The Battle and the Breeze
Page 2
CHAPTER TWO.
COMMENCES THE STORY.
About the beginning of the present century, during the height of the warwith France, the little fishing village of Fairway was thrown into astate of considerable alarm by the appearance of a ship of war off thecoast, and the landing therefrom of a body of blue-jackets. At thattime it was the barbarous custom to impress men, willing or not willing,into the Royal Navy. The more effective, and at the same time just,method of enrolling men in a naval reserve force had not occurred to ourrulers, and, as a natural consequence, the inhabitants of sea-port townsand fishing villages were on the constant look-out for the press-gang.
At the time when the man-of-war's boat rowed alongside of the littlejetty of Fairway, an interesting couple chanced to be seated in a bowerat the back of a very small but particularly neat cottage near theshore. The bower was in keeping with its surroundings, being the halfof an old boat set up on end. Roses and honeysuckle were trained up thesides of it, and these, mingling their fragrance with the smell of tar,diffused an agreeable odour around. The couple referred to sat veryclose to each other, and appeared to be engaged in conversation of aconfidential nature. One was a fair and rather pretty girl of thefishing community. The other was a stout and uncommonly handsome man offive-and-twenty, apparently belonging to the same class, but there wasmore of the regular sailor than the fisherman in his costume andappearance. In regard to their conversation, it may be well, perhaps,to let them speak for themselves.
"I tell 'ee wot it is, Nelly Blyth," said the man, in a somewhat sterntone of voice; "it won't suit me to dilly-dally in this here fashion anylonger. You've kept me hanging off and on until I have lost my chanceof gettin' to be mate of a Noocastle collier; an' here I am now, withnothin' to do, yawin' about like a Dutchman in a heavy swell, an'feelin' ashamed of myself."
"Don't be so hasty, Bill," replied the girl, glancing up at her lover'sface with an arch smile; "what would you have?"
"What would I have?" repeated the sailor, in a tone of mingled surpriseand exasperation. "Well, I never--no, I never did see nothin' like youwomen for bamboozlin' men. It seems to me you're like ships withouthelms. One moment you're beatin' as hard as you can to wind'ard; thenext you fall off all of a sudden and scud away right before the breeze;or, whew! round you come into the wind's eye, an' lay to as if you'd bincaught in the heaviest gale that ever blow'd since Admiral Noah castanchor on Mount Ararat. Didn't you say, not three weeks gone by, thatyou'd be my wife? and now you ask me, as cool as an iceberg, what Iwould have! Why, Nelly, I would have our wedding-day fixed, our cottagelooked after, our boat and nets bought; in fact, our home and businessset a-goin'. And why not at once, Nelly? Surely you have notrepented--"
"No, Bill Bowls," said Nelly, blushing, and laying her hand on the armof her companion, "I have not repented, and never will repent, of havingaccepted the best man that ever came to Fairway; but--"
The girl paused and looked down.
"There you go," cried the sailor: "the old story. I knew you would cometo that `but,' and that you'd stick there. Why don't you go on? If Ithought that you wanted to wait a year or two, I could easily find workin these times; for Admiral Nelson is glad to get men to follow him tothe wars, an' Tom Riggles and I have been talkin' about goin' offtogether."
"Don't speak of _that_, Bill," said the girl earnestly. "I dread thethought of you going to the wars; but--but--the truth is, I cannot makeup my mind to quit my mother."
"You don't need to quit her," said Bill; "bring her with you. I'll beglad to have her at my fireside, for your sake, Nell."
"But she won't leave the old house."
"H'm! well, that difficulty may be got over by my comin' to the oldhouse, since the old 'ooman won't come to the noo one. I can rent itfrom her, and buy up the furniture as it stands; so that there will beno occasion for her to move out of her chair.--Why, what's the objectionto that plan?" he added, on observing that Nelly shook her head.
"She would never consent to sell the things,--not even to you, Bill; andshe has been so long the head of the house that I don't think she wouldlike to--to--"
"To play second fiddle," put in the sailor. "Very good, but I won't askto play first fiddle. In fact, she may have first, second, and third,and double bass and trombone, all to herself as far as I am concerned.Come, Nelly, don't let us have any more `buts'; just name the day, andI'll bear down on the parson this very afternoon."
Leaving them to continue the discussion of this interesting point, wewill turn into the cottage and visit the old woman who stood so much inthe way of our hero's wishes.
Mrs Blyth was one of those unfortunates who, although not very old,have been, by ill-health, reduced to the appearance of extreme old age.Nevertheless, she had been blessed with that Christian spirit of calm,gentle resignation, which is frequently seen in aged invalids, enablingthem to bear up cheerfully under heavy griefs and sufferings. She wasvery little, very thin, very lame, very old-looking (ninety at least, inappearance), very tremulous, very subdued, and _very_ sweet. Even thattermagant gossip, Mrs Hard-soul, who dwelt alone in a tumble-down hutnear the quay, was heard upon one occasion to speak of her as "dear oldMrs Blyth."
Beside Mrs Blyth, on a stool, engaged in peeling potatoes, sat a youngwoman who was in all respects her opposite. Bessy Blunt was tall,broad, muscular, plain-looking, masculine, and remarkably unsubdued.She was a sort of maid-of-all-work and companion to the old woman. MrsBlyth lived in the hope of subduing her attendant--who was also herniece--by means of kindness.
"Who came into the garden just now?" asked Mrs Blyth in a meek voice.
"Who would it be but William Bowls? sure he comes twice every day,sometimes oftener," replied Bessy; "but what's the use? nothing comes ofit."
"Something _may_ come of it, Bessy," said Mrs Blyth, "if Williamsettles down steadily to work, but I am anxious about him, for he seemsto me hasty in temper. Surely, Bessy, you would not like to see ourNell married to an angry man?"
"I don't know about that," replied the girl testily, as she cut a potatoin two halves with unnecessary violence; "all I know is that I wouldlike to see her married to Bill Bowls. He's an able, handsome man.Indeed, I would gladly marry him myself if he asked me!"
Mrs Blyth smiled a little at this. Bessy frowned at a potato and said"Humph!" sternly.
Now it happened just at that moment that the press-gang before referredto arrived in front of the cottage. Bessy chanced to look through thewindow, and saw them pass. Instantly she ran to the back door andscreamed "Press-gang," as a warning to Bill to get out of the way andhide himself as quickly as possible, then, hastening back, she seizedone of old Mrs Blyth's crutches, ran to the front door, and slammed itto, just as the leader of the gang came forward.
Meanwhile William Bowls, knowing that if he did not make his escape, hishopes of being married speedily would be blasted, turned to leap overthe garden wall, but the leader of the press-gang had taken care toguard against such a contingency by sending a detachment round to therear.
"It's all up with me!" cried Bill, with a look of chagrin, on observingthe men.
"Come, hide in the kitchen; quick! I will show you where," cried Nelly,seizing his hand and leading him into the house, the back door of whichshe locked and barred.
"There, get in," cried the girl, opening a low door in the wall, whichrevealed the coal-hole of the establishment.
Bill's brow flushed. He drew back with a proud stern look andhesitated.
"Oh, do! for _my_ sake," implored Nell.
A thundering rap on the front door resounded through the cottage; thesailor put his pride in his pocket, stooped low and darted in. Nellyshut the door, and leaned a baking-board against it.
"Let us in!" said a deep voice outside.
"Never!" replied Bessy, stamping her foot.
"You had better, dear," replied the voice, in a conciliatory tone; "wewon't do you any harm."
"Go along with you--brutes!" said the girl.
"You'd better not!" cried Bessy through the keyhole.
At the same time she applied her eye to that orifice, and instantlystarted back, for she saw the leader of the gang retire a few pacespreparatory to making a rush. There was short time for action,nevertheless Bessy was quick enough to fling down a large stool in frontof the door and place herself in an attitude of defence. Next momentthe door flew open with a crash, and a sailor sprang in, cutlass inhand. As a matter of course he tripped over the stool, and fellprostrate at Bessy's feet, and the man who followed received such awell-delivered blow from the crutch that he fell on the top of hiscomrade. While the heroine was in the act of receiving the third shefelt both her ankles seized by the man who had fallen first. A piercingyell followed. In attempting to free herself she staggered back andfell, the crutch was wrenched from her grasp, and the whole gang pouredover her into the kitchen, where they were met by their comrades, whohad just burst in the back door.
"Search close," cried one of these; "there's a big fellow in the house;we saw him run into it."
"You may save yourselves the trouble; there's no man in this house,"cried Bessy, who had risen and followed her conquerors, and who nowstood, with dishevelled locks, flushed countenance, and gleaming eyes,vowing summary vengeance on the first man she caught off his guard!
As the men believed her, they took care to keep well on their guardwhile engaged in the search. Poor old Mrs Blyth looked absolutelyhorror-stricken at this invasion of her cottage, and Nelly stood besideher, pale as marble and trembling with anxiety.
Every hole and corner of the house was searched without success; thefloors were examined for trap-doors, and even the ceilings werecarefully looked over, but there was no sign of any secret door, and thecareless manner in which the bake-board had been leaned against thewall, as well as its small size, prevented suspicion being awakened inthat direction. This being the case, the leader of the gang called twoof his men aside and engaged in a whispered conversation.
"It's quite certain that he is here," said one, "but where they havestowed him is the puzzle."
"Well, it is indeed a puzzle," replied the leader, "but I've thought ofa plan. He may be the father, or brother, or cousin of the household,d'ye see, and it strikes me if we were to pretend to insult the women,that would draw him out!"
"But I don't half like that notion," said one of the men.
"Why not?" asked the other, who wore a huge pair of whiskers, "it's onlypretence, you know. Come, I'll try it."
Saying this he went towards old Mrs Blyth and whispered toNelly--"Don't be frightened, my ducky, we're only a-goin' to try adodge, d'ye see. Stand by, we won't do you no harm."
The man winked solemnly several times with the view of reassuring Nelly,and then raising his voice to a loud pitch exclaimed--
"Come now, old 'ooman, it's quite plain that there's a feller in thishere house, an' as we can't find him nowheres, we've come to theconclusion he must be under your big chair. In coorse we must ask youto git up, an' as ye don't seem to be able to do that very well, we'llhave to lift you. So here goes."
The man seized the old woman's chair and shuffled with his feet asthough he were about to lift it. Nelly screamed. Bessy uttered a howlof indignation, and rushed upon the foe with teeth and nails ready, butbeing arrested by a powerful man in the rear, she vented her wrath in ahideous yell.
The success of the scheme was great--much greater, indeed, than had beenanticipated. The bake-board fell flat down, the door of the coal-holeburst open, and our hero, springing out, planted a blow on the nose ofthe big-whiskered man that laid him flat on the floor. Another blowoverturned the man who restrained Bessy, and a third was about to bedelivered when a general rush was made, and Bill Bowls, beingoverpowered by numbers, was finally secured.
"Now, my fine fellow," said the leader of the gang, "you may as well gowith us quietly, for ye see resistance is useless, an' it only frightensthe old woman."
This latter part of the remark had more effect on the unfortunate Billthan the former. He at once resigned himself into the hands of hiscaptors. As he was about to be led away, he turned towards Mrs Blyth,intending to speak, but the poor old woman had fainted, and Nelly'sfears for her lover were lost for the moment in her anxiety about hermother. It was not until the party had left the room that the poor girlbecame fully aware of what was going on.
Uttering a loud cry she rushed towards the outer door. Bill heard thecry, and, exerting himself to the utmost, almost succeeded inoverturning the five men who held him.
"Make your mind easy," said one of them; "no harm will come to thewomen. We ain't housebreakers or thieves. All fair an' above board weare--true-blue British tars, as would rather swing at the yard-arm thanhurt the feelin's of a woman, pretty or ugly, young or old. It's all inthe way of dooty, d'ye see? The King's orders, young man so belayheavin' about like that, else we'll heave ye on your beam-ends, lash youhand and futt to a handspike, and carry you aboord like a dead pig."
"Hold on!" cried the man with the big whiskers, who, after having beenknocked down, had become emphatically the man with the big nose, "I'llgo back an' comfort them a bit: don't you take on so. _I_ know allabout it--see through it like a double patent hextromogriphal spy-glass.Only goin' on a short cruise, d'ye see? Come back soon with lots o'prize-money; get spliced right off, buy a noo gown with big flowers allover it for the old mother, pension off the stout gal wi' the crutch--all straight; that's the thing ain't it?"
"Don't, don't," entreated Bill earnestly; "don't go for to--to--"
"No fear, young man," replied the sailor, seeing that Bill hesitated;"Ben Bolter ain't the man to do anything that would bring discredit onHis Majesty's service, and I bear you no grudge for this," he added,pointing to his swelled nose; "it was given in a good cause, andreceived in the reg'lar way o' business."
Saying this Ben Bolter ran back to the cottage, where he tried tocomfort the women to the best of his power. How he accomplished hismission does not remain on record, but it is certain that he rejoinedhis party, in little more than five minutes, with sundry new marks ofviolence on his huge honest face, and he was afterwards heard to remarkthat some creatures of the tiger species must have been born women bymistake, and that stout young females who had a tendency to usecrutches, had better be pensioned off--or, "drownded if possible."
Thus was William Bowls impressed into the Royal Navy. On hearing thathis old shipmate had been caught, Tom Riggles at once volunteered intothe service, and they were both sent on board a man-of-war, and carriedoff to fight the battles of their country.