CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
HOW WE CAME INTO CALM WATER AFTER ALL.
Ludar's forecast was destined to a swift and sudden fulfilment. The redglare was scarcely out of the west when the wind began to howl andwhistle through our rigging with a presage of the tempest that was tocome. What was of worse omen still, the long streamer on the main-mast,which hitherto had spread due eastward, now suddenly flapped to south-east, showing that the gale was coming upon us from the one quarter wehad most cause to dread, namely, the north-west.
For, as Ludar well knew by this time, unless we could keep the_Gerona's_ head out so as to clear the far Antrim Headlands of Bengoreand Benmore, we ran the peril of being driven in on an iron-bound shore,which had short shrift and little mercy for such as fell upon it.
The danger soon became manifest to others beside Ludar, and once againthe oars were ordered out and the ship's head put across the wind.
Ludar and I were among the party of cursing and mutinous rowers whoseturn it was to be relieved, and we were about to crawl below for asnatch of repose, when a messenger came from Don Alonzo bidding Ludarattend him.
"Come with me," said Ludar, and we followed the man.
Don Alonzo, who, from the moment he could stand upright, had resumed hispost of command, stood in his cabin, pale and stern, surrounded by hisofficers, who, by their uneasy study of the charts before them, wereplainly alive to the peril that threatened the ship.
"Sir Ludar," said he, "your presence on board is not without a fortunatemeaning for us. The account betwixt us runs high already. I have nomeans to pay you, but by demanding a further service at your hands. Youknow this Irish coast well?"
"I have sailed from Malin Head to Cantire in an open galley many a timeas a boy," said Ludar.
"And you know specially the coast about your father's castle, and thisgreat causeway of rocks near it?" said he, pointing on the chart toDunluce and the jagged headlands beyond.
"I know them, every inch," said Ludar.
"Then," said Don Alonzo, "I make a request of you, Sir Ludar, in thename of my master, the King of Spain."
"'Tis more than enough," said he. "Ask me in your own name. I owe you,Sir Don, more than I do the King of Spain."
"Well, then, will you honour me and my company by taking the helm, and,if it be possible, clearing us of the peril which this foul windthreatens?"
"I will do my best," said he. "But I doubt the ship's power to keep acourse across the wind. 'Twill need more than one man at the tiller;and, by your leave, I appoint my comrade here to assist me."
"So be it," said Don Alonzo. "And, whatever befall, we thank you, SirLudar, for this service."
Thus honourably did Ludar McDonnell step, where he deserved, to a postof command on board this ship. As for me, 'twas glory enough to standhis second; and, so soon as I saw his hand on the helm, all my doubts ofour safe passage round the headlands and on to Scotland, were at an end.
Not so his.
"I have undertaken more than I can perform," said he, "and the Don knowsit. If this wind hold, nothing can persuade this lob-sided, ill-trimmedcraft out of the bay. Away with sleep, man! and chain down the helmacross the wind. Bid them put all their strength on the starboardoars."
An hour after that the gale broke in full fury from the north-west. Itmust have caught us some two leagues north of Malin Head; for, as wedrove down before it, we could hear a thunder of breakers on our right,which Ludar pronounced to be the Tor Rocks, off the island ofInstrahull.
"'Tis a mercy to be past them, anyhow," said he. "But see, for all ourturning of the helm, we are driving down the wind."
So indeed we were. To our dismay, the _Gerona_ sailed almost as farsideways as she did forward; and, had we not been well out to seaward tostart with, we might have been hard put to it even to clear theheadlands of Innishowen.
About midnight there was nothing for it but to order the sails to be letgo, and depend only on the oars for our course. After that, for awhile, we went better. But the men, worn-out and dispirited, pulledwith but half a heart; and hour by hour the vessel drifted in, until itwas clear that nothing but a shifting of the wind or standing to atanchor could keep us off the opposite rocks.
Off Innishowen, as we crossed the mouth of the Foyle river, we fell on ashoal of terrible shallows, which spun the _Gerona_ round like a top,and washed her in raging foam from stem to stern.
"Go and tell the Don he must either let go his anchors, or double themen at the oars," said Ludar, when presently we had staggered out againinto blacker water.
Word was given immediately to try the former, and the only two anchorswe had were let over. For a moment or two, as the ship swung round,creaking in every joint, it seemed as if she would ride out the galethus. But with a report like the crack of a gun, first one, then theother of her cables broke short at the gunwale, and we knew we had onlylost time and water in the attempt.
Instantly the Don called upon his nobles to volunteer for the oars.Gallantly they responded; and occupied the after benches, while all theslaves rowed forward. Then, for an hour, the _Gerona_ seemed to holdher own, and reeled across the bay on an eastward course.
But, presently, even the lordlings of Spain flagged, and once again wedrove in, amid the thunder of surf, on an ever nearing shore.
"We should be near the Bann mouth," said I. "To think of the last timewe heard that thunder together!"
"We are clear of that," said Ludar, quietly. "Tell the Don hislordlings must work harder if we are to weather the next point."
I told the Don as much, hat in hand; and once again the gentles gatheredthemselves together and made a course for the labouring ship.
Ludar was breathing hard when I returned to his side.
"That may put us past Ramore," said he. "In the bay beyond that liesDunluce. If we be driven in there, Heaven help us indeed!"
"I would as soon perish there as anywhere else."
"Talk not of perishing, fool, while a hope remains! Bid the Don cutaway his poles forthwith. They are worse than useless now."
So, one after another the stately masts of the _Gerona_ went by theboard, and the ease their going gave us, added to the fresh vigour ofthe rowers, helped us, as Ludar foretold, round the rough little head ofRamore.
No sooner had we passed it than the wind and current together got holdof us again and swept us in betwixt the islands of the Skerries and themainland. Not even twice the number of rowers could have saved us then.
"Listen!" said Ludar presently.
I listened, and could hear ahead of me a thunder deeper and more awfulthan any we had yet passed.
"What is it?" I asked.
"My father's castle," said he. "We are going home with a vengeancenow!"
Scarce a man remained at the oars. We could hear shouts of praying andcursing intermingled, as all hands crowded to the decks and gazedforward in the direction of that warning sound.
A lanthorn on the quarter-deck showed us the Don, standing there alone,bare-headed, in his steel breastplate, and sword in hand, quietlywaiting the end. Beyond was a troubled crowd of doomed men, countingthe moments and straining their eyes into the darkness.
Beside me, on the poop, Ludar stood erect and noble, with the half-defiant, half-triumphant gleam on his face, as, with hands still on thetiller, he listened to the fatal music of his old home ahead.
In the darkness we could see nothing but the white waste of breakers onto which we were driving.
Presently, as we were almost upon them, Ludar grasped my arm, andpointed high overhead.
There was a momentary gleam of light, and with it a glimpse of a ruggedbattlement at the rock's edge.
"Dunluce! Dunluce!" he shouted, and let swing the now useless tiller.
Scarce a minute later the _Gerona_ was in her death agony among thelashing breakers.
For a moment or two she held up bravely. Then with a mighty swirl shereared upward and hung quivering an instant in suspense.
Ludar's hand and mine sought one another, and, as we waited thus, wecould see above us the noble form of Don Alonzo, cool and impassive as aman on parade, saluting his King's ensign for the last time.
Then all I remember was a great yell from the slaves at the poop, andthe dull thunder of a broadside, as the _Gerona_ fell crashing to herdoom.
It was broad daylight when I opened my eyes and saw the sun strugglingto break through the black clouds overhead. The thunder of waves stilldinned in my ear, the salt wind was still on my lips, while a sharp painat my shoulder, when I turned my head to look about me, told me that Iwas at least alive.
The pain was so acute that I closed my eyes again, and opened them nottill I heard the sound of a harsh voice at my side.
What it said I know not, but some one turned me over with his foot, andbrought from me a cry of agony which made him reel a pace or two back inconsternation.
Then, just as I heard another voice, in plain English, say, "Great God,he lives!" all was dim again before my eyes. Once more the pain awakedme; and I found myself lying, I suppose, on some stretcher, being slowlyborne on men's shoulders up a steep path. I was too weak to do aughtbut groan, and my groans my bearers heard not. But at last the Englishvoice said; "Halt, and set him down. He may be dead already and so saveus the pains of carrying him further."
'Twas a voice I knew; but the agony of my setting down made me forgetwhose, until once more bending over me, and putting back the hair frommy brow, the fellow exclaimed:
"Why, this is--mercy on us!--if it be not him they called Dexter."
"What!" cried another voice, "doth Neptunus yield us pearls? and onthese inhospitable shores doth Arion indeed discover his lost 'prentice?hath the Hollander wings to carry--"
"A curse on thy tom-fooling tongue!" said the other. "Hath not the poorwretch had drenching enough, that you must spout thus on the top of him?Say, Humphrey Dexter, how fare you?"
"Is that you, Jack Gedge?"
"Sure enough."
"And Ludar?"
The fellow gave a gasp, but said nothing. And, in the horror of thatsilence, I lost all care of life.
I must have been lying still in the same place when next, with a strangethrill of wonder, I lifted my eyes and saw, bent over me, the sweet faceof my own Jeannette.
"Humphrey," whispered she, as she kissed my wet brow, "is it indeedthou?"
"Ay, sweetheart," said I.
And I forgot all else for a while.
Presently they carried me up to the top of the path, Jeannette walkingwith her hand in mine. And so, till before us rose a grim portal whichI knew well to be the gate of Dunluce.
The sight of that familiar entry recalled to my mind the great burden onmy heart.
"Jeannette," said I, as she bent beside me. "What of Ludar?"
"We hope, dear Humphrey, thine is not the only life saved from thewreck."
"Is he heard of? And the maiden--?" I asked.
"I know not. Till you named him just now, no one knew he was with you.But now the soldier and the poet have gone to seek news. And my dearmistress, I think, waits here."
"She is here? How come you both in Dunluce?" I asked.
"The old McDonnell will not allow the maiden out of his sight, so dearlyhe loves her," said Jeannette.
As soon as I was laid in a bed, and my broken arm set by the castleleech, I revived quickly. And as I did so, the load on my heartconcerning Ludar grew so heavy, that not even the presence of Jeannettecould banish it.
I begged to see the maiden.
'Twas wonderful to see her as she came in, stately and beautiful asever, betraying only in the pallor of her cheeks the terrible anguishthat possessed her.
She came and kissed me like a sister, and then, laying her hand inJeannette's, tears came to her eyes as she gave us joy of our happymeeting, after so much peril.
"Maiden," said I, "we know no happiness while you stand thus desolate.But Ludar lives. As sure as I lie here, you shall find him, and weshall all thank Heaven together."
Her face brightened.
"You have said as much before," said she, "and it has come to pass.Yes, I will hope still."
But her voice fell sadly with the words, and her face turned to thewindow, seaward.
Then she bade me tell her what had passed since we parted in London, andhow Ludar and I came on the _Gerona_. And, hearing of all the chancesthat had befallen us, I think she took a little hope that all thisbuffetting and peril was not assuredly to end in loss.
But she said nothing. Only she kept her hand in Jeannette's; and when Itold her of the horrible scene on the bog by Killybegs, she shuddered,and muttered what, I fear, was a prayer for the soul of a dead man.
"But how come you in Dunluce?" I asked again, presently.
'Twas Jeannette who answered me.
"'Tis easily told, dear Humphrey. After Sir Turlogh departed forDublin, leaving us in charge of this,"--here she shivered--"this CaptainMerriman, my mistress and I kept our chambers, and durst not so much asventure beyond the door. Our good protectors--Heaven reward them!--hadbeen banished the place; and but for a few of the O'Neill's men, whostood in the way, we had not been safe where we were for a day.
"At last, one day, there came suddenly a messenger, purporting to befrom the O'Neill, bidding the Captain send his daughter to him under anescort to Dublin. On this the Captain rudely broke into our chambers,and bade us there and then set out. What could two weak maids do? Wecould read treachery in his wicked eye, yet naught we could say orpretend could put him off; and there and then, without time so much asto speak a word to one another, we were marched forth, like prisoners,and mounted on our steeds.
"Just as we set forth, he came up to the leader of our party, and saidin a whisper I could overhear: 'Remember--the mistress to the house bythe wood, and the little one to Dublin--and hands-off.' Then all thevillainy of the thing flashed on me in a moment. 'Mistress,' cried I,'we are betrayed!' But before the words were out, a rough hand was laidacross my mouth, and we were galloping. Nay, Humphrey," said she,laying her hand gently on mine, "if thou start and toss like this, 'tisa sign my story doeth thee harm, and I will cease."
"Would you have me lie still and hear all this?" cried I, in a fever.
"Yes, dear heart," said she, and that so sweetly that I was forced toobey. "We were galloping away from Castleroe. For a whole day wegalloped, till we were faint and ready to drop. Then, as we came to awood, which I guessed to be the place where my mistress and I were to beparted, our leader suddenly reined in and turned to give an order to theman who held me. As he did so, four men sprang out from among the treesand a horrible fight ensued. In the midst of it, one of the new-comersadvanced to me and said, 'You are safe!' and I knew it to be no otherthan the soldier Gedge himself."
"And he who came to my side," put in the maiden, smiling amid herheaviness, "said: 'Let Diana shake off her clouds. Apollo himself hathcome to lead her out into the Empyrean.'"
"God reward them both for this!" said I.
"Amen," said Jeannette. "Two of the villains they slew and the otherstaggered away, as I fear, mortally wounded. 'Twas him you saw.
"As for us, our rescuers brought us here, where the McDonnell hathwelcomed us, and, as you know, loveth my mistress as his own daughter.Yet, little thought we, as we looked out from the turret window at thestorm last night, and prayed side by side for those at sea, that you,and--and Sir Ludar were coming to us on the wild waves!"
The day wore on, and still neither soldier nor poet nor any news came tocomfort us.
Then I demanded to be taken to Sorley Boy McDonnell, and the maiden ledmy tottering steps to the great hall. There sat the old man, bare-headed and motionless, at the head of the empty table, with his swordlaid out before him. "Is my son come?" demanded he, as we entered.
"Not yet, dear sire," said the maiden, going to him.
"He is not far away, sir," said I; "of that I am sure."
"I know that," said the
old chief, half angrily. "The Banshee has beendumb since Alexander McDonnell fell. Why comes not Ludar? I growimpatient."
Even as he spoke there came a knocking on the door, and a Scot enteredhastily.
He brought news that in a hut a mile eastward of the castle a man hadbeen found, who had been brought up from the shore, dead; and that,further east still, the bodies of--
Here Sorley Boy smote his fist on the table, and ordered the fellow tohold his peace.
"I want no news of the dead," said he, wrathfully, "but of the living.Where is my son Ludar?"
The man slunk off chapfallen.
The maiden knelt beside the old man's chair, and laid her white cheek onhis rough sleeve. Jeannette drew me gently to a bench at the far cornerof the hall, and bade me rest there beside her.
Thus, while the afternoon slowly wore into evening, and the stormwithout moaned itself to sleep, we sat there in silence.
About sundown, just as--despite the sweet presence at my side--I wasgrowing drowsy with weariness and pain, Sorley Boy suddenly uttered anexclamation and rose to his feet. The maiden rose too. And as shestood, motionless but for the heaving of her bosom, the slanting rays ofthe sun caught her and kindled her face into a wondrous glow.
Jeannette's gentle hand restrained me, as the old man, taking a step ortwo down the room as far as the end of the table, stood there facing thedoor. Then there fell on my ears a voice and the ring of a footstep inthe courtyard without. Next moment, the door swung open and Ludarwalked quietly in.
Jeannette led me softly from the place, and kept me cruelly pacing inthe outer darkness for half-an-hour before she said:
"Art thou not going in to welcome thy friend, Humphrey?"
Need I say what passed, when at last we stood all four together in thatgreat hall?
The old chief had taken his seat again at the table, and sat theresolemn and impassive, as if all that had passed had been but theordinary event of an afternoon. But the fire in his eye betrayed him,as now and again he half turned his head to the window where Ludar andthe maiden stood gazing out across the waves.
"Humphrey, my brother," said Ludar, when at last Jeannette and I drewnear, "'tis worth a little storm to be thus in port at last, and to findyou there too."
"Ay, indeed," said I. "And, as you see, there are more than I here togreet you."
Then he stepped up to Jeannette and gazed in her face a moment, andkissed her on the brow.
"Thou art welcome to Dunluce, sister Jeannette," said he.
Jeannette told me afterwards that she never felt so proud in her life aswhen Ludar's lips touched her forehead, and she heard him call hersister.
'Twas not in me to complain that it should be so; for the ways of womenare beyond my understanding.
Presently the old man rose from his seat, and without a word left us toourselves. Ludar then narrated how, when the _Gerona_ broke up, he hadfallen near a broken oar, which held him up and enabled him to reachland almost without a bruise. For a long while he lay in the darkness,not knowing where he was; but when day broke, he found himself in thedeep cave that goes under the castle, a prisoner there by the risingtide, and with no means of escape. For to stem the waves at the mouthwas hopeless, and by no manner of shouting and calling could he make hispresence known to anyone outside.
So all day, faint with hunger, he had perched on a ledge just beyondreach of the tide, and not till evening, when the wind, and with it thewater, subsided, was he able to swim out and come to land at the foot ofthe very path up which, long months ago, he had led the party whorecovered Dunluce for the McDonnells.
His story was scarce ended when a cheering without called us to thecourtyard, where the news of the return of Sir Ludar had gathered theMcDonnells, eager with shouts and music to welcome him.
But Ludar would by no means go out till his father arrived to commandit. Then it did us, who loved him, good to see him stand there, withthe maiden's hand in his, receiving the homage of his clansmen.
While thus we stood, there was an uproar at the gate, as two men foughttheir way through the throng and approached us.
"Jove and the Muses grant their beloved son a soul to celebrate sonotable a festival in the strains which it deserves!" cried the poet,shaking all over with emotion, and his eyes dim with tears. "Achilleshath his Briseis; Odysseus his lost Penelope, and all four have to theirhand an Orpheus (woe's me! without his Eurydice), to chant theirfortunes. Oh! my noble son of a wolf, and thou, my Hollander, how Irejoice to see you, and to hand to your arms the nymphs of whom one day,perhaps, it shall be accounted to their honour that they were nourishedon the dews of Parnassus by the Muses' most unworthy disciple."
"A nice dry nurse you be!" said Jack Gedge. "'Tis a mercy the fairladies have their ear-drums sound after half-a-year of your noisybuzzing in them. Sir Ludar, by your leave, captain, you hold in yourhand what you gave me in charge to keep for you; so I owe you nought butmy farewell."
"Nay," said Ludar. "By heaven, we are all debtors to you both, andshall compel you to own it. And since you both and my comrade here beEnglishmen, let me tell you that, for your sakes, I shall salute yourQueen's ensign when I next see it."
That night the poet related to me with much embellishment and flourishall that had passed since the maids left London, most of which I alreadyknew, yet was not loth to hear again from his lips.
"Thank me no thanks, my Hollander," said he, when once more I blessedhim for the service he had done. "The poet's glory cometh not fromearth. I have, while I waited here, written an excellent and notableepic on the wars of the illustrious house of the McDonnells, the which Iwill even now rehearse thee for thy delectation. And when once morethou art returned to thy press, I reserve for thee the glory ofimprinting three noble copies of the same on paper of vellum, to bebound after the manner of the Venetians, in white, with clasps of gold,to be given, one to my lord Sorley Boy, one to Sir Ludar, and one tothee, for thy private and particular delectation."
Again I thanked him, and begged he would reserve the reading till to-morrow, when I should be more wakeful.
To which, marvelling much at my patience, he agreed.
"As for me," said he, "naught falleth ill to the favourites of theImmortals. I owe no grudge to the day I took thee into my protection.As a printer, count on me as thy patron. As a man, call me thy friend.And if some day, at thy frugal fireside (for the which thou art alreadyprovided with the chiefest ornament), thou shouldst have a spare chairand platter, I will even deign to fill the one and empty the other nowand again, in memory of this, our time of fellowship. Therefore counton me, my Hollander; and so, good-night."
There is little more to be told. Of the crew of the doomed _Gerona_,the tide washed some hundreds, before many weeks were past, into a baynear the Causeway Headlands, east of Dunluce. Amongst them, Ludar and Idiscovered the body of Don Alonzo, calm and gentle in death, and buriedhim with what honour, we could in holy ground near the tomb of theMcDonnells. A few cannon and guns we helped haul up and set on thewalls of Dunluce, where they are to this day, much to the wrath of myLord Deputy and his English Councillors.
Jack Gedge remains body servant to Sir Ludar McDonnell; where, if histrust be not so great as it was (now that his master and mistress areone), he is none the less faithful or joyous in his service.
As for the poet, he was true to his promise of visiting Jeannette and meat our frugal fireside. But this was not for many years after thepromise was given.
As soon as my arm was healed and I could persuade Ludar to release me, Ireturned to London, to find the house without Temple Bar still empty,and Master Walgrave's name still a caution to evil-doers. Despairing ofseeing me and his type from Rochelle, he had sold himself to thosefirebrands Masters Udal and Penry; and by means of his secret press hadgiven utterance to certain scandalous and seditious libels on thebishops and clergy of the Church, known by the name of Marprelate, hisbooks. A merry chase he gave the beadle and pursuivants all over thecountry, droppi
ng libels wherever he went, till at last he suddenlyvanished and left them to whistle.
For Jeannette's sake as well as my own I wandered far for news of him,and heard of him at last from Mistress Crane as having fled to Rochellewith all his family. Thither I wrote him of my welfare, and had aletter back bidding me, if I was still minded to serve him, meet him inEdinburgh. Thither, then, I took sail, and presently found him; andshould you meet with any books imprinted by Robert Walgrave, Printer tothe King's Most Excellent Majesty in Edinburgh, know that the hand thatset them in type was the same which now writes this true history.
In due season Mistress Walgrave and the little ones came northward too;and one glad day I wandered to the western coast, and there met Ludarand his fair bride, and with them my own sweet Jeannette, from whom Inever parted more.
Ere this happy meeting took place, Sorley Boy McDonnell had ended hisstormy days and was gathered to his fathers, and Sir James McDonnell,his son, became Lord of Dunluce.
Ludar dwelt quietly on his lands in Cantire, refusing allegiance to anycrowned monarch, but loyal to the end to his wife, his clan, hiscomrade, and to the memory of those perils and chances which had madehim and me brothers.
THE END.
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