The Children of the New Forest

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER XVII.

  Humphrey came out as soon as he perceived the intendant and his partyapproaching, and whispered to Edward that all was safe. The intendantdismounted, and ordering every body but his clerk to wait outside, wasushered into the cottage by Edward. Alice, Edith, and Pablo were in theroom; the two girls were not a little flushed and frightened by theunusual appearance of so large a party of strangers.

  "These are my sisters, sir," said Edward. "Where is Clara, Alice?"

  "She is alarmed, and has gone into our bedroom."

  "I hope you are not alarmed at my presence," said the intendant,looking earnestly at the two girls. "It is my duty which obliges me topay this visit; but you have nothing to fear. Now, Edward Armitage, youmust produce all the boxes and packages which you took from thecottage."

  "I will, sir," replied Edward, "and here are the keys. Humphrey, do youand Pablo bring them out."

  The boxes were brought out, opened, and examined by the intendant andhis clerk, but of course no papers were found in them.

  "I must now send in two of my people to search the house," said theintendant. "Had you not better go to the little girl, that she may notbe frightened?"

  "I will go to her," said Alice.

  Two of the people, assisted by the clerk, then searched the house; theyfound nothing worthy of notice, except the weapons and armor whichEdward had removed, and which he stated to the intendant that he tookaway as valuable property belonging to the little girl.

  "It is sufficient," said the intendant to his clerk; "undoubtedly thereare no papers; but I must, before I go, interrogate this child who hasbeen removed thus; but she will be frightened, and I shall obtain noanswer from her, if we are so many, so let every body leave the cottagewhile I speak to her."

  The clerk and the others left the cottage, and the intendant desiredEdward to bring Clara from the bedroom. She came out, accompanied byand clinging indeed to Alice, for she was much alarmed.

  "Come here, Clara," said the intendant, gently; "you do not knowperhaps that I am your sincere friend; and now that your father isdead, I want you to come and live with my daughter, who will bedelighted to have you as a companion. Will you go with me, and I willtake care of you and be a father to you?"

  "I do not like to leave Alice and Edith; they treat me so kindly, andcall me sister," replied Clara, sobbing.

  "I am sure they do, and that you must be fond of them already, butstill it is your duty to come with me; and if your father could speakto you now, he would tell you so. I will not force you away; butremember, you are born a lady, and must be brought up and educated as alady, which can not be the case in this cottage, although they are verykind to you, and very nice young people. You do not recollect me,Clara; but you have often sat on my knee when you were a little girland when your father lived in Dorsetshire. You recollect the greatwalnut-tree by the sitting-room window, which looked out in the garden;don't you?"

  "Yes," replied Clara, with surprise.

  "Yes, so do I too, and how you used to sit on my knee; and do youremember Jason, the big mastiff, and how you used to ride upon hisback?"

  "Yes," replied Clara, "I do; but he died a long while ago."

  "He did, when you were not more than six years old. And now tell me,where did the old gardener bury him?"

  "Under the mulberry-tree," replied Clara.

  "Yes, so he did, and I was there when poor Jason was buried. You don'trecollect me. But I will take off my hat, for I did not wear the samedress that I do now. Now look, Clara, and see if you remember me."

  Clara, who was no longer alarmed, looked on the intendant's face, andthen said, "You called my father Philip, and he used to call youCharles."

  "You are right, my sweet one," replied the intendant, pressing Clara tohis bosom; "I did so, and we were great friends. Now, will you comewith me? and I have a little girl, older than you by three or fouryears, who will be your companion, and love you dearly."

  "May I come and see Alice and Edith sometimes?"

  "Yes, you shall, and she will come with you and make theiracquaintance, if their brother will permit it. I will not take you awaynow, dearest; you shall remain here for a few days, and then we willcome over and fetch you. I will send Oswald Partridge over to let youknow the day, Edward Armitage, when we will come for her. Good-by, dearClara; and good-by, my little girls. Humphrey Armitage, good-by. Who isthis lad you have here?"

  "He is a gipsy whom Humphrey trapped in his pitfall, sir, and we havesoon tamed him," replied Edward.

  "Well, then, Edward Armitage, good-by," said the intendant, extendinghis hand to him, "we must meet soon again."

  The intendant then went out of the cottage, and joined his peopleoutside. Edward went out after him; and as the intendant mounted hishorse, he said very coldly to Edward, "I shall keep a sharp look-out onyour proceedings, sir, depend upon it; I tell you so decidedly, so fareyou well."

  With these words the intendant put the spurs to his horse, and rodeaway.

  "What made him speak so sharply to you, Edward?" said Humphrey.

  "Because he means kindly, but does not want other people to know it,"replied Edward. "Come in, Humphrey; I have much to tell you and much tosurprise you with."

  "I have been surprised already," replied Humphrey. "How did thisRoundhead know Clara's father so well?"

  "I will explain all before we go to bed," replied Edward; "let us go innow."

  The two brothers had a long conversation that evening, in which Edwardmade Humphrey acquainted with all that had passed between him and theintendant.

  "It's my opinion, Edward," said Humphrey, "that he thinks matters havebeen carried too far, and that he is sorry that he belongs to theParliamentary party. He finds out, now that it is too late, that he hasallied himself with those who have very different feelings and motivesthan his own, and has assisted to put power into the hands of those whohave not the scruples which he has."

  "Yes, and in ridding themselves of one tyranny, as they considered it,they have every prospect of falling into the hands of a greater tyrantthan before; for, depend upon it, Cromwell will assume the sovereignpower, and rule this kingdom with a rod of iron."

  "Well, many more are, I have no doubt, or soon will be, of his opinion;and the time will come, be it sooner or later, when the king will havehis own again. They have proclaimed him in Scotland already. Why doeshe not come over and show himself? His presence would, I think, inducethousands to flock to him; I'm sure that it would me."

  "I am very glad of this good intelligence with the intendant, Edward,as it will not now be necessary for us to be so careful; we may go andcome when we please. I almost wish you could be persuaded to accept anyeligible offer he may make you. Many, no doubt, are in office, andserving the present government, who have the same feelings as theintendant, or even feelings as strong as your own."

  "I can not bear the idea of accepting any thing from them or theirinstruments, Humphrey; nor, indeed, could I leave my sisters."

  "On that score you may make your mind easy: Pablo and I are quitesufficient for the farm, or any thing else we may want to do. If youcan be more useful elsewhere, have no scruple in leaving us. If theking was to come and raise an army, you would leave us, of course; andI see no reason why, if an eligible offer is made you, you should notdo it now. You and your talents are thrown away in this forest; and youmight serve the king and the king's cause better by going into theworld and watching the times than you ever can by killing his venison."

  "Certainly," replied Edward, laughing, "I do not much help his cause bykilling his deer, that must be admitted; all I shall say is this, ifany thing is offered to me which I can accept without injury to myfeelings and my honor, I shall not decline it, provided that I may, byaccepting it, prove of service to the king's cause."

  "That is all I wish, Edward. And now I think we had better go to bed."

  The next day they dug up the iron chest and the box into which Humphreyhad put all the papers he had collected together. Edwa
rd opened theiron chest, and found in it a considerable quantity of gold in bags,and many trinkets and jewels which he did not know the value of. Thepapers he did not open, but resolved that they should be given to theintendant, for Edward felt that he could trust in him. The other boxesand trunks were also opened and examined, and many other articles ofapparent value discovered.

  "I should think all these jewels worth a great deal of money,Humphrey," said Edward; "if so, all the better for poor little Clara. Iam sorry to part with her, although we have known her so short a time;she appears to be such an amiable and affectionate child."

  "That she is; and certainly the handsomest little girl I ever saw. Whatbeautiful eyes! Do you know that on one of her journeys to Lymingtonshe was very nearly taken by a party of gipsies? and by what Pablo canmake out, it would appear that it was by the party to which hebelonged."

  "I wonder at her father permitting her to go alone such a distance."

  "Her father could not do otherwise. Necessity has no law. He couldtrust no other person, so he put her in boys' clothes that there mightbe less risk. Still, she must have been very intelligent to have donethe office."

  "She is thirteen years old, although she is small," replied Edward."And intelligent she certainly is, as you may see by her countenance.Who would ever have imagined that our sisters would have been able todo what they are doing now? It's an old saying, 'We never know what wecan do till we try.' By-the-by Humphrey, I met a famous herd of forestponies the other day, and I said to myself, 'I wonder whether Humphreywill be clever enough to take one of them, as he has the wild cattle?'For Billy is getting old, and we want a successor."

  "We want more than a successor to Billy, Edward: we want two more tohelp him--and I have the means of maintaining two more ponies if Icould catch them."

  "I fear that you will never manage that, Humphrey," said Edward,laughing.

  "I know well what you mean," replied Humphrey: "you wish to dare me toit--well. I won't be dared to any thing, and I most certainly will tryto catch a pony or two; but I must think about it first, and when Ihave arranged my plan in my mind, I will then make the attempt."

  "When I see the ponies in the yard, I will believe it, Humphrey. Theyare as wild as deer and as fleet as the wind, and you can not catchthem in a pitfall."

  "I know that, good brother; but all I can say is, that I will try whatI can do, and I can do no more--but not at present, for I am too busy."

  Three days after this conversation, Oswald Partridge made hisappearance, having been sent by the intendant to tell Edward that heshould come over on the following day to take away little Clara.

  "And how is she to go?" said Edward.

  "He will bring a little nag for her, if she can ride--if she can not,she must ride in the cart which will come for the baggage."

  "Clara, can you ride a horse?"

  "Yes," replied Clara, "if it does not jump about too much. I alwaysrode one when I lived in Dorsetshire."

  "This won't jump about, my little lady," said Oswald, "for he is thirtyyears old, I believe, and as steady as an old gentleman ought to be."

  "I have had some conversation with Master Heatherstone," continuedOswald to Edward. "He is much pleased with you, I can tell you. He saidthat in times like these he required young men like you about him; andthat, as you would not take the berth of verderer, he must find onebetter suited for you; for he said you were too good for such anoffice."

  "Many thanks to him for his good opinion," replied Edward; "but I donot think that he has any office in his gift which I can accept."

  "So I thought, but I said nothing. He again asked many questionsrelative to old Jacob Armitage, and he pressed me very hard. He saidthat Humphrey was as much above his position in appearance as you were,but as he was brought up at Arnwood, he presumed that he had had thesame advantages. And then he said--'But were his two sisters brought upat Arnwood also?' I replied, that I believed not, although they wereoften there, and were allowed to play with the children of the house.He looked at me steadfastly, as if he would read my thoughts, and thenwent on writing. I can not help thinking that he has a suspicion thatyou are not the grandchildren of old Jacob; but at the same time I donot think that he has an idea who you really are."

  "You must keep our secret, Oswald," replied Edward. "I have a very goodopinion of the intendant, I acknowledge; but I will trust nobody."

  "As I hope for future mercy, sir, I never will divulge it until you bidme," replied Oswald.

  "I trust to you, Oswald, and so there's an end of the matter. But tellme, Oswald, what do they say about his taking charge of this littlegirl?"

  "Why, they did begin to talk about it; but when he gave out that it wasthe order of Parliament that the child should remain with him untilfurther directions, of course they said nothing, for they dared not. Itseems that the Ratcliffe property is sequestrated, but not yet grantedto any one; and the Parliament will most likely, as soon as she is oldenough, give her as a wife, with the property, to one of their party;they have done it before now, as it secures the property under allchanges."

  "I perceive," replied Edward. "When did you hear that the little girlwas to live with him?"

  "Not till yesterday morning; and it was not till the evening that weknew it was the order of Parliament."

  Edward did not think it right to tell Oswald what he knew, as it was asecret confided to him by the intendant, and therefore merelyobserved--"I presumed that the child would not be permitted to remainon our hands;" and then the conversation dropped.

  As Oswald had informed them, the intendant made his appearance in theforenoon of the following day, and was accompanied by his daughter, whorode by his side. A groom, on horse, led a pony for Clara to ride; anda cart for the luggage followed at some distance. Edward went out toassist Miss Heatherstone to dismount, and she frankly extended her handto him as she reached the ground. Edward was a little surprised as wellas pleased, at this condescension on her part toward a forester.

  "You do me much honor, Mistress Patience," said he, bowing.

  "I can not forget that I owe my life to you, Master Armitage," repliedPatience, "and I can not be too grateful. May I request another favorof you?"

  "Certainly, if it is in my power to do as you wish."

  "It is this," said she, in a low voice--"that you will not hastilyreject any overtures which may be made to you by my father; that isall. And now let me go in and see your sisters, for my father haspraised them very much, and I wish to know them."

  Edward led the way into the cottage, and Patience followed him, whilethe intendant was in conversation with Humphrey. Edward, havingintroduced his sisters and Clara, then went out to pay his respects tothe intendant, who, now they were alone, was very candid toward bothhim and Humphrey.

  Edward then told the intendant that there was an iron chest with a gooddeal of money in it, and jewels also, and many other articles of valuein the other boxes.

  "I fear, sir, that the cart will hardly hold all the goods."

  "I do not intend to take away the heavy or more bulky articles, such asthe bedding, armor, &c. I will only take Clara's own packages, and thevaluables and papers. The remainder may stay here, as they can be of nouse, till they are demanded from you. Where is Oswald Partridge?"

  "In the stable with the horses, sir," replied Humphrey.

  "Then, when the cart is loaded--and it had better be done by you whilethe men are in the stable--Oswald shall take charge of it, and take thethings to my house."

  "Here are the keys, sir," said Edward, presenting them.

  "Good. And now, Edward Armitage, that we are alone, I want to have alittle conversation with you. You are aware how much I feel indebted toyou for the service you have rendered me, and how anxious I am to showmy gratitude. You are born for better things than to remain an obscureforester, and perhaps a deer-stalker. I have now an offer to make toyou, which I trust, upon reflection, you will not refuse--and I sayreflection, because I do not wish you to give an answer till you have
well reflected. I know that you will not accept any thing under thepresent government; but a private situation you can raise no objectionto; the more so as, so far from leaving your family, you will be morein a position to protect them. I am in want of a secretary, and I wishyou to accept that office, to live entirely in my house, and to receivea handsome salary for your services, which will not, I trust, be tooheavy. You will be near to your family here in the cottage, and be ableto protect them and assist them; and what is more, you will mix withthe world and know what is going on, as I am in the confidence of thegovernment. Of course, I put implicit confidence in you, or I would notoffer the situation. But you will not be always down here: I have mycorrespondents and friends, to whom I shall have to send youoccasionally on most trusty missions. You, I am sure, will suit me inevery respect, and I hope you will undertake the post which I now offerto you. Give me no answer just now; consult with your brother, and givethe offer due consideration, and when you have made up your mind youcan let me know."

  Edward bowed, and the intendant went into the cottage.

  Edward then assisted Humphrey and Pablo to get the iron chest on thecart, and covered it with the other packages and boxes, till the cartwas well loaded. Leaving Pablo in charge till Oswald came from thestables, Edward and Humphrey then went into the cottage, where theyfound a very social party; Patience Heatherstone having succeeded inmaking great friends with the other three girls, and the intendant, toEdward's surprise, laughing and joking with them. Alice and Edith hadbrought out some milk, biscuits, and all the fruit that was ripe, withsome bread, a cold piece of salt beef, and a ham; and they were eatingas well as talking.

  "I have been praising your sisters' house-keeping, Armitage," said theintendant. "Your farm appears to be very productive."

  "Alice expected Miss Heatherstone, sir," replied Edward, "and made anunusual provision. You must not think that we live on such fare everyday."

  "No," replied the intendant, dryly; "on other days I dare say you haveother fare. I would almost make a bet that there is a pasty in thecupboard which you dare not show to the intendant of the New Forest."

  "You are mistaken, sir, for once," replied Humphrey. "Alice knows wellhow to make one, but she has not one just now."

  "Well, I must believe you, Master Humphrey," replied the intendant."And now, my dear child, we must think of going, for it is a long ride,and the little girl is not used to a horse."

  "Mistress Alice, many thanks for your hospitality; and now, farewell.Edith, good-by, dear. Now, Clara, are you quite ready?"

  They all went out of the cottage. The intendant put Clara on the pony,after she had kissed Alice and Edith. Edward assisted Patience; andwhen she was mounted, she said--

  "I hope you will accept my father's offer--you will oblige me so muchif you do."

  "I will give it every consideration it deserves," replied Edward."Indeed, it will depend more upon my brother than myself whether Iaccept it or not."

  "Your brother is a very sensible young man, sir; therefore, I havehopes," replied Patience.

  "A quality which it appears you do not give me credit for, MissHeatherstone."

  "Not when pride or vindictive feelings obtain the mastery," replied she.

  "Perhaps you will find that I am not quite so proud, or bear suchill-will, as I did when I first saw your father, Miss Heatherstone; andsome allowance should be made, even if I did show such feelings, whenyou consider that I was brought up at Arnwood."

  "True--most true, Master Armitage. I had no right to speak so boldly,especially to you, who risked your own life to save the daughter of oneof those Roundheads who treated the family of your protector socruelly. You must forgive me; and now, farewell!"

  Edward bowed, and then turned to the intendant, who had apparently beenwaiting while the conversation was going on. The intendant bade him acordial farewell; Edward shook Clara by the hand, and the cavalcade setoff. They all remained outside of the cottage till the party were atsome distance, and then Edward walked apart with Humphrey, tocommunicate to him the offer made by the intendant, and ask his opinion.

  "My opinion is made up, Edward, which is that you should accept itimmediately. You are under no obligation to the government, and youhave already conferred such an obligation upon the intendant that youhave a right to expect a return. Why stay here, when you can safely mixwith the world and know how things are going on? I do not require yourassistance, now that I have Pablo, who is more useful every day. Do notlose such an opportunity of making a friend for yourself and all ofus--a protector, I may say--and who is, by what he has confided to you,any thing but approving of the conduct of the present government. Hehas paid you a deserved compliment by saying that he can and will trustyou. You must not refuse the offer, Edward--it would really be folly ifyou did."

  "I believe you are right, Humphrey; but I have been so accustomed torange the forest--I am so fond of the chase--I am so impatient ofcontrol or confinement, that I hardly know how to decide. A secretary'slife is any thing but pleasing to me, sitting at a table writing andreading all day long. The pen is a poor exchange for the long-barreledgun."

  "It does more execution, nevertheless," replied Humphrey, "if what Ihave read is true. But you are not to suppose that your life will besuch a sedentary one. Did he not say that he would have to trust youwith missions of importance? Will you not, by going to London and otherplaces, and mixing with people of importance, be preparing yourself foryour proper station in life, which I trust that one day you willresume? And does it follow, that because you are appointed a secretary,you are not to go out in the forest and shoot a deer with Oswald, ifyou feel inclined--with this difference, that you may do it thenwithout fear of being insulted or persecuted by such a wretch as thatCorbould? Do not hesitate any longer, my dear brother; recollect thatour sisters ought not to live this forest life as they advance inyears--they were not born for it, although they have so well conformedto it. It depends upon you to release them eventually from their falseposition; and you can never have such an opening as is now offered you,by one whose gratitude alone will make him anxious to serve you."

  "You are right, Humphrey, and I will accept the offer; I can but returnto you if things do not go on well."

  "I thank you sincerely for your decision, Edward," replied Humphrey."What a sweet girl that Patience Heatherstone is! I think I never sawsuch an enchanting smile!"

  Edward thought of the smile she gave him when they parted but an hourago, and agreed with Humphrey, but he replied--

  "Why, brother, you are really in love with the intendant's daughter."

  "Not so, my dear brother; but I am in love with her goodness andsweetness of disposition, and so are Alice and Edith, I can tell you.She has promised to come over and see them, and bring them flowers fortheir garden, and I hardly know what; and I am very glad of it, as mysisters have been buried here so long, that they can not but gain byher company now and then. No! I will leave Mistress Heatherstone foryou; I am in love with little Clara."

  "Not a bad choice, Humphrey: we both aspire high, for two youngforesters, do we not? However, they say 'Every dog has his day,' andCromwell and his Parliament may have theirs. King Charles may be on histhrone again now, long before you catch a forest pony, Humphrey."

  "I hope he will, Edward; but recollect how you laughed at the idea ofmy catching a cow--you may be surprised a second time. 'Where there isa will there is a way,' the saying is. But I must go and help Alicewith the heifer: she is not very quiet yet, and I see her going outwith her pail."

  The brothers then parted, and Edward then walked about, turning over inhis mind the events of the day, and very often finding his thoughtsbroken in upon by sudden visions of Patience Heatherstone--andcertainly the remembrance of her was to him the most satisfactory andpleasing portion of the prospect in his offered situation.

  "I shall live with her, and be continually in her company," thought he."Well, I would take a less pleasing office if only for that. Sherequested me to accept it to oblige h
er, and I will do so. How hasty weare in our conclusions! When I first saw her father, what an aversion Ifelt for him! Now, the more I know him the more I like him, nay,more--respect him. He said that the king wished to be absolute, andwrest the liberties from his subjects, and that they were justified inopposing him; I never heard that when at Arnwood."

  "If so, was it lawful so to do?"

  "I think it was, but not to murder him; that I can never admit, nordoes the intendant; on the contrary, he holds his murderers in as greatdetestation as I do. Why, then, we do not think far apart from oneanother. At the commencement, the two parties were those who supportedhim, not admitting that he was right, but too loyal to refuse to fightfor their king; and those who opposed, hoping to force him to do right;the king for his supposed prerogatives, the people for their liberties.The king was obstinate, the people resolute, until virulent warfareinflamed both parties, and neither would listen to reason; and thepeople gained the upper hand--they wreaked their vengeance, instead oflooking to the dictates of humanity and justice. How easy it had beento have deposed him, and have sent him beyond the seas! instead ofwhich they detained him a prisoner and then murdered him. Thepunishment was greater than the offense, and dictated by malice andrevenge; it was a diabolical act, and will soil the page of ournation's history." So thought Edward, as he paced before the cottage,until he was summoned in by Pablo to their evening meal.