The Children of the New Forest

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER XIII.

  As soon as he was out of the intendant's house, Edward hastened to thecottage of Oswald Partridge, whom he found waiting for him, for theverderer had not failed to deliver his message.

  "You have had a long talk with Mistress Patience," said Oswald, afterthe first greeting, "and I am glad of it, as it gives you consequencehere. The Roundhead rascal whom you met was inclined, to be veryprecise about doing his duty, and insisted that he was certain that youwere on the look-out for deer; but I stopped his mouth by telling himthat I often took you out with me, as you were the best shot in thewhole forest, and that the intendant knew that I did so. I think thatif you were caught in the act of killing a deer, you had better tell,them that you killed it by my request, and I will bear you out if theybring you to the intendant, who will, I'm sure, thank me for saying so;you might kill all the deer in the forest, after what you have done forhim."

  "Many thanks; but I do not think I can take advantage of your offer.Let them catch me if they can, and if they do catch me, let them takeme if they can."

  "I see, sir, that you will accept no favor from the Roundheads,"replied Oswald. "However, as I am now head keeper, I shall take carethat my men do not interfere with you, if I can help it; all I wish isto prevent any insult or indignity being offered to you, they not beingaware who you are, as I am."

  "Many thanks, Oswald; I must take my chance."

  Edward then told Oswald of their having taken the gipsy boy in the pit,at which he appeared much amused.

  "What is the name of the verderer whom I met in the forest?" inquiredEdward.

  "James Corbould; he was discharged from the army," replied Oswald.

  "I do not like his appearance," said Edward.

  "No; his face tells against him," replied Oswald; "but I know nothingof him; he has been here little more than a fortnight."

  "Can you give me a corner to put my head in to-night, Oswald? for Ishall not start till to-morrow morning."

  "You may command all I have, sir," replied Oswald; "but I fear there islittle more than a hearty welcome; I have no doubt that you could belodged at the intendant's house if you choose."

  "No, Oswald, the young lady is alone, and I will not trust to Phoebe'saccommodation again; I will stay here, if you will permit me."

  "And welcome, sir; I will put your puppy in the kennel at once."

  Edward remained that night at Oswald's, and at daylight he rose, andhaving taken a slight breakfast, throwing his gun over his shoulder,went to the kennel for Holdfast, and set off on his return home.

  "That's a very nice little girl," were the words which Edward foundhimself constantly saying to himself as he walked along; "and she is ofa grateful disposition, or she would not have behaved as she has donetoward me--supposing me to be of mean birth;" and then he thought ofwhat she had told him relative to her father, and Edward felt hisanimosity against a Roundhead wasting fast away. "I am not likely tosee her again very soon," thought Edward, "unless, indeed, I am broughtto the intendant as a prisoner." Thus thinking upon, one subject oranother, Edward had gained above eight miles of his journey across theforest, when he thought that he was sufficiently far away to venture tolook out for some venison. Remembering there was a thicket not far fromhim in which there was a clear pool of water, Edward thought it verylikely that he might find a stag there cooling himself, for the weatherwas now very warm at noonday. He therefore called Holdfast to him, andproceeded cautiously toward the thicket. As soon as he arrived at thespot, he crouched and crept silently through the underwood. At last hearrived close to the cleared spot by the pool. There was no stag there,but fast asleep upon the turf lay James Corbould, the sinister-lookingverderer who had accosted him in the forest on the previous day.Holdfast was about to bark, when Edward silenced him, and then advancedto where the verderer was lying; and who, having no dog with him togive notice of Edward's approach, still remained snoring with the sunshining on his face. Edward perceived that his gun was under him on thegrass, he took it up, gently opened the pan and scattered the powder,and then laid it down again--for Edward said to himself, "That man hascome out after me, that I am certain; and as there are no witnesses, hemay be inclined to be mischievous, for a more wretched-looking person Inever saw. Had he been deer-hunting, he would have brought his dog; buthe is man-hunting, that is evident. Now I will leave him, and should hefall in with anything, he will not kill at first shot, that's certain;and if he follows me, I shall have the same chance of escape asanything else he may fire at." Edward then walked out of the covert,thinking that if ever there was a face which proclaimed a man to be amurderer, it was that of James Corbould. As he was threading his way,he heard the howl of a dog, and on looking round, perceived thatHoldfast was not with him. He turned back, and Holdfast came running tohim--the fact was, that Holdfast had smelled some meat in the pocket ofthe verderer, and had been putting his nose in to ascertain what itwas: in so doing, he had wakened up Corbould, who had saluted him witha heavy blow on the head: this occasioned the puppy to give the howl,and also occasioned Corbould to seize his gun, and follow stealthily inthe track of the dog, which he well knew to be the one he had seen theday before with Edward.

  Edward waited for a short time, and not perceiving that Corbould madehis appearance, continued on his way home, having now given up allthoughts of killing any venison. He walked fast, and was within sixmiles of the cottage, when he stopped to drink at a small rill ofwater, and then sat down to rest himself for a short time. While sodoing, he fell into one of his usual reveries, and forgot how timepassed away. He was, however, aroused by a low growl on the part ofHoldfast, and it immediately occurred to him that Corbould must havefollowed him. Thinking it as well to be prepared, he quietly loaded hisgun, and then rose up to reconnoiter. Holdfast sprung forward, andEdward, looking in the direction, perceived Corbould partly hiddenbehind a tree, with his gun leveled at him. He heard the triggerpulled, and snap of the lock, but the gun did not go off; and thenCorbould made his appearance, striking at Holdfast with the butt-end ofhis gun. Edward advanced to him and desired him to desist, or it wouldbe the worse for him.

  "Indeed, younker! it may be the worse for you," cried Corbould.

  "It might have been if your gun had gone off," replied Edward.

  "I did not aim at you. I aimed at the dog, and I will kill the brute ifI can."

  "Not without danger to yourself; but it was not him that you aimedat--your gun was not pointed low enough to hit the dog--it was leveledat me, you sneaking wretch; and I have only to thank my own prudenceand your sleepy head for having escaped with my life. I tell youcandidly, that I threw the powder out of your pan while you wereasleep. If I served you as you deserve, I should now put my bullet intoyou; but I can not kill a man who is defenseless--and that saves yourlife; but set off as fast as you can away from me, for if you follow meI will show no more forbearance. Away with you directly," continuedEdward, raising his gun to his shoulder and pointing it at Corbould;"if you do not be off, I'll fire."

  Corbould saw that Edward was resolute, and thought proper to complywith his request: he walked away till he considered himself out ofgunshot, and then commenced a torrent of oaths and abusive language,with which we shall not offend our readers. Before he went farther, heswore that he would have Edward's life before many days had passed, andthen shaking his fist, he went away. Edward remained where he wasstanding till the man was fairly out of sight, and then proceeded onhis journey. It was now about four o'clock in the afternoon, andEdward, as he walked on, said to himself, "That man must be of a verywicked disposition, for I have offended him in nothing except in notsubmitting to be made his prisoner; and is that an offense to take aman's life for? He is a dangerous man, and will be more dangerous afterbeing again foiled by me as he has been to-day. I doubt if he will gohome; I am almost sure that he will turn and follow me when he thinksthat he can without my seeing him; and if he does, he will find outwhere our cottage is--and who knows what mischief he may not do, andhow he may alarm
my little sisters? I'll not go home till dark; andI'll now walk in another direction, that I may mislead him." Edwardthen walked away more to the north, and every half hour shifted hiscourse so as to be walking in a very different direction from where thecottage stood. In the mean time it grew gradually dark; and as itbecame so, every now and then when Edward passed a large tree, heturned round behind it and looked to see if Corbould was following him.At last, just as it was dark, he perceived the figure of a man at nogreat distance from him, who was following him, running from tree totree, so as to make his approach. "Oh, you are there!" thought Edward;"now will I give you a nice dance, and we will see whose legs are tiredsoonest. Let me see, where am I?" Edward looked round, and thenperceived that he was close to the clump of trees where Humphrey hadmade his pitfall for the cattle, and there was a clear spot of about aquarter of a mile between it and where he now stood. Edward made up hismind, and immediately walked out to cross the clearing, callingHoldfast to heel. It was now nearly dark, for there was only the lightof the stars, but still there was sufficient light to see his way. AsEdward crossed the cleared spot, he once looked round and perceivedthat Corbould was following him, and nearer than he was before,trusting probably to the increased darkness to hide his approach. "Thatwill do," thought Edward; "come along, my fine fellow." And Edwardwalked on till he came to the pitfall; there he stopped and lookedround, and soon discovered the verderer at a hundred yards' distance.Edward held his dog by the mouth, that he should not growl or bark, andthen went on in a direction so as to bring the pitfall exactly betweenCorbould and himself. Having done so, he proceeded at a more rapidpace; and Corbould, following him, also increased his, till he arrivedat the pitfall, which he could not perceive, and fell into it headlong;and as he fell into the pit, at the same time Edward heard thedischarge of his gun, the crash of the small branches laid over it, anda cry on the part of Corbould. "That will do," thought Edward, "now youmay lie there as long as the gipsy did, and that will cool yourcourage. Humphrey's pitfall is full of adventure. In this case it hasdone me a service. Now I may turn and go home as fast as I can. ComeHoldfast, old boy, we both want our suppers. I can answer for one, forI could eat the whole of that pasty which Oswald set before me thismorning." Edward walked at a rapid pace, quite delighted at the issueof the adventure. As he arrived near to the cottage he found Humphreyoutside, with Pablo, on the look-out for him. He soon joined them, andsoon after embraced Alice and Edith, who had been anxiously waiting forhis return, and who had wondered at his being out so late. "Give me mysupper, my dear girls," said Edward, "and then you shall know all aboutit."

  As soon as Edward had satisfied his craving appetite--for he had not,as my readers must recollect, eaten any thing since his departure earlyin the morning from the house of Oswald Partridge--he entered into anarrative of the events of the day. They all listened with greatinterest; and when Edward had finished, Pablo, the gipsy boy, jumped upand said,

  "Now he is in the pit, to-morrow morning I take gun and shoot him."

  "No, no, Pablo, you must not do that," replied Edward, laughing.

  "Pablo," said little Edith, "go and sit down; you must not shootpeople."

  "He shoot master then," said Pablo; "he very bad man."

  "But if you shoot him, you will be a bad boy, Pablo," replied Edith,who appeared to have assumed an authority over him. Pablo did notappear to understand this, but he obeyed the order of his littlemistress, and resumed his seat at the chimney corner.

  "But, Edward," said Humphrey, "what do you propose to do?"

  "I hardly know; my idea was to let him remain there for a day or two,and then send to Oswald to let him know where the fellow was."

  "The only objection to that is," replied Humphrey, "that you say hisgun went off as he fell into the pit; it may be probable that he iswounded, and if so, he might die if he is left there."

  "You are right, Humphrey, that is possible; and I would not have thelife of a fellow-creature on my conscience."

  "I think it would be advisable, Edward, that I should set off earlyto-morrow on the pony, and see Oswald, tell him all that has occurred,and show him where the pitfall is."

  "I believe that would be the best plan, Humphrey."

  "Yes," said Alice, "it would be dreadful that a man should die in sowicked a state; let him be taken out, and perhaps he will repent."

  "Won't God punish him, brother?" said Edith.

  "Yes, my dear; sooner or later the vengeance of Heaven overtakes thewicked. But I am very tired after so long a walk to Prayers, and thento bed."

  The danger that Edward had incurred that day was felt strongly by thewhole party; and, with the exception of Pablo there was earnestdevotion and gratitude to Heaven when their orisons were offered up.

  Humphrey was off before daybreak, and at nine o'clock had arrived atthe cottage of Oswald, by whom he was warmly greeted before the causeof his unexpected arrival was made known. Oswald was greatly annoyed atHumphrey's narration, and appeared to be very much of the opinion ofPablo, which was, to leave the scoundrel where he was; but, on theremonstrance of Humphrey, he set off, with two of the other verderers,and before nightfall Humphrey arrived at the pitfall, where they heardCorbould groaning below.

  "Who's there?" said Oswald, looking into the pit.

  "It's me, it's Corbould," replied the man.

  "Are you hurt?"

  "Yes, badly," replied Corbould; "when I fell, my gun went off, and theball has gone through my thigh. I have almost bled to death."

  Humphrey went for the ladder, which was at hand, and, with muchexertion on the part of the whole four of them, they contrived to dragout Corbould, who groaned heavily with pain. A handkerchief was tiedtightly round his leg, to prevent any further bleeding, and they gavehim some water, which revived him.

  "Now, what's to be done?" said Oswald; "we can never get him home."

  "I will tell you," said Humphrey, walking with him aside. "It will notdo for any of these men to know our cottage, and we can not take themthere. Desire them to remain with the man, while you go for a cart tocarry him home. We will go to the cottage, give Billy his supper, andthen return with him in the cart, and bring your men something to eat.Then I will go with you, and bring the cart back again before daylight.It will be a night's work, but it will be the safest plan."

  "I think so, too," replied Oswald, who desired the men to wait till hisreturn, as he was going to borrow a cart, and then set off withHumphrey.

  As soon as they arrived at the cottage, Humphrey gave the pony to Pabloto put into the stable and feed, and then communicated to Edward thestate of Corbould.

  "It's almost a pity that he had not killed himself outright." observedOswald; "it would have been justice to him, for attempting your lifewithout any cause; he is a bloodthirsty scoundrel, and I wish he wasany where but where he is. However, the intendant shall know of it, andI have no doubt that he will be discharged.

  "Do nothing in a hurry, Oswald," replied Edward; "at present let himgive his own version of the affair, for he may prove more dangerouswhen discharged than when under your control. Now sit down and takeyour supper. Billy must have an hour to get his, and therefore there isno hurry for you."

  "That is your gipsy lad, Edward, is he not?" said Oswald.

  "Yes."

  "I like the boy's looks; but they are a queer race. You must not trusthim too much," continued Oswald, in an undertone, "until you have triedhim, and are satisfied of his fidelity. They are very excitable, andcapable of strong attachment if well treated. That I know, for I did agipsy a good turn once, and it proved to be the saving of my lifeafterward."

  "Oh, tell us how, Oswald," said Alice.

  "It is too long a story now, my dear little lady," replied Oswald; "butI will another time. Whatever he may do, do not strike him; for theynever forgive a blow, I am told by those who know them, and it neverdoes them any good; as I said before, they are a queer race."

  "He will not be beaten by us," replied Humphrey, "depend upon it,unless Edith
slaps him, for she is the one who takes most pains withhim, and I presume he would not care much about her little hand."

  "No, no," replied Oswald, laughing; "Edith may do as she pleases. Whatdoes he do for you?"

  "Oh, nothing as yet, for he is hardly recovered, poor fellow," repliedHumphrey. "He follows Edith, and helps her to look for the eggs; andlast night he set some springes after his own fashion, and certainlybeat me, for he took three rabbits and a hare, while I, with all mytraps, only took one rabbit."

  "I think you had better leave that part of your livelihood entirely tohim; he has been bred up to it, Humphrey, and it will be his amusement.You must not expect him to work very hard; they are not accustomed toit. They live a roving and never work if they can help it: still, ifyou can make him fond of you, he may be very useful, for they are veryclever and handy."

  "I hope to make him useful," replied Humphrey; "but still I will notforce him to do what he does not like. He is very fond of the ponyalready, and likes to take care of him."

  "Bring him over to me one of these days, so that he may know where tofind me. It may prove of consequence if you have a message to send, andcan not come yourselves."

  "That is very true," replied Edward; "I shall not forget it. Humphrey,shall you or I go with the cart?"

  "Humphrey, by all means; it will not do for them to suppose I had thecart from you, Edward; they do not know Humphrey, and he will be offagain in the morning before they are up."

  "Very true," replied Edward.

  "And it is time for us to set off," replied Oswald. "Will MistressAlice oblige me with something for my men to eat, for they have fastedthe whole day."

  "Yes," replied Alice; "I will have it ready before the pony is in thecart. Edith, dear, come with me."

  Humphrey then went out to harness the pony, and when all was ready, heand Oswald set off again.

  When they arrived at the pitfall, they found Corbould lying between thetwo other verderers, who were sitting by his side. Corbould was muchrecovered since his wound had been bound up, and he was raised up andput on the fodder which Humphrey had put into the cart; and theyproceeded on their journey to the other side of the forest, theverderers eating what Humphrey had brought for them as they walkedalong. It was a tedious and painful journey for the wounded man, whoshrieked out when the cart was jolted by the wheel getting into a rutor hole; but there was no help for it, and he was very much exhaustedwhen they arrived, which was not till past midnight. Corbould was thentaken to his cottage and put on the bed, and another verderer sent fora surgeon; those who had been with Oswald were glad to go to bed, forit had been a fatiguing day. Humphrey remained with Oswald for threehours, and then again returned with Billy, who, although he had crossedthe forest three times in the twenty-four hours, appeared quite freshand ready to go back again.

  "I will let you know how he gets on, Humphrey, and what account hegives of his falling into the pit; but you must not expect me for afortnight at least."

  Humphrey wished Oswald good-by; and Billy was so anxious to get back tohis stable, that Humphrey could not keep him at a quiet pace. "Horses,and all animals indeed, know that there is no place like home; it is apity that men who consider themselves much wiser, have not the sameconsideration," thought Humphrey, as the pony trotted along. Humphreythought a good deal about the danger that Edward had been subjected to,and said to himself, "I really think that I should be more comfortableif Edward was away. I am always in a fidget about him. I wish the newking, who is now in France would raise an army and come over. It isbetter that Edward should be fighting in the field than remain here andrisk being shot as a deer-stealer, or put in prison. The farm issufficient for us all; and when I have taken in more ground it will bemuch more than sufficient, even if I do not kill the wild cattle. I amfit for the farm, but Edward is not. He is thrown away, living in thisobscurity, and he feels it. He will always be in hot water some way oranother, that is certain. What a narrow escape he has had with thatscoundrel, and yet how little he cares for it! He was intended for asoldier, that is evident; and, if ever he is one, he will be in hiselement, and distinguish himself, if it pleases God to spare his life.I'll persuade him to stay at home a little while to help me to inclosethe other piece of ground; and, after that is done, I'll dig a saw-pit,and see if I can coax Pablo to saw with me. I must go to Lymington andbuy a saw. If I once could get the trees sawed up into planks, what aquantity of things I could make, and how I could improve the place!"

  Thus thought Humphrey, as he went along; he was all for the farm andimprovements, and was always calculating when he should have anothercalf, or a fresh litter of pigs. His first idea was that he would makePablo work hard, but the advice he had received from Oswald was notforgotten; and he now was thinking how he should coax Pablo intostanding below in the sawpit, which was not only hard work, butdisagreeable from the sawdust falling into the eyes. Humphrey'scogitations were interrupted by a halloo, and turning round in thedirection of the voice, he perceived Edward, and turned the cart tojoin him.

  "You've just come in time, Humphrey; I have some provision for Alice'slarder. I took my gun and came on the path which I knew you wouldreturn by, and I have killed a young buck. He is good meat, and we arescarce of provisions."

  Humphrey helped Edward to put the venison in the cart, and theyreturned to the cottage, which was not more than three miles off.Humphrey told Edward the result of his journey, and then proposed thatEdward should stop at home for a few days and help him with the newinclosure. To this Edward cheerfully consented; and as soon as theyarrived at the cottage, and Humphrey had his breakfast, they took theiraxes and went out to fell at a cluster of small spruce-fir about a mileoff.