by G. A. Henty
BY ENGLAND'S AID
CHAPTER I
AN EXCURSION
"And we beseech Thee, O Lord, to give help and succour to Thy servantsthe people of Holland, and to deliver them from the cruelties andpersecutions of their wicked oppressors; and grant Thy blessing, wepray Thee, upon the arms of our soldiers now embarking to aid them intheir extremity." These were the words with which the Rev. JohnVickars, rector of Hedingham, concluded the family prayers on themorning of 6th December, 1585.
For twenty years the first portion of this prayer had been repeateddaily by him, as it had been in tens of thousands of Englishhouseholds; for since the people of the Netherlands first rose againstthe Spanish yoke the hearts of the Protestants of England had beatwarmly in their cause, and they had by turns been moved to admirationat the indomitable courage with which the Dutch struggled forindependence against the might of the greatest power in Europe, and tohorror and indignation at the pitiless cruelty and wholesale massacresby which the Spaniards had striven to stamp out resistance.
From the first the people of England would gladly have joined in thefray, and made common cause with their co-religionists; but the queenand her counsellors had been restrained by weighty considerations fromembarking in such a struggle. At the commencement of the war the powerof Spain overshadowed all Europe. Her infantry were regarded asirresistible. Italy and Germany were virtually her dependencies, andEngland was but a petty power beside her. Since Agincourt was fought wehad taken but little part in wars on the Continent. The feudal systemwas extinct; we had neither army nor military system; and the onlyEnglishmen with the slightest experience of war were those who had goneabroad to seek their fortunes, and had fought in the armies of one orother of the continental powers. Nor were we yet aware of our navalstrength. Drake and Hawkins and the other bucaneers had not yetcommenced their private war with Spain, on what was known as theSpanish main--the waters of the West Indian Islands--and no one dreamedthat the time was approaching when England would be able to hold herown against the strength of Spain on the seas.
Thus, then, whatever the private sentiments of Elizabeth and hercounsellors, they shrank from engaging England in a life and deathstruggle with the greatest power of the time; though as the strugglewent on the queen's sympathy with the people of the Netherlands wasmore and more openly shown. In 1572 she was present at a parade ofthree hundred volunteers who mustered at Greenwich under Thomas Morganand Roger Williams for service in the Netherlands. Sir HumphreyGilbert, half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, went out a few monthslater with 1500 men, and from that time numbers of English volunteerscontinued to cross the seas and join in the struggle against theSpaniards. Nor were the sympathies of the queen confined to allowingher subjects to take part in the fighting; for she sent out large sumsof money to the Dutch, and as far as she could, without openly joiningthem, gave them her aid.
Spain remonstrated continually against these breaches of neutrality,while the Dutch on their part constantly implored her to join themopenly; but she continued to give evasive answers to both parties untilthe assassination of William of Orange on 10th July, 1584, sent athrill of horror through England, and determined the queen and heradvisers to take a more decisive part in the struggle. In the followingJune envoys from the States arrived in London, and were received withgreat honour, and a treaty between the two countries was agreed upon.Three months later the queen published a declaration to her people andto Europe at large, setting forth the terrible persecutions andcruelties to which "our next neighbours, the people of the LowCountries," the special allies and friends of England, had beenexposed, and stating her determination to aid them to recover theirliberty. The proclamation concluded: "We mean not hereby to makeparticular profit to ourself and our people, only desiring to obtain,by God's favour, for the Countries, a deliverance of them from war bythe Spaniards and foreigners, with a restitution of their ancientliberties and government."
Sir Thomas Cecil was sent out at once as governor of Brill, and SirPhilip Sidney as governor of Flushing, these towns being handed over toEngland as guarantees by the Dutch. These two officers, with bodies oftroops to serve as garrisons, took charge of their respectivefortresses in November. Orders were issued for the raising of an armyfor service in the Low Countries, and Dudley, Earl of Leicester, wasappointed by the queen to its command. The decision of the queen wasreceived with enthusiasm in England as well as in Holland, and althoughthe Earl of Leicester was not personally popular, volunteers flocked tohis standard.
Breakfast at Hedingham Rectory had been set at an earlier hour thanusual on the 6th of December, 1585. There was an unusual stir andexcitement in the village, for young Mr. Francis Vere, cousin of theEarl of Oxford, lord of Hedingham and of all the surrounding country,was to start that morning to ride to Colchester, there to join the Earlof Leicester and his following as a volunteer. As soon as breakfast wasover young Geoffrey and Lionel Vickars, boys of fourteen and thirteenyears old, proceeded to the castle close by, and there mounted thehorses provided for them, and rode with Francis Vere to Colchester.
Francis, who was at this time twenty-five years old, was accompanied byhis elder brother, John, and his two younger brothers, Robert andHorace, and by many other friends; and it was a gay train that cantereddown the valley of the Colne to Colchester. That ancient town was allastir. Gentlemen had ridden in from all the country seats and manorsfor many miles round, and the quiet streets were alive with people. Attwo o'clock in the afternoon news arrived that the earl wasapproaching, and, headed by the bailiffs of the town in scarlet gowns,the multitude moved out to meet the earl on the Lexden road. Presentlya long train was seen approaching; for with Leicester were the Earl ofEssex, Lords North and Audley, Sir William Russell, Sir Thomas Shirley,and other volunteers, to the number of five hundred horse. All weregaily attired and caparisoned, and the cortege presented a mostbrilliant appearance. The multitude cheered lustily, the bailiffspresented an address, and followed by his own train and by thegentlemen 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, whilehis followers were distributed among the houses of the townsfolk. Twohours after the arrival of the earl, the party from Hedingham tookleave of Mr. Francis Vere.
"Good-bye, lads," he said to the young Vickars. "I will keep mypromise, never fear; and if the struggle goes on till you are oldenough to carry arms, I will, if I am still alive, take you under myleading and teach you the art of war."
Upon the following day the Earl of Leicester and his following rode toManningtree, and took boat down the Stour to Harwich, where the fleet,under Admiral William Borough, was lying. Here they embarked, and onthe 9th of December sailed for Flushing, where they were joined byanother 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 incommand of Bergen-op-Zoom, and had taken part in the first brush withthe enemy, when a party of the garrison marched out and attacked agreat convoy of four hundred and fifty waggons going to Antwerp, killedthree hundred of the enemy, took eighty prisoners, and destroyed alltheir waggons except twenty-seven, which they carried into the town.Leicester provisioned the town of Grave, which was besieged by the Dukeof Parma, the Spanish commander-in-chief. Axel was captured bysurprise, the volunteers swimming across the moat at night, andthrowing open the gates. Doesburg was captured, and Zutphen besieged.
Parma marched to its relief, and, under cover of a thick fog, succeededin getting close at hand before it was known that he was near. Then theEnglish knights and volunteers, 200 in number, mounted in hot haste andcharged a great Spanish column of 5000 horse and foot. They were led bySir William Russell, under whom were Lords Essex, North, Audley, andWilloughby, behind the last of whom rode Francis Vere. For two hoursthis little band of horse fought desperately in the midst of theSpanish cavalry, and forced them at last to fall back, but werethemselves obliged to retreat when the Spanish infantry
came up andopened fire upon them. The English loss was 34 killed and wounded,while 250 of the Spaniards were slain, and three of their colourscaptured. Among the wounded on the English side was the very nobleknight Sir Philip Sidney, who was shot by a musket-ball, and died threeweeks afterwards.
The successes of the English during these two years werecounterbalanced by the cowardly surrender of Grave by its governor, andby the treachery of Sir William Stanley, governor of Deventer, and ofRoland Yorke, who commanded the garrisons of the two forts known as theZutphen Sconces. Both these officers turned traitors and delivered upthe posts they commanded to the Spaniards. Their conduct not onlycaused great material loss to the allies, but it gave rise to much badfeeling between the English and Dutch, the latter complaining that theyreceived but half-hearted assistance from the English.
It was not surprising, however, that Leicester was unable to effectmore with the little force under his command, for it was necessary notonly to raise soldiers, but to invent regulations and discipline. TheSpanish system was adopted, and this, the first English regular army,was trained and appointed precisely upon the system of the foe withwhom they were fighting. It was no easy task to convert a body of braveknights and gentlemen and sturdy country men into regular troops, andto give them the advantages conferred by discipline and order. But thework was rendered the less difficult by the admixture of the volunteerswho had been bravely fighting for ten years under Morgan, RowlandWilliams, John Norris, and others. These had had a similar experienceon their first arrival in Holland. Several times in their earlyencounters with the Spaniards the undisciplined young troops hadbehaved badly; but they had gained experience from their reverses, andhad proved themselves fully capable of standing in line even againstthe splendid pikemen of Spain.
While the English had been drilling and fighting in Holland things hadgone on quietly at Hedingham. The village stands near the head watersof the Colne and Stour, in a rich and beautiful country. On a risingground behind it stood the castle of the Veres, which was approachedfrom the village by a drawbridge across the moat. There were few morestately piles in England than the seat of the Earl of Oxford. On oneside of the great quadrangle was the gate-house and a lofty tower, onanother the great hall and chapel and the kitchens, on a third thesuites of apartments of the officials and retinue. In rear were thestables and granaries, the butts and tennis-court, beyond which was thecourt of the tournaments.
In the centre of the quadrangle rose the great keep, which stillstands, the finest relic of Norman civil architecture in England. Itpossessed great strength, and at the same time was richly ornamentedwith carving. The windows, arches, and fireplaces were decorated withchevron carvings. A beautiful spiral pattern enriched the doorway andpillars of the staircase leading to galleries cut in the thickness ofthe wall, with arched openings looking into the hall below. The outlookfrom the keep extended over the parishes of Castle Hedingham, SybilHedingham, Kirby, and Tilbury, all belonging to the Veres--whoseproperty extended far down the pretty valley of the Stour--with thestately Hall of Long Melford, the Priory of Clare, and the little townof Lavenham; indeed the whole country was dotted with the farmhousesand manors of the Veres. Seven miles down the valley of the Colne liesthe village of Earl's Colne, with the priory, where ten of the earls ofOxford lie buried with their wives.
The parish church of Castle Hedingham stood at the end of the littlevillage street, and the rectory of Mr. Vickars was close by. The partygathered at morning prayers consisted of Mr. Vickars and his wife,their two sons, Geoffrey and Lionel, and the maid-servants, Ruth andAlice. The boys, now fourteen and fifteen years old respectively, werestrong-grown and sturdy lads, and their father had long since ownedwith a sigh that neither of them was likely to follow his professionand fill the pulpit at Hedingham Church when he was gone. Nor was thisto be wondered at, for lying as it did at the entrance to the greatcastle of the Veres, the street of the little village was constantlyfull of armed men, and resounded with the tramp of the horses ofrichly-dressed knights and gay ladies.
Here came great politicians, who sought the friendship and support ofthe powerful earls of Oxford, nobles and knights, their kinsmen andallies, gentlemen from the wide-spreading manors of the family, stoutfighting-men who wished to enlist under their banner. At night thesound of music from the castle told of gay entertainments and festivedances, while by day parties of knights and ladies with dogs andfalcons sallied out to seek sport over the wide domains. It couldhardly be expected, then, that lads of spirit, brought up in the midstof sights and sounds like these, should entertain a thought of settlingdown to the tranquil life of the church. As long as they couldremember, their minds had been fixed upon being soldiers, and fightingsome day under the banner of the Veres. They had been a good deal inthe castle; for Mr. Vickars had assisted Arthur Golding, the learnedinstructor 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 hadafterwards been tutor to the earl's cousins, John, Francis, Robert, andHorace, the sons of Geoffrey, fourth son of the 15th earl. These boyswere born in 1558, 1560, 1562, and 1565, and lived with their mother atKirby Hall, a mile from the Castle of Hedingham.
The earl was much attached to his old instructor, and when he was atthe 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'smen-at-arms had orders to afford them all necessary teaching in the useof weapons.
Mr. Vickars considered it his duty to accept the invitations of hisfriend and patron, but he sorely grudged the time so abstracted fromhis favourite books. It was, indeed, a relief to him when the earl,whose love of profusion and luxury made serious inroads even into thesplendid possessions of the Veres, went up to court, and peace andquietness reigned in the castle. The rector was fonder of going toKirby, where John, Geoffrey's eldest son, lived quietly and soberly,his three younger brothers having, when mere boys, embraced theprofession of arms, placing themselves under the care of the goodsoldier Sir William Browne, who had served for many years in the LowCountries. They occasionally returned home for a time, and were pleasedto take notice of the sons of their old tutor, although Geoffrey wassix years junior to Horace, the youngest of the brothers.
The young Vickars had much time to themselves, much more indeed thantheir mother considered to be good for them. After their breakfast,which was finished by eight o'clock, their father took them for an hourand heard the lessons they had prepared the day before, and gave theminstruction in the Latin tongue. Then they were supposed to study tillthe bell rang for dinner at twelve; but there was no one to see thatthey did so, for their father seldom came outside his library door, andtheir mother was busy with her domestic duties and in dispensingsimples to the poor people, who, now that the monasteries were closed,had no medical aid save that which they got from the wives of thegentry or ministers, or from the wise women, of whom there wasgenerally one in every village.
Therefore, after half an hour, or at most an hour, spent in getting uptheir tasks, the books would be thrown aside, and the boys be off,either to the river or up to the castle to practise sword-play with themen-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 theypleased. Their long excursions were, however, generally deferred untilafter dinner, as they were then free until supper-time, and even ifthey did not return after that hour Mrs. Vickars did not chide themunduly, being an easy-going woman, and always ready to make excuses forthem.
There were plenty of fish in the river; and the boys knew the poolsthey loved best, and often returned with their baskets well filled.There were otters on its banks, too; but, though they sometimes chasedthese pretty creatures, Tan and Turk, their two dogs, knew as well astheir masters that they had but small chance of catching them.Sometimes they would take a boat at the bridge and drop down the streamfor miles, and once or twice had even gone down to Brickle
sey[Footnote: Now Brightlingsea.] at the mouth of the river. This,however, was an expedition that they never performed alone, making iteach time in charge of Master Lirriper, who owned a flat barge, andtook produce down to Bricklesey, there to be transhipped into coastersbound for London. He had a married daughter there, and it was at herhouse the boys had slept when they went there; for the journey down andup again was too long to be performed in a single day.
But this was not the only distant expedition they had made, for theyhad once gone down the Stour as far as Harwich with their father whenhe was called thither on business. To them Harwich with its old wallsand the houses crowded up within them, and its busy port with vesselscoming in and going out, was most delightful, and they always talkedabout that expedition as one of the most pleasant recollections oftheir lives.
After breakfast was over on 1st of May, 1587, and they had done theirlessons with their father, and had worked for an hour by themselves,the boys put by their books and strolled down the village to thebridge. There as usual stood their friend Master Lirriper with hishands deep in his pockets, a place and position in which he was sure tobe 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 to-day?"
"No, sir. I am going to-morrow, and this time I shall be away four orfive days--maybe even a week."
"Shall you?" the boys exclaimed in surprise. "Why, what are you goingto 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 ofspeech, but as the minutes went on and he did not absolutely refuse theboys exchanged glances of excitement and hope.
"I dunno how that might be, young sirs," John Lirriper said slowly,after long cogitation. "I dus-say 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 andask him, Master Lirriper, and say that you will take care of us, youknow, I don't see why he should say no."
"Like enough you would be ill," John Lirriper said after another longpause. "It's pretty rough sometimes."
"Oh, we shouldn't mind that," Lionel protested. "We should like to seethe waves and to be in a real ship."
"It's nothing much of a ship," the boatman said. "She is a ketch ofabout ten tons and carries three hands."
"Oh, we don't care how small she is if we can only go in her; and youwould 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 wasputting wandering thoughts into your heads; and Mistress Vickars mightthink it a great liberty on my part."
"Oh, no, she wouldn't, Master Lirriper. Besides, we will say we askedyou."
"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 yearor 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 bedone. Do come up with us at once," and each of them got hold of one ofthe boatman's arms.
"Well, the parson can but say no," he said, as he suffered himself tobe dragged away. "And I don't say as it isn't reasonable that youshould like to see something of the world, young sirs; but I don't knowhow the parson will take it."
Mr. Vickars looked up irritably from his books when the servant came inand said that Master Lirriper wished to see him.
"What does he want at this hour?" he said. "You know, Ruth, I never seepeople before dinner. Any time between that and supper I am at theirservice, but it's too bad being disturbed now."
"I told him so, sir; but Master Geoffrey and Master Lionel were withhim, and they said he wanted particular to see you, and they wantedparticular 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 likethis. Well, Master Lirriper, what is it?" he asked, as the boatmanaccompanied by Geoffrey and Lionel entered the room. Master Lirripertwirled his hat in his hand. Words did not come easily to him at thebest of times, and this was a business that demanded thought and care.Long before he had time to fix upon an appropriate form of wordsGeoffrey broke in:
"This is what it is, father. Master Lirriper is going down the river toBricklesey to-morrow, 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 itis she carries; and she's going to London, and he is going in her, andhe says if you will let him he will take us with him, and will show usLondon, and take great care of us. It will be glorious, father, if youwill 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 hardlytook in the meaning of Geoffrey's words.
"Going in a ketch!" he repeated. "Going to catch something, I supposeyou 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 aketch, 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 abig mizzen sail. That's what she is, you see; and he is going to showus London, and will take great care of us if you will let us go withhim."
"Do you mean, Master Lirriper," Mr. Vickars asked slowly, "that you aregoing to London in some sort of ship, and want to take my sons withyou?"
"Well, sir, I am going to London, and the young masters seemed to thinkthat they would like to go with me, if so be you would have noobjection."
"I don't know," Mr. Vicars said. "It is a long passage, MasterLirriper; and, as I have heard, often a stormy one. I don't think mywife--"
"Oh, yes, father," Lionel broke in. "If you say yes, mother is sure tosay yes; she always does, you know. And, you see, it will be a greatthing 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 thequeen."
"I think that they would be comfortable, sir," John Lirriper put in."You see, my nephew's wife is daughter of a citizen, one MasterSwindon, a ship's chandler, and he said there would be a room there forme, and they would make me heartily welcome. Now, you see, sir, theyoung masters could have that room, and I could very well sleep onboard 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 anxiouslyat the book he had left open. "If you say yes, you see it will be agrand thing for you, our being away for a week with nothing to disturbyou."
"Well, well," Mr. Vickars said, "you must ask your mother. If she makesno objection, then I suppose you can go," and Mr. Vickars hastily tookup his book again.
The boys ran off to the kitchen, where their mother was superintendingthe brewing of some broth for a sick woman down the village.
"Mother!" Geoffrey exclaimed, "Master Lirriper's going to London in aketch--a ship with a big mizzen sail, you know--and he has offered totake us with him and show us London. And father has said yes, and it'sall settled if you have no objection; and of course you haven't."
"Going to London, Geoffrey!" Mrs. Vicars exclaimed aghast. "I neverheard of such a thing. Why, like enough you will be drowned on the wayand never come back again. Your father must be mad to t
hink of such athing."
"Oh, no, mother; I am sure it will do us a lot of good. And we may seethe queen, mother. And as for drowning, why, we can both swim ever sofar. Besides, people don't get drowned going to London. Do they MasterLirriper?"
John was standing bashfully at the door of the kitchen. "Well, not as arule, Master Geoffrey," he replied. "They comes and they goes, themthat are used to it, maybe a hundred times without anything happeningto 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 whenfather has agreed to it. Now, mother, please tell Ruth to run away atonce and get a wallet packed with our things. Of course we shall wantour best clothes; because people dress finely in London, and it wouldnever do if we saw the queen and we hadn't our best doublets on, forshe 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 yourfather might have consulted me before he gave his consent to your goingon such a hazardous journey as this.
"He did want to consult you, mother. But then, you see, he wanted toconsult his books even more, and he knew very well that you would agreewith him; and you know you would too. So please don't say anything moreabout 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 doyou start to-morrow? We will be there half an hour before, anyhow."
"I shall go at seven from the bridge. Then I shall just catch the turnof the tide and get to Bricklesey in good time."
"I never did see such boys," Mrs. Vickars said when John Lirriper hadgone on his way. "As for your father, I am surprised at him incountenancing you. You will be running all sorts of risks. You may bedrowned on the way, or killed in a street brawl, or get mixed up in aplot. There is no saying what may not happen. And here it is allsettled before I have even time to think about it, which is mostinconsiderate of your father."
"Oh, we shall get back again without any harm, mother. And as togetting killed in a street brawl, Lionel and I can use our hangers aswell as most of them. Besides, nothing of that sort is going to happento us. Now, mother, please let Ruth go at once, and tell her to put upour puce doublets that we had for the jousting at the castle, and ourred hose and our dark green cloth slashed trunks."
"There is plenty of time for that, Geoffrey, as you are not going untilto-morrow. Besides, I can't spare Ruth now, but she shall see about itafter dinner."
There was little sleep for the boys that night. A visit to London hadlong been one of their wildest ambitions, and they could scarcelybelieve that thus suddenly and without preparation it was about to takeplace. Their father had some time before promised that he would someday make request to one or other of the young Veres to allow them toride to London in his suite, but the present seemed to them an evenmore delightful plan. There would be the pleasure of the voyage, andmoreover it would be much more lively for them to be able to see Londonunder the charge of John Lirriper than to be subject to the ceremonialand restraint that would be enforced in the household of the Veres.They were then at the appointed place a full hour before the timenamed, with wallets containing their clothes, and a basket ofprovisions that their mother had prepared for them. Having stowed theseaway in the little cabin, they walked up and down impatiently untilMaster Lirriper himself appeared.
"You are up betimes, my young masters," the boatman said. "The churchhas not yet struck seven o'clock."
"We have been here ever so long, Master Lirriper. We could not sleepmuch last night, and got up when it chimed five, being afraid that wemight 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 weatherpromises well. I will just go round to the cottage and fetch up mythings, and then we shall be ready."
In ten minutes they pushed off from the shore. John and his man got outlong poles shod with iron, and with these set to work to punt the bargealong. 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 wasladen, and watched the objects on the bank as the boat made her wayquietly along.
Halstead was the first place passed. This was the largest town nearHedingham, and was a place of much importance in their eyes. Then theypassed Stanstead Hall and Earl's Colne on their right, Colne Wake ontheir left, and Chapel Parish on their right. Then there was a longstretch without any large villages, until they came in sight of thebridge above Colchester. A few miles below the town the river began towiden. The banks were low and flat, and they were now entering an armof the sea. Half an hour later the houses and church of Bricklesey camein sight. Tide was almost low when they ran on to the mud abreast ofthe village, but John put on a pair of high boots and carried the boysashore one after the other on his back, and then went up with them tothe house where they were to stop for the night.
Here, although not expected, they were heartily welcomed by John'sdaughter.
"If father had told me that you had been coming, Masters Vickars, Iwould have had a proper dinner for you; but though he sent wordyesterday morning that he should be over today, he did not say a wordabout your coming with them."
"He did not know himself," Geoffrey said; "it was only settled at teno'clock yesterday. But do not trouble yourself about the dinner. In thefirst place, we are so pleased at going that we don't care a bit whatwe eat, and in the second place we had breakfast on board the boat, andwe were both so hungry that I am sure we could go till supper-timewithout 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 fishwent into the frying-pan as you came up from the boat. You know wegenerally dine at half-past eleven, but we saw you coming at a distanceand 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 mySam. Sam, here's father brought these two young gentlemen. They are thesons of Mr. Vickars, the parson at Hedingham. They are going to stophere to-night, and are going with him in the _Susan_ to-morrow toLondon."
"Glad to see you, young masters," Sam said. "I have often heard Anntalk of your good father. I have just been on board the _Susan_, for Iam sending up a couple of score sides of bacon in her, and have beengiving Joe Chambers, her master, a list of things he is to get thereand bring down for me. Now then, girl, bustle about and get dinner onas soon as you can. We are half an hour late. I am sure the younggentlemen here must be hungry. There's nothing like being on the waterfor getting an appetite."
A few minutes later a great dish of fish, a loaf of bread and somewooden platters, were placed on the table, and all set to at once.Forks had not yet come into use, and table-cloths were unknown, exceptamong the upper classes. The boys found that in spite of their heartybreakfast their appetites were excellent. The fish were delicious, thebread was home-baked, and the beer from Colchester, which was alreadyfamous for its brewing. When they had finished, John Lirriper askedthem 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. Ongoing down to the water's edge they found that the tide had risensufficiently 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 downthe stream. We shall just fetch her comfortably."
