The Splendid Spur

by Arthur Quiller-Couch

  CHAPTER X.

  CAPTAIN POTTERY AND CAPTAIN SETTLE.

  "Now either I am mad or dreaming," thought I: for that the fellow hadnot heard our noise was to me starkly incredible. I stepp'd alongthe deck toward him: not an inch did he budge. I touch'd him on theshoulder.

  He fac'd round with a quick start.

  "Sir," said I, quick and low, before he could get a word out--"Sir, weare in your hands. I will be plain. To-night I have broke out of BristolKeep, and the Colonel's men are after me. Give me up to them, and theyhang me to-morrow: give my comrade up, and they persecute her vilely.Now, sir, I know not which side you be, but there's our case in anutshell."

  The man bent forward, displaying a huge, rounded face, very kindly aboutthe eyes, and set atop of the oddest body in the world: for under atrunk extraordinary broad and strong, straddled & pair of legs that ababy would have disown'd--so thin and stunted were they, and (to make itthe queerer) ended in feet the most prodigious you ever saw.

  As I said, this man lean'd forward, and shouted into my ear so that Ifairly leap'd in the air--

  "My name's Pottery--Bill Pottery, cap'n o' the _Godsend_--an' you can'tmake me hear, not if you bust yoursel'!"

  You may think this put me in a fine quandary.

  "I be deaf as nails!" bawl'd he.

  'Twas horrible: for the troopers (I thought) if anywhere near, could notmiss hearing him. His voice shook the very rigging.

  "... An' o' my crew the half ashore gettin' drunk, an' the half belowin a very accomplished state o' liquor: so there's no chance for 'ee tospeak!"

  He paus'd a moment, then roared again---

  "What a pity! 'Cos you make me very curious--that you do!"

  Luckily, at this moment, Delia had the sense to put a finger to her lip.The man wheel'd round without another word, led us aft over the blocks,cordage, and all manner of loose gear that encumber'd the deck, to aladder that, toward the stern, led down into darkness. Here he sign'dto us to follow; and, descending first, threw open a door, letting outa faint stream of light in our faces. 'Twas the captain's cabin, lin'dwith cupboards and lockers: and the light came from an oil lamp hangingover a narrow deal table. By this light Captain Billy scrutiniz'd us foran instant: then, from one of his lockers, brought out pen, paper, andink, and set them on the table before me.

  "Master Pottery shaking us both by the hand."]

  I caught up the pen, dipp'd it, and began to write--

  "I am John Marvel, a servant of King Charles; and this night am escap'dout of Bristol Castle. If you be--"

  Thus far I had written without glancing up, in fear to read thedisappointment of my hopes. But now the pen was caught suddenly from myfingers, the paper torn in shreds, and there was Master Pottery shakingus both by the hand, nodding and becking, and smiling the while all overhis big red face.

  But he ceas'd at last: and opening another of his lockers, drew fortha horn lantern, a mallet, and a chisel. Not a word was spoken as he litthe lantern and pass'd out of the cabin, Delia and I following at hisheels.

  Just outside, at the foot of the steps, he stoop'd, pull'd up a trapin the flooring, and disclos'd another ladder stretching, as it seem'd,down into the bowels of the ship. This we descended carefully; and foundourselves in the hold, pinching our noses 'twixt finger and thumb.

  For indeed the smell here was searching to a very painful degree: forthe room was narrow, and every inch of it contested by two puissantessences, the one of raw wood, the other of bilge water. With wool theplace was pil'd: but also I notic'd, not far from the ladder, severalcasks set on their ends; and to these the captain led us.

  They were about a dozen in all, stacked close together: and MasterPottery, rolling two apart from the rest, dragg'd them to another trapand tugg'd out the bungs. A stream of fresh water gush'd from each andsplash'd down the trap into the bilge below. Then, having drained them,he stay'd in their heads with a few blows of his mallet.

  His plan for us was clear. And in a very few minutes Delia and I werecrouching on the timbers, each with a cask inverted over us, our nosesat the bungholes and our ears listening to Master Pottery's footstepsas they climb'd heavily back to deck. The rest of the casks were stack'dclose round us, so that even had the gloom allow'd, we could see nothingat all.

  "Jack!"

  "Delia!"

  "Dost feel heroical at all?"

  "Not one whit. There's a trickle of water running down my back, to beginwith."

  "And my nose it itches; and oh, what a hateful smell! Say something tome, Jack."

  "My dear," said I, "there is one thing I've been longing these weeks tosay: but this seems an odd place for it."

  "What is't?"

  I purs'd up my lips to the bunghole, and---

  "I love you," said I.

  There was silence for a moment: and then, within Delia's cask, the soundof muffled laughter.

  "Delia," I urg'd, "I mean it, upon my oath. Wilt marry me, sweetheart?"

  "Must get out of this cask first. Oh, Jack, what a dear goose thou art!"And the laughter began again.

  I was going to answer, when I heard a loud shouting overhead. 'Twas thesound of someone hailing the ship, and thought I, "the troopers are onus!"

  They were, in truth. Soon I heard the noise of feet above and a stringof voices speaking one after another, louder and louder. And next MasterPottery began to answer up and drown'd all speech but his own. When heceas'd, there was silence for some minutes: after which we heard a partydescend to the cabin, and the trampling of their feet on the boardsabove us. They remain'd there some while discussing: and then camefootsteps down the second ladder, and a twinkle of light reach'd methrough the bunghole of my cask.

  "Quick!" said a husky voice; "overhaul the cargo here!"

  I heard some half dozen troopers bustling about the hold and tugging outthe bales of wool.

  "Hi!" call'd Master Pottery: "an' when you've done rummaging my ship,put everything back as you found it."

  "Poke about with your swords," commanded the husky voice. "What's inthose barrels yonder?"

  "Water, sergeant," answers a trooper, rolling out a couple.

  "Nothing behind them?"

  "No; they're right against the side."

  "Drop 'em then. Plague on this business! 'Tis my notion they're a milea-way, and Cap'n Stubbs no better than a fool to send us back here. He'sgrudging promotion, that's what he is! Hurry, there--hurry!"

  Ten minutes later, the searchers were gone; and we in our casks drawinglong breaths of thankfulness and strong odors. And so we crouch'dtill, about midnight, Captain Billy brought us down a supper of ship'sbiscuit: which we crept forth to eat, being sorely cramp'd.

  He could not hear our thanks: but guess'd them.

  "Now say not a word! To-morrow we sail for Plymouth Sound: thence forBrittany. Hist! We be all King's men aboard the _Godsend_, tho' hearingnought I says little. Yet I have my reasoning heresies, holding theLord's Anointed to be an anointed rogue, but nevertheless to be serv'd:just as aboard the _Godsend_ I be Cap'n Billy an' you plain Jack, beyour virtues what they may. An' the conclusion is--damn all mutineersan' rebels! Tho', to be sure, the words be a bit lusty for a younggentlewoman's ears."

  We went back to our casks with lighter hearts. Howbeit 'twas near fivein the morning, I dare say, before my narrow bedchamber allow'd me todrop asleep.

  I woke to spy through my bunghole the faint light of day struggling downthe hatches. Above, I heard a clanking noise, and the voices of the menhiccoughing a dismal chant. They were lifting anchor. I crawl'd forthand woke Delia, who was yet sleeping: and together we ate the breakfastthat lay ready set for us on the head of a barrel.

  Presently the sailors broke off their song, and we heard their feetshuffling to and fro on deck.

  "Sure," cried Delia, "we are moving!"

  And surely we were, as could be told by the alter'd sound of the waterbeneath us, and the many creakings that the _Godsend_ began to keep.Once more I tasted freedom again, and the joy of liv
ing, and could havesung for the mirth that lifted my heart. "Let us but gain open sea,"said I, "and I'll have tit-for-tat with these rebels!"

  But alas! before we had left Avon mouth twenty minutes, 'twas anothertale. For I lay on my side in that dark hold and long'd to die: andDelia sat up beside me, her hands in her lap, and her great eyes fix'dmost dolefully. And when Captain Billy came down with news that we weresafe and free to go on deck, we turn'd our faces from him, and said wethank'd him kindly, but had no longer any wish that way--too wretched,even, to remember his deafness.

  Let me avoid, then, some miserable hours, and come to the evening, when,faint with fasting and nausea, we struggled up to the deck for air, andlook'd about us.

  'Twas grey--grey everywhere: the sky lead-colored, with deeper shadestoward the east, where a bank of cloud blotted the coast line: thethick rain descending straight, with hardly wind enough to set thesails flapping; the sea spread like a plate of lead, save only where,to leeward, a streak of curded white crawled away from under the_Godsend's_ keel.

  On deck, a few sailors mov'd about, red eyed and heavy. They show'dno surprise to see us, but nodded very friendly, with a smile for ourstrange complexions. Here again, as ever, did adversity mock her ownimage.

  But what more took our attention was to see a row of men stretch'd onthe starboard side, like corpses, their heads in the scuppers, theirlegs pointed inboard, and very orderly arranged. They were a dozen andtwo in all, and over them bent Captain Billy with a mop in his hand, anda bucket by his side: who beckon'd that we should approach.

  "Array'd in order o' merit," said he, pointing with his mop like ashowman to the line of figures before him.

  We drew near.

  "This here is Matt. Soames, master o' this vessel--an' he's dead."

  "Dead?"

  "Dead-drunk, that is. O the gifted man! Come up!" He thrust the mop inthe fellow's heavy face. "There now! Did he move, did he wink? 'No,'says you. O an accomplished drunkard!"

  He paus'd a moment; then stirr'd up No. 2, who open'd one eye lazily,and shut it again in slumber.

  "You saw? Open'd one eye, hey? That's Benjamin Halliday. The next is ablack man, as you see: a man of dismal color, and hath other drawbacksnatural to such. Can the Aethiop shift his skin? No, but he'll open botheyes. See there--a perfect Christian, in so far as drink can make him."

  With like comments he ran down the line till he came to the last man, infront of whom he stepp'd back.

  "About this last--he's a puzzler. Times I put him top o' the list, an'times at the tail. That's Ned Masters, an' was once the Reverend EdwardMasters, Bachelor o' Divinity in Cambridge College; but in a tavernthere fell a-talking with a certain Pelagian about Adam an' Eve, an'because the fellow turn'd stubborn, put a knife into his waistband, an'had to run away to sea: a middling drinker only, but after a quart orso to hear him tackle Predestination! So there be times after all whenI sets'n apart, and says, 'Drunk, you'm no good, but half-drunk, you'mpriceless.' Now there's a man--" He dropp'd his mop, and, leading usaft, pointed with admiring finger to the helmsman--a thin, wizen'dfellow, with a face like a crab apple, and a pair of piercing grey eyeshalf hidden by the droop of his wrinkled lids. "Gabriel Hutchins, howold be you?"

  "Sixty-four, come next Martinmas," pip'd the helmsman.

  "In what state o' life?"

  "Drunk."

  "How drunk?"

  "As a lord!"

  "Canst stand upright?"

  "Hee-hee! Now could I iver do other?--a miserable ould worms to whom thesweet effects o' quantums be denied. When was I iver wholesomely maz'd?Or when did I lay my grey hairs on the floor, saying, 'Tis enough, an''tis good'? Answer me that, Cap'n Bill."

  "But you hopes for the best, Gabriel."

  "Aye, I hopes--I hopes."

  The old man sigh'd as he brought the _Godsend_ a point nearer the wind;and, as we turn'd away with the Captain, was still muttering, his sharpgrey eyes fix'd on the vessel's prow.

  "He's my best," said Captain Billy Pottery.

  With this crew we pass'd four days; and I write this much of thembecause they afterward, when sober, did me a notable good turn, as youshall read toward the end of this history. But lest you shouldjudge them hardly, let me say here that when they recovered of theirstupor--as happen'd to the worst after thirty-six hours--there was nobrisker, handier set of fellows on the seas. And this Captain Billy wellunderstood: "but" (said he) "I be a collector an' a man o' conscienceboth, which is uncommon. Doubtless there be good sots that are not goodseamen, but from such I turn my face, drink they never so prettily."

  'Twas necessary I should impart some notion of my errand to CaptainBilly, tho' I confin'd myself to hints, telling him only 'twas urgent Ishould be put ashore somewhere on the Cornish coast, for that I carriedintelligence which would not keep till we reached Plymouth, a town that,besides, was held by the rebels. And he agreed readily to land me inBude Bay: "and also thy comrade, if (as I guess) she be so minded,"he added, glancing up at Delia from the paper whereon I had written myrequest.

  She had been silent of late, beyond her wont, avoiding (I thought) tomeet my eye: but answer'd simply,

  "I go with Jack."

  Captain Billy, whose eyes rested on her as she spoke, beckon'd me, verymysterious, outside the cabin, and winking slily, whisper'd loud enoughto stun one----

  "Ply her, Jack"--he had call'd me "Jack" from the first--"ply herbriskly! Womankind is but yielding flesh: 'am an amorous man mysel', an'speak but that I have prov'd."

  On this--for the whole ship could hear it--there certainly came thesound of a stifled laugh from the other side of the cabin door: but itdid not mend my comrade's shy humor, that lasted throughout the voyage.

  To be brief, 'twas not till the fourth afternoon (by reason of bafflinghead winds) that we stepped out of the _Godsend's_ boat upon a smallbeach of shingle, whence, between a rift in the black cliffs, wound upthe road that was to lead us inland. The _Godsend_, as we turn'd to waveour hands, lay at half a mile's distance, and made a pretty sight: forthe day, that had begun with a white frost, was now turn'd sunny andstill, so that looking north we saw the sea all spread with pink andlilac and hyacinth, and upon it the ship lit up, her masts and sailsglowing like a gold piece. And there was Billy, leaning over thebulwarks and waving his trumpet for "Good-bye!" Thought I, for I littledream'd to see these good fellows again, "what a witless game is thislife! to seek ever in fresh conjunctions what we leave behind in a handshake." 'Twas a cheap reflection, yet it vex'd me that as we turn'd tomount the road Delia should break out singing---

  "Hey! nonni--nonni--no! Is't not fine to laugh and sing When the hellsof death do ring!--"

  "Why, no," said I, "I don't think it": and capp'd her verse withanother--

  "Silly man, the cost to find Is to leave as good behind--"

  "Jack, for pity's sake, stop!" She put her fingers to her ears. "What anasty, creaking voice thou hast, to be sure!"

  "That's as a man may hold," said I, nettled.

  "No, indeed: yours is a very poor voice, but mine is beautiful. Solisten."

  She went on to sing as she went, "Green as grass is my kirtle," "Tire mein tiffany," "Come ye bearded men-at-arms," and "The Bending Rush." Allthese she sang, as I must confess, most delicately well, and then fac'dme, with a happy smile---

  "Now, have not I a sweet voice? Why, Jack--art still glum?"

  "Delia," answer'd I, "you have first to give me a reply to what, fourdays agone, I ask'd you. Dear girl--nay then, dear comrade--"

  I broke off, for she had come to a stop, wringing her hands and lookingin my face most dolefully.

  "Oh, dear--oh, dear! Jack, we have had such merry times: and you arespoiling all the fun!"

  We follow'd the road after this very moodily; for Delia, whom I hadmade sharer of the rebels' secret, agreed that no time was to be lostin reaching Bodmin, that lay a good thirty miles to the southwest. Nightfell and the young moon rose, with a brisk breeze at our backs that keptus still walking without any fee
ling of weariness. Captain Billy hadgiven me at parting a small compass, of new invention, that a man couldcarry easily in his pocket; and this from time to time I examin'd in themoonlight, guiding our way almost due south, in hopes of striking intothe main road westward. I doubt not we lost a deal of time amongthe byways; but at length happen'd on a good road bearing south, andfollow'd it till daybreak, when to our satisfaction we spied a hill infront, topp'd with a stout castle, and under it a town of importance,that we guess'd to be Launceston.

  By this, my comrade and I were on the best of terms again; and now drewup to consider if we should enter the town or avoid it to the west,trusting to find a breakfast in some tavern on the way. Because we knewnot with certainty the temper of the country, it seem'd best to choosethis second course: so we fetch'd around by certain barren meadows, andthought ourselves lucky to hit on a road that, by the size, must be theone we sought, and a tavern with a wide yard before it and a carter'svan standing at the entrance, not three gunshots from the town walls.

  "Now Providence hath surely led us to breakfast," said Delia, andstepped before me into the yard, toward the door.

  I was following her when, inside of a gate to the right of the house, Icaught the gleam of steel, and turn'd aside to look.

  To my dismay there stood near a score of chargers in this second court,saddled and dripping with sweat. My first thought was to run afterDelia; but a quick surprise made me rub my eyes with wonder---

  'Twas the sight of a sorrel mare among them--a mare with one high whitestocking. In a thousand I could have told her for Molly.

  Three seconds after I was at the tavern door, and in my ears a voicesounding that stopp'd me short and told me in one instant that withoutGod's help all was lost.

  'Twas the voice of Captain Settle speaking in the taproom; and alreadyDelia stood, past concealment, by the open door.

  "... And therefore, master carter, it grieves me to disappoint thee;but no man goeth this day toward Bodmin. Such be my Lord of Stamford'sorders, whose servant I am, and as captain of this troop I am sent toexact them. As they displease you, his lordship is but twenty-four hoursbehind: you can abide him and complain. Doubtless he will hear--_tenmillion devils!_"

  I heard his shout as he caught sight of Delia. I saw his crimson face ashe darted out and gripp'd her. I saw, or half saw, the troopers crowdingout after him. For a moment I hesitated. Then came my pretty comrade'svoice, shrill above the hubbub---

  "Jack--they have horses outside! Leave me--I am ta'en--and ride, dearlad--ride!"

  In a flash my decision was taken, for better or worse. I dash'd outaround the house, vaulted the gate, and catching at Molly's mane, leap'dinto the saddle.

  A dozen troopers were at the gate, and two had their pistols levell'd.

  "Surrender!"

  "Be hang'd if I do!"

  I set my teeth and put Molly at the low wall. As she rose like a bird inair the two pistols rang out together, and a burning pain seem'd to tearopen my left shoulder. In a moment the mare alighted safe on the otherside, flinging me forward on her neck. But I scrambled back, and with ashout that frighten'd my own ears, dug my heels into her flanks.

  Half a minute more and I was on the hard road, galloping westward fordear life. So also were a score of rebel troopers. Twenty miles and morelay before me; and a bare hundred yards was all my start.

  The two pistols rang out together.]