CHAPTER III
HUBERT'S RETURN
After the sailing of Mr. Drake's expedition, the friends of the adventurershad to wait in patience for several months before news arrived. Then the_Elizabeth_, under the command of Mr. Winter, which had been separatedfrom Mr. Drake's _Pelican_ in a gale off the south-west coast of America,returned to England, bringing the news of Mr. Doughty's execution fordesertion; but of the _Pelican_ herself there was no further news untilcomplaints arrived from the Viceroy of New Spain of Mr. Drake's ravagesup the west coast. Then silence again fell for eighteen months.
Anthony had followed the fortunes of the _Pelican_, in which Hubert hadsailed, with a great deal of interest: and it was with real relief thatafter the burst of joy in London at the news of her safe return toPlymouth with an incalculable amount of plunder, he had word from LadyMaxwell that she hoped he would come down at once to Great Keynes, andhelp to welcome Hubert home. He was not able to go at once, for hisduties detained him; but a couple of days after the Hall had welcomed itsnew master, Anthony was at the Dower House again with Isabel. He foundher extraordinarily bright and vivacious, and was delighted at thechange, for he had been troubled the last time he had seen her a fewmonths before, at her silence and listlessness; but her face was radiantnow, as she threw herself into his arms at the door, and told him thatthey were all to go to supper that night at the Hall; and that Hubert hadbeen keeping his best stories on purpose for his return. She showed him,when they got up to his room at last, little things Hubert had givenher--carved nuts, a Spanish coin or two, and an ingot of gold--but ofwhich she would say nothing, but only laugh and nod her head.
Hubert, too, when he saw him that evening seemed full of the same sort ofhalf-suppressed happiness that shone out now and again suddenly. There hesat, for hours after supper that night, broader and more sunburnt thanever, with his brilliant eyes glancing round as he talked, and his sinewyman's hand, in the delicate creamy ruff, making little explanatorymovements, and drawing a map once or twice in spilled wine on thepolished oak; the three ladies sat forward and watched him breathlessly,or leaned back and sighed as each tale ended, and Anthony found himself,too, carried away with enthusiasm again and again, as he looked at thisgallant sea-dog in his gold chain and satin and jewels, and listened tohis stories.
"It was bitter cold," said Hubert in his strong voice, telling them ofMr. Doughty's death, "on the morning itself: and snow lay on the deckswhen we rose. Mr. Fletcher had prepared a table in the poop-cabin, with awhite cloth and bread and wine; and at nine of the clock we were allassembled where we might see into the cabin: and Mr. Fletcher said theCommunion service, and Mr. Drake and Mr. Doughty received the sacramentthere at his hands. Some of Mr. Doughty's men had all they could do tokeep back their tears; for you know, mother, they were good friends. Andthen when it was done, we made two lines down the deck to where the blockstood by the main-mast; and the two came down together; and they kissedone another there. And Mr. Doughty spoke to the men, and bade them prayfor the Queen's Grace with him; and they did. And then he and Mr. Drakeput off their doublets, and Mr. Doughty knelt at the block, and saidanother prayer or two, and then laid his head down, and he was shiveringa little with cold, and then, when he gave the sign, Mr. Drake----" andHubert brought the edge of his hand down sharply, and the glasses rang,and the ladies drew quick hissing breaths; and Lady Maxwell put her handon her son's arm, as he looked round on all their faces.
Then he told them of the expedition up the west coast, and of the townsthey sacked; and the opulent names rolled oddly off his tongue, andseemed to bring a whiff of southern scent into this panelled Englishroom,--Valparaiso, Tarapaca, and Arica--; and of the capture of the_Cacafuego_ off Quibdo; and of the enormous treasure they took, thegreat golden crucifix with emeralds of the size of pigeon's eggs, and thechests of pearls, and the twenty-six tons of silver, and the wedges ofpure gold from the Peruvian galleon, and of the golden falcon from theChinese trader that they captured south of Guatulco. And he described thesearch up the coast for the passage eastwards that never existed; and ofDrake's superb resolve to return westwards instead, by the Moluccas; andhow they stayed at Ternate, south of Celebes, and coasted along Javaseeking a passage, and found it in the Sunda straits, and broke out fromthe treacherous islands into the open sea; crossed to Africa, rounded theCape of Good Hope; came up the west coast, touching at Sierra Leone, andso home again along the Spanish and French coasts, to Plymouth Sound andthe pealing of Plymouth bells.
And he broke out into something very like eloquence when he spoke ofDrake.
"Never was such a captain," he cried, "with his little stiff beard andhis obstinate eyes. I have seen him stand on the poop, when the arrowswere like hail on the deck, with one finger in the ring round hisneck,--so": and Hubert thrust a tanned finger into a link of his chain,and lifted his chin, "just making little signs to the steersman, with hishand behind his back, to bring the ship nearer to the Spaniard; as cool,I tell you, as cool as if he were playing merelles. Oh! and then when weboarded, out came his finger from his ring; and there was none thatstruck so true and fierce; and all in silence too, without an oath or acry or a word; except maybe to give an order. But he was very sharp withall that angered him. When we sighted the _Madre di Dios_, I ran intohis cabin to tell him of it, without saluting, so full was my head ofthe chase. And he looked at me like ice; and then roared at me to knowwhere my manners were, and bade me go out and enter again properly,before he would hear my news; and then I heard him rating the man thatstood at his door for letting me pass in that state. At his dinner, too,which he took alone, there were always trumpets to blow, as when herGrace dines. When he laughed it seemed as if he did it with a grave face.There was a piece of grand fooling when we got out from among those wearyIndian islands; where the great crabs be, and flies that burn in thedark, as I told you. Mr. Fletcher, the minister, played the coward onenight when we ran aground; and bade us think of our sins and our immortalsouls, instead of urging us to be smart about the ship; and he did it,too, not as Mr. Drake might do, but in such a melancholy voice as if wewere all at our last hour; so when we were free of our trouble, and outon the main again, we were all called by the drum to the forecastle, andthere Mr. Drake sat on a sea-chest as solemn as a judge, so that not aman durst laugh, with a pair of pantoufles in his hand; and Mr. Fletcherwas brought before him, trying to smile as if 'twas a jest for him too,between two guards; and there he was arraigned; and the witnesses werecalled; and Tom Moore said how he was tapped on the shoulder by Mr.Fletcher as he was getting a pick from the hold; and how he was as whiteas a ghost and bade him think on Mr. Doughty, how there was no mercy forhim when he needed it, and so there would be none for us--and then otherwitnesses came, and then Mr. Fletcher tried to make his defence, sayinghow it was the part of a minister to bid men think on their souls; but'twas no good. Mr. Drake declared him guilty; and sentenced him to bekept in irons till he repented of that his cowardice; and then, which wasthe cream of the joke, since the prisoner was a minister, Mr. Drakedeclared him excommunicate, and cut off from the Church of God, and givenover to the devil. And he was put in irons, too, for a while; so 'twasnot all a joke."
"And what is Mr. Drake doing now?" asked Lady Maxwell.
"Oh! Drake is in London," said Hubert. "Ah! yes, and you must all come toDeptford when her Grace is going to be there. Anthony, lad, you'll come?"
Anthony said he would certainly do his best; and Isabel put out her handto her brother, and beamed at him; and then turned to look at Hubertagain.
"And what are you to do next?" asked Mistress Margaret.
"Well," he said, "I am to go to Plymouth again presently, to help to getthe treasure out of the ships; and I must be there, too, for the springand summer, for Drake wants me to help him with his new expedition."
"But you are not going with him again, my son?" said his mother quickly.
Hubert put out his hand to her.
"No, no,"
he said, "I have written to tell him I cannot. I must take myfather's place here. He will understand"; and he gave one swift glance atIsabel, and her eyes fell.
Anthony was obliged to return to Lambeth after a day or two, and hecarried with him a heart full of admiration and enthusiasm for hisfriend. He had wondered once or twice, too, as his eyes fell on Isabel,whether there was anything in what Mistress Corbet had said; but he darednot speak to her, and still less to Hubert, unless his confidence wasfirst sought.
The visit to Deptford, which took place a week or two later, gave anadditional spurt to Anthony's nationalism. London was all on fire at thereturn of the buccaneers, and as Anthony rode down the south bank of theriver from Lambeth to join the others at the inn, the three miles ofriver beyond London Bridge were an inspiriting sight in the bright wintersunshine, crowded with craft of all kinds, bright with bunting, that weremaking their way down to the naval triumph. The road, too, was thick withvehicles and pedestrians.
It was still early when he met his party at the inn, and Hubert took themimmediately to see the _Pelican_ that was drawn up in a little creek onthe south bank. Mistress Margaret had not come, so the four went togetherall over the ship that had been for these years the perilous home of thissunburnt lad they all loved so well. Hubert pointed out Drake's own cabinat the poop, with its stern-windows, where the last sacrament of the twofriends had been celebrated; and where Drake himself had eaten in royalfashion to the sound of trumpets and slept with all-night sentries at hisdoor. He showed them too his own cabin, where he had lived with threemore officers, and the upper poop-deck where Drake would sit hour afterhour with his spy-glass, ranging the horizons for treasure-ships. And heshowed them, too, the high forecastle, and the men's quarters; and Isabelfingered delicately the touch-holes of the very guns that had roared andsnapped so fiercely at the Dons; and they peered down into the dark emptyhold where the treasure-chests had lain, and up at the three masts andthe rigging that had borne so long the swift wings of the _Pelican_. Andthey heard the hiss and rattle of the ropes as Hubert ordered a man torun up a flag to show them how it was done; and they smelled the strangetarry briny smell of a sea-going ship.
"You are not tired?" Anthony said to his sister, as they walked back tothe inn from which they were to see the spectacle. She shook her headhappily; and Anthony, looking at her, once more questioned himselfwhether Mistress Corbet were right or not.
When they had settled down at last to their window, the crowds weregathering thicker every moment about the entrance to the ship, which layin the creek perhaps a hundred yards from the inn, and on the road alongwhich the Queen was to come from Greenwich. Anthony felt his whole heartgo out in sympathy to these joyous shouting folk beneath, who were hereto celebrate the gallant pluck of a little bearded man and his followers,who for the moment stood for England, and in whose presence just now theQueen herself must take second place. Even the quacks and salesmen whowere busy in their booths all round used patriotism to push theirbargains.
"Spanish ointment, Spanish ointment!" bellowed a red-faced herbalist in adoctor's gown, just below the window. "The Dons know what's best forwounds and knocks after Frankie Drake's visit"; and the crowd laughed andbought up his boxes. And another drove a roaring business in green glassbeads, reported to be the exact size of the emeralds taken from the_Cacafuego_; and others sold little models of the _Pelican_, warranted tofrighten away Dons and all other kinds of devils from the house thatpossessed one. Isabel laughed with pleasure, and sent Anthony down to buyone for her.
But perhaps more than all else the sight of the seamen themselves stirredhis heart. Most of them, officers as well as men, were dressed withabsurd extravagance, for the prize-money, even after the deduction of theQueen's lion-share, had been immense, but beneath their plumed andjewel-buckled caps, brown faces looked out, alert and capable, with tightlips and bright, puckered eyes, with something of the terrier in theirexpression. There they swaggered along with a slight roll in their walk,by ones or twos, through the crowd that formed lanes to let them pass,and surged along in their wake, shouting after them and clapping them onthe back. Anthony watched them eagerly as they made their way from alldirections to where the _Pelican_ lay; for it was close on noon. Thenfrom far away came the boom of the Tower guns, and then the nearer crashof those that guarded the dockyard; and last the deafening roar of the_Pelican_ broadside; and then the smoke rose and drifted in a heavy veilin the keen frosty air over the cheering crowds. When it lifted again,there was the flash of gold and colour from the Greenwich road, and thehigh braying of the trumpets pierced the roaring welcome of the people.But the watchers at the windows could see no more over the heads of thecrowd than the plumes of the royal carriage, as the Queen dismounted, anda momentary glimpse of her figure and the group round her as she passedon to the deck of the _Pelican_ and went immediately below to thebanquet, while the parish church bells pealed a welcome.
Lady Maxwell insisted that Isabel should now dine, as there would be nomore to be seen till the Queen should come up on deck again.
Of the actual ceremony of the knighting of Mr. Drake they had a very fairview, though the figures were little and far away. The first intimationthey had that the banquet was over was the sight of the scarlet-cladyeomen emerging one by one up the little hatchway that led below. Thehalberdiers lined the decks already, with their weapons flashing in longcurved lines; and by the time that the trumpets began to sound to showthat the Queen was on her way from below, the decks were one dense massof colour and steel, with a lane left to the foot of the poop-stairs bywhich she would ascend. Then at last the two figures appeared, the Queenradiant in cloth of gold, and Mr. Drake, alert and brisk, in his Courtsuit and sword. There was silence from the crowd as the adventurer kneltbefore the Queen, and Anthony held his breath with excitement as hecaught the flash of the slender sword that an officer had put into theQueen's hand; and then an inconceivable noise broke out as Sir FrancisDrake stood up. The crowd was one open mouth, shouting, the church bellsburst into peals overhead, answered by the roll of drums from the deckand the blare of trumpets; and then the whole din sank into nothingnessfor a moment under the heart-shaking crash of the ship's broadside,echoed instantly by the deeper roar of the dockyard guns, and answeredafter a moment or two from far away by the dull boom from the Tower. AndAnthony leaned yet further from the window and added his voice to thetumult.
As he rode back alone to Lambeth, after parting with the others at LondonBridge, for they intended to go down home again that night, he wasglowing with national zeal. He had seen not only royalty and magnificencebut an apotheosis of character that day. There in the little trim figurewith the curly hair kneeling before the Queen was England at itsbest--England that sent two ships against an empire; and it was theChurch that claimed Sir Francis Drake as a son, and indeed a devoted one,in a sense, that Anthony himself was serving here at Lambeth, and forwhich he felt a real and fervent enthusiasm.
He was surprised a couple of days later to receive a note in LadyMaxwell's handwriting, brought up by a special messenger from the Hall.
"There is a friend of mine," she wrote, "to come to Lambeth Housepresently, he tells me, to be kept a day or two in ward before he is sentto Wisbeach. He is a Catholic, named Mr. Henry Buxton, who showed megreat love during the sorrow of my dear husband's death; and I write toyou to show kindness to him, and to get him a good bed, and all that maycomfort him: for I know not whether Lambeth Prison is easy or hard; but Ihope perhaps that since my Lord Archbishop is a prisoner himself he haspity on such as are so too; and so my pains be in vain. However, if youwill see Mr. Buxton at least, and have some talk with him, and show himthis letter, it will cheer him perhaps to see a friend's face."
Anthony of course made inquiries at once, and found that Mr. Buxton wasto arrive on the following afternoon. It was the custom to send prisonersoccasionally to Lambeth, more particularly those more distinguished, orwho, it was hoped, could be persuaded to friendly conference. Mr. Buxton,however, was thought
to be incorrigible, and was only sent there becausethere was some delay in the preparations for his reception at Wisbeach,which since the previous year had been used as an overflow prison forPapists.
On the evening of the next day, which was Friday, Anthony went straightout from the Hall after supper to the gateway prison, and found Mr.Buxton at a fish supper in the little prison in the outer part of theeastern tower. He introduced himself, but found it necessary to show LadyMaxwell's letter before the prisoner was satisfied as to his identity.
"You must pardon me, Mr. Norris," he said, when he had read the letterand asked a question or two, "but we poor Papists are bound to be shy.Why, in this very room," he went on, pointing to the inner corner awayfrom the door, and smiling, "for aught I know a man sits now to hear us."
Anthony was considerably astonished to see this stranger point soconfidently to the hiding-hole, where indeed the warder used to sitsometimes behind a brick partition, to listen to the talk of theprisoners; and showed his surprise.
"Ah, Mr. Norris," the other said, "we Papists are bound to be wellinformed; or else where were our lives? But come, sir, let us sit down."
Anthony apologised for interrupting him at his supper, and offered tocome again, but Mr. Buxton begged him not to leave, as he had nearlyfinished. So Anthony sat down, and observed the prison and the prisoner.It was fairly well provided with necessaries: a good straw bed lay in onecorner on trestles; and washing utensils stood at the further wall; andthere was an oil lamp that hung high up from an iron pin. The prisoner'sluggage lay still half unpacked on the floor, and a row of pegs held ahat and a cloak. Mr. Buxton himself was a dark-haired man with a shortbeard and merry bright eyes; and was dressed soberly as a gentleman; andbehaved himself with courtesy and assurance. But it was a queer placewith this flickering lamp, thought Anthony, for a gentleman to be eatinghis supper in. When Mr. Buxton had finished his dish of roach and atankard of ale, he looked up at Anthony, smiling.
"My lord knows the ways of Catholics, then," he said, pointing to thebones on his plate.
Anthony explained that the Protestants observed the Friday abstinence,too.
"Ah yes," said the other, "I was forgetting the Queen's late injunctions.Let us see; how did it run? 'The same is not required for any liking ofPapish Superstitions or Ceremonies (is it?) hitherto used, which utterlyare to be detested of all Christian folk'; (no, the last word or two is agloss), 'but only to maintain the mariners in this land, and to set mena-fishing.' That is the sense of it, is it not, sir? You fast, that is,not for heavenly reasons, which were a foolish and Papish thing to do;but for earthly reasons, which is a reasonable and Protestant thing todo."
Anthony might have taken this assault a little amiss, if he had not seena laughing light in his companion's eyes; and remembered, too, thatimprisonment is apt to breed a little bitterness. So he smiled back athim. Then soon they fell to talking of Lady Maxwell and Great Keynes,where it seemed that Mr. Buxton had stayed more than once.
"I knew Sir Nicholas well," he said, "God rest his soul. It seems to mehe is one of those whose life continually gave the lie to men who saythat a Catholic can be no true Englishman. There never beat a more loyalheart than his."
Anthony agreed; but asked if it were not true that Catholics were indifficulties sometimes as to the proper authority to be obeyed--the Popeor the Prince.
"It is true," said the other, "or it might be. Yet the principle isclear, _Date Caesari quae sunt Caesaris_. The difficulty lies but in theapplication of the maxim."
"But with us," said Anthony--"Church of England folk,--there hardly canbe ever any such difficulty; for the Prince of the State is the Governorof the Church as well."
"I take your point," said Mr. Buxton. "You mean that a National Church isbetter, for that spiritual and temporal authorities are then at one."
"Just so," said Anthony, beginning to warm to his favourite theme. "TheChurch is the nation regarded as religious. When England wars on land itis through her army, which is herself under arms; when on sea she embarksin the navy; and in the warfare with spiritual powers, it is through herChurch. And surely in this way the Church must always be the Church ofthe people. The Englishman and the Spaniard are like cat and dog; theylike not the same food nor the same kind of coat; I hear that theirbuildings are not like ours; their language, nay, their faces and minds,are not like ours. Then why should be their prayers and their religion? Iquarrel with no foreigner's faith; it is God who made us so."
Anthony stopped, breathless with his unusual eloquence; but it was thesubject that lay nearest to his heart at present, and he found no lack ofwords. The prisoner had watched him with twinkling eyes, nodding his headas if in agreement; and when he had finished his little speech, noddedagain in meditative silence.
"It is complete," he answered, "complete. And as a theory would beconvincing; and I envy you, Master Norris, for you stand on the top ofthe wave. That is what England holds. But, my dear sir, Christ our Lordrefused such a kingdom as that. My kingdom, He said, is not of thisworld--is not, that is, ruled by the world's divisions and systems. Youhave described Babel,--every nation with its own language. But it was toundo Babel and to build one spiritual city that our Saviour came down,and sent the Holy Ghost to make the Church at Pentecost out of Arabiansand Medes and Elamites--to break down the partition-walls, as the apostletells us,--that there be neither Jew nor Greek, barbarian norScythian--and to establish one vast kingdom (which for that very reasonwe name Catholic), to destroy differences between nation and nation, bylifting each to be of the People of God--to pull down Babel, the City ofConfusion, and build Jerusalem the City of Peace. Dear God!" cried Mr.Buxton, rising in his excitement, and standing over Anthony, who lookedat him astonished and bewildered. "You and your England would parcel outthe Kingdom of heaven into national Churches, as you name them--among allthe kingdoms of the world; and yet you call yourselves the servants ofHim who came to do just the opposite--yes, and who will do it, in spiteof you, and make the kingdoms of this world, instead, the Kingdom of ourLord and of His Christ. Why, if each nation is to have her Church, whynot each county and each town--yes, and each separate soul, too; for allare different! Nay, nay, Master Norris, you are blinded by the Prince ofthis world. He is shewing you even now from an high mountain the kingdomsof this world and the glory of them: lift your eyes, dear lad, to thehills from whence cometh your help; those hills higher than the mountainwhere you stand; and see the new Jerusalem, and the glory of her, comingdown from God to dwell with men."
Mr. Buxton stood, his eyes blazing, plainly carried away wholly byenthusiasm; and Anthony, in spite of himself, could not be angry. Hemoistened his lips once or twice.
"Well, sir; of course I hold with what you say, in one sense; but it isnot come yet; and never will, till our Lord comes back to make allplain."
"Not come yet?" cried the other, "Not come yet! Why, what is the one HolyCatholic and Apostolic Church but that? There you have one visiblekingdom, gathered out of every nation and tongue and people, as theapostle said. I have a little estate in France, Master Norris, where I gosometimes; and there are folk in their wooden shoes, talking a differenthuman tongue to me, but, thank God! the same divine one--of contritionand adoration and prayer. There we have the same mass, the samepriesthood, the same blessed sacrament and the same Faith, as in my ownlittle oratory at Stanfield. Go to Spain, Africa, Rome, India; whereverChrist is preached; there is the Church as it is here--the City of Peace.And as for you and your Church! with whom do you hold communion?"
This stung Anthony, and he answered impulsively.
"In Geneva and Frankfort, at least, there are folk who speak the samedivine tongue, as you call it, as we do; they and we are agreed inmatters of faith."
"Indeed," said Mr. Burton sharply, "then what becomes of yourNationalism, and the varied temperaments that you told me God had made?"
Anthony bit his lip; he had overshot his mark. But the other swept on;and as he talked began to step up and down the little room, in a
kind ofrhapsody.
"Is it possible?" he cried, "that men should be so blind as to prefer thelittle divided companies they name National Churches--all confusion anddenial--to that glorious kingdom that Christ bought with his own dearblood, and has built upon Peter, against which the gates of hell shallnot prevail. Yes, I know it is a flattering and a pleasant thought thatthis little nation should have her own Church; and it is humbling andbitter that England should be called to submit to a foreign potentate inthe affairs of faith--Nay, cry they like the Jews of old, not Christ butBarabbas--we will not have this Man to reign over us. And yet this isGod's will and not that. Mark me, Mr. Norris, what you hope will nevercome to be--the Liar will not keep his word--you shall not have thatNational Church that you desire: as you have dealt, so will it be dealtto you: as you have rejected, so will you be rejected. England herselfwill cast you off: your religious folk will break into a hundreddivisions. Even now your Puritans mock at your prelates--so soon! And ifthey do thus now, what will they do hereafter? You have cast awayAuthority, and authority shall forsake you. Behold your house is leftunto you desolate."
"Forgive me, Mr. Norris," he added after a pause, "if I have beendiscourteous, and have forgotten my manners; but--but I would, as theapostle said, that you were altogether as I am, except these bonds."