St. George for England

  "I fear that if I did it would defeat the ends of justice."

  Retiring with the chief magistrate into an inner room, Geoffreydesired Walter to tell his story. This he did, ending by saying thathe regretted much that he had not at once told his master what he hadheard; but that, although he deemed evil was intended, he did not knowthat murder was meant, and thought it but concerned the carrying off ofsome damsel, and that this he had intended, by the aid of his comrades,to prevent.

  "You have done well, Master Walter, since that be your name," themagistrate said. "That you might have done better is true, for had youacted otherwise you might have prevented murder from being done. Still,one cannot expect old heads upon young shoulders. Give me the names ofthose who were with you, for I shall doubtless receive a message fromWestminster this morning to know if I have heard aught of the affair.In the meantime we must take steps to secure these pirates of the marsh.The ground is across the river, and lies out of my jurisdiction."

  "It is for that reason," Geoffrey said, "that I wished that the storyshould be told to you privately, since the men concerned might wellhave sent a friend to the court to hear if aught was said which mightendanger them."

  "I will give you a letter to a magistrate of Surrey, and he willdespatch some constables under your guidance to catch these rascals. Ifear there have been many murders performed by them lately besides thatin question, and you will be doing a good service to the citizens byaiding in the capture of these men.

  "I will go willingly," the smith assented.

  The Lord Mayor said, after a moment's thought. "It will be quicker; Iwill tell the justice that if he will come to the meeting of the roadson Kennington Common, at seven this evening, you will be there with yourapprentice to act as a guide."

  "I will," the armourer said, "and will bring with me two or three of mymen who are used to hard blows, for, to tell you the truth, I have nogreat belief in the valour of constables, and we may meet with a stoutresistance."

  "So be it," the Lord Mayor said; "and luck be with you, for these menare the scourges of the river."

  That evening the armourer shut up his shop sooner than usual, andaccompanied by Walter and four of his workmen, and all carrying stoutoaken cudgels, with hand-axes in their girdles, started along the lonelyroad to Kennington. Half an hour after their arrival the magistrate,with ten men, rode up. He was well pleased at the sight of thereinforcement which awaited him, for the river pirates might be expectedto make a desperate resistance. Geoffrey advised a halt for a time untilit should be well-nigh dark, as the marauders might have spies set togive notice should strangers enter the marsh.

  They started before it was quite dark, as Walter doubted whether heshould be able to lead them straight to the hut after the night hadcompletely fallen. He felt, however, tolerably sure of his locality, forhe had noticed that two trees grew on the edge of the swamp just at thespot where he had left it. He had no difficulty in finding these, andat once led the way. The horses of the magistrate and his followers wereleft in charge of three of their number.

  "You are sure you are going right?" the magistrate said to Walter."The marsh seems to stretch everywhere, and we might well fall into aquagmire, which would swallow us all up.

  "I am sure of my way," Walter answered; "and see, yonder clump ofbushes, which you can just observe above the marsh, a quarter of a mileaway, is the spot where the house of their leader is situated."

  With strict injunctions that not a word was to be spoken until the bushwas surrounded, and that all were to step noiselessly and with caution,the party moved forward. It was now nearly dark, and as they approachedthe hut sounds of laughter and revelry were heard.

  "They are celebrating their success in a carouse," Geoffrey said. "Weshall catch them nicely in a trap."

  When they came close, a man who was sitting just at the low mouth of thehut suddenly sprang to his feet and shouted, "Who goes there?" He hadapparently been placed as sentry, but had joined in the potations goingon inside, and had forgotten to look round from time to time to see thatnone were approaching.

  At his challenge the whole party rushed forward, and as they reached thehut the men from within came scrambling out, sword in hand. For two orthree minutes there was a sharp fight, and had the constables been alonethey would have been defeated, for they were outnumbered and the pirateswere desperate.

  The heavy clubs of the armourers decided the fight. One or two of theband alone succeeded in breaking through, the rest were knocked down andbound; not, however, until several severe wounds had been inflicted ontheir assailants.

  When the fray was over, it was found that nine prisoners had beencaptured. Some of these were stunned by the blows which the smiths haddealt them, and two or three were badly wounded; all were more or lessinjured in the struggle. When they recovered their senses they were madeto get on their feet, and with their hands tied securely behind themwere marched between a double line of their captors off the marsh.

  "Thanks for your services," the justice said when they had gained theplace where they had left their horses. "Nine of my men shall tie eachone of these rascals to their stirrups by halters round their necks, andwe will give them a smart run into Richmond, where we will lodge them inthe jail. Tomorrow is Sunday; on Monday they will be brought before me,and I shall want the evidence of Master Walter Fletcher and of those whowere in the boat with him as to what took place on the river. Methinksthe evidence on that score, and the resistance which they offered to usthis evening, will be sufficient to put a halter round their necks; butfrom what I have heard by the letter which the Lord Mayor sent me, thereare others higher in rank concerned in the affair; doubtless we shallfind means to make these ruffians speak."

  Accordingly, at the justice's orders, halters were placed round thenecks of the prisoners, the other ends being attached to the saddles,and the party set off at a pace which taxed to the utmost the strengthof the wounded men. Geoffrey and his party returned in high spirits toSouthwark.

  On the Monday Walter went over to Richmond, accompanied by the armourersand by the lads who had been in the boat with him. The nine ruffians,strongly guarded, were brought up in the justice room. Walter firstgave his evidence, and related how he had overheard a portion of theconversation, which led him to believe that an attack would be made uponthe boat coming down the river.

  "Can you identify either of the prisoners as being the man whom you sawat the door of the hut?"

  "No," Walter said. "When I first saw him I was too far off to make outhis face. When he left the hut it was dark."

  "Should you know the other man, the one who was addressed as sir knight,if you saw him again?"

  "I should," Walter replied. He then gave an account of the attack uponthe boat, but said that in the suddenness of the affair and the growingdarkness he noticed none of the figures distinctly enough to recognizethem again. Two or three of the other apprentices gave similar testimonyas to the attack.

  A gentleman then presented himself, and gave his name as Sir Williamde Hertford. He said that he had come at the request of the Lady AliceVernon, who was still suffering from the effects of the wound andimmersion. She had requested him to say that at some future occasion shewould appear to testify, but that in the confusion and suddenness ofthe attack she had noticed no faces in the boat which assailed them, andcould identify none concerned in the affair.

  The justice who had headed the attack on the hut then gave his evidenceas to that affair, the armourer also relating the incidents of theconflict.

  "The prisoners will be committed for trial," the justice said. "Atpresent there is no actual proof that any of them were concerned inthis murderous outrage beyond the fact that they were taken in the placewhere it was planned. The suspicion is strong that some at least wereengaged in it. Upon the persons of all of them were valuable daggers,chains, and other ornaments, which could not have been come by honestly,and I doubt not that they form part of the gang which has so long been aterror to peaceful travelers alike
by the road and river, and it maybe that some who have been robbed will be able to identify the articlestaken upon them. They are committed for trial: firstly, as having beenconcerned in the attack upon Dame Alice Vernon; secondly, as beingnotorious ill-livers and robbers; thirdly, as having resisted lawfularrest by the king's officers. The greatest criminal in the affair isnot at present before me, but it may be that from such information asDame Vernon may be able to furnish, and from such confessions as justicewill be able to wring from the prisoners, he will at the trial standbeside his fellows."

  Walter returned to town with his companions. On reaching the armourer'sthey found a retainer of the Earl of Talbot awaiting them, with themessage that the Lady Alice Vernon wished the attendance of WalterFletcher, whose name she had learned from the Lord Mayor as that ofthe lad to whom she and her daughter owed their lives, at noon on thefollowing day, at the residence of the Earl of Talbot.

  "That is the worst of an adventure," Walter said crossly, after theretainer had departed. "One can't have a bit of excitement without beingsent for, and thanked, and stared at. I would rather fight the bestswordsman in the city than have to go down to the mansion of Earl Talbotwith my cap in my hand."

  Geoffrey laughed. "You must indeed have your cap in your hand, Walter;but you need not bear yourself in that spirit. The 'prentice of a Londoncitizen may have just as much honest pride and independence as theproudest earl at Westminster; but carry not independence too far.Remember that if you yourself had received a great service you wouldbe hurt if the donor refused to receive your thanks; and it would bechurlish indeed were you to put on sullen looks, or to refuse to acceptany present which the lady whose life you have saved may make you. Itis strange, indeed, that it should be Dame Vernon, whose husband, SirJasper Vernon, received the fiefs of Westerham and Hyde."

  "Why should it be curious that it is she?" Walter asked.

  "Oh!" Geoffrey said, rather confusedly. "I was not thinking--thatis--I mean that it is curious because Bertha Fletcher was for yearsa dependant on the family of Sir Roland Somers, who was killed in thetroubles when the king took the reins of government in his hands, andhis lands, being forfeit, were given to Sir Jasper Vernon, who aided theking in that affair."

  "I wish you would tell me about that," Walter said. "How was it thatthere was any trouble as to King Edward having kingly authority?"

  "It happened in this way," Geoffrey said. "King Edward II, his father,was a weak prince, governed wholly by favourites, and unable to hold incheck the turbulent barons. His queen, Isabella of France, sister ofthe French king, a haughty and ambitious woman, determined to snatch thereins of power from the indolent hands of her husband, and after avisit to her brother she returned with an army from Hainault in order todethrone him. She was accompanied by her eldest son, and after a shortstruggle the king was dethroned. He had but few friends, and men thoughtthat under the young Edward, who had already given promise of virtue andwisdom, some order might be introduced into the realm. He was crownedEdward III, thus, at the early age of fifteen, usurping the throne ofhis father. The real power, however, remained with Isabella, who waspresident of the council of regency, and who, in her turn, was governedby her favourite Mortimer. England soon found that the change which hadbeen made was far from beneficial. The government was by turns weakand oppressive. The employment of foreign troops was regarded withthe greatest hostility by the people, and the insolence of Mortimeralienated the great barons. Finally, the murder of the dethroned kingexcited throughout the kingdom a feeling of horror and loathing againstthe queen.

  "All this feeling, however, was confined to her, Edward, who was but apuppet in her hands, being regarded with affection and pity. Soon afterhis succession the young king was married to our queen, Philippa ofHainault, who is as good as she is beautiful, and who is loved from oneend of the kingdom to the other. I can tell you, the city was a sightto see when she entered with the king. Such pageants and rejoicingwere never known. They were so young, he not yet sixteen, and she butfourteen, and yet to bear on their shoulders the weight of the state. Abraver looking lad and a fairer girl mine eyes never looked on. It wassoon after this that the events arose which led to the war with France,but this is too long a tale for me to tell you now. The Prince of Waleswas born on the 15th of June, 1330, two years after the royal marriage.

  "So far the king had acquiesced quietly in the authority of his mother,but he now paid a visit to France, and doubtless the barons aroundhim there took advantage of his absence from her tutelage to shake herinfluence over his mind; and at the same time a rising took place athome against her authority. This was suppressed, and the Earl of Kent,the king's uncle, was arrested and executed by Isabella. This actof severity against his uncle, no doubt, hastened the prince'sdetermination to shake off the authority of his haughty mother and toassume the reins of government himself. The matter, however, was noteasy to accomplish. Mortimer having the whole of the royal revenue athis disposal, had attached to himself by ties of interest a large numberof barons, and had in his pay nearly two hundred knights and a largebody of men-at-arms. Thus it was no easy matter to arrest him. It wasdetermined that the deed should be done at the meeting of the parliamentat Nottingham. Here Mortimer appeared with Isabella in royal pomp. Theytook their abode at the castle, while the king and other members of theroyal family were obliged to content themselves with an inferior placeof residence.

  "The gates of the castle were locked at sunset, and the keys brought bythe constable, Sir William Eland, and handed to the queen herself. Thisknight was a loyal and gallant gentleman, and regarded Mortimer with noaffection, and when he received the king's commands to assist the baronscharged to arrest him he at once agreed to do so. He was aware of theexistence of a subterranean communication leading from the interior ofthe castle to the outer country, and by this, on the night of the 19thof October, 1330, he led nine resolute knights--the Lords Montague,Suffolk, Stafford, Molins, and Clinton, with three brothers of the nameof Bohun, and Sir John Nevil--into the heart of the castle. Mortimer wasfound surrounded by a number of his friends. On the sudden entry of theknights known to be hostile to Mortimer his friends drew their swords,and a short but desperate fight took place. Many were wounded, and SirHugh Turpleton and Richard Monmouth were slain. Mortimer was carriedto London, and was tried and condemned by parliament, and executed forfelony and treason. Several of his followers were executed, and otherswere attacked in their strongholds and killed; among these was SirRoland Somers.

  "Queen Isabella was confined in Castle Risings where she still remainsa prisoner. Such, Walter, were the troubles which occurred when KingEdward first took up the reins of power in this realm; and now, let'sto supper, for I can tell you that my walk to Kingston has given me amarvellous appetite. We have three or four hours' work yet before wego to bed, for that Milan harness was promised for the morrow, and therepairs are too delicate for me to entrust it to the men. It is good toassist the law, but this work of attending as a witness makes a grievousbreak in the time of a busy man. It is a pity, Walter, that your mindis so set on soldiering, for you would have made a marvellous goodcraftsman. However, I reckon that after you have seen a few years offighting in France, and have got some of your wild blood let out,you will be glad enough to settle down here with me; as you know, ourprofits are good, and work plentiful; and did I choose I might hold minehead higher than I do among the citizens; and you, if you join me,may well aspire to a place in the common council, aye, and even to analderman's gown, in which case I may yet be addressing you the veryworshipful my Lord Mayor."

  "Pooh!" Walter laughed; "a fig for your lord Mayors! I would a thousandtimes rather be a simple squire in the following of our young prince."