By England's Aid; or, the Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604)
by G. A. Henty · English · Gutenberg #6953 · 690,790 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: By England's Aid; or, the Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604)
Author: G. A. Henty
Release date: November 1, 2004 [eBook #6953]
Most recently updated: January 18, 2014
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6953
Credits: Produced by Martin Robb
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BY ENGLAND'S AID; OR, THE FREEING OF THE NETHERLANDS (1585-1604) ***
Produced by Martin Robb
By England's Aid
or The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604)
by G. A. Henty
PREFACE.
MY DEAR LADS,
In my preface to By Pike and Dyke I promised in a future story to deal
with the closing events of the War of Independence in Holland. The
period over which that war extended was so long, and the incidents
were so numerous and varied, that it was impossible to include the
whole within the limit of a single book. The former volume brought
the story of the struggle down to the death of the Prince of Orange
and the capture of Antwerp; the present gives the second phase of
the war, when England, who had long unofficially assisted Holland,
threw herself openly into the struggle, and by her aid mainly
contributed to the successful issue of the war. In the first part
of the struggle the scene lay wholly among the low lands and cities
of Holland and Zeeland, and the war was strictly a defensive one,
waged against overpowering odds. After England threw herself into
the strife it assumed far wider proportions, and the independence
of the Netherlands was mainly secured by the defeat and destruction
of the great Armada, by the capture of Cadiz and the fatal blow
thereby struck at the mercantile prosperity of Spain, and by the
defeat of the Holy League by Henry of Navarre, aided by English
soldiers and English gold. For the facts connected with the
doings of Sir Francis Vere and the British contingent in Holland,
I have depended much upon the excellent work by Mr. Clement Markham
entitled the Fighting Veres. In this full justice is done to the
great English general and his followers, and it is conclusively
shown that some statements to the disparagement of Sir Francis
Vere by Mr. Motley are founded upon a misconception of the facts.
Sir Francis Vere was, in the general opinion of the time, one of
the greatest commanders of the age, and more, perhaps, than any
other man with the exception of the Prince of Orange contributed
to the successful issue of the struggle of Holland to throw off
the yoke of Spain.
Yours sincerely,
G.A. HENTY
CHAPTER I
AN EXCURSION
"And we beseech Thee, O Lord, to give help and succour to Thy servants
the people of Holland, and to deliver them from the cruelties and
persecutions of their wicked oppressors; and grant Thy blessing,
we pray Thee, upon the arms of our soldiers now embarking to aid
them in their extremity."
These were the words with which the Rev. John Vickars, rector of
Hedingham, concluded the family prayers on the morning of December
6th, 1585.
For twenty years the first portion of this prayer had been repeated
daily by him, as it had been in tens of thousands of English
households; for since the people of the Netherlands first rose
against the Spanish yoke the hearts of the Protestants of England
had beat warmly in their cause, and they had by turns been moved
to admiration at the indomitable courage with which the Dutch
struggled for independence against the might of the greatest power
in Europe, and to horror and indignation at the pitiless cruelty
and wholesale massacres by which the Spaniards had striven to stamp
out resistance.
From the first the people of England would gladly have joined
in the fray, and made common cause with their co-religionists;
but the queen and her counsellors had been restrained by weighty
considerations from embarking in such a struggle. At the commencement
of the war the power of Spain overshadowed all Europe. Her infantry
were regarded as irresistible. Italy and Germany were virtually her
dependencies, and England was but a petty power beside her. Since
Agincourt was fought we had taken but little part in wars on the
Continent. The feudal system was extinct; we had neither army nor
military system; and the only Englishmen with the slightest experience
of war were those who had gone abroad to seek their fortunes, and
had fought in the armies of one or other of the continental powers.
Nor were we yet aware of our naval strength. Drake and Hawkins and
the other buccaneers had not yet commenced their private war with
Spain, on what was known as the Spanish Main--the waters of
the West Indian Islands--and no one dreamed that the time was
approaching when England would be able to hold her own against the
strength of Spain on the seas.
Thus, then, whatever the private sentiments of Elizabeth and her
counsellors, they shrank from engaging England in a life and death
struggle with the greatest power of the time; though as the struggle
went on the queen's sympathy with the people of the Netherlands
was more and more openly shown. In 1572 she was present at a parade
of three hundred volunteers who mustered at Greenwich under Thomas
Morgan and Roger Williams for service in the Netherlands. Sir Humphrey
Gilbert, half brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, went out a few months
later with 1500 men, and from that time numbers of English volunteers
continued to cross the seas and join in the struggle against the
Spaniards. Nor were the sympathies of the queen confined to allowing
her subjects to take part in the fighting; for she sent out large
sums of money to the Dutch, and as far as she could, without openly
joining them, gave them her aid.
Spain remonstrated continually against these breaches of neutrality,
while the Dutch on their part constantly implored her to join them
openly; but she continued to give evasive answers to both parties
until the assassination of William of Orange on 10th July, 1584,
sent a thrill of horror through England, and determined the queen
and her advisers to take a more decisive part in the struggle. In the
following June envoys from the States arrived in London, and were
received with great honour, and a treaty between the two countries
was agreed upon. Three months later the queen published a declaration
to her people and to Europe at large, setting forth the terrible
persecutions and cruelties to which "our next neighbours, the people
of the Low Countries," the special allies and friends of England,
had been exposed, and stating her determination to aid them to
recover their liberty. The proclamation concluded: "We mean not
hereby to make particular profit to ourself and our people, only
desiring to obtain, by God's favour, for the Countries, a deliverance
of them from war by the Spaniards and foreigners, with a restitution
of their ancient liberties and government.
Sir Thomas Cecil was sent out at once as governor of Brill, and
Sir Philip Sidney as governor of Flushing, these towns being handed
over to England as guarantees by the Dutch. These two officers,
with bodies of troops to serve as garrisons, took charge of their
respective fortresses in November. Orders were issued for the
raising of an army for service in the Low Countries, and Dudley,
Earl of Leicester, was appointed by the queen to its command.
The decision of the queen was received with enthusiasm in England
as well as in Holland, and although the Earl of Leicester was not
personally popular, volunteers flocked to his standard.
Breakfast at Hedingham Rectory had been set at an earlier hour than
usual on the 6th of December, 1585. There was an unusual stir and
excitement in the village, for young Mr. Francis Vere, cousin of
the Earl of Oxford, lord of Hedingham and of all the surrounding
country, was to start that morning to ride to Colchester, there
to join the Earl of Leicester and his following as a volunteer. As
soon as breakfast was over young Geoffrey and Lionel Vickars, boys
of fourteen and thirteen years old, proceeded to the castle close
by, and there mounted the horses provided for them, and rode with
Francis Vere to Colchester.
Francis, who was at this time twenty-five years old, was accompanied
by his elder brother, John, and his two younger brothers, Robert
and Horace, and by many other friends; and it was a gay train that
cantered down the valley of the Colne to Colchester. That ancient
town was all astir. Gentlemen had ridden in from all the country
seats and manors for many miles round, and the quiet streets were
alive with people. At two o'clock in the afternoon news arrived
that the earl was approaching, and, headed by the bailiffs of the
town in scarlet gowns, the multitude moved out to meet the earl on
the Lexden road. Presently a long train was seen approaching; for
with Leicester were the Earl of Essex, Lords North and Audley, Sir
William Russell, Sir Thomas Shirley, and other volunteers, to the
number of five hundred horse. All were gaily attired and caparisoned,
and the cortege presented a most brilliant appearance. The multitude
cheered lustily, the bailiffs presented an address, and followed by
his own train and by the gentlemen who had assembled to meet him,
the earl rode into the town. He himself took up his abode at the
house of Sir Thomas Lucas, while his followers were distributed
among the houses of the townsfolk. Two hours after the arrival of
the earl, the party from Hedingham took leave of Mr. Francis Vere.
"Goodbye, lads," he said to the young Vickars, "I will keep my
promise, never fear; and if the struggle goes on till you are old
enough to carry arms, I will, if I am still alive, take you under
my leading and teach you the art of war."
Upon the following day the Earl of Leicester and his following rode
to Manningtree, and took boat down the Stour to Harwich, where the
fleet, under Admiral William Borough, was lying. Here they embarked,
and on the 9th of December sailed for Flushing, where they were
joined by another fleet of sixty ships from the Thames.
More than a year passed. The English had fought sturdily in Holland.
Mr. Francis Vere had been with his cousin, Lord Willoughby, who
was in command of Bergen op Zoom, and had taken part in the first
brush with the enemy, when a party of the garrison marched out and
attacked a great convoy of four hundred and fifty wagons going to
Antwerp, killed three hundred of the enemy, took eighty prisoners,
and destroyed all their wagons except twenty-seven, which they
carried into the town. Leicester provisioned the town of Grave,
which was besieged by the Duke of Parma, the Spanish commander
in chief. Axel was captured by surprise, the volunteers swimming
across the moat at night, and throwing open the gates. Doesburg
was captured, and Zutphen besieged.
Parma marched to its relief, and, under cover of a thick fog,
succeeded in getting close at hand before it was known that he
was near. Then the English knights and volunteers, 200 in number,
mounted in hot haste and charged a great Spanish column of 5000
horse and foot. They were led by Sir William Russell, under whom
were Lord Essex, North, Audley, and Willoughby, behind the last
of whom rode Francis Vere. For two hours this little band of horse
fought desperately in the midst of the Spanish cavalry, and forced
them at last to fall back, but were themselves obliged to retreat
when the Spanish infantry came up and opened fire upon them. The
English loss was 34 killed and wounded, while 250 of the Spaniards
were slain, and three of their colours captured. Among the wounded
on the English side was the very noble knight Sir Philip Sidney,
who was shot by a musket ball, and died three weeks afterwards.
The successes of the English during these two years were counterbalanced
by the cowardly surrender of Grave by its governor, and by the
treachery of Sir William Stanley, governor of Deventer, and of Roland
Yorke, who commanded the garrisons of the two forts known as the
Zutphen Sconces. Both these officers turned traitors and delivered
up the posts they commanded to the Spaniards. Their conduct not
only caused great material loss to the allies, but it gave rise
to much bad feeling between the English and Dutch, the latter
complaining that they received but half hearted assistance from
the English.
It was not surprising, however, that Leicester was unable to effect
more with the little force under his command, for it was necessary
not only to raise soldiers, but to invent regulations and discipline.
The Spanish system was adopted, and this, the first English regular
army, was trained and appointed precisely upon the system of the
foe with whom they were fighting. It was no easy task to convert a
body of brave knights and gentlemen and sturdy countrymen into regular
troops, and to give them the advantages conferred by discipline
and order. But the work was rendered the less difficult by the
admixture of the volunteers who had been bravely fighting for ten
years under Morgan, Rowland Williams, John Norris, and others. These
had had a similar experience on their first arrival in Holland.
Several times in their early encounters with the Spaniards the
undisciplined young troops had behaved badly; but they had gained
experience from their reverses, and had proved themselves fully
capable of standing in line even against the splendid pikemen of
Spain.
While the English had been drilling and fighting in Holland things
had gone on quietly at Hedingham. The village stands near the
headwaters of the Colne and Stour, in a rich and beautiful country.
On a rising ground behind it stood the castle of the Veres, which
was approached from the village by a drawbridge across the moat.
There were few more stately piles in England than the seat of
the Earl of Oxford. On one side of the great quadrangle was the
gatehouse and a lofty tower, on another the great hall and chapel
and the kitchens, on a third the suites of apartments of the
officials and retinue. In rear were the stables and granaries, the
butts and tennis court, beyond which was the court of the tournaments.
In the centre of the quadrangle rose the great keep, which still
stands, the finest relic of Norman civil architecture in England.
It possessed great strength, and at the same time was richly
ornamented with carving. The windows, arches, and fireplaces were
decorated with chevron carvings. A beautiful spiral pattern enriched
the doorway and pillars of the staircase leading to galleries cut
in the thickness of the wall, with arched openings looking into the
hall below. The outlook from the keep extended over the parishes of
Castle Hedingham, Sybil Hedingham, Kirby, and Tilbury, all belonging
to the Veres--whose property extended far down the pretty valley
of the Stour--with the stately Hall of Long Melford, the Priory of
Clare, and the little town of Lavenham; indeed, the whole country
was dotted with the farm houses and manors of the Veres. Seven
miles down the valley of the Colne lies the village of Earl's Colne,
with the priory, where ten of the earls of Oxford lie buried with
their wives.
The parish church of Castle Hedingham stood at the end of the little
village street, and the rectory of Mr. Vickars was close by. The
party gathered at morning prayers consisted of Mr. Vickars and his
wife, their two sons, Geoffrey and Lionel, and the maidservants,
Ruth and Alice. The boys, now fourteen and fifteen years old
respectively, were strong grown and sturdy lads, and their father
had long since owned with a sigh that neither of them was likely
to follow his profession and fill the pulpit at Hedingham Church
when he was gone. Nor was this to be wondered at, for lying as it
did at the entrance to the great castle of the Veres, the street of
the little village was constantly full of armed men, and resounded
with the tramp of the horses of richly dressed knights and gay
ladies.
Here came great politicians, who sought the friendship and support
of the powerful earls of Oxford, nobles and knights, their kinsmen
and allies, gentlemen from the wide spreading manors of the family,
stout fighting men who wished to enlist under their banner. At night
the sound of music from the castle told of gay entertainments and
festive dances, while by day parties of knights and ladies with
dogs and falcons sallied out to seek sport over the wide domains.
It could hardly be expected, then, that lads of spirit, brought
up in the midst of sights and sounds like these, should entertain
a thought of settling down to the tranquil life of the church. As
long as they could remember, their minds had been fixed upon being
soldiers, and fighting some day under the banner of the Veres. They
had been a good deal in the castle; for Mr. Vickars had assisted
Arthur Golding, the learned instructor to young Edward Vere, the
17th earl, who was born in 1550, and had succeeded to the title at
the age of twelve, and he had afterwards been tutor to the earl's
cousins, John, Francis, Robert, and Horace, the sons of Geoffrey,
fourth son of the 15th earl. These boys were born in 1558, 1560,
1562, and 1565, and lived with their mother at Kirby Hall, a mile
from the Castle of Hedingham.
The earl was much attached to his old instructor, and when he was
at the castle there was scarce a day but an invitation came down
for Mr. Vickars and his wife to be present either at banquet or
entertainment. The boys were free to come and go as they chose,
and the earl's men-at-arms had orders to afford them all necessary
teaching in the use of weapons.
Mr. Vickars considered it his duty to accept the invitations of
his friend and patron, but he sorely grudged the time so abstracted
from his favourite books. It was, indeed, a relief to him when the
earl, whose love of profusion and luxury made serious inroads even
into the splendid possessions of the Veres, went up to court, and
peace and quietness reigned in the castle. The rector was fonder
of going to Kirby, where John, Geoffrey's eldest son, lived quietly
and soberly, his three younger brothers having, when mere boys,
embraced the profession of arms, placing themselves under the care
of the good soldier Sir William Brownie, who had served for many
years in the Low Countries. They occasionally returned home for
a time, and were pleased to take notice of the sons of their old
tutor, although Geoffrey was six years junior to Horace, the youngest
of the brothers.
The young Vickars had much time to themselves, much more, indeed,
than their mother considered to be good for them. After their
breakfast, which was finished by eight o'clock, their father took
them for an hour and heard the lessons they had prepared the day
before, and gave them instruction in the Latin tongue. Then they
were supposed to study till the bell rang for dinner at twelve; but
there was no one to see that they did so, for their father seldom
came outside his library door, and their mother was busy with her
domestic duties and in dispensing simples to the poor people, who,
now that the monasteries were closed, had no medical aid save that
which they got from the wives of the gentry or ministers, or from
the wise women, of whom there was generally one in every village.
Therefore, after half an hour, or at most an hour, spent in getting
up their tasks, the books would be thrown aside, and the boys
be off, either to the river or up to the castle to practice sword
play with the men-at-arms, or to the butts with their bows, or to
the rabbit warren, where they had leave from the earl to go with
their dogs whenever they pleased. Their long excursions were,
however, generally deferred until after dinner, as they were then
free until suppertime--and even if they did not return after that
hour Mrs. Vickars did not chide them unduly, being an easygoing
woman, and always ready to make excuses for them.
There were plenty of fish in the river; and the boys knew the
pools they loved best, and often returned with their baskets well
filled. There were otters on its banks, too; but, though they
sometimes chased these pretty creatures, Tan and Turk, their two
dogs, knew as well as their masters that they had but small chance
of catching them. Sometimes they would take a boat at the bridge
and drop down the stream for miles, and once or twice had even
gone down to Bricklesey at the mouth of the river. This, however,
was an expedition that they never performed alone, making it each
time in charge of Master Lirriper, who owned a flat barge, and took
produce down to Bricklesey, there to be transhipped into coasters
bound for London. He had a married daughter there, and it was at
her house the boys had slept when they went there; for the journey
down and up again was too long to be performed in a single day.
But this was not the only distant expedition they had made, for they
had once gone down the Stour as far as Harwich with their father
when he was called thither on business. To them Harwich with its
old walls and the houses crowned up within them, and its busy port
with vessels coming in and going out, was most delightful, and they
always talked about that expedition as one of the most pleasant
recollections of their lives.
After breakfast was over on the 1st of May, 1587, and they had
done their lessons with their father, and had worked for an hour
by themselves, the boys put by their books and strolled down the
village to the bridge. There as usual stood their friend Master
Lirriper with his hands deep in his pockets, a place and position
in which he was sure to be found when not away in his barge.
"Good morning, Master Lirriper."
"Good morning, Master Geoffrey and Master Lionel."
"So you are not down the river today?"
"No, sir. I am going tomorrow, and this time I shall be away four
or five days--maybe even a week."
"Shall you?" the boys exclaimed in surprise. "Why, what are you
going to do?"
"I am going round to London in my nephew Joe Chambers' craft."
"Are you really?" Geoffrey exclaimed. "I wish we were going with
you. Don't you think you could take us, Master Lirriper?"
The bargeman looked down into the water and frowned. He was slow
of speech, but as the minutes went on and he did not absolutely
refuse the boys exchanged glances of excitement and hope.
"I dunno how that might be, young sirs," John Lirriper said slowly,
after long cogitation. "I dussay my nephew would have no objection,
but what would parson say about it?"
"Oh, I don't think he would object," Geoffrey said. "If you go up
and ask him, Master Lirriper, and say that you will take care of
us, you know, I don't see why he should say no."
"Like enough you would be ill," John Lirriper said after another
long pause. "It's pretty rough sometimes.
"Oh, we shouldn't mind that," Lionel protested. "We should like to
see the waves and to be in a real ship."
"It's nothing much of a ship," the boatman said. "She is a ketch
of about ten tons and carries three hands."
"Oh, we don't care how small she is if we can only go in her; and
you would be able to show us London, and we might even see the
queen. Oh, do come up with us and ask father, Master Lirriper."
"Perhaps parson wouldn't be pleased, young sirs, and, might say I
was putting wandering thoughts into your heads; and Mistress Vickars
might think it a great liberty on my part."
"Oh, no, she wouldn't, Master Lirriper. Besides, we will say we
asked you."
"But suppose any harm comes to you, what would they say to me then?"
"Oh, there's no fear of any harm coming to us. Besides, in another
year or two we mean to go over to the Low Countries and fight the
Spaniards, and what's a voyage to London to that?"
"Well, I will think about it," John Lirriper said cautiously.
"No, no, Master Lirriper; if you get thinking about it it will
never be done. Do come up with us at once," and each of them got
hold of one of the boatman's arms.
"Well, the parson can but say no," he said, as he suffered himself
to be dragged away. "And I don't say as it isn't reasonable that
you should like to see something of the world, young sirs; but I
don't know how the parson will take it."
Mr. Vickars looked up irritably from his books when the servant
came in and said that Master Lirriper wished to see him.
"What does he want at this hour?" he said. "You know, Ruth, I never
see people before dinner. Any time between that and supper I am at
their service, but it's too bad being disturbed now."
"I told him so, sir; but Master Geoffrey and Master Lionel were
with him, and they said he wanted particular to see you, and they
wanted particular too."
The clergyman sighed as he put his book down.
"If Geoffrey and Lionel have concerned themselves in the matter,
Ruth, I suppose I must see the man; but it's very hard being
disturbed like this. Well, Master Lirriper, what is it?" he asked,
as the boatman accompanied by Geoffrey and Lionel entered the room.
Master Lirriper twirled his hat in his hand. Words did not come
easily to him at the best of times, and this was a business that
demanded thought and care. Long before he had time to fix upon an
appropriate form of words Geoffrey broke in:
"This is what it is, father. Master Lirriper is going down the river
to Bricklesey tomorrow, and then he is going on board his nephew's
ship. She is a ketch, and she carries ten tons, though I don't
know what it is she carries; and she's going to London, and he is
going in her, and he says if you will let him he will take us with
him, and will show us London, and take great care of us. It will
be glorious, father, if you will only let us go."
Mr. Vickars looked blankly as Geoffrey poured out his torrent of
words. His mind was still full of the book he had been reading,
and he hardly took in the meaning of Geoffrey's words.
"Going in a ketch!" he repeated. "Going to catch something, I
suppose you mean? Do you mean he is going fishing?"
"No, father,--going in a ketch. A ketch is a sort of ship, father,
though I don't quite know what sort of ship. What sort of ship is
a ketch, Master Lirriper?"
"A ketch is a two masted craft, Master Geoffrey," John Lirriper
said. "She carries a big mizzen sail."
"There, you see, father," Geoffrey said triumphantly; "she carries
a big mizzen sail. That's what she is, you see; and he is going to
show us London, and will take great care of us if you will let us
go with him."
"Do you mean, Master Lirriper," Mr. Vickars asked slowly, "that
you are going to London in some sort of ship, and want to take my
sons with you?"
"Well, sir, I am going to London, and the young masters seemed to
think that they would like to go with me, if so be you would have
no objection."
"I don't know," Mr. Vickars said, "It is a long passage, Master
Lirriper; and, as I have heard, often a stormy one. I don't think
my wife--"
"Oh, yes, father," Lionel broke in. "If you say yes, mother is sure
to say yes; she always does, you know. And, you see, it will be a
great thing for us to see London. Every one else seems to have seen
London, and I am sure that it would do us good. And we might even
see the queen."
"I think that they would be comfortable, sir," John Lirriper put
in. "You see, my nephew's wife is daughter of a citizen, one Master
Swindon, a ship's chandler, and he said there would be a room there
for me, and they would make me heartily welcome. Now, you see,
sir, the young masters could have that room, and I could very well
sleep on board the ketch; and they would be out of all sort of
mischief there."
"That would be a very good plan certainly, Master Lirriper. Well,
well, I don't know what to say."
"Say yes, father," Geoffrey said as he saw Mr. Vickars glance
anxiously at the book he had left open. "If you say yes, you see
it will be a grand thing for you, our being away for a week with
nothing to disturb you."
"Well, well," Mr. Vickars said, "you must ask your mother. If she
makes no objection, then I suppose you can go," and Mr. Vickars
hastily took up his book again.
The boys ran off to the kitchen, where their mother was superintending
the brewing of some broth for a sick woman down the village.
"Mother!" Geoffrey exclaimed, "Master Lirriper's going to London
in a ketch--a ship with a big mizzen sail, you know--and he
has offered to take us with him and show us London. And father has
said yes, and it's all settled if you have no objection; and of
course you haven't."
"Going to London, Geoffrey!" Mrs. Vickars exclaimed aghast. "I
never heard of such a thing. Why, like enough you will be drowned
on the way and never come back again. Your father must be mad to
think of such a thing."
"Oh, no, mother; I am sure it will do us a lot of good. And we may
see the queen, mother. And as for drowning, why, we can both swim
ever so far. Besides, people don't get drowned going to London. Do
they, Master Lirriper?"
John was standing bashfully at the door of the kitchen. "Well,
not as a rule, Master Geoffrey," he replied. "They comes and they
goes, them that are used to it, maybe a hundred times without
anything happening to them."
"There! You hear that, mother? They come and go hundreds of times.
Oh, I am sure you are not going to say no. That would be too bad
when father has agreed to it. Now, mother, please tell Ruth to run
away at once and get a wallet packed with our things. Of course we
shall want our best clothes; because people dress finely in London,
and it would never do if we saw the queen and we hadn't our best
doublets on, for she would think that we didn't know what was seemly
down at Hedingham."
"Well, my dears, of course if it is all settled--"
"Oh, yes, mother, it is quite all settled."
"Then it's no use my saying anything more about it, but I think
your father might have consulted me before he gave his consent to
your going on such a hazardous journey as this."
"He did want to consult you, mother. But then, you see, he wanted
to consult his books even more, and he knew very well that you
would agree with him; and you know you would too. So please don't
say anything more about it, but let Ruth run upstairs and see to
our things at once.
"There, you see, Master Lirriper, it is all settled. And what time
do you start tomorrow? We will be there half an hour before, anyhow."
"I shall go at seven from the bridge. Then I shall just catch the
turn of the tide and get to Bricklesey in good time."
"I never did see such boys," Mrs. Vickars said when John Lirriper
had gone on his way. "As for your father, I am surprised at him
in countenancing you. You will be running all sorts of risks. You
may be drowned on the way, or killed in a street brawl, or get mixed
up in a plot. There is no saying what may not happen. And here it
is all settled before I have even time to think about it, which is
most inconsiderate of your father."
"Oh, we shall get back again without any harm, mother. And as to
getting killed in a street brawl, Lionel and I can use our hangers
as well as most of them. Besides, nothing of that sort is going
to happen to us. Now, mother, please let Ruth go at once, and tell
her to put up our puce doublets that we had for the jousting at the
castle, and our red hose and our dark green cloth slashed trunks."
"There is plenty of time for that, Geoffrey, as you are not going
until tomorrow. Besides, I can't spare Ruth now, but she shall see
about it after dinner."
There was little sleep for the boys that night. A visit to London had
long been one of their wildest ambitions, and they could scarcely
believe that thus suddenly and without preparation it was about
to take place. Their father had some time before promised that he
would someday make request to one or other of the young Veres to
allow them to ride to London in his suite, but the present seemed
to them an even more delightful plan. There would be the pleasure
of the voyage, and moreover it would be much more lively for them
to be able to see London under the charge of John Lirriper than to
be subject to the ceremonial and restraint that would be enforced
in the household of the Veres. They were, then, at the appointed
place a full hour before the time named, with wallets containing
their clothes, and a basket of provisions that their mother had
prepared for them. Having stowed these away in the little cabin,
they walked up and down impatiently until Master Lirriper himself
appeared.
"You are up betimes, my young masters," the boatman said. "The
church has not yet struck seven o'clock."
"We have been here ever so long, Master Lirriper. We could not sleep
much last night, and got up when it chimed five, being afraid that
we might drop off to sleep and be late."
"Well, we shall not be long before we are off. Here comes my man
Dick, and the tide is just on the turn. The sky looks bright, and
the weather promises well. I will just go round to the cottage and
fetch up my things, and then we shall be ready."
In ten minutes they pushed off from the shore. John and his man got
out long poles shod with iron, and with these set to work to punt
the barge along. Now that they were fairly on their way the boys
quieted down, and took their seats on the sacks of flour with which
the boat was laden, and watched the objects on the bank as the boat
made her way quietly along.
Halstead was the first place passed. This was the largest town near
Hedingham, and was a place of much importance in their eyes. Then
they passed Stanstead Hall and Earl's Colne on their right, Colne
Wake on their left, and Chapel Parish on their right. Then there
was a long stretch without any large villages, until they came in
sight of the bridge above Colchester. A few miles below the town
the river began to widen. The banks were low and flat, and they
were now entering an arm of the sea. Half an hour later the houses
and church of Bricklesey came in sight. Tide was almost low when
they ran on to the mud abreast of the village, but John put on a
pair of high boots and carried the boys ashore one after the other
on his back, and then went up with them to the house where they
were to stop for the night.
Here, although not expected, they were heartily welcomed by John's
daughter.
"If father had told me that you had been coming, Masters Vickars,
I would have had a proper dinner for you; but though he sent word
yesterday morning that he should be over today, he did not say a
word about your coming with them."
"He did not know himself," Geoffrey said; "it was only settled at
ten o'clock yesterday. But do not trouble yourself about the dinner.
In the first place, we are so pleased at going that we don't care
a bit what we eat, and in the second place we had breakfast on
board the boat, and we were both so hungry that I am sure we could
go till supper time without eating if necessary."
"Where are you going, father?" the young woman asked.
"I am going to set about unloading the flour."
"Why, it's only a quarter to twelve, and dinner just ready. The
fish went into the frying pan as you came up from the boat. You
know we generally dine at half past eleven, but we saw you coming
at a distance and put it off. It's no use your starting now."
"Well, I suppose it isn't. And I don't know what the young masters'
appetite may be, but mine is pretty good, I can tell you."
"I never knew it otherwise, father," the woman laughed. "Ah, here
is my Sam. Sam, here's father brought these two young gentlemen.
They are the sons of Mr. Vickars, the parson at Hedingham. They
are going to stop here tonight, and are going with him in the Susan
tomorrow to London."
"Glad to see you, young masters," Sam said. "I have often heard
Ann talk of your good father. I have just been on board the Susan,
for I am sending up a couple of score sides of bacon in her, and
have been giving Joe Chambers, her master, a list of things he is
to get there and bring down for me.
"Now then, girl, bustle about and get dinner on as soon as you can.
We are half an hour late. I am sure the young gentlemen here must
be hungry. There's nothing like being on the water for getting an
appetite."
A few minutes later a great dish of fish, a loaf of bread and some
wooden platters, were placed on the table, and all set to at once.
Forks had not yet come into use, and tablecloths were unknown,
except among the upper classes. The boys found that in spite of
their hearty breakfast their appetites were excellent. The fish were
delicious, the bread was home baked, and the beer from Colchester,
which was already famous for its brewing. When they had finished,
John Lirriper asked them if they would rather see what there was
to be seen in the village, or go off to the ketch. They at once
chose the latter alternative. On going down to the water's edge
they found that the tide had risen sufficiently to enable Dick to
bring the barge alongside the jetty. They were soon on board.
"Which is the Susan, Master Lirriper?"
"That's her lying out there with two others. She is the one lowest
down the stream. We shall just fetch her comfortably."
CHAPTER II
A MEETING IN CHEPE
A row of ten minutes took the boat with Master Lirriper and the
two boys alongside the ketch.
"How are you, Joe Chambers?" Master Lirriper hailed the skipper as
he appeared on the deck of the Susan. "I have brought you two more
passengers for London. They are going there under my charge."
"The more the merrier, Uncle John," the young skipper replied. "There
are none others going this journey, so though our accommodation is
not very extensive, we can put them up comfortably enough if they
don't mind roughing it."
"Oh, we don't mind that," Geoffrey said, as they climbed on board;
"besides, there seems lots of room."
"Not so much as you think," the skipper replied. "She is a roomy
craft is the Susan; but she is pretty nigh all hold, and we are
cramped a little in the fo'castle. Still we can sleep six, and
that's just the number we shall have, for we carry a man and a boy
besides myself. I think your flour will about fill her up, Master
Lirriper. We have a pretty full cargo this time."
"Well, we shall soon see," John Lirriper said. "Are you ready to
take the flour on board at once? Because, if so, we will begin to
discharge."
"Yes, I am quite ready. You told me you were going to bring forty
sacks, and I have left the middle part of the hold empty for them.
Sam Hunter's bacon will stow in on the top of your sacks, and just
fill her up to the beams there, as I reckon. I'll go below and stow
them away as you hand them across."
In an hour the sacks of flour were transferred from the barge to the
hold of the Susan, and the sides of bacon then placed upon them.
"It's a pity we haven't all the rest of the things on board," the
skipper said, "and then we could have started by this evening's tide
instead of waiting till the morning. The wind is fair, and I hate
throwing away a fair wind. There is no saying where it may blow
tomorrow, but I shouldn't be at all surprised if it isn't round
to the south, and that will be foul for us till we get pretty nigh
up into the mouth of the river. However, I gave them till tonight
for getting all their things on board and must therefore wait."
To the boys the Susan appeared quite a large craft, for there
was not water up at Hedingham for vessels of her size; and though
they had seen ships at Harwich, they had never before put foot on
anything larger than Master Lirriper's barge. The Susan was about
forty feet long by twelve feet beam, and drew, as her skipper
informed them, near five feet of water. She was entirely decked.
The cabin in the bows occupied some fourteen feet in length. The
rest was devoted to cargo. They descended into the cabin, which
seemed to them very dark, there being no light save what came down
through the small hatchway. Still it looked snug and comfortable.
There was a fireplace on one side of the ladder by which they had
descended, and on this side there were two bunks, one above the
other. On the other side there were lockers running along the entire
length of the cabin. Two could sleep on these and two on the bunks
above them.
"Now, young masters, you will take those two bunks on the top there.
John Lirriper and I will sleep on the lockers underneath you. The
man and the boy have the two on the other side. I put you on the
top because there is a side board, and you can't fall out if she
rolls, and besides, the bunks are rather wider than the lockers
below. If the wind is fair you won't have much of our company,
because we shall hold on till we moor alongside the wharves of
London; but if it's foul, or there is not enough of it to take us
against tide, we have to anchor on the ebb, and then of course we
turn in."
"How long do you take getting from here to London?"
"Ah, that I can tell you more about when I see what the weather
is like in the morning. With a strong fair wind I have done it in
twenty-four hours, and again with the wind foul it has taken me
nigh a week. Taking one trip with another I should put it at three
days."
"Well, now we will be going ashore," John Lirriper said. "I will
leave my barge alongside till tide turns, for I could not get her
back again to the jetty so long as it is running in strong, so I
will be off again in a couple of hours."
So saying he hauled up the dinghy that was towing behind the barge,
and he and Dick rowed the two boys ashore. Then he walked along
with them to a spot where several craft were hauled up, pointing
out to them the differences in their rig and build, and explained
their purpose, and gave them the names of the principal ropes and
stays.
"Now," he said, "it's getting on for supper time, and it won't do
to keep them waiting, for Ann is sure to have got some cakes made,
and there's nothing puts a woman out more than people not being
in to meals when they have something special ready. After that I
shall go out with Dick and bring the barge ashore. He will load up
her tomorrow, and take her back single handed; which can be done
easy enough in such weather as this, but it is too much for one
man if there is a strong wind blowing and driving her over to the
one side or other of the river."
As John Lirriper had expected, his daughter had prepared a pile of
hot cakes for supper, and her face brightened up when she saw the
party return punctually. The boys had been up early, and had slept
but little the night before, and were not sorry at eight o'clock
to lie down on the bed of freshly cut rushes covered with home spun
sheets, for regular beds of feathers were still but little used in
England. At five o'clock they were astir again, and their hostess
insisted on their eating a manchet of bread with some cheese, washed
down by a stoup of ale, before starting. Dick had the boat at the
jetty ready to row them off, and as soon as they were on board the
Susan preparations were made for a start.
The mainsail was first hoisted, its size greatly surprising the
boys; then the foresail and jib were got up, and lastly the mizzen.
Then the capstan was manned, and the anchor slowly brought on
board, and the sails being sheeted home, the craft began to steal
through the water. The tide was still draining up, and she had not
as yet swung. The wind was light, and, as the skipper had predicted,
was nearly due south. As the ketch made its way out from the mouth
of the river, and the wide expanse of water opened before them, the
boys were filled with delight. They had taken their seats, one on
each side of the skipper, who was at the tiller.
"I suppose you steer by the compass, Master Chambers?" Geoffrey
said. "Which is the compass? I have heard about it, always pointing
to the north."
"It's down below, young sir; I will show it you presently. We steer
by that at night, or when it's foggy; but on a fine day like this
there is no need for it. There are marks put up on all the sands,
and we steer by them. You see, the way the wind is now we can lay
our course for the Whittaker. That's a cruel sand, that is, and
stretches out a long way from a point lying away on the right there.
Once past that we bear away to the southwest, for we are then, so
to speak, fairly in the course of the river. There is many a ship
has been cast away on the Whittaker. Not that it is worse than
other sands. There are scores of them lying in the mouth of the
river, and if it wasn't for the marks there would be no sailing in
or out."
"Who put up the marks?" Lionel asked.
"They are put up by men who make a business of it. There is one
boat of them sails backwards and forwards where the river begins
to narrow above Sheerness, and every ship that goes up or down pays
them something according to her size. Others cruise about with long
poles, putting them in the sands wherever one gets washed away.
They have got different marks on them. A single cross piece, or
two cross pieces, or a circle, or a diamond; so that each sand has
got its own particular mark. These are known to the masters of all
ships that go up and down the river, and so they can tell exactly
where they are, and what course to take. At night they anchor, for
there would be no possibility of finding the way up or down in the
dark. I have heard tell from mariners who have sailed abroad that
there ain't a place anywhere with such dangerous sands as those we
have got here at the mouth of the Thames."
In the first three or four hours' sail Geoffrey and Lionel acquired
much nautical knowledge. They learned the difference between the
mainmast and the mizzen, found that all the strong ropes that kept
the masts erect and stiff were called stays, that the ropes that
hoist sails are called halliards, and that sheets is the name given
to the ropes that restrain the sails at the lower corner, and are
used to haul them in more tightly when sailing close to the wind,
or to ease them off when the wind is favourable. They also learned
that the yards at the head of the main and mizzen sails are called
gaffs, and those at the bottom, booms.
"I think that's about enough for you to remember in one day, young
masters," John Lirriper said. "You bear all that in your mind,
and remember that each halliard and sheet has the name of the sail
to which it is attached, and you will have learnt enough to make
yourself useful, and can lend a hand when the skipper calls out,
`Haul in the jib sheet,' or `Let go the fore halliards.' Now sit
yourselves down again and see what is doing. That beacon you can
just see right ahead marks the end of the Whittaker Spit. When we
get there we shall drop anchor till the tide turns. You see we are
going across it now, but when we round that beacon we shall have it
dead against us, and the wind would be too light to take us against
it even if it were not from the quarter it is. You see there are
two or three other craft brought up there."
"Where have they come from, do you think, Master Lirriper?"
"Well, they may have come out from Burnham, or they may have come
down from London and be going up to Burnham or to Bricklesey when
the tide turns. There is a large ship anchored in the channel beyond
the Whittaker. Of course she is going up when tide begins to flow.
And there are the masts of two vessels right over there. They are
in another channel. Between us and them there is a line of sands
that you will see will show above the water when it gets a bit
lower. That is the main channel, that is; and vessels coming from
the south with a large draught of water generally use that, while
this is the one that is handiest for ships from the north. Small
vessels from the south come in by a channel a good bit beyond those
ships. That is the narrowest of the three; and even light draught
vessels don't use it much unless the wind is favourable, for there
is not much room for them to beat up if the wind is against them."
"What is to beat up, Master Lirriper?"
"Well, you will see about that presently. I don't think we shall
be able to lay our course beyond the Whittaker. To lay our course
means to steer the way we want to go; and if we can't do that we
shall have to beat, and that is tedious work with a light wind like
this."
They dropped anchor off the beacon, and the captain said that this
was the time to take breakfast. The lads already smelt an agreeable
odour arising from the cabin forward, where the boy had been for
some time busily engaged, and soon the whole party were seated on
the lockers in the cabin devouring fried fish.
"Master Chambers," Geoffrey said, "we have got two boiled pullets
in our basket. Had we not better have them for dinner? They were
cooked the evening before we came away, and I should think they
had better be eaten now."
"You had better keep them for yourselves, Master Geoffrey," the
skipper said. "We are accustomed to living on fish, but like enough
you would get tired of it before we got to London."
But this the boys would not hear of, and it was accordingly arranged
that the dinner should be furnished from the contents of the basket.
As soon as tide turned the anchor was hove up and the Susan got under
way again. The boys soon learnt the meaning of the word beating,
and found that it meant sailing backwards and forwards across
the channel, with the wind sometimes on one side of the boat and
sometimes on the other. Geoffrey wanted very much to learn why,
when the wind was so nearly ahead, the boat advanced instead of
drifting backwards or sideways. But this was altogether beyond the
power of either Master Lirriper or Joe Chambers to explain. They
said every one knew that when the sails were full a vessel went in
the direction in which her head pointed. "It's just the same way
with yourself, Master Geoffrey. You see, when you look one way
that's the way you go. When you turn your head and point another
way, of course you go off that way; and it's just the same thing
with the ship."
"I don't think it's the same thing, Master Lirriper," Geoffrey
said puzzled. "In one case the power that makes one go comes from
the inside, and so one can go in any direction one likes; in the
other it comes from outside, and you would think the ship would
have to go any way the wind pushes her. If you stand up and I give
you a push, I push you straight away from me. You don't go sideways
or come forward in the direction of my shoulder, which is what the
ship does."
John Lirriper took off his cap and scratched his head.
"I suppose it is as you say, Master Geoffrey, though I never thought
of it before. There is some reason, no doubt, why the craft moves
up against the wind so long as the sails are full, instead of drifting
away to leeward; though I never heard tell of it, and never heard
anyone ask before. I dare say a learned man could tell why it is;
and if you ask your good father when you go back I would wager he
can explain it. It always seems to me as if a boat have got some
sort of sense, just like a human being or a horse, and when she
knows which way you wants her to go she goes. That's how it seems
to me--ain't it, Joe?"
"Something like that, uncle. Every one knows that a boat's got her
humours, and sometimes she sails better than she does others; and
each boat's got her own fancies. Some does their best when they are
beating, and some are lively in a heavy sea, and seem as if they
enjoy it; and others get sulky, and don't seem to take the trouble
to lift their bows up when a wave meets them; and they groans and
complains if the wind is too hard for them, just like a human being.
When you goes to a new vessel you have got to learn her tricks
and her ways and what she will do, and what she won't do, and just
to humour her as you would a child. I don't say as I think she
is actually alive; but every sailor will tell you that there is
something about her that her builders never put there."
"That's so," John Lirriper agreed. "Look at a boat that is hove
up when her work's done and going to be broke up. Why, anyone can
tell her with half an eye. She looks that forlorn and melancholy
that one's inclined to blubber at the sight of her. She don't look
like that at any other time. When she is hove up she is going to
die, and she knows it."
"But perhaps that's because the paint's off her sides and the ropes
all worn and loose," Geoffrey suggested.
But Master Lirriper waved the suggestion aside as unworthy even of
an answer, and repeated, "She knows it. Anyone can see that with
half an eye."
Geoffrey and Lionel talked the matter over when they were sitting
together on deck apart from the others. It was an age when there
were still many superstitions current in the land. Even the upper
classes believed in witches and warlocks, in charms and spells, in
lucky and unlucky days, in the arts of magic, in the power of the
evil eye; and although to the boys it seemed absurd that a vessel
should have life, they were not prepared altogether to discredit an
idea that was evidently thoroughly believed by those who had been
on board ships all their lives. After talking it over for some time
they determined to submit the question to their father on their
return.
It took them two more tides before they were off Sheerness. The
wind was now more favourable, and having increased somewhat in
strength, the Susan made her way briskly along, heeling over till
the water ran along her scuppers. There was plenty to see now, for
there were many fishing boats at work, some belonging, as Master
Chambers told them, to the Medway, others to the little village of
Leigh, whose church they saw at the top of the hill to their right.
They met, too, several large craft coming down the river, and passed
more than one, for the Susan was a fast boat.
"They would beat us," the skipper said when the boys expressed
their surprise at their passing such large vessels, "if the wind
were stronger or the water rough. We are doing our best, and if the
wind rises I shall have to take in sail; while they could carry all
theirs if it blew twice as hard. Then in a sea, weight and power
tell; a wave that would knock the way almost out of us would hardly
affect them at all."
So well did the Susan go along, that before the tide was much more
than half done they passed the little village of Gravesend on their
left, with the strong fort of Tilbury on the opposite shore, with
its guns pointing on the river, and ready to give a good account
of any Spaniard who should venture to sail up the Thames. Then at
the end of the next reach the hamlet of Grays was passed on the
right; a mile further Greenhithe on the left. Tide was getting
slack now, but the Susan managed to get as far as Purfleet, and
then dropped her anchor.
"This is our last stopping place," Joe Chambers said. "The morning
tide will carry us up to London Bridge."
"Then you will not go on with tonight's tide?" Geoffrey asked.
"No; the river gets narrower every mile, and I do not care to take
the risk of navigating it after dark, especially as there is always
a great deal of shipping moored above Greenwich. Tide will begin
to run up at about five o'clock, and by ten we ought to be safely
moored alongside near London Bridge. So we should not gain a great
deal by going on this evening instead of tomorrow morning, and I
don't suppose you are in a particular hurry."
"Oh, no," Lionel said. "We would much rather go on in the morning,
otherwise we should miss everything by the way; and there is the
Queen's Palace at Greenwich that I want to see above all things."
Within a few minutes of the hour the skipper had named for their
arrival, the Susan was moored alongside some vessels lying off one
of the wharves above the Tower. The boys' astonishment had risen with
every mile of their approach to the city, and they were perfectly
astounded at the amount of shipping that they now beheld. The great
proportion were of course coasters, like themselves, but there were
many large vessels among them, and of these fully half were flying
foreign colours. Here were traders from the Netherlands, with the
flag that the Spaniards had in vain endeavoured to lower, flying
at their mastheads. Here were caravels from Venice and Genoa, laden
with goods from the East. Among the rest Master Chambers pointed out
to the lads the ship in which Sir Francis Drake had circumnavigated
the world, and that in which Captain Stevens had sailed to India,
round the Cape of Good Hope. There were many French vessels also
in the Pool, and indeed almost every flag save that of Spain was
represented. Innumerable wherries darted about among the shipping,
and heavier cargo boats dropped along in more leisurely fashion.
Across the river, a quarter of a mile above the point at which
they were lying, stretched London Bridge, with its narrow arches
and the houses projecting beyond it on their supports of stout
timbers. Beyond, on the right, rising high above the crowded roofs,
was the lofty spire of St. Paul's. The boys were almost awed by
this vast assemblage of buildings. That London was a great city they
had known, but they were not prepared for so immense a difference
between it and the place where they had lived all their lives. Only
with the Tower were they somewhat disappointed. It was very grand
and very extensive, but not so much grander than the stately abode
of the Veres as they had looked for.
"I wouldn't change, if I were the earl, with the queen's majesty,"
Geoffrey said. "Of course it is larger than Hedingham, but not so
beautiful, and it is crowded in by the houses, and has not like our
castle a fair lookout on all sides. Why, there can be no hunting
or hawking near here, and I can't think what the nobles can find
to do all day."
"Now, young sirs," Master Lirriper said, "if you will get your
wallets we will go ashore at once."
The boys were quite bewildered as they stepped ashore by the bustle
and confusion. Brawny porters carrying heavy packages on their
backs pushed along unceremoniously, saying from time to time
in a mechanical sort of way, "By your leave, sir!" but pushing
on and shouldering passersby into the gutter without the smallest
compunction. The narrowness and dinginess of the streets greatly
surprised and disappointed the boys, who found that in these
respects even Harwich compared favourably with the region they
were traversing. Presently, however, after passing through several
lanes and alleys, they emerged into a much broader street, alive
with shops. The people who were walking here were for the most
part well dressed and of quiet demeanour, and there was none of
the rough bustle that had prevailed in the riverside lanes.
"This is Eastchepe," their conductor said; "we have not far to go
now. The street in which my friend dwells lies to the right, between
this and Tower Street. I could have taken you a shorter way there,
but I thought that your impressions of London would not be favourable
did I take you all the way through those ill smelling lanes."
In a quarter of an hour they arrived at their destination, and
entered the shop, which smelt strongly of tar; coils of rope of
all sizes were piled up one upon another by the walls, while on
shelves above them were blocks, lanterns, compasses, and a great
variety of gear of whose use the boys were ignorant. The chandler
was standing at his door.
"I am right glad to see you, Master Lirriper," he said, "and have
been expecting you for the last two or three days. My wife would
have it that some evil must have befallen you; but you know what
women are. They make little allowance for time or tide or distance,
but expect that every one can so arrange his journeys as to arrive
at the very moment when they begin to expect him. But who have you
here with you?"
"These are the sons of the worshipful Mr. Vickars, the rector of
our parish and tutor to the Earl of Oxford and several of the young
Veres, his cousins--a wise gentleman and a kind one, and much
loved among us. He has entrusted his two sons to me that I might
show them somewhat of this city of yours. I said that I was right
sure that you and your good dame would let them occupy the chamber
you intended for me, while I can make good shift on board the
Susan."
"Nay, nay, Master Lirriper; our house is big enough to take in you
and these two young masters, and Dorothy would deem it a slight
indeed upon her hospitality were you not to take up your abode here
too.
"You will be heartily welcome, young sirs, and though such
accommodation as we can give you will not be equal to that which
you are accustomed to, I warrant me that you will find it a pleasant
change after that poky little cabin on board the Susan. I know it
well, for I supply her with stores, and have often wondered how
men could accustom themselves to pass their lives in places where
there is scarce room to turn, to say nothing of the smell of fish
that always hangs about it. But if you will follow me I will take
you up to my good dame, to whose care I must commit you for the
present, as my foreman, John Watkins, is down by the riverside
seeing to the proper delivery of divers stores on board a ship
which sails with the next tide for Holland. My apprentices, too,
are both out, as I must own is their wont. They always make excuses
to slip down to the riverside when there is aught doing, and I am
far too easy with the varlets. So at present, you see, I cannot
long leave my shop."
So saying the chandler preceded them up a wide staircase that led
from a passage behind the shop, and the boys perceived that the
house was far more roomy and comfortable than they had judged from
its outward appearance. Turning to the left when he reached the
top of the stairs the chandler opened a door.
"Dorothy," he said, "here is your kinsman, Master Lirriper, who
has suffered none of the misadventures you have been picturing to
yourself for the last two days, and he has brought with him these
young gentlemen, sons of the rector of Hedingham, to show them
something of London."
"You are welcome, young gentlemen," Dame Dorothy said, "though why
anyone should come to London when he can stay away from it I know
not."
"Why, Dorothy, you are always running down our city, though I know
right well that were I to move down with you to your native Essex
again you would very soon cry out for the pleasures of the town."
"That would I not," she said. "I would be well contented to live
in fresh country air all the rest of my life, though I do not say
that London has not its share of pleasures also, though I care but
little for them."
"Ah, Master Lirriper," her husband said laughing, "you would not
think, to hear her talk, that there is not a feast or a show that
Dorothy would stay away from. She never misses an opportunity, I
warrant you, of showing herself off in her last new kirtle and gown.
But I must be going down; there is no one below, and if a customer
comes and finds the shop empty he will have but a poor idea of me,
and will think that I am away gossiping instead of attending to my
business."
"Are you hungry, young sirs?" the dame asked. "Because if so the
maid shall bring up a manchet of bread and a cup of sack; if not,
our evening meal will be served in the course of an hour."
The boys both said that they were perfectly able to wait until the
meal came; and Geoffrey added, "If you will allow us, mistress, as
doubtless you have private matters to talk of with Master Lirriper,
my brother and I will walk out for an hour to see something of the
town."
"Mind that you lose not your way," Master Lirriper said. "Do not go
beyond Eastchepe, I beg you. There are the shops to look at there,
and the fashions of dress and other matters that will occupy your
attention well enough for that short time. Tomorrow morning I will
myself go with you, and we can then wander further abroad. I have
promised your good father to look after you, you know; and it will
be but a bad beginning if you meet with any untoward adventure upon
this the first day of your arrival here."
"We will not go beyond the limits of Eastchepe; and as to adventures,
I can't see very well how any can befall us."
"Oh, there are plenty of adventures to be met with in London, young
sir; and I shall be well content if on the day when we again embark
on board the Susan none of them have fallen to your share."
The two lads accordingly sallied out and amused themselves greatly
by staring at the goods exhibited in the open shops. They were
less surprised at the richness and variety of the silver work, at
the silks from the East, the costly satins, and other stuffs, than
most boys from the country would have been, for they were accustomed
to the splendour and magnificence displayed by the various noble
guests at the castle, and saw nothing here that surpassed the
brilliant shows made at the jousting and entertainments at Hedingham.
It was the scene that was novel to them: the shouts of the apprentices
inviting attention to their employers' wares, the crowd that filled
the street, consisting for the most part of the citizens themselves,
but varied by nobles and knights of the court, by foreigners from
many lands, by soldiers and men-at-arms from the Tower, by countrymen
and sailors. Their amusement was sometimes turned into anger by
the flippant remarks of the apprentices; these varlets, perceiving
easily enough by the manner of their attire that they were from
the country, were not slow, if their master happened for the moment
to be absent, in indulging in remarks that set Geoffrey and Lionel
into a fever to commit a breach of the peace. The "What do you lack,
masters?" with which they generally addressed passersby would be
exchanged for remarks such as, "Do not trouble the young gentlemen,
Nat. Do you not see they are up in the town looking for some of
their master's calves?" or, "Look you, Philip, here are two rustics
who have come up to town to learn manners."
"I quite see, Geoffrey," Lionel said, taking his brother by the
arm and half dragging him away as he saw that he was clenching his
fist and preparing to avenge summarily one of these insults even
more pointed than usual, "that Master Lirriper was not very far
out, and there is no difficulty in meeting with adventures in the
streets of London. However, we must not give him occasion on this
our first stroll in the streets to say that we cannot be trusted out
of his sight. If we were to try to punish these insolent varlets we
should have them on us like a swarm of bees, and should doubtless
get worsted in the encounter, and might even find ourselves hauled
off to the lockup, and that would be a nice tale for Master Lirriper
to carry back to Hedingham."
"That is true enough, Lionel; but it is not easy to keep one's
temper when one is thus tried. I know not how it is they see so
readily that we are strangers, for surely we have mixed enough with
the earl's family and friends to have rubbed off the awkwardness
that they say is common to country folk; and as to our dress, I
do not see much difference between its fashion and that of other
people. I suppose it is because we look interested in what is going
on, instead of strolling along like those two youths opposite with
our noses in the air, as if we regarded the city and its belongings
as infinitely below our regard. Well, I think we had best be turning
back to Master Swindon's; it will not do to be late for our meal."
"Well, young sirs, what do you think of our shops?" Dame Swindon
asked as they entered.
"The shops are well enough," Geoffrey replied; "but your apprentices
seem to me to be an insolent set of jackanapes, who take strange
liberties with passersby, and who would be all the better for
chastisement. If it hadn't been that Lionel and I did not wish to
become engaged in a brawl, we should have given some of them lessons
in manners."
"They are free in speech," Dame Swindon said, "and are an impudent
set of varlets. They have quick eyes and ready tongues, and are no
respecters of persons save of their masters and of citizens in a
position to lay complaints against them and to secure them punishment.
They hold together greatly, and it is as well that you should not
become engaged in a quarrel with them. At times they have raised
serious tumults, and have even set not only the watch but the
citizens at large at defiance. Strong measures have been several
times taken against them; but they are a powerful body, seeing that
in every shop there are one or more of them, and they can turn out
with their clubs many thousand strong. They have what they call their
privileges, and are as ready to defend them as are the citizens of
London to uphold their liberties. Ordinances have been passed many
times by the fathers of the city, regulating their conduct and the
hours at which they may be abroad and the carrying of clubs and
matters of this kind, but the apprentices seldom regard them, and
if the watch arrest one for a breach of regulations, he raises a
cry, and in two or three minutes a swarm of them collect and rescue
the offender from his hands. Therefore it is seldom that the watch
interferes with them."
"It would almost seem then that the apprentices are in fact the
masters," Geoffrey said.
"Not quite as bad as that," Master Swindon replied. "There are the
rules which they have to obey when at home, and if not they get a
whipping; but it is difficult to keep a hand over them when they
are abroad. After the shops are closed and the supper over they have
from time immemorial the right to go out for two hours' exercise.
They are supposed to go and shoot at the butts; but archery, I
grieve to say, is falling into disrepute, and although many still
go to the butts the practice is no longer universal. But here is
supper."
Few words were spoken during the meal. The foreman and the two
apprentices came up and sat down with the family, and it was not
until these had retired that the conversation was again resumed.
"Where are you going to take them tomorrow, Master Lirriper?"
"Tomorrow we will see the city, the shops in Chepe, the Guildhall,
and St. Paul's, then we shall issue out from Temple Bar and walk
along the Strand through the country to Westminster and see the
great abbey, then perhaps take a boat back. The next day, if the
weather be fine, we will row up to Richmond and see the palace
there, and I hope you will go with us, Mistress Dorothy; it is a
pleasant promenade and a fashionable one, and methinks the river
with its boats is after all the prettiest sight in London."
"Ah, you think there can be nothing pretty without water. That
is all very well for one who is ever afloat, Master Lirriper; but
give me Chepe at high noon with all its bravery of dress, and the
bright shops, and the gallants of the court, and our own citizens
too, who if not quite so gay in colour are proper men, better looking
to my mind than some of the fops with their silver and satins."
"That's right, Dorothy," her husband said; "spoken like the wife
of a citizen."
All these plans were destined to be frustrated. As soon as breakfast
was over the next morning Master Lirriper started with the two
boys, and they had but just entered Chepeside when they saw two
young men approaching.
"Why, Lionel, here is Francis Vere!" Geoffrey exclaimed. "I thought
he was across in Holland with the Earl of Leicester." They doffed
their caps. Captain Vere, for such was now his rank, looked at them
in surprise.
"Why!" he exclaimed, "here are Mr. Vickars' two sons. How came you
here, lads? Have you run away from home to see the wonders of London,
or to list as volunteers for the campaigns against the Dons?"
"I wish we were, Mr. Francis," Geoffrey said. "You promised when
you were at Hedingham a year and a half since that you would some
day take us to the wars with you, and our father, seeing that
neither of us have a mind to enter the church, has quite consented
that we shall become soldiers, the more so as there is a prospect
of fighting for the persecuted Protestants of Holland. And oh,
Mr. Francis, could it be now? You know we daily exercise with arms
at the castle, and we are both strong and sturdy for our age, and
believe me you should not see us flinch before the Spaniards however
many of them there were."
"Tut, tut!" Captain Vere laughed. "Here are young cockerels, Allen;
what think you of these for soldiers to stand against the Spanish
pikemen?"
"There are many of the volunteers who are not very much older than
they are," Captain Allen replied.
"There are two in my company who must be between seventeen and
eighteen."
"Ah! but these boys are three years younger than that."
"Would you not take us as your pages, Mr. Francis?" Lionel urged.
"We would do faithful service, and then when we come of age that
you could enter us as volunteers we should already have learnt a
little of war."
"Well, well, I cannot stop to talk to you now, for I am on my way
to the Tower on business. I am only over from Holland for a day or
two with despatches from the Earl to Her Majesty's Council, and am
lodging at Westminster in a house that faces the abbey. It is one
of my cousin Edward's houses, and you will see the Vere cognizance
over the door. Call there at one hour after noon, and I will have
a talk with you; but do not buoy yourselves up with hopes as to
your going with me." So saying, with a friendly nod of his head
Francis Vere continued his way eastward.
"What think you, Allen?" he asked his comrade as they went along.
"I should like to take the lads with me if I could. Their father,
who is the rector of Hedingham, taught my cousin Edward as well as
my brothers and myself. I saw a good deal of the boys when I was
at home. They are sturdy young fellows, and used to practise daily,
as we did at their age, with the men-at-arms at the castle, and
can use their weapons. A couple of years of apprenticeship would
be good schooling for them. One cannot begin to learn the art of
war too young, and it is because we have all been so ignorant of
it that our volunteers in Holland have not done better."
"I think, Vere, that they are too young yet to be enlisted
as volunteers, although in another two years, perhaps, you might
admit the elder of the two; but I see no reason why, if you are so
inclined, you should not take them with you as pages. Each company
has its pages and boys, and you might take these two for the
special service of yourself and your officers. They would then be
on pretty well the same footing as the five gentlemen volunteers
you have already with you, and would be distinct from the lads who
have entered as pages to the company. I suppose that you have not
yet your full number of boys?"
"No; there are fifteen boys allowed, one to each ten men, and I am
several short of this number, and have already written my brother
John to get six sturdy lads from among our own tenantry and to send
them over in the first ship from Harwich. Yes, I will take these
lads with me. I like their spirit, and we are all fond of their
father, who is a very kindly as well as a learned man."
"I don't suppose he will thank you greatly, Francis," Captain Allen
laughed.
"His goodwife is more likely to be vexed than he is," Captain Vere
said, "for it will give him all the more time for the studies in
which he is wrapped up. Besides, it will be a real service to the
boys. It will shorten their probation as volunteers, and they may
get commissions much earlier than they otherwise would do. We are
all mere children in the art of war; for truly before Roger Morgan
first took out his volunteers to fight for the Dutch there was
scarce a man in England who knew how to range a company in order.
You and I learned somewhat of our business in Poland, and some
of our leaders have also had a few lessons in the art of war in
foreign countries, but most of our officers are altogether new to
the work. However, we have good masters, and I trust these Spaniards
may teach us how to beat them in time; but at present, as I said,
we are all going to school, and the earlier one begins at school
the sooner one learns its lessons. Besides, we must have pages, and
it will be more pleasant for me having lads who belong in a sort
of way of our family, and to whom, if I am disposed, I can talk
of people at home. They are high spirited and full of fun, and I
should like to have them about me. But here we are at the Tower.
We shall not be long, I hope, over the list of arms and munitions
that the earl has sent for. When we have done we will take boat
back to Westminster. Half an hour will take us there, as the tide
will be with us."
CHAPTER III
IN THE LOW COUNTRY
Master Lirriper had stood apart while the boys were conversing with
Francis Vere.
"What do you think, Master Lirriper?" Geoffrey exclaimed as they
joined him. "We have asked Mr. Vere to take us with him as pages
to the war in the Low Country, and though he said we were not to
be hopeful about his reply, I do think he will take us. We are to
go round to Westminster at one o'clock to see him again. What do
you think of that?"
"I don't know what to think, Master Geoffrey. It takes me all by
surprise, and I don't know how I stand in the matter. You see, your
father gave you into my charge, and what could I say to him if I
went back empty handed?"
"But, you see, it is with Francis Vere," Geoffrey said. "If it
had been with anyone else it would be different. But the Veres are
his patrons, and he looks upon the earl, and Mr. Francis and his
brothers, almost as he does on us; and, you know, he has already
consented to our entering the army some day. Besides, he can't
blame you; because, of course, Mr. Vere will write to him himself
and say that he has taken us, and so you can't be blamed in the
matter. My father would know well enough that you could not withstand
the wishes of one of the Veres, who are lords of Hedingham and all
the country round."
"I should withstand them if I thought they were wrong," the boatman
said sturdily, "and if I were sure that your father would object
to your going; but that is what I am not sure. He may think it the
best thing for you to begin early under the protection of Master
Francis, and again he may think you a great deal too young for such
wild work. He has certainly always let you have pretty much your
own way, and has allowed you to come and go as you like, but this
is a different business altogether. I am sorely bested as to what
I ought to do."
"Well, nothing is settled yet, Master Lirriper; and, besides, I
don't see that you can help yourself in the matter, and if Mr. Vere
says he will take us I suppose you can't carry us off by force."
"It is Mistress Vickars that I am thinking of more than your father.
The vicar is an easygoing gentleman, but Mistress Vickars speaks
her mind, and I expect she will be in a terrible taking over it,
and will rate me soundly; though, as you say, I do not see how I can
help myself in the matter. Well now, let us look at the shops and
at the Guildhall, and then we will make our way down to Westminster
as we had proposed to do and see the abbey; by that time it will
be near the hour at which you are to call upon Mr. Vere."
But the sights that the boys had been so longing to see had for
the time lost their interest in their eyes. The idea that it was
possible that Mr. Vere would take them with him to fight against
the cruel oppressors of the Low Country was so absorbing that they
could think of nothing else. Even the wonders of the Guildhall and
St. Paul's received but scant attention, and the armourers' shops,
in which they had a new and lively interest, alone sufficed to
detain them. Even the gibes of the apprentices fell dead upon their
ears. These varlets might laugh, but what would they say if they
knew that they were going to fight the Spaniards? The thought
so altered them that they felt almost a feeling of pity for these
lads, condemned to stay at home and mind their masters' shops.
As to John Lirriper, he was sorely troubled in his mind, and divided
between what he considered his duty to the vicar and his life long
respect and reverence towards the lords of Hedingham. The feudal
system was extinct, but feudal ideas still lingered among the people.
Their lords could no longer summon them to take the field, had no
longer power almost of life and death over them, but they were still
their lords, and regarded with the highest respect and reverence.
The earls of Oxford were, in the eyes of the people of those parts
of Essex where their estates lay, personages of greater importance
than the queen herself, of whose power and attributes they had but
a very dim notion. It was not so very long since people had risen
in rebellion against the queen, but such an idea as that of rising
against their lords had never entered the mind of a single inhabitant
of Hedingham.
However, Master Lirriper came to the conclusion that he was,
as Geoffrey had said, powerless to interfere. If Mr. Francis Vere
decided to take the boys with him, what could he do to prevent it?
He could hardly take them forcibly down to the boat against their
will, and even could he do so their father might not approve, and
doubtless the earl, when he came to hear of it, would be seriously
angry at this act of defiance of his kinsman. Still, he was sure
that he should have a very unpleasant time with Mistress Vickars.
But, as he reassured himself, it was, after all, better to put up
with a woman's scolding than to bear the displeasure of the Earl
of Oxford, who could turn him out of his house, ruin his business,
and drive him from Hedingham. After all, it was natural that these
lads should like to embark on this adventure with Mr. Francis Vere,
and it would doubtless be to their interest to be thus closely
connected with him. At any rate, if it was to be it was, and he,
John Lirriper, could do nothing to prevent it. Having arrived at
this conclusion he decided to make the best of it, and began to
chat cheerfully with the boys.
Precisely at the appointed hour John Lirriper arrived with the two
lads at the entrance to the house facing the abbey. Two or three
servitors, whose doublets were embroidered with the cognizance of
the Veres, were standing in front of the door.
"Why, it is Master Lirriper!" one of them said. "Why, what has
brought you here? I did not know that your trips often extended to
London."
"Nor do they," John Lirriper said. "It was the wind and my nephew's
craft the Susan that brought me to London, and it is the will of
Mr. Francis that these two young gentlemen should meet him here at
one o'clock that has brought me to this door."
"Captain Francis is in; for, you know, he is a captain now, having
been lately appointed to a company in the Earl of Leicester's army.
He returned an hour since, and has but now finished his meal. Do
you wish to go up with these young masters, or shall I conduct them
to him?"
"You had best do that," John Lirriper answered. "I will remain here
below if Captain Francis desires to see me or has any missive to
intrust to me."
The boys followed the servant upstairs, and were shown into a room
where Francis Vere, his cousin the Earl of Oxford, and Captain
Allen were seated at table.
"Well, lads," the earl said, "so you want to follow my cousin
Francis to the wars?"
"That is our wish, my lord, if Captain Francis will be so good as
to take us with him."
"And what will my good tutor your father say to it?" the earl asked
smiling.
"I think, my lord," Geoffrey said boldly, "that if you yourself
will tell my father you think it is for our good, he will say naught
against it."
"Oh, you want to throw the responsibility upon me, and to embroil
me with your father and Mistress Vickars as an abettor of my cousin
Francis in the kidnapping of children? Well, Francis, you had better
explain to them what their duties will be if they go with you.
"You will be my pages," Francis Vere said, "and will perform the
usual duties of pages in good families when in the field. It is
the duty of pages to aid in collecting firewood and forage, and in
all other ways to make themselves useful. You will bear the same
sort of relation to the gentlemen volunteers as they do towards
the officers. They are aspirants for commissions as officers as
you will be to become gentlemen volunteers. You must not think that
your duties will be light, for they will not, and you will have to
bear many discomforts and hardships. But you will be in an altogether
different position from that of the boys who are the pages of the
company. You will, apart from your duties, and bearing in mind
the difference of your age, associate with the officers and the
gentlemen volunteers on terms of equality when not engaged upon duty.
On duty you will have to render the same strict and unquestionable
obedience that all soldiers pay to those of superior rank. What say
you? Are you still anxious to go? Because, if so, I have decided
to take you."
Geoffrey and Lionel both expressed their thanks in proper terms,
and their earnest desire to accompany Captain Vere, and to behave
in all ways conformably to his orders and instructions.
"Very well, that is settled," Francis Vere said. "The earl is
journeying down to Hedingham tomorrow, and has kindly promised to
take charge of a letter from me to your father, and personally to
assure him that this early embarkation upon military life would
prove greatly to your advantage."
"Supposing that you are not killed by the Spaniards or carried
off by fever," the earl put in; "for although possibly that might
be an advantage to humanity in general, it could scarcely be
considered one to you personally."
"We are ready to take our risk of that, my lord," Geoffrey said;
"and are indeed greatly beholden both to Captain Francis for his
goodness in taking us with him, and to yourself in kindly undertaking
the mission of reconciling our father to our departure."
"You have not told me yet how it is that I find you in London?"
Francis Vere said.
"We only came up for a week, sir, to see the town. We are in charge of
Master Lirriper, who owns a barge on the river, and plies between
Hedingham and Bricklesey, but who was coming up to London in a
craft belonging to his nephew, and who took charge of us. We are
staying at the house of Master Swindon, a citizen and ship chandler."
"Is Master Lirriper below?"
"He is, sir."
"Then in that case he had better go back to the house and bring
your mails here. I shall sail from Deptford the day after tomorrow
with the turn of tide. You had best remain here now. There will be
many things necessary for you to get before you start. I will give
instructions to one of my men-at-arms to go with you to purchase
them."
"I will take their outfit upon myself, Francis," the earl said.
"My steward shall go out with them and see to it. It is the least
I can do when I am abetting you in depriving my old tutor of his
sons."
He touched a bell and a servitor entered. "See that these young
gentlemen are fed and attended to. They will remain here for the
night. Tell Master Dotterell to come hither to me."
The boys bowed deeply and retired.
"It is all settled, Master Lirriper," they said when they reached
the hall below. "We are to sail with Captain Francis the day after
tomorrow, and you will be pleased to hear that the earl himself has
taken charge of the matter, and will see our father and communicate
the news to him."
"That is a comfort indeed," John Lirriper said fervently; "for
I would most as soon have had to tell him that the Susan had gone
down and that you were both drowned, as that I had let you both slip
away to the wars when he had given you into my charge. But if the
earl takes the matter in hand I do not think that even your lady
mother can bear very heavily on me. And now, what is going to be
done?"
"We are to remain here in order that suitable clothes may be
obtained for us by the time we sail. Will you bring down tomorrow
morning our wallets from Master Swindon's, and thank him and his
good dame for their hospitality, and say that we are sorry to leave
them thus suddenly without having an opportunity of thanking them
ourselves? We will write letters tonight to our father and mother,
and give them to you to take with you when you return."
John Lirriper at once took his departure, greatly relieved in mind
to find that the earl himself had taken the responsibility upon his
shoulders, and would break the news long before he himself reached
Hedingham. A few minutes later a servitor conducted the boys to an
apartment where a meal was laid for them; and as soon as this was
over they were joined by the steward, who requested them to set
out with him at once, as there were many things to be done and but
short time for doing them. No difficulty in the way of time was,
however, thrown in the way by the various tradesmen they visited,
these being all perfectly ready to put themselves to inconvenience
to do pleasure to so valuable a patron as the powerful Earl of
Oxford.
Three suits of clothes were ordered for each of them: the one such
as that worn by pages in noble families upon ordinary occasions,
another of a much richer kind for special ceremonies and gaieties,
the third a strong, serviceable suit for use when actually in the
field. Then they were taken to an armourer's where each was provided
with a light morion or head piece, breast plate and back piece,
sword and dagger. A sufficient supply of under garments, boots, and
other necessaries were also purchased; and when all was complete
they returned highly delighted to the house. It was still scarce
five o'clock, and they went across to the abbey and wandered for
some time through its aisles, greatly impressed with its dignity
and beauty now that their own affairs were off their mind.
They returned to the house again, and after supper wrote their
letters to their father and mother, saying that they hoped they
would not be displeased at the step they had taken, and which they
would not have ventured upon had they not already obtained their
father's consent to their entering the army. They knew, of course,
that he had not contemplated their doing so for some little time;
but as so excellent an opportunity had offered, and above all, as
they were going out to fight against the Spaniards for the oppressed
people of the Low Countries, they hoped their parents would approve
of the steps they had taken, not having had time or opportunity to
consult them.
At noon two days later Francis Vere with Captain Allen and the two
boys took their seats in the stern of a skiff manned by six rowers.
In the bow were the servitors of the two officers, and the luggage
was stowed in the extreme stern.
"The tide is getting slack, is it not?" Captain Vere asked the
boatmen.
"Yes, sir; it will not run up much longer. It will be pretty well
slack water by the time we get to the bridge."
Keeping close to the bank the boat proceeded at a rapid pace. Several
times the two young officers stood up and exchanged salutations
with ladies or gentlemen of their acquaintance. As the boatman
had anticipated, tide was slack by the time they arrived at London
Bridge, and they now steered out into the middle of the river.
"Give way, lads," Captain Allen said. "We told the captain we would
not keep him waiting long after high water, and he will be getting
impatient if he does not see us before long."
As they shot past the Susan the boys waved their hands to Master
Lirriper, who, after coming down in the morning and receiving
their letters for their parents, had returned at once to the city
and had taken his place on board the Susan, so as to be able to
tell their father that he had seen the last of them. The distance
between London Bridge and Deptford was traversed in a very short
time. A vessel with her flags flying and her canvas already loosened
was hanging to a buoy some distance out in the stream, and as the
boat came near enough for the captain to distinguish those on board,
the mooring rope was slipped, the head sails flattened in, and the
vessel began to swing round. Before her head was down stream the
boat was alongside. The two officers followed by the boys ascended
the ladder by the side. The luggage was quickly handed up, and the
servitors followed. The sails were sheeted home, and the vessel
began to move rapidly through the water.
The boys had thought the Susan an imposing craft, but they were
surprised, indeed, at the space on board the Dover Castle. In the
stern there was a lofty poop with spacious cabins. Six guns were
ranged along on each side of the deck, and when the sails were
got up they seemed so vast to the boys that they felt a sense of
littleness on board the great craft. They had been relieved to find
that Captain Vere had his own servitor with him; for in talking it
over they had mutually expressed their doubt as to their ability
to render such service as Captain Vere would be accustomed to.
The wind was from the southwest, and the vessel was off Sheerness
before the tide turned. There was, however, no occasion to anchor,
for the wind was strong enough to take them against the flood.
During the voyage they had no duties to perform. The ship's cook
prepared the meals, and the officers' servants waited on them, the
lads taking their meals with the two officers. Their destination
was Bergen op Zoom, a town at the mouth of the Scheldt, of the
garrison of which the companies of both Francis Vere and Captain
Allen formed a part.
As soon as the low coasts of Holland came in sight the boys watched
them with the most lively interest.
"We are passing Sluys now," Captain Vere said. "The land almost
ahead of us is Walcheren; and that spire belongs to Flushing. We
could go outside and up the channel between the island and Beveland,
and then up the Eastern Scheldt to Bergen op Zoom; but instead of
that we shall follow the western channel, which is more direct."
"It is as flat as our Essex coast," Geoffrey remarked.
"Aye, and flatter; for the greater part of the land lies below the
level of the sea, which is only kept out by great dams and dykes.
At times when the rivers are high and the wind keeps back their
waters they burst the dams and spread over a vast extent of country.
The Zuider Zee was so formed in 1170 and 1395, and covers a tract
as large as the whole county of Essex. Twenty-six years later the
river Maas broke its banks and flooded a wide district. Seventy-two
villages were destroyed and 100,000 people lost their life. The
lands have never been recovered; and where a fertile country once
stood is now a mere swamp."
"I shouldn't like living there," Lionel said. "It would be terrible,
every time the rivers are full and the wind blows, to think that
at any moment the banks may burst and the flood come rushing over
you."
"It is all habit," Captain Vere replied; "I don't suppose they
trouble themselves about it. But they are very particular in keeping
their dykes in good repair. The water is one of the great defences
of their country. In the first place there are innumerable streams
to be crossed by an invader, and in the second, they can as a last
resource cut the dykes and flood the country. These Dutchmen, as
far as I have seen of them, are hard working and industrious people,
steady and patient, and resolved to defend their independence to
the last. This they have indeed proved by the wonderful resistance
they have made against the power of Spain. There, you see the ship's
head has been turned and we shall before long be in the channel.
Sluys lies up that channel on the right. It is an important place.
Large vessels can go no further, but are unloaded there and the
cargoes taken to Bruges and thence distributed to many other towns.
They say that in 1468 as many as a hundred and fifty ships a day
arrived at Sluys. That gives you an idea of the trade that the
Netherlands carry on. The commerce of this one town was as great
as is that of London at the present time. But since the troubles
the trade of Sluys has fallen off a good deal."
The ship had to anchor here for two or three hours until the tide
turned, for the wind had fallen very light and they could not make
head against the ebb. As soon as it turned they again proceeded on
their way, dropping quietly up with the tide. The boys climbed up
into the tops, and thence could see a wide extent of country dotted
with villages stretching beyond the banks, which restricted their
view from the decks. In five hours Bergen op Zoom came in sight,
and they presently dropped anchor opposite the town. The boat was
lowered, and the two officers with the lads were rowed ashore. They
were met as they landed by several young officers.
"Welcome back, Vere; welcome, Allen. You have been lucky indeed
in having a few days in England, and getting a view of something
besides this dreary flat country and its sluggish rivers. What is
the last news from London?"
"There is little news enough," Vere replied. "We were only four
days in London, and were busy all the time. And how are things
here? Now that summer is at hand and the country drying the Dons
ought to be bestirring themselves."
"They say that they are doing so," the officer replied. "We have
news that the Duke of Parma is assembling his army at Bruges, where
he is collecting the pick of the Spanish infantry with a number of
Italian regiments which have joined him. He sent off the Marquess
Del Vasto with the Sieur De Hautepenne towards Bois le Duc. General
Count Hohenlohe, who, as you know, we English always call Count
Holland, went off with a large force to meet him, and we heard
only this morning that a battle has been fought, Hautepenne killed,
and the fort of Crevecoeur on the Maas captured. From what I hear,
some of our leaders think that it was a mistake so to scatter our
forces, and if Parma moves forward from Bruges against Sluys, which
is likely enough, we shall be sorely put to it to save the place."
As they were talking they proceeded into the town, and presently
reached the house where Francis Vere had his quarters. The officers
and gentlemen volunteers of his company soon assembled, and Captain
Vere introduced the two boys to them.
"They are young gentlemen of good family," he said, "who will act
as my pages until they are old enough to be enrolled as gentlemen
volunteers. I commend them to your good offices. Their father is
a learned and reverend gentleman who was my tutor, and also tutor
to my cousin, the Earl of Oxford, by whom he is greatly valued.
They are lads of spirit, and have been instructed in the use of
arms at Hedingham as if they had been members of our family. I am
sure, gentlemen volunteers, that you will receive them as friends.
I propose that they shall take their meals with you, but of course
they will lodge here with me and my officers; but as you are in the
next house this will cause no inconvenience. I trust that we shall
not remain here long, but shall soon be on the move. We have now
been here seven months, and it is high time we were doing something.
We didn't bargain to come over here and settle down for life in a
dull Dutch town."
In a few hours the boys found themselves quite at home in their
new quarters. The gentlemen volunteers received them cordially,
and they found that for the present their duties would be extremely
light, consisting chiefly in carrying messages and orders; for as
the officers had all servants of their own, Captain Vere dispensed
with their attendance at meals. There was much to amuse and interest
them in Bergen op Zoom. It reminded them to some extent of Harwich,
with its narrow streets and quaint houses; but the fortifications were
far stronger, and the number of churches struck them as prodigious.
The population differed in no very large degree in dress from that
of England, but the people struck them as being slower and more
deliberate in their motion. The women's costumes differed much more
widely from those to which they were accustomed, and their strange
and varied headdresses, their bright coloured handkerchiefs, and
the amount of gold necklaces and bracelets that they wore, struck
them with surprise.
Their stay in Bergen op Zoom was even shorter than they had
anticipated, for three days after their arrival a boat came with a
letter from Sir William Russell, the governor at Flushing. He said
that he had just received an urgent letter from the Dutch governor
of Sluys, saying that Patina's army was advancing from Bruges towards
the city, and had seized and garrisoned the fort of Blankenburg on
the sea coast to prevent reinforcements arriving from Ostend; he
therefore prayed the governor of Flushing to send off troops and
provisions with all haste to enable him to resist the attack. Sir
William requested that the governor of Bergen op Zoom would at once
embark the greater portion of his force on board ship and send them
to Sluys. He himself was having a vessel filled with grain for the
use of the inhabitants, and was also sending every man he could
spare from Flushing.
In a few minutes all was bustle in the town. The trumpets of the
various companies called the soldiers to arms, and in a very short
time the troops were on their way towards the river. Here several
ships had been requisitioned for the service; and as the companies
marched down they were conducted to the ships to which they were
allotted by the quartermasters.
Geoffrey and Lionel felt no small pride as they marched down with
their troop. They had for the first time donned their steel caps,
breast and back pieces; but this was rather for convenience of
carriage than for any present utility. They had at Captain Vere's
orders left their ordinary clothes behind them, and were now attired
in thick serviceable jerkins, with skirts coming down nearly to
the knee, like those worn by the troops. They marched at the rear
of the company, the other pages, similarly attired, following them.
As soon as the troops were on board ship, sail was made, and the
vessels dropped down the stream. The wind was very light, and it
was not until thirty hours after starting that the little fleet
arrived off Sluys. The town, which was nearly egg shaped, lay close
to the river, which was called the Zwin. At the eastern end, in the
centre of a detached piece of water, stood the castle, connected
with the town by a bridge of boats. The Zwin formed the defence
on the north side while the south and west were covered by a very
wide moat, along the centre of which ran a dyke, dividing it into
two channels. On the west side this moat extended to the Zwin, and
was crossed at the point of junction by the bridge leading to the
west gate.
The walls inclosed a considerable space, containing fields and
gardens. Seven windmills stood on the ramparts. The tower of the
town hall, and those of the churches of Our Lady, St. John, and
the Grey Friars rose high above the town.
The ships from Flushing and Bergen op Zoom sailed up together, and
the 800 men who landed were received with immense enthusiasm by
the inhabitants, who were Protestants, and devoted to the cause
of independence. The English were under the command of Sir Roger
Williams, who had already seen so many years of service in the
Low Countries; and under him were Morgan, Thomas Baskerville, and
Huntley, who had long served with him.
Roger Williams was an admirable man for service of this kind. He
had distinguished himself by many deeds of reckless bravery. He
possessed an inexhaustible fund of confidence and high spirits,
and in his company it was impossible to feel despondent, however
desperate the situation.
The citizens placed their houses at the disposal of their new allies,
handsome quarters were allotted to the officers, and the soldiers
were all housed in private dwellings or the warehouses of the
merchants. The inhabitants had already for some days been working
hard at their defences, and the English at once joined them in their
labours, strengthening the weak portions of the walls, mounting
cannon upon the towers, and preparing in all ways to give a warm
reception to the Spaniards.
Captain Vere, his lieutenant and ensign and his two pages, were
quartered in the house of a wealthy merchant, whose family did all
in their power to make them comfortable. It was a grand old house,
and the boys, accustomed as they were to the splendours of Hedingham
Castle, agreed that the simple merchants of the Low Countries were
far in advance of English nobles in the comforts and conveniences
of their dwellings. The walls of the rooms were all heavily panelled;
rich curtains hung before the casements. The furniture was not only
richly carved, but comfortable. Heavy hangings before the doors
excluded draughts, and in the principal apartments Eastern carpets
covered the floors. The meals were served on spotless white linen.
Rich plates stood on the sideboard, and gold and silver vessels of
rare carved work from Italy glittered in the armoires.
Above all, from top to bottom, the house was scrupulously clean.
Nor a particle of dust dimmed the brightness of the furniture, and
even now, when the city was threatened with siege, the merchant's
wife never relaxed her vigilance over the doings of her maids, who
seemed to the boys to be perpetually engaged in scrubbing, dusting,
and polishing.
"Our mother prides herself on the neatness of her house," Geoffrey
said; "but what would she say, I wonder, were she to see one of
these Dutch households? I fear that the maids would have a hard
time of it afterwards, and our father would be fairly driven out
of his library."
"It is all very well to be clean," Lionel said; "but I think they
carry it too far here. Peace and quietness count for something, and
it doesn't seem to me that Dutchmen, fond of it as they say they
are, know even the meaning of the words as far as their homes are
concerned. Why, it always seems to be cleaning day, and they must
be afraid of going into their own houses with their boots on!"
"Yes, I felt quite like a criminal today," Geoffrey laughed, "when
I came in muddy up to the waist, after working down there by the
sluices. I believe when the Spaniards open fire these people will
be more distracted by the dust caused by falling tiles and chimneys
than by any danger of their lives."
Great difficulties beset the Duke of Parma at the commencement of
the siege. Sluys was built upon the only piece of solid ground in
the district, and it was surrounded by such a labyrinth of canals,
ditches, and swamps, that it was said that it was almost as
difficult to find Sluys as it was to capture it. Consequently, it
was impossible to find ground solid enough for a camp to be pitched
upon, and the first labour was the erection of wooden huts for the
troops upon piles driven into the ground. These huts were protected
from the fire of the defenders by bags of earth brought in boats
from a long distance. The main point selected for the attack was
the western gate; but batteries were also placed to play upon the
castle and the bridge of boats connecting it with the town.
"There is one advantage in their determining to attack us at the
western extremity of the town," John Menyn, the merchant at whose
house Captain Vere and his party were lodging, remarked when his
guest informed him there was no longer any doubt as to the point
at which the Spaniards intended to attack, "for they will not be
able to blow up our walls with mines in that quarter."
"How is that?" Francis Vere asked.
"If you can spare half an hour of your time I will show you," the
merchant said.
"I can spare it now, Von Menyn," Vere replied; "for the information
is important, whatever it may be."
"I will conduct you there at once. There is no time like the
present."
"Shall we follow you, sir?" Geoffrey asked his captain.
"Yes, come along," Vere replied. "The matter is of interest, and
for the life of me I cannot make out what this obstacle can be of
which our host speaks."
They at once set out.
John Menyn led them to a warehouse close to the western wall, and
spoke a few words to its owner, who at once took three lanterns
from the wall and lighted them, handing one to Vere, another to
John Menyn, and taking the other himself; he then unlocked a massive
door. A flight of steps leading apparently to a cellar were visible.
He led the way down, the two men following, and the boys bringing
up the rear. The descent was far deeper than they had expected,
and when they reached the bottom they found themselves in a vast
arched cellar filled with barrels. From this they proceeded into
another, and again into a third.
"What are these great magazines?" Francis Vere asked in surprise.
"They are wine cellars, and there are scores similar to those you
see. Sluys is the centre of the wine trade of Flanders and Holland, and
cellars like these extend right under the wall. All the warehouses
along here have similar cellars. This end of the town was the driest,
and the soil most easily excavated. That is why the magazines for
wines are all clustered here. There is not a foot of ground behind
and under the walls at this end that is not similarly occupied,
and if the Spaniards try to drive mines to blow up the walls, they
will simply break their way into these cellars, where we can meet
them and drive them back again."
"Excellent!" Francis Vere said. "This will relieve us of the work
of countermining, which is always tiresome and dangerous, and would
be specially so here, where we should have to dive under that deep
moat outside your walls. Now we shall only have to keep a few men
on watch in these cellars. They would hear the sound of the Spanish
approaching, and we shall be ready to give them a warm reception
by the time they break in. Are there communications between these
cellars?"
"Yes, for the most part," the wine merchant said. "The cellars are
not entirely the property of us dealers in wine. They are constructed
by men who let them, just as they would let houses. A merchant
in a small way would need but one cellar, while some of us occupy
twenty or more; therefore, there are for the most part communications,
with doors, between the various cellars, so that they can be let
off in accordance with the needs of the hirers."
"Well, I am much obliged to you for telling me of this," Captain
Vere said. "Williams and Morgan will be glad enough to hear that
there is no fear of their being blown suddenly into the air while
defending the walls, and they will see the importance of keeping
a few trusty men on watch in the cellars nearest to the Spaniards.
I shall report the matter to them at once. The difficulty," he
added smiling, "will be to keep the men wakeful, for it seems to
me that the very air is heavy with the fumes of wine."
CHAPTER IV
THE SIEGE OF SLUYS
Until the Spaniards had established their camp, and planted some
of their batteries, there was but little firing. Occasionally the
wall pieces opened upon parties of officers reconnoitring, and a few
shots were fired from time to time to harass the workmen in the
enemy's batteries; but this was done rather to animate the townsmen,
and as a signal to distant friends that so far matters were going
on quietly, than with any hopes of arresting the progress of the
enemy's works. Many sorties were made by the garrison, and fierce
fighting took place, but only a score or two of men from each company
were taken upon these occasions, and the boys were compelled to
remain inactive spectators of the fight.
In these sorties the Spanish works were frequently held for a few
minutes, gabions thrown down, and guns overturned, but after doing
as much damage as they could the assailants had to fall back again
to the town, being unable to resist the masses of pikemen brought
up against them. The boldness of these sorties, and the bravery
displayed by their English allies, greatly raised the spirits of
the townsfolk, who now organized themselves into companies, and
undertook the work of guarding the less exposed portion of the
wall, thus enabling the garrison to keep their whole strength at
the points attacked. The townsmen also laboured steadily in adding
to the defenses; and two companies of women were formed, under female
captains, who took the names of May in the Heart and Catherine the
Rose. These did good service by building a strong fort at one of
the threatened points, and this work was in their honour christened
Fort Venus.
"It is scarcely a compliment to Venus," Geoffrey laughed to his
brother. "These square shouldered and heavily built women do not
at all correspond with my idea of the goddess of love."
"They are strong enough for men," Lionel said. "I shouldn't like
one of those big fat arms to come down upon my head. No, they are
not pretty; but they look jolly and good tempered, and if they were
to fight as hard as they work they ought to do good service."
"There is a good deal of difference between them," Geoffrey said.
"Look at those three dark haired women with neat trim figures. They
do not look as if they belonged to the same race as the others."
"They are not of the same race, lad," Captain Vere, who was standing
close by, said. "The big heavy women are Flemish, the others come, no
doubt, from the Walloon provinces bordering on France. The Walloons
broke off from the rest of the states and joined the Spanish
almost from the first. They were for the most part Catholics, and
had little in common with the people of the Low Country; but there
were, of course, many Protestants among them, and these were forced
to emigrate, for the Spanish allow no Protestants in the country
under their rule. Alva adopted the short and easy plan of murdering
all the Protestants in the towns he took; but the war is now
conducted on rather more humane principles, and the Protestants
have the option given them of changing their faith or leaving the
country.
"In this way, without intending it, the Spaniards have done good
service to Holland, for hundreds of thousands of industrious people
have flocked there for shelter from Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and
other cities that have fallen into the hands of the Spaniards,
thus greatly raising the population of Holland, and adding to its
power of defence. Besides this, the presence of these exiles, and
the knowledge that a similar fate awaits themselves if they fall
again under the yoke of Spain, nerves the people to resist to
the utmost. Had it not been for the bigotry of the Spanish, and
the abominable cruelties practised by the Inquisition, the States
would never have rebelled; and even after they did so, terms might
easily have been made with them had they not been maddened by the
wholesale massacres perpetrated by Alva. There, do you hear those
women speaking? Their language is French rather than Flemish."
Just as they were speaking a heavy roar of cannon broke out from
the eastern end of the town.
"They have opened fire on the castle!" Vere exclaimed. "Run, lads,
quick! and summon the company to form in the marketplace in front
of our house. We are told off to reinforce the garrison of the
castle in case of attack."
The boys hurried away at the top of their speed. They had the list
of all the houses in which the men of the company were quartered;
and as the heavy roar of cannon had brought every one to their
doors to hear what was going on, the company were in a very short
time assembled.
Francis Vere placed himself at their head, and marched them through
the long streets of the town and out through the wall on to the
bridge of boats. It was the first time the boys had been under
fire; and although they kept a good countenance, they acknowledged
to each other afterwards that they had felt extremely uncomfortable
as they traversed the bridge with the balls whistling over their
heads, and sometimes striking the water close by and sending a
shower of spray over the troops.
They felt easier when they entered the castle and were protected by
its walls. Upon these the men took their station. Those with guns
discharged their pieces against the Spanish artillerymen, the pikemen
assisted the bombardiers to work the cannon, and the officers went
to and fro encouraging the men. The pages of the company had little
to do beyond from time to time carrying cans of wine and water to
the men engaged. Geoffrey and Lionel, finding that their services
were not required by Captain Vere, mounted on to the wall, and
sheltering themselves as well as they could behind the battlements,
looked out at what was going on.
"It doesn't seem to me," Geoffrey said, "that these walls will long
withstand the balls of the Spanish. The battlements are already
knocked down in several places, and I can hear after each shot
strikes the walls the splashing of the brickwork as it falls into
the water. See! there is Tom Carroll struck down with a ball. It's
our duty to carry him away."
They ran along the wall to the fallen soldier. Two other pages came
up, and the four carried him to the top of the steps and then down
into the courtyard, where a Dutch surgeon took charge of him. His
shoulder had been struck by the ball, and the arm hung only by a
shred of flesh. The surgeon shook his head.
"I can do nothing for him," he said. "He cannot live many hours."
Lionel had done his share in carrying the man down but he now turned
sick and faint.
Geoffrey caught him by the arm. "Steady, old boy," he said; "it
is trying at first, but we shall soon get accustomed to it. Here,
take a draught of wine from this flask."
"I am better now," Lionel said, after taking a draught of wine.
"I felt as if I was going to faint, Geoffrey. I don't know why I
should, for I did not feel frightened when we were on the wall."
"Oh, it has nothing to do with fear; it is just the sight of that
poor fellow's blood. There is nothing to be ashamed of in that. Why,
I saw Will Atkins, who was one of the best fighters and singlestick
players in Hedingham, go off in a dead swoon because a man he was
working with crushed his thumb between two heavy stones. Look,
Lionel, what cracks there are in the wall here. I don't think it
will stand long. We had better run up and tell Captain Vere, for
it may come toppling down with some of the men on it."
Captain Vere on hearing the news ran down and examined the wall.
"Yes," he said, "it is evidently going. A good earthwork is worth
a dozen of these walls. They will soon have the castle about our
ears. However, it is of no great importance to us. I saw you lads
just now on the wall; I did not care about ordering you down at
the time; but don't go up again except to help to carry down the
wounded. Make it a rule, my boys, never to shirk your duty, however
great the risk to life may be; but, on the other hand, never risk
your lives unless it is your duty to do so. What is gallantry in the
one case is foolishness in the other. Although you are but pages,
yet it may well be that in such a siege as this you will have many
opportunities of showing that you are of good English stock; but
while I would have you shrink from no danger when there is a need
for you to expose yourselves, I say also that you should in no way
run into danger wantonly."
Several times in the course of the afternoon the boys took their
turn in going up and helping to bring down wounded men. As the time
went on several yawning gaps appeared in the walls. The courtyard
was strewn with fragments of masonry, and the pages were ordered
to keep under shelter of the wall of the castle unless summoned on
duty. Indeed, the courtyard had now become a more dangerous station
than the wall itself; for not only did the cannon shot fly through
the breaches, but fragments of bricks, mortar, and rubbish flew
along with a force that would have been fatal to anything struck.
Some of the pages were big fellows of seventeen or eighteen years
old, who had been serving for some years under Morgan and Williams,
and would soon be transferred into the ranks.
"I like not this sort of fighting," one of them said. "It is all
very well when it comes to push of pike with the Spaniards, but to
remain here like chickens in a coop while they batter away at us
is a game for which I have no fancy. What say you, Master Vickars?"
"Well, it is my first experience, Somers, and I cannot say that
it is agreeable. I do not know whether I should like hand to hand
fighting better; but it seems to me at present that it would be
certainly more agreeable to be doing something than to be sitting
here and listening to the falls of the pieces of masonry and the
whistling of the balls. I don't see that they will be any nearer
when they have knocked this place to pieces. They have no boats,
and if they had, the guns on the city wall would prevent their using
them; besides, when the bridge of boats is removed they could do
nothing if they got here."
Towards evening a council was held, all the principal officers
being present, and it was decided to evacuate the castle. It could
indeed have been held for some days longer, but it was plain it
would at length become untenable; the bridge of boats had already
been struck in several places, and some of the barges composing it
had sunk level with the water. Were it destroyed, the garrison of
the castle would be completely cut off; and as no great advantage
was to be gained by holding the position, for it was evident that
it was upon the other end of the town the main attack was to be
made, it was decided to evacuate it under cover of night. As soon
as it became dark this decision was carried into effect, and for
hours the troops worked steadily, transporting the guns, ammunition,
and stores of all kinds across from the castle to the town.
Already communication with their friends outside had almost ceased,
for the first operation of the enemy had been to block the approach
to Sluys from the sea. Floats had been moored head and stern right
across Zwin, and a battery erected upon each shore to protect them;
but Captains Hart and Allen twice swam down to communicate with
friendly vessels below the obstacle, carrying despatches with them
from the governor to the States General, and from Roger Williams
to the English commanders, urging that no time should be lost in
assembling an army to march to the relief of the town.
Both contained assurances that the garrison would defend the place
to the last extremity, but pointed out that it was only a question
of time, and that the town must fall unless relieved. The Dutch
garrison were 800 strong, and had been joined by as many English.
Parma had at first marched with but 6000 men against the city, but
had very speedily drawn much larger bodies of men towards him, and
had, as Roger Williams states in a letter to the queen sent from
Sluys at an early period of the siege, four regiments of Walloons,
four of Germans, one of Italians, one of Burgundians, fifty-two
companies of Spaniards, twenty-four troops of horse, and forty-eight
guns. This would give a total of at least 17,000 men, and further
reinforcements afterwards arrived.
Against so overwhelming a force as this, it could not be hoped
that the garrison, outnumbered by more than ten to one, could
long maintain themselves, and the Duke of Parma looked for an easy
conquest of the place. By both parties the possession of Sluys was
regarded as a matter of importance out of all proportion to the
size and population of the town; for at that time it was known in
England that the King of Spain was preparing a vast fleet for the
invasion of Britain, and Sluys was the nearest point to our shores
at which a fleet could gather and the forces of Parma embark to
join those coming direct from Spain. The English, therefore, were
determined to maintain the place to the last extremity; and while
Parma had considered its capture as an affair of a few days only,
the little garrison were determined that for weeks at any rate they
would be able to prolong the resistance, feeling sure that before
that time could elapse both the States and England, knowing the
importance of the struggle, would send forces to their relief.
The view taken as to the uselessness of defending the castle was
fully justified, as the Spaniards on the following day removed the
guns that they had employed in battering it, to their works facing
the western gate, and fire was opened next morning. Under cover
of this the Spanish engineers pushed their trenches up to the very
edge of the moat, in spite of several desperate sorties by the
garrison. The boys had been forbidden by Captain Vere to take their
place with the company on the walls.
"In time," he said, "as our force decreases, we shall want every
one capable of handling arms to man the breaches, but at present
we are not in any extremity; and none save those whom duty compels
to be there must come under the fire of the Spaniards, for to do
so would be risking life without gain."
They had, however, made friends with the wine merchant whose cellars
they had visited, and obtained permission from him to visit the
upper storey of his warehouse whenever they chose. From a window
here they were enabled to watch all that was taking place, for the
warehouse was much higher than the walls. It was not in the direct
line of fire of the Spanish batteries, for these were chiefly
concentrated against the wall a little to their right. After heavy
fighting the Spaniards one night, by means of boats from the Zwin,
landed upon the dyke which divided the moat into two channels, and
thus established themselves so close under the ramparts that the
guns could not be brought to bear upon them. They proceeded to
intrench themselves at once upon the dyke.
The governor, Arnold Groenvelt, consulted with the English leaders,
and decided that the enemy must be driven off this dyke immediately,
or that the safety of the city would be gravely imperilled. They
therefore assembled a force of four hundred men, sallied out of the
south gate, where two bastions were erected on the dyke itself, and
then advanced along it to the assault of the Spaniards. The battle
was a desperate one, the English and Dutch were aided by their
comrades on the wall, who shot with guns and arquebuses against
the Spaniards, while the later were similarly assisted by their
friends along the outer edge of the moat, and received constant
reinforcements by boats from their ships.
The odds were too great for the assailants, who were forced at last
to fall back along the dyke to the south gate and to re-enter the
town. It was already five weeks since the English had arrived to
take part in the defence, and the struggle now began upon a great
scale--thirty cannon and eight culverins opening fire upon the
walls. The heaviest fire was on St. James' day, the 25th of July,
when 4000 shots were fired between three in the morning and five
in the afternoon. While this tremendous cannonade was going on,
the boys could not but admire the calmness shown by the population.
Many of the shots, flying over the top of the walls, struck the
houses in the city, and the chimneys, tiles, and masses of masonry
fell in the streets. Nevertheless the people continued their usual
avocations. The shops were all open, though the men employed served
their customers with breast and back pieces buckled on, and their
arms close at hand, so that they could run to the walls at once
to take part in their defence did the Spaniards attempt an assault
upon them. The women stood knitting at their doors, Frau Menyn looked
as sharply after her maids as ever, and washing and scouring went
on without interruption.
"I believe that woman will keep those girls at work after the
Spaniards have entered the city, and until they are thundering
at the door," Lionel said. "Who but a Dutch woman would give a
thought to a few particles of dust on her furniture when an enemy
was cannonading the town?"
"I think she acts wisely after all, Lionel. The fact that everything
goes on as usual here and in other houses takes people's thoughts
off the dangers of the position, and prevents anything like panic
being felt."
The lads spent the greater part of the day at their lookout, and
could see that the wall against which the Spanish fire was directed
was fast crumbling. Looking down upon it, it seemed deserted of
troops, for it would be needlessly exposing the soldiers to death
to place them there while the cannonade continued; but behind the
wall, and in the street leading to it, companies of English and
Dutch soldiers could be seen seated or lying on the ground.
They were leaning out of the dormer window in the high roof watching
the Spanish soldiers in the batteries working their guns, when,
happening to look round, they saw a crossbow protruded from a window
of the warehouse to their right, and a moment afterwards the sharp
twang of the bow was heard. There was nothing unusual in this; for
although firearms were now generally in use the longbow and the
crossbow had not been entirely abandoned, and there were still
archers in the English army, and many still held that the bow was
a far better weapon than the arquebus, sending its shafts well nigh
as far and with a truer aim.
"If that fellow is noticed," Geoffrey said, "we shall have
the Spanish musketeers sending their balls in this direction. The
governor has, I heard Captain Vere say, forbidden shooting from the
warehouses, because he does not wish to attract the Spanish fire
against them. Of course when the wall yields and the breach has to
be defended the warehouses will be held, and as the windows will
command the breach they will be great aids to us then, and it would
be a great disadvantage to us if the Spaniards now were to throw
shells and fireballs into these houses, and so to destroy them
before they make their attack. Nor can much good be gained, for at
this distance a crossbow would scarce carry its bolts beyond the
moat."
"Most likely the man is using the crossbow on purpose to avoid
attracting the attention of the Spaniards, Geoffrey. At this distance
they could not see the crossbow, while a puff of smoke would be
sure to catch their eye."
"There, he has shot again. I did not see the quarrel fall in the
moat. See, one of the Spanish soldiers from that battery is coming
forward. There, he has stooped and picked something up. Hallo! do
you see that? He has just raised his arm; that is a signal, surely."
"It certainly looked like it," Lionel agreed. "It was a sort of
half wave of the hand. That is very strange!"
"Very, Lionel; it looks to me very suspicious. It is quite possible
that a piece of paper may have been tied round the bolt, and that
someone is sending information to the enemy. This ought to be looked
to."
"But what are we to do, Geoffrey? Merely seeing a Spanish soldier
wave his arm is scarcely reason enough for bringing an accusation
against anyone. We are not even sure that he picked up the bolt;
and even if he did, the action might have been a sort of mocking
wave of the hand at the failure of the shooter to send it as far
as the battery."
"It might be, of course, Lionel. No, we have certainly nothing to
go upon that would justify our making a report on the subject, but
quite enough to induce us to keep a watch on this fellow, whoever
he may be. Let us see, to begin with, if he shoots again.
They waited for an hour, but the head of the crossbow was not again
thrust out of the window.
"He may have ceased shooting for either of two reasons," Geoffrey
said. "If he is a true man, because he sees that his bolts do not
carry far enough to be of any use. If he is a traitor, because he
has gained his object, and knows that his communication has reached
his friends outside. We will go down now and inquire who is the
occupier of the next warehouse."
The merchant himself was not below, for as he did business with
other towns he had had nothing to do since Sluys was cut off from
the surrounded country; but one of his clerks was at work, making
out bills and accounts in his office as if the thunder of the guns
outside was unheard by him. The boys had often spoken to him as
they passed in and out.
"Who occupies the warehouse on the right?" Geoffrey asked him
carelessly.
"William Arnig," he replied. "He is a leading citizen, and one
of the greatest merchants in our trade. His cellars are the most
extensive we have, and he does a great trade in times of peace with
Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, and other towns."
"I suppose he is a Protestant like most of the townspeople?" Geoffrey
remarked.
"No, he is a Catholic; but he is not one who pushes his opinions
strongly, and, he is well disposed to the cause, and a captain in
one of the city bands. The Catholics and Protestants always dwell
quietly together throughout the Low Countries, and would have
no animosities against each other were it not for the Spaniards.
Formerly, at least, this was the case; but since the persecutions
we have Protestant towns and Catholic towns, the one holding to
the States cause, the other siding with the Spaniards. Why do you
ask?"
"Oh, I hadn't heard the name of your next neighbour, and, was
wondering who he might be."
The boys had now been nearly two months in Holland, and were beginning
to understand the language, which is not difficult to acquire, and
differed then even less than now from the dialect spoken in the
eastern counties of England, between whom and Holland there had
been for many generations much trade and intimate relations.
"What had we better do next, Geoffrey?" Lionel asked as they left
the warehouse.
"I think that in the first place, Lionel, we will take our post at
the window tomorrow, and keep a close watch all day to see whether
this shooting is repeated. If it is, we had better report the matter
to Captain Vere, and leave him to decide what should be done. I do
not see that we could undertake anything alone, and in any case,
you see, it would be a serious matter to lay an accusation against
a prominent citizen who is actually a captain of one of the bands."
Upon the following day they took their post again at the window,
and after some hours watching saw three bolts fired from the next
window. Watching intently, they saw the two first fall into the
moat. They could not see where the other fell; but as there was no
splash in the water, they concluded that it had fallen beyond it,
and in a minute they saw a soldier again advance from the battery,
pick up something at the edge of the water, raise his arm, and
retire. That evening when Captain Vere returned from the ramparts
they informed him of what they had observed.
"Doubtless it is an act of treachery," he said, "and this merchant
is communicating with the enemy. At the same time what you have
seen, although convincing evidence to me, is scarce enough for me
to denounce him. Doubtless he does not write these letters until
he is ready to fire them off, and were he arrested in his house
or on his way to the warehouse we might fail to find proofs of his
guilt, and naught but ill feeling would be caused among his friends.
No, whatever we do we must do cautiously. Have you thought of any
plan by which we might catch him in the act?"
"If two or three men could be introduced into his warehouse,
and concealed in the room from which he fires, they might succeed
in catching him in the act, Captain Vere; but the room may be an
empty one without any place whatever where they could be hidden,
and unless they were actually in the room they would be of little
good, for he would have time, if he heard footsteps, to thrust any
letter he may have written into his mouth, and so destroy it before
it could be seized."
"That is so," Captain Vere agreed. "The matter seems a difficult one,
and yet it is of the greatest importance to hinder communications
with the Spaniards. Tonight all the soldiers who can be spared,
aided by all the citizens able to use mattock and pick, are to set
to work to begin to raise a half moon round the windmill behind
the point they are attacking, so as to have a second line to fall
back upon when the wall gives way, which it will do ere long, for
it is sorely shaken and battered. It is most important to keep this
from the knowledge of the Spaniards. Now, lads, you have shown your
keenness by taking notice of what is going on, see if you cannot
go further, and hit upon some plan of catching this traitor at his
work. If before night we can think of no scheme, I must go to the
governor and tell him frankly that we have suspicions of treachery,
though we cannot prove them, and ask him, in order to prevent the
possibility of our plans being communicated to the enemy, to place
some troops in all the warehouses along that line, so that none
can shoot there from any message to the Spaniards."
Just as Captain Vere finished his supper, the boys came into the
room again.
"We have thought of a plan, sir, that might succeed, although it
would be somewhat difficult. The dormer window from which these
bolts have been fired lies thirty or forty feet away from that from
which we were looking. The roof is so steep that no one could hold
a footing upon it for a moment, nor could a plank be placed upon
which he could walk. The window is about twelve feet from the top
of the roof. We think that one standing on the ledge of our window
might climb on to its top, and once there swing a rope with a stout
grapnel attached to catch on the ridge of the roof; then two or
three men might climb up there and work themselves along, and then
lower themselves down with a rope on to the top of the next window.
They would need to have ropes fastened round their bodies, for the
height is great, and a slip would mean death.
"The one farthest out on the window could lean over when he hears
a noise below him, and when he saw the crossbow thrust from the
window, could by a sudden blow knock it from the fellow's hand,
when it would slide down the roof and fall into the narrow yard
between the warehouse and the walls. Of course some men would be
placed there in readiness to seize it, and others at the door of
the warehouse to arrest the traitor if he ran down."
"I think the plan is a good one, though somewhat difficult of
execution," Captain Vere said. "But this enterprise on the roof
would be a difficult one and dangerous, since as you say a slip
would mean death."
"Lionel and myself, sir, would undertake that with the aid of two
active men to hold the ropes for us. We have both done plenty of
bird nesting in the woods of Hedingham, and are not likely to turn
giddy."
"I don't think it is necessary for more than one to get down on to
that window," Captain Vere said. "Only one could so place himself
as to look down upon the crossbow. However, you shall divide
the honour of the enterprise between you. You, as the eldest and
strongest, Geoffrey, shall carry out your plan on the roof, while
you, Lionel, shall take post at the door with four men to arrest
the traitor when he leaves. I will select two strong and active
men to accompany you, Geoffrey, and aid you in your attempt; but
mind, before you try to get out of the window and to climb on to
its roof, have a strong rope fastened round your body and held by
the others; then in case of a slip, they can haul you in again. I
will see that the ropes and grapnels are in readiness."
The next morning early Geoffrey proceeded with the two men who had
been selected to accompany him to his usual lookout. Both were
active, wiry men, and entered fully into the spirit of the undertaking
when Geoffrey explained its nature to them. They looked out of the
dormer window at the sharp roof slanting away in front of them and
up to the ridge above.
"I think, Master Vickars," one of them, Roger Browne by name, said,
"that I had best go up first. I served for some years at sea, and
am used to climbing about in dizzy places. It is no easy matter to
get from this window sill astride the roof above us, and moreover
I am more like to heave the grapnel so that it will hook firmly on
to the ridge than you are."
"Very well, Roger. I should be willing to try, but doubtless you
would manage it far better than I should. But before you start we
will fasten the other rope round your body, as Captain Vere directed
me to do. Then in case you slip, or anything gives way with your
weight, we can check you before you slide far down below us."
A rope was accordingly tied round the man's body under his arms.
Taking the grapnel, to which the other rope was attached, he got
out on to the sill. It was not an easy task to climb up on to the
ridge of the dormer window, and it needed all his strength and
activity to accomplish the feat. Once astride of the ridge the rest
was easy. At the first cast he threw the grapnel so that it caught
securely on the top of the roof. After testing it with two or three
pulls he clambered up, leaving the lower end of the rope hanging
by the side of the window. As soon as he had gained this position
Geoffrey, who was to follow him, prepared to start.
According to the instructions Browne had given him he fastened
the end of the rope which was round Browne's body under his own
shoulders, then leaning over and taking a firm hold of the rope to
which the grapnel was attached, he let himself out of the window.
Browne hauled from above at the rope round his body, and he pulled
himself with his hands by that attached to the grapnel, and presently
reached the top.
"I am glad you came first, Roger," he said. "I do not think I could
have ever pulled myself up if you had not assisted me."
He unfastened the rope, and the end was thrown down to the window,
and Job Tredgold, the other man, fastened it round him and was
hauled up as Geoffrey had been.
"We will move along now to that stack of chimneys coming through
the roof four feet below the ridge on the town side," Geoffrey
said. "We can stand down there out of sight of the Spaniards. We
shall be sure to attract attention sitting up here, and might have
some bullets flying round our ears, besides which this fellow's
friends might suspect our object and signal to him in some way. It
is two hours yet to the time when we have twice seen him send his
bolts across the moat."
This was accordingly done, and for an hour and a half they sat down
on the roof with their feet against the stack of chimneys.
"It is time to be moving now," Geoffrey said at last. "I think the
best way will be for me to get by the side of the dormer window
instead of above it. It would be very awkward leaning over there,
and I should not have strength to strike a blow; whereas with
the rope under my arms and my foot on the edge of the sill, which
projects a few inches beyond the side of the window, I could stand
upright and strike a downright blow on the crossbow."
"That would be the best way, I think," Roger Browne agreed; "and
I will come down on to the top of the window and lean over. In the
first place your foot might slip, and as you dangle there by the
rope he might cut it and let you shoot over, or he might lean out
and shoot you as you climb up the roof again; but if I am above
with my pistol in readiness there will be no fear of accidents."
CHAPTER V
AN HEROIC DEFENCE
The plan Roger Browne suggested was carried out. Geoffrey was
first lowered to his place by the side of the window, and bracing
himself against its side with a foot on the sill he managed to
stand upright, leaning against the rope that Job Tredgold held from
above. Job had instructions when Geoffrey lifted his arm to ease
the rope a few inches so as to enable the lad to lean forward. After
two or three attempts Geoffrey got the rope to the exact length
which would enable him to look round the corner and to strike a blow
with his right hand, in which he held a stout club. Roger Browne
then descended by the aid of the other rope, and fastening it round
his body lay down astride of the roof of the window with his head
and shoulders over the end, and his pistol held in readiness.
It seemed an age to Geoffrey before he heard the sound of a footstep
in the loft beside him. He grasped his cudgel firmly and leaned
slightly forward. For ten minutes there was quiet within, and Geoffrey
guessed that the traitor was writing the missive he was about to
send to the enemy; then the footstep approached the window, and a
moment later a crossbow was thrust out. A glance at it sufficed to
show that the bolt was enveloped in a piece of paper wound round it
and secured with a string. Steadying himself as well as he could
Geoffrey struck with all his force down upon the crossbow. The
weapon, loosely held, went clattering down the tiles. There was
an exclamation of surprise and fury from within the window, and at
the same moment Job Tredgold, seeing that Geoffrey's attempt had
been successful, hauled away at the rope and began to drag him
backward up the tiles.
The lad saw a man lean out of the window and look up at him, then
a pistol was levelled; but the report came from above the window,
and not from the threatening weapon. A sharp cry of pain was heard,
as the pistol fell from the man's hand and followed the crossbow
down the roof. A few seconds later Geoffrey was hauled up to the
ridge, where he was at once joined by Roger Browne. Shifting the
ropes they moved along till above the window from which they had
issued. Geoffrey was first lowered down. As soon as he had got
in at the window he undid the rope and Job Tredgold followed him,
while Roger Browne slid down by the rope attached to the grapnel;
then they ran downstairs.
As soon as they sallied out below they saw that Lionel and the
men with him had captured a prisoner; and just as they joined the
party the guard came round from the other side of the warehouse,
bringing with them the crossbow, its bolt, and the pistol. The
prisoner, whose shoulder was broken by Roger Browne's shot, was
at once taken to Captain Vere's quarters. That officer had just
arrived from the walls, knowing the time at which the capture would
probably be made.
"So you have succeeded," he said. "Well done, lads; you have earned
the thanks of all. We will take this man at once to the governor,
who is at present at the town hall."
By the time they issued out quite a crowd had assembled, for the
news that William Von Arnig had been brought a prisoner and wounded
to Captain Vere's quarters had spread rapidly. The crowd increased
as they went along, and Captain Vere and his party had difficulty
in making their way to the town hall, many of the people exclaiming
loudly against this treatment of one of the leading citizens. The
governor was, when they entered, holding council with the English
leader, Sir Roger Williams.
"Why, what is this, Captain Vere?" he asked in surprise as that
officer, accompanied by the two boys and followed by Roger Browne
and Job Tredgold guarding the prisoner, entered.
"I have to accuse this man of treacherously communicating with the
enemy," Francis Vere said.
"What?" Arnold de Groenvelt exclaimed in surprise. "Why, this is
Mynheer Von Arnig, one of our most worshipful citizens! Surely,
Captain Vere, there must be some error here?"
"I will place my evidence before you," Captain Vere said; "and it
will be for you to decide upon it. Master Geoffrey Vickars, please
to inform the governor what you know about this matter."
Geoffrey then stated how he and his brother, being at the upper
window of the warehouse, had on two days in succession seen a
crossbow discharged from a neighbouring window, and had noticed a
Spanish soldier come out of a battery and pick up something which
they believed to be the bolt, and how he and his brother had reported
the circumstances to Captain Vere. That officer then took up the
story, and stated that seeing the evidence was not conclusive, and
it was probable that if an attempt was made to arrest the person,
whomsoever he might be, who had used the crossbow, any evidence
of treasonable design might be destroyed before he was seized, he
had accepted the offer of Master Vickars to climb the roof, lower
himself to the window from which the bolt would be shot, and, if
possible, strike it from the man's hands, so that it would fall
down the roof to the courtyard below, where men were placed to
seize it.
Geoffrey then related how he, with the two soldiers guarding the
prisoner, had scaled the roof and taken a position by the window;
how he had seen the crossbow thrust out, and had struck it from
the hands of the man holding it; how the latter had leaned out,
and would have shot him had not Roger Browne from his post above
the window shot him in the shoulder.
"Here are the crossbow and pistol," Captain Vere said; "and this
is the bolt as it was picked up by my men. You see, sir, there is
a paper fastened round it. I know not its contents, for I judged it
best to leave it as it was found until I placed it in your hands."
The governor cut the string, unrolled the paper and examined it.
It contained a statement as to the state of the wall, with remarks
where it was yielding, and where the enemy had best shoot against
it. It said that the defenders had in the night begun to form a half
moon behind it, and contained a sketch showing the exact position
of the new work.
"Gentlemen, what think you of this?" the governor asked the English
officers.
"There can be no doubt that it is a foul act of treachery," Williams
said, "and the traitor merits death."
"We will not decide upon it ourselves," the governor said. "I will
summon six of the leading citizens, who shall sit as a jury with
us. This is a grave matter, and touches the honour of the citizens
as well as the safety of the town."
In a few minutes the six citizens summoned arrived. The evidence
was again given, and then the prisoner was asked what he had to
say in his defence.
"It is useless for me to deny it," he replied. "I am caught in the
act, and must suffer for it. I have done my duty to the King of
Spain, my sovereign; and I warn you he will take vengeance for my
blood."
"That we must risk," the governor said. "Now, gentlemen, you citizens
of this town now attacked by the Spaniards, and you, sir, who are
in command of the soldiers of the queen of England, have heard the
evidence and the answer the prisoner has made. What is your opinion
thereon? Do you, Sir Roger Williams, being highest in rank and
authority, first give your opinion."
"I find that he is guilty of an act of gross treason and treachery.
For such there is but one punishment--death." And the six citizens
all gave the same decision.
"You are found guilty of this foul crime," the governor said, "and
are sentenced to death. In half an hour you will be hung in the
marketplace, as a punishment to yourself and a warning to other
traitors, if such there be in this town of Sluys. As to you, young
sirs, you have rendered a great service to the town, and have
shown a discernment beyond your years. I thank you in the name of
the city and of its garrison, and also in that of the States, whose
servant I am."
A guard of armed citizens were now called in, the prisoner was handed
to them, and orders given to their officer to carry the sentence
into effect. A statement of the crime of the prisoner, with the
names of those who had acted as his judges, and the sentence, was
then drawn out, signed by the governor, and, ordered by him to be
affixed to the door of the town hall. The two lads, finding that
they were no longer required, hastened back to their quarters,
having no wish to be present at the execution of the unhappy wretch
whose crime they had been the means of detecting.
A few days later considerable portions of the battered wall fell,
and shortly afterwards a breach of two hundred and fifty paces
long was effected, and a bridge of large boats constructed by the
enemy from the dyke to the foot of the rampart.
This was not effected without terrible loss. Hundreds of the bravest
Spanish soldiers and sailors were killed, and three officers who
succeeded each other in command of the attack were badly wounded.
The Spanish had laboured under great difficulties owing to the lack
of earth to push their trenches forward to the edge of the moat,
arising from the surrounding country being flooded. They only
succeeded at last by building wooden machines of bullet proof planks
on wheels, behind each of which four men could work. When all was
prepared the Spaniards advanced to the attack, rushing up the breach
with splendid valour, headed by three of their bravest leaders; but
they were met by the English and Dutch, and again and again hurled
back.
Day and night the fighting continued, the Spaniards occasionally
retiring to allow their artillery to open fire again upon the
shattered ruins. But stoutly as the defenders fought, step by step
the Spaniards won their way forward until they had captured the
breach and the west gate adjoining it, there being nothing now beyond
the hastily constructed inner work between them and the town. The
finest regiment of the whole of the Spanish infantry now advanced
to the assault, but they were met by the defenders--already sadly
diminished in numbers, but firm and undaunted as ever,--and their
pikes and their axes well supplied the place of the fallen walls.
Assault after assault was met and repulsed, Sir Roger Williams,
Thomas Baskerville, and Francis Vere being always in the thick of
the fight. Baskerville was distinguished by the white plumes of
his helmet, Vere by his crimson mantle; and the valour of these
leaders attracted the admiration of the Duke of Parma himself,
who watched the fight from the summit of the tower of the western
gate. Francis Vere was twice wounded, but not disabled. Sir Roger
Williams urged him to retire, but he replied that he would rather
be killed ten times in a breach than once in a house.
Day by day the terrible struggle continued. The Spaniards were
able constantly to bring up fresh troops, but the defenders had
no relief. They were reduced in numbers from 1600 to 700 men, and
yet for eighteen days they maintained the struggle, never once
leaving the breach.
The pages brought their food to them, and when the attacks were
fiercest joined in the defence, fighting as boldly and manfully as
the soldiers themselves. Geoffrey and Lionel kept in close attendance
upon Francis Vere, only leaving him to run back to their quarters
and bring up the meals cooked for him and his two officers by Frau
Menyn and her handmaids. Both kept close to him during the fighting.
They knew that they were no match in strength for the Spanish
pikemen; but they had obtained pistols from the armoury, and with
these they did good service, several times freeing him from some
of his assailants when he was sorely pressed. On one occasion when
Francis Vere was smitten down by a blow from an axe, the boys rushed
forward and kept back his assailants until some of the men of the
company came to his aid.
"You have done me brave service indeed," Captain Vere said to them
when he recovered; for his helmet had defended him from serious
injury, though the force of the blow had felled him. "It was a
happy thought of mine when I decided to bring you with me. This is
not the first time that you have rendered me good service, and I
am sure you will turn out brave and valiant soldiers of the queen."
When each assault ceased the weary soldiers threw themselves down
behind the earthen embankment, and obtained such sleep as they
could before the Spaniards mustered for fresh attack. When, after
eighteen days' terrible fighting, the Duke of Parma saw that even
his best troops were unable to break through the wall of steel, he
desisted from the assault and began the slower process of mining.
The garrison from their lookout beheld the soldiers crossing the
bridge with picks and shovels, and prepared to meet them in this
new style of warfare. Captain Uvedale was appointed to command the
men told off for this duty, and galleries were run from several of
the cellars to meet those of the enemy.
As every man was employed either on the rampart or in mining, many
of the pages were told off to act as watchers in the cellars, and
to listen for the faint sounds that told of the approach of the
enemy's miners. As the young Vickars were in attendance on the
officers, they were exempted from this work; but they frequently
went down into the cellars, both to watch the process of mining by
their own men and to listen to the faint sounds made by the enemy's
workmen. One day they were sitting on two wine kegs, watching four
soldiers at work at the end of a short gallery that had been driven
towards the Spaniards. Suddenly there was an explosion, the miners
were blown backwards, the end of the gallery disappeared, and a
crowd of Walloon soldiers almost immediately afterwards rushed in.
The boys sprang to their feet and were about to fly, when an idea
occurred to Geoffrey. He seized a torch, and, standing by the
side of a barrel placed on end by a large tier, shouted in Dutch,
"Another step forward and I fire the magazine!"
The men in front paused. Through the fumes of smoke they saw dimly
the pile of barrels and a figure standing with a lighted torch
close to one of them. A panic seized them, and believing they had
made their way into a powder magazine, and that in another instant
there would be a terrible explosion, they turned with shouts of "A
magazine! a magazine! Fly, or we are all dead men!"
"Run, Lionel, and get help," Geoffrey said, and in two or three
minutes a number of soldiers ran down into the cellar. The Walloons
were not long before they recovered from their panic. Their officers
knew that the wine cellars of the city were in front of them, and
reassured them as to the character of the barrels they had seen.
They were, however, too late, and a furious conflict took place at
the entrance into the cellar, but the enemy, able only to advance
two or three abreast, failed to force their way in.
Captain Uvedale and Francis Vere were soon on the spot, and when at
last the enemy, unable to force an entrance, fell back, the former
said, "This is just as I feared. You see, the Spaniards drove this
gallery, and ceased to work immediately they heard us approaching
them. We had no idea that they were in front of us, and so they
only had to put a barrel of powder there and fire it as soon as
there was but a foot or two of earth between us and them."
"But how was it," Francis Vere asked, "that when they fired it they
did not at once rush forward? They could have captured the whole
building before we knew what had happened."
"That I cannot tell," Captain Uvedale replied. "The four men at
work must have been either killed or knocked senseless. We shall
know better another time, and will have a strong guard in each
cellar from which our mines are being driven."
"If it please you, Captain Uvedale," Lionel said, "it was my brother
Geoffrey who prevented them from advancing; for indeed several of
them had already entered the cellar, and the gallery behind was
full of them."
"But how did he do that?" Captain Uvedale asked in surprise.
Lionel related the ruse by which Geoffrey had created a panic in
the minds of the Spaniards.
"That was well thought of indeed, and promptly carried out!"
Captain Uvedale exclaimed. "Francis, these pages of yours are truly
promising young fellows. They detected that rascally Dutchman who
was betraying us. I noticed them several times in the thick of
the fray at the breach; and now they have saved the city by their
quickness and presence of mind; for had these Spaniards once got
possession of this warehouse they would have speedily broken a way
along through the whole tier, and could then have poured in upon
us with all their strength."
"That is so, indeed," Francis Vere agreed. "They have assuredly
saved the town, and there is the greatest credit due to them. I
shall be glad, Uvedale, if you will report the matter to our leader.
You are in command of the mining works, and it will come better
from you than from me who is their captain."
Captain Uvedale made his report, and both Sir Roger Williams and
the governor thanked the boys, and especially Geoffrey, for the
great service they had rendered.
Very shortly the galleries were broken into in several other places,
and the battle became now as fierce and continuous down in the
cellars as it had before been on the breach. By the light of torches,
in an atmosphere heavy with the fumes of gunpowder, surrounded by
piled up barrels of wine, the defenders and assailants maintained
a terrible conflict, men staggering up exhausted by their exertion
and by the stifling atmosphere while others took their places below,
and so, night and day, the desperate struggle continued.
All these weeks no serious effort had been made for the relief of
the beleaguered town. Captains Hall and Allen had several times
swum down at night through the bridge of boats with letters from
the governor entreating a speedy succour. The States had sent a
fleet which sailed some distance up the Zwin, but returned without
making the slightest effort to break through the bridge of boats.
The Earl of Leicester had advanced with a considerable force from
Ostend against the fortress of Blankenburg, but had retreated
hastily as soon as Parma despatched a portion of his army against
him; and so the town was left to its fate.
The last letter that the governor despatched said that longer
resistance was impossible. The garrison were reduced to a mere
remnant, and these utterly worn out by constant fighting and the
want of rest. He should ask for fair and honourable terms, but if
these were refused the garrison and the whole male inhabitants in
the city, putting the women and children in the centre, would sally
out and cut their way through, or die fighting in the midst of the
Spaniards. The swimmer who took the letter was drowned, but his
body was washed ashore and the letter taken to the Duke of Parma.
Three days afterwards a fresh force of the enemy embarked in forty
large boats, and were about to land on an unprotected wharf by
the riverside when Arnold de Groenvelt hung out the white flag.
His powder was exhausted and his guns disabled, and the garrison
so reduced that the greater portion of the walls were left wholly
undefended. The Duke of Parma, who was full of admiration at the
extraordinary gallantry of the defenders, and was doubtless also
influenced by the resolution expressed in his letter by the governor,
granted them most honourable terms. The garrison were to march out
with all their baggage and arms, with matches lighted and colours
displayed. They were to proceed to Breskans, and there to embark
for Flushing. The life and property of the inhabitants were to be
respected, and all who did not choose to embrace the Catholic faith
were to be allowed to leave the town peaceably, taking with them
their belongings, and to go wheresoever they pleased.
When the gates were opened the garrison sallied out. The Duke of
Parma had an interview with several of the leaders, and expressed
his high admiration of the valour with which they had fought, and
said that the siege of Sluys had cost him more men than he had lost
in the four principal sieges he had undertaken in the Low Country
put together. On the 4th of August the duke entered Sluys in triumph,
and at once began to make preparations to take part in the great
invasion of England for which Spain was preparing.
After their arrival at Flushing Captains Vere, Uvedale, and others,
who had brought their companies from Bergen op Zoom to aid in the
defence of Sluys, returned to that town.
The Earl of Leicester shortly afterwards resigned his appointment
as general of the army. He had got on but badly with the States
General, and there was from the first no cordial cooperation between
the two armies. The force at his disposal was never strong enough
to do anything against the vastly superior armies of the Duke
of Parma, who was one of the most brilliant generals of his age,
while he was hampered and thwarted by the intrigues and duplicity
of Elizabeth, who was constantly engaged in half hearted negotiations
now with France and now with Spain, and whose capricious temper
was continually overthrowing the best laid plans of her councillors
and paralysing the actions of her commanders. It was not until
she saw her kingdom threatened by invasion that she placed herself
fairly at the head of the national movement, and inspired her
subjects with her energy and determination.
Geoffrey Vickars had been somewhat severely wounded upon the last
day of the struggle in the cellar, a Spanish officer having beaten
down his guard and cleft through his morion. Lionel was unwounded,
but the fatigue and excitement had told upon him greatly, and soon
after they arrived at Bergen Captain Vere advised both of them to
return home for a few months.
"There is nothing likely to be doing here until the spring. Parma
has a more serious matter in hand. They talk, you know, of invading
England, and after his experience at Sluys I do not think he will
be wasting his force by knocking their head against stone walls.
I should be glad if I could return too, but I have my company to
look after and must remain where I am ordered; but as you are but
volunteers and giving your service at your pleasure, and are not
regularly upon the list of the pages of the company, I can undertake
to grant you leave, and indeed I can see that you both greatly need
rest. You have begun well and have both done good service, and have
been twice thanked by the governor of Sluys and Sir Roger Williams.
"You will do yourselves no good by being shut up through the winter
in this dull town, and as there is a vessel lying by the quay which
is to set sail tomorrow, I think you cannot do better than go in
her. I will give you letters to my cousin and your father saying
how well you have borne yourselves, and how mightily Sir Roger
Williams was pleased with you. In the spring you can rejoin, unless
indeed the Spaniards should land in England, which Heaven forfend,
in which case you will probably prefer to ride under my cousin's
banner at home."
The boys gladly accepted Francis Vere's proposal. It was but three
months since they had set foot in Holland, but they had gone through
a tremendous experience, and the thought of being shut up for eight
or nine months at Bergen op Zoom was by no means a pleasant one.
Both felt worn out and exhausted, and longed for the fresh keen air
of the eastern coast. Therefore the next morning they embarked on
board ship. Captain Vere presented them each with a handsome brace
of pistols in token of his regard, and Captains Uvedale, Baskerville,
and other officers who were intimate friends of Vere's, and had met
them at his quarters, gave them handsome presents in recognition
of the services they had rendered at Sluys.
The ship was bound for Harwich, which was the nearest English port.
Landing there, they took passage by boat to Manningtree and thence
by horse home, where they astounded their father and mother by
their sudden appearance.
"And this is what comes of your soldiering," Mrs. Vickars said
when the first greeting was over. "Here is Geoffrey with plasters
all over the side of his head, and you, Lionel, looking as pale and
thin as if you had gone through a long illness. I told your father
when we heard of your going that you ought to be brought back
and whipped; but the earl talked him over into writing to Captain
Francis to tell him that he approved of this mad brained business,
and a nice affair it has turned out."
"You will not have to complain of our looks, mother, at the end
of a week or two," Geoffrey said. "My wound is healing fast, and
Lionel only needs an extra amount of sleep for a time. You see, for
nearly a month we were never in bed, but just lay down to sleep by
the side of Captain Vere on the top of the ramparts, where we had
been fighting all day.
"It was a gallant defence," Mr. Vickars said, "and all England
is talking of it. It was wonderful that 800 English and as many
Dutchmen should hold a weak place for two months against full twelve
times their number of Spaniards, led by the Duke of Parma himself,
and there is great honour for all who took part in the defence.
The governor and Sir Roger Williams especially mentioned Francis
Vere as among the bravest and best of their captains, and although
you as pages can have had nought to do with the fighting, you will
have credit as serving under his banner."
"I think, father," Geoffrey said, touching the plasters on his
head, "this looks somewhat as if we had had something to do with
the fighting, and here is a letter for you from Captain Vere which
will give you some information about it."
Mr. Vickars adjusted his horn spectacles on his face and opened
the letter. It began: "My dear Master and Friend,--I have had
no means of writing to you since your letter came to me, having
had other matters in mind, and being cut off from all communication
with England. I was glad to find that you did not take amiss my
carrying off of your sons. Indeed that action has turned out more
happily than might have been expected, for I own that they were
but young for such rough service.
"However, they have proved themselves valiant young gentlemen.
They fought stoutly by my side during our long tussle with the
Spaniards, and more than once saved my life by ridding me of foes
who would have taken me at a disadvantage. Once, indeed, when I
was down from a blow on the pate from a Spanish axe, they rushed
forward and kept my assailants at bay until rescue came. They
discovered a plot between a traitor in the town and the Spaniards,
and succeeded in defeating his plans and bringing him to justice.
"They were also the means of preventing the Spaniards from breaking
into the great wine cellars and capturing the warehouses, and for
each of these services they received the thanks of the Dutch governor
and of Sir Roger Williams, our leader. Thus, you see, although
so young they have distinguished themselves mightily, and should
aught befall me, there are many among my friends who will gladly
take them under their protection and push them forward. I have
sent them home for a time to have quiet and rest, which they need
after their exertions, and have done this the more willingly since
there is no chance of fighting for many months to come. I hope that
before the Spaniards again advance against us I may have them by
my side."
"Well, well, this is wonderful," Mrs. Vickars said when her husband
had finished reading the letter. "If they had told me themselves I
should not have believed them, although they have never been given
to the sin of lying; but since it is writ in Master Vere's own hand
it cannot be doubted. And now tell us all about it, boys."
"We will tell you when we have had dinner, mother. This brisk Essex
air has given us both an appetite, and until that is satisfied you
must excuse us telling a long story. Is the earl at the castle,
father? because we have two letters to him from Captain Francis--one,
I believe, touching our affairs, and the other on private
matters. We have also letters from him to his mother and his brother
John, and these we had better send off at once by a messenger, as
also the private letters to the earl."
"That I will take myself," Mr. Vickars said. "I was just going up
to him to speak about my parish affairs when you arrived."
"You had better have your dinner first," Mrs. Vickars said decidedly.
"When you once get with the earl and begin talking you lose all
account of the time, and only last week kept dinner waiting for two
hours. It is half past eleven now, and I will hurry it on so that
it will be ready a few minutes before noon."
"Very well, my dear; but I will go out into the village at once and
find a messenger to despatch to Crepping Hall with the letters to
Dame Elizabeth and John Vere."
The boys' story was not told until after supper, for as soon as
dinner was over Mr. Vickars went up to the castle with the letters
for the earl. The latter, after reading them, told him that his
cousin spoke most highly of his two sons, and said they had been
of great service, even as far as the saving of his life. The earl
told Mr. Vickars to bring the boys up next day to see him in order
that he might learn a full account of the fighting at Sluys, and
that he hoped they would very often come in, and would, while they
were at home, practise daily with his master of arms at the castle.
"I know, Mr. Vickars, that you had hoped that one of them would
enter the church; but you see that their tastes lie not in that
direction, and it is evident that, as in the case of my cousin
Francis, they are cut out for soldiers."
"I am afraid so," Mr. Vickars said; "and must let them have their
own way, for I hold, that none should be forced to follow the
ministry save those whose natural bent lies that way."
"I don't think they have chosen badly," the earl said. "My cousin
Francis bids fair to make a great soldier, and as they start in
life as his pages they will have every chance of getting on, and
I warrant me that Francis will push their fortunes. Perhaps I may
be able to aid them somewhat myself. If aught comes of this vapouring
of the Spaniards, before the boys return to Holland, they shall
ride with me. I am already arming all the tenantry and having them
practised in warlike exercises, and in the spring I shall fit out
two ships at Harwich to join the fleet that will put to sea should
the Spaniards carry out their threats of invading us."
CHAPTER VI
THE LOSS OF THE SUSAN
There were few people in Hedingham more pleased to see the two lads
on their return than John Lirriper, to whom they paid a visit on
the first day they went out.
"I am glad to see you back, young masters; though, to say the truth,
you are not looking nigh so strong and well as you did when I last
parted from you."
"We shall soon be all right again, John. We have had rather a rough
time of it over there in Sluys."
"Ah, so I have heard tell, Master Geoffrey. Your father read out
from the pulpit a letter the earl had received from Captain Francis
telling about the fighting, and it mentioned that you were both
alive and well and had done good service; but it was only a short
letter sent off in haste the day after he and the others had got
out of the town. I was right glad when I heard it, I can tell you,
for there had been nought talked of here but the siege; and though
your lady mother has not said much to me, I always held myself ready
to slip round the corner or into a house when I saw her come down
the street, for I knew well enough what was in her mind. She was
just saying to herself, 'John Lirriper, if it hadn't been for you
my two boys would not be in peril now. If aught comes to them, it
will be your doing.' And though it was not my fault, as far as I
could see, for Captain Francis took you off my hands, as it were,
and I had no more to say in the matter than a child, still, there
it was, and right glad was I when I heard that the siege was over
and you were both alive.
"I had a bad time of it, I can tell you, when I first got back,
young sirs, for your mother rated me finely; and though your father
said it was not my fault in any way, she would not listen to him,
but said she had given you into my charge, and that I had no right
to hand you over to any others save with your father's
permission--not if it were to the earl himself,--and for a long time
after she would make as if she didn't see me if she met me in the
street. When my wife was ill about that time she sent down broths
and simples to her, but she sent them by one of the maids, and
never came herself save when she knew I was away in my boat.
"However, the day after the reading of that letter she came in
and said she was sorry she had treated me hardly, and that she had
known at heart all along that it was not altogether my fault, and
asked my pardon as nice as if I had been the earl. Of course I said
there was nothing to ask pardon for, and indeed that I thought it
was only natural she should have blamed me, for that I had often
blamed myself, though not seeing how I could have done otherwise.
However, I was right glad when the matter was made up, for it is
not pleasant for a man when the parson's wife sets herself against
him."
"It was certainly hard upon you, John," Geoffrey said; "but I am sure
our mother does not in any way blame you now. You see, we brought
home letters from Captain Vere, or rather Sir Francis, for he has
been knighted now, and he was good enough to speak very kindly of
what we were able to do in the siege. Mother did not say much, but
I am sure that at heart she is very grateful, for the earl himself
came down to the Rectory and spoke warmly about us, and said that
he should always be our fast friend, because we had given his cousin
some help when he was roughly pressed by the Spaniards. I hope we
shall have another sail with you in a short time, for we are not
going back to the Netherlands at present, as things are likely to
be quiet there now. Although he did not say so, I think Sir Francis
thought that we were over young for such rough work, and would be
more useful in a year's time; for, you see, in these sieges even
pages have to take their share in the fighting, and when it comes
to push of pike with the Spaniards more strength and vigour are needed
than we possess at present. So we are to continue our practice at
arms at the castle, and to take part in the drilling of the companies
the earl is raising in case the Spaniards carry out their threat
of invading England."
Mrs. Vickars offered no objection whatever the first time Geoffrey
asked permission to go down to Bricklesey with John Lirriper.
"I have no objection, Geoffrey; and, indeed, now that you have
chosen your own lives and are pages to Sir Francis Vere, it seems
to me that in matters of this kind you can judge for yourself.
Now that you have taken to soldiering and have borne your part in
a great siege, and have even yourselves fought with the Spaniards,
I deem it that you have got beyond my wing, and must now act in all
small matters as it pleases you; and that since you have already
run great danger of your lives, and may do so again ere long, it
would be folly of me to try to keep you at my apron strings and to
treat you as if you were still children."
So the two lads often accompanied John Lirriper to Bricklesey,
and twice sailed up the river to London and back in Joe Chambers'
smack, these jaunts furnishing a pleasant change to their work of
practising with pike and sword with the men-at-arms at the castle,
or learning the words of command and the work of officers in drilling
the newly raised corps. One day John Lirriper told them that his
nephew was this time going to sail up the Medway to Rochester,
and would be glad to take them with him if they liked it; for they
were by this time prime favourites with the master of the Susan.
Although their mother had told them that they were at liberty to
go as they pleased, they nevertheless always made a point of asking
permission before they went away.
"If the wind is fair we shall not be long away on this trip, mother.
Two days will take us up to Rochester; we shall be a day loading
there, and shall therefore be back on Saturday if the wind serves,
and may even be sooner if the weather is fine and we sail with
the night tides, as likely enough we shall, for the moon is nearly
full, and there will be plenty of light to keep our course free of
the sands."
The permission was readily given. Mrs. Vickars had come to see that
it was useless to worry over small matters, and therefore nodded
cheerfully, and said she would give orders at once for a couple of
chickens to be killed and other provision prepared for their voyage.
"I do not doubt you are going to have a rougher voyage than usual
this time, young masters," John Lirriper said when the boat was
approaching Bricklesey. "The sky looks wild, and I think there is
going to be a break in the weather. However, the Susan is a stout
boat, and my nephew a careful navigator."
"I should like a rough voyage for a change, John," Geoffrey said.
"We have always had still water and light winds on our trips, and
I should like a good blow."
"Well, I think you will have one; though may be it will only come
on thick and wet. Still I think there is wind in those clouds, and
that if it does come it will be from the southeast, in which case
you will have a sharp buffeting. But you will make good passage
enough down to the Nore once you are fairly round the Whittaker."
"Glad to see you, young masters," Joe Chambers said, as the boat
came alongside his craft. "You often grumbled at the light winds,
but unless I am mistaken we shall be carrying double reefs this
journey. What do you think, Uncle John?"
"I have been saying the same, lad; still there is no saying. You
will know more about it in a few hours' time."
It was evening when the boys went on board the Susan, and as soon
as supper was over they lay down, as she was to start at daybreak
the next morning. As soon as they were roused by the creaking of
the blocks and the sound of trampling of feet overhead they went up
on deck. Day had just broken; the sky was overspread by dark clouds.
"There is not much wind after all," Geoffrey said as he looked
round.
"No, it has fallen light during the last two hours," the skipper
replied, "but I expect we shall have plenty before long. However,
we could do with a little more now."
Tide was half out when they started. Joe Chambers had said the night
before that he intended to drop down to the edge of the sands and
there anchor, and to make across them past the Whittaker Beacon
into the channel as soon as there was sufficient water to enable
him to do so. The wind was light, sometimes scarcely sufficient
to belly out the sails and give the boat steerage way, at others
coming in short puffs which heeled her over and made her spring
forward merrily.
Before long the wind fell lighter and lighter, and at last Joe
Chambers ordered the oars to be got out.
"We must get down to the edge of the Buxey," he said, "before the
tide turns, or we shall have it against us, and with this wind we
should never be able to stem it, but should be swept up the Crouch.
At present it is helping us, and with a couple of hours' rowing we
may save it to the Buxey."
The boys helped at the sweeps, and for two hours the creaking of
the oars and the dull flapping of the sail alone broke the silence
of the calm; and the lads were by no means sorry when the skipper
gave the order for the anchor to be dropped.
"I should like to have got about half a mile further," he said;
"but I can see by the landmarks that we are making no way now. The
tide is beginning to suck in."
"How long will it be before we have water enough to cross the Spit?"
Lionel asked as they laid in the oars.
"Well nigh four hours, Master Lionel. Then, even if it keeps a
stark calm like this, we shall be able to get across the sands and
a mile or two up the channel before we meet the tide. There we must
anchor again till the first strength is past, and then if the wind
springs up we can work along at the edge of the sands against it.
There is no tide close in to the sands after the first two hours.
But I still think this is going to turn into wind presently; and
if it does it will be sharp and heavy, I warrant. It's either that
or rain."
The sky grew darker and darker until the water looked almost black
under a leaden canopy.
"I wish we were back into Bricklesey," Joe Chambers said. "I have
been well nigh fifteen years going backwards and forwards here, and
I do not know that ever I saw an awkwarder look about the sky. It
reminds me of what I have heard men who have sailed to the Indies
say they have seen there before a hurricane breaks. If it was
not that we saw the clouds flying fast overhead when we started,
I should have said it was a thick sea fog that had rolled in upon
us. Ah, there is the first drop. I don't care how hard it comes
down so that there is not wind at the tail of it. A squall of wind
before rain is soon over; but when it follows rain you will soon
have your sails close reefed. You had best go below or you will be
wet through in a minute."
The great drops were pattering down on the deck and causing splashes
as of ink on the surface of the oily looking water. Another half
minute it was pouring with such a mighty roar on the deck that the
boys below needed to shout to make each other heard. It lasted but
five minutes, and then stopped as suddenly as it began. The lads
at once returned to the deck.
"So it is all over, Master Chambers."
"Well the first part is over, but that is only a sort of a beginning.
Look at that light under the clouds away to the south of east. That
is where it is coming from, unless I am mistaken. Turn to and get
the mainsail down, lads," for although after dropping anchor the
head sails had been lowered, the main and mizzen were still on her.
The men set to work, and the boys helped to stow the sail and
fasten it with the tiers. Suddenly there was a sharp puff of wind.
It lasted a few seconds only, then Joe Chambers pointed towards
the spot whence a hazy light seemed to come.
"Here it comes," he said. "Do you see that line of white water?
That is a squall and no mistake. I am glad we are not under sail."
There was a sharp, hissing sound as the line of white water
approached them, and then the squall struck them with such force
and fury that the lads instinctively grasped at the shrouds. The
mizzen had brought the craft in a moment head to wind, and Joe
Chambers and the two sailors at once lowered it and stowed it away.
"Only put a couple of tiers on," the skipper shouted. "We may have
to upsail again if this goes on."
The sea got up with great rapidity, and a few minutes after the
squall had struck them the Susan was beginning to pitch heavily. The
wind increased in force, and seemed to scream rather than whistle
in the rigging.
"The sea is getting up fast!" Geoffrey shouted in the skipper's
ear as he took his place close to him.
"It won't be very heavy yet," Joe Chambers replied; "the sands
break its force. But the tide has turned now, and as it makes over
the sand there will be a tremendous sea here in no time; that is
if this wind holds, and it seems to me that it is going to be an
unusual gale altogether."
"How long will it be before we can cross the Spit?"
"We are not going to cross today, that's certain," the skipper
said. "There will be a sea over those sands that would knock the
life out of the strongest craft that ever floated. No, I shall wait
here for another hour or two if I can, and then slip my cable and
run for the Crouch. It is a narrow channel, and I never care about
going into it after dark until there is water enough for a craft
of our draught over the sands. It ain't night now, but it is well
nigh as dark. There is no making out the bearings of the land, and
we have got to trust to the perches the fishermen put up at the
bends of the channel. However, we have got to try it. Our anchors
would never hold here when the sea gets over the sands, and if they
did they would pull her head under water.
In half an hour a sea had got up that seemed to the boys tremendous.
Dark as it was they could see in various directions tracts of white
water where the waves broke wildly over the sands. The second anchor
had been let go some time before. The two cables were as taut as
iron bars, and the boat was pulling her bow under every sea. Joe
Chambers dropped a lead line overboard and watched it closely.
"We are dragging our anchors," he said. "There is nothing for it
but to run."
He went to the bow, fastened two logs of wood by long lines to
the cables outside the bow, so that he could find and recover the
anchors on his return, then a very small jib was hoisted, and as it
filled two blows with an axe severed the cables inboard. The logs
attached to them were thrown over, and the skipper ran aft and put
up the helm as the boat's head payed off before the wind. As she
did so a wave struck her and threw tons of water on board, filling
her deck nearly up to the rails. It was well Joe had shouted to
the boys to hold on, for had they not done so they would have been
swept overboard.
Another wave struck them before they were fairly round, smashing in
the bulwark and sweeping everything before it, and the boys both
thought that the Susan was sinking under their feet. However she
recovered herself. The water poured our through the broken bulwark,
and the boat rose again on the waves as they swept one after
another down upon her stern. The channel was well marked now, for
the sands on either side were covered with breaking water. Joe
Chambers shouted to the sailors to close reef the mizzen and hoist
it, so that he might have the boat better under control. The wind
was not directly astern but somewhat on the quarter; and small as
was the amount of sail shown, the boat lay over till her lee rail
was at times under water; the following waves yawing her about so
much that it needed the most careful steering to prevent her from
broaching to.
"It seems to me as the wind is northering!" one of the men shouted.
The skipper nodded and slackened out the sheet a bit as the wind
came more astern. He kept his eyes fixed ahead of him, and the men
kept gazing through the gloom.
"There is the perch," one of them shouted presently, "just on her
weather bow!"
The skipper nodded and held on the same course until abreast of the
perch, which was only a forked stick. The men came aft and hauled
in the mizzen sheet. Chambers put up the helm. The mizzen came
across with a jerk, and the sheet was again allowed to run out.
The jib came over with a report like the shot of a cannon, and at
the same moment split into streamers.
"Hoist the foresail!" the skipper shouted, and the men sprang forward
and seized the halliards; but at this moment the wind seemed to
blow with a double fury, and the moment the sail was set it too
split into ribbons.
"Get up another jib!" Joe Chambers shouted, and one of the men
sprang below. In half a minute he reappeared with another sail.
"Up with it quick, Bill. We are drifting bodily down on the sand."
Bill hurried forward. The other hand had hauled in the traveller,
to which the bolt rope of the jib was still attached, and hauling
on this had got the block down and in readiness for fastening on
the new jib. The sheets were hooked on, and then while one hand
ran the sail out with the out haul to the bowsprit end, the other
hoisted with the halliards. By this time the boat was close to the
broken water. As the sail filled her head payed off towards it.
The wind lay her right over, and before she could gather way there
was a tremendous crash. The Susan had struck on the sands. The next
wave lifted her, but as it passed on she came down with a crash
that seemed to shake her in pieces. Joe Chambers relaxed his grasp
of the now useless tiller.
"It is all over," he said to the boys. "Nothing can save her now.
If she had been her own length farther off the sands she would have
gathered way in time. As it is another ten minutes and she will be
in splinters."
She was now lying over until her masthead was but a few feet above
water. The seas were striking her with tremendous force, pouring
a deluge of water over her.
"There is but one chance for you," he went on. "The wind is dead
on the shore, and Foulness lies scarce three miles to leeward."
He went into the cabin and fetched out a small axe fastened in the
companion where it was within reach of the helmsman. Two blows cut
the shrouds of the mizzen, a few vigorous strokes were given to the
foot of the mast, and, as the boat lifted and crashed down again
on the sand, it broke off a few inches above the deck.
"Now, lads, I will lash you loosely to this. You can both swim,
and with what aid it will give you may well reach the shore. There
are scarce three feet of water here, and except where one or two
deeps pass across it there is no more anywhere between this and
the land. It will not be rough very far. Now, be off at once; the
boat will go to pieces before many minutes. I and the two men will
take to the mainmast, but I want to see you off first."
Without hesitation the boys pushed off with the mast. As they did
so a cataract of water poured over the smack upon them, knocking
them for a moment under the surface with its force.
For the next few minutes it was a wild struggle for life. They
found at once that they were powerless to swim in the broken water,
which, as it rushed across the sand, impelled alike by the rising
tide behind it and the force of the wind, hurried them along at a
rapid pace, breaking in short steep waves. They could only cling to
the mast and snatch a breath of air from time to time as it rolled
over and over. Had they not been able to swim they would very
speedily have been drowned; but, accustomed as they were to diving,
they kept their presence of mind, holding their breath when under
water and breathing whenever they were above it with their faces
to the land. It was only so that they could breathe, for the air
was thick with spray, which was swept along with such force by the
wind that it would have drowned the best swimmer who tried to face
it as speedily as if he had been under water.
After what seemed to them an age the waves became somewhat less
violent, though still breaking in a mass of foam. Geoffrey loosed
his hold of the spar and tried to get to his feet. He was knocked
down several times before he succeeded, but when he did so found
that the water was little more than two feet deep, although the
waves rose to his shoulders. The soft mud under his feet rendered
it extremely difficult to stand, and the rope which attached him
to the spar, which was driving before him, added to the difficulty.
He could not overtake the mast, and threw himself down again and
swam to it.
"Get up, Lionel!" he shouted; "we can stand here." But Lionel was
too exhausted to be capable of making the effort. With the greatest
difficulty Geoffrey raised him to his feet and supported him with
his back to the wind.
"Get your breath again!" he shouted. "We are over the worse now and
shall soon be in calmer water. Get your feet well out in front of
you, if you can, and dig your heels into the mud, then you will
act as a buttress to me and help me to keep my feet."
It was two or three minutes before Lionel was able to speak. Even
during this short time they had been carried some distance forward,
for the ground on which they stood seemed to be moving, and the
force of the waves carried them constantly forward.
"Feel better, old fellow?" Geoffrey asked, as he felt Lionel making
an effort to resist the pressure of the water.
"Yes, I am better now," Lionel said.
"Well, we will go on as we are as long as we can; let us just try
to keep our feet and give way to the sea as it rakes us along. The
quicker we go the sooner we shall be in shallower water; but the
tide is rising fast, and unless we go on it will speedily be as
bad here as it was where we started."
As soon as Lionel had sufficiently recovered they again took to
the spar; but now, instead of clasping it with their arms and legs,
they lay with their chest upon it, and used their efforts only to
keep it going before the wind and tide. Once they came to a point
where the sand was but a few inches under water. Here they stood
up for some minutes, and then again proceeded on foot until the
water deepened to their waists.
Their progress was now much more easy, for the high bank had broken
the run of the surf. The water beyond it was much smoother, and
they were able to swim, pushing the spar before them.
"We are in deep water," Geoffrey said presently, dropping his feet.
"It is out of my depth. Chambers said there was a deep channel
across the sands not far from the island; so in that case the shore
cannot be far away."
In another quarter of an hour the water was again waist deep.
Geoffrey stood up.
"I think I see a dark line ahead, Lionel; we shall soon be there."
Another ten minutes and the water was not above their knees. They
could see the low shore now at a distance of but a few hundred yards
ahead, and untying the ropes under their arms they let the spar
drift on, and waded forward until they reached the land. There was
a long mud bank yet to cross, and exhausted as they were it took
them a long time to do this; but at last they came to a sandy bank
rising sharply some ten feet above the flat. They threw themselves
down on this and lay for half an hour without a word being spoken.
"Now, Lionel," Geoffrey said at last, raising himself to a sitting
position, "we must make an effort to get on and find a shelter.
There are people living in the island. I have heard that they are
a wild set, making their living by the wrecks on these sands and
by smuggling goods without paying dues to the queen. Still, they
will not refuse us shelter and food, and assuredly there is nothing
on us to tempt them to plunder us."
He rose to his feet and helped Lionel up. Once on the top of the
bank a level country stretched before them. The wind aided their
footsteps, sweeping along with such tremendous force that at times
they had difficulty in keeping their feet. As they went on they came
upon patches of cultivated land, with hedgerows and deep ditches.
Half a mile further they perceived a house. On approaching it
they saw that it was a low structure of some size with several out
buildings. They made their way to it and knocked at the door. They
knocked twice before it was opened, then some bolts were withdrawn.
The door was opened a few inches. A man looked out, and seeing two
lads opened it widely.
"Well, who are you, and what do you want?" he asked roughly.
"We have been wrecked in a storm on the sands. We were sailing from
Bricklesey for Sheerness when the storm caught us."
The man looked at them closely. Their pale faces and evidently
exhausted condition vouched for the truth of their story.
"The house is full," he said gruffly, "and I cannot take in strangers.
You will find some dry hay in that out house, and I will bring you
some food there. When you have eaten and drunk you had best journey
on."
So saying he shut the door in their faces.
"This is strange treatment," Geoffrey said. "I should not have
thought a man would have refused shelter to a dog such a day as
this. What do you say, Lionel, shall we go on?"
"I don't think I can go any further until I have rested, Geoffrey,"
Lionel replied faintly. "Let us lie down in shelter if it is only
for half an hour. After that, if the man brings us some food as he
says, we can go on again."
They went into the shed the man had pointed out. It was half full
of hay.
"Let us take our things off and wring them, Lionel, and give ourselves
a roll in the hay to dry ourselves. We shall soon get warm after
that."
They stripped, wrung the water from their clothes, rolled themselves
in the hay until they felt a glow of returning warmth, and then
put on their clothes again. Scarcely had they done so when the man
came in with a large tankard and two hunks of bread.
"Here," he said, "drink this and then be off. We want no strangers
hanging round here."
At any other time the boys would have refused hospitality so
cheerlessly offered, but they were too weak to resist the temptation.
The tankard
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