CHAPTER IV--THE GOOD HOPE
An hour thereafter, Dick was back at the Goat and Bagpipes, breaking hisfast, and receiving the report of his messengers and sentries. Duckworthwas still absent from Shoreby; and this was frequently the case, for heplayed many parts in the world, shared many different interests, andconducted many various affairs. He had founded that fellowship of theBlack Arrow, as a ruined man longing for vengeance and money; and yetamong those who knew him best, he was thought to be the agent andemissary of the great King-maker of England, Richard, Earl of Warwick.
In his absence, at any rate, it fell upon Richard Shelton to commandaffairs in Shoreby; and, as he sat at meat, his mind was full of care,and his face heavy with consideration. It had been determined, betweenhim and the Lord Foxham, to make one bold stroke that evening, and, bybrute force, to set Joanna free. The obstacles, however, were many; andas one after another of his scouts arrived, each brought him morediscomfortable news.
Sir Daniel was alarmed by the skirmish of the night before. He hadincreased the garrison of the house in the garden; but not content withthat, he had stationed horsemen in all the neighbouring lanes, so that hemight have instant word of any movement. Meanwhile, in the court of hismansion, steeds stood saddled, and the riders, armed at every point,awaited but the signal to ride.
The adventure of the night appeared more and more difficult of execution,till suddenly Dick's countenance lightened.
"Lawless!" he cried, "you that were a shipman, can ye steal me a ship?"
"Master Dick," replied Lawless, "if ye would back me, I would agree tosteal York Minster."
Presently after, these two set forth and descended to the harbour. Itwas a considerable basin, lying among sand hills, and surrounded withpatches of down, ancient ruinous lumber, and tumble-down slums of thetown. Many decked ships and many open boats either lay there at anchor,or had been drawn up on the beach. A long duration of bad weather haddriven them from the high seas into the shelter of the port; and thegreat trooping of black clouds, and the cold squalls that followed oneanother, now with a sprinkling of dry snow, now in a mere swoop of wind,promised no improvement but rather threatened a more serious storm in theimmediate future.
The seamen, in view of the cold and the wind, had for the most part slunkashore, and were now roaring and singing in the shoreside taverns. Manyof the ships already rode unguarded at their anchors; and as the day woreon, and the weather offered no appearance of improvement, the number wascontinually being augmented. It was to these deserted ships, and, aboveall, to those of them that lay far out, that Lawless directed hisattention; while Dick, seated upon an anchor that was half embedded inthe sand, and giving ear, now to the rude, potent, and boding voices ofthe gale, and now to the hoarse singing of the shipmen in a neighbouringtavern, soon forgot his immediate surroundings and concerns in theagreeable recollection of Lord Foxham's promise.
He was disturbed by a touch upon his shoulder. It was Lawless, pointingto a small ship that lay somewhat by itself, and within but a little ofthe harbour mouth, where it heaved regularly and smoothly on the enteringswell. A pale gleam of winter sunshine fell, at that moment, on thevessel's deck, relieving her against a bank of scowling cloud; and inthis momentary glitter Dick could see a couple of men hauling the skiffalongside.
"There, sir," said Lawless, "mark ye it well! There is the ship forto-night."
Presently the skiff put out from the vessel's side, and the two men,keeping her head well to the wind, pulled lustily for shore. Lawlessturned to a loiterer.
"How call ye her?" he asked, pointing to the little vessel.
"They call her the Good Hope, of Dartmouth," replied the loiterer. "Hercaptain, Arblaster by name. He pulleth the bow oar in yon skiff."
This was all that Lawless wanted. Hurriedly thanking the man, he movedround the shore to a certain sandy creek, for which the skiff washeading. There he took up his position, and as soon as they were withinearshot, opened fire on the sailors of the Good Hope.
"What! Gossip Arblaster!" he cried. "Why, ye be well met; nay, gossip,ye be right well met, upon the rood! And is that the Good Hope? Ay, Iwould know her among ten thousand!--a sweet shear, a sweet boat! Butmarry come up, my gossip, will ye drink? I have come into mine estatewhich doubtless ye remember to have heard on. I am now rich; I have leftto sail upon the sea; I do sail now, for the most part, upon spiced ale.Come, fellow; thy hand upon 't! Come, drink with an old shipfellow!"
Skipper Arblaster, a long-faced, elderly, weather-beaten man, with aknife hanging about his neck by a plaited cord, and for all the worldlike any modern seaman in his gait and bearing, had hung back in obviousamazement and distrust. But the name of an estate, and a certain air oftipsified simplicity and good-fellowship which Lawless very wellaffected, combined to conquer his suspicious jealousy; his countenancerelaxed, and he at once extended his open hand and squeezed that of theoutlaw in a formidable grasp.
"Nay," he said, "I cannot mind you. But what o' that? I would drinkwith any man, gossip, and so would my man Tom. Man Tom," he added,addressing his follower, "here is my gossip, whose name I cannot mind,but no doubt a very good seaman. Let's go drink with him and his shorefriend."
Lawless led the way, and they were soon seated in an alehouse, which, asit was very new, and stood in an exposed and solitary station, was lesscrowded than those nearer to the centre of the port. It was but a shedof timber, much like a blockhouse in the backwoods of to-day, and wascoarsely furnished with a press or two, a number of naked benches, andboards set upon barrels to play the part of tables. In the middle, andbesieged by half a hundred violent draughts, a fire of wreck-wood blazedand vomited thick smoke.
"Ay, now," said Lawless, "here is a shipman's joy--a good fire and a goodstiff cup ashore, with foul weather without and an off-sea gale a-snoringin the roof! Here's to the Good Hope! May she ride easy!"
"Ay," said Skipper Arblaster, "'tis good weather to be ashore in, that issooth. Man Tom, how say ye to that? Gossip, ye speak well, though I cannever think upon your name; but ye speak very well. May the Good Hoperide easy! Amen!"
"Friend Dickon," resumed Lawless, addressing his commander, "ye havecertain matters on hand, unless I err? Well, prithee be about themincontinently. For here I be with the choice of all good company, twotough old shipmen; and till that ye return I will go warrant these bravefellows will bide here and drink me cup for cup. We are not likeshore-men, we old, tough tarry-Johns!"
"It is well meant," returned the skipper. "Ye can go, boy; for I willkeep your good friend and my good gossip company till curfew--ay, and bySt. Mary, till the sun get up again! For, look ye, when a man hath beenlong enough at sea, the salt getteth me into the clay upon his bones; andlet him drink a draw-well, he will never be quenched."
Thus encouraged upon all hands, Dick rose, saluted his company, and goingforth again into the gusty afternoon, got him as speedily as he might tothe Goat and Bagpipes. Thence he sent word to my Lord Foxham that, sosoon as ever the evening closed, they would have a stout boat to keep thesea in. And then leading along with him a couple of outlaws who had someexperience of the sea, he returned himself to the harbour and the littlesandy creek.
The skiff of the Good Hope lay among many others, from which it waseasily distinguished by its extreme smallness and fragility. Indeed,when Dick and his two men had taken their places, and begun to put forthout of the creek into the open harbour, the little cockle dipped into theswell and staggered under every gust of wind, like a thing upon the pointof sinking.
The Good Hope, as we have said, was anchored far out, where the swell washeaviest. No other vessel lay nearer than several cables' length; thosethat were the nearest were themselves entirely deserted; and as the skiffapproached, a thick flurry of snow and a sudden darkening of the weatherfurther concealed the movements of the outlaws from all possible espial.In a trice they had leaped upon the heaving deck, and the skiff wasdancing at the stern. The Good Hope was captured.
>
She was a good stout boat, decked in the bows and amidships, but open inthe stern. She carried one mast, and was rigged between a felucca and alugger. It would seem that Skipper Arblaster had made an excellentventure, for the hold was full of pieces of French wine; and in thelittle cabin, besides the Virgin Mary in the bulkhead which proved thecaptain's piety, there were many lockfast chests and cupboards, whichshowed him to be rich and careful.
A dog, who was the sole occupant of the vessel, furiously barked and bitthe heels of the boarders; but he was soon kicked into the cabin, and thedoor shut upon his just resentment. A lamp was lit and fixed in theshrouds to mark the vessel clearly from the shore; one of the wine piecesin the hold was broached, and a cup of excellent Gascony emptied to theadventure of the evening; and then, while one of the outlaws began to getready his bow and arrows and prepare to hold the ship against all comers,the other hauled in the skiff and got overboard, where he held on,waiting for Dick.
"Well, Jack, keep me a good watch," said the young commander, preparingto follow his subordinate. "Ye will do right well."
"Why," returned Jack, "I shall do excellent well indeed, so long as welie here; but once we put the nose of this poor ship outside theharbour--See, there she trembles! Nay, the poor shrew heard the words,and the heart misgave her in her oak-tree ribs. But look, Master Dick!how black the weather gathers!"
The darkness ahead was, indeed, astonishing. Great billows heaved up outof the blackness, one after another; and one after another the Good Hopebuoyantly climbed, and giddily plunged upon the further side. A thinsprinkle of snow and thin flakes of foam came flying, and powdered thedeck; and the wind harped dismally among the rigging.
"In sooth, it looketh evilly," said Dick. "But what cheer! 'Tis but asquall, and presently it will blow over." But, in spite of his words, hewas depressingly affected by the bleak disorder of the sky and thewailing and fluting of the wind; and as he got over the side of the GoodHope and made once more for the landing-creek with the best speed ofoars, he crossed himself devoutly, and recommended to Heaven the lives ofall who should adventure on the sea.
At the landing-creek there had already gathered about a dozen of theoutlaws. To these the skiff was left, and they were bidden embarkwithout delay.
A little further up the beach Dick found Lord Foxham hurrying in quest ofhim, his face concealed with a dark hood, and his bright armour coveredby a long russet mantle of a poor appearance.
"Young Shelton," he said, "are ye for sea, then, truly?"
"My lord," replied Richard, "they lie about the house with horsemen; itmay not be reached from the land side without alarum; and Sir Daniel onceadvertised of our adventure, we can no more carry it to a good end than,saving your presence, we could ride upon the wind. Now, in going roundby sea, we do run some peril by the elements; but, what much outweightethall, we have a chance to make good our purpose and bear off the maid."
"Well," returned Lord Foxham, "lead on. I will, in some sort, follow youfor shame's sake; but I own I would I were in bed."
"Here, then," said Dick. "Hither we go to fetch our pilot."
And he led the way to the rude alehouse where he had given rendezvous toa portion of his men. Some of these he found lingering round the dooroutside; others had pushed more boldly in, and, choosing places as nearas possible to where they saw their comrade, gathered close about Lawlessand the two shipmen. These, to judge by the distempered countenance andcloudy eye, had long since gone beyond the boundaries of moderation; andas Richard entered, closely followed by Lord Foxham, they were all threetuning up an old, pitiful sea-ditty, to the chorus of the wailing of thegale.
The young leader cast a rapid glance about the shed. The fire had justbeen replenished, and gave forth volumes of black smoke, so that it wasdifficult to see clearly in the further corners. It was plain, however,that the outlaws very largely outnumbered the remainder of the guests.Satisfied upon this point, in case of any failure in the operation of hisplan, Dick strode up to the table and resumed his place upon the bench.
"Hey?" cried the skipper, tipsily, "who are ye, hey?"
"I want a word with you without, Master Arblaster," returned Dick; "andhere is what we shall talk of." And he showed him a gold noble in theglimmer of the firelight.
The shipman's eyes burned, although he still failed to recognise ourhero.
"Ay, boy," he said, "I am with you. Gossip, I will be back anon. Drinkfair, gossip;" and, taking Dick's arm to steady his uneven steps, hewalked to the door of the alehouse.
As soon as he was over the threshold, ten strong arms had seized andbound him; and in two minutes more, with his limbs trussed one toanother, and a good gag in his mouth, he had been tumbled neck and cropinto a neighbouring hay-barn. Presently, his man Tom, similarly secured,was tossed beside him, and the pair were left to their uncouthreflections for the night.
And now, as the time for concealment had gone by, Lord Foxham's followerswere summoned by a preconcerted signal, and the party, boldly takingpossession of as many boats as their numbers required, pulled in aflotilla for the light in the rigging of the ship. Long before the lastman had climbed to the deck of the Good Hope, the sound of furiousshouting from the shore showed that a part, at least, of the seamen haddiscovered the loss of their skiffs.
But it was now too late, whether for recovery or revenge. Out of someforty fighting men now mustered in the stolen ship, eight had been tosea, and could play the part of mariners. With the aid of these, a sliceof sail was got upon her. The cable was cut. Lawless, vacillating onhis feet, and still shouting the chorus of sea-ballads, took the longtiller in his hands: and the Good Hope began to flit forward into thedarkness of the night, and to face the great waves beyond the harbourbar.
Richard took his place beside the weather rigging. Except for the ship'sown lantern, and for some lights in Shoreby town, that were alreadyfading to leeward, the whole world of air was as black as in a pit. Onlyfrom time to time, as the Good Hope swooped dizzily down into the valleyof the rollers, a crest would break--a great cataract of snowy foam wouldleap in one instant into being--and, in an instant more, would streaminto the wake and vanish.
Many of the men lay holding on and praying aloud; many more were sick,and had crept into the bottom, where they sprawled among the cargo. Andwhat with the extreme violence of the motion, and the continued drunkenbravado of Lawless, still shouting and singing at the helm, the stoutestheart on board may have nourished a shrewd misgiving as to the result.
But Lawless, as if guided by an instinct, steered the ship across thebreakers, struck the lee of a great sandbank, where they sailed forawhile in smooth water, and presently after laid her alongside a rude,stone pier, where she was hastily made fast, and lay ducking and grindingin the dark.