The MS. in a Red Box

  CHAPTER V

  On arriving at Temple, I hastened to bed, and for two hours or moreslept the heavy sleep of extreme weariness, but then awoke in pain andburning thirst. On getting out of bed, I found myself stiff and sore,and somewhat light-headed; so, after a draught of water, tumbled intobed again to watch for the morning in great uneasiness and impatience.At length the dawn appeared, and not long afterwards Luke entered mychamber, and made much ado about my condition, and that of my clothing,rent in places, and stiffened with blood, which he naturally supposedto be my own. His uplifted voice aroused Mr. Butharwick, who came tomy room, and I was compelled to submit to an examination, whichrevealed more bruises and slight wounds than I had been aware of. As Ihad some fever upon me, my tutor and my servant took a high and mightytone, declaring that I must keep my bed, and drink febrifuges; and Ionly escaped blood-letting because Luke had got it into his noddle thatI had already lost at least a gallon. When once Luke got anything intohis head, no other man could get it out again. In rising to prove thattheir solicitude was needless, a touch of giddiness laid me on my back,after which they had their way with me--they and the housekeeper, whoboasted great skill in the compounding of broths of bitter herbs andseldom had the chance to exercise her art in our healthy house.

  So this day I spent in bed, having my tutor for company, my fatherbeing away on some business of his solicitorship, and having (for once)left no clerkly task for Mr. Butharwick. My old friend was in no waysurprised by the things which I had heard from Mistress Goel.

  "Your father knows what has been reported to the earl, and isbeforehand informed of every step which his lordship takes. The'Solicitor' has trusty spies in the earl's own household. For example,he knows that a troop of soldiers would have been ordered here ere nowto search for arms, but that they could not reach Temple, either fromHull or Doncaster, without our being advertised by the marshmen."

  For my part, I had no confidence in "spies," who might play a game oftheir own, but I held my tongue. Mr. Butharwick had infinite faith inmy father's ability, and it was not for me to shake it.

  Mr. Butharwick lay under great apprehension as to what might be theupshot of the skirmish at Thorne, fearing I might be summoned to appearbefore the President of Council on the charge of assaulting those whowere, in a manner, the officers of his Majesty, but took refuge in thecertainty of our knowing the purposes of the earl in time for me tohide until my father should return, I thought his fears on that scoregroundless. A Vavasour could not be condemned without trial, and anopen trial would be dangerous to Sheffield. As it was, the death ofWill Staniforth might be laid to his charge.

  Three days later, I received a letter from Staniforth's father, beggingme to come to him. Though I dreaded to witness the grief of an oldman, infirm, and now bereaved of his only child, I set about going.The water had risen in the marsh since Dick and I crossed, and I meantto pole over in a punt from Belshaw to Messic Mere, whence a sailingboat would carry me to Staniforth in two, or at most, three hours. AndSandtoft lay in my way.

  I took Luke with me, or, as I should rather say, Luke went with me, forhe gave me to understand that in future he did not intend me to goabout alone, in which he was strongly upheld by Mr. Butharwick. Notthat I opposed his going, for the words of the gipsy girl had aninfluence with me, and I even carried gun and pistol, albeit there wassmall likelihood we should meet with an enemy on our voyage.

  Here I am put in mind by a critic (the kindest in the world) thatAxholme is greatly changed from what it was at the time of which Iwrite, and that I ought, for the better understanding of my readers, togive a more particular account than I have hitherto done of the natureof the country in my youth. The fault is plain, but not the remedy,since I am unskilled in description. The best I can do is to prefix amap, one glance at which will show more than pages of my writing could.As to the journey to Staniforth, I may say that the space betweenBelshaw and Messic Mere was sometimes land, sometimes water, and moreoften a mixture of both. In dry seasons, swine could pick up some feedthere, and, now and then, a venturesome cottager turned out a cow,keeping watch lest it should be bogged. In winter, eels were to becaught and ducks shot there. Clumps of birch, small oak, poplar, andalder grew here and there on "holmes" of gravel or sand. Long rows ofreeds marked channels always filled with water; ling and gorse, inspots, flourished on the drier mounds and ridges.

  On this day, as I have said, there was abundant water (though the monthwas June, and the summer had been almost rainless), which we supposedto be due to heavy showers further south, swelling the rivers Trent andIdle.

  Luke took the pole, and pushed quickly across to the mere, where wechanged into a sailing boat, and went gaily to Sandtoft, then an oblongisland about four furlongs by two, or, roughly, some eighty acres inextent, surrounded by the Idle. Leaving Luke in the boat, I scrambledup the bank, which sloped steeply, and was palisaded at top to theheight of six feet. I pulled myself up and looked over, and hadscarcely done so when a bullet whizzed over my head, and I saw the manwho had fired it reloading as he came nearer to the fence, and othersswarming out of a shed like angry bees out of a hive. Thinking itmight be as dangerous to retreat as to advance, I drew myself up andtumbled, rather than jumped, down inside the palisade, and walkedtoward the sentinel, calling out, "A friend," which did not hinder hisshooting a second time. Happily, he was no marksman. Being quiteignorant of Dutch, I continued to announce myself as a friend inEnglish, German, and French. When we came within arm's length, two ofthe men collared me, and one asked in a sort of French what my businesswas. My answer so far satisfied them that they let go their hold, andconducted me to Doctor Goel's abode.

  On the way I admired the diligence and skill which had reared a Dutchtown in so short a time. A wide street of substantial houses, mainlybuilt of wood, it is true, ran from west to east, and at either end ofthe street there were workshops, storehouses, and what I took to be anarsenal. As I afterwards learned, a good deal of the material had beenbrought over ready shaped, needing only to be put together on the spot.Some acres of ground were covered with pumps, wind-mills, sluice-gates,carts, in sections or complete, and machines and parts of machines ofwhich I could not guess the use or purpose. One thing I saw certainly.The men who had embarked in this enterprise would not lightly abandonit. They had precise and definite plans, and they had expended vastsums of money. The settlement was fortified as for a siege, and therewere several pieces of artillery. In an open space stood the gallows,and near by a pole from which flew the Dutch flag, surmounted by theroyal standard of England. To drive these people out of the Isle wouldrequire an army, and a general. As for judicial sentences, Iremembered that it was a legal maxim that possession was nine points ofthe law. Looking round on the evidences of the king's authority, andof the wealth at the disposal of Vermuijden, and of the determinationof the settlers, it came home to me that my father was losing hislabour and spending money in vain. And yet I rejoiced to think thatMistress Goel was likely to remain in the Isle. It did not occur to methat I might be banished from it.

  My guards led me to the doctor's house, where we found him seated at atable on which were spread a handful of feathers, a piece offish--smelling stale--bits of touchwood, and other rubbish. As weentered the room, he laid down a queer shaped lens, through which hehad been gazing at some of these things, and greeted me cordially. Heand the men held a short parley, and they turned to go, when I beggedthe doctor (in very bad French) to assure them of the harmlessness ofmy man Luke, lest they should take it into their heads to shoot thepoor fellow. After further talk with them, the doctor informed me thatone of the men had a little English, and had promised to certify Lukethat all was well with me. The doctor and I talked in a heavy fashion,bad French on my side, broken English on his, for a few minutes, whenMistress Goel appeared. She had not tarried to don her finestclothing, as is the wont of so many damsels, but came in householdgarb, her round, white arms bare to the elbow, her head covered by somekind of ho
od, which, however, she threw back as she entered the room,her fair face flushed as by her work, but a smile of welcome in hereyes--more beautiful than ever in her homely neatness. In the courseof our chat, she told me that the watchmen were on the alert, becauselast night some bold fellows had scaled the palisade, broken somecostly machinery, and endeavoured to set fire to the buildings.Vermuijden's lieutenant had given strict command to shoot everyintruder who did not enter by the gates, of which it seemed there weretwo.

  "Is it that you wear chain-mail under your clothing, or a scapularyblest by the Pope or witch's charm," she asked, "that you court dangeras if you loved it?"

  I was much too slow-witted to give the right answer, and blunderedsomething about being preoccupied with the pleasure of seeing her. But_Ay di mi_! I forget that what I recall with delight will not interestthe reader.

  When I rose to take my leave, and Mistress Goel heard whither I wasbound, she inquired whether we had food with us in the boat. Onhearing that we had none, she insisted on supplying us, "For the poorfather will be overcome with sorrow, and never think of your hunger,"she said. As I would not stay to take a meal with them, she retired tothe kitchen, and came back cloaked, with basket in hand, followed byher maid, who carried another. Declaring that she would show me thegate, so that I need not rush on bullets when next I came, she led theway to a point about a hundred yards further round the bend of theriver. I hailed Luke, who came up and received the baskets with looksof wonder. Mistress Goel commended Martha's pastry to our attention,and with "Bon voyage!" she left us.

  As we fell to our luncheon, I asked Luke what had passed between himand the Dutchman who had engaged to assure him of my safety.

  "'A leaned o'er fence, and 'a says, 'Icy Ingliss! Allride. Got-tam'I stared at un like a stuck pig, and 'a says again, 'Allride, Got-tam,'and grinned from ear to ear, so I knew he meant it friendly."

  When we had ended our meal, Luke said, "Master Frank, I've heard cooksay as foreigners can't make pastry."

  "I dare say; what of that?"

  "Why, it's a thundering lie; that's what it is, a thundering lie! Inever ate such eel-pie in all my days. And ain't she spanking?"

  "Who is spanking? Cook?"

  "No, no; that Martha. 'Tis a nice, comfortable name. And what a pieit was!"

  Luke's eyes were half closed, as if he were deep in meditation. AtStaniforth, forgetful of his self-imposed duty of keeping guard overme, he would have remained dreaming in the boat if I had not remindedhim of his duty.

  The servant who admitted me whispered, "Master is very bad to-day, sir,but he will see you."

  The old man sat bent forward over a turf fire, though the day was hot.The room was almost unbearably close to me. I had seen him not morethan twice or thrice before, for he shrank from exposing hisdecrepitude to general view. Some years ago he had been thrown overhis horse's head, and, in our country phrase, his back had been broken,that is, he had sustained an injury to the spine, which had deprivedhim of the use of his lower limbs. He was a pitiable object, cowering,almost bent double, over the fire; his long, white hair hanging abouthis shoulders, his beard reaching nearly to his knees, his yellow facepuckered with a thousand wrinkles. But there was a fierce light in theeyes as he turned toward me and said--

  "Hast done right to come, young Vavasour. Look at his grave."

  He pointed to the window, from which I saw a newly made mound in themiddle of a field of grass. Then, as if he answered a question, hesaid--

  "No, the parson didn't gabble lies over him. We put his body into theground without parson's lies." Then the old man repeated scornfully,"'We give Thee hearty thanks, for that it hath pleased Thee to deliverthis our brother out of the miseries of this sinful world.' It mightbe said for me, but not for him, my strong, handsome boy, who ought tohave lived sixty years. But I prayed, young Vavasour--I prayed fordeath and damnation on his murderer."

  The strength and fire with which the feeble old man hurled out the lastwords were terrible. Then his tone changed.

  "The best son that ever lived he was. Up with the lark, all over thefarm before breakfast, seldom taking his pleasure with his mates.Gentle as a woman! No woman would ha' been half so gentle with apeevish old man, often mad with pain. Why should the Lord take theprop of my age, the one joy of a broken-backed cripple? The Lorddidn't take him, you'll say. No; but He let the devil do it. If Icould but have his murderer here! Oh, that I might grip him by thethroat!"

  The father stretched out his arms, the trembling hands clenched, as ifthey grasped the neck of the man he hated. Still I said nothing. Whatcould I say?

  "He loved thee, Frank. He made me jealous at times with his talk ofthee. Said how brave thou wert, how warm-hearted, what a goodsportsman, what a gallant gentleman, what a true, staunch friend! Andthou led'st him to his death. It was thy quarrel he died in. He wasno brawler."

  "That is true," I said; "he lost his life through coming to my rescue."

  "He did not lose his life," the old man screamed; "his life wastaken--foully, treacherously taken, and his blood cries for vengeance.Wilt be a man and avenge him?" His eyes glittered as he asked thequestion.

  "You cannot think of asking me to pledge myself to do murder," Ianswered.

  "Murder! who talks of murder?" he rejoined. "If it were any other manthan the son of my Lord President, I could have him hanged. But whatpoor man dare give evidence against him? Curse him. What lawyer inthe isle or county will undertake my case? When justice is not to behad by the law, we have a right to take it. If God or devil would giveme the use of my limbs, but for a single day, I would take it."

  The passion of the old man lent him strength, and he drew himself up,almost erect, a fearsome sight.

  But in a moment he drooped again, and moaned, and I sat silent besidehim.

  Then rousing himself he said, "Hast milk in thy veins instead of blood?Canst not hate the man who killed thy friend--not man to man in honestfight, but by a dastard word to his villains?"

  "God knows I hate him only too well," I replied.

  "Dost, Frank, dost? God bless thee for that. Meet him, taunt him,make him draw on thee, shoot at thee; force a quarrel on him somehow,and kill him! kill him!--kill him as slowly as thou canst, so it besure."

  He put his trembling hand on my knee, and thrust his face near to mine,his eyes blazing under their bushes of dead-white hair.

  "Swear it, Frank," he begged. "Swear it, and I shall die happy.Happy!" he groaned, in mockery of his own word. "Nay, don't speakyet," he said. "Listen to me. Thy father is wasting his patrimony onlaw and lawyers. 'Twill do no good. When did it ever do good to spendmoney so? But don't let that trouble thee. If thou'lt be a son to meso far as to do justice on the man that murdered Will, the Grange shallbe thine, and many a good mortgage besides. Shalt be a rich man, youngVavasour."

  Up to this point, I confess that the old man had been so near gainingthe ascendancy over me, that I might have made him some sort of promiseof vengeance on his enemy, but this offer broke the fascination.

  "Your grief has maddened you, Mr. Staniforth, or you would not bribe meto do murder."

  He tore his long hair with rage, and moaned--

  "Fool that I was not to remember thy pride and vanity of the Vavasourbreed. Some men are vain, and some are proud, but Vavasours are both.Thou wilt not avenge the murder of thy friend, who died for thee--forthee, dost hear? Thou wilt not help his heart-broken old father,because he spoke of leaving his land to thee? Then go and the devil gowith thee. May an old man's curse cling to thee all the days of thylife."

  He shook with rage, and spoke with a choked voice, foaming at the lip,so that I dreaded lest he should fall into a fit and die. I hurriedout of the room, and bade the servant, who met me in the hall, hastento aid her master. Calling Luke to follow me, I sped down to theriver. What a change to be out in the pure air, under the blue sky,hearing the twitter of the swallows far above, seeing green fieldswhere cattle grazed, and
the river rippling in the sunshine! And howmiserable to feel that I, who had the freedom of the beautiful earth,and abounding life in me, could do nothing for the sorrow-crazed fatherof my dead friend!