Chapter L.
HOME.
The Englishmen were doomed to idle about in San Juan for some weeks,and during that time the little money they had found on the _SantaMaria_ melted away. Vessels did not enter the little port very often.The Portuguese and Spaniards, save Hernando, found temporary work onneighbouring estates and plantations, and Morgan and his fellows of the_Golden Boar_ had plenty of offers of employment; but they preferred toabide together under the wing of Hernando, fearing to betray theirnationality by mixing separately and freely with the Spanish settlers.Hernando for his part stuck loyally to them, and none of the otherssaid or did aught to bring suspicion upon their late comrades. Thefugitives longed and waited for a ship, hoping to get a passage in herto some place off the mainland. It was by no means an unusual thingfor sailors to desert their ship when she touched at a port; some,indeed, undertook a voyage with this end in view, the allurements ofthe golden tropics proving stronger than any sense of duty.
At length a small ship arrived from Cuba, bringing a consignment ofSpanish goods from the depot at Santiago; she was to take back silverbars for transhipment to Lisbon. Would the skipper give a passage toseven strange sailors whose appearance was not too Spanish? It wasdoubtful. Yet it turned out that he was only too glad to do so. Morethan seven of his crew deserted, and went away to the west in search ofthe silver mines from which the bars had come. Morgan always had ashrewd suspicion that Hernando cleverly engineered the desertion forthe sake of his English friends. In any case the desertion took placemost opportunely, and the fugitives got the passage they desired. Forthe sake of appearances both gentlemen adventurers played the part ofcommon sailors. At the last moment Hernando decided to go to Cuba withthem. He felt that a few months there would do him good, and helpcertain keen-eyed people to forget his face. Moreover, he wasgenerously anxious to see the safety of the Englishmen more fullyassured.
The season was not the best in the year for sailing, and the voyage toSantiago was a rough one. The new sailors behaved admirably; andthough the captain was more than a little suspicious of theirnationality, he said nothing and paid them well. Moreover, he waslargely instrumental in getting them a passage to Europe. Hernando'stongue and the talismanic name of Drake did the rest.
The _Donna Philippa_ was a galleon of medium class, but well-built andswift-sailing. She was attempting the Atlantic voyage in the winterseason, as the authorities preferred to trust her precious cargo to thechances of the storms rather than to the mercies of the Englishcorsairs. These were not abroad on the high seas in the cold season,when ocean traffic was small and tempests frequent; but in the summertime no Spanish captain knew when one of the dreaded craft might appearabove the horizon. It is difficult to realize nowadays the terror thatDrake and fellow captains--pirates all--had inspired in the breasts ofSpanish seamen.
The galleon had not her full complement of crew, for there were somewho had come out who were not as favourably disposed towards a wintervoyage as was their captain. The latter spoke to the skipper of thecoaster concerning his difficulties, and the skipper told him of themen he had picked up at San Juan. He did not hide his suspicions thatthere was more English than Spanish blood in their veins. Heacknowledged that they were splendid sailors; but, being as he believedEnglish deserters, he regarded them as desperate fellows, assuming agentleness and zealous obedience quite foreign to their nature.
It was here that Hernando stepped in and played his part. No onedoubted his nationality; and he, hearing of the shortage of goodsailors on the galleon, did his last ingenious act of kindness for hiscomrades in misfortune. Over a cup of wine in the state-room of the_Donna Philippa_ he told a story that did his heart and his wits equalcredit. He began it by confirming the skipper's suspicions that hislast batch of sailors were English to the very marrow of their bones.
"Yet I love them," he declared, "and would place my life and myfather's life in their hands without an instant's hesitation."
Then followed an account of his own shipwreck months before with someother Spanish gentlemen. "We found," said he, "a boat, and coastedwith her seeking a harbour. We met the Englishmen, wrecked also. Theywere a stronger party than we were. They joined us--worked with us formonths like brothers. We sailed seas together, fought foes, swamrivers, climbed mountains, threaded forests, shared food, drink,raiment, money--everything. They told us their story. Two of them, asyou may see, are not common sailors, but gentlemen of position,favourites of their Queen, bosom friends and lovers of Drake, Raleigh,Hawkins, Grenville, Whiddon, and all the mighty English captains. Theywant to get home. Take them as they are. I'll pledge my life they'llserve you faithfully and cheerfully, and they'll _insure your cargoagainst seizure by their friends_! Mark that; their presence aboardthe _Donna Philippa_ will assure her the polite and friendly attentionsof every English captain on the high seas. See the two gentlemen in mypresence, and find out their value for yourself. Were I in your placeI should fall down and thank the Mother of God for sending me such helpin my hour of need."
The captain of the galleon pondered the matter. Hernando pressed hisviews upon him, and the skipper of the coaster seconded him. Morganand Jeffreys were brought aboard. They readily offered themselves asworking passengers; expressed themselves as willing to take an oath offidelity to the captain if he would take another one to them; andassured him that no English captain would rob him of a jot of hiscargo, or treat him other than as a friend and brother, whilst theywere with him to tell of his kindness to them.
The bargain was struck. Morgan, Jeffreys, and the five sailors wereduly entered on the ship's books, owning to the Spanish names bestowedon them by Hernando. The two gentlemen went as passengers, with asailor each as servant; the other three took their places amongst thecrew. Two of them had been long enough in the galleys to speak Spanishas well as they spoke their mother tongue. They cleared Santiagosafely towards the end of January.
The _Donna Philippa_ was called upon to pay some penalty for herrashness in crossing the Atlantic in winter. Again and again did thetempests strike her, shattering some of her timbers, swamping her withterrific seas, and driving her for days out of her proper course. Itis probable that the greater skill of her English sailors andpassengers alone saved her from destruction. They were more accustomedto the stormy northern seas than were their Spanish comrades, and theyset an example of cool courage and endurance that saved the galleonfrom worse disasters than those that actually befell her. If he met noEnglish corsairs, the Spanish captain had reason to congratulatehimself on his wisdom in accepting Hernando's advice in Santiago.Needless to say, the ship was never becalmed, and the howling windsthat drove her out of her way would often moderate, turn round, andsend her bowling homewards. The skipper hoped to make the Azores ashis first land, but a south-westerly wind springing up in early Marchand continuing for some days, he held on direct for Lisbon. So far nohuman enemy had molested him.
The ship was nearing the coast of Portugal, and the sailors wereexpecting to sight land on the morrow. March was half-way through, thesun warm by day and the breezes often southerly and genial. Morgan andJeffreys were wondering what might befall them in the realms of KingPhilip, and how they should get ship from there to England. They hadbut little money, as the captain had treated them as guests of gentlebirth, paying with food the services they could render him. Spain wasdangerous ground for English feet, and no foreign land could well bepleasant to a set of penniless men. The prospect was not alluring.
Now and again sails appeared above the horizon, and after wearywatching Jeffreys espied one that he declared to be English. Thevessel was coming up from the south, and the _Donna Philippa_ wassteering almost due east. At a certain point their paths would cross.The two Englishmen went to the captain and called his attention tothis, and asked him to shape his course so as to meet the oncomingboat, and put them aboard if she chanced to be English.
The skipper demurred at first. His cargo was precious, but safe;
hewas almost in sight of home. Why should he run risks? The adventurersassured him that there could be no risk. The stranger vessel was asmall one; if any other than English, she would never dare to fight aship of the tonnage of the _Donna Philippa_; and if English, they wouldguarantee that not a blow should be struck. After much persuasion thecaptain consented.
The little ship was hailed, and proved to be a Canary trader bound forBristol. Morgan went aboard and explained matters, and the captaingladly consented to receive them and give them a passage home. So, tothe surprise of the crew of the galleon, the men were transhipped aday's sail from harbour.
Ten days later the trader dropped anchor in the Avon. Morgan went tothe mayor of the city, saw him privately, and explained who he was, andwhat had befallen him and his comrades. His worship listened to thestory, and advanced the adventurer money to take him and his friends totheir homes. The next day the seven, with handshakes, kisses, eventears, separated and went their several ways.
Chapter LI.
THE FOREST AGAIN--AND THE SEA.
Johnnie Morgan had tramped up from Bristol to Berkeley, and now stoodon the Severn bank at the eastern end of the ferry to Gatcombe and thesnug ingle-corner of the old farmhouse. Such a crowd of thoughts,hopes, dreads, rushed into his mind that the whirl and jostle of themin his brain made him giddy. He had left Bristol at dawn; it was nowlate afternoon and an April day. He had entered the "Berkeley Arms" inthe old feudal town, called for his ale, and been stared at by an oldcrony, yet never recognized. A year of absence, danger, privation,slavery had put five years at least on to the young yeoman's back. Thelaughter had gone out of his eyes, the roundness out of his cheeks, andhis walk was stiff.
He hailed the ferryman. The man came slowly across from Gatcombe.Johnnie recognized his stroke before he clearly detected the body fromthe boat. Here was the real touch of home. Old Evan would stare athim, doubtless, but only for a moment. Then would come theaffectionate cry, "Plague take me! if it b'aint Jack Morgan. Welcomehome, my son; we'd given thee up for dead!"
The ferryman came; his fare stepped in. The ferryman stared not oncenor twice, but apparently he gave up the puzzle that troubled his mind,for he took the ha'penny fare with no other remark than that the dayhad been very warm for the time o' year. Johnnie went up the hillfeeling very depressed. On a sudden impulse he turned aside from thehighroad and took the path by the river through the fields to his ownlands. He felt he could not bear another familiar face to look intohis and not give him an old-time affectionate greeting. He tried topersuade himself that the light was getting weak, but looking around hecould distinguish small objects on the other side of the river, and herecognized old Biddy Gale coming down to the well at the bottom of hergarden to draw water.
The red roofs of Blakeney showed up against the dark background of thetrees. He looked for his own house. No smoke curled from thechimneys. His heart seemed suddenly to turn to a lump of lead. Anurchin was coming along the path; he determined to talk to him.
The boy came whistling along, spied the tall, gaunt, bearded stranger,and ceased his piping. When Johnnie turned towards him he made asthough to bolt, but thought better of it and came on.
"Is yonder place Blakeney?" asked the young man.
"It is," was the reply.
"Doth one Master John Morgan live there?"
"A-did in the time past, good master; but, preserve us from evil! theSpaniards roasted and eat him somewhere in the Indies."
A faint smile flickered across Johnnie's face. "How sad!" he cried."Who then lives in his house yonder?"
"Just a widow woman and her maid. They will not quit, they say, untila twelvemonth and a day be gone by from the time the rascal Dons laidhands on their master. They will have it that he will come back; andMistress Dawe of Newnham, and a sailor-man named Dan of Plymouth, dohold with them."
Johnnie wanted to ask a question about Dolly, but the words would notcome. The lad relieved him by continuing to unload his budget ofinformation.
"The sailor-man be lodged at the farm, much against the widow'swish--so she says; but he declares he will not budge, lest MasterMorgan should come home and find never the face of an old shipmate tocheer him." (The smile flickered across Johnnie's face again.)"Mistress Dawe be now at the house, if thou art minded to walk thither.She comes there at times and stays for two or three days. Folks do saythat she expects John Morgan to walk in some evening. They werelovers, ye know."
"Ah!" said Johnnie, with a catch in his breath.
"Yon's the house, behind the hayricks. Fine harvest Master Morgan hadlast year. All the lads in this part of the forest looked after hisfields in turns. I helped to get in his hay and corn, and the widowgave a harvest home just as the master would have done."
"Didst know this Morgan, sonnie?"
"Ay, I do mind him well. Thou dost favour him somewhat, only he was ataller and properer man and had no beard."
"Well, I'll go to the house; here's a penny for thee. Tell thy fatherthat a tall man who hath been in the Indies hath been asking for MasterMorgan."
Johnnie walked on, his heart beating to the rhythm, "Dolly is there!Dolly is there!" He jumped a stile. His own fields! He lookedaround; no one was in sight, so he pressed his lips to the turf, thenwhispered a quick, passionate prayer. Rising up again, eyes wet, kneestrembling, he walked on.
He had turned up the path from the river; his orchard was before him.He turned to look behind at the rushing stream and the gulls circlingin the rays of the setting sun. There was a flutter of white at theriver-stile. His heart stood still. Could it be? No!--Was it?--Yes!He started riverwards at a run; then stopped; hesitated; walked soberlyon.
The flutter of white again from the shadow of the hedge; the figure ofa girl, bonnetless, her hair gently lifting with the breeze, stood outclear and unmistakable. He stopped. The maid stepped a little forwardand shaded her eyes with her hand. With an uncontrollable impulse hisarms stretched out.
"Dolly!"
A cry from the stile. A girl sprang forward, raced up the field, andthrew herself into his arms. "Johnnie! Johnnie! Thank God! thankGod! I dreamt you would come back and find me where we last met, justlike this!"
The next day the forest rang with the news that Johnnie Morgan was homeagain, and foresters, miners, and fishers made so merry over the eventthat Johnnie thought it worth while to have gone through so much inorder to give them such a jubilant time.
Three weeks afterwards the maidens chose pretty Dolly as "Queen ofMay," and when she was crowned they led her to the church above theriver--all in her garlands gay--and there a tall, sun-browned youthtook her "for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer," tilldeath should part them. And there were rare junketings and feastingsto celebrate the union of the two woodland favourites.
Johnnie abode at home for one year. Then he was tempted to go again toLondon, and from thence he went by sea to Plymouth. There he met theadmiral, his brother John, Jacob Whiddon, Sir John Trelawny, and othersea-going worthies, and there was much talk concerning the Indies.
Johnnie came home, and one night he said to his wife Dorothy, "I havebeen thinking that I left some honour behind me on the other side ofthe world. Master Jeffreys sends me a letter this morning, and SirWalter hath written a postscript to it. I cannot forget what was doneat Panama, and there are some who should suffer for the cruelties doneto Nick and Ned Johnson and others who sailed on the _Golden Boar_.The ship is fitting for another voyage, and I have still an interest inher. What dost say, sweetheart? thou knowest the thoughts that are inmy mind."
Well, Mistress Morgan said nothing that night, but she wept a littleand sighed oft. But the next day she said "Go, husband, and God gowith thee!"
So the _Golden Boar_ went westward ho! again, and Dan Pengelly and allher old company that were above ground went in her. And Captain JacobWhiddon went too, in a second ship called the _Elizabeth_. There wasno wild-goose chase this time after golden cities that coul
d not befound. But the Englishmen harried the Spanish settlements along theSouth American coast and in the Mexican Gulf, and preyed upon KingPhilip's shipping. They sent an expedition two hundred strong acrossto Panama and raided the town, daringly marching back to the Atlanticwith no man presuming to stop them.
They came home to Plymouth laden with spoil, gotten mainly by piracyand the breaking of the laws of nations. But their countrymenacclaimed them to the skies, holding them to be no robbers, but heroesand patriots all!
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