Chapter XXIII. Of the Snare on the Weston Road
Just after sunrise I was awoke by one of the Mayor's servants, whobrought word that the Honourable Master Wade was awaiting me downstairs.Having dressed and descended, I found him seated by the table in thesitting-room with papers and wafer-box, sealing up the missive which Iwas to carry. He was a small, worn, grey-faced man, very erect in hisbearing and sudden in his speech, with more of the soldier than of thelawyer in his appearance.
'So,' said he, pressing his seal above the fastening of the string, 'Isee that your horse is ready for you outside. You had best make your wayround by Nether Stowey and the Bristol Channel, for we have heard thatthe enemy's horse guard the roads on the far side of Wells. Here is yourpacket.'
I bowed and placed it in the inside of my tunic.
'It is a written order as suggested in the council. The Duke's reply maybe written, or it may be by word of mouth. In either case guard it well.This packet contains also a copy of the depositions of the clergyman atThe Hague, and of the other witnesses who saw Charles of England marryLucy Walters, the mother of his Majesty. Your mission is one of suchimportance that the whole success of our enterprise may turn upon it.See that you serve the paper upon Beaufort in person, and not throughany intermediary, or it might not stand in a court of law.'
I promised to do so if possible.
'I should advise you also,' he continued, 'to carry sword and pistol asa protection against the chance dangers of the road, but to discard yourhead-piece and steel-front as giving you too warlike an aspect for apeaceful messenger.'
'I had already come to that resolve,' said I.
'There is nothing more to be said, Captain,' said the lawyer, giving mehis hand. 'May all good fortune go with you. Keep a still tongue and aquick ear. Watch keenly how all things go. Mark whose face is gloomy andwhose content. The Duke may be at Bristol, but you had best make for hisseat at Badminton. Our sign of the day is Tewkesbury.'
Thanking my instructor for his advice I went out and mounted Covenant,who pawed and champed at his bit in his delight at getting startedonce more. Few of the townsmen were stirring, though here and therea night-bonneted head stared out at me through a casement. I took theprecaution of walking the horse very quietly until we were some distancefrom the house, for I had told Reuben nothing of my intended journey,and I was convinced that if he knew of it neither discipline, nor evenhis new ties of love, would prevent him from coming with me. Covenant'siron-shod feet rang sharply, in spite of my care, upon the cobblestones,but looking back I saw that the blinds of my faithful friend's roomwere undrawn, and that all seemed quiet in the house. I shook my bridle,therefore, and rode at a brisk trot through the silent streets, whichwere still strewn with faded flowers and gay with streamers. At thenorth gate a guard of half a company was stationed, who let me pass uponhearing the word. Once beyond the old walls I found myself out on thecountry side, with my face to the north and a clear road in front of me.
It was a blithesome morning. The sun was rising over the distant hills,and heaven and earth were ruddy and golden. The trees in the waysideorchards were full of swarms of birds, who chattered and sang until theair was full of their piping. There was lightsomeness and gladness inevery breath. The wistful-eyed red Somerset kine stood along by thehedgerows, casting great shadows down the fields and gazing at me asI passed. Farm horses leaned over wooden gates, and snorted a word ofgreeting to their glossy-coated brother. A great herd of snowy-fleecedsheep streamed towards us over the hillside and frisked and gambolled inthe sunshine. All was innocent life, from the lark which sang on highto the little shrew-mouse which ran amongst the ripening corn, or themartin which dashed away at the sound of my approach. All alive and allinnocent. What are we to think, my dear children, when we see the beastsof the field full of kindness and virtue and gratitude? Where is thissuperiority of which we talk?
From the high ground to the north I looked back upon the sleeping town,with the broad edging of tents and waggons, which showed how suddenlyits population had outgrown it. The Royal Standard still flutteredfrom the tower of St. Mary Magdalene, while close by its beautifulbrother-turret of St. James bore aloft the blue flag of Monmouth. AsI gazed the quick petulant roll of a drum rose up on the still morningair, with the clear ringing call of the bugles summoning the troops fromtheir slumbers. Beyond the town, and on either side of it, stretched aglorious view of the Somersetshire downs, rolling away to the distantsea, with town and hamlet, castle turret and church tower, wooded coombeand stretch of grain-land--as fair a scene as the eye could wish to restupon. As I wheeled my horse and sped upon my way I felt, my dears, thatthis was a land worth fighting for, and that a man's life was a smallthing if he could but aid, in however trifling a degree, in working outits freedom and its happiness. At a little village over the hill I fellin with an outpost of horse, the commander of which rode some distancewith me, and set me on my road to Nether Stowey. It seemed strange tomy Hampshire eyes to note that the earth is all red in these parts--verydifferent to the chalk and gravel of Havant. The cows, too, are mostlyred. The cottages are built neither of brick nor of wood, but of someform of plaster, which they call cob, which is strong and smooth solong as no water comes near it. They shelter the walls from the rain,therefore, by great overhanging thatches. There is scarcely a steeple inthe whole country-side, which also seems strange to a man from any otherpart of England. Every church hath a square tower, with pinnacles uponthe top, and they are mostly very large, with fine peals of bells.
My course ran along by the foot of the beautiful Quantock Hills, whereheavy-wooded coombes are scattered over the broad heathery downs, deepwith bracken and whortle-bushes. On either side of the track steepwinding glens sloped downwards, lined with yellow gorse, which blazedout from the deep-red soil like a flame from embers. Peat-colouredstreams splashed down these valleys and over the road, through whichCovenant ploughed fetlock deep, and shied to see the broad-backed troutdarting from between his fore feet.
All day I rode through this beautiful country, meeting few folk, forI kept away from the main roads. A few shepherds and farmers, along-legged clergyman, a packman with his mule, and a horseman with agreat bag, whom I took to be a buyer of hair, are all that I can recall.A black jack of ale and the heel of a loaf at a wayside inn were all myrefreshments. Near Combwich, Covenant cast a shoe, and two hours werewasted before I found a smithy in the town and had the matter set right.It was not until evening that I at last came out upon the banks of theBristol Channel, at a place called Shurton Bars, where the muddy Parretmakes its way into the sea. At this point the channel is so broad thatthe Welsh mountains can scarcely be distinguished. The shore is flatand black and oozy, flecked over with white patches of sea-birds, butfurther to the east there rises a line of hills, very wild and rugged,rising in places into steep precipices. These cliffs run out into thesea, and numerous little harbours and bays are formed in their brokensurface, which are dry half the day, but can float a good-sized boat athalf-tide. The road wound over these bleak and rocky hills, which aresparsely inhabited by a wild race of fishermen, or shepherds, who cameto their cabin doors on hearing the clatter of my horse's hoofs, andshot some rough West-country jest at me as I passed. As the night drewin the country became bleaker and more deserted. An occasional lighttwinkling in the distance from some lonely hillside cottage was the onlysign of the presence of man. The rough track still skirted the sea, andhigh as it was, the spray from the breakers drifted across it. The saltprinkled on my lips, and the air was filled with the hoarse roar of thesurge and the thin piping of curlews, who flitted past in the darknesslike white, shadowy, sad-voiced creatures from some other world. Thewind blew in short, quick, angry puffs from the westward, and far out onthe black waters a single glimmer of light rising and falling, tossingup, and then sinking out of sight, showed how fierce a sea had risen inthe channel.
Riding through the gloaming in this strange wild scenery my mindnaturally turned towards the past. I thought of my father and m
y mother,of the old carpenter and of Solomon Sprent. Then I pondered over DecimusSaxon, his many-faced character having in it so much to be admired andso much to be abhorred. Did I like him or no? It was more than I couldsay. From him I wandered off to my faithful Reuben, and to his lovepassage with the pretty Puritan, which in turn brought me to Sir Gervasand the wreck of his fortunes. My mind then wandered to the state of thearmy and the prospects of the rising, which led me to my present missionwith its perils and its difficulties. Having turned over all thesethings in my mind I began to doze upon my horse's back, overcome by thefatigue of the journey and the drowsy lullaby of the waves. I had justfallen into a dream in which I saw Reuben Lockarby crowned King ofEngland by Mistress Ruth Timewell, while Decimus Saxon endeavoured toshoot him with a bottle of Daffy's elixir, when in an instant,without warning, I was dashed violently from my horse, and left lyinghalf-conscious on the stony track.
So stunned and shaken was I by the sudden fall, that though I had a dimknowledge of shadowy figures bending over me, and of hoarse laughtersounding in my ears, I could not tell for a few minutes where I was norwhat had befallen me. When at last I did make an attempt to recover myfeet I found that a loop of rope had been slipped round my arms and mylegs so as to secure them. With a hard struggle I got one hand free, anddashed it in the face of one of the men who were holding me down; butthe whole gang of a dozen or more set upon me at once, and while somethumped and kicked at me, others tied a fresh cord round my elbows, anddeftly fastened it in such a way as to pinion me completely. Findingthat in my weak and dazed state all efforts were of no avail, I laysullen and watchful, taking no heed of the random blows which were stillshowered upon me. So dark was it that I could neither see the faces ofmy attackers, nor form any guess as to who they might be, or how theyhad hurled me from my saddle. The champing and stamping of a horse hardby showed me that Covenant was a prisoner as well as his master.
'Dutch Pete's got as much as he can carry,' said a rough, harsh voice.'He lies on the track as limp as a conger.'
'Ah, poor Pete!' muttered another. 'He'll never deal a card or drain aglass of the right Cognac again.'
'There you lie, mine goot vriend,' said the injured man, in weak,quavering tones. 'And I will prove that you lie if you have a flaschenin your pocket.'
'If Pete were dead and buried,' the first speaker said, 'a word aboutstrong waters would bring him to. Give him a sup from your bottle,Dicon.'
There was a great gurgling and sucking in the darkness, followed by agasp from the drinker. 'Gott sei gelobt,' he exclaimed in a strongervoice, 'I have seen more stars than ever were made. Had my kopf notbeen well hooped he would have knocked it in like an ill-staved cask. Heshlags like the kick of a horse.'
As he spoke the edge of the moon peeped over a cliff and threw a floodof cold clear light upon the scene. Looking up I saw that a strong ropehad been tied across the road from one tree trunk to another about eightfeet above the ground. This could not be seen by me, even had I beenfully awake, in the dusk; but catching me across the breast as Covenanttrotted under it, it had swept me off and dashed me with great force tothe ground. Either the fall or the blows which I had received had cut mebadly, for I could feel the blood trickling in a warm stream past myear and down my neck. I made no attempt to move, however, but waited insilence to find out who these men were into whose hands I had fallen.My one fear was lest my letters should be taken away from me, and mymission rendered of no avail. That in this, my first trust, I should bedisarmed without a blow and lose the papers which had been confided tome, was a chance which made me flush and tingle with shame at the verythought.
The gang who had seized me were rough-bearded fellows in fur caps andfustian jackets, with buff belts round their waists, from which hungshort straight whinyards. Their dark sun-dried faces and their greatboots marked them as fishermen or seamen, as might be guessed from theirrude sailor speech. A pair knelt on either side with their hands uponmy arms, a third stood behind with a cocked pistol pointed at my head,while the others, seven or eight in number, were helping to his feet theman whom I had struck, who was bleeding freely from a cut over the eye.
'Take the horse up to Daddy Mycroft's,' said a stout, black-bearded man,who seemed to be their leader. 'It is no mere dragooner hack,(NoteI. Appendix) but a comely, full-blooded brute, which will fetch sixtypieces at the least. Your share of that, Peter, will buy salve andplaster for your cut.'
'Ha, houndsfoot!' cried the Dutchman, shaking his fist at me. 'Youwould strike Peter, would you? You would draw Peter's blood, would you?Tausend Teufel, man! if you and I were together upon the hillside weshould see vich vas the petter man.'
'Slack your jaw tackle, Pete,' growled one of his comrades. 'This fellowis a limb of Satan for sure, and doth follow a calling that none but amean, snivelling, baseborn son of a gun would take to. Yet I warrant,from the look of him, that he could truss you like a woodcock if he hadhis great hands upon you. And you would howl for help as you did lastMartinmas, when you did mistake Cooper Dick's wife for a gauger.'
'Truss me, would he? Todt und Holle!' cried the other, whom the blowand the brandy had driven to madness. 'We shall see. Take that, thoudeyvil's spawn, take that!' He ran at me, and kicked me as hard as hecould with his heavy sea-boots.
Some of the gang laughed, but the man who had spoken before gavethe Dutchman a shove that sent him whirling. 'None of that,' he saidsternly. 'We'll have British fair-play on British soil, and none of yourcursed longshore tricks. I won't stand by and see an Englishmankicked, d'ye see, by a tub-bellied, round-starned, schnapps-swilling,chicken-hearted son of an Amsterdam lust-vrouw. Hang him, if the skipperlikes. That's all above board, but by thunder, if it's a fight that youwill have, touch that man again.'
'All right, Dicon,' said their leader soothingly. 'We all know thatPete's not a fighting man, but he's the best cooper on the coast, eh,Pete? There is not his equal at staving, hooping, and bumping. He'lltake a plank of wood and turn it into a keg while another man would bethinking of it.'
'Oh, you remember that, Captain Murgatroyd,' said the Dutchman sulkily.'But you see me knocked about and shlagged, and bullied, and callednames, and what help have I? So help me, when the _Maria_ is in theTexel next, I'll take to my old trade, I will, and never set foot on heragain.'
'No fear,' the Captain answered, laughing. 'While the _Maria_ brings infive thousand good pieces a year, and can show her heels to any cutteron the coast, there is no fear of greedy Pete losing his share of her.Why, man, at this rate you may have a lust-haus of your own in a year ortwo, with a trimmed lawn, and the trees all clipped like peacocks, andthe flowers in pattern, and a canal by the door, and a great bouncinghouse-wife just like any Burgomeister. There's many such a fortune beenmade out of Mechlin and Cognac.'
'Aye, and there's many a broken kopf got over Mechlin and Cognac,'grumbled my enemy. 'Donner! There are other things beside lust-housesand flower-beds. There are lee-shores and nor'-westers, beaks andpreventives.'
'And there's where the smart seaman has the pull over the herring buss,or the skulking coaster that works from Christmas to Christmas with allthe danger and none of the little pickings. But enough said! Up with theprisoner, and let us get him safely into the bilboes.'
I was raised to my feet and half carried, half dragged along in themidst of the gang. My horse had already been led away in the oppositedirection. Our course lay off the road, down a very rocky and ruggedravine which sloped away towards the sea. There seemed to be no trace ofa path, and I could only stumble along over rocks and bushes as best Imight in my fettered and crippled state. The blood, however, haddried over my wounds, and the cool sea breeze playing upon my foreheadrefreshed me, and helped me to take a clearer view of my position.
It was plain from their talk that these men were smugglers. As such,they were not likely to have any great love for the Government, ordesire to uphold King James in any way. On the contrary, their goodwillwould probably be with Monmouth, for had I not seen the day before awhole regime
nt of foot in his army, raised from among the coaster folk?On the other hand, their greed might be stronger than their loyalty, andmight lead them to hand me over to justice in the hope of reward. On thewhole it would be best, I thought, to say nothing of my mission, and tokeep my papers secret as long as possible.
But I could not but wonder, as I was dragged along, what had led thesemen to lie in wait for me as they had done. The road along which I hadtravelled was a lonely one, and yet a fair number of travellers boundfrom the West through Weston to Bristol must use it. The gang couldnot lie in perpetual guard over it. Why had they set a trap on thisparticular night, then? The smugglers were a lawless and desperate body,but they did not, as a rule, descend to foot-paddery or robbery. As longas no one interfered with them they were seldom the first to break thepeace. Then, why had they lain in wait for me, who had never injuredthem? Could it possibly be that I had been betrayed? I was still turningover these questions in my mind when we all came to a halt, and theCaptain blew a shrill note on a whistle which hung round his neck.
The place where we found ourselves was the darkest and most rugged spotin the whole wild gorge. On either side great cliffs shot up, whicharched over our heads, with a fringe of ferns and bracken on either lip,so that the dark sky and the few twinkling stars were well-nigh hid.Great black rocks loomed vaguely out in the shadowy light, while infront a high tangle of what seemed to be brushwood barred our road. At asecond whistle, however, a glint of light was seen through the branches,and the whole mass was swung to one side as though it moved upon ahinge. Beyond it a dark winding passage opened into the side of thehill, down which we went with our backs bowed, for the rock ceiling wasof no great height. On every side of us sounded the throbbing of thesea.
Passing through the entrance, which must have been dug with great labourthrough the solid rock, we came out into a lofty and roomy cave, litup by a fire at one end, and by several torches. By their smoky yellowglare I could see that the roof was, at least, fifty feet above us, andwas hung by long lime-crystals, which sparkled and gleamed with greatbrightness. The floor of the cave was formed of fine sand, as soft andvelvety as a Wilton carpet, sloping down in a way which showed that thecave must at its mouth open upon the sea, which was confirmed by thebooming and splashing of the waves, and by the fresh salt air whichfilled the whole cavern. No water could be seen, however, as a sharpturn cut off our view of the outlet.
In this rock-girt space, which may have been sixty paces long andthirty across, there were gathered great piles of casks, kegs and cases;muskets, cutlasses, staves, cudgels, and straw were littered about uponthe floor. At one end a high wood fire blazed merrily, casting strangeshadows along the walls, and sparkling like a thousand diamonds amongthe crystals on the roof. The smoke was carried away through a greatcleft in the rocks. Seated on boxes, or stretched on the sand round thefire, there were seven or eight more of the band, who sprang to theirfeet and ran eagerly towards us as we entered.
Have ye got him?' they cried. 'Did he indeed come? Had he attendants?'
'He is here, and he is alone,' the Captain answered. 'Our hawser fetchedhim off his horse as neatly as ever a gull was netted by a cragsman.What have ye done in our absence, Silas!'
'We have the packs ready for carriage,' said the man addressed, asturdy, weather-beaten seaman of middle age. 'The silk and lace are donein these squares covered over with sacking. The one I have marked "yarn"and the other "jute"--a thousand of Mechlin to a hundred of the shiny.They will sling over a mule's back. Brandy, schnapps, Schiedam, andHamburg Goldwasser are all set out in due order. The 'baccy is in theflat cases over by the Black Drop there. A plaguey job we had carryingit all out, but here it is ship-shape at last, and the lugger floatslike a skimming dish, with scarce ballast enough to stand up to afive-knot breeze.'
'Any signs of the _Fairy Queen_?' asked the smuggler.
'None. Long John is down at the water's edge looking out for herflash-light. This wind should bring her up if she has roundedCombe-Martin Point. There was a sail about ten miles to theeast-nor'-east at sundown. She might have been a Bristol schooner, orshe might have been a King's fly-boat.'
'A King's crawl-boat,' said Captain Murgatroyd, with a sneer. 'We cannothang the gauger until Venables brings up the _Fairy Queen_, for afterall it was one of his hands that was snackled. Let him do his own dirtywork.'
'Tausend Blitzen!' cried the ruffian Dutchman, 'would it not be a kindlygrass to Captain Venables to chuck the gauger down the Black Drop ere hecome? He may have such another job to do for us some day.'
'Zounds, man, are you in command or am I?' said the leader angrily.'Bring the prisoner forward to the fire! Now, hark ye, dog of aland-shark; you are as surely a dead man as though you were laid outwith the tapers burning. See here'--he lifted a torch, and showed byits red light a great crack in the floor across the far end of thecave--'you can judge of the Black Drop's depth!' he said, raising anempty keg and tossing it over into the yawning gulf. For ten secondswe stood silent before a dull distant clatter told that it had at lastreached the bottom.
'It will carry him half-way to hell before the breath leaves him,' saidone.
'It's an easier death than the Devizes gallows!' cried a second.
'Nay, he shall have the gallows first!' a third shouted. 'It is but hisburial that we are arranging.'
'He hath not opened his mouth since we took him,' said the man who wascalled Dicon. 'Is he a mute, then? Find your tongue, my fine fellow, andlet us hear what your name is. It would have been well for you if youhad been born dumb, so that you could not have sworn our comrade's lifeaway.'
'I have been waiting for a civil question after all this brawling andbrabbling,' said I. 'My name is Micah Clarke. Now, pray inform me who yemay be, and by what warrant ye stop peaceful travellers upon the publichighway?'
'This is our warrant,' Murgatroyd answered, touching the hilt of hiscutlass. 'As to who we are, ye know that well enough. Your name isnot Clarke, but Westhouse, or Waterhouse, and you are the same cursedexciseman who snackled our poor comrade, Cooper Dick, and swore away hislife at Ilchester.'
'I swear that you are mistaken,' I replied. 'I have never in my lifebeen in these parts before.'
'Fine words! Fine words!' cried another smuggler. 'Gauger or no, youmust jump for it, since you know the secret of our cave.'
'Your secret is safe with me,' I answered. 'But if ye wish to murder me,I shall meet my fate as a soldier should. I should have chosen to die onthe field of battle, rather than to lie at the mercy of such a pack ofwater-rats in their burrow.'
'My faith!' said Murgatroyd. 'This is too tall talk for a gauger. Hebears himself like a soldier, too. It is possible that in snaring theowl we have caught the falcon. Yet we had certain token that he wouldcome this way, and on such another horse.'
'Call up Long John,' suggested the Dutchman. 'I vould not give a plug ofTrinidado for the Schelm's word. Long John was with Cooper Dick when hewas taken.'
'Aye,' growled the mate Silas. 'He got a wipe over the arm from thegauger's whinyard. He'll know his face, if any will.'
'Call him, then,' said Murgatroyd, and presently a long, loose-limbedseaman came up from the mouth of the cave, where he had been on watch.He wore a red kerchief round his forehead, and a blue jerkin, the sleeveof which he slowly rolled up as he came nigh.
'Where is Gauger Westhouse?' he cried; 'he has left his mark on my arm.Rat me, if the scar is healed yet. The sun is on our side of the wallnow, gauger. But hullo, mates! Who be this that ye have clapped intoirons? This is not our man!'
'Not our man!' they cried, with a volley of curses.
'Why, this fellow would make two of the gauger, and leave enough overto fashion a magistrate's clerk. Ye may hang him to make sure, but stillhe's not the man.'
'Yes, hang him!' said Dutch Pete. 'Sapperment! is our cave to be thetalk of all the country? Vere is the pretty _Maria_ to go then, vid hersilks and her satins, her kegs and her cases'? Are we to risk ourcave for the sake of this fellow? B
esides, has he not schlagged mykopf--schlagged your cooper's kopf--as if he had hit me mit mine ownmallet? Is that not vorth a hemp cravat?'
'Worth a jorum of rumbo,' cried Dicon. 'By your leave, Captain, I wouldsay that we are not a gang of padders and michers, but a crew of honestseamen, who harm none but those who harm us. Exciseman Westhouse hathslain Cooper Dick, and it is just that he should die for it; but as totaking this young soldier's life, I'd as soon think of scuttling thesaucy _Maria_, or of mounting the Jolly Roger at her peak.'
What answer would have been given to this speech I cannot tell, forat that moment a shrill whistle resounded outside the cave, and twosmugglers appeared bearing between them the body of a man. It hung solimp that I thought at first that he might be dead, but when they threwhim on the sand he moved, and at last sat up like one who is but halfawoken from a swoon. He was a square dogged-faced fellow, with a longwhite scar down his cheek, and a close-fitting blue coat with brassbuttons.
'It's Gauger Westhouse!' cried a chorus of voices. 'Yes, it is GaugerWesthouse,' said the man calmly, giving his neck a wriggle as though hewere in pain. 'I represent the King's law, and in its name I arrest yeall, and declare all the contraband goods which I see around me to beconfiscate and forfeited, according to the second section of the firstclause of the statute upon illegal dealing. If there are any honest menin this company, they will assist me in the execution of my duty.' Hestaggered to his feet as he spoke, but his spirit was greater than hisstrength, and he sank back upon the sand amid a roar of laughter fromthe rough seamen.
'We found him lying on the road when we came from Daddy Mycroft's,' saidone of the new-comers, who were the same men who had led away my horse.'He must have passed just after you left, and the rope caught him underthe chin and threw him a dozen paces. We saw the revenue button on hiscoat, so we brought him down. Body o' me, but he kicked and plunged forall that he was three-quarters stunned.'
'Have ye slacked the hawser?' the Captain asked.
'We cast one end loose and let it hang.'
''Tis well. We must keep him for Captain Venables. But now, as to ourother prisoner: we must overhaul him and examine his papers, for so manycraft are sailing under false colours that we must needs be careful.Hark ye, Mister Soldier! What brings you to these parts, and what kingdo you serve? for I hear there's a mutiny broke out, and two skippersclaim equal rating in the old British ship.'
'I am serving under King Monmouth,' I answered, seeing that the proposedsearch must end in the finding of my papers.
'Under King Monmouth!' cried the smuggler. 'Nay, friend, that ringssomewhat false. The good King hath, I hear, too much need of his friendsin the south to let an able soldier go wandering along the sea coastlike a Cornish wrecker in a sou'-wester.'
'I bear despatches,' said I, 'from the King's own hand to Henry Dukeof Beaufort, at his castle at Badminton. Ye can find them in my innerpocket, but I pray ye not to break the seal, lest it bring discreditupon my mission.'
'Sir,' cried the gauger, raising himself upon his elbow, 'I do herebyarrest you on the charge of being a traitor, a promoter of treason, avagrant, and a masterless man within the meaning of the fourth statuteof the Act. As an officer of the law I call upon you to submit to mywarrant.'
'Brace up his jaw with your scarf, Jim,' said Murgatroyd. 'When Venablescomes he will soon find a way to check his gab. Yes,' he continued,looking at the back of my papers, 'it is marked, as you say, "From Jamesthe Second of England, known lately as the Duke of Monmouth, to HenryDuke of Beaufort, President of Wales, by the hand of Captain MicahClarke, of Saxon's regiment of Wiltshire foot." Cast off the lashings,Dicon. So, Captain, you are a free man once more, and I grieve that weshould have unwittingly harmed you. We are good Lutherans to a man, andwould rather speed you than hinder you on this mission.'
'Could we not indeed help him on his way!' said the mate Silas. 'Formyself, I don't fear a wet jacket or a tarry hand for the cause, andI doubt not ye are all of my way of thinking. Now with this breeze wecould run up to Bristol and drop the Captain by morning, which wouldsave him from being snapped up by any land-sharks on the road.'
'Aye, aye,' cried Long John. 'The King's horse are out beyond Weston,but he could give them the slip if he had the _Maria_ under him.'
'Well,' said Murgatroyd, 'we could get back by three long tacks.Venables will need a day or so to get his goods ashore. If we are tosail back in company we shall have time on our hands. How would the plansuit you, Captain?'
'My horse!' I objected.
'It need not stop us. I can rig up a handy horse-stall with my sparespars and the grating. The wind has died down. The lugger could bebrought to Dead Man's Edge, and the horse led down to it. Run up toDaddy's, Jim; and you, Silas, see to the boat. Here is some cold junkand biscuit--seaman's fare, Captain--and a glass o' the real Jamaica towash it down an' thy stomach be not too dainty for rough living.'
I seated myself on a barrel by the fire, and stretched my limbs, whichwere cramped and stiffened by their confinement, while one of the seamenbathed the cut on my head with a wet kerchief, and another laid out somefood on a case in front of me. The rest of the gang had trooped away tothe mouth of the cave to prepare the lugger, save only two or three whostood on guard round the ill-fated gauger. He lay with his back restingagainst the wall of the cave, and his arms crossed over his breast,glancing round from time to time at the smugglers with menacing eyes, asa staunch old hound might gaze at a pack of wolves who had overmatchedhim. I was turning it over in my own mind whether aught could be done tohelp him, when Murgatroyd came over, and dipping a tin pannikin into theopen rum tub, drained it to the success of my mission.
'I shall send Silas Bolitho with you,' said he, 'while I bide here tomeet Venables, who commands my consort. If there is aught that I can doto repay you for your ill usage--'
'There is but one thing, Captain,' I broke in eagerly. 'It is as much,or more, for your own sake than mine that I ask it. Do not allow thisunhappy man to be murdered.'
Murgatroyd's face flushed with anger. 'You are a plain speaker, CaptainClarke,' said he. 'This is no murder. It is justice. What harm do wehere? There is not an old housewife over the whole countryside who doesnot bless us. Where is she to buy her souchong, or her strong waters,except from us! We charge little, and force our goods on no one. We arepeaceful traders. Yet this man and his fellows are ever yelping at ourheels, like so many dogfish on a cod bank. We have been harried, andchivied, and shot at until we are driven into such dens as this. A monthago, four of our men were bearing a keg up the hillside to Farmer Black,who hath dealt with us these five years back. Of a sudden, down camehalf a score of horse, led by this gauger, hacked and slashed with theirbroad-swords, cut Long John's arm open, and took Cooper Dick prisoner.Dick was haled to Ilchester Gaol, and hung up after the assizes likea stoat on a gamekeeper's door. This night we had news that this verygauger was coming this way, little knowing that we should be on thelook-out for him. Is it a wonder that we should lay a trap for him, andthat, having caught him, we should give him the same justice as he gaveour comrades?'
'He is but a servant, I argued. 'He hath not made the law. It is hisduty to enforce it. It is with the law itself that your quarrel is.'
'You are right,' said the smuggler gloomily. 'It is with Judge Moorcroftthat we have our chief account to square. He may pass this road upon hiscircuit. Heaven send he does! But we shall hang the gauger too. He knowsour cave now, and it would be madness to let him go.'
I saw that it was useless to argue longer, so I contented myself withdropping my pocket-knife on the sand within reach of the prisoner, inthe hope that it might prove to be of some service to him. His guardswere laughing and joking together, and giving little heed to theircharge, but the gauger was keen enough, for I saw his hand close overit.
I had walked and smoked for an hour or more, when Silas the mateappeared, and said that the lugger was ready and the horse aboard.Bidding Murgatroyd farewell, I ventured a few more words in favour ofthe gauger, w
hich were received with a frown and an angry shake of thehead. A boat was drawn up on the sand, inside the cave, at the water'sedge. Into this I stepped, as directed, with my sword and pistols, whichhad been given back to me, while the crew pushed her off and sprang inas she glided into deep water.
I could see by the dim light of the single torch which Murgatroyd heldupon the margin, that the roof of the cave sloped sheer down upon us aswe sculled slowly out towards the entrance. So low did it come at lastthat there was only a space of a few feet between it and the water, andwe had to bend our heads to avoid the rocks above us. The boatmen gavetwo strong strokes, and we shot out from under the overhanging ledge,and found ourselves in the open with the stars shining murkily aboveus, and the moon showing herself dimly and cloudily through a gatheringhaze. Right in front of us was a dark blur, which, as we pulled towardsit, took the outline of a large lugger rising and falling with the pulseof the sea. Her tall thin spars and delicate network of cordage toweredabove us as we glided under the counter, while the creaking of blocksand rattle of ropes showed that she was all ready to glide off upon herjourney. Lightly and daintily she rode upon the waters, like some giantseafowl, spreading one white pinion after another in preparation forher flight. The boatmen ran us alongside and steadied the dinghy while Iclimbed over the bulwarks on to the deck.
She was a roomy vessel, very broad in the beam, with a graceful curve inher bows, and masts which were taller than any that I had seen on sucha boat on the Solent. She was decked over in front, but very deep in theafter part, with ropes fixed all round the sides to secure kegs when thehold should be full. In the midst of this after-deck the mariners hadbuilt a strong stall, in which my good steed was standing, with a bucketfull of oats in front of him. My old friend shoved his nose against myface as I came aboard, and neighed his pleasure at finding his masteronce more. We were still exchanging caresses when the grizzled head ofSilas Bolitho the mate popped out of the cabin hatchway.
'We are fairly on our way now, Captain Clarke,' said he. 'The breezehas fallen away to nothing, as you can see, and we may be some time inrunning down to our port. Are you not aweary?'
'I am a little tired,' I confessed. 'My head is throbbing from the crackI got when that hawser of yours dashed me from my saddle.'
'An hour or two of sleep will make you as fresh as a Mother Carey'schicken,' said the smuggler. 'Your horse is well cared for, and you canleave him without fear. I will set a man to tend him, though, truth tosay, the rogues know more about studding-sails and halliards than theydo of steeds and their requirements. Yet no harm can come to him, so youhad best come down and turn in.'
I descended the steep stairs which led down into the low-roofed cabin ofthe lugger. On either side a recess in the wall had been fitted up as acouch.
'This is your bed,' said he, pointing to one of them. 'We shall callyou if there be aught to report.' I needed no second invitation, butflinging myself down without undressing, I sank in a few minutes intoa dreamless sleep, which neither the gentle motion of the boat nor theclank of feet above my head could break off.
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