The Golden Grasshopper: A story of the days of Sir Thomas Gresham

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

  CAPTURED BY SPANIARDS.

  We expected the next instant to be sent to the bottom of the Scheld,when a sudden blast filled our sails, almost tearing them from thebolt-ropes, and sending us gliding rapidly through the water. The gunsaimed at our vessel sent their shot astern of us, two or three onlypassing through our mizzen, but doing no further damage. The nextvessel could not have escaped so well, but we saw her still standingclose to us through the gloom. The other was following, and we fearedshe must have received greater harm than either of us. But by theflashes of the guns, we saw her sails close astern of her consort. Weflew on over the tide, but it required all Captain Radford's skill tosteer his vessel through the intricate navigation of the river. Theshores were so low that they could with difficulty be discerned, andthere were numerous banks on either side of us. To run against one ofthem, at the rate we were going, might have proved the destruction ofthe ship. Still there was no help for it. The Spaniards had vessels,we knew, up the river, which would be soon sent in pursuit, and, shouldthey find us aground, we could not hope by any possibility to escape.They were, however, not likely to venture down in the dark; and thereinlay our chief prospect of safety. The wind, which had so favoured uswhen passing the fort, again fell, and, with loosened sails, weproceeded slowly and more securely down the stream. Daylight found us aconsiderable distance on our way; but just as we were about to get clearof the mouth of the river, the tide setting in, the wind fell, so thatwe were compelled to anchor.

  A'Dale and I took the opportunity of visiting the other vessels, toascertain the fate of the relatives of some of the unfortunate peoplewho had escaped on board our ship. Sad indeed were the scenes wewitnessed. Several of the poor people were severely wounded, and manymore were mourning for relatives whom they had lost. We had, however,the happiness to restore a wife to her husband, and, in another case, adaughter to her mother, though the men of the family had lost theirlives. I was glad to find that our sturdy friend the blacksmith--Iforget his name--had escaped. As our vessel was somewhat overcrowded,and the others had prepared for many more refugees than had escaped, weconveyed some of our passengers to them, while they bestowed someprovisions on us, of which we were in great need.

  All arrangements being made, and the wind coming fair again, wecontinued our course towards the Thames, thankful that we had escapedthus far. But we knew very well that we were not yet safe. Several ofthe Duke of Alva's ships or other Spanish craft were sailing about inall directions in search of prey, and, we heard, were not at allparticular what vessels they captured; certainly they would not scrupleto capture us. In spite of this we kept up our spirits, thankful forhaving already escaped so many dangers.

  I should have been blind indeed had I not seen by this time whatAveline's feelings were towards me. I was sitting by her side on deck,our eyes wandering over the blue ocean, which now sparkled in the brightsunlight. The air was soft and balmy, and the sky undimmed by a cloud.

  "Aveline," I said, "you have now a father whose permission I should wishto ask, and if he grants it, will you consent to be my wife?"

  "Yes, I will," she answered. "I am sure I could never consent to be thewife of anybody else."

  I pressed her hand. I had felt almost sure that she had understood myfeelings, and yet, without pointedly asking her, I had no right to bequite sure.

  "I have no fears," she said, "about my father giving me leave to marryyou. I am sure he regards you already as a son. I only wish that I hada dower to bring you."

  "You have one," I answered, just then recollecting the document in LadyAnne's hands. I told her of it, and added:

  "And, now your father has appeared, I have little doubt it will enablehim to obtain possession of the estate of which it speaks. And yet Ialmost wish that you had it not, as I would rather feel that I werelabouring for your support; and I am sure that my patron will place mein a position by which I may obtain sufficient means for that object."

  We agreed that I should speak forthwith to Captain Radford on thesubject. I did so. He smiled when I asked his permission to marryAveline.

  "You have very fairly won her, young sir," he said; "and in truth I feelthat I have no right to withhold her from you, or rather that you have agreater right to her than I have. I saw from the first how mattersstood; and I need scarcely tell you that I feel great satisfaction inthe knowledge that she has obtained one I believe well able and willingto protect and support her through life."

  No lover could have desired a more satisfactory answer, and indeed Ihoped that in our case the course of true love was about to runsmoothly. To be sure, we had gone through many dangers, and I knew verywell that we were not free from them yet altogether.

  When, afterwards, Aveline had retired to her cabin, and I told A'Dalewhat had occurred: "It is time, then," said he, "to confess that I havebeen talking on the same subject to Margery. My good father and motherwould, I fancy, not object to my marrying her; and, as she has noparents whose leave she need ask, I had an idea there would be nodifficulty; but, somehow or other, there is. She says that she cannotmake up her mind--that she had not thought of marrying--that she cannotleave Mistress Aveline or Lady Anne--in truth, she, against all myexpectations, will not do as I ask her. My only hope is that the jademay change her mind when we land on the shores of Old England."

  "We are not in sight of them yet, A'Dale," I answered. "I thank you foryour congratulations, but remember the old proverb, `There's many a slipbetween the cup and the lip.' We must not be too sanguine."

  I said this in joke, not thinking at the time, so buoyed up was I withhope, that there was any risk of the saying coming true. That evening,the wind, which had been light all day, shifted, and blew directly inour teeth, driving us back again towards the coast of Flanders. Allnight long we lay closely hugging the wind, in the hopes of againworking our way off shore. When morning broke, a man went to themast-head, to look out and ascertain whether the coast was in sight. Hehad not been long there when he shouted out:

  "Several sail of ships to the southward, standing towards us."

  The announcement was alarming. They could scarcely be friends, and ifthey were Spaniards or Flemings in the service of Alva, we were likelyto be sufferers. We announced the fact to our consorts, who had,indeed, discovered the same themselves. The wind having somewhatfallen, the captains of the other ships came on board; and it wasagreed, in order that we might have a better chance of escaping, that weshould steer in different directions. Thus the enemy would probably,not wishing themselves to separate, steer after only one of us. Withearnest prayers that we might all providentially escape, our friendsreturned to their vessels; we continuing to steer as before to the west,while they stood away on the opposite tack. The plan seemed to begiving our friends a chance of escaping, though we judged, from the waythe strange ships were sailing, that they were standing towards us. As,however, the _Falcon_ was a fast ship, we still hoped to distance them.

  Our hopes soon appeared likely to be vain. As the sun rose we saw thestrangers had gained upon us--the wind apparently favouring them morethan it did us. It had again begun to fall, and in a short time we werebecalmed, while they still stood on with their sails full. From somereason, for which we could not account, several of them stood back againtowards the land, three only continuing the pursuit of us. But theywere fast vessels, and though we soon again got the wind, they continuedgaining on us. At length the breeze once more became favourable, andwith our sails spread, we stood away across the Channel, hotly pursuedby the strangers. Although they gained upon us, yet it was evident thatthe chase would be a long one; and we hoped in the meantime thatsomething would happen in our favour. It was satisfactory also tobelieve that our consorts, with the unhappy fugitives on board, hadescaped; for it was very certain that, had they been captured, the livesof all would have been sacrificed. We trembled for the fate of the poorpeople with us, for so barbarous were the orders issued by Alva,
thatthe commanders of any of his ships finding refugees on board, might,without ceremony, either hang them to the yard-arms, or cast them intothe sea with weights round their feet, or shoot them as they floatedwhen thrown into the water.

  Whether our captors, should we be overtaken, would venture to treat theEnglish on board the _Falcon_ in the same manner was doubtful; at thesame time, it was too probable that they would do so first and apologiseafterwards.

  As to offering any resistance, that would certainly be useless. MasterClough especially entreated that they would not. He, however, was farfrom contented with the prospect of what was too likely to occur, aseven, should his life be spared, they would not scruple to takepossession of all his property, of which he had contrived to get aconsiderable amount safe on board the _Falcon_.

  Hour after hour we watched the strangers, calculating how much they hadgained upon us during the time. Every particle of canvas we could setwas spread, but all we could do would not drive her at a greater speedthrough the water. If we could keep ahead during the whole of the day,we might still, as we had before done, escape during the darkness. Butthis was not probable. Long before that we should be within range ofthe enemy's guns. It was a time of great trial to all of us, to theunhappy refugees especially; yet we could do nothing but hope. CaptainRadford not only maintained his own serenity, but did his best to keepup the courage of all on board.

  Although we had little appetite, our meals were taken as usual. We hadgone below for that purpose, and were seated in the cabin, when thesound of a gun was heard, and a sharp cry reached our ears from thedeck. A'Dale hurried up to inquire what was the matter.

  "The enemy have fired, and one of our poor fellows has been hit," heanswered, coming back. "To escape is no longer possible. The captainhas, therefore, ordered the sails to be lowered, but advises that allthe passengers should remain below, lest when the enemy first come onboard they may be inclined to treat them roughly."

  Although Captain Radford had shown that he had submitted, the enemycontinued firing as they approached, and not till they had got close tous, and had hove to, did they cease attempting to injure us. Severalmore of our people were hit, and two poor fellows killed outright. Wehad no barber or surgeon on board, and it was sad to see the poorfellows who were injured suffering without the means of helping them.Some of the women did their best, however, having attended to theirfriends wounded on different occasions by the Spaniards. A'Dale and Icould not resist going up on deck to ascertain how matters wereproceeding. Three boats from the leading ship of the enemy wereapproaching us. The crews sprang on board, their officers demanding infierce tones why we had attempted to escape.

  Captain Radford answered that his object was to make as quick a voyageas he could to England, having British subjects on board, who desired toreach their native land without delay.

  "Let me see them immediately," answered the officer; and Master Cloughand the rest of his attendants were summoned on deck.

  "They are returning to England, having received orders to quit theNetherlands," observed Captain Radford, as he introduced them.

  "But you have many more passengers: who are they?" inquired the officer.

  "They are poor people desiring to settle in England," said CaptainRadford. "They came on board my ship, requesting a passage, and I sawno reason to refuse them."

  "In other words, they are rebels, escaping from the laws and justice oftheir country!" exclaimed the officer. "I understand it all. It isfortunate for you that you are an Englishman, and that our countries areat peace, or you would very speedily be dangling at your yard-arm. Asit is, you will accompany us back to the nearest port in Flanders we canmake, where all your Flemish passengers must be landed, and suchproperty as belongs to them; and your ship will be confiscated, and youyourself will have to undergo your trial for breaking the laws. If youescape with your life, you will be fortunate; but I doubt it. Duke Alvais determined to put a stop to the flight of King Philip's subjects fromhis paternal sway."

  We were very certain, from the way the officer spoke, that these threatswould be carried out. Worse, however, was to come. While he walkedaft, to speak to the next ship which was coming up, his men, I felt verysure, with his full knowledge, dispersed themselves about the decks,disarming our crew, and taking all articles which seemed to please them.Drawing pistols from their belts, they placed them at the heads of ourpeople, and threatened to blow their brains out unless they gave up allthe money they possessed. Dreading what would next occur, A'Dale and Ihastened to the cabin, that we might protect the ladies from insult.Our enemies having taken all the coin they could find on theirprisoners, now approached the cabin door, which we had bolted on theinside. Thundering at it, they demanded admission. I replied fromwithin that it was the cabin devoted to the ladies, and that nointruders could be admitted.

  "Withdraw the bolts!" cried a voice from without, "or we will burst openthe door."

  "Do so at your peril!" I answered. "The first person who makes hisappearance will meet his death."

  Scarcely had I ceased speaking before some thundering blows wereinflicted on the door by handspikes. Fortunately the door was a strongone, and resisted the efforts of those who were trying to break it open.

  "Bring a crowbar, or a stout spar," I heard some one cry out; "we shallthen soon be able to force open the door!"

  "I have told you, you will do so at your peril!" I shouted again.

  The men outside laughed hoarsely at this threat. I felt indeed howlittle we could do to oppose them. Our anxiety was yet furtherincreased by the shrieks and cries which came from other parts of theship. It was evident that the savages were ill-treating theirunfortunate prisoners. We could scarcely hope to meet with a betterfate. At length the laughter and the shouting outside the cabin doorincreased. A'Dale and I stood with our drawn swords ready to attack anywho might approach. Some thundering blows on the door followed. Itcreaked and groaned on its hinges, the panels gave way, and with a loudcrash it was burst open. Two seamen with savage looks were the first toattempt to enter. Feeling sure that we should receive no mercy,whatever we did, we at once ran them through with our swords, and theyfell at the entrance of the cabin. The others, seeing their fate, drewback for an instant. We followed up our advantage.

  "If any others wish to share the fate of these ruffians, let them comeon!" we cried out boldly.

  Our assailants soon recovered from their surprise, and several shotswere fired into the cabin, filling it with smoke, under cover of whichthey attempted again to force their way. The next two were treated ashad been the first. The shrieks and cries of Madam Clough and the poorwomen within nearly unnerved us. However, we had resolved, if we couldnot save them, to sell our lives dearly. We therefore stood at ourposts, prepared for the worst. Again our enemies pushed forward, led bytheir boatswain, with a huge battle-axe in his hand. Fortunately he wasnot able to wield it with due effect in the confined space of the cabinentrance. A'Dale's sword, as he attempted to keep the ruffian at bay,was struck down, and the man, again lifting his axe, was about to bringit down with terrific force on A'Dale's head, when, springing forward, Iplunged my sword into his bosom. The fall of their leader seemed toenrage the rest of the men, and with terrific execrations they againmade an attempt to force their way into the cabin.