The Adventures of Dick Trevanion: A Story of Eighteen Hundred and Four

by Herbert Strang

  CHAPTER THE SEVENTH

  The Breach Widens

  Next morning John Trevanion, fresh and ruddy, dressed in white breechesand a blue coat with shining buttons, rode gaily down to the FivePilchards and summoned Doubledick to the door.

  "Well, you did the business, I see," he said jovially. "A smallbeginning: I wish my cellars held more."

  "Iss, fay, a little small haul, to be sure; little and good. Hee! hee!But, Maister Trevanion, I've summat plaguey awk'ard to tell 'ee."

  "What's that?" said Trevanion, with an uneasy look.

  "Why, drown me if old Joe didn' come upon us, and, worse than that, whenwe'd cracked him on the head, who should come bouncing down-along butSquire's boy and young Sam Pollex, vowin' and swearin' they'd shoot usthrough the gizzard if we laid a finger on the old man."

  "The deuce they did! and you knocked them on the head, of course?"

  The look of uneasiness passed from Trevanion's face.

  "Well, no, not 'zackly. 'Twas Squire's son, you see."

  "What of that? You should have cracked their numskulls together andsent 'em home howling. Afraid of two boys! What did you do, may I ask?"

  "Crackin' skulls is all very fine, but we didn' want a crowner's 'queston young Squire. No, no, we don't want hangman's necklace chokin' thebreath out of us. We let 'em take old Joe home-along, arter they'd givetheir Bible word to be mum as gravestones."

  "Then you were a pack of fools. Don't you see the monkeys were spyingon you? 'Twas they brought Joe, without a doubt, though I'd like toknow how they got wind of the business."

  "Well, if I didn' think it! ... Here's Zacky Tonkin. Maister Trevanionwas sayin' as they two brats spied on us, Zacky."

  "Not they, 'a b'lieve," said Tonkin, who had come up. "Young Squiresaid he'd no mind to meddle wi' the business, but was only a bit tenderover old Joe."

  "And you believe that!" said Trevanion, angrily flicking hisriding-whip. "Make no mistake, the Squire has turned on you. I happento know that Mildmay has been twice to the Towers of late; the Squire'sas poor as a church mouse, and informer's pay will be riches to him."

  "Squire turn informer!" cried Tonkin. "I can't believe it."

  "I can, though," said Doubledick. "When a man's as low down in theworld as Squire, he'll do a deal o' dirtiness to fill his purse, 'ab'lieve."

  "Of course he will," said Trevanion. "You don't know the world, Tonkin.Depend upon it, a good many golden guineas will find their way to theTowers before a week's out."

  Tonkin was an honest fellow, save in so far as the King's revenue wasconcerned, and had that simplicity of soul which is incredulous oftrickery in others. He was not proof against the cunning suggestions ofTrevanion. Naturally short-tempered and violent, he smote the flank ofTrevanion's horse a blow that set it prancing, and cried with a savageoath:--

  "Then I'll make 'em pay for 't, as sure as my name be Zack Tonkin. Iwill so."

  "Hee! hee! That 'a will," said Doubledick, rubbing his hands. "Theygolden guineas 'll be a bad egg, to be sure."

  Trevanion smiled. He had laid the train; he could trust his minions tofire it.

  "Well, we'll speak no more of that," he said. "I'm riding to Truro: canyou tell what for?"

  "Not for more furnichy?" said Tonkin.

  "Goin' a-courtin', hee! hee!" smirked Doubledick.

  "No, no; I shan't trouble the parson yet awhile. I'm going to open themines again, my men."

  "Then I'm sorry for 'ee," said Tonkin bluntly. "Mines were worked outlong ago."

  "Maybe, maybe not. I'm going to try. I shall begin in quite a smallway. I shan't fling my money into the earth as my cousin did. But Imean to try my luck, and within a week or two I shall have a few men atwork."

  "'Twill be good for the parish," said Doubledick. "The miners aredrouthy souls, and have a proper taste for good sperits. Ay, sure,'twill do us all good."

  "You won't give up the trade, sir?" enquired Tonkin.

  "Not I. The Polkerran men will do more than ever before. A fig foryour Mildmays and Polwheles--Polwhele is still riding-officer, isn't he?My wits against them any day. We'll double our trade with Roscoff thiswinter."

  "If Delarousse bean't nabbed," said Tonkin. "His game of privateerin'will souse him in hot water one o' these days."

  "Oh! we can do without Delarousse. There's a man in Roscoff, no friendof his, who will deal with us better than he."

  "It do maze me, Maister Trevanion," said Doubledick, "that arter bein'away all these years ye know so much about the trade."

  "I keep my eyes open, that's all," replied Trevanion, with a laugh."Well, I must be off. You can tell the neighbours about the mines. I'mglad to do something for the old village."

  He rode away, giving smiling greetings to the people, men and women,whom he passed on the road.

  "A fine feller!" said Doubledick, enthusiastically. "'Twill be heyday invillage, Zacky; stirring life, and not so much of a tomb as 'tis sinceSquire became a pauper."

  "But I'm sorry he do want us to break with Delarousse. He be a goodtrader, for a Frenchman. Howsomever, if there be a better, all thebetter for we, to be sure."

  The men parted, to retail to their friends and neighbours the pleasingnews of the great things John Trevanion was about to do for the village.

  Roscoff, the place mentioned in the course of their conversation, was alittle port in Brittany which had become the chief seat of thecontraband trade with the south-west of England since a restrictive Actof Parliament had put a stop to it in the Channel Islands. The FrenchGovernment had made it a free port to smugglers, and in a few years ithad grown from a tiny fishing village to a thriving town. There werethree classes of people engaged in the contraband trade. The freightersconsigned or received the goods, and paid the expenses of theirshipment. The boatmen conveyed them from port to port, always onmoonless nights, and usually when a strong wind was blowing. Thetub-carriers bore them to their destination. The boatmen received afixed sum for each trip, the tub-carriers for each cargo run, andfrequently in addition a portion of the goods, or a small share in theproceeds.

  Until John Trevanion reappeared in Polkerran, Isaac Tonkin had been theprincipal freighter of the village, and was the owner and master of thelugger which plied between it and Roscoff. His dealings were chieflywith a certain Jean Delarousse, a ship-owner of Roscoff, who wasnotorious also as a daring seaman, and in his privateer vessel preyed onEnglish shipping in the Channel between Poole and the Lizard.Delarousse had never come to Polkerran, but he was well known to Tonkinand the crew of his lugger, the Isaac and Jacob. Tonkin having littlecapital, the cargoes run at Polkerran were usually small, and weredisposed of solely among the innkeepers, farmers, and gentry of theneighbourhood. Now that Trevanion had come home, the Polkerran folkexpected great developments in the trade, and looked forward to anexciting and profitable winter. Apart from the monetary gain, the risksof smuggling exercised a fascination upon those engaged in it, providingthe only excitement in their otherwise dull and monotonous lives. Thefraud on the revenue weighed very lightly on their consciences. Intheir view they were entitled to the full value of the goods for whichthey had honestly paid, and the Government officials were thieves andtyrants. To best the Customs and Excise was both a business and asport.

  It was not long before the consequences of Dick's intervention on behalfof Joe Penwarden made themselves felt. Hitherto the smugglers hadrecognised the Trevanions of the Towers as rather for them than againstthem, but now, actuated by John Trevanion's malicious suggestion, theylooked on them in a different light. For the first time a Trevanion hadranged himself on the side of the representatives of the law, andTonkin, resenting what he regarded as defection, soon began to show thatin threatening vengeance he meant to be as good as his word.

  One morning Dick, going down with Sam to inspect the night lines he hadset in the waters of Trevanion Bay, discovered with surprise andannoyance that they had been cut. A
day or two afterwards they foundtheir boat, which they had drawn up as usual above high-water mark,bumping among the rocks half a mile up the coast. They did not reportthese occurrences, hoping that they were nothing but a mark of temporaryill-feeling and would soon cease. But when for the third time theirlines were tampered with, Dick became seriously concerned. The fish theycaught were a very important part of the provisions for the household.What was not required at once was salted and dried for consumption whenfishing was over for the season. Without these constant supplies theywould have to draw more largely on their pigs and poultry, which theywere accustomed to sell. Dick was unwilling to impart his troubles toany one, and for several nights he and Sam kept watch, hoping that ifthe culprits were caught in the act, the fear of exposure would put astop to their mischief. On three nights nothing happened: and yet, onthe first night when they left the lines unguarded, the same fate befellthem.

  "This is more than I can bear," cried Dick, in the morning. "I shalltell Petherick."

  Petherick was the village constable, who filled also the offices ofsexton, bell-ringer, and beadle in the parish church.

  "Bless 'ee, you'll waste yer breath," said Sam. "Old Petherick be acrony o' Tonkin, and wouldn' lift a finger against him, without it weremurder or arson: and then he'd have to get the sojers to help him. Why,'tis said he've let 'em keep the tubs in church-tower sometimes when thepreventives have been smellin' too close."

  "Well, we must put a stop to it somehow. I'll tell Joe, and see what hehas to say."

  Later in the day he went into the village to buy some new fishing tackleat a general-shop, where the folk could buy tea, sugar, cheese, needles,thread, letter-paper, bootlaces--in short, every small article theyneeded. On his return, he heard a hubbub proceeding from the villagegreen, where wrestling-bouts, games of quoits, dog-fights, and othersports took place. In the midst was a duck-pond. Bending his stepsthither to see what was going on, he beheld Sam with his back against atree, sturdily defending himself with fists and feet against a crowd ofthe village lads, among whom the hulking form of Jake Tonkin wasconspicuous.

  "Heave un in duck-pond," he heard Jake cry.

  "You'd better!" he shouted, rushing forward to assist his companion.

  The crowd fell back as he forced his way through it, bowling one fellowover like a ninepin, and driving another out of his path with a shovethat nearly sent him into the pond. It is probable that his energy, andthe prestige attached to him as the Squire's son, would have put an endto the affair; but it chanced that John Trevanion rode by at thismoment, and reining up his horse, contrived in some subtle manner toindicate that his sympathy was with the larger party. Only this couldexplain the sudden change in their attitude. They closed round Dick andSam with derisive yells.

  "Gie un both a duckin'," shouted one, and they made a sudden concertedrush, trying to seize the two boys.

  Dick, never having been to school, had never had occasion or opportunityto learn the noble art; but his muscles were in good condition, and theobvious necessity was to make full use of them. Standing beside Samagainst the tree, he hit out against any head, trunk, or shoulder thatcame within reach, Sam making good play as before with feet as well asarms. One young fisher retired with a crimson nose, another with a bumpover one eye, a third shouting that his leg was broken. All the timeJohn Trevanion sat his horse, smiling, and flinging out now and then anencouraging word, which might have been intended for either side, butwas appropriated by Tonkin's crew.

  Courage and the best will in the world cannot prevail over a tripleexcess of numbers. The fisher-lads were still six when their woundedcomrades had retired to the rear. Led by Jake Tonkin they hurledthemselves upon the two defenders. For a few minutes there was a briskscrimmage; many good blows were given and exchanged; then Dick and Samfell, to be immediately pounced on by the victors, who caught them bylegs and arms and began to drag them down to the pond.

  They were within a yard of the brink when a loud voice thundered acommand to halt, and a riding-whip cracked and curled its thong roundthe legs and backs of the aggressors. With howls of pain they releasedtheir victims and fled across the green. Rising, bruised and muddy,from the ground, the two boys saw Mr. Polwhele, the riding-officer,close by on horseback, his face flushed and stern-set with anger.

  "You look on and do nothing!" he said indignantly to John Trevanion.

  "My dear sir, why should I interfere? Boys must fight, let them fightit out."

  "Three to one--is that your idea of fair play?"

  Trevanion shrugged.

  "Hadn't you better reserve your whip for stimulating your tidesmen, Mr.Polwhele? They need a little spiriting, if what I hear is true."

  And with that as a parting shot Trevanion rode away.

  "What was the origin of this?" asked Mr. Polwhele. "I'm sorry to see it,Master Trevanion."

  "'Twas like this, sir," said Sam, rubbing his head and legs alternately."I comed upon they chaps, and Jake Tonkin says to me, 'Catched any fishlately, young Sam?' Says I, ''Tis easier to cut lines, to be sure,'says I, and then they set on me, and they'd ha' melled and mashed me ifMaister Dick hadn't come up."

  "Have they been cutting your lines, then?"

  Dick saw no help for it but to acquaint the riding-officer with thepetty persecution he had lately suffered, and the cause of it, whichhitherto Mr. Polwhele had not known.

  "'Tis rascally, 'pon my soul it is," said the officer, "and I'm sorryPenwarden has brought it on ye. Not but 'twas your own doing, MasterDick; you'd better have kept out of it, though I own 'twas a good deedto old Joe. I'm on my way to see Sir Bevil, and I'll tell him as amagistrate, and he'll engage to commit any ruffian that molests ye."

  "Not on my account, if you please, Mr. Polwhele," said Dick earnestly."There's bad blood between the Towers and the village as it is, and'twill be ten times worse if Sir Bevil comes into it."

  "Maybe you're in the right. Well, I'll see you safe home, and if I mayadvise ye, keep out of the way o' the village folk. You're not friendswith Mr. Trevanion seemingly. Is he backing the smugglers, d'ye know?"

  "I can't say anything about that. My father has nothing to do withhim."

  "Well, well, these family quarrels are common enough. Come along besideme."

  Nothing could have been more unfortunate than the intervention of theriding-officer. Purely accidental as it was, the villagers regarded itas another proof of the new alliance between the Towers and the enemy.John Trevanion did not fail to describe to the elder Tonkin, the nexttime he met him, how savagely Mr. Polwhele had laid his whip upon Jake,and the irate smuggler swore that if he encountered the riding-officerhe would make him pay for it.

  That evening Dick consulted Joe Penwarden on the situation, as he hadintended. Joe was much distressed to think that he was the cause of thebitterness with which the village folk now regarded the family at theTowers.

  "I don't know what you can do," said he. "But let things bide; maybethey'll see by long and late they've misread 'ee."

  "But we can't have our fishing spoilt time after time, Joe."

  "'Tis a pretty stoor, be dazed to it!" said Joe, angrily. "And all fora wambling old carcase like me! Ah! I warn't allus like as I be now.When Lord Admiral Rodney spoke to me on Plymouth Hoe I was as limber ayoung feller as you'd see in Devon or Cornwall. He was goin' along withtwo handsome females----but there, I think I've telled 'ee. What I sayis, why did Maister John come home, cuss him? There was none o' thisafore."

  "I don't think that's fair, Joe. They'd have run a cargo all the same,if he were at the ends of the earth; and I couldn't have donedifferently."

  "Ye may say so, but I hold to it, whatever ye say. He's ill-wished 'ee,that's the truth, and a pity it is he ever showed his face here."

  Two evenings later, when Dick was struggling with a piece of Latin prosefor Mr. Carlyon, there was a knock at the outer door, and Reubenadmitted Penwarden, with Jake Tonkin firmly in his clutch.

  "Axe Squire if I can h
ave speech with him, Reuby," he said.

  Mr. Trevanion came out into the hall.

  "Well, what's this, Joe?" he asked.

  "I catched this young reptile a-meddlin' wi' Maister Dick's lines,Squire," said Penwarden, "so I brought him up to be dealt with accordingto law."

  "Meddling with his lines, indeed!" cried the Squire in surprise. "Whyshould he do that? What have you to say for yourself, rascal?"

  Jake had nothing to say for himself, but stood with a sullen glower uponhis face.

  "'Tis not the first time either, Squire, and I be mazed as you didn'know it," Penwarden continued.

  "I knew nothing about it. Dick," he called into the room, "come here."

  Dick obeyed reluctantly.

  "Penwarden tells me," said his father, "that your lines have beentampered with. Is that true?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "How often?"

  "Three or four times within a week or so."

  "Why did you not tell me?"

  "I didn't want to bother you, sir."

  "But this is new; it shows a hostile spirit----. Well, I'll say no morenow. As for you, you young scoundrel, I'm not a justice, or I'd commityou. You shall take your choice; a sound flogging, or haled before SirBevil: that will mean three months in Truro jail. Which is it to be?"

  "I don't want to see Sir Bevil," said Jake, sullenly.

  "Strip off your coat, then. Reuben, bring my whip."

  Dick went away: he could not remain to see the lad thrashed.

  "Now, Reuben, half a dozen lashes," said the Squire when his manreturned. "No; I'll do it myself. Stoop!"

  Dick pressed his fingers into his ears when at the third or fourthstroke Jake began to howl. The Squire gave him full measure; then badehim begone, and take care not to offend again, declaring that he shouldnot get off so easily next time.

  "Now, Dick," he said, returning to the room, "what is the meaning of allthis?"

  Thereupon Dick made a clean breast of it, telling all that had happenedsince the rescue of Penwarden. The Squire's face clouded as he listenedto the story.

  "John Trevanion is at the bottom of this," he cried, thumping the table."They would never believe I was against them unless their minds had beenpoisoned. I will see Tonkin to-morrow and get at the truth." Then,with one of the swift changes of mood characteristic of him, he added:"No, I won't do it. I won't gratify that cur; he shall never think Icare a snap for him. Tell me if anything of the kind happens again, andI will myself go over to see Sir Bevil. On my life, the toad shallsmart if he is proved to be stirring folk against me."

  Every succeeding incident in this series did but confirm the villagefolk in their conviction that the Squire was now their declared enemy,and in staunch alliance with the revenue officers.