The Cornet of Horse: A Tale of Marlborough's Wars

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 15: The End of a Feud.

  After the first cry of rage and grief at the discovery of theabduction of Maria van Duyk, there was a moment's silence. Rupertbroke it, laying his hand on the shoulder of Van Duyk, who haddropped despairingly into a chair.

  "We will find her," he said, "wherever she be. Let us lose nomoments in sorrow. Call up the burgomaster, or whoever leads theburghers, and let us consult."

  In another minute or two four of the principal magistrates of Dorthad joined the party, and Van Duyk told them what had happened.

  "I told her to lock the door, and not to open until she heard myvoice. Doubtless she was standing there listening to the strifewithout, when the men burst in at the window, and seized herbefore, in her surprise and terror, she had time to unlock thedoor. Now what is to be done to recover her? They have, no doubt,carried her off by boat, for they could not pass through thelandward gate of the town.

  "Will you order two fast boats, to be manned by strong parties ofrowers, with well-armed men? One had better go up the river, onedown; for we know not in which direction they will take theirflight.

  "What think you, Master Holliday?"

  "I think that a boat had better go either way, without a moment'sloss of time," Rupert said. "But I doubt whether either will findthem. But send the boats without a moment's delay, with orders tooverhaul and search every craft they overtake."

  The magistrates at once called in an officer of the guard, and gavehim the necessary instructions.

  "And why do you not think that either up or down the river theywill overtake them?" Van Duyk asked Rupert, as the officer left theroom.

  "Because they will know that a fleet horseman will pass them; andthat by morning the people at the towns on the banks will all be onthe lookout for them. So, having sent off the boats, I should nowsend off horsemen up and down the river, with a letter from you,sirs, to the authorities at all the towns, begging them to stop andsearch every boat."

  Again the necessary orders were given.

  "It was right to take these steps," Rupert said, "for they may begreater fools than I take them to be; but I think that they havedone one of two things. They have gone either up or down the riverto some place, probably not far away, where horses are inreadiness, or--or, they may be still in the town."

  "Still in the town!"

  "Yes," Rupert said; "they will know that we should pursue them upand down the river; that we should scour the country round; butthey may think that we should not suspect that she is still here.There must be lots of secure hiding places in an old town likethis; and they may well think it safer to keep her hidden hereuntil they force her into marriage, or wring a fabulous ransom fromyou."

  "We will search every house," the burgomaster said, "from cellar toroof."

  "It would be useless," Rupert said. "There must be secret hidingplaces where she could be stowed away, bound and gagged perhaps,and which you could never detect. I would lose no moment of time insending out horsemen to every village on either side of the riverabove and below us, for a circle of twenty miles. If horsemen havepassed through, some villager or other is sure to have been awokeby the clatter of the horses. If we get news, we must follow up thetraces wherever they go. If not, it will be strong proof that theyare still here. In any case, our pursuit all over the country willlead them to think that we have no suspicion that she is here, andwe shall have far more chance of lighting upon a clue than if theythought we suspected it. Get trusty men to work at once. Questionthe prisoners your men have taken, with some sharp pain that willwring the truth from them; but let all be done quietly; while onthe other hand, let the chase through the country be as active andpublic as possible."

  Threats, and the application of a string twisted round the thumb,and tightened until the blood spurted from beneath the nails--roughmodes of questioning which had not yet died out--soon elicited fromthe captives the place where the arch-conspirator had been stayingwhile he laid the train for the explosion; but, as was expected, asearch showed that the bird had flown, without leaving a tracebehind him.

  Then, as there was nothing more to do until morning, and two scoreof horsemen had been sent off in different directions, and theofficers most acquainted with the haunts of the bad characters wereset quietly at work to search for some clue that might help to findthe hiding place of Maria, the magistrates took their leave withmany expressions of regret and commiseration with the merchant, andwith confession of a consciousness of deep fault that they had nottaken to heart his warnings.

  Long ere this the bodies of the score of rioters who had fallen onthe stairs, hall, and passages had been removed; and leaving theafflicted merchant for awhile to his thoughts, Rupert retired tohis room, telling Hugh and Joe to follow him. He explained to themexactly the steps which had been taken, and his opinion as to thetrue state of things; and bade them think the matter over in everylight, and to come to him at daybreak, and let him know if any planfor the conduct of the search had occurred to them.

  The result of the night's thoughts and of the morning'sdeliberations was conveyed to Mynheer van Duyk by Rupert.

  "The first thing to be done is to offer a large reward, sir, forany news which may lead to the discovery of your daughter. This mayor may not bring us in some information. The next thing is to havean eye kept on every boat by the quay which may have a cabin orhalf-deck capable of concealing a person wrapped up and bound.Also, that a watch should be set upon any fishing boat anchored inthe river, or moored against the banks, for miles round. It is verypossible that she was carried on board, and that there she may bekept, close to us, for days, or even weeks, until the hotness ofthe search is over, and they can pass up or down the river withoutbeing stopped and overhauled."

  "We will have every boat at the quay searched at once; and boatparties shall be sent off to examine every craft at anchor ormoored in the river."

  "I think, sir, that it behoves us to act with care," Rupert said;"for knowing the desperate nature of this villain, I think itprobable that he would wreak his hate upon your daughter, and dosome terrible crime when he found that he was discovered, for heknows that his life is already forfeit. When we find out where sheis confined, to my mind the serious difficulty only commences, forit is absolutely necessary that the arrest be so prompt and sudden,that he shall not have time even to level a pistol at her."

  Van Duyk acknowledged the justice of Rupert's reasoning.

  "Hugh has suggested that it is likely that he has in his pay thesame boatmen whom he employed last year to murder us. As a firststep, let one of your clerks go down with an officer to the quay,and inquire what boats left here yesterday or in the night. Hughwill put on a rough fisherman's suit, and with his hat well downover his brows, will stroll along by the water, to see if herecognizes the face of any of the men."

  At eight o'clock in the morning there was a meeting of the councilof the town, to determine upon the measures to be taken to discoverthe authors of this disgraceful outbreak, and to take steps for therecovery of the daughter of the leading citizen of the town. Criershad already gone round to offer rewards for information; and aproclamation was now issued by the magistrates, calling upon everycitizen to do his best to aid in the search. A committee wasappointed, to investigate all information which might be broughtin.

  All Dort was in a state of excitement; parties of the burgher guardstill patrolled the town; numerous arrests were made in theskinners' and butchers' quarters; groups of people assembled andtalked over the events of the night; and indignation at the riotand assault upon Mynheer van Duyk, and pity for himself and hisdaughter, were loudly expressed on all sides. The authoritiesforbade any one from leaving the town by land or water without aspecial permit signed by the magistrates.

  The investigation as to the sailing of boats upon the previous dayproduced a long list of craft of various sizes and kinds that hadleft Dort. Besides those that had actually sailed, one or two hadleft the quay, and had anchored out in the river, and made fast tobuoys there. />
  Hugh returned with the intelligence that he had recognized in aboatman loitering on the quay one of the crew of the boat in whichRupert and he had had so narrow an escape from drowning. Thecaptain of one of the merchant's own craft, of which there wereseveral at Dort, was sent for, and having received instructions asto his course, accompanied Hugh to the quay, and having had thefisherman pointed out to him, sauntered along, and after speakingto several men, entered into conversation with him. A confidentialagent of the merchant was also ordered to keep at a distance, butto watch every movement, however minute and insignificant, of thesuspected man.

  The captain's report was soon given in. He had asked the man if hewanted a berth in a ship just going to sail for England, one of thecrew having fallen sick at the last moment. He had refused, as hebelonged to a boat just about to sail for Bergen op Zoom, and hehad nodded towards a large decked boat riding in the river. Fearingto excite suspicion, he had asked no further question, but hadturned to another man standing near, and asked him if he would makethe voyage.

  It was considered certain by Rupert and Van Duyk that Maria waseither already confined in that boat, or that she would be takenthere when it was considered safe to start. A close scrutiny of theboat with a telescope showed that two men were on board her. Theyappeared to be smoking, and idling about.

  In the meantime, at the Town Hall the committee were busy inexamining the reports brought in by the horsemen--whose talesagreed, inasmuch as in none of the villages visited by them had anystir or unusual movement been heard through the night--and inhearing the evidence of innumerable people, who were all anxious togive information which appeared to them to bear upon the outrage.

  Van Duyk himself, like one distracted, wandered from place toplace.

  Presently the spy set to watch the fisherman came in with hisreport. He said that it was clear that the man was anxious and illat ease; that after an hour's waiting, a man came and spoke a wordto him, and passed on; that the fisherman then got into a smallboat and rowed out towards his vessel, but that he did not watchhim further, thinking it better to follow the man up who had spokento him. After walking about aimlessly for a short time, as if tosee whether he was watched, he had proceeded some distance alongthe quay, and had then gone into a large house used as a tavern andsailors' boardinghouse, but which did but a small trade, thelandlord having a bad name in the place.

  A boat, with a strong armed party, was ordered to be in readinessto follow at once if the fishing boat sailed; to keep at adistance, but to follow her wherever she went, and at her nextlanding place to pounce suddenly upon her and search her. Then thewhole attention of the searchers was directed to the tavern inquestion.

  It was agreed that Maria was not likely to be in confinement there,as, it having been the house at which it had been ascertained thatSir Richard Fulke had, previous to the last attempt on Rupert,stayed in hiding, it would be suspected, and might be searched. Thestrictest watch was now set upon the house, and everyone leaving itwas followed. Many came out and in, sailors from the quay or theships lying there; but in none of their movements was anythingsuspicious found.

  At five in the afternoon a boy of twelve years old, a son of thelandlord, came out. He looked suspiciously round, and then walkedalong the quay. As he passed a house of considerable size, he againlooked round, pulled the bell twice, hastily, and then walked on.He made a long detour, and returned to the tavern.

  Not a moment was lost in following up the clue. The house inquestion had been unoccupied for some time. The owner was, however,known to Van Duyk, who at once called upon him. He said that he hadlet it some weeks before, to a person who had stated that he was amerchant of Amsterdam, and intended to open a branch house at Dort.He had paid him six months' rent in advance, and had received thekeys of the house. He believed that some of his party had arrived,as he had himself seen two men go in, but the house was certainlynot yet open for business.

  Rupert, who had been all day at work following out other cluesgiven by persons who had come forward, returned just as Mynheer vanDuyk came back with the news.

  "Thank God!" he said, "There is an end to uncertainty. Yourdaughter is in that house, beyond all doubt. It is only a questionof action now. Let us call in the burgomaster and the chiefconstable, and discuss how the rescue is to be effected. It isprobable that he has with him a dozen desperate fellows of hisBlack Forest gang, and the task of so arranging it that we mayinterpose between her and the arch-villain is a difficult oneindeed. While you send for these officials, I will go andreconnoitre the house; it is quite dark."

  The house differed little from its fellows. It was old, withgables, and each floor projected beyond the one below it. A dimlight was visible in one of the upper rooms, while a far brighterlight shone through the folds of curtains which had been drawnacross a window lower down. Rupert drew his own conclusions.

  Returning, he found the burgomaster and chief constable alreadywith Mynheer van Duyk. After much discussion it was agreed thatthirty picked men should be at Rupert's orders at ten that night,an hour at which all Dort would already be sound asleep.

  The chief constable then proceeded with Rupert to the housessituated behind that which was intended to be attacked. It wasreconnoitred from that side, and found to be in darkness. Theowners of these houses, strictly charged to secrecy, were informedof what was going on, and promised all aid in their power. A dozenladders of various lengths were now got together.

  Then they went to the house adjoining, and made their way out on tothe roof. This, like many of the Dort houses, was furnished with aterrace, placed between the gabled roofs, which rose sharply oneither side. Here the owner, if disposed, could sit and smoke, andlook on the river. A table and benches were placed here, and a fewtubs with shrubs and flowers.

  A short, light ladder was brought up, and Rupert climbed up thesteep roof, drew up his ladder, and descended on the other side.The steep roof of the next house now faced him, and he was soonover this also, and stood on the little terrace of the house wherehe believed Maria was a prisoner. It in all respects resembled thathe had left. The door leading to it appeared strong and firmlyfastened. He now retraced his steps.

  Then some light ladders were brought up and placed in position onthe two roofs, and all was ready for a party to pass over onto theterrace.

  At ten o'clock, then, accompanied by Mynheer van Duyk and the twotroopers, he went to the spot where the force was assembled, andtold them off to the duties he had assigned to them.

  Eight were to enter the next house with Hugh and Joe Sedley, wereto pass, by means of the ladders, over the roof on to the terrace.They were to carry heavy axes and crowbars, and to beat down thedoor and rush downstairs the instant the signal was given.

  Sixteen were to raise eight ladders at the back of the house, andplace them close to the windows. Two were to take post at each,ready to burst in the window and rush in at the signal.

  The remaining six were to bring a long ladder to the front of thehouse, and place it against the upper window, where the light was.Two were to follow Rupert up this ladder, the other four to placethemselves at the front door, and cut down all who tried to escape.

  Rupert's object in attacking at so many different points was so toconfuse the occupants of the house by the suddenness and noise ofthe assault that they would be unable to rally and carry out anyplan they might have formed, before the assailants could muster insufficient force to overcome them.

  Orders were also issued for a party of men to proceed to the quay,and to arrest and carry off anyone they might find hanging aboutthere.

  All arranged, the party moved off and the work was begun. Thickrolls of flannel had been fastened round the ends of the ladders,so as to prevent the slightest noise being made when they came incontact with the wall. Rupert saw the ladders planted at the backof the house, and the men ready to climb to their places. He thenmoved round to the front; here the ladder was also fixed. A lightflashed down from the terrace above showed that here too the partywere
in position; and Rupert began to mount, followed by Van Duyk,who had insisted upon taking that post, so as to be ready to springto the assistance of his child at the first attack. The ladderreached exactly to the window, and as his eyes reached the levelRupert peered anxiously in.

  At a table, on which burned a candle, sat a man with a huge bowl ofliquor and a brace of pistols before him. On a pallet bed in acorner lay a figure, which Rupert felt sure was that of Maria.Rupert doubted not in the least that the order to the watcher wasto kill her at the first alarm. Twice he raised his pistol, twicewithdrew it. If he did not kill the man on the spot, Maria's lifewould be clearly forfeited. Under such circumstances he dared notfire.

  After a moment's thought he gave a sharp tap at the window, andthen shrank below the level of the window, and with both hispistols pointed upwards, he waited. As he expected, in a moment thewindow darkened, and the figure of a man was seen trying to lookout into the darkness. As he leaned against the glass, Rupertdischarged both his pistols into his body, and then, leaping up,dashed in the window, and leapt over the man's body into the room.

  Maria had sprung up with a scream.

  "You are safe, Maria," Rupert exclaimed, as he ran to the door."Here is your father."

  The discharge of the pistol had been the signal, and with it came asound of heavy blows, the crashing of timber, and the shivering ofglass. Then rose shouts and furious exclamations, and then a greattramping sounded through the late silent house. Doors and windowshad all given way at the onset; and as Sir Richard Fulke with eightcomrades rushed upstairs, Hugh and his party ran down.

  Torches had been provided, and lanterns, and as three of Hugh's mencarried them the broad landing was lighted up. Sir Richard Fulkefirst turned to the door of Maria's room, but there Rupert and twofollowers stood with drawn swords.

  "Cut them down! Cut them down!" he shouted; but the rush of Hugh,Joe Sedley, and the rest swept him back, and he fought now todefend his life.

  Up the stairs from behind ran the officers who had gained entry bythe windows; and the outlaws saw themselves surrounded and hedgedin. They fought desperately but vainly, and one by one fell underthe blows of their assailants.

  Rupert stood immovable on guard. He knew the desperate nature ofhis enemy, and feared that if he himself were drawn for a momentfrom his post into the conflict, he would rush past and endeavourto avenge himself upon them all by killing Maria.

  At last, when most of his followers had fallen, Sir Richard Fulkemade a sudden dash through his assailants, and fled up the stairstowards the door on the roof. Rupert, who had never for a momenttaken his eye off him, followed at full speed, shouting to Hugh tobring torches and follow.

  Short as was the start that was gained, it nearly sufficed for thedesperate man's escape; as Rupert gained the terrace, he wasalready nearly at the top of the ladder against the roof. Rupertseized the ladder, and jerked it sideways. Sir Richard made a graspat the crest of the roof, and then rolled down on to the terrace.

  Rupert rushed forward, but the torches had not yet come, and hisenemy was on his feet and upon him, with the advantage which thelight coming up the stairs afforded him, and striking down hisguard, rushed in and grappled with him. Rupert dropped his sword,which was useless now, and struggled for his life. He felt what hisenemy's object was, to throw both over the end of the terrace. Hewas strong and athletic, but he was far from being a match for hisolder opponent, to whom rage, despair, and hatred lent a prodigiousstrength.

  "Hugh," he shouted, "Quick! Quick!"

  Joe Sedley was the first to leap to the terrace with a torch, andstood for a moment aghast as he saw the deadly struggle going on,close to the slight wooden railing which ran along the edge of theterrace; then he sprang forward, and just as the struggling foescrashed through the woodwork, and were in the very act of fallingover the low stone parapet, he dashed the torch in Sir Richard'sface, while at the same moment he grasped Rupert's shoulder with agrip of iron, and dragged him back; as his foe loosed his graspwhen the torch struck him in the face, and dropped in the darkness.

  "A close squeak that, sir. The fellow died hard," Joe Sedley said,cheerily.

  "It was indeed, Joe. I owe my life to you."

  "Oh, it was all in the way of business, sir. You'll likely enoughdo as much for me in our next charge."

  Hugh was up a moment after Joe Sedley, for the latter had beennearer to a man with a torch, but he just saw the narrow escape hismaster had, and was so shaken that his hand trembled as he wrungthat of his comrade.

  "I must stick to my sword, another time," Rupert said. "I am Davidwithout his sling without it, and any Goliath who comes along canmake short work of me. Now let us go below and see after Miss vanDuyk, and assure ourselves that our enemy is dead at last. As hesaid in the boat, I shall never feel quite safe till I know forcertain that he is dead."