The MS. in a Red Box

by John A. Hamilton

  CHAPTER XIII

  The doctor had been summoned to a conference with his chief, so I hadhope we might have a long evening to ourselves, but Anna nipped it inthe bud.

  "Fortune is kind," said she. "I will give you something to eat, andthen you must away home."

  "Away home? Why?" I demanded.

  "Because my father will be very angry when he knows what we have done."

  "The more reason I should stay with you."

  "Oh, you stupid Frank! Do you think he will beat me? But, if you arehere, he will say things he will one day be sorry for--things you mayfind it hard to forgive. Whereas, if I have him alone, I can coax, orscold, or cry, as may be needed, and bring him to reason."

  "Running away does not suit me," said I.

  "Nor would I send you away, if you could do the least good. There isnobody to be knocked down or thrown into the river just now; only anelderly gentleman to be managed. And there is another at TempleBelwood impatient to see his son. Go and do your best with him,leaving my father to me."

  In the end I consented. I called Luke to prepare things for my going,and he had to tell me that a tract of the fen from Sandtoft, almostdirect to Belton, had been recently flooded to a depth of two to threefeet by the raising of an embankment for a drain which had been begun.In a light boat one might cross more easily and quickly than had beenpossible heretofore.

  "Why not walk on the embankment?" I asked.

  It seemed the bank was rough, and there would be awkwardness here andthere in the growing darkness and a rising mist. So we settled on theboat as my conveyance. While we talked, Anna had made haste to providesupper for me, eager to have me gone, nor would she permit me to lingerover the meal, or afterwards. I wanted to talk of our future, but shewould not.

  "Have you a ninepence?" she asked. "Rustic lovers break one, do theynot?"

  I broke one, and held out the halves to her.

  She took one, and said, laughing, "Now we are properly plighted; whatneed of more words? When you bring your token, mine will be ready."

  Rosy-red she blushed, as I took her in my arms, and held her against myquick-beating heart, and joined lip to lip. But she withdrew herself,cut short our leave-taking, and dismissed me.

  I found Luke waiting for me with the little boat, and stepped in,bidding him stay at Sandtoft till morning, and bring me word ofMistress Goel then. He raised some objection to my going unattended,but I overruled him, and doubtless the prospect of a longer confab withMartha disposed him to obedience. He had put a lighted lantern intothe boat, which would be useful, he reminded me, when I came to thewill-pits. The will-pits were pools, reputed bottomless, halfsurrounded by very old birches, some still green, others fallen androtting. Now the fen was under water, the trees might be plaguy unlessI had a light, for the night was darker than nights are wont to be inAugust.

  Thanking my good fellow for his care, I bade him good night, andsculled off rapidly, keeping well away from the embankment, lest thereshould be timbers near the foot of it. When I had gone about a mile,as I reckoned, I stopped sculling to pick up the lantern, and held itforward on the lookout for the will-pit trees. As I did so, Iperceived that the boat drifted backwards and a little toward theembankment. How could there be a current in a sheet of standing water?But a current there certainly was; and running pretty strongly too.The Dutchmen could not be at work at this time of night, opening thesluice for any purpose that I could conjecture. There might be adefect in the embankment somewhere, a crack which was widening underpressure of water. Whatever might be the secret, my best course was togo an as fast as I could scull; so I took both in hand, pulling withall my might. Up to this time I had used only one scull over thestern, sparing my weaker arm. Not more than five minutes later thesculls scraped bottom and the boat stuck fast. Shipping oars, I leanedover the side, lantern in hand, and saw there were but a few inches ofwater all round the boat. I had not grounded on a mud-bank, but wasstranded by the draining away of the water! What to do next was aquestion. If I could wade to the embankment, I could continue myjourney on foot; but that was not to be ventured until I knew thenature of the ground, for in this part of the fen were many mire-pits,and to step into one of them meant being sucked down to a horribledeath. I prodded the soil with a scull, and it went down like a spooninto porridge. I was right over a mire-pit. I tried sculling again,but that was of no use whatever. Then I attempted to thrust the boatforward, but there was nothing to thrust against. I stood up, holdingthe lantern above my head, peering through the mist, and saw a bushsome six or seven yards ahead of me, so there was a bit of solid groundjust beyond reach! If I had had a coil of rope with me, I might havethrown a loop into the bush, and so saved myself; but the painter wasthe only rope in the boat, and it was not more than six feet long. Theonly thing left for me was to wait as patiently as I could untilmorning, when some one might come within hail, or Luke might seek me,unless by good luck the water should rise again. 'Twas no greathardship after all: the night was not cold, but a shade chilly with themist. As I came to this conclusion, I was startled by something whichwhizzed over my head and fell with a splash and a soft thud some yardsbeyond the boat. Somebody must be throwing from the embankment, and atme apparently. My lantern must assist his aim, so, not wishing toextinguish it, having no means of relighting it, I wrapped a thickneckerchief I wore over the horn, and stowed it in the bow. While Idid this another stone crashed into the boat with such force that Ijudged it was hurled from a sling. Other stones followed in swiftsuccession, but not more than one in three or four hit the boat; butone struck me such a thump on the buttock as to set me thinking whatthe consequence would be of receiving another blow like it in a morevital part.

  I could not devise any kind of protection at the moment, but itoccurred to me that a little dodge might puzzle my enemy. I pulled upone of the thwarts with no great effort, for the little craft was oldand rotten, took off my coat to hide my operations from the enemy, cuta bit of the painter, and lashed the lantern to the thwart, and set itafloat on the water, trusting to the chance that it might drift away.I placed it with the horn on the side from the embankment, hoping itmight go a little way before my assailant caught sight of it. To mygreat relief it glided gently off, not rounding until it had gone, asnearly as I could guess, some twenty yards. It drew his volleys for awhile, and then it vanished, though whether he struck it, or it toppledover by chance, I knew not. While his attention was thus diverted fromme, I had time to think what to do in case he contrived to discover mywhereabouts again, which I was sanguine enough to consider unlikely.In this I was mistaken, my enemy was not to be so easily beaten. But Iturned the temporary respite to the best advantage I could think of bytearing up the other thwart, so as to get room to stretch myself in thebottom of the boat, and rolling to one side, depressing the gunnelnearly to the surface of the water, thus shielding myself from hurt aslong as the crazy boards might hold against his battery.

  I had been none too quick. A faint red gleam began to show through themist, and having some notion of what the enemy might be about, Islightly enlarged the aperture of a gaping seam, and looked toward theembankment. A fire had been kindled, and the man who had lighted itstood full in the glare of it. As I had supposed, the man was Vliet.He had a gun hanging at his back and a sling in his hand. Doubtless hehad seen my departure from Sandtoft, pulled up the sluice-gate to letoff the water, and followed me along the embankment. Chance hadfavoured him by stranding me on a spot from which I could not move. Hehad only to knock my boat to pieces, or even to make it unfloatable,and my fate was sealed. He could return to close the sluice, and in afew hours the water would cover both the boat and me. That was prettysafe, if he did no more than smash the boat. He would try to do morethan that, I had no doubt. I could do nothing. To attempt to crawlover the slime would be to seek death. I must stick to the boat aslong as the planks held together, hiding myself, if possible, andmaking no sound. He might imagine that I had escaped,
or that I wasdead, if I made no sign.

  As I watched his doings, he gave me a ray of hope. He lifted a bottleto his mouth, and he did not tilt it high. How fervently I hoped thathe had enough to get drunk on! His next move showed he was not by anymeans drunk at present. He walked away from the fire, often stoppingdown, as I supposed, to pick up stones. He evidently meant to sparepowder and shot as long as he could, and to do his work as silently aspossible. When he came back to the fire, he lighted a torch anddescended the embankment, looking carefully, at the soil of the fen, asif he sought to get nearer to the boat, but he had too much prudence toventure. Then he ascended the bank and resumed his sling. He hadfound where the boat lay, for he managed to hit about once in threetimes. His aim was so bad that it would have been laughable underother circumstances, but I had no inclination to laugh, as plank afterplank cracked and started. I turned over, and lay with my back to him,grinding my teeth with rage to be so ignominiously stoned and soutterly helpless. At length, perhaps after an hour of continuousfiring, came a pause, and I turned over to look at my enemy. It wasonly too easy to see him through gaping seams and holes broken in theplanking. He sat between the fire and me, so that his every movementwas clearly discernible. If I had had a gun I could have shot himwherever I chose. He rubbed his right shoulder with his left hand, asif it ached with his exercise. Then he drank from his bottle, tiltingit higher this time. He sat so long that I began to hope he imaginedhe had made an end of me; but by-and-by he rose to his feet, took hisgun in hand, and prepared to fire. I rolled to the very edge of thegunnel now, and the water and ooze flowed softly in on me. It was wellI did, for Vliet's aim with a gun was another matter than his aim witha sling. Shot after shot struck and riddled the heap of boards whichhad been a boat, but as by a miracle, shot after shot missed me. Vlietplainly believed that there could be no one in the wreck except a deadman, for he began to sing. Never have I listened to music, even thebest, with more pleasure than I had in hearing that thick and drunkenvoice yelling a tuneless song! I watched him finish his bottle,scatter the fire, and heard by the diminishing noise that he was goingback to Sandtoft.

  It was not until he had gone, that I knew how cold and wet I was, andthen discovered that the half of the boat on which I lay had sunk intothe mire. At first I fancied that I had to do with nothing moreserious than the ooze, which had flowed in when I lay on the edge ofthe boat; but by dipping my fingers straight down into the mud, I foundthat the pit was swallowing my raft and me slowly, but surely, at therate, it might be, of a barleycorn a minute. I could not be sure ofthat, for I had no certainty about time. The one certainty was thatthe mud was gaining on me. I feared to move about, lest my weightshould make worse of the wreck; but I could not lie still in the darkto be steadily sucked under, so I rolled over in a very gingerlymanner, and by degrees pressed down the holed and shattered planking onto the surface of the mire, thus upheaving the side on which I hadbefore lain. For a wonder it did not go utterly to pieces, and I layon it some time before it began to be overflowed by the mud, when Iturned gently over to the other side which had been raised by myweight. This gave way more quickly than before, but it held me up forperhaps ten minutes, and then I repeated the performance, and continuedthis kind of see-saw for, I should think, an hour or more, but on theseventh or eighth turning, with a great cracking, the one side partedfrom the other, the line of breakage being not far from the keel, as Imade out by groping. For a second or two, I fell into despair, butsoon perceived that my chances of escape were perhaps improved by thesplitting of the boat. Kneeling on the less broken half, with my legsas far apart as I could stretch them, I tried to pull the other halfupwards and forwards. It was hard work, for the mire held it fast, andmy half sank at least half a foot while I tugged at the other, but atlength I had the mass in front of me, and crawled on to it. My armsfelt as if they were pulled half out of their sockets, but there was notime to rest. I must try to get the piece of the wreck on which I hadknelt out of the mire and before the other. This proved a tougher jobstill.

  Before the thing was done, I was up to the middle of my thighs in thepit, and almost spent, but done it was at last, and as I pushed itforward, it encountered some solid obstacle. There was dry ground, ora tree, not more than three yards or so ahead of me. That assurancegave me the strength of madness. I dragged myself a little out of themud, and threw myself on the piece of wreckage with such force, that itsank beneath my weight so deeply that I was swallowed up in the mire,shoulder high. But the other end of my raft remained firm, and byclutching, writhing, pulling, I got inch by inch out of the slough,and, while doing so, to my unspeakable joy I perceived a faint glimmerof dawn. That showed me a down-drooping branch of birch above my head,which at last I reached, and clung to it trembling lest it shouldbreak. It held, and by its aid I gained solid ground. I threw my armsround the trunk of the tree as though it had been a human friend,laughing and sobbing in a breath. Then I vowed Sebastian Vliet shouldanswer to me for his dastard trick before he was many hours older.After that, I remembered to thank God for my deliverance, and fellasleep over my thanksgiving. I must have slept an hour or more, forthe sun was above the horizon when I awoke cold and shivering.

  It would be wearisome to relate how I got home, for nothing happened bythe way; though I have the keenest recollection of the effort it costto walk the two miles, which were as long as twenty, my clothing beingcaked with mire even to my shirt, and my limbs shaking with cold andexhaustion.

  But by the usual breakfast hour I had eaten and drunk, washed andchanged, and was my own man again. I had need of all my strength, formy father came into the room with suppressed fury in face and voice.

  "At last you have condescended to honour me," he began. "Have you cometo say you will save Temple from the hammer, or that you choose beggaryfor yourself and disgrace for your father? Quick: let me know yourmind."

  "If you mean will I wed a girl I do not love----"

  I was answering, when my father burst out--

  "Bah! Do not sicken me with play-actor rubbish. Are you going to actlike a man of sense and of honour, or like an idiot?"

  "I will not offer marriage to Mistress Ryther," I replied.

  "Then begone out of the house," he thundered, "and let me never seeyour fool-face again, and if there is anything in a father's curse, mayit cling to you as long as you live."

  At this moment, Mr. Butharwick entered the room with a feeble step. Hestretched out his hands imploringly to my father, and said in a voicenot his own--

  "My honoured patron, my friend and benefactor," and something morewhich was indistinguishable, for his mouth began to work strangely.Then he staggered, and would have fallen but my father caught him inhis arms, and laid him on the couch.

  I called for help, and servants came hurrying into the room, to whom myfather gave order about fetching a surgeon, and this, that, and theother, adding--

  "Bid Savage, the attorney, come to me without delay." Then, turning tome, he said: "Will you go, or must I have you thrown out by theservants?"

  My dear old tutor's face looked my way, and I thought I saw abeseeching in his eyes, but I could do nothing. I went out, haunted bythe drawn face and the wistful eyes, and the face of my father hard asif cut in marble. It was my last sight of both of them.

  Luke met me in the hall, and I bade him follow me to my room. He had aletter for me, the first I had received from my love, full of courageand cheer, which just then I sadly needed. Luke told me the doctor wastransported with rage on hearing his daughter avow her fixeddetermination to abide by her promise to me, so that even Martha wasterrified by his furious wrath. And my true-hearted love could writeto sustain my nagging spirits when she was in such trouble herself!Everybody had been at a loss to understand Vliet, who had tried tosoothe the doctor, affecting to think Mistress Goel would be in a morecompliant temper by-and-by. I understood him well enough. Thescoundrel was confident he had put me out of the way: he should soonknow better
. It eased my heart a little to write him a few lines, inwhich I challenged him to meet me in open fight, and declared I wouldhunt him down like a verminous beast if he was too cowardly to meet mefairly. This I gave to Luke to be delivered into Vliet's hand withoutloss of time.

  After I had told Luke of my last night's adventure, to which helistened with wide eyes and some muttered curses, he cried out--

  "From this time forrard, Measter Frank, I'se stick to you like yourshadder."

  "That is just what you will not do, my good fellow, for I am an outcastfrom my father's house; and where I may go, or what I shall do is allin the dark to me, except that I kill Vliet, if he does not kill me,to-day or to-morrow."

  "Wherever you go, I go too," answered my man.

  "That is quite impossible, Luke," said I. "We must part for the goodreason that I have not five pounds in the world, and that won't keepme, to say nothing of a serving man, for many days. Besides," I added,"you can be much more useful to me by staying at Temple. I may want afriend in the house, and I want above all things, some trusty friend towatch over the safety of Mistress Goel, when I may be far away. Youcan come and go between this and Sandtoft, and I shall be sure thatwhatever two true souls can do for her will be done."

  We argued and wrangled for a good while, Luke urging everything hecould think of to induce me to take him with me, but I would not giveway. He took my instructions sorrowfully, not to say sulkily, as towhat was to be done with my belongings, the main of which I desired himto carry to the vicarage at Crowle, with a message to my aunt. Justthen I could not face the dear lady, or bear her exclamations andexpostulations, nor did I incline to see my friend Portington. I hadresolved to spend the time between now and my duel with Vliet atBelshaw, in the company of my new friend, because there could be noheartrending talk with him, and also because I hoped to learn from himhow to join Captain John Smith, which appeared to me the likeliestmeans of earning my living, with some chance of cutting my way tofortune. For the few days which I expected to pass in theneighbourhood, I meant to ride Trueboy, and afterwards to sell him toreplenish my purse. These things being arranged, I appointed a placewhere Luke was to meet me the next evening, and went to the stables. Ihoped to get away quietly, but it was not to be. Almost every servantin and about the house, down to the kitchen wench and the youngeststable-boy, had assembled to say good-bye to me, the women crying, andthe men murmuring hoarsely what they meant for encouragement. Theywould have unmanned me, but for Trueboy. He, having had far too littleexercise lately, was as frisky as an unbroken colt, rearing, andlashing out his heels in sheer delight, so the little crowd scatteredright and left, and I mounted and rode off at full gallop across thepark, the shortest cut to Belshaw.