Arrah Neil; or, Times of Old
Page 41
CHAPTER XXXIX.
When the Earl of Beverley had ridden on about five miles,musing over no very pleasant anticipations, he thought he heard thesound of a horse's feet coming at full speed, and turned round tolook. He himself was riding fast, but he now beheld a single horsemanspurring on still faster; and supposing that the personage whoappeared might be some messenger sent after him, with furtherdirections from the king, he drew in his rein and suffered him to rideup.
"Ha, Captain Barecolt!" he exclaimed, as soon as the other came near."Is anything the matter? have you any message from his majesty!"
"None, my lord," replied Barecolt; "but having heard of yourexpedition, with a hint that as I had accompanied you before I mightdo so again, I lost no time in following; but I was obliged to stop awhile to change my dress and put on Captain Jersval."
"This is very rash," said the earl, after a moment's thought; "veryrash indeed, my good friend. You have been seen by so many in your owncharacter, that you have no chance of remaining undiscovered."
"Nor your lordship either," answered Barecolt.
"You do not understand the matter you speak of, sir," replied theearl. "Even if I am discovered, it may effect my personal safety, butnot the king's service; whereas, it you are recognised as one of hismajesty's officers in my company, it may entirely frustrate theobjects of my journey. You forget, sir, that the remains of CaptainBatten's troops are in Hull, and----"
"The remains of Captain Batten's troops are at Boston, my lord,"answered Barecolt. "So much have I learned in Beverley. Sir JohnHotham would not receive them, saying that he had no need of cavalry,and that, threatened as he was with siege, they would but eat up hisprovisions. I know my phiz is a remarkable phiz; but you forget thatthe beauty thereof has been spoiled by this accursed cut over thenose; and, besides, the very object of my going is to make a formalcomplaint to Sir John Hotham of the conduct of Captain Batten inattacking me and my friends--amongst whom I shall take care not tospecify your lordship--and against one Cornet Stumpborough forstopping me. Do not fear, my lord, but that I will extricate myself;and if you have any qualms about taking me with you, why, I can easilygo in at another gate, and be ready to help you at any moment."
"Well, we will see," answered Lord Beverley; "we will see. I willthink over it by the way;" and, entering into conversation with hiscompanion, he rode on. The various subjects discussed between thenoble earl and our renowned friend might not, perhaps, be veryinteresting to the reader; for, although the dauntless captain atvarious times approached the subject of those wonderful and surpassingexploits which he had performed during preceding periods of hishistory, and the recital of which could not fail to excite theadmiration and attention of any one possessing common powers ofimagination, yet his cruel companion harshly checked him in all suchdigressions, and forced him to confine his narrative to the precisesorts and kinds of information which he himself desired to obtain.Thus we shall pass over all that took place till the two gentlemenapproached within about a mile and a half of the town of Hull, whenthey perceived a small body of cavalry, apparently reconnoitring theplace.
"Let us spur on as fast as possible, my lord," said Captain Barecolt,as soon as he perceived this little force.
But the earl, who had by this time determined that it might be as wellthat the worthy captain should enter the town with him, thoughapparently only as a chance companion of the way, and who moreoverjudged at once that the body which they saw was merely a party of theking's troops examining the fortifications of Hull, replied in a quiettone; "There is no need for any such speed, my good sir. Those arefriends."
"The more reason, my lord, why we should seem to think them enemies,"replied Captain Barecolt, who never neglected any opportunity of a_ruse_.
"You are right, you are right, captain," replied the earl, "and areindeed a great master of stratagem."
Thus saying, he spurred his horse into a gallop, and at that pacepursued his way towards the gates. The natural propensity whichevery creature has to follow another who runs away from it causedhalf-a-dozen of the Cavaliers to gallop after the two apparentfugitives; but the earl and his companion had a start of somedistance, and when they arrived at the gates were about two hundredyards before their pursuers. The whole of this proceeding was seenfrom the walls, upon which a considerable number of the citizens wereassembled; and a few musket-shots were fired upon the party ofCavaliers, as soon as the two gentlemen were under cover. The fire didnot injure any one, indeed; but it had the effect of inducing thechasing party to halt and retreat very speedily, and the gates beingopened, the Earl of Beverley rode in, followed by Barecolt, with theirhorses panting from the quick pace at which they had come.
All these circumstances were sufficient indications of hostilitytowards the royalist party to satisfy the officers of the train-bandsat the gates; and with very slight inspection of their passes the earland his companion were suffered to ride on into the town; but,separating from his noble companion at the corner of the first street,Captain Barecolt rode away towards the "Swan," with instructions fromthe earl to seek out Mr. O'Donnell, and to make arrangements with himfor a meeting on the following day.
In the mean while, the earl rode on towards the house of the governor,and dismounting in the court, demanded with a foreign accent, asbefore, to speak with Sir John Hotham. The personage to whom headdressed himself was one of the serving-men of that day, known by thegeneral term of "blue-bottles;" but unfortunately, as it turned out,he was attached to the person of Colonel Hotham, and carried theearl's message to him immediately, without any communication with thegovernor.
After Lord Beverley had been kept waiting about five minutes in ahall, while several persons passed to and fro, and examined him morecuriously than was at all pleasant to him, the serving-man reappeared,saying, "Be so good as to follow me, sir;" and led the young noblemanthrough several long passages, to a small gloomy room on theground-floor, where he found Colonel Hotham standing by a table, hisbrow heavy and his eyes bent upon the door. He inclined his headslightly as the earl entered, and said, without asking him to beseated, "Be so good, sir, as to explain your business to me. Sir JohnHotham, my father, is too ill to receive you, and I am entrusted withhis functions during his indisposition."
"Your pardon, sir," replied the earl calmly, though the meeting was byno means satisfactory to him, and he remarked that the serving-manremained at the door, while the tramp of feet was heard in the passagebeyond. "My business is with Sir John Hotham alone, and if he be ill Imust wait till he has recovered, for I can communicate with no one buthimself."
"You refuse then?" rejoined Colonel Hotham, with a heavy frown and asharp tone: "you refuse? If so, I shall know what to suppose.
"Really, sir, I know not what you may think fit to suppose," answeredLord Beverley; "but very straightforwardly and simply I do refuse tocommunicate business concerning Sir John Hotham to any one buthimself."
"Then, sir, it is clear you came hither as a spy," said ColonelHotham, "and you shall be dealt with as such."
The Earl of Beverley smiled, and producing the pass he had receivedfrom the governor of Hull, put it in the hands of the parliamentaryofficer, saying, "That mistake is easily corrected. Here is my pass indue form, under your father's hand and seal."
Colonel Hotham gazed at it with an angry look; and at the same momentthe door by which the young nobleman had been introduced opened, and aparty of four or five of the train-bands entered, with a prisonerbetween the two foremost. Lord Beverley turned round at the noise oftheir feet, and, somewhat to his consternation, beheld in the captiveno other than good Diggory Falgate. Had it been Barecolt, he wouldhave counted upon his wit and discretion; but the poor painter haddisplayed no traits, during the earl's short journey with him, whichcould at all reassure him, so he expected every moment to hear himclaim his acquaintance. But Falgate showed better judgment than wasexpected; and Colonel Hotham, after staring at the pass for a momentor two, with a good deal of heat but
some indecision in hiscountenance, suddenly seemed to take his resolution, and tore thepaper in pieces, saying--
"This is all folly and nonsense! A pass under a feigned name isinvalid."
"Sir, you have committed an act of gross injustice!" exclaimed theearl indignantly; "and some day, sooner than you think, you may haveto answer for it."
"Indeed!" cried the parliamentarian, with a sneer. "Well, sir, I shallbe ready to answer for my acts when needful. See that you be preparedto answer for yours by to-morrow morning. Let loose that fellow!" hecontinued, turning to the guard; "I can find nothing against him--heis a citizen, it seems; and convey this worthy person to the strongroom. Put a sentry over him, and send Captain Marden to me. Take himaway, take him away!"
"And what are we to do with this 'un?" asked one of the soldiers.
"Let him loose, fool!" replied Colonel Hotham, waving his hand, andthe earl was removed in custody of the party, giving a significantglance to Falgate as he passed. The painter returned it, but saidnothing; and Lord Beverley was led along to a small close room, withone high grated window, where the heavy iron-plated door was closedupon him, locked and barred.
The earl seated himself on the only stool, rested his elbow on thetable and his head upon his hand, while the struggle between strongresolution and painful anticipations went on in his mind for nearlyhalf-an-hour. His was a heart not easily daunted--well fitted by highprinciples and a calm and equal temper to endure the rougher and morepainful things of life, and to encounter the perils and disasters of atroublous epoch better than lighter and gayer characters and lessthoughtful minds. Nevertheless, he could not but feel the bitterdisappointment which but too frequently follows on the indulgence ofbright and high hopes in this our earthly career. He almost blamedhimself for the joyful dreams which he had suffered to rest in hisimagination, while standing with sweet Annie Walton at the window ofthe house in Beverley; and his thoughts ran back from those dearmoments into earlier days, recalling every bright spot in the past,thinking of enjoyments gone and pleasures fled away, with a deep andsad consciousness of the transitory nature of every earthly good.Memory is the true "Old Mortality" of the heart, wandering sadlythrough the scenes of the past, and refreshing the tombstones of joysgone for ever.
As he thus sat, the light began to fade away and night to fall overthe earth; but ere it was quite dark he heard footsteps without, and avoice speaking low to the guard at his door. The conversation ceased,but there was no noise of receding steps, and the earl thought, "Theyare watching how I bear it. They shall know nothing from that. I willsing;" and, folding his arms upon his chest, he raised his eyes to thefaint spot of light that still appeared through the high window, andsang, to a plaintive air of the time, some lines composed towards theend of the preceding reign, perhaps by some victim to the coarsetyranny of James I.
Life's brighter part has passed away; The dark remains behind: The autumn brown rests on the earth; Loud howls the wintry wind.
But steadfast hope and faith sincere Shall still afford their light: While these remain, this mortal gloom Cannot be wholly night.
The summer flowers that once were here Have faded from the eye; The merle has ceased to cheer the shade, The lark to wake the sky.
Green leaves have fallen from the trees, Dark clouds are overhead; And withered things, beneath my feet, Rustle where'er I tread.
But yet I know there is a land Where all that's lost on earth Revives to blossom and to bloom With undecaying birth.
Thus steadfast hope and faith sincere Shall still afford me light, Till other suns shall dissipate The gloom or mortal night.