by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER VII.
IN A HOT PLACE.
Making inquiries, Harry found that his father was living at a house inthe college of Brazenose, and thither he made his way. Not a littlesurprised was the trooper, who was on guard before the door, torecognize his master's son in one of the two lads who, in the clothes ofapprentices shrunk with water and stained with mud and travel, presentedthemselves before him. Harry ascended at once to Sir Henry's room, andthe latter was delighted to see him again, for he had often feared thatbe had acted rashly in sending him to London. Harry briefly told hisadventures, and introduced his friend Jacob to his father.
Sir Henry immediately sent for a clothier, and Harry was again madepresentable; while a suit of serviceable clothes adapted to the positionof a young gentleman of moderate means was obtained for Jacob. Then,accompanied by his son, Sir Henry went to the king's chambers, andinformed his majesty of all that had happened. As, from the reportswhich had reached the king of the temper of the people of London, he hadbut small hope that anything would come of the attempt that was beingmade, he felt but little disappointed at hearing of the sudden return ofhis emissary. Harry was again asked in, and his majesty in a few wordsexpressed to him his satisfaction at the zeal and prudence which he hadshown, and at his safe return to court.
On leaving the king Harry awaited anxiously what his father woulddetermine concerning his future, and was delighted when Sir Henry said,"It is now a year once these troubles began, Harry, and you have so farembarked upon them, that I fear you would find it difficult to return toyour studies. You have proved yourself possessed of qualities which willenable you to make your way in the world, and I therefore think the timehas come when you can take your place in the ranks. I shall ask of theking a commission for you as captain in my regiment, and as one of myofficers has been killed you will take his place, and will have thecommand of a troop."
Harry was delighted at this intimation; and the following day receivedthe king's commission.
A few days afterward he had again to ride over to Furness Hall, whichwas now shut up, to collect some rents, and as he returned throughAbingdon he saw Lucy Rippinghall walking in the streets. Rather proud ofhis attire as a young cavalier in full arms, Harry dismounted andcourteously saluted her.
"I should hardly have known you, Master Furness," she said. "You look sofierce in your iron harness, and so gay with your plumes and ribands. Mybrother would be glad to see you. My father as you know, is away. Willyou not come in for a few minutes?"
Harry, after a few moments' hesitation, assented. He longed to see hisold friend, and as the latter was still residing at Abingdon, while hehimself had already made his mark in the royal cause, he did not fearthat any misconstruction could be placed upon his visit to the Puritan'sabode. Herbert received him with a glad smile of welcome.
"Ah, Harry," he said, "so you have fairly taken to man's estate. Ofcourse, I think you have done wrong; but we need not argue on that now.I am glad indeed to see you. Lucy," he said, "let supper be served atonce."
It was a pleasant meal, and the old friends chatted of their schooldaysand boyish pastimes, no allusion being made to the events of the day,save that Herbert said, "I suppose that you know that my father is now acaptain in the force of the Commons, and that I am doing my best to keephis business going during his absence."
"I had heard as much," Harry answered. "It is a heavy weight to beplaced on your shoulders, Herbert."
"Yes," he said, "I am growing learned in wools, and happily the businessis not falling off in my hands."
It was characteristic of the civil war in England that during the wholetime of its existence the affairs of the country went on as usual.Business was conducted, life and property were safe, and the laws wereenforced just as before. The judges went their circuits undisturbed bythe turmoil of the times, acting under the authority alike of the GreatSeals of the King and Parliament. Thus evildoers were repressed, crimeput down, and the laws of the land administered just as usual, and as ifno hostile armies were marching and fighting on the fair fields ofEngland. In most countries during such troubled times, all laws havebeen at an end, bands of robbers and disbanded soldiers have pillagedand ruined the country, person and property alike have been unsafe,private broils and enmities have broken forth, and each man has carriedhis life in his hand. Thus, even in Abingdon, standing as it did halfwaybetween the stronghold of the crown at Oxford, and the Parliament armyat Reading, things remained quiet and tranquil. Its fairs and marketswere held as usual, and the course of business went on unchecked.
On his return to Oxford Harry learned that the king, with a portion ofthe army, was to set out at once for Gloucester, to compel that city,which had declared for the Commons, to open its gates. With a force ofthirteen thousand men the king moved upon Gloucester. When he arrivedoutside its walls, on the 10th of August, he sent a summons to the townto surrender, offering pardon to the inhabitants, and demanding ananswer within two hours. Clarendon has described how the answer wasreturned. "Within less than the time described, together with atrumpeter, returned two citizens from the town with lean, pale, sharp,and bad visages, indeed, faces so strange and unusual, and in such agarb and posture, that at once made the most severe countenances merry,and the most cheerful heart sad, for it was impossible such ambassadorscould bring less than a defiance. The men, without any circumstance ofduty or good manners, in a pert, shrill, undismayed accent, said thatthey brought an answer from the godly city of Gloucester to the king,and were so ready to give insolent and seditious answers to anyquestions, as if their business were chiefly to provoke the king toviolate his own safe-conduct." The answers which these strangemessengers brought was that the inhabitants and soldiers kept the cityfor the use of his majesty, but conceived themselves "only bound to obeythe commands of his majesty signified by both houses of Parliament."Setting fire to the houses outside their walls, the men of Gloucesterprepared for a resolute resistance. The walls were strong and welldefended, and the king did not possess artillery sufficient to makebreaches therein, and dreading the great loss which an assault upon thewalls would inflict upon his army, he determined to starve the city intosubmission. The inhabitants, although reduced to sore straits, yetrelying upon assistance coming to them, held out, and their hopes werenot disappointed, as Essex, at the head of a great army, was sent fromLondon to relieve the place. Upon his approach, the king and hiscouncilors, deciding that a battle could not be fought with advantage,drew off from the town, and gave up the siege.
Both armies now moved in the direction of London; but Prince Rupert,hearing that a small body of Parliament horse were besieging the houseof Sir James Strangford, an adherent of the crown, took with him fiftyhorse, and rode away to raise the siege, being ever fond of dashingexploits in the fashion of the knights of old. The body which he choseto accompany him was the troop commanded by Harry Furness, whose gayetyof manner and lightness of heart had rendered him a favorite with theprince. The besieged house was situated near Hereford; and at the end ofa long day's march Prince Rupert, coming in sight of the Roundheads,charged them with such fury that they were overthrown with scarce anyresistance, and fled in all directions. Having effected his object, theprince now rode to Worcester, where he slept, and thence by a long day'smarch to a village where he again halted for the night.
An hour after his arrival, a messenger came in from Lady Sidmouth, thewife of Sir Henry Sidmouth, asking him to ride over and take up hisabode for the night at her house. Bidding Harry accompany him, theprince rode off, leaving the troop under the charge of Harry'slieutenant, Jacob, who had proved himself an active soldier, and hadbeen appointed to that rank at Gloucester. The house was a massivestructure of the reign of Henry VIII.; but being built at a time whenthe castellated abodes were going out of fashion, was not capable ofstanding a siege, and had not indeed been put in any posture of defense.Sir Henry was with the king, and only a few retainers remained in thehouse. Prince Rupert was received at the entrance by Lady Sidmouth, whohad at her
side her daughter, a girl of fourteen, whom Harry thought themost beautiful creature he had ever seen. The prince alighted, anddoffing his broad plumed hat, kissed the lady's hand, and conducted herinto the house again, Harry doing the same to her daughter.
"You must pardon a rough reception," the lady said to the prince. "Had Ihad notice of your coming, I would have endeavored to receive you in amanner more befitting; but hearing from one of my retainers, whohappened to be in the village when you arrived, of your coming, Ithought that the accommodation--poor as it is--would be better than thatwhich you could obtain there."
Prince Rupert replied gayly, and in a few minutes they were seated atsupper. The conversation was lightly kept up, when suddenly a tremendouscrash was heard, shouts of alarm were raised, and a retainer rushed intothe hall, saying that the place was attacked by a force of Roundheads.
"Defense is hopeless," the lady said, as Prince Rupert and Harry drewtheir swords. "There are but five or six old men here, and the doorappears to be already yielding. There is a secret chamber here where youcan defy their search."
Prince Rupert, dreading above all things to be taken prisoner, andseeing that resistance would be, as their hostess said, vain, followedher into an adjoining room hung with arras. Lifting this, she showed alarge stone. Beneath it, on the floor was a tile, in no way differingfrom the others. She pressed it, and the stone, which was but slight,turned on a hinge, and disclosed an iron door. This she opened with aspring, showing a small room within, with a ladder leading to anotherabove.
"Mount that," she said. "You will find in the chamber above a largestone. Pull the ladder up with you and lower the stone, which exactlyfits into the opening. Even should they discover this chamber, they willnot suspect that another lies above it."
Prince Rupert, taking a light from her hands, hastily mounted, followedby Harry, and pulled the steps after him, just as they heard the irondoor close. It needed the united strength of the prince and Harry tolift the stone, which was a large one, with an iron ring in the center,and to place it in the cavity. Having done this, they looked round. Theroom was about eight feet long by six wide, and lighted by a long narrowloophole extending from the ground to the roof. They deemed from itsappearance that it was built in one of the turrets of the building.
"That was a narrow escape, Master Harry," the prince said. "It wouldhave been right bad news for my royal uncle if I had been caught herelike a rat in a trap. I wonder we heard nothing of a Roundhead force inthis neighborhood. I suppose that they must have been stationed at someplace further north, and that the news of our passing reached them. Itrust that they have no suspicion that we are in the house; but I fear,from this sudden attack upon an undefended building, that some spy fromthe village must have taken word to them."
Lady Sidmouth had just time to return to the hall when the doors gaveway, and a body of Roundheads burst into the room. They had drawn swordsin their hands, and evidently expected an attack. They looked round withsurprise at seeing only Lady Sidmouth and her daughter.
"Where is the malignant Rupert?" the leader exclaimed. "We have surenews that he rode, attended by an officer only, hither, and that he wasseen to enter your house."
"If you want Prince Rupert, you must find him," the lady said calmly."I say not that he has not been here; but I tell you that he is nowbeyond your reach."
"He has not escaped," the officer said, "for the house is surrounded.Now, madam, I insist upon your telling me where you have hidden him."
"I have already told you, sir, that he is beyond your reach, and nothingthat you can do will wring any further explanation from me."
The officer hesitated. For a moment he advanced a step toward her, witha menacing gesture. But, heated as the passions of men were, no violencewas done to women, and with a fierce exclamation he ordered his troopersto search the house. For a quarter of an hour they ransacked it high andlow, overturned every article of furniture, pulling down the arras, andtapping the walls with the hilts of their swords.
"Take these two ladies away," he said to his lieutenant, "and ride withthem at once to Storton. They will have to answer for having harboredthe prince."
The ladies were immediately taken off, placed on pillions behind twotroopers, and carried away to Storton. In the meantime the search wenton, and presently the hollow sound given by the slab in the wall wasnoticed. The spring could not be discovered, but crowbars and hammersbeing brought, the slab of stone was presently shivered. The discoveryof the iron door behind it further heightened their suspicion that theplace of concealment was found. The door, after a prolonged resistance,was battered in. But the Roundheads were filled with fury, on entering,to discover only a small, bare cell, with no signs of occupationwhatever. The search was now prolonged in other directions; but,becoming convinced that it was useless, and that the place ofconcealment was too cunningly devised to admit of discovery, thecaptain ordered the furniture to be piled together, and setting light toit and the arras in several places, withdrew his men from the house,saying that if a rat would not come out of his hole, he must be smokedin it.
The prince and Harry from their place of concealment had heard the soundof blows against the doors below.
"They have found the way we have gone," the prince said, "but I thinknot that their scent is keen enough to trace us up here. If they do so,we will sell our lives dearly, for I will not be taken prisoner, andsooner or later our troop will hear of the Roundheads' attack, and willcome to our rescue."
They heard the fall of the iron door, and the exclamations and crieswith which the Roundheads broke into the room below. Then faintly theyheard the sound of voices, and muffled knocks, as they tried the walls.Then all was silent again.
"The hounds are thrown off the scent," the prince said. "It will need aclever huntsman to put them on it. What will they do next, I wonder?"
Some time passed, and then Harry exclaimed:
"I perceive a smell of something burning, your royal highness."
"Peste! methinks I do also," the prince said. "I had not thought ofthat. If these rascals have set fire to the place we shall be roastedalive here."
A slight wreath of smoke was seen curling up through the crevice of thetightly-fitting stone.
"We will leap out, and die sword in hand," the prince said; and seizingthe ring, he and Harry pulled at it. Ere they raised the stone an inch,a volume of dense smoke poured up, and they at once dropped it into itsplace again, feeling that their retreat was cut off. The prince put hissword in its scabbard.
"We must die, my lad," he said. "A strange death, too, to be roasted ina trap. But after all, whether by that or the thrust of a Roundheadsword makes little difference in the end. I would fain have fallen inthe field, though."
"Perhaps," Harry suggested, "the fire may not reach us here. The wallsare very thick, and the chamber below is empty."
The prince shook his head.
"The heat of the fire in a house like this will crack stone walls," hesaid.
He then took off his cloak and threw it over the stone, dressing it downtightly to prevent the smoke from curling in. Through the loophole theycould now hear a roar, and crackling sounds, and a sudden glow lit upthe country.
"The flames are bursting through the windows," Harry said. "They willbring our troop down ere long."
"The troop will do us no good," Prince Rupert replied. "All the king'sarmy could not rescue us. But at least it would be a satisfaction beforewe die to see these crop-eared knaves defeated."
Minute after minute passed, and a broad glare of light illumined thewhole country round. Through the slit they could see the Roundheadskeeping guard round the house in readiness to cut off any one who mightseek to make his escape, while at a short distance off they had drawn upthe main body of the force. Presently, coming along the road at a rapidtrot, they saw a body of horse.
"There are our men," the prince exclaimed.
The Roundheads had seen them too. A trumpet was sounded, and the men onguard round the house le
aped to their horses, and joined the main body,just as the Cavaliers charged upon them. The Roundheads fought stoutly;but the charge of the Cavaliers was irresistible. Furious at the sightof the house in flames, and ignorant of the fate which had befallentheir prince and their master's son, they burst upon the Roundheads witha force which the latter were unable to withstand. For four or fiveminutes the fight continued, and then such of the Roundheads as wereable clapped spurs to their horses and galloped off, hotly pursued bythe Cavaliers. The pursuit was a short one. Several of the Cavalierswere gathered at the spot where the conflict had taken place, and were,apparently, questioning a wounded man. Then the trumpeter who was withthem sounded the recall, and in a few minutes the Royalist troops cameriding back. They could see Jacob pointing to the burning building andgesticulating with his arms. Then a party dashed up to the house, andwere lost to sight.
The prince and Harry both shouted at the top of their voices, but theroar of the flames and the crash of falling beams deadened the sound.The heat had by this time become intense. They had gradually divestedthemselves of their clothing, and were bathed in perspiration.
"This heat is terrific," Prince Rupert said. "I did not think the humanframe could stand so great a heat. Methinks that water would boil wereit placed here."
This was indeed the case--the human frame, as is now well known, beingcapable of sustaining a heat considerably above that of boiling water.The walls were now so hot that the hand could not be borne upon them foran instant.
"My feet are burning!" the prince exclaimed, "Reach down that ladderfrom the wall."
They laid the ladder on the ground and stood upon it, thus avoiding anycontact with the hot stone.
"If this goes on," Prince Rupert said, with a laugh; "there will benothing but our swords left. We are melting away fast, like candlesbefore a fire. Truly I do not think that there was so much water in aman as has floated down from me during the last half-hour."
Harry was so placed that he could command a sight through the loophole,and he exclaimed, "They are riding away!"
This was indeed the case. The whole building was now one vast furnace,and having from the first no hope that their friends, if there, couldhave survived, they had, hearing that Lady Sidmouth and her daughter hadbeen taken to Storton, determined to ride thither to take them from thehands of the Roundheads, and to learn from them the fate of theirleaders.
Another two hours passed. The heat was still tremendous, but they couldnot feel that it was increasing. Once or twice they heard terrificcrashes, as portions of the wall fell. They would long since have beenroasted, were it not for the cool air which flowed in through the longloophole, and keeping up a circulation in the chamber, lowered thetemperature of the air within it. At the end of the two hours Harry gavea shout.
"They are coming back."
The light had now sunk to a quiet red glow, so that beyond the fact thata party was approaching, nothing could be seen. They rode, however,directly toward the turret, and then, when they halted, Harry saw thefigures of two ladies who were pointing toward the loophole. Harry nowstepped from the ladder on to the door and shouted at the top of hisvoice through the loophole. The reply came back in a joyous shout.
"We are being roasted alive," Harry cried. "Get ladders as quickly aspossible, with crowbars, and break down the wall."
Men were seen to ride off in several directions instantly, and for thefirst time a ray of hope illumined, the minds of the prince and Harrythat they might be saved. Half an hour later long ladders tied togetherwere placed against the wall, and Jacob speedily made his appearance atthe loophole.
"All access is impossible from the other side," he said, "for the placewhere the house stood is a red-hot furnace, Most of the walls havefallen. We had no hope of finding you alive."
"We are roasting slowly," Harry cried. "In Heaven's name bring us somewater."
Soon a bottle of water was passed in through the loophole, and thenthree or four ladders being placed in position, the men outside beganwith crowbars and pickaxes to enlarge the loophole sufficiently for theprisoners to escape. It took three hours' hard work, at the end of whichtime the aperture was sufficiently wide to allow them to emerge, andutterly exhausted and feeling, as the prince said, "baked to a turn,"they made their way down the ladder, being helped on either side by themen, for they themselves were too exhausted to maintain their feet.