CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
HOW CAPTAIN MERRIMAN CAME AND WENT BETWIXT ME AND THE LIGHT.
Our speed did not last long; for very soon the hard road turned off tothe coast, whereas I, being chary, even of minutes, resolved to strikeinland and make direct for the Bann.
I was a fool for my pains, as I presently found; for we were sooncrawling and floundering among thickets and morasses like blind men.
Add to that that the weather grew boisterous and stormy, that ourprovisions were sunk very low, that now and again we were set upon bythe clansmen of the Glynns, who, for all the truce, hated England withall their hearts, and you may guess if we made quick progress.
At length we captured a countryman, who, to save his neck, offered toguide us out into the Route country, where Castleroe was. But tenprecious days had been lost us in that journey; during which, who was tosay what evil might not be befalling those two helpless maids?
'Twas a dark evening when at last we swam the river and rode to the gateof Turlogh's house. Well I remembered the place!
Lights were moving in the courtyard. There was a noise of horsesstanding, and of men calling to one another. Even the sentry at thegate was not at his post to challenge us, and we rode in almostunobserved.
"Where is your Captain?" demanded I, dismounting, and addressing afellow who stood busily harnessing his horse.
He looked round, and, seeing a stranger, dropped his saddle and shouted:
"Here they be at last! Tell the Captain."
Presently, as I waited, scarcely knowing what to make of it, CaptainMerriman himself came up. And at sight of him 'twas all I could do tohold my hand from my sword.
He ordered lights to be fetched, and when they came said:
"So you are here at last, sirrah? By my soul, I know not what Tom Pricecalls nimble men; but I could have walked as far on foot in the time.Come, who is your leader? Let me see your papers."
I stood forth and handed him Tom's letter, whereby the Captain was toknow we were the good men and true he was in need of. He eyed mekeenly, and said:
"Had you come an hour later, you would have had a longer ride still, forwe are even now setting out westward. Nevertheless, laggards as you be,you are come in good time. Harkee, you," said he, beckoning me aside,"a word in your ear."
I was ready to make an end of the villain then and there; for I smeltfalsehood and devilry in every word he spoke. But I waited to let himsay his say out first. There was little fear in the dark night, and theunsteady flare of the torches, of his guessing to whom he spoke.
"I require you and your men to stay here," said he, "to guard thisplace. Tom Price tells me you are a trusty fellow, that understands hisbusiness and asks no questions, which is well. In this house are twofair maidens, who, when we leave, will have no other protector but youand your men. Now then, I bid you, guard them close. Let no one in tothem, and see they go not out. They are my captives, and but for thiscursed war I should not be leaving the charge of them thus to astranger. Hold no talk with them, and, if they be riotous, lock themfast in their chambers. So soon as I have shown myself to the DeputyLord I shall return; or I may send you word to bring the maids to me.Remember, hands-off; and if you serve me well in this, I may,perchance--for they are both fair--"
"Enough!" exclaimed I through my teeth, and digging my fingers into thepalms of my hands till the blood came.
"I understand you, Captain. Depend on me."
"Thanks, good fellow," said he, not heeding my troubled voice. "Weshall meet again soon. And, by the way, see specially that a certainhare-brained poetic fool and a swaggering bully, his companion, come notnear the place. If you catch them, you will do well to hang them on thegate. Heaven knows they have marred sport enough! And now, farewell.Your hand on this."
I gave him such a grip that he well-nigh danced with pain, and let himgo.
I was in a state of wild tumult. Within those very walls, then,unconscious of all that came and went, lay the two sweet maids, forwhose sake I have travelled thus far from London. And this fool of avillain was even now leaving me to guard them, while he, deferring hiscrime for a more convenient season, went to show himself to my LordDeputy! 'Twas more like a dream of good fortune than real fact; and Idreaded every moment to find myself awake with all my hopes vanished.
But no. The Captain and his men went to horse, and presently the orderwas given to march out.
"Farewell," cried he to me as he rode forth; "be trusty and vigilant.Draw up the gate after we be gone, for there be rogues in plenty about.We shall meet again. Meanwhile, when you see my angel, tell her I leftin tears, breathing her name. Ha! ha!"
And he spurred off gaily.
I stood stock-still, I know not how long, till the sound of the hoofshad clattered away into silence, and the voices were lost in the gentlemoaning of the night-wind among the trees. Then I turned and glanced upat the house. All was dark; not a light flickered, nor was there aughtto show behind which of these windows slumbered my sweet Jeannette orher fair mistress.
"Sleep on for to-night, dear hearts," said I. "To-morrow by this timeye shall be safe for ever from the talons of yon cursed hawk."
Then, bidding my men draw up the gate and dispose themselves for thenight, I took up my post by the door, and waited patiently for themorning.
My men were soon snoring, for we had travelled hard and long. But sleepwas never further from my eyes. As I sat there, listening to the risingwind in the trees, and the rush of the river below, with now and againthe wail of a sea-bird crying out seaward, I grew to hate the darkness.Despite the fair innocents who slumbered within and the sturdy rogueswho slept without, the loneliness of the place took hold upon me, andmade me uneasy and anxious. Once I thought I heard returning footstepswithout, and rushed to the gate. But it was only a creaking of thetrees. Another time I seemed to hear a calling from within, and sprangwildly to the door. But it was only a hoot-owl. And when the leavestapped on the window above, I looked up expecting a face to appearthere. And when a horse in the stable whinnied, I imagined it themocking laughter of a troop of traitors left behind to rob me of mytrust.
At length I grew so restless and weary of waiting, that I determined todelay no longer, but enter the house.
As I stood a moment at the door, hesitating, the wind suddenly dropped,and there fell a silence on the place which made me shudder, and temptedme after all to await the dawn. But, with a mighty effort, I gatheredup my courage, and, laughing at my qualms, pushed the door.
It was not even shut to, so that, giving way unexpectedly under my hand,I stumbled heavily into the hall. As I did so, I struck my face againstsomething icy cold.
In the darkness I could see nothing; but I felt the thing swing awayfrom my touch; and before I could step back, or put out my hand, itreturned and struck me once more, harder than before. I clutched at itwildly; then, with a gasp of horror, flung it from me, and rushed,shouting to my men, into the open air.
For what had touched my face was the hand of a dead man!
It seemed an age before, amongst us all, we could strike light enough tokindle a torch. Then, shuddering in every limb, I returned to thehouse.
There, just within the open door, from a beam in the hall roof, hung acorpse, still swinging slowly to and fro. And when I held up the torchto look at his face, there leered down upon me the eyes of my old fellow'prentice Peter Stoupe! At the sight the torch fell from my hands, andI reeled back into my comrade's arms, stark and cold, well-nigh as thecorpse itself. Then there came upon me, with a rush, an inkling of whatall this meant. I seized the light again, and dashed past the hall andup the staircase. Every room was still and empty as death. We searchedevery nook and corner, and called aloud, till the place rang with ourshouts. The only occupant of Turlogh Luinech O'Neill's house was thatlonely corpse swinging in the hall.
Now all the truth dawned upon me, as if I had read it in a book. Peter,little as I dreamed it, had both known me and
guessed my errand. He hadoverheard enough to know where the Captain was, and how he might revengehimself on me. He had contrived to slip away at Knockfergus, and, beingbetter guided than we, had reached Castleroe in time to warn the villainof my coming. Whether he lent his hand to the carrying off of the twomaids, 'twas hard to say. But it seemed plain that, at the firstwarning, they had been carried off, and that the Captain that night hadridden away, not to leave them behind, but to make good his possessionof them elsewhere. Why Peter should be left hanging thus, 'twas nothard to guess. He never played straight even in villainy, and doubtlesshad given the Captain reason to desire the shortest way to be rid ofhim. As for me, thanks to Peter, the villain had known me through mydisguise, and, God knows! he had had his revenge on me this night.
While I speculated thus, I wandered to and fro in the house like a mandistraught, till presently my footsteps brought me back to a littlechamber at the end of the long passage into which I had scarce daredpeep before. The dawn had already begun to chase the night away, andwas flooding the room with a flush of light that suited its sacrednessbetter than my flaring torch. So I left that without and entered in thetwilight.
All was in the sweet confusion of a chamber whose owner expects toreturn to it anon. The bed had not been disturbed since it was lastsettled. Raiment lay scattered here and there. On the table lay a bookopen, and beside it a jewel. What moved me most was a little scarfwhich lay for a coverlet over the pillow on the bed. For it was theself-same scarf I had once seen Ludar fasten round the maiden's neckthat night she took the helm beside him on board the _Misericorde_.
I durst touch nothing I saw, yet that single glance roused fires withinme which, if it be a sin to hate one's enemy, will assuredly stand to myhurt in the day of reckoning. Yet how could mortal man stand thus andnot be stirred?
I passed on softly into the tiny chamber beyond.
There the air was fragrant with the scent of a sprig of honeysuckle thatlay yet unwithered in the window. On the floor lay scattered a fewpapers, written in a notable poetic hand, and addressed--as I could notbut read--"To one who bade the poet give o'er his singing," or "To thefair moon, handmaiden to the glorious sun," or in such wise. On a chairwas another paper half written, and beside it a pen: "Humphrey," itsaid, in Jeannette's loved hand--"Humphrey, come over and help--" Herethe pen had hastily ceased its work.
This mute appeal, lying thus to greet me, roused the whole man in everypulse of my body. I seized the dear paper in my hands and kissed it,and then, placing both it and the maiden's scarf in my bosom, I dashedfrom the room with drawn sword and called my men to horse.
"To horse!" I cried, "and ride as you never rode before, men; for I vowto heaven I will not quit this saddle till I find the foul dog who hasrobbed me of my dearest jewel."
They obeyed quickly and cheerily, for the horror of that night had giventhem enough and to spare of Castleroe.
A mile through the forest road was a woodman's hut whose master lookedout curiously to see us pass. It seemed to me worth while, being thefirst man we had met, to question him. So I ordered a halt.
"You are an O'Neill?" said I.
"Who told you so?" growled he in Irish; and I guessed from the look ofhim that he was the man I wanted.
I signalled to two of my men to dismount and seize him.
"Now," said I, fumbling my pistol, "time presses. Tell me which way theO'Neill has gone."
"How do I know?" said he.
I cocked my pistol and laid it across my saddle.
"He went to Dublin, a month since," said the fellow, quickly.
"And the English Captain?"
He growled a curse, and said:
"He passed here last night for Tyrone's country."
"And the Lady Rose O'Neill and her maid. Who carried them off, andwhen?"
He paused and looked doggedly at me.
I raised my pistol and laid it at his head.
"Two days since they rode hence under escort of three of the Captain'smen."
"And whither went they?"
"The Captain knows. Follow him and you shall find them."
"Look you here," said I, "if what you say be true, you shall have yourlife. If not--"
"I'm no liar," said he, "and I curse the English."
"Then," said I, "help me and my men to save your chief's daughter, andslay yonder Captain."
He pricked up his ears at that.
"'Tis too late, I doubt," said he. "The villain works quickly. 'Twerebetter to find the maids dead. It took him not many hours to rob thishouse of all its light."
"'Tis not too late so long as a breath is in this body," said I. "Come,take us to him, as you are a loyal clansman."
"I know no more than I have told you," answered he. "He is gone toTyrone's country, and the maids have been carried thither before him. Iwill guide you so far."
Without more words he came, springing at our sides over the heather andalong the mountain paths at a pace that put our nags to shame. 'Twaseasy to follow the tracks of the soldiers on the wet ground; and once,towards evening, as we mounted a tall ridge, I fancied I could descry onthe crest opposite some figures that moved.
At our first halting-place, where we paused but to give our horses andourselves a hasty meal, we heard that about mid-day certain Englishsoldiers had passed the place at full gallop. And two days back, asnight fell, some travellers, amongst whom rode two women, had likewisehurried by, westward.
With news such as this we could scarce afford our weary horses the restthey needed, before we set forth again. Our guide led us down a steeptrack into the valley, and then, striking straight across, we toiled upthe mountain path which ascended the high ridge opposite.
He checked our pace as we neared the top, advising us to await daylightfor the descent.
When at length at our backs rose the glorious sun over the easternhills, flashing his light past us into the valley below, we saw,stretched out, a great plain like a map, through which the windings of ariver sparkled; while, beyond, rose another ridge of hills higher stillthan that on which we stood.
Our guide beckoned us to a place whence we could look-out without beingexposed to the view of any one in the valley. For awhile we searchedthe plain in vain. Only a few herds drove their cattle afield; and nowand then the sharp bark of a dog broke the stillness. At length, on theslope of the hill opposite, we saw a flock of sheep break suddenly intopanic flight; and there appeared, crawling up the ascent, a body ofhorsemen, who, by the occasional glancing of the sun upon steel, we knewto be soldiers.
Whether they were the troops we sought, and whether amongst them theycarried the captive maidens, 'twas too far to determine. But at sightof them we plunged with new hope towards the valley.
Half-way down, in a wood, we found a wounded trooper prone on the groundand gasping for breath; while beside him grazed his horse. He wasbleeding from his side, and too faint to turn his head as we came up.
Our guide started as he saw him, and whispered:
"This is one of Merriman's men."
I knelt beside him and tried, in my clumsy way, to bind his wound, andhelp him back to life. But 'twas plain we were all too late for that.He lay gasping in my arms, his eyes, already glazed, looking vacantlyskyward, and his arms feebly tossing in his battle for breath. Twas notime for questions. I ventured but one:
"Where is O'Neill's daughter?" I asked in his ear.
He turned his head and stopped his panting for a moment.
"I could not save her," he gasped; "Merrim--" and here he fell back inmy arms a dead man.
We covered him hastily with the fallen leaves, and, taking his horse forour guide's use, spurred grimly on.
There was no doubt now. The villain's plot had succeeded only too well,and the fair innocents were already delivered over to his clutches.
At a little cluster of houses in the valley we halted a moment longer.
"Has a troop passed this way?" asked our guide of a cow-herd.
"Surely," said he, "they will scarce be over the hill by now."
"Carried they two women in their company?"
He laughed and said no.
"Have not two women been carried this way lately?"
"I'll be hanged if there was a sign of a woman," said he.
We looked blank at one another. The fellow seemed to speak true. Yethis story agreed not with that of the dying man.
There was naught but to spur on, and by all means come level with thevillain, wherever he was.
As we commenced the steep ascent, we could discern the moving figures ofhorsemen on the skyline above--as it seemed to us, in two bands, one ofwhich suddenly disappeared on the other side, while the other, numberingsome half-dozen men, made southward along the ridge. As we came higherwe saw these last still there, moving hurriedly to and fro, as thoughseeking what they found not. It could hardly be us they looked for, fortheir faces were set southward, nor was it till we came within a mile ofwhere they stood that they turned and suddenly perceived us. Then theytoo vanished below the skyline and we lost them.
By the time we reached the ridge top, the first party was clattering fardown the plain, raising a cloud of dust at their heels, and, as itseemed, pushing on with all speed to their journey's end.
Of the other party for a while we saw nothing, till presently our guidepointed to them as they stole from out a wood below us and suddenlybroke into a canter in a southward direction.
It seemed to us their desire was, by doubling on their track, to regainonce more the ridge on which we had first discovered them. Whereupon,smelling mischief, I called to my men, and, turning after them, gavechase.
'Twas a fool's errand! For, whatever their purpose had been, theyabandoned it, and half-an-hour later we spied them striking westwardonce more, as in haste to overtake their fellows. So near upon themwere we by this time, that not only could we count their number, whichwas seven, but could spy the feather on their leader's hat, by which Iknew for certain that this was indeed the man I sought. For an hour andmore we followed close on his heels, sighting him now, missing him now,and neither nearer nor further for all our riding.
At last, towards afternoon, when, after swimming a strong river andskirting a town, we already stood, as our guide told us, in Tyrone'scountry, we could see the party suddenly halt and hold a hurried parley.The result was that while the leader rode on, his six men stood, and,spreading themselves across the road, waited for us. 'Twas a spot notill chosen for standing at bay. For, on either side of the steep track,the land fell away in desolate bog, on which we scarce dare venture; sothat there was nought to do but either fall back ourselves or come faceto face with those who stood in the way.
"Men," said I, "for me there is but one goal, and that is yonder flyingvillain. I keep my sword for him. Look you well to the others. Theymust not hinder me."
And before the lurkers had time to prepare for our coming, we charged inupon them full tilt, and I, slashing right and left, cut my way to thefar side, while those who followed me held them there in hand-to-handfight.
How that battle betwixt Englishmen and Englishmen sped I know not, forbefore it was at an end I was a mile on the road, with my prey littlefarther beyond. Yet, to my woe, I perceived him to be better mountedthan I, and better acquainted with the roads. So that every hour thedistance betwixt us widened, till at last, when night fell, I could seehim disappear, with a defiant wave of his hand, over a hill well-nigh aleague ahead.
I know not how my wearied horse ever carried me that night; but when atsunrise I staggered into the yard of a wayside farm, he sunk dead-beatbeneath me. Therefore my vaunted boast not to quit my saddle till I hadmet my man went the way of other boasts, and came to the ground too.
The lad who came out of the barn to meet me told me that an hour since asoldier had gone through at a hand's pace bound for the coast, wherealready, it was said, the Spaniard had landed and was devouring the landlike locusts. Of women, either to-day or for many a day, he had seen orheard nothing.
My faithful beast was too feeble, even after a halt, to carry mefarther, and I had perforce to proceed on foot. My one hope was thatere long the Captain might find himself in a like plight. But that wasnot to be for many an hour yet.
Towards night the wind, which had been blowing in gusts over the hill-tops and along the valleys, gathered into a gale; and in it I could hearthe distant boom of surf on an iron-bound coast. Ever and again I metcountry folk hurrying inland, with now and then a soldier in theircompany. And once, as I passed a lonely moor, there slunk past me afellow who by his swarthy face and black flashing eyes I knew to be aSpaniard.
As hour passed hour through the night the storm raged fiercer, tillpresently I could scarce make head against it and sank for an hour onthe turf, praying only that this weariness might befall mine enemy also.
When at dawn I struggled to the hill-top and looked out, I dreaded tofind him vanished. But no. My prayer must surely have been answered,for he staggered on scarce a mile ahead of me down towards the valley.
Twas a narrow valley, with a swampy tract below, and rising againsharply to the hill opposite. Half-way along that hill, through anarrow gap, I, standing on higher ground, could catch a glimpse of thegrey ocean beyond, sending its white horses in on the land, and moaningwith a cry that mingled dismally with the rush of the wind. Surely ourlong journey was near its end now.
Looking again towards the gap, I perceived--what my enemy below musthave missed--the form of a man who stood there, motionless, clear cutagainst the sky, with his back on us as he gazed seaward. He was toofar off for me to see if he were a soldier or only a peasant. Yet Iremember marking that he was great of stature; and as he stood there,with his hair floating in the wind, he seemed some image of a giant godset there to stand sentinel and brood over the wild landscape.
Then, as the sun broke out from behind the sweeping clouds, it flashedon a sword in his hand, and I concluded this must be an English soldierplaced there to keep the road inland against the invading Spaniard.
'Twas a fine post of defence, verily; for, looking round, I perceivedthat the hills on every hand seemed to close in and stand like the wallsof a basin, with no outlet save the crest on which I stood on the onehand, and a gap where he stood on the other; while betwixt us stretchedthe moist plain, across which the Captain was even now spurring.
So intent had I been on the solitary sentinel, and the strange form ofthis wild hollow, that I had forgot for a moment my quest. But Iremembered it as the sun suddenly fell on the form of my enemy labouringheavily through the swamp below.
A sudden fierceness seized me as I flung myself forward in pursuit; Ishouted to him with all my might to stand and face me where he stood.
I can remember seeing the form of the soldier in the gap turn quicklyand look my way. Next moment there rose, below me, a yell; and I stoodwhere I was, like a man petrified.
For the Captain, having spurred his jaded steed some way into the bog,reined up suddenly, and tried to turn back. The horse's legs werealready sunk to the knees, and in his struggle to get clear plunged yeta yard or two farther towards the middle. Then he sank miserably on hisside, throwing his rider to the ground. The man, with a wild effort,managed to fling himself on the flank of the fast sinking beast; but'twas a short-lived support. With a yell that rings in my ears as Iwrite, he struggled again to his feet and tried to run. But the bogheld him and pulled him down inch by inch--so quickly that, before Icould understand what was passing, he was struggling waist-deep like aman swimming for his life. Next moment I saw his hands cast wildlyupwards. After that, the bog lay mirky and silent, with no record ofthe dead man that lay in its grip.
Before I could fling off the awful spell that held me and rush to theplace, the man on the other side of the valley had uttered a cry anddashed in the same direction.
And, as we stood thus, parted by the fathomless depth of the dead man'sgrave, we looked up and knew one another.
&
nbsp; For this was Ludar.