A Gentleman Player; His Adventures on a Secret Mission for Queen Elizabeth

by Robert Neilson Stephens

  CHAPTER XIV.

  HOW THE PAGE WALKED IN HIS SLEEP.

  "I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud."--_Henry VI., Part III._

  Master Marryott had lost nearly two hours at Clown, through hisdetention by the constable, his waiting to enlist the highway robbers,and his measures for putting the coach into service. And such was thebadness of the road, that he had consumed more than an hour in covering,with alternate dashes and delays, the seven miles from Clown to theplace where he had overtaken Anne. Almost another hour had been used inawaiting the coming of the coach, and lodging the prisoner therein. Itwas, thus, between two and three in the afternoon when the northwardjourney was again taken up.

  Hal, as he rode beside the coach, considered his situation with regardto his pursuer, Roger Barnet. The latter, arriving with tired horses atthe scene of Hal's wine-drinking, and thereafter compelled to stop oftenfor traces of the fugitives, must have been as great a loser of time asHal had been; and this accounted for his non-appearance during either ofthe recent delays. But, by this time, he was probably not very farbehind; and hereafter Hal's rate of speed must be, by reason of thecoach, considerably slower. The latter circumstance would offset, inBarnet's favor, the two disadvantages under which he labored. Moreover,upon learning at Clown what company Hal had reinforced himself with, thepursuivant would find the track easier, and hence speedier, to follow;the passage of so numerous and ill-looking a band being certain toattract more attention than would that of a party of three or five.

  But Hal counted upon one likelihood for a compensating gain of a fewhours,--the likelihood that Barnet, to strengthen himself for possibleconflict with Hal's increased force, would tarry to augment his owntroop with men from the neighborhood, and that, in his subsequentpursuit, as well as in this measure, his very reliance on his advantageswould make him less strenuous for speed.

  Cheering himself with the best probabilities, though not ignoring theworst, Master Marryott pressed steadily on, after the manner of thetortoise. When bad spots in the road appeared, Kit Bottle, at the headof the line, caused the robbers to whip up their horses; and if this didnot avail to keep the coach from being stayed, Hal had the men dismountand put their shoulders to the wheels. A grumbling dislike to this kindof service evinced itself, but Captain Rumney, flattered by thecourteous way in which Hal gave him the necessary orders fortransmission, checked with peremptory looks the discontent. Hal concededa short stop, at a solitary tavern, for a refection of beer andbarley-cakes. During this pause, and also while passing throughvillages, Hal remained at the coach-opening, ready to close its curtainwith his own hand, on the least occasion from the inmates.

  But Anne and her page, whose flight from Scardiff that morning hadshortened their sleeping-time, were too languid for present effort. Inattitudes best accommodated to the movements of the coach, they sat--orhalf reclined--with their backs against the side of the vehicle forsupport. With changeless face and lack-lustre eyes, Anne viewed what ofthe passing country she could see through the opening; heedless whetherHal's figure interrupted her vision or not; whether she passedhabitations, or barren heath, or fields, or forest. Yet she did notrefuse the repast that Hal handed into the coach, which, when resort washad to the lone tavern, he had caused to stop at some distance from thehouse.

  Only once during the afternoon did he take the precaution of shuttingthe coach entrance; it was while passing through the considerable townof Rotherham.

  Night fell while the travellers were toilsomely penetrating further intothe West Riding of Yorkshire. When at last Hal gave the word to halt,they found themselves before a rude inn with numerous mean outbuildings,on a hill about six miles beyond Rotherham.

  Hal had now to provide, because of new conditions, somewhat otherwisethan he had done at his previous stopping-places. Anne and Francis wereto be closely guarded, a repressive hand held ready to check the leasthostile act or communication. Fresh horses could not be obtained innumber equal to the company. Ere he had ordered the halt, MasterMarryott had formed his plans.

  At first it seemed that he might not unopposedly have his way with thefrowsy-headed landlord who appeared in the doorway's light in responseto his summons. But when the blinking host became aware of thenumerousness of the company, and when Captain Rumney rode forward intothe light, he instantly grew hospitable. Evidently the captain and theinnkeeper were old acquaintances, if not occasional partners in trade.So Hal arranged a barter for what fresh horses were at the fellow'scommand; took lodgings for the night in the several outhouses, causedopen fires to be made on the earthen floors therein, and ordered foodand drink. He had the coach drawn into shelter, near one of the fires,and bedding placed in it, with other comforts from the inn.

  He then informed Anne that she was to remain in her prison overnight;and he assigned to Francis a sleeping-place on a pile of straw, withinsword reach of where he himself intended to guard the curtained openingof the coach. Anthony, on one of the fresh horses, should keep the usualwatch for Barnet's party. Bottle, who had watched at Scardiff, was tosleep in the stable-loft, as was also Rumney, whose men were to occupydifferent outbuildings. No one was to remove his clothes, and, in caseof alarm, all were to unite in hitching the horses, and to resume theflight.

  The horses themselves were placed in stalls, but in as forward a stateof readiness as was compatible with their easy resting. It was madeclear that, should any of these movements be interrupted or followed byattack from a pursuing party, all the resistance necessary was to beoffered.

  The supper ordered was brought on wooden platters, and eaten in thelight of the fires. Hal, as before, served Anne through the coachdoorway, and she accepted the cakes and ale with neither reluctance northanks. But under her passiveness. Hal saw no abandonment of herpurpose. He saw, rather, a design to gather clearness of mind andstrength of body, for the invention and execution of some plan not onlypossible to her restraint, but likely to be more effectual than any shehad tried when free.

  When the company had supped, and the robbers could be heard snoring inthe adjacent sheds, and Francis lay in the troubled sleep of excessivefatigue, and the regular breathing of Anne herself was audible throughthe coach curtain; when, in fine, every member of his strange caravanslept, save Anthony watching at the hill's southeastern brow, MasterMarryott sat upon a log, and gazed into the sputtering fire on theground, and mused. He marvelled to think how many and diverse andcumbrous elements he had assembled to his hand, and undertaken to keepin motion, for what seemed so small a cause.

  To herd with robbers; to lavish the queen's money; to deceive awoman--the object of his love--so that he brought upon himself her hatemeant for another; to carry off this woman by force, and put her to theutmost fatigue and risk; to wear out the bodies, and imperil the necks,of himself and so many others,--was it worth all this merely to create afair opportunity--not a certainty--of escape for a Frenchified EnglishCatholic, whose life was of no consequence to the country? Hal laughedto think how unimportant and uninteresting was the man in whose behalfall these labors and discomforts were being undergone by so many people,some of whom were so much more useful and ornamental to the world.

  And yet he knew that the business _was_ worth the effort; worth all thetoil and risk that he himself took, and that he imposed upon otherpeople. It was worth all this, perhaps not that a life might be saved,but that a debt might be paid, a promise made good,--his debt ofgratitude to Sir Valentine, his promise to the queen. It was worth anycost, that a gentleman should fulfil his obligations, however incurred.To an Englishman of that time, moreover, it was worth a world oftrouble, merely to please the queen.

  But what most and deepest moved Hal forward, and made turning backimpossible, was the demand in him for success on its own account, theintolerableness of failure in any deed that he might lay upon himself.Manly souls daily strain great resources for small causes, or for nocause worth considering, for the reason that they cannot endure to failin what they have, however thoughtlessly, undertaken. The man of
mettlewill not relinquish; he will die, but he will not let go. It is becausethe thing most necessary to him is his own applause; he will not forfeitthat, though he must pay with his life to retain it. Once his hand isto the plow, though he find too late that the field is barren, he willfurrow that field through, or he will drop in his tracks; what concernshim is, not the reason or the reward, but the mere fact of success orfailure in the self-assigned work. Men show this in their sports;indeed, the game that heroes play with circumstance and destiny, for themere sake of striving to win, is to them a sport of the keenest. "Maybeit was not worth doing, but I told myself I would do it, and I did it!"Hal fancied the deep elation that must attend those words, could hetruly say them three days hence.

  About three hours after midnight he awoke his people, had the horses putto the coach, sent for Anthony by one of the robbers,--a renegade Londonapprentice, Tom Cobble by name, whose face he liked for its boldfrankness,--and rode forth with his company toward Barnesley. Theypassed through this town in the early morning of Friday. March 6th, thethird day of the flight. Though Anne showed the utmost indifference toher surroundings. Hal closed her curtain, as he had done at Rotherham,until the open country was again reached.

  Soon after this, Mistress Hazlehurst changed her place to the forwardpart of the coach, and her position so as to face the backward part. Shecould thus be seen by any one riding at the side of the coach's rear,and glancing obliquely through the opening. It was, at present, AnthonyUnderhill that benefited by this new arrangement.

  Five miles after Barnesley, Master Marryott ordered a halt forbreakfast. As before, food was brought to the prisoners. The stop gaveCaptain Rumney an opportunity of peering in through the coach doorway.

  When, at nine o'clock, the journey was resumed. Rumney, without a word,took the place behind Marryott, formerly kept by Anthony.

  "By your leave, sir," said the Puritan, forced by this usurpation todrop behind the coach, "that is where I ride."

  "Tut, man!" replied Rumney, with an insolent pretence of carelessness;"what matters it?"

  "It matters to me that I ride where I have been commanded to," said thePuritan, with quiet stubbornness, heading his horse to take the placefrom which he expected the other to fall out.

  "And it matters to me that I ride where I please to," retorted Rumney,with a little less concealment of the ugliness within him.

  Anthony frowned darkly, and looked at Marryott, who had turned halfaround on his horse at the dispute. Rumney regarded Hal narrowly throughhalf shut eyes, in which defiance lurked, ready to burst forth onprovocation. Hal read his man, choked down his feelings, considered thatan open break was not yet to be afforded, and to make the matter inwhich he yielded seem a trifle, said, quietly:

  "My commands were too narrow, Anthony. So that you ride behind me, oneside of the road will do as well as another. The fault was mine, CaptainRumney."

  So Anthony fell back without protest or complaint. He cast his lookearthward, that it might not seem to reproach Master Marryott. And abitter moment was it to Master Marryott, for his having had to fail ofsupporting his own man against this rascal outlaw. A moment of keenerchagrin followed, when Hal caught a swift glance of swaggeringtriumph--a crowing kind of half smile--that Rumney sent to MistressHazlehurst, with whom he was now in line of vision. It seemed to say,"You see, mistress, what soft stuff this captor of yours shall prove inmy hands?" And in Anne's eyes, as Hal clearly beheld, was the light of anew hope, as if she perceived in this robber a possible instrument orchampion.

  But Master Marryott let none of his thoughts appear; he hardened hisface to the impassibility of a mask, and seemed neither to suspect norto fear anything; seemed, indeed, to feel himself above possibility ofdefeat or injury. He realized that here was a case where danger mightbe precipitated by any recognition of its existence.

  During the next six hours, he saw, though appeared not to heed, thatAnne kept her gaze fixed behind him, upon the robber captain. There wasno appeal in her eyes, no promise, no overture to conspiracy; nothingbut that intentional lack of definite expression, which makes such eyesthe more fascinating, because the more mysterious. Even savages likeRumney are open to the witchery of the unfathomable in a pair of fineeyes. Hal wondered how long the inevitable could be held off. He avoidedconversation with Rumney, did not even look back at him, lest pretextmight be given for an outbreak. He was kept informed of the knave'sexact whereabouts by the noise of the latter's horse, and, most of thetime, by the direction of Mistress Hazlehurst's look. He had no fear ofa sudden attack upon himself, for he knew that Anthony Underhill heldthe robber in as close a watch as Mistress Hazlehurst did.

  In mid-afternoon, the caravan stopped within three miles of Halifax, forfood and rest. Master Marryott stayed near the coach. Rumney, too,hovered close; but as yet a kind of loutish bashfulness toward a womanof Anne's haughtiness, rather than a fear of Master Marryott,--at least,so Hal supposed,--checked him from any attempt to address her. Marryottcalled Kit Bottle, and, while apparently viewing the surroundingcountry as if to plan their further route, talked with him in whispers:

  "Thy friend Rumney," said Hal, "seems a cur as ready to jump at one'sthroat as to crawl at one's feet."

  "'Twas lack of forethought, I'm afeard, to take up with the knave, wherea woman was to be concerned," replied Kit. "It was about a red and whitepiece of frailty that he dealt scurvily with me in the Netherlands. Werethere no she in the case, we might trust him; he hath too great shynessof law officers, on his own account, to move toward selling us."

  "If he had a mind, now, to rescue this lady from us--" began Hal.

  "'Twould be a sorry rescue for the lady!" put in Bottle.

  Hal shuddered.

  "And yet she would throw herself into his hands, to escape ours, thatshe might be free to work me harm," said he.

  "An she think she would find freedom that way, she knows not Rumney. Ifthine only care were to be no more troubled of her, thou couldst dolittle better than let Rumney take her off thy hands."

  "I would kill thee, Kit, if I knew not thou saidst that but to rally me!Yet I will not grant it true, either. She might contrive to tame thisRumney beast, and work us much harm. Well, smile an thou wilt! Thineage gives thee privileges with me, and I will confess 'tis her ownsafety most concerns me in this anxiety. Sink this Rumney inperdition!--why did I ever encumber us with him and his rascals?"

  "Speaking of his rascals, now," said Kit, "I have noticed some of themrather minded to heed your wishes than Rumney's commands. There hathbeen wrangling in the gang."

  "There is one, methinks," assented Hal, "that would rather take myorders than his leader's. 'Tis the round-headed, sharp-eyed fellow, TomCobble. He is a runagate 'prentice from London, and seemeth to have morerespect for town manners than for Rumney's."

  "And there is a yeoman's son, John Hatch, that rides near me," addedKit. "He hath some remnant of honesty in him, or I mistake. And one NedMoreton, who is of gentle blood and mislikes to be overborne by suchcarrion as Rumney. And yon scare-faced, fat-paunched fellow, Noll Bunchthey call him, hath been under-bailiff in a family that hath fled thecountry. I warrant he hath no taste for robbery; methinks he took to theroad in sheer need of filling his stomach, and would give much to befree of his bad bargain. There be two or three more that might makechoice of us, in a clash with their captain; but the rest are of themangiest litter that was ever bred among two-legged creatures."

  "Then win over quietly whom thou canst, Kit. But let us have no clashtill we must."

  Rumney and his men looked almost meek while passing through Halifax. Andherein behold mankind's horror of singularity. In other towns theserobbers had been under as much possibility of recognition and detention;but in those towns the result of their arrest would have been no worsethan hanging, and was not hanging the usual, common, and natural endingof a thief? But in Halifax there was that unique "Gibbet Law," underwhich thieves were beheaded by a machine something like the guillotinewhich another country and a later century
were yet to produce. There wasin such a death an isolation, from which a properly bred thief, broughtup to regard the hempen rope as his due destiny, might well shrink.

  But the robbers could sleep with easy minds that night, for MasterMarryott put Halifax eight miles behind ere he rested.

  Similar arrangements to those of the preceding night were made at theinn chosen as a stopping-place. The coach, furnished for comfortablerepose, stood near a fire, under roof. Hal, who thought that he had nowmastered the art of living without sleep, set himself to keep guardagain, by Francis, near the coach doorway. It was Anthony's night toshare Rumney's couch of straw; Kit Bottle's to watch for Barnet's men.

  Master Marryott, sitting by the fire, was assailed by fears lest thepursuivant had abandoned the false chase. If not, it was strange, whenthe slow progress with the coach was considered, that he had not come insight. Hal reassured himself by accounting for this in more ways thanone. Barnet must have been detained long in recruiting men to join inthe pursuit. He may have been hindered by lack of money, also, for hehad left London without thought of further journey than to Welwyn. Hecould press all necessary means into service, in the queen's name, as hewent; but in doing this he must experience much delay that ready coinwould have avoided. True, Barnet would have learned at Clown that thesupposed Sir Valentine had named himself as a London player; but hewould surely think this a lie, as Mistress Hazlehurst had thought it.

  A slight noise--something like a man yawning aloud, or moaning insleep--turned Marryott's musings into another channel. The sound hadcome from one of the other outhouses, probably that in which wereCaptain Rumney and Anthony Underhill. It put dark apprehensions intoHal's mind, because of its resemblance to the groan a man might give ifhe were stabbed to death in slumber.

  Suppose, thought he, this Rumney were minded for treason and robbery.How could he better proceed, in order to avoid all stir, than to availhimself of the present separation of Hal's party; to slay Anthony first,while Bottle was away on the watch; and thus have Marryott and Kit eachin position to be dealt with single-handed?

  Hal now saw the error of having Anthony sleep out of his sight; for thePuritan was one who watched while he watched, and slept while he slept.The present situation ought not to be continued a moment longer. Yet howwas Hal to summon Anthony? To awaken him by voice, one would have toraise such clamor as would alarm the robbers and perchance excite theirleader's suspicions. A touch on the shoulder would accomplish thedesired result quietly. Might Hal venture from his present post for thebrief time necessary to his purpose?

  Francis lay near the fire, his eyes closed, his respirations long andeasy. The softer breathing of the prisoner in the coach was as deep andmeasured. Hal stole noiselessly out, and made for the shed in which thePuritan slept.

  Anthony lay in his cloak, on a pile of hay, his back turned to that ofRumney. The highway robber's eyes were closed; whether he slept or not,Hal could not have told. But there was no doubt of the somnolent stateof the Puritan. A steady gentle shaking of his shoulder caused him toopen his eyes.

  "Come with me," whispered Hal. The Puritan rose, without a word, andfollowed from the one shed to the other, and to the fire by the coach.

  "'Tis best you sleep in my sight, beside the lad," said Marryott,turning toward the designated spot as he finished. In the same instant,he stared as if he saw a ghost, and then stifled an oath.

  Francis was gone.

  Hal looked about, but saw nothing human in range of the firelight. Hehastened to the curtained opening of the coach. The same softbreathing--there could be no mistaking it--still came from within.

  "She is here, at least," Hal said, quickly, to the somewhat mystifiedAnthony. "But he hath flown on some errand of her plotting, depend on't!He must have feigned sleep, and followed me out. He can't be far, asyet. 'Tis but a minute since. Watch you by the coach!"

  With which order, Master Marryott seized a brand from the fire, and ranout again to the yard.

  But he had scarce cast a swift glance around the place, ere he sawFrancis coming out of the very shed from which Hal himself had ledAnthony a few moments earlier.

  "What is this?" cried Marryott, grasping the boy's arm, and thrustingthe firebrand almost into his face.

  Francis stared vacantly for an instant, then gave a start, blinked, andlooked at Hal as if for the first time conscious of what was going on.

  "What's afoot, you knave?" said Hal, squeezing the page's arm. "Whatdeviltry are you about, following me from your bed, hiding in thedarkness while I pass, and going to yonder shed? You bore some messagefrom your mistress to Master Rumney. I'll warrant! Confess, or 'twill goill!"

  "I know not where I've been, or what done," replied the boy, coolly. "Iwalk in my sleep, sir."

  Hal searchingly inspected the lad's countenance, but it did not flinch.Pondering deeply, he then led the way back to his fire, and commandedthe page to lie down. Francis readily obeyed.

  Bidding the puzzled but unquestioning Puritan sleep beside the boy, Halsoon lost himself in his thoughts,--lost himself so far that it did notoccur to him to step now and then to the door and look out into thenight; else he might presently have seen a dark figure move stealthilyfrom outhouse to outhouse as if in search of something. It would thenhave appeared that Captain Rumney, also, was given to walking in hissleep.