Moonfleet

by John Meade Falkner

  CHAPTER 3

  A DISCOVERY

  Some bold adventurers disdainThe limits of their little reign, And unknown regions dare descry;Still, as they run, they look behind,They hear a voice in every wind And snatch a fearful joy--_Gray_

  I have said that I used often in the daytime, when not at school, to goto the churchyard, because being on a little rise, there was the bestview of the sea to be had from it; and on a fine day you could watch theFrench privateers creeping along the cliffs under the Snout, and lying inwait for an Indiaman or up-channel trader. There were at Moonfleet fewboys of my own age, and none that I cared to make my companion; so I wasgiven to muse alone, and did so for the most part in the open air, allthe more because my aunt did not like to see an idle boy, with muddyboots, about her house.

  For a few weeks, indeed, after the day that I had surprised Elzevir andRatsey, I kept away from the church, fearing to meet them there again;but a little later resumed my visits, and saw no more of them. Now, myfavourite seat in the churchyard was the flat top of a raised stone tomb,which stands on the south-east of the church. I have heard Mr. Glenniecall it an altar-tomb, and in its day it had been a fine monument, beingcarved round with festoons of fruit and flowers; but had suffered so muchfrom the weather, that I never was able to read the lettering on it, orto find out who had been buried beneath. Here I chose most to sit, notonly because it had a flat and convenient top, but because it wasscreened from the wind by a thick clump of yew-trees. These yews hadonce, I think, completely surrounded it, but had either died or been cutdown on the south side, so that anyone sitting on the grave-top was snugfrom the weather, and yet possessed a fine prospect over the sea. On theother three sides, the yews grew close and thick, embowering the tomblike the high back of a fireside chair; and many times in autumn I haveseen the stone slab crimson with the fallen waxy berries, and taken somehome to my aunt, who liked to taste them with a glass of sloe-gin afterher Sunday dinner. Others beside me, no doubt, found this tomb acomfortable seat and look-out; for there was quite a path worn to it onthe south side, though all the times I had visited it I had never seenanyone there.

  So it came about that on a certain afternoon in the beginning ofFebruary, in the year 1758, I was sitting on this tomb looking out tosea. Though it was so early in the year, the air was soft and warm as aMay day, and so still that I could hear the drumming of turnips thatGaffer George was flinging into a cart on the hillside, near half a mileaway. Ever since the floods of which I have spoken, the weather had beenopen, but with high winds, and little or no rain. Thus as the land driedafter the floods there began to open cracks in the heavy clay soil onwhich Moonfleet is built, such as are usually only seen with us in theheight of summer. There were cracks by the side of the path in thesea-meadows between the village and the church, and cracks in thechurchyard itself, and one running right up to this very tomb.

  It must have been past four o'clock in the afternoon, and I was forreturning to tea at my aunt's, when underneath the stone on which I sat Iheard a rumbling and crumbling, and on jumping off saw that the crack inthe ground had still further widened, just where it came up to the tomb,and that the dry earth had so shrunk and settled that there was a holein the ground a foot or more across. Now this hole reached under the bigstone that formed one side of the tomb, and falling on my hands and kneesand looking down it, I perceived that there was under the monument alarger cavity, into which the hole opened. I believe there never was boyyet who saw a hole in the ground, or a cave in a hill, or much more anunderground passage, but longed incontinently to be into it and discoverwhither it led. So it was with me; and seeing that the earth had fallenenough into the hole to open a way under the stone, I slipped myself infeet foremost, dropped down on to a heap of fallen mould, and found thatI could stand upright under the monument itself.

  Now this was what I had expected, for I thought that there had been belowthis grave a vault, the roof of which had given way and let the earthfall in. But as soon as my eyes were used to the dimmer light, I saw thatit was no such thing, but that the hole into which I had crept was onlythe mouth of a passage, which sloped gently down in the direction of thechurch. My heart fell to thumping with eagerness and surprise, for Ithought I had made a wonderful discovery, and that this hidden way wouldcertainly lead to great things, perhaps even to Blackbeard's hoard; forever since Mr. Glennie's tale I had constantly before my eyes a vision ofthe diamond and the wealth it was to bring me. The passage was two pacesbroad, as high as a tall man, and cut through the soil, without bricks orany other lining; and what surprised me most was that it did not seemdeserted nor mouldy and cob-webbed, as one would expect such a place tobe, but rather a well-used thoroughfare; for I could see the soft clayfloor was trodden with the prints of many boots, and marked with a trailas if some heavy thing had been dragged over it.

  So I set out down the passage, reaching out my hand before me lest Ishould run against anything in the dark, and sliding my feet slowly toavoid pitfalls in the floor. But before I had gone half a dozen paces,the darkness grew so black that I was frightened, and so far from goingon was glad to turn sharp about, and see the glimmer of light that camein through the hole under the tomb. Then a horror of the darkness seizedme, and before I well knew what I was about I found myself wriggling mybody up under the tombstone on to the churchyard grass, and was once morein the low evening sunlight and the soft sweet air.

  Home I ran to my aunt's, for it was past tea-time, and beside that I knewI must fetch a candle if I were ever to search out the passage; and tosearch it I had well made up my mind, no matter how much I was scared forthis moment. My aunt gave me but a sorry greeting when I came into thekitchen, for I was late and hot. She never said much when displeased, buthad a way of saying nothing, which was much worse; and would only replyyes or no, and that after an interval, to anything that was asked of her.So the meal was silent enough, for she had finished before I arrived, andI ate but little myself being too much occupied with the thought of mystrange discovery, and finding, beside, the tea lukewarm and the victualsnot enticing.

  You may guess that I said nothing of what I had seen, but made up my mindthat as soon as my aunt's back was turned I would get a candle andtinder-box, and return to the churchyard. The sun was down before AuntJane gave thanks for what we had received, and then, turning to me, shesaid in a cold and measured voice:

  'John, I have observed that you are often out and about of nights,sometimes as late as half past seven or eight. Now, it is not seemly foryoung folk to be abroad after dark, and I do not choose that my nephewshould be called a gadabout. "What's bred in the bone will come out inthe flesh", and 'twas with such loafing that your father began his wildways, and afterwards led my poor sister such a life as never was, tillthe mercy of Providence took him away.'

  Aunt Jane often spoke thus of my father, whom I never remembered, butbelieve him to have been an honest man and good fellow to boot, ifsomething given to roaming and to the contraband.

  'So understand', she went on, 'that I will not have you out again thisevening, no, nor any other evening, after dusk. Bed is the place foryouth when night falls, but if this seem to you too early you can sitwith me for an hour in the parlour, and I will read you a discourse ofDoctor Sherlock that will banish vain thoughts, and leave you in a fitframe for quiet sleep.'

  So she led the way into the parlour, took the book from the shelf, put iton the table within the little circle of light cast by a shaded candle,and began. It was dull enough, though I had borne such tribulationsbefore, and the drone of my aunt's voice would have sent me to sleep, asit had done at other times, even in a straight-backed chair, had I notbeen so full of my discovery, and chafed at this delay. Thus all the timemy aunt read of spiritualities and saving grace, I had my mind ondiamonds and all kinds of mammon, for I never doubted that Blackbeard'streasure would be found at the end of that secret passage. The sermonfinished at last, and my aunt closed the book with a stiff 'good night'for me. I was for giving her my formal kiss, bu
t she made as if she didnot see me and turned away; so we went upstairs each to our own room, andI never kissed Aunt Jane again.

  There was a moon three-quarters full, already in the sky, and onmoonlight nights I was allowed no candle to show me to bed. But on thatnight I needed none, for I never took off my clothes, having resolved towait till my aunt was asleep, and then, ghosts or no ghosts, to make myway back to the churchyard. I did not dare to put off that visit eventill the morning, lest some chance passer-by should light upon the hole,and so forestall me with Blackbeard's treasure.

  Thus I lay wide awake on my bed watching the shadow of the tester-postagainst the whitewashed wall, and noting how it had moved, by degrees, asthe moon went farther round. At last, just as it touched the picture ofthe Good Shepherd which hung over the mantelpiece, I heard my auntsnoring in her room, and knew that I was free. Yet I waited a few minutesso that she might get well on with her first sleep, and then took off myboots, and in stockinged feet slipped past her room and down the stairs.How stair, handrail, and landing creaked that night, and how my feet andbody struck noisily against things seen quite well but misjudged in theeffort not to misjudge them! And yet there was the note of safety stillsounding, for the snoring never ceased, and the sleeper woke not, thoughher waking then might have changed all my life. So I came safely to thekitchen, and there put in my pocket one of the best winter candles andthe tinder-box, and as I crept out of the room heard suddenly how loudthe old clock was ticking, and looking up saw the bright brass bandmarking half past ten on the dial.

  Out in the street I kept in the shadow of the houses as far as I might,though all was silent as the grave; indeed, I think that when the moon isbright a great hush falls always upon Nature, as though she was taken upin wondering at her own beauty. Everyone was fast asleep in Moonfleet andthere was no light in any window; only when I came opposite the Why Not?I saw from the red glow behind the curtains that the bottom room was litup, so Elzevir was not yet gone to bed. It was strange, for the Why Not?had been shut up early for many a long night past, and I crossed overcautiously to see if I could make out what was going forward. But thatwas not to be done, for the panes were thickly steamed over; and thissurprised me more as showing that there was a good company inside.Moreover, as I stood and listened I could hear a mutter of deep voicesinside, not as of roisterers, but of sober men talking low.

  Eagerness would not let me wait long, and I was off across the meadowstowards the church, though not without sad misgivings as soon as the lasthouse was left well behind me. At the churchyard wall my courage hadwaned somewhat: it seemed a shameless thing to come to rifle Blackbeard'streasure just in the very place and hour that Blackbeard loved; and as Ipassed the turnstile I half-expected that a tall figure, hairy andevil-eyed, would spring out from the shadow on the north side of thechurch. But nothing stirred, and the frosty grass sounded crisp under myfeet as I made across the churchyard, stepping over the graves andkeeping always out of the shadows, towards the black clump of yew-treeson the far side.

  When I got round the yews, there was the tomb standing out white againstthem, and at the foot of the tomb was the hole like a patch of blackvelvet spread upon the ground, it was so dark. Then, for a moment, Ithought that Blackbeard might be lying in wait in the bottom of the hole,and I stood uncertain whether to go on or back. I could catch the rustleof the water on the beach--not of any waves, for the bay was smooth asglass, but just a lipper at the fringe; and wishing to put off with anyexcuse the descent into the passage, though I had quite resolved to makeit, I settled with myself that I would count the water wash twenty times,and at the twentieth would let myself down into the hole. Only sevenwavelets had come in when I forgot to count, for there, right in themiddle of the moon's path across the water, lay a lugger moored broadsideto the beach. She was about half a mile out, but there was no mistake,for though her sails were lowered her masts and hull stood out blackagainst the moonlight. Here was a fresh reason for delay, for surely onemust consider what this craft could be, and what had brought her here.She was too small for a privateer, too large for a fishing-smack, andcould not be a revenue boat by her low freeboard in the waist; and 'twasa strange thing for a boat to cast anchor in the midst of Moonfleet Bayeven on a night so fine as this. Then while I watched I saw a blue flarein the bows, only for a moment, as if a man had lit a squib and flung itoverboard, but I knew from it she was a contrabandier, and signallingeither to the shore or to a mate in the offing. With that, courage cameback, and I resolved to make this flare my signal for getting down intothe hole, screwing my heart up with the thought that if Blackbeard wasreally waiting for me there, 'twould be little good to turn tail now, forhe would be after me and could certainly run much faster than I. Then Itook one last look round, and down into the hole forthwith, the same wayas I had got down earlier in the day. So on that February night JohnTrenchard found himself standing in the heap of loose fallen mould at thebottom of the hole, with a mixture of courage and cowardice in his heart,but overruling all a great desire to get at Blackbeard's diamond.

  Out came tinder-box and candle, and I was glad indeed when the lightburned up bright enough to show that no one, at any rate, was standing bymy side. But then there was the passage, and who could say what might belurking there? Yet I did not falter, but set out on this adventurousjourney, walking very slowly indeed--but that was from fear ofpitfalls--and nerving myself with the thought of the great diamond whichsurely would be found at the end of the passage. What should I not beable to do with such wealth? I would buy a nag for Mr. Glennie, a newboat for Ratsey, and a silk gown for Aunt Jane, in spite of her being sohard with me as on this night. And thus I would make myself the greatestman in Moonfleet, richer even than Mr. Maskew, and build a stone house inthe sea-meadows with a good prospect of the sea, and marry Grace Maskewand live happily, and fish. I walked on down the passage, reaching outthe candle as far as might be in front of me, and whistling to keepmyself company, yet saw neither Blackbeard nor anyone else. All the waythere were footprints on the floor, and the roof was black as with smokeof torches, and this made me fear lest some of those who had been therebefore might have made away with the diamond. Now, though I have spokenof this journey down the passage as though it were a mile long, andthough it verily seemed so to me that night, yet I afterwards found itwas not more than twenty yards or thereabouts; and then I came upon astone wall which had once blocked the road, but was now broken through soas to make a ragged doorway into a chamber beyond. There I stood on therough sill of the door, holding my breath and reaching out my candlearm's-length into the darkness, to see what sort of a place this wasbefore I put foot into it. And before the light had well time to fall onthings, I knew that I was underneath the church, and that this chamberwas none other than the Mohune Vault.

  It was a large room, much larger, I think, than the schoolroom where Mr.Glennie taught us, but not near so high, being only some nine feet fromfloor to roof. I say floor, though in reality there was none, but only abottom of soft wet sand; and when I stepped down on to it my heart beatvery fiercely, for I remembered what manner of place I was entering, andthe dreadful sounds which had issued from it that Sunday morning so shorta time before. I satisfied myself that there was nothing evil lurking inthe dark corners, or nothing visible at least, and then began to lookround and note what was to be seen. Walls and roof were stone, and at oneend was a staircase closed by a great flat stone at top--that same stonewhich I had often seen, with a ring in it, in the floor of the churchabove. All round the sides were stone shelves, with divisions betweenthem like great bookcases, but instead of books there were the coffins ofthe Mohunes. Yet these lay only at the sides, and in the middle of theroom was something very different, for here were stacked scores of casks,kegs, and runlets, from a storage butt that might hold thirty gallonsdown to a breaker that held only one. They were marked all of them inwhite paint on the end with figures and letters, that doubtless set forththe quality to those that understood. Here indeed was a discovery, andinstead
of picking up at the end of the passage a little brass or silvercasket, which had only to be opened to show Blackbeard's diamond gleaminginside, I had stumbled on the Mohunes' vault, and found it to be nothingbut a cellar of gentlemen of the contraband, for surely good liquor wouldnever be stored in so shy a place if it ever had paid the excise.

  As I walked round this stack of casks my foot struck sharply on the edgeof a butt, which must have been near empty, and straightway came from itthe same hollow, booming sound (only fainter) which had so frightened usin church that Sunday morning. So it was the casks, and not the coffins,that had been knocking one against another; and I was pleased withmyself, remembering how I had reasoned that coffin-wood could never givethat booming sound.

  It was plain enough that the whole place had been under water: the floorwas still muddy, and the green and sweating walls showed the flood-markwithin two feet of the roof; there was a wisp or two of fine seaweed thathad somehow got in, and a small crab was still alive and scuttled acrossthe corner, yet the coffins were but little disturbed. They lay on theshelves in rows, one above the other, and numbered twenty-three in all:most were in lead, and so could never float, but of those in wood somewere turned slantways in their niches, and one had floated right away andbeen left on the floor upside down in a corner when the waters went back.

  First I fell to wondering as to whose cellar this was, and how so muchliquor could have been brought in with secrecy; and how it was I hadnever seen anything of the contraband-men, though it was clear that theyhad made this flat tomb the entrance to their storehouse, as I had madeit my seat. And then I remembered how Ratsey had tried to scare me withtalk of Blackbeard; and how Elzevir, who had never been seen at churchbefore, was there the Sunday of the noises; and how he had looked ill atease whenever the noise came, though he was bold as a lion; and how I hadtripped upon him and Ratsey in the churchyard; and how Master Ratsey laywith his ear to the wall: and putting all these things together andcasting them up, I thought that Elzevir and Ratsey knew as much as anyabout this hiding-place. These reflections gave me more courage, for Iconsidered that the tales of Blackbeard walking or digging among thegraves had been set afloat to keep those that were not wanted from theplace, and guessed now that when I saw the light moving in the churchyardthat night I went to fetch Dr. Hawkins, it was no corpse-candle, but alantern of smugglers running a cargo. Then, having settled theseimportant matters, I began to turn over in my mind how to get at thetreasure; and herein was much cast down, for in this place was neithercasket nor diamond, but only coffins and double-Hollands. So it was that,having no better plan, I set to work to see whether I could learnanything from the coffins themselves; but with little success, for thelead coffins had no names upon them, and on such of the wooden coffins asbore plates I found the writing to be Latin, and so rusted over that Icould make nothing of it.

  Soon I wished I had not come at all, considering that the diamond hadvanished into air, and it was a sad thing to be cabined with so many deadmen. It moved me, too, to see pieces of banners and funeral shields, andeven shreds of wreaths that dear hearts had put there a century ago, nowall ruined and rotten--some still clinging, water-sodden, to the coffins,and some trampled in the sand of the floor. I had spent some time in thisbootless search, and was resolved to give up further inquiry and foot ithome, when the clock in the tower struck midnight. Surely never wasghostly hour sounded in more ghostly place. Moonfleet peal was known overhalf the county, and the finest part of it was the clock bell. 'Twas saidthat in times past (when, perhaps, the chimes were rung more often thannow) the voice of this bell had led safe home boats that were lost in thefog; and this night its clangour, mellow and profound, reached even tothe vault. Bim-bom it went, bim-bom, twelve heavy thuds that shook thewalls, twelve resonant echoes that followed, and then a purring andvibration of the air, so that the ear could not tell when it ended.

  I was wrought up, perhaps, by the strangeness of the hour and place, andmy hearing quicker than at other times, but before the tremor of the bellwas quite passed away I knew there was some other sound in the air, andthat the awful stillness of the vault was broken. At first I could nottell what this new sound was, nor whence it came, and now it seemed alittle noise close by, and now a great noise in the distance. And then itgrew nearer and more defined, and in a moment I knew it was the sound ofvoices talking. They must have been a long way off at first, and for aminute, that seemed as an age, they came no nearer. What a minute wasthat to me! Even now, so many years after, I can recall the anguish ofit, and how I stood with ears pricked up, eyes starting, and a clammysweat upon my face, waiting for those speakers to come. It was theanguish of the rabbit at the end of his burrow, with the ferret's eyesgleaming in the dark, and gun and lurcher waiting at the mouth of thehole. I was caught in a trap, and knew beside that contraband-men had away of sealing prying eyes and stilling babbling tongues; and Iremembered poor Cracky Jones found dead in the churchyard, and how men_said_ he had met Blackbeard in the night.

  These were but the thoughts of a second, but the voices were nearer, andI heard a dull thud far up the passage, and knew that a man had jumpeddown from the churchyard into the hole. So I took a last stare round,agonizing to see if there was any way of escape; but the stone walls androof were solid enough to crush me, and the stack of casks too closelypacked to hide more than a rat. There was a man speaking now from thebottom of the hole to others in the churchyard, and then my eyes were ledas by a loadstone to a great wooden coffin that lay by itself on the topshelf, a full six feet from the ground. When I saw the coffin I knew thatI was respited, for, as I judged, there was space between it and the wallbehind enough to contain my little carcass; and in a second I had put outthe candle, scrambled up the shelves, half-stunned my senses with dashingmy head against the roof, and squeezed my body betwixt wall and coffin.There I lay on one side with a thin and rotten plank between the dead manand me, dazed with the blow to my head, and breathing hard; while theglow of torches as they came down the passage reddened and flickered onthe roof above.