Chapter xv.
The conclusion of the foregoing adventure.
Besides the suspicion of sleep, the lieutenant harboured another andworse doubt against the poor centinel, and this was, that oftreachery; for as he believed not one syllable of the apparition, sohe imagined the whole to be an invention formed only to impose uponhim, and that the fellow had in reality been bribed by Northerton tolet him escape. And this he imagined the rather, as the frightappeared to him the more unnatural in one who had the character of asbrave and bold a man as any in the regiment, having been in severalactions, having received several wounds, and, in a word, havingbehaved himself always like a good and valiant soldier.
That the reader, therefore, may not conceive the least ill opinion ofsuch a person, we shall not delay a moment in rescuing his characterfrom the imputation of this guilt.
Mr Northerton then, as we have before observed, was fully satisfiedwith the glory which he had obtained from this action. He had perhapsseen, or heard, or guessed, that envy is apt to attend fame. Not thatI would here insinuate that he was heathenishly inclined to believe inor to worship the goddess Nemesis; for, in fact, I am convinced henever heard of her name. He was, besides, of an active disposition,and had a great antipathy to those close quarters in the castle ofGloucester, for which a justice of peace might possibly give him abillet. Nor was he moreover free from some uneasy meditations on acertain wooden edifice, which I forbear to name, in conformity to theopinion of mankind, who, I think, rather ought to honour than to beashamed of this building, as it is, or at least might be made, of morebenefit to society than almost any other public erection. In a word,to hint at no more reasons for his conduct, Mr Northerton was desirousof departing that evening, and nothing remained for him but tocontrive the quomodo, which appeared to be a matter of somedifficulty.
Now this young gentleman, though somewhat crooked in his morals, wasperfectly straight in his person, which was extremely strong and wellmade. His face too was accounted handsome by the generality of women,for it was broad and ruddy, with tolerably good teeth. Such charms didnot fail making an impression on my landlady, who had no little relishfor this kind of beauty. She had, indeed, a real compassion for theyoung man; and hearing from the surgeon that affairs were like to goill with the volunteer, she suspected they might hereafter wear nobenign aspect with the ensign. Having obtained, therefore, leave tomake him a visit, and finding him in a very melancholy mood, which sheconsiderably heightened by telling him there were scarce any hopes ofthe volunteer's life, she proceeded to throw forth some hints, whichthe other readily and eagerly taking up, they soon came to a rightunderstanding; and it was at length agreed that the ensign should, ata certain signal, ascend the chimney, which communicating very soonwith that of the kitchen, he might there again let himself down; forwhich she would give him an opportunity by keeping the coast clear.
But lest our readers, of a different complexion, should take thisoccasion of too hastily condemning all compassion as a folly, andpernicious to society, we think proper to mention another particularwhich might possibly have some little share in this action. The ensignhappened to be at this time possessed of the sum of fifty pounds,which did indeed belong to the whole company; for the captain havingquarrelled with his lieutenant, had entrusted the payment of hiscompany to the ensign. This money, however, he thought proper todeposit in my landlady's hand, possibly by way of bail or securitythat he would hereafter appear and answer to the charge against him;but whatever were the conditions, certain it is, that she had themoney and the ensign his liberty.
The reader may perhaps expect, from the compassionate temper of thisgood woman, that when she saw the poor centinel taken prisoner for afact of which she knew him innocent, she should immediately haveinterposed in his behalf; but whether it was that she had alreadyexhausted all her compassion in the above-mentioned instance, or thatthe features of this fellow, though not very different from those ofthe ensign, could not raise it, I will not determine; but, far frombeing an advocate for the present prisoner, she urged his guilt to hisofficer, declaring, with uplifted eyes and hands, that she would nothave had any concern in the escape of a murderer for all the world.
Everything was now once more quiet, and most of the company returnedagain to their beds; but the landlady, either from the naturalactivity of her disposition, or from her fear for her plate, having nopropensity to sleep, prevailed with the officers, as they were tomarch within little more than an hour, to spend that time with herover a bowl of punch.
Jones had lain awake all this while, and had heard great part of thehurry and bustle that had passed, of which he had now some curiosityto know the particulars. He therefore applied to his bell, which herung at least twenty times without any effect: for my landlady was insuch high mirth with her company, that no clapper could be heard therebut her own; and the drawer and chambermaid, who were sitting togetherin the kitchen (for neither durst he sit up nor she lie in bed alone),the more they heard the bell ring the more they were frightened, andas it were nailed down in their places.
At last, at a lucky interval of chat, the sound reached the ears ofour good landlady, who presently sent forth her summons, which bothher servants instantly obeyed. "Joe," says the mistress, "don't youhear the gentleman's bell ring? Why don't you go up?"--"It is not mybusiness," answered the drawer, "to wait upon the chambers--it isBetty Chambermaid's."--"If you come to that," answered the maid, "itis not my business to wait upon gentlemen. I have done it indeedsometimes; but the devil fetch me if ever I do again, since you makeyour preambles about it." The bell still ringing violently, theirmistress fell into a passion, and swore, if the drawer did not go upimmediately, she would turn him away that very morning. "If you do,madam," says he, "I can't help it. I won't do another servant'sbusiness." She then applied herself to the maid, and endeavoured toprevail by gentle means; but all in vain: Betty was as inflexible asJoe. Both insisted it was not their business, and they would not doit.
The lieutenant then fell a laughing, and said, "Come, I will put anend to this contention;" and then turning to the servants, commendedthem for their resolution in not giving up the point; but added, hewas sure, if one would consent to go the other would. To whichproposal they both agreed in an instant, and accordingly went up verylovingly and close together. When they were gone, the lieutenantappeased the wrath of the landlady, by satisfying her why they wereboth so unwilling to go alone.
They returned soon after, and acquainted their mistress, that the sickgentleman was so far from being dead, that he spoke as heartily as ifhe was well; and that he gave his service to the captain, and shouldbe very glad of the favour of seeing him before he marched.
The good lieutenant immediately complied with his desires, and sittingdown by his bed-side, acquainted him with the scene which had happenedbelow, concluding with his intentions to make an example of thecentinel.
Upon this Jones related to him the whole truth, and earnestly beggedhim not to punish the poor soldier, "who, I am confident," says he,"is as innocent of the ensign's escape, as he is of forging any lie,or of endeavouring to impose on you."
The lieutenant hesitated a few moments, and then answered: "Why, asyou have cleared the fellow of one part of the charge, so it will beimpossible to prove the other, because he was not the only centinel.But I have a good mind to punish the rascal for being a coward. Yetwho knows what effect the terror of such an apprehension may have?and, to say the truth, he hath always behaved well against an enemy.Come, it is a good thing to see any sign of religion in these fellows;so I promise you he shall be set at liberty when we march. But hark,the general beats. My dear boy, give me another buss. Don't discomposenor hurry yourself; but remember the Christian doctrine of patience,and I warrant you will soon be able to do yourself justice, and totake an honourable revenge on the fellow who hath injured you." Thelieutenant then departed, and Jones endeavoured to compose himself torest.
BOOK VIII.
CONTAINING ABOUT TWO DAYS.
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History of Tom Jones, a Foundling Page 89