by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER VI.
A NARROW ESCAPE.
During the next few days Harry was kept hard at work delivering thevarious minute documents which he had brought in the hollow of hisstick. Sometimes of an evening he attended his master to the houseswhere he had taken such messages, and once or twice was called in to bepresent at discussions, and asked to explain various matters connectedwith the position of the king. During this time he saw but little of theapprentice Jacob, except at his meals, and as the boy did not touch uponhis frequent absence, or make any allusion to political matters, when intheir bedroom alone at night, Harry hoped that his suspicions had beenallayed.
One morning, however, on waking up, he saw the boy sitting upright inbed, staring fixedly at him.
"What is the matter; Jacob, and what are you doing?"
"I am wondering who and what you are!" the boy said.
"I am Roger, your fellow apprentice," Harry replied, laughing.
"I am not sure that you are Roger; I am not sure that you are anapprentice," the boy said. "But if you were, that would not tell me whoyou are. If you were merely Roger the apprentice, Dame Alice would notpick out all the tit-bits at dinner, and put them on your plate, while Iand Master Hardwood have to put up with any scraps which may come. Nordo I think that, even for the purpose of carrying his cloak, our masterwould take you with him constantly of an evening. He seems mightyanxious too, for you to learn your way about London. I do not rememberthat he showed any such care as to my geographical knowledge. But, ofcourse, there is a mystery, and I want to get to the bottom of it, andmean to do so if I can."
"Even supposing that there was a mystery," Harry said, "what good wouldit do to you to learn it, and what use would you make of yourknowledge?"
"I do not know," the boy said carelessly. "But knowledge is power."
"You see," Harry said, "that supposing there were, as you say, amystery, the secret would not be mine to tell, and even were it sobefore I told it, I should want to know whether you desired to know itfor the sake of aiding your master, if possible, or of doing him aninjury.
"I would do him no injury, assuredly," Jacob said. "Master Fleming is asgood a master as there is in London. I want to find out, because it ismy nature to find out. The mere fact that there is a mystery excites mycuriosity, and compels me to do all in my power to get to the bottom ofit. Methinks that if you have aught that you do not want known, it wouldbe better to take Jacob Plummer into your confidence. Many a man's headhas been lost before now because he did not know whom to trust."
"There is no question of losing heads in the matter," Harry said,smiling.
"Well, you know best," Jacob replied, shrugging his shoulders; "butheads do not seem very firmly on at present."
When he went out with Master Fleming that evening Harry related to himthe conversation which he had had with Jacob.
"What think you, Master Furness? Is this malapert boy to be trusted, ornot?"
"It were difficult to say, sir," Harry answered. "His suspicions aresurely roused, and as it seemed to me that his professions of affectionand duty toward yourself were earnest, methinks that you might enlisthim in your cause, and would find him serviceable hereafter, did youallow me frankly to speak to him. He has friends among the apprenticeboys, and might, should he be mischievously inclined, set one to followus of a night, and learn whither you go; he might even now do muchmischief. I think that it is his nature to love plotting for its ownsake. He would rather plot on your side than against it; but if you willnot have him, he may go against you."
"I have a good mind to send him home to his friends," the merchant said."He can know nothing as yet."
"He might denounce me as a Royalist," Harry said; "and you for harboringme. I will sound him again to-night, and see further into hisintentions. But methinks it would be best to trust him."
That night the conversation was again renewed.
"You see, Jacob," Harry said, "that it would be a serious matter,supposing what you think to be true, to intrust you with the secret. Iknow not whether you are disposed toward king or Parliament, and to putthe lives of many honorable gentlemen into the hands of one of whosereal disposition I know little would be but a fool's trick."
"You speak fairly, Roger," the boy said. "Indeed, What I said to you wastrue. I trouble my head in no way as to the politics and squabbles ofthe present day; but I mean to rise some day, and there is no better wayto rise than to be mixed up in a plot. It is true that the rise may beto the gallows; but if one plays for high stakes, one must risk one'spurse. I love excitement, and believe that I am no fool. I can at leastbe true to the side that I engage upon, and of the two, would rathertake that of the king than of the Parliament, because it seems to methat there are more fools on his side than on the other, and thereforemore chance for a wise head to prosper."
Harry laughed.
"You have no small opinion of yourself, Master Jacob."
"No," the boy said; "I always found myself able to hold my own. Myfather, who is a scrivener, predicted me that I should either come towealth or be hanged, and I am of the same opinion myself."
After further conversation next day with the merchant, Harry franklyconfided to Jacob that evening that he was the bearer of letters fromthe king. Of their contents he said that he knew nothing; but had reasonto believe that another movement was on foot for bringing about theoverthrow of the party of Puritans who were in possession of thegovernment of London.
"I deemed that such was your errand," the boy said. "You played yourpart well; but not well enough. You might have deceived grown-up people;but you would hardly take in a boy of your own age. Now that you havetold me frankly, I will, if I can, do anything to aid. I care nothingfor the opinions of one side or the other; but as I have to go to thecathedral three times on Sunday, and to sit each time for two hourslistening to the harangues of Master Ezekiel Proudfoot, I would gladlyjoin in anything which would be likely to end by silencing that fellowand his gang. It is monstrous that, upon the only day in the week wehave to ourselves, we should be compelled to undergo the punishment oflistening to these long-winded divines."
When Harry was not engaged in taking notes, backward and forward,between the merchant and those with whom he was negotiating, he wasoccupied in the shop. There the merchant kept up appearances before thescrivener and any customers who might come in, by instructing him in themysteries of his trade; by showing him the value of the differentvelvets and silks; and by teaching him his private marks, by which, incase of the absence of the merchant or his apprentice, he could statethe price of any article to a trader who might come in. Harry judged, bythe conversations which he had with his host, that the latter was notsanguine as to the success of the negotiations which he was carrying on.
"If," he said, "the king could obtain one single victory, his friendswould raise their heads, and would assuredly be supported by the greatmajority of the population, who wish only for peace; but so long as thearmies stood facing each other, and the Puritans are all powerful in theParliament and Council of the city, men are afraid to be the first tomove, not being sure how popular support would be given."
One evening after work was over Harry and Jacob walked together up theCheap, and took their place among a crowd listening to a preacher atPaul's Cross. He was evidently a popular character, and a large numberof grave men, of the straitest Puritan appearance, were gathered roundhim.
"I wish we could play some trick with these somber-looking knaves,"Jacob whispered.
"Yes," Harry said; "I would give much to be able to do so; but at thepresent moment I scarcely wish to draw attention upon myself."
"Let us get out of this, then," Jacob said, "if there is no fun to behad. I am sick of these long-winded orations."
They turned to go, and as they made their way through the crowd, Harrytrod upon the toe of a small man in a high steeple hat and black coat.
"I beg your pardon," Harry said, as there burst from the lips of thelittle man an exclamation which was s
omewhat less decorous than wouldhave been expected from a personage so gravely clad. The little manstared Harry in the face, and uttered another exclamation, this time ofsurprise. Harry, to his dismay, saw that the man with whom he had comein contact was the preacher whom he had left gagged on the guardroom bedat Westminster.
"A traitor! A spy!" shouted the preacher, at the top of his voice,seizing Harry by the doublet. The latter shook himself free just asJacob, jumping in the air, brought his hand down with all his force onthe top of the steeple hat, wedging it over the eyes of the little man.Before any further effort could be made to seize them, the two ladsdived through the crowd, and dashed down a lane leading toward theriver.
This sudden interruption to the service caused considerable excitement,and the little preacher, on being extricated from his hat, furiouslyproclaimed that the lad he had seized, dressed as an apprentice, was amalignant, who had been taken prisoner at Brentford, and who had foullyill-treated him in a cell in the guardroom at Finsbury. Instantly anumber of men set off in pursuit.
"What had we best do, Jacob?" Harry said, as he heard the clattering offeet behind them.
"We had best jump into a boat," Jacob said, "and row for it. It is darknow, and we shall soon be out of their sight."
At the bottom of the lane were some stairs, and at these a number ofboats. As it was late in the evening, and the night a foul one, thewatermen, not anticipating fares, had left, and the boys, leaping into aboat, put out the sculls, and rowed into the stream, just as theirpursuers were heard coming down the lane.
"Which way shall we go?" Harry said.
"We had better shoot the bridge," Jacob replied. "Canst row well?"
"Yes," Harry said; "I have practiced at Abingdon with an oar."
"Then take the sculls," Jacob said, "and I will steer. It is a riskymatter going through the bridge, I tell you, at half tide. Sit steady,whatever you do. Here they come in pursuit, Roger. Bend to the sculls,"and in a couple of minutes they reached the bridge.
"Steady, steady," shouted Jacob, as the boat shot a fall, some eightfeet in depth, with the rapidity of an arrow. For a moment it was tossedand whirled about in the seething waves below, and then, thanks toJacob's presence of mind and Harry's obedience to his orders, it emergedsafely into the smooth water below the bridge. Harry now gave up one ofthe sculls to Jacob, and the two boys rowed hard down the stream.
"Will they follow, think you?" Harry said.
"I don't think," Jacob laughed, "that any of those black-coated gentrywill care for shooting the bridge. They will run down below, and takeboat there; and as there are sure to be hands waiting to carry fares outto the ships in the pool, they will gain fast upon us when once they areunder way."
The wind was blowing briskly with them, and the tide running strong, andat a great pace they passed the ships lying at anchor.
"There is the Tower," Jacob said; "with whose inside we may chance tomake acquaintance, if we are caught. Look," he said, "there is a boatbehind us, rowed by four oars! I fear that it is our pursuers."
"Had we not better land, and take our chance?" Harry said.
"We might have done so at first," Jacob said; "it is too late now. Wemust row for it. Look," he continued, "there is a bark coming alongafter the boat. She has got her sails up already, and the wind isbringing her along grandly. She sails faster than they row, and if shecomes up to us before they overtake us, it may be that the captain willtake us in tow. These sea-dogs are always kindly."
The boat that the boys had seized was, fortunately, a very light andfast one, while that in pursuit was large and heavy, and the fourwatermen had to carry six sitters. Consequently, they gained but veryslowly upon the fugitives. Presently a shot from a pistol whizzed overthe boys' heads.
"I did not bargain for this, friend Roger," Jacob said. "My head is maderather for plots and conspiracies than for withstanding the contact oflead."
"Row away!" Harry said. "Here is the ship just alongside now."
As the vessel, which was a coaster, came along, the crew looked over theside, their attention, being called by the sound of the pistol and theshouts of those in chase.
"Throw us a rope, sir," Jacob shouted. "We are not malefactors, but havebeen up to a boyish freak, and shall be heavily punished if we arecaught."
Again the pistol rang out behind, and one of the Sailors threw a rope tothe boys. It was caught, and in a minute the boat was gliding rapidlyalong in the wake of the ship. She was then pulled up alongside, theboys clambered on board, and the boat was sent adrift, The pursuerscontinued the chase for a few minutes longer, but seeing the shipgradually drawing away from them, they desisted, and turned in towardshore.
"And who are you?" the captain of the brig said.
"We are apprentices, as you see," Jacob said. "We were listening to somepreaching at Paul's Cross. In trying to get out from the throng--beingat length weary of the long-winded talk of the preacher--we trod uponthe feet of a worthy divine. He, refusing to receive our apologies, tookthe matter roughly, and seeing that the crowd of Puritans around weregoing to treat us as malignant roisterers, we took the liberty ofdriving the hat of our assailant over his eyes, and bolting. Assuredly,had we been caught, we should have been put in the stocks and whipped,even if worse pains and penalties had not befallen us, for ill-treatmentof one of those who are now the masters of London."
"It was a foolish freak," the captain said, "and in these days suchfreaks are treated as crimes. It is well that I came along. What do youpurpose to do now?"
"We would fain be put ashore, sir, somewhere in Kent, so that we maymake our way back again. Our figures could not have been observed beyondthat we were apprentices, and we can enter the city quietly, withoutfear of detection."
The wind dropped in the evening, and, the tide turning, the captainbrought to anchor. In the morning he sailed forward again. When heneared Gravesend he saw a vessel lying in the stream.
"That is a Parliament ship," he said.
At that moment another vessel of about the same size as that in whichthey were was passing her. She fired a gun, and the ship at once droppedher sails and brought up.
"What can she be doing now, arresting the passage of ships on their waydown? If your crime had been a serious one, I should have thought that amessage must have been brought down in the night for her to searchvessels coming down stream for the persons of fugitives. What say you,lads? Have you told me the truth?"
"We have told you the truth, sir," Harry said; "but not the whole truth.The circumstances are exactly as my friend related them. But he omittedto say that the preacher recognized in me one of a Cavalier family, andthat they may suspect that I was in London on business of the king's."
"Is that so?" the captain said. "In that case, your position is aperilous one. It is clear that they do not know the name of the ship inwhich you are embarked, or they would not have stopped the one which wesee far ahead. If they search the ship, they are sure to find you."
"Can you swim, Jacob?" Harry asked the other.
He nodded.
"There is a point," Harry said, "between this and the vessel of war, andif you sail close to that you will for a minute or two be hidden fromthe view of those on her deck. If you will take your ship close to thatcorner we will jump overboard and swim on shore. If then your vessel isstopped you can well say that you have no fugitives on board, and letthem search."
The captain thought the plan a good one, and at once the vessel's headwas steered over toward the side to which Harry had pointed. As theyneared the corner they for a minute lost sight of the hull of theman-of-war, and the boys, with a word of thanks and farewell to thecaptain, plunged over and swam to the bank, which was but some thirtyyards away. Climbing it, they lay down among the grass, and watched theprogress of the vessel. She, like the one before, was brought up by agun from the man-of-war, and a boat from the latter put out and remainedby her side for half an hour. Then they saw the boat return, the vesselhoist her sails again, and go on her way.
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br /> "This is a nice position into which you have brought me, Master Roger,"Jacob said. "My first step in taking part in plots and conspiracies doesnot appear to me to lead to the end which I looked for. However, I amsick of the shop, and shall be glad of a turn of freedom. Now let usmake our way across the marshes to the high land. It is but twenty milesto walk to London, if that be really your intent."
"I shall not return to London myself," Harry said; "but shall make myway back to Oxford. It would be dangerous now for me to appear, and Idoubt not that a sharp hue and cry will be kept up. In your case it isdifferent, for as you have been long an apprentice, and as your facewill be entirely unknown to any of them, there will be little chance ofyour being detected."
"I would much rather go with you to Oxford," the lad said. "I am wearyof velvets and silks, and though I do not know that wars and battleswill be more to my taste, I would fain try them also. You are agentleman, and high in the trust of the king and those around him. Ifyou will take me with you as your servant I will be a faithful knave toyou, and doubt not that as you profit by your advantages, some of thegood will fall to my share also."
"In faith," Harry said, "I should hardly like you to be my servant,Jacob, although I have no other office to bestow at present. But if youcome with me you shall be rather in the light of a major-domo, though Ihave no establishment of which you can be the head. In these days,however, the distinctions of master and servant are less broad thanbefore, and in the field we shall be companions rather than master andfollower. So, if you like to cast in your fortunes with mine, here is myhand on it. You have already proved your friendship to me as well asyour quickness and courage, and believe me, you will not find me or myfather ungrateful. But for you, I should now be in the cells, and yourold master in no slight danger of finding himself in prison, to saynothing of the upset of the negotiations for which I came to London.Therefore, you have deserved well, not only of me, but of the king, andthe adventure may not turn out so badly as it has begun. We had beststrike south, and go round by Tunbridge, and thence keeping west, intoBerkshire, and so to Oxford. In this way we shall miss the Parliamentmen lying round London, and those facing the Royalists between Readingand Oxford."
This order was carried out. The lads met with but few questioners, andreplying always that they were London apprentices upon their way home tovisit their friends for a short time, passed unsuspected. At first thewant of funds had troubled them, for Harry had forgotten the money sewnup in his shoe. But presently, remembering this, and taking two goldpieces out of their hiding-place, they went merrily along the road andin five days from starting arrived at Oxford.