CHAPTER THIRTY.
HOW THE SUN WENT DOWN BEHIND MALIN.
I think it was the sudden shock of this great discovery, and naughtelse, that arrested our feet in time and saved us from madly rushing onthe doom of our lost enemy.
At such a time how could we think even of him?
Of all my long fierce journeyings, no part seemed half so long as thefew minutes it took me to skirt round the fatal bog and reach the handof my long-lost friend.
"Humphrey," said he presently, after we had stood silent awhile, "Iscarce knew thee. How rose you from the dead?"
"The God who parted us hath brought us together again," said I. "Thanksbe to Him."
"Amen," said he. "Therefore, while I lead you to the Don--"
"The Don!" cried I; "is he here then?"
"Why not, since the _Rata_ came ashore weeks ago on these coasts?"
"And are the Spaniards all here too?" said I, with my hand feeling roundmy belt for my sword.
"Nay," said he, smiling. "That is my story. Tell me yours."
So I told him, and he listened, marvelling much. His brow grew black asthunder when I came to speak of the lost maidens. He wheeled round,and, laying his hand with a grip of iron on my arm, pointed to the blackbog below us.
"Is it certainly Merriman who lies there?"
"As certain as this is you," said I.
"God forgive him!" said Ludar, and walked on.
Then he told me how, missing me after the battle, and seeing the mast onwhich I had perched shot away, he had mourned for me as dead, and, formy sake, taken a gun with a good-will against my Queen. How, when afterGravelines the south wind sprang up and the Invincible Armada began torun, the _Rata_ sailed as rear-guard and bore the brunt of the fewEnglish ships that dogged them. How it was resolved by the Spanishcaptains, Don Alonzo himself not protesting, that the shortest way backto Spain now lay by way of the Orkneys and the Atlantic. How,thereupon, that glorious fleet trailed in a long draggled linenorthward, never looking behind them, even when the Englishmen one byone drew off and abandoned the chase. How, after a while, when theylooked out one morning they found the _Rata_ staggering through thestormy northern seas alone.
"'Twas a sad sight," said Ludar. "You would not have known the queenlyvessel we had met scarce a month before off Ushant. Her main-mast cleangone, her tackle dishevelled as a wood-nymph's hair; with flags andsails and pennons blown away, guns rusted in their ports, and the veryhelm refusing to turn. The bells, all save the dismal storm bell in theprows, were silent; the priests had crawled miserably to their holes.No one read aloud the King's proclamation; and even the gallants ofSpain sat limp and listless, looking seaward, never saying a word but tosalute and cheer their beloved Don, or talk in whispers of the sunnyhills of Spain.
"Captain Desmond, the one man on board who, after you, was my friend,had died in the fight off Gravelines. I had not the heart or the wishto seek new comrades; and, save when the brave Don himself gave me apassing word of cheer, I forgot what it was to speak or listen.
"Well, when off Cape Wrath (just as we sighted a few of our scatteredconsorts and hoped for food and comfort), a new storm overtook us fromthe north-east and drove us headlong, under bare poles, southward again.We none of us, I think, cared if the next gust sent us to the bottom.Many a weary young Don did I see fling himself in despair overboard; andbut that we daily drew nearer to Ireland, I had been tempted to do thesame.
"How long we drove I forget, or what wrecks we passed; but one day wefound ourselves flung into a great bay, where, for a while, we held onto our anchors against the storm. But the _Rata_ had lost her bestthews and muscles at Calais, and, after two days, dragged towards theshore and fell miserably over, a wreck.
"We came to land in boats, or on floating spars, but only to meet worsehardships than on sea; for the savages on the coast, aided by yourgallant Englishmen, fell on us, defenceless as we were, stripped us ofall we had, and drove us from the shore in an old crank of a galleon,which, if it carried us thus far, did so only by the grace of God andHis saints."
"And where be we now?" I asked.
"At Killybegs," said he, "and Heaven grant we may get out of it. For awhile, Tyrone, the O'Neill in these parts, sheltered and fed us. Butsince the English came, he has left us to our fate, and the men lierotting here as in a dungeon."
"Why," said I, "'twas rumoured in England that the Spaniards haddescended on Ireland to take it, and so strike across it at the Queen."
He laughed.
"May your Queen ne'er have sturdier foes, Humphrey. Come and see them."
As we turned the corner of the hill, we came suddenly on three men,standing with their faces seaward and engaged in earnest talk. Theoldest of them was white-haired and slight of build. But the noblemanshone through his ragged raiment and battered breastplate, and I knewhim in a moment to be Don Alonzo da Leyva himself.
He greeted Ludar kindly, and looked enquiringly at me.
"Do the spirits of English printers walk on earth?" asked he.
"No, Sir Don, not till their bodies be dead," said I, saluting; "I amhere to warn your Excellency that the English soldiers are drawing acord around this place, and will fall speedily upon you in force."
"'Tis well they come only to slay and not to eat us," said he, with agrim smile.
And I perceived that both he and his companions were half-starved.
"Yet they should not delay, for if they haste not, they will find usgone. Sir Ludar, the _Gerona_,"--here he pointed to a large galliassthat lay at anchor in the bay--"is ready, and sails to-night for theScotch coast. I claim your services yet, as you claim those of yoursquire."
Ludar looked at me. I knew what passed in his mind, for 'twas in minealso. How could we leave Ireland thus, on a desperate venture, whilethose two fair maids--
But before we could even exchange our doubts, there sprang out upon usfrom behind a rock half-a-dozen fellows with a horseman at their head,who waved his sword and called loudly on us, in the name of the Queen,to yield.
I groaned inwardly as I pulled out my sword. Once more I was aboutwickedly and grievously to wage war on her Majesty, and break my vows ofallegiance. Yet, how could I otherwise now?
The Don deigned no reply, but waited calmly for the attack. We were butfive to six, and the two Spaniards were so lean and ill-fed as scarce tocount as a man betwixt them. At the first onset one of them droppeddead, and the other, after scornfully running his adversary through,fell back himself in a swoon of exhaustion.
Meanwhile, the Don was struggling with the horseman. I can remember,occupied as I was with the sturdy rogue who flew at me, how noble helooked, as, with head erect and visage calm, he parried blow after blow,stepping back slowly towards the rock.
'Twas a sharp fight while it lasted; for, though Ludar made short workof his first man, the other three were stubborn villains, and, beingwell-fed and well-armed, put us hard to it.
Presently, he on the horse, enraged that, for all his advantage, he gotno closer to his foe, pulled out a pistol from his holster and levelledit full at the Don's head.
With a shout like a lion's, Ludar flung away his own assailant, andrushed between the two, dealing the horseman a blow which sent himheadlong from his saddle and echoed among the rocks like a crack ofthunder.
He was none too soon, for the shot had flashed before ever the blowfell, and, only half diverted, rattled on the Don's breastplate, hardenough to fell and draw blood, though, happily, not hard enough to kill.
After that, Ludar and I had a merry time of it, with our backs againstthe rock, and four swords hacking at our two. I know not how it was;but as I found myself thus foot to foot again with my dearest friend,listening to his short, sharp battle snort, and seeing ever and anon theflash of his trusty steel at my side, I felt happy, and could havewished the battle to last an hour. I forgot all about my Queen, and,but for sundry knocks and cuts, had half forgotten my adversariesthemselves. Nor were they any the better off f
or my daydream; for thefour swords against us presently became but two, and these ere long werein the hands of flying men.
When we had leisure to look at one another and see how we stood, wefound we had been playing no child's play. Ludar was pale, his sleevewas bloody, and his sword broken in two. As for me, drops weretrickling through my hair and down my cheek, and I needed no astronomerto tell me the earth turned round. But the Don, when we came to him,was in a worse plight yet. For he lay where he had fallen, white as amarble statue, his eyes closed, his breath coming and going in quick,short gasps. As best we could we tore off his breastplate, and lookedto the wound beneath. 'Twas but a gash, the ball having grazed the ribsand flattened itself on the steel beyond. But the blood he had lostthereby, and the feebleness of his ill-nourished body, made it moredangerous a wound by far than our vulgar scratches.
We caught the Englishman's riderless horse, which grazed quietly near,and laid the gallant gently on his back; and so, painfully and slowly,brought him off.
Even as we did so, we could see on the crest of the far hills behind thefigures of men on foot and horse moving our way; and, nearer at hand,when we stood and halted a moment, the sound of a trumpet broke the air.
There was no time to lose, verily, if these worn-out Dons were to leavethe place alive. And as for Ludar and me, wounded and weak as we were,what chance was there for us to break through the lines and wander onfoot in search of our lost ones?
"Humphrey," said Ludar, guessing what was in my mind, "we sail with theDon to Scotland. Thence we will cross to the Glynns, and so be where wemust be sooner than if we ventured by land."
"So be it," said I.
The sight of the wounded Don completed the panic which had already setin among the Spaniards at the report of the coming of the English.
"To sea! to sea!" they cried, and followed us as we bore their belovedcaptain to the bay.
The _Gerona_, Ludar told me, had been found on the coast, a half wreck,some weeks since, and, by dint of great labour and patching, had beenmade passably seaworthy.
"She will carry but three out of every four of this company," said he."After the nobles are all on board, there will be but place, I hear, forone hundred beside, and these must work at the oars. Lots have alreadybeen drawn, and, unless I mistake, 'twill be a hard parting betwixtthose who go and those who stay."
So indeed it was. No sooner had we the Don safely on board, anddelivered him to the leech (to whom he opened his eyes, and showed signsof returning life), than a strange turbulent scene ensued on shore. TheDon's second in command, fine gentleman as he was, had little power todeal with a rabble that was fighting for dear life. He drew up his menon the beach and bade no man stir for the boats till his name wascalled, under penalty of death.
While the young nobles (who, of course, were exempt from lot), silentlyand anxiously took their places in the boats and were rowed out to theship, all stood gloomily by, mute and obedient. But when, these beingsafely embarked, the order was given for the hundred who had drawn thelot to follow, a hubbub and tumult began which it was pitiful towitness. Men, desperate with hunger and fear, fought tooth and nail toreach the boats. They that had the right and they that had none weremingled in a fray which strewed the water's edge with corpses. Someflung themselves into the sea after the boats, yelling and cursing tillthe flash of a sword or the pitiless thud of an oar sent them back intosilence. Some, rather than others should go and not they, tore thecraft board from board, and fought with the fragments. Some withmuskets poured fire on the boats. And some wreaked their vengeance onthe haughty Spanish gallant and hurled him from the rock on which hestood into the depths below.
'Twas a hideous scene; and when, after all was done, sixty gasping soulsscrambled on board, glaring at one another like beasts of prey, andhissing defiant taunts at the wretches on shore, it boded ill--very--illfor this voyage.
For a while neither Ludar nor I was fit to take our seat on the thwartsor lend a hand with the oars, much as help was needed.
For two days, indeed, the _Gerona's_ sails were of little service owingto the perverse south-wester, which threatened to imprison us in the bayof Killybegs, and well-nigh defied every effort of the crew to bring thegalley beyond the great headland of Malinmore.
But once out in the open, where the south-wester would have favoured ourcourse to Scotland, the wind veered to westward and drove us inperilously near the rocks. So that we at the oars (for, by then, Ludarand I perforce had to take our share of the toil) were kept hard atwork, and the roar of breakers on our starboard quarter never ceased,day nor night.
The _Gerona_, moreover, had been but indifferently patched, and, in theheavy sea across which she laboured, answered her helm hardly, and couldby no means be counted upon to sail more than a point or two out of thewind. So in this hard cross gale her canvas was all but useless, and,had it not been for the oars, she would have been on the rocks about theBloody Foreland before a week was out.
How we rounded that dreadful head I scarce know. Strong man as I was, Iwas well-nigh dead with the endless toil of the rowing, broken only byshort snatches of repose when I laid my head down in the galley-slaves'reeking hold. Ludar, on the contrary, grew mightier and bolder day byday. He neither wearied nor lost heart; but like a man who hasrecovered faith in his destiny, he talked as if each stroke brought usnearer, not to Scotland, but to the end of our hopes and the arms ofthose we loved.
"Courage, Humphrey," said he, "I can row for you and me both. Save yourheart, brother, for those who shall welcome you when all this tossingand toil shall be passed."
"You talk of beyond the grave."
"Beyond the grave!" cried he. "I never talked less of it. Come, areyou, too, like these Spanish gentles, down in the mouth for a puff ofwind and a pailful or two of salt water over the deck? Courage, man.If you be an Englishman, show these Dons how an Englishman can hold uphis head and keep a stiff upper lip."
That brought up the courage in me; and though for a day or so theweakness of my thews caused me to rest my hands idly on the oar, whilehe lugged at it cheerily and mightily, my heart came up from my bootsand knocked louder and stronger within me day by day.
So, after ten days out, we came off the black headland called Malin,where, as the wind still held westerly, the welcome order was given toship oars and spread all canvas for the Scottish coast.
Ludar alone looked grave when the order came, and pointed to thefurious, livid swirl of purple clouds that crowded round the settingsun.
"I have seen yon sky before," said he, "often when I was a boy. Andthey taught us, when we saw it, to pray the saints for those at sea."
"May be there are saints ashore who see it and pray for us to-night,"said I.
"There had need be," said he, solemnly.
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