CHAPTER XVIII
IN WHICH I RECEIVE A COMMISSION AND SUFFER A CHECK
The execution of my design was precipitated by a certain accident whichat that time befell me, and was by me regarded as happy or untoward,according as I dwelt upon the recognition of merit it implied, or uponthe delayed return which it necessitated, to my intercourse with IdoniaAvenon.
It happened then, that about eight or nine days after that riotoussiege of Petty Wales, I was at work upon my high stool in Chequer Lane,where I was deeply engaged in computing the value of the several sharesthe merchants of our Company were willing to take, upon charter partywith the owners of a certain ship called _The Saracen's Head_, CaptainSpurrier, that was about to set forth upon a voyage into Argiers, andthereafter, unless otherwise ordered, yet further to the eastward.Being so occupied as I say, there entered the counting-house a servantof Sir Edward Osborne's that desired of Mr. Procter to tell him whetherone Denis Cleeve were there in that place; to which he answering thathe was, and that I was the man he inquired after, the servant salutedme very properly and bade me go with him to the Governor's, that is, toSir Edward Osborne's, who expected me at his house.
Marvelling what this should intend, I nevertheless made haste to followthe servant, and was soon after ushered into a great chamber,wainscoted very high up with walnut-wood, and with a table at one endof it, whereon was a woollen cloth spread, very rich, and having thecoat and crest of the knight's family woven into the midst of it.About the walls were hung many fair pictures, all of men save one,which was of a maid of about ten years, that had a very winsome smilingface and clustered curls about it. In this chamber I was left alone towait for some small space, when after there came in to me Sir Edward,very gravely, together with his secretary, who straight sat him down atthe table and mended his pen.
Upon their entering I did my courtesy, which the merchant quietlyreceived, and then, motioning me to a chair, immediately commenced:
"I have sent for you, Mr. Cleeve," said he, sitting down also, "becauseI have had a good report of you from him in whose charge you work, Mr.Procter, who moreover hath made the addition that you are of a spiritsomewhat higher than seemeth necessary a scrivener should have, theybeing for the most part a mild and inoffensive sort of men--what sayyou, Mr. Secretary?"
The man of the pen seemed greatly taken aback at this direct challengeto his manhood, and could but stammer out that secretaries weredoubtless more faithful than arrogant, stealing at the same time such aspleenful look upon me as I thought he would have sent his quill andink-horn after it.
"Faithful--ay," said Master Osborne, with a little smile about theeyes, "but nowise arrogant. I hope you be not arrogant either, Mr.Cleeve," he added, fixing his gaze upon me.
"I hope not, sir," said I, "nor think I am not either, for, as Mr.Procter hath often told me, there is nothing checks a man's pride likethe book-keeping, that makes him put down a thing on both sides anaccompt in a just balance; which pride forbids a man to do."
"It is as you say," cried the Governor, mighty pleased, "and you answerwell. But now tell me--and it is necessary you should deal with meopenly--do you truly love your ledger?"
I thought upon this question a few moments ere I replied that I couldnot say I loved it, but that I thought it a necessary book; that Isometimes found a singular delight in the pursuing of the intricaciesof some great reckoning, but that I hated the casting of page upon pageof moneys, which seemed to make a miser of my head though I was none bymy pocket. In fine, that I honoured accountancy as a servant but couldnot live with it as a friend.
The merchant listened with no small amusement until I had done, andthen sat still, dallying with a packet of papers he had on the tablebefore him, from which at length he took one, and, running his eyesover it carelessly, said--
"Upon what task were you engaged when I sent for you hither?"
I said, upon the business of the apportioning the affreightment of the_Saracen's Head_.
"Know you aught of the Captain of that barque?" said he.
"It is one Master Spurrier," I said, "a Harwich man, that was one timeCaptain of the _Crane_, a ship of the Queen's."
He nodded the while I spoke, as having knowledge of these particularsalready; and then demanded whether I were advised of how he came toleave Her Majesty's service, which I had not, and said so.
"Give him the Testament, Mr. Secretary," said the Governor, and madehim propose the oath to me that whatsoever I now heard I should besecret in and faithful to all just commands laid upon me to fulfilthem. Which done, he leaned back in his deep chair and said--
"Mr. Cleeve, I am about to put into your hands a commission that maycarry with it some difficulty and more danger, from neither of whichhave I any fear that you will anyways shrink. But there needeth moreyet than either courage or a common promptness to this affair, whereinmust be used an aptitude to see without seeming to do so, and to assumesuch a negligence of behaviour as none that watches you (for you shallbe watched) may perceive you be attentive to aught beyond your properand understood duties." He paused awhile, and I was glad of thisrespite, for my heart was beating so high that I could scarce concealmy agitation. Nevertheless I had commanded myself before he renewedhis discourse.
"I have received intelligence but two days since, from Her Majesty'sprincipal Secretary, that there be in this realm a sort of dissatisfiedmen that, taking advantage of our present dissensions with Spain, andhoping to secure to themselves an infamous benefit by the same, haveprivily made offer of their services to our enemy, as to discover thenature of our defences and extent of our preparedness to war. So muchis certainly known, and many names of such spies are set down. But, asis always found in these devil's hucksterings, there is as it were afrayed edge and doubtful margin of disloyalty, upon which a man maystand in question how to appraise it; and of this quality is our Masterfor this voyage, I mean Captain Spurrier. Something that the Governorof Biscay hath let fall (that lies now in the Tower) inclines theirlordships of the Council to attach this Spurrier instantly for atraitor; but yet they would not altogether so, hoping as well forabsolute proof of his villainy as that, by our apparent slackness, hemay be led to betray to one supposed his ordinary companion, the fullscope and ambit of his dealings; which being (to use the figure) notedin our chart as shoals, we may circumvent them and come safe to harbour.
"I design, therefore, that you go supercargo of the goods of thisvessel, that is to sail from the Pool in a week's time, and mark eachparticular accident of the voyage, as what ships spoken, and whatcourse taken, together with the customary behaviour of the Captain, andwith whom of the officers he chiefly consorts. If he have any books orpapers you may overlook their general tenour but not handle them, forsometimes they be traps set for that very purpose. At Argiers, if youget so far and be not, as I suspect you will be, waylaid by someSpanish ship of war, you may send me word; but yet either way, observeyour man closely; to whom, so far as may be possible, you shall makeyourself necessary. I say no more. It may happen that my advice shallreceive supplement from Her Majesty's Council, to whom I have alreadygiven in your name as the agent I think likeliest to their occasions;who on their part received it very well, knowing your father for anhonourable man and a loyal gentleman."
The Governor rose from his place, and, bowing slightly, went from thechamber, leaving me alone with his secretary, who, with less courtesythan I thought he might have showed, instructed me in the customaryduties of a supercargo, and further bade me apply to him for whatevermoney would be necessary for clothing and the rest, as well as arms,with which I was now wholly unprovided.
In conclusion he warned me to be discreet, wagging his head three orfour times as he said it, I suppose for my better apprehension of hismeaning.
"Oh, I warrant you, Mr. Secretary," said I, "I will not write mysuspicions, nor speak them in soliloquy, nor yet clap my ear to thekeyhole, unless I see cause."
"I have a mind to clap my cane to your worship's jolthead," q
uoth thesecretary, "until you see a thousand stars."
No sooner were we parted (friends enough) and I in the street, than thedesire to see Idonia and bid her bless me to my sea-faring, came so hotupon me as I made off directly to the thieves' lane of Petty Wales, andneglecting all discretion, scrupled not to enter it publicly. But thedoor by which I had formerly gained ready admittance was now closed,and so strongly barred that I knew at the first glance 'twas impossibleof access; while the one small window beside it was likewise shutteredup and made firm. I rapped twice or thrice as loud as I dared, butnone answering, I went away at length, exceeding downcast. On the dayfollowing I came again; and the day after that too; but was stillrepulsed by the defences that I supposed the thieves, and perhaps Skenetoo, had raised against any attacks of the soldiery, or of thepopulace, that were full as formidable as any army, and more cruelbecause without discipline. Meanwhile the day nearly approached whenour barque was to set sail, and I with my secret strange commission togo with her. I had writ a large letter to my father at Tolland, inwhich I made mention of this voyage, begging him to remember me in hisprayers, and promising him withal, that I would not run intounnecessary dangers, nor yet (as some have done) be so busy in myoffice as to smell out treasons where none was meant. As to the natureof my trust I could not deal explicitly with him, because of the oath Iwas bound by, but I gave him to understand that our cargo of woollenstuffs was the least part of my care, and whether safe in the hold, orat the first occasion to be made jettison of, my owners would (Ithought) require no particular account of it at my hands. With thewriting of this, and one visit I was called upon to pay to my lords ofthe Council, in which I met with more great men and ran into a thickermist of wisdom than hath been my fortune either before or since; withthese matters (I say) I eked out my waiting time heavily enough, for Iwas necessarily released from my daily attendance at thecounting-house, having besides much to see to in the getting of suchclothing and arms as the crabbed secretary thought necessary to myequipment.
Well, walking thus very disconsolate one evening upon the Bridge, whereI had been concerned with a certain armourer there to buy my new swordand hangers, whom should I light upon but, Master Andrew Plat, thelyrick poet? At least by the back I judged it to be him, for he lookedanother way, and was, I soon perceived, about the game he had sodecried to me as a nefarious pursuit and never by him followed, namelystealing; for he stole silk goods from one of the open stalls that arehere set up; the which he so skilfully accomplished as I saw he was nofreshman, but rather an exhibitioner and graduated master.
"Your Spring hath issued into a passing fruitful Summer," I said verylow in his ear, "and I think you did well to leave your lyricks forthis art, and the thankless Apollo for thieving Mercury."
He leapt about with a white face, gasping.
"I have stolen nothing in the world," said he.
"No? Then come with me, Master Poet, for I must learn this way ofgetting stuff that is neither paid for nor yet stolen," and taking himunder the arm I carried him with me at a great pace along the Bridge,pausing not till we were come near to the end of Thames Street, and infull view of the watch set about the battered door of Skene's house.
"I go no further this way," cried Plat, struggling to get free.
"We have nothing to fear, friend, being honest men."
"Loose me, I say."
"On conditions I will."
"Ah--conditions?"
"That you admit me to your house."
"Never! Besides I have no house. I am homeless and destitute, master;indeed I am in bitter want."
"I will mend that," said I, and drew forth a gold piece from the pouchat my belt. "But now, ponder the alternatives well, and as you choose,so shall it be yours to have. Either you grant me presently theliberty of that part of Petty Wales which you were used to inhabit, andtake this noble for your pains, or else I will hale you to yonderwatch, and denounce your theft of those silks you have about you."
He shivered throughout at my proposals, and after hung as limp upon myarm as a drenched clout.
"If I should do as you desire, good master," said he, in a voice Icould scarce hear for its thinness, "our Captain would kill you out ofhand."
"Forewarned is forearmed," said I. "Your next reason?"
"That the place is locked."
"Otherwise I should have had no need of you. The next?"
"Oh," he wailed pitifully, "do not drive me thus, master. I dare notobey you."
"Forward then with a good heart," said I cheerfully, and bore him afurther ten paces down the street.
"Stay, stay," cried the poet, "I yield, I capitulate, I open the gates... and now give me my gold."
I did so, and released him, when, cautioning me to be silent, he leftthe street by a certain byway, and threading such devious passages asin the growing darkness I could scarce distinguish to follow him by, heled me on, up and down, through courts and alleys, beneath penthouseroofs and neglected arches, until I came near to doubting his goodfaith and was about to use my old device of retaining his allegiance atthe sword's point, when he came out suddenly into the lane, at theopposite end to that I had before entered it from Tower Hill; and sostood still before the secret low door. In the little light there was(for the lane was lit by no lantern nor lamp of any sort) I could notsee whether the door was still barricaded, but judged it to be so byMr. Plat's climbing up about a fathom's height of the naked wall,setting his feet within some shallow crevices he knew of, but I couldnot perceive, until he made his standing sure, when, he giving a littlestrange cry like a bird's, immediately a stone of the wall seemed to beremoved, some three spans' breadth, and into the opening thus made Platincontinently disappeared. I was mad to be fooled thus, for Iquestioned not but he would now leave me to shift for myself: when withan equal suddenness his head was thrust forth again, and he said--
"If you list you may mount up hither, though I warn you a second time,that all here within, me only excepted, be ungodly thieves, pilferers,cut-throat knaves, railers against the State, having no honesty norpurpose to do well, illiterate, owning no government, lawless, base menthat acknowledge no merit of authors nor rules of prosody, ignorantbeasts, amongst whom I, a singular sweet singer, remain until a betterfate calls me hence to crown me with never-fading bay and myrtle," andso, without more ado, he went away from the aperture, whichnevertheless he left open, as he had promised; but whither he went Iknow not, for I did not see him after, nor have I come by his publishedpoems that were to render him immortal.
I gazed after him a great while, as in doubt whether he would return,but then shifting my new sword behind me, I addressed myself to theascent of the wall, which, after much scraping of my flesh, and one ortwo falls headlong, I surmounted, and had my hands fast upon the netheredge of the vent. It was but a brief while ere I had drawn myself upand scrambled through; when I found I stood in a narrow and voidchamber, very foul and ill-smelling, from which I was glad enough to begone.
But scarce had I gone forth into the passage beyond, when I heard sucha tumult and angry debate of voices as remembering Plat's assertion ofthe Trappist silence that was in this house enjoined upon pain of deathI could not but suppose some very especial cause to have hurried thethieves into so presumptuous an offence. It was now altogether nightwithin the building, and with these stifled cries sounding in my ears,and execrations of men I knew to be desperate villains, I confess myheart quailed within me and my strength all leaked away, so that Icould not even fly by the way I had come, but stood with my back to thewall, sweating and staring, with never a thought but to remainunperceived. Of the fashion and plan of the house I was perfectlyignorant, having but once before been within it, and then trusting toanother to guide me through its secret recesses; yet I remembered thatthere was somewhere that great wide staircase which Plat had said wasthe common room and meeting-place of the thieves, where they transactedtheir affairs and shared their food and treasure. 'Twas, then, with aclutch of horrid surprise that I no
w saw, low down before me, a sort ofmen bearing lanterns that issued from the shadows, and began to scalethe stairs; for by the uncertain light I could both distinguish themand that I myself was standing in one of the open galleries thatsurrounded the stairhead and overlooked the body of the hall. But nosooner had I understood this, than any further discovery was thwartedby a man's brushing past me in the dark, so close I could hear himfetch his breath, and instantly upon that there followed the click of asnaphance.
"Stay there, you creeping lice!" he said, speaking in a cool middlevoice, "or I will shoot you down, man by man, where you stand."
At this unlooked-for interruption, the men upon the stair came to asudden stand, while some that had advanced higher than the rest, fellback, so that all hung crowded together, their lanterns raised andtheir eyes seeking upward for the man that held them at bay. I havenever seen so dastardly and scarce human visages as they showed, somewith bleared eyes and matted hair, others dark and vengeful, theirbrows and cheeks scarred with wounds or open sores. Here a man wenthalf-naked like a savage Indian; there one wore a ragged coat guardedwith silver; all were armed, though with such a hazardous sort ofweapons, that but for the assured skill and practice with which theywielded them, one might have dared oppose the whole rout single-handed.But in their hands these weapons seemed proper as claws to beasts, ortushes to a wild boar, and instinctively, as the man raised his pistol,I drew my sword from the sheath. The noise I made attracted the man'sattention to me, and he would perhaps have spoken, had not thebloodthirsty rout, recking no further opposition, sprung forward again.
"Hold, I say," cried the man, and this time with a dreadful menacingvehemence. "I am your Captain, and you know me well. Another step,and there's a soul writhing in hell. Back, go, you and your eggers-on!I understand this business, as I understand too who 'twas inflamed youto mutiny."
"You took my wife, you scum!" shouted a great fellow clad in ashipman's garb, that held a rust-bitten cutlass in his hand, andstruggled forward through the press.
"Ay, did I, Jack?" quoth the Captain satirically, "but 'twas to provideyou with another bride, a bonny lass that the Churchmen say we shallall embrace by turns. 'Tis that world-old witch I mean, named Death,"and at the word, he discharged his piece full in the other's blotchedface, and laid him bleeding on the topmost stair.
A great hush came over the mutineers when they saw this deed, thatmoreover so sickened me that I had already raised my sword to stab themurderer in the back and have done with him, when the thieves suddenlybroke with a yell of defiance and charged upward in the mass. What Iwould have done had I had longer to deliberate I know not, but indefault of any counsel to direct me, I sprang into action on the sideof the very man I had intended to slay, and shoulder to shoulder withhim, fought down those ghastly cruel faces and reaching hands.
It was soon enough over. They were no match against the arms we used,and the Captain calmly loading and discharging his piece, the while Ikept the stairhead clear with my sword, we made them give back foot byfoot, until at length each was scrambling to be the hindmost, and evenused his knife upon his companion in the urgency of his retreat. Allthe lanterns were out now, save one that a dead man held in his starkand upraised hand; and by that light the Captain wiped his smokingbarrel clean.
"It is well concluded," said he, "and I thank you for your help, youngsir."
I said nothing, so deeply did I loathe him.
"We must be gone," he said, "and that quickly. The watch is up, andthe whole place will be searched before dawn. They will be caught likerats in a drain," he added softly, drawing in his breath. "Follow me."
He led me to the room I had left, and helped me to get through the holein the masonry, after which he followed me.
"This way," said he, and took me through the lane until he came ontoTower Hill, when, skirting the precincts of the Tower, we creptunchallenged through the postern in the wall and turned down a narrowcart-way to the eastward, I beside him, but neither speaking one word,until after an hour or more, with waiting and going forward, we got toWapping a little ere daybreak, to a desolate mean tavern of shipmenclose beside the river, which we entered without question, for noneseemed to be stirring; and here, in the filthy guestroom, the Captainflung himself down.
"A good night's work, master," said he, grinning, "in which you didyour part so well that it grieves me much to name you my prisoner."
Idonia: A Romance of Old London Page 18