CHAPTER LXVIII
JOHN IS JOHN NO LONGER
It would be hard for me to tell the state of mind in which I lived for along time after this. I put away from me all torment, and the thought offuture cares, and the sight of difficulty; and to myself appeared,which means that I became the luckiest of lucky fellows, since the worlditself began. I thought not of the harvest even, nor of the men whowould get their wages without having earned them, nor of my mother'sanxiety and worry about John Fry's great fatness (which was growing uponhim), and how she would cry fifty times in a day, 'Ah, if our John wouldonly come home, how different everything would look!'
Although there were no soldiers now quartered at Plover's Barrows, allbeing busied in harassing the country, and hanging the people where therebellion had thriven most, my mother, having received from me a messagecontaining my place of abode, contrived to send me, by the pack-horses,as fine a maund as need be of provisions, and money, and other comforts.Therein I found addressed to Colonel Jeremiah Stickles, in Lizzie's besthandwriting, half a side of the dried deer's flesh, in which he rejoicedso greatly. Also, for Lorna, a fine green goose, with a little salttowards the tail, and new-laid eggs inside it, as well as a bottle ofbrandied cherries, and seven, or it may have been eight pounds of freshhomemade butter. Moreover, to myself there was a letter full of goodadvice, excellently well expressed, and would have been of the greatestvalue, if I had cared to read it. But I read all about the farm affairs,and the man who had offered himself to our Betty for the five poundsin her stocking; as well as the antics of Sally Snowe, and how she hadalmost thrown herself at Parson Bowden's head (old enough to be hergrandfather), because on the Sunday after the hanging of a Countisburyman, he had preached a beautiful sermon about Christian love; whichLizzie, with her sharp eyes, found to be the work of good Bishop Ken.Also I read that the Doones were quiet; the parishes round about havingunited to feed them well through the harvest time, so that after theday's hard work, the farmers might go to bed at night. And this plan hadbeen found to answer well, and to save much trouble on both sides, sothat everybody wondered it had not been done before. But Lizzie thoughtthat the Doones could hardly be expected much longer to put up with it,and probably would not have done so now, but for a little adversity; towit, that the famous Colonel Kirke had, in the most outrageous manner,hanged no less than six of them, who were captured among the rebels;for he said that men of their rank and breeding, and above all oftheir religion, should have known better than to join plough-boys, andcarters, and pickaxemen, against our Lord the King, and his Holinessthe Pope. This hanging of so many Doones caused some indignation amongpeople who were used to them; and it seemed for a while to check therest from any spirit of enterprise.
Moreover, I found from this same letter (which was pinned upon theknuckle of a leg of mutton, for fear of being lost in straw) that goodTom Faggus was at home again, and nearly cured of his dreadful wound;but intended to go to war no more, only to mind his family. And itgrieved him more than anything he ever could have imagined, that hisduty to his family, and the strong power of his conscience, so totallyforbade him to come up and see after me. For now his design was to leada new life, and be in charity with all men. Many better men than he hadbeen hanged, he saw no cause to doubt; but by the grace of God he hopedhimself to cheat the gallows.
There was no further news of moment in this very clever letter, exceptthat the price of horses' shoes was gone up again, though alreadytwopence-farthing each; and that Betty had broken her lover's head withthe stocking full of money; and then in the corner it was written thatthe distinguished man of war, and worshipful scholar, Master Bloxham,was now promoted to take the tolls, and catch all the rebels around ourpart.
Lorna was greatly pleased with the goose, and the butter, and thebrandied cherries; and the Earl Brandir himself declared that he nevertasted better than those last, and would beg the young man from thecountry to procure him instructions for making them. This nobleman,being as deaf as a post, and of a very solid mind, could never bebrought to understand the nature of my thoughts towards Lorna. He lookedupon me as an excellent youth, who had rescued the maiden from theDoones, whom he cordially detested; and learning that I had thrown twoof them out of window (as the story was told him), he patted me on theback, and declared that his doors would ever be open to me, and that Icould not come too often.
I thought this very kind of his lordship, especially as it enabled me tosee my darling Lorna, not indeed as often as I wished, but at anyrate very frequently, and as many times as modesty (ever my leadingprinciple) would in common conscience approve of. And I made up my mindthat if ever I could help Earl Brandir, it would be--as we say, whenwith brandy and water--the 'proudest moment of my life,' when I couldfulfil the pledge.
And I soon was able to help Lord Brandir, as I think, in two differentways; first of all as regarded his mind, and then as concerned his body:and the latter perhaps was the greatest service, at his time of life.But not to be too nice about that; let me tell how these things were.
Lorna said to me one day, being in a state of excitement--whereto shewas over prone, when reft of my slowness to steady her,--
'I will tell him, John; I must tell him, John. It is mean of me toconceal it.'
I thought that she meant all about our love, which we had endeavouredthrice to drill into his fine old ears; but could not make himcomprehend, without risk of bringing the house down: and so I said, 'Byall means; darling; have another try at it.'
Lorna, however, looked at me--for her eyes told more than tongue--asmuch as to say, 'Well, you are a stupid. We agreed to let that subjectrest.' And then she saw that I was vexed at my own want of quickness;and so she spoke very kindly,--
'I meant about his poor son, dearest; the son of his old age almost;whose loss threw him into that dreadful cold--for he went, without hat,to look for him--which ended in his losing the use of his dear old ears.I believe if we could only get him to Plover's Barrows for a month, hewould be able to hear again. And look at his age! he is not much overseventy, John, you know; and I hope that you will be able to hear me,long after you are seventy, John.'
'Well,' said I, 'God settles that. Or at any rate, He leaves us timeto think about those questions, when we are over fifty. Now let me knowwhat you want, Lorna. The idea of my being seventy! But you would stillbe beautiful.'
'To the one who loves me,' she answered, trying to make wrinkles in herpure bright forehead: 'but if you will have common sense, as you alwayswill, John, whether I wish it or otherwise--I want to know whether I ambound, in honour, and in conscience, to tell my dear and good old unclewhat I know about his son?'
'First let me understand quite clearly,' said I, never being in a hurry,except when passion moves me, 'what his lordship thinks at present; andhow far his mind is urged with sorrow and anxiety.' This was not thefirst time we had spoken of the matter.
'Why, you know, John, well enough,' she answered, wondering at mycoolness, 'that my poor uncle still believes that his one belovedson will come to light and live again. He has made all arrangementsaccordingly: all his property is settled on that supposition. He knowsthat young Alan always was what he calls a "feckless ne'er-do-weel;" buthe loves him all the more for that. He cannot believe that he will die,without his son coming back to him; and he always has a bedroom ready,and a bottle of Alan's favourite wine cool from out the cellar; he hasmade me work him a pair of slippers from the size of a mouldy boot; andif he hears of a new tobacco--much as he hates the smell of it--he willgo to the other end of London to get some for Alan. Now you know howdeaf he is; but if any one say, "Alan," even in the place outside thedoor, he will make his courteous bow to the very highest visitor, and beout there in a moment, and search the entire passage, and yet let no oneknow it.'
'It is a piteous thing,' I said; for Lorna's eyes were full of tears.
'And he means me to marry him. It is the pet scheme of his life. I amto grow more beautiful, and more highly taught, and graceful; untilit pleases A
lan to come back, and demand me. Can you understand thismatter, John? Or do you think my uncle mad?'
'Lorna, I should be mad myself, to call any other man mad, for hoping.'
'Then will you tell me what to do? It makes me very sorrowful. For Iknow that Alan Brandir lies below the sod in Doone-valley.'
'And if you tell his father,' I answered softly, but clearly, 'in a fewweeks he will lie below the sod in London at least if there is any.'
'Perhaps you are right, John,' she replied: 'to lose hope must be adreadful thing, when one is turned of seventy. Therefore I will nevertell him.'
The other way in which I managed to help the good Earl Brandir was ofless true moment to him; but as he could not know of the first, this wasthe one which moved him. And it happened pretty much as follows--thoughI hardly like to tell, because it advanced me to such a height as Imyself was giddy at; and which all my friends resented greatly (savethose of my own family), and even now are sometimes bitter, in spite ofall my humility. Now this is a matter of history, because the King wasconcerned in it; and being so strongly misunderstood, (especially inmy own neighbourhood, I will overcome so far as I can) my diffidence intelling it.
The good Earl Brandir was a man of the noblest charity. True charitybegins at home, and so did his; and was afraid of losing the way, if itwent abroad. So this good nobleman kept his money in a handsomepewter box, with his coat of arms upon it, and a double lid and locks.Moreover, there was a heavy chain, fixed to a staple in the wall, sothat none might carry off the pewter with the gold inside of it. Lornatold me the box was full, for she had seen him go to it, and she oftenthought that it would be nice for us to begin the world with. I toldher that she must not allow her mind to dwell upon things of this sort;being wholly against the last commandment set up in our church at Oare.
Now one evening towards September, when the days were drawing in,looking back at the house to see whether Lorna were looking after me,I espied (by a little glimpse, as it were) a pair of villainous fellows(about whom there could be no mistake) watching from the thicket-corner,some hundred yards or so behind the good Earl's dwelling. 'There ismischief afoot,' thought I to myself, being thoroughly conversant withtheft, from my knowledge of the Doones; 'how will be the moon to-night,and when may we expect the watch?'
I found that neither moon nor watch could be looked for until themorning; the moon, of course, before the watch, and more likely to bepunctual. Therefore I resolved to wait, and see what those two villainsdid, and save (if it were possible) the Earl of Brandir's pewter box.But inasmuch as those bad men were almost sure to have seen me leavingthe house and looking back, and striking out on the London road, Imarched along at a merry pace, until they could not discern me; andthen I fetched a compass round, and refreshed myself at a certain inn,entitled The Cross-bones and Buttons.
Here I remained until it was very nearly as dark as pitch; and the housebeing full of footpads and cutthroats, I thought it right to leave them.One or two came after me, in the hope of designing a stratagem; but Idropped them in the darkness; and knowing all the neighbourhood well, Itook up my position, two hours before midnight, among the shrubs at theeastern end of Lord Brandir's mansion. Hence, although I might not see,I could scarcely fail to hear, if any unlawful entrance either at backor front were made.
From my own observation, I thought it likely that the attack would bein the rear; and so indeed it came to pass. For when all the lights werequenched, and all the house was quiet, I heard a low and wily whistlefrom a clump of trees close by; and then three figures passed between meand a whitewashed wall, and came to a window which opened into a partof the servants' basement. This window was carefully raised by some oneinside the house; and after a little whispering, and something whichsounded like a kiss, all the three men entered.
'Oh, you villains!' I said to myself, 'this is worse than any Doone job;because there is treachery in it.' But without waiting to consider thesubject from a moral point of view, I crept along the wall, and enteredvery quietly after them; being rather uneasy about my life, because Ibore no fire-arms, and had nothing more than my holly staff, for even aviolent combat.
To me this was matter of deep regret, as I followed these vile meninward. Nevertheless I was resolved that my Lorna should not be robbedagain. Through us (or at least through our Annie) she had lost thatbrilliant necklace; which then was her only birthright: therefore itbehoved me doubly, to preserve the pewter box; which must belong to herin the end, unless the thieves got hold of it.
I went along very delicately (as a man who has learned to wrestle cando, although he may weigh twenty stone), following carefully the light,brought by the traitorous maid, and shaking in her loose dishonest hand.I saw her lead the men into a little place called a pantry; and thereshe gave them cordials, and I could hear them boasting.
Not to be too long over it--which they were much inclined to be--Ifollowed them from this drinking-bout, by the aid of the light theybore, as far as Earl Brandir's bedroom, which I knew, because Lorna hadshown it to me that I might admire the tapestry. But I had said that nohorse could ever be shod as the horses were shod therein, unless he hadthe foot of a frog, as well as a frog to his foot. And Lorna had beenvexed at this (as taste and high art always are, at any small accurateknowledge), and so she had brought me out again, before I had time toadmire things.
Now, keeping well away in the dark, yet nearer than was necessary to myown dear Lorna's room, I saw these fellows try the door of the good EarlBrandir, knowing from the maid, of course, that his lordship could hearnothing, except the name of Alan. They tried the lock, and pushed at it,and even set their knees upright; but a Scottish nobleman may be trustedto secure his door at night. So they were forced to break it open; andat this the guilty maid, or woman, ran away. These three rogues--forrogues they were, and no charity may deny it--burst into Earl Brandir'sroom, with a light, and a crowbar, and fire-arms. I thought to myselfthat this was hard upon an honest nobleman; and if further mischiefcould be saved, I would try to save it.
When I came to the door of the room, being myself in shadow, I beheldtwo bad men trying vainly to break open the pewter box, and the thirdwith a pistol-muzzle laid to the night-cap of his lordship. With foulface and yet fouler words, this man was demanding the key of the box,which the other men could by no means open, neither drag it from thechain.
'I tell you,' said this aged Earl, beginning to understand at last whatthese rogues were up for; 'I will give no key to you. It all belongs tomy boy, Alan. No one else shall have a farthing.'
'Then you may count your moments, lord. The key is in your old crampedhand. One, two, and at three, I shoot you.'
I saw that the old man was abroad; not with fear, but with great wonder,and the regrets of deafness. And I saw that rather would he be shotthan let these men go rob his son, buried now, or laid to bleach in thetangles of the wood, three, or it might be four years agone, but stillalive to his father. Hereupon my heart was moved; and I resolved tointerfere. The thief with the pistol began to count, as I crossed thefloor very quietly, while the old Earl fearfully gazed at the muzzle,but clenched still tighter his wrinkled hand. The villain, with hair allover his eyes, and the great horse-pistol levelled, cried 'three,' andpulled the trigger; but luckily, at that very moment, I struck up thebarrel with my staff, so that the shot pierced the tester, and thenwith a spin and a thwack I brought the good holly down upon the rascal'shead, in a manner which stretched him upon the floor.
Meanwhile the other two robbers had taken the alarm, and rushed at me,one with a pistol and one with a hanger; which forced me to be verylively. Fearing the pistol most, I flung the heavy velvet curtain of thebed across, that he might not see where to aim at me, and then stoopingvery quickly I caught up the senseless robber, and set him up for ashield and target; whereupon he was shot immediately, without having thepain of knowing it; and a happy thing it was for him. Now the other twowere at my mercy, being men below the average strength; and no hanger,except in most skilful hands,
as well as firm and strong ones, hasany chance to a powerful man armed with a stout cudgel, and thoroughlypractised in single-stick.
So I took these two rogues, and bound them together; and leaving themunder charge of the butler (a worthy and shrewd Scotchman), I myselfwent in search of the constables, whom, after some few hours, I found;neither were they so drunk but what they could take roped men to prison.In the morning, these two men were brought before the Justices of thePeace: and now my wonderful luck appeared; for the merit of havingdefeated, and caught them, would never have raised me one step in theState, or in public consideration, if they had only been common robbers,or even notorious murderers. But when these fellows were recognised,by some one in the court, as Protestant witnesses out of employment,companions and understrappers to Oates, and Bedloe, and Carstairs, andhand in glove with Dangerfield, Turberville; and Dugdale--in a word, thevery men against whom His Majesty the King bore the bitterest rancour,but whom he had hitherto failed to catch--when this was laid before thepublic (with emphasis and admiration), at least a dozen men cameup, whom I had never seen before, and prayed me to accept theircongratulations, and to be sure to remember them; for all were ofneglected merit, and required no more than a piece of luck.
I answered them very modestly, and each according to his worth, asstated by himself, who of course could judge the best. The magistratemade me many compliments, ten times more than I deserved, and took goodcare to have them copied, that His Majesty might see them. And ere thecase was thoroughly heard, and those poor fellows were committed, morethan a score of generous men had offered to lend me a hundred pounds,wherewith to buy a new Court suit, when called before His Majesty.
Now this may seem very strange to us who live in a better and purerage--or say at least that we do so--and yet who are we to condemn ourfathers for teaching us better manners, and at their own expense? Withthese points any virtuous man is bound to deal quite tenderly, makingallowance for corruption, and not being too sure of himself. And to tellthe truth, although I had seen so little of the world as yet, that whichastonished me in the matter, was not so much that they paid me court, asthat they found out so soon the expediency of doing it.
In the course of that same afternoon I was sent for by His Majesty. Hehad summoned first the good Earl Brandir, and received the tale fromhim, not without exaggeration, although my lord was a Scotchman. Butthe chief thing His Majesty cared to know was that, beyond all possibledoubt, these were the very precious fellows from perjury turned torobbery.
Being fully assured at last of this, His Majesty had rubbed his hands,and ordered the boots of a stricter pattern (which he himself hadinvented) to be brought at once, that he might have them in the bestpossible order. And he oiled them himself, and expressed his fear thatthere was no man in London quite competent to work them. Neverthelesshe would try one or two, rather than wait for his pleasure, till thetorturer came from Edinburgh.
The next thing he did was to send for me; and in great alarm and flurryI put on my best clothes, and hired a fashionable hairdresser, and drankhalf a gallon of ale, because both my hands were shaking. Then forth Iset, with my holly staff, wishing myself well out of it. I was shown atonce, and before I desired it, into His Majesty's presence, and there Istood most humbly, and made the best bow I could think of.
As I could not advance any farther--for I saw that the Queen waspresent, which frightened me tenfold--His Majesty, in the most graciousmanner, came down the room to encourage me. And as I remained with myhead bent down, he told me to stand up, and look at him.
'I have seen thee before, young man, he said; 'thy form is not one to beforgotten. Where was it? Thou art most likely to know.'
'May it please Your Most Gracious Majesty the King,' I answered, findingmy voice in a manner which surprised myself; 'it was in the RoyalChapel.'
Now I meant no harm whatever by this. I ought to have said the'Ante-chapel,' but I could not remember the word, and feared to keep theKing looking at me.
'I am well-pleased,' said His Majesty, with a smile which almost madehis dark and stubborn face look pleasant, 'to find that our greatestsubject, greatest I mean in the bodily form, is also a good Catholic.Thou needest not say otherwise. The time shall be, and that right soon,when men shall be proud of the one true faith.' Here he stopped, havinggone rather far! but the gleam of his heavy eyes was such that I durstnot contradict.
'This is that great Johann Reed,' said Her Majesty, coming forward,because the King was in meditation 'for whom I have so much heard, fromthe dear, dear Lorna. Ah, she is not of this black countree, she is ofthe breet Italie.'
I have tried to write it, as she said it: but it wants a better scholarto express her mode of speech.
'Now, John Ridd,' said the King, recovering from his thoughts about thetrue Church, and thinking that his wife was not to take the lead uponme; 'thou hast done great service to the realm, and to religion. It wasgood to save Earl Brandir, a loyal and Catholic nobleman; but it wasgreat service to catch two of the vilest bloodhounds ever laid on byheretics. And to make them shoot one another: it was rare; it was rare,my lad. Now ask us anything in reason thou canst carry any honours, onthy club, like Hercules. What is thy chief ambition, lad?'
'Well,' said I, after thinking a little, and meaning to make the mostof it, for so the Queen's eyes conveyed to me; 'my mother always used tothink that having been schooled at Tiverton, with thirty marks a year topay, I was worthy of a coat of arms. And that is what she longs for.'
'A good lad! A very good lad,' said the King, and he looked at theQueen, as if almost in joke; 'but what is thy condition in life?'
'I am a freeholder,' I answered, in my confusion, 'ever since the timeof King Alfred. A Ridd was with him in the isle of Athelney, and we holdour farm by gift from him; or at least people say so. We have had threevery good harvests running, and might support a coat of arms; but formyself I want it not.'
'Thou shalt have a coat, my lad,' said the King, smiling at his ownhumour; 'but it must be a large one to fit thee. And more than thatshalt thou have, John Ridd, being of such loyal breed, and having donesuch service.'
And while I wondered what he meant, he called to some of the people inwaiting at the farther end of the room, and they brought him a littlesword, such as Annie would skewer a turkey with. Then he signified to meto kneel, which I did (after dusting the board, for the sake of mybest breeches), and then he gave me a little tap very nicely upon myshoulder, before I knew what he was up to; and said, 'Arise, Sir JohnRidd!'
This astonished and amazed me to such extent of loss of mind, that whenI got up I looked about, and thought what the Snowes would think of it.And I said to the King, without forms of speech,--
'Sir, I am very much obliged. But what be I to do with it?'
Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor Page 68