CHAPTER XIV.
A CHAIN OF PENANCE.
That brief voyage from Plymouth to the islands of the Azores was in themain an uneventful one. Gilbert Oglander, who, notwithstanding his loveof ships, had never before spent a night upon the sea, very speedilysuccumbed to the effects of the ship's motion. The _Revenge_ rolled andpitched upon the great green waves that met her in the open channelbeyond the Eddystone rocks, and when she was off Ushant a thick sea-misthemmed her in, and she lay there tossing for many hours underclose-reefed sails, beyond sight or hail of the other vessels of thefleet.
It was while the fog still held round her that Gilbert first venturedupon deck. Jacob Hartop met him there, and greeted him with a question.
"Prithee, Master Oglander," said the old man, "hast seen aught of youngRobin Redfern these few hours past?"
"Nay," answered Gilbert, "he hath not been near me since I have beenbelow."
"Then I much fear," returned Hartop, "that the lad hath fallenoverboard, for no man hath set eyes upon him since we shortened saileight hours ago. We have searched for him all-wheres, but he cannot befound. As a last resource I have sent a man up the main-mast to seek himin the tops, although 'tis well-nigh impossible he can be there."
As he spoke the old man glanced aloft through the fog, and at the samemoment a voice hailed him from tops.
"Below there!" the voice cried. "The kid is here. I have found him!"
Jacob Hartop sprang up upon the bulwarks, grasped the shrouds, andclimbed up with the nimbleness of a much younger man. Gilbert watchedhim, and presently he disappeared into the railed gallery there. Whenhe again appeared he was slowly descending, bearing the boy's inert formover his shoulder.
"There!" cried Hartop, as he dumped the lad down upon the deck. "Thankthe Lord y'are not starved to death up there!"
The boy looked up, dazed as if he had been suddenly aroused from sleep.
"How came you to go hiding up there?" questioned Hartop in a severetone. "Dost know how you have alarmed us, quotha? How came you up there,I say?"
The lad's eyes glanced about him as if in mortal fear.
"'Twas Red Bob," he stammered. "He's here, on board this ship. I wasafraid of him, Master Hartop; for he doth owe me a sorry grudge forbeing the cause of his being put into prison. I went up the mast to hidefrom him, and, being there, I could not get down again, try as I would."
"And, prithee, who might be this Red Bob of whom y'are so afraid?" askedJacob.
And then Robin caught sight of Gilbert Oglander, and he said:
"Master Gilbert should know the man. 'Tis the man that was put intoprison for stealing the ducks and geese from the Manor farm, MasterGilbert, and that attacked you in Beddington Dingle, and that robbedMaster Hartop of his bag of precious stones that he had brought homefrom the Spanish Main."
"Marry!" exclaimed Gilbert in surprise. "And you say he is aboard the_Revenge_?"
"Ay, truly," said Robin; "and by the way he regarded me, I feel sure hedoth know that it was I who raised the alarm and was the cause of hisbeing caught."
"You need be in no such fear of the man, my lad," said Gilbert. "Let himbut attempt to harm you, and I warrant you he'll not soon forget it. Youare in my personal charge now, Robin, and I'll see you are hurt by noman."
Later on that same day Gilbert encountered the man Red Bob in theforward part of the ship, whence the lad had gone immediately afterprayers to witness a strange ceremony, of which the occasion was this:that Red Bob had that day been taken in the swearing of a blasphemousoath, and was now to be punished in sight of his companions. With ageneral consent of all the ship's company, it had been ordained that anyman guilty of using profane language should be condemned to wear a heavyiron chain about his neck, and that at the time of morning and eveningprayers he should receive three blows given him by the boatswain. Theguilty man could only free himself from the penalty by transferring itto another whom he discovered swearing. Thus did the men of the_Revenge_ endeavour to banish the vice of bad language on board.
Red Bob had worn the chain for the space of seven hours, and he wasstanding in the midst of his fellows meekly submitting to theboatswain's blows when Gilbert appeared. Gilbert thought he had neverseen a man whose face showed more of brutality and evil than this RedBob, and as he looked at him and remembered that night in BeddingtonDingle, he could not doubt that it was this same man, this poacher, whohad attacked Jacob Hartop and stolen the poor old man's wallet with itsjewels and the precious letter, of which so much had been said atModbury Manor.
Jacob Hartop himself was at Gilbert's elbow as Red Bob retired towardsthe forecastle smarting from the boatswain's blows. As he approachedthem he touched his forelock, and was passing on when Gilbert accostedhim.
"Stop," said the lad, "I have a word or two to say to you."
"I am at your worship's service," returned Red Bob. "What would you?"And then, recognizing Gilbert as the young heir of Modbury, he added:"But I have little need to ask, methinks, for I guess that you wouldquestion me concerning the matter of the night when I was arrested andthrown into Plymouth gaol?"
Gilbert nodded. "Yes," he said, "you have guessed my wish right truly."
"Well, your honour," said Red Bob, "as to the poaching of the farmducks--"
"Nay, I meant not the poaching matter," interrupted Gilbert. "You havehad your just punishment for that, and so 'tis at an end. It was ratherof the matter of your attack upon Master Hartop here, that I would knowmore. You see, there was a letter stolen--a letter of grave importance."
"Ay, 'twas the Spaniards that purloined it," broke in Red Bob.
"The Spaniards?" echoed Gilbert. "Prithee, what Spaniards mean you?"
"Look you, my masters," said Red Bob, and then he drew Gilbert to thebulwarks and signed to Hartop to join him. "I can tell you, mayhap, morethan you know. But firstly, be assured that I had no hand in the affair.The men who waylaid Master Hartop were Jasper Oglander, his son Philip,and one Andrea de Ortega. Nay, do not doubt me," he cautioned, seeingthat Gilbert shook his head in incredulity; "I had the whole story fromoverhearing the Spaniards while I was in the gaol. For you must knowthat, having been for some three years on the Spanish galleys, I knowtheir language, though of that they never dreamt when they contrivedtheir plots and conspiracies in my hearing. Willingly would I havewarned Master Richard Drake of their schemes; but in gaol one can holdspeech with none but one's fellow-prisoners, and ere I was released andbrought on board this ship the Spaniards had made good their escape."
"Ay, but what of Master Jasper Oglander?" interrupted Hartop. "Say youthat you have proof against him?"
"I have proof thus far," rejoined Red Bob, "that on that night inDecember he and his two companions followed you from the ship withintent to get possession of the letter. It was they who assailed you inBeddington Dingle. They possessed themselves of the letter, which, itseemeth, contained news of the Spanish plate fleet. It was on account ofthat news that they were in so great haste to get back to Spain. Theirescape was contrived by Jasper Oglander and his son--"
"Marry come up!" cried Gilbert "Why, then, Timothy Trollope was rightafter all!"
Red Bob shook his head, and a grim smile played about his lips.
"Timothy Trollope had been righter still if he had finished his work onPolperro beach," said he. "'Tis said that the lad ran his rapier throughyoung Philip Oglander. Haply he did so; but of this I am certain, thatyoung Philip Oglander is at this moment on board the _Pearl_ on his wayto Spain, with intent to inform the Spanish king of the setting out ofthis present expedition to waylay the plate fleet. That, my master, isthe sum of what I know, and if there be aught else that you wouldquestion me upon, my name on the ship's books is Robert Cruse, and youwill find me when on duty in the carpenter's quarters." And so saying,he again touched his forelock and proceeded on his way into theforecastle.
Thus, when it was too late to relent, did Gilbert learn of hisinjustice towards Timothy Trollope. He
reflected that had he onlybelieved in Timothy's report of the character of Jasper and PhilipOglander, much mischief might have been averted. For it needed noassurance from Jacob Hartop to bring him to understand to the full allthat might follow from the escape of the Spanish prisoners. They werenow on their way to Spain, apparently with the object of hastening toKing Philip and informing him of the starting of Lord Thomas Howard'sexpedition to the Azores; and the result of their intelligence would nodoubt be that the Spanish king would endeavour by all the means in hispower to frustrate the English designs upon his treasure-ships.
Gilbert spoke of these things with Roland Grenville, but young Grenvilleregarded them with small concern, and reminded Gilbert that Lord ThomasHoward was well acquainted with the situation, for that he had giveninstructions to all his captains to keep a constant watch for the_Pearl_, to the end that if any should sight her she was to be pursuedand captured, or else sent to the bottom with a well-directed shot.
But if any strange vessels were espied they were only peaceful tradersbearing our own flag of St. George, or else one or two of the Earl ofCumberland's fleet, which were at that time cruising off the coasts ofSpain. Certain it is that the _Pearl_ did not come within sight of anyon board the _Revenge_, for her voyage across the Bay of Biscay andthence westward to the Azores was performed without so much as thefiring of a single gun. Nor did any event of great moment occur thewhile on board, or any circumstance worthy of mention, saving only thatere the Western Isles were sighted the men had already begun to grumblemuch at the quality of their rations and at their bodily discomforts.
For, as if the ill results of bad victualling of the Queen's ships in1588 had not been a sufficient lesson, the food supplied to the presentexpedition was of the poorest sort, and it was little wonder that therewas much discontent. The beer, of which one gallon each day was suppliedto every man and boy, had been stored in old oil and fish barrels, andwas so corrupt that many refused to drink of it. The meat was so saltthat many said the brine had been put into it for the purpose ofdisguising the rank foulness thereof. The bread, too, was daily becomingmore closely inhabited by maggots, while even the sweetest food was liketo become unsavoury by reason of the noisome and poisonous scent of thebilge-water, which was in itself enough, had not the men all been forthe most part hale and healthy, to make many a brave sailor food forcrabs and sharks.
But if the men grumbled it was as yet only in surly undertones, for allknew that there was good fruit to be had on the island of Flores, andperhaps even some good wine. Furthermore, the Spanish treasure-shipswere expected on an early day, when, after a little fighting, as nonedoubted, our ships would speedily be filled up to the gunwales with barsof gold and ingots of silver and bags of precious stones. And then itwould be--Hi! for England and a merry life for the rest of their days!
The thought of that treasure buoyed up the heart of many a man whosespirit might else have failed him in the long days of waiting that werebefore them. But more than the hope of gain was the hope, which everyman in the fleet felt in his inmost heart, of giving a trouncing to theproud Dons of Spain. For assuredly there was no stronger feeling in theBritish seaman's heart at that time than that of hatred of the Spaniard.
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