and he says, ‘Hush, Dolly!’
But she up and answers spiritly: ‘No, I won’t hush, papa,
because it is too bad. Only you leave it to me,’ she says,
‘and if I don’t keep the. key from that old thief’—ex-
coose me, Mr. Swipes, for her shocking language—‘and
find out what he locks up in there, my name’s not Horatia
Dorothy Darling.’ Oh, don’t let it dwell so on your mind,
Mr. Swipes! You know what young ladies be. They says
things random, and then goes away and never thinks no
more about it. Oh, don’t be upset so—or I shall have to .
call Charles!”
Mr. Swipes took his hat off to ease his poor mind, which
had lost its way altogether in other people’s wickedness.
‘“May I never set eyes on that young man no more!” he
exclaimed, with more pathetic force than reasoning power. -
‘‘ Hither him or me quits this establishment to-morrow.
Pe
Ah
Yi:
ee oe
“39 YOUR LADYSHIP HAVE COME TO TAKE THE AIR IN MY POOR GARDEN.”
Ah, I know well why he left his last place, and somebody
else shall know to-morrow!” |
‘“ What harm have poor Charles done?” the cook asked,
sharply; ‘‘it wasn’t him that said it; it was Miss Dolly.
Charley only told me conferentially.”
‘Oh, I know what ‘conferentially’ means, when any-
thing once getsamong the womenkind! But I knowa thing
or two about Miss Dolly, as will give her enough to do at
home, [ll warrant, without coming spying after me and
my affairs. Don’t you be surprised, cook, whatever you may
hear, as soon as ever the Admiral returneth. He’s a soft
man enough in a number of ways, but he won't put up with
234 SPRINGHAVEN.
everything. The nasty little vixen, if she don’t smart for
this!”
‘*Oh, don’t ’e, now don’t ’’e, Mr. Swipes, that’s adear!” cried
the soft-hearted Mrs. Knuckledown; ‘‘don’t ’e tell on her,
the poor young thing. If her hath been carrying on a bit
with some of them young hofficers, why, it’s only natteral,
and her such a young booty. Don’t ’e be Dick-tell-tale,
with a name to it, or without. And perhaps her never
said half the things that Charles hath contributed to her.”
The truth was that poor Dolly had said scarcely one of them.
‘‘Bain’t no young hofficer,” Mr. Swipes replied, con-
temptuously; ‘‘ten times wuss than that, and madder for
the Admiral. Give me that paper, Miss, and then, perhaps,
I'll tell’e. Be no good to you, and might be useful to me.”
Mary could not give up the paper, because it was a letter
from one of her adorers, which, with the aid of Jenny Shanks,
she had interpreted. ‘‘No, no,” she said, with a coaxing
look; ‘‘ by-and-by, Mr. Swipes, when you have told me who
it is,and when you have promised not to tell on poor Miss
Dolly. But nobody sha’n’t see it, without your permission.
We'll have another talk about that to-morrow. But, oh
my! look at the time you have kept me, with all the good
things to make a hangel’s mouth water! Bring me two
cauliflowers in two seconds. My beef will want basting
long ago; and if Dandy hathn’t left his job, he’ll be pretty
well roasted hisself by now.”
Mr. Swipes went muttering up the walk, and was forced to
cut two of the finest cauliflowers intended for Cheeseman’s
adornment to-morrow. This turned his heart very sour
again, and he shook his head, growling in self-commune:
‘You see if I don’t do it, my young lady. You speaks
again me, behind my back, and I writes again you, before
your face; though,in course, I need not put my name to it.”
CHAPTER XXXV.
LOYAL, AYE, LOYAL.
ONE of the dinners at the Darling Arms, and perhaps the
most brilliant and exciting of the whole, because even the
waiters understood the subject, was the entertainment given
in the month of December, A.D. 1808, not only by the officers
of two regiments quartered for the time near Stonnington,
SPRINGHAVEN. 235
but also by all the leading people round about those parts, in
celebration of the great work done by His Majesty’s 38-gun
frigate Leda. Several smaller dinners had been consumed
already, by way of practice, both for the cooks and the
waiters and the chairman, and Mr. John Prater, who always
stood behind him, with a napkin in one hand and a cork-
screw in the other, and his heart in the middle, ready either
to assuage or stimulate. As for the guests, it was always
found that no practice had been required.
‘*But now, but now’’—as Mr. Prater said, when his wife
pretended to make nothing of it, for no other purpose than
to aggravate him, because she thought that he was making
too much money, in proportion to what he was giving her—
‘‘now we shall see what Springhaven can do for the good of
the Country and the glory of herself. Two bottles and a
half a head is the lowest that can be charged for, with the
treble X outside, and the punch to follow after. His lord-
ship is the gentleman to keep the bottle going.”
For the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, the popular Mar-
quis of Southdown, had promised to preside at this grand
dinner; and everybody knew what that meant. ‘‘ Short
tongue and long throat,” was his lordship’s motto in the
discharge of all public business, and ‘‘ Bottle to the gentle-
man on my left!” was the practical form of his eulogies. In
a small space like this, there would be no chance for a so-
ber-minded guest to escape his searching eye, and Blyth
Scudamore (appointed to represent the officers of the Leda,
and therefore the hero of the evening) felt as happy as a
dog being led to be drowned, in view of this liquid ordeal.
For Blyth was a temperate and moderate young man, neither
such a savage as to turn his wine to poison, nor yet so anti-
Christian as to turn it into water.
Many finer places had been offered for the feast, and fore-
most amongst them the Admiral’s house; but the committee
with sound judgment had declined them all. The great
point was to have a place within easy reach of boats, and
where gallant naval officers could be recalled at once, if
the French should do anything outrageous, which they are
apt to do at the most outrageous time. But when a partition
had been knocked down, and the breach tacked over with
festoons of laurel, Mr. Prater was quite justified in rubbing
his red hands and declaring it as snug a box as could be for
the business. There was even a dark elbow where the stair-
case jutted out, below the big bressemer of the partition, and
236 SPRINGHAVEN.
made a little gallery for ladies to hear speeches, and behold
the festive heroes while still fit to be beholden. And Ad-
miral Darling, as vice-chairman, entering into facts mascu-
line and feminine, had promised his daughters and Miss
Twemlow, under charge of the Rector’s wife and Mrs. Stub-
bard, a peep at this heroic scene, before it should become too
convivial. The rescuers also of the Blonde, the flesh and
bone, without which the master brain must still have lain
stranded, were to have a grand supper in the covered skittle-
alley, as the joints came away from their betters, this lower
deck being in command of Captain Tugwell, who could rouse
up his crew as fast as his lordship roused his officers.
Admiral Darling had been engaged of late in the service
of his Country so continually, and kept up and down the
great roads so much, or in and out of any little port where
sailors grew, that his own door had nearly forgotten his
shadow, and his dining-room table the reflection of his
face. For in those days, to keep a good table implied that
the table must be good, as well as what was put upon it;
and calico spread upon turpentine was not yet considered
the proper footing for the hospitable and social glass.
‘“When shall Twemlow and I have a hobnob again 2”
the Admiral asked himself many a time. ‘‘ How the dear
old fellow loves to see the image of his glass upon the table,
and the ruby of his port reflected! Heigho! I am getting
very stiff in the back, and never a decent bit of dinner for’-
ard. And as for a glass of good wine—oh Lord! my tim-
bers will be broken up, before it comes to mend them. And
when I come home for even half an hour, there is all this
small rubbish to attend to. I must have Frank home, to
take this stuff off my hands, or else keep what I abominate,
a private secretary.”
Among the pile of letters that had lain unopened was one
which he left to the last, because he disliked both the look
and the smell of it. A dirty, ugly scrawl it was, bulged
out with clumsy folding, and dabbed with wax in the
creases. With some dislike he tore it open; and the dislike
became loathing, as he read:
‘‘ Hon‘ Sir.—These foo lines comes from a umble but arty
frend to command. Rekwesting of your pardon sir, i have
kep a hi same been father of good dawters on the goings
on of your fammeley. Miss Faith she is a hangel sir, but
Miss Dolly I fere no better than she ort to be, and wonderful
SPRINGHAVEN. 237
fond of been noticed. I see her keeping company and
carryin on dreadful with a tall dark young man as meens no
good and lives to Widow Shankses. Too nites running
when the days was short she been up to the cornder of vour
grounds to meat he there ever so long. Only you hask her
if you dont believe me and wash her fase same time sir.
Too other peple besides me nose it. Excoose hon® sir this
trubble from your obejiant servant
‘‘FAX AND NO MISSTAKE.”’
The Admiral’s healthy face turned blue with rage and
contempt, and he stamped with his heel, as if he had the
writer under it. To write a stabbing letter, and to dare to
deal the stab, and yet fear to show the hand that deals it,
was at that time considered a low thing to do. Even now
there are people who so regard it, though a still better tool
for a blackguard—the anonymous post-card—is now su-
perseding it.
All the old man’s pleasure, and cheer, and comfort, and
joy in having one day at home at last, were dashed and
shattered and turned into wretched anxiety by this vile
scrawl. He meant to have gone down, light of heart, with a
smiling daughter upon either arm, to the gallant little fes-
tival where everybody knew him, and every one admired
and loved him. His two pretty daughters would sit up-
stairs, watching from a bow-window (though themselves
unseen) all the dashing arrivals and the grand apparel.
Then when the Marquis made his speech, and the King and
Queen and Royal Family rode upon the clouds, and the
grandeur of Great Britain was above the stars of heaven,
the ladies in the gallery would venture just to show them-
selves, not for one moment with a dream of being looked
at, but from romantic loyalty, and the fervour of great
sentiments. People pretending not to know would ask,
‘‘' Who are those very lovely ladies?” And he would make
believe to know nothing at all about it, but his heart would
know whether he knew it or not.
On the very eve of all this well-earned bliss, when it would
have refreshed his fagged body and soul—which were now
not so young as they used to be—to hear from some
scoundrel without a name, that his pet child, the life of his
life, was no better than she ought to be, which being said
of a woman means that she is as bad as she can be! This
fine old gentleman had never received such a cowardly
208 SPRINGHAVEN. “
back-handed blow till now, and for a moment he bent un-
der it.
Then, greatly ashamed of himself, he arose, and with one
strong word, which even Mr. Twemlow might have used
under such provocation, he trod the vile stuff under foot,
and pitched it with the fire-tongs into the fire. After this
he felt better, and resolving most stoutly that he never would
let it cross his mind again, made a light and cheerful answer
to the profligate one—his young girl who came seeking him.
‘‘Oh, father, and you ought to be dressed!” she cried.
‘Shall we keep His Majesty the Lord-Lieutenant waiting ?
Don’t let us go at all. Let us stop at home, papa. We
never see you now, more than once in a month; and we
don’t want to see you from a staircase hole, where we mustn’t
even blow a kiss to you. I have got such a lot of things to
tell you, dear father; and I could make you laugh much more
than they will.”
‘* But, my darling—all these grand things?” said the fa-
ther, gently fingering but half afraid to look at her, because
of what had been in his own mind; ‘‘the sweetest Navy
blue, and the brightest Army red, and little bits of silver lace
so quiet in between them! Iam sure I don’t know what to
call a quarter of it; but the finest ship ever seen under full
sail, with the sun coming through her from her royals to her
courses—”’
‘“ Now, papa, don’t be so ridiculous. You know that I
am not a fine ship at all, but only a small frigate, about
eighteen guns at the outside, I should say—though she would
be a sloop of war, wouldn't she ?—and come here at any rate
for you to command her, if you are not far too lofty an
Admiral.”’
‘*Do you love your old father, my dear?” said he, being
carried beyond his usual state by the joy in her eyes as she
touched him.
‘‘ What a shame to ask me such a question? Oh, papa, I
ought to say, ‘Do you love me?’? when you go away weeks
and months almost together! Take that, papa; and be quite
ashamed of yourself.”
She swept all her breast-knots away anyhow—that had
taken an hour to arbitrate—and flung back her hair that
would never be coiled, and with a flash of tears leaping into
laughing eyes, threw both arms round her father’s neck, and
pressed her cool sweet lips to his, which were not at all in
the same condition.
SPRINGHAVEN. 239
‘‘There, see what you’ve done for me now!” she cried.
‘It will take three quarters of an hour, papa, to make me
look fit to be looked at again. The fashions are growing so
ridiculous now—it is a happy thing for us that we are a
hundred years behind them, as Eliza Twemlow had the impu-
dence to say; and really, for the daughter of a clergyman—”
‘*T don’t care that for Eliza Twemlow,” the Admiral ex-
claimed, with a snap of his thumb. ‘‘ Let her show herself
as much as there is demand for. Or rather, what I mean to
say is, let Miss Twemlow be as beautiful as nature has made
her, my dear; and no doubt that is very considerable. But
I like you to be different; and you are. I like you to be
simple, and shy, and retiring, and not to care twopence what
any one thinks of you, so long as your father is contented.”
Dolly looked at her father, as if there were no other man
in the world for the moment. Then her conscience made
her bright eyes fall, as she whispered: *‘To be sure, papa.
I only put these things on to please you; and if you don’t
like them, away they go. Perhaps I should look nicer in
my great-aunt’s shawl. And my feet would be warmer, oh
ever so much! I know where it is, and if you prefer the
look of it—”
‘‘No, no!” cried the simple old father, as the girl tripped
away in hot haste to seek for it; ‘I forbid you to make such
a guy of yourself. You must not take my little banter,
darling, in such a matter-of-fact way, or I must hold my
tongue.”
‘‘Thank God,” he continued to himself, as Miss Dolly
ran away, to repair her damages; ‘‘the simple little soul
thinks of nobody but me! How could I be such a fool as to
imagine harm of her? Why, she is quite a child, a bigger
child than Iam. I shall enjoy my evening all the more for |
this.”
And truly there seemed to be no reason why all the guests
at that great festival, save those who had speeches to make,
should not enjoy their evening thoroughly. Great prepara-
tions had been made, and goodly presents contributed; plen-
ty of serving-men would be there, and John Prater (now
growing white-headed and portly) was becoming so skilful a
caterer that if anything was suggested to him, he had always
thought of it long ago. The only grief was that the hour
should be so late—five o'clock, an unchristian time, as they
said, for who could have manners after starving so long?
There was some sense in this; but the unreasonable late-
240 SPRINGHAVEN.
ness of the hour could not be helped, because the Lord-Lieu-
tenant had to wait upon the King at eight o’clock that
morning. That he could do so, and yet be in Springhaven
by five, seemed almost impossible; for only ten years ago
the journey took two days. But the war seemed to make
everything go quicker, and it was no use to wonder at any-
thing. Only if everything else went quicker, why should
dinner (the most important of them all) come slower? And
as yet there was nobody to answer this; though perhaps
there is no one to ask it now. .
All things began very beautifully. The young ladies
slipped in unobserved, and the elder blessings of mankind
came after, escorting themselves with dignity. Then the
heroes who had fought, and the gallants who had not had
the luck yet, but were eager for it, came pleasantly clank-
ing in, well girt to demolish ox and sheep, like Ajax, in lack
of loftier carnage. The Rector said grace, and the Marquis
amen, and in less than two minutes every elbow was up, and
every mouth at business. There was very little talking for
the first half hour. In those days emptiness was not allowed
to make the process of filling a misery.
While these fine fellows were still in the prime of their
feeding, bent over and upon it, two men with empty stom-
achs, and a long way between them and their victuals, stood
afar regarding them. That is to say, just far enough to be
quite out of sight from the windows, in the gloom of the
December evening, but at the same time near enough, to
their own unhappiness, to see and even smell the choice af-
fairs across the road.
‘*For what, then, hast thou brought me here?” the shorter
man sharply asked the tall one, both being in an uncom-
fortable place in a hedge, and with briars that scratched
them. ‘‘Is it to see other people eat, when to eat myself
is impossible? You have promised to show me a very fine
thing, and leagues have I traversed to please you. Fie,
then, what is it? To see eat, eat, eat, and drink, drink,
drink, and have nothing for myself!”
‘‘My friend,” said the tall man, ‘‘I have not brought you
here with any desire to improve your appetite, which is
always abundant, and cannot be gratified for several hours,
and with poor stuff then, compared to what you are behold-
ing. Those men are feeding well. You can see how they
enjoy it. There is not a morsel in their mouths that has
not a very choice flavour of its own distinguished relish.
SPRINGHAVEN. 241
See, there is the venison just waiting to be carved, and a
pheasant between every two of them. If only the wind
was a little more that way, and the covers taken off the
sauce-boats, and the gravy—ah, do I perceive a fine fra-
grance, or is it a desirous imagination ?”
‘‘Bah! you are of the cold-blood, the wicked self-com-
mand. For me it is either to rush in, or rush away. No
longer can I hold my nose and mouth. And behold they
have wine—grand wine—the wine of Sillery, of Medoc, of
Barsac, and of Burgundy! By the bottles I can tell them,
and by all the Saints—”
‘Be not so excited, for you cannot smack the lips. It is
too late now to envy them their solids, because they have
made such speed with them. But listen, my dear friend ”—
and here the tall man whispered into the ear of his brisk
companion, who danced with delight in the ungenial hedge,
till his face was scarred with brambles.
‘Tt is magnificent, it is droll, it is what you call in Eng-
land one grand spree, though of that you understand not the
signification. But, my faith, it is at the same time barbar-
ous, and almost too malignant.”’
‘* Too benevolent Charron,” said the tall stern man, ‘‘ that
shall rest upon my conscience, not on yours. The object
is not to spoil their noisy revel, but to gain instruction of
importance. To obtain aclear idea of the measures they
adopt—ah, you see, you are as quick as lightning. This
urgent message is upon Official paper, which I have taken
from the desk of that very stupid Stubbard. Take the
horse Jerry holds at the corner, and the officer’s hat and
cape provided are ample disguise for sodark anight. Take
the lane behind the hills, and gallop two miles eastward, till
you come to the shore again, then turn back towards the
village by way of the beach, and you will meet the Coast-
guard on duty, a stupid fellow called Vickers. Your horse
by that time will be piping and roaring: he can go like the
wind, but his own is broken. The moment you see Vickers,
begin to swear at your horse. I have practised you in d—ns,
for an emergency.” .
‘‘Ten thousand thunders, I can say d—n now to equal and
surpass the purest born of all Britons.”
‘*Not so loud, my friend, until by-and-by. The Coast-
guard will come to you, and you pull up with your horse
hanging down his head, as if dead-beaten. Using your ac-
complishment again, you say: ‘ Here, take this on to Ad-
ae
242 SPRINGHAVEN.
miral Darling. My nag is quite done, and I must get to
Stonnington tocall Colonel James. For your life, run, run.
You'll get a guinea, if you look sharp.’ Before he can think
of it, turn your horse, and make back to the lane, as if for
Stonnington. But instead of that, gallop back to our
ruins; and we'll go up the hill, and see what comes of it.”
‘‘Itis very good, itismagnificent. But will not the senti-
nel perceive my voice and accent?”
‘‘Not he; he is a very honest and therefore stupid fellow.
Give him no time, answer no questions. Be all in a rush,
as you so generally are. I would do it myself, but I am
too well known. Say, will you undertake it? It will be
a fine joke for you.”
About half an hour after this, the Lord-Lieutenant having
hammered on the table with an empty bottle, stood up to
propose the chief toast of the evening—the gallant crew of
the Leda, and the bold sailors of Springhaven. His lord-
ship had scarcely had a bottle and a half, and was now in
the prime of his intellect. A very large man, with a long
brocaded coat of ruby-coloured cloth, and white satin
breeches, a waistcoat of primrose plush emblazoned with the
Union-jack (then the popular device) in gorgeous silks with
a margin of bright gold, and a neckcloth pointed and plaited
in with the rarest lace, worth all the rest put together—what
a pity it seemed that such a man should get drunk, or at
any rate try so hard to do it. There was not a pimple on
his face, his cheeks were rosy and glistening, but not flushed ;
and his eyes were as bright and clear and deep as a couple
of large sapphires.
This nobleman said a few words, without any excitement,
or desire to create it, every word to the point, and the best
that could be chosen not to go beyond the point. There was
no attempt’ at eloquence, and yet the speech was eloquent,
because it suggested so much more than was said. More
excitable natures, overcome by half a bottle, resolved to have
the other half, in honour of that toast.
Then the Marquis did a very kind and thoughtful thing,
for which he deserved a bottle of the Royal Tokay, such as
even Napoleon could not obtain. When the cheering was
done, and every eye was fixed upon the blushing Scudamore
—who felt himself, under that fixture, like an insect under
a lens which the sun is turning into a burning-glass—the
Chairman perceived his sad plight, and to give him more
time and more spirit, rose again.
SPRINGHAVEN. 243
‘‘Gentlemen,” he said, ‘‘or I would rather call you broth-
er Englishmen at this moment, I have forgotten one thing.
Before our young hero replies to his health, let us give him
that spirited song ‘ Billy Blue,’ which is well known to ev-
ery man here, I'll be bound. ‘Tell the drummer down there
to be ready for chorus.” Billy Blue, though almost for-
gotten now (because the enemy would not fight him), the
blockader of Brest, the hardy, skilful, and ever-watchful
Admiral Cornwallis, would be known to us nearly as well
as Nelson, if fame were not a lottery.
As the Lord-Lieutenant waved his hand, the company rose
_ with one accord, and followed the lead of his strong clear
voice in the popular song, called
“BILLY BLUE.”
I
“Tis a terrible time for Englishmen ;
All tyrants do abhor them;
Every one of them hath to fight with ten,
And the Lord alone is for them.
But the Lord hath given the strong right hand,
And the courage to face the thunder;
If a Frenchman treads this English land,
He shall find his grave thereunder.
CHORUS.
Britannia is the Ocean-Queen, and she standeth stanch and true,
With Nelson for her faulchion keen, and her buckler Billy Blue.
2.
“They are mustering on yon Gallic coasts,
You can see them from this high land,
The biggest of all the outlandish hosts
That ever devoured an island.
There are steeds that have scoured the Continent,
Ere ever one might say, ‘ Whoa, there!’
And ships that would fill the Thames and Trent,
If we would let them go there.
CuHorvs.
But England is the Ocean-Queen, and it shall be hard to do;
Not a Frenchman shall skulk in between herself and her Billy Blue.
3.
“From the smiling bays of Devonshire
To the frowning cliffs of Filey,
Leaps forth every son of an English sire,
To fight for his native isley.
244 SPRINGHAVEN.
He hath drawn the sword of his father now
From the rusty sheath it rattled in;
And Dobbin, who dragged the peaceful plough,
Is neighing for the battle-din.
CHorUs.
For Albion still is Ocean-Queen, and though her sons be few,
‘They challenge the world with a dauntless mien, and the flag of Billy Blue.
4.
‘Then pledge me your English palm, my lad;
Keep the knuckles for Sir Frenchman ;
No slave can you be till you change your dad,
And no son of yours a henehman.
The fight is to come; and we will not brag,
Nor expect whatever we sigh for,
But stand as the rock that bears the flag
Our duty is to die for.
CHoRUS.
For Englishmen confront serene whatever them betideth ;
And England shall be Ocean’s Queen as long as the world abideth.”
W hat with the drum and the fifes of one of the regiments
now at Stonnington, and the mighty bass of some sea-cap-
tains vehement in chorus, these rough and rolling lines were
enough to frighten a thousand Frenchmen, while proving
the vigour of British nerve, and fortitude both of heart and
ear. When people have done a thing well, they know it,
and applaud one another to include themselves; and even
the ladies, who were meant to be unseen, forgot that and
waved their handkerchiefs. Then up and spoke Blyth
Scudamore, in the spirit of the moment; and all that he
said was good and true, well-balanced and well-condensed,
like himself. His quiet melodious voice went further than
the Lord-Lieutenant’s, because it was new to the air of
noise, and that fickle element. loves novelty. All was si-
lence while he spoke, and when he ceased—great uproar.
‘‘That lad will do,” said the Marquis to his supporter on
the right hand; ‘‘I was just like him at that age myself.
Let me draw this cork—it is the bottle of the evening.
None but my own fellows understand a cork, and they seem
to have got away somewhere. What the doose are they
about—why, halloa, Darling! What’s the meaning of all
this, at such a time ”
“Well, my lord, you must judge for yourself,” said the
Admiral, who had made his way quietly from the bottom
SPRINGHAVEN. 245
of the table. ‘‘We know that false alarms are plentiful.
But this looks like business, from the paper it is written on;
and I know that old Dudgeon is as solidas myself. Vickers
the Coast-guard brought it in, from an officer whose horse
was blown, who had orders to get somehow to Stonnington.”
‘Ts Vickers a knave, or a fool who is likely to be made
the victim of a very low joke? There are hundreds of
jealous scoundrels eager to spoil every patriotic gathering.
Ah, this looks rather serious, though, if you can youch for
the paper.”
‘‘T can vouch for the paper, my lord, and for Vickers;
but not for Dudgeon’s signature. Of that I have no knowl-
edge—though it looks right enough, so far as I know.
Shall I read it aloud, and let officers who are not under
my command judge for themselves, as I shall judge for those
I have the honour to command 2”
The Lord- Lieutenant, with his cork just squeaking in
the neck of the bottle, nodded; and the Admiral, with
officers crowding round, read aloud as follows, part being
in type, and part in manuscript:
“ Commander of Coast-defence at Hythe, to Vice-Admiral Darling,
Springhaven :
‘“ French fleet standing in, must have slipped Cornwallis.
Do all youcan. Nota moment to lose.
(Signed) ‘* BELLAMY DUDGEON.”
‘“ Well, it may be true, or it may be a lie,” said the Mar-
quis, pouring carefully; ‘‘my opinion is the latter; but I
have nothing to do with it officially, according to the new
arrangements. Hvery gentleman must judge for himself.
And I mean to abide by my own judgment, which strongly
recommends me to finish this bottle.”
‘*Probably you are right enough; and in your place per-
haps I should do the same,” the Admiral answered, quietly ;
‘“’but be the alarm either true or false, 1am bound to act
otherwise. All Naval Officers present will be good enough
to follow me, and prepare to rejoin if ordered. We shall
very soon know from the signal-point, unless fog has set in
suddenly, whether we are bound to beat a general alarm.”
All the sons of the sea arose quietly, and were de-
spatched with brief orders to the right and left, to communi-
cate with their signal stations, while Stubbard hurried back
to his battery.
246 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘* What cold blood they do display !” whispered the French-
man, who had returned with the author of the plot to
watch the issue from a point of vantage. ‘‘ My faith, they
march slowly for their native land! Not less than six bot-
tles of great French wine did I anticipate to steal through
the window, while they fell out precipitous. But there sits
a man big enough to leave me nothing—not even a re-
mainder of my own body. Soul of St. Denis, can it be that
they question the word of a gentleman 2?”
‘“Not they!’ replied Carne, who was vexed, however;
‘‘they are taking things easily, according to the custom of
the nation. But two good things we have done, friend Char-
ron; we have learned their proceedings, and we have
spoiled their feasting.”
‘‘But not at all; they are all coming back to enjoy it
all the more!” cried the Frenchman. ‘‘Oh that I were an
Englishman, to get such a dinner, and to be so loyal to it!”
CHAPTER XXXVI.
FAIR ORITICISM.
FrEw things can be worse for a very young woman than
to want to be led by somebody, and yet find nobody fit to
do it. Or at any rate, through superior quickness and the
knowledge of it, to regard old friends and relatives of
experience as very slow coaches, and prigs or prudes, who
cannot enter into quick young feelings, but deal in old saws
which grate upon them.
Not to moralize about it—for if young ladies hate anything,
it is such moralizing— Miss Dolly Darling was now in that
uncomfortable frame of mind when advice is most needed,
yet most certain to be spurned. She looked upon her
loving and sensible sister as one who was fated to be an old
maid, and was meant perhaps by nature for that condition,
which appeared to herself the most abject inthe world. And
even without that conclusion about Faith, she would have
been loath to seek counsel from her, having always resented
most unduly what she called her ‘‘ superior air of wisdom.”
Dolly knew that she was quicker of wit than her sister—as
shallow waters run more rapidly—and she fancied that she
possessed a world of lively feelings into which the slower
intellect could not enter. For instance, their elder brother
Frank had just published a volume of poems, very noble in
« SMOTIO“’ SV GVGY “GNOOU DNIGMOUD SUYAOIGKO HLIM ‘TVYINGY GHL,,
— ween
, 425) }
‘ eckie i
TN a aa MAS Rg
248 SPRINGHAVEN.
their way, and glowing with ardour for freedom, democracy,
and the like, as well as exhibiting fine perception of sound,
and great boldness in matters beyond sounding, yet largely
ungifted with knowledge of nature, whether human or su-
perior.
‘* Better stick to his law-books,”’ the Admiral had said,
after singing out some of the rhyme of it to the tune of
‘Billy Benbow”; ‘‘ never sit on the wool-sack by spewing
oakum this way.”
Faith had tried, as a matter of duty, to peruse this book
to its cover; but she found it beyond even her good-will,
and mild sympathy with everything, to do so. There was
not the touch of nature in it which makes humble people
feel, and tickles even the very highest with desire to enter
into it. So Faith declared that it must be very clever, and
no doubt very beautiful, but she herself was so stupid that
she could not make out very clearly what it was all about.
‘Well, I understand every word of it,’’ Miss Dolly cried,
with a literary look. ‘‘I don’t see how you can help doing
that, when you know all about Frank, who wrote it.
Whenever it is not quite clear, it is because he wants us to
think that he knows too much, or else because he is not quite
certain what he wants to mean himself. And as for his talk
about freedom, and all that, I don’t see why you should ob-
ject to it. It is quite the fashion witk all clever people now,
and it stops them from doing any mischief. And nobody
pays much attention to them, after the cruel things done
in France when I was seven or eight years old. If I see
Frank, I shall tell him that I like it.”
‘‘And I shall tell him that I don’t,” said Faith. ‘‘It
cannot do anybody any good. And what they call ‘free-
dom’ seems to mean making free with other people’s prop-
erty.” |
These poems were issued in one volume, and under one
title— The Harmodiad—although there must have been
some half-hundred of them, and not more than nine odes to
freedom in the,lot. Some were almost tolerable, and others
lofty rubbish, and the critics (not knowing the author) spoke
their bright opinions freely. The poet, though shy as a
mouse in his preface, expected a mountain of inquiry as to
the identity of this new bard, and modestly signed himself
“** Asteroid,” which made his own father stare and swear.
Growing sore prematurely from much keelhauling—for the
reviewers of the period were patriotic, and the English pub-
TO PERUSE THIS BOOK.’’
“FAITH HAD TRIED, AS A MATTER OF DUTY,
250 SPRINGHAVEN.
lic anti-Gallic— Frank quitted his chambers at Lincoln’s
Inn, and came home to be comforted for Christmas. This
was the wisest thing that he could do, though he felt that it
was not Harmodian. In spite of all crotchets, he was not
a bad fellow, and not likely to make a good lawyer.
As the fates would have it (being naturally hostile to
poets who defy them), by the same coach to Stonnington
came Master Johnny, in high feather for his Christmas holi-
days. Now these two brothers were as different of nature |
as their sisters were, or more so; and unlike the gentler
pair, each of these cherished lofty disdain for the other.
Frank looked down upon the school-boy
( as an unlicked cub without two
/ ideas; the bodily defect he en-
deavoured to cure by fre-
forts. Johnny mean-
while, who was as
wo. hard as nails, no
“<=> sooner recovered
~~ from a thumping
“+ than he renewed
~- and redoubled his
. loud contempt for
, & great lout over
Y7 six feet high, who
~ had never drawn
_a sword or pulled
a trigger. And
now for the win-
ter this book would be a perpetual snowball for him to pelt
his big brother with, and yet (like a critic) be scarcely fair
object for a hiding. In season out of season, up-stairs down-
stairs, even in the breakfast and the dinner chambers, this
young imp poked clumsy splinters—worse than thorns, be-
cause so dull—into the tender poetic side; and. people, who
laugh at the less wit the better, laughed very kindly, to
please the boy, without asking whether they vexed the man.
And the worst of it was, that the author too must laugh.
All this might be looked down at by a soul well hoisted
upon the guy-ropes of contempt; and now and then a very
solid drubbing given handsomely (upon other grounds) to the
ates
Bs
+
Nest Zs
yy,”
SPRINGHAVEN. 251
chief tormentor solaced the mind of unacknowledged merit.
But as the most vindictive measure to the man who has
written an abusive letter is to vouchsafe him no reply, so to
the poet who rebukes the age the bitterest answer it can give
is none. Frank Darling could retaliate upon his brother
Johnny, and did so whenever he could lay hold of him
alone; but the steadfast silence of his sister Faith (to whom
one of his loftiest odes was addressed), and of his lively fa-
ther, irked him far more than a thousand low parodies.
Dolly alone was some comfort to him, some little vindication
of true insight; and he was surprised to find how quickly
her intelligence (which until now he had despised) had
strengthened, deepened, and enlarged itself. Still he want-
ed some one older, bigger, more capable of shutting up the
mouth, and nodding (instead of showing such a lot of
red tongue and white teeth), before he could be half as snug
as a true poet should be, upon the hobs of his own fire. And
happily he found his Anti-Zoilus ere long.
~ One day he was walking in a melancholy mood along
the beach towards Pebbleridge, doubting deeply in his hon-
est mind whether he ever should do any good, in versi-
fication, or anything else. He said to himself that he had
been too sanguine, eager, self-confident, ardent, impetuous,
and, if the nasty word must be faced, even too self-conceit-
ed. Only yesterday he had tried, by delicate setting of little
word-traps, to lead Mr. Twemlow towards the subject, and
obtain that kind-hearted man’s comforting opinion. But
no; the gentle Rector would not be brought to book, or at
any rate not to that book ; and the author had sense enough
to know without a wink that his volume had won volumes
of dislike.
Parnassus could never have lived till now without two
heads—one to carry on with, while the other is being thump-
ed to pieces. While the critics demolish one peak, the poet
withdraws to the other, and assures himself that the general
public, the larger voice of the nation, will salute him there.
But alas, Frank Darling had just discovered that even that
eminence was not his, except as a desert out of human sight.
For he had in his pocket a letter from his publishers, re-
ceived that dreary morning, announcing a great many Copies
gone gratis, six sold to the trade at a frightful discount, and
six to the enterprising public. All these facts combined to
make him feel uncommonly sad and sore to-day.
A man of experience could have told him that this dis-
252 SPRINGHAVEN.
appointment was for his good; but he failed to see it in that
light, and did not bless the blessing. Slowly and heavily
he went on, without much heed of anything, swinging his
clouded cane now and then, as some slashing reviews oc-
curred to him, yet becoming more peaceful and impartial
of mind under the long monotonous cadence and quiet
repetitions of the soothing sea. For now he was beyond the
Haven head—the bulwark that makes the bay a pond in all
common westerly weather—and waves that were worthy
of the name flowed towards him, with a gentle ‘breeze step-
ping over them.
The brisk air was like a fresh beverage to him, and the
fall of the waves sweet music. He took off his hat, and
stopped, and listened, and his eyes grew brighter. Although
the waves had nothing very distinct to say in dying, yet no
two (if you hearkened well), or at any rate no two in suc-
cession, died with exactly the same expression, or vanished
with precisely the same farewell. Continual shifts went
on among them, and momentary changes; each in proper
sequence marching, and allowed its proper time, yet at any
angle traversed, even in its crowning curl, not only by the
wind its father, but by the penitent return and white con-
trition of its shattered elder brother. And if this were not
enough to make a samely man take interest in perpetually
flowing changes, the sun and clouds, at every look and
breath, varied variety.
Frank Darling thought how small his griefs were, and
how vain his vanity. Of all the bubbly clots of froth, or
frayed and shattered dabs of drift, flying beside him or fall-
ing at his feet, every one was as good as his ideas, and as
valuable as his labours. And of all the unreckoned waves
advancing, lifting their fugitive crests,and roaring, there
certainly was not one that fell with weight so futile as his
own. Who cared even to hear his sound? What ear was
soothed by his long rhythm, or what mind solaced by the
magnitude of his rolling?
Suddenly he found that some mind was so. For when he
had been standing a long while thus, chewing the salt cud
of marine reflections, he seemed to hear something more in-
telligible than the sea. With more surprise than interest he
walked towards the sound, and stood behind the corner of a
jutting rock to listen. In another second his interest over-
powered his surprise, for he knew every word of the lines
brought to his ears, for the very simple reason that they
SPRINGHAVEN. 253
were his own. Round the corner of that rock, so absorbed
in admiration that he could hear no footstep, a very fine
young man of the highest order was reading aloud in a pow-
erful voice, and with extremely ardent gesticulation, a fine
passage from that greatly undervalued poem, the Harmo-
diad, of and concerning the beauties of Freedom—
“No crown upon her comely head.she bore,
No wreath her affluent tresses to restrain ;
A smile, the only ornament she wore,
Her only gem a tear for others’ pain.
Herself did not her own mishaps deplore,
Because she lives immortal as the dew, °
Which falling from the stars soon mounts again ;
And in this wise all space she travels through,
Beneficent as heaven, and to the earth more true.
“Her blessings all may win who seek the prize,
If only they be faithful, meek, and strong,
And crave not that which others’ right denies,
But march against the citadel of wrong.
A glorious army this, that finds allies
Wherever God hath built the heart of man
With attributes that to Himself belong;
By Him ordained to crown what He began,
And shatter despotism, which is the foul fiend’s ban.”
Frank thought that he had never heard nobler reading,
sonorous, clear, well-timed, well-poised, and of harmonious
cadence. The curved rock gave a melodious ring, and the
husky waves a fine contrast to it, while the reader was so
engrossed with grandeur—the grandeur of Frank’s own
mind!—that his hat could evidently not contain his head,
but was flung at the mercy of his feet. What a fine, expres-
Sive, and commanding face!
If Frank Darling had been a Frenchman—which he
sometimes longed to be, for the sake of that fair Liberty—the
scene, instead of being awkward, would have been elegant,
rapturous, ennobling. But being of the clumsy English
race, he was quite at a loss what to do with himself. On
paper he could be effusive, ardent, eloquent, sentimental ;
but not a bit of that to meet the world in his own waistcoat.
He gave a swing to his stick, and walked across the open-
ing as if he were looking at sea-gulls. And on he would
have walked without further notice, except a big gulp in
his throat, if it had not been for a trifling accident.
Somehow or other the recitative gentleman’s hat turned
over to the wind, and that active body (which never neglects
954 SPRINGHAVEN.
any sportive opportunity) got into the crown, with the speed
of an upstart, and made off with it along the stones. A
costly hat it was,and comely with rich braid and satin
loops, becoming also to a well-shaped head, unlike the chim-
ney-pot of the present day, which any man must thank God
_forlosing. However, the owner was so wrapped up in poetry
that his breeches might have gone without his being any
wiser.
‘‘Sir,” said Frank Darling, after chasing the hat (which
could not trundle as our pots do, combining every possible
absurdity), ‘‘excuse me for interrupting you, but this ap-
pears to be your hat, and it was on its way to a pool of salt-
water.”
‘*Hat!—my hat?” replied the other gentleman. ‘‘ Oh, to
be sure! I had quite forgotten. Sir, lam very much obliged
to you. My hat might have gone to the devil, I believe, I
was so delightfully occupied. Such a thing never hap-
pened to me before, for Iam very hard indeed to please; but
I was reading, sir; I was reading. Accept my thanks, sir;
and I suppose I must leave off.”
‘‘T thought that I heard a voice,” said Frank, growing bold
with fear that he should know no more, for the other was
closing his book with great care, and committing it to a pouch
buckled over his shoulder; ‘‘and I fear that I broke in upon
a pleasaht moment. Perhaps I should have pleased you bet-
ter if I had left this hat to drown.” |
‘‘T seem ungrateful,” the stranger answered, with a sweet
but melancholy smile, as he donned his hat and then lifted
it gracefully to salute its rescuer; “‘ but it is only because
I have been carried far away from all thoughts of self, by
the power of a much larger mind. Such a thing may
have occurred to you, sir, though it happens very seldom in
one life. If so, you will know how to forgive me.”’
‘*T scarcely dare ask—or rather I would say ”—stammered
the anxious poet—‘‘that I cannot expect you to tell me the
name of the fortunate writer who has moved you so.”
‘“Would to Heaven that I could!” exclaimed the other.
‘But this great poet has withheld his name—all great poets
are always modest—but it cannot long remain unknown.
Such grandeur of conception and force of language, com-
bined with such gifts of melody, must produce universal
demand to know the name of this benefactor. I cannot
express myself as I would desire, because I have been brought
up in France, where literature is so different, and people
“THIS APPEARS TO BE YOUR HAT, AND IT WAS ON ITS WAY TO A POOL UF
SALT-WATER,”
judge a work more liberally, without recourse to politics.
This is a new work, only out last week; and a friend of
mine, a very fine judge of literature, was so enchanted with
it that he bought a score of copies at once, and as my good
stars prevailed, he sent me one. You are welcome to see
it, sir. It is unknown in these parts; but will soon be
known all over Europe, unless these cruel wars retard it.”
256 SPRINGHAVEN.
With a face of deep gravity, Caryl Carne put into Frank
Darling’s hand a copy of his own book, quite young, but al-
ready scored with many loving marks of admiration and keen
sympathy. Frank took it, and reddened with warm delight.
‘You may not understand it at first,” said the other;
‘‘though I beg your pardon for saying that. What I mean
is, that I can well suppose that an Englishman, though a
good judge in general, would probably have his judgment
darkened by insular prejudices, and the petty feeling which
calls itself patriotism, and condemns whatever is nobler and
larger than itself. My friend tells me that the critics have
begun to vent their little spite already. The author would
treat them with calm disdain!”
‘‘Horribly nasty fellows!” cried Frank. ‘‘ They ought
to be kicked; but they are below contempt. But if I could
only catch them here—”’
‘‘T am delighted to find,” replied Carne, looking at him
with kind surprise, ‘‘that you agree with me about that, sir.
Read a few lines, and your indignation against that low lot
will grow hotter.”
‘Tt cannot grow hotter,” cried the author; ‘‘I know ev-
ery word that the villains have said. Why, in that first
line that I heard you reading, the wretches actually asked
me whether I expected my beautiful goddess to wear her
crown upon her comely tail!”
‘‘T am quite at a loss to understand you, sir. Why, you
speak as if this great work were your own!”
‘So it is,every word of it,” cried Frank, hurried out of all
reserve by excitement. ‘‘ At least, I don’t mean that it is
a great work—though others, besides your good self, have
said— Are you sure that your friend bought twenty copies ?
My publishers will have to clear up that. Why, they say,
under date of yesterday, that they have only sold six copies
altogether. And it was out on Guy Fawkes’ Day, two
months ago!”
Caryl Carne’s face was full of wonder. And the greatest
wonder of all was its gravity. He drew back a little, in
this vast surprise, and shaded his forehead with one hand,
that he might think.
‘‘T can hardly help laughing at myself,” he said, ‘‘ for be-
ing so stupid and so slow of mind. But a coincidence like
this is enough to excuse anything. If I could be sure that
you are not jesting with me, seeing how my whole mind is
taken up with this book—”
SPRINGHAVEN. 254
- “Sir T can feel for your surprise,” answered Frank, hand-
ing back the book, for which the other had made a sign, ‘‘be-
cause my own is even greater; for I never have been read
aloud before—by anybody else I mean, of course; and the
sound is very strange, and highly gratifying—at least, when
done as you do it. But to prove my claim to the author-
ship of the little work which you so kindly esteem, I will
show you the letter I spoke of.”
The single-minded poet produced from near his heart a
very large letter with much sealing-wax endorsed, and the
fervent admirer of his genius read:
‘“DEAR Sir,—In answer to your favour to hand, we beg
to state that your poetical work the Harmodiad, published
by our firm, begins to move. Following the instructions in
your last, we have already disposed of more than fifty copies.
Forty-two of these have been distributed to those who will
forward the interests of the book, by commending it to the
Public; six have been sold to the trade at a discount of 75
per cent.; and six have been taken by private purchasers,
at the full price of ten shillings. We have reason to an-
ticipate a more rapid sale hereafter. But the political views
expressed in the poems—as we frankly stated to you at first
—are not likely to be popular just now, when the Country
is in peril, and the Book trade incommoded, by the imme-
diate prospect of a French invasion. We are, dear sir, your
obedient servants, TICKLEBOIS, LATHERUP, BLINKERS, & Co.
—To Mr. FRANK DARLING, Springhaven Hall.”
“You cannot call that much encouragement,” said Frank;
‘‘and it is a most trusty and honourable house. I cannot
do what a friend of mine has done, who went to inferior
publishers—denounce them as rogues, and call myself a
martyr. If the book had been good, it would have sold; es-
pecially as all the poets now are writing vague national
songs, full of slaughter and brag, like that ‘ Billy Blue’ thing
all our fishermen are humming.” | ?
: “You have nothing to do but to bide your time. In the
long-run, fine work is sure to make its way. Meanwhile I
must apologize for praising you to your face, in utter igno-
rance, of course. But it must have made you feel uncom-
fortable.” .
“Not at all; far otherwise,” said the truthful Frank.
‘It has been the very greatest comfort tome. And strange
258 SPRINGHAVEN.
to say, it came just when I wanted it most sadly. I shall
never forget your most kind approval.”
‘‘Tn that case I may take the liberty of introducing my-
self, I trust. You have told me who you are, in the most
delightful way. I have no such claim upon your attention,
or upon that of the world at large. I am only the last of
an ill-fated race, famous for nothing except ruining them--
selves. I am Caryl Carne, of yonder ruin, which you must
have known from childhood.”
Frank Darling lifted his hat in reply to the other’s more
graceful salutation, and then shook hands with him hearti-
ly. ‘‘I ought to have known who you are,” he said; ‘“‘ for
I have heard of you often at Springhaven. But you have
not been there since I came down, and we thought that you
had left the neighbourhood. Our little village is like the
ear of the tyrant, except that it carries more false than true
sound. I hope you are come to remain among us, and I
hope that we shall see you at my father’s house. Years
ago I have heard that there used to be no especial good-will
between your family and mine—petty disputes about boun-
daries, no doubt. How narrow and ridiculous such things
are! We live in a better age than that, at any rate, al-
though we are small enough still in many ways.”
‘You are not; and you will enlarge many others,” Carne
answered, as if the matter were beyond debate. ‘‘ As for
boundaries now, I have none, because the estates are gone,
and Iam all the richer. That is the surest way to liberate
the mind.”
“Will you oblige me,” said Frank, to change the sub-
ject, for his mind did not seek to be liberated so, and yet
wished its new admirer to remain in admiration, ‘‘ by looking
along the shore towards Springhaven as far as you can see,
and telling me whether any one iscoming? My sisters were
to follow me, if the weather kept fine, as soon as they had
paid a little visit at the rectory. And my sight is not good
for long distances.”
‘‘T think I can see two ladies coming, or at any rate two
figures moving, about a mile or more away, where the sands
are shining in a gleam of sunlight. Yes, they are ladies. I
know by their walk. Good-bye. I havea way up the cliff
from here. You must not be surprised if you do not see me
again. I may have to be off for France. I have business
there, of which I should like to talk toyou. You are so far
above mean prejudice. If I go, I shall carry this precious
SPRINGHAVEN. 259
volume with me. Farewell, my friend, if I may call you
B02";
‘‘Do wait a minute,” cried the much-admiring Frank;
‘for walk a few yards with me towards Springhaven. It
would give me such pleasure to introduce you to my sisters.
And I am sure they will be so glad to know you, when I tell
them whatI think. Ivery seldom get such a chance as this.”
‘*There is no resisting that!” replied the graceful Carne;
‘‘T have not the honour of knowing a lady in England, ex-
cept my aunt Mrs. Twemlow,and my cousin Eliza-—-both very
good, but to the last degree insular.”
‘‘Tt is very hard to help being that, when people have
never been outofan island. ButI fear that lam taking you
out of your way.”
In a few minutes these two young men drew near to the
two young women, whose manners were hard put to hide sur-
prise. When their brother introduced Mr. Carne to them,
Faith bowed rather stiffly, for she had formed without reason
a dark and obstinate dislike to him. But the impetuous
Dolly ran up.and offered him both her hands, and said,
‘Why, Mr. Carne saved both our lives only a few days ago.”
CHAPTER XXXVII.
NEITHER AT HOME.
THOUGH Admiral Darling had not deigned to speak to his
younger daughter about that vile anonymous charge, he was
not always quite comfortable in his inner mind concerning
it. More than once he thought of asking Faith’s opinion,
for he knew her good sense and discretion; but even this.
was repugnant to him,and might give her the idea that he
cherished low suspicions. And then he was called from
home again, being occupied among other things with a vain
inquiry about the recent false alarm. For Carne and Char-
ron had managed too well, and judged too correctly the
character of Vickers, to afford any chance of discovery. So
that, when the Admiral came home again, his calm and—_
in its fair state—gentle nature was ruffled by the prosperity
of the wicked.
‘Oh, he is a fine judge of poetry, is he?” he said, more
sarcastically than his wont; ‘‘that means, I suppose, that
he admires yours, Frank. Remember what Nelson said
260 SPRINGHAVEN.
about you. The longer I live, the more I find his views con-
firmed.”
‘*Papa, you are too bad! You are come home cross!” cried
Dolly, who always took Frank’s part now. ‘What does
my godfather know of poetry, indeed? If he ever had any
ear for it, the guns would have ruined it long ago.”
‘No mostacchio in my house!” said the master, without
heeding her. ‘‘I believe that is the correct way to pro-
nounce the filthy thing—a foreign abomination altogether.
Who could keep his lips clean, with that dirt over them ?
A more tolerant man than myself never lived—a great
deal too tolerant, as everybody knows. But Ill never
tolerate a son of mine in disgusting French hairiness of
that sort.”
‘‘Papa, you are come home as cross as a bear!” cried
Dolly, presuming on her favour. ‘‘ Lord Dashville was here
the other day with a very nice one, and I hear that all Cav-
alry Officers mean to have one, when they can. And Mr.
Carne, Frank’s friend, encourages it.”
‘“The less you have to say about that young man, the
better. And the less he has to say to any child of mine, the
better, both for him and her,I say. I know that the age is
turned upside down. But I'll not have that sort of thing at
my table.” |
When a kind and indulgent father breaks forth thus, the
result is consternation, followed by anxiety about his health.
Faith glanced at Dolly, who was looking quite bewildered,
and the two girls withdrew without a word. Johnny was
already gone to visit Captain Stubbard, with whose eldest
daughter Maggie and the cannons of the battery he was by
this time desperately in love; and poor Frank was left to
have it out with the angry father.
‘‘T very seldom speak harshly, my boy,” said the Admiral,
drawing near his son gradually, for his wrath (like good
vegetables) was very short of staple; ‘‘and when I do so you
may feel quite certain that there is sound reason at the bot-
tom of it’—here he looked as if his depth was unfathomable.
‘Tt is not only that Iam not myself, because of the many
hours spent upon hard leather, and vile chalks of flint that
go by me half asleep, when I ought to be snoring in the
feathers; neither has it anything to do with my consuming
the hide of some quadruped for dinner, instead of meat.
And the bread is made of rye, if of any grain at all; I rather
think of spent tan, kneaded up with tallow ends, such as I
SPRINGHAVEN. 261
have seen cast by in bushels, when the times were good.
And every loaf of that costs two shillings—one for me, and
one for Government. They all seem to acknowledge that I
can put up with that; and I make a strict point of mild
language, which enables them to do it again with me.
All up and down the roads, everybody likes me. But if I
was shot to-morrow, would they care twopence ?”
‘‘T am sure they would, sir; and a good deal more than
that,” answered Frank, who perceived that his father was
out of his usual lines of thinking, perhaps because he had
just had a good dinner—so ill do we digest our mercies.
‘‘T am sure that there is nobody in Sussex, Kent, or Hamp-
shire who does not admire and respect and trust you.”
‘‘T dare say, and rejoice to see me do the work they ought
to do. They have long nights in bed, every one of them,
and they get their meals when they want them. Iam not
at all astonished at what Nelson said. He is younger than
I am by a good many years, but he seems to have picked
up more than I have, in the way of common sentiments,
and such like. ‘You may do everybody’s work, if you are
fool enough,’ he said to me the last time I saw him; ‘and
ease them of their souls as well, if you are rogue enough, as
they do in the Popish countries. Iam nearly sick of doing
it,’ he said, and he looked it. ‘If you once begin with it,
you must goon.’ I find it more true every day of my life.
Don’t interrupt me; don’t go on with comfortable stuff abou ;
doing good, and one’s duty towards one’s Country—though
I fear that you think very little of that. If I thought I
had done good enough to make up for my back-aches, and
three fine stumps lost through chewing patriotic sentiments,
why, of course I should be thankful, and make the best of
my reward. But charity begins at home, my boy, and one’s
shirt should be considered before one’s cloak. A man’s fam-
ily is the nearest piece of his country, and the dearest one.”
‘‘T am sure, sir, I hope,” replied Frank, who had never
heard his father talk like this before, ‘‘ that nothing is going
on amiss with us here. When you are away,I keep a sharp
lookout. And if I saw anything going wrong, I should let
you know of it immediately.” |
‘“No doubt you would; but you are much too soft. You
are quite as easy-going as I used to be at your age’’—here
the Admiral looked as if he felt himself to be uncommonly
hard-going now—‘‘and that sort of thing will not do in
these days. For my own discomforts I care nothing. I
262 SPRINGHAVEN.
could live on lobscouse, or soap and bully, for a year, and
thank God for getting more than I deserved. But my
children, Frank, are very different. From me you would
never hear a grumble, or a syllable of anything but perfect
satisfaction, so long as I felt that I was doing good work,
and having it appreciated. And all my old comrades have
just the same feeling. But you, who come after us, are not —
like that. You must have everything made to fit you, in-
stead of making yourselves fit them. The result will be, I
have very little doubt, the downfall of England in the scale
of nations. I was talking to my old friend St. Vincent last
week, and he most heartily agreed with me. However, I
don’t mean to blame you, Frank. You cannot help your
unfortunate nature for stringing ends of words together that
happen to sound alike. Johnny will make a fine Officer,
not in the Navy, but of Artillery—Stubbard says that he
has the rarest eyes he ever came across in one so young, and
he wishes he could put them into his Bob’s head. He shall
not go back to Harrow; he can spell his own name, which
seems to be all they teach them there, instead of fine scholar-
ship, such as I obtained at Winton. But to spell his own
name is quite enough forasoldier. In the Navy we always
were better educated. Johnny shall go to Chatham, when
his togs are ready. I settled all about it in London, last
week. Nothing hurts him. He is water-proof and thunder-
proof. Toss him up anyhow, he falls upon his feet. But
that sort of nature very seldom goes up high. But you,
Frank, you might have done some good, without that nasty
twist of yours for writing and for rhyming, which is a sure
indication of spinal complaint. Don’t interrupt me; I speak
from long experience. Things might be worse, and I ought
to be thankful. None of my children will ever disgrace
me. At the same time, things would go on better if I were
able to be more at home. That Caryl Carne, for instance,
what does he come here for 2”
‘‘ Well, sir, he has only been here twice. And it took a
long time to persuade him at all. He said that as you had
not called upon him, he felt that he might be intruding
here. And Faith, who is sometimes very spiteful, bowed,
as much as to say that he had better wait. But Dolly, who
is very kind-hearted, assured him that she had heard you
say at least a dozen times: ‘Be sure that I call upon Mr.
Carne to-day. What will he think of my neglect? But
I hope that he will set it down to the right cause—the per-
SPRINGHAVEN. 263
petual demands upon my time.’ And when she told him
that, he said that he would call the next day, and so he did.”
“Ah!” eried the old man, not well pleased; ‘‘it was
Dolly who took that little business off my shoulders!
She might have been content with her elder sister’s judg-
ment, in a family question of that sort. But I dare say she
thought it right to make my excuses. Very well, I'll do
that for myself. To-morrow I shall call upon that young
man, unless I get another despatch to-night. But I hear
he wants nobody at his ruins... I suppose he has not asked
even you to go there ?”
‘*No, sir; I think he took his little place here, because
it would be so painful for him to receive any friends at
that tumble-down castle. He has not yet been able to do
any repairs.”
‘‘T respect him for that,” said the Admiral, with his
generous sympathies aroused; ‘they have been a grand old
family, though I can’t say much for those I knew—except,
of course, Mrs. Twemlow. But he may be a very fine
young fellow, though a great deal too Frenchified, from
all I hear. And why my friend Twemlow cold-shoulders
him so is something of a mystery to me. Twemlow is gen-
erally a judicious man in things that have nothing to do with
the Church. When it comes to that, he is very stiff-backed,
as I have often had to tell him. Perhaps this young man
is a Papist. His mother was, and she brought him up.”
‘‘T am sure I don’t know, sir,” answered Frank. ‘‘I
should think none the worse of him if he were, unless he
allowed it to interfere with his proper respect for liberty.”
‘‘Liberty be hanged!” cried the Admiral; ‘‘and that’s
the proper end for most of those who prate about it, when
they ought to be fighting for their Country. I shall sound
him about that stuff to-morrow. If he is one of that lot,
he won’t come here with my good-will, I can assure him.
What time is he generally to be found down there? He
is right over Stubbard’s head, I believe, and yet friend
Adam knows nothing about him. Nor even Mrs. Adam!
I should have thought that worthy pair would have drawn
any badger in the kingdom. I suppose the youth will see
me, if I call. Idon’t want to go round that way for noth-
ing. Idid want to have a quiet day at home, and saunter
in the garden, as the weather is so mild, and consult poor
Swipes about Spring crops, and then have a pipe or two, and
take my gun to Brown Bushes for a woodcock, or a hare,
264 : SPRINGHAVEN.
and come home with a fine appetite to a good dinner. But
I never must hope for a bit of pleasure now.”
‘“You may depend upon it, sir,” said Frank, ‘‘ that Caryl
Carne will be greatly pleased to see you. And I think you
will agree with me that a more straightforward and sim-
ple-minded man is not to be found in this country. He
combines what we are pleased to call our national dignity
and self-respect with the elegant manners, and fraternal
warmth, and bonhomie—as they themselves express it—of
our friends across the water.”
‘“You be off! I don’t want to be cross any more. Two
hundred thousand friends there at this moment eager to
burn down our homes and cut our throats! Tired as I am,
I ought to take a stick to you, as friend Tugwell did to his
son for much less. I have the greatest mind not to go near
that young man. I wish I had Twemlow here to talk it
over. Pay your fine for a French word, and be off!”
Frank Darling gravely laid down five shillings on his
dessert plate, and walked off. The fine for a French word
in that house, and in hundreds of other English houses at
this patriotic period, was a crown for a gentleman, and a
shilling for a lady, the latter not being hable except when
gentlemen were present. The poet knew well that another
word on his part would irritate his father to such a degree
that no visit would be paid to-morrow to the admirer of
the Harmodiad, whose admiration he was longing to re-
ward with a series of good dinners. And so he did his
utmost to insure his father’s visit.
But when the Admiral, going warily—because he was so
stiff from saddle-work—made his way down to the house of
Widow Shanks, and, winking at the Royal Arms in the
lower front window, where Stubbard kept Office and con-
venience, knocked with the knocker at the private door,
there seemed to be a great deal of thought required before
anybody came to answer.
‘‘Susie,” said the visitor, who had an especial knack of
remembering Christian names, which endeared him to the
bearers, ‘‘I am come to see Mr. Carne, and I hope he is at.
home.”
‘‘ No, that ’a bain’t, sir,” the little girl made answer, after
looking at the Admiral as if he were an elephant, and wiping
her nose with unwonted diligence; ‘‘he be gone away, sir;
and please, sir, mother said so.”
‘* Well, here’s a penny for you, my dear, because you are
SPRINGHAVEN. 268
the best little needle-woman in the school, they tell me.
Run and tell your mother to come and see me.—Oh, Mrs.
Shanks, Iam very glad to see you, and so blooming in spite
of all your hard work. Ah, it is no easy thing in these
hard times to maintain a large family and keep the pot
boiling. And everything clean as a quarter-deck! My
certy, you are a woman in a thousand!”
‘‘No, sir, no. It is all the Lord’s doing. And you to
the back of Him, as I alway say. Not a penny can they
make out as I owes justly, bad as I be at the figures, Squire.
Do ’e come in, and sit down, there’s a dear. Ah, I mind
the time when you was like a dart, Squire!”
‘* Well, and now I am like a cannon-ball,” said the Ad-
miral, who understood and liked this unflattering talk;
‘‘only I don’t travel quite so fast as that. I scarcely get
time to see any old friends. But I came to look out fora
young friend now, the gentleman you make so comfortable
up-stairs. Don’t I wish I was a young man without encum-
brance, to come and lodge with such a wonderful landlady !”
‘* Ah, if there was more of your sort, sir, there’d be a deal
less trouble in the world, there would. Not that my young
gentleman is troublesome, mind you, only so full of them
outlandish furrin ways—abideth all day long without ating
ort, so different from a honest Englishman. First I used
to think as he couldn’t afford it, and long to send him up a
bit of my own dinner, but dursn’t for the life of me—too
grand for that, by ever so—till one day little ‘Susie there
comes a-running down the stairs, and she sings out, with
her face as red as ever a boiled lobster: ‘Looky see, mother!
Oh, do ’e come and looky see! Pollyon hath got a heap
of guineas on his table; wouldn’t go into the big yellow
pudding-basin!’ And sure enough he had, your Honour, in
piles, as if he was telling of them. He had slipped out sud-
denly, and thought the passage door was bolted. What a
comfort it was to me, I can’t configurate. Because I could
eat my dinner comfortable now, for such a big heap of
money never I did see.”’
‘‘T am very glad—heartily glad,” exclaimed the smiling
Admiral. ‘‘I hope he may get cash enough to buy back all
the great Carne property, and kick out those rascally Jews
and lawyers. But what makes Susie call him that ?”
‘‘ Well, sir, the young ones must have a nickname for
anything beyond them; and because he never takes any
notice of them—so different from your handsome Master
12
266 SPRINGHAVEN.
Frank—and some simility of his black horse, or his proud
walk, to the pictur’, ‘Pollyon’ is the name they give him, out
of Pilgrim’s Progress. Though not a bit like him, for such
a gentleman to pay his rent and keep his place untrouble-
some I never had before. And a fortnight he paid me last
night, afore going, and took away the keys of all three
doors.”
‘‘He is gone, then, is he? To London, I dare say, It
would be useless to look for him at the castle. My son
will be disappointed more than I am. To tell you the
truth, Mrs. Shanks, in these days the great thing is to stick
to the people that we know. The world is so full, not of
rogues, but of people who are always wanting something
out of one, that to talk with a thoroughly kind, honest per-
son, like yourself, is a real luxury. When the gentleman
comes back, let him know that I have called.”
‘““And my Jenny, sir?” cried the anxious mother, run-
ning after him into the passage; ‘‘ not a word have you said
about my Jenny. I hope she show no sign of flightiness ?”
‘Jenny is as steady as the church,” replied the Admiral.
‘Weare going to put her on a pound a year from next quar-
ter-day, by Mrs. Cloam’s advice. She’ll have a good stock-
ing by the time she gets married.”
‘“There never was such a pleasant gentleman, nor such
a kind-hearted one, I do believe,” said Widow Shanks, as she
came in with bright eyes. ‘‘'What are they Carnes to the
Darlings, after all? As different as night and day.”
But the Admiral’s next visit was not quite so pleasant;
for when he got back into the village road, expecting a nice
walk to his luncheon and his pipe, a man running furiously
almost knocked him down, and had no time to beg his par-
don. The runner’s hat was off his head, and his hair blow-
ing out, but luckily for itself his tongue was not between his
teeth. |
‘*Has the devil got hold of you at last, Jem Prater ?” the
Admiral asked, not profanely; for he had seen a good deal
of mankind, and believed in diabolical possession.
‘*For Parson! for Parson!” cried Jem, starting off again
as hard as he could go. ‘‘ Butter Cheeseman hath hanged
his self in his own scales. And nobody is any good but
Parson.”
Admiral Darling was much disturbed. ‘‘ What will the
world come to? I never knew such times,” he exelaimed
to himself, with some solemnity; and then set off, as fast
SPRINGHAVEN, 267
as his overridden state permitted, for the house of Mr.
Cheeseman. Passing through the shop, which had nobody
in it, he was led by the sound of voices into a little room
beyond it—the room in which Mr. Cheeseman had first re-
ceived Caryl Carne. Here he beheld an extraordinary
scene, of which he often had to dream thereafter.
From a beam in the roof (which had nothing to do with
his scales, as Jem Prater had imagined), by a long but not
well-plaited cord, was dangling the respected Church-war-
den Cheeseman. Happily for him, he had relied on his own
goods; and the rope being therefore of very bad hemp, had
failed in this sad and too practical proof. The weight of
its vender had added to its length some fifteen inches—as he
loved" to pull out things—and his toes touched the floor,
which relieved him now and then.
‘“Why don’t you cut him down, you old fools?’ cried
the Admiral to three gaffers, who stood moralizing, while
Mrs. Cheeseman sat upon a barrel, sobbing heavily, with
both hands spread to conceal the sad sight.
‘*We was afraid of hurting of him,” said the quickest-
witted of the gaffers; ‘‘Us wanted to know why ’a doed it,”
said the deepest; and, ‘‘ The will of the Lord must be done,”
said the wisest.
After fumbling in vain for his knife, and looking round,
the Admiral ran back into the shop, and caught up the sharp
steel blade with which the victim of a troubled mind had
often unsold a sold ounce in the days of happy commerce.
In a moment the Admiral had the poor Church-warden in
his sturdy arms, and with a sailor’s skill had unknotted
the choking noose, and was shouting for brandy, as he kept
the blue head from falling back.
When a little of the finest eaw de vie that ever was
smuggled had been administered, the patient rallied, and
becoming comparatively cheerful, was enabled to explain
that ‘it was all a mistake altogether.” This removed all
misunderstanding; but Rector Twemlow, arriving too late
for anything but exhortation, asked a little too sternly—as
everybody felt—under what influence of the Evil One
Cheeseman had committed that mistake. The reply was
worthy of‘an enterprising tradesman, and brought him such
orders from a score of miles around that the resources of
the establishment could only book them.
‘‘Sir,” he said, looking at the parson sadly, with his right
hand laid upon his heart, which was feeble, and his left hand
“TT MUST HAVE BEEN BY REASON OF THE WEIGHT I GIVE.”
intimating that his neck was sore, ‘‘if anything has happened
that had better not have been, it must have been by reason
of the weight I give, and the value such a deal above the
prices.”
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
EVERYBODY’ MASTER.
THE peril of England was now growing fast; all the
faster from being in the dark. The real design of the en-
emy escaped the penetration even of Nelson, and our Gov-
ernment showed more anxiety about their great adversary
landing on the coast of Egypt than on that of England.
Naval men laughed at his flat-bottomed boats, and declared
that one frigate could sink a hundred of them; whereas it
is probable that two of them, with their powerful guns and
level fire, would have sunk any frigate we then possessed.
SPRINGHAVEN. 269
But the crafty and far-seeing foe did not mean to allow any
frigate, or line-of-battle ship, the chance of inquiring how
that might be. .
His true scheme, as everybody now knows well, was
to send the English fleet upon a wild-goose chase, whether
to Egypt, the west coast of Ireland, or the West Indies, as
the case might be; and then, by a rapid concentration of his
ships, to obtain command of the English Channel, if only
for twenty-four hours at a time. Twenty-four hours of
clearance from our cruisers would have seen a hundred thou-
sand men landed on our coast, throwing up entrenchments,
and covering the landing of another hundred thousand,
coming close upon their heels. Who would have faced
them? A few good regiments, badly found,and perhaps
worse led, and a-mob of militia and raw volunteers, the re-
ward of whose courage would be carnage.
But as a chip smells like the tree, and a hair like the dog
it belongs to, so Springhaven was a very fair sample of the
England whereof (in its own opinion) it formed a most im-
portant part. Contempt for the body of a man leads rashly
to an underestimate of his mind; and one of the greatest
men that ever grew on earth—if greatness can be without
goodness — was held in low account because not of high
inches, and laughed at as ‘‘ little Boney.”
However, there were, as there always are, thousands of
sensible Englishmen then; and rogues had not yet made a
wreck of grand Institutions to scramble for what should
wash up. Abuses existed, as they always must; but the
greatest abuse of all (the destruction of every good usage)
was undreamed of yet. And the right man was even now
approaching to the rescue, the greatest Prime-Minister of
any age or country.
Unwitting perhaps of the fine time afforded by the feeble
delays of Mr. Addington, and absorbed in the tissue of plot
and counterplot now thickening fast in Paris—the arch-
plotter in all of them being himself—the First Consul had
slackened awhile his hot haste to set foot upon the shore of
England. His bottomless ambition for the moment had a
top, and that top was the crown of France; and as soon
as he had got that on his head, the head would have no
rest until the crown was that of Kurope.
But before any crown could be put on at all, the tender
hearts of Frenchmen must be touched by the appearance of
great danger—the danger which is of all the greatest, that to
270 SPRINGHAVEN.
their nearest and dearest selves. A bloody farce was in
preparation, noble lives were to be perjured away, and,
above all, the only great rival in the hearts of soldiers
must be turned out of France. This foul job worked —
as foul Radical jobs do now—for the good of England.
If the French invasion had come to pass, as it was fully
meant to do, in the month of February, 1804, perhaps its
history must have been written in French, for us to under-
stand it.
So, at any rate, thought Caryl Carne, who knew the re-
sources of either side, and the difference between a fine
army and a mob. He felt quite sure that his mother’s
country would conquer his father’s without much trouble,
and he knew that his horn would be exalted in the land,
when he had guided the conqueror into it. Sure enough
then he would recover his ancestral property with interest,
and be able to punish his enemies well, and reward his
friends if they deserved it. Thinking of these things, and
believing that his own preparations would soon be fin-
ished, he left Widow Shanks to proclaim his merits, while
under the bold and able conduct of Captain Renaud Charron
he ran the gauntlet of the English fleet, and was put ashore
southward of Cape Grisnez. Here is a long reach of dreary
exposure, facing the west unprofitably, with a shallow slope
of brown sand, and a scour of tide, and no. pleasant moor-
ings. Jotted as the coast was all along (whereon dry bat-
teries grinned defiance, or sands just awash smiled treach-
ery) with shallow transports, gun-boats, prames, scows, bil-
anders, brigs, and schooners, row-galleys, luggers, and every
sort of craft that has a mast, or gets on without one, and
even a few good ships of war pondering malice in the
safer roadsteads, yet here the sweep of the west wind, and
the long roll from the ocean following, kept a league or
two, northward of the mighty defences of Boulogne, in-
violate by the petty enmities of man. Along the slight
curve of the coast might be seen, beyond Ambleteuse and
Wimereux, the vast extent of the French flotilla, ranged
in three divisions, before the great lunette of the cen-
tral camp, and hills jotted with tents thick as impets on a
rock.
Carne (whose dealings were quite unknown to all of the
French authorities save one, and that the supreme one) was
come by appointment to meet his commander in a quiet
and secluded spot. It was early February now, and al-
st -
“CARYL CARNE WAITED IN THE SHELTER OF A TREE.,”’
though the day was waning, and the wind, which was draw-
ing to the north of west, delivered a cold blow from the
sea, yet the breath of Spring was in the air already, and the
beat of her pulse came through the ground. Almost any
man, except those two concerting to shed blood and spread
fire, would have looked about a little at the pleasure of the
earth, and felt a touch of happiness in the goodness of the
sky.
Caryl Carne waited in the shelter of a tree, scarcely de-
serving to be called a tree, except for its stiff tenacity. All
the branches were driven by the western gales, and scourged
flat in one direction—that in which they best could hold
together, and try to believe that their life was their own.
Like the wings of a sea-bird striving with a tempest, all the
sprays were frayed alike, and all the twigs hackled with the
self-same pile. Whoever observes a tree like this should
stop to wonder how ever it managed to make itself any sort
of trunk at all, and how it was persuaded to go up just
high enough to lose the chance of ever coming down again.
But Carne cared for nothing of this sort, and heeded very
little that did not concern himself. All he thought of was
how he might persuade his master to try the great issue at
once.
While he leaned heavily against the tree, with his long
212 SPRINGHAVEN.
sea-cloak flapping round his legs, two horsemen struck out
of the Ambleteuse road, and came at hand-gallop towards
him. The foremost, who rode with short stirrups, and sat
his horse as if he despised him, was the foremost man of the.
world just now, and for ten years yet to come.
Carne ran forward to show himself, and the master of |
France dismounted. He always looked best upon horse-
back, as short men generally do, if they ride well; and his
face (which helped to make his fortune) appeared even more
commanding at a little distance. An astonishing face, in
its sculptured beauty, set aspect,and stern haughtiness, calm
with the power of transcendant mind, and a will that never
met its equal. Even Carne, void of much imagination, and
contemptuous of all the human character: he shared, was the
slave of that face when in its presence, and could never
meet steadily those piercing eyes. And yet, to the study
of a neutral dog, or a man of abstract science, the face was
as bad as it was beautiful.
Napoleon—as he was soon to be called by a cringing
world—smiled affably, and offered his firm white hand,
which Carne barely touched, and bent over with deference.
Then the foaming horse was sent away in charge of the
attendant trooper, and the master began to take short quick
steps, to and fro, in front of the weather-beaten tree; for to
stand still was not in his nature. Carne, being beckoned
to keep at his side, lost a good deal of what he had meant
to say, from the trouble he found in timing his wonted —
stride to the brisk pace of the other.
‘You have done well—on the whole very well,” said Na-
poleon, whose voice was deep, yet clear and distinct as the
sound of a bell. ‘* You have kept me well informed; you
are not suspected; you are enlarging your knowledge of the
enemy and of his resources; every day you become more
capable of conducting us to the safe landing. For what,
then, this hurry, this demand to see me, this exposing of
yourself to the risk of capture 2”
Carne was about to answer; but the speaker, who under-
shot the thoughts of others before they were shaped—as
the shuttle of the lhghtning underweaves a cloud—raised
his hand to stop him, and went on:
‘* Because you suppose that all is ripe. Because you be-
lieve that the slow beasts of islanders will strengthen their
defences more by delay than we shall strengthen our at-
tack. Because you are afraid of incurring suspicion, if you
SPRINGHAVEN. 273
continue to prepare. And most of all, my friend, because
you are impatient to secure the end of a long enterprise.
But, Captain, it must be longer yet. It is not for you, but
for me, to fix the time. Behold me! I am come from a
grand review. We have again rehearsed the embarkation.
We have again put two thousand horses on board. The
horses did it well; but not the men. They are as brave as
eagles, but as clumsy as the ostrich, and as fond of the sand
without water. They will all be seasick. It is in their
countenances, though many have been practised in the
mouths of rivers. Those infamous English will not permit
us to proceed far enough from our native land to acquire
what they call the legs of the sea. If our braves are sea-
sick, how can they work the cannon, or even navigate well
for the accursed island? They must have time. They must
undergo more waves, and a system of diet before embarka-
tion. Return, my trusted Captain, and continue your most
esteemed services for three months. I have written these
new instructions for you. You may trust me to remem-
ber this addition to your good works.”
Carne’s heart fell, and his face was gloomy, though he did
his best to hide it. So well he knew the arrogance and fierce
self-will of his commanding officer that he durst not put
his own opposite view of the case directly before him. This
arrogance grew with the growth of his power; so that in
many important matters Napoleon lost the true state of
the case through the terror felt by his subordinates. So
great was the mastery of his presence that Carne felt himself
cuilty of impertinence in carrying his head above the level
of the General’s plume, and stooped unconsciously—as hun-
dreds of tall men are said to have done—to lessen this
anomaly of Nature.
‘* All shall be done to your orders, my General,” he replied,
submissively. ‘‘For my own position I have no fear. I
might remain there from year to year without any suspicion
arising, so stupid are the people all around, and so well is
my name known among them. The only peril is in the
landing of stores, and I think we should desist from that.
A few people have been wondering about that, though
hitherto we have been most fortunate. They have set it
down so far to smuggling operations, with which in that
tyrannical land all the lower orders sympathize. But it
would be wiser to desist awhile, unless you, my General,
have anything of moment which you still desire to send in.”
12*
274 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘‘What sort of fellow is that Sheeseman ?” asked Na-
poleon, with his wonderful memory of details. ‘‘ Is he more
to be confided in as a rogue or as a fool ?”
‘‘As both, sir; but more especially as a rogue, though he
has the compunctions of a fool sometimes. But he is as
entirely under my thumb, as I am under that of my Com-
mander.”
‘‘That is very good,” answered the First Consul, smiling
with the sense of his own power; ‘‘and at an hour’s notice,
with fifty chosen men landed from the London Trader—
ah, I love that name; it is appropriate—you could spike all
the guns of that pretentious little battery,and lock the
Commander of the Coast-Defence in one of his own cellars.
Is it not so, my good Captain? Answer me not. That is
enough. One question more, and you may return. Are
you certain of the pilotage of the proud young fisherman who
knows every grain of sand along his native shore? Surely
you can bribe him, if he hesitates at all, or hold a pistol
at his ear as he steers the leading prame into the bay!
Charron would be the man for that. Between you and
Charron there should be no mistake.”
‘He requires to be handled with much delicacy. He has
no idea yet what he is meant to do. And if I understand
his nature, neither bribes nor fear would move him. He
is stubborn as a Breton, and of that simple character.”
‘‘One can always befool a Breton; but I hate that race,”
said Napoleon. ‘‘If he cannot be made useful, tie a round
shot to him, throw him overboard, and get a gentler native.”
‘‘ Alas, I fear that we cannot indulge in that pleasure,”
said Carne, with a smile of regret. ‘‘It cost me a large out-
lay of skill to catch him, and the natives of that place are
all equally stubborn. But I have a plan for making him
do our work without being at all aware of it. Is it your
wish, my General, that I should now describe that plan ?”
‘“Not now,” replied Napoleon, pulling out a watch of
English make, ‘‘ but in your next letter. I start for Paris
in an hour’s time. You will hear of things soon which
will add very greatly to the weight and success of this grand
enterprise. We shall have perfidious Albion caught in her
Own noose, as you shall see. You have not heard of one
Captain Wright, and the landing-place at Biville. We will
have our little Biville at Springhaven. There will be too
many of us to swing up by a rope. Courage, my friend!
The future is with you. Our regiments are casting dice
as: “A
SPRINGHAVEN. 275
for the fairest English counties. But your native county
is reserved for you. You shall. possess the whole of it—
I swear it by the god of war—and command the Southern
army. Be brave, be wise, be vigilant, and above all things
be patient.”
The great man held up his hand, as a sign that he want-
ed his horse, and then offered it to Caryl Carne, who
touched it lightly with his lips, and bent one knee. ‘‘ My
Emperor !” he said, ‘‘ my Emperor!”
‘‘ Wait until the proper time,” said Napoleon, gravely, and
yet well pleased. ‘‘ You are not the first, and you will not
be the last. Observe-discretion. Farewell, my friend!”
In another minute he was gone, and the place looked
empty without him. Carne stood gloomily watching the
horsemen as their figures grew small in the distance, the
large man behind pounding heavily away, like an English
dragoon, on the scanty sod, of no importance to anybody—
unless he had a wife or children—the lttle man in front
(with the white plume waving, and the well-bred horse
going easily), the one whose body would affect more bodies,
and certainly send more souls out of them, than any other
born upon this earth as yet, and—we hope—as long as ever
it endureth.
Caryl Carne cared nota jotabout that. He was anything
but a philanthropist; his weaknesses, if he had any, were
not dispersive, but thoroughly concentric. He gathered his
long cloak round his body, and went to the highest spot
within his reach, about a mile from the watch-tower at Cape
Grisnez, and thence he had a fine view of the vast invasive
fleet, and the vaster host behind it.
An Englishman who loved his country would have
turned sick at heart and faint of spirit at the sight before him,
The foe was gathered together there to eat us up on every
side, to get us into his net and rend us, to tear us asunder
as a lamb is torn when its mother has dropped it in flight
from the wolves. For forty square miles there was not
an acre without a score of tents upon it, or else of huts
thrown up with slabs of wood to keep the powder dry, and
the steel and iron bright and sharp to go into the vitals of
England. Mighty docks had been scooped out by warlike
hands, and shone with ships crowded with guns and alive
with men. And all along the shore for leagues, wherever
any shelter lay, and great batteries protected them, hundreds
of other ships tore at their moorings, to dash across the
276 SPRINGHAVEN.
smooth narrow line, and blacken with fire and redden with
blood the white cliffs of the land they loathed.
And what was there to stopthem ? The steam of the mul-
titude rose in the air, and the clang of armour filled it. Num-
bers irresistible, and relentless power urged them. At the
beck of the hand that had called the horse, the gray sea would
have been black with ships, and the pale waves would have
been red with fire. Carne looked at the water-way touched
with silver by the soft descent of the winter sun, and upon
it, so far as his gaze could reach, there were but a dozen little
objects moving, puny creatures in the distance—mice in front
of a lion’s den. And much as he hated with his tainted
heart the land of his father, the land of his birth, some re-
luctant pride arose that he was by right an Englishman.
‘‘Tt is the dread of the English seaman, it is the fame of
Nelson, it is the habit of being beaten when England meets
them upon the sea—nothing else keeps this mighty host like
a set of trembling captives here, when they might launch
forth irresistibly. And what is a great deal worse, it will
keep me still in my ruined dungeons, a spy, an intriguer,
an understrapper, when I am fit to be one of the foremost.
What a fool I am so to be cowed and enslaved, by a man no
better endowed than myself with anything, except self-con-
fidence! Ishould have looked over his head, and told him
that I had had enough of it, and if he would not take ad-
vantage of my toils, would toil for him no longer. Why,
he never even thanked me, that I can remember, and. my
pay is no more than Charron’s! Anda pretty strict account
I have to render of every Republican coin he sends. He
will have his own head on them within six months, unless
he is assassinated. His manners are not those of a gentle-
man. While I was speaking to him, he actually turned his
back upon me, and cleared his throat! Every one hates
him as much as fears him, of all who are in the rank of
gentlemen. How would it pay me to throw him over, de-
nounce my own doings, excuse them as those of a French-
man and a French officer, and bow the knee to Farmer
George? Truly if it were not for my mother, who has
sacrificed her life for me, I would take that course, and
have done with it. Such all-important news would compel
them to replace me in the property of my forefathers; and
if neighbours looked coldly on me at first, I could very
soon conquer that nonsense. I should marry little Dolly,
of course, and that would go half-way towards doing it. I
SPRINGHAVEN. OEE
hate that country, but I might come to like it, if enough of it
belonged tome. Aha! What would my mother say, if she
dreamed that I could have such ideas? And the whole of
my life belongs to her. Well, let me get back to my ruins
first. It would never do to be captured by a British frigate.
We had a narrow shave of it last time. And there will be a
vile great moon to-night.”
With these reflections—which were upon the whole more
to his credit than the wonted web of thought—Carne with
his long stride struck into a path towards the beach where
his boat was waiting. Although he knew where to find
several officers who had once been his comrades, he kept him-
self gladly to his loneliness; less perhaps by reason of Na-
poleon’s orders than from the growing charm which Solitude
has for all who begin to understand her.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
RUNNING THE GAUNTLET.
THOUGH Carne had made light, in his impatient mood, of
the power of the blockading fleet, he felt in his heart a sin-
cere respect for its vigilance and activity. La Liberté (as
the unhappy Cheeseman’s schooner was called within gun-
shot of France) was glad enough to drop that pretentious
name, and become again the peaceful London Trader, when
she found herself beyond the reach of French batteries. The
practice of her captain, the lively Charron, was to give a
wide berth to any British cruiser appearing singly; but
whenever more than one hove in sight, to run into the
midst of them and dip his flag. From the speed of his
schooner he could always, in a light wind, show a clean pair
of heels to any single heavy ship, and he had not yet come
across any cutter, brig of war, or light corvette that could
collar the Liberté in any sort of weather. Renaud Charron
was a brave young Frenchman, as fair a specimen as could
be found, of a truly engaging but not overpowering type,
kindly, warm-hearted, full of enterprise, lax of morals (un-
less honour—their veneer—was touched), loving excitement,
and capable of anything, except skulking, or sulking, or run-
ning away slowly.
‘“None of your risky tricks to-night!” said Carne, as: he
stood on the schooner’s deck, in the dusk of the February
278 SPRINGHAVEN.
evening, himself in a dark mood growing darker—for his
English blood supplied the elements of gloom, and he felt
a dull pleasure in goading a Frenchman, after being tram-
pled on by one of French position. ‘‘ You will just make
straight, as the tide and shoals allow, for our usual landing-
place, set me ashore, and follow me to the old quarters. I
have orders to give you, which can be given only there.”
‘“My commanding officer shall be obeyed,” the Frenchman
answered, with a light salute and smile, for he was not en-
dowed with the power of hating, or he might have in-
dulged that bad power towards Carne; ‘‘but I fear that he
has not found things to his liking.”
‘“What concern is that of yours? Your duty is to carry
out my orders, to the utmost of your ability, and offer opin-
ion when asked for.”
The light-hearted Frenchman shrugged his shoulders.
‘“My commanding officer is right,” he said; ‘‘ but the sea is
getting up, and there will be wind, unless I mistake the
arising of the moon. My commanding officer had better
retire, until his commands are needed. He has been known
to feel the effects of high tossing, in spite of his unequalled
constitution. Is it not so,my commander? I ask with def-
erence, and anxiety.”
Carne, who liked to have the joke on his side only, swore
at the moon and the wind, in clear English, which was
shorter and more efficacious than French. He longed to
say, ‘‘Try to keep me out of rough water,” but his pride,
and the fear of suggesting the opposite to this sailor who
loved a joke, kept him silent, and he withdrew to his little
cuddy, chewing a biscuit, to feed, if it must be so, the ap-
proaching malady.
‘“We shall have some game, and a fine game too,” said
Renaud Charron to himself, as he ordered more sail to be
made. ‘‘ Milord gives himself such mighty airs! We will
take him to the cross-run off the Middle Bank, and offer
him a basin through the keyhole. To make seasick an |
Englishman—for, after all, what other is he ?—will be a fine
piece of revenge for fair France.”
Widow Shanks had remarked with tender sorrow—more
perhaps because she admired the young man, and was her-
self a hearty soul, than from any loss of profit in victual-
ling him—that ‘‘he was one of they folk as seems to go
about their business, and do their jobs, and keep their
skins as full as other people, without putting nought inside of
SPRINGHAVEN. 279
them. She knew one of that kind before, and he was shot
by the Coast-guard, and when they postmartyred him, an
eel twenty foot long was found inside him, doubled up for
all the world like a love-knot. Squire Carne was of too
high a family for that; but she would give a week’s rent to
know what was inside him.”
There was no little justice in these remarks, as is pretty
sure to be the case with all good-natured criticism. The best
cook that ever was roasted cannot get out of a pot more than
was put in it; and the weight of a cask, as a general rule,
diminishes if the tap is turned, without any redress at the
bung-hole. Carne ran off his contents too fast, before he
had arranged for fresh receipts; and all who have felt
what comes of that will be able to feel for him in the result.
But a further decrease was in store for him now. As the
moon arose, the wind got higher, and chopped round to one
point north of west, raising a perkish head-sea, and grinning
with white teeth against any flapping of sails. The schoon-
er was put upon the starboard tack as near to the wind as
she would lie, bearing so for the French coast more than
the English, and making for the Vergoyers, instead of the
Varne, as intended. This carried them into wider water,
and a long roll from the southwest crossing the pointed
squabble of the strong new wind.
‘*General,” cried Charron, now as merry as a grig, and
skipping to the door of Carne’s close little cabin, about an
hour before midnight, ‘‘it would afford us pleasure if you
would kindly come on deck and give us the benefit of your
advice. I fear that you are a little confined down here, and
in need of more solid sustenance. My General, arise; there
is much briskness upon deck, and’ the waves are dancing
beautifully in the full-moon. Two sail are in sight, one
upon the weather bow, and the other on the weather quarter.
Ah, how superior your sea-words are to ours! If I were
born an Englishman, you need not seek far for a successor
to Nelson, when he gets shot, as he is sure to be before very
long.”
‘*Get out !’”? muttered Carne, whose troubles were faintly
illuminated by a sputtering wick. ‘‘Get out, you scoun-
drel, as you love plain English. Go direct to the devil—
only let me die in peace.”’
‘‘ All language is excusable in those affected with the
malady of the sea,” replied the Frenchman, dancing a little
to encourage his friend. ‘‘ Behold, if you would get up -
280 SPRINGHAVEN.
and do this, you would be as happy inside as IT am. But
stay—I know what will ease you in an instant, and enable
you to order us right and left. The indefatigable Sherray
put a fine piece of fat pork in store before we sailed; I have
just had it cooked, for I was almost starving. It floats in
brown liquor of the richest order, such as no Englishman
can refuse. Take a sip of pure rum, and you will enjoy it
surely. Say, my brave General, will you come and join
me? It will cure any little disquietude down here.”
With a pleasant smile Charron laid his hand on the part
of his commander which he supposed to be blamable. Carne
made an effort to get up and kick him, but fell back with
everything whirling around, and all human standards in-
verted. Then the kindly Frenchman tucked him up, for his
face was blue and the chill of exhaustion striking into him.
‘*T wish you could eat a little bit,” said Charron, gently; but
Carne gave a push with his elbow. ‘‘ Well, you’ll be worse
before you are better, as the old women say in your country.
But what am I to do about the two British ships—for they
are sure to be British—now in sight?’ But Carne turned
his back, and his black boots dangled from the rim of his
bunk as if there were nothing in them.
‘‘This is going a little too far,” cried Charron; ‘‘I must
have some orders, my commander. You understand that
two English ships are manifestly bearing down upon us—”’
‘* Let them come and send us to the bottom—the sooner
the better,” his commander groaned, and then raised his limp
knuckles with a final effort to stop his poor ears forever.
‘* But Iam not ready to go to the bottom, nor all the other
people of our fourteen hands”—the Frenchman spoke now
to himself alone—‘‘neither will I even go to prison. I will
do as they do at Springhaven, and doubtless at every other
place in England. Iwill have my dish of pork, which is now
just crackling—I am capable of smelling it even here—and
I will give some to Sam Polwhele, and we will put heads
together over it. To outsail friend Englishman is a great
delight, and to outgun him would be still greater; but if we
cannot accomplish those, there will be some pleasure of out-
witting him.”
Renaud Charron was never disposed to make the worst of
anything. When he went upon deck again, to look out
while his supper was waiting, he found no change, except
that the wind was freshening and the sea increasing, and
the strangers whose company he did not covet seemed
SPRINGHAVEN. 281
waiting for noinvitation. Witha light wind he would have
had little fear of giving them the go-by, or on a dark night
he might have contrived to slip between or away from them.
But everything was against bim now. The wind was so
strong, blowing nearly half a gale, and threatening to blow
a whole one, that he durst not carry much canvas, and the
full-moon, approaching the meridian now, spread the white
sea with a broad flood of hight. He could see that both
enemies had descried him, and were acting in concert to cut
him off. The ship on his weather bow was a frigate,
riding the waves in gallant style, with the wind upon her
beam, and travelling two feet for every one the close-hauled
schooner could accomplish. If the latter continued her
present course, in another half-league she would be under
the port-holes of the frigate.
The other enemy, though farther off, was far more diffi-
cult to escape. This was a gun-brig, not so very much big-
ger than La Liberté herself—for gun-brigs in those days
were very small craft—and for that very reason more dan-
gerous. She bore about two points east of north from the
greatly persecuted Charron, and was holding on steadily
under easy sail, neither gaining much upon the chase nor
losing. '
‘‘Carry on as we are for about ten minutes,” said Charron
to his mate, Sam Polwhele; *‘ that will give us period to eat
our pork. Come, then, my good friend, let us do it.”
-_ Polwhele—as he was called to make believe that he
and other hands were Cornishmen, whereas they were Yan-
kees of the sharpest order, owing no allegiance and unhappt-
ly no good-will to their grandmother—this man, whose true
name was Perkins, gave the needful orders, and followed
down. Charron could talk, like many Frenchmen, quite as
fast with his mouth full as empty, and he had a man to
talk to who did not require anything to be said twice to him.
‘“No fear of me!” was all he said. ‘' You keep out of
sight, because of yourtwang. IJ] teach them a little good
English—better than ever came out of Cornwall. The best
of all English is not to say too much.”
The captain and his mate enjoyed their supper, while
Carne in the distance bore the pangs of a malady called
bulimus, that is to say, a giant’s ravening for victuals, with-
out a babe’s power of receiving them. For he was turning
the corner of his sickness now, but prostrate and cold as a
fallen stalactite.
282 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘‘ Aha! We have done well. We have warmed our wits
up. Oneglass of what you call the grog; and then we will
play a pleasant game with those Englishmen!” Carne heard
him say it, and in his heart hoped that the English would
pitch him overboard.
It was high time for those two to finish their supper. The
schooner had no wheel, but steered—as light craft did then,
and long afterwards—with a bulky ash tiller, having iron
eyes for lashing it in heavy weather. Three strong men
stood by it now, obedient, yet muttering to one another,
for another cable’s length would bring them into danger of
being run down by the frigate.
‘‘ All clear for stays!” cried Polwhele, under orders from
Charron. ‘‘Down helm! Helm’s alee! Steady so. Let
draw! Easy! easy! There she fills!” And after a few
more rapid orders the handy little craft was dashing away,
with the wind abaft the beam, and her head about two points
north of east. ‘‘Uncommon quick in stays!” cried Pol-
whele, who had taken to the helm, and now stood there.
‘“Wonder what Britishers will think of that ?”
The British ship soon let him know her opinion, by a roar
and a long streak of smoke blown toward him, as she put
up her helm to consider the case. It was below the dignity
of a fine frigate to run after lttle smuggling craft, such
as she voted this to be, and a large ship had been sighted
from her tops down channel, which might afford her nobler
sport. She contented herself with a harmless shot, and
leaving the gun-brig to pursue the chase, bore away for
more important business.
‘“Nonplussed the big ’un; shall have trouble with the
little ’un,” said Master Polwhele to his captain. ‘‘She don’t
draw half a fathom more than we do. No good running in-
side the shoals. And with this wind, she has the foot of us.”
‘Bear straight for her, and let her board us,” Char-
ron answered, pleasantly. ‘‘ Down with all French hands
into the forepart of the hold, and stow the spare foresail
over them. Show our last bills of lading, and ask them
to trade. You know all about Cheeseman; double his prices.
If we make any cash, we'll divide it. Say we are out of our
course, through supplying a cruiser that wanted our goods
for nothing. I shall keep out of sight on account of my
twang, as you politely call it. The rest I may safely leave
to your invention. But if you can get any ready rhino,
Sam Polwhele is not the man to neglect it.”
SPRINGHAVEN. | 283
‘Bully for you!” cried the Yankee, looking at him
with more admiration than he expected ever to entertain for
aFrenchman. ‘‘There’s five ton of cheeses that have been
seven voyages, and a hundred firkins of Irish butter, and
five-and-thirty cases of Russian tongues, as old as old Nick,
and ne’er a sign of weevil! Lor’ no, never a tail of weevil!
Skipper, you deserve to go to heaven out of West Street.
But how about him, down yonder ?”
‘“Captain Carne? Leave him to me toarrange. I shall
be ready, if they intrude. Announce that you have a
sick gentleman on board, a passenger afflicted with a foreign
ilness, and having a foreign physician. Mon Dieu! It is
good. Every Englishman believes that anything foreign
will kill him with a vault. Arrange you the trading, and
I will be the doctor—a German; I can do the German.”’
‘And I can do the trading,” the American replied, with-
out any rash self-confidence; ‘‘any fool can sell good stuff;
but it requireth a good man to sell bad goods.”
The gun-brig bore down on them at a great pace, feeling
happy certitude that she had got a prize—not a very big one,
but still worth catching. She saw that the frigate had fired
a shot, and believed that it was done to call her own atten-
tion to a matter below that of the frigate. On she came,
heeling to the lively wind, very beautiful in the moonlight,
tossing the dark sea in white showers, and with all her taut
canvas arched and gleaming, hovered with the shades of
one another. .
‘* Heave to, or we sink you!” cried a mighty voice through
a speaking trumpet, as she luffed a little, bringing her port
broadside to bear; and the schooner, which had hoisted Brit-
ish colours, obeyed the command immediately. In a very
few seconds a boat was manned, and dancing on the hillocks
of the sea; and soon, with some danger and much care, the
visitors stood upon the London Trader’s deck, and Sam
Polwhele came to meet them.
‘“We have no wish to put you to any trouble,” said the
officer in command, very quietly, ‘‘if you.can show that you
are what you profess to be. You sail under British colours;
and the name on your stern is London Trader. We will
soon dismiss you, if you prove that. But appearances are
strongly against you. What has brought you here? And
why did you run the risk of being fired at, instead of sub-
mitting to his Majesty’s ship Minerva 2” |
‘‘ Because she haven’t got any ready money, skipper,
284 © SPRINGHAVEN.
and we don’t like three months’ bills,” said the tall Bos-
tonian, looking loftily at the British officer. ‘‘Such things
is nothing but piracy, and we had better be shot at than
lose such goods as we carry fresh shipped, and in prime
condition. Come and see them, all with Cheeseman’s brand,
the celebrated Cheeseman of Springhaven-——name guaran-
tees the quality. But one thing, mind you—no use to
hanker after them unless you come provided with the ready.”’
‘“We don’t want your goods; we want you,” answered
Scudamore, now first luff of the brig of war Delia, and
staring a little with his mild blue eyes at this man’s effront-
ery. ‘‘That is to say, our duty is to know all about you.
Produce your papers. Prove where you cleared from last,
and what you are doing here, some thirty miles south of
your course, if you are a genuine British trader.”
‘‘Papers all in order, sir. First-chop wafers, as they
puts on now, to save sealing-wax. Charter-party, and all
the rest. Last bills of lading from Gravesend, but you
mustn't judge our goods by that. Bulk of them from
St. Mary Axe, where Cheeseman hath freighted from these
thirty years. If ever you have been at Springhaven, Cap-
tain, you’d jump at anything with Cheeseman’s brand. But
have you brought that little bag of guineas with you 2”
‘Once more, we want none of your goods. You might
praise them as much as you liked, if time permitted. Show
me to the cabin, and produce your papers. After that
_we shall see what is in the hold.”
‘“Supercargo very ill in best cabin. Plague, or black
fever, the German doctor says. None of our hands will go
near him but myself. But you won’t be like that, will you 2”
Less for his own sake than his mother’s—who had none
but him to help her—Scudamore dreaded especially that
class of disease which is now called ‘‘zymotic.” His father,
an eminent physician, had observed and had written a short
work to establish that certain families and types of constitu-
tion lie almost at the mercy of such contagion, and find no
mercy from it. And among those families was his own:
‘*Fly, my boy, fly,” he had often said to Blyth, ‘‘if you ever
come near such subjects.”
‘* Captain, I will fetch them,” continued Mr. Polwhele,
looking grave at his hesitation. ‘‘By good rights they
ought to be smoked, I dare say, though I don’t hold much
with such stuff myself. And the doctor keeps doing a. heap
of herbs hot. You can see him, if you just come down these
SPRINGHAVEN, 285
few steps. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind looking into the
hold, to find something to suit your judgment—quality com-
bined with low figures there—while I go into the infected
den, as the cleverest of my chaps calls it. Why, it makes
me laugh! Ive been in and out, with this stand-up coat on,
fifty times, and you can’t smell a flue of it, though wonder-
ful strong down there.”
Scudamore shuddered, and drew back a little, and then
stole a glance round thecorner. He sawa thick smoke, and
a figure prostrate, and another tied up in a long white robe,
waving a pan of burning stuff in one hand and a bottle in the
other, and plainly conjuring Polwhele to keep off. Then
the latter returned, quite complacently.
‘‘Can’t find all of them,” he said, presenting a pile of
papers big enough to taint Sahara. *‘ That doctor goes on as
bad as opening acoffin. Says he understands it, and I don’t.
The old figure-head! What does he know about it ?”
‘*Much more than you do, perhaps,” replied Blyth, stand-
ing up for the profession, as he was bound todo. ‘°‘ Perhaps
we had better look at these on deck, if you will bring up
your lantern.”
‘* But, Captain, you will have a look at our hold, and make
us a bid—we need not take it, any more than you need to
double it—for as prime a lot of cheese, and sides of bacon—”
‘‘Tf your papers are correct, it will not be my duty to
-meddle with your cargo. But what are-you doing the wrong
side of our fleet ?”
‘“Why, that was a bad job. There’s no fair trade now,
no sort of dealing on the square nohow. We run all this
risk of being caught by Crappos on purpose to supply British
ship Gorgeous, soweastern station; and blow me tight if I
couldn’t swear she had been supplied chock-full by a Crappo!
Only took ten cheeses and fifteen sides of bacon, though
she never knew nought of our black-fever case! But, Cap-
tain, sit down here, and overhaul our flimsies. Not like rags,
you know; don’t hold plague much.”
The young lieutenant compelled himself to discharge his
duty of inspection behind a combing, where the wind was
broken; but even so he took good care to keep on the weather
side of the documents; and the dates perhaps flew away
to leeward. ‘‘ They seem all right,” he said, *‘ but one thing
will save any further trouble to both of us. You belong
to Springhaven. I know most people there. Have you
any Springhaven hands on board ?”
286 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘‘T should think so. Send Tugwell aft; pass the word for
Dan Tugwell. Captain, there’s a family of that name there—
settled as long as we have been at Mevagissey. Ah, that
sort of thing is a credit to the place, and the people too, in
my opinion.”
Dan Tugwell came slowly, and with a heavy step, looking
quite unlike the spruce young fisherman whom Scudamore
had noticed as first and smartest in the rescue of the stranded
Blonde. But hecould not doubt that this was Dan, the Dan
of happier times and thoughts; in whom, without using his
mind about it, he had felt some likeness to himself. It was
not in his power to glance sharply, because his eyes were
kindly open to all the little incidents of mankind, but he
managed to let Dan know that duty compelled him to be par-
ticular. Dan Tugwell touched the slouched hat upon his
head, and stood waiting to know what he was wanted for.
‘*Daniel,” said Scudamore, who could not speak con-
descendingly to any one, even from the official point
of view, because he felt that every honest man was his
equal, ‘‘are you here of your own accord, as one of the
crew of this schooner 2?”
Dan Tugwell had a hazy sense of being put upon an un-
true balance. Not by this kind gentleman’s words, but
through his own proceedings. In his honest mind he longed
to say: “‘I fear I have been bamboozled. JI have cast my
lot in with these fellows through passion, and in hasty ig-
norance. How I should like to go with you, and fight the
French, instead of gee mixed up with a lot of things I
can’t make out!”
But his equally honest heart said to him: ‘‘You have
been well treated. Youare well paid. Youshipped of your
own accord. You have no right to peach, even if you had
anything to peach of; and all you have seen is some queer
trading. None but a sneak would turn against his ship-
mates and his ship, when overhauled by the Royal Navy.”
Betwixt the two voices, Dan said nothing, but looked
at the lieutenant with that gaze which the receiver takes to
mean doubt of his meaning, while the doubt more often is—
what to do with it.
‘“Are you here of your own accord? Do you belong
to this schooner of your own accord? Are you one of this
crew, of your own free-will ?”
Scudamore rang the changes on his simple question, as
he had often been obliged to do in the Grammar-school
SPRINGHAVEN. 287
at Stonnington, with slow-witted boys, who could not, or
would not, know the top from the bottom of a sign-post.
‘*Do you eat with your eyes?” he had asked them some-
times; and they had put their thumbs into their mouths to
inquire.
‘*S’pose I am,” said Dan at last, assuming stupidity, to
cover hesitation; ‘‘ yes, sir, 1 come aboard of my own free-
will.”
“Very well. Then I am glad to find you comfortable.
I shall see your father next week, perhaps. Shall I give him
any message for you ?”
‘“No, sir! For God’s sake, don’t let him know a word
about where you have seen me, I came away all of a heap,
and I don’t want one of them to bother about me.” |
‘As you wish, Dan. I shall not say a word about you,
until you return with your earnings. But if you found the
fishing business dull, surely you might have come to us, Dan.
Any volunteers here for His Majesty’s service?” Scuda-
more raised his voice, with the usual question. ‘*' Good pay,
good victuals, fine promotion, and prize-money, with the
glory of fighting for their native country, and provision for —
life if disabled !”
Not a man came forward, though one man longed to do
so; but his sense of honour, whether true or false, forbade
him. Dan Tugwell went heavily back to his work, trying
to be certain that it was his duty. But sad doubts arose
as he watched the brave boat, lifting over the waves in the
moonlight, with loyal arms tugging towards a loyal British
ship; and he felt that he had thrown away his last chance.
CHAPTER XL.
SHELFING THE QUESTION.
THERE is a time of day (as everybody must have noticed
who is kind enough to attend to things) not to be told by
the clock, nor measured to a nicety by the position of the
sun, even when he has the manners to say where he is—a ~
time of day dependent on a multiplicity of things unknown
to us (who have made our own brains, by perceiving that we
had none, and working away till we got them), yet palpa-
ble to all those less self-exalted beings, who, or which, are
of infinitely nobler origin than we, and have shown it, by
288 SPRINGHAVEN.
humility. At this time of day every decent and good
animal feels an unthought-of and untraced desire to shift
its position, to come out and see its fellows, to learn what
is happening in the humble grateful world—out of which
man has hoisted himself long ago, and is therefore a spectre
to them—to breathe a little sample of the turn the world is
taking, and sue their share of pleasure in the quiet earth and
air.
This time is more observable because it follows a period
of the opposite tendency, a period of heaviness, and rest, and
silence, when no bird sings and no quadruped plays, for
about half an hour of the afternoon. Then suddenly, with-
out any alteration of the light, or weather, or even tempera-
ture, or anything else that we know of, a change of mood
flashes into every living creature, a spirit of life, and activi-
ty, and stir, and desire to use their own voice and hear their
neighbour’s. The usual beginning is to come out first into
a place that cannot knock their heads, and there to run a little
way, and after that to hop, and take a peep for any people
around, and espying none—or only one of the very few ad-
mitted to be friends—speedily to dismiss all misgivings, take
a very little bit of food, if handy (more as a duty to one’s
family than oneself, for the all-important supper-time is not
come yet), and then, if gifted by the Lord with wings—for
what bird can stoop at such a moment to believe that his
own grandfather made them ?—up to the topmost spray that
feathers in the breeze, and pour upon the grateful air the
voice of free thanksgiving. But an if the blade behind the
heart is still unplumed for flying, and only gentle flax or
fur blows out on the wind, instead of beating it, does the
owner of four legs sit and sulk, like a man defrauded of his
merits? He answers the question with a skip and jump; ere
a man can look twice at him he has cut a caper, frolicked an
intricate dance upon the grass, and brightened his eyes for
another round of joy.
At any time of year almost, the time of day commands
these deeds, unless the weather is outrageous; but never
more undeniabl y than in the month of April. The growth
of the year is well established, and its manner beginning to
be schooled by then; childish petulance may still survive,
and the tears of penitence be frequent; yet upon the whole
there is—or used to be—a sense of responsibility forming, and
an elemental inkling of true duty towards the earth. ‘Even
man (the least observant of the powers that walk the ground,
SPRINGHAVEN. 289
going for the signs of weather to the cows, or crows, or pigs,
swallows, spiders, gnats, and leeches, or the final assertion
of his own corns) sometimes is moved a little, and enlarged
by influence of life beyond his own, and tickled by a pen
above his thoughts, and touched for one second by the hand
that made him. Then he sees a brother man who owes
him a shilling, and his soul is swallowed up in the resolve
to get it.
But well in the sky-like period of youth, when the wind
sits lightly, and the clouds go by in puffs, these little jumps
of inspiration take the most respectable young man some-
times off his legs, and the young maid likewise—if she
continues in these fine days to possess such continuation.
Blyth Scudamore had been appointed now, partly through
his own good deserts, and wholly through good influence—
for Lord St. Vincent was an ancient friend of the excellent
Admiral Darling—to the command of the Blonde, refitted,
thoroughly overhauled at Portsmouth, and pronounced by
the dock-yard people to be the fastest and soundest corvette
afloat, and in every way a credit to the British navy. ‘‘The
man that floated her shall float in her,” said the Karl, when
somebody, who wanted the appointment, suggested that the
young man was too young. ‘‘He has seen sharp service, and
done sharp work. It is waste of time to talk of it; the job
is done.” ‘‘Job is the word for it,” thought the other, but
wisely reserved that great truth for his wife. However, it
was not at all a bad job for England. And Scudamore had
now seen four years of active service, counting the former
years of volunteering, and was more than twenty-five years
old.
None of these things exalted him at all in his own opin-
ion, or, at any rate, not very much. Because he had always
regarded himself with a proper amount of self-respect, as
modest men are almost sure to do, desiring less to know
what the world thinks of them than to try to think rightly
of it for themselves. His opinion of it seemed to be that it
was very good just now, very kind, and fair, and gentle, and
a thing for the heart of man to enter into.
For Dolly Darling was close beside him, sitting on a very
pretty bench, made of twisted oak, and turned up at the
back and both ends, so that a gentleman could not get very
far away from a lady without frightening her. Not only
in this way was the spot well adapted for tender feelings, but
itself truly ready to suggest them, with nature and the time
290 SPRINGHAVEN.
of year to help. There was no stream issuing here, to
puzzle and perpetually divert the human mind (whose origin
clearly was spring-water poured into the frame of the jelly-
fish), neither was there any big rock, like an obstinate barrier
rising; but gentle slopes of daisied pasture led the eye com-
placently, sleek cows sniffed the herbage here and there, and
brushed it with the underlip to fetch up the blades for sup-
per-time, and placable trees, forgetting all the rudeness of
the winter winds, began to disclose to the fond deceiving
breeze, with many a glimpse to attract a glance, all the cream
of their summer intentions. And in full enjoyment of all
these doings, the poet of the whole stood singing—the simple-
minded thrush, proclaiming that the world was good and
kind, but himself perhaps the kindest, and his nest, beyond
doubt, the best of it.
‘‘How lovely everything is to-day!” Blyth Scudamore
spoke slowly, and gazing shyly at the loveliest thing of all,
in his opinion—the face of Dolly Darling. ‘‘No wonder
that your brother is a poet!”
‘‘But he never writes about this sort of thing,” said Dolly,
snuling pleasantly. ‘* His poems are all about liberty, and
the rights of men, and the wrongs of war. And if he ever
mentions cows or sheep, it is generally to say whatashame _ ~
it is to kill them.”
‘* But surely it is much worse to kill men. And who is
to be blamed for that, Miss Darling? The Power that wants
to overrun all the rest, or the Country that only defends
itself? I hope he has not converted you to the worship of
the new Emperor; for the army and all the great cities of
France have begged him to condescend to be that; and the
King of Prussia will add his entreaties, according to what
we have heard.”
‘‘I think anything of him!” cried Dolly, as if her opinion
would settle the point. ‘‘ After all his horrible murders—
worst of all of that very handsome and brave young man
shot with a lantern, and buried in a ditch! I was told that
he had to hold the lantern above his poor head, and his hand »*
never shook! It makes me cry every time I think of it. |
Only let Frank come back, and he won’t find me admire his
book so very much! They did the same sort of thing when
I was a little girl, and could scarcely sleep at night on ac-
count of it. And then they seemed to get a little better, for
a time, and fought with their enemies, instead of one another,
and made everybody wild about liberty, and citizens, and
“THE POET OF THE WHOLE STOOD SINGING—THE SIMPLE-MINDED THRUSH,”
292 SPRINGHAVEN.
the noble march of intellect, and the dignity of mankind,
and the rights of labour—when they wouldn’t work a stroke
themselves—and the black superstition of believing any-
thing, except what they chose to make a fuss about them-
selves. And thousands of people, even in this country,
who have been brought up so much better, were foolish
enough to think it very grand indeed, especially the poets,
and the ones that are too young. But they ought to begin
to get wiser now; even Frank will find it hard to make
another poem on them.”
‘‘How glad I am to hear you speak like that! I had no
idea—at least I did not understand—”’
“That I had so much common-sense?” inquired Dolly,
with a glance of subtle yet humble reproach. ‘‘Oh yes, I
have a great deal sometimes, I can assure you. But I sup-
pose one never does get credit for anything without claim-
ing it.”
‘‘T am sure that you deserve credit for everything that
can possibly be imagined,” Scudamore answered, scarcely
knowing, with all his own common-sense to help him, that
he was talking nonsense. ‘‘EKvery time I see you I find
something I had never found before to—to wonder at—
if you can understand—and to admire, and to think about,
and to—to be astonished at.”
Dolly knew as well as he did the word he longed to use,
but feared. She liked this state of mind in him, and she
liked him too for all his kindness, and his humble worship;
and she could not help admiring him for his bravery and
simplicity. But she did not know the value yet of a stead-
fast and unselfish heart,and her own was not quite of that
order. So many gallant officers were now to be seen at her
father’s house, half a cubit taller than poor Blyth, and a
hundred cubits higher in rank, and wealth, and knowledge
of the world, and the power of making their wives great
ladies. Moreover, she liked a dark man, and Scudamore
was fair and fresh as a rose called Hebe’s Cup in June. <An-
other thing against him was that she knew how much her
father liked him; and though she loved her father well, she
was not bound to follow his leadings. And yet she did
not wish to’ lose this useful and pleasant admirer.
‘‘Tam not at all ambitious,” she replied, without a mo-
ment’s hesitation, for the above reflections had long been
dealt with, ‘‘ but how I wish I could do something to de-
serve even half that you sayofme! ButI fear that you find
SPRINGHAVEN. 293
the air getting rather cold. The weather is so change-
able.”
‘* Are you sure that you are not ambitious?” Scudamore
was too deeply plunged to get out of it now upon her last hint;
and to-morrow he must be far away. ‘°‘ You have every
right to be ambitious, if such a word can be used of you,
who are yourself the height of so many ambitions. It was
the only fault I could imagine you to have, and it seems too
bad that you should have none at all.”
‘You don’t know anything about it,” said Dolly, with
a lovely expression in her face of candor, penitence, and
pleasantry combined; ‘‘I am not only full of faults, but en-
tirely made up of them. Iam told of them too often not to
know.”
‘‘By miserably jealous and false people.” It was im-
possible to look at her and not think that. ‘‘ By people who
cannot have a single atom of perception, or judgment, or
even proper feeling. I should like to hear one of them, if
you would even condescend to mention it. Tell me one—
only one—if you can think of it. Iam not at all a judge
of character, but—but I have often had to study it a good
deal among the boys.”
This made Miss Dolly laugh, and drop her eyes, and
smooth her dress, as if to be sure that his penetration had
not been brought to bear on her. And the gentle Scuddy
blushed at his clumsiness, and hoped that she would under-
stand the difference. }
‘“You do say such things!” She also was blushing beau-
tifully as she spoke, and took a long time before she looked
at him again. ‘‘Things that nobody else ever says. And
that is one reason why I like you so.”
‘*Oh, do you like me—do you like mein earnest? Ican
hardly dare to dream even for one moment—”
‘‘T am not going to talk about that any more. I like Mr.
Twemlow, I like Captain Stubbard, I like old Tugwell—
though I should have liked him better if he had not been
so abominably cruel to his son. Now Iam sure it is time
to go 1nd get ready for dinner.”
‘‘Ah, when shall I dine with you again? Perhaps
never,” said the young man, endeavouring to look very mis-
erable and to inspire sadness. ‘‘But I ought to be very
happy, on the whole, to think of all the pleasures I have
enjoyed, and how much better I have got on than I had any
right in the world to hope for.”’
294 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘“Yes, to be the Commander of a beautiful ship, little
more than a year from the date of your commission.
Captain Stubbard is in such a rage about it!”
‘‘T don’t mean about that—though that of course is rare
luck—I mean a much more important thing; I mean about
getting on well with you. The first time I saw you in that
fine old school, you did not even want to shake hands with
me, and you thou ght what a queer kind of animal I was; and
then the first time or two I dined at the Hall, nothing but
fine hospitality stopped you from laughing at my want of
practice. But gradually, through your own kind nature,
and my humble endeavours to be of use, I began to get on
with you better and better; and now you are beginning al-
most to like me.”
‘“Not almost, but altogether,” she answered, with quite
an affectionate glance. ‘‘I can tell you there are very few,
outside of my own family, that I like half so well as I like
you. But how can it matter to you so much 2”
She looked at him so that he was afraid to speak, for fear
of spoiling everything; and being a very good-natured girl,
and pleased with his deep admiration, she sighed—just
enough to make him think that he might hope.
‘‘'We are all so sorry: to lose you,” she said; ‘‘and no one
will miss you so much as I shall,because we have had such
pleasant times together. But if we can carry out our little
plot, we shall hear of you very often, and I dare say not
very unfavourably. Faith and I have been putting our
heads together, for our own benefit and that of all the house,
if we can get you to second it. My father jumped at the
idea, and said how stupid we were not to think of it before.
You know how very little he can be at home this summer,
and he says he has to sacrifice his children to his coun-
try. So wesuggested that he should invite Lady Scudamore
to spend the summer with us, if she can be persuaded to leave
home so long. We will do our very utmost to make her
comfortable, and she will be a tower of strength to us; for
you know sometimes it is very awkward to have only two
young ladies. But we dare not do anything until we
asked you. Do you think she would take compassion upon
us? A word from you perhaps would decide her; and Faith
would write a letter for you to send.”
Scudamore reddened with delight, and took ites hand.
‘‘How can I thank you? Ihad better not try,” he answered,
with some very tender play of thumb and forefinger, and a
9
eo
SPRINGHAVEN. 295
strong impulse to bring lips too into action. ‘‘ You are al-
most as clever as you are good; you will know what I mean
without my telling you. My mother will be only too glad
to come. She knows what you are, she has heard so much
from me. And the reality will put to shame all my descrip-
tions.”
‘“Tell me what you told her I was like. The truth, now,
and not a word of after-thought or flattery. I am always
so irritated by any sort of flattery.”
“Then you must let me hold your hands, to subdue
your irritation; for you are sure to think that it was flattery
—you are so entirely ignorant of yourself, because you
never think of it. I told my dear mother that you were
the best, and sweetest, and wisest, and loveliest, and most
perfect, and exquisite, and innocent, and unselfish of all the
human beings she had ever seen, or heard, or read of. And
I said it was quite impossible for any one after one look at
you to think of himself any more in this world.”
‘Well done!” exclaimed Dolly, showing no irritation,
unless a gleam of pearls inside an arch of coral showed it.
‘“TIt is as well to do things thoroughly, while one is about it.
I can understand now how you get on so fast. But, alas,
your dear mother will only laugh at all that. . Ladies are so
different from gentlemen. Perhaps that is why gentlemen
never understand them. And I would always a great deal
rather be judged by a gentleman than a lady. Ladies pick
such a lot of holes in one another, whereas gentlemen are
too large-minded. And I am very glad upon the whole
that you are not a lady, though you are much more gentle
than they make believe to be. Oh dear! We must run;
or the ladies will never forgive us for keeping them starving
all this time.” .
CHAPTER XLII. -
LISTENERS HEAR NO GOOD.
‘‘Not that there is anything to make one so very uneasy,”
said Mr. Twemlow, ‘‘only that one has a right to know the
meaning of what we are expected to put up with. Nothing
is clear, except that we have not one man in the Govern-
ment who knows his own mind, or at any rate dares to pro-
nounce it. Addington is an old woman, and the rest—oh,
296 SPRINGHAVEN.
when shall we have Pitt back again? People talk of it, and
long for it; but the Country is so slow. We put up with
everything, instead of demanding that the right thing shall
be done atonce. Here is Boney, a fellow raised up by Satan
as the scourge of this island for its manifold sins; and now
he is to be the Emperor forsooth—not of France, but of EKu-
rope, continental Europe. We have only one man fit to
cope with him at all, and the voice of the Nation has been
shouting for him; but who pays any attention to it? This
state of things is childish—simply childish; or perhaps I
ought to say babyish. Why, even the children on the sea-
shore know, when they make their little sand walls against
the tide, how soon they must be swept away. But the dif-
ference is this, that they don’t live inside them, and they
haven’t got all that belongs to them inside them. Nobody
must suppose for a moment that a clergyman’s family would
fail to know where to look for help and strength and sup-
port against all visitations; but, in common with the laity,
we ask for Billy Pitt.”
‘‘And in another fortnight you will have him,” replied
Captain Stubbard, who was dining there that day. ‘‘ Allow
me to tell you a little thing that happened to my very own
self only yesterday. You know that I am one of the last
people in the world to be accused of any—what’s the proper
word for it? Mrs. Stubbard, you know what I mean—
Jemima, why the deuce don’t you tell them ?”
2 Captain Stubbard always has more meaning than he
can well put into words,” said his wife; ‘‘his mind is too
strong for any dictionary. Hallucination is the word he
means.”
‘‘ Exactly!’ cried the Captain. ‘‘That expresses the whole
of what I wanted to say, but went aside of it. Jam one of
the last men in the world to become the victim of any—there,
I’ve lost it again! But never mind. You understand now;
or if you don’t, Mrs. Stubbard will repeat it. What I mean
is, that I see all things square, and straight, and with their
own corners to them. Well, I know London pretty well;
not, of course, as 1 know Portginouth. Still, nobody need
come along with me to go from Charing Cross to St. Paul's
Church-yard; and pretty tight I keepall my hatches battened
down, and a sharp pair of eyes in the crow’s-nest—for to
have them in the foretop won’t do there. It was strictly on
duty that I went up—the duty of getting a fresh stock of
powder, for guns are not much good without it; and I had
?
SPRINGHAVEN. 297
written three times, without answer or powder. Butit seems
that my letters were going the rounds, and would turn up
somewhere, when our guns were stormed, without a bit of
stuff to make answer.’
‘* Ah, that’s the way they do everything now!” interrupted
Mr. Twemlow. ‘‘I thought you had been very quiet lately ;
but I did not know what a good reason you had. We might
all have been shot, and you could not have fired a salute, to
inform the neighbour hood!”
‘“Well, never mind,” replied the Captain, cali pel:
am not complaining, for Ineverdoso. Young men might;
but not old hands, whose duty it is to keep their situation in
life. Well, you must understand that the air of London al-
ways makes me hungry. There are so many thousands of
people there that you can’t name a time when there is nobody
eating, and this makes a man from the country long to help
them. Anyhow, I smelled roast mutton ata place where a
little side street comes up into the Strand; and although
it was scarcely half-past twelve, it reminded me of Mrs.
Stubbard. So I called a halt, and stood to think upon a
grating, and the scent became flavoured with baked pota-
toes. This is always more than I can resist, after all the heavy
trials of a chequered life. So I pushed the door open, and
saw a lot of little cabins, right and left of a fore-and-aft
gangway, all rigged up alike for victualling. Jemima, I told
you all about it. You describe it to the Rector and Mrs.
Twemlow.”
‘*Don’t let us trouble Mrs. Stubbard,” said the host; ‘‘I
know the sort of thing exactly, though I don’t go to that sort
of place myself.”
‘‘No, of course you don’t. And I was a little scared at
first, for there was sawdust enough to soak up every drop of
my blood, if they had pistolled me. Mrs. Twemlow, I beg
you not to be alarmed. My wife has such nerves that I
often forget that all ladies are not like her. Now don’t con-
tradict me, Mrs. Stubbard. Well, sir, I went to the end of
this cockpit—if you like to call it so—and got into the star-
board berth, and shouted for a ration of what I had smelt
outside. And although it was far from being equal to its
smell—as the character is of everything—you might have
thought it uncommon good, if you had never tasted Mrs.
Stubbard’s cooking, after she had been to the butcher herself.
Very well. I don’t care for kickshaws, even if I could afford
them, which has never yet been my destiny. So I called for
13*
298 SPRINGHAVEN.
another ration of hot sheep—beg your pardon, ladies, what
I mean is mutton—and half a dozen more of baked potatoes;
and they reminded me of being at home so much that I called
for a pint of best pine-apple rum and a brace of lemons, to
know where I was—to remind me that I wasn’t where I
couldn’t get them.”
‘‘Oh, Adam!” cried Mrs. Stubbard, ‘‘ what will you say
next? Not on week-days, of course, but nearly every Sun-
day—and the samples of his powder in his pocket, Mr.
Twemlow !”
‘‘ Jemima, you are spoiling my story altogether. Well,
you must understand that this room was low, scarcely high-
er than the cabin of a fore-and-after, with no skylights to
it, or wind-sail, or port-hole that would open. And so, with
the summer coming on, as it is now—though a precious long
time about it—and the smell of the meat, and the thoughts
of the grog, and the feeling of being at home again, what did
I do but fall as fast asleep as the captain of the watch in
a heavy gale of wind! My back was to the light, so far as
there was any, and to make sure of the top of my head, I
fetched down’ my hat—the soft-edged one, the same as you
see me wear on fine Sundays.
‘“ Well, I may have gone on in that way for an hour, not
snoring, as Mrs. Stubbard calls it, but breathing to myself
a little in my sleep, when I seemed to hear somebody calling
me, not properly, but as people do in a dream—‘ Stoobar-—
Stoobar —Stoobar,’ was the sound in my ears, like my con-
science hauling me over the coals in bad English. This
made me wake up, for I always have it out with that part of
me when it mutinies; but I did not move more than to feel
for my glass. Andthen I perceived that it was nothing more
or less than a pair of Frenchmen talking about me in the
berth next to mine, within the length of a marlin-spike from
my blessed surviving ear.
‘‘Some wiseacre says that listeners never hear good of
themselves, and upon my word he was right enough this
time, so far as I made out. The French language is beyond
me, so far as speaking goes, for I never can lay hold of the
word I want; but I can make out most of what those queer
people say, from being a prisoner among them once, and
twice in command of a prize crew over them. And the sound
of my own name pricked me up to listen sharply with my
one good ear. You must bear in mind, Rector, that I could
not see them, and durst not get up to peep over the quarter-
SPRINGHAVEN. 299
rail, for fear of scaring them. But I was wearing a short
hanger, like a middy’s dirk—the one I always carry in the
battery.”
‘‘T made Adam promise, before he went to London,” Mrs.
Stubbard explained to Mrs. Twemlow, ‘‘ that he would never
walk the streets without steel or firearms. Portsmouth is a
very wicked place indeed, but a garden of Eden compared
with London.”
‘Well, sir,” continued Captain Stubbard, ‘‘ the first thing
I heard those Frenchmen say was: ‘Stoobar is a stupid
beast, like the ox that takes the prize up here, except that he
has no claim to good looks, but the contrary—wholly the
contrary.’ Mrs. Stubbard, I beg you to preserve your tem-
per; you have heard others say it,and you should now de-
spise such falsehoods. ‘But the ox has his horns, and
Stoobar has none. Tor all his great guns there is not one
little cup of powder.’ The villains laughed at this, asa very
fine joke, and you may well suppose that I almost boiled
over. ‘You have then the command of this beast Stoo-
bar? the other fellow asked him, as if I were a jackass.
‘How then have you so very well obtained it? ‘Ina man-
ner the most simple. Our chief has him by the head and
heels: by the head, by being over him; and by the heels,
because nothing can come in the rear without his knowl-
edge. Behold! you have all.’ ‘It is very good,’ the other
villain answered; ‘but when is it to be, my most admirable
Charron ?—how much longer?—how many months?’ * Be-
hold my fingers,’ said the one who had abused me; ‘I put
these into those, and then you know. It would have
been already, except for the business that you have been
employed upon in this black hole. Hippolyte, you have
done well, though crookedly; but all is straight for the na-
tive land. You have made this Government appear more
treacherous in the eyes of France and Europe than our own
is, and you have given a good jump to his instep for the
saddle. But all this throws us back. Iam tired of tricks;
I want fighting; though I find them quite a jolly people.’
‘T don’t,’ said the other, who was clearly a low scoundrel,
for his voice was enough to settle that; ‘I hate-them; they
are of thick head and thick hand, and would come in
sabots to catch their enemy asleep. And now there is no
chance to entangle any more. Their Government will be
of the old brutal kind, hard knocks, and no stratagems. In
less than a fortnight Pitt will be master again. I know it
sh
,
300 SPRINGHAVEN.
from the very best authority. You know what access I
have.’ ‘Then that is past,’ the other fellow answered, who
seemed to speak more like a gentleman, although he was
the one that ran down me; ‘that is the Devil. They will
have their wits again, and that very fat Stoobar will be
supplied with powder. Hippolyte, it is a very grand joke.
Within three miles of his head (which is empty, like his guns)
“we have nearly two hundred barrels of powder, which we
fear to bring over in those flat-bottoms for fear of a volley
among them. Ha! ha! Stoobar is one fine fat ox!’
‘‘This was all I heard, for they began to moye, having
had enough sugar and water, I suppose; and they sauntered
away to pay their bill at the hatch put up at the doorway.
It was hopeless to attempt to follow them; but although I
am not so quick in stays as I was, I slewed myself round
to have a squint at them. One was a slight little active
chap, with dapper legs, and jerks like a Frenchman all over.
I could pardon him for calling me a great fat ox, for want
of a bit of flesh upon his own bones. But he knows more
about me than I do of him, for I never clapped eyes on him
before, to my knowledge. The other was better built, and
of some substance, but a nasty, slouchy-looking sort of cur,
with high fur collars and a long gray cloak. And that
was the one called Hippolyte, who knows all about our
Government. And just the sort of fellow who would do
so in these days, when no honest man knows what they
are up to.”
‘‘That is true,” said the Rector—‘‘ too true by half. But
honest men soon will have their turn, if that vile spy was
well informed. The astonishing thing is that England ever
puts up with such shameful anarchy. What has been done
to defend us? Nothing, except your battery, without a pinch
-of powder! With Pitt at the helm, would that have hap-
pened ? How could we have slept in our beds, if we had
known it? Fourteen guns, and not a pinch of powder!”
‘“But you used to sleep well enough before a gun was
put there.” Mrs. Stubbard’s right to spare nobody was well
established by this time. ‘‘ Better have the guns, though
they could not be fired, than no guns at all, if they would
frighten the enemy.”
‘“That is true, ma’am,” replied Mr. Twemlow; ‘‘ but
until the guns came, we had no sense of our danger.
Having taught us that, they were bound to act up to their °
teaching. It is not for ourselves that Ihave any fear. We
“STOOBAR IS A STUPID BEAST.’ as
.
302 SPRINGHAVEN.
have long since learned to rest with perfect faith in the
Hand that overruleth all. And more than that—if there
should be a disturbance, my nephew and my godson Joshua
has a house of fourteen rooms in a Wiltshire valley, quite
out of the track of invaders. He would have to fight, for
he is Captain in the Yeomanry; and we would keep house
for him till all was over. So that it is for my parish I fear,
for my people, my schools, and my church, ma'am.”
‘‘Needn't be afraid, sir; no call to run away,” cried the
Captain of the battery, having now well manned his own
port-holes with the Rector’s sound wine; ‘‘ we shall have our
powder in to-morrow, and the French can’t come to-night;
there is too much moon. They never dare show their noses
nor’ard of their sands, with the man in the moon—the John
Bull in the moon—looking at them. And more than that,
why, that cursed Boney—”’
‘‘Adam! in Mr. Twemlow’s house! You must please to
excuse him, all good people. He has sate such a long time,
without saying what he lkes.”
‘‘ Jemima, I have used the right word. The parson will
back me up in every letter of it, having said the same
thing of him, last Sunday week. But I beg Mrs. Twemlow’s
pardon, if I said it loud enough to disturb her. Well, then,
this blessed Boney, if you prefer it, is a deal too full of his
own dirty tricks for mounting the throne of the King they
murdered, to get into a flat-bottomed boat at Boulogne,
and a long sight too jealous a villain he is, to let any one
command instead of him. Why, the man who set foot
upon our shore, and beat us—if such a thing can be sup-
posed—would be ten times bigger than Boney in a month,
and would sit upon his crown, if he gets one.”
‘“Well, I don’t believe they will ever come at all,” the
solid Mrs. Stubbard pronounced, with decision. ‘‘I believe
it is all a sham, and what they want is to keep us from at-
tacking them in France. However, it isa good thing on the
whole, and enables poor Officers, who have fought well for
their country, to keep out of the Workhouse with their |
families.”
‘‘ Hearken, hearken to Mrs. Stubbard!” the veteran cried,
‘ as he patted his waistcoat—a better one than he could have
worn, and a larger one than he could have wanted, ex-
cept for the promised invasion. ‘‘I will back my wife
against any Jady in the land for common-sense, and for put-
ting it plainly. Iam not ashamed to say thank God for the
SPRINGHAVEN. 308
existence of that blessed Boney. A111 I hope is that he will
only try to land at Springhaven—I mean, of course, when
Ive got my powder.”
‘‘Keep it dry, Captain,” said the Rector, in good spirits.
‘Your confidence makes us feel comfortable; and of course
you would draw all their fire from the village, and the houses
standing near it, as this does. However, I pray earnestly
every night that they may attempt it in some other parish.
But what was it you heard that Frenchman say about two
or three hundred barrels of powder almost within three miles
of us? Suppose it was to blow up, where should we be 2”
‘*Oh, I don’t believe a word of that. It must be brag
and nonsense. ‘To begin with, there is no place where they
could store it. I know all the neighbourhood, and every
house in it. And there’are no caves on this coast in the
cliff, or holes of that kind such as smugglers use. How-
ever, | shall think it my duty to get a search-order from
Admiral Darling, and inspect large farm-buildings, such as
Farmer Graves has got, and another man the other side of
Pebbleridge. Those are the only places that could accom-
modate large stores of ammunition. Why, we can take
only forty barrels in the fire-proof magazine we have built.
We all know what liars those Frenchmen are. I have no
more faith in the two hundred barrels of powder than I
have in the two thousand ships prepared on the opposite
coast to demolish us.”
‘Well, I hope you are right,” Mr. Twemlow answered.
‘Tt does seem a very unlikely tale. But the ladies are gone.
Let us have a quiet pipe. A man who works as hard as
you and I do is entitled to a little repose now and then.”
CHAPTER XLII.
ANSWERING THE QUESTION.
If Scudamore had not seen Dan Tugwell on board of the
London Trader, and heard from his own lips that he was
one of her crew, it is certain that he would have made a
strict search of her hold, according to his orders in sus-
picious cases. And if he had done this, it is probable that
he never would have set his nimble feet on deck again, for
Perkins (the American who passed as Sam Polwhele) had a
heavy ship-pistol in his great rough pocket, ready for the
304 SPRINGHAVEN.
back of the young officer’s head if he had probed below the -
cheeses and firkins of butter. Only two men had followed
the lieutenant from their boat, the rest being needed for
her safety in the strong sea running, and those two at the
signal would have been flung overboard, and the schooner
(put about for the mouth of the Canche, where heavy bat-
teries were mounted) would have had a fair chance of es-
cape, with a good start, while the gun-brig was picking up
her boat. Unless, indeed, a shot from the Delia should
carry away an important spar, which was not very likely
at night, and with a quick surf to baffle gunnery. How-
ever, none of these things came to pass, and so the chances
require no measurement.
Carne landed his freight with his usual luck, and resolved
very wisely to leave off that dangerous work until further
urgency. He had now a very fine stock of military stores
for the ruin of his native land, and especially of gunpowder,
which the gallant Frenchmen were afraid of stowing large-
ly in their flat-bottomed craft. And knowing that he owed
‘his success to moderation, and the good-will of his neigh-
bours towards evasion of the Revenue, he thought it much
better to arrange his magazine than to add to it for a month
or two.
-Moreover, he was vexed at the neglect of his advice, on
the part of his arrogant Commander, a man who was never
known to take advice from any mind external to his own
body, and not even from that clear power sometimes, when
his passionate heart got the uppermost. Carne, though of
infinitely smaller mind, had one great advantage—he sel-
dom allowed it to be curdled or crossed in its clear opera-
tions by turbulent bodily elements. And now, when he
heard from the light-hearted Charron, who had lately been
at work in London, that the only man they feared was about
to take the lead once more against the enemies of Great
Britain, Caryl Carne grew bitter against his Chief, and be-
gan for the first time to doubt his success.
‘‘T have a great mind to go to Mr. Pitt myself, tell him
everything, and throw myself upon his generosity,” he
thought, as he sate among his ruins sadly. ‘‘I could not
be brought to trial as a common traitor. Although by ac-
cident of birth I am an Englishman, I am a French officer,
and within my duty in acting as a pioneer for the French
army. But then, again, they would call me at the best a
spy, and in that capacity outside the rules of war. It is a
SPRINGHAVEN. 305
toss-up how they might take it, and the result would de-
pend perhaps on popular clamour. The mighty Emperor
has snubbed me. Heis nota gentleman. He has not even
invited me to Paris, to share in the festivities and honours
he proclaims. I would risk it, for I believe it is the safer
game, except for two obstacles, and both of those are women.
Matters are growing very ticklish now. That old bat of a
Stubbard has got scent of a rat, and is hunting about the
farm-houses. It would be bad for him if he came prowling
here; that step for inspectors is well contrived. Twenty
feet fall on his head for my friend; even his bull-neck
would get the worst of that. And then, again, there is that
wretch of a Cheeseman, who could not even hang himself
effectually. If it were not for Polly, we would pretty soon
enable him, as the Emperor enabled poor Pichegru. And
after his own bona fide effort, who would be surprised to
find him sus. per coll.2 But Polly is a nice girl, though
becoming too affectionate. And jealous—good lack! a gro-
cer’s daughter jealous, and a Carne compelled to humour
her! What idiots women are in the hands of a strong man!
Only my mother—my mother was not; or else my father
was a weak one; which I can well believe from my own
remembrance of him. Well, one point at least shall be
settled to-morrow.”
It was early in May, 1804, and Napoleon having made
away to the best of his ability—which in that way was pre-
eminent—-with all possible rivals and probable foes, was re-
ceiving addresses, and appointing dummies, and establishing
foolscap guarantees against his poor fallible and flexible
self—as he had the effrontery to call it—with all the gravity,
grand benevolence, confidence in mankind (as fools), im-
mensity of yearning for universal good, and intensity of
planning for his own, which have hoodwinked the zanies in
every age, and never more than in the present age and coun-
try. And if France licked the dust, she could plead more
than we can—it had not been cast off from her enemy’s shoes.
Carne’s love of liberty, like that of most people who talk
very largely about it, was about as deep as beauty is declared
to be; or even less than that, for he would not have im-
perilled the gloss of his epiderm for the fair goddess. So
that it irked him very little that his Chief had smashed up
the Republic, but very greatly that his own hand should be
out in the cold, and have nothing put inside it to restore its
circulation. ‘‘If I had stuck to my proper line of work, in
306 SPRINGHAVEN.
the Artillery, which has made his fortune”—he could not
help saying to himself sometimes—“‘ instead of losing more
than a year over here, and perhaps another year to follow,
and all for the sake of these dirty old ruins, and my mo-
ther’s revenge upon this country, I might have been a Gen-
eral by this time almost—for nothing depends upon age in
France—and worthy to claim something lofty and grand,
or else to be bought off at a truly high figure. The little
gunner has made a great mistake if he thinks that his
flat thumb of low breed can press me down shuddering, and
starving, and crouching, just until it suits him to hold upa
finger forme. My true course is now to consider myself, to
watch events, and act accordingly. My honour is free to go
either way, because he has not kept his word with me; he
promised to act upon my advice, and to land within a twelve-
month.”
There was some truth in this, for Napoleon had promised
that his agent’s perilous commission in England should
be discharged within a twelvemonth, and that time had
elapsed without any renewal. But Carne was clear-minded
enough to know that he was bound in honour to give fair
notice, before throwing up the engagement; and that even
then it would be darkest dishonour to betray his confidence.
He had his own sense of honour still, though warped by the
underhand work he had stooped to; and even while he rea-
soned with himself so basely, he felt that he could not do
the things he threatened.
To a resolute man it is a misery to waver, as even the
most resolute must do sometimes; for instance, the mighty
Napoleon himself. That great man felt the misery so keen-
ly, and grew so angry with himself for letting in the men-
tal pain, that he walked about vehemently, as a horse is
walked when cold water upon a hot stomach has made colic
—only there was nobody to hit him in the ribs, as the groom
serves the nobler animal. Carne did not stride about in
that style, to cast his wrath out of his toes, because his
body never tingled with the sting-nettling of his mind—as it
is bound to do with all correct Frenchmen—and his legs
being long, he might have fallen down a hole into ancestral
vaults before he knew what he was up to. Being as he was,
he sate still, and thought it out, and resolved to play his
own game for a while, as his master was playing for himself
in Paris.
The next day he reappeared at his seaside lodgings, look-
SPRINGHAVEN. 307
ing as comely and stately as of old; and the kind Widow
Shanks was so glad to see him that he felt a rare emotion
—good-will towards her; as the hardest man must do some-
times, especially if others have been hard upon him. He
even chucked little Susy under the chin, which amazed her
so much that she stroked her face, to make sure of its being
her own, and ran away to tell her mother that the gentle-
man was come home so nice. Then he ordered a special
repast from John Prater’s—for John, on the strength of all
his winter dinners, had now painted on his sign-board ‘‘ Uni-
versal Victualler,” caring not a fig for the offence to Cheese-
man, who never came now to have a glass with him, and had
spoiled all the appetite inspired by his windows through the
dismal suggestions of his rash act on the premises. Instead
of flattening their noses and opening their mouths, and ex-
claiming, *‘ Oh, shouldn’t I like a bit of that ?” the children,
if they ventured to peep in at all, now did it with an anx-
ious hope of horrors, and a stealthy glance between the
hams and bacon for something that might be hanging up
among the candles. And the worst of it was that the wisest
man in the village had failed to ascertain as yet ‘‘ the reason
why ’a doed it.” Until that was known, the most charitable
neighbours could have no hope of forgiving him.
Miss Dolly Darling had not seen her hero of romance
for a long time; but something told her—or perhaps some-
body—that he was now at hand; and to make sure about it,
she resolved to have a walk. Faith was very busy, as the
lady of the house, in preparing for a visitor, the mother of
Blyth Scudamore, whom she, with her usual kindness, in-
tended to meet and bring back from the coach-road that
evening; for no less than three coaches a day passed now
within eight miles of Springhaven, and several of the na-
tives had seen them. - Dolly was not to go in the carriage,
because nobody knew how many boxes the visitor might
bring, inasmuch as she was to stop ever so long. ‘“‘I am
tired of ali this fuss,” cried Dolly. ‘‘One would think Queen
Charlotte was coming, at the least; and I dare say nearly all
her luggage would go into the door-pocket. They are dread-
fully poor; and it serves them right, for being so dreadfully
honest.”
‘‘Tf you ever fall into poverty,” said Faith, *‘it will not
be from that cause. When you get your money, you don’t
pay your debts. You think that people should be proud to
work for you for nothing. There is one house I am quite
308 SPRINGHAVEN.
ashamed to pass by with you. How long have you owed
poor Shoemaker Stickfast fifteen shillings and sixpence ?
And you take advantage of him, because he dare not send it
in to father.”
‘‘Fashionable ladies never pay their debts,” Dolly an-
swered, as she spun round on one light heel, to float out a
new petticoat that she was very proud of; “‘this isn’t paid
for, nor this, nor this; and you with your slow head have
no idea how it adds to the interest they possess. If Iam
not allowed to have a bit of fashion in my dress, I can be
in the fashion by not paying for it.”
‘Tt is a most happy thing for you, dear child, that you are
kept under some little control. What you would do,I have
not the least idea, if you were not afraid of dear father, as
you are. The worst of it is that he is never here now for as
much as two days together. And then he is so glad to see
us that he cannot attend to our piscine or take notice of
our dresses.”
‘‘Ha! you have inspired me!” exclaimed Dolly, who re-
joiced in teasing Faith. ‘‘ The suggestion is yours, and I
will act upon it. From the village of Brighthelmstone,
which is growing very fine, I will procure upon the strictest
eredit a new Classic dress, with all tackle complete—as dear
father so well expresses it—and then I will promenade me
on the beach, with Charles in best livery and a big stick be-
hind me. How then will Springhaven rejoice, and every
one that hath eyes clap a spy-glass tothem! And what will
old Twemlow say, and that frump of an Eliza, who conde-
scends to give me little hints sometimes about tightening
up so, perhaps, and letting out so, and permitting a little air
to come in here—”
‘Do be off, you wicked little animal!” cried Faith, who
in spite of herself could not help laughing, so well was Dolly
mimicking Eliza Twemlow’s voice, and manner, and _atti-
tude, andeven her figure, less fitted by nature for the Classic
attire; ‘‘you are wasting all my time, and doing worse with
your own. Be off, or Ill take a stick to ’e, as old Daddy
Stakes says to the boys.”
Taking advantage of this state of things, the younger Miss
Darling set forth by herself to dwell upon the beauty of the
calm May sea, and her own pretty figure glassed in tidal
pools. She knew that she would show to the utmost of
her gifts, with her bright complexion softly gleaming in the
sun, and dark gray eyes through their deep fringe receiving
SPRINGHAVEN. 309
and returning tenfold the limpid glimmer of theshore. And
she felt that the spring of the year was with her, the bound
of old Time that renews his youth and powers of going at
any pace; when the desire of the young is to ride him at
full gallop, and the pleasure of the old is to stroke his nose
and think.
Dolly, with everything in her favour, youth and beauty,
the time of year, the time of day, and the power of the
place, as well as her own wish to look lovely, and to be
loved beyond reason, nevertheless came along very strictly,
and kept herself most careful not to look about at all—at
any rate, not towards the houses, where people live, and
therefore must look out. At the breadth of sea, with distant
ships jotted against the sky like chips, or dotted with boats
like bits of stick; also at the playing of the little waves
that ran at the bottom of the sands, just now, after one an-
other with a lively turn, and then jostled into white con-
fusion, like a flock of sheep huddled up and hurrying from
a dog—at these and at the warm clouds loitering in the sun
she might use her bright eyes without prejudice. But soon
she had to turn them upon a nearer object.
‘How absorbed we are in distant contemplation! <A hap-
py sign, I hope, in these turbulent times. Miss Darling, will
you condescend to include me in your view?”
‘‘T only understand simple English,” answered Dolly.
‘*Most of the other comes from France, perhaps. We be-
lieved that you were gone abroad again.”’
‘‘T wish that the subject had more interest for you,” Carne
answered, with his keen eyes fixed on hers, in the manner
that half angered and half conquered her. ‘‘ My time is not
like that of happy young ladies, with the world at their feet,
and their chief business in it to discover some new amuse-
ment.”
‘‘You are not at all polite. But you never were that,
in spite of your French education.”’
‘‘ Ah, there it is again! You are so accustomed to the
flattery of great people that a simple-minded person like
myself has not the smallest chance of pleasing you. Ah,
well! Itis my fate, and I must yield to it.”
‘‘Not at all,” replied Dolly, who could never see the
beauty of that kind of resignation, even in the case of Dan
Tugwell. ‘‘There is no such thing as fate for a strong-
willed man, though there may be for poor women.”
‘* May I tell you my ideas about that matter? Ifso,come
310 SPRINGHAVEN.
and rest for a moment in a quiet little shelter where the
wind is not socold. For there is no such thing as spring in
England.” |
Dolly hesitated, and with the proverbial result. To prove
himself more polite than she supposed, Caryl Carne, hat in
hand and with low bows preserving a respectful distance,
conducted her to a little place of shelter, so pretty and hum-
ble arid secluded by its own want of art, and simplicity of
skill, that she was equally pleased and surprised with it.
‘Why, it is quite a little bower!” she exclaimed; ‘‘as
pretty a little nest as any bird could wish for. And what
a lovely view towards the west and beyond Pebbleridge!
One could sit here forever and see the sun set. But I must
have passed it fifty times without the least suspicion of it.
How on earth have you managed to conceal it so? That
is to say, if itis your doing. Surely the children must have
found it out, because they go everywhere.”’
‘One brat did. But I gave him such a scare that he
never stopped roaring till next Sunday, and it frightened
all the rest from looking round that corner. If any other
comes, I shall pitch-plaster him, for I could not endure that
noise again. But you see, at a glance, why you have failed
to see it, as we always do with our little oversights, when
humbly pointed out to us. It is the colour of the ground
and the background too, and the grayness of the scanty
growth that hides it. Nobody finds it out by walking across
it, because of this swampy place on your side, and the shoot
of flints down from the cliff on the other, all sharp as a
knife, and as rough asasaw. And nobody comes down to
this end of the warren, neither is it seen from the battery on
the hill. Only from the back is it likely to be invaded, and.
there 1s nothing to make people look or come up here. So
you have me altogether at your mercy, Miss Darling.”
Dolly thought within herself that it was much the other
way, but could not well express her thoughts to that effect.
And being of a brisk and versatile—not to say volatile—or-
der, she went astray into a course of wonder concerning the
pretty little structure she beheld. Structure was not the
proper word for it at all; for it seemed to have grown from
the nature around, with a little aid of human hands to guide
it. Branches of sea-willow radiant with spring, and supple
sprays of tamarisk recovering from the winter, were lightly
inwoven and arched together, with the soft compliance of
reed and rush from the marsh close by, and the stout assist~-
ee)
““SHE FELT THAT THE SPRING OF THE YEAR WAS WITH HER.”
312 SPRINGHAVEN.
ance of hazel rods from the westward cliff. The back was
afforded by a grassy hillock, with a tuft or two of brake-fern
throwing up their bronzy crockets among the sprayed russet
of last year’s pride. And beneath them a ledge of firm turf
afforded as fair a seat as even two sweet lovers need desire.
‘‘How clever he is, and how full of fine taste!” thought
the simple-minded Dolly; ‘‘and all this time I have been
taking him for a gloomy, hard-hearted, unnatural man.
Blyth Scudamore never could have made this lovely bower.”
In this conclusion she was altogether wrong. Scudamore
could have made it, and would have made it gladly, with
bright love to help him. But Carne never could, and would
have scorned the pleasant task. It was Charron, the lively
Frenchman, who, with the aid of old Jerry, had achieved
this pretty feat, working to relieve his dull detention, with
a Frenchman's playful industry and tasteful joy in nature.
But Carne was not likely to forego this credit.
‘‘T think I have done it pretty well,” he said, in reply to
her smile of admiration; ‘“‘ with such scanty materials, I
mean, of course. And I shall think I have done it very
well indeed, if you say that you like it, and crown it with
new glory by sitting for a moment in its unpretentious
shade. If your brother comes down, as I hope he will, next
week, I shall beg him to come and write a poem here. The
place is fitter for a poet than a prosy vagabond like me.” *
‘It is very hard that you should be a—a wanderer, I
mean,” Dolly answered, looking at him with a sweet thrill
of pity; ‘‘you have done nothing to deserve it. How un-
fairly fortune has always treated you!” |
‘‘Fortune could make me a thousand times more than
the just compensation even now, if she would. Such a
glorious return for all my bitter losses and outcast condi-
tion, that I should—but it is useless to think of such things,
in my low state. The Fates have been hard with me, but
never shall they boast that they drove me from my pure
sense of honour. Oh yes, it is damp. But let me cure it
thus.”
For Dolly, growing anxious about his meaning, yet ready
to think about another proposal, was desirous to sit down
on the sweet ledge of grass, yet uneasy about her pale-blue
sarsenet, and uncertain that she had not seen something of
a little sea-snail (living in a yellow house, dadoed with red),
whom to crush would be a cruel act to her dainty fabric.
But if he were there, he was sat upon unavenged; for Carne,
4
SPRINGHAVEN. 313
pulling off his light buff cloak, flung it on the seat; after
which the young lady could scarcely be rude enough not
to sit.
‘‘Oh, I am so sorry now! Perhaps it will be spoiled,”
she said; ‘‘for you say that the fates are against you al-
ways. And I am sure that they always combine against
me, when I wear anything of that colour.”
“Tam going the wrong way to work,” thought Carne.
‘What a little vixen it is; but what a beauty!” For his
love for her was chiefly a man’s admiration. And bodily
she looked worthy now of all that could be done in that
way, with the light flowing in through the budded arch and
flashing upon the sweet flush of her cheeks. Carne gazed
at her without a word or thought, simply admiring, as he
never had admired anything, except himself, till now.
Then she felt all the meaning of his gaze, and turned away.
‘*But you must look at me and tell me something,” he
said, in a low voice, and taking both her hands; ‘‘ you shall
tell me what my fate must be. Whether you can ever come
to love me, as I have loved you, long and long.”
‘“You have no right to speak to me like that,” she an-
swered, still avoiding his eyes, and striving to show proper
anger; ‘‘no gentleman would think of taking advantage of
a lady so.”
‘“T care not what is right or wrong. Look up, and tell
me that you hate me. Dolly, I suppose you do.”
‘“Then you are quite wrong’”’—she gave him one bright
glance of contradiction; ‘‘no, I have always been so sorry
for you, and for all your troubles. ‘You must not ask me
to say more.”
‘*But must; Imust. That is the very thing that I must
do. Only say that you love me, Dolly. Dolly darling, tell
me that. Or let your lovely eyes say it for you.”
‘‘My lovely eyes must not tell stories ””—they were gazing
softly at him now—‘‘and I don’t think I can say it—yet.”
‘*But you will—you shall!” he exclaimed, with passion
- growing as he drew her near; ‘‘you shall not slip from me,
you shall not stir, until you have answered me one question
—is there anybody else, my Dolly ?”
‘“You frighten me. You forget who [ am. Of course
there are a great many else, as you eall it; and I am not
to be called, for a moment, your Dolly.”
‘*No, not for a moment, but forever.” Carne was accus-
tomed to the ways of girls, and read all their words by the
14
314 SPRINGHAVEN.
light of theireyes. ‘‘ Your little heart begins to know who
loves it better than all the world put together. And for
that reason I will leave you now. Farewell, my darling; I
conquer myself, for the sake of what is worth a thousand
of it.”
Dolly was in very sad confusion, and scarcely knew what
she might do next—that is to say, if he still went on.
Pleasant conceit and bright coquetry ill supply the place
of honest pride and gentle self-respect, such as Faith was
blest with. Carne might have kissed Dolly a hundred times,
without much resistance, for his stronger will had mastered
hers; but she would have hated him afterwards. He did
not kiss her once; and she almost wished that he had offered
one—one little tribute of affection (as the Valentines express
it)—as soon as he was gone, and the crisis of not knowing
what to do was past. ‘‘I should have let him—I believe I
should,” she reflected, sagely recovering herself; ‘* but how
glad I ought to be that he didn’t! And Ido hope he won't
come back again. The next time I meet him,I shall sink
into the earth.”
For her hat had fallen off, and her hair was out of order,
and she saw two crinkles near the buckle of her waist; and
she had not so much as a looking-glass to be sure that she
looked nice again. With a heavy sigh for all these woes,
she gathered a flossy bud of willow, and fixed it on her
breast-knot, to defy the world; and then, without heed of
the sea, sun, or sands, went home with short breath, and
quick blushes, and some wonder; for no man’s arm, except
her father’s, had ever been round her waist till now.
CHAPTER XLIII.
LITTLE AND GREAT PEOPLE.
Ir ever a wise man departed from wisdom, or a sober
place from sobriety, the man was John Prater, and the
place Springhaven, towards the middle of June,1804. There
had been some sharp rumours of great things before; but
the best people, having been misled so often, shook their
heads without produce of their contents; until Captain -
Stubbard came out in his shirt-sleeves one bright summer
morning at half-past nine, with a large printed paper in one
hand and a slop-basin full of hot paste in the other. His
SPRINGHAVEN. 315
second boy, George, in the absence of Bob (who was now
drawing rations at Woolwich), followed, with a green-baize
apron on, and carrying a hearth-brush tied round with a
string to keep the hair stiff.
‘*Lay it on thick on the shutter, my son. Never mind
about any other notices, except the one about young men
wanted. No hurry; keep your elbow up; only don’t dab
my breeches, nor the shirt you had on Sunday.”
By this time there were half a dozen people waiting; for
this shutter of Widow Shanks was now accepted as the cen-
tral board and official panel of all public business and au-
thorized intelligence. Not only because all Royal Proc-
lamations, Offers of reward, and Issues of menace were
posted on that shutter and the one beyond the window
(which served as a postscript and glossary to it), but also
inasmuch as the kind-hearted Captain, beginning now to
understand the natives—which was not to be done pugna-
ciously,as he had first attempted it, neither by any show
of interest in them (than which they detested nothing more),
but by taking them coolly, as they took themselves, and
gradually sliding, without any thought about it, into the
wholesome contagion of their minds, and the divine gift of
taking things easily—our Captain Stubbard may be fairly
now declared to have made himself almost as good as a
native, by the way in which he ministered to their con-
tent.
For nothing delighted them more than to hear of great
wonders going on in other places—of battles, plague, pesti-
lence, famine, and fire; of people whose wives ran away
with other people, or highwaymen stopping the coach of a
bishop. Being full of good-nature, they enjoyed these
things, because of the fine sympathies called out to their own.
credit, and the sense of pious gratitude aroused towards
Heaven, that they never permitted such things among them.
Perceiving this genial desire of theirs, the stout Captain of
the Foxhill battery was kind enough to meet it with worthy
subjects. Receiving officially a London newspaper almost
every other day, as soon as it had trodden the round of his
friends, his regular practice was to cut out all the pieces of
lofty public interest—the first-rate murders, the exploits of
highwaymen, the episodes of high life, the gallant execu-
tions, the embezzlements of demagogues—in a word, whatever
quiet people find a fond delight in ruminating—and these he
pasted (sometimes upside down) upon his shutter. Spring-
316 SPRINGHAVEN.
haven had a good deal of education, and enjoyed most of all
what was hardest to read.
But this great piece of news, that should smother all the
rest, seémed now to take a terrible time in coming. Allthe
gaffers were waiting who had waited to see the result of
Mr. Cheeseman’s suicide, and their patience was less on this
occasion. At length the great Captain unfolded his broad-
sheet, but even then held it upside down for a minute. It
was below their dignity to do anything but grunt, put their
specs on their noses, and lean chin upon staff. They de-
served to be rewarded, and so they were.
For this grand poster, which overlapped the shutters, was
a Royal Proclamation, all printed in red ink, announcing
that His Majesty King George the Third would on the 25th
of June then ensuing hold a grand review upon Shotbury
Down of all the Volunteer forces and Reserve, mounted,
footmen, or artillery, of the four counties forming the South-
east Division, to wit, Surrey, Kent, Sussex, and Hants. Cer-
tain regiments of the line would be appointed to act with
them; and officers in command were ordered to report at
once, etc., etc. God save the King.
If Shotbury Down had been ten miles off, Springhaven
would have thought very little of the matter; for no one
would walk ten miles inland to see all the sojers that ever
were shot, or even the ‘* King and Queen, and their. fifteen
little ones.” Most of the little ones were very large now;
but the village had seen them in a travelling show, and ex-
pected them to continue like it. But Shotbury Down was
only three miles inland; and the people (who thought noth-
ing of twenty miles along the coast) resolved to face a
league of perils of the solid earth, because if they only
turned round upon their trudge they could see where they
lived from every corner of the road. They always did all
things with one accord; the fishing fleet all should stand
still on the sand, and the houses should have to keep
house for themselves. That is to say, perhaps, all except
one. | |
‘Do as you like,” said Mrs. Tugwell to her husband;
“nothing as you do makes much differ to me now. If
you feel you can be happy with them thousands of young
men, and me without one left fit to lift a big crock, go your
way, Zeb; but you don’t catch me going, with the tears
coming into my eyes every time I see a young man to re-
mind me of Dan—though there won’t be one there fit to stand
@ °
“ALL THE GAFFERS WERE WAITING.’
318 SPRINGHAVEN.
at his side. And him perhaps fighting against his own
King now!”
‘‘ Whatever hath coom to Dannel is all along of your own
fault, I tell ’e.” Captain Tugwell had scarcely enjoyed a
long pipe since the night when he discharged his paternal
duty, with so much vigour and such sad results. Not that
he felt any qualms of conscience, though his heart was some-
times heavy, but because his good wife was a good wife no
longer, in the important sphere of the pan, pot, and kettle,
or even in listening to his adventures with the proper ex-
clamations in the proper places. And not only she, but all
his children, from Timothy down to Solomon, instead of
a pleasant chatter around him, and little attentions, and a
smile to catch a smile, seemed now to shrink from him
and hold whispers in a corner, and watch him with timid
eyes, and wonder how soon their own time would come
to be lashed and turned away. And as for the women,
whether up or down the road—-but as he would not admit,
even to himself, that he cared twopence what they thought,
it is useless to give voice to their opinions, which they did
quite sufficiently. Zebedee Tugwell felt sure that he had
done the right thing, and therefore admired himself, but
would have enjoyed himself more if he had done the wrong
one.
‘What fault of mine, or of his, poor lamb?” Mrs. Tug- .
well asked, with some irony. She knew that her husband
could never dare to go to see the King without her—for no
married man in the place would venture to look at him
twice if he did such a thing—and she had made up her own
mind to go from the first; but still, he should humble him-
self before she did it. ‘* Was it I as colted him? Or was
it him as gashed himself, like the prophets of Baal, when ’a
was gone hunting ?”
‘“No; but you cockered him up, the same as was done to
they, by the wicked king, and his wife—the worst woman
as ever lived. If they hadn’t gashed theirselves, I reckon,
the true man of God would ’a done it for them, the same as
he cut their throats into the brook Kishon. Solomon was
the wisest man as ever lived, and Job the most patient—the
same as I be—and Elijah, the Tishbite, the most justest.”
‘“You better finish up with all the Psalms of David, and
the Holy Children, and the Burial Service. No more call
for Parson Twemlow, or the new Church-warden come in
place of Cheeseman, because ’a tried to hang hisself. Zeb-
SPRINGHAVEN. 319
edee Tugwell in the pulpit! Zebedee, come round with the
plate! Parson Tugwell, if you please, a-reading out the ten
commandments! But ’un ought to leave out the sixth, for
fear of spoiling ’s own dinner afterwards; and the seventh,
if ’a hopes to go to see King George the Third, with another
man’s woman to his elbow!”
‘‘When you begins to go on like that,” Captain Tugwell
replied, with some dignity, “‘the only thing as a quiet man
can do is to go out of houze,-and have a half-pint of small
ale.”” He put his hat on his head and went to do it.
Notwithstanding all this and much more, when the great
day came for the Grand Review, very few people saw more
of the King, or entered more kindly into all his thoughts
—or rather the thoughts that they made him think—than
Zebedee Tugwell and his wife Kezia. The place being so
near home, and the smoke of their own chimneys and masts ©
of their smack as good as in sight—if you knew where to
look—it was natural for them to regard the King as a stran-
ger requiring to be taught about their place. This sense of
propvetary right is strong in dogs and birds and cows and
rabbits, and everything that acts by nature’s laws. When
a dog sits in front of his kennel, fast chained, every stranger
dog that comes in at the gate confesses that the premises are
his, and all the treasures they contain; and if he hunts
‘ about—which he is like enough to do, unless full of self-
respect and fresh victuals—for any bones invested in the
earth to ripen, by the vested owner, he does it with a low
tail and many pricks of conscience, perhaps hoping in his
heart that he may discover nothing to tempt him into breach
of self-respect. But now men are ordered, in this matter,
to be of lower principle than their dogs.
King George the Third, who hated pomp and show, and
had in his blood the old German sense of patriarchal king-
ship, would have enjoyed a good talk with Zebedee and his
wife Kezia, if he had met them on the downs alone; but,
alas, he was surrounded with great people, and obliged to
restrict himself to the upper order, with whom he had less
sympathy. Zebedee, perceiving this, made all allowance for
him, and bought a new Sunday hat the very next day, for
fear of wearing out the one he had taken off to His Majesty,
when His Majesty looked at him, and Her Majesty as well,
and they manifestly said to one another, what a very fine
subject they had found. Such was loyalty—aye, and roy-
alty—in those times that we despise.
320 SPRINGHAVEN.
But larger events demand our heed. There were forty
thousand gallant fellows, from the age of fifteen upwards,
doing their best to look like soldiers, and some almost suc-
ceeding. True it is that their legs and arms were not all
of one pattern, nor their hats put on their heads alike—any
more than the heads on their shoulders were—neither did
they swing together, as they would have done to a good
swathe of grass ; but for all that, and making due allowance
for the necessity they were under of staring incessantly at
the King, any man who understood them would have praised
them wonderfully. And they went about in such wide
formation, and occupied so much of their native land, that
the best-drilled regiment Napoleon possessed would have
looked quite small among them.
‘‘ They understand furze,” said a fine young officer of the
staff, who had ridden up to Admiral Darling’s carriage and
saluted three ladies who kept watch there. ‘* I doubt whether
many of the Regular forces would have got through that
brake half so well; certainly not without double gaiters.
If the French ever land, we must endeavour to draw them
into furzy ground, and then set the Volunteers at them..
No Frenchman can do much with prickles 1n his legs.”
Lady Scudamore smiled, for she was thinking of her
son, who would have jumped over any furze-bush there
—and the fir-trees too, according to her conviction; Dolly
also showed her very beautiful teeth; but Faith looked at
him gratefully.
‘‘Tt is very kind of you, Lord Dashville, to say the best
of us that you can find to say. But I fear that you are
laughing to yourself. You know how well they mean;
but you think they cannot do much.”
‘*No, that is not what I think at all. So far as I can
judge, which is not much, I believe that they would be of the
greatest service, if the Country should unfortunately need
them. Man for man, they are as brave as trained troops,
and many of them can shoot better. I don’t mean to say
that they are fit to meet a French army in the open; but for
acting on their flanks, or rear, or in a wooded country— How-
ever, I have no right to venture an opinion, having never
seen active service.”
Miss Darling looked at him with some surprise, and much
approval of hismodesty. So strongly did most of the young
officers who came to her father’s house lay down the law,
and criticise even Napoleon’s tactics.
SPRINGHAVEN. By |
““ How beautiful Springhaven must be looking now!” he
said, after Dolly had offered her opinion, which she seldom
long withheld. ‘‘The cottages must be quite covered with
roses, whenever they are not too near the sea; and the trees
at their best, full of leaves and blossoms, by the side of the
brook that feeds them. All the rest of the coast is so hard
and barren, and covered with chalk instead of grass, and
the shore so straight and staring. But I have never been
there at this time of year. How much you must enjoy it!
Surely we ought to be able to see it, from this high ground
somewhere.”’ |
‘Yes, if you will ride to that shattered tree,” said Faith,
‘“you will have a very fine view of all the valley. You can
see round the corner of Foxhill there, which shuts out most
of it just here. Ithink you have met our Captain Stubbard.”
‘‘Ah, I must not go now; I may be wanted at any mo-
ment’’—Lord Dashville had very fine taste, but it was not
the inanimate beauties of Springhaven that he cared a dash
for—‘‘and I fear that I could never see the roses there. I
think there is nothing in all nature to compare with a rose
—except one thing.”
Faith had a lovely moss-rose in her hat—a rose just peep-
ang through its lattice at mankind, before it should open and
-blush at them—and she knew what it was that he admired
more than the sweetest rose that ever gemmed itself with
dew. Lord Dashville had loved her, as she was frightened to
remember, for more than a year, because he could not help
it, being a young man of great common-sense, as well as
fine taste, and some knowledge of the world. ‘* He knows
to which side his bread will be buttered,’”’ Mr. Swipes had
remarked, as a keen observer. “If ’a can only get Miss
Faith, his bread ’l1 be buttered to both sides for life—hisself
to one side, and her to dothe tother. Thesameas I told Moth-
er Cloam—a man that knoweth his duty to head gardeners,
as his noble lordship doth, the same know the differ atwixt
Miss Faith—as fine a young ’ooman as ever looked into a
-pink—and that blow-away froth of a thing, Miss Dolly.”
This fine young woman, to use the words of Mr. Swipes,
coloured softly, at his noble lordship’s gaze, to the tint of the
rose-bud in her hat; and then spoke coldly to countervail
her blush. |
‘“There is evidently something to be done directly. ~All
the people are moving towards the middle of thedown. We
must not be so selfish as to keep you here, Lord Dashville.”
14*
ooe SPRINGHAVEN.
‘“Why, don’t you see what it is?” exclaimed Miss Dolly,
hotly resenting the part of second fiddle; ‘‘they are going
to have the grand march-past. These affairs always con-
clude with that. And we are in the worst part of the whole
down for seeing it. Lord Dashville will tell us where we
ought to go.”
‘“You had better not attempt to move now,” he answered,
smiling as he always smiled at Dolly, as if she were a charm-
ing but impatient child; ‘‘ you might cause some confusion,
and perhaps see nothing. And now I must discharge my
commission, which I am quite ashamed of having left so
long. His Majesty hopes, when the march-past is over, to
receive a march-up of fair ladies. He has a most wonderful
memory, as you know, and his nature is the kindest of the
kind. As soon as he heard that Lady Scudamore was here,
and Admiral Darling’s daughters with her, he said: ‘ Bring
them all to me, every one of them; young Scudamore has
done good work, good work. And I want to congratulate
his.mother about him. And Darling’s daughters, I must
see them. Why, we owe the security of the coast to him.’
And so, if you please, ladies, be quite ready, and allow me
the honour of conducting you.”
With a low bow, he set off about his business, leaving
the ladies in a state of sweet disturbance. Blyth Scuda-
more’s mother wept a little, for ancient troubles and present
pleasure. Lord Dashville could not repeat before her all
that the blunt old King had said: ‘‘ Monstrous ill-treated
woman, shameful, left without a penny, after all her poor
husband did for me and the children! Not my fault a bit
—fault of the Whigs—always stingy—said he made away
with himself—bad example—don’t believe a word of it; very
cheerful man. Blown by now, at any rate—must see what
can be done for her—obliged to go for governess—disgrace
to the Crown!”
Faith, with her quiet self-respect, and the largeness learned
from sorrow, was almost capable of not weeping that she
had left at home her apple-green Poland mantlet and jockey
bonnet of lilac satin checked with maroon. But Dolly had
no such weight of by-gone sorrow to balance her present
woe, and the things she had left at home were infinitely
brighter than that dowdy Faith’s.
‘‘Is there time to drive back? Is there time to drive
home? The King knows father, and he will be astonished
to see a pair of frumps, and he won't understand one bit
““HOW BEAUTIFUL SPRINGHAVEN MUST BE LOOKING Now!”
324 SPRINGHAVEN.
about the dust, or the sun that takes the colour out. He
will think we have got all our best things on. Oh, Lady
Scudamore, how could you do it? You told us to put on
quite plain things, because of the dust, and the sun, and all
that; and it might come to rain, you said—as if it was like-
ly, when the King was on the hill! And with all your ex-
perience of the King and Queen, that you told us about last
evening, you must have known that they would send for us.
Gregory, how long would it take you to go home, at full
gallop, allow us half an hour in the house, and be back
here again, when all these people are gone by ?”
‘‘ Well, miss, there be a steepish bit of road, and a many
ockard cornders; I should say ’a might do it in two hours
and a half, with a fresh pair of nags put in while you ladies
be a-cleaning of yourselves, miss. Leastways, if Hadmiral
not object.”
‘‘Hadmiral, as you call him, would have nothing to do
with it’—Dolly was always free-spoken with the servants,
which made her very popular with some of them—“‘ he has
heavier duty than he can discharge. But two hours anda
half is hopeless; we must even go as we are.”’
Coachman Gregory smiled in his sleeve. He knew that
the Admiral had that day a duty far beyond his powers
—to bring up his Sea-Fencibles to see the King—upon which
they had insisted—-and then to fetch them all back again,
and send them on board of their several craft in a state of
strict sobriety. And Gregory meant to bear a hand, and
lift it pretty frequently towards the most loyal part of man,
in the large festivities of that night. He smacked his lips
at the thought of this, and gave a little flick to his horses.
After a long time, long enough for two fair drives to
Springhaven and back, and when even the youngest were
growing weary of glare, and dust, and clank, and din, and
blare, and roar, and screeching music, Lord Dashville rode
up through a cloud of roving chalk, and after a little talk
with the ladies, ordered the coachman to follow him. Then
stopping the carriage at a proper distance, he led the three
ladies towards the King, who was thoroughly tired, and had
forgotten all about them. His Majesty’s sole desire was to
get into his carriage and go to sleep; for he was threescore
years and six of age, and his health not such as it used to
be. Ever since twelve o’clock he had been sitting in a box
made of feather-edged boards, which the newspapers called
a pavilion, having two little curtains (both of which stuck
SPRINGHAVEN. 395
fast) for his only defence against sun, noise,and dust. More-
over, his seat was a board full of knots, with a strip of thin
velvet thrown over it; and Her Majesty sitting towards the
other end (that the public might see between them), and
weighing more than he did, every time she jumped up, he
went down, and every time she plumped down, he went up.
But he never complained, and only slowly got tired.
“Thank God!” he said, gently, ‘‘it’s all over now. My
dear, you must be monstrous tired; and scarcely a bit to eat
all day. But I locked some in the seat-box this morning—
no trusting anybody but oneself. Let us get into the coach
and have at them.” ‘‘Ja, ja, meinherr,” said the Queen.
‘‘Tf it please your Majesties” —a clear voice entered be-
tween the bonnet-hoods of the curtains—‘‘ here are the la-
dies whose attendance I was ordered to require.”
‘* Ladies !—what ladies ?” asked King George, rubbing his
eyes and yawning. ‘‘Oh yes, to be sure! I mustn’t get up
so early to-morrow. Won't take a mainte, Oy dear. Let
them come. Not much time to spare.”
But as soon as he saw Lady Scudamore, the King’s good-
nature overcame the weariness of the moment. He took
her kindly by the hand, and Jooked at her face, which bore
the mark of many heavy trials; and she, who had often seen
him when the world was bright before her, could not smother
one low sob, as she thought of all that had been since.
~**Don’t cry, don’t cry, my dear,” said the King, with his
kind heart showing in his eyes; ‘‘ we must bow to the will
of the Lord, who gives sad trials to every one of us. We
must think of the good, and not the evil. Bless me, keep
your spirits up. Your son is doing very well indeed, very
well indeed, from all I hear. Good chip of the old block,
very good chip. Will cure my grandchildren, as soon as
they want it; and nobody is ever in good health now.”
- ‘*No, your Majesty, if you please, my son is in the Royal
Navy, fighting for his Country and his King. And he has
already captured—” |
‘‘Three French frigates. To be sure, I know. Better
than curing three hundred people. Fine young officer—
very fine young officer. Must come to see me when he gets
older. There, you are laughing! That's as it should be.
Good-bye, young ladies... Forty miles to go to-night, and
very rough roads—very rough indeed. Monstrous pretty
girls! Uncommon glad that George wasn’t here to see
them. Better stay in the country—too good for London.
326 SPRINGHAVEN.
Must be off; sha’n’t have a bit o’ sleep to-night, because of
sleeping the whole way there, and then sure to be late in
the morning, not a bit of breakfast till eight o’clock, and
all the day thrown upside down! Darlings, Darlings—the
right name for them! But they mustn’t come to London.
No, no, no. Too much wickedness there already. Very
glad George wasn’t here to-day !”
His Majesty was talking, as he always did, with the firm
conviction that his words intended for the public ear would
reach it, while those addressed, without change of tone, to
himself, would be strictly private. But instead of offending
any one, this on the whole gave great satisfaction, and im-
pressed nine people out of ten with a strong and special re-
gard for him, because almost every one supposed himself
to be admitted at first sight to the inner confidence of the
King. And to what could he attribute this ? He would do
his own merits great demerit unless he attributed it to them,
and to the King an unusual share of sagacity in perceiving
them.
CHAPTER XLIV.
DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN.
THAT grand review at Shotbury was declared by all who
took part in it, or at all understood the subject, to have been
a most remarkable and quite unparalleled success. Not only
did it show what noble stuff there is in Englishmen, and how
naturally they take to arms, but also it inspired with mar-
tial feeling and happy faith the wives and mothers of all the
gallant warriors there. It would make the blood-stained
despot cower upon his throne of murder, and teach him the
madness of invading any land so fortified.
However, Napoleon failed to see the matter in that whole-
some light, and smiled a grim and unkind smile as he
read Caryl Carne’s report of those ‘“‘left-handed and un-
couth manoeuvres.” ‘‘One of your Majesty’s feeblest regi-
ments would send the whole of those louts to the devil; and
I am bound toimpress once more, with all deference to your
infallible judgment, the vast importance of carrying out your
grand designs at the first moment. All is prepared on my
part. One day’s notice is all I need.”
So wrote Carne; and perhaps the truth, as usual, lay about
half-way between the two opinions. Even Carne was not
SPRINGHAVEN. 327
admitted to a perfect knowledge of his master’s schemes.
But to keep things moving and men alert, the Emperor
came to the coast at once, busy as he was in Paris, and
occupied for several weeks, with short intervals of absence,
the house prepared for him near Boulogne, whence he
watched and quickened the ripening of his mighty plans
against us.
Now Carne himself, while working with new vigour
and fresh enterprise, had a narrow escape from invasion.
Captain Stubbard, stirred up now and again by Mr. Twem-
low, had thoroughly searched all covered places, likely to
harbour gunpowder, within at least six miles of his fort,
that is to say, all likely places, save and except the right one.
By doing this he had done for himself—as regards sweet hos-
pitality--among all the leading farmers, maltsters, tanners,
and millers for miles around. Even those whose premises
were not entered, as if they had been Frenchmen, had a
brother-in-law, or at least a cousin, whose wooden bars had
been knocked up. And the most atrocious thing of all,
if there could be anything worse than worst, was that the
Captain dined one day, at a market-ordinary, with Farmer,
or you might say Squire, Hanger—for the best part of his
land followed to him from his father—and had rum and
water with -him, and spoke his health, and tucked Mrs.
Hanger up into the shay, and rode alongside to guarantee
them; and then the next day, on the very same horse, up he
comes at Hanger-dene, and overhauls every tub on the prem-
ises, with a parchment as big asa malt-shovel! Such aman
was not fit to lay a knife and fork by.
Some sense of the harm he had done to himself, without a
bit of good to any one, dwelt heavily in the Captain’s mind,
as he rode up slowly upon the most amiable of the battery-
horses—for all sailors can ride, from long practice on the
waves—and struck a stern stroke, with a stick like a lin-
stock, upon the old shutter that served for a door and the
front entrance to Carne Castle. There used to be a fine old
piece of workmanship in solid and bold oak here, a door
divided in the middle—else no man might swing it back—
and even so pierced with a wicket, for small people to get
through. That mighty door was not worn out, for it was
not three hundred years old yet, and therefore scarcely in
middle life; but the mortgagees who had sacked the place
of all that was worth a sack to hold it, these had a very
fine offer for that door, from a rich man come out of a dust-
398 SPRINGHAVEN.
bin. And this was one of the many little things that made
Caryl Carne unpleasant.
‘‘T do not require production of your warrant. The
whole place is open to your inspection,” said Carne, who
had long been prepared for this visit; ‘‘open to all the
winds and rains, and the lower part sometimes filled with
water. The upper rooms, or rather the few that remain
of them, are scarcely safe for a person of any weight to walk
in, but you are most welcome to try them, if you like; and
this gentleman, I think, might not fall through. Here are
my quarters; not quite so snug as my little room at the
widow’s; but I can offer you some bread and cheese, and a
glass of country cider. The vaults or cellars have held good
wine in their time, but only empty casks and broken bottles
now.”
Captain Stubbard had known for many years the silent
woes of poverty, and now he observed with some good-will
the young man’s sad but haughty smile. Then he ordered
his young subaltern, his battery-mate, as he called him, to
ascend the broad, crumbling stairease, and glance into the
dismantled chambers, while himself with the third of the
party—a trusty old gunner—should inspect the cellarage.
‘“We will not keep you long, sir,” he said to Carne; ‘‘and
if you are kind enough to show us the way, which is easily
lost in a place of this kind, we shall be all the quicker.
Wilkins, when you have done up there, wait here for us.
Shall we want a leght, sir ?”
‘‘In the winter, you could hardly do without one, but at
this time of year, I think you may. At any rate, I will
bring a lantern, and we can light it if wanted. But the
truth is that I know next to nothing of those sepulchral
places. They would not be very tempting, even without a
ghost, which they are said to have.”
‘‘A ghost!” cried the Captain; ‘‘I don’t like that. Not
that I have much faith in them; although,one never can be
sure. But at this time of day— What is it like?”
‘‘T have never seen her, and am quite content without it.
It is said to be an ancestress of mine, a Lady Cordelia Carne,
who was murdered, when her husband was away, and bur-
ied down there, after being thrown into the moat. . The old
people say that whenever her ghost is walking, the water of
the moat bursts in and covers the floor of the vaults, that
she may flit along it, as she used to do. But of course one
must not listen to that sort of fable.”
SPRINGHAVEN. 329
‘Perhaps you will go in front, sir, because you know the
way. Itis my duty to inspect these places; and I am devil-
ish sorry for it; but my duty must be done.”
‘“You shall see every hole and corner, including the stone
that was put up.to commemorate her murder and keep her
quiet. But I should explain that these vaults extend for
the entire length of the building, except just in the middle,
where we now stand. For a few yards the centre of the
building seems to have never been excavated, as to which
you will convince yourself. You may call the cellars east
and west, or right and left, or north and south, or uphill
and downhill, or anything else, for really they are so much
alike, and partitioned into cells so much alike, that I searce-
ly know which is which myself, coming suddenly from the
daylight. But you understand those things much better,
A sailor always knows his bearings. This leads to the en-
trance of one set.”
Carne led the Captain and old einer Bob—as he was
called in the battery—along a dark and narrow passage,
whose mouth was browed with ivy. Half-way through,
they found an archway on the right-hand side, opening at
right angles into long and badly lighted vaults. In this
arch there was no door; but a black step-ladder (made of
oak, no doubt), very steep and rather rickety, was planted to
tempt any venturesome foot.
‘* Are you sure this ladder is safe ?”—the Captain was by no
means in love with the look of it. ‘‘ My weight has increased
remarkably in the fine air of Springhaven, If the bottom
is rotten, the top won’t help us.”’
‘*Let me go first. Itis my duty, as the owner; and I have
no family dependent on me. My neck is of no value, com-
pared to yours, Captain.”
‘*How I have mistaken this young man!” thought the
brave yet prudent Stubbard. ‘‘I called him a Frenchified
fool, whereas he is a downright Englishman! I shall ask
him to dinner ek week, if Jemima can get a new leg for
the dripping-pan.’
Following warily, with Gunner Bob behind him, and not
disdaining the strong arm of the owner, the Captain of Fox-
hill was landed in the vault, and, being there, made a strict
examination. He even poked his short sword into the bung-
holes of three. or four empty barrels, that Bob might be
satisfied also in his conscience. ‘* Matter of form,” he said,
‘‘matter of form, sir, when we know who people are; but.
330 SPRINGHAVEN.
you might have to do it yourself, sir, if you were in the ser-
vice of your King. You ought to be that, Mr. Carne; and
it is not too late, in such days as these are, to begin. Take
my advice—such a fine young man!”
‘* Alas, my dear sir, I cannot afford it. What officer can
live upon his pay for a generation ?”
‘“Gospel truth!” cried the Captain, warmly; ‘‘ Gospel
truth! and more than that—he must be the last’of his gen-
eration, or else send his young ’uns to the workhouse.
What things I could tell you, Mr. Carne! But here we
are at the end of the vaults; all empty, as I can certify; and
I hope, my dear sir, that you may live to see them filled
with good wine, as they used to be.”
“Thank you, but there is no hope of that. Shall we
take the vaults of the other end next, or examine the
chapel, and the outer buildings—outer ruins, I should say?”
‘*Oh, a little open air first, for goodness’ sake!” said the
Captain, going heavily up the old steps; ‘‘] am pretty near-
ly choked with all this mildew. A little fresh air, before
we undertake the other lot.”
As soon as the echo of their steps was dead, Charron, old
Jerry, and another man jumped down from a loop-hole into
the vault they had left, piled up a hoarding at the entrance,
and with a crowbar swung back a heavy oak hatch in the
footings of the outer wall. A volume of water poured in
from the moat, or rather from the stream which had once
supplied it. Seeing this, they disappeared with a soft and
pleasant chuckle. ~
The owner kept Stubbard such a time among the ruins,
telling him some fine old legends, and otherwise leading
him in and out, that when a bit of food and a glass of old
Cognac was proposed by way of interlude, the Captain heart-
ily embraced the offer. Then Carne conducted his three
visitors, for Wilkins had now rejoined them, into a low
room poorly furnished, and regaled them beyond his promise.
“Rare stuff!” exclaimed Stubbard, with a wink at Carne.
‘‘ Ah, I see that free-trade still exists. No concern of mine,
except to enjoy its benefits. Here’sto your very good health,
sir, and I. am proud to have made your acquaintance.”
‘‘Have another drop; it can hurt no one,” Carne de-
clared, and the Captain acquiesced.
‘Well, I suppose we must finish our job,” the official
visitor at length pronounced; ‘‘a matter of form, sir, and
no offence; but we are bound tocarry out our duty. There
SPRINGHAVEN. 331
is nothing left, except the other lot of vaults; but the light
begins to fail us for underground work. I hope they are not
so dark as those we have been through.”
‘“Just about the same. You would hasdly know one
set from the other, as I told you, except for the stone that
records the murder. Perhaps we had better light the lan-
tern now 2”
‘‘By. all means. I don’t half like that story of the lady
that walks on the water. It does seem so gashly and un-
christian altogether. Not that I have any fear of ghosts—
not likely, for I have never even seen one.”
‘‘T have,” said Gunner Bob, in a deep voice, which made
them all glance through the ivy. ‘‘I have, and a fearful
one it were.”
‘‘ Don’t be a fool, Bob,” the Captain whispered; ‘‘ we don’t
want to hear about that now. Allow me to carry the lan-
tern, Mr. Carne; it throws such shadows from the way you
hold it. Why, surely, this is where we were before!”
“You might easily fancy so,” Carne answered, smiling,
‘‘especially with a mind at all excited—”
‘‘My mind is not excited, sir; not at all excited; but as
calm as it ever was in all its life.”
‘‘Then two things will show you that these are the other
‘vaults. The arch is on your left hand, instead of on your
right’”—he had brought them in now from the other end of
the passage—‘‘and this entrance, as you see, has a door in
it, which the other had not. Perhaps the door is to keep
the ghost in’’—his laugh sounded hollow; and like a mock-
ing challenge along the dark roof—‘‘ for this is the part she
is supposed to walk in. But so much for the door! The
money-lenders have not left us a door that will stand a good
kick. You may find our old doors in Wardour Street.”
As he spoke, he set foot against the makeshift door, and
away it went, as he had predicted. Crashing on the steps
as it fell, it turned over, and a great splash arose at the
bottom. .
‘“Why, bless my heart, there is a flood of water there!”
cried Stubbard, peeping timidly down the steps, on which
(if the light had been clear, and that of his mind in the ©
same condition) he might have seen the marks of his own
boots. ‘*A flood of water, perhaps six feet deep! I could
scarcely have believed, but for that and the door, that these
were not the very vaults that we have examined. But what
business has the water there ?”
332 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘“No business at all, any more than we have,” Carne an-
swered, with some rudeness, for it did not suit him to en-
courage too warmly the friendship of Captain Stubbard;
‘“but I told you that the place becomes covered with water
whenever the ghost intends to walk. Probably there is not
‘more than a foot of water’”—there was in fact about three
inches—‘‘ and as you are bound to carry out your duty—”
“My dear sir, I am satisfied, perfectly satisfied. Who
could keep gunpowder under water, or even in a flooded
cellar? Ishall have the greatest pleasure in reporting that
I searched Carne Castle—not of course suspiciously, but
narrowly, as we are bound to do, in execution of our war-
rant—”
“Tf you would not mind looking in this direction,” whis-
pered Carne, who could never be contented, “T think I could
show you, just beyond the murder-stone—yes, and it seems
to be coming towards us, as white as a winding-sheet; do
come and look.” :
- “No,sir, no; itis not my duty’’—the Captain turned away,
with his hair upon the rise. ‘‘I was sent here to look for
saltpetre, not spectres. No officer in His Majesty’s service
can be expected— Bob and Wilkins, are you there ?”
‘Yes, sir, yes—we have had quite enough of this; and
unless you give the orders—”
‘“Here she comes, I do declare!” whispered Carne, with
extraordinary calmness.
‘‘Bob and Wilkins, give me one arm each. Make for
daylight in close order. You may be glad to see your
grandmother, young man; but I decline to have anything
to say.to her. Bob and Wilkins, bear a hand; I feel a little
shaky in my lower timbers. Run for your lives, but don’t
leave me behind. Run, lads, like the very devil!” For a
groan of sepulchral depth, and big enough to lift a granite
tombstone, issued from the vault, and wailed along the som-
bre archway. . Allthe Artillerymen fled, as if the muzzle of
their biggest gun was slewed upon them, and very soon the
sound of horses’ heels, urged at a perilous pace down the
hill, rang back as the echo of that grand groan.
“T think I did that pretty well, my Captain,” cried Char
ron, ascending from the vault with dripping boots; ‘‘I de-
serve a glass of Cognac, if they have left me any. Happy |
is Stoobar that he was contented, without breaking his neck
at the inspector’s step.”
‘* He has satisfied his conscience,” Carne answered, grim-
i
a »
« UAaduO ASOTO NI LHNITAVA YOA ANVNW ”
Tay
ve
=
COS SS a
eS
SS Senys-
. eee
——<—
SOS eS
SUSE SSNS
\ Wie
GAY
AWA
See
ASS
SONS
WL A
334 SPRINGHAVEN.
ly; ‘‘yet it cannot be blameless, to make him run so fast.
Iam glad we have been saved from killing them. It would
have been hard to know what todo next. But he will never
trouble us here again.”’
CHAPTER XLV.
FATHER AND CHILD.
‘“TELL Miss Faith,when she comes in, that I shall be glad
to see her,” said Admiral Darling to his trusty butler, one
hot afternoon in August. He had just come home from a
long, rough ride, to spend at least one day in his own house,
and after overhauling his correspondence, went into the din-
ing-room, as the coolest in the house, to refresh himself a
little with a glass of light wine before going up to dress for
dinner. There he sat in an arm-chair, and looked at his
hands, which were browned by the sun, and trembling from
a long period of heavy work and light sleep. He was get-
ting too old to endure it with impunity, yet angry with him-
self for showing it. But he was not thinking of himself alone.
‘*T hope she will be sensible” —he was talking to himself,
as elderly people are apt to do, especially after being left to
themselves; ‘‘I hope she will see the folly of it—of living all
her life as the bride of a ghost; and herself such a beautiful,
cheerful darling! Loving, warm-hearted, sweet-tempered.,
adoring children, and adored by them; obedient, gentle—I
ean’t think of anything good that she hasn’t got, except
common-sense. And even for that, I like her all the more;
because it is so different from all the other girls. They have
got too much—one lover out of sight, even for a month or
two, gone fighting for his Country, what do they do but take
up with another, as I very greatly fear our Dolly would ?
But Faith— Why, my darling, how well you look!”
‘‘How I wish that I could say the same of you, dear fa-
ther!” said the lovely young woman, while kissing him, and
smoothing with her soft hand his wrinkled forehead; ‘‘ you
never used to have these little tucks and gathers here. I
would rather almost that the French should come and de-
vour us all, than see my father, whenever we do see him,
once in a month, say, gauffred like this—as their laundresses
do it—and getting reduced to the Classical shape, so that I
can put one arm round him.”
SPRINGHAVEN. : 335
‘‘ My darling,” said the Admiral, though proud at heart
of the considerable reduction of his stomach, ‘‘ you should
not say such things to me, to remind me how very old I am!”
Fathers are crafty, and daughters childish, as behooves the
both of them. The Admiral knew, as well as if he had
ordered it, what Faith would do. And she must have per-
ceived his depth, if only she had taken a moment to think of
it. Because when she plumped, like a child, into his arms,
how came his arms to be so wide open? and when two great
tears rolled down her cheeks, how sprang his handkerchief
so impromptu out from beneath his braided lappet ?
‘Tell me what harm I have done,” she asked, with a
bright smile dawning through the dew of her dark eyes;
‘“what have I done to vex you, father, that you say things
fit to make me cry? And yet I ought to laugh, because I
know so well that you are only fishing for compliments.
You are getting so active that I shall be frightened to go
for a walk ora ride with you. Only I do love to see you
look fat, and your darling forehead smooth and white.”
‘‘ My dear child, I must get up my substance. This very
day I begin in earnest. Because I am to be a great man,
Faith. How would you like to have to call me ‘Sir
Charles’ ?” |
‘‘ Not at all, darling; except when you deserve it, by being
cross to me; and that never, never happens. I wish there
was more chance of it.”’
‘Well, dear, if you won't, the other people must; for His
Majesty has been graciously pleased to turn me into a Bar-
onet. He says that I have earned it; and perhaps I have;
at any rate, he put it so nicely that without being churlish
I could not refuse. And it will be a good thing for Frank,
I hope, by bringing him back from his democratic stuff.
To myself it is useless; but my children ought to like it.”
‘‘ And so they will, father, for your own dear sake. Let
me be the first to salute you, father. Oh, Dolly will be in
such a rage because you told me, without telling her!”
‘‘T never thought of that,” said the Admiral, simply; ‘‘I
am afraid that I shall get in for it. However, I have a
right to please myself, and you need not tell her until I do.
But that is not all my news, and not by any means the best
of it. The King was reminded, the other day, of all that he
and his family owe to the late Sir Edmond Scudamore, and
better late than never, he has ordered your governess, as he
called her, to be put on the list for a pension of £300 a year.
336 SPRINGHAVEN.
Nothing that once gets into his head can ever be got out
of it,and he was shocked at seeing his old physician’s widow
“gone out as a governess—gone out as a governess—great
disgrace to the royal family!’ I am very glad that it hap-
pened so.” | |
‘‘Andsoam I. She ought to have had it long and long
ago, especially after the sad misfortune of her husband.
You will let me tell her? It will be such a pleasure.”
‘‘Certainly, my dear; you are the very one to doit. Tell
her that her eldest pupil is come with a little piece of news
for her; it will make her smile-—she has a very pretty smile,
which reminds me of the gallant Blyth. And now, my
child, the third piece of news concerns yourself—your good,
and dutiful, and exceedingly sensible self. Ahem!” cried
the Admiral, as he always did, when he feared that he might
have overstepped the truth.
‘‘T know what it is; you need not tell me,” Faith an-
swered, confirming his fear at once. ‘‘It is no use, father; it
is no good at all—unless you intend to forget your own
promise.’
‘“That I shall never do,” he replied, while looking at her
sadly; ‘‘no, my dear child, I shall never attempt to. drive
instead of lead you. But you have not heard me out as yet.
You don’t even know who it is I mean.”
‘‘Oh yes, I do; I know well enough, father. I am not
like Dolly, universally admired. Because I do not want to
be. You mean Lord Dashville—can you tell me that you
don’t ?”
‘“No, my dear’—Sir Charles was a little surprised .that
Faith should be so quick, for (like most people of gentle
nature) she was taken to be slow, because she never snapped—
‘‘T cannot deny that it is Lord Dashville, because that is
the man, and no other. But how you could tell surpasses
me, and it shows that he must be very often in your mind:”
the Admiral thought he had caught her there. ‘‘ Now can
you say anything against him? Is he not honest, manly,
single-minded, faithful as yourself, I do believe, good-look-
ing, well-bred, a Tory, and. a gentleman, certain to make
any woman happy whom he loves? Can you saya syllable
against all that ?”
‘‘No,” replied Faith—a very long, slow ‘‘no,” as if she
only wished she could say something hard about him.
‘* Very well,” her father went on, with triumph, ‘‘and can
you deny that he is just the person you might have taken
9
SPRINGHAVEN. 337
a great liking to—fallen in love with, as they call it—if
only he had come before your mind was full of somebody
else—a very fine young fellow, no doubt; but—my darling,
I won't say a word against him, only you know what I mean
too well. And are you forever to be like a nun because it
has pleased the Lord to take him from you ?”
‘Lord Dashville has not advanced himself in my good
opinion, if he cares for that,” said Faith, starting sideways,
as a woman always does, from the direct issue, ‘‘ by going
to you, when I declined to have anything more to say to him.”
‘My dear, you are unjust,” replied Sir Charles; ‘‘ not pur-
posely, I know, for you are the most upright darling that
can be,in general. But you accuse young Dashville of what
he never did. It was his good mother, the Countess of
Blankton, a most kind-hearted and lady-like person, without
any nonsense about her, who gave me the best cup of tea
I ever tasted, and spoke with the very best feeling possible.
She put it so sweetly that I only wish you could have been
there to hear her.” .
‘Father, what is the good of it all? You hate turn-
coats even worse than traitors. Would you like your daugh-
ter to be one? And when she would seem to have turned
her coat—for the ladies wear coats now, the horrid ugly
things !—for the sake of position, and title, and all that. If
Lord. Dashville had been a poor man, with his own way to
make in the world, a plain Mister, there might have been
more to be said for it. But to think that I should throw
over my poor darling because he will come home without
a penny, and perhaps tattoed, but at any rate turned black,
for the sake of a coronet,and a heap of gold—oh, father, I
shall break down, if you go on so!”
‘My dear girl, I will not say a word to vex you. Butyou
are famous for common-sense, as well as every other good
quality, and I would ask you to employ just a little of it.
Can you bear me to speak of your trouble, darling ?”
‘*Oh yes, I am so well accustomed to it now; and I know
that it is nothing compared to what thousands of people have
to bear. Sometimes I am quite ashamed of giving way
to it.”
‘You do not give way to it, Faith. No person can possi-
bly say that of you. You are my brave, unselfish, cheerful
sweet-natured, upright, and loving child. Nobody knows,
but you and I—and perhaps I know it even more than you
do—the greatness of the self-command you use, to be pleasant
15
338 -SPRINGHAVEN.
and gay and agreeable, simply for the sake of those around
you.”
‘‘Then, father,” cried Faith, who was surprised at this,
for the Admiral had never said a word about such mat-
ters, ‘‘ you think, after all, that I am—that I am almost as
good as Dolly!” |
‘“You jealous little vixen, I shall recall every word I have
said in your favour! My child, and my pride, you are not
only as good as Dolly, but my best hope is that when Dolly
grows older she may be like you. Don’t cry, darling; I can’t
stand crying, when it comes from eyes that so seldom do it.
And now that you know what I think of you, allow me to
think a little for you. I have some right to interfere in
your life; you will allow that—won’t you 2?” )
‘‘Father, you have all right, and a thousand times as
much, because you are so gentle about using it.”
‘‘T calls that bad English, as Zeb Tugwell says when he
doesn’t want to understand a thing. But, my pretty dear,
you must remember that you will not have a father always.
Who will look after you, when I am gone, except the Al-
mighty ?—and He does not do it, except for the few who look
after themselves. It is my duty to consider these points,
and they override sentimentality. Tome it is nothing that
Dashville will be an Earl, and a man of great influence, if
he keeps up his present high character; but it is something
to me that I find him modest, truthful, not led away by
phantoms, a gentleman—which is more than a nobleman—
and with his whole heart given to my dear child Faith.”
Faith sighed heavily, partly for herself, but mainly, per-
haps, for the sake of a fine heart sadly thrown away on her.
‘‘T believe he is all that,” she said.
‘‘In that case, what more can you have?” pursued the
triumphant Admiral. ‘‘It is one of the clearest things I ever
knew, and one of the most consistent’—consistent was a
great word in those days—‘‘as well as in every way de- —
sirable. Consider, not yourself—which you never do—but
the state of the Country, and of Dolly. They have made me
a baronet, for being away from home nearly every night of
my life; andif I had Dashville to see to things here, I might
stay away long enough to be a lord myself, like my late
middy the present Duke of Bronte.”
Faith laughed heartily. ‘‘ You call me jealous! My
dear father, I know that you could have done a great deal
more than Lord Nelson has, because he learned all that he
SPRINGHAVEN. 339
knows from you. And now whois it that really defends the
whole south coast of England against the French? Is it
Lord Nelson! He has as much as he can do to look after
their fleet in the Mediterranean. Admiral Cornwallis and
Sir Charles Darling are the real defenders of England.”
*‘No, my dear, you must never say that, except of course
in private. There may be some truth in it, but it would be
laughed at in the present condition of the public mind.
History may do me justice, but after all it is immaterial.
A man who does his duty should be indifferent to the opin-
ion of the public, which begins more and more to be formed
less by fact than by the newspapers of the day. But let us
return to more important matters. You are now in a very
sensible frame of mind. You see what my wishes are about
you, and how reasonable they are. I should be so happy,
my darling child, if you would consider them sensibly, and
yield some little of your romantic views. I would not ask
you unless I were sure that this man loves you as you de-
serve, and in his own character deserves your love.”
‘*Then, father, will this content you, dear? Unless I
hear something of Erle Twemlow, to show that he is liv-
ing, and still holds to me, in the course of another twelve-
month, Lord Dashville, or anybody else, may try—may try
to take his place with me. Only I must not be worried—
I mean, I must not hear another word about it, until the
_ time has quite expired.”
‘It is a very poor concession, Faith. Surely you might
say halfa year. Consider, it is nearly three years now—”
‘‘ No, papa, I should despise myself if I were so unjust to
one so unlucky. And I only go so much from my own
wishes because you are such a dear and good father. Not
a bit of it for Lord Dashville’s sake.”
‘Well, my poor darling,” the Admiral replied, for he
saw that she was upon the brink of tears, and might hate
Lord Dashville if further urged, ‘‘ half a loaf is better than
no bread. If Dashville is worthy of your constant heart,
he will stand this long trial of his constancy. This is the
tenth day of August, 1804. I hope that the Lord may be
pleased to spare me till the 10th of August, 1805. High
time for them to come and lay the cloth. I am as hungry
as a hunter.”
340 SPRINGHAVEN.
CHAPTER XLVI.
CATAMARANS,
NAPOLEON had shown no proper dread of the valiant
British volunteers, but kept his festival in August, and car-
ried on his seaside plans, as if there were no such fellows.
Not content with that, he even flouted our blockading fleet
by coming out to look at them. And if one of our frigates
had shot straight, she might have saved millions of lives
and billions of money, at the cost of one greatly bad life.
But the poor ship knew not her opportunity, or she would
rather have gone to the bottom than waste it.
Now the French made much of this affair, according to
their nature; and histories of it, full of life and growth, ran
swiftly along the shallow shore,and even to Paris, the navel
of the earth. Frenchmen of letters—or rather of papers—
declared that all England was smitten with dismay; and so
she might have been, if she had heard of it. But as our
neighbours went home again, as soon as the water was six
fathoms deep, few Englishmen knew that they had tried to
smell a little of the sea-breeze, outside the smell of their in-
shore powder. They were pleased to get ashore again, and
talk it over, with vivid description of the things that did not
happen.
‘‘Such scenes as these tended much to agitate England,”
writes a great French historian. ‘The British Press, ar-
rogant and calumnious, as the Press always is in a free
country, railed much at Napoleon and his preparations; but
railed as one who trembles at that which he would fain ex-
hibit as the object of his laughter.” It may have been so,
but it is not to be seen in any serious journal of that time.
He seems to have confounded coarse caricaturists with re-
fined and thoughtful journalists, even as, in the account of
that inshore skirmish, he turns a gun-brig into a British
frigate. However, such matters are too large for us.
It was resolved at any rate to try some sort of a hit at all
these very gallant Frenchmen, moored under their own bat-
teries, and making horse-marines of themselves, whenever
SPRINGHAVEN. 341
Neptune, the father of the horse, permitted. The jolly Eng-
lish tars, riding well upon the waves, sent many a broad
grin through a spy-glass at Muncher Crappo tugging hard
to get his nag into his gun-boat and then to get him out
again, because his present set of shoes would not be worn
out in England. Every sailor loves a horse, regarding him
as a boat on legs, and therefore knowing more about him
than any landlubber may feign to know.
But although they would have been loath to train a gun
on the noble animal, who was duly kept beyond their range,
all the British sailors longed to have a bout with the double
tier of hostile craft moored off the shore within shelter of
French batteries. Every day they could reckon at least
two hundred sail of every kind of rig invented since the
time of Noah, but all prepared to destroy instead of suc-
couring the godly. It was truly grievous to see them there,
and not be able to get at them, for no ship of the line or
even frigate could get near enough to tackle them. Then
the British Admiral, Lord Keith, resolved after much con-
sultation to try what could be done with fire-ships.
Blyth Seudamore, now in command of the Blonde, had
done much excellent service, in cutting off stragglers from
the French flotilla, and driving ashore near Vimereux some
prames and luggers coming from Ostend. He began to
know the French coast and the run of the shoals like a
native pilot; for the post of the Blonde, and some other
light ships, was between the blockading fleet and the block-
aded, where perpetual vigilance was needed. This sharp
service was the very thing required to improve his charac-
ter, to stamp it with decision and self-reliance, and to burn-
ish his quiet, contemplative vein with the very frequent
friction of the tricks of mankind. These he now was strict-
ly bound not to study, but anticipate, taking it as first postu-
late that every one would cheat him, if permitted. Toa
Scrimpy and screwy man, of the type most abundant, such a
position would have done a deal of harm, shutting him up
into his own shell harder, and flinting its muricated horns
against the world. But with the gentle Scuddy, as the boys
at school had called him, the process of hardening was bene-
ficial, as it is with pure gold, which cannot stand the wear
and tear of the human race until it has been reduced by
them at least to the mark of their twenty carats.
And now it was a fine thing for Scudamore—even as a
man too philanthropic was strengthened in his moral tone
342 _ S§PRINGHAVEN.
(as his wife found out) by being compelled to discharge the
least pleasant of the duties of a county sheriff—or if not a
fine thing, at least it was a wholesome and durable correc-
tive to all excess of lenience, that duty to his country and
mankind compelled the gentle Scuddy to conduct the west-
ern division of this night-attack.
At this time there was in the public mind, which is quite
of full feminine agility, a strong prejudice against the use
of fire-ships. Red-hot cannon-balls, and shrapnel, langrage,
chain-shot, and Greek-fire—these and the like were all fair
warfare, and France might use them freely. But England
(which never is allowed to do, without hooting and execra-
tion, what every other country does with loud applause)—
England must rather burn off her right hand than send a fire-
ship against the ships full of fire for her houses, her cot-
tages, and churches. Lord Keith had the sense to laugh at
all that stuff, but he had not the grand mechanical powers
which have now enabled the human race, not to go, but to
send one another to the stars. A clumsy affair called a
catamaran, the acephalous ancestor of the torpedo, was ex-
pected to relieve the sea of some thousands of people who had
no business there. This catamaran was a water-proof box
about twenty feet long, and four feet wide, narrowed at the
ends, liké a coffin for a'giant. It was filled with gunpow-
der, and ballasted so that its lid, or deck, was almost awash ;
and near its stern was a box containing clock movements
that would go for about ten minutes, upon the withdrawal
of a peg outside, and then would draw a trigger and ex-
plode the charge. This wondrous creature had neither oar
nor sail, but demanded to be towed to the tideward of the
enemy, then have the death-watch set going, and be cast
adrift within hail of the enemy’s line. Then as soon as it
came across their mooring cables, its duty was to slide for a
little way along them in a friendly manner, lay hold of them
kindly with its long tail, which consisted of a series of
grappling-hooks buoyed with cork, and then bringing up
smartly alongside of the gun-boats, blow itself up, and carry
them up with it. How many there were of these catama-
rans is not quite certain, but perhaps about a score, the inten-
tion being to have ten times as many,on the next occa-
sion, if these did well. And no doubt they would have done
well, if permitted; but they failed of their purpose, like the
great Guy Fawkes, because they were prevented.
For the French, by means of treacherous agents—of whom
SPRINGHAVEN. 343
perhaps Caryl Carne was one, though his name does not
appear in the despatches—knew all about this neat little
scheme beforehand, and set their wits at work to defeat it.
Moreover, they knew that there were four fire-ships, one of
which was the Peggy of Springhaven, intended. to add to
the consternation and destruction wrought by the catamarans.
But they did not know that, by some irony of fate, the least
destructive and most gentle of mankind was ordered to take
a leading part in shattering man, and horse, and even good
dogs, into vapours.
Many quiet horses, and sweet-natured dogs, whose want
of breeding had improved their manners, lived in this part
of the great flotilla, and were satisfied to have their home
where it pleased the Lord to feed them. The horses were
led to feed out of the guns, that they might not be afraid of
them; and they struggled against early prejudice, to like
wood as well as grass, and to get sea-legs. Man put them
here to suit his own ideas; of that they were quite aware,
and took it kindly, accepting superior powers, and inferior
use of them, without a shade of question in their eyes. To
their innocent minds it was never brought home that they
were tethered here, and cropping clots instead of clover, for
the purpose of inspiring in their timid friends ashore the
confidence a horse reposes in a brother horse, but very wisely
doubts about investing in mankind. For instance, when-
ever a wild young animal, a new recruit for the cavalry, was
haled against his judgment by a man on either side to the
hollow-sounding gangway over dancing depth of peril, these
veteran salts of horses would assure him, with a neigh from
the billowy distance,that they were not drowned yet, but were
walking on a sort of gate, and got their victuals regular. On
the other hand, as to the presence of the dogs, that requires
no explanation. Was there ever a time or place in which a
dog grudged his sprightly and disinterested service, or failed
to do his best when called upon? These French dogs,
whom the mildest English mastiff would have looked upon,
or rather would have shut his eyes at, as a lot of curs be-
low contempt, were as full of fine ardour for their cause and
country as any noble hound that ever sate like a statue on
a marble terrace.
On the first of October all was ready for this audacious
squibbing of the hornet’s nest, and the fleet of investment
(which kept its distance according to the weather and the
tides) stood in, not bodily so as to arouse excitement, but a
344 SPRINGHAVEN.
ship at atime sidling in towards the coast, and traversing one
another’s track, as if they were simply exchanging stations.
The French pretended to take no heed, and did not call in a
single scouting craft, but showed every sign of having all
eyes shut. Nothing, however, was done that night, by rea-
son perhaps of the weather; but the following night being
favourable, and the British fleet brought as nigh as it durst
come, the four fire-ships were despatched after dark, when
the enemy was likely to be engaged with supper. The sky
was conveniently overcast, with a faint hght wandering here
and there, from the lift of the horizon, just enough to show
the rig of a vessel and her length, at a distance of about a
hundred yards. Nothing could be better—thought the Eng-
lishmen; and the French were of that opinion too, espe-
cially as Nelson was not there.
Scudamore had nothing to do with the loose adventure
of the fire-ships, the object of which was to huddle togeth-
er this advanced part of the flotilla, so that the catamarans
might sweep unseen into a goodly thicket of vessels, and
shatter at least half a dozen at once.
But somehow the scheme was not well carried out, though
it looked very nice upon paper. One very great drawback,
to begin with, was that the enemy were quite aware of all
our kind intentions; and another scarcely less fatal was the
want of punctuality on our part. All the floating coffins
should have come together, like a funeral of fifty from a
colliery; but instead of that they dribbled in one by one, ©
and were cast off by their tow-boats promiscuously. Secud-
amore did his part well enough, though the whole thing
went against his grain, and the four catamarans under his
direction were the only ones that did their duty. The boats
of the Blonde had these in tow, and cast them off hand-
' somely at the proper distance, and drew the plugs which
set their clock-springs going. But even of these four only
two exploded, although the clocks were not American, and
those two made a tremendous noise, but only singed a few
French beards off. Except, indeed, that a fine old horse,
with a white Roman nose and a bright chestnut mane, who
was living in a flat-bottomed boat, broke his halter and
rushed up to the bows, and gave vent to his amazement as
if he had been gifted with a trumpet.
Hereupon a dog, loath to be behind the times, seampered up
to his side, and with his forefeet on the gunwale, contributed
a howl of incalculable length and unfathomable sadness.
SPRINGHAVEN. 345
In the hurly of the combat and confusion of the night,
with the dimness streaked with tumult, and the water gash-
ed with fire, that horse and this dog might have gone on
forever, bewailing the nature of the sons of men, unless a
special fortune had put power into their mouths. One of
the fire-ships, as scandal did declare, was that very ancient
tub indeed—that could not float on its bottom—the Peggy
of Springhaven, bought at thrice her value, through the
influence of Admiral Darling. If one has to meet every
calumny that arises, and deal with it before going further,
the battle that lasted for a fortnight and then turned into
an earthquake would be a quick affair compared with the
one now in progress. Enough that the Peggy proved by
the hght she gave, and her grand style of burning to the
water’s edge before she blew up, that she was worth at least
the hundred pounds Widow Shanks received for her. She
startled the French more than any of the others, and the
strong light she afforded in her last moments shone redly
on the anguish of that poor horse and dog. There was no
sign of any one to help them, and the flames in the back-
ground redoubled their woe.
Now this apparently deserted prame, near the centre of
the line, was the Ville de Mayence; and the flag of Rear-
Admiral Lacrosse was even now flying at her peak. ‘‘We
must have her, my lads,” cried Scudamore, who was won-
dering what to do next, until he descried the horse and dog
and that fine flag; ‘‘let us board her, and make off with all
of them.”
The crew of his launch were delighted with that. To
destroy is very good; but to capture is still better; and a
dash into the midst of the enemy was the very thing they
longed for. ‘“‘Ay, ay, sir,” they cried, set their backs to
their oars, and through the broad light that still shone upon
the waves, and among the thick crowd of weltering shad-
ows, the launch shot like a dart to the side of the foe.
‘*Kasy all! Throw a grapple on board,” cried the young
commander; and as the stern swung round he leaped from
it, and over the shallow bulwarks, and stood all alone on
the enemy’s fore-deck. And alone he remained, for at that
moment a loud crash was heard, and the launch filled and
sank, with her crew of sixteen plunging wildly in the waves.
This came to pass through no fault of their own, but a
clever device of the enemy. Admiral Lacrosse, being called
away, had left his first officer to see to the safety of the flag-
15*
346 SPRINGHAVEN.
ship and her immediate neighbours, and this brave man had
obtained permission to try a little plan of his own, if as-
sailed by any adventurous British boats in charge of the
vessels explosive. In the bows of some stout but handy
boats he had rigged up a mast with a long spar attached,
and by means of a guy at the end of that spar, a brace of
heavy chain-shot could be swung up and pitched headlong
into any boat alongside. While the crew of Scudamore’s
launch were intent upon boarding the prame, one of these
boats came swiftly from under her stern, and with one fling
swamped the enemy. Then the Frenchmen laughed heart-
ily, and offered oars and buoys for the poor British seamen
to come up as prisoners.
Seudamore saw that he was trapped beyond escape, for no
other British boat was anywhere in hail. His first impulse
was to jump overboard and help his own drowning men, but
before he could do so an officer stood before him, and said,
‘‘Monsieur is my prisoner. His men will be safe, and I
cannot permit him to risk his own life. Mon Dieu, it is
my dear friend Captain Scudamore!”
‘‘ And you, my old friend, Captain Desportes! I see it is
hopeless to resist ’’—for by this time a score of Frenchmen
were round him—‘‘I can only congratulate myself that
if I must fall, it is into such good hands.”
‘“My dear friend, how glad I am to see you!” replied the
French captain, embracing him warmly; ‘to you I owe
more than to any man of your nation. I will not take your
sword. No, no, my friend. You shall not be a prisoner,
except in word. And how much you have advanced in the
knowledge of our language, chiefly, I fear, at the expense of
France! And now you will grow perfect, at the expense of
England.”
CHAPTER XLVII.
ENTER AND EXIT. °
THE summer having been fine upon the whole, and a very
fair quantity of fish brought in, Miss Twemlow had picked up
a sweetheart, as the unromantic mothers of the place ex-
pressed it. And the circumstances were of such a nature
that very large interest was aroused at once, and not only
so, but was fed well and grew fast.
SPRINGHAVEN. 347
The most complete of chronicles is no better than a sponge
of inferior texture and with many mouths shut. Parts that
are full of suctive power get no chance of sucking; other
parts have a flood of juice bubbling at them, but are water-
proof. This is the only excuse—except one—for the shame-
ful neglect of the family of Blocks, in any little treatise
pretending to give the dullest of glimpses at Springhaven.
The other excuse—if self-accusation does not poke a
finger through it—is that the Blockses were mainly of the
dry land, and never went to sea when they could help it.
If they had lived beyond the two trees and the stile that
marked the parish boundary upon the hill towards Lon-
don, they might have been spotless, and grand, and even
honest, yet must have been the depth of the hills below
contempt. But they dwelt in the village for more genera-
tions than would go upon any woman’s fingers, and they did
a little business with the fish caught by the others, which
enabled it to look after three days’ journey as if it swam
into town upon its own fins. The inventions for wronging
mankind pay a great deal better than those for righting them.
Now the news came from John Prater’s first, that a gentle-
man of great renown was coming down from London city
to live on fish fresh out of the sea. His doctors had ordered
him to leave off butcher’s meat, and baker’s bread, and tea-
grocer’s tea, and almost every kind of inland victuals, be-
cause of the state of his—something big, which even Spring-
haven could not pronounce. He must keep himself up,
for at least three months, upon nothing but breezes of the sea,
and malt-liquor, and farm-house bread and milk and new-
laid eggs, and anything he fancied that came out of the
sea, shelly, or scaly, or jellified, or weedy. News from a
public-house grows fast—as seeds come up quicker for soak-
ing—and a strong competition for this gentleman arose; but
he knew what he was doing, and brought down his cook and
house-maid, and disliking the noise at the Darling Arms,
took no less than five rooms at the house of Matthew Blocks,
on the rise of the hill, where he could see the fish come in.
He was called at once Sir Parsley Sugarloaf, for his name
--was Percival Shargeloes; and his cook rebuked his house-
maid sternly, for meddling with matters beyond her sphere,
when she told Mrs. Blocks that he was not Sir Percival,
but only Percival Shargeloes, Esquire, very high up in the
Corporation, but too young to be Lord Mayor of London
for some years. He appeared to be well on the right side of
348 SPRINGHAVEN.
forty; and every young lady on the wrong side of thirty
possessing a pony, or even a donkey, with legs enough to
come down the hill, immediately began to take a rose-colour-
ed view of the many beauties of Springhaven.
If Mr. Shargeloes had any ambition for title, it lay rather
-in a military direction. He had joined a regiment of City
Volunteers, and must have been a Captain, if he could have
stood the drill. But this, though not arduous, had outgone
his ambition, nature having gifted him with a remarkable
power of extracting nourishment from food, which is now
called assimilation. He was not a great feeder—people so
blest seldom are—but nothing short of painful starvation
would keep him lean. He had consulted all the foremost
physicians about this, and one said, “‘ take acids,” another
said, ‘‘ walk twenty miles every day with two Witney blank-
ets on,” a third said, ‘‘thank God for it, and drink before
you eat,” and a fourth (a man of wide experience) bade
him marry the worst-tempered woman he knew. Then they
all gave him pills to upset his stomach; but such was its
power that it assimilated them. Despairing of these, he con-
sulted a Quack, and received the directions which brought
him to Springhaven. Anda lucky day for him it was, as he
confessed for the rest of his life, whenever any ladies asked
him.
Because Miss Twemlow was intended for him by the
nicest adjustment of nature. How can two round things
fit together, except superficially ? And in that case one must
be upper and the other under; which is not the proper thing
in matrimony, though generally the prevailing one. But
take a full-moon and a half-moon, or even a square and a
tidy triangle—with manners enough to have one right angle
—and when you have put them into one another’s arms, there
they stick, all the firmer for friction. Jack Spratt and his
wife are a case in point; and how much more pointed the
case becomes when the question is not about what is on the
plate, but the gentleman is in his own body fat, and the
lady in her elegant person lean!
Mr. Sugarloaf—which he could not bear to be called—be-
ing an ardent admirer of the Church, and aware that her -
ministers know what is good, returned with great speed the
Rector’s call, having earnest hopes of some heart-felt words -
upon the difference between a right and left handed sole.
One of these is ever so much better than the other—ac-
cording to our evolutionists—because when he was a cod, a
C4
@ SPRINGHAVEN. 349
few milliards of years back, he chose the right side to begin
lying down on, that his descendants in the thirty-millionth
generation might get flat. His wife, from sheer perversity,
lay down upon the other side, and this explains how some
of their descendants pulled their eyes through their heads
to one side, and some (though comparatively few) to the
other. And the worst of it is that the fittest for the fry-
ing-pan did not survive this well-intended involution, ex-
cept at a very long figure in the market.
As it fell out upon that day, Miss Twemlow was sitting
in the drawing-room alone, waiting till her mother’s hair
was quite done up, her own abundant locks being not done
.up at all, for she had lately taken to set her face against
‘all foreign fashions. ‘‘I have not been introduced to the
King,” she said, *‘nor even to the Queen, like those forward
Darlings, and I shall do my hair to please myself.” When
her father objected, she quenched him with St. Paul; and
even her mother, though shocked, began to think that Eliza
knew what she was about. The release of her fine hair,
which fell in natural waves about her stately neck, made
her look nearly ten years younger than she was, for by
this time she must have been eight-and-twenty. The ladies
of the Carne race, as their pictures showed (until they
were sold to be the grandmothers of dry-salters), had al-
ways been endowed with shapely necks, fit columns for
their small, round heads. And this young lady’s hair,
with no constraint but that of a narrow band across the
fore..ead, clustered and gleamed like a bower of acanthus
round that Parian column,
Mr. Shargeloes, having obeyed his orders always to dine
early, was thrilled with a vision of poetry and romance as
he crossed the first square of the carpet. The lady sat just
where the light fell best from a filtered sunbeam to illumine
her, without entering into the shady parts; and the poetry
of her attitude was inspired by some very fine poetry upon
her lap. ‘“‘I don’t care what the doctors say, I shall marry
that girl,” said Mr. Shargeloes to himself.
He was a man who knew his own mind, and a man with
that gift makes others know it. Miss Twemlow clenched
in the coat upon his back the nail she had driven through
his heart, by calling him, at every other breath, ‘‘ Colonel
Shargeloes.” He said he was not that; but she felt that
he was, as indeed every patriotic man must be. Her con-
tempt for every man who forsook his country in this bitter,
rey
350 SPRINGHAVEN.
bitter strait was at once so ruthless and so bewitching that
he was quite surprised into confessing that he had given
£10,000, all in solid gold, for the comfort of the Royal Vol-
unteers, as soon as the autumnal damps came on. He could
not tell such an elegant creature that what he had paid for
was flannel drawers, though she had so much strength of
mind that he was enabled to tell her before very long.
A great deal of nonsense is talked about ladies who are
getting the better of their first youth, as if they then hung
themselves out as old slates for any man to write his name
on. The truth is that they have better judgment then, less
trouble in their hearts about a gentleman’s appearance, and
more inquiry in their minds as to his temper, tastes, and
principles, not to mention his prospects of supporting them.
And even as concerns appearance, Mr. Shargeloes was very
good. Nature had given him a fine, stout frame, and a very
pleasant countenance; and his life in the busy world had
added that quickness of decision and immediate sense of
right which a clever woman knows to be the very things
she wants. Moreover, his dress, which goes a very long
way into the heart of a lady, was most correct and partic-
ular. For his coat was of the latest Bond Street fashion,
the ‘‘ Jean de Brie,” improved and beautified by suggestions
from the Prince of Wales himself. Bright claret was the
colour, and the buttons were of gold, bright enough to show
‘tthe road before him as he walked. The shoulders were
padded, as if a jam pot stood there, and the waist buttoned
tight, too tight for any happiness, to show the bright lati-
clave of brocaded waistcoat. Then followed breeches of
rich purple padusoy, having white satin bows at the knee,
among which the little silver bells of the Hessian boots
jingled..
Miss Twemlow was superior to all small feeling, but had
great breadth of sympathy with the sterling truth in fash-
ion. The volume of love, like a pattern-book, fell open, and
this well-dressed gentleman was engraved upon her heart.
The most captious young chit, such as Dolly herself, could
scarcely have called him either corpulent or old. Every
day he could be seen to be growing younger, with the aid
of fresh fish as a totally novel ingredient in his system; his
muscle increased with the growth of brain-power, and the
shoemaker was punching a fresh hole in his belt, an inch
farther back, every week he stopped there. After buckling
up three holes, he proposed. Miss Twemlow referred him
SS
Ts
\\ es
\ Sse
“He WAS A MAN WHO KNOW HIS OWN MIND.”
352 SPRINGHAVEN.
to her dear papa; and the Rector took a week to inquire
and meditate. ‘*Take a month, if you like,” said Mr. Shar-
geloes.
This reply increased the speed. Mr. Twemlow had the
deepest respect for the Corporation, and to live to be the
father of a Lord Mayor of London became a new ambition
to lead on his waning years. ‘‘Come and dine with us on
Saturday, and we will tell you all about it,” he said, with a
pleasant smile and warm shake of the hand; and Shar-
geloes knew that the neck and the curls would bend over
the broad gold chain some day.
,How grievous it is to throw a big stone into a pool which
has plenty of depth and length and width for the rings to
travel pleasantly, yet not to make one ring, because of wind
upon the water! In the days that were not more than two
years old, Springhaven could have taken all this news, with
a swiftly expanding and smoothly fluent circle, with a lift
of self-importance at the centre of the movement, and a
heave of gentle interest in the far reflective corners. Even
now, with a tumult of things to consider, and a tempest of
judgment to do it in, people contrived to be positive about
a quantity of things still pending. Sir Parsley Sugarloaf
had bought Miss Twemlow for £50,000, they said, and he
made her let her curls down so outrageous, because she was
to be married at Guildhall, with a guinea at the end of ev-
ery hair. Miss Faith would be dirt-cheap at all that mon-
ey; but as for Miss Eliza, they wished him better knowledge,
which was sure to come, when it was no good to him.
‘“What a corner of the world this is for gossip!” Mr.
Shargeloes said, pleasantly, to his Eliza, having heard from
his cook, who desired no new mistress, some few of the
things said about him. ‘‘I am not such a fool as to care
what they say. But I am greatly surprised at one thing.
You know that I am a thorough Englishman; may I tell
you what I think, without offending you? It is a delicate
_ matter, because it concerns a relative of your own, my dear.”
‘‘T know what you mean. You will not offend me.
Percival, I know how straightforward you are, and how
keen of perception. I have expected this.”
‘“And yet it seems presumptuous of me to say that you
are all blind here, from the highest to the lowest. Except
indeed yourself, as I now perceive. I will tell you my
suspicions, or more than suspicions—my firm belief—about
your cousin, Mr. Carne. I can trust you to keep this even
SPRINGHAVEN. 353
from your father. Caryl Carne is a spy, in the pay of the
French.”
‘‘T have long thought something, though not quite so bad
as that,’ Miss Twemlow answered, calmly; ‘* because he has
behaved to us so very strangely. My mother is his own
father’s sister, as you know, and yet he has never dined with
us more than once, and then he scarcely said a word to any
one. And he never yet has asked us to visit him at the
castle; though for that we can make all allowance, of course,
because of its sad condition. Then everybody thought he
had taken to smugeling, and after all his losses, no one
blamed him, especially as all the Carnes had done it, even
when they were the owners of the land. But ever since
poor Mr. Cheeseman, our church-warden, tried to destroy
himself with his own rope, all the parish began. to doubt
about the smugeling, because it pays so well and makes the
people very cheerful. But from something he had seen,
my father felt quite certain that the true explanation was
smugeling.”
‘‘TIndeed! Do you know at all what it was he saw, and
when, and under what cireumstances?” Mr. Shargeloes put
these questions with more urgency than Miss Twemlow
liked.
‘Really I cannot tell you all those things; they are
scarcely of general interest. My dear father said little about
it: all knowledge is denied in this good world to women.
But no doubt he would tell you, if you asked him, when
there were no ladies present.”’
‘*T will,” said Mr. Shargeloes. ‘‘ He is most judicious;
he knows when to speak, and when to hold his tongue.
And I think that you combine with beauty one of those two
gifts—which is the utmost to be expected.”
‘‘Percival, you put things very nicely, which is all that
could be expected of aman. But do take my advice in this
matter, and say no more about it.”
Mr. Shargeloes feigned to comply, and perhaps at the mo-
ment meant to do so. But unluckily he was in an enter-
prising temper, proud of recovered activity, and determined
to act up to the phosphate supplied by fish diet. Therefore
when the Rector, rejoicing in an outlet for his long pent-up
discoveries, and regarding this sage man as one of his fam-
ily, repeated the whole of his adventure at Carne Castle,
Mr. Shargeloes said, briefly, ‘‘ It must be seen to.”
‘*Stubbard has been there,” replied Mr. Twemlow, repent-
354 SPRINGHAVEN.
ing perhaps of his confidence; ‘‘Stubbard has made an offi-
cial inspection, which relieves us of all concern with it.”
‘*Captain Stubbard is an ass. It is a burning shame that
important affairs should be intrusted to such fellows. The
country is in peril, deadly peril; and every Englishman is
bound to act as if he were an officer.” |
That very same evening Carne rode back to his ruins in a
very grim state of mind. He had received from the Em-
peror a curt and haughty answer to his last appeal for im-
mediate action, and the prospect of another gloomy winter
here, with dangers thickening round him, and no motion to
enliven them, was almost more than he could endure. The
nights were drawing in, and a damp fog from the sea had
drizzled the trees, and the ivy, and even his own moustache
with cold misery. ©
‘‘Bring me a lantern,” he said to old Jerry, as he swung
his stiff legs from the back of the jaded horse, ‘‘and the
little flask of oil with the feather in it. It is high time to
put the Inspector's step in order.”
Jerry Bowles, whose back and knees were bent with rheu-
matism.and dull service, trotted (like a horse who has be-
come too stiff to walk) for the things commanded, and came
back with them. Then his master, without a word, strode
towards the passage giving entry to the vaults which Stub-
bard had not seen-—-the vaults containing all the powder,
and the weapons for arming the peasantry of England,
whom Napoleon fondly expected to rise in his favour at
the sight of his eagles.
‘‘How does it work? Quite stiff with rust. I thought
so. Nothing is ever in order, unless I see toit myself. Give
me the lantern. Now oil the bearings thoroughly. Put the
feather into the socket, and work the pin in and out, that the
oil may go all round. Now pour in some oil from the lp
of the flask; but not upon the treadle, you old blockhead.
Now do the other end the same. Ah, now it would go with
the weight of a mouse! I have a great mind to make you
try 16s”
‘“What would you do, sir, if my neck was broken? Who
would do your work, as I do ?”
They were under an arch of mouldy stone, opening into
the deep, dark vaults, where the faint light of the lantern
glanced on burnished leather, brass, and steel, or fell without
flash upon dull, round bulk. The old man, kneeling on the
round chalk-flints set in lime for the flooring of the passage,
Ge =
a
SPRINGHAVEN. 355
was handling the first step of the narrow step-ladder leading
to the cellar-depth. This top step had been taken out of
the old oak mortice, and cut shorter, and then replaced in
the frame, with an iron pin working in an iron collar, just
as the gudgeon of a wheelbarrow revolves. Any one step-
ping upon it unawares would go down without the aid of any
other step.
‘* Goes like spittle now, sir,”’ said old Jerry; ‘‘but I don’t
want no more harm in this crick of life. The Lord be pleased
to keep all them Examiners at home. Might have none to
find their corpusses until next leap-year. I hope with all
my heart they won’t come poking their long noses here.”
‘‘ Well, I rather hope they will. They want a lesson in
this neighbourhood,” muttered Carne, who was shivering,
and hungry, and unsweetened.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
MOTHER SCUDAMORE.
IF we want to know how a tree or flower has borne the
gale that flogged last night, or the frost that stung the
morning, the only sure plan is to go and see. And the
only way to understand how a friend has taken affliction
is to go—if it may be done without intrusion—and let him
tell you, if he likes. ©
Admiral Darling was so much vexed when he heard of.
Blyth Scudamore’s capture by the French, and duty com-
pelled him to inform the mother that he would rather have
ridden a thousand miles upon barley-bread than face her.
He knew how the whole of her life was now bound up with
the fortunes of her son, and he longed to send Faith with
the bad news, as he had sent her with the good before; but
he feared that it might seem unkind. So he went himself,
with the hope of putting the best complexion upon it, yet
fully expecting sad distress, and perhaps a burst of weeping.
But the lady received his tidings in a manner that sur-
prised him. At first she indulged in a tear or two, but they
only introduced a smile.
‘‘In some ways it is a sad thing,” she said, “‘and will be
a terrible blow to him, just when he was rising so fast in
the service. But we must not rebel more than we can help, ~
against the will of the Lord, Sir Charles.”
’
356 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘**How philosophical, and how commonplace!” thought
the Admiral; but he only bowed, and paid her some com-
pliment upon her common-sense.
‘* Perhaps you scarcely understand my views, and perhaps
Iam wrong in having them,” Lady Scudamore continued,
quietly. ‘‘ My son’s advancement is very dear to me, and
this will of course retard it. But I care most of all for his
life, and now that will be safe fora long while. They never
kill their prisoners, do they?”
‘‘No,ma’am, no. They behave very well to them; better,
I’m afraid, than we do to ours. They treat them quite as
guests, when they fall into good hands. Though Napoleon
himself is not too mild in that way.”
‘My son has fallen into very good hands, as you yourself
assure me—that Captain Desportes, a gallant officer and
kind gentleman, as I know from your daughter's description.
Blyth is quite equal to Lord Nelson in personal daring,
and possibly not behind him in abilities. Consider how
shockingly poor Nelson has been injured, and he feels con-
vineed himself that they will have his life at last. No offi-
cer can be a hero without getting very sad wounds, and per-
haps losing his life. Every one who does his duty must at
least be wounded.”
The Admiral, who had never received a scratch, was not at
all charmed with this view of naval duty; but he was too
polite to enter protest, and only made one of his old-fashioned
scrapes.
~ “Tam sure every time I have heard a gun coming from
the sea, and especially after dark,” the lady resumed, without
thinking of him, ‘‘it has made me miserable to know that
probably Blyth was rushing into some deadly conflict. But
now I shall feel that he cannot do that; and I hope they
will keep him until the fighting grows milder. He used to
send me all his money, poor dear boy! And now I shall
try to send him some of mine, if it can be arranged about
bank-notes. And now I can do it very easily, thanks to
_ your kindness, Sir Charles, his father’s best friend, and his
own, and mine.” )
Lady Scudamore shed another tear or two, not of sorrow,
but of pride, while she put her hand into her pocket, asif to
begin the remittance at once. ‘‘ You owe me no thanks,
ma’am,”’ said the Admiral, smiling; ‘‘if any thanks are due,
they are due to the King, for remembering at last what he
should have done before.”
SPRINGHAVEN. 357
‘“Would he ever have thought of me, but for you? It
is useless to talk in that way, Sir Charles; it only increases
the obligation, which I must entreat you not to do. How
I wish I could help you in anything!”
‘“Every day you are helping me,” he replied, with truth;
‘although Iam away too often to know all about it, or even
to thank you. I hope my dear Faith has persuaded you
not to leave us for the winter, as you threatened.”
‘‘Haith can persuade me to anything she pleases. She
possesses the power of her name,” replied the lady; ‘‘ but
the power is not called for, when the persuasion is so pleas-
ant. For a month, I must be away to visit my dear moth-
er, as I always have done at this time of year; and then,
but for one thing, I would return most gladly. For I am
very selfish, you must know, Sir Charles-—-I have a better
chance of hearing of my dear son at these headquarters of
the defence of England, than I should have even in London.”
** Certainly,” cried the Admiral, Who magnified his office;
‘*such a number of despatches pass through my hands; and
if I can’t make them out, why, my daughter Dolly can. I
don’t suppose, Lady Scudamore, that even when you lived
in the midst of the world you ever saw any girl half so clever
asmy Dolly. I don’t let her know it—that would never do,
of course—but she always gets the best of me, upon almost
any question.”
Sir Charles, for the moment, forgot his best manners, and
spread his coat so that one might see between his legs. ‘‘I
stand like this,” he said, ‘‘ and she stands there; and I take
her to task for not paying her bills—for some of those fel-
lows have had to come to me, which is not as it should be
in a country place, where people don’t understand the
fashionable system. She stands there, ma’am, and I feel as
sure as if I were an English twenty-four bearing down upon
a Frenchman of fifty guns, that she can only haul her col-
ours down and rig out gangeway ladders—when, bless me and
keep me! I am carried by surprise, and driven under hatch-
ways, and if there is a guinea in my hold, it flies into the
enemy’s locker! If it happened only once, I should think
nothing of it.- But when I know exactly what is coming,
and have double-shotted every gun, and set up hammock-
nettings, and taken uncommon care to have the weather-
gage, tis the devil, Lady Scudamore—excuse me, madam—
‘tis the devil to a ditty-bag that I have her at my mercy.
And yet it always comes to money out of pocket, madam!”
358 . SPRINGHAVEN.
‘‘She certainly has a great power over gentlemen”—
Blyth’s mother smiled demurely, as if she were sorry to
confess it; ‘‘ but she is exceedingly young, Sir Charles, and
every allowance must be made for her.”
‘‘ And by the Lord Harry, she gets it, madam. She takes
uncommonly good care of that. But what is the one thing
you mentioned that would prevent you from coming back
to us with pleasure ?”
‘‘T scarcely like to speak of it. But it is about that self-
same Dolly. She is not fond of advice, and she knows how
quick she is, and that makes her resent a word from slower
people. She has taken it into her head, I fear, that I am
here as a restraint upon her; a sort of lady spy, a duenna,
a dictatress, all combined in one, and all unpleasant. This
often makes me fancy that I have no right to be here. And
then your sweet Faith comes, and all is smooth again.”
‘‘Dolly has the least little possible touch of the vixen
about her. I have found it out lately,” said the Admiral,
as if he were half doubtful still; ‘‘ Nelson told me so, and
I was angry with him. But I believe he was right, as he
generally is. His one eye sees more than a score of mine
would. But,my dear madam, if that is your only objection
to coming back to us, or rather to my daughters, I beg you
not to let it weigh a feather’s weight with you. Or, at any
rate, enhance the obligation to us, by putting it entirely on
one side. Dolly has the very finest heart in all the world;
not so steady perhaps as Faith’s, nor quite so fair to other
people, but wonderfully warm, ma’am, and as sound as—as
a roach.”
Lady Scudamore could not help laughing a little, and she
hoped for her son’s sake that this account was true. Her
gratitude and good-will to the Admiral, as well as her duty
to her son, made her give the promise sought for; and she
began to prepare for her journey at once, that she might
be back in good time for the winter. But she felt very
doubtful, at leaving the Hall, whether she had done quite
right in keeping her suspicions of Dolly from Dolly’s fa-
ther. For with eyes which were sharpened by jealousy for
the interests, or at least the affections, of her son, she had
long perceived that his lady-love was playing a dangerous
game with Caryl Carne. Sometimes she believed that she
ought to speak of this, for the good of the family; because
she felt the deepest mistrust and dislike of Carne, who strict-
ly avoided her whenever he could; but on the other hand
SPRINGHAVEN. 359
she found the subject most delicate and difficult to handle.
For she had taken good care at the outset not to be here
upon any false pretences. At the very first interview with
her host she had spoken of Blyth’s attachment to his young-
er daughter, of which the Admiral had heard already from
that youthful sailor. And the Admiral had simply said,
as in Captain Twemlow’s case: *‘ Let us leave them to them-
selves. I admire the youngman. If she likes him, I shall
make no objection, when they are old enough, and things
are favourable.” And now if she told him of the other
love-affair, it would look like jealousy of a rival. Perhaps
a hundred times a day, as her love for gentle Faith grew
faster than her liking for the sprightly Dolly, she would
sigh that her son did not see things like herself; but bitter
affliction had taught her that the course of this life follows
our own wishes about as much as another man’s dog heeds
our whistle. But, for all that, this good lady hoped some
day to see things come round as she would like to bring
them.
‘*No wonder that we like her son so much,” said Faith
when they had done waving handkerchiefs at the great
yellow coach going slowly up the hill, with its vast wick-
er basket behind, and the guard perched over it with his
blunderbus; ‘“‘he takes after his mother in so many ways.
They are both so simple and unsuspicious, and they make
the best of every one.”
‘‘ Including themselves, I suppose,” answered Dolly.
‘“ Well, I like people who have something on their minds,
and make the worst of everybody. They have so much
more to talk about.”
‘You should never try to be sarcastic, dear. And you
know that you don’t mean it. JI am sure you don’t like to
have the worst made of yourself.”
‘‘Oh, I have long: been used to that. And I never care
about it, when I know it is not true. Jam sure that Mother
Scudamore runs me down, when I am out of hearing. I
never did like those perfect people.” af
‘‘Mother Scudamore, indeed! You are getting into a low
way of talking, which is not at all pretty in a girl. And I
never heard her say an unkind word about you. Though
she may not have found you quite so perfect as she hoped.”
‘‘T tell you, Miss Darling,” cried Dolly, with her bright
colour deepened, and her gray eyes flashing, “that I don’t
care a—something that papa often says—what she thinks
360 SPRINGHAVEN.
about me, or you either. I know that she has come here
to spy out all my ways.”
‘* You should not have any to be spied out, Dolly,” Faith
answered, with some sternness, and a keen look at her sis-
ter, whose eyes fell beneath her gaze. ‘* You will be sorry,
when you think of what you said to me, who have done
nothing whatever to offend you. But that is a trifle com-
pared with acting unfairly to our father. Father is the
kindest man that ever lived; but he can be stern in great
matters, 1 warn you. If he ever believes that you have
deceived him, you will never be again to him what you have
always been.”
They had sent the carriage home that they might walk
across the fields, and this little scene between the sisters took
place upon a foot-path which led back to their grounds.
Dolly knew that she was in the wrong, and that increased
her anger.
‘“So you are another spy upon me,I suppose. ‘Tis a
pretty thing to have one’s sister for an old duenna. Pray
who gave you authority to lord it over me?”
‘*You know as well as I do”—Faith spoke with a smile
of superior calmness, as Dolly tossed her head—‘‘ that I am
about the last person in the world to be aspy. Neither do
I ever lord it over you. If anything, that matter is very
much the other way.. But being so much older, and your
principal companion, it would be very odd of me, and as I
think most unkind, if I did not take an interest in all your
goings on.”
‘“My goings on! What a lady-like expression! Who
has got into a low way of talking now? Well, if you
please, madam, what have you found out ?”
‘‘T have found out nothing, and made no attempt to do
so. But I see that you are altered very much from what
you used to be; and I am sure that there is something on
your mind. Why not tell me all about it? I would prom-
ise to let it go no further, and I would not pretend to ad-
vise, unless you wished. I am your only sister, and we
have always been together. It would make you so much
more comfortable, I am certain of that in your own mind,
darling. And you know when we were little girls, dear
mother on her death-bed put her hands upon our heads and
said, ‘Be loving sisters always, and never let anything come
between you.’ And for father’s sake, too, you should try
to do it. Put aside all nonsense about spies and domineer-
SPRINGHAVEN. 361
ing, and trust me as your sister, that’s my own darling
Dolly.” .
“How can I resist you? I will make a clean breast of
it;” Dolly sighed deeply, but a wicked smile lay ambushed
in her bright eyes and upon her rosy lips. ‘‘The sad
truth is that my heart has been quite sore since I heard
the shocking tidings about poor old Daddy Stokes. He went
to bed the other night with his best hat on, both his arms
in an old muff he found in the ditch, and his leathern
breeches turned inside out.”
‘Then the poor old man had a cleaner breast than yours,”
cried Faith, who had prepared her heart and eyes for tears
of sympathy; ‘*‘ he goes upon his knees every night, stiff as
they are, and his granddaughter has tohelp him up. Butas
for you, you are the most unfeeling, mocking, godless, un-
natural creature that ever never cared what became of any-
body. Here we are at the corner where the path divides.
You go home that way, and I'll go home by this.”
‘Well, ’m so glad! I really did believe that it was
quite impossible to put you in a rage. Now don’t be ina
hurry, dear, to beg my pardon.”
‘“Of that you may be quite sure,” cried Faith across the
corner of the meadow where the paths diverged; ‘‘I never
was less in a passion in my life; and it will be your place to
apologize.”
Dolly sent a merry laugh across the widening interval;
and Faith, who was just beginning to fear that she had been
in a passion, was convinced by that laugh that she had not.
But the weight lifted from her conscience fell more heavily
upon her heart.
CHAPTER XLIX.
EVIL COMMUNICATIONS.
ALTHOUGH she pretended to be so merry, and really was
so self-confident (whenever anybody wanted to help her),
Miss Dolly Darling, when left to herself, was not like her- —
self, as it used to be. Her nature was lively, and her spirit
very high; every one had petted her, before she could have
earned it by aught except childish beauty; and no one had
left off doing it, when she was bound to show better claim to
it. All this made doubt, and darkness, and the sense of not
16
362 SPRINGHAVEN.
being her own mistress, very snappish things to her, and she
gained relief—sweet-tempered as she was when‘ pleased—by
a snap at others. For although she was not given, any
more than other young people are, to plaguesome self-
inspection, she could not help feeling that she was no longer
the playful young Dolly that she loved so well. <A strong-
er, and clearer, yet more mysterious will than her own
had conquered hers; but she would not confess it, and
yield entire obedience; neither could she cast it off. Her
pride still existed, as strong as ever, whenever temper roused
it; but there was too much of vanity in its composition, and
too little of firm self-respect. Contempt from a woman she
could not endure; neither from a man, if made manifest; but
Carne so calmly took the upper hand, without any show of
having it, that she fell more and more beneath his influence.
He, knowing thoroughly what he was about, did nothing
to arouse resistance. So far as he was capable of loving
any one, he was now in love with Dolly. He admired her
quickness, and pretty girlish ways, and gaiety of nature (so
unlike his own), and most of all her beauty. He had made
up his mind that she should be his wife when fitted for that
dignity; but he meant to make her useful first, and he saw
his way to do so. He knew that she acted more and more
as her father’s secretary, for she wrote much faster than her
sister Faith, and was quicker in catching up a meaning.
Only it was needful to sap her little prejudices—candour,
to wit, and the sense of trust, and above all, patriotic feeling.
He rejoiced when he heard that Lady Scudamore was gone,
and the Rector had taken his wife and daughter for change
of air to Tunbridge Wells, Miss Twemlow being seriously
out of health through anxiety about Mr. Shargeloes. For
that gentleman had disappeared, without a line or message,
just when Mr. Furkettle, the chief lawyer in the neighbour-
hood, was beginning to prepare the marriage-settlement ;
and although his cook and house-maid were furious at the
story, Mrs. Blocks had said, and all the parish now believed,
that Sir Parsley Sugarloaf had flown away to Scotland rath-
er than be brought to book—that fatal part of the Prayer-
book—by the Rector and three or four brother clergymen.
This being so, and Frank Darling absorbed in London
with the publication of another batch of poems, dedicated
to Napoleon, while Faith stood aloof with her feelings hurt,
and the Admiral stood off and on’in the wearisome cruise
of duty, Carne had the coast unusually clear for the entry
OF ae a
a Ye.
aie 444
‘
os
uy,
”
364 SPRINGHAVEN.
and arrangement of his contraband ideas. He met the fair
Dolly almost every day, and their interviews did not grow
shorter, although the days were doing so.
‘““You should have been born in France,” he said, one -
bright November morning, when they sat more comfortable
than they had any right to be, upon the very same seat
where the honest but hapless Captain Scuddy had tried to
venture to lisp his love; ‘‘that is the land you belong to,
darling, by beauty and manners and mind and taste, and
most of all by your freedom from prejudice, and great liber-
ality of sentiment.”
‘‘But I thought we were quite as good-looking in Eng-
land ;” Dolly lifted her long black lashes, with a flash which
might challenge the brilliance of any French eyes; ‘‘ but of
course you know best. I know nothing of French ladies.”
‘*Don’t be a fool, Dolly; Carne spoke rudely, but made
up for it in another way. ‘‘ There never was a French
girl to equal you in loveliness; but you must not suppose
that you beat them all round. One point particularly you
are far behind in. A French woman leaves all political
questions, and national matters, and public affairs, entirely
to her husband, or her lover, as the case may be. What-
ever he wishes is the law for her. Thy gods shall be my
gods.”
‘‘But you said they had great liberality of sentiment, and
now you say they have no opinions of their own! How
can the two things go together ?”
‘Very easily,” said Carne, who was accustomed to be baf-
fled by such little sallies; ‘‘they take their opinions from
their husbands, who are always liberal. This produces hap-
piness on both sides—a state of things unknown in Eng-
land. Let me tell you of something important, mainly as
it concerns yourself, sweet Dolly. The French are certain
to unite with England, and then we shall be the grandest
nation in the world. No power in Europe can stand before
us. All will be freedom, and civilization, and great ideas,
and fine taste in dress. I shall recover the large estates,
that would now be mine, but for usury and fraud. And
you will be one of the first ladies in the world, as nature
has always intended you to be.”
‘“That sounds very well; but how is it tobe done? How
can France unite with England, when they are bitter ene-
mies? Is France to conquer England first? Or are we
to conquer France, as we always used to do ?”
SPRINGHAVEN., 365
‘‘That would be a hard job now, when France is the mis-
tress of the Continent. No, there need be no conquering,
sweet Dolly, but only a little removal. The true interest
of this country is—as that mighty party, the Whigs, per-
ceive—to get rid of all the paltry forms and dry bones of a
dynasty which is no more English than Napoleon is, and
to join that great man in his warfare against all oppression.
Your brother Frank is a leading spirit; he has long cast off
that wretched insular prejudice which defeats all good. In
the grand new scheme of universal right, which must pre-
vail very shortly, Frank Darling will obtain that foremost
place to which his noble views entitle him. You, as his
sister, and my wife, will be adored almost as much as you
could wish.”
‘*Tt sounds very grand,” answered Dolly, with a smile,
though a little alarmed at this turn of it; ‘‘ but what is to
become of the King, and Queen, and all the royal family?
And what is my father to do, and Faith? Although she
has not behaved well to me.”
‘*Those details will be arranged to everybody’s satisfac-
tion. Little prejudices will subside, when it is seen that
they are useless. Every possible care will be taken not to
injure any one.”
‘* But how is it all to be done 2” asked Dolly, whose mind
was practical, though romantic. ‘* Are the French to land,
and overrun the country? Iam sure I never should agree
to that. Are all our defenders to be thrown into prison 2”
‘*Certainly not. There will be no prisons. The French
might have to land, as a matter of form; but not to overrun
the country, only to secure British liberties and justice. All
sensible people would hasten to join them, and any oppo-
sition would be quenched at once. Then such a glorious
condition of mankind would ensue as has never been known
in this world—peace, wealth, universal happiness, gaiety,
dancing everywhere, no more shabby clothes, no more dreary
Sundays. How do you like the thought of it ?”
‘* Well, some of it sounds very nice; but I don’t see the use
of universal justice. Justice means having one’s own rights;
-and it is impossible for everybody to do that, because of
other people. And as for the French coming to put things
right, they had better attend to their own affairs first. And
as if any Englishman would permitit! Why,even Frank
would mount his wig and gown (for he is a full-fledged bar-
rister now, you know), and come and help to push them
366 SPRINGHAVEN.
back into the sea.. And I hope that you would do so too.
Tam not going to marry a Frenchman. You belong tu an
old English family, and you were born in England, and your
name is English, and the property that ought to belong to
you. I hope you don’t consider yourself a Frenchman be-
cause your mother is a great French lady, after so many gen-
erations of Carnes, all English, every bit of them. Iam an
English girl, and I care very little for things that I don’t see
—such as justice, liberty, rights of people, and all that. But
I do care about my relations, and our friends, and the peo-
ple that live here, and the boats, and all the trees, and the
land that belongs to my father. Very likely you would want
to take that away, and give it to some miserable French-
man.”
‘“Dolly, my dear, you must not be excited,” Carne an-
swered, in the manner of a father; ‘‘ powerful as your com-
prehension is, for the moment these things are beyond it.
Your meaning is excellent, very good, very great; but to
bring it to bear requires further information. We will
sit by the side of the sea to-morrow, darling, if you grant
me a view of your loveliness again; and there you will see
things in a larger light than upon this narrow bench, with
your father’s trees around us, and your father’s cows inquir-
ing whether Iam good to eat. Getaway,cow! Doyou take
me for a calf?”
One of the cows best loved by Dolly, who was very fond
of good animals, had come up to ask who this man was that
had been sitting here so long with her. She was gifted with
a white face and large soft eyes—even beyond the common
measure of acow—short little horns, that she would scarcely
think of pushing even at a dog (unless he made mouths at
her infant), a flat, broad nose ever genial to be rubbed, and
a delicate fringe of finely pointed yellow hairs around her
pleasant nostrils and above her clovery lips. With single-
hearted charity and enviable faith she was able to combine
the hope that Dolly had obtained a lover as good as could
be found upon a single pair of legs. Carne was attired with
some bravery, of the French manner rather than the Eng-
lish, and he wanted no butter on his velvet and fine lace. .
So he swung round his cane of heavy snakewood at the cow,
and struck her poor horns so sharply that her head went
round.
‘‘Is that universal peace, and gentleness, and justice ?”
cried Dolly, springing up and hastening to console her cow.
j
SPRINGHAVEN,. 367
‘Ts this the way the lofty French redress the wrongs of
England? What had poor Dewlips done, I should like to
know? Kiss me, my pretty, and tell me how you would
like the French army to land, as a matter of form? The
form you would take would be beef, [m afraid; not even
good roast beef, but bouillon, potage, fricandeau, friture—
anything one cannot taste any meat in; and that is how
your wrongs would be redressed, after having had both your
horns knocked off. And about the same fate for John Bull,
your master, unless he keeps his horns well sharpened. Do
I not speak the truth, monsieur ?”
When Carne did anything to vex Miss Dolly—which hap-
pened pretty often, for he could not stop to study much her
little prejudices—she addressed him as if he were a French-
man, never doubting that this must reduce him sadly in his
self-esteem.
‘‘Never mind matters political,” he said, perceiving that
his power must not be pressed until he had deepened its
foundations; ‘‘what are all the politics in the world com-
pared with your good opinion, Beauty?” Dolly liked to be
called ‘‘ Beauty,” and the name always made her try to de-
serve it by looking sweet. ‘‘ You must be quite certain that
I would do nothing to injure a country which contains my
Dolly. And as for Madam Cow, I will beg her pardon,
though my cane is hurt a great deal more than her precious
horns are. Behold me snap it in twain, although it is the
only handsome one I possess, because it has offended you!”
‘‘Oh, what a pity! What a lovely piece of wood!” cried
_ Dolly; and they parted on the best of terms, after a warm
vow upon either side that no nasty politics should ever
come between them.
But Carne was annoyed and discontented. He came to
the edge of the cliff that evening below his ruined castle;
for there are no cliffs at Springhaven, unless the headland
deserves that name; and there he sat gloomily for some
hours, revolving the chances of his enterprise. The weath-
er had changed since the morning, and a chill November
wind began to urge the waves ashore. The sky was not
very dark, but shredded with loose gray vapours from the
west, where a heavy bank of clouds lay under the pale cres-
cent of a watery moon. In the distance two British cruisers
shone, light ships of outlook, under easy sail, prepared to
send the signal for a hundred leagues, from ship to ship
and cliff to cliff, if any of England’s foes appeared. They
368 SPRINGHAVEN.
shone upon the dark sea, with canvas touched by moon-
light, and seemed ready to spring against the lowering sky,
if it held any menace to the land they watched, or the long
reach of water they had made their own.
‘* A pest upon those watch-dogs!” muttered Carne. ‘‘They
are always wide-awake, and forever at their stations. In-
stead of growing tired, they get sharper every day. Even
Charron can scarcely run through them now. But I know
who could do it, if he could only be trusted. With a pilot-
boat—it is a fine idea—a pilot-boat entered as of Pebbleridge.
The Pebbleridge people hate Springhaven, through a feud
of centuries, and Springhaven despises Pebbleridge. It
would answer well, although the landing is so bad, and no
anchorage possible in rough weather. I must try if Dan
Tugwell will undertake it. None of the rest know the coast
as he does, and few of them have the bravery. But Dan is
a very sulky fellow, very difficult to manage. He will
never betray us; he is wonderfully grateful; and after that
battle with the press-gang, when he knocked down the offi-
eer and broke his arm, he will keep pretty clear of the
Union-jack. But he goes about moping, and wondering,
and mooning, as if he were wretched about what he has te
do. Bless my soul, where is my invention? Isee the way
to have him under my thumb. Reason is an old coat hang-
ing on a peg’; passion is the fool who puts it on and runs
away with it. Halloa! Whoare you? And what do you
want at such a time asthis? Surely you can see that Iam
not at leisure now. Why, Tugwell, I thought that you
were far away at sea!” :
‘*So I was, sir; but she travels fast. I never would be-
lieve the old London Trader could be driven through the
water so. Sam Polwhele knows how to pile it on a craft,
as well as he do uponaman,sir. IJ won’t serve under him
no more, nor Captain Charcoal either. I have done my
duty by you, Squire Carne, the same as you did by me, sir;
and thanking you for finding me work so long, my mean-
ing is to go upon the search to-morrow.”
‘* What fools they must have been to let this fellow come
ashore!” thought Carne, while he failed to see the wisest
way to take it. ‘‘Tugwell, you cannot do this with any
honour, after we have shown you all the secrets of our en-
terprise. You know that what we do is of the very highest
honour, kind and humane and charitable, though strictly
forbidden by a most inhuman government. How would
ences
~~
Ss
——
—
S=
os
‘ y)
A )
ISERS SHONE,”
“IN THE DISTANCE TWO BRITISH CRU
270 SPRINGHAVEN.
you like, if you were a prisoner in France, to be debarred
from all chance of getting any message from your family,
your wife, your sweetheart, or your children, from year’s
end to year’s end, and perhaps be dead for months without
their knowing anything about it?”
‘‘Well, sir, I should think it very hard indeed; though,
if I was dead, I shouldn’t know much more about it. But,
without reproach to you, I cannot make out altogether that
our only business is to carry letters for the prisoners, as
now may be in England, from their loving friends to com-
mand in their native country. I won’t say against you,
sir, if you say it is—that is, to the outside of all your knowl-
edge. And twenty thousand of them may need letters by
the sack. But what use they could make, sir, of cannon as
big as I be, and muskets that would kill a man a hundred
yards of distance, and bayonets more larger and more sharp-
er than ever I see before, even with the Royal Volunteers—
this goes out of all my calculation.”
‘“Daniel, you have expressed your views, which are re- —
markable—as indeed they always are—with your usual pre-
cision. But you have not observed things with equal ac-
curacy. Do you know when a gun is past service?”
‘‘No, sir; I never was a poacher, nohow. Squire Dar-
ling, that is to say, Sir Charles Darling now, according to a
chap on board, he was always so good upon his land that no-
body durst go a-poaching.”
‘‘T mean acannon, Dan. They don’t poach with cannon
yet, though they may come to do it, as the game-laws in-
crease. Do you know when a cannon is unsafe to fire,
though it may look as bright as ever, like a worn-out poker ?
All those things that have frightened you are only meant
for ornament. You know that every ancient building ought
to have its armoury, as this castle always had, until they
were taken away and sold. My intention is to restore it,
when I can afford to do so. And having a lot of worn-
out weapons offered me for next to nothing, I seized the
chance of bringing them. When times are better, and the
war is over, I may find time to arrange them. But that is
not of much importance. The great point is to secure
the delivery of letters from their native land to the brave
men here as prisoners. I cannot afford to do that for noth-
ing, though I make no profit out of it. I have so many
things to think aout that I scarcely know which to consid-
er first. And after all, what matters to us whether those
SPRINGHAVEN. | ard
poor men are allowed to die, and be buried like dogs, with-
out knowledge of their friends?) Why should we run the
risk of being punished for them ?”
‘‘ Well, sir, that seems hard doctrine, if I may be allowed
to say so, and not like your kind-heartedness. Our Govern-
ment have no right to stop them of their letters.”
‘It is a cruel thing. But how are we to help it? The
London Trader is too large for the purpose, and she is
under suspicion now. I tell you everything, Daniel, be-
cause I know that you are a true-hearted fellow, and far
above all blabbing. I have thought once or twice of ob-
taining leave to purchase a stout and handy pilot-boat,
with her license and all that transferred to us, and so run-
ning toand fro when needful. The only risk then would be
from perils of the sea; and even the pressmen dare not med-
dle with a pilot-boat. By-the-bye, I have heard that you
knocked some of them about. Tugwell, you might have
got us all into sad trouble.”
‘“Was I to think of what I was doing, Squire Carne, when
they wanted to make a slave of me? I would serve King
George with a good heart, in spite of all that father has said
against it. But it must be with a free will, Squire Carne,
and not to be tied hand and foot to it. How would you
like that yourself, sir ?”
‘“Well, I think I should have done as you did, Dan, if I
had been a British sailor. But as to this pilot-boat, I must
have a bold and good seaman to command it. A man who
knows the coast, and is not afraid of weather. Of course
we should expect to pay good wages; £3 a week, perhaps,
and a guinea for every bag of letters landed safe. There
are plenty of men who would jump at such a chance, Dan.”
‘‘T1l be bound there are, sir. And it is more than I am
worth, if you mean offering the place tome. It would suit
me wonderful, if I was certain that the job was honest.”
‘Daniel Tugwell”—Carne spoke with great severity—‘*‘I
will not lose my temper, for I am sure you mean no insult.
But you must be of a very low, suspicious nature, and quite
unfit for any work of a lofty and unselfish order, if you can
imagine that a man in my position, a man of my large sen-
timents—”’
‘‘Oh, no, sir, no; it was not at all that”—Dan scarcely
knew: how to tell what it was—‘‘it was nothing at all of
that manner of thinking. I heartily ask your pardon, sir,
if it seemed to go in that way.”
372 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘Don’t do that,” replied Carne, ‘‘ because I can make al-
lowances. I know what a fine nature is, and how it takes
alarm at shadows. Iam always tender with honest scru-
ples, because I find so many of them in myself. I should
not have been pleased with you, if you had accepted my
offer—although so advantageous, and full of romantic in-
terest—until you were convinced of its honourable nature.
I have no time for argument, and I am sorry that you must
not come up to the castle for supper, because we have an
old Springhaven man there, who would tell your father all
about you, which you especially wish to avoid. Butif you
feel inclined for this berth—as you sailors seem to call it—
and hesitate through some patriotic doubts, though I cannot
understand what they are, I will bring you a document (if
you meet me here to-morrow night) from Admiral Sir
Charles Darling, which I think will satisfy you.”
‘‘And shall I be allowed to keep it, sir, to show, in case
of trouble ?”
‘“Very likely. But I cannot say for certain. Some of
those official forms must be returned, others not; all de-
pends upon their rules. Now go and make yourself com-
fortable. How are you off for money ?”
‘* Plenty, sir, plenty. I must not go where anybody
knows me, or to-morrow half the talk at old Springhaven
would be about me. Good-night, sir, and God bless you.”
CHAPTER L.
HIS SAVAGE SPIRIT.
AT this time letters came very badly, not only to French
prisoners in England, but even to the highest authorities,
who had the very best means of getting them. Admiral
Darling had often written to his old friend Nelson, but had
long been without any tidings from him, through no de-
fault on the hero’s part. Lord Nelson was almost as prompt
with the pen as he was with the sword, but despatches were
most irregular and uncertain.
‘* Here at last we have him!” cried Sir Charles one morn-
ing early in December; ‘‘and not more than five weeks old,
I declare! Dolly, be ready, and call Faith down. Now
read it, my dear, for our benefit. Your godfather writes a
most excellent hand, considering that it is his left hand;
“aM I TO READ EVERY WORD, PAPA 2”
but my eyes are sore from so much night-work. Put on
my specs, Dolly; I should like to see you in them.”
‘‘Am I to read every word, papa, just as it comes? You
know that he generally puts in words that are rather strong
for me.”
‘Nelson never thought or wrote a single word unfit for
the nicest young lady. But you may hold up your hand
if you come to any strong expressions, and we shall under-
stand them.”
‘‘Then I shall want both hands as soon as ever we come
to the very first Frenchman. But this is what my godfa-
ther says:
“< Viorory, orr TouLon, October 31st, 1804.
‘**My pEAR LinGo,—It was only yesterday that I re-
ceived your letter of July 21st; it went in a Spanish smug-
eling boat to the coast of Italy and returned again to Spain,
not having met any of our ships. And now I hope that
S74 . SPRINGHAVEN.
you will see me before you see this letter. We are certain
to be at war with Spain before another month is out, and
I am heartily sorry for it, for I like those fellows better than
the French, because they are not such liars. My successor
has been appointed, I have reason to hope, and must be far
on his way by this time; probably Keith, but I cannot say.
Ministers cannot suppose that I want to fly the service; my
whole life has proved the contrary; if they refuse, I shall
most certainly leave in March or April, for a few months’
rest I must have, or else die. My cough is very bad, and
my side where I was struck off Cape St. Vincent is very
much swelled, at times a lump as large as my fist is brought
on by violent coughing, but I hope and believe my lungs
are sound. I hope to do good service yet, or else I should
not care so much. But if I am in my‘grave, how can I
serve the Country ?
‘** You will say, this is not at all like Nelson, to write
about nothing but his own poor self; and thank God, Lingo,
I can say that you are right; for if ever a man lived for
the good of England and the destruction of those’ ’’—here
Dolly held a hand up—‘‘ ‘ Frenchmen, it is the man in front
of this ink-bottle. The Lord has appointed me to that duty,
and I shall carry out my orders. Mons. La Touche, who
was preached about in France as the man that was to ex-
tinguish me, and even in the scurvy English newspapers,
but never dared to show his snivelly countenance outside
of the inner buoys, is dead of his debosheries, for which
I am deeply grieved, as I fully intended to send him to the
devil.
‘“*T have been most unlucky for some time now, and to
tell the truth I may say always. But I am the last man
in the world to grumble—as you, my dear Lingo, can testify.
I always do the utmost, with a single mind, and leave the
thought of miserable pelf to others, men perhaps who never
saw a shotted cannon fired. You know who made eighty
thousand pounds, without having to wipe his pig-tail—dirty
things, I am glad they are gone out—but my business is to
pay other people’s debts, and receive all my credits in the
shape of cannon-balls. This is always so, and I should let
it pass as usual, except for a blacker trick than I have ever
known before. For fear of giving me a single chance of
earning twopence, they knew that there was a million and
a half of money coming into Cadiz from South America in
four Spanish frigates, and instead of leaving me to catch
SPRINGHAVEN. 375
them, they sent out Graham Moore—you know him very
well—with orders to pocket everything. This will create a
war with Spain, a war begun with robbery on our part,
though it must have come soon in any case. For every-
where now, except where I am, that fiend of a Corsican is
supreme.
‘**There is nota sick man in this fleet, unless it is the one
inside my coat. That har La Touche said he chased me
and Iran. Ikeepa copy of his letter, which it would have
been my duty to make him eat, if he had ventured out
again. But he is gone to the lake of brimstone now, and I
have the good feeling to forgive him. If my character is
not fixed by this time, it is not worth my trouble to put the
world right. Yesterday I took a look into the port within
easy reach of their batteries. They lay like a lot of mice
holed in a trap, but the weather was too thick to count them.
They are certainly nearly twice our number; and if any
one was here except poor little Nelson, I believe they would
venture out. But my reputation deprives me always of
any fair chance to increase it.
‘**And now, my dear Lingo, allow me to inquire how
you are getting on with your Coast-defence. I never did
attach much importance to their senseless invasion scheme.
The only thing to make it formidable would be some infernal
traitor on the coast, some devilish spy who would keep them
well informed, and enable them to land where least expected.
If there is such a scoundrel, may the Lord Almighty’ ”—
here both Dolly’s hands went up, with the letter in them,
and her face turned as white as the paper.
‘*T have often told you, as you may remember, that
Springhaven is the very place I should choose, if I were com-
mander of the French flotilla. It would turn the flank of
all the inland defences, and no British ship could attack
their intrenchments, if once they were snug below the win-
dows of the Hall. But they are not likely to know this,
thank God; and if they did, they would have a job to get
there. However, it is wise to keep asharp lookout, for they
know very well that I am far away.
‘**“ And now that I have got to your own doors, which I
heartily hope to do, perhaps before you see this, let me ask
for yourself and all your dear family. Lingo, the longer I
live the more I feel that all the true happiness of life is
found at home. My glory is very great, and satisfies me,
except when it scares the enemy; but I very often feel that
376 SPRINGHAVEN.
_ I would give it all away for a quiet life among those who
love me. Your daughter Faith is a sweet young woman,
just what I should wish for a child of mine to be. And
Horatia, my godchild, will turn out very well, if a sharp:
hand is kept over her. But she takes after me; she is dar-
ing and ambitious, and requires a firm hand at the helm.
Read this to her, with my love, and I dare say she will only
laugh at it. If she marries to my liking, she will be down
for a good thing in my will, some day. God bless us all.
Amen. Amen. Yours affectionately,
‘** NELSON AND BRONTE.’”
‘“Take it to heart, my dear; and so must I,” said the Ad-
miral, laughing at the face his daughter made; ‘* your god-
father is a most excellent judge of everybody’s character
except his own. But, bless me, my dear, why, you are cry-
ing! You silly little thing! Iwas only in fun. You shall
marry to his liking, and be down for the good thing. Look
up, and laugh at everybody, my darling. No one laughs
so merrily as my pretty Dolly. Why, Faith, what does she
mean by this ?”
To the coaxing voice of her father, and the playful glance
that she used to play with, Dolly had not rushed up at all,
either with mind, or, if that failed, with body, as she always
used todo. She hurried towards the door, as if she longed
to be away from them; and then, as if she would rather not
make any stir about it, sat down and pretended to have
caught her dress in something.
‘“The only thing is to let her go on as she likes, ” Faith
said aloud, so that Dolly might hear all of it; ‘‘I have done
all I can, but she believes herself superior. She cannot bear
any sort of contradiction, and she expects one to know what
she says, without her saying it. There is nothing to be
done but to treat her the same way. If she is left to herself,
she may come back to it.”
‘‘ Well, my dear children,” said the Admiral, much alarmed
at the prospect of a broil between them, such as he remem-
bered about three years back, ‘‘I make no pretence to un-
derstand your ways. If you were boys, it would be differ-
ent altogether. But the Almighty has been pleased to
make you girls, and very good ones too; in fact, there are
none to be found better. You have always been bound
up with one another and with me; and every one admires
all the three of us. So that we must be content if a little
SPRINGHAVEN, 377
thine arises, not to make too much of it, but bear with one
another, and defy anybody to come in between us. Kiss
one another, my dears, and be off; for I have much corre-
spondence to attend to, besides the great Nelson’s, though
I took him first, hoping forsomething sensible. ButI have
not much to learn about Springhaven, even from his lord-
ship. However, he is a man in ten thousand, and we must
not be vexed about any of his crotchets, because he has
never had children to talk about; and he gets out of sound-
ings when he talks about mine. I wish Lady Scudamore
was come back. She always agrees with me, and she takes
a great load off my shoulders.”
_ The girls laughed at this, as they were meant todo. And
they hurried off together, to compare opinions. After all
these years of independence, no one should be set up over
them. Upon that point Faith was quite as resolute as Dolly;
and her ladyship would have refused to come back, if she
had overheard their council. For even in the loftiest femi-
nine nature lurks a small tincture of jealousy.
But Dolly was now in an evil frame of mind about many
things which she could not explain even to herself, with any
satisfaction. Even that harmless and pleasant letter from her
great godfather went amiss with her; and instead of laugh-
ing at the words about herself, as with a sound conscience
she must have done, she brooded over them, and turned
- them bitter. No man could have mixed up things as she
did, but her mind was nimble. For the moment she hated
patriotism, because Nelson represented it; and feeling how
wrong he had been about herself, she felt that he was wrong
in everything. The French were fine fellows, and had
quite as much right to come here as we had to go and harass
them, and a little abatement of English conceit might be a
good thing in the long-run. Not that she would let them
stay here long; that was not to be thought of, and they
would not wish it. But a little excitement would be de-
lightful, and a great many things might be changed for
the better, such as the treatment of women in this country,
which was barbarous, compared to what it was in France.
Caryl had told her a great deal about that; and the longer
she knew him the more she was convinced of his wisdom
and the largeness of his views, so different from the savage
spirit of Lord Nelson.
CHAPTER LI.
STRANGE CRAFT.
WHILE his love was lapsing from him thus, and from her
own true self yet more, the gallant young sailor, whose last
prize had been that useful one misfortune, was dwelling
continually upon her image, because he had very little else
todo. English prisoners in France were treated sometimes
very badly, which they took good care to proclaim to Eu-
rope; but more often with pity, and good-will, and a pleasant
study of their modes of thought. For an Englishman then
was a strange and ever-fresh curiosity to a Frenchman, a
specimen of another race of bipeds, with doubts whether
marriage could make parentage between them. And a cen-
tury of intercourse, good-will, and admiration has left us still
inquisitive about each other.
Napoleon felt such confidence in his plans for the con-
quest of England that if any British officer belonging to the
fleet in the narrow seas was taken (which did not happen
largely), he sent for him, upon his arrival at Boulogne, and
held a little talk with any one who could understand and
answer. He was especially pleased at hearing of the cap-
ture of Blyth Scudamore (who had robbed him of his beloved
Blonde), and at once restored Desportes to favour, which
he had begun to do before, knowing as well as any man
on earth the value of good officers. ‘“‘ Bring your prisoner
here to-morrow at twelve o’clock,” was his order; ‘‘ you
have turned the tables upon him well.”
Scudamore felt a little nervous tingling as he passed
through the sentries, with his friend before him, into the
pavilion of the greatest man in Kurope. But the Emperor,
being in high good-humour, and pleased with the young
man’s modest face and gentle demeanour, soon set him at his
ease, and spoke to him as affably as if he had been his equal.
For this man of almost universal mind could win every
heart, when he set himself to do it. Scudamore rubbed his
eyes, which was a trick of his, asif he could scarcely believe
them. Napoleon looked—not insignificant (that was impos-
SPRINGHAVEN. 379
sible for a man with such a countenance), but mild, and
pleasing, and benevolent, as he walked to and fro, for he
never could stay still, in the place which was neither a tent
nor a room, but a mixture of the two, and not a happy one.
His hat, looped up with a diamond and quivering with an
ostrich feather, was flung anyhow upon the table. But his
wonderful eyes were the brightest thing there.
‘‘Ha! ha!” said the Emperor, a very keen judge of faces;
‘‘you expected to find me a monster, as I am portrayed by
your caricaturists. Your countrymen are not kind to me,
except the foremost of them—the great poets. But they
will understand me better by-and-by, when justice prevails,
and the blessings of peace, for which I am striving perpetu-
ally. But the English nation, if it were allowed a voice,
would proclaim me its only true friend and ally. You
know that, if you are one of the people, and not of the hate-
ful House of Lords, which engrosses all the army and the
navy. Are you in connection with the House of Lords ?”
Scudamore shook his head and smiled. He was anxious
to say that he had a cousin, not more than twice removed,
now an entire viscount; but Napoleon never encouraged
conversation, unless it was his own,or in answer to his
questions.
‘“Very well. Then you can speak the truth. What do
they think of all this grand army? Are they aware that,
for their own good, it will very soon occupy London? Are
they forming themselves to act as my allies, when I have
reduced them to reason? Is it now made entirely familiar
to their minds that resistance to me is as hopeless as it has
been from the first unwise? If they would submit, without
my crossing, it would save them some disturbance, and me
a great expense. I have often hoped to hear of it.”
‘“You will never do that, sire,” Scudamore answered,
looking calmly and firmly at the deep gray eyes, whose gaze
could be met by none of the millions who dread passion ;
‘England will not submit, even if you conquer her.”
‘Tt is well said, and doubtless you believe it,” Napoleon
continued, with a smile so slight that to smile in reply to it
would have been impertinent; ‘‘ but England is the same as
other nations, although the most obstinate among them.
When her capital is occupied, her credit ruined, her great
lords unable to obtain a dinner, the government (which is
not the country) will yield, and the country must follow it.
I have heard that the King, and the Court, and the Parlia-
380 SPRINGHAVEN.
ment, talk of flying to the north, and there remaining, while
the navy cuts off our communications, and the inferior classes
starve us. Have you heard of any such romance as that ?”
‘*No, sire: Scudamore scarcely knew what to call him,
but adopted this vocative for want of any better. ‘‘I have
never heard of any such plan, and no one would think of
packing up until our fleet has been demolished.”
‘“Your fleet? Yes, yes. How many ships are now pa-
rading to and fro, and getting very tired of it ?”
‘“Your Majesty’s officers know that best,’ Scudamore an-
swered, with his pleasant, open smile. ‘‘I have been a pris-
oner for a month and more, and kept ten miles inland, out
of sight of the sea.”
‘But you have been well treated, I hope. You have
no complaint to make, Monsieur Scutamour? Your name
is French, and you speak the language well. We set the
fair example in the treatment of brave men.”
‘‘Sire, I have been treated,” the young officer replied, with
a low bow, and eyes full of gratitude, ‘‘as a gentleman
amongst gentlemen. I might say as a friend among kind
friends.”
‘‘That is as it should be. It is my wish always. Few
of your English fabrications annoy me more than the false-
hoods about that. It is most ungenerous, when I do my
best, to charge me with strangling brave English captains.
But Desportes fought well, before you took his vessel. Is it
not so? Speak exactly as you think. I like to hear the
enemy’s account of every action.”
‘*Captain Desportes, sire, fought like a hero, and so did
all his crew. It was only his mishap i in sticking fast upon
a sand-bank that enabled us to overpower him.”
‘‘ And now he has done the like to you. You speak with
a brave man’s candour. You shall be at liberty to see the
sea, monsieur; for a sailor always pines for that. I will
give full instructions to your friend Desportes about you.
But one more question before you go—is there much anx-
iety in England ?”
‘“'Yes, sire,a great deal. But we hope not to allow your
Majesty’s armament to enter and increase it.” z
‘* Ah, we shall see, we shall see how that will be. Now
farewell, Captain. Tell Desportes to come to me.”
‘“ Well, my dear friend, you have made a good impres-
sion,” said the French sailor, when he rejoined Scudamore, —
after a few words with the Master of the State; ‘‘all you ©
SPRINGHAVEN. . 381
have to do is to give your word of honour to avoid our
lines, and keep away from the beach, and of course to have
no communication with your friends upon military sub-
jects. I am allowed to place you for the present at Beutin,
a pleasant little hamlet on the Canche, where lives an old
relative of mine, a Monsieur Jalais, an ancient widower,
with a large house and one servant. I shall be afloat, and
shall see but little of you, which is the only sad part of the
business. You will have to report yourself to your land- .
lord at eight every morning and at eight o’clock at night,
and only to leave the house between those hours, and not
to wander more than six miles from home. How do these
conditions approve themselves to you ?”
‘‘T call them very liberal, and very handsome,” Seud-
amore answered, as he well might do. ‘‘Two miles’ range
is all that we allow in England to French officers upon
parole. These generous terms are due to your kind friend-
ship.” 3
Before very long the gentle Scuddy was as happy as a
prisoner can expect to be, in his comfortable quarters at
Beutin. Through friendly exchanges he had received a
loving letter from his mother, with an amiable enclosure;
and M. Jalais being far from wealthy, a pleasant arrange-
ment was made between them. Scudamore took all his
meals with his host, who could manage sound victuals like
an Englishman, and the house-keeper, house-cleaner, and
house-feeder (misdescribed by Desportes as a servant, ac-
cording to our distinctions), being a widow of mark, sat
down to consider her cookery upon choice occasions. Then
for a long time would prevail a conscientious gravity, and
reserve of judgment inwardly, everybody waiting for some
other body’s sentiments; until the author of the work, as a
female, might no more abide the malignant silence of male
reviewers.
Scudamore, being’ very easily amused, as any good-
natured young man is, entered with zest into all these do-
ings, and became an authority upon appeal; and being gifted
with depth of simplicity as well as high courtesy of taste,
was never known to pronounce a wrong decision. ‘That is
to say, he decided always in favour of the lady, which has
been the majestic course of Justice for centuries, till the
appearance of Mrs. , the lady who should have married
the great Home-Ruler.
Thus the wily Scudamore obtained a sitting-room, with
382 SPRINGHAVEN.
the prettiest outlook in the house, or indeed in any house in
that part of the world for many leagues of seeking. For
the mansion of M. Jalais stood in an elbow of the little
_ river, and one window of this room showed the curve of
tidal water widening towards the sea, while the other pleas-
antly gave eye to the upper reaches of the stream, where
an angler of rose-coloured mind might almost hope to hook
a trout. The sun glanced down the stream in the morning,
and up it to see what he had done before he set; and al-
though M. Jalais’s trees were leafless now, they had sleeved
their bent arms with green velvetry of moss.
Scudamore brought his comfortable chair to the nook be-
tween these windows, and there, with a book or two belong-
ing to his host, and the pipe whose silver clouds enthrone
the gods of contemplation, many a pleasant hour was passed,
seldom invaded by the sounds of war. For the course
of the roads, and sands of the river, kept this happy spot
aloof from bad communications. Like many other streams
in northern France, the Canche had been deepened and its
mouth improved, not for uses of commerce, but of warfare.
Veteran soldier and raw recruit, bugler, baker, and farrier,
man who came to fight and man who came to write about
it, all had been turned into navvies, diggers, drivers of piles,
or of horses, or wheelbarrows, by the man who turned ey-
erybody into his own teetotum. The Providence that guides
the world showed mercy in sending that engine of destruc-
tion before there was a railway for him to run upon.
Now Scudamore being of a different sort, and therefore
having pleased Napoleon (who detested any one at all of
his own pattern), might have been very well contented here,
and certainly must have been so, if he had been without
those two windows. Many a bird has lost his nest, and his
egos, and his mate, and even his own tail, by cocking his
eyes to the right and left, when he should have drawn their
shutters up. And why? Because the brilliance of his too
projecting eyes has twinkled through the leaves upon the
narrow oblong of the pupils of a spotty-eyed cat going
stealthily under the comb of the hedge, with her stomach
wired in, and her spinal column fluted, to look like a wrin-
kled blackthorn snag. But still worse is it for that poor
thrush, or lintie, or robin, or warbler-wren, if he flutters in
his bosom when he spies that cat, and sets up his feathers,
and begins to hop about, making a sad little chirp to his
mate, and appealing to the sky to protect him and his family.
j
SPRINGHAVEN. 383
Blyth Scudamore’s case was a mixture of those two. It
‘would have been better for his comfort if he had shut his
eyes; but having opened them, he should have stayed where
he was, without any fluttering. However, he acted for the
best; and when a man does that, can those who never do so
find a word to say against him ?
According to the best of his recollection, which was gen-
erally near the mark, it was upon Christmas Eve, A.D. 1804,
that his curiosity was first aroused. He had made up his
room to look a little bit like home, with a few sprigs of
holly, and a sheaf of laurel, not placed daintily as a lady
dresses them, but as sprightly as a man can make them
look, and as bright as a captive Christmas could expect.
The decorator shed a little sigh—if that expression may be
pardoned by analogy, for he certainly neither fetched nor
heaved it—and then he lit his pipe to reflect upon home
blessings, and consider the free world outside, in which he
had very little share at present.
Mild blue eyes, such as this young man possessed, are
often short-sighted at a moderate range, and would be fitted
up with glasses in these artificial times, and yet at long dis-
tance they are most efficient, and can make out objects that
would puzzle keener organs. And so it was that Scud-
amore, with the sinking sun to help him, descried at a long
distance down the tidal reach a peaceful-looking boat, which
made his heart beat faster. For a sailor’s glance assured
him that she was English—English in her rig and the stiff
cut of her canvas, and in all those points of character to a
seaman so distinctive, which apprise him of his kindred
through the length of air and water, as clearly as we lands-
men know a man from a woman at the measure of a fur-
long, or a quarter of a mile. He perceived that it was an
English pilot-boat, and that she was standing towards him.
At first his heart fluttered with a warm idea, that there must
be good news for him on board that boat. Perhaps, without
his knowledge, an exchange of prisoners might have been
agreed upon; and what a grand Christmas-box for him, if
the order for his release were there! But another thought
showed him the absurdity of this hope, for orders of release
do not come so. Nevertheless, he watched that boat with
interest and wonder.
Presently, just as the sun was setting, and shadows crossed
the water, the sail (which had been gleaming like a candle-
flame against the haze and upon the glaze) flickered and
384 SPRINGHAVEN.
fell, and the bows swung round, and her figure was drawn
upon the tideway. She was now within half a mile of M.
Jalais’s house, and Scudamore, though longing for a spy-
glass, was able to make out a good deal without one. He
saw that she was an English pilot-boat, undecked, but fitted
with a cuddy forward, rigged luggerwise, and built for speed,
yet fit to encounter almost any Channel surges. She was
light in the water, and bore little except ballast. He could
not be sure at that distance, but he thought that the sailors
must be Englishmen, especially the man at the helm, who
was beyond reasonable doubt the captain.
Then two long sweeps were manned amidship, with two
sturdy fellows to tug at each; and the quiet evening air
led through the soft rehearsal of the water to its banks the
creak of tough ash thole-pins, and the groan of gunwale, and
the splash of oars, and even a sound of human staple, such
as is accepted by the civilized world as our national diapason.
The captive Scuddy, who observed all this, was thorough-
ly puzzled at that last turn. Though the craft was visibly
English, the crew might still have been doubtful, if they had
held their tongues, or kept them in submission. But that
word stamped them, or at any rate the one who had been
struck in the breast by the heavy timber, as of genuine
British birth. Yet there was no sign that these men were
prisoners, or acting by compulsion. No French boat was
near them, no batteries there commanded their course, and
the pilot-boat carried no prize-crew to direct reluctant
labours. At the mouth of the river was a floating bridge,
for the use of the forces on either side, and no boat could
have passed it without-permission. Therefore these could
be no venturesome Britons, spying out the quarters of the
enemy; either they must have been allowed to pass for
some special purpose, under flag of truce, or else they were
traitors, in league with the French, and despatched upon
some dark errand.
In a few minutes, as the evening dusk began to deepen
round her, the mysterious little craft disappeared in a hollow
of the uplands on the other side of the water, where a nar-
row creek or inlet—such as is called a ‘‘ pill” in some parts
of England—formed a sheltered landing-place, overhung
with clustering trees. Then Scudamore rose, and filled
another pipe, to meditate upon this strange affair. ‘‘Iam
justly forbidden,” he thought, as it grew dark, ‘‘to visit the
camp, or endeavour to learn anything done by the army of
« G9UUVAdd VSIG LAVUO ATLLIT SOOLYALSAW AHL SHLONIN MGA V NI,,
386 - SPRINGHAVEN.
invasion. And I have pledged myself to that effect. But
this is a different case altogether. When Englishmen come
here as traitors to their country, and in a place well within
my range, my duty is to learn the meaning of it; and if I
find treachery of importance working, then I must consider
about my parole; and probably withdraw it. That would
be a terrible blow to me, because I should certainly be sent
far inland, and kept in a French prison perhaps for years,
with little chance of hearing from my friends again. And
then she would give me up as lost, that faithful darling,
who has put aside all her bright prospects for my sake.
How I wish I had never seen that boat! and I thought it was
coming to bring me such good news! I am bound to give
them one day’s grace, for they might not know where to find
me at once, and to-night I could not get near them, without
overstaying my time to be in-doors. But if I hear nothing
to-morrow, and see nothing, I must go round, so as not to be
seen, and learn something about her the very next morning.”
Hearing nothing and seeing no more, he spent an uncom-
fortable Christmas Day,disappointing his host and kind
Madame Fropot, who had done all they knew to enliven
him with a genuine English plum-pudding. And the next
day, with a light foot but a rather heavy heart, he made the
long round by the bridge up-stream, and examined the creek
which the English boat had entered. He approached the
place very cautiously, knowing that if his suspicions were
correct, they might be confirmed too decisively, and his
countrymen, if they had fire-arms, would give him a warm
reception. However, there was no living creature to be
seen, except a poor terrified ox, who had escaped from the
slaughter-houses of the distant camp, and hoped for a little
rest in this dark thicket. He was worn out with his long
flight and sadly wounded, for many men had shot at him,
when he desired to save his life; and although his mouth
was little more than the length of his tail from water, there
he lay gasping with his lips stretched out, and his dry tongue
quivering between his yellow teeth, and the only moisture
he could get was running out instead of into his mouth.
Scudamore, seeing that the coast was clear, and no enemy
in chase of this poor creature, immediately filled his hat
with fresh water---for the tide was out now, and the residue
was sweet—and speaking very gently in the English lan-
guage, for he saw that he must have been hard-shouted at in
French, was allowed without any more disturbance of the
SPRINGHAVEN. 387
system to supply a little glad refreshment. The sorely af-
flicted animal licked his lips, and looked up for another hat-
ful.
Captain Scuddy deserved a new hat for this—though very
few Englishmen would not have done the like—and in the
end he got it, though he must have caught a bad cold if he
had gone without a hat tili then.
Pursuing his search, with grateful eyes pursuing him, he
soon discovered where the boat had grounded, by the im-
press of her keel and forefoot on the stiff, retentive mud.
He could even see where a hawser had been made fast to a
stanch old trunk, and where the soil had been prodded
with a pole in pushing her off at the turn of tide. Also
deep tracks of some very large hound, or wolf, or unknown
quadruped, in various places, scarred the bank. And these
marks were so fresh and bright that they must have been
made within the last few hours, probably when the last ebb
began. If so, the mysterious craft had spent the whole of |
Christmas Day in that snug berth; and he blamed himself.
for permitting his host’s festivities te detain him. Then he
took a few bearings to mark the spot, and fed the poor
crippled ox with all the herbage he could gather, resolving
to come with a rope to-morrow, and lead him home, if pos-
sible, as a Christmas present to M. Jalais.
CHAPTER LII.
KIND INQUIRIES.
THAT notable year, and signal mark in all the great an-
nals of England, the year 1805, began with gloom and great
depression. Food was scarce, and so was money; wars, and
rumours of worse than war; discontent of men who owed
it to their birth and country to stand fast, and trust in God,
and vigorously defy the devil; sinkingseven of strong hearts,
and quailing of spirits that had never quailed before; pas-
sionate outery for peace without honour, and even without
safety; savage murmurings at wise measures and at the bur-
dens that must be borne—none but those who lived through
all these troubles could count half of them. If such came
now, would the body of the nation strive to stand against
them, or fall in the dust, and be kicked and trampled, sput-
tering namby-pamby? Britannia now is always wrong, in
388 SPRINGHAVEN.
the opinion of her wisest sons, if she dares to defend herself
even against weak enemies: what then would her crime be if
she buckled her corselet against the world! To prostitute
their mother 1s the philanthropy of Communists.
But while the anxious people who had no belief in for-
eigners were watching by the dark waves, or at the twilight
window trembling (if ever a shooting-star drew train. like a
distant rocket-signal), or in their sleepy beds scared, and
jumping up if a bladder burst upon a jam-pot, no one at-
tempted to ridicule them, and no public journal pronounced
that the true British flag was the white feather. It has
been left for times when the power of England is tenfold
what it was then, and her duties a hundredfold, to tell us
that sooner than use the one for the proper discharge of the
other, we must break it up and Jet them go to pot upon it, for
fear of hurting somebody that stuck us in the back.
But who of a right mind knows not this, and who with a
wrong one will heed it? The only pot 1s that the com-
monest truisms come upon utterance sometimes, and take
didactic form too late; even as we shout to our comrade
prone, and beginning to rub his poor nose, ‘‘ Look out!”
And this is what everybody did with one accord, when he
was down upon his luck—-which is far more momentous than
his nose to any man—in the case of Rector Twemlow.
That gentleman now had good reason for being in less
than his usual cheer and comfort. Everything around him
was uneasy, and everybody seemed to look at him, instead
of looking up to him, as the manner used to be. This was
enough to make him feel unlike himself; for although
he was resolute in his way, and could manage to have it
with most people, he was not of that iron style which takes
the world as wax to write upon. Mr. Twemlow liked to
heave his text at the people of his parish on Sunday, and
to have his joke with them on Monday; as the fire that has
burned a man makes the kettle sing to comfort him. And all
who met him throughout the week were pleased with him
doubly, when they remembered his faithfulness in the pulpit.
But now he did his duty softly, as if some of it had
been done to him; and if anybody thanked him for a fine
discourse, he never endeavoured to let him have it all again.
So far was he gone from his natural state that he would
rather hear nothing about himself than be praised enough to
demand reply; and this shows a world-wide depression to
have arrived in the latitude of a British waistcoat. How-
SPRINGHAVEN, 389
ever, he went through his work, as a Briton always does,
until he hangs himself; and he tried to try some of the high-
er consolation, which he knew so well how to administer
to others.
Those who do not understand the difference of this might
have been inclined to blame him; but all who have seen a
clever dentist with the toothache are aware that his knowl-
edge adds acuteness to the pain. Mr. Twemlow had borne
great troubles well, and been cheerful even under long sus-
pense; but now a disappointment close at home, and the
grief of beholding his last hopes fade, were embittered by
mystery and dark suspicions. In despair at last of recov-
ering his son, he had fastened upon his only daughter the
interest of his declining life; and now he was vexed with
misgivings about her, which varied as frequently as she did.
It was very unpleasant to lose the chance of having a
grandchild capable of rocking in a silver cradle; but that
was a trifle compared with the prospect of having no grand-
child at all, and perhaps not even a child to close his eyes.
And even his wife, of long habit and fair harmony, from
whom he had never kept any secret—frightful as might
be the cost to his honour—even Mrs. Twemlow shook her
head sometimes, when the arrangement of her hair permit-
ted it, and doubted whether any of the Carne Castle Carnes
would have borne with such indignity.
‘“Prosecute him, prosecute him,” this good lady always
said. ‘‘ You ought to have been a magistrate, Joslua—the
first magistrate in the Bible was that—and then you would
have known how to do things. But because you would
have to go to Sir Charles Darling—whose Sir can never put
him on the level of the Carnes—you have some right feel-
ine against taking out a summons. In that I agree with
you; it would be very dreadful here. But m London he
might be punished, I am sure; and I know a great deal
about the law, for I never had any one connected with me
who was not a magistrate; the Lord Mayor has a Court
of his own for trying the corporation under the chair; and
if this was put properly before him by a man like Mr, Fur-
kettle, upon the understanding that he should not be paid
unless he won his case, I am sure tlhe result would be three
years’ imprisonment. By that time he would have worn
out his coat with jailer’s keys upon it, which first attracted
our poor Eliza; or if he was not allowed to wear it, it would
go out of fashion, and be harmless. No one need know a
390 SPRINGHAVEN.
word about it here, for Captain Stubbard would oblige us
gladly by cutting it out of the London papers. My dear,
you have nobody ill in the parish; I will put up your
things, and see you off to-morrow. We will dine late on
Friday, to suit the coach; and you will be quite fit for
Sunday work again, if you keep up your legs on a chair all
Saturday.”
“Tf ever I saw a straightforward man,” Mr. Twemlow
used to answer, ‘‘it was poor Percival Shargeloes. He is
gone to a better world, my dear. And if he continued to
be amenable to law, this is not a criminal, but a civil case.”’
‘‘ A nice case of civility, Joshua! But you always stand
up for your sex. Does the coach take people to a better
world? A stout gentleman, like him, was seen inside the
coach, muffled up in a cravat of three colours, and eating
at frequent intervals.”
‘“The very thing poor Percival never did. That disposes
to my mind of that foolish story. My dear, when all truth
comes to light, you will do justice to his memory.”
‘Yes, I dare say. But I should like to do it now. If
you entertain any dark ideas, it is your duty to investigate
them. Also to let me share them, Joshua, as I have every
right to do.”
This was just what the Rector could not do; otherwise
he might have been far more happy. Remembering that
last conversation with his prospective son-in-law, and the
poor man’s declaration that the suspicious matter at the
castle ought to be thoroughly searched out at once, he nour-
ished a dark suspicion, which he feared to impart to his
better half, the aunt of the person suspected. But the long-
er he concealed it, the more unbearable grew this misery to
a candid nature, until he was compelled, in self-defence, to
allow it some sort of outlet. ‘‘I will speak to the fellow
myself,” he said, heartily disliking the young man now,
‘“and judge from his manner what next I ought to do.”
This resolution gave him comfort, much as he hated any
interview with Carne, who treated him generally with cold
contempt. And, like most people who have formed a de-
cision for the easing of the conscience, he accepted very pa-
tiently the obstacles encountered. In the first place, Carne
was away upon business; then he was laid up with a heavy
cold; then he was much too hard at work (after losing so
much time) to be able to visit Springhaven; and to seek
him in his ruins was most unsafe, even if one liked to do
le
SPRINGHAVEN. 391
it. For now it was said that two gigantic dogs, as big as a
bull and as fierce as a tiger, roved among the ruins all day,
and being always famished, would devour in two minutes
any tempting stranger with a bit of flesh or fat on him.
The Rector, patting his gaiters, felt that instead of a pastor
he might become a very sweet repast to them, and his deli-
cacy was renewed and deepened. He was bound to wait
until his nephew appeared at least inside his parish.
Therefore the time of year was come almost to the middle
of February when Mr. Twemlow at last obtained the chance
he required and dreaded. He heard that his nephew had
been seen that day to put up his horse in the village, and
would probably take the homeward road as soon as it grew
too dark to read. So he got through his own work (con-
sisting chiefly of newspaper, dinner, and a cool clay pipe, to
equalize mind with matter), and having thus escaped the
ladies, off he set by the lobby door, carrying a good thick
stick. As the tide would be up, and only deep sand left
for the heavy track of the traveller, he chose the inland
way across the lower part of the Admiral’s grounds, lead-
ing to the village by a narrow plank bridge across the little
stream among some trees. Here were banks of earth and
thicket, shadowy dells where the primrose grew, and the
cuckoo-pint, and wood-sorrel, and perhaps in summer the
glowworm breathed her mossy gleam under the black-
berries.
And here Parson Twemlow was astonished, though he
had promised himself to be surprised no more, after all he
had been through lately. As he turned a sharp corner by
an ivied tree, a breathless young woman ran into his arms.
‘“Oh!” cried the Rector, for he was walking briskly, with
a well-nourished part of his system forward—‘‘oh, I hope
you have not hurt yourself. No doubt it was my fault.
Why, Dolly! Whatahurry you are in! And all alone—
all alone, almost after dark !” |
‘“To be sure; and that makes me in such a hurry;” Miss
Dolly was in sad confusion. ‘‘But I suppose I am safe
in my father’s own grounds.”
‘*From everybody, except yourself, my dear,” Mr. Twem-
low replied, severely. ‘‘Is your father aware, does your
sister know, that you are at this distance from the house
after dark, and wholly without a companion 2?”
_ “Tt is not after dark, Mr. Twemlow; although it is get-
ting darker than I meant it to be. JI beg your pardon for
392 SPRINGHAVEN.
terrifying you. I hope you will meet with no other perils!
Good-night! Or at least I mean, good-afternoon !”
‘‘The brazen creature!” thought Mr. Twemlow, as the girl
without another word disappeared. ‘* Not even to offer me
any excuse! But I suppose she had no fib handy. She will
come to no good, I am very much afraid. Maria told me
that she was getting very wilfui; but I had no idea that it
was quite so bad as this. Iam sorry for poor Scudamore,
who thinks her such an angel. I wonder if Carne is at
the bottom of this? There is nothing too bad for that dark
young man. I shall ascertain at any rate whether he is in
the village. But unless I look sharp I shall be too late to
meet him. Oh, I can’t walk so fast as I did ten years
ago.”
Impelled by duty to put best leg foremost, and taking
a short-cut above the village, he came out upon the lane
leading towards the castle, some half-mile or so beyond the
last house of Springhaven. Here he waited to recover
breath, and prepare for what he meant to say, and he was
sorry to perceive that light would fail him for strict ob-
servation of his nephew’s face. But he chose the most open
spot he could find, where the hedges were low, and nothing
overhung the road.
Presently he heard the sound of hoofs approaching leis-
urely up the hill, and could see from his resting-place that
Carne was coming, sitting loosely and wearily on his high
black horse. Then the Rector, to cut short an unpleasant
business, stood boldly forth and hailed him.
‘‘No time for anything now,” shouted Carne; ‘‘ too late
already. Do you want my money? You are come to the
wrong man for that; but the right one, I can tell you, for a
bullet.” |
‘*Caryl, it is I, your uncle Twemlow, or at any rate the
husband of your aunt. Put up your pistol, and speak to
mea minute. I have something important to say to you.
And I never can find you at the castle.”
‘‘Then be quick, sir, if you please; Carne had never con-
descended to call this gentleman his uncle. ‘‘I have little
time to spare. Out with it.”
‘“You were riding very slowly fora man in a hurry,” said
the Rector, annoyed at his roughness. ‘*‘ But I will not
keep you long, young man. For some good reasons of your
own you have made a point of avoiding us, your nearest
relatives in this country, and to whom you addressed your-
““MERE WERE BANKS OF THICKET, SHADOWY DELLS WHERE THE PRIMROSE GREW.”
>
394 SPRINGHAVEN.
self before you landed in a manner far more becoming.
Have I ever pressed my attentions upon you 2”
‘*No, I confess that you have not done that. You per-
ceived as a gentleman how little there was in common be-
tween the son of a devoted Catholic and a heretic clergy-
man.”
‘‘That is one way to put it,” Mr. Twemlow answered,
smiling in spite of his anger at being called a heretic; ‘* but
I was not aware that you had strong religious views. How-
ever that may be, we should have many things in common,
as Englishmen, at a time like this. But what I came to
speak of is not that. We can stiil continue to get on with-
out you, although we would rather have met with friendly
feeling and candour, as becomes relatives. But little as you
know of us, you must be well aware that your cousin Eliza
was engaged to be married to a gentleman from London,
Mr. Percival Shargeloes, and that he—”
‘‘T am sure I wash her all happiness, and congratulate
you, my dear sir, as. well as my aunt Maria. I shall call,
as soon as possible, to offer my best wishes. It was very
kind of you to tell me. Good-night, sir, good-night! There
is a Shower coming.”’
‘* But,” exclaimed the Rector, nonplussed for the moment
by this view of the subject, yet standing square before the
horse, ‘‘Shargeloes has disappeared. What have you done
with him ?”
Carne looked at his excellent uncle as if he had much
doubt about his sanity. ‘‘Try to explain yourself, my dear
sir. Try to connect your ideas,” he said, ‘‘and offer me the
benefit another time. My horse is impatient; he may strike
you with his foot.”
‘“Tf he does, I shall strike him upon the head,” Mr.
Twemlow replied, with his heavy stick ready. “It will
be better for you to hear me out. Otherwise I shall pro-
cure a search-warrant, and myself examine your ruins, of
which I know every crick and cranny. And your aunt
Maria shall come with me, who knows every stone even
better than you do. That would be a very different thing
from an overhauling by Captain Stubbard. I think we
should find a good many barrels and bales that had paid °
no duty.” d
‘‘My dear uncle,” cried Carne, with more affection than -
he ever yet had shown, ‘‘that is no concern of yours; you
-have no connection with the Revenue; and I am sure that
Nae
\y
i
Ni)
\\
ANNAN
CANN
i ANS
i
ih
Whine aN
DOLLY! WHAT A HURRY YOU ARE IN!”
396 SPRINGHAVEN.
Aunt Maria would be loath to help in pulling down the
family once more. Butdoas you please. Jam accustomed
to ill-fortune. Only I should lke to know what this is
about poor Cousin Eliza. If any man has wronged her,
leave the case tome. You have no son now, and the honour
of the family shall not suffer in my bands. I will throw
up everything, busy as I am, to make such a rascal bite
the dust. And Eliza so proud, and so upright herself!”
“Caryl,” said his uncle, moved more than he liked to
show by this fine feeling, ‘‘ you know more, I see, than you
liked to show at first, doubtless through good-will to us.
Your dear aunt wished to keep the matter quiet, for the sake
of poor Eliza, and her future chances. ButIsaid—No. Let
us have it all out. If there is wrong, we have suffered,
not done it. Concealment is odious to every honest mind.”
‘‘Deeply, deeply odious. Upon that point there can be
no two opinions”’-—he forgets his barrels, thought the Ree-
tor—‘‘ but surely this man, whatever his name is—Charley-
goes—must have been hiding from you something in his
own history. Probably he had a wife already. City men
often do that when young, and then put their wives some-
where when they get rich,and pay visits, and even give
dinners, as if they were bachelors to be sought after. Was
Charleygoes that sort of a man ?”
‘‘His name is ‘Shargeloes,’ a name well known, as I am
assured, in the highest quarters. And he certainly was not
sought after by us, but came to me with an important ques-
tion bearing.on ichthyology. He may be a wanderer, as
you suggest, and as all the ladies seem to think. But my
firm belief is to the contrary. And my reason for asking
you about him isa very clear one. He had met you twice,
and felt interest in you as a future member of our family.
You had never invited him to the eastle; and the last in-
tention he expressed in my hearing was to call upon you
without one. Has he met with an accident in your cellars ?
Or have your dogs devoured him? He carried a good deal
of flesh, in spite of all he could do to the contrary; and any
man naturally might endeavour to hush up such an in-
cident. Tell me the truth, Caryl. And we will try to
meet it.”
‘‘My two dogs (who would never eat any one, though
they might pull down a stranger, and perhaps pretend to
bite him) arrived here the first week in January. When
did Charleygoes disappear? I am riot up in dates, but it
SPRINGHAVEN. 397
must have been weeks and weeks before that time. And
I must have heard of it, if it had happened. I may give you
my honour that Orso and Leo have not eaten Charleygoes.”
‘“You speak too lightly of a man in high position, who
would have been Lord Mayor of London if he had never
come to Springhaven. But, living or dead, he shall never be
that now. Can you answer me, in the same straightfor-
ward manner, as to an accident in your cellars; which, as
a gentleman upon a private tour, he had clearly no right to
intrude upon 2”
‘‘T can answer you quite as clearly. Nothing accidental
has happened in my cellars. You may come and see them,
if you have any doubt about it. And you need not apply
for a search-warrant.”
‘‘God forbid, my dear fellow,” cried the uncle, ‘‘that I
should intrude upon any little matters of delicacy, such ‘as
are apt to arise between artificial laws and gentlemen who
happen to live near the sea, and to have large places that
require restoring! I shall go home with a lighter heart.
There is nothing in this world that brings the comfort of
straightforwardness.”’
CHAPTER LIII.
TIME AND PLACE.
In a matter like that French invasion, which had been
. threatened for such a time, and kept so long impending,
‘‘the ery of wolf” grows stale at last, and then the real
danger comes. Napoleon had reckoned upon this, as he al-
ways did upon everything, and for that good reason he had
not grudged the time devoted to his home affairs. These
being settled according to his will, and mob turned into
pomp as gaily as grub turns into butterfly, a strong desire
for a little more glory arose in his mighty but ill- regulated
mind. If he could only conquer England, or even without
that fetch her down on her knees and make her lick her
own dust off the feet of Frenchmen, from that day forth all
the nations of the earth must bow down before him. Rus-
sia, Prussia, Austria, Spain, though they might have had
the power, never would have plucked the spirit up to resist
him hand in hand, any more than skittle-pins can back one
another up against the well-aimed ball.
398 SPRINGHAVEN.
The balance of to-be or not-to-be, as concerned our coun-
try (which many now despise, as the mother of such disloyal
children), after all that long suspension, hung in the clouds
of that great year; and a very cloudy year it was, and thick
with storms on land and sea. Storm was what the French-
men longed for, to disperse the British ships; though storm
made many an Englishman, pulling up the counterpane as
the window rattled, thank the Father of the weather for
keeping the enemy ashore and ina fright. But the greatest
peril of all would be in the case of fog succeeding storm,
when the mighty flotilla might sweep across before our
ships could resume blockade, or even a frigate intercept.
One of the strangest points in all this period of wonders,
to us who after the event are wise, is that even far-sighted
Nelson and his watchful colleagues seem to have had no
inkling of the enemy’s main project. Nelson believed Na-
poleon to be especially intent on Egypt; Collingwood ex-
pected a sudden dash on Ireland; others were sure that his
object was Jamaica; and many maintained that he would
step ashore in India. And these last came nearest to the
mark upon the whole, for a great historian (who declares,
like Caryl Carne, that a French invasion is a blessing to
any country) shows that, for at least a month in the spring
of 1805, his hero was revolving a mighty scheme for rob-
bing poor England of blissful ravage, and transferring it to
India.
However, the master of the world—as he was called al-
ready, and meant soon to be—suddenly returned to his ear-
lier design, and fixed the vast power of his mind upon it.
He pushed with new vigour his preparations, which had
been slackened awhile, he added 30,000 well-trained soldiers
to his force already so enormous, and he breathed the quick
spirit of enterprise into the mighty mass he moved. Then,
to clear off all obstacles, and insure clear speed of passage,
he sent sharp orders to his Admirals to elude and delude
the British fleets, and resolved to enhance that delusion by
his own brief absence from the scene.
Meanwhile a man of no importance to the world, and of
very moderate ambition, was passing a pleasant time in a
quiet spot, content to be scarcely a spectator even of the
drama in rehearsal around him. Scudamore still abode
with M. Jalais, and had won his hearty friendship, as well
as the warm good-will of that important personage Madame
Fropot. Neither of these could believe at first that any
SPRINGHAVEN, 399
Englishman was kind and gentle, playful in manner, and
light-hearted, easily pleased, and therefore truly pleasing.
But as soon as they saw the poor wounded ox brought home
by a ford, and settled happily in the orchard, and received
him asa free gift from their guest, national prejudices dwin-
dled very fast, and domestic good feeling grew faster. M.
Jalais, although a sound Frenchman, hated the Empire and
all that led up to it; and as for Madame Fropot, her choicest
piece of cookery might turn into cinders, if anybody men-
tioned conscription in: her presence. For she had lost her
only son, the entire hope of her old days, as well as her only
daughter's lover, in that lottery of murder.
Nine out of ten of the people in the village were of the
same way of thinking. A great army cannot be quartered
anywhere, even for a week, without scattering brands of
ill-will all around it. The swagger of the troops, their war-
like airs, and loud contempt of the undrilled swain, the dash
of a coin on the counter when they deign to pay for any-
thing, the insolent wink at every modest girl, and the coarse
joke running along apish mouths—even before dark crime
begins, native antipathy is sown and thrives. And now
for nearly four years this coast had never been free from
the arrogant strut, the clanking spur, and the loud gutfaw,
which in every age and every clime have been considered
the stamp of valour by plough-boys at the paps of Bellona.
So weary was the neighbourhood of this race, new conscripts
always keeping up the pest, that even the good M. Jalais
longed to hear that the armament lay at the bottom of the
Channel. And Scudamore wouid have been followed by
the good wishes of every house in the village. if he had lifted
his hat and said, ‘‘ Good-bye, my dear friends; I am break-
ing my parole.”
For this, though encouraged by the popular voice, he
was not sufficiently liberal, but stayed within bounds of
space and time more carefully than if he had been watched.
Captain Desportes, who had been in every way a true friend
to him, came to see him now and then, being now in com-
mand of a division of the prames, and naturally anxious for
the signal to unmoor. Much discourse was held, without
brag on either side, but with equal certainty on both sides
of success. And in one of these talks the Englishman in
the simplest manner told the Frenchman all that he had
seen on Christmas Eve, and his own suspicions about it.
‘* Understand this well,” continued Scudamore; ‘‘if I dis-
400 _ SPRINGHAVEN.
cover any treachery on the part of my own countrymen, I
shall not be able to stop here on the terms that have been
allowed me. Whatever the plan may be, I shall feel as
if I were a party to it, if I accepted my free range and swal-
lowed my suspicions. With your proceedings I do not med-
dle, according to fair compact, and the liberal conditions
offered. But to see my own countrymen playing my coun-
try false is more than I could stand. You know more of
such things than I do. But if you were an Englishman,
could you endure to stand by and hide treachery, for the
sake of your own comfort ?”
‘‘Beyond a doubt, no,” Captain Desportes answered,
spreading his hands with decision: ‘‘in such a case I should
throw up my parole. But a mere suspicion does not justify
an act so ungracious to the commander, and personally so
unkind to me. I hoped that bright eyes might persuade
you to forego hard knocks, and wear none but gentle chains
among us. Nature intended you for a Frenchman. You
have the gay heart, and the easy manner, and the grand phi-
losophy of our great nation. Your name is Blyth, and I
know what that intends.”
Scudamore blushed, for he knew that Madame Fropot
was doing her best to commit him with a lovely young lady
not far off, who had felt a tender interest in the cheerful
English captive. But after trying to express once more the
deep gratitude he felt towards those who had been so won-
derfully kind and friendly, he asked with a smile, and a Lit-
tie sigh behind it, what he must do, if compelled by duty to
resign his present privileges. |
‘*My faith! I scarcely know,” replied Desportes; ‘“‘I have
never had such a case before. But I think you must give
me a written notice, signed by yourself and by M. Jalais,
and allow a week to pass, and then, unless you have heard
from me, present yourself to the commandant of the nearest
post, which must be, I suppose, at Etaples. Rather a rough
man he is; and I fear you will have reason for regret. The
duty will then remain with him. But I beg you, my dear
friend, to continue as you are. Tush, it is nothing but some
smuggler’s work.”
Scudamore hoped that he might be right, and for some
little time was not disturbed by any appearance to the con-
trary. But early in the afternoon one day, when the month
of March was near its close, he left his books for a little.
fresh air, and strolled into the orchard, where his friend the
SPRINGHAVEN. 401
ox was dwelling. This worthy animal, endowed with a
virtue denied to. none except the human race, approached
him lovingly, and begged to draw attention to the grati-
fying difference betwixt wounds and scars. He offered his
broad brow to the hand, and his charitable ears to be tickled,
and breathed a quick issue of good feeling and fine feeding,
from the sensitive tucks of his nostrils, as a large-hearted
smoker makes the air go up with gr atitude.
But as a burnt child dreads the fire, the seriously partite
ted animal kept one eye vigilant of the northern aspect, and
the other studious of the south. And the gentle Scuddy
(who was finding all things happy, which is the only way
to make them so) was startled by a sharp jerk of his dear
friend's head. Following the clue of gaze, there he saw,
coming up the river with a rollicking self-trust, a craft un-
commonly like that craft which had mounted every sort
of rig and flag, and carried every kind of crew, in his many
dreams about her. This made him run back to his room at
once, not only in fear of being seen upon the bank, but also
that he might command a better view, with the help of his
landlord’s old spy-glass.
Using this, which he had cleaned from the dust of ages,
he could clearly see the faces of the men on board. Of
these there were six, of whom five at least were Englishmen,
or of English breed. As the pilot-boat drew nearer, and the
sunlight fell upon her, to his great surprise he became con-
vinced that the young man at the tiller was Dan Tugwell,
the son of the captain of Springhaven. Four of the others
were unknown to him, though he fancied that he had seen
two of them before, but could not remember when or where.
But he watched with special interest the tall man lounging
against the little door of the cuddy in the bows, whose pro-
file only was presented to him. Then the boat canted round
towards the entrance of the creek, and having his glass upon
the full face of the man, he recognised him as Caryl Carne,
whom he had met more than once at Springhaven.
His darkest suspicions were at once redoubled, and a gush
of latent jealousy was added to them. In happier days,
when he was near his lady-love, some whispers had reached
him about this fellow, whose countenance had always been
repulsive to him, arrogant, moody, and mysterious. Tis
good mother also, though most careful not to harass him,
had mentioned that Carne in her latest letter, and by no
Means in a manner to remove his old misgivings. As a
402 SPRINGHAVEN.
matter now of duty to his country and himself, the young
sailor resolved to discover at any risk what traitorous scheme
had brought this dark man over here.
To escape the long circuit by the upper bridge, he had
obtained leave, through M. Jalais, to use an old boat which
was kept in a bend of the river about a mile above the house.
And now, after seeing that English boat make for the creek
where she had been berthed on Christmas Eve, he begged
Madame F'ropot to tell his host not to be uneasy about him,
and taking no weapon but a ground-ash stick, set forth to
play spy upon traitors. As surely as one foot came after
the other, he knew that every step was towards his grave,
if he made a mistake, or even met bad luck; hut he twirled
his hght stick in his broad brown hand, and gently invaded
the French trees around with an old English song of the
days when still an Englishman could composeasong. But.
this made him think of that old-fashioned place Spring-
haven; and sadness fell upon him, that the son of its cap-
tain should be a traitor.
Instead of pulling across the river, to avoid the splash
of oars he sculled with a single oar astern, not standing up
and wallowing in the boat, but sitting and cutting the fig-
ure of 8 with less noise than a skater makes. The tide be-
ing just at slack-water, this gave him quite as much way as
he wanted, and he steered into a little bight of the southern
bank, and made fast to a stump, and looked about; for he
durst not approach the creek until the light should fade
and the men have stowed tackle and begun to feed. The
vale of the stream afforded shelter to a very decent com-
pany of trees, which could not have put up with the tyr-
anny of the west wind upon the bare brow of the coast.
Most of these trees stood back a little from the margin of
high. tide, reluctant to see themselves in the water, for fear
of the fate of Narcissus. But where that clandestine boat
had glided into gloom and grayness, a fosse of Nature's dig-
ging, deeply lined with wood and thicket, offered snug har-
bouragé to craft and fraud.
Scudamore had taken care to learn the ups and dimaek of
the river-side ere this, and knew them now as well as a na-
tive, for he had paid many visits to the wounded ox, whom
he could not lead home quite as soon as he had hoped, and
he had found a firm place of the little river, easy to cross
when the tide was out. With the help of this knowledge
he made his way to the creek, without much risk of being
SPRINGHAVEN, 403
observed, and then, as he came to the crest of the thicket,
he lay down and watched the interlopers.
There was the boat, now imbedded in the mud, for the
little creek was nearly dry by this time. Her crew had all
landed, and kindled a fire, over which hung a kettle full of
something good, which they seemed to regard with tender
interest; while upon a grassy slope some few yards to the
right a trooper’s horse was tethered. Carne was not with
them, but had crossed the creek, as the marks of his boots in
the mud declared; and creeping some little way along the
thicket, Scudamore descried him walking to and fro impa-
tiently in a little hollow place, where the sailors could not
see him. This was on Scudamore’s side of the creek, and
scarcely fifty yards below him. ‘“ He is waiting for an in-
terview with somebody,” thought Scuddy: ‘‘if I could only
get down to that little shanty, perhaps I should hear some
fine treason. The wind is the right way to bring me every
word he says.”
Keeping in shelter when the traitor walked towards
him, and stealing on silently when his back was turned, the
young sailor managed to ensconce himself unseen in the
rough little wattle shed made by his own hands for the
shelter of his patient, when a snow-storm had visited the val-
ley of the Canche last winter. Nothing could be better fitted
for his present purpose, inasmuch as his lurking-place could
scarcely be descried from below, being sheltered by two
large trees and a screen of drooping ivy, betwixt and below
which it looked no more than a casual meeting of bushes;
while on the other hand the open space beneath it was
curved like a human ear, to catch the voice and forward it.
While Scudamore was waiting here and keenly watching
everything, the light began to falter, and the latest gleam of
sunset trembled with the breath of Spring among the buds
and catkins. But the tall man continued his long, firm
stride, as if the watch in his pocket were the only thing worth
heeding. Until, as the shadows lost their lines and flowed
into the general depth, Carne sprang forward, and a horse
and rider burst into the silence of the grass and moss and
trees.
Carne made a low obeisance, retired a little, and stood
hat in hand, until it should please the other man to speak.
And Scudamore saw, with a start of surprise, that the other
man was Napoleon.
_ This great. man appeared, to the mild English eyes that
404 SPRINGHAVEN.
were watching him so intently, of a very different mood
and visage from those of their last view of him. Then
the face, which combined the beauty of Athens with the
strength of Rome, was calm, and gentle, and even sweet,
with the rare indulgence of a kindly turn. But now, though
not disturbed with wrath, nor troubled by disappointment,
that face (which had helped to make his fortune, more than
any woman’s had ever done for her) was cast, even if the
mould could be the same, in a very different metal. Stern
force and triumphant vigour shone in every lineament, and
the hard bright eyes were intent with purpose that would
have no denial.
Refusing Carne’s aid, he remained on his horse, and
stroked his mane for a moment, for he loved. any creature
that served him well, and was tender of heart when he could
afford it; which added to his power with mankind.
‘“Are all your men well out of earshot?” he asked; and
receiving assurance from Carne, went on. ‘‘ Now you will
be satisfied at length. You have long been impatient.
It is useless to deny it. All is arranged, and all comes to
a head within three months, and perhaps within two. Only
four men will know it besides yourself, and three of those
four are commanders of my fleet. A short time will be oc-
cupied in misleading those British ships that beleaguer us;
then we concentrate ours, and command the Channel; if
only for three days, that will be enough. I depart for Italy
in three days or in four, to increase the security of the ene-
my. But Ishall return, without a word to any one, and as
fast as horses can lay belly to the ground, when I hear that
our ships have broken out. Ishall command the invasion,
and it will be for England to find a man to set against me.”
‘‘Hngland will have difficulty, sire, in doing that,” Carne
answered, with a grim smile, for he shared the contempt of
English generals then prevalent. ‘‘If the Continent can-
not do it, how can the poor England? Once let your Maj-
esty land, and all is over. But what are your Majesty’s
orders for me? And where do you propose to make the
landing ?”
‘* Never ask more than one question at a time,” Napoleon
answered, with his usual curtness; ‘‘my orders to you are to
return at once. Prepare your supplies for a moment's no-
tice. Through private influence of some fair lady, you have
command of the despatches of that officer at Springport,.
who has the control of the naval forces there. Ha! what
SPRINGHAVEN. 405
‘was that? I heard a sound up yonder. MHasten up, and
cee if there is any listener. It seemed to be there, where
the wood grows thick.”
_ Blyth Scudamore, forgetful of himself, had moved, and
a dry stick cracked beneath his foot. Carne, at the Em-
peror’s glance and signal, sprang up the bank, with the
help of some bushes, drew his sword and passed it be-
tween the wattles, then parted them and rushed through,
but saw no sign of any one. For Scuddy had slipped away,
as lightly as a shadow, and keeping in a mossy trough, had
gained another shelter. Here he was obliged to slink in the
smallest possible compass, kneeling upon both knees, and
shrugging in both shoulders. Peering very sharply through
an intertwist of suckers (for his shelter was a stool of hazel,
thrown up to repair the loss of stem), he perceived that the
Kmperor had moved his horse a little when Carne rejoined
and reassured him. And this prevented Scudamore from
being half so certain as he would have liked to be, about
further particulars of this fine arrangement.
‘* No,” was the next thing he heard Napoleon say, whose
power of saying ‘‘no” had made his “* yes”’ invincible—‘“‘ no,
it is not to be done like that. You will await your instruc-
tions, and not move until you receive them from my own
hand. Make no attempt to surprise anybody or anything,
until I have ten thousand men ashore. Ten thousand will
in six hours attain to fifty thousand, if the shore proves to be
as you describe; so great is the merit of flat-bottomed boats.
Your duty will be to leave the right surprise to us, and
create a false one among the enemy. This you must do in
the distance of the West, as if my Brest fleet were ravaging
there, and perhaps destroying Plymouth. Youare sure that
you can command the signals for this ?”
‘Sire, I know everything as if I sat among it. I can
do as I please with the fair secretary; and her father is an
ancient fool.”
‘“Then success is more easy than I wish to have it, because
it will not make good esteem. If Nelson comes at all, he
will be too late, as he generally is too early. TLondon will
be in our hands by the middle of July at the latest, prob-
ably much earlier, and then Captain Carne shall name his
own reward. Meanwhile forget not any word of what I
said. Make the passage nomore. You will not be wanted
here. Your services are far more important where you are.
You may risk the brave Charron, but not yourself. Send
406 SPRINGHAVEN.
over by the 20th of May a letter to me, under care of
Decrés, to be opened by no hand but mine, upon my return
from Italy, and let the messengers wait for my reply.
Among them must be the young man who knows the coast,
and we will detain him for pilot. My reply will fix the
exact date of our landing, and then you will despatch,
through the means at your command, any English force
that might oppose our landing, to the West, where we shall
create a false alarm. Is all this clear to you? You are
not stupid. The great point is to do all at the right time,
having consideration of the weather.”
‘‘ All is clear, and shall be carried out clearly, to the best
of your Majesty’s humble servant’s power.” .
Napoleon offered his beautiful white hand, which Carne
raised to his lips, and then the Emperor was gone. Carne
returned slowly to the boat, with trinmph written prema-
turely on his dark, stern face; while Scudamore’s brisk and
ruddy features were drawn out to a wholly unwonted length,
as he quietly made his way out of the covert.
CHAPTER LIV.
IN A SAD PLIGHT.
‘‘How shall I get out of this parole? Or shall I break
it, instead of getting out? Which shall I think of first, my
honour, or-my country? The safety of millions, or the pride
of one? An old Roman would have settled it very simply.
But a Christian cannot do things so. Thank God there
is no hurry, for a few days yet! But I must send a letter to
Desportes this very night. Then I must consider about
waiting for a week.”
Scudamore, unable to think out his case as yet—especial-
ly after running as if his wind could turn a vane—was sit-
ting on the bank, to let the river-bed get darker, before he
put his legs into the mud to get across. For the tide was
out, and the old boat high and dry, and a very weak water
remained to be crossed (though, like nearly all things that
are weak, it was muddy), but the channel had a moist gleam
in the dry spring air, and anybody moving would be mag-
nified afar. He felt that’ it would never do for him, with
such a secret, to be caught, and brought to book, or even to
awake suspicion of his having it. The ancient Roman of
SPRINGHAVEN. 407
‘whom he had thought would have broken parole for his
country’s sake, and then fallen on his sword for his own
sake; but although such behaviour should be much admired,
it is nicer to read of such things than to do them. Captain
Scuddy was of large and steady nature, and nothing came
to him with a jerk or Jump—perhaps because he was such
a jumper—and he wore his hat well on the back of his head,
because he had no fear of losing it. But for all that he
found himself in a sad quandary now.
To begin with, his parole was not an ordinary leave, af-
forded by his captors to save themselves trouble, but a spe-
cial grace, issuing from friendship, and therefore requiring —
to be treated in a friendly vein. The liberality of these
terms had enabled him to dwell as a friend among friends,
and to overhear all that he had heard. In the balance of
perplexities, this weighed heavily against his first impulse
to cast away all, except paramount duty to his country. In
the next place, he knew that private feeling urged him as
hotly as public duty to cast away all thought of honour,
and make off. For what he had heard about the *‘ fair sec-
_retary”’ was rankling bitterly in his deep heart. He recalled
at this moment the admirable precept of an ancient sage,
that in such a conflict of duties the doubter should incline
to the course least agreeable to himself, inasmuch as the
reasons against it are sure to be urged the most feebly in
self-council. Upon the whole, the question was a nice one
for a casuist; and if there had not been a day to spare, duty
to his country must have overridden private faith.
However, as there was time to spare, he resolved to recon-
cile private honour with the sense of public duty; and, re-
turning to his room, wrote a careful letter (of which he kept
a copy) to his friend Desportes, now on board, and com-
manding the flag-ship of one division of the flotilla. He
simply said, without giving his reason, that his parole must
expire in eight days after date, allowing one day for de-
livery of his letter. Then he told M. Jalais what he had
done, and much sorrow was felt in the household. When
the time had expired without any answer from Captain Des-
portes, who meant to come and see him but was unable to
do so, Scudamore packed up a few things needful, expecting
to be placed in custody, and resolved to escape from it, at
any risk of life. Then he walked to Etaples, a few miles
down the river, and surrendered himself to the commandant
there. This was a rough man—as Desportes had said—and
A408 SPRINGHAVEN.
with more work to do than he could manage. With very
little ceremony he placed the English prisoner in charge
of a veteran corporal, with orders to take him to the lock-
up in the barracks, and there await further instructions.
And then the commandant, in the hurry of his duties, for-
got all about him.
Captain Secuddy now found himself in quarters i: un-
der treatment very trying to his philosophy. Not that the
men who had him in charge were purposely unkind to him,
only they were careless about his comfort, and having more
important work to see to, fed him at their leisure, which did
not always coincide with his appetite. Much of his food
was watery and dirty, and seemed to be growing its own veg-
etables, and sometimes to have overripened them. There-—
fore he began to lose substance, and his cheeks became stran-
gers to the buxom gloss which had been the delight of
Madame Fropot. But although they did not feed him well,
they took good care of him in other ways, affording no
chance of exit.
But sour fruit often contains good pips. Scudamore’s
food was not worth saying grace for,and yet a true blessing
attended it: forasmuch as the Frenchmen diminished the
width of their prisoner, but not of the window. Falling
away very rapidly, for his mind was faring as badly as his
body (having nothing but regrets to feed upon, which are
no better diet than daisy soup), the gentle Scuddy, who must
have become a good wrangler if he had stopped at Cam-
bridge, began to frame a table of cubic measure, and consid-
er the ratio of his body to that window, or rather to the aper-
ture thereof. One night, when his supper had been quite
forgotten by everybody except himself, he lay awake think-
ing for hours and hours about his fair Dolly and the wicked
Carne, and all the lies he must have told about her—for not
a single syllable would Scudamore believe—and the next
day he found himself become so soft and limp, as well as
reduced to his lowest dimension, that he knew, by that just
measure which a man takes of himself when he has but a
shred of it left, that now he was small enough to go be-
tween the bars. And now it was high time to feel that as-
surance, for the morning brought news that the order for
his removal to a great prison far inland was come, and
would be carried out the next day. ‘‘ Now or never” was .
the only chance before him.
Having made up his mind, he felt refreshed, and took his
SPRINGHAVEN. 409
food with gratitude. Then, as soon as the night was dark
and quiet, and the mighty host for leagues and leagues
launched into the realms of slumber, springing with both
feet well together, as he sprang from the tub at Stonnington,
Scuddy laid hold of the iron bars which spanned the window
vertically, opened the lattice softly, and peeped out in quest
of sentinels. There were none on duty very near him,
though he heard one pacing in the distance. Then fling-
ing himself on his side, he managed, with some pain to his
well-rounded chest, to squeeze it through the narrow slit,
and, hanging from the bar, dropped gently. The drop was
deep, and in spite of all precautions he rolled to the bot-
tom of agrassy ditch. There he lay quiet to rest his bruises,
and watch whether any alarm were raised. Luckily for him,
the moon was down, and no one had observed his venture.
Crawling on all fours along a hollow place, he passed the
outposts, and was free.
Free in mind as well as body, acquitted from all claims of
honour, and able without a taint upon his name to bear
most important news to England, if he could only get away
from France. This would be difficult, as he was well aware;
but his plan had been thoroughly considered in his prison,
and he set forth to make the best of it. Before his escape
had been discovered, he was under M. Jalais’s roof once
more, and found his good friends resolved never to betray
him. ‘‘But I must not expose you to the risk,” said he,
‘‘of heavy fine and imprisonment. I shall have to say
good-bye to all your goodness in an hour. And I shall not
even allow you to know what road I take; lest you should
be blamed for sending my pursuers on the wrong one. But
search my room in three days’ time, and you will find a
packet to pay for something which I must steal for the pres-
ent. I pray you, ask nothing, for your own sake.”
They fed him well, and he took three loaves, and a little
keg of cider, as well as the bag he had packed before he
surrendered himself at Etaples. Madame Fropot wept and
kissed him, because he reminded her of her lost son; and
M. Jalais embraced him, because he was not at all like any
son of his. With hearty good wishes, and sweet regret,
and promises never to forget them, the Englishman quitted
this kind French house, and became at once a lawful and
a likely mark for bullets.
The year was now filled with the flurry of Spring, the
quick nick of time when a man is astonished at the power of
18
' 410 SPRINGHAVEN.
Nature’s memory. A great many things had been left be-
hind, mainly for their own good, no doubt—some of the ani-
mal, some of the vegetable, some of the mineral kingdom
even—yet none of them started for anarchy. All were con-
tent to be picked up and brought on according to the power
of the world, making allowance for the pinches of hard times,
and the blows of east winds that had blown themselves out.
Even the prime grumbler of the earth—a biped, who looks
up to heaven for that purpose mainly—was as nearly con-
tent with the present state of things as he can be with any-
thing, until it is the past. Scudamore only met one man,
but that one declared it was a lovely night; and perhaps he
was easier to please because he had only one leg left.
The stars had appeared, and the young leaves turned the
freshness of their freedom towards them, whether from the
crisp impulse of night, or the buoyant influence of kind-
ness in theair. There was very little wind, and it was laden
with no sound, except the distant voice of an indefatigable
dog; .but Scudamore perceived that when the tide set down-
war ds, a gentle breeze would follow down the funnel of the
river. Then he drew the ancient boat which he had used
before to the mossy bank, and having placed his goods
on board, fetched a pair of oars and the short mast and brown
sail from the shed where they were kept, and at the top of a
full tide launched forth alone upon his desperate enterprise.
There was faint light in the channel, but the banks looked
very dark; and just as he cast loose he heard the big clock
at Montreuil, a great way up the valley, slowly striking mid-
night. And he took it for good omen, as he swiftly passed
the orchard, that his old friend the ox trotted down to the
corner, and showed his white forehead under a sprawling
apple-tree, and gave him a salute, though he scarcely could
have known him. By this time the breeze was freshening
nicely, and Scudamore, ceasing to row, stepped the mast,
and, hoisting the brown sail, glided along at a merry pace
and with a hopeful heart. Passing the mouth of the creek,
he saw no sign of the traitorous pilot-boat, neither did he
meet any other craft in channel, although he saw many
moored at either bank. But nobody challenged him, as he
kept in midstream, and braced up his courage for the two
great perils still before him ere he gained the open sea. The
first of these would be the outposts on either side at Etaples,
not far from the barracks where he had been jailed, and
here no doubt the sentinels would call him to account. But
412 SPRINGHAVEN,
a far greater danger would be near the river’s mouth, where
a bridge of boats, with a broad gangway for troops, spanned
the tidal opening.
There was no bridge across the river yet near the town —
itself, but, upon challenge from a sentry, Scudamore stood
up and waved his hat, and shouted in fine nasal and pro-
vincial French, ‘‘The fisherman, Auguste Baudry, of Mon-
treuil!” and the man withdrew his musket, and wished him
good success. Then he passed a sandy island with some
men asleep upon it, and began to fear the daybreak as he
neared the bridge of boats. This crossed the estuary at a
narrow part, and having to bear much heavy traffic, was as
solid as a floating bridge can be. A double row of barges
was lashed and chained together, between piles driven deep
into the river’s bed; along them a road of heavy planks was
laid, rising and falling as they rose and fell with tide, and
a drawbridge near the middle of about eight yards’ span
must suffice for the traffic of the little river. This fabric
was protected from the heavy western surges by the shoals
of the bar, and from any English dash by a strong shore
battery at either end. At first sight it looked like a black
wall across the river. ;
The darkness of night is supposed to be deepest just be-
fore dawn—but that depends upon the weather—and the
sleep of weary men is often in its prime at that time. Scud-
amore (although his life, and all that life hangs on from
heaven, were quivering at the puff of every breeze) was en-
abled to derive some satisfaction from a yawn, such as goes
the round of a good company sometimes, like the smell of
the supper of sleep that is to come. Then he saw the dark
line of the military bridge, and lowered his sail, and un-
stepped his little mast. The strength of the tide was almost
spent, so that he could deal with this barrier at his leisure,
instead of being hurled against it.
Unshipping the rudder and laying one oar astern, Scud-
amore fetched along the inner row of piles, for he durst not
pass under the drawbridge, steering his boat toan inch while
he sat with his face to the oar, working noiselessly. Then
he spied a narrow opening between two barges, and drove
his boat under the chain that joined them, and after some
fending and groping with his hands in the darkness under
the planks of the bridge, contrived to get out, when he al-
most despaired of it, through the lower tier of the sup-
porters. He was quit of that formidable barrier now; but
SPRINGHAVEN. 413
a faint flush of dawn and of reflection from the sea com-
pelled him to be very crafty. Instead of pushing straight-
way for the bar and hoisting sail—which might have
brought a charge of grape-shot after him—he kept in the
gloom of the piles nearly into the left bank, and then hugged
the shadow it afforded. Nothing but the desolate sands sur-
veyed him, and the piles of wrack cast up by gales from
the west. Then with a stout heart he stepped his little mast,
and the breeze, which freshened towards the rising of the
sun, carried him briskly through the tumble of the bar.
The young man knelt and said his morning prayer, with
one hand still upon the tiller; for, like most men who
have fought well for England, he had stanch faith in the
Power that has made and guides the nations, until they
rebel against it. So far his success had been more than his
own unaided hand might work, or his brain with the utmost
of its labours second. Of himself he cast all thoughts
away, for his love seemed lost, and his delight was gone; the
shores of his country, if he ever reached them, would con-
tain no pleasure for him; but the happiness of millions
might depend upon his life, and first of all that of his mother.
All by himself in this frail old tub, he could scarcely hope
to cross the Channel, even in the best of weather, and if he
should escape the enemy, while his scanty supplies held out.
He had nothing to subsist on but three small loaves, and
a little kee of cider, and an old tar tub which he had filled
with brackish water, upon which the oily curdle of the tar
was floating. But, for all that, he trusted that he might
hold out, and retain his wits long enough to do good service.
The French coast, trending here for leagues and leagues
nearly due north and south, is exposed to the long accumu-
lating power of a western gale, and the mountain roll of
billows that have known no check. If even a smart breeze
from the west sprang up, his rickety little craft, intended
only for inland navigation, would have small chance of
living through the tumult. But his first care was to give a
wide berth to the land and the many French vessels that
were moored or moving, whether belonging to the great
flotilla, or hastening to supply its wants. Many a time
he would have stood forth boldly, as fast as the breeze and
tide permitted; but no sooner had he shaped a course for
the open sea than some hostile sail appeared ahead and
forced him to bear away until she was far onward. ‘Thus,
after a long day of vigilance and care, he was not more
A14 SPRINGHAVEN.
than five miles from land when the sun set, and probably
farther from the English coast than when he set forth in the
morning’; because he had stood towards the south of west all
day, to keep out of sight of the left wing of the enemy; and
as the straight outline of the coast began to fade, he supposed
himself to be about half-way between the mouth of the
Canche and that of the little Authie.
Watching with the eyes of one accustomed to the air
the last communication of the sun, and his postscript (which,
like a lady’s, is the gist of what he means), Scudamore per-
ceived that a change of weather might come shortly, and
must come erelong. There was nothing very angry in the
sky, nor even threatening; only a general uncertainty and
wavering; ‘‘I wish you well all round,” instead of ‘* Here’s
a guinea apiece for you.” Scuddy understood it, and re-
solved to carry on.
Having no compass, and small knowledge of the coast—
which lay out of range of the British investment—he had
made up his mind to lie by for the night, or at any rate to
move no more than he could help, for fear of going alto-
gether in the wrong direction. He could steer by the stars
—as great mariners did, when the world was all discovery—
so long as the stars held their skirts up; but, on the other
hand, those stars might lead him into the thick of the ene-
my. Of this, however, he must now take his chance, rath-
er than wait and let the wind turn against him. For his
main hope was to get into the track where British frigates,
and ships of light draught like his own dear Blonde, were
upon patrol, inside of the course of the great war chariots,
the ships of the line, that drave heavily. Revolving much
grist in the mill of his mind, as the sage Ulysses used to do,
he found it essential to supply the motive power bodily. One
of Madame Fropot’s loaves was very soon disposed of, and
a good draught of sound cider helped to renew his flagging
energy.
Throughout that night he kept wide-awake, and man-
aged to make fair progress, steering, as well as he could
judge, a little to the west of north. But before sunrise the
arrears of sleep increased at compound interest, and he
lowered his sail, and discharged a part of the heavy sum
scored against him. But when he awoke, and glanced
around him with eyes that resented scanty measure, even a
sleepy glance sufficed to show much more than he wished to
see. Both sky and sea were overcast with doubt, and alarm,
SPRINGHAVEN. 415
and evil foreboding. A dim streak lay where the land had
been, and a white gleam quivered from the sunrise on the
waves, as if he were spreading water-liles instead of scatter-
ing roses. As the earth has its dew that foretells a bright -
day—whenever the dew is of the proper sort, for three
kinds are established now—so the sea has a flit of bloom in
the early morning (neither a colour, nor a sparkle, nor a va-
pour) which indicates peace and content for the day. But
now there was no such fair token upon it, but a heavy and
surly and treacherous look, with lumps here and there; asa
man who intends to abuse us thrusts his tongue to get sharp
in his cheek.
Scudamore saw that his poor old boat, scarcely sound
enough for the men of Gotham, was already complaining
of the uncouth manners of the strange place to which she
had been carried in the dark. That is to say, she was begin-
ning to groan, at a very quiet slap in the cheeks, or even a
thoroughly well-meaning push in the rear.
‘“You are welcome to groan, if you don’t strain,” ex-
claimed the heartless Captain Scuddy.
Kven as he spoke he beheld a trickle of water glistening
down the forward bends, and then a little rill, and then
a spurt, as if a serious leak were sprung. He found the
source of this, and contrived to caulk it with a strand of
tarred rope for the present; but the sinking of his knife
into the forward timber showed him that a great part of the
bows was rotten. If a head-sea arose, the crazy old frame
would be prone to break in bodily, whereas if he attempted
to run before the sea, already beginning to rise heavily from
_ the west, there was nothing to save the frail craft from be-
ing pooped. On every side it was a bad lookout, there was
every sign of a gale impending, which he could not even
hope to weather, and the only chance of rescue lay in the
prompt appearance of some British ship.
Kven in this sad plight his courage and love of native
land prevailed against the acceptance of aid from French-
men, if any should approach to offer it. Rather would he
lie at the bottom of the Channel, or drift about among con-
tending fishes, than become again a prisoner with his secret
in his mind, and no chance of sending it to save his country.
Asa forlorn hope, he pulled out a stump of pencil, and wrote
on the back of a letter from his mother a brief memorandum
of what he had heard, and of the urgency of the matter.
Then taking a last draught of his tarry water, he emptied
416 SPRINGHAVEN.
the little tub, and fixed the head in, after he had enclosed his
letter. Then he fastened the tub to an oar, to improve the
chance of its being observed, and laid the oar so that it
would float off, in case of the frail boat foundering. The
other oar he kept at hand to steer with, as long as the boat
should live, and to help him to float, when she should have
disappeared.
This being done, he felt easier in his mind, as a man who
has prepared for the worst should do. He renewed his vig-
our, which had begun to flag under constant labour and
long solitude, by consuming another of his loaves, and
taking almost the last draught of his cider, and after that
he battled throughout the dreary day against the increase of
bad weather. Towards the afternoon he saw several ships,
one of which he took to be a British frigate; but none of
them espied his poor labouring craft, or at any rate showed
signs of doing so. Then a pilot-boat ran by him, standing
probably for Boulogne, and at one time less than a league
away. She appeared to be English, and he was just about
to make signal for aid, when a patch im her foresail almost
convinced him that she was the traitor of the Canche return-
ing. She was probably out of her proper course in order
to avoid the investing fleet, and she would run inside it
when the darkness fell. Better to go to the bottom than in-
voke such aid; and he dropped the oar with his neckerchief
upon it, and faced the angry sea again and the lonely despair
of impending night.
What followed was wiped from his memory for years,
and the loss was not much to be regretted. When he tried
to think about it, he found nothing but a roaring of wind
and of waves in his ears, a numbness of arms as he laboured
with the oar tholed abaft to keep her heavy head up, a
prickly chill in his legs as the brine in the wallowing boat
ran up them, and then a gréat wallop and gollop of the
element too abundant round him.
But at last, when long years should have brought more
wisdom, he went poaching for supper upon Welsh rabbits.
That night all the ghastly time came back, and stood min-
ute by minute before him. Every swing of his body, and
sway of his head, and swell of his heart, was repeated, the
buffet of the billows when the planks were gone, the numb
grasp of the slippery oar, the sucking down of legs which
seemed turning into sea-weed, the dashing of dollops of surf
into mouth and nose closed ever so carefully, and then the
a
SPRINGHAVEN. 417
last sense of having fought a good fight, but fallen away
from human arms, into ‘‘O Lord, receive my spirit!”
——
CHAPTER LV.
IN SAVAGE GUISE.
‘‘A MAN came out of the sea to-day, and made me believe
we were all found out,” said the gay Charron to the gloomy
Carne, a day or two after poor Scudamore’s wreck. ‘‘I-
never beheld a more strange-looking creature as the owner
of our human face divine, as some of your poets have found
to say. He has hair from his head all down to here”—the
little Captain pointed to a part of his system which would
have been larger in more tranquil times—‘‘and his clothes
were so thin that one was able to see through them, and the
tint of his face was of roasted sugar, such as it is not to
obtain in England. A fine place for fat things, but not for
thin ones.”
‘‘My friend, you arouse my curiosity,” the master of the
feast, which was not a very fat one, answered, as he lazily
crossed his long legs; ‘‘ you are always apprehensive about
detection, of which I have ceased to entertain all fear, dur-
ing the short time that remains. This stranger of yours
must have beén very wet, if he had just appeared out of the
sea. Was it that which made his clothes transparent, like
those of the higher class of ladies ?”
‘“You have not the right understanding of words. He
was appeared out of the sea, but the wood of a boat was
spread between them. He was as dry as I am; and that is
saying much, with nothing but this squeezing of bad apples
for to drink.”
‘‘ Ah, we shall have better soon. What an impatient
throat it is! Well, what became of this transparent man,
made of burnt sugar, and with hair below his belt ?”
‘‘T tell you that you take it in a very different way. But
he was a long man, as long almost as you are, and with
much less of indolence in the moving of his legs. It was
not sincerely wise for me to exhibit myself, in the land. I
was watching for a signal from the sea, and a large ship,
not of the navy, but of merchants, was hanging off about
a league and delaying for her boat. For this reason I pre-
vented him from seeing me, and that created difficulty of
18*
»
418 SPRINGHAVEN.
“my beholding him. But he was going along the basin of
the sea towards Springhaven—'‘ Springport’ it is designated
by the Little Corporal; ah ha, how the language of the
English comes left to him!”
‘‘ And how right it comes to you, my friend, through your
fine self-denial in speaking it with me! It is well for our
cause that it is not sincerely wise for you to exhibit yourself
in the land, or we should have you making sweet eyes at
English young ladies, and settling down to roast beef and
nut-brown ale. Fie, then, my friend! where is your patri-
otism ?”
‘‘ These English young ladies,” said the Frenchman, una-
bashed, “‘are very fine, in my opinion—very fine indeed;
and they could be made to dress, which is sincerely an ex-
ternal thing. By occasion, I have seen the very most
belle, and charming and adorable of all the creatures ever
made by the good God. And if she was to say to me,
‘Abandon France, my Captain, and become my good hus-
band ’—and she has the money also—the fair France would
go to the bottom, and the good ship Charron hoist the Union-
jack.”
‘‘This becomes serious :”’ Carne had long learned to treat
his French colleague with a large contempt: ‘‘I shall have
to confine you in the Yellow Jar, my friend. But what
young lady has bewitched you so, and led your most pow-
erful mind astray ?”
‘*T will tell you. Iwill make no secret of it. You have
none of those lofty feelings, but you will be able in another
to comprehend them. It is the daughter of the Coast-De-
fender—Admiral Charles Sir Darling.”
‘‘ Admiral Darling has two daughters. Which of them
has the distinguished honour of winning the regard of Cap-
tain Charron ?”
‘‘If there are two, it is so much more better. If I suc-
ceed not with one, I will try with the other. But the one
who has made me captive for the present is the lady with
the dark hair done up like this.”
In a moment Charron had put up his hair, which was
thick but short, into a double sheaf; and Carne knew at
once that it was Faith whose charms had made havoc of the
patriotism of his colleague. Then he smiled and said, ‘“‘ My
friend, that is the elder daughter.”
‘‘T have some knowledge of the laws of England,” the
Frenchman continued, complacently; ‘‘the elder will have
we
“WE MAY BE TRIUMPHANT WITH THEIR LADIES.”
the most money, and [am not rich, though I am courageous.
In the confusion that ensues I shall have the very best
chance of commending myself; and I contide in your hon-
ourable feeling to give me the push forward by occasion.
Say, is it well conceived, my friend? We never shall con-
quer these Englishmen, but we may be triumphant with
their ladies.”’
‘‘It is a most excellent scheme of invasion,” Carne an-
swered, with his slow, sarcastic smile, “and you may rely
on me for what you call the push forward, if a Frenchman
ever needs it with a lady. But I wish to hear more about
that brown man.”
‘‘I can tell you no more. But the matter is strange.
Perhaps he was visiting the fat Captain Stoobar. I feel
no solicitude concerning him with my angel. She would
never look twice at such a savage.”
But the gallant French Captain missed the mark this time.
The strange-looking man with the long brown beard quitted
the shore before he reached the stepping-stones, and, making
420 SPRINGHAVEN.
a short-cut across the rabbit-warren, entered the cottage of
Zebedee Tugwell, without even stopping to knock at the
door. The master was away, and so were all the children;
but stout Mrs. Tugwell, with her back to the door, was tend-
ing the pot that hung over the fire. At the sound of a foot-
step she turned round, and her red face grew whiter than
the ashes she was stirring.
‘*Oh, Mr. Erle, is it you, or your ghostie?” she cried, as she
fell against the door of the brick oven. ‘‘Do’e speak, for
God’s sake, if He have given the power to ’e.”’
‘‘He has almost taken it away again, so far as the Eng-
lish language goes,” Erle Twemlow answered, with a smile
which was visible only in his eyes, through long want of a
razor; ‘‘but I am picking up a little. Shake hands, Kezia,
and then you will know me. Though I have not quite re-
covered that art as yet.”
‘Oh, Mr. Erle!” exclaimed Zebedee’s wife, with tears
ready to start for his sake and her own, ‘“‘ how many a time
I’ve had you on my knees, afore I was blessed with any of
my own, and a bad sort of blessing the best of ’em proves.
Not that I would listen to a word again’ him. I suppose
you never did happen to run again’ my Dan’el, in any of
they furrin parts, from the way they makes the hair grow.
I did hear tell of him over to Pebbleridge; but not likely, so
nigh to his own mother, and never come no nigher. And
if they furrin parts puts on the hair so heavily, who could
’a known him to Pebbleridge? They never was like we be.
They’d as lief tell a lie as look at you, over there.”
In spite of his own long years of trouble, or perhaps by
reason of them, Erle Twemlow, eager as he was to get on, .
listened to the sad tale that sought for his advice, and de-
parted from wisdom—as good-nature always does—by offer-
ing useless counsel—counsel that could not be taken, and
yet was far from being worthless, because it stirred anew the
fount of hope, towards which the parched affections creep.
‘*But Lor bless me, sir, I never thought of you!” Mrs.
Tugwell exclaimed, having thought out herself. ‘* What
did Parson say, and your mother, and Miss Faith? It must
’a been better than a play to see them.”
‘“Not one of them knows a word about it yet; nor any-
body in Springhaven, except you, Kezia. You were as good
as my nurse, you know; I have never had a chance of writ-
ing to them, and I want you to help me to let them know
it slowly.”
SPRINGHAVEN. 421
‘‘Oh, Mr. Erle, what a lovely young woman your Miss
Faith is grown up by now! Some thinks more of Miss
Dolly, but, to my mind, you may as well put a mackerel
before a salmon, for the sake of the stripes and the glitter-
ing. Now what can I do to make you decent, sir, for them
duds and that hair is barbarious? My Tabby and Debby
will be back in half an hour, and them growing up into
young maidens now.”
Twemlow explained that after living so long among sav-
ages in a burning clime, he had found it impossible to wear
thick clothes, and had been rigged up in some Indian stuff
by the tailor of the ship which had rescued him. But now
he supposed he must reconcile himself by degrees to the old
imprisonment. But as for his hair, that should never be
touched, unless he was restored to the British Army, and
obliged to do as the others did. With many little jokes of
a homely order, Mrs. Tugwell, regarding him still as a child,
supplied him with her husband’s summer suit of thin duck,
which was ample enough not to gall him; and then she
sent her daughters with a note to the Rector, begging him
to come at seven o’clock to meet a gentleman who wished
to see him upon important business, near the plank bridge
across the little river. Erle wrote that note, but did not
sign it; and after many years of happy freedom from the
pen, his handwriting was so changed that his own father
would not know it. What he feared was the sudden shock
to his good mother; his father’s nerves were strong, and
must be used as buffers.
‘* Another trouble, probably; there is nothing now but
trouble,” Mi. Twemlow was thinking, as he walked unwill-
ingly towards the place appointed. ‘‘I wish I could only
guess what I can have done to deserve all these trials, as I
become less fit to bear them. I would never have come to
this lonely spot, except that it may be about Shargeloes.
Everything now is turned upside down; but the Lord knows
best, and I must bear it. Sir, who are you? And what do
you want me for ?”
At the corner where Miss Dolly had rushed into the Rec-
tor’s open arms so fast, a tall man, clad in white, was stand-
ing, with a staff about eight feet long in his hand. MHayvy-
ing carried a spear for four years now, Captain Twemlow
found no comfort in his native land until he had cut the
tallest growth in Admiral Darling’s osier bed, and peeled it,
and shaved it to a seven-sided taper. He rested this point
422 SPRINGHAVEN.
in a socket of moss, that it might not be blunted, and then
replied:
‘‘Father, you ought to know me, although you have
grown much stouter in my absence; and perhaps I am
thinner than I used to be. But the climate disagreed with
me, until I got to like it.”
‘‘Hrle! Do you mean to say you are my boy Erle ?”
The Rector was particular about hisclothes. ‘‘ Don’t think
of touching me. You are hair all over, and I dare say
never had a comb. I won’t believe a word of it until you
prove it.”
‘“Well, mother will know me, if you don’t.” The young
man answered calmly, having been tossed upon so many
horns of adventure that none could make a hole in him.
‘‘T thought that you would have been glad to see me; and
I managed to bring a good many presents; only they are
gone onto London. They could not be got at, to land them
with me; but Captain Southcombe will be sure to send
them. You must not suppose, because I am empty-handed
now—”’
‘“My dear son,” cried the father, deeply hurt, ‘‘do you
think that your welcome depends upon presents? You have
indeed fallen into savage ways. Come, and let me examine
you through your hair; though the light is scarcely strong
enough now to go through it. To think that you should be
my own Erle, alive after such a time, and with such a lot of
hair! Only, if there ‘is any palm-oil on it—this is my last
new coat but one.”
‘‘ No, father, nothing that you ever can have dreamed of.
Something that will make you a bishop, if you like, and me
a member of the House of Lords. But I did not find it
out myself—which makes success more certain.”
"i They have taught you some great truths, my dear
boy. The man who begins a thing never gets on. But I
am so astonished that I know not ‘what I say. I ought to
have thanked the Lord long ago. Have you got a place
without any hair upon it large enough for me to kiss
you ?”
Erle Twemlow, whose hand in spite of all adventures
trembled a little upon his spear, lifted his hat and found
‘ smooth front, sure to be all the smoother for a father’s
iss.
“Let us go home,” said the old man, trying to exclude
all excitement from his throat and heart; ‘‘but you must
|
:
1
.
SPRINGHAVEN. 423
stay outside until I come to fetch you. I feel a little anx-
ious, my dear boy, as to how your dear mother will get
over it. She has never been strong since the bad news
came about you. And somebody else has to be considered.
But that must stand over till to-morrow.”
CHAPTER LVI.
THE SILVER VOICE.
MANy shrewd writers have observed that Britannia has
a special luck—which the more devout call Providence—in
holding her own, against not only her true and lawful ene-
mies, but even those of her own bosom who labour most to
ruin her. And truly she had need of all her fortune now, to
save her from the skulking traitor, as well as the raging ad-
versary. :
‘“Now I will have my revenge,” said Carne, ‘‘on all who
have outraged and plundered me. Crows—carrion-crows
—I will turn them into owls without a nest. Prowling owls,
to come blinking even now at the last of my poor relics!
Charron, what did that fellow say to old Jerry, the day I
tied the dogs up ?”
‘* He said, my dear friend, that he missed from the paint-
ings which he had taken to his house the most precious of
them all—the picture of your dear grandmother, by a man
whose name it is hard to pronounce, but a Captain in the
British Army, very much fond of beloving and painting
all the most beautiful ladies; and since he had painted the
mother of Vash—Vash—the man that conquered England
in America—all his work was gone up to a wonderful price,
and old Sheray should have one guinea if he would exhibit
to him where to find it. _Meedle or Beedle—he had set his
heart on getting it. He declared by the good God that
he would have it, and that you had got it under a tomb-
stone.”’
‘‘A sample of their persecutions! You know that I have
never seen it, nor even heard of the Captain Middleton who
went on his rovings from Springhaven. And, again, about
my own front-door, or rather the door of my family for
some four centuries, because it was carved as they cannot
carve now, it was put into that vile Indenture. I care very
little for my ancestors—benighted Britons of the county
424 SPRINGHAVEN.
type—but these things are personal insults tome. I seldom
talk about them, and I will not do so now.”
‘“My Captain, you should talk much about it. That
would be the good relief to your extensive mind. Revenge
is not of the bright French nature; but the sky of this isl-
and procreates it. My faith! how I would rage at England,
if it were not for the people, and their daughters! We
shall see; in a few days more we shall astonish the fat
John Bull; and then his little kittens—what do you call
them ?—calves of an ox, will come running to us.”
‘‘Hnough of your foolish talk,” said Carne. ‘‘ The wom-
en are as resolute as the men. Even when we have taken
London, not an English woman will come near us, until all
the men have yielded. Go down to your station and watch
for the boat. Iexpect an important despatch to-night. But
I cannot stay here for the chance of it.. I have business in
Springhaven.”
His business in Springhaven was to turn young love to
the basest use, to make a maiden (rash and flighty, but not
as yet dishonourable) a traitor to her friends and fatherland,
and most of all to her own father. He had tried to poison
Dolly’s mind with doses of social nonsense—in which he
believed about as much as a quack believes in his own pills
—but his main reliance now was placed in his hold upon
her romantic heart, and in her vague ambitions. Pure and
faithful love was not to be expected from his nature; but
he had invested in Dolly all the affection he could spare
from self. He had laboured long, and suffered much, and
the red crown of his work was nigh.
Riding slowly down the hill about half a mile from the
village, Carne saw a tall man coming towards him with a
firm, deliberate walk. The stranger was dressed very light-
ly, and wore a hat that looked like a tobacco leaf, and car-
ried a long wand in his hand, as if he were going to keep
order in church. These things took the eye afar, but at
shorter range became as nothing, compared with the aspect
of the man himself. This was grand, with its steadfast gaze
—no stare, but-a calm and kind regard—its large tranquil-
lity and power of receiving without believing the words of
men; and most of all in the depth of expression reserved by
experience in the forest of its hair.
Carne was about to pass in silent wonder and uneasi-
ness, but the other gently laid the rod across his breast and
stopped him, and then waited for him to ask the reason why.
‘BuT THE OTHER GENTLY LAID THE ROD ACROSS HIS BREAST.”
‘‘Have you any business with me, good sir?’ Carne
would have spoken rudely, but saw that rudeness would
leave no mark upon a man like this. ‘‘Ifso, I must ask you
to be quick. And perhaps you will tell me who you are.”
‘‘T think that you are Caryl Carne,” said the stranger,
not unpleasantly, but as if it mattered very little who was
Caryl Carne, or whether there was any such existence.
Carne stared fiercely, for he was of touchy temper; but he
might as well have stared at a bucket of water in the hope
of deranging its tranquillity. ‘‘You knowme. ButIdon’t
know you,” he answered at last, with a jerk of his reins.
‘‘Be in no hurry,” said the other, mildly; ‘‘ the weather
is fine, and time plentiful. I hope to have much pleasant
426 SPRINGHAVEN.
knowledge of you. I have the honour to be your first
cousin, Erle Twemlow. Shake hands with your kinsman.”
Carne offered his hand, but without his usual grace and
self-possession. 'Twemlow took it in his broad brown palm,
in which it seemed to melt away, firm though it was and
muscular.
‘‘T was going up to call on you,” said Twemlow, who had
acquired a habit of speaking as if he meant all the world
to hear. ‘‘I feel a deep interest in your fortunes, and hope
to improve them enormously. You shall hear all about it
when I come up. _ I have passed four years in the wilds of
Africa, where no white man ever trod before, and I have
found out things no white man knows. We call those peo-
ple savages, but they know a great deal more than we do.
Shall I call to-morrow, and have a long talk?”
‘‘T fear,” replied Carne, who was cursing his luck for
bringing this fellow home just now, ‘‘that I shall have no
time for a week or two. I am engaged upon important
business now, which will occupy my whole attention. Let
me see! You are staying at the rectory, I suppose. The
best plan will be for me to let you know when I can af-
ford the pleasure of receiving you. Ina fortnight, or three
weeks at the latest—”
** Very well. I am never ina hurry. And I want to
go to London to see about my things. But I dare say you
will not object to my roving about the old castle now and
then. I loved the old place as a boy, and IJ know every
erick and cranny and snake-hole in it.”
‘‘How glad they must have been to see you—restored
from the dead, and with such rich discoveries! But you
must be more careful, my good cousin, and create no more
anxiety. Glad as I shall be to see you, when time allows
that indulgence, I must not encourage you to further rov-
ings, which might end in your final disappearance. Two
boar-hounds, exceedingly fierce and strong, and compelled
by my straitened circumstances to pick up their own liv-
ing, are at large on my premises night and day, to remon-
strate with my creditors. We fear that they ate a man last
night, who had stolen a valuable picture, and was eager for
another by the same distinguished artist. His boots and hat
were found unhurt; but of his clothes not a shred remained,
to afford any pattern for inquiry. What would my feelings
be if Aunt Maria arrived hysterically in the pony-carriage,
and at great personal risk inquired—”
SPRINGHAVEN. 427
‘“I fear no dogs,” said Erle Twemlow, without any flash
of anger in his steadfasteyes. ‘‘Ican bring any dog to lick
my feet. But I fear any man who sinks lower than a dog,
by obtaining a voice and speaking les with it. If you
wish, for some reason of your own, to have nought to do
with me, you should have said so; and I might have re-
spected you afterwards. But flimsy excuses and trumpery
lies belong to the lowest race of savages, who live near the
coast, and have been taught by Frenchmen.”
Erle Twemlow stood, as he left off speaking, just before
the shoulder of Carne’s horse, ready to receive a blow, if
offered, but without preparation for returning it. But
Carne, for many good reasons—which occurred to his mind
long afterwards—controlled his fury, and consoled his
self-respect by repaying in kind the contempt he re-
ceived,
‘“ Well done, Mr. Savage!” he said, with a violent effort
to look amiable. ‘‘ You and I are accustomed to the oppo-
site extremes of society, and the less we meet, the better.
When a barbarian insults me, 1 take it as a foul word from
a clodhopper, which does not hurt me, but may damage his
own self-respect, if he cherishes such an illusion. Perhaps
you will allow me to ride on, while you curb your very nat-
ural curiosity about a civilized gentleman.”
Twemlow made no answer, but looked at him with a gen-
tle pity, which infuriated Carne more than the keenest in-
sult. He lashed his horse, and galloped down the hill,
while his cousin stroked his beard, and looked after him
with sorrow.
‘‘Kverything goes against me now,” thought Caryl Carne,
while he put up his horse and set off for the Admiral’s
Roundhouse. ‘‘I want to be cool as a cucumber, and that
insolent villain has made pepper of me. What devil sent
him here at such a time.” ,
For the moment it did not cross his mind that this man
of lofty rudeness was the long-expected lover of Faith Dar-
ling, and therefore in some sort entitled to a voice about
the doings of the younger sister. By many quiet sneers, ©
and much expressive silence, he had set the brisk Dolly up
against the quiet Faith, as a man who understands fowl
nature can set even two young pullets pulling each other’s
hackles out.
‘‘So you are come at last!” said Dolly. ‘‘No one who
knows me keeps me waiting, because I am not accustomed
425 SPRINGHAVEN. ‘
to it, I expect to be called for at any moment, by matters
of real importance—not like this.”
‘‘Your mind is a little disturbed,” replied Carne, as he
took her hand and kissed it, with less than the proper rapt-
ure; ‘‘is it because of the brown and hairy man just re-
turned from Africa ?”
‘‘Not altogether. But that may be something. He is
not a man to be laughed at. I wish you could have seen
my sister.”
‘‘T would rather see you; and I have no love of savages.
He is my first cousin, and that affords me a domestic right to
object to him. Asa brother-in-law I will have none of him.”
‘“You forget,” answered Dolly, with a flash of her old
spirit, which he was subduing too heavily, ‘‘that a matter
of that sort depends upon us, and our father, and not upon
the gentlemen. If the gentlemen don’t like it, they can
always go away.”
‘*How can they go, when they are chained up like a dog?
Women may wander from this one to that, because they
have nothing to bind them; but a man is of steadfast ma-
terial.”
‘‘Erle Twemlow is, at any rate—though it is hard to see
his material through his hair; but that must come off, and
I mean to do it. He is the best-natured man I have ever
yet known, except one; and that one had got nothing to
shave. Men never seem to understand about their hair, and
the interest we feel concerning it. But it does not matter
very much compared to their higher principles.” :
‘‘That is where I carry every vote, of whatever sex you
please” —Carne saw that this girl must be humoured for the
moment. ‘‘Anybody can see what I am. Straightfor-
ward, and ready to show my teeth. Why should an honest
man live in a bush 2”
‘‘FWaith, likes it very much; though she always used to
say that it did seem so unchristian. Could you manage
to come and meet him, Caryl? We shall have a little din-
ner on Saturday, I believe, that every one may see Erle
Twemlow. His beloved parents will be there, who are
gone quite wild about him. Father will be at home for
once; and the Marquis of Southdown, and some officers, and
Captain Stubbard and his wife will come, and perhaps my
brother Frank, who admires you so much. You shall have
an invitation in the morning.”
‘‘Such delights are not for me,” Carne answered, with a
SPRINGHAVEN. 429
superior smile; “‘unhappily my time is tooimportant. But
perhaps these festivities will favour me with the chance
of a few words with my darling. How I long to see her,
and how little chance I get!”
‘* Because, when you get it, you spend three quarters of
the time in arguing, and the rest in finding fault. I am
sure I go as far as anybody can; and -I won’t take you into
my father’s Roundhouse, because I don’t think it would be
proper.”
‘‘Ladies alone understand such subjects; and a gentle-
man is thankful that they do. I am quite content to be
outside the Roundhouse—so called because it is square, per-
haps—though the wind is gone back to the east again, as it
always does now in an English summer, according to a man
who has studied the subject—Zebedee Tugwell, the captain
of the fleet. Dolly, beloved, and most worthy to be more
so, clear your bright mind from all false impressions, whose
only merit is that they are yours, and allow it to look
clearly at a matter of plain sense.”
She was pleased to have compliments paid to her mind,
even more than to her body—because there was no doubt
about the merits of the latter—and she said: ‘‘ That is very
nice. Go on.” |
‘* Well, beauty, you know that I trust you in everything,
because of your very keen discretion, and freedom from
stupid little prejudice. Ihave been surprised at times, when
I thought of it in your absence, that any one so young,
who has never been through any course of political econ-
omy, should be able to take such a clear view of subjects
which are far beyond the intellect of even the oldest la-
dies. But it must be your brother; no doubt he has helped
you to—”
‘“Not he!” cried the innocent Dolly, with fine pride;
‘‘T rather look down upon his reasoning powers; though I
never could make such a pretty tink of rhymes—like the
bells of the sheep when the ground is full of turnips.”
‘“He approves of your elevated views,” said Carne, look-
ing as grave as a crow at a church clock; ‘‘they may not
have come from him, because they are your own, quite as
much as his poetry is his. But he perceives their truth,
and he knows that they must prevail. Ina year or two
we shall be wondering, sweet Dolly, when you and I sit side
by side, as the stupid old King and Queen do now, that it
ever has been possible for narrow-minded nonsense to pre-
430. SPRINGHAVEN.
vail as it did until we rose above it. We shall be admired
as the benefactors, not of this country only, but of the
whole world.”
Miss Dolly was fairly endowed with common-sense, but
often failed to use it. She would fain have said now,
‘“That sounds wonderfully fine; but what does it mean,
and how are we to work it?” But unluckily she could not
bring herself to say it. And when millions are fooled by
the glibness of one man—even in these days of wisdom—
who can be surprised at a young maid’s weakness ?
‘You wish me to help you in some way,” she said;
‘‘your object is sure to be good; and you trust me in ev-
erything, because of my discretion. Then why not tell me
everything ?”
‘You know everything,” Carne replied, with a smile of
affection and sweet reproach. ‘‘My object is the largest
that a man can have; and until I saw you, there was not
the least taint of self-interest in my proceedings. But now
it is not for the universe alone, for the grandeur of human-
ity, and the triumph of peace, that I have to strive, but
also for another little somebody, who has come—I am
ashamed to say—to outweigh all the rest in the balance
of my too tender heart.”
This was so good, and so well delivered, that the lady
of such love could do no less than vouchsafe a soft hand
and a softer glance, instead of pursuing hard reason.
‘‘ Beauty, it is plain enough to you, though it might.
not be so to stupid people,” Carne continued, as he pressed
her hand, and vanquished the doubt of her inquiring eyes
with the strength of his resolute gaze, ‘‘ that bold measures
are sometimes the only wise ones. Many English girls
would stand aghast to hear that it was needful for the good
of England that a certain number, a strictly limited number,
of Frenchmen should land upon this coast.”
‘*T should rather think they would!” cried Dolly; “‘ and
I would be one of them—you may be quite sure of that.”
‘“For a moment you might, until you came to under-
stand.” Carne’s voice always took a silver tone when his
words were big with roguery; as the man who is touting
for his neighbour’s bees strikes the frying-pan softly at first,
to tone the pulsations of the murmuring mob. ‘‘ But every
safeguard and every guarantee that can be demanded by the
widest prudence will be afforded before a step is taken. In
plain truth, a large mind is almost shocked at such deference
SPRINGHAVEN. 431
to antique prejudice. But the feelings of old women must
be considered; and our measures are fenced with such se-
curities that even the most timid must be satisfied. There
must be a nominal landing, of course, of a strictly limited
number, and they must be secured for a measurable period
from any ill-judged interruption. But the great point of
all is to have no blood-guiltiness, no outbreak of fanatic
natives against benefactors coming in the garb of peace. A
truly noble offer of the olive-branch must not be misinter-
preted. It is the finest idea that has ever been conceived ;
and no one possessing a liberal*mind can help admiring the
perfection of this plan. For the sake of this country, and
the world, and ourselves, we must contribute our little
share, darling.”
Carne, with the grace of a lofty protector, as well as
the face of an ardent lover, drew the bewildered maiden
towards him, and tenderly kissed her pretty forehead, hold-
ing up his hand against all protest.
‘*Tt is useless to dream of drawing back,” he continued ;
‘“my beauty and my poor outcast self are in the same boat,
and must sail on to suecess—such success as there never has
been before, because it will bless the whole world, as well as
Secure our own perfect happiness. You will be more than
the Queen of England. Statues of you will be set up every-
where; and where could the sculptors find such another
model? I may count upon your steadfast heart, I know,
and your wonderful quickness of perception.”
‘Yes, if I could only see that everything was right. But
I feel that I ought to consult somebody of more experience
in such things. My father, for instance, or my brother
Frank, or even Mr. Twemlow, or perhaps Captain Stubbard.”
‘Tf you had thought of it a little sooner, and allowed me
time to reason with them,” Carne rephed, with a candid
smile, ‘‘that would have been the very thing I should have
wished, as taking a great responsibility from me. But alas,
it would be fatal now. The main object now is to remove
all chance of an ill-judged conflict, which would rum all
good feeling, and cost many valuable lives, perhaps even
that of your truly gallant father. No, my Dolly, you must
not open your beautiful lips to any one. The peace and
happiness of the world depend entirely upon your discretion.
All will be arranged to a nicety, and a happy result is cer-
tain. Only I must see you about some small points, as well
as to satisfy my own craving. On Saturday you have
432 SPRINGHAVEN.
that dinner-party, when somebody will sit by your side in-
stead of me. How miserably jealous I shall be! When the
gentlemen are at their wine, you must console me by slip-
ping away from the ladies, and coming to the window of
the little room where your father keeps his papers. I shall
quit everything and watch there for you among the shrubs,
when it grows dark enough.”’ .
CHAPTER LVIL.
BELOW THE LINE.
OF the British Admirals then on duty, Collingwood alone,
so far as now appears, had any suspicion of Napoleon’s real
plan.
‘‘T have always had an idea that Ireland alone was the
object they have in view,” he wrote in July, 1805, ‘‘and still
believe that to be their ultimate destination—that they [7. e.,
the Toulon fleet] will now liberate the Ferrol squadron from
Calder, make the round of the bay, and, taking the Roche-
fort people with them, appear off Ushant, perhaps with thirty-
four sail, there to be joined by twenty more. Cornwallis
collecting his out-squadrons may have thirty and upwards.
This appears to be a probable plan; for unless it is to bring
their great fleets and armies to some point of service—some
rash attempt at conquest—they have been only subjecting
them to chance of loss; which I do not believe the Corsican
would do, without the hope of an adequate reward. This
summer is big with events.”
This was written to Lord Nelson upon his return to Europe,
after chasing that Toulon fleet to the West Indies and back
again. And a day or two later the same Vice-Admiral
wrote to his friend very clearly, as before:
‘“Truly glad will I be to see you, and to give you my best
opinion on the present state of affairs, which are in the high-
est degree intricate. But reasoning on the policy of the
present French Government, who never aim at little things
while great objects are in view, I have considered the inva-
sion of Ireland as the real mark and butt of all their opera-
tions. The flight to the West Indies was to take off the naval
force, which is the great impediment to their undertaking.
The Rochefort squadron’s return confirmed me. I think
they will now collect their force at Ferrol—which Calder
SPRINGHAVEN. 433
tells me is in motion—pick up those at Rochefort, who, I
am told, are equally ready, and will make them above thirty
sail; and then, without going near Ushant or the Channel
fleet, proceed to Ireland. Detachments must go from the
Channel fleet to succour Ireland, when the Brest fleet —
twenty-one I believe of them—will sail, either to another
part of Ireland, or up the Channel—a sort of force that has
not been seen in those seas, perhaps ever.”
Lord Nelson just lately had suffered so much from the
disadvantage of not ‘‘following his own head, and so being
much more correct in judgment than following the opinion
of others,” that lis head was not at all in a receptive state;
and like all who have doubted about being right, and found
the doubt wrong, he was hardened into the merits of his
own conclusion. ‘‘ Why have I gone on a goose-chase ?”
he asked. ‘‘ Because I have twice as many ears as eyes.”
This being so, he stuck fast to the conviction which he
had nourished all along, that the scheme of invasion was
a sham, intended to keep the British fleet at home, while the
enemy ravaged our commerce and colonies afar. And by
this time the country, grown heartily tired of groundless
alarms and suspended menace, was beginning to view with
contempt a camp that was wearing out its own encamp-
ment. Little was it dreamed in the sweet rose-gardens of
England, or the fragrant hay-fields, that the curl of blue
smoke while the dinner was cooking, the call of milkmaids,
the haymaker’'s laugh, or the whinny of Dobbin between his
mouthfuls, might be turned (ere a man of good appetite was
full) into foreign shouts, and shriek of English maiden,
crackling homestead, and blazing stack-yard, blare of trum-
pets, and roar of artillery, cold flash of steel, and the soft,
warm trickle of a father’s or a husband’s blood.
But the chance of this hung upon a hair just now. One
hundred and sixty thousand soldiers—the finest sons of Mars
that demon has ever yet begotten—fifteen thousand warlike
horses, ready to devour all the oats of England, cannons
that never could be counted (because it was not always safe
to go near them), and ships that no reckoner could get to
the end of, because he was always beginning again.
Who was there now to meet all these? Admiral Darling,
and Captain Stubbard, and Zebedee Tugwell (if he found
them intrusive), and Erle Twemlow, as soon as he got his
things from London. There might be a few more to come
forward, as soon as they saw the necessity; but Mr. John
19
434 SPRINGHAVEN.
Prater could not be relied on—because of the trade he might
expect to drive; Mr. Shargeloes had never turned up again;
and as for poor Cheeseman, he had lost himself so entirely
now that he made up the weight of a pound of sausages,
in the broad summer light, with a tallow candle. Like oth-
ers concerned in this history, he had jumped at the stars,
and cracked his head against a beam, in manner to be re-
corded.
The country being destitute thus of defenders—for even
Stubbard’s battery was not half manned, because it had
never been wanted—the plan of invasion was thriving well,
in all but one particular. The fleet under Villeneuve was
at large, so was that under Lallemand, who had superseded
Missiessy, so was the force of Gravina and another Spanish
admiral; but Ganteaume had failed to elude the vigilance
of that hero of storms, Cornwallis. Napoleon arrived at
Boulogne on the 8rd of August, and reviewed his troops,
in a line on the beach some eight miles long. A finer sight
he had never seen, and he wrote in his pride: ‘‘ The English
know not what is hanging over their ears. If we are mas-
ters of the passage for twelve hours, England is conquered.”
But all depended on Villeneuve, and happily he could not
depend upon his nerves.
Meanwhile the young man who was charged with a mes-
sage which he would gladly have died to discharge was far
away, eating out his heart in silence, or vainly relieving it
with unknown words. At the last gasp, or after he ceased
to gasp for the time, and was drifting insensible, but happily
with his honest face still upward, a Dutchman, keeping a
sharp lookout for English cruisers, espied him. He was
taken on board of a fine bark bound from Rotterdam for
Java, with orders to choose the track least infested by that
ravenous shark Britannia. Scudamore was treated with
the warmest kindness and the most gentle attention, for the
captain’s wife was on board, and her tender heart was moved
with compassion. Yet even so, three days passed by, with
no more knowledge of time on his part than the face of a
clock has of its hands; and more than a week was gone be-
fore both body and mind were in tone and tune again. By
that time the stout Dutch bark, having given a wide berth to
the wakes of war, was forty leagues west of Cape Finisterre,
under orders to touch no land short of the Cape, except for
fresh water at St. Jago.
Blyth Scudamore was blest with that natural feeling of
SPRINGHAVEN. 435
preference for one’s own kin and country which the much
larger minds of the present period flout, and scout as bar-
barous. Happily our periodical blight is expiring, like
cuckoo-spit, in its own bubbles; and the time is returning
when the bottle-blister will not be accepted as the good ripe
peach. Scudamore was of the times that have been (and
perhaps may be coming again, in the teeth and the jaw of
universal suffrage), of resolute, vigorous, loyal people, hold-
ing fast all that God gives them, and declining to be led by
the tail, by a gentleman who tacked their tail on as his
handle.
This certainty of belonging still to a firm and substantial
race of men (whose extinction would leave the world nothing
to breed from) made the gallant Scudamore so anxious to do
his duty that he could not do it. Why do we whistle to a
horse overburdened with a heavy load uphill? That his
mind may grow tranquil, and his ears train forward, his
eyes lose their nervous contraction, and a fine sense of lei-
sure pervade him. But if he has a long hill to surmount,
with none to restrain his ardour, the sense of duty grows
stronger than any consideration of his own good, and the
best man has not the conscience needful to understand half
his emotions.
Thus the sense of duty kept Blyth Scudamore full of mis-
ery. Every day carried him further from the all-impor-
tant issues; and the-chance of returning in time grew faint,
and fainter at every sunset. The kindly Dutchman and his
wife were aware of some burden on his mind, because of
its many groaning sallies while astray from judgment. But
as soon as his wits were clear again, and his body fit to sec-
ond them, Blyth saw that: he could not crave their help
against the present interests of their own land. Holland
was at enmity with England, not of its own accord, but
under the pressure of the man who worked so hard the
great Kuropean mangle. Captain Van Oort had picked up
some English, and his wife could use tongue and ears in
French, while Scudamore afforded himself and them some
little diversion by attempts in Dutch. Being of a wonder-
fully happy nature—for happiness is the greatest wonder in
this world—he could not help many a wholesome laugh, in
spite of all the projects of Napoleon.
Little things seldom jump into bigness till a man sets his
microscope at them. According to the everlasting harmo-
nies, Blyth had not got a penny, because he had not got
436 SPRINGHAVEN.
a pocket to put it in. A pocketful of money would have
sent him to the bottom of the sea, that breezy April night,
when he drifted for hours, with eyes full of salt, twinkling
feeble answer to the twinkle of the stars. But he had made
himself light of his little cash left,in his preparation for a
slow decease, and perhaps the fish had paid tribute with it
to the Ceesar of this Millennium. Captain Van Oort was
a man of his inches in length, but in breadth about one
third more, being thickened and spread by the years that do
this to a body containing a Christian mind. ‘You will
never get out of them,” said Mrs. Van Oort, when he got
into her husband’s large smallelothes; but he who had often
jumped out of a tub felt no despair about jumping out of
two. In every way Scudamore hoped for the best—which
is the only right course for a man who has done his own
best, and is helpless.
Keeping out of the usual track of commerce, because of
the privateers and other pests of war waylaying it, they met
no sail of either friend or foe until they cast anchor at St.
Jago. Here there was no ship bound for England, and lit-
tle chance of finding one, for weeks or perhaps for months
to come. The best chance of getting home lay clearly in
going yet farther away from home, and so he stuck to the
good ship still, and they weighed for the Cape on-the 12th
of May. Everything set against poor Scuddy—wind, and
wave, and the power of man. It had been the 16th of April
when he was rescued from the devouring sea; some days
had been spent by the leisurely Dutchman in providing
fresh supplies, and the stout bark’s favourite maxim seemed
to be, ‘‘the more haste the less speed.” Baffling winds and
a dead calm helped to second this philosophy, and the first
week of June was past before they swung to their moorings
in Table Bay.
‘“What chance is there now of my doing any good 2” the
young Englishman asked himself, bitterly. ‘‘This place is
again in the hands of the Dutch, and the English ships
stand clear of it, or only receive supplies by stealth. Iam
friendless here, I am penniless; and worst of all, if I even
get a passage home, there will be no home left. Too late!
too late! What use is there in striving ?”
Tears stood in his blue eyes, which were gentle asa lady’s;
and his forehead (usually calm and smooth and ready for the
flicker of a very pleasant smile) was as grave and deter-
mined as the brow of Caryl Carne. Captain Van Oort
SPRINGHAVEN. 437
would have lent him five hundred guilders with the greatest
pleasure, but Scudamore would not take more than fifty, to
support him until he could obtain a ship. Then with hearty
good-will, and lifelong faith in each other, the two men part-
ed, and Scudamore’s heart was uncommonly low—for a sub-
stance that was not a *‘Jack-in-the-box’—as he watched
from the shore the slow fading into dreamland of the Kat-
terina.
Nothing except patriotic feeling may justify a man, who
has done no harm, in long-continued misery. The sense
of violent bodily pain, or of perpetual misfortune, or of the
baseness of all in whom he trusted, and other steady influx
of many-fountained sorrow, may wear him for a time, and
even fetch his spirit lower than the more vicarious woe can
do. But the firm conviction that the family of man to which
one belongs, and is proud of belonging, has fallen into the
hands of traitors, eloquent liars, and vile hypocrites, and
cannot escape without crawling in the dust—this produces
a large, deep gloom, and a crushing sense of doom beyond
philosophy. Scudamore could have endured the loss and
the disillusion of his love—pure and strong as that power
had been—but the ruin of his native land would turn his
lively heart into a lump of stone.
For two or three days he roved about among the people
of the water -side—boatmen, pilots, shipping agents, store-
keepers, stevedores, crimps, or any others likely to know
anything to help him. Some of these could speak a little
English, and many had some knowledge of French; but all
shook their heads at his eagerness to get to England. ‘* You
may wait weeks, or you may wait months,” said the one who
knew most of the subject; ‘‘ we are very jealous of the Eng-
lish ships. That country swallows up the sea so. It has
been forbidden to supply the English ships ; but for plenty
money it is done sometimes; but the finger must be placed
upon the nose, and upon the two eyes what you call the
guinea ; and in six hours where are they? Swallowed up
by the mist from the mountain. No, sir! If you have the
ereat money, it is very difficult. But if you have not that,
it is impossible.”
‘‘T have not the great money; and the little money also
has escaped from a quicksand in the bottom of my pocket.”
‘‘Then you will never get to England, sir,” this gentle-
man answered, pleasantly; ‘‘and unless I have been told
things too severely, the best man that lives had better not
438: SPRINGHAVEN.
oo there, without a rock of gold in his pocket grand enough
to fill a thousand quicksands.”’
Scudamore lifted the relics of his hat, and went in search
of some other Job’s comforter. Instead of a passage to Eng-
land, he saw in a straight line before him the only journey
which a mortal may take without paying his fare.
To save himself from this gratuitous tour, he earned a
little money in a porter’s gang, till his quick step roused
the indignation of the rest. With the loftiest perception
of the rights of man, they turned him out of that employ-
ment (for the one ‘‘sacred principle of labour” is to play),
and he, understanding now the nature of democracy, per-
ceived that of all its many short-cuts to starvation, the one
with the fewest elbows to it is—to work.
While he was meditating upon these points—which per-
sons of big words love to call ‘* questions of political econo-
my ’—his hat, now become a patent ventilator, sat according
to ren on the back of his head. exposing his large, calm
forehead, and the kind honesty of his countenance. Then
he started’ a little, for his nerves were not quite as strong
as when they had good feeding, at the sudden sense of being
scrutinized by the most piercing gaze he had ever encoun-
tered.
The stranger was an old man of tall, spare frame, wearing
a shovel-hat and long black gown drawn in with a belt,
and around his bare neck was a steel chain supporting an
ebony cross. With asmile, which displayed the firm angles
of his face, he addressed the young man in a language which
Scudamore could not understand, but believed to be Port-
uguese.
‘“Thy words I am not able to understand. But the Latin
tongue, as it is pronounced in England, I am able to inter-
pret, and to speak, not too abundantly.” Scudamore spoke
the best Latin he could muster at a moment’s notice, for he
saw that this gentleman was a Catholic priest, and probably
therefore of good education.
‘‘Art thou, then, an Englishman, my son 2?” the stranger
replied, in the same good tongue. ‘‘ From thy countenance
and walk that opinion stood fast in my mind at first sight
of thee. Every Englishman is to me beloved, and every
Frenchman unfriendly—-as many, at least, as now govern
the state. Father Bartholomew is my name, and though
most men here are heretical, among the faithful I avail suf-
ficiently. What saith the great Venusian? ‘In straitened
SPRINGHAVEN. 439
fortunes quit thyself as a man of spirit and of mettle.’ I
find thee in straitened fortunes, and would gladly enlarge
thee, if that which thou art doing is pleasing to the God om-
nipotent.”’ .
_ After a few more words, he led the hapless and hungry
Englishman to a quiet little cot which overlooked the noble
bay, and itself was overlooked by a tall flag-staff bearing
the colours of Portugal. Here, in the first place, he regaled
his guest with the flank of a kid served with cucumber, and
fruit gathered early, and some native wine, scarcely good
enough for the Venusian bard, but as rich as ambrosia to
Scudamore. Then he supplied him with the finest tobacco
that ever ascended in spiral incense to the cloud-compelling
Jove. Atevery soft puff, away flew the blue-devils, pagan,
or Christian, or even scientific ; and the brightness of the
sleep-forbidden eyes returned, and the sweetness of the smile
so long gone hence in dread of trespass. Father Barthol-
omew, neither eating, drinking, nor smoking, till the sun
should set—for this was one of his fast-days—was heartily
- pleased with his guest’s good cheer, and smiled with the
large benevolence which a lean face expresses with more
decision than a plump and jolly one. ‘And now, my son,”
he began again, in Latin more fluent and ciassical than the
sailor could compass after Cicero thrown by, ‘‘ thou hast re-
turned thanks to Almighty God, for which I the more es-
teem thee. Oblige me, therefore, if it irk thee not, among
smoke of the genial Nicotium, by telling thy tale, and ex-
plaining what hard necessity hath driven thee to these dis-
tant shores. Fear not, for thou seest a lover of England,
and hater of France the infidel.”
Then Scudamore, sometimes hesitating and laughing at
his own bad Latin, told as much of his story as was need-
ful, striving especially to make clear the importance of his
swift return, and his fear that even so it would be too late.
‘‘Man may believe himself too late, but the Lord ariseth
early,” the good priest answered, with a smile of courage
refreshing the heart of the Englishman. ‘‘ Behold how the
hand of the Lord is steadfast over those who serve him!
To-morrow I might have been far away; to-day I am in
time to help thee. Whilst thou wert feeding, I received
the signal of a swift ship for Lisbon, whose captain is my
friend, and would neglect nothing to serve me. This night
he will arrive, and with favourable breezes, which have set
in this morning, he shall spread his sails again to-morrow,
440 SPRINGHAVEN.
though he meant to linger perhaps for three days. Be of
good cheer, my son; thou shalt sail to-morrow. I will
supply thee with all that is needful, and thank God for a
privilege so great. Thou shalt have money as well for the
passage from Lisbon to England, which is not long. Re-
member in thy prayers—for thou art devout—that old man,
Father Bartholomew.”
CHAPTER LVIII.
IN EARLY MORN.
ONE Saturday morning in the month of August, an hour
and a half before sunrise, Carne walked down to the big
yew-tree, which stood far enough from the brink of the cliff
to escape the salt, and yet near enough to command an ex-
tensive sea-view. This was the place where the young shoe-
maker, belonging to the race of Shanks, had been scared so
sadly that he lost his sweetheart, some two years and a half
ago; and this was the tree that had been loved by painters,
especially the conscientious Sharples, a pupil of Romney,
who studied the nicks and the tricks of the bole, and the
many fantastic frets of time, with all the loving care which
insured the truth of his simple and powerful portraits. But
Sharples had long been away in the West; and Carne, hav-
ing taste for no art except his own, had despatched his dog
Orso, the fiercer of the pair, at the only son of a brush who
had lately made ready to encamp against that tree; upon
which he decamped, and went over the cliff, with a loss of
much personal property.
The tree looked ghostly in the shady light, and gaunt
armstretch of departing darkness, going as if it had not slept
its sleep out. Now was the time when the day is afraid of
coming, and the night unsure of going, and a large reluc-
tance to acknowledge any change keeps everything waiting
for another thing to move. What is the use of light and
shadow, the fuss of the morning, and struggle for the sun ?
_ Fair darkness has filled all the gaps between them, and why
should they be sever’d into single life again? For the
gladness of daybreak is not come yet, nor the pleasure of
seeing the way again, the lifting of the darkness leaves heav-
iness beneath it, and if arashly early bird flops down upon the
grass, he cannot count his distance, but quivers like a moth.
SPRINGHAVEN. 441
‘*Pest on this abominable early work!” muttered Carne
with a yawn, as he groped his way through the deep gloom
of black foliage, and entered the hollow of the ancient trunk;
‘‘itis all very well for sailors, but too hard upon a quiet gen-
tleman. Very likely that fellow won't come for two hours.
What acursed uncomfortable, maggoty place! But Dll have
out the sleep he has robbed me of.” He stretched his long
form on the rough bench inside, gathered his cloak around
him, and roused the dull echo of the honey-combed hollow
with long, loud snores.
‘‘ Awake, my vigilant commander, and behold me! Hap-
py are the landsmen, to whom the stars bring sleep. I have
not slept for three nights, and the fruits are here for you.”
It was the lively voice of Renaud Charron; and the rosy
fan of the dawn, unfolded over the sea and the gray rocks,
glanced with a flutter of shade into the deep-ribbed tree.
Affecting a lofty indifference, Carne, who had a large sense
of his own dignity, rose slowly and came out into the better
light. ‘‘Sit down, my dear friend,” he said, taking the
sealed packet; ‘‘ there is bread and meat here, and a bottle
of good Magon. You are nearly always hungry, and you
must be starved now.”
Charron perceived that his mouth was offered employ-
ment at the expense of his eyes; but the kernel of the matter
was his own already, and he smiled to himself at the mys-
tery of his chief. ‘'In this matter, I should implore the
tree to crush me, if my father were an Englishman,” he
thought; ‘“‘but every one to his taste; it is no affair of
mine.” Just as he was getting on good terms with his
refreshment, Carne came back, and watched him with a pat-
ronizing’ smile.
‘*'You are the brother of my toil,” he said, ‘Sand I will
tell you as much as it is good for you to know. A few
hours now will complete our enterprise. Napoleon is at
Boulogne again, and even he can scarcely restrain the rush
of the spirits he has provoked. The first Division is on
board already, with a week’s supplies, and a thousand horses,
ready to sail when a hand is held up. The hand will be
held up at my signal, and that I shall trust you to convey
to-night, as soon as I have settled certain matters. Where
is that sullen young Tugwell? What have you done with
him 2” |
‘Wonderfully clever is your new device, my friend,”
Charron replied, after a long pull at the bottle. ‘‘To van-
19%
442 SPRINGHAVEN.
quish the mind by a mind superior is a glory of high reason ;
but to let it remain in itself and compel it to perform what
is desired by the other, is a stroke of genius. And under
your pharmacy he must do it—that has been proved al-
ready. The idea was grand, very noble, magnificent. It
never would have shown itself to my mind.”
‘“Probably not. When that has been accomplished, we
will hang him for a traitor. But, my dear friend, I have
sad news for you, even in this hour of triumph. The lady
of your adoration, the Admiral’s eldest daughter, Faith, has
recovered the man for whom she has waited four years, and
she means to marry him. The father has given his consent,
and her pride is beyond description. She has long loved a
mystery—what woman can help it? And now she has one
for life, a husband eclipsed in his own hair. My Renaud,
all rivalry is futile. Your hair, alas, is quite short and
scanty. But this man has discovered in Africa a nut which
turns a man into the husk of himself. No wonder that he
came out of the sea all dry!”
‘Tush! he is a pig. It is a pig that finds the nuts. I
will be the butcher for that long pig, and the lady will rush
into the arms of conquest. Then will I possess all the Ad-
miral’s lands, and pursue the fine chase of the rabbits. And
I will give dinners, such dinners, my faith! Ha! that is
excellent said—embrace me—my Faith will sit at the right
side of the table, and explain to the English company that
such dinners could proceed from nobody except a French
gentleman commingling all the knowledge of the joint with.
the loftier conception of the hash, the mince—the what you
eall? Ah, you have no name for it, because you do not
know the proper thing. Then, in the presence of admiring
Englishmen, I will lean back in my chair, the most comfort-
able chair that can be found—”
‘‘Stop. You have got to get into it yet,” Carne inter-
rupted, rudely ; ‘‘and the way to do that is not to lean back
init. The fault of your system has always been that you
want to enjoy everything before you get it.”
‘And of yours,” retorted Charron, beginning to imbibe
the pugnacity of an English landlord, ‘‘ that when you have
got everything, you will enjoy what? Nothing!”
‘“Even a man of your levity hits the nail on the head
sometimes,” said Carne, ‘‘ though the blow cannot be a very
heavy one. . Nature has not fashioned me for enjoyment,
and therefore affords me very little. But some little I do
-
»
SPRINGHAVEN. 443
expect in the great inversion coming, in the upset of the
scoundrels who have fattened on my flesh, and stolen my
land, to make country gentlemen—if it were possible—of
themselves. It will take a large chimney to burn their title-
deeds, for the robbery has lasted for a century. But I hold
the great Emperor’s process signed for that; and if you
come to my cookery, you will say that I am capable of en-
joyment. Fighting I enjoy not, as hot men do, nor guz-
zling, hor swigging, nor singing of songs; for all of which
you have a talent, my friend. But, the triumph of quiet
skill I like; and I love to turn the balance on my enemies.
Of these there are plenty, and among them all who live in
that fishy little hole down there.”’
Carne pointed, contemptuously at Springhaven, that poor
little village in the valley. But the sun had just lifted lis
impartial face above the last highland that baulked lis con-
templation of the home of so many and great virtues; and
in the brisk moisture of his early salute the village in the
vale looked lovely. For a silvery mist was flushed with
rose, like a bridal veil warmed by the blushes of the bride,
and the curves of the land, like adewy palm leaf, shone and
sank alternate.
‘‘ What a rare blaze they will make!” continued Carne,
as the sunlight glanced along the russet thatch, and the blue
smoke arose from the earliest chimney. ‘‘ Every cottage
there shall be a bonfire, because it has cast off allegiance to
me. The whole race of Darling will be at my merey—the
pompous old Admiral, who refused to call on me till his
idiot of a son persuaded him—that wretched poetaster, who
reduced me to the ignominy of reading his own rubbish to
him—and the haughty young woman that worships a savage
who has treated me with insult. I have them all now in
the hollow of my hand, and a thorough good crumpling is
prepared for them. The first house to burn shall be Zebedee
Tugwell’s, that conceited old dolt of a fishing fellow, who
gives me a nod of suspicion, instead of pulling off his dirty
hat tome. Then we blow up the church, and old Twem-
low’s house, and the Admiral’s, when we have done with it.
The fishing-fleet, as they call their wretched tubs, will come
home, with the usual fuss, to-night, and on Monday it shall
be ashes. How like you my programme? Is it complete?”
‘“Too much, too much complete; too barbarous,” answered
the kindly hearted Frenchman. ‘‘ What harm have all the
poor men done to you?) And what insanity to provoke ene-
444 SPRINGHAVEN.
mies of the people all around who would bring us things to
eat! And worse—if the houses are consumed with fire,
where will be the revenue that is designed for me, as the
fair son of the Admiral? No, no; I will allow none of that.
When the landing is made, you will not be my master.
Soult will have charge of the subjects inferior, and he is not
a man of rapine. To him will I address myself in favour
of the village. ‘Thus shall I ascend in the favour of my
charming, and secure my property.”
‘‘Captain, I am your master yet, and I will have no in-
terference. No more talk; but obey me to the letter. There
is no sign of any rough weather, I suppose? You sailors
see things which we do not observe.”
‘“This summer has not been of fine weather, and the sky is
always changing here. But there is not any token of a tem-
pest now. Though there is a little prospect of rain always.”
‘‘Tf it rains, all the better, for it obscures the sea. You
have fed enough now to last even you till the evening; or
if not, you can take some with you. Remain to the west-
ward, where the cliffs are higher, and look out especially for
British ships of war that may be appearing up Channel.
Take this second spy-glass; it is quite strong enough. But
first of all tell Perkins to stand off again with the pilot-boat,
as if he were looking out for a job, and if he sees even a
frigate coming eastward, to run back and let you know by
a signal arranged between you. Dan Tugwell, I see, was
shipped yesterday on board of Prame No. 801, a very handy
vessel, which will lead the van, and five hundred will fol-
low in her track on Sunday evening. My excellent uncle
will be at the height of his eloquence just when his favourite
Sunday-school boy is bringing an addition to his congrega-
tion. But the church shall not be blown up until Monday,
for fear of premature excitement. By Monday night about
two hundred thousand such soldiers as Britain could never
produce will be able to quell any childish excitement such
as Great Britain is apt to give way to.” |
‘‘ But what is for me, this same Saturday night? I like
very much to make polite the people, and to marry the most
beautiful and the richest; but not to kill more than there is
to be helped.”
‘‘The breaking of the egg may cut the fingers that have
been sucked till their skin is gone. You have plagued me
all along with your English hankerings, which in your post
of trust are traitorous.”
SPRINGHAVEN. 445
Charron was accustomed to submit to the infinitely
stronger will of Carne. Moreover, his sense of discipline
often checked the speed of his temper. But he had never
been able to get rid of a secret contempt for his superior, as
a traitor to the race to which he really belonged, at least in
the Frenchman’s opinion. And that such a man should
charge him with treachery was more than his honest. soul
could quite endure, and his quick face flushed with indigna-
tion as he spoke:
‘*Your position, my commander, does not excuse such.
words. You shall answer for them, when I am discharged -
from your command; which, I hope, will be the case next
week. To be spoken of as a traitor by you is very grand.”
‘‘Take it as you please,” Carne replied, with that cold,
contemptuous smile which the other detested. ‘‘ For the
present, however, you will not be grand, but carry out the
orders which I give you. As soon as it 1s dark, you will
return, keep the pilot-boat in readiness for my last despatch,
with which you will meet the frigate Torche about mid-
night, as arranged on Thursday. All that and the signals
you already understand. Wait for me by this tree, and I
may go with you; but that will depend upon circumstances.
I will take good care that you shall not be kept starving;
for you may have to wait here three or four hours for me.
But be sure that you do not go until I come.”
‘‘ But what am I to do if I have seen some British ships,
or Perkins kas given me token of them ?”
‘*Observe their course, and learn where they are likely to
be at nightfall. There will probably be none. All I fear
is that they may intercept the Torche. Farewell, my friend,
and let your sense of duty subdue the small sufferings of
temper.”
CHAPTER LIX.
NEAR OUR SHORES.
‘‘THIS is how it is,” said Captain Tugwell, that same day,
to Erle Twemlow: ‘‘the folk they goes on with a thing, till
a man as has any head left twists it round on his neck, with
his chin looking down his starn-post. Then the enemy
cometh, with his spy-glass and his guns, and afore he can
look round, he hath nothing left to look for.”
‘‘Then you think, Tugwell, that the danger is not over?
=
446 SPRINGHAVEN.
—that the French mean business even now, when every one
is tired of hearing of it? I have been away so long that I
know nothing. But the universal opinion is—”
‘‘Opinion of the universe be dashed!” Master Zebedee an-
swered, with a puff of smoke. ‘‘ We calls ourselves the uni-
verse, when we be the rope that drags astarn of it. Cappen,
to my mind there is mischief in the wind, more than there
hath been for these three years; and that’s why you see me
here, instead of going with the smacks. Holy Scripture
saith a dream cometh from the Lord; leastways, to a man
of sense, as hardly ever dreameth. The wind was so bad
again us, Monday afternoon, that we put off sailing till the
Tuesday, and Monday night I lay on my own bed, without
a thought of nothing but to sleep till five o'clock. I hadn’t
taken nothing but a quart of John Prater’s ale—and you
know what his measures is—not a single sip of grog; but
the Hangel of the Lord he come and stand by me in the
middle of the night. And he took me by the hand, or if he
didn’t it come to the same thing of my getting there, and he
set me up in a dark high place, the like of the yew-tree near
Carne Castle. And then he saith, ‘ Look back, Zeb;’ and I
looked, and behold Springhaven was all afire, like the bot-
tomless pit, or the thunder-storm of Egypt, or the cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah. “And two figures was jumping about
in the flames, like the furnace in the plain of Dura, and one
of them was young Squire Carne, and the other was my son
Daniel, as behaveth below his name. And I called out,
‘Daniel, thou son of Zebedee and Kezia Tugwell, come forth
from the burning fiery furnace;’ but he answered not, nei-
ther heeded me. And then Squire Darling, Sir Charles is
now the name of him, out he come from his Round-house,
and by the white gate above high-water mark, to order out
the fire, because they was all his own cottages. But while
he was going about, as he doth for fear of being hard upon
any one, out jumps Squire Carne, from the thickest of the
blazes, and takes the poor Squire by the forepart of his neck,
which he liketh to keep open when he getteth off of duty,
and away with him into the burning fiery furnace made of
his own houses! That was more than I could put up with,
even under the Hangel, and I give such a kick that Kezia,
though she saith she is the most quietest of women, felt
herself a-foreed to bounce me up.”
‘“A dream of that sort deserves notice,’ answered Erle,
who had passed many months among sailors; ‘Sand over
SPRINGHAVEN. 447
and above that, I see proofs of a foolish security in England,
and of sharp activity in France. Last Monday I was only
five miles from Boulogne, on board of our frigate the Mel-
pomene, for I wanted the captain’s evidence to help me in
my own affairs; and upon my word I was quite amazed at
the massing of the French forces there, and the evident
readiness of their hundreds of troop-ships. Scores of them
even had horses on board, for I saw them quite clearly with
a spy-glass. But the officers only laughed at me, and said
they were tired of seeing that. And another thing I don’t
like at all is the landing of a French boat this side of Peb-
bleridge. Iwas coming home after dark one night, and as
soon as they saw me they pushed off, and pretended to be
English fishermen; but if ever I saw Frenchmen, these were
French; and I believe they had a ship not far away, for I
saw a light shown and then turned off. JI examined the
place in the morning, and saw the footprints of men on a
path up the cliff, as if they had gone inland towards Carne
Castle. When the Admiral came home, I told him of it;
but he seemed to think it was only some smuggling.”
‘“ Ah, there’s smooglin’ of a bad kind over there, to my
belief. I wouldn’t tell your honour not a quarter what I
thinks, because of the young gentleman being near akin to
you. Buta thing or two have come to my ears, very much
again a young squire over that way. A man as will do
what he have done is a black one in some ways; and if —
some, why not in all ?”
‘*Tell me what you mean,” said Twemlow, sternly. ‘‘ Af-
ter saying so much, you are bound to say more. Caryl Carne
is no friend of mine, although he is my cousin. I dislike the
man, though It know but little of him.”
‘‘For sartin then a kind gentleman like you won’t like
him none the better for betraying of a nice young maid as
put her trust in him, as lively and pretty a young maid as
ever stepped, and might have had the pick of all the young
men in the parish.”
‘“What!” exclaimed Erle, with a sudden chill of heart,
for Faith had not concealed from him her anxiety about
Dolly. ‘* Tugwell, do you mean to say—”
** Yes, sir; only you must keep it to yourself, for the
sake of the poor young thing; though too many knows it
already, I’m afeared. And that was how poor Jem Cheese-
man changed from a dapper money-turning man, as pleas-
ant as could be, to a down-hearted, stick-in-doors, honest-
448 SPRINGHAVEN.
weighted fellow. Poor little Polly was as simple as a dove,
and her meant to break none of the Lord’s commandments,
unless it was a sin to look so much above her. He took her
aboard her father’s trading -craft, and made pretence to
marry her across the water, her knowing nothing of the
lingo, to be sure; and then when there come a thumping
boy, and her demanded for the sake of the young ’un that
her marriage should be sartified in the face of all the world,
what does he do but turn round and ask her if she was fool
enough to suppose that a Carne had married a butter-man’s
daughter? With a few words more, she went off of her
head, and have never been right again, they say; and her
father, who was mighty proud to have a grandson heir to
an old ancient castle, he was so took aback with this disap-
pointment that he puzzled all the village, including of me,
as I am free to own, by jumping into his own rope. ’Twas
only now just that I heard all this; and as the captain of
this here place, I shall ask leave of Cheeseman to have it
out with Master Carne, as soon as may be done without
hurting the poor thing. If she had been my child, the rope
should have gone round his neck first, if it come to mine
therearter !”
*' The villain Twemlow used a strong, short word,
without adding heavily, it may be hoped, to the score against
him. ‘‘And to think that all this time he has been daring
to address himself— But never mind that now. It will be
a bad time for him when I catch him by himself, though I
must not speak of Polly. Poor little Polly! what a pretty
child she was! I used to carry sugar-plums on purpose for
her. Good-bye, Tugwell; I must think about all this.”
‘‘And so must I, sir. What a strapping chap ’a be!”
Captain Zebedee continued to himself, as Twemlow strode
away with the light step of a mountain savage, carrying a
long staff from force of habit, and looking even larger than
himself from the flow of chestnut hair and beard around him.
‘Never did see such a hairy chap. Never showed no signs
of it when ’a was a lad, and Miss ’Liza quite smooth in the
front of her neck. Must come of Hottentot climate, I
reckon. They calls it the bush, from the folk been so
bushy. I used to think as my beard was a pretty good ex-
ample; but, Lord bless me and keep me, it would all go on
his nose! If ’a spreadeth that over the face of Squire Carne,
’a will ravish him, as the wicked doth ravish the poor.”
Twemlow had many sad things to consider, and among
1?
—_ ——
SPRINGHAVEN. 449
them the impending loss of this grand mane. After divers
delays, and infinitude of forms, and much evidence of things
self-evident—in the spirit which drove Sir Horatio Nelson
to pin a certificate of amputation to the sleeve of his lost
arm—this Twemlow had established that he was the Twem-
low left behind upon the coast of Africa, and having been
captured in the service of his country, was entitled at least
to restoration. In such a case small liberality was shown
in those days, even as now prevaileth, the object of all in
authority being to be hard upon those who are out of it.
At last, when he was becoming well weary, and nothing but
an Englishman’s love of his country and desire to help in
her dangers prevented him from turning to private pursuits
—wherein he held a key to fortune—he found himself re-
stored to his rank in the Army, and appointed to another
regiment, which happened to be short of officers. Then he
flung to the winds, until peace should return, his prospect of
wealth beyond reckoning, and locked in a black leather
trunk materials worth their weight in diamonds. But, as
life is uncertain, he told his beloved one the secret of his
great discovery, which she, in sweet ignorance of mankind,
regarded as of no importance.
But as wars appear and disappear, nations wax and wane,
and the holiest principles of one age become the scoff of the
next, yet human nature is the same throughout, it would be
wrong to cast no glance—even with the I'rench so near our
shores—at the remarkable discovery of this young man, and
the circumstances leading up to it. For with keen insight
into civilized thought, which yearns with the deepést re-
morse for those blessings which itself has banished, he knew
that he held a master-key to the treasuries of Croesus, My-
cerinus, Attalus, and every other King who has dazzled the
world with his talents. The man who can minister to
human needs may, when he is lucky, earn a little towards
his own; the man who contributes to the pleasure of his
fellows must find reward in his own; but he who can grati-
fy the vanity of his race is the master of their pockets.
Twemlow had been carried from the deadly coast (as be-
fore related by Captain Southcombe) to the mountainous
district far inland, by the great King Golo of the Quack-
- was nation, mighty warriors of lofty stature. Here he was
treated well, and soon learned enough of their simple lan-
guage to understand and be understood; while the King,
who considered all white men as of canine origin, was
450 SPRINGHAVEN.
pleased with him, and prepared to make him useful. Then
Twemlow was sent, with an escort of chiefs, to the land of
the Houlas, as a medicine-man, to win Queen Mabonga for
the great King Golo. But she—so strange is the perversity
of women—beholding this man of a pearly tint, as fair as
the moon, and as soft as a river—for he took many months
to get properly tanned—with one long gaze of amazement
yielded to him what he sought for another. A dwarf and
a whipster he might be among the great darkies around her
—for he had only six feet and one inch of stature, and forty-
two inches round the chest—but, to her fine taste, tone and
quality more than covered defect of quantity. The sight of
male members of her race had never moved her, because she
had heard of their wickedness; but the gaze of this white
man, so tender and so innocent, set her on a long course of
wondering about herself. Then she drew back, and passed
into the private hut behind, where no one was allowed to
disturb her. For she never had felt like this before, and
she wanted nobody to notice it.
But the Houla maidens, with the deepest interest in mat-
ters that came home to them outside their understanding,
held council with their mothers, and these imparted to the
angelic stranger, as plainly as modesty permitted, the dis-
tressing results of his whiteness, and implored him to de-
part, before further harm was done. Twemlow perceived
that he had tumbled into a difficult position, and the only
way out of it was to make off. Giving pledges to return in
two moons at the latest, he made his salaam to the sensitive
young Queen, whose dignity was only surpassed by her
grace, and expecting to be shortened by the head, returned
with all speed to the great King Golo. Honesty is the best
policy—as we all know so well that we forbear to prove it
—and the Englishman saw that the tale would be darker
from the lips of his black attendants. The negro monarch
was of much-enduring mind, but these tidings outwent his
philosophy. He ordered Twemlow’s head to come off by
dinner-time, and, alas, that royal household kept very early
hours; and the poor captain, corded to a tree, sniffed sadly
the growth of good roast, which he never should taste, and
could only succeed in succession of fare. For although that
enlightened King had discarded the taste of the nations
around him, it was not half so certain as the prisoner could
have wished that his prejudice would resist the relish of a
candid rival in prime condition.
SPRINGHAVEN. 451
While Twemlow was dwelling upon this nice question,
and sympathizing deeply with the animal on the spit, Tuloo,
the head councillor of the realm, appeared, an ancient negro
full of wisdom and resource. Discovering that the white
man set more value on his head than is usual with these
philosophers, he proposed conditions which were eagerly ac-
cepted, and, releasing the captive, led him into his own hut.
Here the man of wisdom spat three times into his very am-
ple bosom, to exorcise evil spells, and took from a hole in
the corner something which he handled very carefully, and
with a touch as light as possible. Following everything
with his best eyes, Twemlow perceived in the hand of Tuloo
a spongy-looking substanee of conical form, and in colour
and size very like a morel, but possessing a peculiar golden
glow. ‘‘Kneel here, my son, and move not until I tell
you,” the old man whispered, and was obeyed. Then he
stripped off all covering from the white neck and shoulders,
and beginning immediately below the eyes, brushed all the
cheeks and the chin, throat and neck and upper part of the
bosom, with the substance in his hand, from which a yellow
powder passed, moist rather than dusty, into the open pores.
‘*In one moon you will be a beast of the woods, and in two
you shall return to the Queen that loves you,” said Coun-
cillor Tuloo, with a sly little grin.
But Twemlow was robbed of no self-respect by the growth
of a forest about him; and when he was sent again to Queen
. Mabonga, and the dewy glance of love died at the very first
wink into a stony glare—because of his face being covered
with hair—he said to himself that he knew where he could
inflict a very different impression upon ladies. For these
cannot have too much hair in England, at the back of their
own heads, and front of their admirers’.
Councillor Tuloo was gifted with a deep understanding of
a thing which looks shallow to a man who has never yet
heard of false bottoms. He said to King Golo: “‘I know
what women are. As long as she never had thought about
men, you might crawl, and be only a hog to her. But her
eyes have been opened to this white man, and there is room
for a black one to go into them. And unless you are at
hand, it will be done by some one else.”
In short, all was managed so beautifully that in six more
moons the coy Mabonga split the Durra straw with King
Golo, amid vast rejoicings and in din almost equal to that
which a wedding in Wales arouses. But from time to time
452 SPRINGHAVEN.
it was considered needful to keep up her Majesty’s repulsion
by serving Erle Twemlow with another dose of that which
would have created for the Ene lish fair capillary attraction.
Thus he became a great favourite with the King, who lis-
tened with deep interest to his descriptions of the houseful
of beads and buttons to be earned in England by a little
proper management of Tuloo’s magic dust. Before very
long it was arranged that as soon as a good supply of Pong
could be collected, Twemlow should be sent back to the coast
and placed under the charge of Bandeliah, who was now a
tributary of this great King. And here he might have
waited years and years—for the trading station was aban-
doned now—but for the benevolence of Captain Southcombe,
who, being driven to the eastward of his course upon one of
his returns from India, stood in a little farther to inquire
about his friend, and with no small pleasure conveyed him
home.
CHAPTER LX.
NO DANGER, GENTLEMEN.
THE little dinner at Springhaven Hall, appointed for that
same Saturday, had now grown into a large one. Carne
had refused Dolly’s offer to get him an invitation, and for
many reasons he was not invited. He ought to have been
glad of this, because he did not want to be there; but his
nature, like a saw’s, was full of teeth, and however he was
used, he grated. But without any aid of his teeth, a good
dinner, well planned and well served, bade fair in due
course to be well digested also by forty at least of the forty-
two people who sat down to consider it. For as yet the
use of tongue was understood, and it was not allowed to
obstruct by perpetual motion the duties of the palate. And
now every person in the parish of high culture — which
seems to be akin to the Latin for a knife, though a fork ex-
pels nature more forcibly—as well as many others of
locality less favoured, joined in this muster of good peo-
ple and good things. At the outset, the Admiral had: in-
tended nothing more than a quiet recognition of the good-
ness of the Lord in bringing home a husband for the daugh-
ter of the house; but what Englishman can forbear the
pleasure of killing two birds with one stone ?
It was Stubbard who first suggested this, and Sir Charles
SPRINGHAVEN. 453
at once saw the force of it, especially with the Marquis of
Southdown coming. Captain Stubbard had never admired
anybody, not even himself—without which there is no hap-
piness—much less Mr. Pitt, or Lord Nelson, or the King,
until justice was done to the race of Stubbard, and their
hands were plunged into the Revenue. But now, ever since
the return of the war to its proper home in England, this
Captain had been paid well for doing the very best thing
that a man can do, 2. e., nothing. He could not help de- »
siring to celebrate this, and as soon as he received his invi-
tation, he went to the host and put it clearly. The Admi-
ral soon entered into his views, and as guests were not farmed
by the head as yet at tables entertaining self-respect, he per-
ceived the advantage of a good dinner scored to his credit
with forty at the cost of twenty; and Stubbard’s proposal
seemed thoroughly well timed, so long was it now since
the leaders of Defence had celebrated their own vigilance.
Twenty-two, allowing for the ladies needful, were thus
added to the score of chairs intended, and the founder of
the feast could scarcely tell whether the toast of the even-
ing was to be the return of the traveller, or the discomfiture
of Boney. That would mainly depend upon the wishes of
the Marquis, and these again were likely to be guided by
the treatment he had met with from the government late-
ly and the commanders of his Division.
This nobleman was of a character not uncommon eighty
years ago, but now very rare among public men, because a
more flexible fibre has choked it. Steadfast, honourable,
simple, and straightforward, able to laugh without bitter-
ness at the arrogant ignorance of mobs, but never to smile
at the rogues who led them, scorning all shuffle of words,
foul haze, and snaky maze of evasion, and refusing to be-
lieve at first sight that his country must be in the wrong
and her enemies in the right, he added to all these exter-
minated foibles a leisurely dignity now equally extinct.
Trimmers, time-servers, and hypocrites feared him, as thieves
fear an honourable dog; and none could quote his words
against one another. This would have made him un-
popular now, when perjury means popularity. For the
present, however, self-respect existed, and no one thought
any the worse of his lordship for not having found him a
liar. Especially with ladies, who insist on truth in men as
a pleasant proof of their sex, Lord Southdown had always
been a prime favourite, and an authority largely misquoted.
454 SPRINGHAVEN.
And to add to his influence, he possessed a quick turn of
temper, which rendered it very agreeable to agree with him.
Lord Southdown was thinking, as he led Miss Darling
to her chair at the head of the table, that he never had seen
a more pleasing young woman, though he grieved at her
taste in preferring the brown young man on her left to his
elegant friend Lord Dashville. Also he marvelled at hear-
ing so much, among the young officers of his acquaintance,
concerning the beauty of the younger sister, and so little
about this far sweeter young person—at least in his opinion.
For verily Dolly was not at her best; her beautiful colour
was gone, her neck had lost its sprightly turn, and her large
gray eyes moved heavily instead of sparkling. ‘That girl
las some burden upon her mind,” he thought as he watched
her with interest and pity; ‘‘she has put on her dress any-
how, and she does.not even look to sce who is looking at
her!”
For the ‘‘Belle of all Sussex,” as the young sparks en-
titled her, was ill at ease with herself, and ready to quarrel
with every one except herself. She had conscience enough
to confess, whenever she could not get away from it, that
for weeks and months she had been slipping far and farther
from the true and honest course. Sometimes, with a pain
like a stitch in the side, the truth would spring upon her;
and perhaps for a moment she would wonder at herself,
-and hate the man misleading her. But this happened
chiefly when he was present, and said or did something to
vex her; and then he soon set it to nghts again, and made
everything feel delightful. And this way of having her
misgivings eased made them easier when they came again
with no one to appease them. For she began to think of
what he had done, and how kind and considerate his mind
must be, and how hard it must seem to mistrust him.
Another thing that urged her to keep on now, without
making any fuss about it, was the wonderful style her
sister Faith had shown since that hairy monster came back
again. It was manifest that the world contained only one
man of any high qualities, and nobody must dare to think
even twice about any conclusion he laid down. He had
said to her, with a penetrating glance—and it must have
been that to get through such a thicket—that dangerous
people were about, and no girl possessing any self-respect
must think of wandering on the shore alone. The more
she was spied upon and admonished, the more she would
SPRINGHAVEN. 455
do what she thought right; and a man who had lived
among savages for years must be a queer judge of propriety.
But, in spite of all these defiant thoughts, her heart was
very low, and her mind in a sad flutter; and she could not
even smile as she met her father’s gaze. Supposing that
she was frightened at the number of the guests, and the
noise of many tongues, and the grandeur of the people, the
gentle old man made a little signal to her to come and have
a whisper with him, as a child might do, under courtesy of
the good company. But Dolly feigned not to understand,
at the penalty of many a heart-pang.
The dinner went on with a very merry sound, and a genu-
ine strength of enjoyment, such as hearty folk have who
know one another, and are met together not to cut capers of
wit, but refresh their good-will and fine principles. And if
any dinner-party can be so arranged that only five per
cent. has any trouble on its mind, the gentleman who whips
away the plates, at a guinea a mouth, will have to go home
with a face of willow pattern.
The other whose mind was away from her food, and reck-
less of its own nourishment, was Blyth Scudamore’s mother,
as gentle a lady as ever tried never to think of herself. In
spite of all goodness, and faith in the like, she had enough
to make her very miserable now, whenever she allowed
herself to think about it, and that was fifty-nine minutes
out of sixty. Fora brief account of her son’s escape from
Ktaples had reached her, through the kindness of Captain
Desportes, who found means to get a letter delivered to the
Admiral. That brave French officer spoke most highly of
the honourable conduct of his English friend, but had very
small hope of his safety. For he added the result of his
own inquiries to the statement of M. Jalais, and from these
it was clear that poor Scuddy had set forth alone in a rick-
ety boat, ill found and ill fitted to meet even moderate
weather in the open Channel. Another young Englishman
had done the like, after lurking in the forest of Hardelot,
but he had been recaptured by the French at the outset of
his hopeless voyage. Scudamore had not been so retaken;
and the Captain (who had not received his letter until it
was too late to interfere, by reason of his own despatch to
Dieppe) had encountered a sharp summer gale just then,
which must have proved fatal to the poor old boat. The
only chance was that some English ship might have picked
up the wanderer, and if so the highly respected Admiral
456 SPRINGHAVEN.
would have heard of it before he received this letter. As
no such tidings had been received, there could be little
doubt about the issue in any reasonable mind. But the
heart of a woman is not a mind, or the man that is born
of her might as well forego the honour.
However, as forty people were quite happy, the wisest
course is to rejoin them. The ladies were resolved upon
this occasion to storm the laws of usage which required
their withdrawal before the toasts began; and so many gen-
tle voices challenged the garrison of men behind their bot-
tles that terms of unusual scope were arranged. It was
known that the Marquis would make a fine speech—short,
and therefore all the finer—in proposing the toast of the
evening, to wit, ‘‘ Our King and our Country.” Under the
vigorous lead of Mrs. Stubbard, the ladies demanded to hear
every word; after which they would go, and discuss their
own affairs, or possibly those of their neighbours. But the
gentlemen must endure their presence till his lordship had
spoken, and the Admiral replied. Faith was against this
arrangement, because she foresaw that it would make them
very late; but she yielded to the wishes of so many of her
cuests, consoled with the thought that she would be sup-
ported by some one on her left hand, who would be her sup-
port for life.
When all had done well, except the two aforesaid, and
good-will born of good deeds was crowning comfort with
jocund pleasure, and the long oak table, rich of grain and
dark with the friction of a hundred years, shone in the wa-
vering flow of dusk with the gleam of purple and golden
fruit, the glance of brilliant glass that puzzles the hght with
its claim to shadow, and the glow of amber and amethyst
wine decanted to settle that question—then the bold Admi-
ral, standing up, said, ‘‘ Bring in the lights, that we may see
his lordship.”
‘‘T like to speak to some intelligence,” said the guest, who
was shrewd at an answer. And Dolly, being quick at ocea-
sion, seized it, and in the shifting of chairs left her own for
some one else.
The curtains were drawn across the western window, to
close the conflict between God’s light and man’s, and then
this well-known gentleman, having placed his bottle handily
—for he never ‘‘ put wine into two whites,” to use his own
expression—arose with his solid frame as tranquil as a rock,
and his full-fronted head like a piece of it. Every gentle-
SPRINGHAVEN. 457
~ man bowed to his bow, and waited with silent respect for
his words, because they would be true and simple.
‘*My friends, I will take it for granted that we all love
our country, and hate its enemies. We may like and re-
spect them personally, for they are as good as we are; but
we are bound to hate them collectively, as men who would ~
ruin all we love. For the stuff that is talked about freedom,
democracy, march of intellect, and so forth, I have nothing
to say, except to bid you look at the result among them-
selves. Is there a man in France whose body is his own if
he can carry arms, or his soul if it ventures to seek its own
good? As for mind—there is only the mind of one man;
a large one in many ways; in others a small one, because
it considers its owner alone.
‘*But we of England have refused to be stripped of all
that we hold dear, at the will of a foreign upstart. We
have fought for years, and we still are fighting, without any
brag or dream of glory, for the rights of ourselves and of
all mankind. There have been among us weak-minded fel-
lows, babblers of abstract nonsense, and even, I grieve to say
—traitors. But, on the whole, we have stood together, and
therefore have not been trodden on. How it may end is
within the knowledge of the Almighty only; but already
there are signs that we shall be helped, if we continue to
help ourselves.
‘‘ And now for the occasion of our meeting here. We re-
joice most heartily with our good host, the vigilant De-
fender of these shores, at the restoration to his arms—or
rather, to a still more delightful embrace—of a British offi-
cer, who has proved a truth we knew already, that nothing
stops a British officer. I see a gentleman struck so keenly
with the force of that remark, because he himself has proved
it, that I must beg his next neighbour to fill up his glass,
and allow nothing to stop him from tossing it off. And as
Iam getting astray from my text, I will clear my poor head
with what you can see through.”
The Marquis of Southdown filled his glass from a bottle
of grand old Chambertin—six of which had been laid most
softly in a cupboard of the wainscote for his use—and then
he had it filled again, and saw his meaning brilliantly.
‘‘Our second point is the defeat of the French, and of
this we may now assure ourselves. They have not been
defeated, for the very good reason that they never would
come out to fight; but it comes to the same thing, because
20
458 SPRINGHAVEN.
they are giving it over as a hopeless job. I have seen too
many ups and downs to say that we are out of danger yet;
but when our fleets have been chasing theirs all over the
world, are they likely to come and meet us in our own
waters? Nelson has anchored at Spithead, and is rushing
up to London, as our host has heard to-day, with his usual
impetuosity. Every man must stick to his own business,
even the mighty Nelson; and-he might not meddle with
Billy Blue, or anybody else up Channel. Still, Nelson is
not the sort of man to jump into a chaise at Portsmouth if
there was the very smallest chance of the French coming
over to devour us.
‘“Well, my friends, we have done our best, and have
some right to be proud of it; but we should depart from
our nature if we even exercised that right. The nature of .
an Englishman is this—to be afraid of nothing but his own
renown. Feeling this great truth, I will avoid offence by
hiding as a crime my admiration of the glorious soldiers
and sailors here, yet beg them for once to remember them-
selves, as having enabled me to propose, and all present to
pledge, the welfare of our King and Country.”
The Marquis waved his glass above his head, without spats
ing a single drop, although it was a bumper, then drained it
at a draught, inverted it, and cleverly snapped it in twain
upon the table, with his other hand laid on his heart, and
a long low reverence to the company. Thereupon up stood
squires and dames, and, repeating the good toast, pledged it,
with a deep bow to the proposer; and as many of the gentle-
men as understood the art, without peril to fair neighbours,
snapped the glass.
His lordship was delighted, and in the spirit of the mo-
ment held up his hand, which meant, ‘‘ Silence, silence, till
we all sing the National Anthem!” In a clear, loud voice
he led off the strain, Erle Twemlow from his hairy depths
struck in, then every man, following as he might, and with
all his might, sustained it, and the ladies, according to their
wont, gave proof of the heights they can scale upon rapture.
The Admiral, standing, and beating time now and then:
with his heel—though all the time deserved incessant beat-
ing—enjoyed the performance a great deal more than if it
had been much better, and joined in the main roar as loudly
as he thought his position as host permitted. For although
he was nearing the haven now of threescore vears and ‘ten,
his throat and heart were so seaworthy that ‘he could very
SPRINGHAVEN. 459
sweetly have outroared them all. But while he was prepar-
ing just to prove this, if encouraged, and smiling very pleas-
antly at a friend who said, ‘‘ Strike up, Admiral,” he was
called from the room, and in the climax of the roar slipped
away for a moment, unheeded, and meaning to make due
apology to his guests as soon as he came back.
CHAPTER LXI.
DISCHARGED FROM DUTY.
WHILE loyalty thus rejoiced and throve in the warmth
of its own geniality, a man who was loyal to himself alone,
and had no geniality about him, was watching with con-
tempt these British doings. Carne had tethered his stout
black horse, who deserved a better master, in a dusky dell
of dark-winged trees at the back of the eastern shrubbery.
Here the good horse might rest unseen, and consider the
mysterious ways of men; for the main approach was by the
western road, and the shades of evening stretched their arms
to the peaceful yawn of sunset. And here he found good
stuff spread by nature, more worthy of his attention, and,
tucking back his forelegs, fared as well as the iron between
his teeth permitted.
Then the master drew his green riding-coat of thin velvet
closer round him, and buttoned the lappet in front, because
he had heavy weight in the pockets. Keeping warily along
the lines of shadow, he gained a place of vantage in the
shrubbery, a spot of thick shelter having loops of outlook.
Above and around him hung a curtain of many-pointed
ilex, and before him a barberry bush, whose coral clusters
caught the waning light. In this snug nook he rested calm-
ly, leaning against the ilex trunk, and finished his little prep-
arations for anything adverse to his plans. In a belt which
was hidden by his velvet coat he wore a short dagger in a
sheath of shagreen, and he fixed it so that he could draw it
in a moment, without unfastening the riding-coat. Then
from the pockets on either side he drew a pair of pistols,
primed them well from a little flask, and replaced them with
the butts beneath the lappets. ‘‘ Death for, at least three
men,” he muttered, ‘‘if they are fools enough to meddle
with me. My faith, these Darlings are grown very grand,
on the strength of the land that belongs to us!”
460 SPRINGHAVEN.
For he heard the popping of champagne corks, and the
clink of abundant silver, and tuning of instruments by the
band, and he saw the flash of lights, and the dash of serving-
men, and the rush of hot hospitality; and although he had
not enough true fibre in his stomach to yearn for a taste of
the good things going round, there can be little doubt, from
what he did thereafter, that his gastric juices must have
turned to gall.
With all these sounds and sights and scents of things that
he had no right to despise, his patience was tried foran hour
and a half, or at any rate he believed so. The beautiful
glow in the west died out, where the sun had been ripening
his harvest-field of sheafy gold and awny cloud; and the
pulse of quivering dusk beat slowly, so that a man might
seem to count it, or rather a child, who sees such things,
which later men lose sight of. The forms of the deepening
distances against the departure of light grew faint, and prom-
inent points became obscure, and lines retired into masses,
while Carne maintained his dreary watch, with his mood
becoming darker. As the sound of joyful voices, and of
good-will doubled by good fare, came to his unfed vigil
from the open windows of the dining-room, his heart was
not enlarged at all, and the only solace for his lips was to
swear at British revelry. For the dining-room was at the
western end, some fifty yards away from him, and its prin-
cipal window faced the sunset, but his lurking-place af-
forded a view of the southern casements obliquely. Through
these he had seen that the lamps were brought, and heard
the increase of merry noise, the clapping of hands, and the
jovial cheers at the rising of the popular Marquis,
At last he saw a white kerchief waved at the window
nearest to him, the window of the Admiral’s little study,
which opened like a double door upon the eastern grass-
plat. With an ill-conditioned mind, and body stiff and
Jacking nourishment, he crossed the grass in a few long
strides, and was admitted without a word.
‘What a time you have been! I was giving it up,” he
whispered to the trembling Dolly. ‘‘ Where are the can-
dles? I must strike a light. Surely you might have
brought one. Bolt the door, while I make a light, and close
the curtains quietly, but leave the window open. Don’t
shake, like a child that is going to be whipped. Too late
now for nonsense. What are you afraid of? Silly child!”
As he spoke he was striking a light in a little French
SPRINGHAVEN. 461
box containing a cube of jade, and with very little noise he
lit two candles standing on the high oak desk. Dolly drew
a curtain across the window, and then went softly to the
door, which opened opposite the corner of a narrow passage,
and made pretence to bolt it, but shot the bolt outside the
socket.
‘Come and let me look at you,” said Carne, for he knew
that he had been rough with her, and she was not of the
kind that submits to that. ‘‘ Beauty, how pale you look,
and yet how perfectly lovely in this evening gown! I
should like to kill the two gentlemen who sat next to you
at dinner. Darling, you know that whatever I do is only
for your own sweet sake.”
‘‘If you please not to touch me, it will be better,” said
the lady, not in a whisper, but a firm and quiet voice, al-
though her hands were trembling; “‘ you are come upon
business, and you should do it.”
If Carne had but caught her in his arms, and held her
to his heart, and vowed that all business might go to the
devil while he held his angel so, possibly the glow of nobler
feelings might have been lost in the fire of passion. But
he kept his selfish end alone in view, and neglected the
womanly road to it.
‘*A despatch from London arrived to-day; I must see it,”
he said, shortly; ‘‘as well as the copy of the answer sent.
And then my beauty must insert a not in the order to be
issued in the morning, or otherwise invert its meaning,
simply to save useless bloodshed. The key for a moment,
the key, my darling, of this fine old piece of furniture!”
‘Ts it likely that I would give you the key? My father
always keeps it. What right have you with his private
desk? I never promised anything so bad as that.”
‘‘T am not to be trifled with,” he whispered, sternly.
‘*Do you think that I came here for kissing? The key
I must have, or break it open; and how will you explain
that away ?”
His rudeness settled her growing purpose. The misery
of indecision vanished; she would do what was right, if it
cost her life. Her face was as white as her satin dress, but
her dark eyes flashed with menace.
‘‘There is a key that opens it,” she said, as she pointed
to the bookcase; ‘‘ but I forbid you to touch it, sir.”
Carne’s only reply was to snatch the key from the upper
glass door of the book-shelvyes, which fitted the lock of the
462 SPRINGHAVEN.
Admiral’s desk, though the owner was not aware of it. In
a moment the intruder had unlocked the high and massive
standing -desk, thrown back the cover, and placed one can-
dlestick among the documents. Many of them he brushed
aside, as useless for his purpose, and became bewildered
among the rest, for the Commander of the Coast-defence
was not aman of order. He never knew where to put a
thing, nor even where it might have put itself, but found a
casual home for any paper that deserved it. This lack of
method has one compensation, like other human defects, to
wit, that it puzzles a clandestine searcher more deeply than
cypher or cryptogram. Carne had the Admiral’s desk as
wide as an oyster thrown back on his valve, and just
being undertucked with the knife, to make him go down
easily. Yet so great was the power of disorder that nothing
could be made out of anything. ‘‘Watch at the door,”
he had said to Dolly; and this suited her intention.
For while he was thus absorbed, with his back towards
her, she opened the door a little, and presently saw the
trusty Charles come hurrying by, as if England hung upon
his labours. ‘‘Tell my father to come here this moment;
go softly, and say that I sent you.” As she finished her
whisper she closed the door, without any sound, and stood
patiently.
‘‘Show me where it is; come and find it for me. Every-
thing here is in the yilest mess,” cried Carne, growing
reckless with wrath and hurry. ‘‘I want the despatch of
this morning, and I find tailors’ bills, way to make water-
proof blacking, a list of old women, and a stump of old pipe!
Come here, this instant, and show me where it is.”’
‘Tf you forget your good manners,” answered Dolly,
still keeping in the dark near the door, *‘I shall have to
leave you. Surely you have practice enough in spying, to
find what you want, with two candles.”
Carne turned for a moment, and stared at her. Her atti-
tude surprised him, but he could not believe in her courage
to rebel. She stood with her back to the door, and met
his gaze without a sign of fear.
‘* There are no official papers here,” he said, after another
short ransack; ‘‘ there must have been some, if this desk is
the one. Have you dared to delude me by showing the
wrong desk ?”
Dolly met his gaze still, and then walked towards him.
The band had struck up, and the company were singing
a ae ae a =
SPRINGHAVEN. 463
‘with a fine patriotic roar, which rang very nobly in the dis-
tance— ‘‘Britannia, rule the waves!” Dolly felt like a
Briton as the words rolled through her, and the melody
lifted her proud heart.
‘* You have deluded yourself,” she said, standing proudly
before the baffled spy; ‘‘ you have ransacked my father’s
private desk, which I allowed you to do, because my father
has no secrets... He leaves it open half the time, because
he is a man of honour. He is not a man of plots, and wiles,
and trickery upon women. And you have deluded your-
self, in dreaming that a daughter of his would betray her
Country.”
‘‘ By the God that made me, I will have your life!” cried
Carne in French, as he dashed his hand under his coat to
draw his dagger; but the pressure of the desk had displaced
that, so that he could not find it. She thought that her
time was come, and shrieked-—for she was not at all heroie,
and loved life very dearly—but she could not take her eyes
from his, nor turn to fly from the spell of them; all she could
do was to step back; and she did so into her father’s arms.
‘“Ho!” cried the Admiral, who had entered with the
smile of good cheer and good company glowing on his
fine old countenance; ‘‘my Dolly and a stranger at my
private desk! Mr.Carne! I have had a glass or two of
wine, but my eyes must be playing me extraordinary tricks.
A gentleman searching my desk, and apparently threaten-
ing my dear daughter! Have the kindness to explain, be-
fore you attempt to leave us.”
If the curtain had:not been drawn across the window,
Carne would have made his escape, and left the situation to
explain itself. But the stuff was thick, and it got between
his legs; and before he could slip away, the stout old Ad-
miral had him by the collar with a sturdy grasp, attesting
the substance of the passing generation. And a twinkle of
good-humour was in the old eyes still—such a wonder was
his Dolly that he might be doing wrong in laying hands
of force upon a visitor of hers. Things as strange as this
had been within his knowledge, and proved to be of little
harm — with forbearance. But his eyes grew stern, as
Carne tried to dash his hand off.
“If you value your life, you will let me go,” said the
young man to the old one.
‘‘T will not let you go, sir, till you clear up this. <A gen-
tleman must see that he is bound to do so. If I prove to
464 SPRINGHAVEN.
be wrong, I will apologize. What! Are you going to fire
at me? You would never be such a coward!”
He dropped upon the floor, with a bullet in his brain,
and his course of duty ended. Carne dashed aside the cur-
tain, and was nearly through the window, when two white
arms were cast round his waist. He threw himself forward
with all his might, and wrenched at the little hands clasped
around him, but they held together lke clinched iron.
‘* Will you force me to kill you?” ‘‘ You may, if you like”
—was the dialogue of these lovers. .
The strength of a fit was in her despair. She set her bent
knees against the window-frame, and a shower of glass fell
between them; but she flinched not from her convulsive
grasp. ‘‘Let me come back, that I may shoot myself,”
Carne panted, for his breath was straitened; ‘‘ what is
life to me after losing you?” She made no answer, but
took good care not to release so fond a lover. Then he
threw himself back with all his weight, and she fell on
the floor beneath him. Her clasp relaxed, and he was
free; for her eyes had encountered her father’s blood, and
she swooned away, and lay as dead.
Carne arose quickly, and bolted the door. His breath
was short, and his body trembling, but the wits of the trai-
tor were active still. ‘*I must have something to show for
all this,” he thought as he glanced at the bodies on the
floor. ‘* Those revellers may not have heard this noise. I
know where it is now, and I will get it.” |
But the sound of the pistol and shriek of the girl had
rung through the guests, when the wine was at their lips,
and all were nodding to one another. Faith sprang up,
and then fell back trembling, and several men ran towards
the door. Charles, the footman, met them there, with
his face whiter than his napkin, and held up his hands, but
could not speak. Erle Twemlow dashed past him and
down the passage; and Lord Southdown said: ‘*‘ Gentlemen,
see to the ladies. There has been some iittle mishap, I fear.
Bob, and Arthur, come with me.”
Twemlow was first at the study door, and finding it fast-
ened, struck with all his foree, and shouted, at the very
moment when Carne stood before the true desk of office.
‘*Good door, and good bolt,” muttered Carne; ‘‘ my rule is
never to be hurried by noises. Dolly will be quiet fora
quarter of an hour, and the old gentleman forever. All
I want is about two minutes.”
466 SPRINGHAVEN.
Twemlow stepped back a few yards, and then with a
good start delivered a rushing kick; but the only result
was a jar of his leg through the sole of his thin dress sandal.
“The window!” cried the Marquis. ‘‘ We’ll stop here;
you know the house; take tlre shortest cut to the window.
Whoever is there, we shall have him so. I am too slow.
Boy Bob, go with him.”
‘“What a fool I was not to think of that!” shouted
Twemlow, as he set off for the nearest house door, and un-
luckily Carne heard him. He had struck up the ledge of
‘the desk with the butt of the pistol he had fired, and pocket-
ing a roll of fresh despatches, he strode across the body of
the Admiral, and with a glance at Dolly—whose eyes were
wide open, but her face drawn vaside, like a peach with a
split stone—out he went. He smiled as he heard the thun-
dering of full-bodied gentlemen against the study door, and
their oaths, as they damaged their knuckles and knee-caps.
Then he set off hot-foot, but was stopped by a figure advanc-
ing from the corner of the house.
This was not a graceful figure, as of gentle maiden, nor
venerable and slow of foot, as that of an ancient mariner,
but a man in the prime of strength, and largely endowed
with that blessing —the mate of truth. Carne perceived
that he had met his equal, and perhaps his better, in a
bout of muscle, and he tried to escape by superior mind. _
‘“Twemlow, how glad I am that I have met you! You
are the very man I wanted. There has been a sad accident
in there with one of the Admiral’s pistols, and the dear old
man is badly wounded. I am off for a doctor, for my horse
is at hand. For God’s sake run in,and hold his head up,
and try to stanch the bleeding. JIshall be back in half an
hour with the man that lives at Pebbleridge. Don’t lose a
moment. Particulars hereafter.”
‘“Particulars now!” replied Twemlow, sternly, as he
‘planted himself before his cousin. ‘‘ For years I have lived
among liars.and they called a lie Crom, and worshipped it.
If this is not Crom, why did you bolt the door ?”
‘* You shall answer for this, when time allows. If the
door was bolted, he must have done it. Let me pass; the
last chance depends on my speed.”
Carne made a rush to pass, but Twemlow caught him by
the breast, and held him. ‘‘Come back,” he said, fiercely,
‘‘and prove your words. Without that, you go no far-
ther.”
SPRINGHAVEN. 467
_ Carne seized him by the throat, but his mighty beard, like
a collar of hemp, protected him, and he brought his big
brown fist like a hammer upon the traitor’s forehead. Carne
wrenched at his dagger, but failed to draw it, and the two
strong men rolled on the grass, fighting like two bull-dogs.
Reason, and thought, and even sense of pain were lost in
brutal fury, as they writhed, and clutched, and dug at one
another, gashing their knuckles, and gnashing their teeth,
frothing with one another’s blood, for Carne bit like a tiger.
At length tough condition and power of endurance got the
mastery, and Twemlow planted his knee upon the gasping
breast of Carne.
‘* Surrend—” he said, for his short breath could not fetch
up the third syllable; and Carne with a sign of surrender
lay on his back, and put his chin up, and shut his eyes as
if he had fainted. Twemlow with self-congratulation
waited a little to recover breath, still keeping his knee in
the post of triumph, and pinning the foe’s right arm to
his side. But the foe’s left hand was free, and with the
eyes still shut, and a continuance of gasping, that left hand
stole its way to the left pocket, quietly drew forth the sec-
ond pistol, pressed back the hammer on the grass, and with
a flash (both of eyes and of flint) fired into the victor’s
forehead. The triumphant knee rolled off the chest, the
body swung over, as a log is rolled by the woodman’s crow-
bar,and Twemlow’s back was on the grass, and his eyes
were closed to the moonlight.
Carne scrambled up and shook himself, to be sure that all
his limbs were sound. ‘* Ho, ho, ho!” he chuckled; ‘it is
not so easy to beat me. Why, who are you? Down with
vou, then!”
Lord Robert Chancton, a lad of about sixteen, the eldest
son of the Marquis, had lost his way inside the house, in
trying to find a short-cut to the door, and coming up after
the pistol was fired, made a very gallant rush at the enemy.
With a blow of the butt Carne sent him sprawling; then
dashing among the shrubs and trees, in another minute was
in the saddle, and galloping towards the ancestral ruins.
As he struck into the main road through the grounds,
Carne passed and just missed by a turn of the bridle another
horseman ascending the hill, and urging a weary animal.
The faces of the men shot past each other within a short
yard, and gaze met gaze; but neither in the dark flash knew
the other, for a big tree barred the moonlight, But Carne,
% =
468 SPRINGHAVEN.
in another moment, thought that the man who had passed
must be Scudamore, probably fraught with hot tidings.
And the thought was confirmed, as he met two troopers rid-
ing as hard as ride they might; and then saw the beacon on
the headland flare. From point to point, and from height
to height, like a sprinkle of blood, the red lights ran; and
the roar of guns from the moonlit sea made echo that they
were ready. Then the rub-a-dub-dub of the drum arose, and
the thrilling blare of trumpet; the great deep of the night
was heaved and broken with the stir of human storm; and
the stanchest and strongest piece of earth —our England
—was ready to defend herself.
CHAPTER LXII.
THE WAY OUT OF IT.
‘“ My father! my father! I must see my father. Who are
you, that dare to keep me out? Let me know the worst,
and try to bear it. What are any of you to him?”
‘* But, my dear child,” Lord Southdown answered, hold-
ing the door against poor Faith, as she strove to enter the
room of death, ‘* wait just one minute, until we have lifted
him to the sofa, and let us bring your poor sister out.”
‘‘T have no sister. She has killed-my father, and the best
thing she can do is to die. I feel that I could shoot her, if
I had a pistol. Let me see him, where he lies.”
‘*But, my poor dear, you must think of others. Your
dear father is beyond all help. Your gallant lover lies on
the grass. They hope to bring him round, God willing!
Go where you can be of use.”
‘‘ How cruel you are! You must want to drive me mad.
Let his father and mother see to him, while I see to my own
father. If you had a daughter, you would understand. Am
Terying? Do I even tremble?”
The Marquis offered his arm, and she took it in fear of
falling, though she did not tremble; so he led her to her
father’s last repose. The poor Admiral lay by the open win-
dow, with his head upon a stool which Faith had worked.
The ghastly wound was in his broad, smooth forehead, and
his fair round cheeks were white with death. But the heart
had not quite ceased to beat, and some remnant of the mind
still hovered somewhere in the lacerated brain. Stubbard,
v
isi
x’
Wie
‘‘THE TWO STRONG MEN ROLLED ON THE GRASS, FIGHTING LIKE TWO BULL-DOGS.”’
470 SPRINGHAVEN.
sobbing like a child, was lifting and clumsily chafing one
numb hand; while his wife, who had sponged the wound,
_ was making the white curls wave with a fan she had shaped
from a long official paper found upon the floor.
Dolly was recovering from her swoon, and sat upon a
stool by the bookcase, faintly wondering what had hap-
pened, but afraid to ask or think. The corner of the book-
case, and the burly form of Stubbard, concealed the window
from her, and the torpid oppression which ensues upon a fit
lay between her and her agony. Faith, as she passed, darted
one glance at her, not of pity, not of love, but of cold con-
tempt and satisfaction at her misery.
Then Faith, the quiet and gentle maid, the tranquil and
the self-controlled (whom every one had charged with want
of heart, because she had borne her own grief so well), stood
with the body of her father at her feet, and uttered an ex-
ceeding bitter cry. The others had seen enough of grief, as
every human being must, but nothing half so sad as this.
They feared to look at her face, and durst not open lips to
comfort her.
‘‘Don’t speak. Don’t look at-him. You have no right
here. When he comes to himself, he will want none but
me. I have always done everything for him since dear
mother died; and I shall get him to sit up. He will be so
much better when he sits up. I can get him to do it, if you
will only go. Oh, father, father, it is your own Faith come
to make you well, dear, if you will only look at me!”
As she took his cold limp hand and kissed it, and wiped
* a red splash from his soft white hair, the dying man felt, by
nature’s feeling, that he was being touched by a child of his.
A faint gleam flitted through the dimness of his eyes, which
he had not the power to close, and the longing to say “‘ fare-
well” contended with the drooping of the underlip. She
was sure that he whispered, ‘* Bless you, darling!” though
nobody else could. have made it out; but a sudden rush of
tears improved her hearing, as rain brings higher voices
down.
‘* Dolly too!” he seemed to whisper next; and Faith made
a sign to Mrs. Stubbard. Then Dolly was brought, and fell.
upon her knees, at the other side of her father, and did not —
know how to lament as yet, and was scarcely sure of having
anything to mourn. But she spread out her hands, as if for
somebody to take them, and bowed her pale face, and closed
her lips, that she might be rebuked without answering. ©
py Pe F -
SPRINGHAVEN. 471
Her father knew her; and his yearning was not to re-
buke, but to bless and comfort her. He had forgotten every-
thing, except that he was dying, with a daughter at each
side of him. This appeared to make him very happy, about
everything, except those two. He could not be expected to
have much mind left; but the last of it was busy for his
children’s good. Once more he tried to see them both, and
whispered his last message to them—‘‘ Forgive and love each
other.” | |
Faith bowed her head, as his fell back, and silently offered
to kiss her sister; but Dolly neither moved nor looked at her.
‘* As you please,” said Faith; ‘‘and perhaps you would like
to see a little more of your handiwork.”
For even as she spoke, her lover’s body was carried past
the window, with his father and mother on either side, sup-
porting his limp arms and sobbing. Then Dolly arose, and
with one hand grasping the selvage of the curtain, fixed one
long gaze upon her father’s corpse. There were no tears in
her eyes, no sign of anguish in her face, no proof that she
knew or felt what she had done. And without a word she
left the room.
‘‘ Hard to the last, even hard to you!” cried Faith, as her
tears fell upon the cold forehead. ‘‘ Oh, darling, how could
you have loved her so ?”
‘‘It is not hardness; it is madness. Follow your sister,”
Lord Southdown said. ‘‘ We have had calamities enough.”
But Faith was fighting with all her strength against an
attack of hysterics, and fetching long gasps to control
herself. ‘‘I will go,” replied Mrs. Stubbard; ‘‘ this poor
child is quite unfit. What on earth is become of Lady
Scudamore? A doctor’s widow might have done some
good.”
The doctor's widow was doing good elsewhere. In the
first rush from the dining-room, Lady Scudamore had been
pushed back by no less a person than Mrs. Stubbard; when
at last she reached the study door she found it closed against
her, and entering the next room, saw the flash of the pistol
fired at Twemlow. Bravely hurrying to the spot by the
nearest outlet she could find, she became at once entirely
occupied with this new disaster. For two men who ran up
with a carriage lamp declared that the gentleman was as
dead as a door-nail, aud hastened te make good their words
by swinging him up heels over head. But the lady made
them set him down and support his head, while she bathed
472 SPRINGHAVEN.
the wound, and sent to the house for his father and moth-
er, and when he could be safely brought in-doors, helped
with her soft hands beneath his hair, and then became so
engrossed with him that the arrival of her long-lost son was
for several hours unknown to her.
For so many things coming all at once were enough to
upset any one. Urgent despatches came hot for the hand
that now was cold forever; not a moment to lose, when
time had ceased for the man who was to urge it. There
were plenty of officers there, but no one clearly entitled
to take command. Moreover, the public service clashed
with the personal rage of the moment. Some were for rush-
ing to the stables, mounting every horse that could be
found, and seouring the country, sword in hand, for that
infernal murderer. Some, having just descried the flash of
beacon from the headland, and heard the alarm-guns from
shore and sea, were for hurrying to their regiments, or
ships, or homes and families (according to the headquarters
of their life), while others put their coats on to ride for all
the doctors in the county, who should fetch back the
Admiral to this world, that he might tell everybody what
to do. Scudamore stood with his urgent despatches in the
large well-candled hall, and vainly desired to deliver them.
‘* Send for the Marquis,” suggested some one.
Lord Southdown came, without being sent for. ‘‘I shall
take this duty upon myself,” he said, ‘‘as Lord-Lieutenant
of the county. Captain Stubbard, as commander of the
nearest post, will come with me and read these orders.
Gentlemen, see that your horses are ready, and have all of
the Admiral’s saddled. Captain Scudamore, you have dis-
charged your trust, and doubtless ridden far and hard. My
orders to you are a bottle of wine and a sirloin of roast beef
at once.”
For the sailor was now in very low condition, weary,
and worried, and in want of food. Riding express, and
changing horses twice, not once had he recruited the inner
man, who was therefore quite unfit to wrestle with the
power of sudden grief. When he heard of the Admiral’s
death, he staggered as if a horse had stumbled under him,
and his legs being stiff from hard sticking to saddle, had as
much as they could do to hold him up. Yet he felt that he
could not do the right thing now; he could not go and deal
with the expedient victuals, neither might he dare intrude
upon the ladies now; so he went out to comfort himself by
QE a ia
SPRINGHAVEN. 473
attending to the troubles of his foundered horse, and by
shedding unseen among the trees the tears which had gath-
ered in his gentle eyes.
According to the surest law of nature, that broken-down
animal had been forgotten as soon as he was done with.
He would have given his four legs—if he could legally
dispose of them—for a single draught of sweet, delicious,
rapturous, ecstatic water; but his bloodshot eyes sought
vainly, and his welted tongue found nothing wet, except
the flakes of his own salt foam. Until, with the help of
the moon, a sparkle (worth more to his mind than all the
diamonds he could draw)—a sparkle of the purest water
gleamed into his dim eyes from the distance. Recalling
to his mind’s eyes the grand date of his existence when he
was a colt, and had a meadow to himself, with a sparkling
river.at the end of it, he set forth in good faith, and, al-
though his legs were weary, ‘‘ negotiated ”’—as the sporting
writers say—the distance between him and the object of
desire. He had not the least idea that this bad cost ten
guineas—as much as his own good self was worth; for it
happened to be the first dahlia seen in that part of the
country. That gaudy flower at its first appearance made
such a stir among gardeners that Mr. Swipes gave the
Admiral no peace until he allowed him to order one. And
so great was this gardener’s pride in his profession that he
would not take an order for a rooted slip or cutting, from
the richest man in the neighbourhood, for less than half a
guinea. Therefore Mr. Swipes was attending to the plant
with the diligence of a wet-nurse, and, the weather being
dry, he had soaked it overhead, even before he did that duty
to himself.
A man of no teeth can take his nourishment in soup; and ~
nature, inverting her manifold devices—which she would
much rather do than be beaten—has provided that a horse
can chew his solids into liquids, if there is a drop of juice in
their composition, when his artificial life has failed to supply
him with the bucket. This horse, being very dry, laid his ©
tongue to the water-drops that sparkled on the foliage. He
found them delicious, and he longed for more, and very soon
his ready mind suggested that the wet must have come out
of the leaves, and there must be more there. Proceeding on
this argument, he found it quite correct, and ten guineas’
worth of dahlia was gone into his stomach by the time that
Captain Scudamore came courteously to look after him.
474 SPRINGHAVEN.
Blyth, in equal ignorance of his sumptuous repast, gave
him a pat of approval, and was turning his head towards
the stable yard, when he saw a white figure gliding swiftly
through the trees beyond the belt of shrubbery. Weary
and melancholy as he was, and bewildered with the tumult
of disasters, his heart bounded hotly as he perceived that
the figure was that of his Dolly—Dolly, the one love of his
life, stealing forth, probably to mourn alone the loss of her
beloved father. As yet he knew nothing of her share in
that sad tale, and therefore felt no anxiety at first about her
purpose. He would not intrude upon her grief; he had no
right to be her comforter; but still she should have some
one to look after her, at that time of night, and with so much
excitement and danger in the air. So the poor horse was
again abandoned to his own resources, and being well used
to such treatment, gazed as wistfully and delicately after the
young man Scudamore as that young man gazed after his
lady-love.
To follow a person stealthily is not conducive to one’s
. self-respect, but something in the lady’s walk and gesture
impelled the young sailor to follow her. She appeared to
be hastening, with some set purpose, and without any heed
of circumstance, towards a part of the grounds where no
house was, no living creature for company, nor even a bench
to rest upon. There was no foot-path in that direction, nor
anything to go to, but the inland cliff that screened the Hall
from northeastern winds, and at its foot a dark pool having
no good name in the legends of the neighbourhood. Even
‘Parson Twemlow would not go near it later than the after-
noon milking of the cows, and Captain Zeb would much
rather face a whole gale of wind in a twelve-foot boat than
give one glance at its dead calm face when the moon like a
ghost stood over it.
‘She is going towards Corpse-walk pit,” thought Secuddy
—‘‘a cheerful place at this time of night! She might even
fall into it unawares, in her present state of distraction. I
‘am absolutely bound to follow her.”
Duty fell in with his wishes, as it has a knack of doing.
Forgetting his weariness, he followed, and became more anx-
jous at every step. For the maiden walked as in a dream,
without regard of anything, herself more like a vision than _
a good, substantial being. To escape Mrs. Stubbard she had
gone upstairs and locked herself in her bedroom, and then
shpped out without changing dress, but throwing a dark
\\
Y
\ IN N
5 STi tN
{{|
Kuti
oH an ‘hy
oh iN |
i NN IN A\
il 0 i WM
li
Ax Ce i i
RAY
oy] nat
me
pan willy
yi
Udi ih Hip
j
bt We ae in it beg i
Ya
iN aa HHH)
vl Wing i \
Wh ( iN »
Hi MG (ci)
it i y
‘
i vil ei ee Hi
Vin
{} {i ir
or RR ESE HE WR Reh
CORPSE-WALK PIT.
476 SPRINGHAVEN.
mantle over it. This had fallen off, and she had not cared
to stop or think about it, but went on to her death exactly
as she went in to dinner. Her dress of white silk took the
moonlight with a soft gleam like itself, and her clustering
curls (released from fashion by the power of passion) fell,
like the shadows, on her sweet white neck. But she never
even asked herself how she looked; she never turned round
to admire her shadow: to-morrow she would throw no
shade, but be one; and how she looked, or what she was,
would matter, to the world she used to think so much of,
never more.
Suddenly she passed from the moonlight into the black-
ness of a lonely thicket, and forced her way through it,
without heed of bruise or rent. At the bottom of the steep
lay the long dark pit, and she stood upon the brink and
gazed into it. To a sane mind nothing could look less in-
viting. All above was air and light, freedom of the wind and
play of moon with summer foliage; all below was gloom
and horror, cold, eternal stillness, and oblivion everlasting.
Even the new white frock awoke no flutter upon that sullen
breast.
Dolly heaved a sigh and shuddered, but she did not hesi-
tate. Her mind was wandering, but her heart was fixed to
make atonement, to give its life for the life destroyed, and
to lie too deep for shame or sorrow. Suddenly a faint gleam
caught her eyes. The sob of self-pity from her fair young
breast had brought into view her cherished treasures, bright
keepsakes of the girlish days when many a lover worshipped
her. Taking from her neck the silken braid, she kissed
them, and laid them on the bank. ‘* They were all too good
for me,” she thought; ‘‘they shall not perish with me.”
Then, with one long sigh, she called up all her fleeting
courage, and sprang upon a fallen trunk which overhung
the water. ‘‘There will be no Dan to save me now,” she
said as she reached the end of it. ‘* Poor Dan! He will
be sorry for me. This is the way out of it.”
Her white satin shoes for a moment shone upon the black
bark of the tree, and, with one despairing prayer to Heaven,
she leaped into the liquid grave.
Dan was afar, but another was near, who loved her even
more than Dan. Blyth Scudamore heard the plunge, and
rushed to the brink of the pit, and tore his coat off. For -
a moment he saw nothing but black water heaving silent-
ly; then something white appeared, and moved, and a faint
SPRINGHAVEN. 4
cry arose, and a hopeless struggle with engulfing death
began.
‘*Keep still, don’t struggle, only spread your arms, and
throw your head back as far as you can,” he cried, as he
swam with long strokes towards her. But if she heard, she
could not heed, as the lights of the deep sky came and
went, and the choking water flashed between, and gurgled
into her ears and mouth, and smothered her face with her
own long hair. She dashed her poor helpless form about,
and flung out her feet for something solid, and grasped in
dim agony at the waves herself had made. Then her dress
became heavily bagged with water, and the love of life
was quenched, and the night of death enveloped her. With-
out a murmur, down she went, and the bubbles of her breath
came up.
Scudamore uttered a bitter cry, for his heart was almost
broken—within an arm’s-length of his love, and she was
gone forever! For the moment he did not perceive that
the clasp of despair must have drowned them both. Point-
ing his hands and throwing up his heels, he made one vain
dive after her, then he knew that the pit was too deep for
the bottom to be reached in that way. He swam to the
trunk from which Dolly had leaped, and judging the dis-
tance by the sullen ripple, dashed in with a dive like a ter-
rified frog. Like a bullet he sank to the bottom, and groped
with three fathoms of water above him. Just as his lungs .
were giving out, he felt something soft and limp and round.
Grasping this by the trailing hair, he struck mightily up for
the surface, and drew a long breath, and sustained above
water the head that fell back upon his panting breast.
Some three hours later, Dolly Darling lay in her own
little bed, as pale as death, but sleeping the sleep of the
world that sees the sun; while her only sister knelt by her
side, weeping the tears of a higher world than that. ‘‘ How
could I be so brutal, and so hard?” sobbed Faith. ‘If fa-
ther has seen it, will he ever forgive me? His last words
were—‘ forgive, and love.’”’
478 - §PRINGHAVEN.
CHAPTER LXIII.
THE FATAL STEP.
As Carne rode up the hill that night towards his ruined
castle, the flush of fieree excitement and triumphant strug-
gle died away, and self-reproach and miserable doubt
struck into him like ague. For the death of Twemlow—as
he supposed—he felt no remorse whatever. Him he had
shot in furious combat, and as a last necessity; the fellow
had twice insulted him, and then insolently collared him.
And Faith, who had thwarted him with Dolly, and been
from the first his enemy, now would have to weep and wail,
and waste her youth in constancy. All that was good; but
he could not regard with equal satisfaction the death of
the ancient Admiral. The old man had brought it upon
himself by his stupid stubbornness; and looking fairly upon
that matter, Carne scarcely saw how to blame himself.
Still, it was a most unlucky thing, and must lead to a
quantity of mischief. To-morrow, or at the latest Monday,
.was to have crowned with grand success his years of toil
and danger. There still might be the landing, and he
would sail that night to hasten it, instead of arranging all
ashore; but it could no longer be a triumph of crafty man-
agement. The country was up, the Admiral’s death would
spread the alarm and treble it; and, worst of all, in the hot
pursuit of himself, which was sure to follow when people’s
wits came back to them, all the stores and ammunition,
brought together by so much skill and patience and hardi-
hood, must of necessity be discovered and fall into the
hands of the enemy. Farewell to his long-cherished hope
of specially neat retribution, to wit, that the ruins of his
family should be the ruin of the land which had rejected
him! Then a fierce thought crossed his mind, and became
at once a stern resolve. -If he could never restore Carne
Castle, and dwell there in prosperity, neither should any of
his oppressors. The only trace of his ancestral home should
be a vast black hole in earth.
For even if the landing still siecelienk: and the country
'
a
SPRINGHAVEN. 479
were subdued, he could never make his home there, after
what he had done to-night. Dolly was lost to him forever;
and although he had loved her with all the ardour he could
spare from his higher purposes, he must make up his mind
to do without her, and perhaps it was all the better for him.
If he had married her, no doubt he could soon have taught
her her proper place; but no one could tell how she might
fly out, through her self-will and long indulgence. He would
marry a French woman; that would be the best; perhaps
cone connected with the Empress Josephine. As soon as he
had made up his mind to this, his conscience ceased to trou-
ble him.
From the crest of the hill at the eastern gate many a
bend of shore was clear, and many a league of summer sea
lay wavering in the moonlight. Along the beach red torches
flared, as men of the Coast-Defence pushed forth, and yellow
flash of cannon inland signalled for the Volunteers, while
the lights gleamed (like windows opened from the depth)
where sloop and gun-boat, frigate and ship of the line, were
crowding sail to rescue England. For the semaphore, and
when day was out the beacon-lights, had glowed along the
backbone of the English hills, and England called every
Englishman to show what he was made of.
‘“That will do. Enough of that, John Bull!” Defying
his native land, Carne shook his fist in the native manner.
‘‘Stupid old savage, I shall live to make you howl. This
country has become too hot to hold me, and I'll make it
hotter before I have done. Here, Orso and Leo, good dogs,
good dogs! You could kill a hundred British bull-dogs.
Mount guard for an hour, till I call you down the hill.
You can pull down a score of Volunteers apiece, if they
dare to come after me. I have an hour to spare, and I
know how to employ it. Jerry, old Jerry Bowles, stir your
crooked shanks. What are you rubbing your blear eyes
at?” |
The huge boar-hounds, who obeyed no voice but his, took
post upon the rugged road (which had never been repaired
since the Carnes were a power in the land), and sat side by
side beneath the crumbling arch, with their long fangs glis-
tening and red eyes rolling in the silver moonlight, while
their deep chests panted for the chance of good fresh human
victuals. Then Carne gave his horse to ancient Jerry, say-
ing, ‘‘ Feed him, and take him with his saddle on to the old
yew-tree in half an hour. “Wait there for Captain Charron,
480 SPRINGHAVEN.
and for me. You are not to go away till I come to you.
Who is in the old place now? Think well before you an-
swer me.” |
‘*No one now in the place but her”—the old man lifted
his elbow, as a coachman does in passing—‘‘and him down
in the yellow jug. All the French sailors are at sea. Only
she won’t go away; and she moaneth worse than_all the owls
and ghosts. Ah, your honour should never ’a done that—
respectable folk to Springhaven too!”
‘*It was a slight error of judgment, Jerry. What a:
mealy lot these English are, to make such a fuss about a.
trifle! But I am too soft-hearted to blow her up. Tell her
to meet me in half an hour by the broken dial, and to bring
the brat, and all her affairs in a bundle such as she can carry,
or kick down the hill before her. In half an hour, do you
understand? And if you care for your stiff old bones, get
out of the way by that time.”
In that half-hour Carne gathered in small compass, and
strapped up in a little *‘ mail’—as such light baggage then
was called—all his important documents, despatches, letters,
and papers of every kind, and the cash he was intrusted
with, which he used to think safer at Springhaven. Then
he took from a desk which was fixed to the wall a locket
bright with diamonds, and kissed it, and fastened it beneath
his neck-cloth. The wisp of hair inside it came not from
any young or lovely head, but from the resolute brow of
his mother, the woman who hated England. He should
have put something better to his mouth; for instance, a
good beef sandwich. But one great token of his perversion
was that he never did feed well—a sure proof of the un-
righteous man, as suggested by the holy Psalmist, and more
distinctly put by Livy in the character he gives Hannibal.
Regarding as a light thing his poor unfurnished stomach,
Carne mounted the broken staircase, in a style which might
else have been difficult. He had made up his mind to have
one last look at the broad lands of his ancestors, from the
last that ever should be seen of the walls they had reared
and ruined. He stood upon the highest vantage-point that
he could attain with safety, where a shaggy gnarl of the all-
pervading ivy served as a friendly stay. To the right and
left and far behind him all had once been their domain—
every tree, and meadow, and rock that faced the moon, had
belonged to his ancestors. ‘‘Is ita wonder that I am fierce?”
he cried, with unwonted self-inspéétion ; ‘‘ who, that has been
SPRINGHAVEN. . 481
robbed as I have, would not try to rob in turn? The only
thing amazing is my patience and my justice. But I will
come back yet, and have my revenge.”
Descending to his hyena den—as Charron always called
it—he caught up his packet, and took a lantern, and a coil of
tow which had been prepared, and strode forth for the last
time into the sloping court behind the walls. Passing tow-
ards the eastern vaults, he saw the form of some one by the
broken dial, above the hedge of brambles, which had once
been of roses and sweetbriar. ‘‘Oh, that woman! I had
forgotten that affair!” he muttered, with annoyance, as he
pushed through the thorns to meet her.
Polly Cheeseman, the former belle of Springhaven, was
leaning against the wrecked dial, with a child in her arms
and a bundle at her feet. Her pride and gaiety had left her
now, and she looked very wan through frequent weeping,
and very thin from nursing. Her beauty (like her friends)
had proved unfaithful under shame and sorrow, and little ~
of it now remained except the long brown tresses and the
large blue eyes. Those eyes she fixed upon Carne with more
of terror than of love in them; although the fear was such
as turns with a very little kindness to adoring love.
Carne left her to begin, for he really was not without
shame in this matter; and Polly was far better suited than
Dolly for a scornful and arrogant will like his. Deeply
despising all the female race—as the Greek tragedian calls
them--save only the one who had given him to the world,
he might have been a God to Polly if he had but behaved as
aman to her. She looked at him now with an imploring
gaze, from the gentleness of her ill-used heart.
Their child, a fine boy about ten months old, broke the si-
lence by saying ‘‘ booh, booh,” very well, and holding out
little hands to his father, who had often been scornfully
kind to him.
‘Oh, Caryl, Caryl, you will never forsake him!” cried the
young mother, holding him up with rapture, and supporting
his fat arms in that position; ‘‘ he is the very image of you,
and he seems to know it. Baby,say ‘Da-da.’ There, he has
put his mouth up, and his memory is so wonderful! Oh,
Caryl, what do you think of that—and the first time of try-
ing it by moonlight 2”
‘There is no time for this nonsense, Polly. He is a won-
derful baby, I dare say; and so is every baby, till he gets too
old. You must obey orders, and be off with him.”
21
482 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘‘Oh, no! You are come to take us with you. There, I
have covered his face up, that he may not suppose you look
cross at me. Oh, Caryl, you would never leave him behind,
even if you could do that tome. We are not grand people,
and you can put us anywhere, and now I am nearly as well
as ever. I have put up all his little things; it does not mat-
ter about my own. I was never brought up to be idle, and
Iean earn my own living anywhere; and it might be a real
comfort for you, with the great people going against you, to
have somebody, not very grand, of course, but as true to you
as yourself, and belonging altogether to you. I know many
people who would give their eyes for such a baby.”
‘‘There is no time for this,” Carne answered, sternly ;
‘‘my arrangements are made, and I cannot take you. I
have no fault to find with you, but argument is useless.”
‘“Yes, I know that, Caryl; and I am sure that I never
would attempt to argue with you. You should have every-
thing your own way, and I could attend to so many things
that no man ever does properly. I will be a slave to you,
and this little darling love you, and then you will feel that
you have two to love you, wherever you go, and whatever
youdo. Andif I spoke crossly when first I found out that
—that I went away for nothing with you, you must have
forgiven me by this time, and I never will remind you again
of it; if I do, send me back to the place I belong to. I be-
long to you now, Caryl, and so does he; and when we are
away from the people who know me, I shall be pleasant and
cheerful again. I was only two-and-twenty the day the
boats came home last week, and they used to say the young
men jumped into the water as soon as they caught sight of
me. ‘Try to be kind to me, and I shall be so happy that I
shall look almost as I used to do, when you said that the
great ladies might be grander, but none of them fit to look
into my looking-glass. Dear Caryl, I am ready; I don’t
care where it is, or what I may have to put up with, so long
as you will make room for your Polly, and your baby.”
‘‘T am not at all a hard man,” said Carne, retreating as
the impulsive Polly offered him the baby, *‘ but once for all,
no more of this. I have quite forgiven any strong expres-
sions you may have made use of when your head was lght;
and if all goes well, I shall provide for you and the child,
according to your rank in life. But now you must run
down the hill, if you wish to save your life and his.”
‘‘T have run down the hill already. I care not a pin for
SPRINGHAVEN. 483
my own life; and hard as you are you would never have
the heart to destroy your own little Caryl. He may be
called Caryl—you will not deny him that, although he has
no right to be called Carne. Oh, Caryl, Caryl, you can be
so good, when you think there is something to gain by it.
Only be good to us now, and God will bless you for it, dar-
ling. I have given up all the world for you, and you cannot
have the heart to cast me off.”
“What a fool the woman is! Have you ever known me
change my mind? If you scorn your own life, through
your own folly, you must care for the brat’s. If you stop
here ten minutes, you will both be blown to pieces.”
‘“Through my own folly! Oh, God in heaven, that you
should speak so of my love for you! Squire Carne, you are
the worst man that ever lived; and it serves me right for
trusting you. But where am I to go?) Who will take me
and support me, and my poor abandoned child ?”
‘Your parents, of course, are your natural supporters.
You are hurting your child by this low abuse of me. Now
put aside excitement, and run home, like a sensible woman,
_ before your good father goes to bed.”
She had watched his face all the time, as if she could
scarcely believe that he was in earnest, but he proved it by
leaving her with a wave of his hat, and hastening back to his
lantern. Then taking up that, and the coil of tow, but leav-
ing his package against the wall, he disappeared in the nar-
row passage leading to the powder vaults. Polly stood still
by the broken dial, with her eyes upon the moon, and her
arms around the baby, and a pang in her heart. which pre-
vented her from speaking, or moving, or even knowing
where she was.
Then Carne, stepping warily, unlocked the heavy oak
door at the entrance of the cellarage, held down his lan-
tern, and fixed with a wedge the top step of the ladder,
which had been made to revolve with a pin and collar at
either end, as before described. After trying the step with
his hand, to be sure that it was now wedged safely, he flung
his coil into the vault and followed. Some recollection
made him smile as he was going down the steps: it was that
of a stout man lying at the bottom, shaken in every bone,
yet sound as a grape ensconced in jelly. As he touched the
bottom he heard a little noise as of some small substance
falling, but seeing a piece of old mortar dislodged, he did not
turn round to examine the place. If he had done so he
484 SPRINGHAVEN.
would have found behind the ladder the wedge he had just
inserted to secure the level of the ‘* Inspector’s step.”
Unwinding his coil of tow, which had been steeped in
saltpetre to make a long fuse, with a toss of his long legs he
crossed the barricade of solid oak rails about six feet high
securely fastened across the vault, for the enclosure of the
dangerous storage. Inside it was a passage, between chests
of arms, dismounted cannon, and cases from every depart-
ment of supply, to the explosive part of the magazine, the
devourer of the human race, the pulp of the marrow of the
Furies—gun powder.
Of this there was now collected here, EN stored in tiers
that reached the roof, enough to blow up half the people of
England, or lay them all low with a bullet before it; yet not
enough, not a millionth part enough, to move for the breadth
of a hair the barrier betwixt right and wrong, which a very
few barrels are enough to do witha man who has sapped the
foundations. Treading softly for fear of a spark from his
boots, and guarding the lantern well, Carne approached one
of the casks in the lower tier, and lifted the tarpaulin. Then
he slipped the wooden slide in the groove, and allowed some
five or six pounds to run out upon the floor, from which the
cask was raised by timber baulks. Leaving the slide partly
open, he spread one end of his coil like a broad lamp-wick in
the pile of powder which had run out, and put a brick upon
the tow to keep it from shifting. Then he paid out the rest
of the coil on the floor like a snake some thirty feet long,
with the tail about a yard inside the barricade. With a very
steady hand he took the candle from inside the horn, and
kindled that tail of the fuse; and then, replacing his light,
he recrossed the open timber-work, and swiftly remounted
the ladder of escape. ‘‘ Twenty minutes’ or half an hour's
grace,” he thought, ‘‘and long before that I shall be at the
yew-tree.”’
But, as he planted his right foot sharply upon the top
step of the ladder, that step swung back, and cast him heavi-
ly backwards to the bottom. The wedge had dropped out,
and the step revolved like the treadle of a fox-trap.
For a minute or two he lay stunned and senseless, with
the lantern before him on its side, and the candle burning a
hole in the bubbly horn. Slowly recovering his wits, he
strove to rise, as the deadly peril was borne in upon him.
But instead of rising, he fell back again with a curse, and
then a long-drawn groan; for pain (like the thrills of a man
SPRINGHAVEN. 485
on the rack) had got hold of him and meant to keep him.
His right arm was snapped at the elbow, and his left leg
just above the knee, and the jar of his spine made him feel
-as if his core had been split out of him. - He had no fat,
like Shargeloes, to protect him, and no sheath of hair like
Twemlow’s.
Writhing with anguish, he heard a sound which did not
improve his condition. It. was the spluttering of the fuse,
eating its merry way towards the five hundred casks of gun-
powder. In the fury of peril he contrived to rise, and stood
on his right foot with the other hanging limp, while he
stayed himself with his left hand upon the ladder. Even if
he could crawl up this, it would benefit him nothing. Be-
fore he could drag himself ten yards, the explosion would
overtake him. His only chance was to quench the fuse, or
draw it away from the priming. With a hobble of agony
he reachéd the barricade, and strove to lft his crippled
frame over it. It was hopeless; the power of his back was
gone, and his limbs were unable to obey his brain. Then
he tried to crawl through at the bottom, but the opening of
the rails would not admit his body, and the train of ductile
fire had left only ash for him to grasp at.
Quivering with terror, and mad with pain, he returned to
the foot of the steps, and clung till a gasp of breath came
back.: Then he shouted, with all his remaining power, ‘‘ Pol-
ly! oh, Polly! my own Polly!”
Polly had been standing, like a statue of despair, beside
the broken dial. To her it mattered little whether earth
should open and swallow her, or fire cast her up to heaven.
But his shout aroused her from this trance, and her heart
leaped up with the fond belief that he had relented, and was
ealling her and the child to share his fortunes. There she
stood in the archway and looked down, and the terror of
the scene overwhelmed her. Through a broken arch be-
yond the barricade pale moonbeams crossed the darkness,
like the bars of some soft melody; in the middle the serpent
coil was hissing with the deadly nitre; at the foot of the
steps was her false lover—husband he had called himself—
with his hat off, and his white face turned in the last sup-
plication towards her, as hers had been turned towards him
just now. Should a woman be as pitiless as a man ?
‘‘Come down, for God’s sake, and climb that cursed wood,
and pull back the fuse, pull it back from the powder. Oh,
Polly! and then we will go away together.”
486 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘‘Tt is too late. I will not risk my baby. You have
made me so weak that I could never climb that fence. You
are blowing up the castle which you promised to my baby;
but you shall not blow up him. You told me to run away,
and run I must. Good-bye; lam going to my natural sup-
porters.”
Carne heard her steps as she fled, and he fancied that he
heard therewith a mocking laugh, but it was a sob, a hys-
terical sob. She would have helped him, if she dared; but
her wits were gone in panic. She knew not of his shattered
limbs and horrible plight; and it flashed across her that this
was another trick of his—to destroy her and the baby, while
he fled. She had proved that all his vows were lies.
Then Carne made his mind up to die like a man, for he
saw that escape was impossible. Limping back to the fatal
barrier, he raised himself to his full height, and stood proud-
ly to see, as he put it, the last of himself. Not a quiver of
his haughty features showed the bodily pain that racked
him, nor a flinch of his deep eyes confessed the tumult mov-
ing in his mind and soul. He pulled out his watch and laid
it on the top rail of the oid oak fence: there was not enough
light to read the time, but he could count the ticks he had
to live. Suddenly hope flashed through his heart, like the
crack of a gun, like a lightning fork—a big rat was biting
an elbow of the yarn where some tallow had fallen upon it.
Would he cut it, would he drag it away to his hole? would
he pull it a little from its fatal end? He was strong enough
to do it, if he only understood. The fizz of saltpetre dis-
turbed the rat, and he hoisted his tail and skipped back to
his home.
The last thoughts of this unhappy man went back upon
his early days; and things, which he had passed without
thinking of, stood before him like his tombstone. None of
his recent crimes came now to his memory to disturb it—
there was time enough after the body for them—but trifles
which had first depraved the mind, and slips whose repeti-
tion had made slippery the soul, like the alphabet of death,
grew plain to him. Then he thought of his mother, and
crossed himself, and said a little prayer to the Virgin.
* x * * * *
Charron was waiting by the old yew-tree, and Jerry sat
trembling, with his eyes upon the castle, while the black
horse, roped to a branch, was mourning the scarcity of oats
and the abundance of gnats.
SPRINGHAVEN. 487
‘*Pest and the devil, but the coast is all alive!” cried the
Frenchman, soothing anxiety with solid and liquid com-
forts. ‘‘ Something has gone wrong behind the tail of eve-
rything. And there goes that big Stoobar, blazing with his
sordid battery! Arouse thee, old Cheray! The time too late
is over. Those lights thrice accursed will display our little
boat, and John Bull is rushing with a thousand sails. The
Commander is mad. They will have him, and us too. Shall
I dance by a rope? It is the only dancing probable for me
in England.”
‘IT have never expected any good to come,” the old man
answered, without moving. ‘‘The curse of the house is upon
the young Squire. I saw it in his eyes this morning, the
same as I saw in his father’s eyes, when the sun was going’
down the very night he died. I shall never see him more,
sir, nor you either, nor any other man that bides to the right
side of his coffin.”
‘*Bah! what a set you are of funerals, you Englishmen!
But if I thought he was in risk, I would stay to see the end
Of 1f2
‘‘ Here comes the end of it!’ the old man cried, leaping up
and catching at a rugged cord of trunk, with his other hand
pointing up the hill. From the base of the castle a broad
blaze rushed, showing window and battlement, arch and
tower, as in a flicker of the Northern lights. Then up went
all the length of fabric, as a wanton child tosses his Noah’s
ark. Keep and buttress, tower and arch, mullioned window
and battlement, in a fiery furnace leaped on high, like the
outburst of a voleano. Then, with a roar that rocked the
earth, they broke into a storm of ruin, sweeping the heavens
with a flood of fire, and spreading the sea with a mantle
of blood. Following slowly in stately spires, and calmly
swallowing everything, a fountain of dun smoke arose, and
solemn silence filled the night.
‘‘ All over now, thank the angels and the saints! My
faith, but I made up my mind to join them,” cried Charron,
who had fallen, or been felled by the concussion. ‘‘Cheray,
art thou still alive?) The smoke is in my neck. I cannot
liberate my words, but the lumps must be all come down by
this time, without adding to the weight of our poor brains.
Something fell in this old tree, a long way up, as high as
where the crows build. It was like a long body, with one
lez and one arm. I hope it was not the Commander; but
one thing is certain—he is gone to heaven. Let us pray
488 SPRINGHAVEN.
that he may stop there, if St. Peter admits a man who was
selling the keys of his country to the enemy. But we must
do duty to ourselves, my Cheray. Let us hasten to the sea,
and give the signal for the boat. La Torche will be a weak
light after this.”
‘‘T will not go. I will abide my time.” The old man
staggered to a broken column of the ancient gateway which
had fallen near them, and flung his arms around it. ‘‘I
remember this since I first could toddle. The ways of the
Lord are wonderful.”
‘“Come away, you old fool,” cried the Frenchman; ‘I
hear the tramp of soldiers in the valley. If they catch you
here, it will be drum-head work, and you will swing before
merning in the ruins.”
‘‘T am very old. My timeis short. I would liefer hang
from an English beam than deal any more with your out-
landish lot.” |
‘Farewell to thee, then! Thou art a faithful clod. Here
are five guineas for thee, of English stamp. I doubt if na-
poleons shall ever be coined in England.”
He was off while he might—a gallant Frenchman, and an
honest enemy; such as our country has respected always,
and often endeavoured to turn into fast friends. But the
old man stood and watched the long gap, where for centu-
ries the castle of the Carnes had towered. And his sturdy
faith was rewarded.
‘‘T am starving ’’—these words came feebly from a gaunt,
ragged figure that approached him. ‘* For three days my
food has been forgotten; and, bad as it was, I missed it. -
There came a great rumble, and my walls fell down. An-
cient Jerry, I can go no farther. I am empty as a shank
bone when the marrow-toast is serving. Your duty was to
feed me, with inferior stuff at any rate.”
‘“No, sir, no;” the old servitor was roused by the charge
of neglected duty. ‘Sir Parsley, it was no fault of mine
whatever. Squire undertook to see to all of it himself.
Don’t blame me, sir; don’t blame me.”
‘“ Never mind the blame, but make it good,” Mr. Shargeloes
answered, meagrely, for he felt as if he could never be fat
again. ‘‘WhatdoTIsee there? It is like a crust of bread,
but I am too weak to stoop for it.” :
‘“Come inside the tree, sir.” The old man led him, as a
grandsire leads a famished child. ‘‘ What ashame to starve
you, and you so hearty! But the Squire clean forgotten it,
SPRINGHAVEN. 489
I doubt, with his foreign tricks coming to this great blow-up.
Here, sir, here; please to sit down a moment, while I light a
candle. They French chaps are so wasteful always, and al-
ways grumbling at good English victual. Here’s eneugh to
feed a family Captain Charron has throwed by—bread, and
good mutton, and pretty near half a ham, and a bottle or so
of thin, nasty, foreign wine. Eat away, Sir Parsley; why, it
does me good to see you. You feeds something like an Eng-
lishman. But you know, sir, it were all your own fault at
bottom, for coming among them foreigners a-meddling.”
‘‘You are a fine fellow. You shall be my head butler,”
Percival Shargeloes replied, while he made such a meal as
he never made before, and never should make again, even
when he came to be the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor
of London.
CHAPTER LXIV.
WRATH AND SORROW.
THE two most conspicuous men of the age were saddened
and cast down just now—one by the natural kindly sorrow
into which all men live for others, till others live into it for
them ; and one by the petulant turns of fortune, twisting
and breaking his best-woven web. Lord Nelson arrived at
Springhaven on Monday, to show his affection for his dear
old friend; and the Emperor Napoleon, at the same time, was
pacing the opposite cliffs in grief and dudgeon.
He had taken his post on some high white land, about a
league southward of Boulogne, and with strong field-glasses,
which he pettishly exchanged in doubt of their power and
truth, he was scanning all the roadways of the shore and the
trackless breadths of sea. His quick brain was burning for
despatches overland—whether from the coast road past Kta-
ples, or farther inland by the great route from Paris, or away
to the southeast by special courier from the Austrian frontier
-——as well as for signals out at sea, and the movements of the
British ships, to show that his own were coming. He had
treated with disdain the suggestions of his faithful Admiral
Decrés, who had feared to put the truth too plainly, that the
fleet ordered up from the west had failed, and with it the
Master’s mighty scheme. Having yet to learn the lesson
that his best plans might be foiled, he was furious when
doubt was cast upon this pet design. Like-a giant of a spi-
rab:
490 SPRINGHAVEN,
der at the nucleus of his web, he watched the broad fan of
radiant threads, and the hovering of filmy woof, but without
the mild philosophy of that spider, who is ver sed j in the very
sad capriciousness of flies.
Just within hearing (and fain to be ae in his present
state of mind) were several young officers of the staff, mak-
ing little mouths at one another, for want of better pastime,
but looking as grave, when the mighty man glanced round,
as schoolboys do under the master’s eye. ‘‘Send Admiral
Decrés to me,’”’ the Emperor shouted, as he laid down his
telescope and returned to his petulant to-and-fro.
In a few minutes Admiral Decrés arrived, and after a sa-
lute which was not acknowledged, walked in silence at his
master’s side. The great man, talking to himself aloud, and
reviling almost every one except himself, took no more no-
tice of his comrade for some minutes than if he had been a
poodle keeping pace with him. Then he turned upon him
fiercely, with one hand thrown out, as if he would have liked
to strike him.
‘“What then is the meaning of all this?” He spoke too
fast for the other to catch all his words. ‘*‘ You have lost me
three days of it. How much longer will you conceal your
knowledge? Carne’s scheme has failed, through treachery
—probably his own. I never liked the man. He wanted
to be the master of me—of me! I can do without him; it is
all the better, if my fleet will come. I have three fleets, be-
sides these. Any one of them would do. They would do,
if even half their crews were dead, so long as they disturbed
the enemy. You know where Villeneuve is, but you will
not tell me.”
‘*T told your Majesty what I thought,” M. Decrés replied,
with dignity, ‘‘ but it did not please you to listen to me.
Shall I now tell your Majesty what I know ?” Ligh
‘‘Ha! You have dared to have secret despatches! You
know more of the movements of my fleets than Ido! You
have been screening him all along. Which of you is the
worse traitor ?”
‘Your Majesty will regret these words. Villeneuve and
myself are devoted to you. I have not heard from him.
I have received no despatches. But in a private letter just
received, which is here at your Majesty’s service, I find these
words, which your Majesty can see. ‘From my brother on
the Spanish coast I have just heard. Admiral Villeneuve
has sailed for Cadiz, believing Nelson to be in chase of him.
aa
SPRINGHAVEN. 491
My brother saw the whole fleet crowding sail southward.
No doubt it is the best thing they could do. If they came
across Nelson, they would be knocked to pieces.’ Your Maj-
esty, that is an opinion only; but it seems to be shared by
M. Villeneuve.”
Napoleon’s wrath was never speechless—except upon one
great occasion—and its outburst put every other in the
wrong, even while he knew that he was in the right. Re-
garding Decrés with a glare of fury, such as no other eyes
could pour, or meet—a glare as of burnished steel fired from
a cannon—he drove him out of every self-defence or shelter,
and shattered him in the dust of his own principles. It was
not the difference of rank between them, but the difference
in the power of their minds, that chased like a straw before
the wind the very stable senses of the man who understood
things. He knew that he was right, but the right was
routed, and away with it flew all capacity of reason in the
pitiless torrent of passion, like a man in a barrel, and the
barrel in Niagara.
M. Decrés knew not head from tail, in the rush of invec-
tive poured upon him; but he took off his hat in soft search
for his head, and to let in the compliments rained upon it.
‘‘Tt is good,” replied the Emperor, replying to himself, as
the foam of his fury began to pass; ‘‘you will understand,
Decrés, that Iam not angry, but only lament that I have
such a set of fools. You are not the worst. I have bigger
fools than you. Alas that I should confess it!”
Admiral Decrés put his hat upon his head, for the purpose
of taking it off, to acknowledge the kindness of this compli-
ment. It was the first polite expression he had received for
half an hour. And it would have been the last, if he had
dared to answer.
‘‘Villeneuve cannot help it that he is a fool,” continued
Napoleon, in a milder strain; *‘ but he owes it to his rank
that he should not be a coward. Nelson is his black beast.
Nelson has reduced him to a condition of wet pulp. I shall
send a braver man to supersede him. Are French fleets for-
ever to turn tail to an inferior force of stupid English? If I
were on the seas, I would sweep Nelson from them. Our
men are far braver, when they learn to spread their legs.
As soon as I have finished with those filthy Germans, I will
take the command of the fleets myself. It will be a bad
day for that bragging Nelson. Give me pen and paper,
and send Daru to me. I must conquer the Continent once
492 SPRINGHAVEN.
more, I suppose; and then I will return and deal with Eng-
land.”’
In a couple of hours he had shaped and finished the plan
of a campaign the most triumphant that even he ever
planned and accomplished. Then his mind became satisfied
with good work, and he mounted his horse, and for the last
-time rode through the grandest encampment the sun has
ever seen, distributing his calm, sweet smile, as if his nature
were too large for tempests.
* *k *k *k * *k
On the sacred white coast, which the greatest of French-
men should only approach as a prisoner, stood a man of less
imperious mould, and of sweet and gentle presence—a man
who was able to command himself in the keenest disappoint-
ment, because he combined a quick sense of humour with
the power of prompt action, and was able to appreciate his
own great qualities without concluding that there were no
other. His face, at all times except those of hot battle, was
filled with quiet sadness, as if he were sent into the world
for some great purpose beyond his knowledge, yet surely
not above his aim. Years of deep anxiety and ever-urgent
duty had made him look old before his time, but in no wise
abated his natural force. He knew that he had duty before
him still, and he felt that the only discharge was death.
But now, in the tenderness of his heart, he had forgotten
all about himself, and even for the moment about his coun-
try. Nelson had taken the last fond look at the dear old
friend of many changeful years, so true and so pleasant
throughout every change. Though one eye had failed for
the work of the brain, it still was in sympathy with his
heart; and a tear shone upon either wrinkled cheek, as the
uses of sadness outlast the brighter view.
He held Faith by the hand, or she held by his, as they
came forth, without knowing it, through Nature’s demand
for an open space, when the air is choked with sorrow.
‘“My dear, you must check it; you must leave off,” said
Nelson, although he was going on himself. ‘‘It is useless
for me to say a word to you, because I am almost as bad
myself. But still Iam older, and I feel that I ought to be
able to comfort you, if I only knew the way.”
‘*You do comfort me, more than I can tell, although you
don’t say anything. For any one to sit here, and be sorry
with me, makes it come a little lighter. And when it is a
man like you, Lord Nelson, I feel a sort of love that makes
SPRINGHAVEN. 493
me feel less bitter. Mr. Twemlow drove me wild with a
quantity of texts, and a great amount of talk about a better
land. How would he like to go to it himself, I wonder ?
There is a great hole in my heart, and nothing that any-
body says can fill it.”
‘* And nothing that any one can do, my dear,” her father’s
friend answered, softly, ‘‘unless it is your own good self,
with the kindness of the Lord to help you. One of the best
things to begin with is to help somebody else, if you can, and
lead yourself away into another person’s troubles. Is there —
any one here very miserable 2”
‘“None that I can think of half so miserable as I am.
There is great excitement, but no misery. Miss Twemlow
has recovered her Lord Mayor—the gentleman that wore
that extraordinary coat-—oh, I forgot, you were not here
then. And although he has had a very sad time of it, every
one says that the total want of diet will be much better for
him than any mere change. Iam ashamed to be talking of
such trifles now; but I respect that man, he was so straight-
forward. Ifmy brother Frank had been at all like him, we
should never have been as we are this day.”
‘“My dear, you must not blame poor Frank. He would
not come down to the dinner because he hated warlike
speeches. But he has seen the error of his ways. No more
treasonable stuff for him. He thought it was large, and
poetic, and all that, like giving one’s shirt to an impostor.
All of us make mistakes sometimes. I have made a great
many myself, and have always been the foremost to perceive
them. But your own brave lover-—have you forgotten him?
He fought like a hero, Iam told, and nothing could save his
life except that he wore a new-fashioned periwig.”’
‘‘T would rather not talk of him now, Lord Nelson, al-
though he had no periwig. JI am deeply thankful that he
escaped; and no doubt did his best, as he was bound to do.
I try to be fair to everybody, but I cannot help blaming
every one, when I come to remember how blind we have
been. Captain Stubbard must have been so blind, and Mrs.
Stubbard a great deal worse, and worst of all his own aunt,
Mrs. Twemlow. Oh, Lord Nelson, if you had only stopped
here, instead of hurrying away for more glory! You saw
the whole of it; you predicted everything; you even warned
uS again in your last letter! And yet you must go away,
and leave us to ourselves; and this is how the whole of it
has ended.”
494 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘*My dear child, I will not deny that. the eye of Nelson
has a special gift for piercing the wiles of the scoundrelly
foe. But I was under orders, and must go. The nation be-
lieved that it could not do without me, although there are
other men every bit as good, and in their own opinion supe-
rior. But the enemy has never been of that opinion; and a
great deal depends upon what they think. And the rule has
been always to send me where there are many kicks but few
coppers. Ihave never been known to repine. We all err;
but if we do our duty as your dear father did his, the Lord
will forgive us, when our enemies escape. When my time
comes, as it must do soon, there will be plenty to carp at me;
but I shall not care, if I have done my best. Your father
did his best, and is happy.”
Faith Darling took his hand again, and her tears were for
him quite as much as for herself. ‘‘Give me one of the but-
tons of your coat,” she said; ‘‘here is one that cannot last
till you get home.”
It was hanging by a thread, and yet the hero was very
loath to part with it, though if it had parted with him the
chances were ten to one against his missing it. However,
he conquered himself, but not so entirely as to let her cut it
off. If it must go, it should be by his own hand. He pulled
out a knife and cut it off, and she kissed it when he gave it
to her.
‘‘T should like to do more than that,” he said, though he
would sooner have parted with many guineas. ‘‘Is there
nobody here that I can help, from my long good-will to
Springhaven ?”
‘‘Oh, yes! How stupid I am!” cried Faith. ‘‘I forget
everybody in my own trouble. There is a poor young man
with a broken heart, who came to me this morning. He has
done no harm that I know of, but he fell into the power of
that wicked—but I will use no harsh words, because he is
gone most dreadfully to his last account. This poor youth
said that he only cared to die, after all the things that had
happened here, for he has always been fond of my father.
At first I refused to see him, but they told me such things
that I could not help it. He is the son of our chief man
here, and you said what a fine British seaman he would
make.”
‘‘T remember two or three of that description, especially
young Dan Tugwell.” Nelson had an amazing memory of
all who had served under him, or even had wished to do so.
SPRINGHAVEN. 495
‘*T see by your eyes that itis young Tugweil. If it will be
any pleasure to you, I will see him, and do what I can for
him. What has he done, my dear, and what can I do for
him 2?”
‘He has fallen into black disgrace, and his only desire is
to redeem it by dying for his country. His own father has
refused to see him, although he was mainly the cause of it;
and his mother, who was Erle Twemlow’s nurse, is almost
out of her mind with grief. A braver young man never
lived, and he was once the pride of Springhaven. He saved
poor Dolly from drowning, when she was very young, and
the boat upset. His father chastised him cruelly for falling
under bad influence. Then he ran away from the village,
and seems to have been in French employment. But he was
kept in the dark, and had no idea that he was acting against
his own country.”
‘‘He has been a traitor,” said Lord Nelson, sternly. ‘‘I
cannot help such a man, even for your sake.”’
‘*He has not been a traitor, but betrayed,” cried Faith;
‘‘he believed that his only employment was to convey pri-
vate letters for the poor French prisoners, of whom we have
so many hundreds. I will not contend that he was right in
that; but still it was no very great offence. HKyven you must
have often longed to send letters to those you loved in Eng-
land; and you know how hard it isin war-time. But what
they really wanted him for was to serve as their pilot upon
this coast. And the moment he discovered that, though they
offered him bags of gold to do it, he faced his death like an
Englishman. They attempted to keep him in a stupid state
with drugs, so that he might work like a mere machine. But
he found out that, and would eat nothing but hard biscuit.
They had him in one of their shallow boats, or prames, as
they call them, which was to lead them in upon signal from
the arch-traitor. This was on Saturday, Saturday night—
that dreadful time when we were all so gay. They held a
pair of pistols at poor Dan’s head, or at least a man was
holding one to each of his ears, and they corded his arms,
because he ventured to remonstrate. That was before they
had even started, so you may suppose what they would have
done to us. Poor Daniel made up his mind to die, and it
would have eased his mind, he says now, if he had done so.
But while they were waiting for the signal, which through
dear father’s: vigilance they never did receive, Dan managed
to free both his hands in the dark, and as soon as he saw
496 SPRINGHAVEN.
the men getting sleepy, he knocked them both down, and
jumped overboard; for he can swim like a fish, or even bet-
ter. He had very little hopes of escaping, as he says, and
the French fired fifty shots after him. With great presence
of mind, he gave a dreadful scream, as if he was shot through
the head at least, then he flung up his legs, as if he was gone
down; but he swam under water for perhaps a hundred
yards, and luckily the moon went behind a black cloud.
Then he came to a boat, which had broken adrift, and al-
though he did not dare to climb into her, he held on by her,
on the further side from them. She was drifting away with
the tide, and at last he ventured to get on board of her, and
found a pair of oars, and was picked up at daylight by a
smuggling boat running for Newhaven. He was landed
last night, and he heard the dreadful news, and having plen-
ty of money, he hired a post-chaise, and never stopped until
he reached Springhaven. He looks worn out now; but if
his mind was easier, he would soon be as strong as ever.”
‘‘Tt is a strange story, my dear,” said Nelson; ‘‘ but I see
that it has done you good to tell it, and I have known many
still stranger. But how could he have money, after such a
hard escape ?”
‘“That shows as much as anything how brave he is. He
had made up his mind that if he succeeded in knocking down
both those sentinels, he would have the bag of gold which
was put for his reward in case of his steering them success-
fully. And before he jumped overboard he snatched it up,
and it helped him to dive and to swim under water. He put
it in his flannel shirt by way of ballast, and he sticks to it up
to the present moment.”
‘“My dear,” replied Lord Nelson, much impressed, ‘‘such
a man deserves to be in my own crew. If he can show me
that bag, and stand questions, I will send him to Portsmouth
at my own expense, with a letter to my dear friend Captain
Hardy.”
CHAPTER LXV.
TRAFALGAR.
LORD NELSON sailed from Portsmouth on the 15th of Sep-
tember, in his favourite ship the Victory, to take his last
command. He knew that he never should come home, ex-
cept as a corpse for burial, but he fastened his mind on the
SPRINGHAVEN. 497
work before him, and neglected nothing. ‘‘A fair fight, and
no favour,” was the only thing he longed for.
And this he did obtain at last. The French commander-
in-chief came forth, with all his mighty armament, not of
his own desire, but goaded by imperious sneers, and stings
that made his manhood tingle. He spread the sea-power of
two nations in a stately crescent, double-lined (as the moon
is doubled when beheld through fine plate-glass)—a noble
sight, a paramount temptation for the British tow-rope.
‘*What a lot for we to take to Spithead!” was the British
tar’s remark, as forty ships of the line and frigates showed
their glossy sides, and canvas bosomed with the gentle air
and veined with gliding sunlight. A grander spectacle
never was of laborious man’s creation; and the work of the
Lord combined to show it to the best advantage—dark head-
lands in the distance standing as a massive background, long,
pellucid billows lifting bulk Titanic, and lace-like maze,
sweet air wandering from heaven, early sun come fresh from
dew, all the good-will of the world inspiring men to merri-
ness.
Nelson was not fierce of nature, but as gentle as a lamb.
His great desire, as he always proved, was never to destroy
his enemies by the number of one man sparable. He had
always been led by the force of education, confirmed by that
of experience, to know that the duty of an Englishman is to
lessen the stock of Frenchmen; yet he never was free from
regret when compelled to act up to his conscience, upon a
large scale.
It is an old saying that nature has provided for every dis-
ease its remedy, and challenges men to find it out, which
they are clever enough not to do. For that deadly disease
Napoleon, the remedy was Nelson; and as soon as he should
be consumed, another would appear in Wellington. Such is
the fortune of Britannia, because she never boasts, but grum-
bles always. The boaster soon exhausts his subject; the
grumbler has matter that lasts forever.
Nelson had much of this national virtue. ‘‘ Half of them
will get away,” he said to Captain Blackwood, of the Hurya-
lus, who was come for his latest orders, ‘‘ because of that ras-
eaily port to leeward. If the wind had held as it was last
night, we should have had every one of them. It does
seem hard, after waiting so long. And the sky looks like
a gale of wind. It will blow to-night, though I shall not
hear it. A gale of wind with disabled ships means terrible
498 SPRINGHAVEN.
destruction. Do all you can to save those poor fellows.
When they are beaten, we must consider their lives even
more than our own, you know, because we have been the
cause of it. You know my wishes as well asI do. Remem-
ber this one especially.” -
‘*Good-bye, my lord, till the fight is over.” Captain
Blackwood loved his chief with even more than the warm
affection felt by all the fleet for him. ‘‘ When we have got
them, I shall come back, and find you safe and glorious.”
‘‘God bless you, Blackwood !” Lord Nelson answered,
looking at him with a cheerful smile. ‘‘ But you will never
see me alive again.”
The hero of a hundred fights, who knew that this would
be his last, put on his favourite ancient coat, threadbare
through many a conflict with hard time and harder ene-
mies. Its beauty, like his own, had suffered in the cause of
duty; the gold embroidery had taken leave of absence in
some places, and in others showed more fray of silk than
gleam of yellow glory; and the four stars fastened on the
left breast wanted a little plate-powder sadly. But Nelson
was quite contented with them, and like a child—for he al-
ways kept in his heart the childhood’s freshness—he gazed
at the star he was proudest of, the Star of the Bath, and
through a fond smile sighed. Through the rays of that
star his death was coming, ere a quarter of a day should be
added to his life.
With less pretension and air of greatness than the captain
of a penny steamer now displays, Nelson went from deck to
deck, and visited every man at quarters, as if the battle hung
on every one. There was scarcely a man whom he did not
know, as well as a farmer knows his winter hands; and loud
cheers rang from gun to gun when his order had been an-
swered. His order was, ‘‘ Reserve your fire until you are
sure of every shot.”” Then he took his stand upon the quar-
ter-deck, assured of victory, and assured that his last be-
quest to the British nation would be honoured sacredly—
about which the less we say the better.
In this great battle, which crushed the naval power of
France, and saved our land from further threat of inroad,
Blyth Scudamore was not engaged, being still attached to
the Channel fleet; but young Dan Tugwell bore a share,
and no small share by his own account and that of his na-
tive village, which received him proudly when he came
home. Placed at a gun on the upper deck, on the starboard
SPRINGHAVEN. | 499
side near the mizzen-mast, he fought like a Briton, though
dazed at first by the roar, and the smoke, and the crash of
timber. Lord Nelson had noticed him more than once, as
one of the smartest of his crew, and had said to him that
very morning, ‘‘For the honour of Springhaven, Dan, be-
have well in your first action.” And the youth had never
forgotten that, when the sulphurous fog enveloped him, and
the rush of death lifted his curly hair, and his feet were
sodden and his stockings hot with the blood of shattered
messmates.
In the wildest of the, wild pell-mell, as the Victory lay
like a pelted log, rolling to the storm of shot, with three
ships at close quarters hurling all their metal at her, and a
fourth alongside clutched so close that muzzle was tompion
for muzzle, while the cannon-balls so thickly flew that many
sailors with good eyes saw them meet in the air and shatter
one another, an order was issued for the starboard guns on
the upper deck to cease firing. An eager-minded French-
man, adapting his desires as a spring-board to his conclu-
sions, was actually able to believe that Nelson’s own ship
had surrendered! He must have been off his head; and his
inductive process was soon amended by the logic of facts, for
his head was off him. The reason for silencing those guns
was good—they were likely to do more damage to an Eng-
lish ship which lay beyond than to the foe at the port-holes.
The men who had served those guns were ordered below, to
take the place of men who never should fire a gun again.
Dan Tugwell, as he turned to obey the order, cast a glance
at the Admiral, who gave him a little nod, meaning, ‘‘ Well
done, Dan.”
Lord Nelson had just made a little joke, such as he often
indulged in, not from any carelessness about the scene
around him—which was truly awful—but simply to keep up
his spirits, and those of his brave and beloved companion.
Captain Hardy, a tall and portly man, clad in bright uni-
form, and advancing with a martial stride, cast into shade
the mighty hero quietly walking at his left side. And Nel-
son was covered with dust from the quarter-gallery of a
pounded ship, which he had not stopped to brush away.
‘‘Thank God,” thought Dan, ‘‘if those fellows in the tops,
who are picking us off so, shoot at either of them, they will
be sure to hit the big man first.”
In the very instant of his thought, he saw Lord Nelson
give a sudden start, and then reel, and fall upon both knees,
500 SPRINGHAVEN.
striving for a moment to support himself with his one hand
on the deck. Then his hand gave way, and he fell on his
left side, while Hardy, who was just before him, turned at
the cabin ladderway, and stooped with a loud cry over him.
Dan ran up, and placed his bare arms under the wounded
shoulder, and helped to raise and set him on his staggering
legs.
‘‘T hope you are not much hurt, my lord ?” said the Cap-
tain, doing his best to smile.
“They have done for me at last,” the hero gasped.
‘‘Hardy, my backbone is shot through.”
Through the roar of battle, sobs of dear love sounded
along the blood-stained deck, as Dan and another seaman
took the pride of our nation tenderly, and carried him down
to the orlop-deck. Yet even so, in the deadly pang and
draining of the life-blood, the sense of duty never failed,
and the love of country conquered death. With his feeble
hand he contrived to reach the handkerchief in his pocket,
and spread it over his face and breast, lest the crew should
be disheartened.
‘‘T know who fired that shot,” cried Dan, when he saw
that he could help no more. ‘* He never shall live to boast
of it, if I have to board the French ship to fetch him.”
He ran back quickly to the quarter-deck, and there found
three or four others eager to give their lives for Nelson’s
death. The mizzen-top of the Redoutable, whence the fatal
shot had come, was scarcely so much as fifty feet from the
starboard rail of the Victory. . The men who were stationed
in that top, although they had no brass cohorn there, such
as those in the main and fore tops plied, had taken many
English lives, while the thick smoke stged around them.
For some time they had worked unheeded in the louder
roar of cannon, and when at last they were observed, it was
hard to get a fair shot at them, not only from the rolling of
the entangled ships, and clouds of blinding vapour, but.be-
cause they retired out of sight to load, and only came for-
ward to catch theiraim. However, by the exertions of our
marines—who should have been at them long ago—these
sharpshooters from the coign of vantage were now reduced
to three brave fellows. They had only done their duty, and
perhaps had no idea how completely they had done it; but
naturally enough our men looked at them as if they were
‘‘too bad for hanging.” Smoky as the air was, the three
men saw that a very strong feeling was aroused against
SPRINGHAVEN. 501
them, and that none of their own side was at hand to back
them up. And the language of the English—though they
could not understand it—was clearly that of bitter condem-
nation.
The least resolute of them became depressed by this, being
doubtless a Radical who had been taught that Vox populz is
Vox Det. He endeavoured, therefore, to slide down the
rigging, but was shot through: the heart, and dead before he
had time to know it. At the very same moment the most
desperate villain of the three—as we should call him—or
the most heroic of these patriots (as the French historians
describe him) popped forward and shot a worthy English-
man, who was shaking his fist instead of pointing his gun.
Then an old Quartermaster, who was standing on the
poop. with his legs spread out as comfortably as if he had
his Sunday dinner on the spit before him, shouted—‘‘ That’s
him, boys—that glazed hat beggar! Have at him all to-
gether, next time he comes forrard.” As he spoke, he fell
dead, with his teeth in his throat, from the fire of the other
Frenchman. But the carbine dropped from the man who
had fired, and his body fell dead as the one he had destroyed,
for a sharp little Middy, behind the Quartermaster, sent a
bullet through the head, as the hand drew trigger. The
slayer of Nelson remained alone, and he kept back warily,
where none could see him.
‘‘ All of you fire, quick one after other,” cried Dan, who
had picked up a loaded musket, and was kneeling in the
embrasure of a gun; “fire so that he may tell the shots;
that will fetch him out again. Sing out first, ‘There he is!’ -
as if you saw him.”
The men on the quarter-deck and poop did so, and the
Frenchman, who was watching through a hole, came for-
ward for a safe shot while they were loading. He pointed
the long gun which had killed Nelson at the smart young
offiger*on the poop, but the muzzle flew up ere he pulled the
trigger, and Jeaning forward he fell dead, with his legs and
arms spread, like a jack for oiling axles. Dan had gone
through some small-arm drill in the fortnight he spent at
Portsmouth, and his eyes were too keen for the bull’s-eye.
With a rest for his muzzle he laid it truly for the spot where
the Frenchman would reappear; with extreme punctuality
he shot him in the throat; and the gallant man who de-
prived the world of Nelson was thus despatched to a better
one, three hours in front of his victim.
| 502 SPRINGHAVEN.
CHAPTER LXVI.
THE LAST BULLETIN.
To Britannia this was but feeble comfort, even if she
heard of it. She had lost her pet hero, the simplest and
dearest of all the thousands she has borne and nursed, and
for every penny she had grudged him in the flesh, she would
lay a thousand pounds upon his bones. To put it more po-
etically, her smiles were turned to tears— which cost her
something—and the laurel drooped in the cypress shade. ©
The hostile fieet was destroyed; brave France would never
more come out of harbour to contend with England; the
foggy fear of invasion was like a morning fog dispersed ;
and yet the funds (the pulse of England) fell at the loss of
that one defender.
It was a gloomy evening, and come time for good people
to be in-doors, when the big news reached Springhaven.
Since the Admiral slept in the green churchyard, with no
despatch to receive or send, the importance of Springhaven
chad declined in all opinion except its own, and even Captain
Stubbard could not keep it up. When the Squire was shot,
“and Master Erle as well, and Carne Castle went higher than
a lark could soar, and folk were fools enough to believe that
Boney would dare to put his foot down there, John Prater had
done a most wonderful trade, and never a man who could
lay his tongue justly with the pens that came spluttering
from London had any call for a fortnight together to go to
bed sober at his own expense. But this bright season ended
quite as suddenly as it had begun; and when these great
‘‘ bungers’”’—as those veterans were entitled who dealt most
freely with the marvellous—had laid their heads together to
produce and confirm another guinea’s worth of fiction, the
London press would have none of it. Public interest had
rushed into another channel; and the men who had thriven
for a fortnight on their tongues were driven to employ them
on their hands again.
But now, on the sixth of November, a new excitement
was in store for them. The calm obscurity of night flowed
SPRINGHAVEN. 503
in, through the trees that belonged to Sir Francis now, and
along his misty meadows; and the only sound in the village
lane was the murmur of the brook beside it, or the gentle
sigh of the retiring sea. Boys of age enough to make much
noise, or at least to prolong it after nightfall, were away in
the fishing-boats, receiving whacks almost as often as they
needed them; for those times (unlike these) were equal to
their fundamental duties. In the winding lane outside the
grounds of the Hall, and shaping its convenience naturally
by that of the more urgent brook, a man—to show what the
times were come to—had lately set up a shoeing forge. He
had done it on the strength of the troopers’ horses coming
down the hill so fast, and often with their cogs worn out,
yet going as hard as if they had no knees, or at least none
belonging to their riders. And although he was not a
Springhaven man, he had been allowed to marry a Spring-
haven woman, one of the Capers up the hill; and John
Prater (who was akin to him by marriage, and perhaps had
an eye to the inevitable ailment of a man whose horse is
ailing) backed up his daring scheme so strongly that the Ad-
miral, anxious for the public good, had allowed this smithy
to be set up here.
John Keatch was the man who established this, of the
very same family (still thriving in West Middlesex) which
for the service of the state supplied an official whose mantle
it is now found hard to fill; and the blacksmith was known
as ‘‘ Jack Ketch” in the village, while his forge was becom-
ing the centre of news. Captain Stubbard employed him
for battery uses, and finding his swing-shutters larger than
those of Widow Shanks, and more cheaply ht up by the
glow of the forge, was now beginning, in spite of her re-
monstrance, to post all his very big proclamations there.
‘‘ Rouse up your fire, Ketch,” he said that evening, as he
stood at the door of the smithy, with half a dozen of his
children at his heels. ‘‘ Bring a dozen clout-nails; here’s a
tremendous piece of news!”
The blacksmith made a blaze with a few strokes of his
bellows, and swung his shutter forward, so that all might
read.
‘“GREAT AND GLORIOUS VICTORY. Twenty line-
of-battle ships destroyed or captured. Lord Nelson shot
dead. God save the King!”
‘‘Keep your fire up. Ill pay a shilling for the coal,”
cried the Captain, in the flush of excitement. ‘‘ Bring out
504 SPRINGHAVEN.
your cow’s horn, and go and blow it at the corner. And
that drum you had to mend, my boy and girl will beat it.
Jack, run up to the battery, and tell them to blaze away for
their very lives.”
In less than five minutes all the village was there, with
the readers put foremost, all reading together at the top of
their voices, for the benefit of the rest. Behind them stood
Polly Cheeseman, peeping, with the glare of the fire on her
sad pale face and the ruddy cheeks of her infant. ‘‘Make
way for Widow Carne, and the young Squire Carne,” the
loud voice of Captain Zeb commanded; ‘‘ any man as stands
afront of her will have me upon him. Now, ma’am, stand
forth, and let them look at you.”
This was a sudden thought of Captain Tugwell’s; but it
fixed her rank among them, as the order of the King might.
The strong sense of justice, always ready in Springhaven,
backed up her rizht to be what she had believed herself,
and would have been, but for foul deceit and falsehood.
And if the proud spirit of Carne ever wandered around the
ancestral property, it would have received in the next gen-
eration a righteous shock at descrying in large letters, well
picked out with shade: ‘‘Caryl Carne, Grocer and Butter-
man, Cheesemonger, Dealer in Bacon and Sausages. Li-
censed to sell Tea, Coffee, Snuff, Pepper, and Tobacco.”
For Cheeseman raised his head again, with the spirit of a
true British tradesman, as soon as the nightmare of traitor-
ous plots and contraband imports was over. Captain Tug-
well on his behalf led the fishing fleet against that renegade —
La Liberté, and casting the foreigners overboard, they re-
stored her integrity as the London Trader. Mr. Cheeseman
shed a tear, and put on a new apron, and entirely reformed
his political views, which had been loose and Whiggish.
Uprightness of the most sensitive order—that which has
slipped and strained its tendons—stamped all his dealings,
even in the butter line; and facts having furnished a credit-
able motive for his rash reliance upon his own cord, he
turned amid applause to the pleasant pastimes of a smug
church-warden. And when’he was wafted to a still sub-
limer sphere, his grandson carried on the business well.
Having spread the great news in this striking manner,
Captain Stubbard—though growing very bulky now with
good living, ever since his pay was doubled—set off at a
conscientious pace against the stomach of the hill, lest haply
the Hall should feel aggrieved at hearing all this noise and
EEE
SPRINGHAVEN. 505
having to wonder what the reason was. He knew, and was
grateful at knowing, that Carne’s black crime and devilish
plot had wrought an entire revulsion in the candid but
naturally too soft mind of the author of the Harmodiad.
Sir Francis was still of a liberal mind, and still admired his
own works. But forgetting that nobody read them, he
feared the extensive harm they might produce, although
he was now resolved to write even better in the opposite
direction. On the impulse of literary conscience, he held a
council with the gardener Swipes, as to the best composition
of bonfire for the consumption of poetry. Mr. Swipes rec-
ommended dead pea-haulm, with the sticks left in it to
insure a draught. Then the poet in the garden with a long
bean-stick administered fire to the whole edition, not only
of the Harmodiad, but also of the Theiodemos, his later and
even grander work. Persons incapable of lofty thought at-
tributed this—the most sage and practical of all forms of
palinode—to no higher source than the pretty face and fig-
ure, and sweet patriotism, of Lady Alice, the youngest sister
of Lord Dashville. And subsequent facts, to some extent,
confirmed this interpretation.
The old house looked gloomy and dull of brow, with only
three windows showing light, as stout Captain Stubbard,
with his short sword swinging from the bulky position
where his waist had been, strode along the winding of the
hill towards the door. At asharp corner, under some trees,
he came almost shoulder to shoulder with a tall man strik-
ing into the road from a foot-path. The Captain drew
his sword, for his nerves had been flurried ever since the
ereat explosion, which laid him on his back among his own
cannon.
‘‘A friend,” cried the other, ‘‘and a great admirer of your
valour, Captain, but not a worthy object for its display.”
‘*My dear friend Shargeloes!” replied the Captain, a little
ashamed of his own vigilance. ‘‘How are you, my dear
sir? and how is the system 2?”
‘‘The system will never recover from the tricks that in-
fernal Carne has played with it. But never mind that, if
the intellect survives; we all owe a debt to our country. I
have met you in the very nick of time. Yesterday was Guy
Fawkes’ Day, and I wanted to be married then; but the peo-
ple were not ready. I intend to have it now on New- Year's
Day, because then I shall always remember the date. Iam
going up here to make a strange request, and I want you to
22
506 SPRINGHAVEN.
say that it is right and proper. An opinion from a dis-
tinguished sailor will go a long way with the daughters of
an Admiral. I want the young ladies to be my bridesmaids
—and then for the little ones, your Maggy and your Kitty.
I am bound to go to London for a month to-morrow, and
then I could order all the bracelets and the brooches, if I
were only certain who the blessed four would be.”
‘*T never had any bridesmaids myself, and I don’t know
anything about them. I thought that the ladies were the
people to settle that.”
‘‘The ladies are glad to be relieved of the expense, and I
wish to start well,” replied Shargeloes. ‘‘ Why are ninety-
nine men out of a hundred henpecked ?”
‘‘T am sure I don’t know, except that they can’t help it.
But have you heard the great news of this evening ?”
‘*The reason is,” continued the member of the Corpora-
tion, ‘‘that they begin with being nobodies. They leave the
whole management of their weddings to the women, and
they never recover the reins. Miss Twemlow is one of the
most charming of her sex; but she has a decided character,
which properly guided will be admirable. But to give it
the lead at the outset would be fatal to future happiness.
Therefore I take this affair upon myself. I pay for it all,
and I mean to do it all.”
‘What things you do learn in London!” the Captain
answered, with asigh. ‘‘Oh, if I had only had the money
—but it is too late to talk of that. Once more, have you
heard the news ?”
‘‘ About the great battle, and the déath of Nelson? Yes,
I heard of all that this morning. But I left it to come in
proper course from you. Now here we are; mind you back
meup. The Lord Mayor is coming to be my best man.”
The two sisters, dressed in the deepest mourning, and pale
with long sorrow and loneliness, looked wholly unfit for
festive scenes; and as soon as they heard of this new dis-
tress—the loss of their father’s dearest friend, and their own
beloved hero-—they left the room, to have a good ery to-
gether, while their brother entertained the visitors. ‘It
can’t be done now,” Mr. Shargeloes confessed; ‘‘and, after
all, Eliza is the proper person. I must leave that to her,
but nothing else that I can think of. There can’t be much
harm in my letting her do that.”
It was done by a gentleman after all, for the worthy
Rector did it. The bride would liefer have dispensed with
SPRINGHAVEN. 507
bridesmaids so much fairer than herself, and although un-
able to advance that reason, found fifty others against ask-
ing them. But her father had set his mind upon it, and
together with his wife so pressed the matter that Faith and
Dolly, much against their will, consented to come out of
mourning for a day, but not.into gay habiliments. |
The bride was attired wonderfully, stunningly, carnage-
ously —as Johnny, just gifted with his commission, and
thereby with much slang, described her; and in truth she
carried her bunting well, as Captain Stubbard told his wife,
and Captain Tugwell confirmed it. But the eyes of every-
body with half an eye followed the two forms in silver-gray.
That was the nearest approach to brightness those lovers of
‘their father allowed themselves, within five months of his
tragic death; though if the old Admiral could have looked
down from the main-top, probably he would have shouted,
‘No flags at half-mast for me, my pets!”
Two young men with melancholy glances followed these
fair bridesmaids, being tantalized by these nuptial rites, be-
cause they knew no better. One of them hoped that his
time would come, when he had pushed his great discovery ;
and if the art of photography had been known, his face
would have been his fortune. For he bore at the very top
of it the seal and stamp of his patent—the manifest impact
of a bullet, diffracted by the power of Pong. The roots of
his hair—the terminus of blushes, according to all good nov-
elists—had served an even more useful purpose, by enabling
him to blushagain. Strengthened by Pong, they had defied
the lead, and deflected it into a shallow channel, already
beginning to be overgrown by the aid of that same potent
drug. Erle Twemlow looked little the worse for his wound;
to a lady perhaps, to a man of science certainly, more inter-
esting than he had been before. As he gazed at the bride
all bespangled with gold, he felt that he had in his trunk
the means of bespangling his bride with diamonds. But
the worst of it was that he must wait, and fight, and perhaps
get killed, before he could settle in life and make his fortune.
As an officer of a marching regiment, ordered to rejoin im-
mediately, he must flesh his sword in lather first—for he had
found no razor strong enough—and postpone the day of
riches till the golden date of peace.
The other young man had no solace of wealth, even in
the blue distance, to whisper to his troubled heart. Al-
though he was a real ‘‘ Captain Scuddy” now, being posted
508 SPRINGHAVEN.
to the Danaé, 42-gun frigate, the capacity of his cocked hat
would be tried by no shower of gold impending. For
mighty dread of the Union-jack had fallen upon the tri-
color; that gallant flag perceived at last that its proper
flight was upon dry land, where as yet there was none to
flout it. Trafalgar had reduced by fifty per cent. the Brit-
ish sailor’s chance of prize-money.
Such computations were not, however, the chief distress
of Scudamore. The happiness of his fair round face was
less pronounced than usual, because he had vainly striven
for an interview with his loved one. With all her faults
he loved her still, and longed to make them all his own.
He could not help being sadly shocked by her fatal coquetry —
with the traitor Carne, and slippery conduct to his own poor
self. But love in his faithful heart maintained that she had
already atoned for that too bitterly and too deeply ; and the
settled sorrow of her face, and listless submission of her
movements, showed that she was now a very different Dolly.
Faith, who had always been grave enough, seemed gaiety it-
self in comparison with her younger sister, once so gay. In
their simple dresses—grey jaconet muslin, sparely trimmed
with lavender—and wearing no jewel or ornament, but a
single snowdrop in the breast, the lovely bridesmaids looked
as if they defied all the world to make them brides.
But the Rector would not let them off from coming to
the breakfast-party, and with the well-bred sense of fitness
they obeyed his bidding. Captain Stubbard (whose jokes
had missed fire too often to be satisfied with a small touch-
hole now) was broadly facetious at their expense; and
Johnny, returning thanks for them, surprised the good
company by his manly tone, and contempt of life before
beginning it. This invigorated Scudamore, by renewing
his faith in human nature as a thing beyond calculation.
He whispered a word or so to his friend Johnny while Mr.
and Mrs. Shargeloes were bowing farewell from the windows
of a great family coach from London, which the Lord Mayor
had lent them, to make up for not coming. For come he
could not—though he longed to do so, and all Springhayven
expected him—on account of the great preparations in hand
for the funeral of Lord Nelson. |
‘“Thy servant will see to it,” the boy replied, with a wink
at his sisters, whom he was to lead home; for Sir Francis
had made his way down to the beach.
‘His behaviour,” thought Dolly, as she put on her cloak,
i
f
WHERE THE FIRST SNOWDROPS GREW.
510 SPRINGHAVEN.
‘“has been perfect. How thankful I feel for it! He never
cast one glance at me. He quite enters into my feelings
towards him. But how much more credit to his mind than
to his heart!”
Scudamore, at a wary distance, kept his eyes upon her, as
if she had been a French frigate gliding under strong land
batteries, from which he must try to cut her out. Presently
he saw that his good friend Johnny had done him the ser-
vice requested. Ata fork of the path leading to the Hall,
Miss Dolly departed towards the left upon some errand
among the trees, while her brother and sister went on tow-
ards the house. Forgetting the dignity of a BRost-Captain,
the gallant Scuddy made a cut across the grass, as if he were
playing prisoner’s base with the boys at Stonnington, and
intercepted the fair prize in a bend of the brook, where the
winter sun was nursing the first primrose.
‘You, Captain Scudamore!” said the bridesmaid, turning
as if she could never trust her eyes again. ‘‘ You must
have lost your way. This path leads nowhere.”
‘‘ Tf it only leads to you, that is all that I could wish for.
I am content to go to nothing, if I may only go with you.”
‘“My brother sent me,” said Dolly, looking down, with
more colour on her cheeks than they had owned for months,
and the snowdrop quivering on her breast, ‘‘to search for a
primrose or two for him to wear when he dines at the rec-
tory this evening. We shall not go, of course. We have
done enough. But Frank and Johnny think they ought to
ro Wh
‘‘May I help you to look? Iam lucky in that way. I
used to find so many things with you, in the happy times
that used to be.” Blyth saw that her eyelids were quivering
with tears. ‘‘I will go away, if you would rather have it
so. But you used to be so good-natured to me.”
‘‘So Iam still. Or at least I mean that people should
now be good-natured to me. Oh, Captain Scudamore, how
foolish I have been!”
‘Don’t say so, don’t think it, don’t believe it for a mo-
ment,” said Scudamore, scarcely knowing what he said, as
she burst into a storm of sobbing. ‘*‘Oh, Dolly, Dolly, you
know you meant no harm. You are breaking your darling
heart, when you don’t deserve it. I could not bear to look
at you, and think of it, this morning. Everybody loves
you still, as much and more than ever. Oh, Dolly, I would
rather die than see you cry so terribly.”
SPRINGHAVEN. 511
‘“Nobody loves me, and I hate myself. I could never
have believed I should ever hate myself. Go away, you are
too good to be near me. Go away, or I shall think you
want to kill me. And I wish you would do it, Captain
Scudamore.”
‘‘Then let me stop,” said the Captain, very softly. She
smiled at the turn of his logic, through her tears. Then she
wept with new anguish, that she had no right to smile.
‘‘Only tell me one thing—may I hold you? Not of
course from any right to do it, but because you are so over-
come, my own, own Dolly.” The Captain very cleverly
put one arm round her, at first with a very light touch, and
then with a firmer clasp, as she did not draw away. Her
cloak was not very cumbrous, and her tumultuous heart
was but a little way from his.
‘“You know that I never could help loving you,” he
whispered, as she seemed to wonder what the meaning was.
‘*May I ever hope that you will like me ?”
‘‘Me! How can it matter now to anybody? I used to
think it did; but I was very foolish then. I know my own
value. It is less than this. This little flower has been a
good creature. It has been true to its place, and hurt no-
body.”
Instead of seeking for any more flowers, she was taking’
from her breast the one she had—the snowdrop, and threat-
ening to tear it in pieces.
‘Tf you give it to me, I shall have some hope.” As he
spoke, he looked at her steadfastly, without any shyness or
fear in his eyes, but as one who knows his own good heart,
and has a right to be answered clearly. The maiden in one
glance understood all the tales of his wonderful daring,
which she never used to believe, because he seemed afraid to
look at her. ,
‘“You may have it, if you like,” she said; ‘** but, Blyth, I
shall never deserve you. Ihave behaved to you shameful-
ly. And I feel as if I could never bear to be forgiven for it.”
For the sake of peace and happiness, it must be hoped
that she conquered this feminine feeling, which springs
from an equity of nature—the desire that none should do
to us more than we ever could do to them. Certain it is
that when the Rector held his dinner- party, two gallant
bosoms throbbed beneath the emblem of purity and con-
tent. The military Captain’s snowdrop hung where every
one might observe it, and some gentle-witted jokes were
512 §PRINGHAVEN.
made about its whereabouts that morning. By-and-by it
grew weary on its stalk and fell, and Erle Twemlow never
missed it. But the other snowdrop was not seen, except by
the wearer with a stolen glance, when people were making
a loyal noise—a little glance stolen at his own heart. He
had made a little cuddy there inside his inner sarcenet, and
down his plaited neck-cloth ran a sly companion-way to it,
so that his eyes might steal a visit to the joy that was over
his heart and in it. Thus are women adored by men, es-
pecially those who deserve it least. ,
‘‘Attention, my dear friends, attention, if you please,”
cried the Rector, rising, with a keen glance at Scuddy. ‘‘I
will crave your attention before the ladies go, and theirs, for
it concerns them equally. We have passed through a pe-
riod of dark peril, a long time of trouble and anxiety and
doubt. By the mercy of the Lord, we have escaped; but
with losses that have emptied our poor hearts. England
has lost her two foremost defenders, Lord Nelson, and Ad-
miral Darling. To them we owe it that we are now begin-
ning the New Year happily, with the blessing of Heaven,
and my dear daughter married. Next week we shall attend
the grand funeral of the hero, and obtain good places by due
influence. My son-in-law, Percival Shargeloes, can do just
as he pleases at St. Paul’s. Therefore let us now, with deep
thanksgiving, and one hand upon our hearts, lift up our
glasses, and in silence pledge the memory of our greatest
men. With the spirit of Britons we echo the last words
that fell from the lips of our dying hero—‘ Thank God, I
have done my duty!’ His memory shall abide forever, be- |
cause he loved his country.”
The company rose, laid hand on heart, and, deeply bow-
ing, said—‘‘ Amen!”
THE END.
VALUABLE AND INTERESTING WORKS
FOR
PUBLIC & PRIVATE LIBRARIES,
PusuisHep By HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.
te For a full List of Books suitable for Libraries published by Hanrer & Brotu-
ERS, see Harper's CATALOGUE, Which may be had gratuitously on application
to the publishers personally, or by letter enclosing Ten Cents in postage stamps.
g- Harper & Brotuers will send their publications by mail, postage prepaid, on
receipt of the price.
MACAULAY’S ENGLAND. The History of England from the Ac-
cession of James II. By Tuomas Bapineton Macautay. New
Edition, from New Electrotvpe Plates. 5 vols., in a Box, 8vo, Cloth,
with Paper Labels, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $10 00; Sheep,
$12 50; Half Calf, $21 25. Sold only in Sets. Cheap Edition,
5 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $2 50.
MACAULAY’S MISCELLANEOUS WORKS. The Miscellaneous
' Works of Lord Macaulay. From New Electrotype Plates. 5 vols.,
in a Box, 8vo, Cloth, with Paper Labels, Uncut Edges and Gilt
Tops, $10 00; Sheep, $12 50; Half Calf, $21 25. Sold only in
Sets.
HUME’S ENGLAND. History of England, from the Invasion of
Julius Cesar to the Abdication of James II., 1688. By Davip
Hume. New and Elegant Library Edition, from New Electrotype
Plates. 6 vols., in a Box, 8vo, Cloth, with Paper Labels, Uncut
Edges and Gilt Tops, $12 00; Sheep, $15 00; Half Calf, $25 50.
Sold only in Sets. Popular Edition, 6 vols., in a Box, 12mo, Cloth,
$3 00.
GIBBON’S ROME. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Ro-
man Empire. By Epwarp Gipson. With Notes by Dean MIL-
MAN, M. Guizot, and Dr. WiLt1am SMITH. New Edition, from
New Electrotype Plates. 6 vols., 8vo, Cloth, with Paper Labels,
Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $12 00; Sheep, $15 00; Half Calf,
$25 50. Sold only in Sets. Popular Edition, 6 vols., in a Box,
12mo, Cloth, $3 00; Sheep, $6 00.
GOLDSMITH’S WORKS. ~The Works of Oliver Goldsmith. Edited
by Peter Cunnincuam, F.S.A. From New Electrotype Plates.
4 vols., 8vo, Cloth, Paper Labels, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops,
$8 00; Sheep, $10 00; Half Calf, $17 00. .
2 Valuable Works for Public and Private Libraries.
MOTLEY’S DUTCH REPUBLIC. | The Rise of the Dutch Republic.
A History. By Joun Loturor Mortiey, LL.D., D.C.L. With a
Portrait of William of Orange. Cheap Edition, 3 vols., in a Box.
8vo, Cloth, with Paper Labels, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $6 00;
Sheep, $7 50; Half Calf, $12 75. Sold only in Sets. Original
Library Edition, 3 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $10 50.
MOTLEY’S UNITED NETHERLANDS. History of the United
Netherlands: From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve
Years’ Truce—1584-1609. With a full View of the English-Dutch
Struggle against Spain, and of the Origin and Destruction of the
Spanish Armada. By Joun Loturor Morttey, LL.D., D.C.L.
Portraits. Cheap Edition, 4 vols., in a Box, 8vo, Cloth, with Paper
Labels, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $8 00; Sheep, $10 00; Half
Calf, $17 00. Sold only in Sets. Original Library Edition, 4 vols.,
8vo, Cloth, $14 00.
MOTLEY’S JOHN OF BARNEVELD. The Life and Death of John
of Barneveld, Advocate of Holland. With a View of the Primary
Causes and Movements of the ‘‘ Thirty Years’ War.” By Joun
Lotnuror Morey, LL.D., D.C.L. Illustrated. Cheap Edition,
2 vols., in a Box, 8vo, Cloth, with Paper Labels, Uncut Edges and
Gilt Tops, $4 00; Sheep, $5 00; Half Calf, $8 50. Sold only in
Sets. Original Library Edition, 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $7 00.
HILDRETH’S UNITED STATES. History of the United States.
First Series: From the Discovery of the Continent to the Or-
ganization of the Government under the Federal Constitution. Sxc-
onp Series: From the Adoption of the Federal Constitution to the
End of the Sixteenth Congress. By Ricuarp HitpRetTH. Popular
Edition, 6 vols., in a Box, 8vo, Cloth, with Paper Labels, Uncut
Edges and Gilt Tops, $12 00; Sheep, $15 00; Half Calf, $25 50.
Sold only in Sets.
LODGE’S ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA. English Colo-
nies in America. A Short History of the English Colonies in Amer-
ica. By Henry Casot Loper. New and Revised Edition. 8vo,
Half Leather, $3 00.
TREVELYAN’S LIFE OF MACAULAY. The Life and Letters of
Lord Macaulay. By his Nephew, G. Orro TrevEetyan, M.P.
With Portrait on Steel. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, Uncut Edges and Gilt
Tops, $5 00; Sheep, $6 00; Half Calf, $9 50. Popular Edition,
2 vols. in one, 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.
TREVELYAN’S LIFE OF FOX. The Early History of Charles
James Fox. By Groree Orro Trevetyan. 8vo, Cloth, Uncut
Edges and Gilt Tops, $2 50; Half Calf, $4 75.
Valuable Works for Public and Private Libraries. 3
WRITINGS AND SPEECHES OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN. Edited
_ by Joun BIGELow. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, Gilt Tops and Uncut Edges,
$6 OO per set.
GENERAL DIX’S MEMOIRS. Memoirs of John Adams Dix. Com-
piled by his Son, Morean Dix. With Five Steel-plate Portraits.
2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, Gilt Tops and Uncut Edges, $5 00.
HUNT'S MEMOIR OF MRS. LIVINGSTON. <A Memoir of Mrs.
Edward Livingston. With Letters hitherto Unpublished. By Lov-
1sE Livingston Hunt. 12mo, Cloth, $1 25.
GEORGE ELIOT’S LIFE. George Eliot’s Life, Related in her Let-
ters and Journals. Arranged and Edited by her Husband, J. W.
Cross. Portraits and Illustrations. In Three Volumes. 12mo,
Cloth, $3 75. New Edition, with Fresh Matter. (Uniform with
‘¢Harper’s Library Edition” of George Eliot’s Works.)
PEARS’S FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. The Fall of Constan-
tinople. Being the Story of the Fourth Crusade. By Epwiy
Prars, LL.B. 8vo, Cloth, $2 50.
RANKE’S UNIVERSAL HISTORY. The Oldest Historical Group
of Nations and the Greeks. By Lroroitp von Ranxe. Edited by
G. W. ProruHero, Fellow and Tutor of King’s College, Cambridge.
Vol. I. 8vo, Cloth, $2 50.
LIFE AND TIMES OF THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH. A Sketch
of the Life and Times of the Rev. Sydney Smith. Based on Family
Documents and the Recollections of Personal Friends. By Sruart
J. Rei. With Steel-plate Portrait and Lllustrations. 8vo, Cloth,
$3 00.
STORMONTH’S ENGLISH DICTIONARY. A Dictionary of the
English Language, Pronouncing, Etymological, and Explanatory :
embracing Scientific and other Terms, Numerous Familiar Terms,
and a Copious Selection of Old English Words. By the Rev. JAMEs
StormontH. The Pronunciation Revised by the Rev. P. H. PHELpP,
M.A. Imperial 8vo, Cloth, $6 00; Half Roan, $7 00; Full Sheep,
$7 50. (New Edition.)
' PARTON'S CARICATURE. Caricature and Other Comic Art, in
All Times and Many Lands. By James Parton. 203 Illustrations.
8vo, Cloth, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $5 00; Half Calf, $7 25.
DU CHAILLU’S LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN. Summer
and Winter Journeys in Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and Northern
Finland. By Pavurt B. Du Cnairiv. Illustrated. 2 vols., 8vo,
Cloth, $7 50; Half Calf, $12 00:
4 Valuable Works for Public and Private Libraries.
LOSSING’S CYCLOPADIA OF UNITED STATES HISTORY.
From the Aboriginal Period to 1876. By B. J. Lossine, LL.D.
Illustrated by 2 Steel Portraits and over 1000 Engravings. 2 vols.,
Royal 8vo, Cloth, $10 00; Sheep, $12 00; Half Morocco, $15 00.
(Sold by Subscription only.)
LOSSING’S FIELD-BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION. Pictorial
Field-Book of the Revolution; or, Illustrations by Pen and Pencil
of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the
War for Independence. By Benson J. Lossine. 2 vols., 8vo,
Cloth, $14 00; Sheep or Roan, $15 00; Half Calf, $18 00.
LOSSING’S FIELD-BOOK OF THE WAR OF 1812. Pictorial
Field-Book of the War of 1812; or, Illustrations by Pen and Pencil
of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the
last War for American Independence. By Brnson J. Lossina.
With several hundred Engrayings. 1088 pages, 8vo, Cloth, $7 00;
Sheep or Roan, $8 50; Half Calf, $10 00.
MULLER’S POLITICAL HISTORY OF RECENT TIMES (1816-
1875). With Special Reference to Germany. By Witit1am MUL-
LER. ‘Translated, with an Appendix covering the Period from 1876
to 1881, by the Rev. Joun P. Perers, Ph.D. 12mo, Cloth, $3 00.
STANLEY'S THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT. Through
the Dark Continent; or, The Sources of the Nile, Around the Great
Lakes of Equatorial Africa, and Down the Livingstone River to the
Atlantic Ocean. 149 Illustrations and 10 Maps. By H. M. Sran-
LEY. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $10 00; Sheep, $12 00; Half Morocco,
$15 00.
STANLEY’S CONGO. The Congo and the Founding of its Free
State, a Story of Work and Exploration. With over One Hundred
Full-page and smaller Illustrations, Two Large Maps, and several
smaller ones. By H. M. Srantey. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $10 00;
Sheep, $12 00; Half Morocco, $15 00.
GREEN’S ENGLISH PEOPLE. History of the English People.
By Joun Richarp Green, M.A. With Maps. 4 vols., 8vo, Cloth,
$10 00; Sheep, $12 00; Half Calf, $19 00.
GREEN’S MAKING OF ENGLAND. The Making of England.
By Joun Ricuarp GreEN. With Maps. 8vo, Cloth, $2 50; Sheep,
$3 00; Half Calf, $3 75.
GREEN’S CONQUEST OF ENGLAND. The Conquest of England.
By Joun RicHarp GREEN. With Maps. 8vo, Cloth, $2 50; Sheep,
$3 00; Half Calf, $3 75.
Valuable Works for Public and Private Libraries. 5
ENGLISH MEN OF LETTERS. Edited by Joun Monrtry.
The following volumes are now ready. Others will follow:
JoHNSON. By L. Stephen.—GrBson. By J.C. Morison.—Scotr. By R. H. Hut-
ton.—SHELLEY. By J. A. Symonds.—Goupsmitu. By W. Black.—Hwumg. By Pro-
fessor Huxley.—Drror. By W. Minto.—Burns. By Principal Shairp.—SpEnser.
By R.W. Church.—THackERAY. By A. Trollope.—Burkr. By J. Morley.—MILTon.
By M. Pattison.—SouTHEy. By E. Dowden.—CuHavucer. By A. W. Ward.—Bunyan.
By J. A. Froude.—CowPreErR. By G. Smith.—Porr. By L. Stephen.—Byron. By
J. Nichols.—Locke. By T. Fowler.—Worpswortn. By F. W. H. Myers.—Haw-
THORNE. By Henry James, Jr.—DrYDEN. By G. Saintsbury.—Lanpor. By S. Col-
vin.— De Quincey. By DD. Masson.—Lams. By A. Ainger.—BrnTLEY. By R. C.
Jebb.—DickEns. By A.W.Ward.—GRay. By E.W. Gosse.—Swirt. By L. Stephen.
—STERNE. By H. D. Traill.—Macavutay. By J.C. Morison.—Fre.pine. By A. Dob-
son.—SHERIDAN. By Mrs. Oliphant.—Appison. By W. J. Courthope.—Bacon. By
R. W. Church.—Co.LeripGe. By H. D. Traill.—Sir Parwie Sipney. By J. A. Sy-
monds. 12mo, Cloth, 75 cents per volume. ,
REBER’S HISTORY OF ANCIENT ART. History of Ancient
Art. By Dr. Franz von Reser. Revised by the Author. Trans-
lated and Augmented by Joseph Thacher Clarke. With 310 Illus-
trations and a Glossary of Technical Terms, 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.
REBER’S MEDILZVAL ART. History of Medieval Art. By Dr.
FRANZ VON ReBeER. Translated and Augmented by Joseph Thacher
Clarke. With 422 Illustrations, and a Glossary of Technical Terms.
8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
NEWCOMB’S ASTRONOMY. Popular Astronomy. By Simon
~ Newcoms, LL.D. With 112 Engravings, and 5 Maps of the Stars.
8vo, Cloth, $2 50; School Edition, 12mo, Cloth, $1 30.
VAN-LENNEP’S BIBLE LANDS. Bible Lands: their Modern Cus-
toms and Manners Illustrative of Scripture. By Hrnry J. Van-
LrenNEP, D.D. 350 Engravings and 2 Colored Maps. 8vo, Cloth,
$5 00; Sheep, $6 00; Half Morocco, $8 00.
CESNOLA’S CYPRUS. Cyprus: its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and
Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations during Ten
Years’ Residence in that Island. By L. P. pt Crsnota. With
Portrait, Maps, and 400 Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, Extra, Uncut
Edges and Gilt Tops, $7 50.
TENNYSON’S COMPLETE POEMS. The Complete Poetical Works
of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. With an Introductory Sketch by Anne
Thackeray Ritchie. With Portraits and Illustrations. 8vo, Extra
Cloth, Bevelled, Gilt Edges, $2 50.
SHORT’S NORTH AMERICANS OF ANTIQUITY. The North
Americans of Antiquity. Their Origin, Migrations, and Type of
Civilization Considered. By Joun T. Snort. Illustrated. 8vo,
Cloth, $3 00.
6 | Valuable Works for Public and Private Libraries.
GROTE’S HISTORY OF GREECE. 12 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $18 00;
Sheep, $22 80; Half Calf, $39 00.
FLAMMARION’S ATMOSPHERE. Translated from the French
of CamILLeE FLrammarion. With 10 Chromo- Lithographs and 86
Wood-cuts. 8vo, Cloth, $6 00; Half Calf, $8 25.
BAKER'S ISMAILIA: a Narrative of the Expedition to Central Af-
rica for the Suppression of the Slave-trade, organized by Ismail,
Khedive of Egypt. By Sir Samuet W. Baker. With Maps, Por-
traits, and Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00; Half Calf, $7 25.
LIVINGSTONE’S ZAMBESI. Narrative of an Expedition to the
Zambesi and its Tributaries, and of the Discovery of the Lakes
Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858 to 1864. By Davip and Cuarves Liv-
INGSTONE. Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00; Sheep, $5 50; Half
Calf, $7 25.
LIVINGSTONE’S LAST JOURNALS. The Last Journals of Da-
vid Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to his Death. Con-
tinued by a Narrative of his Last Moments, obtained from his
Faithful Servants Chuma and Susi. By Horace Waiter. With
Portrait, Maps, and Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00; Sheep, $6 00.
BLAIKIE’S LIFE OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE. Memoir of his
Personal Life, from his Unpublished Journals and Correspondence.
By W. G. Brarixiz, D.D. With Portrait and Map. 8vo, Cloth,
$2 25.
‘THE FRIENDLY EDITION ” of Shakespeare’s Works. Edited by
W. J. Rorre. In 20 vols. Illustrated. 16mo, Gilt Tops and Un-
cut Edges, Sheets, $27.00; Cloth, $30 00; Half Calf, $60 per Set.
GIESELER’S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. A Text- Book of
Church History. By Dr. Joun C. L. GiesELer. Translated from
the Fourth Revised German Edition. Revised and Edited by Rev.
Henry B. Smitn, D.D. Vols. I., II., HI., and 1V., 8vo, Cloth,
#2 25 each; Vol. V., 8vo, Cloth, $3 00. Complete Sets, 5 vols.,
Sheep, $14 50; Half Calf, $23 25.
CURTIS’S LIFE OF BUCHANAN. Life of James Buchanan, Fif-
teenth President of the United States. By Grorer Ticknor Cur-
Tis. With Two Steel Plate Portraits. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, Uncut
Edges and Gilt Tops, $6 00.
COLERIDGE’S WORKS. The Complete Works of Samuel Taylor —
Coleridge. With an Introductory Essay upon his Philosophical and
Theological Opinions. Edited by Professor W.G.T.SuHEpp. With
Steel Portrait, and an Index. 7 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $2 00 per vol-
ume; $12 00 per set; Half Calf, $24 25.
Valuable Works for Public and Private Libraries. 7
GRIFFIS’S JAPAN. The Mikado’s Empire: Book I. History of
Japan, from 660 B.C. to 1872 A.D. Book II. Personal Experiences,
_ Observations, and Studies in Japan, from 1870 to 1874. With Two
Supplementary Chapters: Japan in 1883, and Japan in 1886. By
W. E.Grirris. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $4 00; Half Calf,
$6 25.
SMILES’S HISTORY OF THE HUGUENOTS. The Huguenots:
their Settlements, Churches, and Industries in England and Ireland.
By Samvuev Smives. With an Appendix relating to the Huguenots
in America. Crown, 8vo, Cloth, $2 00.
SMILES’S HUGUENOTS AFTER THE REVOCATION. The Hu-
guenots in France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes; with
a Visit to the Country of the Vaudois. By Samurx Suites. Crown
8vo, Cloth, $2 00.
SMILES’S LIFE OF THE STEPHENSONS. The Life of George
Stephenson, and of his Son, Robert Stephenson; comprising, also, a
History of the Invention and Introduction of the Railway Locomo-
tive. By Samuret SmiLes. Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00.
THE POETS AND POETRY OF SCOTLAND: From the Earliest
to the Present Time. Comprising Characteristic Selections from
the Works of the more Noteworthy Scottish Poets, with Biographi-
cal and Critical Notices. By James Grant Wixtson. With Por-
traits on Steel. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $10 00; Gilt Edges, $11 00.
SCHLIEMANN’S ILIOS. Ilios, the City and Country of the Trojans.
A Narrative of the Most Recent Discoveries and Researches made
on the Plain of Troy. By Dr. Henry Scuiiemann. Maps, Plans,
and Illustrations. Imperial 8vo, Hluminated Cloth, $12 00; Half
Morocco, $15 00. ;
SCHLIEMANN’S TROJA.- Troja. Results of the Latest Researches
and Discoveries on the Site of Homer’s Troy, and in the Heroic Tu-
muli and other Sites, made in the Year 1882, and a Narrative of a
Journey in the Troad in 1881. By Dr. Henry Scuiiemann. Pref-
ace by Professor A. H. Sayce. With Wood-cuts, Maps, and Plans.
8yo, Cloth, $7 50; Half Morocco, $10 00.
SCHWEINFURTH’S HEART OF AFRICA. Three Years’ Travels
and Adventures in the Unexplored Regions of the Centre of Africa—
from 1868 to 1871. By Grora ScuweinFurtTH. ‘Translated by
ELLEN E. Frewer. Illustrated. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $8 00.
NORTON’S STUDIES OF CHURCH-BUILDING. Historical Stud-
ies of Church-Building in the Middle Ages. Venice, Siena, Flor-
ence. By Cuaries Exior Norton. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00.
8 Valuable Works for Public and Private Libraries.
Pa eR IS a A a i es
THE VOYAGE OF THE “CHALLENGER.” The Atlantic: an
Account of the General Results of the Voyage during 1873, and the
Early Part of 1876. By Sir Wrvitte TuHomson, K.C.B., F.R.S.
Tilustrated. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $12 00.
THE STUDENT’S SERIES. Maps and Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth:
FraNnceE.—GIBBON.—GREECE.—RoME (by LippELL).—OLp Tes-
TAMENT History. —NeEw ‘TesSTAMENT History. — STRICKLAND’S
QUEENS OF ENGLAND.— ANCIENT HisToRY OF THE East. — Hat-
LAMsS MippLe AcGrs. — HAaLtam’s CONSTITUTIONAL HisTORY OF
ENGLAND.— LYELL’s ELEMENTS OF GEOLOGY.— MERIVALE’S GEN-
ERAL History oF Rome.—Cox’s GENERAL HisToRY OF GREECE.
—CLASSICAL DICTIONARY.—SKEAT’S ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY.—
Raw.inson’s AnciENT History. $1 25 per volume.
Lewis's History or GermMany.—Ecc.iesiasticat History, Two
Vols.—Humx’s Encranp.—Mopern Evrore. $1 50 per volume.
Westcott and Hort’s GREEK TrsTaMENT, $1 00.
THOMSON’S SOUTHERN PALESTINE AND JERUSALEM.
Southern Palestine and Jerusalem. Biblical Illustrations drawn
from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the
Holy Land. By W. M. Tuomsoy, D.D. 140 Illustrations and
Maps. Square 8vo, Cloth, $6 00; Sheep, $7 00; Half Morocco,
$8 50; Full Morocco, Gilt Edges, $10 00.
THOMSON’S CENTRAL PALESTINE AND PHCENICIA. Cen-
tral Palestine and Phenicia. Biblical Illustrations drawn from the
Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy Land.
By W. M. Tuomson, D.D. 130 Illustrations and Maps. Square 8vo,
Cloth, $6 00; Sheep, $7 00; Half Morocco, $8 50; Full Morocco,
$10 00.
THOMSON’S LEBANON, DAMASCUS, AND. BEYOND JORDAN.
Lebanon, Damascus, and beyond Jordan. Biblical Illustrations drawn
from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy
Land. By W.M. Tuomson, D.D. 147 Illustrations and Maps.
Square 8vo, Cloth, $6 00; Sheep, $7 00; Half Morocco, $8 50;
Full Morocco, $10 00.
Popular Edition of the above three volumes, 8vo, Ornamental Cloth,
$9 00 per set.
CYCLOPADIA OF BRITISH AND AMERICAN POETRY. Ed-
ited by Epes Sarcent. Royal 8vo, 6 a es sa ta Colored
Edges, $4 50; Half Leather, $5 00.
EATON’S CIVIL SERVICE. Civil Service in Great Britain. A
History of Abuses and Reforms, and their bearing upon American
Politics. By Dorman B. Eaton. 8vo, Cloth, $2 50.
‘
ae
t bs w
1 4 Aan and, de Ae
es A 4 4 New fs
c
Ried ony a iy
2 Bp We He EO HY tes
iy
Va oem
WW fre es
UO0eee er lb4
OB WD ier ys Geriym aL
= (5 Bh pyre ase nar be hm
Qn PRU Le
OR Hes
Meherustahe Oia 4
88 TZ la eae ain