A Gentleman-at-Arms: Being Passages in the Life of Sir Christopher Rudd, Knight
by unknown · English · Gutenberg #43786 · 503,959 chars · public domain (US)
The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Gentleman-at-Arms: Being Passages in the Life of Sir Christopher Rudd, Knight
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: A Gentleman-at-Arms: Being Passages in the Life of Sir Christopher Rudd, Knight
Creator: Herbert Strang
Illustrator: Cyrus Cuneo
T. H. Robinson
Release date: September 21, 2013 [eBook #43786]
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43786
Credits: Produced by Al Haines
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A GENTLEMAN-AT-ARMS: BEING PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF SIR CHRISTOPHER RUDD, KNIGHT ***
Produced by Al Haines.
[Illustration: SUDDENLY THERE WAS A ROAR OF MUSKETS, AND THROUGH THE
SMOKE I SAW THE SPANIARDS RUSHING TOWARDS US]
A GENTLEMAN-AT-ARMS:
BEING PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF
SIR CHRISTOPHER RUDD, KNIGHT,
AS RELATED BY HIMSELF IN THE
YEAR 1641 AND NOW SET FORTH BY
HERBERT STRANG
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
CYRUS CUNEO
AND T. H. ROBINSON
LONDON
HENRY FROWDE
HODDER & STOUGHTON
[Illustration: Title page]
_First printed in 1914_
*CONTENTS*
INTRODUCTORY
THE FIRST PART
CHRISTOPHER RUDD'S ADVENTURE IN HISPANIOLA, AND THE STRANGE STORY OF
CAPTAIN Q
THE SECOND PART
CHRISTOPHER RUDD'S ADVENTURE IN FRANCE, AND HIS BORROWING OF THE WHITE
PLUME OF HENRY OF NAVARRE
THE THIRD PART
CHRISTOPHER RUDD'S ADVENTURE IN THE LOW COUNTRIES, AND HIS QUAINT DEVICE
OF THE SILVER SHOT
THE FOURTH PART
CHRISTOPHER RUDD'S ADVENTURE IN SPAIN, AND THE FASHION IN WHICH HE
PLAYED THE PART OF A PHYSICIAN
THE FIFTH PART
CHRISTOPHER RUDD'S ADVENTURE IN IRELAND, AND THE MANNER OF HIS WINNING A
WIFE
POSTSCRIPT
*LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS*
COLOUR PLATES BY CYRUS CUNEO
SUDDENLY THERE WAS A ROAR OF MUSKETS, AND THROUGH THE SMOKE I SAW THE
SPANIARDS RUSHING TOWARDS US (see p. 52) . . . _Frontispiece_
I BEHELD THE MAN KNEELING BEFORE AN OPEN CHEST, GLOATING OVER IT,
PLUNGING HIS HANDS INTO IT
THE SIEUR DE LANGRES GAVE ONE CHOKING SIGH, AND FELL AT THE KING'S FEET
RAISING HIS SWORD HIGH ABOVE HIS HEAD, HE BROUGHT IT DOWN WITH A
VEHEMENT STROKE
PINNING HIM DOWN UPON A CHAIR, I BADE HIM STERNLY GIVE HEED TO CERTAIN
CONDITIONS ON WHICH I WOULD SPARE HIS LIFE
DOWN HE WENT UPON THE COBBLES, AND I STOOD OVER HIM WHILE HE LAY AND
GROANED
INSTANTLY RAOUL WAS AT DON YGNACIO'S THROAT
I FOUND MY LADY KNEELING BESIDE ME, HOLDING A CUP
DRAWINGS BY T. H. ROBINSON
I LAY HID UNTIL THE MAN HAD COME FORTH AND GONE HIS WAY
HE CAUGHT THE SWIMMER AS HE WAS ON THE POINT OF SINKING
THE SPANIARDS LEAPT INTO THE RAVINE AND CLAMBERED UP THE OTHER SIDE
THE SWIFTNESS OF OUR ONSET TOOK THE SPANIARDS ALL ABACK
WE OPENED THE CHESTS IN HIS PRESENCE
I FELT A SHARP PANG IN THE CALF OF MY LEFT LEG
A FIGURE SPRANG AT ME OUT OF THE DARK ENTRY
I SAW A MAN LYING IN A HUDDLED HEAP
WE CREPT SOFTLY AS FOXES TOWARD THE WALL
"SIR, YOU COME FROM THE ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE MAURICE OF NASSAU?"
RIGHT MERRY WERE THE CITIZENS AT THE SUCCESS OF OUR ENTERPRISE
VOLMAR READ THE LETTER BY THE AID OF A LANTERN
I BEHELD THREE MEN AS BLACK BLOTS MOVING IN THE DARKNESS
"TO-MORROW THE ORDER WILL BE GIVEN TO THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD TO ARREST
YOU"
I TOLD HIM VERY SHORTLY, AND NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE I SEEN SO PITEOUS A
SPECTACLE AS THAT LITTLE ROUND RUBICUND MAN
I FOUND SIR WALTER IN HIS GARDEN
HE THRUST INTO MY HAND SOME PAPERS
I MADE BOLD TO ACCOST HIM
I BETOOK MYSELF TO AN APOTHECARY'S
"OUT OF MY SIGHT, RAPSCALLION!"
SHOWING HIM MY DAGGER, I BADE HIM HOLD HIS PEACE
HE PLIED THE WHIP RIGHT MERRILY
THEY DID BUT MOCK ME WITH JEERS AND HORRID EXECRATIONS
"I WILL SURELY EXECUTE UPON YOU ANY VIOLENCE OR INDIGNITY THAT MY FATHER
MAY SUFFER"
GATHERING MY SPEED, IN FOUR LEAPS I WAS UPON HIM
HE CLUTCHED ME BY THE ARM AND POINTED TO A REGIMENT OF DUSKY SHAPES
I CROSSED THE GUARD OF RORY MAC SHANE, AND GAVE HIM THE POINT OF MY
SWORD
"HOW NOW, MY BULLY ROOK!"
HEADINGS ON PAGES . . . 17, 81, 129, 217, 311
TAILPIECES ON PAGES . . . 75, 123, 209, 304, 382
*INTRODUCTORY*
The Rudds, like many another ancient family, have come down in the
world, as the saying goes. They no longer live on the toil of others,
but work for their own livelihood. They no longer own manors, or follow
their feudal lords to court in armour; but here and there about the
world, in business, at the Bar, in the Army or administrative offices,
they worthily sustain the honour of their name.
The present head of the family cherishes an heirloom, which has
descended from father to son through three centuries. It has no
commercial value; it would not fetch a shilling in the auction room:
indeed, the mere hint of selling it would shock a Rudd. It is a flat
leather case, discoloured, frayed at the edges, almost worn out with
age. But upon its side may still be seen faint traces of the initials
C.R., and within it lies a bundle of faded papers, with the following
inscription on the cover:
_Certeyn Passages in the Life of Syr Christopher Rudde, knyghte, related
by himselfe in the yeare of our Lorde 1641, and written down by his
grandsonne Stephen._
It is easy to understand why this old manuscript is treasured by the
Rudd family. The "certain passages" in their ancestor's life are
interesting in themselves, as narratives of romantic adventure in
various countries of the old world and the new. They give incidental
pictures of remarkable scenes and personages, and throw not a little
light on the manners and conditions of bygone times. Above all, they
seem to me to portray an English gentleman of the great age of
Elizabeth--a gentleman who had a proper pride in his country without
scorning others, and was ever ready to draw his sword chivalrously in
the cause of freedom and justice.
The grandson, Stephen Rudd, professes to have written these stories as
they were told him by his grandfather; but I cannot help suspecting that
he dealt with them somewhat as the parliamentary reporters of the
present day are said to deal with the speeches delivered on the floor of
the House--arranging, giving form and coherence. You can detect in the
style echoes of the prose of Elizabeth's day, but it is on the whole
less coloured, less vigorous, more formal, in the manner of the Caroline
writers; and it has not the unconstraint of a man talking at ease in his
armchair. The events related are separated by wide intervals of time,
and Stephen has filled up the gaps with brief accounts of the course of
public affairs, as well as of the personal history of his grandfather.
In printing these along with Sir Christopher's stories, I have thought
it best, for the sake of uniformity, to modernise the spelling: there
would be no object in perplexing the reader with such antique forms, for
instance, as _beesyde_, _woordes_ and _tunge_.
Sir Christopher's first story plunges at once into an adventure of his
seventeenth year, and it is perhaps advisable to preface it with a few
particulars of his earlier life. He was born, it appears, on July 15,
1571, the son of a country gentleman who owned a manor on the outskirts
of the New Forest. This was the year of the discovery of the Norfolk
plot against the life of Queen Elizabeth, and the opening of a period of
great moment in the history of England and Europe. The boy was six
years old when Drake set sail on his famous voyage to the Pacific; and
during the next few years he must have heard many stirring events talked
about in his father's hall--Alva's persecutions in the Netherlands, the
assassination of the Prince of Orange, the buccaneering exploits of the
English sea-dogs. At the age of twelve he entered William of Wykeham's
great school at Winchester, and we may imagine how eagerly he discussed
with his school fellows such items of exciting news as filtered through
from the greater world. It is not surprising that his imagination was
fired, that the lust of adventure gripped him, and that at last the call
proved irresistible, bringing his schooldays to an abrupt end, and
luring him forth to a career of activity and enterprise.
HERBERT STRANG
*THE FIRST PART*
*CHRISTOPHER RUDD'S ADVENTURE IN
HISPANIOLA, AND THE STRANGE STORY OF
CAPTAIN Q.*
[Illustration: headpiece to First Part]
*I*
I was a lank youth of sixteen years when I fell into the hands of the
Spaniards of Hispaniola--an accident wherein my grandam saw the hand of
Providence chastising a prodigal son; but of that you shall judge.
In the summer of the year 1587, riding from school home by way of
Southampton, I was told there of a brigantine then fitting out, to
convey forth a company of gentlemen adventurers to the Spanish Main in
quest of treasure. Sir Francis Drake had lately come home from spoiling
the Spaniards' ships in the harbour of Cadiz, and the ports of our south
coast were ringing with the tale of his wondrous doings; and I, being
known for a lad of quick blood and gamesome temper, was resolved to go
where Francis Drake had gone aforetime, and gain somewhat of the wealth
then lying open to adventurers bold to pluck the King of Spain's beard.
Wherefore one fine night I stole from my bed-chamber, hied me to the
quay at Southampton, and bestowed myself secretly aboard the good ship
_Elizabeth_.
Of my discovery in the hold, and the cuffs I got, and the probation I
was put to, and my admission thereafter to the company of gentlemen
adventurers, I will say nothing. The _Elizabeth_ made in due time the
coast of Hispaniola, and when Hilary Rawdon, the captain, sent a party
of his crew ashore to fill their water-casks, I must needs accompany
them; 'twas the first land we had touched for two weary months, and I
felt a desperate urgency to stretch my legs. And while we were about
our business, up comes a posse of Spaniards swiftly out of the woods,
and there is a sudden onfall and a sharp tussle, and our party, being
outnumbered three to one, is sore discomfited and utterly put to the
rout, but not until all save myself and another are slain, and I find
myself on my back, with a Spanish bullet in my leg. And you see me now
borne away among the victors, and when I am healed of my wound, I learn
that I am a slave on the lands of a most noble hidalgo of Spain, one Don
Alfonso de Silva de Marabona, and an admiral to boot.
Now I had left home to spoil the Spaniards and with no other intent;
wherefore to toil and sweat under a hot sun on the fields of a Spanish
admiral, however noble, was no whit to my liking. Moreover, Don Alfonso
proved an exceeding hard taskmaster, and bore heavily upon me his
prisoner, a thing that was perhaps no cause for wonder, seeing that of
all who had suffered when Master Drake sacked San Domingo, he had
suffered the most. His mansion had been plundered and burnt; his pride
had been wounded by the despite done to his galleons; and when a
Spaniard is hurt both in pride and in pocket, he is not like to prove
himself a very generous foe. And so I was in a manner the scapegoat for
Master Drake's offences, and had in good sooth to smart for it. My
noble master made no ado about commanding me to be flogged if he were
not content with me; and to rub the juice of lemons, laced with salt and
pepper, into the wounds made by the lash, is a marvellous shrewd way
(though nowise commendable) of fostering penitence and remorse.
But in this unhappy plight I was not left without a friend. One midday,
when I was resting from my toil in the fields, there came to me a spare
and sallow boy, somewhat younger than myself, and spoke courteously to
me in a kind of French, the which I, being by no means without my
rudiments, made shift to understand. I soon perceived that we had a
something in common, namely, a heavy and grievous grudge against Don
Alfonso de Silva de Marabona, the which became a bond of unity betwixt
us. Antonio (so was he named) was nephew to the admiral, and dependent
on him--though his father had been a rich man,--by him, moreover,
treated with great rigour. Ere long I was well acquainted with
Antonio's doleful case. It was eleven years since his father the elder
Antonio had sailed away for Spain, being summoned thither about some
question of law concerning his estates in Castile. He took with him, in
the galleon _San Felipe_, a store of treasure belonging to his brother
the admiral, together with a yet costlier freight for behoof of his
Catholic Majesty of Spain. And there was Antonio, a motherless infant
of four years, left in his uncle's charge, his father purposing to
return for him in the following summer, by the which time he hoped to
have set his affairs in order.
The stormy season of the year was at hand when he departed, and divers
of his friends had warned him against the perils of the long voyage.
But Don Antonio feared the elements less than the French and English
rovers who then infested the seas, and he had indeed chosen this time
advisedly, for that it was little likely to tempt the pirates from their
lairs. It fell out, however, that he had not left port above three days
when a great tempest arose, suddenly, as the manner is in those regions,
and to the wonted terrors of the tornado was added an earthquake, with
fierce rumblings and vast upheavals of the soil, so that the admiral
made great lament about his brother and the wealth he had in charge.
Don Antonio came no more to Hispaniola; the galleon _San Felipe_ was
heard of never more; and his son had remained under the austere
governance of Don Alfonso, who showed him no kindness, but ever seemed
to look upon him as a burthen. When Antonio came to the age of twelve,
he inquired of his uncle whether the estates of his late father would
not one day be his; but the admiral made answer that he had long since
purchased the property from his brother, who had purposed sometime to
quit the island and spend the remnant of his days in Spain.
Such was Antonio's story, as he told it to me. He called his uncle a
fiend; as for me, I called him, in the English manner, Old Marrow-bones;
we both signified one and the same thing--that we held him in loathing
and abhorrence. This was our bond of union, and soon it became our
custom to meet daily and rehearse our woes in consort. Antonio was ever
careful to keep these our meetings secret, since he knew that, coming
perchance to the admiral's ears, they would be deemed a cause of
offence, and be punished, beyond doubt, with many stripes.
But to dub your enemy with opprobrious names brings you no contentment,
and does him no hurt. In no great while I began to consider of some
means whereby I might contrive to slip the leash of my illustrious
master. Having made Antonio swear by all his saints that he would not
betray me, I took counsel with him; indeed, I essayed to persuade the
boy to put all to the hazard, and make his escape with me. But Antonio
could not screw his resolution to this pitch. He was content to throw
himself with right good-will into the perfecting of my plans. And so it
came to pass that one fine day, about sunset, I took French leave (as
the saying is) and set off on my lonely way to liberty. I had nothing
upon me save my garments, and a long machete (so their knives are
called) given me by Antonio; but as Samson slew countless Philistines
with the jawbone of an ass, and David laid Goliath low with a pebble
from the brook; so I, though I did not liken myself to those heroes of
old, yet knew myself to be a fellow-countryman with Francis Drake, and
needed no doughtier ensample to inspire me.
Following Antonio's wise and prudent counsel I set my face towards the
north-west angle of the island, for the reason that, parted from it by
only a narrow strip of sea, there lay the smaller island of Tortuga,
where it was possible that some countrymen of my own might be. Tortuga
had been at some time a settlement of the Spaniards, but they had now
abandoned it, and if an English ship should chance to have put in to
water there, or to burn the barnacles off its hull, I might light upon
the crew and join myself to them, and so bring my tribulations to an
end. And after near a week's trudging--with herbs for my meat and water
from the streams for my drink--I came one day to the further shore of
Hispaniola, and with great gladness beheld the strange hump-backed
island, like a monstrous tortoise floating on the sea, for which cause
it was named Tortuga.
A day or two I spent in roaming to and fro, gazing hungrily seawards for
a ship. And when none appeared, I bethought me that I should certainly
be none the worse conditioned--nay, I might be a great deal the
better--if I should cross to the smaller island and there make my abode.
Having once been the habitation of Christian folk, methought it would
retain some remnants of its former plantations, so that I need not want
for food; and of a surety, with a wider expanse of sea before me, I
should be in better case to spy a passing vessel than if I remained on
Hispaniola. I was minded at first to swim the channel--'twould be no
great feat--but, observing at the water's edge a pair of ground-sharks
lying in wait for a toothsome meal, I gave up this design very readily,
and considered of some safer way.
There were woods growing almost to the shore. To a boy with his mind
set on it, and a sharp knife to his hand, the making of a raft is a task
of no great labour or hardship. 'Twas the work of two days to lop
branches meet for my purpose, strip them, and bind them together with
strands of bejuca, a climbing plant of serviceable sort; and on the
third day I launched my raft, and oared myself across the still water,
being companied by a disappointed shark the better part of the way. I
went ashore in some fear and trembling lest I should meet Spaniards, or
other hostile men; but I saw no sign of present habitation, and wandered
for near a day without lighting on any traces of mankind. But at length
in my course I spied a heap of wood ashes, and some rinds of fruit, and
a little beyond a broken hen-coop, whereby I knew that men sometimes
resorted to the island, as Antonio had said. It came into my mind that
my late companions of the _Elizabeth_ had perchance set foot here no
long while before me, and I felt a great longing to look on them again.
I wondered where they might be, whether they had fought the Spaniards on
the Main and gained great treasure, or whether they had given up their
quest and sailed away for home.
Some days I spent in solitude, never straying far from the coast, lest I
should be out of sight if a ship came near. There was food in
plenty--such is the bounty of Providence in those climes; and of nights
I ensconced myself in a little hut I built of branches in a nook on the
shore.
One evening as I roamed upon the cliff, and with vain longing scanned
the sea, on a sudden I espied, moving among the tree trunks on my right
hand, a patch of red. In great perturbation of spirit I sprang behind a
tree. I had not seen clearly what the object was: it might be a man, it
might be a beast. In the wildernesses about the middle of Hispaniola
there were, I knew, herds of wild dogs and boars, a terror to human
kind; and a fear beset me lest Tortuga also were the haunt of savage
creatures, which might come upon me in the night. Meseemed I must at
the least resolve my doubts, wherefore I went forward stealthily,
bending among creeping plants, skipping from trunk to trunk, straining
my eyes for another glimpse of that patch of red. For some little while
I sought in vain, and I was in a sweat of apprehension lest I should
stumble into danger; but after stalking for near half-an-hour, as I
supposed, of a sudden I saw some moving thing among the trees within a
hundred paces of me. Even as I watched, a quaint and marvellous figure
came forth into a little open space--the form of a man, arrayed from
doublet to shoes in garments of bright red. His head was bare; a rapier
hung at his side; and as I looked he plucked the weapon by the hilts,
and made sundry passes in the air, going from me slowly into the
woodland. Never in my life had I beheld a man so oddly apparelled, and
to find such an one here, on this lone island of Tortuga, set me athrill
with admiration. I deemed that I should have no security of mind until
I had learnt somewhat of this stranger, and whether there were others
with him; wherefore with stealthy steps I followed him into the
woodland, and there, after near losing him, I saw him enter a little hut
set in the midst of a narrow laund. From behind a tree I watched the
red man. He kindled a fire, and I looked for him to cook his supper;
but instead, he laid himself down on a bed of dried grass, so that the
smoke from the fire might be carried by the light wind across him, the
which in a moment I guessed to be his device for warding off the
insects; I had suffered many things from their appetite in the nights I
had slept in the woods of Hispaniola.
Seeing that the red man had composed himself to sleep, I returned
quietly to my hut on the shore, and when I fell asleep dreamed that I
beheld him defending at the rapier's point young Antonio against the
whip of the noble admiral Don Alfonso de Silva de Marabona. I rose with
the sun and stole back to the woodland, in hope to see the man quit his
sleeping-place and to gain some light upon his manner of life and his
doings upon this lone island. But the hut was empty; its inhabitant was
already astir. Not that day nor for several days after did I set eyes
on him again; but one high noon I had a glimpse of him roaming along the
cliff, and while I was following, a great way off, he suddenly vanished
from my sight as 'twere into the earth.
The numbness of terror seized upon me; I stood fixed to the ground,
never doubting (being then but a boy) that 'twas the foul fiend in his
very person who had descended into the bowels of the earth. But
bethinking me that I had discerned no horns upon his head, nor the tail
that was his proper appendage, but, instead, a rapier such as mortal men
use, I plucked up heart to draw nigh to the spot where he had
disappeared. And when I came to it, 'twas not, as I feared, a chasm,
horrid with blue flame and sulphurous fume, but a short, steep path in
the cliff-side.
Gathering my courage, I trod with wary steps until I came to a small
opening in the cliff. And when I had overcome my tearfulness and
ventured to peep in, I was struck with a great amazement, for I beheld a
vast vaulted chamber. There came some little daylight into it through
fissures in its further wall, and when my eyes had grown accustomed to
the twilight, and comprehended the whole space, I saw there, before and
below me, the hull of a galleon, lying somewhat upon its side, with a
little water about its keel. And as I looked, I beheld the red man how
he waded to the vessel, whose side he ascended by a ladder of rope, and
then, having gained the deck, he was no more to be seen.
I stood rooted in amazement. I durst not follow the red man further,
conceiving that in a land where all save Spaniards were intruders, the
odds were that he was of that race, and that to accost him, even to
discover myself to him, might put my life in jeopardy. Besides, the
man's aspect, and my remembrance of the fierceness of his sword-play as
I saw it in my dream, counselled wariness: he was not a man to approach
but with caution. Moreover, I was in presence of a great marvel,
perceiving no means whereby the galleon had come into this vault. Save
for the narrow entrance, and the jagged rents in the walls, the chamber
was wholly enclosed; nor was there any passage whereby so great a vessel
could have been hauled in from the sea.
Perplexed and bewildered, I waited long, but vainly, for the red man to
show himself again. Then, when from sheer weariness and hunger I was in
a mind to return to the cliff, I beheld him rise from below deck,
descend by the ladder, and, again wading through the water, make towards
me. Incontinently and in silence I fled, but halted when I gained the
cliff, and lay hid until the man had come forth and gone his way.
Whereupon I stole back and descended to the floor of the vault, to
quench, if I might, my burning curiosity.
[Illustration: I LAY HID UNTIL THE MAN HAD COME FORTH AND GONE HIS WAY]
I walked about the vessel, and when I came to the stern, I started back,
smitten with stark amazement. Her name was painted in great golden
letters there; I read it: 'twas SAN FELIPE, the name of the galleon
wherein the father of my friend Antonio had sailed from San Domingo
eleven years since, and which had never more been heard of.
I thought of witchcraft, and questioned whether 'twere not the very work
of the devil, for sure no mortal hands had brought the vessel through
solid walls into this rock-bound chamber. But the galleon itself was in
truth a thing of substance; thee were real shells at the brink of the
water; the water itself (when I dipped my finger and licked it) was
salt; beyond doubt the vault had communication with the sea. And even
while I stood there I perceived the water to be rising; 'twas deeper now
than when the man had first waded through it to the vessel. In haste I
made the full circuit of the place, searching for an entrance, but in
vain. Save the fissures letting in the light, there was not a hole
through which a rat might wriggle, nor could I find the passage by which
the water came.
In much perplexity, oppressed by the wonder of it, I left the place by
and by and returned to my hut. But I could not long withhold myself
from the cavern, the which lured and (in a manner) beckoned me by some
strange spell. Next day I came again to it, and did as I had seen the
red man do--to wit, waded through the water and climbed on board. My
feet had scarce touched the deck when I beheld the red form standing in
the narrow entrance at the further end of the vault. Quick as thought I
slipped into hiding on the lofty poop and there kept watch. The man
came aboard and descended by the companion, and a little after I heard
the tinkling of metal. I was drawn as by strong cords to learn what he
was doing, and crept silently as a mouse after him to the cabin. As I
drew near I heard again the clink of metal, and when I came to the door
I beheld the man kneeling before an open chest, gloating over it,
plunging his hands into it, bathing them in the pieces of eight that
filled it to the brim.
[Illustration: I BEHELD THE MAN KNEELING BEFORE AN OPEN CHEST, GLOATING
OVER IT, PLUNGING HIS HANDS INTO IT]
Spellbound, I stood and gazed. This discovery did but deepen the
wonder. I questioned whether this were Antonio's father, who had never
sailed to Spain at all, but by some strange means, belike with the help
of demons, had brought the vessel hither. And then, as I mused, the red
man seemed to become aware by some subtle sense that he was not alone.
Suddenly he turned his head, espied me, sprang to his feet, and,
whipping out his rapier, leapt with a fierce cry towards me. I turned
to flee, being unarmed save for my machete, the which was no match for a
rapier. But I was a thought too late. The red man was upon my heels
ere I could slip overboard, crying out upon me in words which I was too
busy saving my life to heed.
Then began a hot chase round the deck of the galleon, the which might
have continued until the pursuer, being the elder, became exhausted, had
not I espied, in my running, a half-pike lying over against the
bulwarks. This I snatched up, and put myself in a posture of defence.
"Voleur! voleur!" cried the red man, glaring at me; and now I had
certainty he was no Spaniard. We fought, and doubtless I had fared ill
but for my youth and the exercise I had had in this very opposition of
pike against sword upon the voyage in the _Elizabeth_. I was but
sixteen; the Frenchman wore the grave aspect of a man of fifty; and
though he fought as one well practised in the handling of his weapon,
'twas with a stiffness and want of sureness that bespoke disuse.
Yet 'twas a desperate fight. Once and again I came very near to lose my
life, and escaped the Frenchman's point solely by my nimbleness. Twice,
indeed, the weapon found my flesh; there was blood upon my sleeve. And
then came my opportunity. The Frenchman in lunging at me over-reached
himself, and I brought my pike down with all my strength upon his arm.
His rapier fell to the deck, and before he could recover himself I
sprang upon him, and, by a trick of wrestling I had learnt in bouts at
our country fairs, threw him upon his back.
And there were we two, he stretched on the deck, I pinning him down, and
both of us breathing hard, and gazing each into the other's eyes. Then I
spoke in French: what I said I know not; but he smiled, a vacant smile
that made me sorry I had hurt him.
"Thou art one of my children," he said. "How didst thou escape?"
By this, and the strangeness of his smile, I knew that his wits were
wandering, and deemed it best to humour him.
"Yes, one of your children," I made answer, understanding the word
_enfants_ as doubtless he intended, as meaning his company, or crew.
"You were mistaken, sir; and I hope I have not broken your arm."
"It is bruised, not broken," said the man, lifting it and smiling upon
me again. "I do not remember thy name, but thou shalt be my corporal."
"Wherein I am mightily favoured," said I. "Marvellously, too, I have
forgotten your name, mon Capitaine."
"My name!" he said, in manifest puzzlement. "My name!" And then,
smiling once more, he said, "I cannot tell. It is so long, so long
since I heard it. My children called me Captain, but that was before
the storm. I forget many things; my children left me; they were reft
from me by the storm; they died--all but you; and I cannot remember your
name! They called me Captain; and in truth I am Captain, by the choice
and election of the great Conde. Yes, the great Conde made me Captain, a
stripling from Quimperle."
"Captain Q," said I, on the spur of the moment.
He looked puzzled; then the same smile, like the empty smile of a babe,
beamed upon his face, and he said--
"Captain Q; and thou shalt be Corporal R. Is it not so?"
"And so it is," I said. "My name is Rudd; I am an Englishman."
"And we will fight the Spaniards together, shall we not? They must
never get my gold--never!"
"Indeed they shall not!" I replied. "And now let us go out into the
open, and I will bathe your arm at a brook. 'Tis pity we did not
remember each other sooner."
"Ah, but it is such a long time!" said Captain Q.
We went out together, and after I had bathed his arm ('twas bruised from
elbow to wrist) the Captain invited me to his hut, and to a share of his
dinner of herbs.
Such was the strange beginning of a friendship that endured for near
forty years. Though he was by so much my elder, he dealt with me as
though I had been his brother. We roamed the shore together, together
fished and snared animals in the woods, and would have shared the same
lodging but that I preferred to keep my little hut on the shore, where I
had fresher air and was within close call of any ship that should chance
to pass in the night. Little by little I pieced together the story of
the rock-girt galleon and of Captain Q. He could not talk in orderly
sequence for long together, but whatsoever the subject of our discourse,
he would break off to prattle of his childhood in the little village of
Quimperle, and of his youth and manhood to the time when destiny brought
him to Tortuga. He was a Huguenot, and had fought under Conde at St.
Denis, and under Admiral Coligny at Jarnac. After the dread day of St.
Bartholomew he fled from France, and became a corsair in his own vessel,
haunting the coasts of the Spanish Main. One day he fell in with the
galleon _San Felipe_, and took it after a long fight. His own ship
being small, he put his crew aboard the galleon, and the crew and
company of the galleon upon his ship, and then sailed away for Tortuga,
designing to land there and divide the spoil. And his little vessel,
with the Spaniards on board, had gone down before his very eyes, having
received sore damage in the action.
Before the _San Felipe_ made Tortuga she was caught in a great storm,
which swept upon her suddenly and sent her masts by the board. During a
lull she was warped into a cove on the Tortuga coast, and there
refitted. Then, as she was being towed out, all hands busy in the work,
the sea was cast up by a great earthquake; the cliffs on either hand
were upheaved and flung sheer upon the vessel, killing outright every
man upon it and in the boats save only the Captain and two or three
beside. The Captain was struck on the head by a fragment of rock, and
thrown senseless to the deck. (And here, as he told the story, he
lifted his long, grizzling locks and showed a great seam upon his
skull.) When he came to himself all was at first mere blankness to him.
He got upon his feet, lost in amaze to behold the galleon encompassed by
a vault of rock, and tended the few men that had survived the cataclysm,
but they lingered for a little and then all died, leaving him alone.
Little by little the past came back to him, and he was not aware of any
change in himself save that his memory played him tricks. But I
perceived that the shock and the blow on the head had done his
intellects more harm than he knew. He had long fits of silence, wherein
he would sit and gaze vacantly out to sea, or would march with drawn
sword into the woodland, seeking an enemy that had come to steal his
gold. Other whiles he would weave baskets of grass, humming little
songs, or babbling in the manner of children. He never ceased to regard
me as one of his whilom crew, and in my pity I said nought to undeceive
him.
He knew not how long he had dwelt upon the island. I asked him whether
he had been alone all the time, and why he had not discovered himself to
the French and English pirates who had doubtless sometimes come ashore.
He smiled cunningly, and said, "Could I trust them? They were not my
friends. Say that I told them of the ship, and the great treasure it
contained, think you they would not have desired it for their own, and
taken it from me, and left me poor? I trusted La Noue" (his thoughts
were straying to his youth and the siege of La Rochelle): "all men
trusted him. He was saved at Jarnac."
And then he fell a-musing. At another time he told me that he had been
minded once to join a party that had landed, telling them nothing, with
intent to return at some convenient season for his treasure. But he
feared lest during his absence it should be discovered, and he might
return only to find that the vessel had been stripped bare. The
treasure was the sole thing he clung to; he could not bring himself to
part from it even for a day; once a day at the least he descended into
the cabin and feasted his eyes on the great store of gold and jewels.
He had become a miser. And so he carefully shunned such men as had come
ashore; and once he had been near to starving, when a crew encamped
beneath the cliff wherein was the entrance to his cavern, and remained
there for several days, he not daring to issue forth for food, lest he
should be seen.
I marvelled often that the Captain never showed any distrust of me. He
took me often into the cabin, and sometimes set me to count the money
piece by piece, and to display the jewels on the lids of the chests.
Indeed, he took, methought, a childish pleasure in thus exhibiting his
wealth, and when the precious things were all set in array before him,
he would gaze from them to me with a simple pride and contentation which
I found infinitely moving.
*II*
Thus many days passed. I looked often out to sea for a friendly ship,
but none touched on the island, and those that sailed by were Spanish
built, and I durst not hail them.
One night a great storm arose. Rain fell in floods, thunder roared all
around, the sky was by moments ablaze with lightning such as I had never
seen. Driven from my hut, I wended my way toilsomely through the
blinding torrents to the cavern, and took shelter for the remainder of
the night with Captain Q on board the galleon. Towards morning the fury
of the storm abated, but the wind was still high, and when we left our
refuge and stood on the cliff, so that the sunbeams might dry our
drenched garments, we espied a ship fast on the rocks a little distance
from shore. The sea was tempestuous: mighty waves smote and battered
upon the vessel, and I perceived very clearly that she was fast going to
pieces.
While we stood watching, and pitying the poor wights gathered upon deck,
a man sprang overboard with a rope, and struck out for the land, the
waves buffeting him sorely, dashing over him, so that many times he
seemed to have sunk to the bottom. Stirred by the spectacle, the
Captain put off his caution and timorousness, and stepped forth from
behind the rock where hitherto he had stood at gaze. His red garb
flashed upon the eye of the swimmer, and methought I heard a despairing
cry for help. On the instant I ran down to the shore, with Captain Q at
my side. Half witless as he was in general, the Captain had all his
faculties at this moment of great need. With me he plunged to his waist
into the sea, with no less calmness than a man might wade a brook, and
caught the swimmer as he was on the point of sinking. And as we hauled
him safe ashore, I lifted my voice in a shout of joy: for the
half-drowned seaman was none other than Richard Ball, boatswain of my
own ship, the _Elizabeth_.
[Illustration: HE CAUGHT THE SWIMMER AS HE WAS ON THE POINT OF SINKING]
"Why, Dick, man," I cried, "'tis you!"
"God bless 'ee!" panted the man, and then, unable to speak more, he
pointed to the wreck, and seemed to urge that something should be done
for his messmates there.
And now Captain Q once more showed the mettle of a man. Catching up the
rope that was looped about the boatswain's body, he called to me to help
him to lash it about a rock; and when this was done, the crew and the
adventurers came along it one by one, hand over hand, from the vessel,
until all, to the number of thirty-seven, were safe on shore. Joyously
I greeted them, calling each man by name. Hilary Rawdon, the captain,
came the last; and he had but set his feet upon the strand when the
hapless vessel fell apart, and was swept away upon the waves.
Groans and cries of lamentation broke from the shipwrecked mariners;
their grief at the loss of their vessel for a time outweighed all
thankfulness for their escape from death. But Hilary clapped me on the
back, and wrung my hand, and cried--
"Gramercy, lad, but 'tis good to see thee once again. Verily I believed
thee dead, and what was I to say to thy good folk at home?"
And then we fell a-talking eagerly, and the other adventurers flocked
about us, desiring to know what had befallen me since the day when I
went ashore on Hispaniola and returned not. And I was so rapt with joy
at the sight of my friends that I laughed, and for sheer gladness
greeted them again by name--"Tom Hawke, old friend!" and "Harry Loveday,
my bawcock!"--and was so possessed by my ecstasy that I forgot Captain Q
until Hilary recalled me to the present with a question--
"And who is our blood-red friend, old lad?"
I swung myself about. The Frenchman was gone.
"'Tis Captain Q," I said, and was about to tell more, when I caught
myself up, in doubt of what the Captain would say if his secret were
disclosed. Having trusted me, peradventure he would deem himself
betrayed if I should make any revelation. 'Twas borne upon me that I
must needs consult with him before telling any whit of his story.
"Methinks your Captain Kew is of a backward disposition, seeing that he
hath departed without our thanks," said Hilary. "We must e'en go after
him, my lad. But let us hear all that hath happed to thee since we gave
thee up for dead."
I told how I was taken prisoner, and of my captivity and servitude under
Don Alfonso de Silva de Marabona, and Tom Hawke, in his boyish way,
instantly caught at the name, and wished he might live to pluck Old
Marrow-bones by the beard. Then I told of my escape and journey to
Tortuga, where I had been, as I guessed, a matter of a month.
"And your Captain Kew, what of him?" asked Hilary. "Is he of the Kews
of Ditchingham, and how came he here?"
And I saw that the secret must come out. If I did not myself tell it,
my friends would certainly not rest until they had discovered it for
themselves, and 'twas not unlike that Captain Q would fare very ill at
their hands, and lose all the treasure whereby he set such store.
Better that his story should be told by one who had fellow-feeling for
him than that all should be left to chance. So I took Hilary Rawdon
aside and acquainted him with my discoveries.
"Why, 'tis he that is the thief," cried Hilary when he had heard all.
"We have as good a right to the treasure as he."
"Some of it belongs by right to Antonio de Marabona, whom his uncle has
defrauded," I replied.
"Tuts, lad, in this part of the world it belongs to them that can take
it. Did we not sail hither, I ask you, in quest of treasure? Have we
not lost men and suffered shipwreck in this very adventure against the
Queen's enemies? Should we not have captured this very galleon had we
come but eleven years ago? Is not your answer 'Yes,' and 'Yes,' and
'Yes'?"
He looked at me with triumph. Certainly there was no gainsaying his
reasoning, though the third of his questions had a smack of
inconsequence that bid for laughter. But I made a condition, as seemed
to me just.
"Give me your word," I said, "that Captain Q shall suffer no hurt, and
shall have a fair share of the treasure. As for Antonio, I fear me he
must suffer for having been born a Spaniard."
"He is no worse off than he was," said Hilary. "The galleon, as he
believes, lies at the bottom of the sea; and I trow if you returned to
him, and brought him here, and restored to him what was once his, Tom
Hawke or Harry Loveday, or one of the mariners, would incontinently
knock him on the head (being a Spaniard), and all be as before. And as
for Captain Q, 'tis the fortune of war, my lad; we take from him what he
himself took."
"Yet 'tis by his help that you, and Tom Hawke, and Harry Loveday, and
all the mariners, are this moment alive," I said.
"True, old lad," said he, "and we must not forget it. But come, let us
wend to this wondrous vault of his, and see with our own eyes the marvel
you tell us of."
With us we took only Hawke and Loveday, leaving the mariners to their
devices. This was at my wish, for I feared lest the men, if they in
their present distress should learn of rich treasure so close at hand,
should forget gratitude and discipline, and leap like hungry wolves upon
their prey. They were good seamen, and honest souls withal, but lawless
and ill-taught, and possessed with a marvellous scorn of men of other
race. And now they stood upon the beach and bemoaned their fate, and
cursed the day when they sailed out of Southampton on this ill-starred
and bootless quest.
We four went on to the cavern. Captain Q seemed to have expected us,
for when we came to the entrance, there was he, sword in hand, ready to
dispute our advance. Tom Hawke, a wild young spirit, was for rushing
upon him there and then, and beating him down by main force, and indeed
he stepped forward to cross swords with the Frenchman. But I could not
endure that my friend should be dealt with thus, and calling Tom Hawke
back (who indeed already repented of his discourtesy), I proposed that
we should humour the Frenchman--call him Captain, place ourselves at his
orders, and promise to attempt to make a passage for the vessel, so that
he might once more sail the seas with a merry crew.
"I'faith, a right excellent conceit!" cried Hilary. "I salute you,
Captain Q," he added, with a profound bow. "Unfold to him our purpose,
Kitt."
And I went before them and spoke to the Captain, and when he understood
he smiled with pleasure, dropped his point, and, with a commanding
gesture that mightily became him, bade us bring up his new company to
set about the work.
"Oui, certainement, mon Capitaine," said Hilary; and when by and by the
men, in sober mood, came up, and the matter was put to them, "Ay, ay,
sir," cried Richard Ball, the boatswain; "Ay, ay, sir," the men chimed
in, and the Captain led us into the cavern.
Cries of astonishment broke from the men's lips when they saw that
miracle of Nature, and of admiration as they walked around about the
galleon and marked her noble lines.
"A rare craft indeed!" said Hilary. "She is worth a fortune to us,
Kitt, even without the treasure she contains. And that same treasure,
my lad--I yearn to dip my fingers into it."
"Wait; let me bargain with Captain Q," I said, and I followed the
Frenchman up the ladder to the deck, and stood long in talk with him.
When I returned to my friends I told them that the Captain was willing
to share a great portion of his gold among them, if they would bring the
vessel to the sea and rig her for a voyage.
"Vive le Capitaine Q!" cried Hilary, and the whole company broke forth
into lusty cheers. The Captain's eyes gleamed with pleasure; he called
them his children, vowing to lead them a-roving and do great despite
upon the Spaniards. But his face darkened when Hilary offered to mount
on board and inspect the treasure.
"No, no," he cried; "that is for none to see but my corporal."
And I persuaded my friends to accept the denial for the time, and to
accompany me in a circuit of the cavern to find a spot where a passage
might be made to the sea.
The fore-part of the cavern, towards the cliff, was much encumbered with
fragments of rock, large and small. The sides were of rock; if the
fore-wall was of rock also, 'twas clear that with all the tools we had
at hand--pikes and belaying-pins, and such-like gear--'twould be
impossible to open a passage. With gunpowder we might have blasted the
rock but for the water which flowed in at every tide, and so shut us
from access to the lower part of the wall. But if this were of earth,
the task was one that could be compassed with time and patience. 'Twas
our first concern to discover the thickness of the wall, and to this end
Richard Ball clambered on to the loftiest of the rocky fragments, and
another man mounted upon his shoulders, so that he might reach to one of
the narrow fissures that let the daylight in. And then, by passing a
pike through it, he proved by the report of a man without that the wall
was no more than six feet thick.
Next, our task was to remove a number of rocks that lay without like a
natural rampart about the base of the cliff, and were washed by a strong
current. Ropes, whereof the galleon held a plenty, were fixed about
them, and by dint of much hauling, the rocks were displaced one by one,
and being removed, the sea entered the cavern more freely, though 'twas
clear that the water in it would never be of depth enough to float the
galleon.
As soon as the tide was gone down, we essayed to pierce a hole through
the wall a little above the water level. To our great joy, we found
that this portion of the wall was of earth, and before the tide rose
again the men had cut a narrow tunnel through to the base of the cliff.
It being night by the time this was done, the men made for themselves
beds of grass and leaves upon the skirts of the woodland, being divided
into watches as on board ship.
With morning light we took up our task again. We perceived that the ebb
tide had carried away a great deal of the loose earth, and so made the
tunnel wider. The men toiled all day by companies, increasing the
passage both in width and height, the sides and roof being shored up
with timber from the woods against a fall of earth from above. Captain
Q watched the labour with a childish curiosity, and, in pursuance of my
plan of humouring him, I now and then prompted him with commands to give
the men, and they responded with obsequious and cheerful cries of "Ay,
ay, sir," winking to each other the while.
So the work went on, day after day, until an opening had been made of
width enough for the passage of the galleon. There was a danger now
lest it might be espied from a passing ship, the which to prevent, the
men brought down great armfuls of brushwood from above, and arranged
them to form a screen. A sentinel was posted at a point on the rising
ground behind the cliff to give warning of any vessel that should
approach. While some of the men had been employed at the hole, others,
the more skilful of the crew, were set to work to caulk the seams of the
galleon, to fell trees for new masts and spars, and to repair the sails
which were found on board. By the time this was accomplished, nought
remained but to dislodge the rocks that still choked the passage-way
from the cavern. Some of these were so large as to require the labour
of our whole company to remove them. We had hauled away many and laid
them at the foot of the cliff, when one day, a week or more after the
beginning of the work, the sentinel gave out that he saw two vessels
beating up against the wind towards the island.
"Maybe they are the Spaniards that were in chase of us when we were
wrecked," said Hilary. "'Tis not unlike they have come to see what has
become of us. Mayhap they saw us run aground, and I doubt not would
have been here before but that the wind has been too strong against them
all this while."
Our whole company being gathered in the cavern, arms were served out to
the men from the galleon's armoury in case the Spaniards should land.
The news of their coming wrought marvellously upon Captain Q. He
sharpened his sword, donned a breastplate, and told the men, with great
exaltation of spirit, that the moment was at hand when we should rove
the seas and deal doughtily with our enemies.
The vessels came slowly towards us, and anchored a little westward of
the cavern. We saw two boats put off from each, filled with men wearing
the leather hats and steel cuirasses of the Spanish soldiery. Spying at
them with Hilary, I reckoned that they must number sixty or more. They
landed at a point near where my hut had been, and 'twas soon plain from
their cries that they had come upon parts of the wreckage of the
_Elizabeth_. Some of them ascended the cliff, and went into the
woodland, doubtless to gather fruits; whereupon I quitted the cavern,
and stealthily made my way up, to see what they were about. I entered
the woods after them, and witnessed their stark amazement when they
lighted upon signs of the recent felling of trees. Anon they hasted
back to their main body on the beach; a council was held, and then the
whole company, save only a few men left to guard the boats, set forth
with the manifest purpose to search for the woodcutters.
Thereupon Tom Hawke proposed we should seize the boats and row out to
the galleons and board them. But this bold device Hilary would by no
means countenance. Besides that we knew not what force of men there
might still be left on the vessels, we must needs go at the very least
two hundred yards in the open ere we could win to the boats, in full
sight of the men on guard. The alarm would be given, and the Spaniards
might be upon us before we could put off. But since the advantage is
ever with the attack, I made bold to put forward another plan, to wit,
that we should quit the cavern, steal into the woods, and lay an ambush
for the men that were prowling there. This proposal was debated for a
while among our assembly, and being presently approved by all, Captain
Q, who comprehended everything with perfect soundness of mind, set off
with drawn sword in the quality of leader.
We stole out of the cavern secretly by favour of the brushwood screen,
and followed him in great quiet round the shoulder of the cliff, winding
about thence until we gained the wood. There we stood fast, and I went
alone among the trees to discover the direction of the Spaniards' march.
I crept in and out as a hunter might stalk his quarry, and by and by
perceived them proceeding slowly, in close ranks, silently, and with
their matches already kindled. I knew that the course they were taking
would bring them in due time to a ravine, narrow, and of no great depth,
that wound through the woodland, a little brook running along its
bottom. Bethinking me that, could we gain the further side of the
ravine, we should be in rare good case to deal with the Spaniards, I
sped back to my friends, acquainted them with what I had seen, and led
them swiftly through the wood.
We had no sooner taken post in the copse I had designed for our ambush,
than we espied the Spaniards coming directly towards us. And then 'twas
Captain Q who made our dispositions. However disordered his wits might
be in common matters, he lacked nothing in the parts of a skilful
commander. Keeping ten with him, of whom I was one, he bade the rest to
steal down the ravine, ascend the nearer bank at a convenient spot, and,
when they should hear sounds of a fray with us, come with great speed
and fall upon the enemy in the rear. Hilary departed very willingly on
this errand, and we ten remained close in hiding with Captain Q. I
marked how his eyes gleamed, and his lips pressed firmly the one upon
the other, and I was fain to conclude he had a very great courage and
delight in battle.
His design was to wait until the Spaniards came to the brink of the
ravine, and then salute them with a volley. But just as it was the
vivid red of his garments that first drew my eyes to him, so now the
same brightness made our situation known to the enemy before they came
within gunshot of us. One of them spied him, and cried out; the company
halted and blew upon their matches; then their captain called to us in a
loud voice to yield ourselves, and when we made no answer, he bade his
men advance. They pressed forward until they were come within a few
paces of the ravine, and set up their muskets on the rests to have good
aim at us. And then, to be beforehand with them, Captain Q gave us the
word to fire, the which we obeyed all ten together, whereby a half-dozen
of the Spaniards fell; and while in all haste we primed our weapons
again, their captain divided his company into two bands, and sent them
to right and left to scale the ravine and come through the wood upon our
flanks. To a seasoned man of war, as doubtless he was, the fewness of
our numbers was made apparent when we discharged our guns.
There was not a man of us but knew we stood in great peril. The enemy
was of Spain's finest soldiery, and though by the grace of God we
English have beaten them many times on field and flood, we have had
proofs enough of their valour. If our friends should fail to come at
point to our aid, we could not by any means prevail against them. But
Captain Q bade us set our backs against trees, half of us facing to the
right, half to the left, and we stood there ready to do what Englishmen
might against our Queen's enemies.
We could not hear their approach; doubtless they hoped to creep close to
us and then overwhelm us in one general assault. My heart smote upon my
ribs, and my lips grew wondrous dry; 'tis no mean trial to a man to
stand thus awaiting an enemy whom he cannot see, and knowing that in one
swift moment he may be at grips with death. And suddenly there was a
roar of muskets, and immediately afterwards, through the smoke, I saw
the Spaniards rushing towards us. My musket was in its rest; blindly
and with fumbling fingers I set my match to the touch-hole and pulled
the cock, and, having fired my shot, drew my sword and stood to defend
myself. Our volley had checked the onrush, but only for a moment, and I
saw a crowd of Spaniards leaping as it were straight upon me. Then
Captain Q came to my side, crying out that we would fight shoulder to
shoulder, and his presence and cheerful words filled me with a new
courage.
The enemy were yet a dozen paces from us, and we had our swords
outthrust to meet them, when the air rang with English shouts, and a
great din of firing, and some of the Spaniards fell on their faces, and
rose not again. The rest came to a halt, threw a glance behind, and
beheld our men, with Hilary at their head, springing like deer from the
edge of the ravine. This sight was enough for their stomachs. The
Spaniards fled as one man, leapt into the ravine, clambered up the other
side, and made all speed by the way they had come, to regain their
boats. Our men ran after them, and pursued them to the verge of the
woodland, and would have continued to the very margin of the sea, but
Captain Q forbade them, fearing that, if the enemy saw the smallness of
our company, they would rally, and on the open strand would have us at
advantage. And so we did not show ourselves much beyond the line of
trees, but stood there and watched the Spaniards as they hasted down to
the shore, and, embarking on their boats, returned to the galleons.
[Illustration: THE SPANIARDS LEAPT INTO THE RAVINE AND CLAMBERED UP THE
OTHER SIDE]
The tale of our loss was exceeding small. One poor fellow was killed,
four had received hurts, but slight. We were all wondrous merry at the
happy issue of our ambush, and Captain Q put on the high look and
swelling port of a conqueror.
*III*
The enemy having departed, we wondered what they would do, scarce
supposing that they would sail away without making another attempt upon
us. Yet it appeared that this was their purpose, for as soon as the
boats were hoisted aboard, the anchors were weighed, and the ships stood
away towards the west of the island. This put Captain Q in a fury. He
commanded the men to make all speed to finish and complete their task at
the cavern, so that he might sail out and pursue the vessels. But this
was mere foolishness, and I humoured him with talk of other fights in
store. Hilary Rawdon again dispatched a sentinel up the hill, bidding
him to post himself at a spot whence he could see, with the aid of a
perspective glass, the channel between Tortuga and Hispaniola. It had
come into his mind that the Spaniards had perchance sailed away merely
to land on the southern shore of the island, with the intent to march
again upon us unawares. But the man told us by and by that one of the
ships had heaved-to in the channel to the south, while the other was
making all sail to the westward.
"'Tis bound for St. John of Goave or San Domingo, without doubt," said
Hilary, "to bring back a force sufficient to annihilate us."
"What grace have we before they can return?" I asked.
"Maybe a week, maybe more. 'Tis always 'to-morrow' with the Spaniards.
They put off both the evil day and the good, and many's the time they
have come to grief for no other reason than their habit of
procrastination. We will make all speed, Kitt. 'Twould be a sin to let
this great treasure fall into their hands through any sloth of ours."
The men worked with right good-will, hauling away the rocks from the
entrance of the cavern, until they left the passage clear. But even at
high tide there was no depth of water sufficient to float the galleon,
and we must needs take thought how to bring her to the sea. We soon
proved, to our great joy, that she rested on sand, and we had but to dig
beneath her, and to cut a channel, and with the flood tide we could haul
her out. But we could not begin this work until the next low tide, when
the water in the cavern, having now a free outlet, flowed away. We
built a dam to prevent its return, and then, by dint of toiling
steadily, some resting while the others worked, we contrived in two days
to grave out a dock wherein the vessel might ride. The work was done
with great quietness, for the enemy's galleon was anchored but a few
miles away, and 'twas very necessary that no sound should provoke them
to come and spy what we were about. The mariners knew how much hung on
their being left undisturbed until the ship could be rigged and towed
out to sea, and they put a great restraint upon themselves. There was
risk enough in the chance that a Spanish ship might appear off the
coast. The spectacle of a dismantled hull could not fail to attract her
notice, and if she should be a ship of war there was little hope that
the _San Felipe_ would ever sail the sea again.
To step the masts was no trifling business. The stump of the old
mainmast was broken off low down and jaggedly, and 'twas a full day's
work for the most skilful of the _Elizabeth's_ carpenters to fit the
stump for the pine stem they had prepared. The mast itself was but
roughly finished. It was not stripped of its bark: the time would not
serve for niceties; Hilary indeed doubted whether, with the utmost
expedition, we should have the vessel in navigable trim before the
galleons returned. By good luck the stump of the mizzen had not been
snapped off so low as the others; and a jury mast was rigged in a third
of the time the mainmast had taken.
The _San Felipe_ had no boats, all she had carried having been stove in
during the earthquake and washed away. But a boat of some sort was
needful to tow the vessel out; wherefore, while some men were scraping
the hull, and others rigging the spars, the rest hastened to the woods
and worked with might and main to fashion a canoe of cedar. Though we
employed every minute of daylight, the men taking turns to rest in the
hot hours, 'twas full ten days before the work was done. And then one
afternoon, when we were lying on the cliffs basking in ease we had not
known for many a day, the sentinel espied three sail low down on the
horizon to the west.
"Without doubt the Dons are coming back for us," cried Hilary. Then in
French he asked Captain Q, with a show of deference, to give us his
commands.
"We will sail forth and fight them," cried the dauntless Captain.
"'Tis a brave saying," said Harry Loveday; "but methinks 'twere best to
sail out by night and make what speed we may for home. We have the
treasure, and though I am as ready as any man to fight when there is
somewhat to be gained by fighting, I hold that in our present case, with
the enemy maybe four to one, 'twould best beseem us to secure what we
have. 'Twas for treasure we came, not for needless knocks."
"There is much reason in thee, Harry," said Hilary, "and I own if 'twere
sure we should escape these villain Dons and come safe to an English
haven, I might think thy counsel just. But consider: the wind is light;
our vessel is in no trim to make good sailing; and if the wind holds as
at this present we could scarce run out of sight of the Spaniards before
dawn. 'Tis full moon: we should be discerned from a great way off; and
when they see us they can run us down. Furthermore, the guns on our
galleon are light metal, and we have no great store of powder and ball,
so that we are in no case to fight a war-ship, furnished, beyond doubt,
with heavy guns. Remember, we barely outsailed the Spaniards even when
we were in our own well-found (but ill-fated) _Elizabeth_; and if we
could not stand to fight two, as all agreed we could not, how much less
can we stand to fight three?"
While Hilary was thus reasoning, Captain Q, who, having given his voice
for fighting, was confident we should obey without question, had gotten
himself away, so that we were left to converse at our pleasure. I well
knew that, by dint of my artifices of persuasion, I could bring the
Captain to believe that, whatsoever resolution we might come to, it
sprang from him.
"Well, then," said Tom Hawke in answer to Hilary, "if we must not run,
for fear of being overhauled, what is left for us to do? If we cannot
fight three Spanish ships on the high sea, assuredly we cannot fight the
crews of them on land, and 'tis certain as to-morrow's sunrise that we
must be discovered here."
"What if Captain Q be right?" said I. "Is not the bold course the best?
If we bide here and wait to be attacked, the event will be even as Tom
says: the don Spaniards outnumber us, and with all the will in the world
we can scarce hold out against them. But might we not attack the vessel
at anchor before the three others join with her? Aboard of her we might
show a clean pair of heels to the Dons."
"Why didst not speak before, Kitt?" cried Hilary. "The time is
fleeting, and while we still prate these vessels are sailing ever
nearer. In sooth, yours is the way, and we will obey Captain Q's
command."
We had cast down the dam that had been raised, and the tide being at the
flood, the sea filled our dock, and we saw with great delight the _San
Felipe_ float upright on her keel. The most of us got aboard her; the
rest towed her out of the cavern; then they also came aboard, and
Captain Q looked round with pleasure on his company.
Having hoisted the sails (poor patched things as they were), we set a
course eastward along the shore, the wind blowing from the north-east.
Our design was to round the island and come with the wind down upon the
galleon at her anchorage off the south coast. We hoped in the
night-time we might surprise her and take possession of her, and then
slip her cables and make away before the three vessels we had seen could
beat up against the wind.
The wind being so contrary, we could make no good offing, and were in
some peril of running on sunken rocks, to say nothing of that other
peril of meeting an enemy's ship or flotilla. But by sunset we came
safe at the north-eastern corner of the island. We rounded the eastern
side, sailing large, and turned into the channel betwixt Hispaniola and
Tortuga even as the moon rose upon our right hand. A black night would
have most favoured our design of capturing the galleon; but our master
said we had first to come at her, and being ignorant of the channel, he
was right glad to have some light upon the course.
The southern shore of Tortuga bends at its middle somewhat to the
north-west, so that for a time the galleon was hidden from our eyes, and
we could keep the mid-channel without risk of being seen. But when we
had come to that point, our master was fain to steer somewhat nearer to
the cliffs: 'twould mayhap ruin our scheme if we were espied too soon by
the Spaniards, wherefore he said we had best avail ourselves of the
shadows where we could. Hilary and I stood at the helm beside the
master, and we were troubled when we felt the keel graze a sandbank. At
the fall of night the wind had freshened, and we were making a fair
speed, so that if the vessel struck there would be but a small chance of
hauling her off, even if she did not spring a leak and take water. By
good luck and the care of our master we escaped these perils of shoals,
and drew nearer to our goal.
We did not doubt a good watch would be kept on board the galleon, the
which had taken up her present station, as we reckoned, so as to guard
against any attempt of ours to cross to Hispaniola on rafts or canoes.
Doubtless, also, they would have their guns ready loaded and their
matches kindled; and maybe the vessel was riding on a spring cable.
Hilary bade the most of our men to lie down out of sight, so that when
the Spaniards should behold us, as they must soon do, they might not
take alarm from a crowded deck.
"We must be wary, Kitt," said Hilary to me. "'Twould be rank ill-luck if
she should slip her cable and stand away to meet the galleons out of the
west, and maybe fire a gun to give 'em warning."
Being nearer shore, the _San Felipe_ went more slowly than when she was
out in mid-channel. We crept round the jutting points and across the
coves very stealthily, the men holding perfect silence, so that the
Spaniards on the vessel lying at anchor had no warning of our approach
and nearness until, as we fetched about a low spit of land, we came to a
straight reach of the channel, and beheld the enemy half-a-mile distant.
Since secrecy was no longer to be maintained, Hilary bade the master to
steer full into the broad path of the moonlight, so that we might be
distinctly seen. With his perspective glass the sentinel on the vessel
would discover the _San Felipe_ to be of Spanish build, and we trusted
that he would suppose her to be a friend. At Hilary's bidding some of
our men made ready their grappling-irons, and so we drew nearer to the
anchorage.
A light moved on the ship's deck, and we judged that we must now have
been seen. As soon, therefore, as we came within hailing distance,
Hilary commanded Richard Ball, who had some Spanish, to go into the bows
and question what the vessel was.
"The galleon _Bonaventura_, of his Catholic Majesty of Spain," came the
answer to his shout. "Heave-to, or we fire! Who are you?"
"The galleon _San Felipe_, chased by corsairs," cried Ball. "Can we
anchor hereby?"
"Aye. Heave-to; we will send a boat. Are the corsairs dogs of
English?"
"English and French," says Ball, cocking an eye at Captain Q, who was
reclining below the level of our bulwarks, so that his red garments
should not betray us.
"Cry that our helm is injured, and we will lower sail," said Hilary.
This Ball did, and our master bade the men to lower sail; but before
'twas done we had run very near to the _Bonaventura_, and there was
enough way on our vessel to bring her alongside. We had come within a
cable length of the Spaniard when we saw her boat let down, and then,
our helm being put up, we drifted still closer upon the enemy.
"Bid them beware, or we shall be foul of them," said Hilary.
And as Ball cried aloud, we heard much old swearing on the
_Bonaventura's_ decks, the which were at this time thronged with men.
The captain (as Ball informed us) cursed our damaged helm very heartily,
it being answerable, as he supposed, for this imminent risk of fouling.
But in truth our helm was in right good trim, and the master chuckled in
merry sort as he ran the _San Felipe_ close alongside of the
_Bonaventura_, their bulwarks just touching.
And then, at the word from Hilary, our men cast their grapnels aboard,
and our whole company, with machetes and half-pikes from the _San
Felipe's_ armoury, leapt upon the _Bonaventura's_ deck. Captain Q was
the first to board, and the Spaniards cried out in amazement when they
saw his tall red figure springing towards them, rapier in hand, and with
two score men behind, all silent, for Hilary had commanded them to hold
their peace, lest the other vessels should be near at hand.
The swiftness of our onset took the Spaniards all aback. Some of them,
being unarmed, shrank away from us; the rest gathered about their
captain at the mainmast, where they stood to ward off our attack, and
for some five minutes held us at bay. 'Twas a hand-to-hand encounter;
there were no fire-arms used; steel clashed on steel, and many shrewd
knocks were given and taken. But, saving in point of numbers, the odds
were all against the hapless Spaniards. The very look of Captain Q, his
strange garb, his war-lit countenance, had some part in daunting them,
and as we pressed vehemently upon them, Hilary and Tom Hawke in the
fore-front, they fell into a panic, and cast down their arms, crying for
quarter. Hilary bade our men instantly seize them and carry them below,
and within a little they were all safe bestowed and battened under
hatches.
[Illustration: THE SWIFTNESS OF OUR ONSET TOOK THE SPANIARDS ALL ABACK]
And now I espied their boat that had been lowered making all speed to
the westward, and I asked Hilary whether we should not pursue them,
believing that their intent was to acquaint those on the approaching
galleons with what had befallen.
"Let 'em go," cried he, with a laugh. "If they do fall in with the
vessels and tell them their tale, we shall be departed ere they can
bring them to us."
"And they will not reach them," said Tom Hawke. "See, the boat has run
upon a reef."
'Twas even as he had said. The crew strove hard to pull the boat clear,
but without avail, and then they leapt overboard and waded waist-deep
towards the shore. Not all of them came safe to it. On a sudden we
heard a blood-curdling scream, and then another. Beyond question some
of the hapless men had fallen a prey to ground-sharks.
*IV*
The _Bonaventura_ having thus become ours, we made haste to bring to her
such useful stores as the _San Felipe_ contained, and the chests holding
the treasure. I went with Captain Q into the cabin, and observed with
what pangs he saw his chests in the hands of our men. He stood on watch
when they were set on a cradle for slinging on deck; and followed every
movement with a jealous eye until the chests were bestowed in the cabin
of the _Bonaventura_. They were three in number, two large and one
small, and when the two former had been removed, Captain Q appeared
content, and was for leaving the third behind. I remembered that I had
never seen this one open, and knowing what delight he took in
contemplating and fingering the contents of the others, I could not but
suppose that the smallest chest held things of little worth. Seeing
that the Captain appeared in a mind to leave it, I asked him whether
that was his intent, and he replied that it held nought but old papers,
accounts, and bills of lading, and such-like things, and told me very
courteously that I might have it for my own. 'Twas not a gift I greatly
valued, but I would not vex him by refusing it, and so I made one of the
men convey it to the _Bonaventura_.
While the mariners were busied about transferring the things from the
one vessel to the other, Hilary took counsel with his friends as
touching the disposal of the Spanish prisoners now huddled in the hold.
I spoke for carrying them with us, and putting them ashore either on
some island we should pass on our homeward voyage, or on the coast of
Spain when we had crossed the ocean. But Tom Hawke cried out very
stoutly against this.
"Why should we burden ourselves with them?" he said. "The ship will
sail the lighter without them; and bethink ye what a monstrous deal of
food they will consume! Let us batten them down in the hold of the _San
Felipe_ and so leave them."
"As I live, a right good notion!" said Hilary. "Be sure they will be
found when the other vessels come up, and 'twould please me mightily an
I could see the meeting. 'Twill be a cause of delay also, for they will
assuredly tell what has befallen them, and every minute thus filled will
better our chances of escape."
"But they will increase our enemies' force, and, moreover, we shall lose
as many minutes in carrying them from this vessel to the _San Felipe_,"
said I.
"Which we shall gain by the lightening of our freight," replied Hilary.
"And we will e'en set about it at once, while the men are still bringing
the goods aboard."
Whereupon the Spaniards were brought up in small parties and conveyed to
the _San Felipe_. And then, all things being ready, the _Bonaventura_
cast off and made sail, beating up against the wind as she retraced the
course we had followed before.
The sun was rising as she came out into the open sea beyond the
south-eastern corner of the island. 'Twas Hilary's design to set a
straight course for England.
"There is treasure enough aboard," he said, "and did we essay to gain
more we might lose what we have. Remember the dog in the fable; let us
not lose the substance by grasping at the shadow."
"I fear me we shall have trouble with Captain Q," I said. "His mind is
set on taking up his old trade of corsair, and he will not readily quit
these haunts of the sea-rovers."
"Then he will e'en be a Jonah, and we had best cast him at once
overboard," cried Tom Hawke.
"Nay, let us leave him to Kitt," said Hilary. "Mind ye how Kitt wrought
upon us with his tongue when we discovered him in the hold? Kitt shall
be our ambassador."
As we made the north-eastern corner of the island we espied, far away to
the west, two Spanish galleons making what speed they could against the
wind, and, we doubted not, coming in chase of us. At sight of them
Captain Q was beset by a great excitement, and called upon our master to
heave-to and await the villain Dons.
"Ay, ay, sir," was the ready reply. But seeing that the moment was now
come when I must employ my best arts to bring him to accord with us
(and, for all that Hilary had said, I had no great faith in my tongue's
persuasiveness), I led him apart, and by degrees brought him to an
understanding of the resolution to which we had come. 'Twas for some
time a question whether the Captain's passion for fight or his avarice
would get the better of it in his unstable mind, but the balance turned
in our favour when I took him down into the cabin, and, pointing to the
treasure-chests, asked him whether he could endure to risk the loss of
things so precious. He stood in deep thought for a while; then, heaving
a great sigh, he yielded.
All that day the Spaniards continued to hold us in chase, and when with
the veering of the wind they gained somewhat upon us, I marked how the
eyes of Captain Q lit up as it seemed that we must fight in our own
despite. But they dropped away again, and at nightfall were hull down
upon the sea-line, and when next morning's sun arose they were nowhere
to be seen.
From that time the Captain fell into a settled melancholy. 'Twould seem
that the sudden changes that were come about in his life, after eleven
years of solitude, had put a strain upon his already enfeebled intellect
'twas unable to bear. He sat for long hours on deck, gazing towards the
shores he would never see again, silent, taking no heed of us or of
aught that happened around him. Nay, he ceased to watch over his
treasure with the same jealousy, and when Hilary and the other
adventurers could no longer curb their impatience, but demanded to see
the wealth which they were to share, he consented, with a wan and feeble
smile. We opened the chests in his presence, only Hilary, Tom Hawke,
and I being there with him.
[Illustration: WE OPENED THE CHESTS IN HIS PRESENCE]
My report had prepared my friends to see gold and jewels of great price,
but they were none the less amazed beyond measure when the contents of
the chests were displayed before them. One, the property of Don Alfonso
de Silva de Marabona (his name was writ in full upon the cover), held
enough to make us all rich beyond our dreams. The other, consigned to
his Catholic Majesty King Philip himself, was filled with rare gems, the
value whereof we could not so much as guess. "By my beard, Kitt," cried
Hilary, "'twas a rarely kind fate that sent thee as slave to thy Admiral
Marrow-bones. We might have roved the seas full ten years without
getting a tithe of this treasure."
"And it vexes me sorely to think that my friend Antonio can profit
nothing by it," said I.
"Reck nothing of him," cried Tom Hawke. "What does that little chest of
thine contain? Let us see, old lad."
"'Tis only papers, as Captain Q told me," said I, looking for
confirmation at the Captain, who, however, sat listless and inattentive
in his chair.
"Well, let us see them," said Hilary. "Maybe they will give us the true
value of this store of gems."
We opened the chest, and Tom Hawke sniffed and hemmed when he saw that
it held indeed nought but a few documents, somewhat mildewed and yellow.
They were all writ in the Spanish tongue, not one of us could read them;
and though Richard Ball had some skill in speaking the language, he
confessed when I asked him that he could not even read his own native
English, and so was not like to be of service here. We laid the
parchments again in the chest, I promising myself that when we came to
port I would have them overlooked by some one who was well acquainted
with the language of Castile.
The _Bonaventura_ made quick sailing, and we had fair weather until we
came off the Azores, where we suffered a heavy buffeting from a storm.
Somewhat battered, our galleon sailed into Southampton Water one day in
March of 1588. Captain Q had aged ten years in his aspect during the
two months' voyage. He rarely broke his silence, yielded with a patient
smile to my least suggestion, and seemed even to have forgotten the
treasure which had once been so dear to him. When it came to be
divided, a tenth share was set apart by general consent for the poor
witless gentleman, and being well placed through the offices of an
attorney of our town, the Captain might live in his own house and enjoy
great comfort for the rest of his days. One-third was apportioned among
the mariners, every man of them becoming possessor of means sufficient
to keep him luxuriously for his rank and condition. An eighth was
allotted to me, and the remainder parted out among Hilary and his
fellow-adventurers.
As soon as might be I placed the documents from my chest in the hands of
a man well skilled in the Spanish tongue. And then to my great joy
'twas proved that one of them had a vast importance for my friend
Antonio. The story told him by the admiral, his uncle, was false. Don
Antonio, so far from having sold his estates in Hispaniola to his
brother, had in fact purchased the admiral's estates; the document in
question was a conveyance drawn up in due form according to the law of
Spain. Having learnt this, I was hot set to have the document conveyed
to Antonio, so that the wrong he had suffered might be undone. It may
well be conceived that, in that year when the great Armada was being
fitted out against us, there was no communication between us and Spain,
and if I had waited until the two nations were reconciled, 'tis like
that the admiral would have enjoyed his ill-got wealth for long years
undisturbed. But I found means, through some excellent friends, to
dispatch the document to Don Antonio's lawyers in Madrid (their name
being writ upon it) by way of Paris; and many years afterwards, when I
had a humble place at her Majesty's court, I learnt through the Spanish
ambassador that right had been done.
Eighteen years ago, when I journeyed to Madrid for behoof of Prince
Charles, there seeking a bride, ('twas on my return that King James made
me a knight), I found my old friend Antonio a grandee of Spain, and a
very stout and (I must own) pompous gentleman. He did not recognise me:
indeed, 'twas not to be expected that he should, seeing that when he had
known me my cheeks were as smooth as the palm of your hand, and the hair
of my head thick and strong; whereas now I am bearded like the pard (as
Will Shakespeare says), and my locks, alas! are sparse and grizzled.
But when I made myself known to him he clipped me by the hand, and
thanked me with exceeding warmth for what I had been able to do for his
good. Moreover, he told me that his own uncle Don Alfonso had been
aboard the foremost galleon of those two that stood in chase of us when
we sailed away that day from Tortuga. The noble admiral was cast into a
wondrous amazement when he came upon the _San Felipe_, the which had
been so long lost, and lived ever after in a constant dread lest his
ill-doing should be brought to light. This wrought so heavily upon his
mind that it became disordered, and when the full tale of his crime was
brought in due time from Spain he sank into a dotage and shortly after
died. Don Antonio was pleased to give me, in remembrance of our ancient
friendship, a signet ring which had been his father's, and I have it in
my cabinet, not caring overmuch to wear such gauds.
As for Captain Q, he dwelt for many a year in the house we bought for
him at Bitterne, across the river. I saw him often; his wits were quite
gone, poor gentleman! and he remembered nothing of the strange
happenings that brought us together. 'Tis forty years and more since I
made a journey to the little village of Quimperle in Brittany, in hope
that I might discover somewhat of the family of one who must have been a
notable figure there in his youth. 'Twas a bootless quest. Some of the
more ancient inhabitants remembered a young Huguenot named Marcel de
Monteray who had fought in the wars of religion, and had been, 'twas
said, a captain in the army of Conde; but he had never returned to his
native place, and all his kinsfolk were long since dead. Whether Marcel
de Monteray and Captain Q were the same person I do not know, and never
shall. When I spoke the name in the Captain's hearing it brought
nothing to his remembrance. To all Southampton, as to me, he was ever a
mysterious personage. As Captain Q he lived, and when his time came to
die (and he was then of a very great age), as Captain Q he was buried.
[Illustration: tailpiece to First Part]
*Interim*
My grandfather told me that upon his return, after near a year's
absence, his parents' joy was such that they forbore to upbraid and
scold him; indeed, they killed for him the fatted calf, as it were, and
made much of him. His father was for putting him again to school, but
he protested that he had had enough of schooling, and desired nothing
more than to follow a man's vocation. Thereto his father consented,
provided he first kept a term or two at one of the Inns of Court, and
learnt so much of law as would suffice for a justice of the peace when
he should have come to man's estate.
It was in the summer after his return that the great fleet upon which
the King of Spain had spent so much pains and treasure came at last to
invade our shores; and my grandfather, being then at home, hied him to
Southampton, to learn the course of its progress. He watched enviously
the English vessels sail out from the haven, even the smacks and
shallops being filled with young lads and gentlemen of the county eager
to bear their part in the fray, or at the least to witness the unequal
combat between the cumbersome great vessels of the Spaniards and the
light, nimble ships that my Lord Howard commanded, with his lieutenants
Drake and Hawkins and Frobisher and the rest. To serve with those great
seamen was not permitted him, but he accompanied Sir George Carey when
he ran out in a pinnace on the night of July 24, and found himself, as
he wrote, "in the midst of round shot, flying as thick as musket-balls
in a skirmish on land." But for the strict command of his father,
doubtless he would have followed the Armada up the Channel, and beheld
how it was stung and chevied, and finally discomfited in the Calais
roads.
About twelve months thereafter, claiming the fulfilment of his father's
promise, he joined himself to the company that his friend and captain
Hilary Rawdon was raising for service under King Henry of Navarre, whose
fortunes were at that time at a turning point. King Henry III, his
cousin, had fallen to the assassin's knife, and Henry of Navarre should
then have ascended the throne of France; but he was of the Huguenot
party, and the Catholic League was bent upon crushing the Huguenots and
excluding Henry from the enjoyment of his heritage. The army of the
League, commanded by the Duke of Mayenne, held Paris; and Henry,
desiring to put an end to the religious struggle that rent France
asunder, and to make himself master of a united kingdom, saw himself
constrained to fight for his crown. His army was choice and sound, but
small, and in his extremity he sought the help of Queen Elizabeth, who
sent him aid in money and men, and permitted gentlemen to enlist
voluntarily under his flag. Many flocked to him, both as upholding his
rightful cause, and from the love of adventure, and hatred of the
Spaniards, with whom the Leaguers were in alliance. At that time my
grandfather, his age being but eighteen, was moved rather by the latter
considerations than by the former, though in after years the justice of
a cause held ever the foremost place in his mind.
Henry of Navarre had broken up the siege of Paris and withdrawn with his
army into Normandy, hoping thereby to tempt the Duke of Mayenne to
follow him, and so enforce him to a decisive battle. Mayenne, on his
side, issuing forth from the city, had sworn to drive the Bearnais into
the sea, or to bring him back in chains. Such was the posture of
affairs when that adventure befell my grandfather which I set down as he
told it me, as now follows.
*THE SECOND PART*
*CHRISTOPHER RUDD'S ADVENTURE IN FRANCE,
AND HIS BORROWING OF THE WHITE PLUME
OF HENRY OF NAVARRE*
[Illustration: headpiece to Second Part]
*I*
When I survey the backward of my life, and con over its accidents and
adventures, my thoughts are drawn as by a magnet to one point of
time--the moment when, through mirk and darkness, benighted in a strange
place, I saw the glimmer of a light.
'Twas as foul a night as ever I saw: the sky black as Erebus; the wind
howling like unnumbered poor lost souls; the rain, that smote me full in
the face as I rode, stinging my flesh as each particular drop were a
barb of fire. I pulled my cloak about me, and bent low over the pommel,
to gain some shelter from the storm; but little comfort had I thereby,
for the rain beat in betwixt my neck and the collar, and, moreover, my
horse's hoofs cast up a plentiful bespattering of mud from the sodden
road.
My outer man being thus discommoded, I was yet more ill at ease in my
mind, for I had some little while suspected, and was now assured, that I
had lost my way. I had ridden that road but once before, when I made
one of Hilary Rawdon's troop that he took from Dieppe on outpost duty to
St Jacques. By this time, according to my recollection, I should have
come to the Bethune river, by whose bank the road runs nearly straight
to Arques; but having met with some hindrance in my journey, night had
overtaken me or ever I was aware, and with the darkness came the sudden
bursting of the storm. What with the one and the other I could not
doubt that I had strayed into one of the by-roads about Dampierre, and
was now as helpless as a mariner without compass or glimpse of star.
I was musing how best to escape out of this pother when, on a sudden
lifting of my head, I saw upon my left hand, level with my eyes, the
blurred twinkle of the light. With a muttered benediction I turned my
horse's head towards it, resolved, whether it shone from prince's
mansion or shepherd's cot, to beg shelter there until the fury of the
storm was abated. But I had not ridden above five yards before I found
myself checked by a quickset hedge, the which made me to dismount and
lead my horse up and down, seeking for some gate or gap whereby I might
approach the light. Within a little my groping hand taught me that the
hedge was neighbour to a low wall, and searching further, I knew that
the wall was ruinous, the top being ragged and uneven where bricks or
stones had fallen away. Then, touching a gatepost, and so learning that
the gate was removed, I was on the point of leading my horse through the
gap when my good genius whispered a hint of caution. Hilary Rawdon had
dispatched me back on an errand of moment to the King; I should prove
but a sorry messenger if, for my comfort's sake, I ran into any peril;
'twas meet that I should first find out what manner of house this was;
for all I could tell, it might harbour an enemy. With this thought I
led my horse across the lane ('twas no more), and coming after a few
paces to a clump of trees, I hitched his bridle to a bough, took a
pistol from the holster, and made my way afoot through the mire towards
the beacon light.
The mud lay very thick, and there were besides many obstacles in the
path, whereon I stumbled, being unable to see them for the darkness.
Nevertheless, I picked my way among them as well as I could, holding my
sword close lest it should clash upon a stone, and so came to the house,
the which I perceived now to be of a good largeness. The ray shone
through a chink in the shutter of a window some few feet above my head.
The door was at my left hand, at the top of a flight of steps. Being
resolved not to seek admittance until I had learnt somewhat of the
inmates, I clambered upon the window-sill, the which being very wide
gave me good foothold, and setting my eyes to the chink, I peered into
the room.
My eyes were at first dazzled, from so long being in the dark; but
within a little I saw two men seated at a table, between me and the
light, the which came from two large candles set close together. Their
backs were towards me, so that I could not tell with any certainty what
manner of men they were; but from their shape I judged them not to be of
the labouring kind; and indeed the room, so much of it as I could see,
the chink in the shutter being but narrow, appeared to be an apartment
of some splendour.
Now I had been sent by Hilary Rawdon to let King Henry know that the
Duke of Mayenne was moving towards him from the eastward with a great
army, without doubt intending to give him battle, word having been
brought to St Jacques by a peasant that the duke was no more than forty
miles away. The house whereto I had come could not be above four or
five miles from the King's camp at Arques, wherefore it might be
supposed that these men were friends of the King. Yet it crossed my
mind that they might peradventure be Leaguers, and while I was in any
uncertainty I durst not seek shelter with them, nor could I with any
conscience proceed on my way. It behoved me, therefore, to make some
further discovery, if that were possible, and having no satisfaction in
what I had seen, I descended from my perch, and treading very warily,
crept along the wall at my right hand, purposing to make the circuit of
the house, in the hope to learn something more. By good hap the rain had
now ceased, the sky was clearing, and, the month being August, the
darkness was not so deep as heretofore; indeed, the stars were now
visible, and there was a lightness that seemed to foretell the rising of
the moon.
The house was all in darkness, save where I had seen the light. When I
came to the corner I saw a smaller building some dozen rods apart, and
there, as I passed it, I heard the sound of horses drawing their
halters, whereby I guessed it to be the stables. And I perceived now
many signs of disorder in the garden--statues overthrown and broken,
fragments of wood and porcelain, and other things which led me to
believe that the house had lately been put to the sack, and made me go
with the more caution. Stealing through the garden to the back of the
house, I found a door, which, when I pushed it, yielded an inch or two,
but no more, by reason of some barricade behind. A little beyond it,
however, I came to a window hanging loose upon its hinges; and after I
had waited a moment to be sure that I was neither seen nor heard, I
squeezed my body through, and entered a small room which, when my eyes
became accustomed to the dimness, I perceived to be empty. There was a
door at the left hand. Holding my sword under my arm, I drew my dagger,
and crept across the room to the door, which, when I came to it, I found
to be ajar. I pulled it towards me, desisting for a moment when it
creaked, and listening, with a fear that the sound might have been
heard. But there was nothing to alarm me, and having opened the door
just so wide as that I might pass through, I came out into a long wide
hall, which I could not doubt led to the chief entrance.
Here I paused, as well to recover breath--for my excitement had winded
me--as to listen again. From my right came the low rumble of voices,
and in an interval of silence I heard on my left hand, towards the main
entrance, as I guessed, the sound of deep breathing as of a man asleep.
Though the storm had ceased, there was still a slight moaning of the
wind as its gusts took the eaves, and trusting to this to shroud my
movements, I crept along the passage in the direction whence I had heard
the voices, which came more clearly to my ear, yet muffled, as I
advanced. Thus I arrived at a door on my left hand, and perceiving this
to be open, I entered very stealthily, and saw that I was in a large and
lofty chamber divided in two by a curtain.
I heard the voices yet more clearly now, but not distinctly, so that I
could not catch the words. There were one or two shafts of light coming
through the curtain, which when I ventured to draw near to it I found to
be old and torn. Peeping through a rent that was just below the level
of my head, I saw, not two men, but four, seated at the table, all
masked, and wearing, as I perceived in the case of the two men whose
faces were towards me, their cloaks being thrown back, the cuirasses of
men of war. I listened very eagerly, to catch something of their
discourse, but they were at a good distance from me, and spoke in low
tones, so that I heard but a word here and there, and could not by any
means piece them together. This irked me not a little, but I durst not
part the curtain, for then I should have been in full view of the men on
the further side of the table, whose backs I had seen when I peeped
through the shutter; and I was troubled, also, by having, as it were, to
strain one ear towards them and the other towards the man at the end of
the hall, who might wake at any moment and, for all I knew, come to this
very room. So in much impatience and fearfulness I listened, and went
hot and cold when I caught the word "Bearnais," for that was the name by
which the Leaguers called the King, and I had reason to suspect by this
that these men were no friends of his. And by and by I heard other
names, "Rosny" and "Biron," the King's friends, and then all again
became confused, until one of the two that had their faces from me leant
back in his chair, lifting his arms above his head as if to stretch
himself, and said very clearly, and yet without raising his voice: "It
were easy to snare the game, but the keepers are wary."
While I was still wondering what these words might mean, and vague
surmise was making me uneasy, I heard very faintly the neighing of a
horse, and a moment afterwards an answering whinny, but this much
louder. The men had given over talking, and he that had last spoken
still lay back in his chair, with his hands clasped behind his head, and
so he remained while a man might count ten. Then of a sudden he
straightened himself, flinging his hands apart, and leant across the
table, and said: "The second horse is in the open." The men over
against him looked at each other, their eyes glittering strangely
through the masks, and I waited to see no more, for I could not doubt
that the second horse was my own, and it was time for me to go. As
quickly as I might, yet with great quietness, I stepped across the room
towards the door, and had but just got myself out into the hall when I
heard the grating sound of chairs pushed back as when men rise in a
hurry, and saw a light flash through the doorway as the curtain was
parted. With my heart in my mouth I fled on tiptoe along the hall and
into the room I had first entered, and had not even time to close the
door behind me when the men passed, their spurs ringing as they trod. I
heard them come to the great door, and one of them kick the sleeping
sentry, and then the door was thrown open with a mighty creaking, and I
knew that they were betwixt me and my horse.
In a moment I skipped out by the window, delaying just so long as
sufficed to replace it as it had first hung, and being now outside,
stood to consider of my course. I saw with thankfulness that the sky
had again become clouded, so that all was now near as dark as before.
Men were calling to one another in the garden, and since they could
hardly as yet have discovered the whereabouts of my horse, I thought I
could do no better than make my way back as straightly as I could to the
clump of trees where I had left him, trusting to luck and the darkness.
I had gone but a few steps when I stumbled against a man, and believed
myself undone; but he said: "Do you see anything?" and composing my
voice I answered: "Nothing," and then left him and sped on, scarce
believing in my good fortune. So with many a stumble and shrewd knock
upon my shins, making all haste yet moving with such quietness as was
possible, I came to the wall, and without waiting to seek the gateway I
scrambled over, and fell upon my face in the mud. For this I cared
nothing, only that in my fall my sword clashed against a stone, and a
shout from the enclosure warned me that the alarm was given. I was on
my feet in a trice, and sprang across the lane, in desperate fear lest
my horse might whinny again and bring the enemy upon me ere I could
loose him and mount. In my agitation of mind I could not remember
whether the clump of trees was on my right hand or my left, but a break
in the flying scud gave me so much light as to show me what I sought,
and I had just reached it and was plunging through the undergrowth when
I heard the clash of steel as the men scrambled over the wall like as I
had done, and their voices calling one to another as they asked whether
they saw any man.
So dark was it in the copse that I could not see my horse, and I doubt
whether I should have found him in time if he, hearing my approach, had
not whinnied and so led me in the right direction. I unloosed his
bridle in haste, but had no sooner vaulted into the saddle than a man
ran up behind me, and cried out to the others that he had me. I set
spurs to my horse, but at the moment of his springing forward I felt a
sharp pang in the calf of my left leg, and the man let forth a vehement
oath when the horse carried me beyond his reach. Bending low in the
saddle to shun the branches of the trees, the which swept my cheeks and
dealt me many smarting wounds, I put my horse to the gallop, incommoded
by finding that one of my stirrups was gone, and knowing never a whit
whether I was riding towards Arques or from it. I came out of the copse
into a road, and hearing no sounds of pursuit,--indeed scarce expecting
any, since the men were not mounted--I gave the horse his head, and
breasting an incline we came to a small hamlet, where I did not scruple
to knock at one of the cottages until a window was opened, and a peasant
sleepily demanded what I lacked. From him I learnt that I was but a
stone's throw from the Bethune river, which gave me great comfort, and
so I spurred on, and by and by came to the bridge by Archelles, and so
on until I gained the marshy plain below Arques where the King was
encamped, never stopping until I was challenged by the outposts.
[Illustration: I FELT A SHARP PANG IN THE CALF OF MY LEFT LEG]
The day was now breaking, and since my news was important--both that
which I brought from Hilary Rawdon and that which I had discovered for
myself--I demanded to be led instantly to Rosny, with whom I had some
slight acquaintance, having been commended to him in a letter by my Lord
Seymour when I joined Hilary Rawdon's troop. Rosny at first seeing me
broke into a fit of laughter, the which was not to be wondered at,
seeing that my garments were drenched through and through, and my face
was muddy both from splashes and from my fall, and withal I walked
somewhat stiffly from the wound in my leg. But he looked grave enough
when I told him in brief what news I carried, and he would have me
accompany him at once to the King, whom he doubted not to find already
astir, though the morning was yet young. (I had not then heard the
saying of Pope Sixtus V, who foretold that the Bearnais would come off
conqueror because he did not remain so long abed as the Duke of Mayenne
at table; but I knew of the King's habit of rising early, the which was
indeed a cause of grumbling among the sluggards of his Court.)
King Henry smiled in his beard when Rosny presented me to him, but heard
me soberly enough when I gave him Hilary Rawdon's message, to wit, that
the Duke of Mayenne was drawing nigh with twenty-five thousand foot and
eight thousand horse to give him battle.
"What shall we do against so great a host with our poor three thousand?"
said the King to Marshal Biron that stood by. "Ventre-saint-gris! Is it
not hard to be a king without a kingdom, a husband without a wife, and a
warrior without money?"
Here Rosny said that I had more to tell, and the King, pursing his lips
so that his long nose seemed to touch his chin, bade me say on. I told
him of my seeing the light, and of all that followed thereafter, saving
only the matter of my wound, and when I had done, he said sharply
between his teeth--
"Well, what then?"
(His words in truth were "_Mais encore?_" but 'tis meet I turn French
into English in telling my story now.)
"I know no more, Sire," I said in answer, "but I suspect the men I saw
were Leaguers, and were plotting secretly to seize your person, or to do
some other mischief, and 'twere well to send a party to take them, or if
that be too late, to go not from the camp without a strong guard."
"What!" cries the King; "shall I cage myself like a song-bird, or tether
myself like a drudging ass? Ventre-saint-gris! my dear friends have
already counselled me that I seek refuge speedily in your country; but I
tell you that while I continue at the head of even a handful of
Frenchmen, such counsel 'tis impossible for me to follow. As for plots,
a fig for them all! Did I not listen but yesterday to a tale of a plot,
as shadowy as yours? There may be such plots afoot; let there be. The
assassin of my late cousin will not lack of imitators. But shall we
start at shadows, or flee like a cook-wench at sight of a mouse? The
men you saw, as like as not, were bandits, discoursing on the spoils
they expect to reap from the ambushing of some rich Churchman. Plots!
I am aweary of the word."
This reception was so little like what I had looked for that I felt
abashed and, I own, somewhat ruffled also. The King's courage was known
of all men, but I hold that to neglect a warning is not courage, but
mere foolhardiness. While I was meditating whether I should urge the
matter, the King suddenly hailed a burly man that was riding slowly a
few short paces from his tent.
"Hola, Lameray," he said, "send a dozen men to the chateau of St
Aubyn-le-cauf--which is beyond doubt the place of your adventure, Master
Rudd--and seize any man you find therein. Master Rudd will tell you
more at large," and with that he turned away, jesting with Rosny.
The man whom the King had called Lameray dismounted from his horse,
which I perceived to be much bespattered with mud, and coming towards me
with a sort of roll in his gait, he said, in a full, harsh voice--
"Master Rudd will tell me more at large?"
There was certainly something of insolency in his tone, and being
already ruffled with the King's manner of receiving my news, I did not
feel very amiably disposed towards this stranger, who looked at me under
his beaver with a glance of mockery.
"Master Rudd, if it please him, will tell me more at large," says the
man again, while I was still considering of how I should deal with him.
"You heard the King's command, Master Lameray----"
"Pardon--De Lameray," says he, interrupting me.
"De Lameray," I said, making a bow. "The chateau of St Aubyn-le-cauf,
your nobility may not be aware, lies something less than two miles along
the road towards Dampierre, and if you hurry you may yet be in time to
do the King's bidding."
"And perhaps Master Rudd would be pleased to accompany me?" he said,
smiling upon me.
"No," I said shortly, and thinking that perhaps his mockery sprang of my
dirty and dishevelled aspect, I left him there, and strode away, with a
bare acknowledgment of his salutation, to the quarters I had formerly
occupied in the camp. There, having bathed and got me into clean
raiment, and bound up the wound in my leg, no great matter, and eaten
pretty ravenously, I set off to find Raoul de Torcy, who was of my own
age, and had been my particular friend ever since I came to France.
"What news of the camp?" I said, after I had greeted him, for having
been absent for a fortnight I knew nothing of what had happened of late.
"The question I myself would ask," he said, "for I only returned from
Paris last night."
"From Paris?" I said.
"Yes. I set off thither the very day after you left us, having friends
there who are also very good friends of the King, and yet know all the
counsels of the Leaguers. I rode thence the day before yesterday,
bearing news of a plot to kill the King."
"Another?" I exclaimed.
"I know not what you mean by 'another,' my friend; but there is
assuredly one afoot, and I rode apace with the news, and was chased
well-nigh all the way from Paris by a fellow that had the very cut of a
Leaguer. But I shook him off yesterday evening, just before the storm
broke, and came safe into camp, and little enough I had for my pains."
"Why, did the King flout you too?" I asked.
"He laughed, and took it very lightly. 'Another?' says he, just as you
did: 'I hear of plots as regularly as I eat my dinner.' And then he
went off arm in arm with Rosny and paid no more heed to me."
Whereupon I told him of my own errand, and of what I had seen at the
chateau, and how the King had received me.
"I love our Henry," said Raoul, with a shrug, when I had made an end;
"but I sometimes question whether he be not too careless to make a good
king for France. However, we have done our part; if any ill befalls
him, it will not be for want of warning."
I asked him then who was this Monsieur de Lameray that the King had
dispatched to the chateau, and he said he had never heard the man's
name; but encountering Jean Prevost as we sauntered forth from his
lodging, we put the question to him, and he told us that the Baron de
Lameray had lately come into the camp and offered his sword to the King,
with three score gentlemen well mounted and equipped. He had been a
Leaguer, but it was no more uncommon then than now for warriors to shift
their allegiance, and Henry, who dearly loved a good sword, had welcomed
right heartily this notable accession to his party, and smiled upon him
so graciously that certain of his well-tried servants were displeased
thereat. Whereupon Raoul shrugged again, complaining of the fickleness
of kings' favour.
*II*
On the night of that day, I rode with Raoul and a dozen more to the
lodging of the Marquis de Contades in Dieppe, he having bidden us to
supper and a game of tric-trac. The company was very merry, but I was
aweary with having been up all the night before, and what with our
host's good cheer and the heaviness of the air I could scarce keep my
eyes open. Ever and anon I wandered to the window to cool myself,
wishing with all my heart that the company would break up, whereof I had
little hope, such jovial entertainments being commonly prolonged far
towards morning. Looking forth one time into the silent and empty
street, I saw a shadow move in a doorway on the further side, and felt a
passing wonder as to who might be lurking there so late, concluding that
'twas some poor townsman on the lookout to earn a few doits by holding a
stirrup or some such petty service. When I returned into the room the
marquis rallied me on my air of weariness, and on my telling him that I
had been long without sleep, he was pleased to admit my excuses, and
bade me get away to my bed. I went down the stairs very gladly, to walk
to the inn where I had left my horse and my servant, and had taken a
pace or two before I remembered the shadow in the doorway. I looked up
then to see whether the man was still there, and in that very moment a
figure sprang at me out of the dark entry, and I saw in the starlight a
long dagger uplifted against the sky. I had no time to draw my own
weapon, but my lucky remembrance of the man having saved me from being
taken wholly by surprise, I dropped suddenly to the ground, and my
assailant stumbled over me in the vehemence of his onset. Before he
could recover his footing I was upon him, but could do no more than grip
his right arm, and we fell together. There we were, rolling over and
over, and in the heat and fury of the struggle I heard the footsteps of
other men on the cobbles, and a voice asking in a hoarse and breathless
whisper which was the Englishman, and another answer: "'Tis no matter;
the fool has botched it; strike anywhere!" and then the man I was
gripping cried out with pain, for one of the newcomers had stooped and
stabbed him, and as he loosened his hold upon me he screamed again, and
I knew that in a moment one of these hacking swords must find me out.
[Illustration: A FIGURE SPRANG AT ME OUT OF THE DARK ENTRY]
But as I grappled the assassin to me to shield myself, there came to my
ears a shouting and the clink and clatter of spurred boots upon the
stones, and three of the four men above me took instantly to their
heels. The fourth remained, still bending over us, and I heard his
pants, and though I could not see his sword-arm, being partly underneath
the body of my first assailant, I saw his other arm, lifted in the act
to lunge. The fingers of his hand being distended, in that brief moment
I observed that his little finger was amissing.
My companions, called forth by the cries and the sound of the scuffle,
now came running up, and the man, with a growl of rage, straightened
himself and sped away into the night. I rose, bruised and very scant of
breath, and when I told them in a word what had happened, they were for
pursuing the villains. But the time, though brief, was sufficient for
them to make good their escape, and it was vain to think of overtaking
them in the darkness of those streets, with many crooks and corners and
narrow alleys; so they came back after going a few paces, and while some
asked me whether I was hurt, others bent down to look at the fallen man,
who was stark dead. A torch being brought from the marquis's lodging,
they saw the device upon the man's coat, and some one cried that it was
one of De Lameray's men. At this Raoul looked at me, and I at him, but
we said nothing to our companions, having much food for thought. The
party being thus broken up, those of the guests that belonged to the
camp at Arques got their horses and rode back with me, and when we
arrived at the camp Raoul accompanied me, late as it was, to the
lodgings of Rosny, to whom we recounted, when we had roused him up, both
what had befallen and what our suspicions were. He heard us gravely, and
then bade us get to our beds, saying that the matter must be looked to
in the morning.
I was glad enough to seek my couch, and fell asleep instantly; but all
on a sudden I awaked and sat up with a start, a strange discovery having
come upon me in the midst of my sleep. I was again peeping through the
curtain at the chateau of St Aubyn-le-cauf; again I saw the man leaning
back in his chair, and then unclasping his hands as he rose; and now my
recollection acquainted me with something which had scarce made any
impression at the moment of my actual beholding: the man's left hand had
lacked a finger! I could not doubt that the man in the chateau and he
of the late adventure in Dieppe were one and the same; and I had now
some inkling of the reason why my life was attempted. _Dead men tell no
tales_. My tale was already told, and the King had not hearkened; but I
had somewhat new to add to it, and maybe he would not again turn me a
deaf ear.
I had but just broken my fast when a lackey came to command my
attendance on the King. I found His Majesty with Rosny in his tent, and
the Baron de Lameray was there too, and as I entered and made my
obeisance he said something under his breath that set the King
a-laughing.
"Well, my friend," said Henry, "what is this I hear of tavern brawling
in the streets of my good town of Dieppe?"
"I know not what you may have heard, Sire," I said, "nor can I answer
for the doings of others; but an attempt was made upon my life last
night," and then I told him the whole story as I have told it you.
"And who were these would-be assassins?" asked the King when I had done.
"The fellow that was killed, Sire, was said to wear the livery of my
lord here," I replied, glancing towards Lameray; "and as for the others,
I know no more than that I saw the hand of one of them, and it lacked a
finger."
At this Lameray took a step forward, and glaring very darkly upon me
demanded whether I hinted at him. Whereupon I smiled very pleasantly,
and glancing at his hands, which were cased in gauntlets, as the manner
of the camp was, I said--
"I have not the honour of knowing with what afflictions Providence has
been pleased to visit Monsieur de Lameray."
The King laughed, and even Rosny's grave face relaxed a little; but
Lameray frowned, and said with some heat: "I have already explained to
His Majesty that at the time of this fracas I had not returned from the
errand which he was pleased to entrust to me, and of that the gentlemen
of my company can bear witness."
"And your chateau was empty, my good Rudd," said the King.
"I scarce expected otherwise, Sire," I said, "the men having had
warning. And as to that matter, it is a slight thing, no doubt, but one
of those I saw there had suffered the same misfortune as Monsieur de
Lameray, if I take his words aright: he had but three fingers on his
left hand."
The King cast a searching glance upon Lameray, who did not change
countenance, but said with a sneer--
"It seems that Monsieur Rudd is beset with visions of conspirators
lacking a finger. Maybe he is little practised in the use of the
sword."
"I wield my sword with the right hand, Monsieur de Lameray," I said; and
then the King, whose countenance had regained its wonted serenity, asked
me why I had said nought of the three-fingered man when I told him of
what I had seen in the chateau. This question put me in a confusion,
for it was an ill matter to explain to the King that his manner of
receiving my news had ruffled me, or that the remembrance had not come
to me until the middle of the night, for that might very well seem to be
a dream, or even an invention. I stammered in this quandary, and, I
doubt not, looked as much embarrassed as I felt; and the King laughed
somewhat impatiently, and turning to Rosny asked why he troubled him
with these brawls and midnight robberies. Without waiting for an answer
he bade us depart, vouchsafing to me no word save the bare command, but
telling Monsieur de Lameray that he would do well in future to keep his
lackeys more firmly in hand.
I returned to my quarters in high indignation, marvelling also at the
King's strange simplicity, for I believed now with the utmost assurance
that the man I had seen in the chateau and he I had seen in the street
were Monsieur de Lameray and no other. And an hour or two after I found
that I was not alone in this suspicion, for Rosny himself came to me and
asked me to be wary, and to acquaint him immediately of anything I might
see or hear further. "We must put things to the proof," he said in his
brief way. When I told him that Hilary Rawdon had expected me to return
to St Jacques after accomplishing my errand, Rosny replied that I must
not do so, but remain at Arques. "And see that you do not stray from
the camp alone, my friend," he said, "if you value your skin as I value
mine." And so he left me.
*III*
It is ill work kicking one's heels in camp when no fighting is toward,
and I was glad enough when a servant of Jean Prevost's came to me in the
afternoon with a request from his master that I would join him and a few
more in a gallop. I donned my doublet--the same which I had worn on the
night of my ride--and chancing to put my hand into its inner pocket, I
felt some small thing which, when I took it out, I found to be a thin
roll of paper. For a brief space I looked at it in a kind of
puzzlement, turning it over in my fingers, at a loss to know how I had
gotten it. And then, in a flash, it came back to me. I told you that
before I lost my way near the chateau of St Aubyn-le-cauf, I had already
met with some hindrance in my journey, and I declare that the surprising
events that had happened afterwards had clean driven it from my memory;
but now I remembered it perfectly. About two miles out of St Jacques,
just as the dusk was falling, and a drizzle of rain, I came to a
cross-roads, and saw a man lying in a huddled heap by the roadside. I
got off my horse to look more closely at him, and when I bent over him,
I saw that he was stretched in a pool of blood, and there were great
gashes in his doublet, not such clean cuts as a rapier makes, but jagged
rents, the work of coarser instruments. I spoke to him, and he opened
his eyes and groaned feebly, and then endeavoured to speak; but he was
plainly very far gone, and I could make nothing of his mutterings. I
looked around to see if there was any house whereto I might convey the
man, who I supposed had been beset by footpads, but there was no
dwelling at hand, and I was considering whether I should lift him on to
my horse, when he lifted his hand painfully, and gave me a roll of
paper. I asked him what it was, and what I should do with it, and he
tried to tell me; but though his lips moved no articulate sound came
from them, and even as I looked at him he heaved a great sigh, and his
head fell back, and I knew that he was dead. What I might have done had
not my errand been urgent I cannot tell; but since I could do nothing
for him I delayed but to compose his huddled limbs, and mounted my horse
again, thrusting the paper into my pocket, where it had since lain
forgotten. Such things happened often in the lawless and distracted
France of that time, so that it is no wonder it went out of my head when
I had matters of greater moment to think of.
[Illustration: I SAW A MAN LYING IN A HUDDLED HEAP]
Having found the paper, I unrolled it to see what it might be. It
contained a few words plainly written, and yet I could not read them,
for they were of no tongue that ever I heard of, and I was not long in
concluding that they were writ in what is called a cipher. I rolled the
paper again and put it back into my pocket, thinking to show it to Rosny
by and by; but meeting Raoul de Torcy as I left my lodging, I spoke of
it to him, telling him how I came by it. When I described the poor
wretch who had been thus done to death, Raoul said 'twas like the
horseman who had followed him from Paris, and begged me to leave the
paper with him, for he had some skill in reading ciphers, and guessed
that if the man had been a Leaguer, as he supposed, the writing might
prove useful to the King.
I rode out with Jean Prevost's party, and after a hard gallop we were
walking our horses when we were overtaken by the King himself, with
Rosny and half-a-dozen more. The King looked over his shoulder as he
rode by, and told me with a laugh that he was going to my chateau, as he
called it, to look for the three-fingered gentleman, or at least to lay
the ghost. I did not relish his mockery, nor the quizzing of my
companions, who were importunate in asking what he meant, but I forbore
to tell them, Rosny having charged me to say nothing of the matter. A
little after we turned our horses and rode slowly back.
I had not been above five minutes in my quarters when Raoul burst into
my apartment in a great heat, and cried to me that he had read the
cipher.
"And what's more," said he, "it was intended for me myself! That poor
fellow you found murdered was not a Leaguer after all, but had been
dispatched from Paris hot upon my heels by my friends there."
"And what is the message he brought in such haste?" I asked.
"Why, hark to it," he said, thereupon reading from the paper: "'The
mischief purposed against the King will be wrought by a feigning friend,
who has lately joined himself to the royal forces. We do not yet know
his name, but will acquaint you with that as soon as it is discovered.'
Who should that be but Lameray?"
"Where is Lameray?" I cried instantly, remembering that the King had
ridden out but sparely attended, so that if it was designed to seize him
no better opportunity could present itself. When Raoul told me that he
had not seen the baron all that day I sprang up in haste, saying that it
were well we should make inquiry; and calling to my servant to saddle my
best horse, I went out with Raoul to seek Charles de Martigny, who knew
everything. From him we learnt that Lameray had ridden forth some while
before with his troop to hunt in the forest of Arques across the river.
Martigny remarked some excitement in our demeanour, and asked whether I
had some new grudge against the baron; whereupon I told him what we had
learnt, saying when I ended, "'Tis to be hoped he is hunting fair game."
"We must go and acquaint Rosny," said Martigny at once.
"Rosny has ridden out with the King--to lay the ghost of the
three-fingered man," I said, with a kind of scorn.
"What!" cried he. "To St Aubyn-le-cauf? That is not far from the forest
of Arques."
"True," said I coolly.
"And the King may be at this moment in the extremity of danger," he
cried. "What you will do I know not, but as for me, I go straight to
Biron and ask him to gather a troop and ride out instantly to defend the
King."
"And be snubbed for your pains," said I, telling him then of the
warnings I had already given. "We should be admirable laughing-stocks
for the camp," I added, "did we discover a mare's nest again."
This had some weight with both of them, for a Frenchman of all men loves
not to appear ridiculous. We concluded then to say nothing as yet to
Biron, but to ride across the river, we three together, and see for
ourselves the manner of Lameray's hunting. Within a few minutes we set
forth, and as we descended the further side of the bridge of Archelles,
we perceived far away a cloud of dust on the road that skirted the
forest, and it moved in the direction of St Aubyn-le-cauf. It was
plainly caused by a numerous body of horsemen, and the same thought
flashed in the minds of all of us: Monsieur de Lameray's hunting
expedition was a mere blind, and he was now riding to seize the King.
That very instant I set spurs to my horse and galloped down the road
that ran alongside the river, which would bring me to the chateau sooner
than Lameray, I hoped, even though he had the start of me, he following
a more winding road, and remoter from the camp. The King should at
least be warned, and if this third time he slighted the warning, or it
were proved needless--well, I could but swallow my chagrin, and resolve
to mind my own business for the future. My two companions galloped after
me, but I soon began to outstrip them, my steed being a noble beast of
Arab strain, and, indeed, the envy of the camp. Seeing them left
behind, so that they could not hope to be first with the news, I turned
in my saddle and called to Martigny that he might now go to Biron, and
let him bring out a company if he chose. Martigny, who was in some
dudgeon, as I could see, because he could not overtake me, reined up and
turned back towards the camp; but Raoul held on his course, and he being
my particular friend, I allowed him to come up with me, and we galloped
on together. I was glad of his company, for he knew of a short cut
across the fields, and we sped on, leaping walls and ditches at some
peril of our horses' knees, until we breasted a hillock, and saw the
chateau lying amid its gardens half a mile away. And at that same
moment, far to the left, we caught the glint of the setting sun upon a
line of steel helmets, making at full speed towards the same goal as
ourselves. Luckily we were nearer, and putting our horses to a fierce
gallop down the slope, we came betimes to the chateau, where we expected
to find the King.
But when we entered there was no man there, and we were thinking that we
had had our ride for nought, when, looking from a window, we saw Henry's
white plume nodding among his company as he approached leisurely from
the direction of Dampierre. 'Twas plain he had no suspicion of danger,
and I was in a ferment lest Lameray should fall upon him before he could
gain what shelter the chateau afforded. I ran out immediately and leapt
upon my horse's back, and flew like the wind to meet the King. As soon
as I came to him I poured out my news in a breathless flood, and he
laughed right heartily; but at this Rosny clutched at his bridle, and
saying sternly, "Are you mad, Sire?" he made his own horse gallop,
fairly lugging the King's along with him.
"Can we defend the garden?" Rosny whispered to me as I rode close beside
him. I reminded him that the walls were ruinous and there was no gate,
and he pressed his lips together and frowned with that fixed look he had
when confronted by a difficulty. We said no more, and presently coming
to the garden wall at the back, we found Raoul there, having opened a
small wicket-gate for us, and he cried to us to haste, Lameray being not
a quarter-mile up the lane. We passed through one by one, the gate
being not wide enough for two--eleven of us in all--and then Henry, who,
careless and pleasure-loving as he was, was yet quick in counsel and
swift in action, asked whether the great door was open. When Raoul said
it was, the King bade us all ride our horses after him up the steps into
the great hall, the which we had but just done, Rosny being the last to
enter, when Lameray and his men came pouring through the gateway from
the lane. We slammed the door in great haste, and slid the bolts, the
King with great readiness commanding some to bolt the shutters of the
windows also, and to see what could be done to defend every part of the
house. And having given this order he removed his hat and his purple
cloak and set them on the table in the very room where I had seen the
men, and catching sight of me as I slipped a bar into its place at the
window, he swore his customary oath, and said, very pleasantly but with
a touch of malice--
"I shall owe you something for making me sweat, my good Rudd, if this
turns out to be another of your hallucinations."
Before I could frame my lips to any reply, there was a hammering at the
great door and a voice demanding admittance.
"Ask him what brings him here," said the King to Rosny, who went
accordingly to the porter's wicket beside the door, and opening the
shutter demanded to know who knocked and what his errand was. Spying
through a loophole of the shutter of my window I saw that the space in
front of the chateau was thronged with horsemen, in number full sixty,
all armed and accoutred.
"'Tis I, the Baron de Lameray," cried the full harsh voice.
"And your errand, Monsieur de Lameray?" said Rosny.
"That, with your leave, Monsieur de Rosny, is for the ears of my master
the King alone."
"Tell him he may come in--alone," said the King, with a chuckle.
Rosny delivered the message, adding of his own motion that the door
should not be opened until the baron had removed his men beyond the
wall. At this, Lameray broke forth in indignation, demanding to know
whether the King mistrusted him, and Rosny vouchsafing no answer, he
stood for a space gnawing his lip, and then, casting a sharp and furious
glance over the front of the house, the which was shuttered in all its
lower part, he turned swiftly about and led his men out through the
gateway. The King laughed, and bade us throw open the shutters, and
when Rosny began to remonstrate with him he smote his thigh and cried,
"Ventre-saint-gris! Dost think I will be mewed up here as though I were
a craven?" Accordingly we opened the shutters, and the King began to
march up and down the floor, expecting Monsieur de Lameray to return on
foot. And within a minute we saw the baron coming alone through the
gateway, and the King commanded that the door should be opened to him;
but before this could be done, Raoul de Torcy ran down-stairs from an
upper room whence he had been watching all that passed outside, and
cried that the men, having tethered their horses in the copse beyond the
lane (the same where I had left my horse on that night) were creeping
round the wall towards the back of the house. And then Henry's face
took on a wonderful sternness, and bidding Rosny still leave the door
closed, he sent all of us but two to keep a watch upon the back until he
should summon us. He called to me as I was going, and said, "I will
borrow one of your pistols, my friend," being unarmed save for his
sword.
We went to take up our posts, I directing myself with Raoul to the
window through which I had made an entrance. 'Twas plain we could not
defend it, for the shutters as well as the window itself hung loose upon
their hinges. We therefore determined to quit that room and raise a
barricade against its door that opened into the great hall. We were
hauling tables and chairs to set against it when we heard Lameray again
speaking through the porter's wicket, saying that his errand brooked no
delay, and asking that the King would himself come to the door and speak
with him.
"Open the door and let him in," cried the King, with a smile.
Rosny began to draw the bolts, but at the same instant there was a
marvellous heavy thud upon the back door, whose timbers groaned and
creaked, and as Raoul and I ran to it to see whether its fastenings
would hold we heard a shot, and immediately afterwards the slamming of
the shutter of the porter's wicket, and some one cried that Lameray had
fired at Rosny, who, however, expecting something of the sort, had kept
himself out of harm's way and was not touched. 'Twas plain that Lameray
and his ruffians were resolved to put all to the hazard, and I doubt not
that the Duke of Mayenne had promised them a very great reward if they
should either kill the King or take him alive. And I own I quaked with
fear lest they should accomplish their purpose, for we were but eleven,
and they sixty or more, and the defences of the place were so paltry
that it would be nothing short of a miracle if we kept them out.
By this time the shutters of the front windows had been closed and
fastened again, so that the house was in darkness save for a little
light that came from the upper floor. While some of our party were
hasting to pile barricadoes against the doors leading into the hall,
their work being greatly incommoded by the presence of the horses, I
bethought me that we might do some damage among the enemy by firing at
them out of an upper window. Accordingly I ran up the stairs by myself,
and found that there was but one window opening on the back of the
house, where the attack was being made, Lameray knowing very well that
this side was not able to withstand a stout assault. I stood at the
window for a little to comprehend what was proceeding beneath, and saw a
crowd of men gathered about the door, and others entering the window
into the room I had crossed on my way to the hall. Then, bending
forward, I fired my pistol into the midst of the throng, which instantly
fell apart, one man dropping to the ground, and Lameray shouting to the
rest to save themselves and enter by the window. They did his bidding,
but very soon I saw some issue forth and seize upon one of the broken
statues that strewed the garden, and this they proceeded to carry
through the window into the room, designing, as I guessed, to employ it
as a battering ram against the inner door. I had charged my pistol
again, and firing just as the last of the men entered, I was lucky
enough to hit his right arm, which fell useless at his side.
Since I could now do no more above, I hastened back to the hall, and
knew by the shouts and the blows upon the door that the enemy were
making a very vigorous assault upon it. I knew that the timbers could
not long endure so mighty a battering, and the barricado that we had
raised against it would prove itself a very sorry defence. But the
King, who was perfectly calm, and wore as serene a countenance as if he
were playing a sett at tennis, stood in the midst of the hall, speaking
brief words of cheer; and ever and anon our little party fired their
pistols through the door, setting the muzzles close to the timber, not
without effect, as we knew by the groans and cries from without. There
came answering shots, the enemy desisting from their battering for this
purpose, and first a horse near me screamed most pitifully, and then the
Sieur de Langres gave one choking sigh, and fell at the King's feet with
a bullet in his breast.
[Illustration: THE SIEUR DE LANGRES GAVE ONE CHOKING SIGH, AND FELL AT
THE KING'S FEET]
"Courage, my friends!" cried the King. "They have us in a trap, but they
shall not get us until we have slain four for one."
"Navarre! Navarre!" we shouted in consort, the hall ringing with our
cries, and from beyond the door we heard confused shouts of "Guise!
Mayenne! Lameray!"
I observed that Rosny stood in front of the King, to protect him, which
the King remarking, he plucked Rosny by the sleeve and said, in a gay
and easy tone, "Nay, nay, mon cher, what says the Psalmist? 'The Lord
is my shield and buckler.' Wouldst usurp the prerogative of the
Almighty?" Rosny stepped aside at the King's urging, and I told him
that Martigny had ridden back to warn the Marshal de Biron, and if we
could only hold out for yet a little, I made no doubt the marshal would
come with a troop sufficient to put our enemies to the rout. But at that
moment, as if to mock my words, there was a loud crack, and we knew that
the woodwork of the door was giving way. By good hap a heavy table
stood at the place where the board was splintered, so that it was not
driven in; and four of our party firing together through the door, we
heard cries of pain mingled with the jubilant shouts which had hailed
this breach in our defences.
But it was very plain that we could resist but little longer, and unless
Biron should come within a few minutes, our case would be desperate
indeed. In a fever of trouble I strove to think of some way whereby we
might save the King, for I believed then, and I know now, that the loss
of so great a man would have been a sore calamity for France and the
world. And as I beat my wits on this matter, on a sudden I chanced to
remember Henry's hat and cloak that lay on the table in the great salon,
and a device rushed into my mind. I durst not tell the King, who would
assuredly have forbid it; but I drew Rosny aside, and whispered it to
him. A light beamed upon his troubled face, and he bade me go, but
secretly, lest the King should observe me. Accordingly I sought my
friend Raoul, and desired him to draw the bolts of the great door as
silently as might be, and to be ready to throw it open at a word. And
then I crept into the salon, and taking the plumed hat and cloak from
the table I donned them, and returned into the hall. Meanwhile Rosny
had informed the King that Biron had been warned, and had led him up the
stairs to a window in the front of the house, whence they might overlook
a great space of the country and peradventure spy the marshal coming.
The way being thus cleared for me, I mounted my horse, there in the
hall, and giving Raoul the word, he flung the door open, and I dashed
out, my horse leaping the steps at one stride.
The enemy were all at the rear part of the house, so that there was none
to see me as I galloped at a headlong pace towards the lane. But as I
passed the stables they caught sight of me, as I designed they should,
and then there was such a yell of consternation and rage as I had never
heard before. A shot flew after me, but fell short, and in a trice I
swept through the gateway, wheeled suddenly to the left, and set my
horse to an easy canter, for it was not part of my plan to gallop clean
away. I heard the shouts of the men as they swarmed after me, and
turning in my saddle, yet keeping my face pretty well concealed, I saw
them scurry into the copse where their horses were tethered, Lameray
first among them. The dusk of evening and an autumn haze hung over the
ground, so that I had good hope they would be deceived by the plume and
the cloak, and not observe that the form thus clad was not that of Henry
of Navarre, but of his humble servant Christopher Rudd.
I had ridden but a few hundred yards up the lane when they came dashing
out of the copse after me, Lameray again the first. And now that I had
drawn them into pursuit, as I had purposed, I gave my good horse his
head, and galloped on at a round pace. Soon I left the lane, leaping
the hedge into a field, not for easiness of going, but to entice the
enemy after me, and thereby give the King the opportunity of riding
forth with his party and reaching camp before me. The hunt followed my
lead with excellent witlessness; taking a flying look at them I
perceived that nearly every man of them was joining in the chase; and my
blood tingles now, old man as I am, when I remember the joy that leapt
in my veins as I rode, springing over hedges and ditches, the pack in
full cry after me. Verily I believe that my horse was as merry as I
myself, though he may have wondered where was the fox, not knowing that
I myself was the quarry of that hunt.
My steed, as I have said, was the envy of the camp, and at the pace
whereto I set him he soon outdistanced all the pursuers save only
Lameray, who bestrode a fine roan but little less in value than my own
horse. One by one the others dropt off, but he still kept within the
same distance of me, and I wondered whether he would have the temerity
to pursue me up to the very skirts of the camp and perchance into the
arms of Biron. Glancing over my shoulder (yet careful to shield my face
with my arm), I saw that a dyke I had just leapt had been too much for
every one of my pursuers but him, and recollecting his insolency towards
me, and the attempt on my life, and above all, his slur upon my
swordsmanship, I resolved to try conclusions with him, and prove upon
his body the foul traitor he was. Accordingly I put my horse at a low
wall, barely clearing an unexpected ditch that lay beyond it, and
reining up, wheeled about and awaited my enemy a dozen yards upon the
further side. He came up at a wild and reckless pace, and, traitor
though he was, I could not but admire the dexterity of his manage as he
leapt the wall at the very place of my crossing. Seeing me biding for
him, with no care now to shroud my countenance, he drew his sword at the
moment of leaping, and came at me in a fury. But his horse lost a
little speed in taking the ditch, and since I set spurs to mine as soon
as Lameray's alighted, we met with a mighty shock, and my steed being
lighter than his was forced back upon his haunches. In this manner I
escaped the point of his sword outthrust towards me, and causing my
horse to swerve, I heard Lameray's snarl of rage as he was carried a few
paces beyond. In a twinkling he was about, and lifting his sword high
above his head, he brought it down with a vehement stroke that, had it
touched me, would assuredly have cleft my head in twain, or my arm from
the shoulder. But my good steed answered perfectly to the pressure of
my heel upon his flank, and swerving, saved me by a hair's breadth. And
then, at the same moment that I heard a great shouting far away, I
lunged swiftly, and by good hap my point entered his throat. With one
dreadful sob he fell backwards over the crupper, and the traitor was no
more.
[Illustration: RAISING HIS SWORD HIGH ABOVE HIS HEAD, HE BROUGHT IT DOWN
WITH A VEHEMENT STROKE]
It needs not to tell how Biron, with three-score of his choicest
cavaliers, rode out from camp with Martigny, having lost some little
time in saddling, and came full upon a portion of Lameray's troop just
as they returned to the lane. The King and his little band having
sallied forth, and being on the further side of them, they were shut up
as in a vice, and full two-score of them were slain. Nor does it become
me to relate all that King Henry said to me when he sought me out, I
having ridden straight into Arques when I had taken Lameray's sword as a
trophy. I might, if I chose, write myself the Baron de St Aubyn in the
peerage of France, since thus royally did the King see fit to reward me;
but having been born an Englishman I have no great love for outlandish
titles, though, maybe, if I enjoyed a marquis's rank I might not be so
squeamish. Go to my cabinet yonder; there you will find, set together
in one place, a white plume, a cloak, and a sword. These the King was
pleased to give me. Peradventure in years to come, when your grandsons
visit you, you will set these relics in state before them, and tell over
again the story of the lonely chateau and the Baron de Lameray.
[Illustration: tailpiece to Second Part]
*Interim*
A few days after this notable adventure, the Duke of Mayenne encamped
over against Arques, and made sundry assaults upon King Henry's
entrenchments, being baffled at all points. Then, hearing that new
forces were drawing near from the east, and that five thousand good
English soldiers were upon the sea, he withdrew himself into Picardy,
the King marching close upon his heels up to the very walls of Paris,
the suburbs whereof he took, and gave over to pillage. But winter
coming on, he stayed not to open a siege, but withdrew to Tours,
sallying forth thence when he heard that Mayenne was again afoot. Many
strong places in Normandy yielded themselves up to him, and in the
middle of March in the next year he gave battle to Mayenne at Ivry,
where, when Fortune seemed to be turning against him, he called
cheerfully upon his nobles and gentlemen, and they following him charged
into the thick of the fray, his white plume waving in the midst. And
among the thirty horsemen that came forth with him out of the mellay was
my grandfather, who bore ever after on his neck the scar of a sword cut
dealt him on that glorious day.
After this victory my grandfather accompanied the King in his march upon
Paris, to which city Henry laid siege, straitly shutting it up all that
summer, so that they lacked food, and devoured horses and asses, dogs
and rats, and even little balls of clay and powdered bones. But the
Duke of Parma coming out of the Low Countries with an army of Spaniards,
the King was enforced to strike his camp and haste to meet this doughty
foe. Nevertheless there was no battle betwixt them, for Henry was in no
wise strong enough to match the Duke, nor indeed was he equal to him in
the art of war, though none could be bolder or more daring in the field.
Being therefore outdone, he drew back his forces, and the city was
opened to the Spaniards, who threw into it a plenty of victuals and
lifted the people out of their misery.
It were too long to tell of all the skirmishes, the marchings and
countermarchings, the captures and surprises, wherein my grandfather
bore his part for three years from that time. But in July 1593, the
King professed himself of the Catholic faith, to the joy of the greater
part of the nation, and the confusion of his enemies. City after city
opened its gates to him; by the end of that year France had peace, and
many of the English gentlemen that had fought for the King returned to
their own country, my grandfather being among them. He told me that the
main cause of his return was Queen Elizabeth's displeasure with Henry
for that he had changed his religion, but it is known that the Queen
nevertheless withdrew not her support from him, and methinks my
grandfather himself no longer held him in the same degree of respect,
for he abhorred a turncoat, and I know that he grieved because, as all
men knew, the King forsook his faith without sincerity and for the mere
bauble of a crown. My father was used to remind him how Naaman the
Syrian bowed himself in the house of Rimmon, and is held of many to be
blameless; and how King Henry did in truth by his conversion compose the
French nation to peace and order; whereat my grandfather would cry, "How
now! would you do ill that good may come?" and so put him to silence.
However, having returned to London, my grandfather obtained by the
interest of a noble friend the promise of a place among the Queen's
Guard. Yet it was some while ere he entered into this honourable
office, for being sent by my Lord Burghley upon an errand to Flanders,
he was led by chance, or more truly by the hand of Providence, to employ
his sword in defence of the liberties of the commonweal there. The
Provinces had been struggling for five and twenty years against the
oppression of the Spanish King and his minions, of whom the Duke of Alva
in especial left a name for iron sternness and cruelty. Like as in the
case of King Henry of Navarre, Queen Elizabeth lent aid to the suffering
folk; many of her chiefest men were captains in their army, and became
governors of their towns, and did many right honest and praiseworthy
deeds in their behoof. And among the stories that my grandfather told
me, none pleased me better than this that now follows, wherein he
relates a quaint and pleasant conceit that he devised for the undoing of
a traitor.
*THE THIRD PART*
*CHRISTOPHER RUDD'S ADVENTURE IN THE
LOW COUNTRIES, AND HIS QUAINT
DEVICE OF THE SILVER SHOT*
[Illustration: headpiece to Third Part]
*I*
I could wish that I had been born somewhat earlier into the world, for
then I had had no cause, in these my latter years, to feel shame for my
country, nor to look into the future with any disquietude. This our
England stood upon a pinnacle of renown and majesty that year when the
Spaniards' Armada was shattered by the winds of God and the shot of Sir
Francis Drake. Queen Elizabeth went down to her grave in a blaze of
glory; but in the reign of her successor the lustre of our name was
dimmed. At this present the sky is black with clouds, and there is
rumbling and muttering of thunder. Pray God our Ship of State may
weather the imminent storm!
Chiefly I could wish to have been of an elder generation, because then I
might have had a full share in that great struggle for liberty which our
neighbours of the Low Countries long time maintained with stout heart
against the Spaniard. I did, indeed, ply my sword in their behoof,
among the voluntaries whom our queen suffered to engage in that service;
but I came late to it, when a great part of the journey work was already
done. Prince William, named the Silent, had fallen to the assassin's
knife while I was yet at school; and by the hand of that pattern of all
princely virtues the foundations of the Republic had been well and truly
laid. Yet had he bequeathed a vast heritage of toil to his son, Prince
Maurice, whom I must hold to be the peerless instructor of this age in
the art of war. By his side I dealt many a dint for freedom, and it
would need a month of talking so much as to tell over the sieges and
stratagems, the ambuscades and sharp encounters, wherein I bore my part
with that worthy prince. But at the very beginning of my service there
befell me a noteworthy adventure which I look back upon with a certain
joyous contentment; and that I will relate, craving your patience.
In the autumn of 1593 I was sent for one day to wait upon my Lord
Burghley at Cecil House in the Strand. I found him exceeding sick in
body, with a look of death upon his aged countenance; but his mind was
sound and firm as ever, and he laid his commands upon me with all his
wonted clearness and precision.
I had but lately quit the service of His Majesty of France. The Queen,
my mistress, bore so ill King Henry's submission to the Roman Church as
she could not endure the continuance of any of her servants in his
employment. Thus I chanced to be for the nonce at large, and ready for
the charge the Lord Treasurer committed to me.
Since the villainous treachery of Sir William Stanley and Sir Rowland
Yorke in delivering the town of Deventer to the Spaniards, the
Netherlanders had harboured a natural suspicion and distrust of the good
faith of our English captains. Especially was there a present dread lest
the town of Ostend should be betrayed by its English garrison. To clear
our fame of this withering blight, the Queen had determined to admonish
Sir Edward Norris, governor of that place, bidding him to keep a wary
watch upon his captains and soldiers, to enforce them rigorously in
their duty, and to hang up without remorse any that should be discovered
in communication with the enemy. To this end she indited with her own
hand a letter to Sir Edward, the which, together with his own formal
despatch, the Lord Treasurer delivered to me for conveyance to Flanders.
This was a charge that jumped well with my inclination. I had no love
for the soft air of courts or the mincing manners of a carpet knight,
and having learnt from my Lord Burghley that, my errand being
accomplished, the Queen would not stay me from serving Prince Maurice, I
took passage very willingly in a hoy bound for Flushing, where I landed
some time in the month of October.
It needs not to tell of my journey to Ostend and my meeting with Sir
Edward Norris. Having delivered to him my letters, I departed as soon
as with good manners I might, and, accompanied only by my servant, took
my way to the camp of Sir Francis Vere, the principal general of our
English levies since my Lord Leicester departed from the Low Countries.
Sir Francis greeted me right boisterously, and put a troop of horse
immediately at my command.
'Tis a matter well established that a man may have all the qualities of
a captain and leader of men, and yet lack those higher parts that are
requisite in a general. Sir Francis was in person the very image and
model of a man of war. Of good stature, with a well-knit body and a
princely countenance, his hair close-clipped and his brown beard spread
spade-shaped upon his breast, he made a noble figure in his Milan
corselet inlaid with gold and his ruff of point-lace. Bold and resolute
in action, he was nevertheless heady, prone to anger, and full of
whimsies, whereby in great affairs he was apt to be looked on with a
certain mistrust, both in the council and in the field. I had not been
long with him before I perceived that he entertained a most violent
hatred and jealousy of Prince Maurice, and looked upon the Netherlanders
with a sour contempt.
I learnt from him the posture of affairs in the Low Countries at that
time. The Spaniards had of late taken sundry strong places of note, and
were closely investing sundry others. Prince Maurice, being but ill
provided, could do little towards the relief of those beleaguered towns,
and while gathering strength thereto held himself mainly to the
defensive. This loitering and idleness provoked Sir Francis to wrath,
who would chafe and chide, and avouch that 'twould be profitable to the
country if the whole breed of Nassaus were rid out of the way.
It chanced that one day I sallied forth with a handful of men towards a
small city then besieged by the Spaniards, to discover if I might the
strength and disposition of the enemy. For reasons that will presently
appear I had liever not tell the true name of this place, but will call
it Bargen.
We rode forth one misty afternoon, and picked our way not without
trouble among the runnels and made watercourses wherewith that flat and
marshy land abounds. Perceiving no sign of the enemy, I was tempted to
approach more closely to their lines than consorted with prudence. As
we rode by a narrow bridle path betwixt a patch of woodland and a field
in stubble, on a sudden, from among the trees, cloaked in a measure by
the mist, there sprang upon us a troop of corseleted horsemen. They
had, I doubted not, got wind of my approach, and lain in wait under
covert of the wood to cut me off.
Some of our fine gentlemen that showed their bravery at court were wont
to boast that one Englishman was a match for five Spaniards; but such
vainglorious brag is bemocked by those who, as I myself, have
encountered those doughty warriors in the field. The Spaniard may be a
paltry adversary on the seas, though even there I have met with some
that were no mean fellows. Howbeit on land I found them valorous and
redoubtable foemen, whom to despise would argue a pitiful ignorance and
marvellous ill reckoning.
I had with me six or seven stout fellows, good swordsmen and well
seasoned to war; but our enemy numbered a full score, who smote upon us
like thunder and bore us down by sheer weight and fury. In my time I
have been in many a sore strait and hazard, but never stood I in such
jeopardy as when two of my men were cast headlong from their saddles and
the Spaniards held the rest of us like rats in a trap. We had not time
to wheel about and trust to the speed of our horses; the utmost that we
could do was to back among the trees and play the man. There was a
mighty clashing of steel upon armour as we gave stroke for stroke; but
the enemy beset us vehemently, and had well-nigh encompassed us without
hope of life, when, in the twinkling of an eye, there leapt from the
depths of the wood a half-score of wild and unkempt figures, that flung
themselves with exceeding heat and fury into the thick of the mellay,
making marvellous quick play with their short knives, both upon the
horses and the bodies of the Spaniards, at the joints of their harness.
This timely interposition put new heart into my stout fellows, who plied
their swords with such manful resolution as made the Spaniards, already
confused and baffled by the waspish newcomers, take thought for their
safety and seek to draw out of danger. In short, within two minutes
such of them as had not fallen betook themselves to flight, spurring
their steeds every man in a contrary direction. My men in the fervency
of victory made to pursue them; whereupon, being in no mind to be
enticed further within the enemy's lines, I halloed to them loudly to
refrain. They reined up and cantered back to me, save one headstrong
and reckless fellow, John Temple by name, who pressed hard on the heels
of the rearmost Spaniard, and was soon lost to sight beyond the confines
of the wood.
Very well content with this happy issue from our troubles, I turned
about to see more clearly what manner of men were those that had wrought
our deliverance. Their aspect and garb bespoke them as boors of the
country, for they wore rough smocks, round fur bonnets, and breeches of
wondrous largeness and of a blue colour; yet they had not on their feet
the wooden clogs of use and wont, but went barefoot for swiftness. I was
minded to offer them some recompense for their service, and being as yet
too new in the country to have gained anything of their speech, I bade
one of my men, who had been long among Netherlandish folk, acquaint them
with my purpose. Whereupon a young man who had hitherto held himself
backward and aloof, stepped forth, and addressing me in execrable
French, said--
"Sir, we covet no reward, having done that which we have done in the
service of our country, and for behoof of those that serve her also."
Taking more particular note of this young man, I perceived that neither
in favour nor in speech did he match the others of his company.
"Sir," said I, "we are beholden to you. I would fain know your name."
With some hesitancy he replied--
"Sir, call me Van der Kloof; 'twill serve as well as another."
I gave him a hard look, to ensure that I might know him again; but
having made it a rule of conduct never to pry or meddle with matters
that do not concern me, I forbore further question. Whereupon the young
man told me of his own accord how that he had lain in the wood for a
good while, keeping watch on the Spaniards, our late adversaries, who
had come from the direction of Bargen, and were going, as he thought,
towards the camp of Verdugo, the Spanish governor. I got from him
sundry informations concerning matters in Bargen, though not so much as
I should have liked.
The hour was now growing late, and John Temple had not yet returned. I
had thought that, when he found himself without support from us, he
would ride back without delay, and his continued absence made me fear
for his safety. Though by his stupidity or obstinacy he deserved no
better than to fall into the hands of the Spaniards, I was loth to lose
any man of my charge; accordingly, we rode warily some short distance
after him. But when we found him not, we turned about and made towards
our own camp, only desiring Van der Kloof, if he should meet with
Temple, to bid him follow hard after us.
We were within a bowshot of our camp when Temple overtook us. His horse
was in a great heat and foam, and the man himself was in a sorry case,
having a great gash in his cheek, his morion gone, his doublet slashed
and bedabbled with blood.
"How now, sirrah!" I cried to him as he rode among us. "Art deaf, that
thou didst not hear my command, or a mere addle-pate, to go alone into
the midst of a host?" And I rated him very roundly, I do assure you.
The man said not a whit in his proper defence, but pled that being at
the very heels of a Spaniard who had dealt hardly with him in the fight,
he could not endure to leave him without giving him a Roland for his
Oliver. The chase was longer than his expectation; and the Spaniard,
seeing him persistent, on a sudden wheeled about and met him face to
face. They two fought it out, and after a long and laboursome bout,
whereof Temple bore many eloquent and grievous tokens, he overcame his
adversary and made his quietus.
And then he displayed before me the spoils of this engagement, to wit, a
fine Toledo blade; a belt of good Cordovan leather, the pouch filled
with Spanish dollars; and a jewelled ring of gold. And when I had told
him that he might keep these for himself, he brought forth from under
his belt a strip of paper, and put it into my hand.
"This I espied, sir," he said, "through a rent in the don's doublet, and
seeing there was writing thereupon, being no scholar myself, I fished it
out for your worship's perusal."
Thinking 'twas some love billet that the hapless Spaniard had worn
against his heart, I was in a manner loth to take it. But I bethought
myself directly after that in time of war it behoves a man to suspect
all and trust none, and in this mind I spread open the paper and bent my
eyes upon it. And then I was not a little discontented at the
meagreness of what I read. 'Twas nothing but a table of stores, writ in
the Spanish tongue: so many tubs of powder, so many chests of the same,
so many spare pikes, so many double bullets for the calivers, so many
bullets for the matchlocks, so many round shot for the sakers and
culverins--in truth, I did not read every article, being persuaded that
the fellow from whom the paper was taken was some pitiful storekeeper, a
man of no account. Yet I stowed it within my doublet, from a mere habit
of prudence, and rode on, telling the man Temple jestingly that my share
of the booty was paltry by comparison with his.
*II*
It was dark when I came to my lodging, and learnt from my servant that
Sir Francis Vere, some while before, had sent to seek me. I made haste
to attend the general, whom I found alone at his supper.
"Ha, Rudd," he cried to me in his great voice, "I am glad to see thee,
lad." (He was but ten years my elder, but let that pass.) "How hast
fared?"
I rehearsed very shortly the particulars of my excursion, and those few
matters I had learnt of the Dutchman; but held my peace as touching the
paper Temple had given me, deeming that to be of no moment. Sir Francis
made me compliments on my good hap in coming off with a whole skin, and
then, bidding me share his meal, pushed a letter over the table towards
me.
"Read that," said he, "and tell me your mind upon it."
The letter, I found, was from Prince Maurice himself, concerning Bargen,
the place from before which I had even now returned. The Prince was
troubled in mind about its safety. It had been some two months besieged
by the Spaniards, and he was as yet unable to stir towards its relief,
being himself menaced by a greater force, the which he believed to be
looking for some movement on his part thitherward, with the intent to
fall upon him as he marched. The city had hitherto made a good defence,
but there had come to his ears rumours of a weak-kneed party in the
council, and he feared lest, as the labour and hardship of the defence
waxed greater, the tottering loyalty of these burghers should fail
utterly, and they deliver up their city into the enemy's hands. In this
strait he besought the aid of Sir Francis, requesting him to use all
endeavours to save the place, chiefly by strengthening the hands of
those burghers among the council that were still trusty and faithful.
"A murrain on him!" cried Sir Francis, as I set the letter down. "Why
does he sit still, this Prince Do-Nothing? Did he strike a blow I would
give him a mighty backing, but 'tis not in me to play the nurse, and
cosset faint-hearts. He must seek another man for that job, one of his
own slow Dutchmen, pardy!"
But it flashed upon me in a moment that the Prince had shown wisdom and
discretion in seeking an Englishman for this part. I had learnt already
that there was great jealousy between the several cities; each was in a
manner a little republic; and the burghers of one city would be apt to
look with ill-favour upon any man from another who should offer to teach
them their duty. The like resentment would not be stirred up by an
Englishman, more especially if he were commended to them as one expert
in war and cunning in counsel. In this I thought Prince Maurice had
done wisely, and so I told Sir Francis. He looked at me very sharply,
fingering his beard, and then smote upon the table and cried with a
great laugh:
"By the Lord Harry, thou art the man!"
I stared at him, at the first not understanding his intent. He laughed
again, and said:
"Who so fit for this business as Master Christopher Rudd, expert in war,
as witness his exploits with Henry of Navarre; cunning in counsel, as
witness his lecture and admonition at this very table! You shall go
into Bargen; you shall take in hand the instruction of the burghers; you
shall strengthen the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees; a Daniel
come to judgment!"
I did not relish his mockery, nor in any wise covet the office he would
thrust upon me. But his laughter stung me to a great heat (though I
showed it not), and, not counting the cost as an older man had done, I
determined in my mind that I would do this thing, come of it what might.
Whereupon, feigning to take him in merry mood, I smote upon the table
likewise, declared 'twas a right royal jest, and vowed that on the
morrow I would make my way privily through the enemy's lines into
Bargen, and instal myself tutor among the mynheers. Sir Francis
applauded me, still in sport, not supposing that I had spoken soberly
and in earnest.
When I came to reflect upon it in my own chamber I questioned whether I
were not clean witless, for the task I had taken upon myself was fitter
for a man well acquainted with these burghers than for a man raw and
untried. Nevertheless, having put the halter about my own neck, I could
blame none but myself if I was hanged withal, and from sheer pride of
soul I was steadfast to my purpose.
Accordingly, the next day, without any more speech of Sir Francis, I
went about quietly to get myself a trusty Dutchman who should guide me
into Bargen. By good fortune I lighted upon a man that not only knew
English, but had himself gone in and out of the city by a secret way, in
despite of the Spaniards. In the dusk we set forth from the camp, with
my servant, and rode to a lonely mill some few miles from Bargen, half
ruined and burnt in a foray the year before. There we left our horses,
which the Dutchman engaged to lead back to the camp, and went down to
the river hard by, where, in a clump of rushes, we found his raft
cunningly concealed.
It being now dark, we got upon the raft, and oared ourselves warily and
in silence down the stream, until we came to a spit or nose of land that
was at this season partly submerged and in winter-time wholly. Here we
stepped ashore, being within a short bowshot of the Spaniards' trenches.
At this hour of the night none but the sentinels were stirring, and, as
my guide well knew, the guard hereabout was negligent and unwary.
We crept softly as foxes toward the wall, and as we crawled up the
glacis a voice challenged us, and I heard the click of a firelock. My
guide made answer in a whisper, and immediately after two rope ladders
were let down from the wall, upon which we nimbly mounted to the
parapet. There we were confronted by a posse of the burgher guard, armed
at all points, and my Dutchman presented me to their captain, saying,
according to my instruction, that I was come on business of great moment
from Prince Maurice.
[Illustration: WE CREPT SOFTLY AS FOXES TOWARD THE WALL]
The Captain would have led me instantly to the presence of the
Burgomaster, but on my assuring him that my errand was not so urgent as
that I should disturb that worthy gentleman's rest so unseasonably, he
offered to find me a comfortable lodging for the night. We went
together, my servant following, through the dark and silent streets, the
Captain telling me that I should lodge in the house of the widow of the
late Burgomaster, who had been slain in a skirmish the year before.
When I said that I was loth to intrude upon the lady at so late an hour,
the Captain declared that Meffrouw Verhoeff would deem it in no wise an
intrusion; indeed, he said that I should find a table ready laid, my
hostess having a son among the guard for whom she watched on all those
nights when he was abroad.
Within a little I found myself at the entrance of a house wherein a lamp
shone. At the Captain's knock the door was opened, and a voice asked,
"Is it you, Jan?" the speaker not perceiving at the first who we were.
The Captain presenting me as an envoy from Prince Maurice, and an
Englishman, a soft hand caught mine, and drew me into the house, and I
made my salutation to a little old lady, very comely and personable,
with a widow's cap and snow-white ruff, who greeted me in English and
bade me very heartily welcome. She would hear no excuses upon the
lateness of the hour; but led me into her parlour, then left me while
she bestowed my servant, and returning, entreated me to do honour to the
viands with which her table was sparely spread.
Mistress Verhoeff entertained me as I ate with many particulars of the
siege. I was not long of discovering that her small body was the seat
of a very fiery and unquenchable spirit; and in truth, while she spoke
of the brave deeds done in defence of the city, her cheeks glowed and
her eyes sparkled so that she seemed young again. There had been much
suffering, she told me; but her folk had learnt to suffer, and of a
surety could endure even more grievous afflictions than had yet befallen
them.
At these words methought there was trouble in her voice, and I wondered
whether she was aware of the rumours whereof Prince Maurice had made
mention in his letter to Sir Francis Vere.
She spoke of her dead husband, and of her living son, who was this night
on guard at the wall.
"Had his father but lived," she said, "my boy had beyond question held
great place, in the field or the council chamber; but now, alack! he
trails a pike among the common men."
While we were yet conversing, there was a step without, and a young man
entered to us. He stood amazed to behold a stranger with his mother, but
upon her making me known to him, he gave me a courteous salutation and
sat himself at the board. Now I never lose the remembrance of a face
once seen, and at the first glance I could have avouched that this young
man was the same that did me service two days before. Yet the form of
his countenance was something changed, and his apparel was wholly
bettered, and when he made not the least sign that he knew me, I was
tempted to doubt my memory had for once cozened me. We spoke of
indifferent matters, and then, with the intent to put him to the test, I
said bluntly--
"Sir, have you knowledge or acquaintance of one Mynheer Van der Kloof?"
"I know no man living of that name," he answered me.
"I crave your pardon, sir," said I, "but truly I would fain meet that
same mynheer again, that I might renew my thanks for a timely service he
rendered me."
"What was that, sir?" the lady asked; and her son seemed to wait upon my
words with mere curiosity.
I related my adventure of two days before, and my hostess averred that
Mynheer Van der Kloof was no man of Bargen, seeing that neither was
there any family of that name in the city, nor could any force of
burghers have been without the walls, the place having been straitly
invested for two months past. This in my secret thought I took leave to
doubt, but I could not in courtesy urge my opinion, and we left speaking
of the matter. Shortly thereafter the lady herself conducted me to my
chamber, where I was soon comfortably established between the sheets, as
white and fragrant as ever I slept in.
*III*
On the morrow, very early, I was waited upon by a sergeant come express
to conduct me to the Burgomaster, whom the Captain of the Guard had
informed of my arrival. I must acknowledge that in the cold and sober
light of morning I felt myself to be in something of a pickle. I had
announced myself as an emissary from Prince Maurice, but I had no letter
of commendation in his hand, nor, in truth, had I so much as set eyes on
him. Furthermore, I was a stranger to all in the city, and being little
more than a boy,--my years were twenty-two, though, like Portia in Will
Shakespeare's play, I was elder than my looks--being little more than a
boy, I say, I doubted of the reception I should meet with among the
grave and solemn burghers of the city council. I could but trust to a
bold front and mother wit to carry me through my enterprise, and I took
some comfort from the reflection that Hollanders were said to be
somewhat dull and heavy. Accordingly, having trimmed myself with
exceeding care, and donned the fresh and sumptuous apparel, meet for an
ambassador, which my servant had brought, I set forth with assured mien
and measured gait, looking neither to the right hand nor to the left
upon the gaping onlookers that had gathered in the streets.
Being ushered with much solemnity by the sergeant into the
council-chamber, I found myself in presence of a round dozen burghers
clad in brave attire, and seated at their table in order of precedency,
as I judged. I cast a swift look round as I gave them salutation, at
the first taking particular note of none but the Burgomaster at the head
of the table, whose aspect tickled me with secret merriment. He was a
round pursy little man, clean shaven, with double chins resting on his
chain of office, and moist and vagrant eyes that did not meet my gaze
steadily. I judged him to be pompous and self-conceited, withal of
little stability of mind, and, as we say in our homely way, fussy. With
hem and haw he addressed me in French, his voice being thick, and
speaking as there were a pebble in his mouth.
"Sir, you come from the illustrious Prince Maurice of Nassau?" he said.
[Illustration: "SIR, YOU COME FROM THE ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE MAURICE OF
NASSAU?"]
For answer I bowed.
"You bring a letter under his hand and seal?" he proceeded.
I hold that to speak truth is ever the best course; wherefore, attuning
my voice to a confident serenity, I replied--
"Sir, I bear no letter, but I will in a few words explain to the
worshipful council my presence in your city. His illustrious Highness,
tendering your welfare, and moved by your stout and manful resistance to
the Spaniard, hath writ to my General, Sir Francis Vere, requiring him
to send to you one of his captains, both as a witness of his Highness'
satisfaction, and with the intent to lend you aid and support. The
choice fell upon me, Christopher Rudd, unworthy though I be, by reason
of some slight knowledge in warfare gained in the service of His Majesty
of France. Such small skill as I am master of, therefore, is yours to
dispose of, albeit the measures you have taken up to this present are so
aptly conceived and so doughtily executed that I deem my part to be that
of admirer rather than counsellor."
This pretty speech appeared to give the burghers some satisfaction, but
I perceived that the Burgomaster's right-hand neighbour, a lank
beetle-browed fellow of swarthy hue and Castilian cast of feature, shot
me a keen and questioning glance out of his narrow eyes. "This fellow
is worth the watching," I thought; but I let not my eyes dwell upon him
beyond the moment.
After some further debate I was made partaker in their deliberations.
From one and another I gathered information about the course of the
siege and the measures of defence they had concerted, and I was not long
of discovering, by hint and suggestion, the rift that Prince Maurice had
suspected. The most part of the council were true men, bold and stout
of heart; but there were two or three that let fall doubts and wagged
their heads, with sighs and doleful looks. And I began to perceive a
certain method in this despondency, more especially on the part of the
lank man aforesaid, for which reason I found myself intently observing
all that he spake. He was most bitter and vehement in denouncing the
Spaniards, and prated very big about withstanding them to the last
breath; yet these heroical counsels of his were ever accompanied with a
croak and quaver, as that famine was a fouler enemy than the sword, and
that all those that escaped from the one or the other would surely be
hanged by the Spaniards. By this means, I perceived, he at once
cunningly magnified his own steadfastness and resolution, and instilled
dire apprehension and dismal foreboding into the minds of his weaker
brethren.
While I thus noted the strange policy of this man, I took a certain
amusement from the mien and conduct of the worthy Burgomaster. Now he
was at the top of resolution, now in the depth of black despair; now
breathing out fire and fury, now lamenting the scant provision of
victuals and munitions, and questioning whether any man's life was worth
a doit. The change from one mood to the other was so sudden, as the
deliberations of the council swayed this way and that under the
dexterous handling of the lank man, that I set the Burgomaster down as a
weakling, a reed shaken in the wind, and made some question in my mind
whether the destinies of the town were safe under his governance.
Upon the breaking up of the council, I was conducted by the Burgomaster
and the Captain of the Guard around the defences of the city, being
accompanied also by the lean and black-browed councillor of whom I have
spoken. When I had taken note of all, it was dinner time, and the
Burgomaster bid me make that meal with him in his own house. This I was
very willing to do, since I found the little man a continual
entertainment. The lank fellow and the Captain of the Guard were my
table-mates, and we fared as handsomely as you could expect in a
beleaguered city. In truth, it was not a sumptuous repast; but the
meagreness of the fare was in some sort countervailed by the bewitching
presence of the Burgomaster's daughter. Remember, I was but young; a
bright eye and a rosy cheek, when matched with a gracious mien and a
sweet and tuneable voice, cast a spell upon me; and the fair beauty of
Mistress Jacqueline had made amends for meaner fare, even for dry bread
and indifferent water.
I perceived that the Burgomaster's lanky friend bent an amorous eye upon
the damsel, spoke her fair and softly, and sought every way to render
himself pleasing in her sight; and that the Burgomaster watched this
underplay with great contentment. But I perceived also--and I own it
gave me a joy quite beyond reason--that Mistress Jacqueline received
these attentions with a serene indifference, which I told myself would
have been a positive coldness and scorn but for dread of her father's
displeasure.
We walked away together, the Captain of the Guard and I, and as we went
I informed myself discreetly on sundry matters whereon I had some
curiosity. The lean lank rascal--so I called him already--was named
Mynheer Cosmo Volmar, a Spaniard on his mother's side, president of the
gild of locksmiths in the city, and keeper of the stores. He was known
to be paying his court to Mistress Jacqueline, and had her father's good
will. The lady had, however, been betrothed aforetime to Jan Verhoeff,
son of the late Burgomaster and of the widow lady, my hostess, and the
match had been broken off by her father when it was discovered, on the
death of Mynheer Verhoeff, that he had left but a paltry heritage. Of
all the burgher families in Bargen, the Verhoeffs had suffered the most
grievous loss during the war; yet the exceeding smallness of the late
Burgomaster's estate was a cause of wonderment in the city. The young
lovers bore their parting very hardly; and though Mynheer Volmar's suit
was approved and furthered by her father Mynheer Warmond, the present
Burgomaster, Mistress Jacqueline had as yet looked upon it but frostily.
These particulars were pleasing to me, for I saw that I had come into a
coil wherein affairs of state and domestic matters were close
interwoven. I was never so well pleased as when I had a tangle to
unravel; and the enterprise I had taken upon myself in merry sport bade
fair to give me unlooked-for entertainment.
*IV*
On the afternoon of that day, the Spaniards made a very hot assault at a
breach in the wall hard by the north gate of the city. From the
commencement of the siege this had been the chief mark of their
ordnance, the which had cast upon it as many as a thousand shot a day.
But the burghers had diligently repaired by night the mischief wrought
in daytime, so that the damage was but small; and the assaults which the
besiegers had already made upon the breach had been repelled with no
great difficulty.
Nevertheless, on this day the attack was exceeding fierce. The
Spaniards swarmed into the breach, and endeavoured mightily at push of
pike to bear down our defences. Our burghers met them with heroical
courage, and quit themselves well in the close fighting upon the wall. I
was not sorry that the assault had been delivered so soon after my
entrance into the city, for I had thereby occasion to win the good
favour of the burghers by lending them aid, thereby getting me a shrewd
knock or two. There was no question of generalship or high strategy; it
was sheer journeyman fighting. In this I observed that the Captain of
the Guard played a right valiant part, and I saw with a good deal of
satisfaction that young Jan Verhoeff pressed ever into the thickest of
the fray, and plied his pike with commendable spirit. The tide of
battle carried me more than once to his side, and I marked his face alit
with the joy of the true warrior. We beat back the invaders, though not
without losing many of our ripest pikemen and calivermen, a heavy toll
upon our success.
It had not escaped my observation that the city fathers were scarce so
forward at this critical moment as loyalty and good example required. I
saw neither the Burgomaster nor Mynheer Volmar, but I learnt that
certain of the council had posted themselves very valiantly at such
parts of the defences as were not at that time threatened. As I
returned with Jan Verhoeff to his mother's house I overheard two
burghers speaking together of this witness to their rulers' valiancy,
and Jan shot a look at me that seemed to question whether I nourished
doubts of the worthy fathers. I said nothing on that head, but spoke of
the tough work we had been through, the which I hoped would discourage
the enemy from attempting another assault for some time. I said too that
since he must be very weary, he would be loth to serve among the night
watch, whereupon he told me that he was free for that night, his turn of
duty coming upon every second day.
I mention this because, in the middle of the night, as I lay cogitating
a scheme I purposed to put next day before the Captain of the Guard, I
heard the young man, whose room was beside mine, descend the stairs and
go forth of the house. This circumstance caused me to wonder somewhat
what his errand might be, for after the fatigue of the day it must be a
thing of moment that could draw him from his bed. But being deeply
concerned with matters of my own, I gave over thinking of him, and only
remembered his going forth when I saw him pale and hard of eye at our
breakfast in the morning. The good lady his mother asked if he had not
slept well. "Passably," he answered, and said no more, whereby I knew
that, whatsoever his errand had been, it was to be kept secret from his
mother.
I lost no time in seeking out the Captain of the Guard, to acquaint him
with the fruit of my cogitations in the night. He had already confessed
to me that he had but small training in the arts of war; wherefore,
being already assured of his fidelity and of his doughtiness in fight, I
had no squeamishness in offering him my counsel, which a more tried
warrior might have taken amiss.
I first pointed out to him certain weak places in the defences of the
city; to wit, the neighbourhood of a mill, where the city wall had not
been strengthened because of some fancied assurance that the mill race
was protection enough; and also the rampart by the church, where a thick
clump of trees without the wall offered good cover to the enemy
resolutely assaulting. The Captain was very quick to see these
deficiencies when I had mentioned them, and perfectly ready to make them
good.
From this I proceeded to a further matter.
"Sir," I said to him, "your men did right nobly yesterday; yet methinks
we should not be content merely with having beat back the Spaniards. To
endue them with a true respect for us, and our men with a true respect
for themselves, it needs to repay them in their own coin: I mean, to
sally out and fall upon them unawares, at some convenient spot of their
camp."
He turned upon me a troubled countenance, and said--
"Sir, I doubt not of the soundness of your reasoning, nor of the good
that would spring from a successful sally; but I question if we should
prosper. My men are stout of heart, and behind their walls fight with
sturdy resolution; but they are not bred to war, being in the main
simple burghers that have taken up arms by mere necessity: and beyond
the walls I fear lest their skill should not match with their courage."
Whereupon I set myself with patience to overcome his diffidence,
confirming my arguments with instances from the wars of King Henry of
Navarre. Having brought him to my mind, we repaired together to the
council chamber, where the council met every morning, and I laid my
scheme before the assembled fathers, employing a rhetorical manner of
exposition for which I was beholden to my study of Cicero his orations.
The little Burgomaster took fire from my rhetoric, and, to my secret
amusement, began to deliver himself of sundry fine sentiments in tune.
He swore that, were he captain, he would do this and that, force a
footing here and seize a place of vantage there, and smite those
Amalekites (so he termed the Spaniards), even as Joshua, the son of Nun.
This was my opportunity. While his face was still red with warlike
ardour, and the fumes of his valiance filled the air, I addressed him in
words wherein I sought to infuse deference mingled with admiration.
"Worshipful sir," said I, "happy is the city whose head is of so
valorous and undauntable a spirit. With joy I hail you as leader of our
foray, whom to follow will make me proud, as I doubt not it will make
also the Captain of the Guard and every man of this devoted garrison."
At this the Burgomaster bridled and looked round upon the councillors
with an assured and dauntless mien. The eyes of the Captain of the
Guard twinkled, but for me alone; and on the dark countenance of Mynheer
Volmar I observed a sneer.
My plan was devised, in fact, to procure, if we could, a quantity of
food from the Spaniards' camp, such as, in our present dearth, would be
exceeding acceptable. I advised that our attack should be made at dusk,
when the enemy were cooking their evening meal, and upon that part of
their camp where the cooking was chiefly done, if we might judge by the
number of the fires in that quarter. It was also, as I had perceived,
the quarter least amply defended, and most easily assailable from our
side. By my scheme, a strong muster of the burghers should engage the
attention of the Spaniards on the ramparts near the church, while an
elect body of two hundred and fifty, with a support of equal number,
should sally forth at the mill, fall swiftly upon the camp, lay hands on
all that we could, and retire into the city under cover of the support.
I will not try your patience with relating in gross the history of this
enterprise or of the many others, small and great, wherein I had a part
while I sojourned in Bargen. I mention it for no other reason than
because it was the first of those that I devised, of which some came to
less happy issues, when the Spaniards grew more wary. In truth, my
remembrance of the most of these is but dim, and this the first would
hardly be so clear in my mind were it not close inmeshed with the
behaviour of Mynheer Warmond the Burgomaster, who from that time
established for himself a name for valour which his less courageous
doings thereafter could not wholly dim.
For all his brave words at the council, when it came to the point the
little man set forth sundry doubts in respect of his fitness to lead our
sally. Being a man of full habit, and one that went heavily upon his
pins, he feared lest his tardiness of gait should put a check upon us
more nimble footers. Whereto I answered that, stayed up and furthered
by two sturdy burghers of proved celerity, one on either side, and fired
with his own lusty spirit, he would out of question not lag a yard
length behind the nimblest of us. Whereupon he confessed that he was
never equal to himself in the dark, and my answer was that he had but to
keep his eyes steadfastly fixed on the lights in the Spaniards' camp
before him. In short, to every objection of this nature I had my answer
ready, nor would I allow that we could have any assurance of success
unless he were our leader.
'Twas falling dusk, and mirky, when, all things being ready, we issued
forth of the gate in utter silence, the Burgomaster toddling with scant
breath at my side. We made such haste as that we were nigh upon the
Spanish trenches ere we were discovered. Having swiftly dispatched the
few sentinels that held watch at this quarter, we sped over the trench
and ran, as though 'twas a race for a prize, across the space of open
ground that sundered it from the camp. Here there were but few of the
enemy afoot, and they busied for the most part with cooking, the main of
the force being gathered in front of the gate by the church, where the
burghers had been mustered with blare of trumpet and tuck of drum to
deceive them. These busy cooks, as soon as they espied us, took
incontinently to their heels, sending up a great cry and clamour for
help; whereupon some companies of the enemy, which had been standing to
arms at no greater distance than two or three furlongs, came towards us
at full stretch of legs, kindling their matches as they ran. I posted
fourscore of our party to deal with them, while the rest of us made
diligent perquisition in the enemy's pantry. Thus we gained time enough
to seize as much victual as we could carry, which done, at a blast of my
whistle we turned our backs upon the camp and made all convenient speed
towards our own walls.
Being cumbered with divers big and unwieldy burdens, even with making
the utmost expedition we were not able to compass our safety before the
vanward of the enemy burst upon us. With the fourscore men aforesaid,
some pikemen, some arquebusiers, I held our rearward, having by me the
worshipful Burgomaster, whom indeed I had been at pains to hold within
reach. At our first coming to the camp, when the cookmen fled, the
little Burgomaster was like to split with his heroical valiance and
untameable fury. Crying havoc upon the Castilian dogs he brandished his
tuck with no small peril to his own party. But when it came to
plundering, his warlike ardour was assuaged in admiration of the
flesh-pots. He caught up a long chain of bag-puddings, such as had not
been seen in Bargen for many a day, and cast it in a merry sport about
his neck, as it were insignia of his office. Then, still holding his
tuck bare with his right hand, he seized with his left a monstrous hog's
ham, and so laden was ready to decamp with his booty.
The Spaniards hotly pursuing us, I perceived that the Burgomaster's
valour was now all melted away, and that he was beset by a shaking fear
and trepidation. The ground over which we ran was exceeding rugged, and
the little round man puffed and gurgled as he tripped upon hindrances,
striving to keep pace with our covering party, but perilously encumbered
by the dangling puddings and the massy ham. Beholding his plight, one
of the burghers in mere kindness, or peradventure out of a licorous
appetite, sought to aid him by relieving him of this part of his load;
but the Burgomaster clung to it the more closely, protesting vehemently
that he would not be robbed, and beseeching us to succour and sustain
him.
Running thus in the twilight, he struck his foot upon a tussock of
grass, and fell headlong, and lay groaning and shrieking for help,
unable to rise by reason of his hands being engaged, the one with his
sword, the other with the ham; for even in this extremity he clave
manfully to his weapon, and covetously to his provender. I stayed my
steps to lift him up, and by this delay saw myself overtaken by four or
five of the Spaniards, who came about to overwhelm us. Summoning to me
two of our pikemen that were happily within call, I faced about with
them to beat off this attack upon our rear, knowing well that if we
could not scatter them we must needs fly immediately for our lives,
since we could hear the shouts of a numerous body hasting towards us
from the camp.
At this pass did the Burgomaster achieve high and imperishable renown.
The foremost of the Spaniards, charging full upon us, thrust out his
sword towards the breast of Mynheer Warmond, and had surely then let out
his life but that by good hap I interposed my own blade, and struck the
Spaniard's weapon from his hand. But the fury of his onset threw him
clean upon the Burgomaster, who, letting his sword fall, but cleaving
valorously to the ham, flung his arms about the Spaniard's neck and
brought him heavily to the ground. Behold then a spectacle whereat the
gods might laugh; upon the ground a marvellous medley of legs, arms,
bag-puddings and ham, out of which issued a most admirable discordance
of Spanish and Low Dutch.
Being joined at this time by others of our party, we were able to hold
the pursuers at bay while I sought to disentangle the Burgomaster from
his adversary. This was no light achievement, for the little man,
clasping his foe in strength of malice and with the tight embrace of one
drowning, yet never loosing the ham, could scarce be persuaded that he
was not in the article of death. Being at length put asunder, they were
both got upon their feet, and we hurried them at a good round pace
towards the wall. Here our supporting party was drawn up, the which
directed a volley of bullets over our heads at the pursuers; and these
being further discomfited by the shot from sundry culverins parked
within the ramparts, the pursuit was checked, and we got safe within the
city, having lost but two or three.
Right merry were the citizens at the success of our enterprise. Some
ran to the church tower and set the bells a-ringing; others fired off
cannon until the Captain of the Guard peremptorily forbade that wastage
of powder. Our plunder was carried to the market square, and given in
charge of an officer appointed to dispense it for the benefit of all.
From this ordinance the Burgomaster's ham and bag-puddings were exempt,
they being considered meet and convenient rewards of his prowess;
moreover, he straitly refused to give them up, and marched through the
street in a glow of triumph, bearing proudly his spoils.
[Illustration: RIGHT MERRY WERE THE CITIZENS AT THE SUCCESS OF OUR
ENTERPRISE]
The Spaniard who had fallen victim to Mynheer Warmond's puddings and ham
was proved to be a captain of some note; and none having seen the manner
of his capture save myself, who held my peace thereupon, the Burgomaster
won great praise for that he had taken with his own hand, on the field
of battle, one of the enemy's captains. He showed himself a very
glutton for applause, and I was careful to feed his appetite to the
full, because I saw that, having this large conceit of himself, and a
reputation to maintain, he was the less likely to become subject to the
timorous and faint-hearted members of the council. A hero in his own
despite, he vexed me often with his thrasonical airs and vainglorious
trumpetings of his own virtue; but I bore with him, believing that in so
doing I should best serve my cause.
*V*
For some while I have said nothing of Mynheer Volmar, not because he
holds any lesser place in this history, but because he had no part in
the enterprise that I have just recounted, the which nevertheless
concerned him dearly, as you shall see.
Mynheer Volmar had spoken of our enterprise as a hair-brained adventure,
the device of a very madman, and a mere courting of disaster. A
prophet, whether of good or ill, likes not that his predictions should
belie and mock him; and Volmar, when his prophecies fell out so wide of
the mark, looked upon me, the begetter of the design, ever more sourly
than he was wont. And when the Burgomaster at our next cou
Showing first 200,000 characters. Full text: gutenberg.org/ebooks/43786